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Avenue de l'Opéra, 9ème, Paris, Île-de-France, France

Viewed from Palais Garnier.

 

"The Avenue de l'Opéra was created from 1864 to 1879 as part of Haussmann's renovation of Paris. It is situated in the center of the city, running northwest from the Louvre to the Palais Garnier, the primary opera house of Paris (until the opening of the Opéra Bastille in 1989).

 

The Avenue de l'Opéra was an important thoroughfare in Haussmann's traffic scheme, since it linked the rue de Rivoli at the Louvre to the grands boulevards near the Opéra and gave better access to the wealthy neighbourhoods being developed at that time in northwest Paris. It had the additional advantage that the demolition required for its construction cleared the area between the Louvre and the grand boulevards, which had been occupied by a slum district, dense with poor-quality housing and numerous narrow streets, that was considered unhealthy and dangerous.

 

At the avenue's northwest end, in front of the opera house, is the Place de l'Opéra. Besides providing a setting for the imposing Palais Garnier, it is a nexus from which several streets radiate. At the time it was built, it was criticized for being too grandiose, but now with much more traffic, it is often considered too small. Elegant stores selling luxury leather goods and jewelry, and the Café de la Paix, are located here.

 

The avenue itself is very popular with tourists and is lined with shops selling fancy souvenir Parisian merchandise (articles de Paris), as well as travel agencies and banks. A small Japanese district is nearby, in the rue Sainte-Anne.

 

Unlike most Parisian avenues, there are no trees. This was the result of a compromise between Haussmann and Charles Garnier, the architect of the opera house, who desired the best view possible of the main facade of the Opera at the end of the avenue. He did not want the view to be obstructed by the leaves and branches.

 

At the avenue's southeast end, near the Louvre, is the Place André Malraux, named after the French writer André Malraux, who had been Minister of Cultural Affairs under Charles de Gaulle. The square was formerly known as the Place du Théâtre Français, after the theatre of the Comédie-Française, which is located here. Adjacent to the theatre is the Palais-Royal, famous for its gardens.

 

The 9th arrondissement of Paris (IXe arrondissement) is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as le neuvième ([nœvjɛm]; "ninth").

 

The arrondissement, called Opéra, is located on the right bank of the River Seine. It contains many places of cultural, historical and architectural interest, including the Palais Garnier (home to the Paris Opera), on the Place de l'Opéra, together with the InterContinental Paris Le Grand Hotel's Café de la Paix, as well as Boulevard Haussmann, with the Galeries Lafayette and Printemps, two large department stores, in addition to the Le Figaro newspaper. It hosts two historic churches, noted for their classical architecture, art and decoration:: Saint-Louis-d'Antin (18th c.) and Notre-Dame-de-Lorette (19th c.).

 

The arrondissement also contains a number of theatres and music venues including the Olympia, Folies Bergère, Théâtre Mogador, Théâtre Édouard VII and Théâtre de Paris. Along with the 2nd and 8th arrondissements, it hosts one of the business centres of Paris, located around the Palais Garnier.

 

In 2019, the 9th arrondissement had a population of 60,026.

 

Paris (French pronunciation: [paʁi]) is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,150,271 residents as of 2020, in an area of 105 square kilometres (41 square miles). Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of Europe's major centres of finance, diplomacy, commerce, fashion, science and arts. The City of Paris is the centre and seat of government of the Île-de-France, or Paris Region, which has an estimated official 2020 population of 12,278,210, or about 18 percent of the population of France. The Paris Region had a GDP of €709 billion ($808 billion) in 2017. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit Worldwide Cost of Living Survey in 2018, Paris was the second most expensive city in the world, after Singapore, and ahead of Zürich, Hong Kong, Oslo and Geneva. Another source ranked Paris as most expensive, on a par with Singapore and Hong Kong, in 2018.

 

The city is a major railway, highway and air-transport hub served by two international airports: Paris–Charles de Gaulle (the second busiest airport in Europe) and Paris–Orly. Opened in 1900, the city's subway system, the Paris Métro, serves 5.23 million passengers daily; it is the second busiest metro system in Europe after the Moscow Metro. Gare du Nord is the 24th busiest railway station in the world, but the first located outside Japan, with 262 million passengers in 2015 Paris is especially known for its museums and architectural landmarks: the Louvre was the most visited art museum in the world in 2019, with 9.6 million visitors. The Musée d'Orsay, Musée Marmottan Monet, and Musée de l'Orangerie are noted for their collections of French Impressionist art, the Pompidou Centre Musée National d'Art Moderne has the largest collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe, and the Musée Rodin and Musée Picasso exhibit the works of two noted Parisians. The historical district along the Seine in the city centre is classified as a UNESCO Heritage Site, and popular landmarks in the city centre included the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, on the Île de la Cité, now closed for renovation after the 15 April 2019 fire. Other popular tourist sites include the Gothic royal chapel of Sainte-Chapelle, also on the Île de la Cité; the Eiffel Tower, constructed for the Paris Universal Exposition of 1889; the Grand Palais and Petit Palais, built for the Paris Universal Exposition of 1900; the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Élysées, and the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur on the hill of Montmartre.

 

Paris received 38 million visitors in 2019, measured by hotel stays, with the largest numbers of foreign visitors coming from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and China. It was ranked as the second most visited travel destination in the world in 2019, after Bangkok and just ahead of London. The football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris. The 80,000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros. The city hosted the Olympic Games in 1900, 1924 and will host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The 1938 and 1998 FIFA World Cups, the 2007 Rugby World Cup, as well as the 1960, 1984 and 2016 UEFA European Championships were also held in the city. Every July, the Tour de France bicycle race finishes on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris." - info from Wikipedia.

 

Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.

 

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Uploaded on August 16, 2023
Taken on June 22, 2019