The Café was inaugurated on May 5, 1862 by Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, and it officially opened July 30, 1862. Its name came from Le Grand Hôtel de la Paix (now known as L’intercontinental Paris Le Grand), which got its name from the nearby street Rue de la Paix. Its close proximity to Opéra Garnier added to its status as the heart of the theater district with a rich history concerning many well-known historical figures. Some of these historical figures include Emile Zola, French novelist, playwright, and journalist and the Prince of Wales and future King of the United Kingdom, Edward VII. Author Oscar Wilde was also known to be a regular at the Café, and during the 1950’s it became host to German-American actress Marlene Dietrich who often stayed at the Grand Hôtel de la Paix. This brought such massive crowds that the servers had to map out routes within the cafe to the kitchen, counters, and dining hall.

Upon the declaration of war in 1939, the Café closed for the first time. This closure did not diminish the spirits of those who worked at the cafe, though, when in 1944 a German grenade caused a fire within the cafe that was quickly put out by the head-waiter’s use of the soda siphons. After the war, in 1948, a radio studio was installed which broadcasted the program “This is Paris” to the United States. With hosts such as Maurice Chevalier, a French actor and entertainer, the broadcast was trying to reach an overseas audience to bring more tourists to France. The broadcast featured special guests such as Yves Montand, an Italian-French singer and actor, and included songs and different types of sketches.

On August 22, 1975, the Café was declared a historic site by the French government and in 2003 it underwent a complete renovation, opening up the space and exhuming the original opulence from when it originally opened. The Café is still very active and held close to Parisian hearts today. For Easter they traditionally host a Grand Easter Brunch that includes a grand meal and a large Easter egg hunt for children. The grand meal exemplifies the opulence of the Café de la Paix, with a price of 125€ per person.

For more (including 6 images) view the original article

Garnier was born into a working-class family that lived in one of Paris’ most exciting neighborhoods, Rue Mouffetard. He was always fascinated by architecture, even as a young child, and remained a student of the works of Greek and Ancient Roman architects from his teenage years and beyond.

He won the title of multiple prestigious honors during his earlier years, including a fellowship in Rome at the Villa Medici, but it was not until the coveted Opéra competition that Garnier would come to be known as the Charles Garnier.

Garnier was a very competitive man. The first design he submitted for the Palais ranked last out of the five finalists. After receiving this news, he proposed a companionship with Léon Ginain to create a combined design but was rebuffed by Ginain. In response to this, he worked day and night to create a new outline that would immediately enamor the judges, all by himself. And just a few months after his first initial submission, he did.

Construction on the Palais began almost immediately after Garnier’s design was picked. The team of architects and draftsmen that created the Palais included only ten men, including Garnier, himself. He was always considered a kind, giving man, but was always recognized as a hard worker, as well. He suffered bouts of depression throughout his life but always managed to help his workers through their more difficult times during the construction of the Palais. Garnier was also an acclaimed playwright and songwriter who love to dabble in the world of writing (when he wasn’t busy with creating one of Paris’ most famous sites, of course).

During a time when oil paintings were the only way of capturing a portrait, Garnier had a distinct look about him that made him extremely recognizable. So famous was his look, with messy, curled hair, a distinctively large nose, and a fashionable mustache that he was often spotted by people on the streets of Paris. The fact that he was also considered the most famous architect in France at this time also helped promote his credibility as an architect to an unknown level.

Construction on the Palais faced major setbacks. Events including the Franco-Prussian war, the fall of the Second French Empire, and the Paris Commune didn't help the builders' mission to complete the Palais in a timely manner. Other disasters in other parts of Paris also created major issues for Garnier.

After Salle le Peletier, the temporary home of the Paris Opéra, was destroyed by a ravaging fire in 1873, Garnier was then commissioned to create the new home of the Opéra house, which would be located inside the Palais Garnier. Faced with many technical setbacks and a numerous amount of difficulties in creating a glamorous, yet sensibly safe Opéra house for the people of Paris, Garnier went straight to work to design such an incredible feature, focusing on one area of the Palais in particular - the ceiling of the grand staircase.

Garnier turned to Isidore Pils to create the main attraction of his Opéra house. A grand ceiling with the scenes of mythological figures such as Apollo and Orpheus painted onto it became quite the challenge for Pils, who fell ill during the creation of his masterpiece. Pils’ two younger students took over the job and worked until the day before the Palais’ grand opening.

As night fell upon the Opéra house, Garnier, Pils, and the rest of the painters and architects came together to admire their tremendous feat of work. On the evening of January 5, 1875, people from all over France crowded around the Palais Garnier to get even just a glimpse of the new Opéra House. During the intermission of the first performance officially held at the new Opéra House, Garnier stood center stage, receiving a booming sound of applause and cheers from those in attendance. Completely taken aback with emotion, Garnier had finally received the recognition he had always deserved, standing in the center of the greatest achievement in his life, as an architecture, and a proud Parisian.

For more (including 6 images) view the original article

Once called the Montagnes Russes (from the French name for roller coaster), but later renamed to L' Olympia, the performance hall was founded in 1888 by Joseph Oller and Charles Zidler, who eventually went on to construct the grandiose design for the Moulin Rouge. As L' Olympia grew in popularity, this iconic spot in the ninth arrondissement entertained thousands of Parisians with a colorful array of acts that ranged from musical concerts, operas and ballets, to circus performances.

Unfortunately, as the early twentieth century saw the decline of theatrical performances, L' Olympia began to lose its popularity as the main source for exuberant performances and dance spectacles. Instead, from the years 1929–1944, the venue served as a movie theater for the local residents. Following the Liberation of Paris, Allied troops that had served in World War II were treated to an occasional free performance at L'Olympia, which always ended with an energetic can-can dance.

Between the years of 1944 and 1954, L' Olympia was rebranded as a movie theater as people began to prefer the cinema over other forms of entertainment such as the theatrical performances, operettas, and ballets that L'Olympia was known for. It appeared that Parisians had lost interest in this once popular venue — that is, until Bruno Coquatrix stepped in.

Coquatrix bought L'Olympia with the hope that introducing up and coming bands and performers would revive interest in the neglected music hall. With that goal in mind, Coquatrix decided to completely rebrand the performance hall to appeal to a more modern-day audience. His idea for how to grab the attention of young people in the 1950s – live music!

Just a year after L' Olympia’s reestablishment in the world of live performance, one of France’s greatest treasures, Édith Piaf, performed an extremely memorable recital there for the citizens of Paris. She continued to perform at L' Olympia until the end of 1962.

Another singer that brought the crowd back to L' Olympia was Dalida. First auditioning for Coquatrix in 1956, she was immediately signed as a singer. Just three years later, Dalida would go on to perform every three to four years for nearly thirty nights in a row. Dalida was so attached to the music hall, and the concerts that she performed there, that many of her live album titles were actually titled after the venue and the years of her performances.

With L' Olympia beginning to boom in popularity again, another band on the rise was scheduled to play at the venue for eighteen consecutive days of performances — The Beatles. Playing nearly two to three times a day, The Beatles performed at L' Olympia before their famous landing in America, and, even played at the venue just the day before reaching their first number one single with “I Want To Hold Your Hand.”

L' Olympia continued in popularity with other rock bands and performers like The Rolling Stones, The Jackson Five, Madonna, Tina Turner, The Grateful Dead Cher, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Blondie, and The Beach Boys until the 1990s when it was at risk of being torn down completely. Arguing the hall's historic impact, Jack Lang, France’s Minister of Culture during that time, stood against the hall’s demolishment. Lang eventually prevailed in preserving the hall and even ordered that the interior be refurbished in order to reflect the original design of the venue.

Since its renovation, L' Olympia has only continued to thrive and entertain new generations of music lovers in Pairs. Today many popular acts, international and local alike, including Lana Del Rey, Banks, Robyn, Vampire Weekend, The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, Partynextdoor, Hozier, Khalid, Miguel, Paramore, Arcade Fire, Jack White, Harry Styles, Lady Gaga, and more, have all called L' Olympia’s stage their home, even if only for a single night.

For more (including 6 images) view the original article