Eurotrip Day 4 – Paris

I am writing this on the TGV train sitting in the Gare de Lyon station in Paris. It will be our second leg of the trip…Barcelona! We are meeting Carrie there which will be epic.

We never realized the entrance to the Louvre was so small!

We woke up around 7am in order to get to the Louvre museum when it opened at 9 am. We through an amazing garden which leads up to the Louvre.

Unfortunately for us, we didn’t realize that the tickets we ordered online were through the equivalent to ticketmaster and our printout confirming our order was not enough! Luckily the Virgin record store down in the Louvre mall had a ticket printout but would only open at 10am.

Before.

Vero decided it was time for her to try an espresso. I have no idea why she wanted to do this. She doesn’t like coffee and I know some pretty heavy coffee drinkers that stay away from espressos! Nonetheless we found a little coffee shop in the Louvre mall, and ordered one, along with what they claimed is freshly squeezed orange juice but somehow had a lot of sugar in it.

After. Classic reaction from Vero.

I was crying with laughter after seeing vero’s face when she tasted the espresso! It was the utter look of disgust…not unlike the visage she sported trying a beer, and a caprinha in Rio. Luckily, I remember talking with Visar and Krista and Visar had mentioned that he puts some cream and sugar in his espresso so that made the experience more bearable for Vero!

Star wars fans take note! While in Virgin Records getting our tickets, they had blu-ray copies of the saga for sale before the release date. Also, it was selling for 99 euro which is definitely a rip-off considering the steal of a deal Benoit found for us at $67.

Off we went into the Louvre. Entering through a massive glass pyramid in the main courtyard (which I believe was built after a mass excavation in the 1990s), we arrive in the main lobby where we picked up a handy map which outlines the popular exhibits.

Two beauties.

Of course, we went to find the Mona Lisa which was surprisingly larger than I had thought considering I had heard it was smaller than people thought! It was enough after pushing m y w ay through hundreds of tourists hoping to get a photo.

Vero and I were intrigued by the immensity of some of the paintings in the Italian wing of the Louvre. Some paintings must have been 75 feet high! I cannot figure out how they were transported or even where they were painted originally. Where did artists find the space? In a church?

We loved the statues within the Louvre. Greek statues are like nothing I have ever seen. I cannot get over the amount of detail that was put into something year ago. We also enjoyed the Egyptian wing and seeing the sarcophagi and how mummies were made. Sure, we know this from television but to see an example in person…fantastic!

I was quite tired after three hours inside the Louvre. It was hot, and I hadn’t had much sleep the night before. Plus, my feet have been hurting quite a bit. This was leading up to me losing a lot of energy and I realize this isn’t a good thing while touring. After sitting in the garden for a bit (where we witnessed street vendors fleeing once they saw the cops coming!) we decided to return home for a quick nap before going to Moulin Rouge.

The only reason I would ever pack some dress shoes while traveling is for a funeral or to go to Moulin Rouge. But the shoes were my saving grace that night considering I found some blisters forming on my feet and my dress shoes are quite loose.

AMAZING!

Off we went to the Montmarte area of Paris where I had stayed the first time in Paris. I had remembered some sketchy patrons around the area but they are nowhere to be seen with the amount of tourists in Paris this time of year. We went to the Montmarte market which is home to cheesy souvenirs and really nice artwork which we picked up. We also went up to the Sacre Coeur church which has one of the most beautiful views of the city.

Welcome to the Moulin Rouge!

Arriving to Moulin rouge, vero was quite excited considering her love of the performing arts. Seeing that I am also a fan of this particular performing art (this goes out to all my friends from bachelor parties throughout the years!) I was excited to see what was so exciting about it, especially considering that dinner and a show for the both of us was more than $400!

Everyone was quite dressed up and upon entering the room, we asked if we could sit close to the stage. Considering I could prop my elbow up on stage, I would say we were close enough!

We had lovely company in the form of two sisters from Indianapolis; Roberta and Sue, who had been just in London and they chatted for a few hours throughout dinner with us. We couldn’t have asked for better dinner guests.

Vero had some ravioli with foie gras, duck, and some chocolate cake. I had a young rabbit pate of sorts, salmon, and some Brie cheese. I definitely was jealous of Vero’s duck and cake, but I cannot complain one bit about the salmon as it was excellent. We also had a half bottle of champagne and red wine. I am always finding it different to see Vero drink a few glasses of wine as she doesn’t drink usually.

I had left the table before the show started and when I returned, the stage had extended outwards to the pint where I couldn’t get to my seat unless I climbed under the table! The waiter came over and suggested I simply hop on stage and get to my seat that way. I quickly scuttled across and then he sa I’d to the table that if I’m on the stage I may as well stay up and perform with the rest of the cast! Har!

The show started with music, girls and guys in lavish costumes performing s dance routine. Then another song, then another song. It is quite impressive to see dancers up close. They are Quite athletic and some of the routines are quite intense; throwing people in the air, the splits, you name it, they did it.

I would say after fifteen minutes of dancing, they left the stage and a juggler came out to entertain while the dancers changed their costumes. Costume changes must have occurred 40 times in the two hours we were there.

The juggler was quite amazing and I felt bad when he ended up fumbling six things at one time. After another set of dances which had an Egyptian flavour to it, we were entertained by a gentleman who could play the drums by spitting ping pong balls out of his mouth! He would also spit them into the air, one, two, three at a time! I gagged each time he caught a ping pong ball in his mouth.

A pirate themed dance number took place then and I believe. This is when the live aquarium appeared. This was crazy. An aquarium emerged from the floor right in front us, holding a tank of water with what looked like three boa constrictors swimming in it. Then a girl is thrown into the tank and pretends to fight with them! At one point one of the fish had actually wrapped itself around her ankle to the point where she couldn’t get it off before the lights went out.

After that number, a ventriloquist came out and stole the show, especially when he got volunteers from the crowd on stage (including a guy from Toronto!)

The show ended with a traditional can can number and some futuristic number.

Two hours later, I can say that I have never seen something quite like this and it was very entertaining. For those out there always talking about the nudity…that wasn’t the show. The show is comprised of amazing dancers who just happen to be topless once in awhile.

Good Marilyn impression!

Vero and I left the Moulin Rouge experience quite satisfied and ended up home in time to wish her a happy birthday as it was midnight.