FRANCE | Paris, day 4

March 23, 2004

We headed off to an area called Pigalle, a place well known to the world thanks to the Moulin Rouge, situated right in the middle of seedy sex shop row. I don't know if it was due to the mid-morning light, but this area wasn't nearly as intimidating and scuzzy as Sydney's King Cross district. Anyway, I spent very little time here because my intention was to get a ticket for a show at the ol' Moulin, but upon my discovery that the cheapest tickets cost 65 Euro for standing room only, I was a little turned off. It would have been an easy affirmative if "elegant attire" wasn't a stipulation and if there had been someone to accompany me. Standing at the bar to watch a bunch of semi-clothed can-can girls is not my idea of fun.

I recovered from that brief spell of disappointment, and we ventured on to Montmartre, hands down the definite highlight of my stay here. Montmartre is a whimsical community that extends from the Sacre Coeur, that beautiful marshmallow-hued cathedral on the perch of the hill, to its gardens below. Though this was magnificent in itself, I was most impressed with the Place du Tertre, a tiny square filled to the brim with artists who set up their easels and sketch away their day in hopes that a passing tourist will do more than smile and take a billion photos of their artwork. I am too cheap to accept the portraiture offers, mainly because I am too cheap and am too frightened to see the grotesque image that will surely appear.

After being attacked by a bunch of men trying to con us into watching some trick with a string, we found our way to Cafe Deux Moulins, the actual restaurant where Amelie was filmed. I had an overpriced steak (er... faux filet avec creme Rochefort) and fries, but it was worth seeing the cafe and immersing myself in restaurant smoke while I was eating. Yum. And heck, EVERYONE drinks wine with their meal, even the most rough and tumble people. Wine is the Frenchman's blood!

To escape from the rain, I took refuge in the Centre Pompidou. It's unfortunate that it was nothing more than that to me, because the art exhibits inside were fairly disappointing. Some of it was just too "out there" for me to appreciate, the kind of art done for the sake of making some high-brow statement. Anyhoo, I was slightly annoyed there, actually, because everyone had the same bright idea to escape from the rain at the same time. Not the best end to the day, but I shouldn't complain since I'm actually on vacation and you aren't. (*snort*)

Food note: today's gaufre -- chocolat et chantilly was amazing. The whipped cream here is definitely not of the Cool Whip sort. It's not too sweet, delicate, and delicious. Give me more.