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Champs Elysees & the Louvre
Tuesday, June 19th, 2007Today we decided to visit the Champs Elysees for 2 reasons. To see the Arc de Triomphe and to visit the new Adidas store.
The Arc de Triomphe, the world’s largest triumphant arch, was built built by Napolean and dedicated to the glory of his imperial armies. Standing in the center of a star-shaped configuration of 12 avenues, the Arc is fashioned after those of ancient Rome and stands at the end of the Champs Elysees. A walk east along the Champs takes you buy many great shops and restaurants, and is a wonderful place to meander.
At the end of the shopping section of the Champs is the world’s largest Adidas sports performance store. Full of all the latest and greatest offerings from Adidas, the store boasts a high tech shoe fitting machine that will custom fit one of 6 pairs of runners to you exact feet, for approximately 50 euros more than a set off the rack. If you take your running seriously, they might be worth a try. And if you don’t, there are plenty of other great items to choose from. So stop in and check it out.
Next on our list was the Louvre. We knew we didn’t even have time to see half of the museum, but we had a list of highlights we wanted to see (see this post for advice on pacing yourself in museums). So we got our maps, our audio guides and headed off to find the Mona Lisa, passing by Winged Victory on the way.
Probably the most famous painting in the world, the Mona Lisa is in a huge hall with guards keeping the crowds under control and making sure nobody is taking pictures. When we were there the crowds weren’t too bad, but during the peak tourist season it might be hard to get close for a close look. In any case, the works around the Mona Lisa are worth a visit on their own.
After stopping by to see Venus de Milo, we tried to find the exhibit about the history of the Louvre, but unfortunately it was closed. We were able to visit some of the foundations of the original building, a castle dating from the 11th century, but we were disappointed not to find out more information about the Louvre itself because it’s a remarkable building in and of itself. Many of the ceilings are magnificently decorated and in great shape, but none of them have any descriptions. Too bad, because they really should have them.
While wandering our way out of the Louvre we discovered Napoleon’s apartments. This part of the museum was actually used by the French Finance Ministry until 1989. They are in magnificent shape and truly show the opulence of Napoleon during his reign, including the dining room that is set and ready to receive its noble guests.
From the Louvre we caught a train to the airport to pick up our rental car for our second week in France . We were told by our concierge that the train would take approximately 75 minutes, but we must have happened upon an express train. After only 2 stops and 30 minutes we were at the airport to pick up our rental.
Before heading to Charles de Gaulle airport its a good idea to find out what terminal your flight is leaving from. When you get off the train there are 2 terminal stops, but no information about which airlines and services are at which terminal. While its easy enough to catch the airport train, you can save yourself some time by having the information ready. The only monitors are in the airport, not near the train station.
We were picking up our rental car at the airport because it would make it easy to return when we were flying out. One way rentals can significantly increase the cost of your rental, sometimes almost doubling the cost. In our case, we only had to take a 30 minute train ride to the airport to pick up our car, so it was well worth the effort. If at all possible pick-up and drop-off your rental at the same location and save yourself some money.
We also decided to get the in-car GPS. At 9 euro a day, it is well worth it, especially if you’re going to be doing a lot of driving like we were. Although the road signs in France are generally very good, the cities in Europe can be mazes and the GPS will save you lots of time and effort, making your driving vacation relaxed and fun. Have a map with you for overall route planning and to get a sense of where you are, but leave the details to the GPS.
We finished our day with another trip to Pastapapa (see previous post) and a stroll around the Eiffel Tower neighbourhood. Paris was wonderful, and we were now looking forward to the Alps.
a la prochain,
the travel bum