Day 7 | Mona Lisa, Snails and the Champs-Élysées

We kicked off our second day in Paris with a visit to the Louvre to see - amongst other miraculous works of art - the Mona Lisa. I wanted to get Natsuki's take on it (as well as see it firsthand once and for all).

Natsuki's conclusion on the world's most famous painting?

"Good smile, but small face."

After getting more invaluable insights from Natsuki on numerous infamous works of art, we bumbled along the Champs-Élysées, to get a few holiday snaps for the walls of Natsuki's beauty salon (again, to give the impression of a well cultured, well travelled beauty salon owner) and of course, admire the Arc de Triomphe in all it's glory.

Meanwhile, whilst Natsuki was taking some glamorous selfies, I fell into a ditch and got covered in mud and cursed the day I ever set foot in Paris (which was yesterday).

In the evening, feeling somewhat daring, Natsuki ordered a plate of snails to devour. Unfortunately, after putting just one in his mouth, he swore, pulled a face as though he was about to be sick, and promptly turned down the remaining snails.

And that was pretty much our day!

Truth be told, the Paris segment of our week was supposed to be a "holiday reward" for Natsuki (and his wife who's been dragged along all week) after an intensive week of filming.

However, given that it was Natsuki's first trip to Paris (and likely his last, given how rarely he travels abroad), I think both of us felt compelled to get some footage along the way. 

There's no denying there's a wonderful narrative to be had, based around the creepy "Snow white and the seven dwarfs" dolls he bought (as I mentioned in yesterday's post).

It's felt like the longest week ever - we've travelled far and wide, faced unforeseen problems, from cancelled flights to trips to visiting an A&E, and met some great people along the way who'll feature in the documentary and our adventure comes to and tomorrow, when Natsuki flies back to Japan.

I think we both feel a mixture of sadness and mild relief, that this hectic but adventurous week has come to an end.

That said, I'm hoping that if this documentary goes well (which I'll make bloody well sure it does), a sequel will be on the cards next year.

And there's still plenty more scenes we have yet to film for the documentary back in Japan later this month.

In tomorrow's post I'll be giving my thoughts on the overall trip and how all the filming went, as well as the grand plan for the documentary going forward!