Home»France 2006»Paris

We dropped off the car in Avignon (after hitting every elementary school with parents dropping off their kids from Arles to Avignon) and got a lift to the TGV station by the Peugot folks. We were so proud of ourselves for executing everything flawlessly that we didn't pay attention to the train numbers and took the first fast train for Paris. It was the wrong train. we were informed about 1/2 way into it by the conductor but all he said is: "this isn't going to the airport." We ended up in a Paris station so it wasn't too bad to get another train to the airport. After settling in briefly at the Marriott we headed back into the city. The easy way from the airport is to take a train (about 8 euros as compared to 50 euros for a taxi). We switched at Les Halles-Chatelet (the major hub in the heart of Paris) to a subway that took us to Place de la Concorde where we caught a photography show at the Jeu de Paume museum (the old royal tennis court). It was an exhibit by a Washington photographer, ironically. After that we walked up and down the Champs Elysees and went to the top of the Arc de Triomphe which neither of us had done before. From there you have a great 360 view of Paris. We had dinner at 8:30pm at a wonderful restaurant called L'Angle, a 5 minute walk off the Champs Elysees. We sat right next to a couple from Connecticut! We made it back to our hotel by about midnight and then crashed.