My 16 year old daughter has expressed an interest in seeing a show at the Moulin Rouge. I'm considering the 9pm show ( no dinner) at 97 Euros. Apparently the venue is now smoke free which is a big plus. Her interest in the show has been sparked by her love of the movie Moulin Rouge.

For those with recent experience,would it be a memorable night worth the extravagant splurge? Any way to gain a discount??

Are there any daytime tours of the venue available without experiencing the show?

I've been told that the show at the Moulin Rouge is very good, albeit expensive. However, the real Moulin Rouge is nothing at all like the movie, which was filmed entirely on sound stages in Sydney and never came anywhere near the real thing.

Ironically, about 30% of the MR girls are Australian. Apparently there are few French girls in the lineup.

To paraphrase an old saying, if a third of the girls are Australian, it means the collective beauty of both France and Australia has been raised.

Don't forge that Australians, like Americans, originally come from some where else. So those Australian girls could be originally French!

Don't forget *

Hi L,

There are those who have found the show not without interest.

However, it is not at all like the movie and I fear that your daughter will be quite disappointed.

An alternative that you might wish to consider is a visit to Joinville to see the Guignette dancing.

From another Poster:
Joinville
Veteran Parisian travelers looking for an off-the-beaten tourist path part of Paris can hop RER A to the Joinville-le-Pont station (about 20 min from Gare de Lyon) and do a lovely walk from there along the tranquil and barge-ful Marne River. Walking paths go pretty much on both sides of the river but from the station go along the north/west side of the river and soon you'll be in an area of old quaint stone houses - some of the most unique houses I've seen in Paris, in a kind of gingerbread style - fanciful, whimsical dating from the turn of the centry when this part of the Marne was a favorite with artists who flocked here to eat in its guinguettes, few of which exist today. But you can walk along the Marne for about two miles until you come to another RER station, line E station at Nogent, to return to Paris. Joinville itself is known for its canal tunnel where barges avoid a large loop in the Marne and use a lengthy tunnel to cut over towards the junction with the Seine. Joinville is a pleasant suburb with the usual coterie of cafes, etc. Sunday market sprawls over many streets.

Guignettes (Café’s w/music and dancing)
Chez Gegene (Guinguette Dancing) 162bis quai de Polangis - Allée des Guinguettes 01.48.83.29.43 Saturday 21-02:30 dinner and dancing 38E Sundays from 12-19:00 45E lunch and dancing (drinks included)

Le Petit Robinson 164, quai de Polangis 01.48.89.04.39 Closed Tuesdays. Welcome until 11 pm. ..tea-dancing, Fri, Sat, Sun afternoons and dinner-dancing with orchestra Fridays and Saturdays. The-dansant from 11-16 euro and diner-dansant from 33 to 37.5 euro.
La Goulue 17 Quai Gabriel Peri 01.48.83.21.77 Fax : 01 48 83 08 44
Very nice fin-de-siecle restaurant Dancing on weekends.

There is also dancing on Quai St.Bernard 21:00 – 01:00 nightly

Hope this helps.

The show is now smoke free. It is a variety show with lots of dancing (almost like a Vegas show from the 60's and 70's). We enjoyed it, but everyone said don't do dinner and show, just the show. That is usually good advise anywhere. We booked it as a bus tour and they picked us up and dropped us off at our hotel. The area is a little on the risque side, don't think I would like to walk there late at night.

Australians come from Australia !!! We also travel a lot mainly to improve the rest of the world !

I haven't been to this, but have heard that it can be a fun show to see, if you don't take it too seriously, and that this one is probably about the best for the show and visuals and history. I guess they do have some beautiful costumes and sets, if you enjoy that. Whether it's worth 97 euro, I wouldn't say.

I've been by it and have seen their ads and I don't think there is any kind of a "tour" of the place. There's nothing really to tour, it's just an old building with rooms for the shows and sets, etc. It's closed in the day time except for private events, at least was when I was around that area and saw it.

Now you might enjoy this show if you like those kinds of things, but it sounds like you have some expectations about it that aren't true. They have a website and I think you can get an idea of it better of there, if you haven't seen it.

There are no discounts that I'm aware of, except for some tour or packagers. That might be a good idea. For example, Parisvision has a combined illuminations tours (but ride around Paris to see the lights at night) with the Moulin Rouge show for only 89 euro. That's a pretty good deal if the show alone is 97 euro. That way, you'd be sure to enjoy something, also, that bus tour sounds nice.

I've seen a UK discount website www.discount-paris.com that knocks a little off the Parisvision package, but I don't know anything about that company (57 GBP which is only 83 euro). I know Parisvision is reputable.

Maybe he/she inhaled.