Paris, France – Moulin Rouge & La Belle et la Bete
While abroad M and I have been trying to commemorate every celebration with a trip. It gives us a good excuse to travel.
For M’s birthday there were two parts. The first was the actual weekend of is birthday when we traveled Paris. Our weekend was fully booked. We arrived in the early morning, dropped off our bags at the hotel and wondered the streets.
We visited the Luxembourg gardens, which is a beautiful large park. There are fountains, fruit and vegetable gardens, kangaroos, a zoo, and lots of shady trees to sit under. After looking around a bit we decided to grab some lunch.
Typically when Americans visit Paris they search out garlic escargot, rich red wine, buttery bread, and sweet creme brûlées. But for us, Paris now means Chipotle. It is one of the few cities in Europe that has one of our favorite American chains and we like to take full advantage.
After our Chipotle we went back to the hotel for a nap, so we can stay up super late to see the Moulin Rouge! It has been on our bucket list for a while and it was just a matter of time before we caved to the overpriced tickets.
Since arriving in France we have been searching for some great Chinese food. Well, American Chinese food. We took this opportunity to try out a place for dinner, it was ok. But nothing like home. If anyone has any suggestions for great Chinese restaurants in Europe we would love to hear!
After dinner we took the subway to 9th.
With Moulin Rouge, I was not sure what to expect. The only thing I really knew about the show was there were boobs and possibly the can-can. Boobs there were. Not so much can-can. Well not as much as I would have liked. I definitely expected more of a French show but the theme seemed to be kind of cooky and outdated. At one point some of the male dancers came out in bright pink leotards. It was odd.
Also, if you are planning on a visit, I would suggest getting there as soon as you can. They seated us in the nosebleed sections on a rickety card table in the very back. It was uncomfortable and frankly we found it to be pretty rude they would even consider putting guests back there and stuffing them into a corner like that. Just get there early.
After the show we enjoyed one of our favorite dessert restaurants. Just across from the Moulin Rouge is a cafe called Rouge Bis. There you will find the most incredible French Toast. Not like breakfast French toast. But sweet cinnamon-y fluffy bread drenched in a warm white chocolate cream sauce. It is incredible and we have gone out of our way, on more then one occasion, to enjoy our favorite dessert.
The following day we took the train north to Disneyland Paris. We have loved using our Disneyland passes to visit the park, it is like a little bit of home in Paris. Of course it rained, cause every time we go to Disneyland it rains. We enjoyed hot dogs covered in cheddar cheese, screamed on rides that try to replicate the real Disneyland and ate plenty of sweets.
Then came the real reason we went to Disneyland. They were premiering La Belle et La Bete! (Beauty and The Beast) It was the first screening in France and with our passes we were able to get in for free. We stuffed our pockets with overpriced Disney candy and watches Emma Watson play Belle. A perfect fit!
It wasn’t until the movie started that M and I realized it was going to be in French. Thank goodness I know the story so well 😉
