| The ninth arrondissement is located on the | | | | staircases, and its wares even if you are not |
| Right Bank of the Seine River. Its land area | | | | in a buying mood. This is the flagship store |
| is slightly more than 0.8 square miles (about | | | | of an international chain. One branch even |
| 2.2 square kilometers). While its population | | | | opened in Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in |
| is about fifty-five thousand the area hosts | | | | midtown Manhattan but went out of business. |
| over one hundred ten thousand jobs and is a | | | | What do you want to bet that somebody got |
| business center of Paris. | | | | fired? |
| | | | |
| The Olympia is Paris's oldest music hall and | | | | The competitor Printemps (Spring) flagship |
| one of the most famous in the world. It has | | | | department store is just down the street from |
| also hosted circuses and the ballet. When | | | | Galeries Lafayette. It is also part of an |
| business was slow it did a long stint as a | | | | international chain, and its only American |
| movie theater. And in the 1990s it was almost | | | | branch, in Denver, Colorado instead of |
| transformed into a parking lot. Famous | | | | Manhattan also went belly up after only |
| Olympia performers include Édith Piaf, | | | | sixteen months and the building is now used |
| Jacques Brel, and Jeff Buckley, but the list | | | | as a medical testing center. The Paris store |
| goes on and on. | | | | was founded in 1865. The building is known |
| | | | for an Art Deco stained-glass cupola that was |
| A different sort of music hall the Folies | | | | removed in 1939 for obvious reasons. The |
| Bergère north east of the Olympia was | | | | cupola was restored in 1973 by its designer's |
| built in the mid Nineteenth Century as an | | | | grandson with the aid of the original plans. |
| opera house with the name Folies Trévise. | | | | The building's façade and cupola are |
| But to protect his reputation the Duc de | | | | registered as national monuments. |
| Trévise had its name changed shortly | | | | |
| afterwards. Among its famous performers were | | | | Pigalle is centered around Place Pigalle, |
| the singer-dancer Joséphine Baker who wore | | | | bordering the ninth and the eighteenth |
| a skirt made of bananas and the Maurice | | | | arrondissements. To a large extent it is a |
| Chevalier, but nobody remembers what he wore. | | | | red-light district with some famous |
| | | | nightclubs including the Moulin Rouge, which |
| The Neo-Baroque Palais Garnier, usually | | | | sports an imitation red windmill on its roof. |
| called the Opéra de Paris (Paris Opera) | | | | I am told that the building décor has that |
| seats 2200 opera fans. Its stage can hold up | | | | turn-of-the-century (no, not a 1999-2000) |
| to 450 artists. Even if you don't like opera, | | | | look. This club inspired a 1952 and a 2001 |
| you should visit this splendid building with | | | | movie, which were both nominated for the |
| its statues and busts of famous composers. | | | | Oscar for Best Picture. The area attracted |
| Construction started in 1862 but was only | | | | world-famous artists including |
| completed in 1875. The building sits on a | | | | Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso, and van Gogh. The |
| former swamp over an underground lake. It | | | | area south of Place Pigalle is a center of |
| took eight months of pumping just to remove | | | | the popular musical instrument trade. |
| the water. In 1896 a counter-weight of its | | | | |
| magnificent six-ton chandelier fell killing | | | | Of course you don't want to be in Paris |
| someone. This opera house is the inspiration | | | | without sampling fine French wine and food. |
| for the French novel The Phantom of the Opera | | | | In my article I Love French Wine and Food - |
| and the musical of the same name, the longest | | | | An Alsace Pinot Blanc I reviewed such a wine |
| running and most lucrative Broadway show in | | | | and suggested a sample menu: Start with Foie |
| history. The new Paris Opera, known as the | | | | Gras (Goose or Duck Liver). For your second |
| Opéra Bastille is on the other, less | | | | course savor Baeckeoffe (Meat and Potato |
| opulent side of town. It was supposed to | | | | Casserole). And as dessert indulge yourself |
| replace the old one, but did not. | | | | with Gâteau Chasseur (Almond Cake with |
| | | | Raspberries and Meringue). Your Parisian |
| Galeries Lafayette is a 10-storey department | | | | sommelier (wine steward) will be happy to |
| store dating from the beginning of the | | | | suggest appropriate wines to accompany each |
| previous century. You might want to look at | | | | course. |
| the building, its beautiful Art Nouveau | | | | |