| PalenqueBob |
Sep 21st, 2006 11:14 AM |
My favorite Paris walk and one you won't need a map for is:
Start at the Louvre and walk straight as an arrow to Etoile and the Arc de Triomphe - about two miles at most, passing by many Parisian landmarks.
From the Louvre, traipse thru the Tuileries gardens, the by the Jeu de Pomme and Orangerie museums overlooking the Place de Concorde - there are benches on the Tuileries west end that are perched right over the Place de Concorde - sit here and be amazed by the seemingly chaotic stream of traffic blowing thru the square and think of all the heads that were lost to the guillotine here during the French Revolution.
Cross the Concorde, on the right side of which is the Palace of the President of France (I believe) and next to it the heavily barricaded U.S. Embassy with a falange of armored police cars and vans ubiquitously parked out front.
Then start up the Champs-Elysees, passing by the ornate Petite and Grande Palaces, remnants of a 1900 World's Exhibitions, and along the Champs, passing luxury car dealers, tacky shopping malls to the Etoile, where i think 12 streets come in, making it star-like to the Arc de Triomphe - climb it to take in a wondrous view of paris.
You can then take one of the avenues going off the Etoile a short distance down to the Eiffel Tower and then follow the Seine back to the Louvre or Left Bank heart.
|