Few Paris buildings are as spectacular as the Opera Garnier. A virtual palace it anchors one of Baron Haussmann’s famous axes. Surrounded on four sides by traffic-choked roads, the Opera suffers for its location and had lost most of its patina. In the 1990’s the French government launched an ambitious total restoration to be fazed over 12 years. In 1995, the theater and stage were restored and modernized. In 2000, the newly cleaned entry façade was unveiled, exposing a variety of colored marbles and blinding gold statues. In May, the Grand Foyer reopened after a five-million-dollar face-lift.