This morning we had a tour planned for Notre Dame and then we had the rest of the day to try to hit as many of the sights that we could since tomorrow we're journeying out to Versailles for an all day excursion. But first...our adventure at The Moulin Rouge last night.

We were pretty exhausted as we walked down the road at 7:00 pm last night to catch the subway that would take us to the stop that was literally right next to Moulin Rouge. However, once we were on our way, we were jazzed and looking forward to the show.

We were seated on the third tier front row and let me just say we were packed in there like sardines. The entertainment prior to the beginning of the show reminded both of us of a cheesy cruise lounge act but it sort of added to the ambience. Our tickets included a bottle of champagne and we both were enjoying it quite a lot... And it was a BIG bottle. :)) We weren't allowed to take any pictures, which explains why there aren't any in this part except for one I "smuggled" of Marcy.

So the first act begins and Marcy doesn't realize it's a topless show...which she shares with me after another act or two. It's all I can do not to fall off my seat, I'm giggling so much (I truly think the champagne went straight to my head). From then on, we could not make eye contact because we would start laughing so much and we both needed the ladies room--but since we were so crammed in, we had to wait until the show was over!

There was one part where an enormous water tank rose up from the bottom of the stage and had these GIGANTIC boa constrictor snakes swimming in it--all sides of the tank were plain glass, so we could see them clearly! This young gal gets "pushed" in and, of course, she's topless, so she's not only dealing with being pushed in, but all those snakes were writhing all over her!! We were both horrified and mesmerized and very happy when that part was over!!

We killed our bottle of bubbly and as a result of the days activities, I kept sleeping with my eyes open--completely missed the can-can, which was the part of the show I most wanted to see! :(( I did enjoy myself, though...a very fun time! And we were troupers and took the subway back to the apartment even though it was almost midnight. Never once did we feel unsafe.

So...on to today's activities...

Our tour guide, Linda from Philly, took us all around the Isle of Cite, which is where Notre Dame is located. It was EXTREMELY cold, although clear and sunny. I couldn't feel my feet after an hour or so. It turned out that it was Kids Day there and there were hundreds of all ages of children, so we didn't get to do much in the way of viewing the church due to the security and amount of kids. We both opted out of climbing to the top, mainly because of my knee and wanting to accomplish other things.

We headed over to Sainte Chapelle and toured this on our own. The amount of stained glass is simply overwhelming, to put it mildly. Each huge pane tells a bible story and you could spend days figuring out what each panel represents.

After this, we were both hungry and I wanted to find a restaurant that Rich and I had eaten at several years ago over in the Latin quarter. Using my map and my memory, I found the place and the food was just as good as I remembered. However, we wanted to sit by the window, which ended up being a mistake as all the cold was seeping thru the glass and we were FREEZING all through our meal.

Marcy wanted to visit the Shakespeare Book store, so this was next on the list. It's housed in a really old and quirky building, with lots of hidden-type compartments and books were crammed in everywhere. And it was warm, which was my favorite part. :))

A quick subway ride to another part of the city brought us to Galerie Lafayette, a HUGE department store where one entire floor is nothing but shoes!! We managed to hold ourselves back and after a coke in the snack bar, we headed back out into the cold to admire the store windows, which were decorated for the holidays.

Another subway ride and we were in line for Angelina's, which is famous for their hot chocolate. We decided to eat dinner since it was after 5:30, and both had the mushroom risotto which was tres bien!! The hot chocolate was like molten pudding--very thick and rich. I liked trying it but probably wouldn't order it again...too many calories! I'd rather have a croissant or an eclair!

We staggered back home after doing some souvenir shopping--oh, we did get to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle as we were entering the subway, so beautiful!!!

All in all, a wonderful day in Paris!