Atel Atlanta Frochot Paris

... panini yummmm). After lunch we headed over to Hotel Invalides which was originally
built as a hospital for sick war veterans. Invalides also has some war museums inside, most
of which was closed when we went there, but theres plenty of cannons and guns to walk past.
Behind hotel invalides is the la cathdral saint-louis which houses the body of napolean.

Next we headed back to the eifel tower where we took more happy snaps the climbed up the
tower. There ...

... this to stop at the kiosk next to the one we had eaten the crepe at the day before and have some lunch. We experiences our first French paninis and of course we shared another banana and Nutella crepe!
Wee walked up Champ De Elysses towards the Arc De Triumphe after lunch. Champ De Elysses is the most expensive street in Paris, full of designer shops such as Louis Vuitton,*** Ferrari, Mercedes, and many cafes and restaurants. Of course there are also fast food restaurants ...

Thursday 25/6/09 Back to Paris

The trip is now reaching the end and I, in particular, am thinking of home. We packed up the morning, said au revoir to our hosts and fellow guests that we had met from Rouen.

The car drop off was back at St Exupery airport, close to Lyon. Our car lease has worked really well, the return was incident free and even though we were somewhat earlier in arriving than the appointed time, which meant, I think ...

... I could have spent a full day in each. Then I strolled the famous Champs-Elysées. It seems to me there are two cities: the half I visited yesterday (below The Louvre) and this half above. The lower half is more old-world while this half is more modern and chic. I strolled with the crowds and ate at one of the sidewalk cafés, smiling to see a dog occupying a nearby café seat, a common scene. I tried out the Paris subway ...

... see the building and the fountains right beside it. So I was happy. After that we got hungry and we went to this restaurant called Flunch. It was awful. It was basically like a cafeteria where you grab a bunch of stuff and then pay at the end. I did not enjoy it. Plus there was this guy next to us that kept glaring at me. Then when I got up to leave he clears his throat and says (in English) "You're gonna die". That was comforting to hear. The only good thing about Flunch ...

... badly-pronounced merci boucou and squished myself into the elevator to take my Brian up to our room. He was so grateful for the pizza and wine. The only thing missing was candles...oh well. They were burning inside each of us! I told him about hunkalicious and he laughingly agreed that I still had my magic, in spite of the ravages of middle age and weight. Hee hee! We peeked out the window at the glorious Eiffel tower, in her golden, nighttime splendor and were soon asleep in each others arms.

Well we have made it to Bangui all safe and relatively unscathed. Here is how things have gone so far. Departing D.C.- Hopeful all the bad luck we are to experience on this trip was compressed into the first 48 hours. At the Air France ticket counter we learned that our trunks were too heavy. When we flew to D.C. on AirTran we had to pay extra because of our trunks excess weight but they were still allowed. On Air France we had to pay extra and 1 ...

Today has been yet another busy day! This morning we went to an exhibit of garments that were designed by a famous fashion designer-Yves Saint Laurent. There were some really beautiful garments there. Everything was pretty timeless even though they dated back quite a bit. From there we rode the subway to the Louvre. We had lunch in a cafe area. I got to eat my first Mexican ...

I mean, I'm hardly fashion averse at the moment. My lifetime's seen some seriously hippy days, but these are not those. My will to shop has been more than encouraged by Geneva's high street, the fact that (through ridiculous circumstances that I must rectify and will write about later) I don't currently have rent to pay, and the excuse that since I didn't bring much from Canada I need to buy clothes. And so I am more than capable ...

... had won their World Cup match. After dinner, we found that France had also won their match up... so they had a massive spontaneous parade down the same street and once again, the entire city was all horns and shouting. After a short visit to the Eiffel Tower at night, we went to the Metro and prepared to go back to the hotel. By the way, should you ever want to be crammed into a subway car ...