have included an antechamber for the bodyguards; a salon for the
aides-de-camp; a large salon and a smaller one for the Empress; hat and
cloak rooms, etc. Moreover, there were to be in close proximity to the
entrance, stables for three coaches, for the outriders' horses, and for
the twenty-one horsemen acting as an escort; a station for a squad of
infantry of thirty-one men and ten cent-gardes, and a stable for the
horses of the latter; and, besides, a salon for fifteen or twenty
domestics. Thus arrangements had to be made to accommodate in this
part of the building about one hundred persons, fifty horses, and
half-a-dozen carriages. The fall of the Empire suggested some changes,
but ample provision still exists for emergencies.

"Its novel conception, perfect fitness, and rare splendor of material,
make the grand stairway unquestionably one of the most remarkable
features of the building. It presents to the spectator, who has just
passed through the subscribers' pavilion, a gorgeous picture. From
this point he beholds the ceiling formed by the central landing; this
and the columns sustaining it, built of Echaillon stone, are
honeycombed with arabesques and heavy with ornaments; the steps are of
white marble, and antique red marble balusters rest on green marble
sockets and support a balustrade of onyx. To the right and to the left
of this landing are stairways to the floor, on a plane with the first
row of boxes. On this floor stand thirty monolith columns of
Sarrancolin marble, with white marble bases and capitals. Pilasters of
peach-blossom and violet stone are against the corresponding walls.
More than fifty blocks had to be extracted from the quarry to find
thirty perfect monoliths.

"The foyer de la danse has particular interest for the habitues of the
Opera. It is a place of reunion to which subscribers to three
performances a week are admitted between the acts in accordance with a
usage established in 1870. Three immense looking-glasses cover the
back wall of the FOYER, and a chandelier with one hundred and seven
burners supplies it with light. The paintings include twenty oval
medallions, in which are portrayed the twenty danseuses of most
celebrity since the opera has existed in France, and four panels by M.
Boulanger, typifying 'The War Dance', 'The Rustic Dance', 'The Dance of
Love' and 'The Bacchic Dance.' While the ladies of the ballet receive
their admirers in this foyer, they can practise the