The Phantom at the opera Garnier

 Taking a trip to Paris is a dream for many people. And having the opportunity to visit the Opera is a rare and exquisite gift for anyone who is able to do so. Many of course have heard or seen the movie based on the story written by Gaston Leroux. His gothic love story has spawned many cultural classics such as scooby doo! 

Leroux's version of the story entails an actor who suffers disfigurement due to a fire at the theater. not wanting to be seen he remains in the theater, living under the floorboards, and between the ceiling tiles. He peeks at all who come, but at one moment he falls in love with our heroine, who bewitches him with her amazing voice. he is too ashamed to woo her properly so of course, he kidnaps her. During the kidnapping he sings to her, and acts as gentil as possible. Eventually, she falls in love with him, but too late the handsome but "bad"man saves her from him, and he dies in the end. It's very much like the beauty and beast story, which was also written by a french Man.

Accroding to the lure, Gaston Leroux claimed that a ghost truly did exhist at the opera, and that his story was based on the real ghost. 

In 1896 a grand chandelier did fall and kill one of the workers. 

There is in fact a lake that runs under the opera house. 

And perhaps closest to the story, there was a fire in 1873 which killed a ballarina and disfigured her fiancee, which according to the lure, hid from shame, and wanting to stay closer to his lover, in the underground tunnels until he died as a result of his injuries. 

Another one of the stories is that of an old woman who walks back and forth in front of hte opera house, waiting for her lover who never showed. 

according to frenchglimpse.com

The story of the ghost of the Opéra Garnier has traveled the whole world and is still intriguing, let’s go back to the story of this famous pianist named Ernest …

The Phantom of the Opera Garnier is the story of a little boy named Ernest who was orphaned in 1863. Indeed, his mother, a famous dancer at the Paris Opera, died following serious burns. by one of the opera’s gas ramps. A few years later, Ernest, now a virtuoso pianist, falls in love with an opera ballerina. However, ten years later, fate is fierce. The hall on rue Pelletier caught fire during a ballet rehearsal. Ernest sees his beloved die before his eyes … Everyone believes him dead after the collapse of the building and yet strange events occur at the Palais Garnier.

The birth of the ghost

From morning till night, the ghost of Ernest seems to haunt the palace. While the sound of a piano echoes in a rehearsal room at night, a double bass player notices one morning that someone has corrected his score. Now that could only be a music expert like pianist Ernest. On May 20, 1896, in the splendor of the Palais Garnier, the large chandelier in the hall was taken down and killed a spectator during a performance of Gounod’s Faust. Legend has it that this spectator was seated in seat number 13.

Series of strange phenomena

Subsequently, a series of strange phenomena accredit the presence of the ghost: a machinist is found hanged, we could have concluded a suicide, except that the rope is missing! Shortly after, a dancer died after falling from a gallery. But, stranger still, a young singer, Christine Daaé, soprano, would have said to have met the famous Phantom of the Opera. She will become his favorite, and he will give her singing lessons, posing as the Angel of Music. Last unusual anecdote, the directors of the time were contacted by an individual demanding that he be given 20,000 francs per month and that he reserve box number 5 … (a box still visible today at the Opera! )

https://frenchglimpses.com/2021/11/01/paris-opera-house-ghost/