| Page Views: 6,024 Last Visit to Paris: August, 2008 I Used To Live Here | Operas and cycling in Paris by Nemorino - last update: May 23, 2009 |
| Cycling at night in Paris |
I've been to Paris three times in the past three years, and on all three occasions I used bicycles as my main or only means of transportation around the city. In 2006 and 2007 I had rental bikes from Roue Libre, and in 2008 I spent a week trying out the great new Velib' system for spontaneous short-term bicycle rentals.
Where to put my cycling tips? Well, cycling is certainly a Thing to Do, but it's also a Sport and a form of Transportation. In the last seven years it has even become something of a Local Custom in Paris, but there are still some Warnings and Dangers that you should know about it. And it's definitely one of my favorite things, so to keep my cycling tips together I have put them all in the category of General Tips, which is where I hope you will have a look at them.
Following my August 2008 visit to Paris I have posted some new tips, in four installments:
First installment: Eleven new General Tips posted on August 13, 2008, about riding around on the Velib' bikes.
Second installment: Twenty-six new Things to Do tips posted on August 24, 2008.
Third installment: Fifteen new Off the Beaten Path tips posted on September 24, 2008.
Fourth installment: Three new Shopping tips, two new Transportation tips, one new Hotel tip, one new Warning/Danger tip and one new Local Customs tip, all posted on October 9, 2008.
I have put all these new tips at the beginning of their respective categories (assuming you leave the tips in "Author's Order", which is the way they come up by default).
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Another thing that made my 2006 Paris visit so stupendous was that in ten days I saw eight operas at seven different venues. I don't know of any other city in the world where this would be possible.
Besides the magnificent new Opéra Bastille, where I saw two productions, I also went to opera performances at the Théâtre du Châtelet, the Opéra Garnier, the Opéra Comique, the Théâtre du Champs-Élysées, the Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet and an open-air opera performance in the Senate Gardens, right behind Luxembourg Palace.
In 2007 I added one more venue to that list, namely the completely refurbished and recently re-opened Salle Pleyel concert hall, where my younger son and I saw a concert performance of the opera Tancredi by Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868).
Please click here to see my Paris opera tips, which are now on the fourth and fifth pages of my Things to Do tips.
On my last evening in Paris in June 2006 I was walking to the Opéra Bastille, feeling somewhat sorry for myself because I had already turned in my bicycle to the rental place, and would have to leave Paris the next morning. |
| Florence Gelas & Olivera Topalovic |
I was walking through the Place des Vosges when I heard a soprano voice singing an opera aria. Then that one stopped and another one started. I followed the sound and came upon two young ladies standing under the arches at the entrance to the Rue de Birague (great acoustics!), taking turns singing arias from a dozen different operas, interspersed with an occasional duet like the one between Susanne and the Countess from the third act of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro.
From their voices and technique I thought at once that they must be trained singers, which indeed they are. Their names are Florence Gelas (on the left) and Olivera Topalovic* (on the right). Both are recent conservatory graduates who have already sung their first opera roles and are trying to get started in professional singing careers.
The opera I saw later that evening at the Bastille was none other than L'Elisir d'amore by Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848), an opera which I have already mentioned on my Mannheim and Giessen pages -- and of course also on my homepage because it is the source of my member-name on VirtualTourist.
*Update: If you had been in the Aquitaine region of France between July 21st and 30th 2007, you could have seen Olivera in the title role (Marie) of Donizetti's opera La fille du régiment. She sang in an open-air staging on July 21 in Verteuil d'Angenais, July 24 in Pujols, July 26 in Puy l'Evêque, July 28 in Monbazillac and July 30 in Duras. (I wasn't there either, unfortunately.) |
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 Comments for Nemorino about Paris | | | | |
jumpingnorman Sun Oct 25, 2009 01:12 UTC
Hi Don - the Saint Chapelle looks like a really awesome place for concerts and your paris tips continue to amaze me with regards to detail - but yes, those catacombs were interesting and a bit spooky....Norman :) | grado Tue Sep 29, 2009 04:09 UTC
Your info on the Velib was fantastic! Do you know anything about the Paris Pass? I couldn't find anything on VT. Thanks again for terrific info! Jan Gradowitz sjgrado@yahoo.com | risse73 Tue Sep 22, 2009 22:15 UTC
Read the customs, nightlife, warning, shopping & hotel tips. Love the riverside dancing scene, the "fnac" ticket info, the charming hotels, but hate the anti-immigrant sentiment. Thanks for visiting my general Peru page! -Marissa- | joiwatani Sun Aug 9, 2009 21:36 UTC
I was here early this year but didn't have enough time to explore it! Might be back next time when time and money allow. |
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