Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysee, HRC

Trip Start Mar 30, 2009
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5
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Trip End Apr 18, 2009


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Flag of France  , Île-de-France,
Friday, April 3, 2009

I went to the post office first thing that morning to mail my new tea set.  It was supposed to open at 0800, but did not open on time.  The French people were kicking the door and yelling at the guy inside at open the door. Others were beating on the window.One lady also took a picture of the post office hours and her watch together I guess to prove a point.  It was insane!  You would never see a scene like that in the US.  None of the post office workers spoke English, so it was a challenge getting my package mailed. 
Next I was off to the Lourve.  It was beautiful both inside and out.  The first thing I went to see was the Mona Lisa.  Big groups of Asian travelers were crowding the Mona Lisa- pushing and shoving to get to the front to take a photo, so I decided to push my way up to the front to get a photo too!  I also saw the Venus de Milo- same deals with the picture takers.  The Louvre was not necessarily crowded, only certain famous exhibits The Louvre
The Louvre
 .  There were some places where I was the only person in the room.  Most of the place was random art, though.  The statues were nice, as well as the Medieval portion, but the best part was Napoleon's apartments. 
After the Lourve I walked through the Jardins.  I stopped by the Place de Pyramids- a gold Napoleon on a horse- then into a couple of shops.  Went down to the Obelisk fro some photos and from there I could see the Arc de Triomphe.  I had planned to see it the next day, but it didn't look too far away so I decided to walk to it.  Boy was I wrong.  It was pretty far and mostly uphill.  I took the Champs Elysee to get to it.  That street was bustling with people and had a lot of high end shops. 
My museum pass let me get into the Arc de Triomphe, so I climb to the top of it.  The spiral staircase was quite a hike.  There were 3 floors to the top.  The top floor was open air and had a spectacular view of all of the streets radiating out from the Arc as well as a great city view. 
Next on to the Hard Rock Cafe!  I took the RER-A to get to it because it was pretty far away.  It was anti-climatic and the service was poor, but hey, it's still a HRC! 
Since I had already hit everything on my itinerary, I decided to look for a side trip the next day.  The hotel staff helped me book my tour to Mont St Michel! 
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