I’m still going through pictures from last year’s trip to Paris and Greece. My daughter and I saw a lot of french architecture that I call Geschmukte. I think I might have made up that word. Baroque. Palaces that were soaring mirrored places for kings and queens and nobility as narcissistic as a certain current political candidate.
The Grande Opera in Paris was my favorite of the buildings in this category we toured. Perhaps because it was centered around the arts rather than a ruler made it more palatable. Or perhaps I actually found beauty here and there in the details. All together it was a little much (understatement for sure!). It’s like leaving some negative space in your artwork or in your quilting. Someplace for the eye to rest accentuates the details that you want to stand out.
The entire place is a stage. The grand staircase with balcony after balcony that allowed for society to present and to view itself is a stage.
I love taking it in just a piece at a time. It is the same as good design in gardening – my favorite being creating paths for the eyes and rooms to experience. In a place like this that is overwhelming with detail I like to pull in and look at smaller views.
I love this beautiful statue, the Pythia of Delphi, sculpted by Adele d’Affray under the male pseudonym of Marcello.
You can’t look up or down or sideways in this building without being bombarded by decoration. Sometimes a small bit of that decoration can be amazing! I’m glad I’m not in charge of cleaning this place.
One of the lobbies.
But if you zero in and look a little closer….. there are delights everywhere you look.
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