we’ve been indulging ourselves with french pastries. can you say “butter”?

since we are living on rue montorgueil, we had to try something from “La Maison Stohrer” just down the street, the oldest patisserie in paris. in fact, the original Mr. Stohrer was King Louis XV’s pastry chef, and opened the store at this exact location in 1730. we tried the Baba aux Rhum (a brioche soaked in a rum from Malaga, an original recipe dating from the days of Louis XV) and a pear tart.

also tried a “religieuse”; basically like an eclair and it’s supposed to look like a little nun. they were generously filled with chocolatey or coffee flavoured cream. i love how pastries are packaged here .

i’ve come across cute pastries and pretty pastries.

not really a pastry, but equally yummy: crepe with chestnut cream.

oh, what will we have tomorrow?

we really wanted to attend a show of “les ballet russes” at the Opera Garnier, but tickets had been sold out for months. so we took our chances, arrived two hours early and got in line with other hopefuls for last minute tickets. it was really cold, and we were finally allowed inside after one hour of waiting outside. turned out that the only seats left were reduced visibility… but for only 6 euros each (which is basically the same price as an admission for a tour of the opera house), why not? and so we got tickets!

the Opera or Palais Garnier is really beautiful with its majestic staircases and ornate molding. i think it was the inspiration for “the Phantom of the Opera”.

the ceiling was amazing with the painting by Chagall, and the huge chandelier.

our seats were definitely in the nosebleeds with around half of the stage hidden. once the show started, many people in our section got up and crowded into the corner in order to get a better view, which meant standing for many of us. one girl was literally straddling/hanging her leg over her box behind us, and the girl next to me actually fainted. i’m not even kidding: i don’t blame her though, it was hot, someone was wearing perfume, and we were standing for nearly an hour. it was all a bit comedic, but despite the craziness, i think we got our money’s worth!