Tag Archives: Champs-Élysées

#PostfromParis – Day 4 Cimetière du Père Lachaise et de plus

This is a bit late getting posted but had problems accessing the Internet yesterday morning. Call me weird but I like to wander through cemeteries. I like to see the variety of the architecture of the monuments. And for doing just that, this is a fantastic place to do it! And you can do it from the comfort of your own home by visiting pere-lachaise.com.

The weather was dark and gloomy (perfect atmosphere for cemetery wandering) and it spit rain the entire time we were there (another prerequisite of cemetery prowling). The sun tried to break through a few times but the heavy cloud cover kept it at bay.

When I was first here back in 2003, a security guard was posted at Jim Morrison’s grave. Now, a fence has been erected to keep people away from it. Obviously, it’s not keeping his ardent fans away entirely or how else would these flowers and other things end up on his grave?

Cimetière du Père LachaiseVictor Noir is also interred here in Cimetière du Père Lachaise. I’m not sure where the story started, but apparently his bronze effigy represents fertility and women who wish to become preganant come and rub his crotch. It looks strangely amusing to see the bronze sculpture green with age except for that one polished area.

Cimetière du Père LachaiseOscar Wilde is also buried here and for years, women would kiss his monument. Now, a wall of clear Plexiglass surrounds it keeping the lipstick prints off. It was really strange seeing Oscar’s grave so clean after having seen it with lip prints of many shades of red all over it before.

Cimetière du Père LachaiseAfter getting our cemetery fix, we decided to return to the Champs-Élysées but this time walk down the other side of the street. This is almost a must since there is so much to see on each side of the avenue.

when we walked by the Toyota dealership, we were surprised to see this race car in the showroom. You could go in and take photographs of it, selfies with it in the background, pretty much anything you wanted as long as you didn’t touch. There was a security guard watching to ensure that you didn’t.

Rolex series ToyotaTwo doors down at the Renault dealership, it was the same thing except they had two cars in the showroom – an older F1 car and last year’s model. Again, a security guard stood watch.

Old F1 carRenault F1 carWe carried on down to Place de la Concorde again before deciding where we would go next. While waiting at one of the traffic lights, a guy on a bicycle when tearing through the crowd (still surprised how he didn’t hit anyone) and didn’t bother to stop for the red light. Big mistake. I didn’t see it but I heard the crash. Mr MR-K said he saw the bike go flying in the air and almost twice as high as one of the buses that was in the intersection. We both figured when we got there, he’d be laid out on the cobbles – dead – but no, he was standing, hopping on one foot and his legs were scratched, cut and bruised from the pedals of the bike. The taxi that hit him had a broken fog lamp.

Some (a lot of) more walking and we were at Hotel de Ville on our way to The Auld Alliance.

Hotel de VilleWhen we walked down Rue Francois Miron, we passed by the oldest house in Paris.

oldest house in ParisThirsty now, we stopped in for a pint of the amber nectar – Caledonian 80. By now my leg was getting tired and a refreshing pint was just the ticket. We enjoyed our drinks then gradually worked our way back to the restaurant for supper and our hotel.

busker on pont marieAnd that was it for Day 4. Oh, and if you can go by the accuracy of the pedometer (seemed closer to what it felt like), we walked 28,589 steps or 9.02 miles.

 

#PostfromParis – Day 2 Champs-Élysées and more

The leg started out a bit stiff first thing but the more I walked, the better it got… well, to a point. Our first stop was the local metro station where we took the subway to Chatelet where the plan was to take Line 1 to the Charles de Gaulle Etoille station. Well, that part of the line was down for maintenance this weekend. Of all times – Easter weekend? Anyway, I digress. We were directed to take the RER A train and it would take us exactly where we wanted to go.

selfie at the arc de triompheMy plan was a leisurely stroll down the Champs-Élysées and see what happened from there. Well follow along and you’ll see what all happened and where…

arc de triomphe from pedestrian island in the middle of the Champs-ÉlyséesI really wanted to go to the top but with my leg, I knew that there was no way I could do the stairs, even though there is a lift that takes you approximately 2/3 of the way to the top. And with scaffolding around it, not being able to go to the top wasn’t a huge disappointment.

looking towards place de la concorde from a pedestrian island on the Champs-ÉlyséesToday, we remembered to bring the pedometer purchased specifically for the trip. We were curious to know how far we walked each day.

grand palaisThe Grand Palais is an impressive building but I was more taken with the bronze statue with the horses than the rest. Does that make me bad?

fountain at place de al concorde

me at one of the fountains in place de la concordeSo by now, we’ve traversed the length of the Champs-Élysées and haven’t been trampled by pedestrians or run over by cars, the drivers of which begrudge having to stop for those of us on foot.

the louvreWe didn’t go inside the Louvre but here’s a photo of one of the buildings just to give you an idea of how far we walked… so far.

After crossing over to the Left Bank, we continued towards Notre Dame cathedral. Unfortunately, the sidewalks were no place for me with my cane with the number of people there, so we took to the lower walkway along the Seine. It wasn’t much better because of all the cobblestones, but at least (for the most part) there were fewer pedestrians.

along the seineThe bridge in the background here is where lovers bring padlocks with their names/initials on them and fasten them to the sides. The street vendors above even sell locks to those who didn’t bring theirs with them.

notre dame cathedralI knew it would be a zoo around Notre Dame with it being Easter weekend, but I had affixed the zoom lens to my camera so i could get photos of the chimeras from the ground as I wouldn’t be able to climb 380+ steps. I had told Mr MR-K about the guy feeding the birds there when I first visited Paris in 2003. I didn’t see him, but there was another man there feeding corn to the pigeons.

feeding the birdsfeeding the birdsHe put some of the corn in our hands (and on our heads) and the birds flocked to us. Having them pecking corn off our heads didn’t hurt, but their claws were a bit on the sharp side.

So this trip, I had to settle for the zoom lens to get my chimera pictures – no up close and personal with them. Oh well, I think these pictures turned out not too bad at all.

notre dame chimeras some of the chimeras 2 some of the chimeras 3By now we were parched and I knew The Highlander (one of the Scottish pubs) in Paris was close by so we headed there, passing by the Shakespeare and Company bookstore.

shakespeare and companyWe looked for the Greek restaurant where I’d had a meal back in 2003 since it was between here and the pub but it’s no longer in business – or at least no longer in business under that name.

outside the highlanderTwo pints of Caledonian 80 each later, we thought we would stroll to the Eiffel Tower to get an idea where we would have to meet for our tour on Tuesday but my leg had other plans. We made our way to a metro stop – stopping first at a public toilet. Convience and having to go were the only things it had going for it.

When we finally got back to our hotel, we stopped in to the small supermarket beside it and picked up something for our supper and a small bottle of champagne rose.

According to the pedometer, we walked 25,255 steps. Trust me, it felt like twice that many.

So what’s on for day 3? You’ll have to come back later and find out.