Built in 1875, the Palais Garnier is a gem. It's very worth taking the tour if you cannot get tickets to a performance. It was the sole opera house before the Opera Bastille was built in 1989. Now it mainly has ballet performances; however, we were able to catch an opera here on our trip, and what a beautiful setting it was. The season tickets had been sold out since the summer; however, it is possible to get last-minute tickets by going to the box office on the same day. Instead of purchasing the 130€ seats that were left, we stood in the line that was forming outside the box office and found that right before the performance, seats would be sold at deep discount rates. After waiting in line for 1 1/2 hours, we got tickets for 7€ each; unfortunately, these were seats that had a very limited view of the stage. They were so high up, we could touch the ceiling! The music was beautiful (it was a performance of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" cleverly staged in a modern-day setting that really worked for the story), so even though we could only see one corner of the stage, it was still very worth it to be in the theatre and hear such a fantastic opera. The opera building itself was incredibly ornate: gilded carvings, columns and statues, various kinds of colored marble in the grand foyer, and a gorgeous ceiling fresco that was repainted by Marc Chagall in 1964, featuring figures from famous operas.

Opera Garnier is said to be the setting for the famed Phantom of the Opera. Once you go inside, you can really get a sense of that. It is a massive building filled with lots of candelabras, bronze, and marble sculptures. All the candelabras really lend to the whole "Phantom" setting. The opera house is a masterpiece just in the design and the architecture. The ceilings have been painted by Marc Chagall, and everything is just so elaborate! The grand staircase is beautiful and ornate, and everyone stops to take pictures on it. We also saw a lot of people sitting in various places sketching. The façade is adorned with marble sculptures, also including The Dance by Carpeaux. The performance area is huge, complete with box seats. We wanted to try to catch a performance, but they were sold out. Oh well, maybe next time.