" The show is spectacular with sixty girls and a thousand costumes. These  are not evenly divided and some girls wear little more than a smile." 

Learn French
 the easy way

Paris…
for  Style,  
Cabaret,  
and CHIC
BUS DRIVERS

Well time flies,  autumn hardly seem to  have disappeared and now hopefully  Spring and 
St. Valentine’s day will  bear  down upon us like a rose tinted rocket. 

I f you are thinking in terms of a romantic weekend then Paris has to be close to,  if not top of the list. It’s a city of two million people, thirty-two bridges and some of the most boisterous floorshows in Europe.

Paris more than any other city has style and whether you walk in the parks, people-watch from a pavement café or drool in the fashion shop windows, you get the feeling that everything has been stage managed.

It's worth taking a couple of tours to get orientated and I reckon that a trip on the River Seine on the fabulous glass covered Bateau Mouche is unsurpassed, it’s almost worth doing by day and again by night,  when the buildings are illuminated an onboard spotlight. So to are the lovers on the river bank.  There are a variety of coach tours that will introduce you Notre-Dame, the Eiffel Tower, Napoleon’s Tomb and of course Montmartre which really come alive after dark.

The city is famous for it’s cabaret and dinner shows. At The Lido the show is 

‘ C’est Magique’ and language is no problem, it features the famous ‘Bluebell girls’, lavish costumes, international speciality acts and an ice skating rink.

The Moulin Rouge is perhaps best known. It is spectacular with sixty girls and a thousand costumes (They are not evenly divided and some girls wear little more than a smile, not that I am complaining.).  ‘Crazy Horse’ claims to be the chick-est  show in the world and to be both elegant and erotic. It is certainly popular with two shows each night. My favourite is the ‘Paradis Latin’  which is definitely the most Parisian.  

The French have style, sometimes this hits you when you least expect it.  I remember following an elegant young lady on to a bus. Could she be a fashion model I thought? then to my surprise she hung her coat up, changed out of her high  heels, got behind the driving wheel of the bus and drove us off into the traffic. 

The  traffic too can be a joy to watch, a joy in that it flows under the control of a caped gendarmes who can perform point duty with the grace of  a ballet dancer. It all seems very theatrical and at each wave vehicles making their entrance to the  accompaniment of  a sharp blast on his whistle. 

There are plenty of green spaces to escape from the traffic bustle so if you are on a budget you don’t have to break the bank. We had a picnic in the Bois de Boulogne and later wandered down to the ‘Left Bank’ (rive gauche) where we strolled through the Luxembourg Gardens. There old men contemplated the statues and, by the pond,  young children eagerly awaited for the arrival of a lady with a  barrow load of brightly coloured sailing boats. 
The skies were at their bluest and it was the kind of day that was made for flying kites.

By the River Seine we watched a barge ploughing downstream and a sailing boat with furled sails and sun burnt skipper at the tiller, pottering north to the channel. The faded British flag gave the clue that he was heading  home to Britain at the end of an inland voyage up through France from the Mediterranean. 

We considered copying his adventure and then strolled along the embankment to join the collectors around the stalls that offered ancient post cards and obscure postage stamps. 
Other stalls sold garish pictures of Paris that would look a  mite too bright to be believed in the grey northern light back home, but on that sparkling summer’s day we were tempted.  

If you crave real art you can head to Louvre in the hope of a smile from The Mona Lisa or to The Pompidou Centre which at fist glance tends to look like a power station turned inside out.  It’s a fascinating  place and  beyond the piping decked walls a lies a complex that is a constant hive of activity. There are many free shows and the National Museum of Modern art is on the 4^th and 3^rd floor (in that order.)  Outside too you can sit in the sun and enjoy the performance of some really talented buskers.

I make no bones about it,  I believe in the auld alliance,
I  like the French and am a francophile,  I’d join the baguette and beret brigade any day. 

I really enjoy my visits there, particularly on my birthday since they always put on fireworks displays.
On the last visit as I stepped 
out of the Gare Du Nord and they welcomed me with bands playing, and parade of girls twirling batons, but then of course, my birthday is on the 14th of July, a date that is also something to do with the storming of the Bastille. 

Report by Allan Rogers

                                            FACT FILE
Paris Tourist Office www.paris-touristoffice.com 

Time Out Paris       www.timeout.com/paris 

Other City guides:  www.parisavenue.fr             
                              www.cityvox.com 
                              www.parispubs.com             
                              www.pariscope.fr