A Day of Two Halves!

From the Sacre Coeur to the Moulin Rouge, we knew at the start of the day that this was going to be different.

We had a leisurely breakfast and decided to walk through the spitting rain to the Basilica at the summit of Montmartre, the highest point of the city. It was almost an hours walk but well worth it, and even though the weather was terrible, the views of the city were beautiful. We also decided to climb the 300 steps to the top of the Dome; it was really windy and the rain was beating down but when in Rome....






After all the strenuous activity, we sauntered along the cobbled streets of Montmartre ending up at Artists Square. We stopped at one of the cafes, Chez Eugene, for a coffee and to people watch. There were a few artists in the square and a few walking around those of us sitting outside under the heaters. One of the artists started speaking to us, while cutting around a piece of card. He said there was no obligation, but after we saw the final picture, we decided to buy. It was only 10 euros but a beautiful memento.



We finished our coffee and headed further down the hill, stopping again as I was desperate for a real French crepe. We found the strangest little cafe which was offering "Vin Chaud" or hot wine. I also had a crepe with homemade dark chocolate and pears, while Iain had more french onion soup. After a quiet lunch, as we were the only ones in the cafe, we headed back out towards Quartier Pigalle and the Moulin Rouge. We took a few pictures as we were planning to return later that evening for a show.




The weather was starting to get worse as we started walking back to the hotel so we found a little cafe to go in and have a wine. We stayed for an hour before decided we might as well go to the Arc de Triomphe as it wasn't too far out of the way. We also decided to stop off at one the many boulangeries and pick up a "baguette traditional" to keep us going before dinner.


By the time we got to the arch, it was chucking it down. We decided to go in anyway as the museum is all undercover. The Arc de Triomphe honours those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War 1. We got to the top but the rain hadn't abated so we didn't last too long. We took a few pictures then headed along the Champs Elysees back to our hotel so we could get ready for dinner and the Moulin Rouge.






Our plan was to take public transport as it was only a short hop on the metro; piece of advice, DO NOT travel during rush hour! We had to let at least four metro trains pass as people were completely packed in and it was pretty much impossible to get on and even get out. We eventually managed to follow a very determined woman and pushed our way into a carriage. It was only 3 stops, but i was wearing heels! Getting off the train was even worse, we actually had to push people out of the way. Instead of changing to another line for 2 stops, we decided to walk instead.

The plan was find a place for dinner then get to the Moulin Rouge for 8pm. It was starting to rain again so we looked for the nearest cafe, which wasn't too far away. We ended up at Bel-Ami, a lovely restaurant just a couple of minutes away from the Moulin Rouge. I decided to go with the steak tartare and some red wine which was delicious. After another drink, we walked to the Moulin Rouge, ready for the show ahead. 



After the bag check, our ticket was scanned and we were taken to our table. We were right at the front, in between an Austrian couple and a British couple, who we got to know a bit better, later in the evening. We had booked a ticket with champagne, which was served to us immediately. 

Unfortunately, photos are not allowed in the place but all I can say is that it is totally worth it. Apart from the many beautiful girls, and a few hunky men, there were snakes, roller skates, clowns and miniature Shetland ponies! One of the Austrian girls beside me did not enjoy the snakes one bit and was almost sitting on my lap by the end of that segment of the performance.

We seemed to hit it off with the British couple beside us, who "forced" us to buy another bottle of champagne. After a wonderful show and 90 euros later, we decided to go for "coffee" with the same couple. As it turned out, coffee is just another way of saying wine. We headed to the local Irish bar, getting a taxi back to our hotel at 3am (I think!).

Tomorrow is not going to be pretty...

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