Some were exploring the boutiques, galleries and souvenir stands while others were having breakfast at outdoor cafés or nibbling on calorie-laden pastries from a bakery. A few history buffs were admiring the opera house and the eighteenth-century mansions or trying to determine where Napoleon Bonaparte stayed in 1796. Two performing arts venues have been at this location since 1776. The current opera house was built in 1885. Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur is shared with the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra and the Ballet Nice Méditerrannée.
