kerouac

There are 5 Uniqlo stores in Paris. The one at Opéra was just the first one.

aliced

Take the Paris virgins to Laduree for tea and macarons; it is a beautiful building and interior. Drugstore is worth 15 minute walk-through. Shop Uniqlo here in the States. As stated above, always a must walk from Tuileries to Arc.

Macross

I think there are some beautiful buildings on the CE. Your in Paris, go there once.

kerouac

It's funny how many of the buildings are fake (like Ladurée). I worked in the building that now houses Louis Vuitton for about 12 years. It's an art deco spectacular that was mostly built in 1931, but half of it is 'fake' because it shared the block with a classic Haussmannian building which was demolished in 1995. The empty space was filled in with an extension of the other building that is so perfectly done that you cannot see the difference. It is also, by the way, the most expensive piece of real estate in the entire city.

lovetotravel12

Excellent advice from you all. I really appreciate it. Am continuing to talk to my "virgins" who say, "whatever you think we should do.....!"

fuzzbucket

You might start behind the Arc de Triomphe, cross over Pont de l'Alma and walk around the great piles of Haussmannian buildings to the Eiffel Tower.
Avenue de Matignon is where the wealthy go to shop.

menachem

ride along it on a city bus.

PalenQ

ride along it on a city bus.?

Or under it on the metro - about as good a view of it as from an RATP bus

kerouac

Clearly some people are passionately against the area. I have also been told to avoid Times Square, Picadilly Circus, Fisherman's Wharf, Hollywood Boulevard, the Ginza, Copacabana, Bondi and other such places. I tend to wonder about the mindset of people who give such advice.

PalenQ

They just cannot put theirselves into shoes of average first-time orindary tourists who have heard about the Champs so much - a kind of superiority thing I think -yet they I bet went there on their first trips to Paris too.

PalenQ

And yes in all the zillions of times I've walked the Champs it did always appear to be so ... blah in many ways but always rather exciting - kind of the modern splashy side of Paris then. I certainly would not spend a whole afternoon there but just stroll up and down its rather short length. Have not been there in a long time - are the elegant car dealerships still there?

On the west side of the Arc de Triomphe were several bicycle shops. One reason I did go to the area so much - bought my first European Peugeot bike there and rode up and down the Champs just like tomorrow's TDF will.

Cowboy1968

Walk your fellow travelers from Etoile to Roosevelt.
If they complain that the Champs are too bland and full of cheap chain stores, make a right into Avenue Montaigne and they will be happy. And bankrupt a bit later

PalenQ

>>"followed by several wives sheathed in black and wearing metal face masks"<<

Yeh jumping to probably wrong conclusions- my Saudi house guests were from a conservative part of Saudi Arabia- first they said Muslems can have only five wives by sharia law

And probably the case you saw -that all women had to be accompanied by at least one man when going out in public -so they gals (covered we don't even know that for sure!) may well have been his daughters-neices - sisters, etc. More likely the case.

My Saudi family male honcho had two wives and at age 65 was thinking of getting a third and younger wive as he did once before.

But this guy was some local prince -most Saudis simply can't afford even one wife - they may be veiled but my Saudi houseguests said most women like all the luxury goods anyone wants. Plus to marry a wife is costly because of the vast dowry that has to be paid to buy the new wife from her old family and the weddings have hundreds attend.

Yes I think these several women in tow were most likely not wives (who rarely travel they said with their husbands).

Sorry for the digression.

IMDonehere

The standard advice from NY'ers is, visit Times Square, just don't stay in the area.

menachem

kerouac, I would always avoid tourists in Amsterdam to avoid Damrak and Dam Square. And the RLD. And Leidseplein. And Rembrandtplein.

Always.

But if they must, it can't be helped. The few times that I really had to be near CE, I wasn't overly impressed. Lange Voorhout in The Hague is far more beautiful. As everyone knows.

menachem

drat, where is the edit button...oh..wait

denisea

I love the view of the CE from a Place de la Concorde otherwise it's no different than any American shopping mall, unfortunately.

letsgeaux

If your friends have never been to Paris before you have to at least see it. Stroll from one end to the other then move on. On our way to the airport last year our taxi drove us down it at 7:45 on a Sunday morning. We were amazed at how nice it looked when there was no traffic and few pedestrians.

Pepper_von_snoot

Colette is closing on December 20, 2017, so probably a better idea to walk along the Rue Saint-Honoré!

Thin aka White Chyna

IMDonehere

To the OP

You are not dedicating your life or making a financial investment in the CE. The worst that happens is that you waste an hour.