This obelisk is 3,300 years old. It came from Luxor and is the centerpiece of place de la Concorde. It marks the spot where Louis XVI was beheaded. It was carted from Egypt in the 1830's.
This McDonalds on the Champs-Elysees is supposed to be very popular with the French and a huge money maker. We weren't tempted to eat there, though.
Here is a stirring relief, La Marseillaise on the Arc de Triomphe. Lady liberty is leading soldiers as she rallies them to fight oppression.
This is the tomb of the unknown soldier from WWI.
The Arc has lists of all the victories since the French revolution. It would have been moving in a different way if they also listed defeats.
The Resistance workers are honored.
We hit the streets for one last time here in Paris. We decided to walk over to the Arc de Triomphe and then down the Champs-Elysees. It was a pleasant enough walk and didn't take us too long. The Arc is impressive. I imagined what it would have been like during WWII with Nazi swastikas hanging from it. I expected to see more designer shops and perfumeries as we walked down the Champs-Elysees. We ended up finding a treasure, though, the Petit Palais. It is a museum with some Art Nouveau furniture and rooms plus lesser known paintings by Pissaro and Monet. It was a pleasant place to wander around. The building itself is beautiful. Tonight we are going out for dinner one last time before heading to Budapest.
Paula, did you see any motorcycles? Mike
ReplyDeleteMike, I did see some motorcycles. There were more than in Seattle, but not so many that I felt overwhelmed by them. There were about as many people riding bicycles as in Seattle. Adults did not wear helmets. The bikes were more like the Schwinns we grew up with, not the 21 speeds like I now see around Seattle. Of course, it's much flatter in Paris than in Seattle.
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