Paris.
This day was the only day in which we felt off-kilter. It started off with us oversleeping. I’m sure it was an adjustment to jet lag, but we made the mistake of feeling as if we had to go down to breakfast right away and, in reality, it was too soon. We felt foggy off and on for the remainder of the day.
On that very gray day, we decided to walk to the other side of the Seine, to the Louvre and the Tuileries and walk the Champs-Élysées, something we didn’t have time for last year.
We passed by the Louvre, hung a left through the Arc de Triomphe du Caroussel, located just to the east of the Louvre.
It’s quite beautiful and is the gateway to the famous Tuileries gardens.
They’re quite lovely and rather extensive.
Notice the heart? I love this photo of a couple walking down the path.
More sailboats for rent. We briefly contemplated renting one, but thought we should save that for the children. (Even though we are kids at heart.)
We came upon another pond, and saw these.
An installation of umbrellas. So beautiful! We were entranced.
Our bladders were complaining and we spend a great deal of time trying to find a toilette. We finally came upon this:
Pay? Absolutely.
Much better!
We headed through the Place de la Concorde – incredibly busy with traffic – and headed down the Champs-Élysées. It’s a very long walk and it was a frustrating one. There was construction on both sides of the road in the prettiest part of the C-E – the tree-lined, park-like stretch. So we had to keep leaving the pavement and had to maneuver through puddles, etc. I was frustrated because that was the part I really wanted to see and experience.
When we finally reached a more walkable stretch, closer to the Arc du Triomphe, we were dismayed to find it was full of high-end shops, as well as shops I could see anywhere in Times Square; a Disney store, Abercrombie and Fitch, Zara, and the Gap. It was unbelievably crowded and touristy and very, very disappointing. It was like walking an outdoor mall. We decide to turn around and give up on seeing the Arc de Triomphe up close. Don stood in the middle of the street for the longest time to get a picture of it and got some good ones, but, as you know if you follow me on IG, his phone was stolen later in the week and all of his photos – and there were some great ones – were lost. More on that later.
This is as close as I got with my phone camera:
But we were there and here’s a picture of us to prove it.
It must be noted that we were overwhelmed by images we had seen in the past of the Nazis parading down the Champs-Élysées. Devastating. And we stopped to take that in; how horrific it must have been for the citizens of Paris. Hard to believe now, but all too real.
On the way back, we saw the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, both now museums and exhibition spaces.
Gorgeous. Simply stunning.
We walked across the Pont Alexandre on our way back to the Left Bank.
There she is.
By this time, we had walked for miles and our legs and knees were complaining so we grabbed a cab back to the hotel. We rested for a while in our room and then walked over to the famous Bon Marché department store (only a few blocks from our hotel.) It’s a gorgeous Art Deco building. I was searching for bubble bath, Don for another white T-shirt. We ended up finding both. Though a bit pricey, it’s rather high end, I grabbed the bubble bath because it is always hard to find in the local pharmacies. The hotel has my dream tub, deep and long, and I take a bath every night. How I wish I had a tub like that here!
After a search for a place to have an early dinner – hard to find as restaurants tend to close for a couple of hours and then re-open at 7 pm – I became crabby and Don took over, bless him. He found a Chinese place with take-out and brought it back to the room.
We lost our ‘just be’ mojo that day and made a vow not to lose it again. And we didn’t.
Lesson learned.
Happy Monday.
I’m loving your Paris travelogue, I want to know everything.
Thank you, Carol!
So nice to share your journey with us. So detailed and inspiring. So beautiful pictures. I want to go back to Paris as soon as possible and follow your path.
Helga
I hope you do make that trip, Helga! Thank you.
I think all travelers have a day like that and sometimes they are really good ones. It sounds like Chinese in your hotel was just the ticket. (And the bubble bath — now that sounds really spectacular!) I thoroughly enjoyed your walk, remembering many favorites and seeing some new ones too. Best series ever!
Aw, thank you, Jeanie!
Still enjoying the trip with you!
Glad to hear that, Karen! Thank you.
Before you mentioned the Nazis marching down those streets, I was thinking about all of the pictures I have seen of the buildings in Paris from which those huge horriffic swastikas were hanging. How horrible.
Thanks again for sharing your journey with us!!!!
Don and I have been talking about that a lot. And now he’s reading a book on The Resistance during WWII. Thanks, Chris!
Dear Claudia,
It is interesting to have the point of view of strangers about Paris to see Paris through their eyes.
Champs Elysées are far too much touristic but a must to see for travellers.
Even for parisians Champs Elysées has completely lost its charms at least for me who knew them for 50 years and more. Nowadays nobody can afford to have a private appartment here. Only banks, assurances and big firms are occupying buildings converted into offices and the major international brands have occupied a prominent place for a very long time. Already in the 70s MacDonnald had a restaurant here.
Fortunately Paris has preserved some typical quartiers . Some are very popular and not rich . Nothing to do with les beaux quartiers of the capital inaccessible for most people but of course this is the same thing in all major cities.
Bonne soirée
Sounds like NYC! It’s unaffordable for most people – as in San Francisco. A statement about our major cities, right?
I would walk around Paris at night looking into the windows of beautiful apartments and wonder how anyone could afford them!
Thanks, Helene.
I’m really enjoying seeing Paris through your eyes. It’s like being in a totally different world, isn’t it?
I saw your post on IG about Don’s phone being stolen. That was just awful.
Thanks again, for sharing your travels with us.
It was awful. But it’s just a phone and we were able to contact our carrier fairly quickly and get it shut down. But we had to put in an insurance claim and get a new phone from them and he lost every one of his photos. That’s terrible.
Thanks, Melanie.
I, too, am enjoying your Paris photos. That’s a wonderful photo of you and Don.
Thank you, Janice!
I absolutely am in Paris with all your great pictures and description of each place you have visited. Thank you for such details and candid pictures, you made my day just reading and seeing Paris.
I’m so glad I made your day, Barbara! Thank you.
Interesting that the carte has “expresso” and not espresso.
Tough day. Interesting, all the same!
It was! And not so tough in reflection. Could have been worse!
What a drag about Don’s phone! Especially the irreplaceable photos! I’m impressed at the ground you two cover each day. Sometimes on all my trips there comes a point when it gets overwhelming–if I’m in a foreign country, my brain is worn out by the constantly new directions, decisions, language challenges, overload of the unfamiliar and I just need to be still and quiet somewhere with a book, sketchpad, or one cafe where I can sit for a few hours just watching something and eat a familiar food like a haute dog. LOL. A bubble bath and Chinese take out sounds like a great idea!!
Same here. We’ve found that there’s always one day that we have to take it easy – deliberately. Thanks, Nora!
Beautiful photos. It looks like you made the best of the day even if you were a bit off. When I travel I sometimes just have to take some time off or I get too tired.
There’s almost always one day where we have to take it easy. This ended up being the one. Thanks, Kay!
So wonderful you are able to do so much walking. Paris is a city for that. I get cranky when I don’t eat or rest like I should. Happy it was just one day and then back to you mojo. I love that you took a bubble bath, in Paris! Hugs!
I took several bubble baths in Paris! xo