Window Licking

One of the benefits of an extended stay is that it's okay to let the circumstances take over.  Today was such a day.

We gave the Metro a try today, debarking at Place Concorde, which is at the point were the Champs Elysees meets the Tuileries Gardens.  As it happens, this year is the 400th anniversary of the birth of Andre Le Notre, the creative genius behind the Tuileries and many other of Paris's most beautiful garden spaces.  We strolled through the Tuileries to the Louvre, deferring our actual inside visit until next week.  A constant theme with us in Paris is the incomparable grandeur of the major buildings.

 

Besides the architecture, there is the beauty of the grounds.   Not only do you have this incredible view, but the statuary is first class.  It includes reasonably straightforward representative bronzes such as this, as well as greco-roman marbles and modern art that leaves the uninitiated (moi, for instance) scratching their heads.

 

If we had had a grasp of the scale, we would have planned our route for the day differently.  From the Louvre to our bus stop at the Arc de Triomphe, the distance is about 2.5 miles.  Starting as we did in the middle, walking to one end and then all the way back to the other added up to about four miles on our first day of serious walking.  Fortunately for us, the last mile or so just happened to be in some of the most visible shopping in the world.  The sidewalk in the shopping district of the Champs Elysees is  probably about 20-30 yards wide, and if today's crowd is any indicator, it needs every square inch.

We were able to find the perfect place to pick up some mementos for our grand-princesses.

I learn a lot from Anita on these excursions.  For instance, how many husbands do you know who would recognize the name Guerlain?  I'm curious about the bee motif in the perfume bottle.  Napoleon's symbol was the bee; I wonder if there is some obscure political reference here?

The French term for window-shopping is strictly translated "window-licking".  I'm pretty sure Anita was taking that term literally at this little shop (recognize the green sweater in the lower left of the window?).  How can you leave Cartier's empty handed?  Leaving the credit card at home is a good start!






After tearing ourselves away from these little trinkets, we made our way back to the apartment.  After all, we'll be on our feet half the day tomorrow in cooking class.  We have room for one guest each to eat what we cook up--you should join us!