# London to Paris and on to Marseille at 186 mph (Sept 2016)



## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Given that I don't own a supercar, you can probably guess that I was travelling by train.

First port of call was Covent Garden's must-see *Norma*. Hot on the heels of last season's Oedipe we have another production by the Catalan theatre designers La Fura dels Baus. Located to hyper-religious Spain with an ever-present forest of crucifixes pretty much sums it up, apart from some ill-concieved nonsense with the children playing. The highlight is _Sonya Yoncheva_ in the title role. Good, but I think she still has a way to go. I'd like to see a more powerful projection from her, and generally more star power. _Calleja_, in the thankless role of Pollione seemed to have developed a distinct vibrato since I last saw him.

The next morning I'm on the Eurostar train - London to Paris through the Channel Tunnel. If you're hoping to avoid airport-style security you'll be out of luck. Here we have the pleasure of witnessing bearded staff name-badged 'Mohammed' checking that septagenarian English and French ladies aren't trying to bomb the train. Oh what a world!

Just over two hours later my train arrives at Gare du Nord. My hotel is between the station and the evening's destination the Palais Garnier, or Opéra de Paris, so I'm on foot to enjoy the Parisian streets.

For the afternoon I take a wander, recce the evening's venue and sit at the ubiquitous cafés for coffee and cake in the afternoon. How all these cafés stay in business I have no idea!

*Eliogabalo* is an until-2004 unperformed opera by Cavalli (late 17c). It's getting a few outings, but I'm not sure it's up to the stardard of La Calista. The orchestration is lush for its era, but Cavalli seems averse to providing big tunes for the singers. I had the impression that the singers (such as _Nadine Sierra_) were working hard to make something of the arias. The debutante director Thomas Jolly didn't seem confident that this work was worthy of the whole stage, so much of it was left in darkness. Despite some stage props informing the audience that Eliogabalo was a Roman emperor, the costuming is deliberately timeless fashion school eclecticism. The 3 hours of music (plus intermissions) was well received but alas, not well attended - I was able to self-upgrade to front row central in the 2nd tier. This is an expensive seat but these plush and tiny chairs are designed for the petit derrieres of a typical French lady and not an Anglo-Saxon man.

The next morning I made my way, via the RER (the hefty double decker underground train) to Gare de Lyon, the station that serves the south of the country. I take the TGV _Train a Grande-Vitesse _ to Marseille. The display in the carriage mostly indicates we are travelling at 300kmh or 186 miles per hour. It feels as unfussy as if we were travelling at just 50 mph.

This is my first visit to France's second largest city, a port on the Mediterranean, known for its large North African population. It's laid-back, graffiti-etched, beggar-filled but still kind of a nice place to be... if you stay in the central area.

I have a _night off_, something I try to avoid! Was hoping to find some kind of classical concert, but nothing on, so I linger over my Quay-side meal in the Vieux (old) Port, which is the tourist and cultural hub.

The next day I explore on foot, getting up to the notable Basilicia at the top of the hill to enjoy the views. I'm not a great tourist, so essentially I'm wandering around and killing time, I return to my room, do a little work on the computer then snooze through the afternoon.

The _Opera Municipal_ dates from the late 19c and seats 1800 but more on this later. Just because an opera house isn't in the capital, doesn't mean it's provincial, but this one surely is. A refurbishment is long overdue. There's a painting in the 1st tier lobby area with a 12" gash in it!

I didn't manage to buy my opera ticket online (due to arcane website) but sensed it would be easy to buy one at the box office, and so it proved. For €64 I had a 1st tier, 2nd row centre seat. How good is that, I thought! I found out later when I tried to sit in it. The seats are so stupidly soft and low that a fully-grown man like me (6'2") has his knees at chest height. I attracted the usherette's attention (my predicament is all too obvious) and she finds a more suitable seat for me... and unlocks a 5-seat box at the back of the 1st tier, all for myself. Sight and sound is perfection. Seat hint for Marseille: 1st tier boxes for sound, or stalls, where seats are spacious.

During the interval I wandered around the house as I tend to do. The second tier is not unlike the 1st, but rather higher. Well above the proscenium arch. If that's not high enough or cheap enough there's the 3rd tier, high enough to give an experienced mountaineer vertigo. It's insane and I doubt there's enough mad people in Marseille to fill these seats!

The compelling reason for my visit was to see a classic French opera in a classic French house. Both first times for me. Ambroise Thomas's *Hamlet*.

The production is a revival from 2010 and it's just about worth reviving. Set in a late Victorian era (all top hats and tales), it doesn't make any sense, in an opera that is already mangling Shakespeare's play. There is compensation in the excellent title role performance by Canadian Jean-François Lapointe. He's young, handsome and faultless in (bari)tone.

A mention too for Patrizia Ciofi as Ophélie. She's attractive with a ripe and pleasing soprano tone, but her lines lack natural musicality, therefore she was a rather exposed in the mad scene.

So ends my trip. Inevitably one's departure from Marseille will involve the very pleasant Saint Charles railway station where a train to anywhere or bus shuttle to the airport (30 mins) awaits.

I'd happily return the opera in Marseille for the right performance... and if I could have my box seat again.

Pricing notes:
Eurostar £56 (variable pricing, you could pay more or less).
TGV €40 (variably pricing)
Opera tickets €10-€80
Marseille hotels - plenty at good value in walking distance of the opera and old port, I stayed at an Ibis.


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