Saturday, 21st September
Our final full day in Paris...
The plan was... see as much as possible - we knew we wanted to to but probably wouldn't get through too much, as we still needed to get back to pack for leaving on Sunday.
First stop was Notre Dame cathedral. Lesley had seen Notre Dame in her previous visit to Paris a number of years ago; she was a little disappointed to be greeted by a large temporary structure and walkway and viewing platform, erected at the front of Notre Dame, as part of the 850th anniversary of the cathedral. With all of that in place you couldn't really take a full photo of just the cathedral.
Here we are at Marcadet Poissoniers metro station, which is the one we would start from each day...
These metro trains have
rubber tyres that run on the tracks...
The partially obscured view of Notre Dame...
Plenty of visitors!
Magnificent stained glass windows of Notre Dame...
Quite a few pedal-powered taxis available...
...and one very interesting vehicle and owner!
Then, onto the
Arc de Triomphe...
Lesley & Mum pose near Place Charles de Gaulle, the huge junction/roundabout encircling the Arc de Triomphe...
The spiral staircase inside the Arc de Triomphe...
...leading up to more wonderful views of Paris...
The Champs Elysees...
Looking up under the arch...
The tomb of the unknown soldier under the main arch...
Whilst we were taking more photos at ground level, we were astonished by the volume of traffic and sometimes the insane antics of drivers on the roundabout...and also those of one mad pedestrian who dodged the buses, cars and motorbikes to walk across the huge roundabout. Eventually came a sickening skidding sound and thump as a motor scooter rider collided with a car; it was a miracle the rider didn't go under the car. Amazingly the rider got up, brushed himself down, and hopped back on the scooter to move it to the side and speak with two police officers who had been at the Arc de Triomphe.
We then wandered through the crowds down the Champs Elysees...
We dropped into the Peugeot showroom ....amazing concept cars....
But...can you believe that in Paris, with the many cafes on the Champs Elysees, we chose to have lunch at Maccas? Well, two reasons; no tables at some of the cafes we visited, but the main reason was the large number of smokers at the cafes. One interesting thing at McDonalds in Paris was the East Order system, which is an alternative to lining up with the main crowds...
After lunch we dropped into the enormous Dior store .... so crowded, so many perfume, make up and body care products...
We didn't really spend any money in Gucci......but others did...
Some more entertainment on the Metro train on the way back to the apartment...
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