For the first time in all my travels I went overseas for the pure reason of attending only one event – so much so that I didn’t even really plan what we were going to do of the rest of the weekend we were in Paris. It actually made quite a nice change and unusually when I got back to London tonight I was feeling fairly relaxed … if a bit exhausted from not getting enough sleep on Saturday night.

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The Experience

Laney and I caught the Eurostar mid-morning in to Paris. I love catching the Eurostar – it just seems so much more a civilised way of getting into the centre of the city than flying into Charles de Gaulle and it doesn’t take all that much longer than flying (once you factor in the checking in, travelling to an from the airport etc.) We arrived in Paris early in the afternoon and after checking in to our hotel had the rest of a glorious day to enjoy Paris.

This weekend was the finals weekend of the French Open and our own Sam Stosur was in the Women’s Final. She was heavy favourite and though I couldn’t get tickets to see it live we saw some of it on the TV. I don’t know what happened but unfortunately she lost! We were a bit disappointed for her!

After watching Sam sadly lose the French Open final our port of call was the Eiffel Tower, well, the area around the Eiffel Tower anyway. It was a hive of activity but most surprisingly there were a number of dance groups that were scattered around. Some were asking for money but some seemed just to be dancing for fun. I loved how they all made it about performance pieces so it was like they were telling a story so it wasn’t just dancing to music. It really made for quite a fun atmosphere and some of the performers were very talented.

The funniest chat up line I’ve ever had happened whilst we were hanging around. You know in Paris there are heaps of African men trying to sell you random stuff from pieces of string you unknowingly let them put on your wrist to fake watches etc. well this dude came up to us and tried to sell us these Eiffel tower watches. We refused of course but then he started to chat me up saying I was beautiful, could he get my email blah blah blah and then he asked me where I was from. I just left it hanging and then he was like “You’re from Brazil aren’t you”. Um … I’m wondering if he was slightly blind cause even though I might have had a Brazilian I certainly wasn’t Brazilian. He was really genuine too cause he started to speak to me in Portugese! I nearly wet myself laughing after he left. Poor bloke.

There were sooo many tourists that just watching people and moving around them made me feel tired! so Laney and I decided to go over to the green near the Eiffel and lay down. It was lovely. Randomly I saw this in the sky. Make what you will of it but I know what I was thinking … hint: what I see is pointing left ….

Somehow it was suddenly time for dinner. I never know where to eat in Paris but a friend of Laney’s recommended Chez Papa. I think its actually a chain but the food was very delicious and filling. There were so many nice looking options on the menu but everyone around us had these gorgeous giant salads topped with a fried egg! They really did look but I was feeling greedier than just salad so, after enjoying some snails (tasty!) went for this veal and cheese option which ended up being served in a large ceramic pot.

I clearly wasn’t thinking when I went for such a heavy meal cause I’d forgotten that I then had to squeeze into my outfit for the evening! A PVC corset and skirt! Umm … yes, not my usual wardrobe …

So the evening brought along the reason for our trip – a visit to Torture Garden – supposedly the world’s leading fetish club! It probably sounds more dramatic than it actually is. Normally there is an event in London kind of every month however for some reason neither Laney or I could make any of the dates but we could make it to the Paris one! It seemed fitting that the event was held at La Machine Du Moulin Rouge. I’ve never been to a fetish club but was interested to see what went down in one.

Getting dressed for the night was very interesting. I could barely get into my corset – Laney had to literally get her knee and knee me into it. Once it was on I couldn’t even sit without feeling like my ribs were breaking. Not sure how ladies used to do it in the olden days! Still it actually kind of felt empowering … even if we did get some funny looks as we made our way to the club. (Turns out that most people changed AT the club!)

I’m not going to go into detail about what went on at Torture Garden but fair to say it was eye opening. Though we had worried about what we were wearing it turned out we were way more conservative than everyone else – the first two girls we saw were basically naked but for bits of rope hiding nothing but strung around their body! During the night (we got home at 6am) there was entertainment on the big stage and entertainment by individuals around us (there were a few frames and stirrups around …) We met some interesting people but what I found strange was that it was only when I was with this guy that I was suddenly getting approached – one guy in a full body suit wanted me to play with him and another time this guy in a rabbit suit came up to us. However, despite the nature of the club I actually felt it was “safer” than a normal nightclub – people are respectively of boundaries and no means no and they respect that without being all sleazy. The funniest incident was when I was standing at the top of the stairs leaning over a banister not realising I was stepping on someone’s hand. When I went to apologise he was like – that’s very okay. I think he deliberately put his hand under my foot!

Due to our activities of the night Sunday was a very relaxed affair. We basically slept until check out, then after a quick stop at the Arc de Triomphe, had a lazy brunch, strolled down the Champs Elysee and visited the car stores and Louis Vutton – which had a long queue outside it to get in. As we were waiting we were surprised to see this Buddhist Monk turn up, with followers, and pose in front of the store!

After this we took a long walk around and then along the Seine where we made a pit-stop at the Diana Memorial (strange flame) and the tunnel where she had the accident. I was very moved by the inscriptions on the bridge above it …

… before having a snooze at Jardin des Tuileries. It was a great way to end the weekend.