affectionately called the palais garnier in honor of its architect, it took 14 years to build.tely decorated with columns and sculptures of famous figures in music and mythology, but if you think this is over the top, wait until you see what's inside. the grand stairway will take your breath away, especially if you try to run up and down its marble steps a few times. climbing these stairs, you'll notice how low each step is. that was to protect a lady's modesty. even though women wore long gowns, regular height steps might have exposed an ankle, a definite no-no back in those very straight-laced days. surrounding the grand stairway are small balconies for people watching. it seems that seeing who else was attending was as important as seeing the actual opera. to the left of the stairway is one of the jewels of palais garnier, a baroque style grand foyer, all aglitter and aglow in gold. (opera music) as cogsworth would say, "if it's not baroque, "don't fix it." the lush 2,000-seat auditorium boasts one of the largest stages in the world. in 1964, the ceiling was repainted by fre