Thursday, 29 June 2006 Sumi and I took the No. 27 to the old Opera House, Le Palais Garnier. We didn't take the tour, but roamed around by ourselves. It was built on the orders of Napoleon III as part of the great Parisian reconstruction project carried out by Baron Haussmann. The project for an opera house was put out to competion and was won by Charles Garnier, an unknown 35-year-old architect. Building work, which lasted fifteen years, from 1860 (the year my grandfather Boust was born) to 1875. When it first opened people would buy tickets to anything that was playing, it didn't matter what, because the interior was so beautiful that it was the show. Afterwards, we found a great Japanese restaurant for lunch.