Dim sum at Asia Palace. I woke up today and wanted dim sum. It's kinda nutty, if you think about it - we'll be in Boston in less than 4 days. However, J humored me. After consulting Chowhound, I led the two of us over to the Chinatown in the 13th arrondissement. I put my confidence on a thread that had a huge side discussion on where to get some sort of Asian black beans that no one seemed to be able to find. (When I looked for Beef Noodle Soup in Vancouver, I trusted the thread that had a heated discussion on which of two eating establishments served the best hand-made noodle with the soup.) Unfortunately, it was somewhat of a pricey (by Chinese standards) dud. The Su Mai and Fried Turnip Cake were merely acceptable and but the Shrimp Chang-Fen and BBQ Pork Buns were definitely sub-par.
Opera at Palais Garnier. After lunch, I wanted to go to the Louvre and Champ Elysees areas. I haven't seen the Tuileries Garden and wanted to window shop the famous street on the last weekend day before Christmas. Our walk from the metro to my targeted area led us by the famed "rich man's" opera house - the Palais Garnier. At first, J just wanted to snap pictures from afar, but we spontaneously decided to buy some cheap tickets from a scalper. The opera was Fidelio and the start time was 15 minutes ago. Our seats were pretty bad and I learned that I find watching the orchestra more interesting than watching the stage performance (the conductor was so intense that I thought he was going to have a heart attack), but it was a pretty awesome experience. For example, the French are so serious about having no interruptions after the show has started that we were asked to stand for the remainder of the 1st act (1 hr 35 min) in the back of our section. In fact, doors to the seat box can only be opened from the hallway by the ushers with a special key! In Act 2 we found that standing wasn't so bad because there were so many bad seats in the balcony section that a large percentage of the ticket holders opted to stand through the performance, even if it was at the expense of other patrons behind them! In contrast to the poor stage visibility, the sound was absolutely amazing. We could hear every single word so clearly! On our way out after the opera, we picked up a performance schedule for the Palais Garnier and was surprised to find out that we just attended the final performance of Fidelio! The continuous clapping, hugging of the cast and crew on stage and three curtain calls suddenly all made sense!
Dessert at Laduree. I knew of this place only as "the shop where that Frenchman we met at lunch recommended to get the best macarons in Paris." I didn't know of its name until we got there (J knew but never mentioned the name) and realized that it's the same place our friend Kelly told us to go just yesterday! The place was a mad house for take-away so we opted to sit in their cafe. We enjoyed 3 types of macarons, a cafe creme (close to a latte) and a pot of tea (J was actually trying to order cold milk, but got tea instead). The macarons were heavenly. A little sweet, but it melts in your mouth. For the next hour we nibbled on these delicate and absurdly expensive desserts, sipped our hot beverages, and exchanged ideas on what we thought was the storyline of the opera. You see, the entire thing was sung in German and subtitled in French. We had to make up a story in our heads based on the minimal physical movements of the performers, the emotions of their singing and whatever French words that look English or have recognizable Latin roots. We got the main idea - a tyrannical warden who has it in for a certain prisoner who's lover has disguised herself to get into prison to help her prisoner lover escape.
Dinner at Quick Burger. After our stop at Laduree, we continued to the Champ Elysees via Place de la Concorde. The entire avenue was flooded with Christmas shoppers. Our stroll brought us past a Quick Burger, a fast food joint that J's been wanting to try since we first saw it in Barcelona. Since we only have 3 days left in Paris we decided to eat dinner there. J had their VIB (very important burger) burger meal, and I got 5 fried chicken wings. Tasty, but McDonald's is still my preferred fast food restaurant. J's curiosity was finally satisfied.
As we headed home on the metro, I realized that today had the makings of a pretty romantic date! Well, at least the middle part of it. A date in Paris! Who gets to do that?! =)
1. Asia Palace place setting
2. Palais Garnier
3. Foyer of the Palais Garnier from ground level
4. Foyer of the Palais Garnier from the 2nd floor
5. The door to our seat box. Notice the lack of a door handle.
6. Stage and orchestra pit
7. Center balcony - all good views
8. Side balcony opposite our seats. You can see that each seat box is comprised of 6 seats arranged in 2 x 3 row configuration. 1st row are the only decent seats.
9. The view from our seats
10. Laduree storefront
11. The ferris wheel at Place de la Concorde
12. Christmas shoppers on the Champ Elysees.
13. Our meal at Quick Burger.
Current Location: Paris, France
