Today we did a lot of walking… a mini “power tour” of some of the famous highlights of Paris!

But first, let me wish a very Happy Birthday to my son Steve!  A special day for sure!  Years ago poor Steve would occasionally have to start his school year on his birthday – no fun at all – but he was always a good sport about it.

And now back to today’s adventures!

After a nice breakfast at a cafe in Montmartre we took a subway ride to our first stop for the day – the Arc de Triomphe!

Arc de Triomphe
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48°52’25.9752″N, 2°17’42.0216″E

I got this photo while standing on a little island in the middle of a crosswalk in front of the Arc. Traffic circling the Arc is crazy!  I think the best way to travel on this road is in a taxi or on a city bus!

We decided to walk to all of our planned destinations for the day. Access through some areas was still a bit restricted due to the Para Olympics but fortunately we just had to take some short detours.

These types of detours were very pleasant escapes from the busy traffic streets.

We walked down the Champs Elysses towards our next stop – the Petit Palais art gallery & museum. Another Scottish bargain as there was no admission fee! 

On our way there we walked past the fanciest construction site I have ever seen – a new Louis Vuitton store. The construction site is hidden behind this “wall” that looks like a treasure chest!

Petite Palais
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This museum has many famous paintings & sculptures & a beautiful inner courtyard & garden.

The art gallery was not very busy so it was easy to be able stand and study a painting or a sculpture without worrying too much about blocking someone else’s view.

On our way to the Place de la Concorde we got a pretty good view of the Olympic Flame.

Most of the Place de la Concorde was still fenced off and crews were dismantling all of the temporary stadium seating so we kept on walking to our next destination – the Louvre.

On our way to the Louvre and just past the Place de la Concorde is an amazing row of apartments. The French certainly know how to do high density housing with a lot of class. That begs the question – why can’t we do this in big cities back home?

On to the Louvre

Louvre
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48°51’39.8880″N, 2°20’8.9232″

None of us were interested in going into the building as it was really busy, so we just spent some time enjoying the architecture and people watching.

I had forgotten that you can look back down towards the Champs Elysses from the Louvre and there is a smaller Arc just across the road. You can also get a really neat view of the Olympic flame from this location. It would be interesting to see this at night.

Onward we go to our final sightseeing stop for the day…

Eiffel Tower
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48°51’30.5712″N, 2°17’38.7744″E

It was also very busy at this location (no surprise) and access around the tower was limited. We were all content to enjoy the view from a close distance and after a brief rest we headed towards the subway system. The trains were very busy on the ride back to our hotel. It looked like the end of the workday for many people plus there were lots of students getting on and off at each stop.

By the time we got back to our hotel we figured that we had walked about 10 kilometers in total. That’s a pretty big accomplishment for me as most of my “steps” at home are associated with cutting our small lawn plus several trips back and forth from the fridge to the TV.

When we got back to our hotel Catherine & Valerie headed to our rooms for a rest. We took a pass on riding the carousel in front of our hotel.

David & I paused briefly outside for some liquid refreshments.

Tomorrow we take the train to Angouleme. Our last stop before we pick up our charter boat on Monday afternoon.

Cheers!