Returning to Paris felt a bit like coming home. It is a nice city and we could easily spend more time here even after several visits. So we set out to make the most of our remaining day and a bit.
Friday night we went to Nouvelle Eve, one of the famous cabarets. We had been before about 30 years ago so thought the performers might have aged a bit since last time. But they still looked remarkably youthful. They do the dreaded audience participation, and disaster struck when I had to get up on stage for a dance competition. I didn't win (was robbed in fact.) But on the positive side photos were not allowed. It was certainly spectacular, but after the show was over we were sure that one visit each 30 years is more than enough, and we don't feel a great need to go back.
First stop for Saturday was Giverny, home of Claude Monet, the leader of the impressionist art movement. Most painters of his era were 'starving artists'. Monet started off that way but managed to do better than most and ended up owning a fine house and garden at Giverny. His cause was helped when early on he acquired a benefactor who supported him so he could concentrate more on his art. It's a long story, but as well as his benefactor's financial support he also ended up moving into his house and in due course married his wife and took over his 6 children.
Anyway, Giverny is a beautiful location with a wonderful garden. It took 7 gardeners to keep it up in Monet's time. Today it only takes 15. Apparently Monet spotted the property out of a passing train one day and immediately fell in love with it. Which goes to show that train journeys are rarely wasted.
To round off an intense day we checked out the Paris Opera house, the one with the Phantom that is. It has an incredibly ornate interior and is possibly the most opulent building that I have ever seen. Photos can't really do it justice, but here goes.
The Paris opera house is still regularly used today for opera and ballet with almost every performance being sold out. It really does have a lake in the bottom level, just like in the story. Sadly we couldn't visit the lake, and neither did we see the Phantom.
Tomorrow we hit the road on our own. Here's hoping for a quiet Sunday morning in Paris as we venture on to the city centre roads for the first time!
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