Friday April 18 - Paris

Well, time for Friday now!

I had aimed to get up around 9 am, so I’d have the whole day to sightsee around Paris. Well… as typical with me, that didn’t happen! I woke up to my alarm, but was too tired so I went back to sleep and work up around 11 am – oops! Benjamin had been doing some work in his room, so I ended up getting ready. By noon, I was out and about.

I was starting to realize that my time in Paris was coming close to an end, so I had to plan things out the best I could to see as much of what I wanted to see. So after stopping and getting another large bottle of water and a sandwich for lunch, I hopped on the metro and headed to the Palais Garnier. This is the old Opera house of Paris, the one that is famous for the Phantom of the Opera! It was a sight to see, even just from the outside. The stone carvings were amazing and the lobby inside kept on with that same style. There were some life-size statues of well known musicians in the lobby as well. I soon realized that I would have to pay to get beyond the lobby, as well as it wasn’t included in the Museum Pass. However, it was only 4 euros for a student so I had no problem with that! I just paid for myself because there didn’t seem to be that many guided tours and they were longer than the time I was allotting myself. So of course, the first thing I walked into was the grand staircase itself, and boy was it grand! I of course was snapping pictures here and there like usual!

I made my way under the stairs to an area that was huge and circular which was the Rotunde des Abonnés . After walking around down there – there wasn’t much to see, I came back up the grand stairs and headed on up them to the orchestra level. It was here that I started walking through the museum which was rather interesting and even held some of the original costumes for some of the more famous operas. However, there was not much to see on this level, especially since the auditorium was closed due to a rehearsal – which had me a bit bummed out. So I came back out and headed up to the 2^nd floor where the foyers are. This level not only had a spectacular view of the Grand Staircase, but the foyers themselves were incredible! I really loved the rotonde de la lune and the rotunde de la soleil (the Moon and Sun rotundas). It was really something to walk through there. And it was as I was coming down from this level, that I noticed people going in and out of one of the dress circle boxes in the auditorium – so I checked it out! They had finished with the rehearsal so they opened up two dress circle boxes so people could look inside the main auditorium. They were working on focusing the lights on stage so it was dark, but it was still something impressive to see! After stopping at the gift shop on my way out, I headed onto the next stop of my journey.

This was the Église de la Madeline which is unique in that it has a Greek layout. Surrounded by columns, it is hard to think that it could even be a church but the altar inside, as well as the whole inside itself is gorgeous. Nothing really elaborate like Notre Dame but it has a unique beauty to it that you wouldn’t expect from a church. It was in this church that the funeral for Frederic Chopin was held, as well as the place where Mozart’s Requiem mass was first performed in Paris.

However, as there was not much to see, I hopped back on the metro and continued along my way. I got off at the George V stop with the hope that it would be near the Louis Vuitton store – just so I could go look inside – and it was! This is the largest Louis Vuitton store in the world, and was definitely something to walk through. I didn’t know that the line not only had purses, but clothing, shoes, and so many other things. I glanced at the prices of somethings every here and there and was shocked – I knew they would be expensive but didn’t expect that much! A simple key chain of a Louis Vuitton purse that opened up as a mirror cost about 175 euros – which is over $200… for a keychain! The cheapest things I could find in there were the scarves which were still 85 euros. But that was enough day dreaming, so I headed on my way towards the Arc de Triumph.

Thankfully, the Arc de Triumph was open today – else I would’ve been really disappointed! So, after wasting time waiting in a line that ended up being just for the tickets, I headed on up to the actual entrance. (It was covered with the Museum Pass.) And of course, it was more spiral stone stairs going up to the inside levels – the French do love stone stairs! The first level was basically just talking about the inspiration for the Arc de Triumph from other Roman arches. The next level though was rather cool because it had displays showing how it was built as well as videos of various events held around the Arc de Triumph throughout its history. I of course kept going up to the top! The view was rather spectacular as I was able to look all the way down the Champs Elysées to the Louvre and even in the other way to the more modern Grand Arch building in the La Défense area. Though it was a great view, it was not much after the Eiffel Tower! It did have the advantage of being able to get pictures of Paris with the Eiffel Tower in the picture. After spending a little time walking around on the top, I headed back down to the bottom – stopping at the gift shop on the way! Since I had already been on the outside part of the Arc de Triumph, I just went back underground and headed back to the metro. One quick thing though … the roundabout that encircles the Arc de Triumph is as wide as an 8 lane road – with no lane markings! I couldn’t even think of trying to drive on there and getting off on any of the 12 streets from there!

So, after that success, I headed on the metro out to the Blanche metro stop right outside the Moulin Rouge – where I’ll be headed again tonight! After getting some pictures of the place in daylight, I decided to be brave and walk through the Pigelle area up the street to the base of the Sacré Coeur. This whole area is in Montmarte – the famous district where the seedy cabarets and bars are, plus was the home of many famous painters. Today, it is still a rather seedy area as the Pigelle area is the Red-Light district of Paris. So, I’m walking down the street with my hands in my pockets (just to be safe and avoid the people who try to tie things round your fingers and then make you pay for them!) as I’m passing so many sex and adult movie theaters that it was overwhelming. I think I was propositioned about 4 times to go into these adult theaters, but I always ignored them and kept on walking. I did pass the Chat Noir, which has the famous advertising poster of the black cat on the yellow background! Soon, I was out of the sex area and all the adult theaters and shops were replaced by tourist souvenir shops! So I stopped in a few and found some really great deals – as well as discovered that I had paid almost twice as much for some things I had already bought! Oh well, that’s the tough thing when dealing with souvenirs: you can only price around so much and you are never sure if you’ll have the time to get back to someplace again!

But soon enough, I was at the Anvers metro stop which is one street away from the base of the long climb up the steps to the Sacré Coeur. So I headed up the street and after getting some pictures, I opted to climb all of the steps instead of taking the shuttle train thing up the hill. So after ignoring and walking right past the guys trying to tie stuff and make you pay for it even if you don’t want to, I began the long tedius climb to the top – stopping about each level not only to take a break but to take more pictures! Soon enough, I was at the top of the steps and was looking up at the impressive Basilica de la Sacré Coeur. The view of Paris from here was amazing!

Of course, I got there in time to go inside Sacré Coeur itself, although there was no pictures allowed and we were limited to the outer aisles as it is always a place for meditation and prayer. So, since there was no cheap guide that talked about the places inside and the building itself that I could find for free, I bought the guidebook at the bookstore and used that to figure things out! The inside was gorgeous – from the wide open areas to the many chapels around the outskirts to the amazing mosaic in the choir. It was a bit crowded though so I couldn’t dwell too long on any of the places although I really loved the Chapel of the Virgin Mary and the Chapel of Saint Michael which had a beautiful statue of him.

After walking around, I realized that there was not only a crypt but you could go up top and go to the dome – so I paid the 5 euros for a ticket to both and started the very long and steep climb up a very tiny circular staircase. There were times that it seemed I would barely fit though! But soon enough I was up on the roof on the outside, and had to walk along part of the roof and up more steps to get to the dome itself! But once up there, the view was completely gorgeous! I was the only one up there as it would be closing soon and most people didn’t feel like paying to have to go up there – I guess they wouldn’t go up to the towers of Notre Dame then either! But I took a ton of pictures and after walking all the way around, I started working my way back down. When I got to the crypt, they were close to closing so I only had about 10 minutes in the crypt. So I did a brief walk through and saw the gorgeous statues including The Pieta in the Chapel of the Pieta.

I tend to be good at being the last people in places it seems!

But once I was back outside, I had to check the time as I needed to get back to Benjamin’s to change for tonight. So on my way back to the Anvers metro stop, I looked in some of the souvenirs shops but didn’t really find anything I wanted as I had already gotten most of the souvenirs. And after a quick ride on the metro, and a brief walk – I was back at Benjamin’s. I had gotten back there and realized I should’ve picked up something for dinner, so since I had over an hour to spare before I had to leave again, I headed back out and ended up getting a sandwich, drink and dessert combo and brought that back. Then I just relaxed and casually changed into my nice attire for the evening.

I ended up leaving Benjamin’s around 8 pm to head over to the Paris Vision office outside the Jardin de Tuileries. This is where I was to meet for the Paris Illuminations bus tour and Moulin Rouge package that I had booked online. Though, it had started to rain which was a bit upsetting. The couch bus arrived and we got off on our way – and I became rather disappointed. The tour itself was pre-recorded and you had to listen to it through cheap headphones. It did not always match up to what we were seeing or quite often there was nothing to listen too! Add to that the fact that it was raining and night – so my pictures weren’t even turning out decent so I just stopped and relaxed. There were some interesting things I had learned on the tour but overall it was a disappointment.

We then stayed on the bus as it dropped those not going to the Moulin Rouge off, and after picking up the people who had gotten the dinner with the Eiffel Tower package, we were all off towards the Moulin Rouge! We got dropped off about a block away and walked to join the long line already formed outside. We stood in this line for about 20 minutes while the show before us let out and the started letting us all in. There is a no jeans and sneaker rule which is why I dressed a bit nicer! But once we were under the well-known marquee and were inside the lobby area – it was completely amazing! Of course, there was red all over! I had bought the program while we were being ushered into our seats so I perused through that a bit. Then, we finally were lead in the main theater which was decorated in a very carnival themed way with the stage at one end. The tables were small and it was rather packed in… but it was still so worth it!

So the lights went down… and the curtain came up… the dancers took their spots on stage and as the music started, the waiters popped the champagne bottles and started pouring as the show began! It started with everyone in silver sequined suits just relaxing in the old garden outside the Moulin Rouge, and then the girls ripped their pants off… it went into a ballet like dance with the three main female stars and the others joined in… then they rotated offstage and started into the title number of the show – complete with the huge red headdresses, and tons of feathers, and topless girls! Next, in a review style, there was an acrobatic due that performed lifts and things that you would see in a Cirque du Soleil show.

This gave the dancers a break and time to change for the next themed part of the show – full of pirates, Indonesian, priestess… and snakes! There were some cool parts of this part of the show. For example, the pirate bit was funny, which led into the temple of the priestess. Here, the thrust part of the stage was retracted and a huge tank full of water was raised up. The priestess pushed the almost naked slave girl into the tank – along with three live pythons! The costumes in this part were really impressive and colorful as well. They even had the two lovers sing a duet while they traveled over the audience! – in neon colors of course!

This then led to a comic segment of a guy playing a set of drums with ping pong balls and his mouth – as well as him doing some juggling and other comedic stuff! From here, we went to the circus with the Doris girls! This was a rather comical section of the showgirl show as they had all sorts of things you’d find in the circus like clowns (wearing very little of course!), a Siamese-twin girls, Russian dancers, scantily dressed girls dressed as lions as they are “tamed,” and even six miniature horses! This all ended with the Doris Girls doing their traditional number in their military-like outfits.

Next, the review continued without an intermission and a ventriloquist came out and did a bit with his puppets, which was funny – and then had four people from the audience come up onstage and he did voices from their countries! It was humorous but I found it to take away from the fluidity of the entire show. He then brought out a live, really cute small white dog and he did a bit with her trying to get her to sing!

The next bit was one of the best parts of the night – the French Cancan! They girls and guys were wearing outfits of red, white, and blue (colors of the French flag!) with tons of ruffles! They performed the traditional Cancan which is really not what most people think it is. It’s actually a lot of acrobatic moves, such as flips and cartwheels, turning in circles with their legs held up in the air, etc… all the while they giggle and squeal! Even the guys were doing flips and stuff which really was impressive to see and was definitely one of the best parts of the show!

Then lastly, that went into the last themed segment of the show which basically traced the history and styles of the shows since the world wars till today. So that started out with a jive type feel of music in the forties and fifties, into the disco world of the seventies and into what was my favorite part of the show overall – the eighties bit. This was only the three main girls wearing silver leather and white boas, while all the guys were wearing open vests with bare chests – all in silver of course!. The music was typical eighties beat, but what really was cool was that a walkway lowered from the ceiling and then from there, a set of steps lowered to the stage floor to create a whole different kind of stage. From this, they went into the closing number which was all in pink, full of the bare-chested girls with huge pink plumes and feathers, with plumes that lit up as well… and the whole ensemble ended up on the stages singing the final number! Overall, it was really great to have watched, and to have been inside the Moulin Rouge itself was cool!

But when the show was over, we had to work our way out to the meeting spot rather quickly as the buses could only park for 15 min. That was disappointing because we couldn’t just look at things on our way out, or really even take a good picture outside of the Moulin Rouge lit up! I did manage to stop by the gift shop there and bought the traditional poster (I usually buy the poster and the program for all the shows that I see! – One of many things I collect! Haha!) But I got to the meeting point and was told which bus to get on so that it’d take us back to our hotel – though in my case they dropped me off nearby Benjamin’s place. On our way out, I got my last glimpse of the Moulin Rouge through the window!

Earlier, Benjamin told me that he and one of his friends were going to be out at the bars in the area and that I’m welcome to join them. I reminded him that the show is late and I probably wouldn’t be back till 2 am or so, so we worked out that I’d give him a call and could meet them wherever they were at – if they were still out! Well, as I was dressed up a bit too much for a bar of club, plus I had the program and poster, I stopped back at Benjamin’s place to change and figure out what was going on – and they were actually there! So I got to meet his friend Antoine, whose birthday is tomorrow and I was even invited to go out with them to celebrate. So we relaxed for a bit and chatted about things. They both are actors or at least work with short films and stage work so we talked a lot about theater. Then, after a bit, Antoine headed out… Benjamin headed to bed, and I crashed myself after checking email and things!