sage, annie, alicia, and i did this walk in two parts. partly because we didn't have enough time and partly because we felt so under-dressed. not an exaggeration. we had been serving lunch to the homeless earlier that day, so we were all in our grungy clothes haha. and we were in a pretty ritzy area, let me tell you what. i very much enjoyed it :)
we started our walk on the champs-elysées, and then crossed over to avenue de marigny, where we saw the théâtre marigny, which was designed by garnier in 1853. garnier later went on to design the famous opéra garnier - think : phantom of the opera.
after that, we saw multiple government buildings. i loved that none of them actually looked like government buildings. well, except for the security guards. ha. we saw the hôtel marigny (used for guests representing foreign governments), the ministry of the interior, and the palais de l'elysée (think : the french version of the white house).
we saw the palais de l'elysée better from rue faubourg saint-honoré. we were only allowed to walk on one side of the street because no one is allowed to walk on the sidewalk next to the president's house!
rue faubourg saint-honoré was fairly mind blowing. i have never seen so many designer stores all in one place. not to mention southeby's - the famous art auction house. i nearly peed my pants when i stepped foot in there. we really didn't get past the front door, but still. it was a magical place. trust me.
at one point, we were walking along the rue faubourg saint-honoré when suddenly there was money flying everywhere. it was very bizarre. i started picking up the bills and realized they were all 1,000 rubles each! we gave them back to the man who lost them (they fell out of his coat pocket), but it was seriously so weird. it wasn't really all that much money, considering the conversion rates, but seeing bills for 1,000 rubles flying in your face while you're walking down one of the most expensive streets in paris, dressed in grungy clothes? it's a really weird experience.
after crossing on to rue boissy d'anglais, we walked past two of the most exclusive hotels in paris, as well as the us embassy. it was all blocked off. apparently you can't just walk in, even if you are a us citizen.
then we made our way to the place de la concorde, which was originally built to commemorate louis xv. it is the huge square where marie antoinette, danton, and robespierre were all beheaded during the revolution. it's crazy to think that i stood where these people died. i've read about them all in text books, and i know that they lived...but now i am starting to think about them on a more personal level. they were real, they lived, they died. i stood where they once stood (and died). isn't that kinda cool?
we took a few minutes to look at the luxor obelisk, which was given as a gift to charles x in 1829 from mohammed ali, the egyptian governor. it is over 20,000 years old. say what?!
we then took a little stroll through the tuileries garden, which is a jardin a la française || traditional, symmetrical french garden.
super fun walk, over all! definitely one of the best :)
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| would you believe me if i told you this was a hair salon? |
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| oh that HAT! killed me. |
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| dear future husband, THIS. love, sydney |
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| sage, alicia, annie, and i in our grungy clothes in front of chanel. classy. |
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| sotheby's!! |
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| this was cool. it was in the tuileries garden. |
I think I like Place de la Concorde best when it's cloudy and also at night when I can look up the Champs-Elysées
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