We started right away, taking a walk through the mist and rain to the Eiffel Tower and then Invalides. We picked up some ravioli, sauce and antipasti at a specialty store on Belles Feuilles that we have wanted to try, and made a meal of it at home that evening.
Sunday, we were pleasantly surprised by warm, sunny weather. Later, it was described as a "forced march", but at the time I just considered it a normal Paris weekend walkabout. We started with a walk up to Arc de Triomphe and then along Champs Elysees. Since the sun was out, it was quite a bit busier than most of our other walks. When we got to Concord, we took a left to Madeleine and checked out the church. We stopped at the Pinacothèque de Paris to see a special Van Gogh exhibit. The idea behind the 40 or so paintings was to show the influence of Japanese art on Van Gogh. There were some nice pieces, and the way they showed the influential Japanese work next to the Van Gogh was interesting. You could see the similarities. We stopped for lunch near Garnier Opera, and then headed down to the Louvre. Tuileries Gardens was crowded due to a special weekend exhibit of artwork throughout the gardens and near the Grand Palais. We returned home, walking along the river. Along the way, we pointed things out and showed them how to get around for their return trips to the museums.
For the rest of the week, the Millers would explore Paris on their own during the days and we would go out together each evening. Our big night out was to Moulin Rouge. I had purchased tickets for the 9:00pm show, with champagne (as opposed to the 11pm show). We went to Montmartre early to walk up to Sacre-Coeur first. While there, a group of nuns started singing (more like chanting). It was quite lovely and soothing. We had a restaurant recommendation (Le Relais de la Butte) which turned out to be perfect - quiet, inexpensive, and good food. After dinner, we walked through the busy crowds on rue des Abbesses and rue Lepic (which made our restaurant choice even nicer), and queued for our entrance to Moulin Rouge.
We were told that it didn't matter if you arrived earlier or later- seats are assigned ahead and you don't get to choose. The floor was full - no empty seats that I could see. And our table was off to the side, stage left, and had only one other table between us and the stage. The only bad part was that we were crowded in, and Dave and my backs were to the stage. The girls, on the other side of the table had great seats! It was OK - we could sit sideways and see most everything. The show "Féerie" featured some 20 or 30 beautiful "Doriss Girls" (dancers, sort of like Rockettes but with less clothes) and about 10 guys (they don't have a name as far as I could tell). They all sing and dance. There were about 4 or 5 segments to the show. One was a circus, one was a North African harem sort of thing, one was "modern" times. But the best was... the can-can (of course). Also, in between segments, there were some individual acts - a juggler (that juggled ping pong balls with his mouth), a couple male gymnasts, and a mime. These were all really good. We really enjoyed the show!
Our last evening, we went for a nice meal at Le Bistrot d'Henri in the 6th. Debbie and I had been there once before, and liked it. We had a great meal (bœuf bourguignon for me, salmon for the ladies, pork for Dave) and stopped at Trocadero on the way home to see the tower at night. Overall, a great week (but tiring!).