m_oo / Muriel

Here is the pamphlet I got for Moulin Rouge this past December.

Soirée Dîner-Spectacle (7pm)
Dinner and Show + 1/2 Champagne
Menu: French Cancan = 145 euro
Menu: Toulouse-Lautrec = 160 euro
Menu: Belle Epoque = 175 euro

Show Only + 1/2 Champagne
9pm = 99 euro
11pm = 89 euro

Just incase anyone was wondering the prices…

Punk parisian boys were spitting into the air blowing thing in front of the Moulin Rouge, and some landed on my husband’s jacket while we were sitting there. If you know Paul, then you know he could’ve flipped out at the fact that someone else’s fluids were anywhere on his things. He covers his drinks if someone around him coughs for heaven’s sake…

So, he walked up to them and started asking for their jackets, pants, euros, anything to make them realize he was upset at their shenanigans. They were tattling on their friend who did it, saying to take his watch or belt. Hopefully, they got the idea that they can’t just do stuff like that and have no repercussions…

Moulin Rouge is very expensive for their dinner and show. Just a show is like 99 euro, so be prepared to spend a lot of money to get in. We didn’t go, even though I wanted to, but I realized we could better spend that money elsewhere. Perhaps next time, when we’re richer, we’ll splurge.

I don’t know why Paris is called the City of Lights, but the Eiffel Tower twinkling every hour in the evening for 10 minutes is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.

I have always loved France and all things French. I don’t know why, but perhaps it was a past life. My first visit here was with my new husband for our honeymoon, and I saved the Eiffel Tower for my 23rd birthday during our trip.

Granted, the tower is wonderful to see. It has beautiful lines and has a special place in my heart – but I was surprised that it was, well, fat. I don’t know how else to put it, but the tower is not “slender” and “thin” like as seen in photos. It’s probably some optical illusion because my pictures of it came out fine, looking like the ol’ tower I recognized. But, in person? Wow – chubby Eiffel, non?

Anyway! My tip: don’t let the “Bosnian” girls with their multilanguage signs ruin your day. They will walk up to you and everyone, several times, asking if you speak English and if you have food or money to give them.

One girl, right when we got there, kept asking us for food that we had in a small plastic bag. My husband stopped, which I think was his fault, and kept telling her no. SHE REACHED HER HAND into our plastic bag, saying “just one, just one” and grabbed the whole mess of cherries we had bought from Mireille’s little shop.

I couldn’t believe it. I was completely stunned.

After that, I was pretty upset, since those were for my birthday picnic, it was my first time here, etc. (Plus, those cherries weren’t cheap. At all.) I’m usually the person that wants to give money or food, but after that little stunt, I couldn’t stand any of those girls. Any time they came up to us, my husband would ask for euro, and we would tell them in French that their friend stole from us today and to get our food back.

They learned to leave us alone after a while…

Since I didn’t want that beginning to our visit to ruin the rest of the day, I got over it. At least, I didn’t let it bother me to where I didn’t enjoy the tower.

The line is long for the elevators, so buy tickets in advance if you can. Pickpockets abound in Paris, so I had a purse that zipped shut and no pockets. My husband carried his wallet in his front pocket and any extra cash in a flat carrying thing that latches to his belt loop and sits inside his pants. I know, somewhat gross, but the money didn’t touch him, just the pouch. We never got pickpocketed and never saw anything like that, but everyone will tell you to watch out.