Moulin Rouge

A bit of a grey old day today, but not enough to dampen the mood of these intrepid explorers.  Or something.  Today was Moulin Rouge day, but the show didn’t start until 11pm so there was plenty to do in the meantime.  Tim & I were pretty keen to see the Catacombs while Bec checked out a medieval museum, so we went our separate ways and after a while of wandering and chatting found ourselves outside the entrance – along with half of the rest of Paris.  Seriously, the queue was around the block.

Who would have thought there was so much interest in old bones?  We were all meeting up again an hour or so later, so time was against us and we decided that it wasn’t going to happen today.  Obviously being a little disappointed we had to console ourselves with a beer and food at a nearby pub.  Learning from experience, we didn’t order the large option…

Back to the Luxemburg gardens for a wander round (including an encounter with the grass police.  Seriously.  He had a uniform and whistle and everything, and blew it frenetically while waving his arms at us to let us know that the grass was only for looking at and certainly not for standing on…), then I had the pleasure of having to go and find some decent clothes to wear to the show tonight (it’s definitely a dress-up affair).  Wandered up the Boulevard Saint Michel for a while until I was lured into a shop by the proprietor with great promises of … well, I’m not sure actually as his spiel was all in French.  Fortunately he did speak some English and between the two of us managed to figure out what I wanted in the way of shoes, trousers & belt, negotiated an appropriate discount and even got the trousers taken up for free.  All in all a successful shopping expedition in my books – spent a little more than I wanted to but hey, that’s the story of the trip so far so why break the habit now…

Back to the apartment, met up with everyone again (including Greer, Tim’s girlfriend who was joining us for the weekend) and we all transformed ourselves from scruffy backpackers into things of great beauty.  Some with more success than others, obviously … well, I can’t help it if I show everyone up, you know? Ahem.  Yes.  Well.  So we trotted off towards a restaurant that had been highly recommended in the guide book that we’ve got – unfortunately we weren’t the only ones aware of this place, it appears, as the queue was out the door and we were short on time.  So we found another place nearby that was actually pretty good – got to try some new taste sensations including fois gras which (leaving aside the ethics of it) actually wasn’t all that amazing.  But oh well, the rest of the meal was very good.  Had to bolt it down which was a bit of a shame, but all was forgotten once we got to the Moulin Rouge, met up with Tim’s brother Dom and his other half Bec (they’re coincidentally in Paris this weekend as well) and went inside.  No photos (they actually take your cameras off you at the door) but I have to say it was a very enjoyable show.  Tacky?  Somewhat.  Tawdry?  Well, there’s breasts as far as the eye can see although (believe it or not) you do kinda stop noticing them by the end of the show.  But the costumes are fantastic, the atmosphere is great (helped by the half a bottle of champagne each that’s included in the ticket price) and some of the performers (especially the individual and double acts) are very impressive.  And let’s face it, watching beautiful women dancing round with their breasts out isn’t a bad way to spend the evening.  I am a guy after all…

Trying to find a cab in the red light district at two in the morning in Paris was as much fun as expected (highlights included being quoted 50 euros by some dodgy unlicensed taxi driver and being solicited to go into sex shows every 100 yards), but we eventually managed to find an empty cab and got home (for 10 euros!) happy and knackered around 3.  All good fun!