We’ve become fans of the ballet and opera so when we get a chance to score some cheap tickets we take advantage of it. Our latest slice of culture was the final performance of Les Capulets et les Montaigus at the Opera Bastille in Paris. In the early 1800s Bellini wrote this translation of the famed Shakespearan tale Romeo and Juliet. So basically it’s the Italian version of a British romantic tragedy, sung in Italian, with French supertitles, and to add to the confusion Romeo was played in the classic tradition by a woman. We may not have understood everything that was said but it was actually quite good. And it feels less silly to yell ‘Bravo!’ and ‘Encore!’ when you’re in France.

You’re standing two feet away from a priceless masterpiece surrounded by other admirers when an urge to sneeze wells up within.

Do you sneeze on the person next to you or the unshielded Van Gogh?

A few of the pieces at the Pompideau Centre (museum of modern art) next to our apartment in Paris.