The Paris Moment

First, I need to remind myself and anyone reading my blogs, that I write them as a sort of diary about a trip. If I don’t write these stories while they are happening, I won’t remember them after the trip ends.

I say that because this entry is about feelings and my feelings now just haven’t been the same as they were the first time I came to Paris. It was November 1997- 27 years ago and I had been dreaming about it from my first French classes 35 years before. I came close a couple of times, but no luck. When I finally made it, my first stop was Sacre Coeur. I stood there, looking out over the city, with tears filling my eyes and just kept thinking, “This is Paris — I’m finally here - I don’t believe it.” It was that way for the whole trip.

It has been long enough since that first trip that I expected to be emotional this time also, but it hasn’t been the same. In fact, the crowds everywhere have made me uncomfortable, and not getting excited about anything has been a real letdown.

Until last night. I finally had my “Paris Moment” and the mystique and my love for this city came flooding back. What and when and where and why? It’s probably ridiculous to most people, but a piece of music and a dance in a particular location brought the tears, awe, and joy of seeing an incomparable symbol of Paris, exactly where it became that symbol. Have you guessed the what and where? The music - Offenbach‘s “Orpheus in the Underworld” and the dance - the Can-Can, performed where it all began - the Moulin Rouge!  

Going to the Moulin Rouge in the first place was a hard decision because there are several famous but less expensive cabarets in Paris. Knowing that Brian isn’t a big fan of dance centered entertainment and that the Can-Can wouldn’t have any special meaning to him did cause a little hesitation in my trip planning. Now I’m so thankful that I decided to indulge myself because it’s what I’ll remember the most.

The Moulin Rouge is a huge cabaret, a dinner theater for the customers willing to spend the extra money. We weren’t, so we just got a bottle of champagne. The decor is likely the same style it’s been for over a hundred plus years. I was entranced by the gorgeous costumes - feathers, head pieces, wings, all sparkly and colorful and lush. The costumes, scenery, dance precision, and the  vocal talents by the whole cast of beautiful dancers alone would have been worth the price of admission, but there were also spectacular specialty acts that balanced out the dancing. Ok, yes, it’s for adult audiences because for most of the show, the female dancers’ breasts were on full display (but not in a lascivious or pornographic manner).

And then came the Can-Can! The music, high kicks, flirty upraised skirts, the splits and acrobatics.  My Paris moment, tears and all.