Palais Garnier (the Famous Paris Opera House)

I'm still amazed by this building every time I see it. Just when I start to think that Paris is simply becoming "some city where I live and work" I see Palais Garnier and I'm reminded how truly special this place is.

For the first couple of weeks that we lived in Paris we rented an apartment/hotel in the 15th and I took the Metro into work. Here's what I saw coming out of the Metro station every morning... a lot of butts, followed by this:

Now that we are living in the 2nd district this incredible structure is only a few blocks from our house. We passed it on our walk to the bank the other day and I got some closer footage:

Palais Garnier was constructed between 1861 and 1875 for the Paris Opera. It is perhaps the most famous opera house in the world, due in part to it being the location of the "Phantom of the Opera" novel, films, and Broadway show.

If you are interested you can read more about it here: Wikipedia Article.

Melanie and I haven't ventured through the front doors yet, but judging by this image I found online it's possibly even more beautiful on the inside:

The foyer of the Palais Garnier (the Paris Opera House)