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Saigon Opera House (The Quiet American) & Landmark Hotel Caravelle

Saigon Opera House (The Quiet American) & Landmark Hotel Caravelle

Recent trip to Saigon, former colony of France. Opera House built during Colonial era. Angelic muses and musical lyre at top of arch. I shot looking up in the...
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Recent trip to Saigon, former colony of France. Opera House built during Colonial era. Angelic muses and musical lyre at top of arch. I shot looking up in the dark, riding by on a cyclo pedicab. I didn't know what the decorative arts sculpture at top of building was until I viewed this picture later. This was where the movie newer version of The Quiet American was filmed. Graham Greene wrote the novel while staying at the Hotel Continental (not seen, to left of this Opera House). This building was the seat of the National Assembly of the Republic of South Vietnam, but since the "fall of Saigon," has once again become the Opera House for performing arts. To the right, is the landmark Hotel Caravelle (1959) where, during the "Vietnam War" period, many international journalists stayed (air conditioned, rooftop bar). Daily news briefings held at this hotel, and reportedly, some foreign correspondents preferred to gather news from fellow journalists returning from the fields, war zones, and wired them to their news agencies...giving rise to the expression "Caravelle News" : )
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