UK & Europe '24 Day 20 - Moulin Rouge, Chateau Versailles and the River Seine

Another beautiful day in Paris, with the temperature sitting around twenty degrees, but our day started as a hangover from yesterday, figuratively speaking. Last night we visited the Moulin Rouge and the entire experience was remarkable, at times bordering on surreal. They don't allow photography in the auditorium, although we did notice a few Insta types just couldn't resist one more duck face before the show started, but our duck face days are behind us, so all you have is my pretty words (mostly).

Entering the auditorium is like going through a little time warp, the decor suggesting a vaudeville influence, with a higher tone set with the little lamps illuminated on every table to create the cabaret atmosphere. The red curtains in front of the stage glittered as everyone took their seats, ordered their drinks and settled in for a couple of hours of song and dance. 

There are lots of things that spring to mind when people talk about the Moulin Rouge, mainly restricted to the Can Can and smutty stereotypes and those impressions can only come from someone who has witnessed the full spectacle of their Féérie show. Yes there were bare breasts, but the show was much much more than that. The opening number consisted of a song and dance number featuring the whole cast with slick dance moves and lots of colour against a lively backdrop. As the show progressed, the staging became progressively more detailed and impressive, taking full advantage of the stage's depth and length. The costuming was at times kaleidoscopic and it was hard to know at times where to look because there was so much going on, in the best kind of way. 

There was a solo act and a couple of duo acts interspersed with the ensemble numbers, and the strength of those performers was gob smacking as they balanced themselves and each other in the air, at times only joined by one hand. One of the performers placed a carafe on his head before his partner proceeded to stand on the carafe, on his head. But back to the staging. At one point, a glass (or perspex) pool rose from the stage in which one of the dancers performed; there was an interlude lit by ultraviolet light that featured the two main singers suspended above the audience, and then another moment whee another stage descended from the ceiling, steps unfolding from it to join the main stage, allowing the performers to move between the two spaces. This show was nothing short of spectacular, and well worth seeing when you're in Paris.

Heading back out into the street was crazy town. A traffic jam with horns and sirens blaring as we crossed the street to catch the night bus. One fellow tried to offer Chris a pass into a club, which was politely declined, then a crazy woman approached him and threw her lighter at his face. We hailed a cab and opted for safe passage home. Chris is fine.

We got up again around 8am and headed for Versailles. Getting there was pretty easy. A Metro from Chemin Vert to Invalides where we bought our return ticket and changed to the C line. The train was pretty full as you'd expect for a popular tourist destination and we arrived early for our booked time slot so we found a local boulangerie and picked up a couple of sandwiches and a coffee shop for this morning's caffeine. We sat in a little park off the main street to eat and drink, then wandered up to the Chateau, moving pretty quickly through security and into the display. Approaching the chateau, it was pretty clear we were in for a different experience to walking through the former palace room of the Louvre. The fences are gold, as are the window frames and some of the roofs. The place screams opulence before you even enter the golden gates.

Versailles was the country property used for hunting by French royalty and grew in a similar way to the Louvre, each successive King adding to it. Louis XIV seems to have been the big spender, with most construction happening during his reign, and the detail from ceiling to floor is unparalleled. Rococo ceilings, some with detailed and colourful scenes at their centre, flocked wall panelling in an array of colours and parquetry flooring contain bejewelled furnishings, expansive canopy beds and because the chateau's purpose is to tell the history of France, countless paintings by French painters portraying battle scenes, coronation and countless portraits of the kings and their families.  

The room of mirrors gleams as you move through it and the gallery of great battles has monstrously large paintings that rise from floor to ceiling, depicting France's defining moments in history. 

Moving towards the exit, you pass statues and busts of monarchs and others connected with the running of France's former monarchy before moving out towards the garden.

At first glance, it seemed like we were in for some disappointment with the gardens immediately outside having been dug up. None of the fountains were working today either and these surely would have made the gardens more spectacular, but what unfolded continued to surprise us at every turn. The geometry of the gardens below the main terrace are fascinating in their design, and as you move further along you see a staircase that leads to a fountain, and beyond that a vast tract of lawn, then another fountain, behind which is a gargantuan oblong lake. All of this is bordered by a wooded area, within which are intersecting pathways, sectioning off smaller outdoor rooms to enjoy with their own feature. We must have spent a good hour meandering around the site before deciding to head back up the hill to hop on the train back to Paris.

We disembarked at Pont de l'Alma to board a cruise vessel to see Paris from the Seine. Floating beneath the bridges, watching the historic buildings and scenery float by was a nice way to view the city and rest our hoofs as the boat sailed down the river and around the island on which the original city of Paris was established. Insta opportunities abounded as would-be viral models took to their floating catwalk to snap their best duck face in front of a Paris monument. It all, really, is a site to behold.

Dinner tonight was at a little French restaurant just around the corner from where we're staying. It's called Le Petite Marche and we were served by the loveliest waitress who had a very warm sense of humour, and the food was astonishingly good. My description of the food will never do it justice, but lets just say what the chef did with my duck, a banana and some mashed potato makes me want to learn how to cook French cuisine, for no other reason than to make myself mouth watering meals like we had tonight. The produce, of course, has a lot to do with it, and I've got very happy taste buds tonight. Can we top tonight's meal tomorrow? We're keen to find out!