70 Europe Part X (more Paris)

I'm going to shorten this post a bit, as they've been pretty long in the past and maybe people don't get a chance to read them thoroughly.

We left off at Montmartre, where we had a fantastic dinner at Chez Eugene. The next morning, we met up with Hubert as Jean-Philippe had to work. Hubert took us to the Champs-Élysées,  for a nice walk down this incredibly long street (about 1.25 miles long) with sidewalks about 30 feet wide! The street is lined with many high-end stores as the rent here is astronomical! At one end of this beautiful street, is the Arc de Triomphe

That's my wife and I standing in front of the Arc. It's an amazing monument to everyone who's fought for France, especially during the Napoleonic Wars.

At the arc, just in front of it, is their Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame. People leave fresh flowers there every day.  An interesting note about the eternal flame here:

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy of the United States paid their respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, accompanied by French President de Gaulle. After the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy, Mrs. Kennedy remembered the eternal flame at the Arc de Triomphe and requested that an eternal flame be placed next to her husband's grave at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. President de Gaulle went to Washington to attend the state funeral, and he was able to witness Jacqueline Kennedy lighting the eternal flame that was inspired by her visit to France.

The workmanship on this monument is off the char as you can see from the next picture, taken from beneath looking straight up (I didn't resize it, so it's quite big).

Zoom in or view full size to get the idea of the incredible work that went into the Arc.

 

 

In the next picture, you get an idea of some of the other special parts of the Arc.

From here, we started walking down the Champs-Élysées, stopping every now and then to poke our heads in shops and restaurants. There are even car dealers with no lots, just a car showroom inside with large glass windows.

Now, in the next picture, see if you can tell what restaurant's menu we're looking at, and notice where Hubert's finger is pointing.

 

 

If you haven't guessed already, it's a McDonalds, and he's pointing at Beer, served at McDonalds in Paris! *laughing* I got a kick out of that for sure.

Oh, did I mention, just like when we went to Ireland, the French McDonalds has the old style apple pies, with the crispy crust!

Next, we took a ride on the river Seine, in a tourist boat that explained a lot along the way.

We're about to pass under a beautiful bridge, and the glass building in the background is the Centre Georges Pompidou, which is a library, an art museum, and much much more!

The river ride was beautiful, and we learned a lot about Paris on the way.

I'm going to stop at this point and will finish up on Friday or Monday.

Before I go, I haven't given out any fun links in a while, so I'm going to leave this one that I know at least one of you will like! *chuckling*

The Entertainment Weekly list of the 22 Goofiest Movie Monsters of all time!

Enjoy your Hump-Day all!