27. Avenue des Champs-Elysees. Part 2

So we have walked to the top of the Avenue des Champs-Elysees and there is nothing between us and the Arc de Triomphe except a whole lot of traffic.

So we go down the steps on the left, into this underground gallery .............

....and emerge under the grand arch .......

..... at the tomb of the unknown soldier.

Looking up .... this thing is VERY big .............

...... and the figures in the decorative sculptures on the sides are about 15 feet tall.

I wasn't going to go up.  I said I'd happily wait at the bottom for an hour while Paul went up.  50 metres, straight up.  234 steps with no elevator.  And I needed to go to the loo.  "I'm not going up," I said.  "I'd rather wait here," I said. 

I'm weak, I know.  And as it turned out, there was a loo on the horizontal bit before you get to the "roof".  All the same ..... that was a lot of steps.  Funny thing - I remember just about running up those same steps 13 years ago.   The photo above shows our walk -from the Place de la Concorde and the Louvre (hard to see, I know) up the tree-lined Champs-Elysees.

The traffic on the Champs Elysee side of the Arc. See the red bus on the left near the trees? That is the spot where I took the first photo, and where the steps go down to the pedestrian gallery underneath this whole intersection.

There are 12 grand boulevards radiating out from the Arc de Triomphe, each named after a famous historical battle; here are two of them. I think one is the Avenue des Grand-Armees, but I'm not sure.

It is easy to see the Tour Eiffel.  Other landmarks are more difficult to photograph.

This is Avenue Foch - the most expensive residential real estate in Paris.  "How's that for a set-back?" says Paul.

And here is La Defense.  See the invisible arch (the Grande Arche de la Defense, built in 1989) in the centre?  Brilliant.

Paul spent ages watching the traffic .........

........ watching............. watching...............

....... watching.     

When he picks our car up in a few days time, he has to drive it back to our apartment around the Arc de Triomphe and down Avenue des Champs-Elysees!    Brave man, my Paul.  

I guess I should tell you something about the Arc de Triomphe.  In 1806, after the Battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon declared to his soldiers "you will march home through arches of victory".  The inspiration for Napoleon's arch was the Arch of Titus in Rome (Napoleon had a liking for ancient Rome).  It was constructed between 1806 and 1836 and stands on Paris' main east-west road, linking the Palais le Louvre, the Tuileries, the Place de la Concorde, the Avenue des Champs-Elysees, the Avenue de la Grande-Armee and the Grande Arch de la Defense.   Wow!  What a mouthful..... and this is the route Paul has to drive when he picks up our car, and again when we leave Paris to go down south.  Scary! Scary!  Funny though .... he's not phased at all.  In fact, he's looking forward to it!

Arc de Triomphe

And those of you who are on the ball, will be asking "What happened to your trip to the up-market market?"  Well, it was a fizzer, wasn't it!   Too expensive, not fresh enough, too many tourists......  so we had to have a coffee and consult the map.  How to get to our regular market from where we were.  What was best?  Bus or train?  Choices, choices.

So we decided - one stop on Metro Line 8, then two stops on the RER A line ...... that got us to Opera..... then we hiked it to the market, about 400m but most of it underground, including a lift!

And voila! Here we are at our "local" - Marche St. Honore, every Wednesday from 11.00 am till 7.00 pm.

Filled pasta, salami, prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella.........

Cutting Paul's prosciutto ...... "Thin enough, signore?"

Buying fruit and veg - filling the free bag we were given by a nice lady from  "Les Marches des Paris".  I'm sure we'll make good use of it when we get out to the regional areas.

Then the walk home (about 2.5 km), via the butcher and the boulangerie.  I've given up cakes.... they're too wicked!  But the bread ..... ooooohhh, the bread, freshly baked for the restaurants at 6pm - that's when we get ours too.  And I'll have to tell you about dinner at the wine bar last night.... it was so good!