Monday, October 6, 2014

We had several activities for the day. First, in the late morning, we went out to the Opera house. Not the new one at the Bastille, but the older Salle Garniier. We went there because I had a problem with my IPad and one of the two Apple stores is located across from the House. If you have been to an Apple store, for example the one at the Short Hills Mall, you know exactly what it looks like inside. Add to this the fact that it is in an old elaborate building in Paris makes it even more spectacular.

The tech named Clėment was able to get me going in the right direction to solve my problem and we left the store. There was a line outside the store of about 25 people, each one with a reservation waiting to pick up the new IPhone that had been on sale for only a few days. These new phones have sparked interest all over the world.

We walked back to the main square in front of the Opera and went down the boulevard des Capucines where we discovered a lovely café called the Grand Café Capucines.

It was the most beautiful and elegant café that we had ever seen. We went in and had tea and a lemon tart. The service was first class and so was the food and drink. It was a full restaurant in addition to its function as a café. Here are some shots of the interior.

Lobster was on the menu and fresh ones were fished out of a large tank by one of the maitre d's. See him with the rod in his hand,

This evening, we went to a concert in the Cité de a Musique which is a large new concert hall in the Parc de la Villette in the northeastern corner of the city. We had been there on another occasion for a concert. This time we went to hear the famous Monteverdi Choir from England present three pieces: Stabat Mater by Scarlatti, a Bach Cantata, and Dixit Dominus by Haendel. Note the French spelling. We had done the Scarlatti only three weeks ago in Scheggino, Italy (do you remember) and wanted to hear this magnificent piece. It is sung in ten parts, four soprano parts, and two each of the other three voices. The singers, thirty in all, were all professionals and did a magnificent job. I would say that the concert ranks among the best that I have ever attended in my life. The conductor is John Eliot Gardner of whom some of you may have heard.  The other two pieces were equally good and they used members of the choir as soloists.

There is a direct métro line from the cité to the place de la République, and a short walk back home.