Evidently 7 am on a Saturday morning is garbage collection day and then at 8 am the bells at the church across the road toll. Fortunately I am awake and feeling great despite the bottle of bubbly from last night. I’ve decided that the best way to start my Parisian day is to take a run through the Louvre and Jardin Des Tulleries. I literally walk across the road from our apartment and am at the gates of the Louvre. There is a homeless man (or woman) asleep next to a wall. It’s still quite cold, around 5 – 6 degrees Celsius. I feel sorry for them. I make my way through the grounds toward the gardens. There are more women out today running, but slowly the men begin to emerge. It’s still relatively quiet on the streets, and the sun has been up for an hour. As I run through the gardens the perfectly spherical topiary trees are cooing. I peek inside and see a pigeon – whos now keeping a close eye on me, but continues to coo from their sheltered hideaway. I continue to run up toward Place de la Concord with beautiful lawns, trees and flowers either side of me. Then I can see further ahead the Arc de Triomphe and now coming into view on my left is the Eiffel Tower. What a wildly spectacular way to begin the day!
After some breakfast I get ready for the new day. Asha and I then retraced my steps through the Louvre and then made our way up to Champs Elysees. It was just lovely, the sun was shining, there was no wind and it was lovely. (right now outside the café I’m sitting in to write this, a policeman is directing traffic through the nearby intersection and I hear his whistle chirping to move the traffic on) Champs Elysees is of course line with many beautiful shops and where I come across the most beautiful blossom silk scarf which of course I have to purchase. I just love it and it’s very me!
We find our way under the crazy roundabout which circles the Arc de Triomphe at the end of Champs Elysees and went right up to the Arc. It is magnificent. Unfortunately all four facades were covered by scaffolding for work, but fortunately I’ve seen them before and already have photos of them. We make our way down the other side of the Champs Elysees. Asha and I parted ways and it was time for me to do more exploring. I think I could just walk the streets of Paris forever!
I’m so exhausted after seven straight hours of walking with short stops for lunch and drinks. Tonight we enjoyed bubbles and stirfry at home. And it was delicious!
No comments:
Post a Comment