Arc de Triomphe meeting.Champs-Elysees Day. Bernard insisted that it begin by going to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. As I climbed the nearly 300 spiral stairs, I hated that bastard Napoleon with a passion. And, at that moment, I was none too crazy about Bernard either! At the very top, the stair railing doesn’t go all the way up to the topmost couple of stairs, so, afraid to stand the whole way up without help, and see that dizzying view, I was, in effect, on all fours until a kindly stranger gave me his hand so I could clear those last steps. I looked around at the different avenues below but refused to go all the way to the railing, afraid that I’d lose my grip on my camera, drop it, and it would kill someone below! Eventually, we made the downward trek. I was never in my life so glad to set foot on solid ground!
Then we walked along the right (looking from the Arc toward the ferris wheel at Place de la Concorde) side of the Champs-Elysees. First: Le Drugstore Publicis, which has varied departments and a lot more to offer than the drugstores here. I bought an Edith Piaf CD: I had to get at least one in her city! Coincidentally, it reached the top of the stack in time to listen to as I’m writing this. (“Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien.”)
Next: Citibank, where I had the scare of seeing on the screen that my savings balance was only 1/8 what my notebook of transactions says it ought to be. The teller called someone on the phone who said that their record of my balance agrees with mine; there’s just some glitch preventing it from showing on the screen! I should try again in at least an hour.
Going further along, we saw a lovely café called Le Paris, where we stopped for lunch.
Further along on that side we saw the only movie theaters we’d seen since arriving in the city; it’s as if they’re ghettoized on a single avenue. None had films we’d want to see, though.
Across the street there were numerous arcades full of various stores: as busy as malls but much classier. In the third of them, Bernard succeeded in getting for a lower price than at the previous places, a tiny gun that fires blanks and makes a very large noise. We also went to a favorite store of mine that originated in Paris: Sephora. Got, of all things, a Maybelline mascara, some bath beads, and two lipsticks. Pouring rain made us wait for quite awhile. We hoped it still wouldn’t be raining when it was time to meet Rita.
It wasn’t. We had a cold drink in the arcade, went back to Citibank (no change on the screen) , and to the Paris Tourist Office. I bought numerous postcards for my office wall rather than for mailing, two souvenir pens, and a guidebook for future visits: PARIS IN YOUR POCKET.
We were early at the Arc de Triomphe, but glad that Rita found us easily. The crepe place she recommended, Les Ecuries on Rue Washington, she had first (and last) visited as a 19-year-old. Fortunately, it’s still there and in business. The people there were flexible about letting us combine ingredients, so we were all happy. After some picture-taking, and lots of eating and talking, we continued to the Metro to Concorde for the ferris wheel. I felt less phobic about that because we’d be enclosed in little glass compartments the whole time: no stair-climbing and no parapets to walk toward. We went around on the wheel twice, to prolong the pleasure of one another’s company, enjoyed fabulous views of La Ville Lumiere at night, and saw Rita hail a cab.
Une bonne soiree was had by all.
Then we walked along the right (looking from the Arc toward the ferris wheel at Place de la Concorde) side of the Champs-Elysees. First: Le Drugstore Publicis, which has varied departments and a lot more to offer than the drugstores here. I bought an Edith Piaf CD: I had to get at least one in her city! Coincidentally, it reached the top of the stack in time to listen to as I’m writing this. (“Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien.”)
Next: Citibank, where I had the scare of seeing on the screen that my savings balance was only 1/8 what my notebook of transactions says it ought to be. The teller called someone on the phone who said that their record of my balance agrees with mine; there’s just some glitch preventing it from showing on the screen! I should try again in at least an hour.
Going further along, we saw a lovely café called Le Paris, where we stopped for lunch.
Further along on that side we saw the only movie theaters we’d seen since arriving in the city; it’s as if they’re ghettoized on a single avenue. None had films we’d want to see, though.
Across the street there were numerous arcades full of various stores: as busy as malls but much classier. In the third of them, Bernard succeeded in getting for a lower price than at the previous places, a tiny gun that fires blanks and makes a very large noise. We also went to a favorite store of mine that originated in Paris: Sephora. Got, of all things, a Maybelline mascara, some bath beads, and two lipsticks. Pouring rain made us wait for quite awhile. We hoped it still wouldn’t be raining when it was time to meet Rita.
It wasn’t. We had a cold drink in the arcade, went back to Citibank (no change on the screen) , and to the Paris Tourist Office. I bought numerous postcards for my office wall rather than for mailing, two souvenir pens, and a guidebook for future visits: PARIS IN YOUR POCKET.
We were early at the Arc de Triomphe, but glad that Rita found us easily. The crepe place she recommended, Les Ecuries on Rue Washington, she had first (and last) visited as a 19-year-old. Fortunately, it’s still there and in business. The people there were flexible about letting us combine ingredients, so we were all happy. After some picture-taking, and lots of eating and talking, we continued to the Metro to Concorde for the ferris wheel. I felt less phobic about that because we’d be enclosed in little glass compartments the whole time: no stair-climbing and no parapets to walk toward. We went around on the wheel twice, to prolong the pleasure of one another’s company, enjoyed fabulous views of La Ville Lumiere at night, and saw Rita hail a cab.
Une bonne soiree was had by all.
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