Day 105, 17 October 2012, Opera Garnier, Montmartre, Espace Dali, Moulon Rouge - "THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA IS HERE...." in box 5 actually. And it's a water tank, not a lake.... but it was originally a natural reservoir... so close enough. And thus, Day 3 of the Paris Pass extravaganza commences. We looked out the window over a black coffee and a chocolate croissant from the boulangerie next door and noticed, in passing, that the greyness had decided to turn into rain. So we initially decided to spend the day indoors skulking around the Musee D'orsay... but as I reviewed some photos I noticed the Paris Opera House and thought - Arrrgh. It's Wednesday. And they only do guided tours on Wednesdays. And that was the original plan for the day. So we snuffled the remainder of our croissants and launched into gear and zipped to the Opera House to sign up for the tour - And what a tour it was. But first, before we sing the Phantom song, we must pay tribute to the warm up act... today's cover was our metro busker of the day and he certainly got us into the right frame of mind. But getting back to the Opera House.... "here, inside my mind". Around two hours after we began the tour we emerged from the Opera Garnier adrift in a cloud of glowing luxury and stories of days gone by. The architect was Charles Garnier and whilst it was commissioned by Napoleon III (who ended his days in exile in London, never to see it opened), it was, is, and always be a tribute to the architect. It was known as the New Opera House for about 10 minutes until the stories of Garnier's cheeky signatures throughout become known, and from then on, the Opera Garnier. If only he were alive today, the cities we might have. He was desperate for electricity throughout the building when it opened in 1875, but given it had only just been invented, he couldn't source lightbulbs. So he set the building up for gas lighting but had all the channelling and wiring in place for electricity. And so it was installed 10 years after it opened in 1885. He installed elevators, central heating and many new and wondrous things. It was in fact the first public building in Paris to have electric lights. What was most beautiful and a complete justification for buying quality over quantity whenever it is feasible was the grand staircase of marble. The stair case itself contains 7 different types of marble. The grand foyer contains around 30. At the time (when Napoleon was gone and the money ran out), the public purse was squealing like a stuck pig and he was told just to use stone for the steps... now, 137 odd years later, the marble steps he insisted upon look brand new... whereas stone would be worn down and shabby. He also decided to use glass mosaics to decorate the ceilings and they are as brilliant and colourful as the day they were fired. Our guide advised that whenever anything goes wrong, they still blame the Phantom of the Opera sitting in Box 5.... all very convenient we think. Sitting in the grand auditorium we looked up at the new ceiling... in that it's only 50 years old. A massive Chagall that was installed 10 cm below the original classical work of art on the ceiling. If you like Chagall it's brilliant (and we do.) but it still jars like static on a radio station because it is so not in keeping with the rest of the building. However it's goal was to draw in a new generation, new people and new customers and it has worked. Only thing to do now is figure out what to beg, borrow or steal in order to get to a show. Next stop lunch. Once one stops fretting about eating at French restaurants in France and realises that anywhere serving food is in fact, a French restaurant in France, we tootled off to our new fave and had Thai for lunch down Boulevard Montmartre. Bon appetit us - lunch for two for less than €10. Next stop, from the sublime to the utterly ridiculous and incredibly Fabulous! Up the funicular to Sacre-Couer. This is a stunning church set on the Mount of the Martyr (Montmartre). It was one of the few places where the peace and serenity of a house of worship wasn't drowned out by the clicking of cameras and the ringing of the giftshop tills. We continued around the main square with it's multitudes of artists and caricaturists until we reached Espace Dali. Now one of Spains favoured sons has never been known for his boring, sane attitude to life. A week or two back, in Barcelona, we stood in the Placa Reial outside the taxidermists where he once famously asked to have 200 ants stuffed. It might have been 2000. But you get my point. After visiting the E'space Dali Museum and seeing his sculptures, glass works and paintings, we are now converted to the depth, breadth and simple but omnipresent themes in Dali's works. Lucky for our nervous, wiggly, credit cards that they are left safely at the hotel. Heck... they'd be safer sitting on the counter in a Paris wine bar than they would be with us. We emerged from both the Gallery and the Gift Shop unscathed and stopped for a typical snack... a glass of red and a wedge of quiche to fortify us for the walk down hill to the Moulin Rouge of Toulouse-Lautrec fame. Not to mention the movie with Nicole Kidman. And lucky we were so fortified. Problem with the maps in guide books and so forth is they miss out every 3rd street or so for convenience. But we got there, eventually, via the Montmartre cemetery. Seriously. The Parisiens had stunning, gorgeous apartments after Hausmann redesigned the city in the 1850s and it seems death was no excuse for not having a fabulous condo in the afterlife. What was even more moving was the fresh flowers decorating many of the mausoleums. Can't wait to visit the famous Pere Lachaise cemetery where Jim Morrison of the Doors is buried. It's just around the corner from our neighbourhood but we're busy, so busy. It was a fairly early night, all things considered, and we we ensconced in "our" seat at the local DARNA Restaurant - our Moroccan home away from home - by 8 pm. All we could do to snarf a quick cous cous poulet and get to bed. Tomorrow? What shall it bring? Most definitely the Musee D'Orsay, Musee de l'Orangerie and, with luck, we can fit in a visit to the ceiling of Paris.... the 59th floor rooftop terrace of the Montparnasse Tower. Bring it on.