Singing, dancing, naked breasts, acrobatics, juggling, a talking dog, miniature ponies, swimming in a tank full of snakes and did I mention the talking dog?
Ah, an evening at the Moulin Rouge. What a way to end the day.
I started the day with a run to stretch the legs. A little bit up the road I came to a big park so entertained myself by running around and through that for a while. Then it was off to the shops. Mum wanted a couple of things so we headed for Boulevard Haussman, one of the main shopping streets in Paris. The Parisians seem to have a thing for little dogs and take them everywhere. Including into H&M.
We then headed in the direction of the Champ Elysees. The 2km avenue starts at Place de la Concorde. This end was fairly busy and surrounded by workmen, which we suspect is in preparation for Bastille Day on July 14 when there will be a military parade here. About half way toward the Arc de Triomphe, the shopping starts. I did some research afterwards and discovered the rents here can top $1.1million euros per 1100sq feet per year.
Although we were on a deadline to get home we decided to walk to the end and then made our way back a little in search of a metro station and a book shop. On the way we passed a woman and a man doing beautiful paintings of people's names. We watched for a while and when she was free I added my name and Kim's to her list. She only just finished Kim's name before she was interrupted by the police. She packed up quickly and showed them some paperwork but something must not have been quite right as the police kept the couple held up for a while and seemed to be writing out a ticket.
That night we headed for the Moulin Rouge. Mum organised the tickets through a tour company that must keep a supply each night. Our guide, Stephan, spoke about four languages on the way to the venue. Seems incredible that someone who is obviously so talented at languages is guiding our bus.
We were treated to a three-course dinner. I chose the rabbit tagine for entree, duck á lórange for main and a hazelnut gateaux for dessert. Throughout dinner we were entertained by some cabaret singers, but frankly, they were nothing special. Although the Japanese crowd enjoyed a couple of songs in their language.
At 9pm, the curtains went up on Feerie, the production showing there at the moment. Stephan explained it was difficult to translate but said it was similar to 'wonderland'. The problem with this show is putting it into words. I also saw more naked breasts than anyone needs to. And before any guys reading this get excited. If you think about the dancing these girls needed to do without a bra, you can safely assume these girls don't have much to get excited about.
The singing and dancing was spectacular, but there were a few acts that were simply amazing. One girl was dancing on the stage when a huge tank of water with pythons swimming around came up from the floor and she dived in, swimming and twirling around the snakes. My favourite was the ventriloquist. He brought a small dog on stage and did an act with it that was hilarious. I won't describe any more of it because I just can't do it justice. The show went for 90 minutes and as we left the crowd was lining up to see the late showing. The performers have to do it all over again.
The tour would have dropped us back at the apartment but we asked to go to the Eiffel Tower instead. It's a more relaxed place at night. The street vendors sell champagne and wine instead of water and people can sneak onto the grass, which is roped off and policed during the day. It was a bit chilly and we'd been walking all day so I just took a few pictures and left.
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