Here is a sample of some observations my Sydney friends made on their first visit to Paris. Guess this shows you an Aussie take on the surprises of Paris. And these are only the ones that I was present to witness!
Chanel store on Avenue Montaigne: the store had a few windows displaying Chanel sports items so we started discussing the merits of skating on Chanel blades or running in a Chanel tracksuit. Then one of my friends moved to the next windows and we heard a howl... Chanel boomerangs!! Needless to say that many pics were taken and much film footage used for that! Especially given that one of my friends is part aboriginal, that was the stuff of much emails to the family back home and discussions about kangaroo hunting in the outback with a Chanel boomerang (at this price it better come back!!)
Pont Alexandre III: the beautiful gilded bridge crossing the Seine between the Grand Palais and Invalides. They were happily reading about the bridge in a guidebook and taking pictures of the views when one of them noticed %26quot;Hey that%26#39;s the bridge that Kylie crosses in her filmclip%26quot; (I don%26#39;t remember which one but it%26#39;s an old one). So of course they had to taks shots of themsleves in the middle of the bridge, where Kylie is driving. So all you Aussies should note that this bridge is no longer called Pont Alexandre III but should now be referred to as %26quot;Kylie Bridge%26quot; (tongue in cheek)
One evening I took them on a cruise on Vedettes du Pont Neuf which turned out to be quite an adventure. One of the tourists on the boat decided to jump off for some reason and ended up almost drowning in the Seine. Kev works at the ABC and never goes out without his camera had the whole thing on tape: police boats with divers, rescue operation, arrival of the ambulance and fire truck etc. So don%26#39;t get surprised if one day on the ABC you see Water Rats - the Paris Episode. (and everything turned out well, the guy was rescued, shaken but not injured and was taken to the hospital, and we resumed the cruise after one hour delay)
Moulin Rouge: a bit of a letdown as it doesn%26#39;t lookk very impressive and has nothing to do with the one in the Baz Luhrman film.
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And I forgot to mention the entrance to the Palais Royal metro station in front of the Académie Française. It has very colourful trimmings. It looks like something inspired by Gaudi, Hundertwasser or Nikki de St Phalle and is quite camp. Well this one was renamed the Mardi Gras station. No comment :-)
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OH NO!! You mean I missed all the key Australian sights in Paris??
That does it! I%26#39;m coming back next summer to do it properly!!
However your friends dont seem to have mentioned the close connection between the Chateau de Versailles and Australia. Yes, that%26#39;s right. King Louis the whichever of Versailles aided the Americans in their war against the British, after which there could be no British transportation of convicts to America and so the settlement of Australia became the next British colonisation project. There, you see? It%26#39;s no wonder I have such a fascination with Versailles it is clearly closely connected with my history ;-)
Yeah, I%26#39;ve skipped the Moulin too, but I think I%26#39;ll go next time to support the Aussie dancers. An ABC documentary followed 6 Australian girls to Paris where they danced at the Moulin Rouge. It has popularised the idea so much that more Australian dancers are trying out for the auditions they regularly hold here. The documentary is really interesting! (probably more so than the show, but I%26#39;d better not say that too loudly had I?)
The Age reported on it here:
theage.com.au/news/…1109046974426.html
If you%26#39;re emailing your Sydney friends before tomorrow, the last episode of the repeat series is on the ABC at 4pm tomorrow (Sunday). It%26#39;s the last night for some of the girls so they add a few patriotic surprises of their own to the show - much to the horror of the director, sans doute!
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Thanks for the tip, I%26#39;ll email them right away, I got an email that they got back yesterday from their RTW trip!
They didnt do Versailles as they wanted to leave some things for another trip, but next time I%26#39;ll make sure to let them know that without Versailles they might be living in Massachussets right now (not that there%26#39;s anything wrong with that).
OK i%26#39;m off to the Champagne region now!
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Champagne region hey??? Well I%26#39;m not jealous at all, no. After all, I%26#39;m going all the way to Carlingford tomorrow .............................sigh :-(
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Great fun these boomerangs! But the entrance of the métro is not in front of the Académie Française but in front of the Palais Royal...Vive l%26#39;Australie!!
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What would the street address be, Raphy? Maybe I can see this spectacle on les pagesjaunes!
And Vive les good ol%26#39; pagesjaunes, too! Where would we be without them?
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The adress would be either Place du Palais royal or Place Colette
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Thanks for correcting me Raphy. Actually I meant to say Comédie Française, not Académie...
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Also Willies Wine Bar, near the Palais Royal, is part owned by Aussies, and it snowed in Melbourne last week!!!!!!
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