The Opéra Garnier was inaugurated on 5 January 1875, fifteen years after being commissioned by Emperor Napoleon III (nephew of Napoleon I). Some 171 architects submitted a design plan, interestingly, the competition was anonymous so the selection jury could not favour anyone. Art critics tried predicting which renown architect would be chosen... To everyone's surprise, it was a 35 year young and fairly unknown architect whose project was selected: Charles Garnier.

As the Opéra was being built, the Franco-Prussian war burst out and Napoleon III, defeated by Bismarck, was exiled in 1870. Fast forward to 1875, a new power was in place: President Mac Mahon and his government did not want to be associated with anyone who had anything to do with the former Emperor. So even though the young architect had been chosen anonymously, he was not invited to the inauguration of his creation... He had to buy his own ticket to attend!