Ballet after Transatlantic overnight flight?
 

We arrive in Paris after a long day and night of flying, at about 9 in the morning, then immigration, customs, and trip into the city.

There is a ballet that I want to see at Opera Garnier, the last night of which is the evening of the day we arrive.

Would you do it? I am a huge ballet fan, and so seldom get to see a major company perform, especially in something that entices me. Plus, we have never been to the Opera Garnier.

More info: we aren't young, and don't sleep well on the plane. Again, would you?

Yes, if you can have a nap at your hotel in the afternoon.

I would if I were you because it sounds like you really want to do it and this is something special to you.

Although I wouldn't normally suggest sleeping upon morning arrival, in this cause I would make sure you could check into your hotel when you arrive (which is likely to be before normal check in time) and then sleep. Get up and go to the ballet.

It will play a bit of havoc with quickly adjusting from your jet lag, but you'll be lively for your evening at the ballet, and get to do something you really want to do.

I hope you decide to do this!

I did something similar in London last year and I felt nauseous by mid-performance. The jet-lag and fatigue were just making me feel ill -- I also felt a bit trapped, knowing I couldn't get up and leave easily since I didn't want to disrupt the performance.

But if I *really* wanted to see something, I'd still take the chance and hope for the best.

I'd go for it!
It's a fabulous experience seeing a ballet at the Opera Garnier- even if you do nod off during part of the performance. I-)

A nap in the afternoon should help.

Of course you should, what have you got to lose?

Go to your hotel, have a simple lunch, organize your clothes for the evening, and take a nap. Then a long hot shower or bath.

Go to the ballet and enjoy. If you love it, it's worth it. Deal with jetlag the next day.

I, too, would definitely go for it. I usually recommend staying outdoors in the sun on the day of arrival but, given that this is the only opportunity for this performance, I'd nap and go! Enjoy....it's quite an experience.

Have your TA call your hotel and arrange for an early check-in. (Or if you booked it yourself, email the concierge and explain your situation). That way you can take a shower, have a nap, and wake up hopefully refreshed for dinner and the ballet.

I have done theatre the day I arrive a few times. From personal experience, the only way it can work for me is to:
- get straight to the hotel and sleep the afternoon
- drink lots of water on the flight
- take "Jet-Lag" (works for me!)
- avoid/limit alcohol
- avoid the sugary breakfast on the flight - take a protein bar instead

I'd go for it - but be prepared to leave at the interval if you find yourself rum-dum and disturbing your seatmates w/ your snoring :)

I have taken in a show or concert the first night - but always under special circumstances like it being the last performance, or only seat available etc.

It is NOT easy but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

One first night, I had front row seats to see Maggie Smith in the Lady in the Van -- LOVE Alan Bennett, LOVE Maggie Smith -- but even that didn't help me stay awake. The first act was soooooo miserable. I kept jerking my head up just as starting to doze off - about gor whiplash. But I stepped outside for some air at the interval and was much better in the 2nd act.

Even if the ballet wasn't one of your favorites - the Opera Garnier is sooooo gorgeous!

I've done this many times, albeit only from New York (I saw Götterdämmerung after flying coach from NY to Budapest, and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg after flying coach NY-Moscow-St Petersburg--both are each over five hours long!). Many of our clients land in St Petersburg and Moscow and have a performance or dinner that same evening. I also know that if I don't rest, either during the flight or during the afternoon before the performance, it is for me a wasted evening.

Like others suggested, I would call the hotel and see about an early check in; if they couldn't guarantee it, I would pay for another night to guarantee the room's availability. If you can't sleep well on a plane you probably will be very, very tired and

[sorry for deleted end]

and will feel frustrated at missing a wonderful evening.

I do agree with all the others that not napping will ensure you fall asleep during the ballet. Personally, I probably wouldn't do this on the day I land, but it is doable.

no, I'd never do that, it sounds like torture to me. However, I can see plenty of ballet in other cities, including where I live, including those of international top companies. If it were something really important to me, I would have changed my dates one day instead, to accommodate it. In fact, I frequently plan my vacations around performances, but I do that before rather than after making the reservations.

I've gone to operas and plays on the day of arrival. Like others said, a nap is a must. And by that I mean: 3-4 hours of sleep, not a 1-hr nap. Even with the nap, I'd imagine you will still doze off at some point during the performance.

Hi tuscanlifeedit, I did that one time in Italy. I arrived after a long flight from SFO and a friend unbeknownest to me had obtained tickets for a concert that night. I sort of went into a panic mode if the truth be known. But I was able to get a couple of hours sleep, took a long hot shower and actually really enjoyed the concert. It was beautiful and I really relaxed. I didn't go over to their house afterwards as they suggested. I did sleep about 12 hours that night.

I don't know about you but I get more bothered by jetlag flying east to west versus west to east.

I would go to the ballet. If you can get your room before the normal checkin time that would be a great help. I wouldn't overeat or have more than one glass of wine on the day of arrival..think that can make one sleepy after a long flight. Best wishes.

One way to ensure you have a room upon arrival is to ask to pay for the night before.

I shall go for it. A good nap. I know sometimes you can be very excited, but you can have a good bath and a good lunch with some wine and I feel you will rest. Good luck. Go for it.

I would go for it. I find that, even with normal check-in, that leaves time for a 2-3 hour nap. I did it in London a couple of years ago, and after napping, felt ready for the evening.

I would do it - you can have jet lag when you get back home! I live in Switzerland and visit my family in Boston at least twice a year and nearly every time that I get back here I head right to my office from the airport when I land in the morning, work the entire day, go home and have dinner and go to bed at around 11:00 or so and am right back on my normal schedule/routine.

I'd do it, too, Deb, and I'm "not young" nor do I sleep on the plane! I would take a nap as soon as I could get in the hotel.

I've had tickets twice for ballet at Garnier in past few years, and the trips were cancelled for reasons beyond my control. We took the tour of the Garnier this past summer, but that's as close as I've gotten. Hope springs eternal.

Have you posted your itinerary somewhere else here? I'm eager to hear about your trip plans.

Sue

The Opera Garnier has a new service for Americans that come to see a performance on an arrival day in Paris. It is called Snooze Secure.

You simply give them your hotel address and 30E. When you doze off, and you will, they snatch you up and whisk you back to your room. They even put the program on the night stand so you rememember even being at the performance in the morning.

Tell them Degas sent and get a 2E discount.

I would be cautious of Degas' advice. A friend of mine tried that service and woke up in a bathtub of ice missing a kidney.

Seriously. Last July we met a couple at the Garnier for a ballet who did just what you are talking about. In fact, we had exchanged comments here before hand and knew we were going to be seated right next to each other. They ended up leaving at the intermission -- both miserable and tired, and backs hurting from the long flight. The uncomfortable seats at the Garnier, of course, didn't help any. In all fairness however, I don't think they were big ballet fans. If you are, you might be able to get through it. I've attended many plays in London on day of arrival, and don't think I've dozed off yet.

Wow! Thanks, guys! What a surprise to see my question on the front page of the Forums. I've never been a Hot Topic before!

Well, I must consult DH, but I think I will go for it. I LOVE ballet, and I'm more than a fan. I have traveled for ballet, but I just looked up this after we bought our air tickets. This trip is planned around my brother's interest in the Retromobile car show, and we are only going at this time because of him.

We don't have a hotel but an apartment. We should get to the apartment at around noon, which is fine with RentParis.com, whom we rented from. So, I can take a nap.

As LoveItaly said, my jet lag is much worse flying east to west; it's the lack of sleep more than anything that bothers me going the other way. But I plan to take Ambien and we are lucky to have a flight that departs PHL for CDG at 8:40pm. That should help, too.

Granmere: our itinerary is so packed! This is a new trip and we cancelled our spring trip to Paris and Provence. We arrive

Thurs, Feb 15: get settled, ballet

Fri, Feb16: brother arrives, Orangerie, nice dinner

Sat. Feb 17: Meet friend from Madrid, tour and have fun. Maybe a flea market and a nice dinner

Sun: probably hit Retromobile

Mon: or maybe Retromobile, one of these two days will be Marmottan.

Tues: day trip to Chartres

Wed: some photo shows for DH, a nice dinner for two

Thurs, Feb 22: fly home

Somewhere in there, we want to hit at least one street market, and another museum or two. We plan on having many good meals, too!

Again, I appreciate all the feedback.

Hi T,

>would you?

No, because I would go to sleep no matter what my day had been like. :)

Have a cup of coffee (not decaf) before you go to the ballet.

((I))

tuscanlifeedit,
If that was the only night I could see it, I would do it :-) Not only do I love ballet, but as others have said, the Opera Garnier is well worth staying awake for. Personally, I don't nap. I've stayed up until 1:00 AM without a nap, though admittedly I was very sleepy by then. I also can't sleep on planes. I think the adrenaline keeps me going.
Sandy p.s. What's the ballet?

I have gone to performances several times on arrival nights. In fact, it is easier for me to stay up late the first couple nights before I am adjusted to the time change, while I am still thinking it is the middle of the afternoon.

I do always nap on arrival day, though, because I can not sleep on the plane. I don't know how people do it if they don't sleep during the day.

Sandy: Here the ballet, it is a mixed performance and sounds soo great:

http://tinyurl.com/yaq8mh

That looks like a great program! Have fun.

tuscanlifeedit,
Thanks! I see that the original choreography is by Balanchine -- I'm sure it will be wonderful! I look forward to hearing about it in your trip report.

Sandy

If this is important to you, and you are willing to "prepare" for it...here's is what I would do ( and have done).

Starting several days before you leave, start going to bed early, gettgin up early. When you get up early, expose yourselg to light, move around, eat,etc..As yo get nearer time to leave, start moving bedtime back more and more (I've done 3/4 hrs). Your body is now strating to move towards your new time zone.
When you get on the plane, no caffeine, no wine. Setup the console for some music, and sleep. Based on going to bed early, by the time you get on plane you will be tired already.

When you land, eat breakfast, get some sunshine, walk around...you will have less jet lag and be better prepared for your big evening. I have an idea that sleeping in the afternoon will screw up your body since you will be telling it to return to your old time zone. I know people here will recommend otherwise so maybe that's OK...but do the prework :)

This summer, I went to see a play the first night we were in Edinburgh, after an exhausting journey via shuttle bus, two planes with a layover, and two more buses. Not surprisingly, I kept on falling asleep. (I guess I left this bit out of my trip report.) So I can't personally recommend doing this.

Here's the sad, final outcome: I waited too long to decide, finally went online to buy the tickets, and the performance was sold out. Drat!

However, I can now convince DH to take me on a special New York/ballet visit for my birthday in April. :-d

Tuscanlifeedit, I have done something similar for our upcoming Paris trip. But I've read you can often get tickets the same day, because some are returned. So don't entirely lose hope! Also, it's worth phoning FNAC - I keep meaning to do that.

tuscanlifeedit,
Don't feel bad. You didn't necessarily wait too long, as I tried to get tickets for Cendrillon, and I have been trying for months. I tried FNAC early, as well as the Opera website, which told me that they wouldn't go on sale until January 17th. Well, I got online on the 17th to see if they had any tickets, and they were mostly sold out. They didn't have any for the night that we wanted to go. I rearranged our schedule and decided to buy the more expensive tickets for another night, and went back online. They had sold out within a couple of hours!
Sandy

C'est la vie, eh? I may try while we are there, but since it is the first day, I think we will just relax and do typical first day things:

Supply the apartment, take a walk to FNAC at Bastille to pick up our Retromobile tickets, rest, and have a FABULOUS dinner somewhere!

Thanks for all the help, encouragement, and consolation.

Sandy, when is your trip?
Debbie

Hello tuscanlifeedit, I am sorry that you did not get the tickets to the ballet. But my wishes that you have a wonderful time in Paris..I will be thinking of you!

Travelnut: You were very kind in helping me with ideas about securing my laptop computer so I decided to see what other things you had posted.

Interestingly enough, I am also a huge ballet fan. I've spent many years as a musician for ballet, as a matter of fact.

In answering your question, one thing comes to mind. I've heard it said that life is not a dress rehearsal. This is it. I think it's experiences that make our life that much richer. I remember when I was vacationing in Chicago how glad I was that I'd gotten a ticket to go see the opera "Turandot". My life is richer for it and for the experience of going back there again for a weekend to hear Deborah Voigt sing the lead in "Salome". If this ballet is something of great interest to you, don't hesitate. Take a nap if you can...buy some caffeine pills...but go to that ballet! :-)

My apology, tuscanlifeedit. I thought that Travelnut had written the original message of the thread. My above remarks still apply. Time for me to get to bed, huh? :-)

Debbie,
You're welcome :-) We're going around Easter. Not the best time to travel, but that's when my husband's break is. When is your trip?
Sandy