From Samba and African dance to hip-hop and break dancing Balé de Rua is a thrilling dance and music spectacular that has come to Barbican as part of an international tour. Following sell-out performances at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year, the troop has collected an ever growing following of fans. The Brazillian dance group has produced shows inspired by 300 years of Brazilian history; from slavery to favelas, the dance moves its way through time and ends with a look at contemporary Brazil.  With capoeira, hip hop, break dancing, samba and Afro-Brazilian percussion Balé de Rua is an exhilarating take on the diversity and richness of Brazilian culture.

Cia de Dança Balé de Rua was created in 1992 by Fernando Narduchi, Marco Antônio Garcia and José Marciel Silva. They had already been collaborating in the working class districts of central Brazil’s Uberlândia for four years. They became an overnight sensation after they first played Europe at the Biennale de la Dance in Lyon in 2002; performances at the Barbican will be the company’s first visit to London.

Having toured worldwide, the dance company is still committed to its community dance programme back home in Uberlândia and has recently opened its own cultural centre, backed by the Brazilian Ministry of Culture.

So if you are interested in a great night out- book your tickets now at:  www.barbican.org.uk  

But hurry they are only at the Barbican Theatre from Thursday 21 – Sunday 31 May 2009 and tickets are selling out fast.

Where? Cable Street, Tower Hill

Cirilo’s is not your usual Chinese or Japanese restaurant but offers more of a mixture of oriental cuisine styles. 

 The starters are, in the risk of sounding cliché, finger-licking good-the highlight of my entire meal. Starters include sticky ribs, tasty crispy aromatic duck and my personal favourite, delightfully crispy and tender fried shrimp, accompanied by sweet and sour sauce. I was surprised by how large the starter portions were.

It wasn’t just the starters that were generous in size, but main dishes were also unbelievably enormous making it a real treat. I went for Chicken Mami (£6.95) as my main dish. My huge bowl had what seemed like a year’s supply of steaming hot soup. This is not an exaggeration. From what I could finish, the Chicken Mami was richly favourable, satisfying and nicely presented. The marinated roasted chicken pieces were a great touch.

The huge portions in itself, gives the dishes a sort of wow-factor. The chefs’ expertise is reflected in the delicious and quality food. With me feeling stuffed by the end of my meal and the outstanding value for money, I was not disappointed. At Cirilo’s you can easily have a three course meal for as little as £20.

The waitress and chef made me feel special. They were very warm and friendly. The soft-lighting, relaxing background music and the wall paintings which I thought were particularly beautiful sets a serene atmosphere, great for a romantic or cosy meal out. The overall ambience of the restaurant’s interior results in the place being like a diamond in the rough. Cirilo’s odd location is questionable yet actually makes it a real gem.

Outside Cirilo's

The controverisal American comic

Unadulterated, politically incorrect, blunt and downright hilarious, Chris Rock rocked the stage at Hammersmith Apollo and made no apologies.  The American comic kicked off his first UK tour in Hammersmith, which was unbelievably his first “official” visit to the UK and something that many of his fans across the Atlantic have been waiting to happen for a long time. After the controversy of his most recent visit to the Capital, at the Live Earth event which was broadcast live on the BBC. Before introducing the Red Hot Chili Peppers Rock called the crowd “motherfuckers“. Due to the broadcast being at 5:45pm, Chris was immediately cut off and the BBC were forced to make several apologies in direct response to the complaints made by a minority of viewers. However I doubt that those who complained about the use of his language would have been present at the show.

For nearly two hours, he ripped into celebrities, politicians, and generally ranted about his usual subject matters such as women, inter-rational couples, relationships, racism and politics. Some of his victims were Britney Spears, Hillary Clinton and George Bush. He particularly raved about the strength of the pound in comparison to the U.S dollar. “In America, I’m a millionaire, I come to the U.K and I’m just another broke-ass nigga”. Considering he was performing his stand-up routine in the London for the very first time, he was extremely confident his jokes would translate to the audience.

Unlike most comedians there were no erratic showbiz piss-take, as he employed his dual trademarks of racial and social observations into one 90 minute long narrative, he suggested that white children are protected quicker than black ones in the U.S. “just look at Whitney Houston’s kids, he says, or O.J’s”   

 The controversial comedian had everyone in stitches, raised issues that everyone else was too afraid to address. Most ironically, he spoke the truth. Perhaps what separates Rock from his peers is not the content of his jokes, or comedic his style, or even his notorious delivery, it is his alarmingly accurate analysis of American society and the world in general. 

In a set full of topical material, Rock began with the Democrat presidential primaries and found rich pickings. The upcoming U.S election was a subject matter he spoke of greatly; the potential face-off between a black man and a white woman, says Rock, is like a “suffering contest”. Which oppressed group most deserves a crack at the presidency?  

To Rock, as to countless comedians before him, men and women are diametrically opposed. Women are motivated by money and security, men by sex. “Fellas”, he says, “if you lose your job, you gonna lose your woman.”

 It is well known that Rock’s influences range from the likes of Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, Eddie Murphy and Woody Allen to name a few. Nevertheless, I do not think it is an overstatement to suggest that Rock may soon be remembered amongst Comedy’s all-time greats alongside those who inspired him from the beginning.  A man of many talents, the former Academy Awards host has also written a book, “Rock This”, and released two comedy albums and he was recently voted by “Comedy Central” as the fifth greatest stand-up comedian of all time. He also produces, writes, narrates and occasionally directs the TV comedy “Everybody Hates Chris” and was once voted the funniest person in America by Entertainment Weekly. 

Prior to the show, I anticipated a profanity-filled outburst on current affairs, “black” jokes, which are the stock in trade of many African-American comedians. Rock instead covered various topics such as politics, current affairs, celebrity-showbiz-news; he spoke of his past experience of being a young black boy from a working class family going to an all white School in “white-ass” suburbs in Brooklyn, New York.

After the show I was delighted that Rock shared his unique humor with us Brits. I knew of Rock’s talent previous to seeing the show at Hammersmith but I did not anticipate the substance of his content and the brilliance of his execution.

In the end, I felt privileged to watch a great comedian in his prime.

A great night out. 

Russell Paters is Canada’s biggest stand up export; he has been in the business for 20 years, and his current tour to celebrate his 20^th anniversary bought him to London’s o2 Arena.

Cheeky Comic

On Feburary  14th, I went to the much anticipated comedy gig of the year along with some friends, Russell Peters recently put his Valentines Day show at London’s O2 Arena on-sale, selling an unprecedented 10,000  tickets in one day.
I was surprised to hear that Russell Peters had sold out so quickly. After the show however, I understood why.

One of the traits I admired about Russell Peters performances was how much he improvised, anyone in his eye line was in for some serious mocking, he was incredibly witty focusing on issues such as racism, multiculturalism, stereotypes and most of all he spoke the truth, he made brash statements that most of us wouldn’t dare.  

His casual observational and satirical style meant everyone was in stitches, yet everyone could relate, although born in Canada, Russell Peters is of Indian descent, and of course had a great Asian following at the show. Peters displayed his great knowledge of stereotypes regarding Indians, Blacks, Chinese, Arabs, English, Irish and American, his impersonations and accents were amazingly spot on, he impersonated George Bush, an anonymous Indian actress, The King of Jordan, he was versatile and a delight to watch.

 One of the highlights for me was his improvisation, he asked people questions about where they were from, and had conversation which ended with the person in the audience being exposed on the two massive big screens at the Arena.  Russell combined old jokes with new, and some of his old material was still fresh and relevant today, he was vocal about current issues, politics, the difference between women and men, and spoke of interracial couples. A particular couple, a Jamaican man and a Persian woman were the targets of his jokes all night long.

I thoroughly enjoyed the show, and would recommend that people buy his latest DVD, “Red, White and Brown”.

In 2009, Russell will start his 20^th anniversary tour, which will feature not only his greatest hits ‘remixed’ and all new material. The 20^th anniversary tour will go across Canada, the US and the UK.  It’s a great feat for any professional to sustain a career in any field for 20 years but for a stand up comedian to precede for so long and not only remain successful but become bigger, it’s a credit to Russell Peter’s incredible sense of humor, delivery, style, content.  

I’ve become an even bigger fan of his since the show and I will be buying his DVD.

WARNING!!! THIS MAY CONTAIN CONTENT OF A DRAMATIC NATURE 

I’m not much of a food critic, I may be fussy when it comes to the minute details such as how much sauce is in a dish or how much oil lurks in a plate of chips or indeed how MANY chips are on a plate but I’m pretty laid back, little did I know a quiet evening out with old friends at Nandos would descend into utter chaos reminiscent of scenes of anarchy at the recent protests at the G20 summit in London.
I kid you not.
If I had a pound coin for every profane word which was yelled across between customer’s and staff alike, you’d think I was illustrating a scene from a south park episode entitled “Madness in Nandos – Kenny’s final death”

Before we embarked on what would be an embarrassingly eventful meal at the Portuguese joint. We walked into the cinema and had a quick browse of showing times for any movie, it was apparent that the hundreds of school kids were among us and seemingly had no interest in either eating out, watching a movie or playing pool or even playing any arcade games.  They were just there.

And with the benefit of hindsight, I realized perhaps they did have a purpose, it was to ruin as much peoples evening they could, and this is my account of my “Good Friday”…

I am self-confessed sauce addict and cannot tolerate lack of lettuce and salad in a burger or a meal, so when I recently went to Nandos with a few secondary school buddies in Park Royal, my jaw dropped when I received my plate.

It took me five seconds to count how many chips I’d been served and as a slowly lifted the lid of my burger (the suspense was immense) to my horror I was given two anorexic strings and strips of lettuce, a huge tomato which I specifically ordered against, an onion the size of my burger and no sign of peri peri. I was irritated as this was not the first time I’ve encountered stingy service at Nandos, I paid £7.90 for a meal which I could have compiled from the bins from the back.
Now I’m a reasonable person, I realize times are hard and that the economic crisis is affecting our lifestyles and I wasn’t too bothered when this “reunion” turned into a evening at Nandos, a couple games of pool in an arcade swarming with teenage hoodies and chavs who set out on intimidating anyone over the age of 21.

What irritates me is depriving customers of an extra handful of chips isn’t going to cut costs majorly nor is it going to break the bank. What it is going to do is put off customers or in my case force the customer to complain and request a bigger portion, which is going to affect costs as chefs often feel they have to over-compensate by super-sizing you.  I do sincerely suspect that the chefs are under strict instructions to go “easy” on side orders in order to skimp and save, particularly the ones that hail from the potato family.

I looked at the waitress and she came over without me having to signal, she looked embarrassed, I felt for her as she had not prepared the meal, I politely explained my fury at the mediocre quality and quantity of my food.  While the waitress whisked away my plate, I saw an emerging gang of youths enter the restaurant, the place was busy enough and looked low on staff. The teenagers didn’t appear to be searching for trouble but when they were refused entry, the atmosphere quickly turned nasty.

Soon there were shuffles, swearing and shoving between the youths who can’t have been too shocked at the snub by managers and staff, I could hear verbal threats being made galore. Then out of nowhere, the manager locked the door which left the four thugs in the restaurant refusing to leave and attempting to force the door open so there friends could join them for dinner. How thoughtful!
At this point, customers were restless and according to the manager and staff the police were on their way….

Fast forward 30 minutes later shall we.

Not only have I not received my plate of food back, but my mate’s orders were wrong, not to mention the fact people weren’t being allowed to leave the restaurant until the “authorities” arrived. It was tense, customers were fuming, and our table in particular was badly treated by staff whom ignored our requests over and over.

To the climax….

About 10 minutes of madness ensued when a middle aged man with a group of friends shouted at the boys who were wreaking havoc by eating olives, messing around with the ice-cream machine and helping themselves to drinks, staff intervened and things got physical between the youths and the staff who seemed to abandon every other customer in the restaurant. 

One particular staff member challenged one of the boys to the ground as he headed for the toilets and he was then attacked by the boys, who then waved a knife in the air and threatened to use it if his friends weren’t allowed to leave the restaurant
Meanwhile a crowd was growing outside as friends of the hoodies who witnessed the scuffle banged on the door and screamed coarse language at the staff, some of it racist as words like “paki” and “terrorist” were exchanged.

The manager obliged, unlocked the door and received a punch in the face for his troubles, as the teens fled the scene, the manager then locked the door again which caused rage amongst customers who wanted to leave. Some staff claimed desserts weren’t paid for but they didn’t seem to be able to account for which table owed money. That same middle aged man was shouting again, this time he was menacing as the youths who’d started the whole drama. “Were late for our fucking movie mate, open the fucking door!”

The police then arrived.  (Typical) even though almost 45 minutes late, they assessed the area, couldn’t find the hoodies and took descriptions of the offenders, took statements etc.

ALL the while, I’m starving my ass off, I find myself demanding a refund as does the rest of my table, luckily for the waiter, he complied and apologised for the hassle.
God forbid if I was refused a refund, might have found myself kipping in the slammer because that had to be the worst customer service I’ve ever encountered.
Hungry, impatient, tired and pissed off, our meal out was ruined, in the end we settled for some pizza from Pizza Hut where no hoodies where to be seen.

It was an unpredictable scenario, quite a scary evening at times and luckily no-one was hurt but I would definitely avoid leisure park complexes like those on a school holiday, which unfortunately attracts a youthful and troublesome crowd, I suppose it depends on your area.

Back to Nandos…I am a huge fan, love the food but I do feel more often than not their portions are a tad miniature especially with side dishes and its something that ruins the Nandos experience.

To my fellow Nando-lovers…Bon Preveito!

Where? Oxford Circus

An atmospheric Turkish restaurant that draws on the culinary influences of the Ottoman Empire, prepared and served with a modern touch. It offers a truly “East meets West” experience.

 Ozer is part of ‘Sofra,’ a chain of licensed restaurants that serve a variety of Turkish dishes throughout the day. Named after acclaimed leading chef Huseyin Ozer, the restaurant was created to act as a whole new approach to eating that has dismissed many of the prejudices surrounding the traditional view of Turkish cuisine as just limited to fast food kebabs.

 The linen tablecloths and fresh flowers or candles on tables made me feel as if I was about to experience a memorable and romantic meal. Bright red walls and a sea of cushions set the theme of the place.

It is difficult to give a definitive guide to the cost of a meal, as they have a series of set menus, particularly at lunch and in the early evening that are good value. To be exact, there are three set menus – the healthy menu, crunch menu and party menu.

 As a struggling student, the word “Crunch” made decision-making quick and easy. The other two menus had over-priced food. The “Crunch” menu costs £10.95 until 6pm and £12.95 after, for the main dish and a glass of wine (or soft drink) with complimentary hummus, olives and warm bread. You can choose from prime scotch sirloin steak or spicy fish stew to tender chicken salad. Our waitress was extremely attentive and kind.

I opted for Chicken Kulbasti since it was highly recommended and I soon found out why. The seasoned chicken fillet was memorable. It was tender and juicy and served with rice and vegetables-a well-portioned and delicious dish. For starters I had a generous bowl of lentil soup (£3.95). I wanted to try an authentic Turkish desert, so I chose Kazandibi-an upside down milk pudding with a caramelized top with cinnamon powder and tahini ice cream. Delicious.

The  free hummus, olives and warm bread was a real treat and a great way to impress a new-comer. The overall décor and atmosphere of the place is also a plus. But I personally wouldn’t order anything other than meals from the “Crunch” menu, before 6pm. Times are hard!

The pretty layout

Where? Poland Street, Soho

Bodeans serves great American-style food and is, in my opinion, the best smokehouse in London for that authentic and unmistakable barbeque flavour.

The opinion at Bodean’s is that ‘fingers were invented before knives and forks’ so the idea is just to get stuck in. Sticky ribs, fat burgers, pulled pork and chicken wings tempt you to ditch the cutlery.

House specialities from the wood-burning smoke-pit oven include baby back, spare or beef ribs or barbeque chicken and combo feasts such as a quarter of chicken served with a portion of baby back ribs and their special pulled pork. Other alternatives on the menu include shrimp jambalaya, or  melt-in-the-mouth fillet steaks with chipotle butter and jumbo gamba shrimps.

There are two sections to this restaurant. The upstairs is more of a ‘fast food’ eating area, with a table service area downstairs-”deli-up, diner-down” is what they call it. Upstairs is modelled on an American diner with a more snack based diner menu. Then downstairs is a complete change to street level. You enter down a back stair case and arrive in a dimly lit basement space with tables and booths.

Upstairs Bodeans

I stayed upstairs after hearing that the downstairs  menu is more expensive-Why? I don’t know.  long high tables, high stools (not as uncomfortable as you would think) and two large 42” Plasma Screens featuring live, and pre-taped sporting events straight from the US of A (North American Sports) and Prem League Football. Upstairs the service was quick and efficient. I simply had to grab a seat, order at the counter and await my food, and it wasn’t a long wait either. The menu offers a variety of old- fashioned American favourites priced under £10-£15. Not too bad for quality food.

As a first-timer, I opted for a half slab of BBQ baby-back ribs served with fries and coleslaw (£9.95) and chowed down American-style (with fingers!). The rich bbq sauce is what makes the ribs mouthwatering and a pleasure to eat. I remember thinking that they were one of the best that I’ve ever had! What a complement. I also had a satisfying side of onion rings (£3.95).

Just two minutes’ stroll from London’s retail jungle Oxford Street, Bodeans is great if you’re looking for a quick meal of good, old-fashioned American food especially BBQ or a nice sit-down evening meal.

Bodeans sign

Where? Soho Street (off Oxford Street)

Soba in Soho Street is an ultra-modern noodle bar and great alternative to the already distinguished ‘Wagamamas.’

Named after a type of thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour, Soba offers nutritious oriental cuisine- a treat for both meat eaters and vegetarians. I quickly learnt how generous their portions are with my huge, tasty bowl of Chicken Ramen (£6.50) which was filled with a year’s supply of soup-great if you’re up for a detox. My starter of salt and pepper squid (£3.75) was expertly executed, and even the plain old dish of Chinese greens with oyster sauce was a tasty treat (£2.95). With the generous portions married with reasonable prices, it’s hard to complain- Side orders range from £2.80 – £3.90 and dishes range from £5.30 – £6.80.

The dining and décor is quite bright, open and minimal with long yellow tables and black lacquered benches dominating the room giving the place a genuinely Japanese feel. I did feel however, that the place was a little too spacious. At lunch time there was hardly any customers which is a pleasant change from the crowdedness we find in Wagamamas, but Soba lacked life. What didn’t lack life is the menu. I found it to be terrifically more varied than mama’s leaving me more spoilt for choice.

Thanks to its location, Soba is ideal if you’re looking for a quick snack to regain your energy during your shopping spree in nearby and exhausting Oxford Street.

Open from 12.00pm – 3.30 pm and 5.30 pm – 11 pm Monday to Friday, Saturday 12 – 10pm and Sunday 12 – 9pm.

By Jemelyn Yadao

Tropical rainforests and sunny skies in Australia, cosmopolitan lifestyle and big city marvel in New York, the vibrant night lights in Tokyo and the mesmerizing colourful sunset in Brazil. These are sceneries that not only postcards but UK students have yet to capture. Former-student, Rick Majithia, talks about Hong Kong where he studied as part of an exchange scheme. “Think beaches, rooftop bars on top of sky scrapers, some of the best shopping in the world and a brilliant nightlife. The culture is different,” he says. “It turned out to be one of the best decisions I had ever made.” But unlike Rick, many UK students are unable to share their experience of studying outside Britain because they missed out.

Although UK develops some of the best graduates in the world, UK graduates are missing out in getting that wider global perspective as they are less likely to study abroad than they used to.

A recent report by the Council for the Industry and Higher Education (CIHE), Global Horizons and the Role of Employers, found that Global businesses are increasingly seeking graduates who have a global awareness with the initiative to study overseas as part of their learning. The study stated that the number of English home students going on European schemes such as The European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students (ERUSMUS) had fallen from 9,500 to 5,500 in the last ten years.

Chriselia De Vries, Study Abroad Officer for Cass Business School London, believes that the report’s claims are true. “The majority of the students I send away tend to be ‘EU’ or Overseas students rather than Home” says De Vries, “We certainly receive many more incoming students from our partner schools than we manage to send out.”

So why are fewer of our home-grown students today passing off a future of security and high pay? Another CIHE report found that the perceived institutional barriers include: unclear institutional strategies, lack of encouragement and inadequate support and funding.

Some students are unaware about funding which could explain why they may be worried about the cost of studying abroad. Clarissa Fairlie, 19, a student from Birmingham University is one of them. “I have no idea how students from my university or course are funded. I just know I can’t afford it,” she says. She is choosing not to study aboard as part of her Tourism Business Management course. “It’s too long, I want to get university over and done with, I feel like I will miss out on things like graduating with my friends. I want to graduate with everyone else. I am aware of the benefits. I would do it if it was for only two weeks but it’s for one year. ”

However, Ivan Hutchins, International Partnerships Manager of City University, is not convinced that funding is an issue or that the number of English home students studying abroad is reducing. He finds courses such as Speech and Language Therapy, Journalism, Business and Economics have shown a notable increase in UK graduates participating in exchanges. “I know this because these departments have staff dedicated to making exchanges work and grow.”

When two second year journalism students from City university began to find their French module a little more authentic than they’d hoped, it seemed there was only one solution to save their course, and no better use of their student loan than to head to the city of lights and love; Paris.

Most people laughed at their far fetched idea to improve their language skills, some even called them stupid. But three brave young women (and fellow classmates) saw the true potential of the trip, and all five, Akua, Dilan, Hannah, Jemelyn and Rochaelle, embarked on a whirlwind tour of Paris that lasted a mammoth…3 days.

This is a small testament to our journey; where we went, what we did, where we stayed and how much it set us back. You might find it a helpful guide or merely find amusement in some of our antics.

 This mini adventure didn’t come without struggle- a day before we were meant to leave, after booking accommodation, we lost one of the team- she couldn’t find her passport. But valiantly we went on. Hannah was in Canada up until the day before our departure. And having booked a hostel instead of the hotel that she had adamantly requested we thought it wise to wait till on the train to Paris before breaking it to her. We also discovered on route that no one had brought any form of phrase book and/or dictionary both vital to a group of people whose knowledge of French went little farther than ‘voulez-vous couchez avec moi ce soir?’ We had entrusted this menial task to Jemelyn – who swore that she had downloaded some sort interpretation device and put it on her iPod, which was now MIA. We were buggered.

We departed from Kings Cross St Pancras at 06:40am and arrived at Gare du Nord at 10:40am. We caught the metro (underground), which over the next few days became our closest Parisian pal. We found our hostel easily enough. Having conjured up images of a crack den with dorms, we were pleasantly surprised (and relieved) to find our hostel was actually really nice and had been voted by The Guardian as one of the top ten in the whole world. We dumped our bags and set about on our escapades.

Day 1:
I’ll sleep when I’m dead…

Having skipped a whole nights’ sleep we thought it best not to give in, but to see how far we could push ourselves before breaking point. So we agreed to continue our day as normal and run on enthusiasm and will power. Our hostel was conveniently located a two minute walk from a shopping centre and so we did what any female student with a bit of dough in their pocket would, and went shopping. After spending what felt like  eight hours in Sephora, we returned to our hostel and got settled. We’d booked a boat tour of the Seine and it was beautiful, we could’ve happily ended our first night in Paris there. But no, we went in search of some more romanticism. Despite Hannah catching forty winks almost anywhere she could, we ventured into the Latin Quarter, known for its student atmosphere and busy bars. We foolishly went in hopes of finding a shisha place, knowing full well that Paris, like London, had become smoke free. We were told that there were no longer any shisha bars. We were all dressed up with no place to go, feeling deflated, exhausted and subsequently a little bit mad. We wondered the streets of Paris. But then a glimmer of hope came in the form of four hot and slightly drunk American guys. They too were looking for some entertainment and told us about a club on Le Champs Elysses called Queen. There’s nothing like good looking guys to rid you of your ailments, Hannah said she had been awoken by “the scent of man”, so we clamoured into a cab with no actual address of the club just the road name.
Queen was a gay bar, which we were aware of, we didn’t know, however, that it was disco night. You can only imagine what disco night in a gay bar in Paris would be like; over the top but very entertaining. The only point of frustration came when trying to decipher who was gay and who was straight. We decided to call it a night at 3am and after a day of shopping, drooling, dancing and drinking it couldn’t have come sooner. 

Day 2:
Meet me under the Eiffel tower.

Morning came far too quick; who would have known waking up could be so difficult? Not ones to turn down anything for free, we woke ourselves up in time to catch breakfast, which was served between 7am and 9am. Bleary eyed we got ready. We decided that we would use this day to shop (again) only this time on the well known Champs Elysses (a more grand version of oxford street) and Galeries Lafayette department store (like Harrods). The Metro meant getting around was fairly easy and the location of the hostel meant we were close to most of Paris’ main attractions. Galeries Lafayette was stunning, with an abundance of luxury and designer wear it wasn’t the best of shopping locations for penny pinching students but it was still astonishing to look at. After a long day of running around like rats on the streets of Paris we were knackered. But the day wasn’t over. It is a prerequisite for any tourist visiting Paris to see the Eiffel tower and being the extroverts that we are we decided- in spite of me having a very real fear of heights, to go to the very top.  So come nightfall we went. The view extended over the picturesque city and we truly understood its colloquial name of the city of lights, the Eiffel tower being its’ beacon. After experiencing the mesmerizing views of Paris we ate and then went on to a bar, and somehow managed to stay till its’ closing at 2am.

Day 3:
Credit what?!

By our final day in Paris we’d all become aware that we were haemorrhaging money- the term “credit crunch” had been erased from our vocabulary. We had also disregarded the fact that the instalment of our student loan was to last us till April. In addition to this, we were all extremely sleep deprived.
We decided to launch an assault the streets of Montmartre, home to the Moulin Rouge, Espace Dali, the Sacre ceour and much to our surprise, dozens of sex shops. It was on exiting Pigalle station in search of Espace Dali (a museum dedicated to the works of artist and visionary Salvador Dali), that we realised our grave error. We were met at street level by a barrage of seedy and overtly named sex shops. It was here that we were approached by a French man asking if we “knew of any good sex shops in the area”, to whom we said no. Moments later he returned asking in his thick Parisian accent if we would “like to come to a sex shop” with him- to which we replied, “no thank you”. He then suggested that maybe we would like to take a photo of a part of his male anatomy, at which point we ran off.
Set on a hill 130meters high, the area of Montmartre overlooks Paris and along with the Eiffel tower, held the best views of the city. Once we reached the top (after a very steep walk) we reaped the rewards of our trek and were greeted by the perfect view below us. We came to Montmartre in Search of Espace Dali and to book tickets for that nights show at the Moulin Rouge. It was in a crepery in the area that we made friends with two French men who promised to take us out after the show.

The Moulin Rouge was everything I expected and that little bit more. And by the end of the night I’d seen just about as many boobs as I could take. At the end of the show Jemelyn erupted and began to sob out loud, she said she was moved to tears by emotion but we suspected the half bottle of champagne she consumed had something to do with it.

After the show, as promised, we were joined by our Parisian compares for the night. They took us to a club just off the Champs Elysses called 6-7. Wednesday night is tourist night, which means if you’re not a French native you get in for free.

We couldn’t fault the music and the free cocktails only helped to enhance the evening. I would, however, try and take back all five of us attempting to do the ‘soulja boy’ dance routine in the middle of a fancy Parisian club. Alcohol and time keeping do not go hand in hand as we found out. We got back to our hostel at 4am and our return train left at 6:40am. After foolishly knapping for an hour and a half we awoke and began to brick it.

We were very tired, a bit drunk and as a result Jemelyn was quite sick (anywhere she could).  We bundled ourselves into a cab and prayed that we’d make our train. We arrived on the platform just as they’d announced they were about to close the doors. After leaping onto the train and barging through the carriages we found our seats. For the first time in three days there was silence.  

Granted our time in Paris may not have made that great an impact on our French. There was no denying that we’d all fallen for the city of love.

Return Eurostar ticket (booked through STA):  £52.50
Oops! Hostel Avenues des Gobelins: £22/ppn.
Metro: €5.80 for a day pass.
Moulin rouge: €90 (show and half a bottle of champagne)
Espace Dali: €6
Ticket to the top of the Eiffel tower: €12