We started the day off with a visit to the gothic Notre Dame Cathedral. They knew we were coming because rows of beautiful purple and gold flowers were laid out in front of the cathedral! GO UW! We admired the exterior of the church which was detailed with a number of items including goblins as well as the interior which had a huge alter, carved and massive pillars, a large organ, beautiful stained windows and statues. Sunday mass was being conducted while we were inside walking around. We felt odd to be there during the large service – there were hundreds of tourists piling in and out of the church taking pictures (without turning off their flash!), talking and having their cell phones go off – but the service continued on as if there were no tourists watching. Liya felt uncomfortable at times taking pictures but it was hard not to in this beautiful church!
After Notre Dame, we walked across the bridge to the island where the famous Berthillon sorbet was founded. We enjoyed two scoops each of this deliciousness! Liya had mango and red peach, Ben had caramel and chocolate cake. YUM!
We hopped on a Batobus, a canal boat, which dropped us off at Pont Alexander Bridge near the Champs Elysees. The bridge was beautiful and featured a number of statues. From the bridge, we had a great view of the Eiffel Tower. We walked towards the grand avenue of Champs Elysees, passing the Grand and Petite Palace where the French Royals used to live (now used as museums). When we arrived at the Champs, we were immediately aware at how long the road stretched and how far the Arc de Triomphe was at the end of it. We took our time walking down the street, doing some window shopping and venturing into Sephora, the flagship store which was absolutely HUGE, Nike Paris and Adidas, and the cool automobile exhibits of Toyota and Citroen. Toyota featured a futuristic silver car, an all-chrome car, and a dry-erase car where many had fun leaving their mark on it. Citroen featured a car on each level of the building – 6 in total – where visitors walk up a large spiral staircase around each car. We had no idea how they managed to get the cars in and on each level – an awesome visual concept indeed.
We finally made it down to the Arc de Triomphe and were greeted by hundreds of Argentineans. England beat France the night before and Argentina was in town to play England on the 15th. They were proud and loud, stopping traffic while crossing over to celebrate at the Arc. We climbed 284 steps to the top of the Arc where we enjoyed panoramic views of the city. It was crazy to watch traffic circling around us down below. We were amazed that no one ended up in a car accident with their lack of lane lines and ‘dangerous’ traffic rules (the car on the right always has the right-of-way when entering traffic – opposite to the States). From the top, we had great views of La Defense, Sacre Coeur, Louvre Museum, and the Eiffel Tower. It was great to watch the sun set from atop the Arc – it was absolutely beautiful. After the Arc, we headed to Chez Clement for dinner.
Chez Clement was a smaller restaurant along one of Paris’ main streets. We wanted to have a traditional French dinner so we started with a plate of French pâté which came with salad, bread and pickles. For our main course, Ben had the Grand Rotisserie plate which featured duck, chicken, beef, pork spare ribs and a generous serving of mashed potatoes. I had a similar plate minus the duck. For dessert, we enjoyed home-made crème brulee. Overall, it was a great dinner and within our budget – perfecto! It was great ending to a great day!
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