Hospital of the Fifteen-Twenties
Right behind the Opéra Bastille in the 12th district of Paris there is a hospital called “15-20”. Since this is a national eye hospital, I first thought the name “15-20” Read More …
Tag: Bastille
The square of Gavroche’s elephant
There is a persistent urban legend about American tourists going to the Place de la Bastille in Paris and feeling cheated when they discover that the Bastille Fortress isn’t even Read More …
Faubourg Saint-Antoine
The Faubourg Saint-Antoine is a Paris neighborhood that begins at Place de la Bastille (first photo) and stretches about 2 km eastward to Place de la Nation. The word Faubourg Read More …
Ten days, eight operas, seven venues
The amazing thing about my visit to Paris in June 2006 was that in ten days I saw eight operas at seven different venues. As I wrote at the time, Read More …
Guided tour of the Opéra Bastille
The only way to have a look at the backstage areas of the Opéra Bastille (unless you have business there) is to take a guided tour. These begin at 5.00 Read More …
Standing room at the Opéra Bastille
In September 2011 I paid all of five Euros and got the next-to-last standing room ticket for the premiere of the opera Salomé by Richard Strauss (1864-1949). This was the Read More …