Paris Day 2 — Sunday Escapades

It was a pretty slow start to the day and we both were feeling a tad rubbish with runny noses. I set an alarm anyways and got up at 8.30am showering and heading into the kitchen to make a cup of tea and breakfast. Julien and Ben has obviously both gone to work as no one was in the house. We spent a couple of hours preparing for the day and working out what we were doing. Julien had left a note on the table of some thing's he recommended. Leaving the house at about 11am we planned to walk up the only hill Paris has called Montmartre. It was another sunny and warm day and it was a pleasant stroll up the hill. Montmartre is lovely and there were so many cute wee cobblestone lanes filled with art shops, patisseries and gelato stores. There were multiple artists on the street all wanting to paint your picture with charcoal. There was a small display of paintings that was full of Paris's buildings with vibrant coloured flowers all over them. I would have loved to purchase a small one but they were still €70 which we really can't afford right now.

We visited a church called the Basilique Du Sacre-Coeur that had a huge dome inside with a painting of Christ. We arnt religious so lighting a candle for either €3 or €10 was not our thing, man they are certainly making a lot of money off those though! We were about to leave when we found a path down the side of the church that was the paid entrance to the climb to the top of the dome. It cost us €6 each and you had to climb 300 stairs up in a very narrow staircase. So narrow Lew had to duck and also couldn't turn around with his bag in his back it was that small and incredibly claustrophobic. We wernt too out of breath at the top but feeling a bit dizzy from winding around and around one way all the way up. You had access to the full way around the top of the church which provided incredible panoramic views of Paris. The best thing was that it wasn't very busy and you wernt fighting for a spot to get a good picture. We stayed up there for a good half an hour taking photos and soaking up the view before walking back down another 300 stairs to the ground. This staircase felt even smaller as it didn't have windows like the other one did. Once on the bottom we headed back into the little lanes to find something for lunch. We had snacked on some salt and vinegar chips at the top of the church but we didn't really think it was appropriate to eat up there! I had noticed a shop that from a glance looked like it sold incredible food so we went to find that. It was called La Galette Des Moulins and had very tasty looking wraps and cheese and bacon rolls. They had lists of all the allergens in them so I was able to google translate and work out what was dairy free. It cost us €9.80 ($16 NZD) and we could use the bathroom - it seems difficult to find free bathrooms in Paris and even if there is some in the street there is often a que. We have also noticed in Paris that you get charged more money for your food if you choose to eat inside the cafe rather than takeaway. They would have added a full 2 euros onto the cost of our lunch if we sat in their cramped little area with people smoking.

Using the city mapper app we found our way to the closest subway to get to the Notre Dame Cathedral. There are two islands in the middle of the Seine called the Ile De La Cite which is where the Notre Dame is and Ile Saint-Louis both joined together with bridges to each other and the mainland. But it barely looks like an island. Around the Notre Dame there are tourists everywhere with lots of armed police. We always feel a bit more uneasy in places like this and prefer less touristy destinations. Anyhow it is another one of those things you just have to do so we went in the line to head inside. They seem to like having you open your bag and they wave a wand around. I don't actually know if they pick anything up since they never want to check lews camera equipment out like they do in the airport. I feel like the overall ambiance of the Notre Dame is lost on us since we are not religious but we appreciate the shear feat it would have been to build such a grand building back in 1163 ac. It wasn't actually finished until 1350 ac as they added on bits and made the windows larger. Over a period of a year the Notre Dame has 15 million visitors which seems like a insane amount. They have it well thought out though with lots of trinkets inside that you can purchase plus the lighting of a candle at a similar price to the previous church we went to. We did the loop around the church and despite the signs everywhere saying no photographs people were ignoring them. I decided I would do the same and took a quick snap of the stain glass windows and the dome.

Post leaving the Notre Dame we perused the surrounding streets on the island and then crossed over to Ile Saint-Louis. We contemplated buying some gelato from here as it is very well known but also expensive (€3 for 1 scoop). There were lots of little shops selling all sorts including boiled home made sweets. We sat down on a bench overlooking the Seine and in the sunshine and contemplated our next move. Lew was struggling to haul his large bag full of camera gear around so during the afternoon we have frequent stops. We decided that there was a place back in Le Marais called Place Des Vosges which is a park surrounded by old buildings. Its original name is Palace Royale and it is the oldest planned square in Paris. We walked around it and then went back to a gelato place where we got four different types of gelato in a cup for €4.70 ($7.70 NZD). We chose banana, chocolate, lemon and raspberry which were all sorbets so I could eat them 😁. We lay down on the grass enjoying the sorbet and sunshine whilst feeling a tad uncomfortable with the increased PDA (public display of affection) in Paris. There was a young couple in front of us making out. What seems to sum today up and maybe Paris as a whole is PDA, gelto and parks. Despite not wanting to leave we did want to try and get across town to see the Grand Palais which is a museum. However, when we got there none of the signs were in English and we walked along it trying to find another entrance. Asking someone they pointed us back in the direction we came from. We had no idea which line you went into or how you brought tickets and initially the line I went into the people in front were turned away and told to go into another line. We walked around to this other line and waited whilst others walked through the surrounding barricades and went in. We stood there for a good five minutes wondering what on earth was happening only to be then told in French - despite me saying we speak English in French (which I was very pleased about thanks to Paul who reminds us of how to say it during most FaceTime calls!). They proceeded to take lews bag and put it in a metal compartment obviously trying to tell us it was much to big to take into the museum. Lame! It said nothing about this on the website I was looking at.

By this stage it was 5pm anyways so we gave up heading back to the apartment. From here we had a cup of tea and read some emails before going out for an early dinner to a place down the road called James Bun. It was Vietnamese cuisine and not overly expensive. We both had a Bo Bun which we thought was similar to a Bao but actually very different as it came deconstructed in a bowel. The food very well presented and very tasty! We were pleased and had a bit of time to get back to the apartment to change into something a tad more upmarket to head to Moulin Rouge. This was my family's present to Lewis for his birthday.

It was a short 6 minute walk to Moulin Rouge and from what I had gathered from the website the doors opened at 8pm and it was first in first served for seats. We decided to get there at about 7.40 guessing we would mill around with drinks waiting for the show to start. Infact we were some of the first people there and they let us through. Lots of people were already there eating dinner right in the middle around tables and they lead us to a table in the left hand corner. We were pretty annoyed we came so early and then you get seated right on the side. They also sit you face to face so lews back was to the stage. Once the man had left I told Lew to move around so he actually faced the stage. But 40 minutes later they moved him back and put another two people at our table. The poor Chinese girls could barely see past Lew. We really wernt impressed. I think the entire thing is going to be super overrated. You can already see the balustrades are worn and the plates we had on the table were well used. The pre show entertainment was a man and women singing but you could barely hear them over the live band. It was also freezing and I was in a tiny dress. Thank goodness I had brought my down jacket with me as well as my Turkish towel to use as a blanket. I was well rugged up. We had opted for the ticket with no champagne included when I booked it in NZ but the Chinese girls next to us got a bottle and it was a little awkward. Perhaps if we had an entire bottle of champagne between us we would enjoy it more? Anyways we shall see if the show is actually better than the hospitality so far.

Ok so I wrote the above before the show. But WOW! It was actually very much worth going to see. We probably should have read up on the story line before watching the show as we weren't exactly aware of a story through out the show. One thing I must say is that it was rather risqué and at times very distracting. I'm talking about topless dancers and G-strings. From a nurses point of view I spent a lot of time distracted by assessing the appearance of each dancer. There were a few that looked a tad malnourished but probably more like dancers who dance multiple shows a day. I mean they live in a city full of bread, how can you be malnourished!

I had to keep reminding myself to watch the show instead of the bouncing body parts of the dancers! I know that sounds terrible and Lew has a much better excuse for assessing these body parts than me! But don't judge, you will have to see for yourself! The costumes were extravagant and there was one part of the show where they were in this ball of red fluff around them like a tomato and then halfway through the dance they released the fluffy things and it became a skirt. I have no idea how they fasten the headdresses on that they were wearing either as they moved around, up and down. I feel like they need to be bolted into their heads to stay on. Probably our favourite part of the show were the three circus acts they had to break up the dancing. The first was by far my favourite and it was a young couple on rollar skates on a small 2m circle stage on top of the actual stage. Their act included having a lot of chemistry but also the man holding the women above his head and spinning madly. At this point Lew was a bit like "Oh I'm sure I could do that with you" (hell no were we even going to try!) but the following acts I had sweaty palms watching them. It included fastening ropes around his neck which she held onto with her feet and spun around. Another part he again had a shorter rope round his neck and also fastened one to the circumference of her head. I cant even describe how they did it but she ended up spinning very fast attached to his neck. My descriptions cant even do this act justice, It was far better than anything you would see figure skaters doing on the ice!

The circus acts were broken up with more boobs and bums basically and next came another young couple who had a killer routine with a giant hoop. They moved inside it very fast, switching positions as they went - once again you have to see it for yourself!

There was also a point in the show where a large tank of water came up from the ground with pythons in it. A women dived in and swim amongst them. I don't know what part of the story this symbolises but from what we could see the snakes were more interested in escaping than her. She had to keep grabbing the pythons and wrapping them around herself. The other animals they had were miniature ponies which the topless dancers danced with.

The final circus act was a couple that had the least on stage chemistry but were still the crowd favourite. Basically it was a show of strength and balance and the man was able to lift the women up above his head and basically throw her around in all sorts of positions. You could see their muscles straining and their abs shaking just because of the shear feat of holding this women in the position he was in. The crowds favourite was the act with a chair with foot straps where he stood and she was upside down above him. He then leaned backwards over the chair lowering her to the ground and then coming back up. Lew saw right through it and explained that the front legs of the chair were probably longer and going down into the stage. He always has to ruin things like that by over analysing it! He said that it would be a hard manoeuvre but they have made it look harder than it actually is.

They has singers floating from the ceiling and moving stages. It was certainly a show of bright lights and exotic costumes and we did enjoy it after all. However, the seats were very uncomfortable and I was covered in a makeshift blanket and jacket the entire time. Plus Lew had to try and turn himself around to the stage hurting his neck Just to watch. It's still a large money making business and I am sure there are shows just as great out there . We didn't even want to buy any wine since it was about $200 NZD per bottle. The food that we saw come out was very expensive for the amount you get but overall I would say that it was a good experience.

When we were leaving the venue there were people lining up for another show and we were wondering whether the same dancers had to dance that all again or whether they had another cast. Lew found an article that a Scottish dancer wrote explaining the day to day life of working as a dancer for Moulin Rouge. It seems when your a new or younger dancers to the crew or a 'Doris's girl" you have to perform the Can Can which is what Moulin Rouge is famous for but it is also the most gruelling dance twice a night six days a week. From a can can dancer they progress up to being topless dancers which is seen as a badge of honour since they don't have to do the can can twice in one night. It does seem that they are very concerned at monitoring the girls weight and advice against further exercise other than dancing.

Anyways that was all we had time to research as it was about 11pm when we got back to the apartment. We were so cold we had to have yet another shower and then headed to bed.