We had a very full day today, plus a rather sad thing that happened (not to us!) – you’ll have to read to the end to find out!
We caught the Metro to the Assemblies Nationales station and then walked to the Place de la Concorde, intending to board the open top bus for a tour of the city. However, although we had our Paris Pass, we were told by the bus driver that we had to have it validated at their office! Luckily, one of the drivers let us onto the bus and took us right to the office. At the risk of sounding reverse-racist, both Ron and I have commented to each other that the most helpful people here have always been the French Africans.
Finally, we were on our way and what a lovely tour we had, with a commentary – found out so much more about the city than we could have learned ourselves. We decided to get off at the Champs Elysees and walk up to the Arc de Triomphe, which we did. What a magnificent sight – after many photos, we climbed (yes, climbed – we weren’t “lifted”) up to the top in order to see the amazing view. We could see for miles and the boulevardes stretched away like the spokes of a wheel. Thank goodness France was declared an open city during the war, or everything would have been bombed to oblivion.
After having our fill of the view, we went down to ground level and (of course) decided to have an early lunch at one of the myriad pavement cafes along the Champs. We went into the Peugeot shop, which has three cars decorated in odd styles (see photos) and lots of Peugeot paraphernalia. We also went into the Swatch shop and I bought a lovely watch, with a very interesting strap (you’ll have to wait until I’m home until you see it!). We walked quite a way down the Champs Elysees and then got back onto the bus where we stayed until we reached the Louvre.
Ah, the Louvre. Immense, imposing and really, really interesting. Naturally our first stop was the Mona Lisa which wasn’t a disappointment as we had been warned of its size and that it would be behind glass. We managed to get a few decent photos and then wandered around the Spanish and Italian rooms. After having our fill of religious paintings (and boy, are there a lot of them!), we went in search of Venus di Milo and other statues. As those of you who have been would know, the Louvre is far too big to do in one day so we ended our tour with a visit to the shop, which sells some gorgeous things. We bought four small glasses, etched with Marie Antoinette’s initials – hopefully they will survive the journey home.
After leaving the Louvre, we wandered around, looking at the stalls along the Seine, and buying a couple of prints and some souvenirs, then we decided to have a cup of coffee. Not such a good cup this time. We then crossed the river and wended our way (via lots of pet shops where we saw lots of pets) but, after having walked for AGES, Ron realized he’d left the bag with the glasses and the prints in, at the café! You can imagine how he felt, particularly as it was such a long way back. However, after having a frantic retrace of our steps, the bag was in the café so all was well.
We decided not to walk to the Metro station a second time and caught the open top bus again. This was where the sad thing occurred. As we crossed one of the bridges, on the bus, we noticed a lot of activity by the police and crowds of people leaning over the walls, looking into the water. The bus driver stopped the bus and got out for a look, so we did too, just as the police were pulling a body out of the Seine (I’m getting goosebumps just writing about it). It was awful to think that it was a real body, not just in a movie and I suppose we’ll never find out who or why.
After finally catching our train, we got back to the hotel and decided to go to the local supermarket (called Champion) to buy something for tea as we couldn’t be bothered going to a restaurant. Picture us, decadently eating Rocquefort, Camembert, Smoked Salmon and lovely fresh tomatoes, with Grillatines (sort of crispbreads), accompanied by a nice French Rose, and watching the telly!! A fitting end to a very long, enjoyable and informative day!
Paris is an incredible city, more beautiful than we could have imagined and we can’t believe that in all the years we lived in England, we never bothered to find out what it was really like. Now, thanks to Di, Julie and Sam, we have finally done what we ought to have done many years ago! Vive la France (well, Paris anyway) and thanks, girls.
