Moulin Rouge is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Paris. It has entertained guests with its famous dazzling shows and also hosted international stars on its stage for over 126 years. Tickets are expensive. In our past visits to Paris, our evaluation was it's probably a tourist trap and not worth the time and money. But this time we looked at it a bit differently. It's the Moulin Rouge. It's only here and we have heard it about it all our lives. We bought tickets and I'm so glad we did. There are two performances plus a rehearsal each day. We picked the 9 pm show. The theatre was packed! Seems the place is routinely sold out for each and every performance. The show was fantastic. There are over 60 well-trained, well-rehearsed dancers, music, song, and elaborate costumes with feathers, rhinestones and sequins - sparkle plenty!! The music and dance theme took us through Paris's history from the time of its liberation through fairly recent times. Between dance and song acts were performances by acrobatic teams—one couple on roller skates, another on a giant ring and finally a couple whose graceful, artistic strength was amazing. Through our travels we have adopted two primary tenants: Follow your instinct and do it now . . . don't ever suggest, oh, we will do that tomorrow or we'll buy that item on the way back to the apartment. We do it now. We bought those tickets this trip! What an evening!!! We sat with a lovely young couple from Morocco.

We were touched by unique, encounters with people all day yesterday . . . first a young woman stopped us - we thought she wanted to assist us with our map but she wanted to take our photo. I was wearing a bright yellow jacket which was in great contrast to the black and white of the streets of Paris. After she took our picture, she stayed on to in fact help us with the map. Two other people extemporaneously also stopped by to give us tips on the best way to walk to the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. Who says the French are aloof??

We skipped breakfast today in lieu of a nice French lunch. Europeans are very strict with their dining hours. Lunch is from noon until two or two-thirty. Dinner begins at 7 pm and is served until around 10 pm. Some restaurants start offering dinner earlier - but very few offer any meals between the hours of 2:30 and 5 pm. Just before noon we found a really nice-looking restaurant on our walk, but the host said, please give us ten more minutes. We thought . . . we will just find another place. We walked another block or two and found ourselves in front of the Pantheon and the University of Paris. Across the street was an ancient-looking chapel with interesting doors. There was a plaque on the wall and a couple stood in front reading it. The man was reading the French words and translating them into Spanish for his wife. We stood there listening. Stan, with his famous humor, said now can you please do that again except in English. The man did, and with great pleasure. He and his wife were also on holiday; they from Buenos Aires. We chatted a bit and then moved on our way. Nice people!

While there were several nice-looking restaurants nearby, we decided to follow our instincts and return to the restaurant where the nice man invited us back in ten minutes. Seems we found a very famous place that has served meals since the 1800's and frequented by famous performers and artists over the years. The man we had met earlier did all the work to run the front of the restaurant and a woman did the cooking and some of the service. We were the first to arrive and received very special service. By the time we finished our meal, the restaurant was full. The food was delicious - the two of us shared escargot, sliced duck breast on salad, roasted lamb chops and salmon with cream sauce. We finished it off with crème Brule. The couple running the place gave us postcards with handwritten greetings from them and bookmarks about their wonderful establishment.

Afterwards we walked on to the Chappelle Notre Dame de la Medaille Miraculeuse. The story is sweet and moving. The colors and the altar are a soft beautiful blue and gold. On each side of the alter are bodies encased in glass coffins of the founder of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul and the body St Catherine Labouré, member of the Order who was visited by the Blessed Virgin Mary three times and inspired Catherine to create the medal.

We made our way to Gard du Nord to get our Chunnel tickets and on the Moulin Rouge to have our tickets corrected. We covered some real territory - but all this travel was via Paris' efficient, easy-to follow subway system. By then the day was ending but we decided to take a chance on finding the Cimetiere Du Pere-Lachase. We were just a few minutes too late. Once we arrived back at our apartment we researched why Jim Morrison was buried here in Paris. We were curious. We found the disturbing story too much to bear. This young man, strong-willed and misguided as he might have been died far too young and was buried in in the cheapest casket possible with no ceremony at all. His grave lie unmarked for a long time until the City of Paris erected a shield. It was stolen and replaced two times by eager fans. After a number of following years, his parents finally put a marker on the grave. The simple flat marker says in a Greek phrase, "according to his own demon." Like the previous ones, this marker as well as markers on other graves near the Morrison site have been defaced and covered with graffiti by fans. We will not return there.