The Façade from Place de l'Opéra

Place de l'Opéra is the first stop on this tour. Start by taking in the façade straight ahead, which combines Neoclassical and Romantic elements. The parts labeled frieze, loggia and Corinthian columns in the photo are the Neoclassical sections.

On the roof stands a statue of Apollo. It can be hidden behind the façade from some angles, so step back a little or shift position until you spot it. The figure crowned with laurel and holding a lyre, an ancient stringed instrument, is Apollo. In Greek mythology he's the sun god, but with a lyre in hand he represents the god of music and poetry here. On either side of him are golden statues symbolizing musical harmony and poetry. Opera combines music, poetry and dance, so Charles Garnier used Apollo extensively in the opera house's decoration, and you'll spot him all over the building.

Below the roof is the frieze, the architectural term for the band running above the columns in classical buildings. This frieze bears the initials N and E side by side, for Napoleon III, who ordered the building, and Empress Eugénie. Beneath it is the inscription for the opera house's former name, Académie Nationale de Musique, and below that are busts of famous composers such as Beethoven and Mozart, arranged in chronological order.

Finally, take a look at The Dance, a sculpture by Romantic sculptor Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux. Garnier commissioned four statues from four sculptors who had won the Prix de Rome, and Carpeaux's The Dance is one of them. It shows Bacchus, the god of wine, holding a tambourine and surrounded by his female followers, the bacchantes, in a dance. True to the Romantic style, it's full of movement. At the time, though, many people condemned the nude figures as indecent and ugly. Some even splashed ink on the statue, and the ink marks remain on the original. What you see here is a copy; the original is on display at the Musée d'Orsay, so if you're heading there, look for the ink stains on the real thing.

Now let's find the entrance. The doors at the bottom of the building are for people attending a performance. We're here to see the interior, not a show, so instead of the central doors we'll go through another door straight along to the left as you face the building. You might wonder if you're being sent through the back door because you aren't seeing a performance, but the central doors were originally the entrance for ordinary audience members without a season subscription, and the door we'll use was once the entrance for upper-class subscribers. In other words, you're going in through the better door.

Next, we'll head to the entrance on the left side of the façade. Follow the video in the next track to get there.