Champs-Elysées

We only have a handful of Paris City Walks cards left, so today we pulled out the one for the Champs-Elysées.  The Champs-Elysées is one of the most famous streets in the world, and the tourists flock here in droves.  At one end is the Arc de Triomphe, a monument to the military greatness of the Emperor Napoleon.

Obstructed view of Arc de Triomphe (sorry, trying to catch a movie -- no time for photos!)

For the most part, the street is lined with cafés, restaurants, cinemas, and clothing stores.  To us it seemed like one giant open-air mall. Especially when we passed this Abercrombie and Fitch store, which actually had a long line (with security guards!) to get inside.  The store is somewhere within the gilded gate at the left; we could tell because we could smell the cloyingly intense cologne from where we were standing.

We paused halfway through our walk to go see a movie.  Kevin really wanted to see "Cowboys and Aliens" or, as they call it here, "Cowboys et Envahisseurs".  The lady at the ticket booth had no idea what movie we were requesting until we pronounced "cowboy" the French way: "coo-buoy".

Metro sign and foliage near the movie theater

After the movie break we continued the walk down to the Grand Palais, a beautiful Beaux-Arts building with a vaulted glass roof.  It was constructed as an exhibition hall for the 1900 World's Fair.  Unfortunately it was closed for renovation so I could only take photos from the outside.

Some of the decorative details, including a side entrance topped with a bronze quadriga (horse-driven chariot statue) by Georges Récipon.

We walked across the street to the Petit Palais, also built as an exhibition hall for the 1900 World's Fair.

The entrance to the Petit Palais has pink marble walls and painted mural ceilings.

The mosaic floors were created by the Italian artist Giandomenico Facchina.

The central relief on the ceiling above the entrance hall shows the Paris coat of arms (a sailing ship).

We decided to walk home from the Petit Palais, passing the Place de la Concorde (where the Champs-Elysées ends) and going through the Tuilleries, which was packed as always.