Monday, we did Walk 5, which included the Tuilerie gardens, the US Embassy, the Luxor Obelisk and more. Because I read the book wrong, we ended up doing this walk backwards. So that worked okay, but someone else should have led because I'm good with maps if I know where I am, and if I've had proper sleep, so that was fun;) Anywho, we started in the Jardins des Tuileries. For the first time since I've been here it wasn't cloudy and I didn't need like 3 coats, a scarf and 20 cups of hot cocoa. So walking through the garden was very pleasant.
Statue of Theseus
We ended up at the Luxor Obelisk at the Place de la Concorde, where during the French Revolution the Guillotine was stationed. So that was were they chopped off most of the Aristocracies heads. But now, it has a lovely obelisk, gifted to the French by Muhammed Ali a Khedive of Egypt. The obelisk originally stood in front of the Luxor temple in Egypt and I believe that it's twin is still there.
It was so Cool!
Not only saw the obelisk, but also that fine car as well.
The bridge that those cars are going over was built from the stones of the Bastille, the prison that the French attacked to start the Revolution.
I love Egyptian monuments so that was probably one of my favorite parts of the day.
After going to the obelisk we walked over and around the US embassy, the British embassy and le Palais de Justice, which is where the president of France lives with his family. So I basically walked past the White House of France. However, their White House, a) isn't white and 2) is way cooler than our white house.
These are the sneaky pictures that I took because I didn't want to be taken into custody for being a terrorist. You have to be careful what pictures you take of Embassies
After finishing the walk across from the statue of Charles de Gaulle and the Marginy Theater, which was designed by Garnier before he designed the Opéra, we walked up the Champs-Élysées towards the Arc de Triomphe. It was a long walk but very cool. There were tons and tons of stores and people and it was gorgeous day, so it was good even though I was really tired.
After walking for awhile, we finally made it to l'Arc de Triomphe and crossed under the street to stand beneath the actual arch.
This is the inside of the Arc
It is huge. It's very detailed for it's size and very cool. My group decided to climb to the top of the Arc, even though the elevator was broken. So we climbed to the top of the Arc and it was sooooo cool, because we literally on the top, it wasn't like there was a roof over us or anything. You could see the Eiffel Tower, L'Arche de la Défense and Sacré-Coeur. It was pretty sweet.
The statue for the Unknown Soldier (Soldat Inconnu)
P.S. these pictures were taken in between the fence spikes.
After climbing back down and walking around the Arc once more we went to le Musée de l'Orangerie which houses Monet's waterlily paintings (Nymphéas) and several works by Renoir, Cezanne, Gauguin, and Picasso along with several others.
Almost risked my life to get this picture, If you want a picture like this, you have to stand in the middle of the busiest road in Paris. So I took it while walking across the crosswalk, because I decided I didn't want Parisiens mad at me that day:)
This is the Musée de l'Orangerie
My Favorite Monet
Renoir
Still life's by Renoir
Another Monet
View from the Orangerie
After resting next to a pond in the Tuilerie gardens some of us went back to the church and had FHE, which was a good, relaxing finish to a long day.
Sadly it started getting cloudy and cold so we headed to FHE earlier
Going from Guillotines to waterlilies was good, and I really enjoyed seeing in person the works by Monet, they truly are better in real life.
Until, next time- Peace, Love and Batman
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