xman

i will be in paris from march 8 thru march 13 with my daughters. i would like to take them to the ballet at the opera house and also go to a concert at st chappelle. can anyone tell me if there is a way to get good seats to either of these? and can i find out what the concert schedule is at st chapelle? what is the dress code for going to the ballet? how casual? for those of you who have attended these events, how would you rate them. my daughters are in their 20's. thanks.

xman

ttt

fishee

a search with "paris opera" or "paris ballet" brings up all the links you'll need for both St. Chappelle and the array of operas and ballets you might choose from. have fun!

lincasanova

reduced tickets to most st. chapelle concerts on www.lastminute.fr

Musicteacher

During the time that you will be in Paris, there are ballets at both the old opera house (Garnier) and the new opera house (Bastille). You can get tickets online at http://www.operadeparis.fr/

Scarlett

We bought our Ballet tickets online, you can also buy them when you are there, if there is enough time.
We walked past St Chapelle when we arrived in Paris and got the concert schedule and got our tickets at that time.
My opinion, any seat in the Garnier is good, the place is a jewel box. We had seats in the 4th or 5th row as far as I remember.
Dress code is Nice to Very nice..you will see everything but if you can, dress up a bit, don't think Casual.
I rate the Garnier right up there with the best and we lived in NYC and saw many ballets every year.
I have no doubt you and your girls will love it .

marcy_

I'd recommend buying your tickets online as soon as they go on sale- a lot of ballets sell out really fast, and I've been disappointed before by not acting quickly enough. It looks like they'll be going on sale for the Proust ballet on January 17.

xman

thanks for the all of the information. can anyone find the operadeparis web site in english?

Christina

That website is a little unusual in that there is an internal English section when you want to reserve, but I don't think there is on the front page. Basically, just look at the calendar (calendrier) and listings will be in French but should be fairly obvious being dates and performance names. If you then click on the "reserver" button to reserve next to one offering, a page comes up where you can switch to English (by the UK flag on the upper right) and you can even choose other selections from there on, other than the one performance you first selected.

I would not go the ballet starting how with wanting a very casual dress code, but a lot of folks there do not get that dressed up at all. It's like about any theatre I've been to in any city nowadays, I guess -- other than some grand special event, even at operas, people don't dress to the hilt. YOu can easily go to the Garnier for a performance in a simple skirt and top/dress or nice slacks and a top. Some people literally only wear jeans and while they may not look that nice, there is no "dress code" per se in that you must wear something to be allowed in.

marcy_

I don't see an English option for the whole website, but if you click on "Les Spectacles En Vente" at the bottom of the page, it will then give you an English option to buy tickets (click on the little British flag in the upper right corner).

Toupary

Xman,

Since you won't be coming until March, I would definitely recommend buying in advance because, as previously stated, the ballets sell out rather quickly. When I lived in the States, I ordered from the Opéra web site, and the tickets were sent to me. As for Saint-Chapelle, you can get those tickets when you arrive.

When I've been there (for regular performances, not openings), most people were dressed as if they had come from the office.

I love the old opera house, and I'm sure your daughters will enjoy it, too.

The concert at Saint-Chapelle (I've only done it once) was enjoyable, but rather short (about an hour). The down side of going in March is that you won't appreciate the stained glass at night, which, in my opinion, is the thing to see at Saint-Chapelle.

robjame

We attended an opera at Garnier and still rate it as one of the highlights of our trip and our life. It was far over budget but worth every penny. IMO dressing up is one of special things that makes it more fun. You see all kinds of dress but can't go wrong dressing up. I would go for any seat at Opera Garnier - the surroundings are stunning. And at intermission partake of an overpriced €10 glass of champagne.

averyjade

I wanted to buy tickets to see the ballet Cinderella at Palais Garnier this April. Their website says that there are no more tickets that can be bought through the internet and FNAC says it is sold out. Vienna tickets says they have some for sale. Has anyone bought from Vienna Tickets?

loisco

We have gone to the ballet twice at the Opera Garnier. We had great seats both times and got them at the box office only a week or less before the actual ballets.

I wore my black Chico outfit (everyone knows what this is) which goes everywhere and fits in a 22inch suitcase. But I will admit I saw a lot of extraordinary outfits.

By the way, the first ballet was extraordinary...it was from the Neiderland Ballet..combined ballet and movie and had a wonderful sense of humor. The second was more classic. In any case, looking at the Marc Chagall ceiling is a treat in itself.

malka

Just want to say that we bought some seats online, and others by telephoning the box office directly (the number is on the website) and it was my experience that there were better seats available by telephone sale. I don't know the explanation, but my guess is that they do not offer all available seats online. The (english-speaking) box office rep said it was usually a better idea to buy over the phone when possible.

I don't think I would agree that every seat in the Garnier is a good one. Some are very undesirable. I would recommend you avoid any box seats that are not in the front row of the box, as the boxes are small, and the second and third rows are not always raised (some on the side are, but these views are not the best anyway). I would also stay away from the seats in the little first level side boxes called the "baignoires" I believe. I hope this is helpful.

whiskey

xman did you have any luck finding tickets to the ballet. I am looking for tickets to the ballet, Cendrillon, in mid April but obviously was behind the eight ball, as I have checked with both the garnier web site and fnac and it is sold out. There are tickets for the opera still available, but I already saw Simon Boccanegra at the Bastille last year.

Does anyone know of any "reputable ticket brokers" [is that an oxymoron??] who sell tickets to such events?

Cheers

Whiskey

Christina

I def. agree with Malka, there certainly are bad seats at the Garnier. I think there are bad seats in any performing venue, but there are seats in the Garnier where you can't hardly see anything, not to mention ones that are just very far away.

I think most ticket brokers are reputable if you mean are you getting a legitimate ticket. The fact that they charge more doesn't make them disreputable, it's just a product that some people don't bother to buy in advance and then they offer tickets with a markup. I don't think it's the case in Paris like some US rock concerts or things where a regular person has difficulty buying a ticket even if they try the first day they are on sale. It's easy to get tickets to the Garnier if you do it ahead of time, they have plenty of good seats for the general public.

They do have many sold-out performances, though, and if mid-April means Easter holiday period, no wonder.

I don't know anything about these brokers but their websites and they say they sell ballet tickets. You can always email and see what they have and for what price. They are all in central locations in Paris.

www.agencedetheatresdeparis.com

www.check-theatre.com

whiskey

Thanks for the links Christina. I have sent an email to see what they have in their inventory. Sorry I certainly did not mean to suggest that brokers who charge above face value were disreputable - I am assuming I'll be paying a hefty premiuim While I have dealt with a number of ticket agents in north america I have had less experience in Europe (and those have been limited to sporting events) so I was just looking for some guidance. Thanks again for your help.