Paris ... Paris ... Part 3

Tue 11 Apr

We calculated our planned outings with our 6 day passes from "Paris Pass" and figured we'd use our hop-on-hop-off bus ticket to get around today; that would leave us with metro tickets for the final days. We got on the bus at the Eiffel Tower and got as far as l'École Militaire (Military Academy) when  - road closures! It was London all over again. We crawled through the streets for well over an hour before we decided to ditch the bus at the rond-point half way down the Champs Élysées.

We then started walking up the Champs Élysées stopping at the PSG football club shop (to buy some t-shirts), a makeup shop (to buy makeup), H&M (to buy some shirts), all the way to the Arc de Triomph, then climbed those helical staircases to the sublime view from the top. One must hand it to Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann for their vision in creating this arrangement of avenues leading out from the Arc.

Helical staircase inside the Arc de Triomph

View from the top of the Arc

We then took a leisurely stroll down the Champs Élysées (as one does) as far as the Jardins Des Tuileries. These gardens are just passing their peak blooming, although we did sight some rare black tulips in the plantings. It was then time to snaffle a couple of the metal chairs scattered around the ornamental ponds and put our feet up and relax in the sun for a while.

Decided to do the riverside stroll back to our apartment. Rested and headed back to the river to take an evening cruise on one of the many bateaux catering to the tourists. It's interesting seeing the city from this aspect. There were also a lot of people out enjoying an evening picnic on the riverbank. Thought we might try that tomorrow night.
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Wed 12 Apr
Musée d'Orsay is open today so we headed there by Metro, or tried. Steph's 6 day travel pass didn't work so she doubled up on my card and we got her a new one at the Musée d'Orsay stop. The museum had a prolific exhibition of impressionist paintings from Van Gogh, Matisse, Monet and many others. Saw the excellent view through one of the two giant clocks to Montmartre.

Walked from here to the Musée Rodin and wandered around his garden where the is a large selection of his statues including The Thinker, his set of 6 dedicated to the Burghers of Calais and Dante's Gates of Hell.

One of the Burghers of Calais

Do I need to ... ok it's The Thinker (Le Penseur)

Our weary feet took us back past a supermarché to get some food for a picnic dinner. After a rest at the apartment, we took our wine, cheese, olives, salami, bread and dips down to the riverbank and found a nice place to sit and eat while we watched the river, busy with traffic - transport barges and tourist Bateaux Mouches. Best way to finish the day.

Mmm