Day 8- Luxembourg Castle and Moulin Rouge

Waking up even later than usual, the intensity of our adventures had begun taking their toll.  Sore and lethargic, i sent Bec out to get some breakfast which would be wholesome and fresh, something to revitalise us for the last few days.  Left to our own devices, Solomon and I enjoyed some lovely father-son bonding time which included such classical games as 'climb all the flimsy objects in the room' and 'hide and go play with that electrical socket'.  As we waited for Bec, the games evolved quickly to 'how long can i keep this kid alive till its mother gets back'.  Finally, and not a moment too soon, as Solomon prepared to perform a backflip-twisting-corkscrew off the coffee table, Bec returned.  Rather than being in possession of the wholesome breakfast we desperately required, Bec was holding a brand new hand bag...and some Pizza.

Though the pizza was actually very tasty, little did i know that the juicy tomato sauce and gooey mozzarella would combine with the week long of activities and walking, to make a drug well known to rapists worldwide, as Rohypnol.  After eating, we all took another long nap.

Once we had awoken, we got dressed and ready to head for the Luxembourg Gardens, which is an area of Paris reserved for children by Napoleon.  After all the difficulty we have been having with the pram in Paris, i was eager to see what kind of coffee drinking, cigar smoking children lived Paris.  The gardens were actually very beautiful.  Expanses of large green rows of trees arranged symmetrically around a large palace.  There was a large pond in front of the palace with which you could hire a remote control sail boat and sail around.  children were everywhere and their laughter and enjoyment filled the air.  It was a lovely place to let your children roam free and enjoy a dedicated space for good old fashioned outdoor fun.  The gardens were huge and walking from one side to the other would take a good 10 minutes.  We had read that there were special puppet shows held for children in this area on this day and we wandered around looking for the puppet theatre.  As we walked through the gardens, we walked past basketball courts, tennis courts, flying foxes, rows and rows of swings, play areas- the place was a paradise dedicated to Paris' children- it was wondrous.  We finally found the puppet theatre and learnt the next show would be in an hour, so we sat at a local cafe and ordered some ice cream.

Sitting down, enjoying our ice creams, Bec and I were interrupted by Solomons cries of frustration as he pressed his chest hard up, testing the strength of his restraints.  It was there that Solomon got his first real taste of Ice-cream.  Though the first taste was absolutely adorable as he licked his lips, wide eyed, and proceeded to stuff his fingers down his throat pushing the residue left on his mouth onto his tongue.  In a fit of kicking excitement, the gorgeous baby squealed in glee as a humble request for more- and we delivered.  This went on a few times, every time, the gap between the bites would get shorter and shorter.  Soon, his excited kicking transformed into frustrated dashes in the direction of the ice cream.  His gleeful squeals became wretched shrieks of anger as he tensed his fists out in front of him and let loose terrifying howls.  As he wriggled and squirmed uncontrollably, confined by the restraints of the pram, i realised something- our baby was addicted to crack.  Scared and confused, Bec and I both threw whatever remained of our ice cream cones into the pram and ran off, to the sound of growling and slurping whilst the pram rocked violently.  It was adorable.

After his ice cream fix, it was time to see the puppet show and we bought tickets for a seat in the theater.  The theater was small but purpose built and contained low seating specially designed for children.  Solomon's wondrous gazes at the other children were frequently following by shouts of excitement as his head darted from one small child to the next.  His excitement was infectious and we were all very happy to see him in such high spirits.  When the lights went down and the puppets came out- happily engaging in a french discourse, Solomon's eyes were transfixed on the stage as he tried to make sense of the animated characters.  For the first time in his life, Solomon was focused and attentive- it was the proudest moment of a fathers life...to date.....i bloody hope.  My moment of pride, however, ended abruptly when Solomon decided the theater was far too packed and it was far too hot and he was far too tired.  After about 10 minutes, We snuck out of the theater with the poor little fella barely able to hold his eyes open.

On the way back home we passed a very french toy shop which had all manners of timber crafted toys.  the shop was absolutely delightful- a colourful and unique variety of high quality toys which were made in France. Bec and I were dazed by the beautiful toys which looked as though they were made last century- mostly we were glad that toys existed which were not plastic crap made in China.  After a decent shopping spree, we left satisfied and excited- this had been a good, child friendly day.

When we got home, my mum was waiting to meet us, as she had selflessly and generously offered to baby sit Solomon whilst Bec and I had a night out at the Moulin Rouge.  As i got dressed, Bec and Solomon had a screaming contest about who was the rightful owner of the make-up bag.  When diplomacy failed, knowing that possession is 9/10ths of the law, Solomon dedicated the next hour to retrieving the make up bag from within his tyrannical mothers grasp, while she was trying to apply it.

We arrived a little early at the Moulin Rouge and decided to go for some dinner.  Much to my delight, a McDonalds was on the same corner and my crying urge for a Big Mac was finally satisfied.  France McDonalds is very similar to Australia's- the Big mac's and Cheeseburgers tasted almost exactly the same.  I also had six nuggets and a burger called the LeMac- which tasted like the rim of a car exhaust.  It was delightfully satisfying- except for the restaurant manager who thought he was on Border Security and demanded i stop taking photos.  Its McDonalds- not a nucleaur silo- what an idiot.

Lining up for the Moulin Rouge entry, we saw a security guard who looked the most like a real life comic book villain than any other person on Earth.  He had a face that said 'i have kill many people wiz bare hands'.    I faked a photo of Bec to get him in the background- i will seriously have nightmares that he is coming to get me.

The Show was absolutely spectacular.  Mostly bare chested women singing with huge and colourful fluffy feather hats or shoulder or hip fittings.  It was a high energy performance which kept you excited for the entire two hours.  Every performer was absolutely gorgeous and sexy and the dancing was seductive and followed some form of story line about travelling the world through the different cultural dances of those countries.  It was a very interesting and exciting production.  The women would be singing and dancing, than all of a sudden, in an instant, a huge set of bright red feathers would explode out of her back and she would keep dancing.  Though it was not polished like a Broadway musical, there was so much showmanship and 'wow' factor- i was incredibly impressed.  It is such a fitting contrast to Broadway for a performance in Paris- Not perfectly synchronized or professional but extravagant and decadent, the two scenes are a perfect representation of the differences between the two cultures i have now experienced.