Paris: Walking Walking Walking
Trip Start
May 02, 2008
1
9
28
Trip End
May 31, 2008
Paris,
France
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Walked HEAPS today and we are sure feeling it tonight. Tracey - that reviving foot spray you gave me is a miracle worker!
After eating our yummy breakfast we headed off to the Arc De Triomphe and marvelled at all the motorists, moped riders and cyclists going all over the place in the roundabout at the base. No lines and it seems people pretty much go wherever they like! Don't know about a car sandwhich here... more like car scrambled eggs! ha ha.
Arc itself is quite awe inspiring with the French flag suspended from the very middle flying patriotically in the breeze
Oh la la! Paris Chic on our Balcony
.We then continued on down the Champs Elysees which is very pretty and has lots of beautiful trees and of course lots of kak stalls on either side. Stopped at a garden along the way to have a french meal of "Hot Dog simple" (plain) and "Hot Dog Fromage" (with cheese) and then sat in the grass to eat them. Tons of people out sunning themselves in the gardens, near fountains, on park benches, pretty much anywhere there is a spare space actually.
By the end of the day there were lots of very sunburt people to see! For once we did the right thing and "slip, slopped, slapped" so we weren't little lobsters ourselves.
Next we walked through the Place De La Concorde, which is between the end of the Champs Elysees and the start of the gardens leading to the Louvre. Huge obelisk here - a gift from Egypt in 1831 and quite old at 3,300 years!
Even the square itself was laid out in 1775! Makes us feel very young and uncultured as Aussies... which of course is pretty much true!
The Arc
Onwards through the Jardin Des Tuileries, a very large park with fountains, a tree lined promenande down the middle and grassed shaded areas on either side. Some strange sculptures here including a giant spider which looked like a War of the Worlds wannabee! Must have been some absinthe consumed by that artist. 8)
Then we were in the Louvre forecourt - yes, the square with the famous glass pyramids. Sooooo many people here, and heaps of them were getting their kit off (only to their boxer chuddies for blokes and bather tops with shorts for the women) and draping themselves over the fountain edges to absorb as much sun as possible. Apparently we are experiencing unseasonably warm and sunny weather. It's quite funny as we are trying to keep to the shade while everyone else is out there basking in it.
Then over the Pont Neuf, which means New Bridge, but ironically it is the oldest bridge in Paris (1607) and onto the islands where the Notre Dame cathedral is. Walked through some beautiful flower markets here. Again, everything is so lush and vibrantly coloured then on to have a look through Notre Dame. Of course Jeff had to do his hunchback impersonation... but it was a bit weak as even he was embarrassed doing that in front of the throngs of tourists
... it's big!
. By this time we were getting pretty stuffed so headed over to the Ile St Louis to try some famous Berthillon icecream. Very interesting flavours so I had Raspberry with Rose and Jeff had chocolate Praline with orange.
Sat down for awhile then wandered over to Rue Montorgueile in the Les Halles area via lots of gorgeous streets.
R Montorgueile is closed to traffic and has a great selection of cafes and restaurants to choose from.
We decided not to eat at Les Escargot (complete with giant gold snails on the awning) or to get some nibblies from the horse meat butcher (yeurk). Went to a French restaurant feeling apprehensive about accidently ordering brains or tripe and embarrassed by our pathetic lack of French vocabulary, but the waiter was great and bought us English menus. Whew!
Jeff still ordered weird stuff though: slightly sauteed raw mince! After a couple of glasses of vino we staggered to the Metro and had our first ride back to our hotel. Good night Captain Possum - very tired Vegemites by this stage.
