Banksy and the Moulin Rouge

Our last full day in Paris would be heavily indoors, which I was thankful for, because the weather was looking very grey and rainy.

The first stop of the day is always the most important – brunch. We went to Kozy, a cute cafe in the Notre Dame neighbourhood. Personally, I was stoked because this is the first places in Paris that I could find an iced coffee. After a couple of days of craving, it really did hit different.

The French brioche and seasonal fruits were a good way to fill up before a busy day on the town.

When I plan trips, I usually schedule downtime. Time to go back to the hotel and nap, or time to just sit and pause before going out for the evening. Our last day in Paris, I had planned for the morning to be quite lazy, so that when we left the hotel for brunch, we could stay out all day and not come back until late, without needing a break.

Brandon and I walked through the rain up to the Banksy Museum, definitely a good indoor activity on a day like this.

We spent some time wandering the museum, admiring recreations of the famous artist’s work. Not that it’s a particularly Hot Take, but I do love Banksy and the way his art speaks about politics and media.

Once we’d spent as much time at the museum as we could, Brandon and I continued our walk up towards Montmartre for the event of the evening: dinner and a show at the Moulin Rouge.

I’d been to the Moulin Rouge the first time I came to Paris, pre-pandemic, but I knew this would be such a nice way to celebrate our honeymoon. Delicious food, a bottle of champagne, and French singers and dancers – sounds like a romantic evening to me!

The Moulin Rouge is a small venue filled with incredible talent. So it’s not surprising that they pack it full every night. That means that Brandon and I were sitting at a table elbow to elbow with four other strangers.

Thankfully, we arrived earliest and got two seats closest to the front of our section, perched above the lower seats – very good seats for a shorter person like myself!

*Dinner and dessert at the Moulin Rouge (May 2024)*

And once the show started, we didn’t even notice. The other visitors all kept to themselves, and we still managed to enjoy our romantic honeymoon evening.

Full of incredible food and half a bottle of champagne each, we rolled into the nearest cab and got to our hotel with just enough energy to fall into bed.