Parisian Palette

As I mentioned in my last post, Kirstyn and I were going to see Moulin Rouge last night. Well the show was fantastic. It was a bit expensive, but well worth the money. It was reminiscent of the old burlesque shows. It had lots of extravagant dancing, plus some between set acts. The between set acts included an acrobatic duo, a juggler and a mime. All the acts were great, but the acrobats impressed me the most. The dancers were good as well. One of the dancers actually dove into a pool filled with snakes. We were just glad that we were not sitting up close. I was quite impressed with our seats, as we had just booked our tickets 5 hours before the show. It was first come first seated, and we got in line at 10:00 for the 11:00 show. This was good, as our seats were centre stage on a raised platform. Couldn’t have begged or bribed for better seats. The show ended after 1 am, and it was 2 am by the time we got back to the hotel. Needless to say, Kirstyn and I were a little tired in the morning.


Which brings us to Day 6 and the theme of the day is Parisian Palette. There were two options this morning. Those who wanted to walk to our destination started at 8:30 am, and those who wanted to take the coach had a 10 am start. Due to our late return, we chose the 10 am start. We boarded the bus and headed to the Louvre. We had a quick tour of the highlights, which include the Mona Lisa of course. The painting is quite small, but it is beautiful. We also saw the Venus de Milo, statues of Diana, the goddess of the hunt, and Nike, the goddess of victory. We got to see three other daVinci originals as well.


After the Louvre, we had a free afternoon. Kirstyn and I first headed to Starbucks for a snack, as it was 1:00 pm and then to the gift shop. Our real destination of the day was the Opera Garnier. We had to get there by 2:30 as that was the time of the last English guided tour. On the way there, it rained again. The rain only lasted about 10 minutes, but you would be amazed how soaked you can get in 10 minutes. We made the tour, which was very informative. The building was completed in 1875. It took Garnier, the architect who built the opera house, 20 years to finish it. His attention to detail was quite impressive.


By the time we were finished the tour and done with the gift shop, it was 4:30 pm and we were both getting hungry. We stopped at a café and had a baguette with jambon et emanthal (ham and swiss to Kirstyn and I). It was just about the best ham and swiss I’ve eaten. The people-watching was fun too!


We then made our way back to the hotel and spoke to Francesc about our day. On our way back, I saw a monument that I wanted him to identify. It was a monument to Napoleon Bonaparte. It was made of copper, like the Statue of Liberty, which explains why it is now green. Anyhow, Kirstyn and I have decided to make it a quiet night, as tomorrow is a full day at Versailles!


Hope you are all enjoying our trip! Au revoir mes amis!