Champs-Elysées and Tuileries Garden

We decided to walk down the Champs-Elysées, at least as far as McDonald's.  Yes, we went to McDonald's.  It's the least you can do to appease your children and coerce them into walking another few miles.  We went to McDonald's much more on our trip to Europe than we ever do at home.  The adults made a concerted effort to not eat there but we gave into temptation a few times.  The fries were really good and the soda had ice.  The Champs-Elysées is really a big mall/tourist trap...I'd skip it altogether if I ever returned.

 

 

After a while in Paris I really missed green-green grass, plants, trees, weeds…anything alive and green.  There was too much concrete, too much closeness.  I expected the Tulleries Garden to be a reprieve from the city but I soon discovered that the grand parks of Paris aren’t like the parks in the US.

Don't get me wrong.  It was a beautiful garden.  There are lots of green chairs available for you to sit and relax, eat lunch, read.  They even have reclining chairs for napping in the sun.

But notice what is under the children's feet.  Pea gravel.  Ick.  Very dusty and hard.  The grass is roped off.  You can look but don't touch.  There are some areas of some parks that allow you on the grass but not many.  The kids really wanted to run and play on the grass but they couldn't.  The park was very quiet.  Everyone was relaxing.  I didn't feel like the kids could really let loose and they really needed a break to be crazy and wild.

Mom, are you sure we can't play on the grass.

Lots and lots of gravel.  Here in the south we really take grass for granted.  Our city is so green...so full of trees and life.  I missed that.

Still, if I had been alone, I could have easily spent the afternoon here reading in the sun.

"J" loved the birds....especially this black crow with an oddly fluffy head.

We walked toward the Louvre.  At the top of the stairs you can see the trinket hawkers preying on tourists.

 

The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel.  

Do you see those silly green glasses.  We packed sun glasses for the trip but of course we didn't bring them on this day.  It turned unexpectedly sunny and "T" needed glasses.  I will never admit to you how much these "dollar store style glasses" cost from one of those hawkers in front of the Louvre.  Never!

The Louvre is vast beyond comprehension.

It goes on and on.  I can't imagine it was a palace.  I mean it is "palatial" but what on earth would you do with all that space? 

 

 

The Louvre is closed on Tuesday.  We planned to visit on Wednesday evening when it's open late.  Today we just walked past....after all it was on the way back to the apartment. 

The best use for your day old baguettes...feeding the pigeons.

We also walked along the Seine again and across Pont Du Arts to see the locks.

 

 In recent years, many tourist couples have taken to attaching padlocks to the railing or the grate on the side of the bridge, then throwing the key into the river below, as a romantic gesture. The City of Paris has not yet adopted a definitive policy on how to deal with this new fad.  In my opinion the bridge isn't that interesting.  I don't mind the locks...but all those keys in the river seems like a bio-hazard.

I asked both kids what they thought about the locks and whether or not they thought the locks should be allowed. "J" thought it was romantic and should be allowed.  "T" thought it was an eye-sore and that the locks should be removed immediately.

 

 

Looking back toward Île de la Cité

 Next we headed home to rest before heading out to the Eiffel Tower.