I HUNG out with Mona and her mates at The Louvre for my birthday before a big party at Moulin Rouge with a thousand new best friends.
Leonardo Da Vinci's early 16th century Mona Lisa masterpiece is smaller than most people expect. But can she draw a crowd! Bigger than any media scrum I've ever seen on the red carpet.
And her admirers continue to surround her and bask in her glow throughout The Louvre's opening hours.
They take copious photos of her, despite her confinement behind glass and high security.
But let me tell you, no amount of times staring at pictures of her on computer and TV screens or in magazines comes close to seeing her in all her glory for real.
Our local guide tells us that if you have visited The Louvre many times and know the best short cuts to Mona Lisa's gallery, if you glue yourself to the wall at the start of the line to the entry hall with your ticket, if you run faster than lightning to stand in front of her frame, then you might be able to enjoy 12 seconds alone with her. Ha ha!
Da Vinci took four years to paint Mona on a wood panel (not canvas). The painting is thought to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo (a Florentine silk merchant), and is said to have been painted between 1503 and 1506 with possibly additional brush strokes even later.
But the man who commissioned him to paint his wife never received it as Da Vinci left town with Mona.
Some speculate Da Vinci was in love with his model. We may never know the real reason why, but we do know that Mona Lisa was one of his favourite paintings and he carried it with him until he died.
Our tour of The Louvre is a relatively brief two hours but we see all the highlights including my must-sees: sculptures of Venus De Milo and The Winged Victory, which was tucked in behind scaffolding for restoration.
The Louvre has on display 35,000 objects from throughout the world that cover prehistoric times to the 21st century, including many of the world's priceless paintings and drawings.
The experts have calculated that, standing in front of every piece for about 40 seconds, you would need three full months of opening times to see the entire museum - the largest in the world and a former castle and palace of French royal families.
About eight million visitors a year make The Louvre the most visited museum in the world.
As triumphant conquerors of Europe, our return to Montmartre - our base for Paris back in the late-July part of our trip - couldn't have been more celebratory.
The Moulin Rouge began in 1889 - the same year the Eiffel Tower was built.
Two mindblowing shows are held each night in the large cabaret hall at the foot of Montmartre Hill: as 1000 people file out into the street, another 1000 are lined up and ready to take their seats for the late dinner and/or show.
We are expecting a Las Vegas-style cabaret but are blown away by the massive explosion of colour and lights in the dream-like costumes and sets, the energy and precision of the well-drilled dancers, the pitch-perfect singers and glamorous lead stars.
As far as entertainment goes, this is the night of nights for me - from the champagne welcome with cabaret band and singers followed by the unforgettable show to the faultless service at dinner, and tasty menu of smoked salmon entree, sea bass main course and opera cake in the shape of the Moulin Rouge windmill for dessert plus copious red and white wine and coffee.
In between is a mini "United Nations" of guest artists - a delicious mix of acrobatic gangsters that have us in a spin, a balancing couple who defy gravity, a waterbabe who swims with pythons in a huge trapdoor tank that has us recoiling in amazement, and a ventriloquist comedy act with a real "talking" dog that sees one of our own tour group companions up on stage.
But the can-can is what we have all come to see.
Our Globus tour guide Philippe says some of the dancers only do the can-can in the show because of the strenuous nature of the routine that is required to be sustained for a good 20 minutes.
The famous dance is weaved into the ever-changing show themes, telling the story of how the can-can developed and featuring an actress as "La Goulue" (Louise Weber).
Philippe says the woman was only one of many who frequented the dance hall that became Moulin Rouge. But what set her apart was that she was very fit and liked to dance in a risque way when she was drunk.
Word soon spread of her shameless antics - to the point where people would inquire if she was to be at Moulin Rouge that night and then they would come to see her.
The dance hall owner started to pay her to turn up and dance. She frequently would pick up a customer's glass and quickly down its contents while dancing past their table.
Eventually, she developed the steps of the can-can, became artist Toulouse Lautrec's muse and the rest, as they say, is history.
Even in 2013, I can report that the Moulin Rouge and the story of La Goulue has not wearied with age.
Lesson of the day: All Paris avenues have trees except Opera Avenue because you wouldn't see the beautiful building.
And ...
Cities, like people, can redeem themselves and deserve a second chance.
No comments:
Post a Comment