After talking with my parents about my blog, it was brought to my attention that the majority of my posts and photos are of food. But hey, I'm in France! It's normal! In this post, instead of talking entirely about food, I'll also talk about my trip to the opera.
On February the 8th, immediately after we had finished school at 12, my class of 1èreL and a few students from 1èreES piled into a bus that would take us to Lyon and to my first opera. The drive went quickly thanks to Matilde, who had remembered to bring her iPod, and in less than an hour we were in Lyon. Then, after getting off the bus we had some bad news, we had to go directly to the tour of the opera, which lasted two hours, we didn't have enough time to grab a bite to eat, which is hard for French people to hear because meal times are very important to them. Besides the fact that everyone's stomachs were growling, the tour was wonderful. Our tour started outside, despite the cold weather, to see the facade of the building which is practically all that is left of the old opera.
This photo gives you an idea of what the opera looks like but not its size.
Inside the huge prop room.
Where the chorus practices and another tour group from our school.
Fun chairs from the opera.
This photo gives you an idea of how the opera is organized.
The stage, set up for the first opera we would see.
One of the most beautiful rooms that we saw on our tour, this is where the audience goes during intermission. I don't believe that there are many ceilings that look like this in theaters in America.
After climbing many flights of stairs we were on the topmost level of the opera and were able to see this incredible view. This room is normally a dance studio for the ballet to practice in, but when we toured it we got to hear a private concert from a violinist from the opera who was practicing before the show.
View of Lyon with the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière and the Metallic tower of Fourvière, which looks like a mini Eiffel Tower, on top of the hill.
Our tour group.
Then at around 3:30 the tour was done and we were free to walk around Lyon until the show started at 8. We first planned to eat at McDonald's but ended up eating at Quick because the heating wasn't working at the McDonald's. Quick is a French fast food restaurant that the majority of my friends consider it to be less "greasy" than McDonald's. The very few times I've had fast food in France I've noticed how much smaller the portions are and how much more expensive it is compared to fast food in the US.
After our late lunch we went shopping at the Place Bellecour.
In France, sales happen only two times a year, once in winter and once in summer. These "Soldes" last for five weeks and each week items get cheaper and cheaper. Thanks to the soldes my friends and I all got great deals.
After we had finished shopping we went over to a Starbucks to warm up. Again, the only difference I could find between Starbucks in the US and Starbucks in France was the price and the slightly different bakery items.
It tasted just like back home!
Just before the show.
The first opera we saw was Eine florentinische Tragödie written by Alexander von Zemlinsky. The opera was in German and therefore had subtitles above and on the side of the stage so the audience could follow the story. It was interesting to hear the songs in German, see the translation in French and then translate everything to English in my head.
The second opera was Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini and was sung in Italian. I preferred this opera because it was a comedy and the songs had more musicality.
The poster for the two operas we saw.
