Day 4: Champs Elysees

Good afternoon, everyone, and happy Tuesday! I woke up to rain this morning so decided not to run as I'm not a huge fan of running in the rain! I wanted today to be an easy going day as I know tomorrow will be a big day since I'll be gone for about 14 hours for that Beaches of Normandy tour! So I took my time getting ready, finished book #2 of the trip (A Secret Kept which was good but not as good as Sarah's Key, the other book by the author), and headed down to the cafe on the corner for a cafe creme.


I must say, it's really nice to sit and savor my coffee for a change! At home, I am usually gulping it down on my drive to the park & ride where I catch my bus!! I sat in the cafe and started a new book - Murder in the Marais. I am not usually a mystery reader, but this book came recommended and it's set in the arondissement where I am staying, so I had to check it out!! I read the first couple of chapters and did some people watching.

Once I was caffeinated, I took the metro to Champs Elysees which is one of the most famous boulevards in the world. It's lined with upscale stores, such as Cartier and Louis Vitton, and some American-based companies like Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch. I stopped into Zara for a bit.


I think I did about 3 or 4 case studies on Zara in my MBA program, so it's fun to see the store in person after reading so much about their sucessful business practices. I saw quite a few things that I would love to own, but I decided to hold off on buying anything for now.

I continued on until I got to the end of the boulevard where you find the Arc de Triomphe. I climbed to the top of the Arc on my last trip so this time I just viewed it from afar. It was commission by Napoleon to commemorate his victories.


After that, I headed back down the other side of the street and stopped at Laduree. Laduree is a famous patisserie that is known for their Macaroons.

They had a beautiful Valentine's Day window display!


I waited in line for some macaroons and got a couple of shots of the delicious sweets that they sell.



Macaroons are made with almond flour, so they are a gluten free treat that I can enjoy! I bought 4 macaroons - raspberry, dark chocolate, vanilla, and coffee. It was hard to choose which 4 to buy!

I had some mussels and fries for lunch. I got the small 1/2 portion of mussels, which was quite a generous portion in my opinion. They were steamed in white wine and were so good!! I think I could eat mussels every day!



Now I am back in my apartment. I am going to a Ballet tonight at the Palais Garnier so I wanted some downtime in my apartment before I start getting ready for the evening!

I probably will not do a blog post tomorrow since it will be a full day for me. I have to be at the tour office at 6:45 tomorrow so it will be an early morning for me! I am really looking forward to touring the Beaches of Normandy, though.

Here's the interesting fact of the day. It turns out that Jim Morrison died in a bathtub in an apartment across the street from where I am staying! Confession: I know the name Jim Morrison but I didn't really know who he was, so I had to google him... Classic rock is just not my genre, so that's why I didn't really know who he was. I guess the circumstances of his death are a bit unknown and some people think he is still alive... He does have a grave at the famous Pere Lachaise cemetary, though!

Au revoir for now! I'm off to iron my dress that I will wear tonight!