C&#39est la Vie (Paris, France)

Le Moulin Rouge We are on our way to check out Moulin Rouge and Ooh la la… This is probably Paris’ most celebrated cabaret. It was founded in 1889 and sits under its trademark red windmill which is actually a 1925 replica of the 19th-century original. Parisians don't tend to watch cabaret shows tourists do and viewers and voyeurs come by the busload. They love the dazzling, pseudo-bohemian productions starring women in two beads and a feather (or was that two feathers and a bead?) Anyways... (Interlude) Around the corner from Moulin Rouge the crowd gets edgier and faster, neon signs flash, pimps lean in doorways, sex shops sell everything you had never thought of and countless nationalities mix on the crowded sidewalks. Gentrified? maybe and somewhat "sanitized" the neighboring areas...are certainly not. Let's get dirty!!! (Interlude) Ahhh, the Paris nightlife, literally night and day. Hiding from the sun, the demons come out to play. So... Keep your girl close and your money, jewelry, passport, mobile phone and iPod even closer. Musee du Louvre The vast Palais du Louvre was constructed as a fortress by Philippe-Auguste in the early 13th century and rebuilt in the mid-16th century for use as a royal residence. The Revolutionary Convention turned it into a national museum in 1793. The paintings, sculptures and artefacts on display in the Louvre Museum have been amassed by subsequent French governments. Among them are works of art and artisanship from all over Europe and collections of Assyrian, Etruscan, Greek, Coptic and Islamic art and antiquities. Daunted by the richness and sheer size of the place, the Louvre may be the most actively avoided museum in the world by locals and visitors alike. Eventually, most people who visit, get lost on their way to da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. My advice; after checking out what you really wanted to see, choose a particular period or section of the Louvre and pretend that the rest is in another museum somewhere else across town. Walking around the Louvre got us hungry and that smell of fresh pancakes, hot pancakes on Paris' busy streets. The practical skill of the real Parisian pancake maker. Panthéon The domed landmark now known simply as the Panthéon was commissioned around 1750 as an abbey church dedicated to Ste Geneviève, but because of financial and structural problems it wasn’t completed until 1789. Two years later, the Constituent Assembly converted it into a secular mausoleum for the great men of the era of French liberty. A superb example of 18th-century neoclassicism, its ornate marble interior is gloomy in the extreme. Fake Ring Scam So I'm walking down the street, probably looking like a typical tourist. This lady sees me coming crosses into my path and bends over claiming she found a ring on the floor. Unaware, As I approach she tells me she found the ring on the floor but because of her religion she's not allowed to have or wear jewelry so she wants me to have it. Oh, and she also mentioned that she's new to Paris, can't find work and it's her birthday. I told her to trade the ring for money but she tells me she can't cause God is watching her and she's an illegal immigrant. We only gave her 2 euros but we were haunted with the moral decision as to what to do with the money once we exchange it and the fact we only gave her 2 euros. Those thoughts died in the train station to Milan as we overheard another couple talking about the same story. They give her 10 euros the first time and the second time they took the ring and kept walking. Wow, playing the religion card...creative. Musée d’Orsay Facing the Seine from quai Anatole France, the Musée d’Orsay is housed in a former train station (1900). It displays France’s national collection of paintings, sculptures, objets d’art and other works produced between the 1840s and 1914, including the fruits of the Impressionist, post-Impressionist and art nouveau movements. Oh some Parisian runway models...sweet!!!... Say good bye girls!!! Notre Dame It's like you can hear the organ throughout the city... Speaking of organs, this is the heart of Paris – so much so that distances from Paris to every part of metropolitan France are measured from the square in front of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris. A bronze star across the street from the cathedral’s main entrance marks the exact location of point zéro des routes de France. Notre Dame, the most visited site in Paris with upwards of 14 million people crossing its threshold a year, is not just a masterpiece of French Gothic architecture but was also the focus of Catholic Paris for seven centuries. Built on a site occupied by earlier churches, it was begun in 1163 according to the design of Bishop Maurice de Sully and largely completed by the early 14th century. The cathedral is on a very grand scale; the interior alone is 130m long, 48m wide and 35m high and can accommodate more than 6000 worshippers. Good thing we got some entertainment outside while waiting to climb the Notre Dame...Check this out!!! (Conclusion) Speaking of Paris has all but exhausted the superlatives that can reasonably be applied to any city. Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower – at sunrise, at sunset, at night – have been described countless times, as have the Seine and the subtle (and not-so-subtle) differences between the Left and Right Banks. But what writers have been unable to capture is the grandness and even the magic of this incomparable city. That being said. F.Y.I. learn french fast, the people here don't care about the English language. If speaking English, be prepared to get little to no help or little help with big attitude. It's not so much that they can't speak English, they purposely choose not too. As a tourist I felt more like a nuisance than a guest and factor in the high theft, high prices, clever scams, pushy vendors and high crowds Paris is the perfect place for you to lose all your money and valuables. Will they be offended by what I just said? No...because I'm speaking in English. From Paris' Bercy station we board an overnight train to Milan so I bid Paris good bye.

• Category

  Learning

• Season / Episode

  S. 2 / Ep. 3

• Release Date

  Aug 12, 2011

• Runtime

  12:26