If you are anything like me and have been to Paris, you surely strolled down the Champs Elysee, took countless photos of the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame.

The City of Lights has so much to offer, it is impossible to see it all in just one visit.  Lost in a city full of exceptional architecture, the Parisian Opera House, the original and the modern, depending on your taste, are not to be missed.

The original opera house, is also called Palais Garnier, after its architect, Charles Garnier and the subject matter of Caty Latham’s carre.

The Palais Garnier can comfortably (and luxuriously) accommodate 1,979 opera lovers under its fabulous roof and ceiling, which was painted much later by Marc Chagall.  Today Palais Garnier is primarily used for ballet performances while operas are performed at the modern Opéra Bastille.

Built between 1861 to 1875 during the Second Empire, Charles Garnier pulled out all the stops when he designed his opera house.

Blending architectural elements and styles from the renaissance, baroque and classical periods, Garnier created a spectacular building and a Parisian icon.

Sitting at the Le Relais Paris Opéra across the street, sipping my café au lait, I have a first row seat to Monsieur Garnier’s spectacular visual feat….”Shh, listen, is that the Phantom of the Opera himself I’m hearing?”

Just like Monsieur Garnier, Caty Latham, created a masterful composition, that he himself, no doubt, would be pleased with!

HERMES debuted the spectacular Hommage a Charles Garnier, Architecte de l’Opéra de Paris carré in 1986. It was reissued at least once since then in 1991/1992.

SOLD