Surprises at the Moulin Rouge

The French Can-Can girls
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After countless late nights and early mornings we had a lazy start to this fine Sunday morning until we were rudely interrupted and kicked out of our room at 11am by the cleaner. I was still lounging around in my PJs reading and Mills was in the shower but we hurridly dressed and went to the patisserie 'Laurent' just across the road where we grabbed a ready made chicken baguette for brunch. We then returned to our newly cleaned room and started to get ready for our outing to The Moulin Rouge that afternoon. We fancied ourselves up as best we could (make up, earings and my hair up was about as fancy as I could manage out of my backpack) and at 1pm we wandered down through the streets of Montmarte. After passing numerous sex shops, live peep shows, lap dancers and table dancers and browsing in some gift stores (not of sexual orientation) we lined up on the red carpet of the Moulin Rouge just before 2 o'clock. We were escorted to our table shortly after by a man clad in a tuxedo and a bottle of champagne was awaiting us chilled on ice in a silver bucket. The candle on the table flickered it it's red lamp and after Justin was given a beer and I had my drink poured it wasn't long before the entertainment began.

The pink finale girls
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The chorus came out in tight fitting, shiny lyrcra suits with top hats and diamontes and soon after they entered they all ripped their pants off and continued dancing in white g-string leotards. It didn't stop there as we also quickly realised that there was a troupe of about 10 girls who danced every routine topless, their costumes complimentary to the other girls but minus a few vital strips of fabric! The show was one suprise after another with a practically nude girl dancing and shimmering in a water filled aquarium that rose from the stage and was fill with huge snakes which she draped all over herself. There was also a mime comedian who was very funny and a duo who performed these extraordinary balance and strength routines such as the guy in a one handed hand stand with the girl standing on his feet and then the girl balancing upside down on his head while he did some amazing contortion-like moves on the stage, they were incredible. Obviously we saw the traditinal French can-can for what the Moulin Rogue is truly famous for.....flips, dancing, kicks and splits while wearing frilly skirts and knickers and calling out in excitement! My favourite scene was the finale with all the girls in pink and silver costumes with diamonds and feathers and their pink feather skirts like a peacock tail had tiny fairy lights that glowed in the semi-dark against the pink.

All in all it was a great show, the choreography was basic and at times terrible and they did little to promote male dancers as all their costumes were poofy and dance moves terrible but the extravagance was amazing, the costumes and sets colourful and exhurberant and the music fantastic. We both had a great time and a little too much champagne for me!