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Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Main Street, Paris

» Posted by Jon at 11:27 pm :: Comments (0)

Behold, our first stop of the day.

Day 4: Wednesday

We start our day with another climb to a bird's eye view of the city, rising above Place Charles de Gaulle and the Etoile -- it's time for the Arc de Triomphe.

Shots around the city, one avenue at a time, and then its time to walk around and under one of the great monuments to military might the world has ever known.

Even Smart cars are not immune to the traffic "rules" of this great roundabout (which works differently from all others in France).

And since we're working on monuments, how about the construction to commercialism, one of the great shopping streets of the world, the Avenue des Champs Elysees. Even carmakers have set up storefronts on this exclusive boulevard. Movie theaters mix with fashion retailers, fast food resaurants and reportedly the most star-studded bistro in all of gay Paree.

We worked our way all the way between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais to the gold-flecked Pont Alexander III for more photos of the Invalides and the Tour Eiffel.

Then it was back down the big street and into the Place de la Concorde, where an obelisk and two fountains decorate the spot where the Revolutionaries brought out their contribution to humane punishment : the guillotine. Now, its just another stop on the way to the Jardin de Tuileries, which merely serve as the backyard (front yard?) of the biggest palace the world has ever know, now home to the first art collection open to the commoners, the Louvre.

But first, its time to stop off for lunch, and tea. We dropped in on Angelina, another winner from the Top 10 book. The food was fine, from the Quiche Lorraine to the Sandwich Fromage to the salad and chips maison. But the place's claim to fame is, of course, its status as a patisserie and the hot chocolate. The layered chocolate dessert Opera and Tarte aux Framboise were excellent. But it is difficult to sufficiently describe the drink. They come in pitchers with sides of whipped cream. Chocolat blanc is a lovely white chocolate liquified, as you'd imagine. But the house specialty, Chocolate Africain, is more like lava flowing. And its rich. But oh so tasty.

Recharged for wandering through some art, we took our guide book tour of the museum then hit a few more rooms of paintings (mostly the Belgians and other northern Europe, protestant types) and sculpture.

We intentionally chose Wednesday because the museum is open late. And we almost closed the place.

We did close the restaurant we found a stone's throw from Notre Dame.

Since we were close by, might as well get another night shot over the Seine.

More confit de Canard and Carpaccio de Boef hit the spot and we picked up a crepe in the Latin Quarter on the way to the Metro that drops us off practically outside our hotel. Which is good, because it's time to sleep.

» Filed under: Paris, Photolog

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