Paris in Rouge

Today was like a little bag of popping candy. Lots of unexpected fizz, and mouth tingling fun.
We explored the area of Montmartre; a quirky little area nestled amongst the clouds overlooking the entirety of Paris. We hobbled up hundreds of uneven stone stairs, the sky a background of grey, mottled with a tinge of blue as the sun struggled to break free. At the top, we turned around and saw the whole of Paris laying before us, like a worn out and much loved patchwork quilt.
The areas cobblestone streets are lined with little Parisian cafes, and art galleries, and many famous artists have been known to roam the district over the decades. A small square at the top of the converging streets held a mass of artists, selling their paintings and doing portraits for a fee. We have a tradition to bring home a piece of art from significant trips we take, and they adorn the walls of our house- each representing a time and a place (and a budget!) of our lives. The girls (ie. Audrey) has always been desperate to have her portrait done, so we agreed that this would be our piece of art for this trip. As we walked around, we had many people vying to draw the girls (they looked particularly cute today- more on that later), but we stumbled upon an unassuming artist with a very unique style of work that we all agreed was strikingly beautiful. We commissioned him to draw the girls and it was such a magical thing to watch our little people appear on his paper in front of our eyes, and through the eyes of a stranger. By the end of the sitting (about 30 mins) he had drawn such a crowd watching that it was about 4 people deep, and many photos of our girls are now floating around the world on random peoples cameras 😂 (the girls- ie Audrey was in her element).
It is a beautiful piece of art that will hang in our house to remind us of both this adventure, and this gorgeous stage of the girls lives. 💖
But!! The fizz didn’t end there!! This afternoon we ticked a massive bucket list item, we got frocked up and went to the Moulin Rouge!! It was… hard to describe…! It was dazzling, and sparkly and filled with beautiful women with legs up to the skies. The dancing was overshadowed by the stunning costumes and stage sets, and the most magnificent performance by a team of two men who’s strength and agility to lift and contort themselves really was something I think I’ll never forget.
We could see 2 other children in the entire area, and Nick and I were the next youngest by I would say…30- 40 years. The demographic was a little like you get on the scenic river cruises down the Rhine (yep mum- I’m looking at you- you would ROCK this place). The girls LOVED it, and Nick had the breast time (I mean BEST time🙊…). Most of the girls it seemed had forgotten to wear their brassieres to work today, and the costumes seemed to be missing the front section of their tops (I suppose the costume departments budget couldn’t stretch that far. I imagine crystals are very expensive…) and the show was QUITE cheeky 😉 but no one seemed to mind (especially the 80 year olds in the front sections). They actually (legitimately) had an first aid crew in the foyer on standby. I guess cardiac arrests might be quite common at these shows… hmmm…
But to be honest, a little top nudity aside, the show was really well done, and the girls beamed the whole time (pun intended for the dancers…). Potentially the best part was the bottle of champagne the man plopped infront of Nick and I that we didn’t realise was included in our ticket… the fizz was good 👍🏻Read more