I remember my very first time...it was Aida...my inaugural opera...my friends Ed and Ray invited me to attend...they coached me on what to wear...put me up at the Stanford Court Hotel...met me at my door, champagne in hand...whisked me in a limousine to the entrance of the San Francisco Opera...where Ed had season tickets...in the fourth row, center...which if you know how season seating works, was an accomplishment in and of itself...
This evening still ranks among my best "dates" ever...me and two gay guys who loved each other...almost as much as they loved opera...
It was not until I saw the film Pretty Woman that I recognized my own innocent response to the night's performance...Richard Gere's line in the film summed it up for me...
“People's reaction to opera the first time they hear it is extreme...They either love it or they hate it. If they love it, they will always love it. If they don't, they may learn to love it, but it will never become part of their soul.”
And because I loved it, attending the opera was one of the many things I hoped to do in Paris...except that I didn't plan ahead...to quote Julia Robert's character Vivian in the film..."Big mistake. Big. Huge."...
Instead of going shopping like Vivian, I went on a morning photo shoot of the Palais Garnier...home to the Opéra National de Paris...where I captured this image of the Restaurant L'Opéra's facade and courtyard...
Restaurant L'Opéra at the Paiais Garnier in Paris, France...