Rainy day in Paris and the Ballet

And on our eighth day in Paris, it rained, and rained some more.  Alain managed a 7.75 km run in the morning before the rain started.  It was our intention to go to the Louvre for an exhibit.  We got there about 1:30 p.m. and the line-up in the rain was estimated to take 1 1/2 hours!   We took a pass.  Unfortunately, none of the other museums that we want to visit are open on Mondays.

The long line was behind the pyramid-- rainy day at the Louvre

We decided to wander over to Colette, the concept store not to far away.  It was very busy as people were getting out of the rain.

Windows at Colette

Lots of Snoopys- celebrating his 65th birthday in Paris

Alain trying on his new Paris Mon Amour sweatshirt

Huge CD and magazine section

Would have been a hoot to check this out-- but we were at Colette earlier in the afternoon

It started to pour heavily so we took refuge at a Pain a Quotidien restaurant for a few hours.  We had coffee and Alain had a huge Pain au Chocolat.  They had free Wifi which was great.

                                                                     Alain with a Pain au Chocolat

We finally took our umbrellas and walked over to Galleries Lafayette and Printemps to seek some reprieve from the rain.  Printemps is celebrating its 150th anniversary.  Too overwhelming.  We really are not department store folk.

Outside of Printemps

                                                                  Flowers in ceiling at entrance to store

Finally, after another coffee and some snacks at the Galleries Lafayette food shops, it was time to go to the Ballet at the Palais Garnier (the Opera building).

Poster for Ballet

Inside of Palais Garnier

 Chagall painted ceiling- one of my favourites in Paris

Detail from Ceiling

When we got our tickets last week, the only available ones were obstructed view tickets on the 4th level.  However, we paid only 12 Euros, and as we were in the first row of the stalls, we could lean over and see about 95% of the stage.  The three dances we saw were "Clear, Loud, Bright, Forward", a new creation by Benjamin Millepied, who has been the Director of Dance of the Ballet de L'Opera since 2014 (folks might remember him from the movie The Black Swan, which he also choreographed); "Opus 19/The Dreamer" by Jerome Robbins (1979), a piece that was new to the repertoire; and finally George Balanchine's "Theme et Variations" (1947/1960), which has been in the repertoire since 1993.  Live music was provided by the wonderful Orchestre de L'Opera National de Paris.

The new Millepied piece was fantastic--- there were three swinging lights over the stage that created a number of shadows and the piece was all danced by the corps de ballet, who were excellent.   The Jerome Robbins number was a bit of a let down, but the Balanchine piece was lovely and intricate.  I could only take pictures at the end of each ballet.

                                                    Bows at the end of the Millepied piece

                                        Beautiful silver mesh costumes for the women and grey ombre for the men

                                                                                  More dancers

                                                                     Lead dancers from Robbins Ballet

                                                                            Intermission with full house

                                                                        Dancers in the Balanchine ballet

                                                                  The two leads in the Balanchine ballet

                                The two leads with the conductor of the Orchestre de L'Opera National de Paris

The ballet didn't end until almost 11:00 p.m.  Luckily, the Opera metro stop is on the same Metro line as our apartment, so we were back at the apartment by 11:20, for a very late dinner.