Parislog 43
August 19, 2006

I made it to another meetup meeting. This one was a museum meetup and we went to the Opera Garnier today. I am so glad that I found this online group because moving to a new city can be a lonely process. I am very lucky that I immediately found 2 friends but I need a lot more social contact than that especially while not working. All the different groups give me many different possible ways and times to meet people under many common interests. The people tend to be very interesting with a broad-range of life experiences, which to me makes for some interesting conversations. Sometimes you see the same faces at the different meetings but that is okay because that just gives you a chance to know them better and possibly develop some kind of friendship.

Anyway, the Opera Garnier is a most fantastic building commissioned by Napoleon III in 1761 in the Baroque style. The Baroque style is known for its density of design where every surface is covered with ornamentation of some sort. It is a very curvy and sensual style that is either loved or hated. It doesn’t leave many people indifferent. There is a ton of guilt and statues, marble and carvings. The stairs on the grand staircase are curved both convex and concave with a subtle change from one to other as you progress up the stairs. The main theatre’s 7-ton chandelier had been painted by Chagall, which made an interesting play between the baroque and the modern. This is a definite must-see.

On the way home from the Opera, a couple was sitting a few seats down up from me on the train. They were having this lovey-dovey moment that I found quite fascinating. Often when I see PDA’s, it is the man aggressing the woman and you can tell by her body posture that she really isn’t into it but these two were different. She was leaning into him with this look of utter pleasure and rapture on her face. They would kiss, not deep tongue kisses, but little tiny kisses over and over. I counted one set and it came to 20 kisses. I then looked at their hands and saw a wedding ring on his finger but not on hers. An affair maybe?