Au revoir Paris
September 15th, 2007 by Zofia
Waking on our last morning in Paris it was noticeable that all the stair climbing and walking around was starting to take its toll on our energy levels. Once up Rachel and I packed our bags so that we were ready to check out a little later on.
Our first outing of the day was to walk to the giant department store known as Galeries Lafayette. When we booked our Eurostar tickets we were each given a voucher to receive 10% off any purchase in store, so we thought we would go have a look at what the store had to offer.
Once inside it was clear that we probably would not be buying anything other than souvenirs from this store – the price tags and the labels were a bit much for the humble tourists who had no income as yet! But the souvenir shop had some great items in it, although when it came time to pay it turned out that the voucher wasn’t valid on these items! 
But the experience was great, the shop was huge and very grand looking, as can be seen in the image of the central hall below.
Upon returning to the hotel with our purchases Rachel and I managed to place them in our bags and then check out of our room. We stored our bags with the hotel until it was time to go home because they were just too heavy to carry around for a full day.
Next destination was the Arc de Triomphe. The centrepiece of Haussmann’sParis town planning is incredible, a series of 12 grand tree-lined avenues radiate from the Arc, one of the most famous being the Champs-Elysees. The arc is the site of the tomb of the unknown soldier and is a memorial to honour those who have fought for France, especially during the Napoleonic era.
As with the previous two days Rachel and I were experiencing yet another Paris monument with a lot of stairs! But the view at the top was well worth the effort. As you walked around the top of the Arc de Triomphe you are faced with the most magnificent views of Paris, looking down the Champs-Elysees and how it appears to go for miles and converge towards the horizon is quite a sight.
Here is an interesting fact about the Arc de Triomphe: the roundabout that it is located on is the only place in the world where all travel and car insurance is null and void due to the high volume of crashes that occur on this round stretch of road. Pedestrians beware – use the underground tunnels provided!!
Strolling down the Champs-Elysees is such a dream, the street is so grand. Rachel and I found a nice little French cafe and paid the money to sit down in the cafe rather than take-away and so we had lunch on the Champs-Elysees with the Arc de Triomphe behind us! Very cool 
Once we got to the bottom of the street we had arrived at the Place de la Concorde, we then made our way down the Rue Royale to take a look at the Greek Temple-styled church of St Mary Magdalene. This impressive structure is interestingly mirrored on the opposite side of the Place de la Concord by the National Assembly building, also styled like a Greek temple!
With very tired feet Rachel and I were keen to sit down for the rest of the afternoon until we had to go to the train station and catch the Eurostar back to London. We ended up heading to the Pompidou Centre where we located the cafe and sank into incredibly comfy couch seats and slowly drank a hot chocolate – delicious!
So two very tired people made their way to the Eurostar, cleared customs and then settled in for the short trip back to London.
Au revoir Paris, until we meet again…
It was a great weekend!