Our last day in the French capital was never going to be a busy one. There’d be no criss-crossing the city walking and seeing the sights. An evening appointment with a certain tiny Australian on the opening date of her 2008 world tour ensured we stayed local, exploring the shady cobbled avenues and alleys of Pére-Lachaise cemetery.
Not the place to go if you don’t want to be made aware of your own mortality (and neither could it be called ‘dead exciting’), it’s still worthy of a visit if you can spare the time. Why? Many of France’s – and the world’s – leading luminaries are buried within the beautiful 116-acre site. Balzac, Sarah Bernhardt, Bizet, Chopin, and Proust all have tombs there. The ones that really draw 2 million visitors a year, though, are those of Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, and Oscar Wilde.
Pére-Lachaise a maze of cobbled avenues, shady trees, and mortality
We set out to find the most notable three, but it took us longer than we’d first thought. It didn’t help that the guidebook map was a little confusing to read, making us confuse all the division numbers which identify where each significant grave is. But, after a while, find them we did.
While Oscar Wilde’s is a quite monumental tomb with a carving of a Pharaoh-like winged messenger on the side and is covered in the lipstick kisses of his fans, Edith Piaf’s is a black marble affair, apparently always enshrined by flowers, as it was on our visit. Jim Morrison’s was so low key and tucked away, we nearly didn’t find it at all. The lone security guard standing nearby to ward off would-be graffiti artists should have been a give away.
Oscar Wilde’s tomb is one of the more unusual at Pére-Lachaise
If truth be told, seeing Kylie was the main reason to hop on the cross-channel train, but to be honest, I’d been so excited about visiting Paris, her show at the Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy almost paled into insignificance. That insignificance soon disappeared on the evening of the show, when the realisation of what the trip had built up to was soon to happen. Arriving in the former wine warehouse district of Bercy in the south east of the city, we enjoyed another cheap meal (Italian this time), and counted down to the concert.
KylieX2008 is the singer’s most ambitious and costly tour to date
Eventually finding the right entrance, we entered the arena and took our seats along with 10,000 other fans. Fashionably late, the lady herself didn’t disappoint, making a grand entrance onto the stage, appearing to be floating above her dancers below. With a seemingly stripped-down stage, a new band, and much more time solo on stage, KylieX2008 was in complete contrast to the opulent flamboyance of Showgirl and Showgirl: Homecoming. Even though feathers and flamboyance were out and bright colours and minimalism were in, it was no less spectacular.
Set-list included Like a Drug and many songs from the album X
The stage was a giant light box, changing with each song or section. Even with a 20-minute interval, the show was still over two-and-a-half hours long, and the 28-song (including 12 songs from latest album X, 3 new tunes, and a lot of oldies), 8 costume-change set went by so quickly. The crowd were certainly having a good time and were left wanting more, and as we departed the arena just before midnight, we felt exhilarated and euphoric, but sad too, knowing that it was our last night in the city. But, what a way to say farewell. Kylie, you really are ‘WOW’!
KylieX2008 stage almost as much of a personality as Kylie herself
Breakfasting this morning once more in place des Vosges (it soon became our spot préférée to start the day), we reflected on our time away. Spring really is the best time to see Paris, and our unseasonably warm weather was never going to make it anything else. Hot enough for shorts and T-shirt the whole stay, sunglasses were also an essential item.
The afternoon Eurostar back meant we had to stay local once again, so after leaving our bags in Gare du Nord, we headed back for a late morning stroll around Montmartre. Less busy than at the weekend, it was still more than steady with visitors. After a fruitless search on Sunday, we found both the grocery shop and the café used in Amélie, and although both now cash in on the film’s success, it was somehow right to come to the city and leave having found them.
Monsieur Collignon’s grocer’s shop as seen in Amélie is at 56 Rue des Trois Frères
The train back was just as easy, fuss-free, and relaxing as the one that took us to France, and proved that the service is both reliable and good value for money, even in standard class. As the lush green fields and bright blue skies of France disappeared through our window as we entered the tunnel, we were soon back on home soil, where we typically endured the first delay of the trip at Liverpool Street.
It didn’t matter, though. The few days in the beautiful French capital were the perfect break, where happy memories will linger, and where I had a truly fantastic time. The city has woven its magical spell on me, and I can’t wait for us to go back.
Paris: je t’aime.
