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On
Sunday, we watched the Tour de France all afternoon, right to the sweet end. Lance
is in fine form, not just as an athlete, but as a human being. (Don't worry,
Marilyn; Tom worked in the morning and I've been helping him find things -- like pictures
of Archy the cockroach.) Then we had to get out. The weather was clearing up, finally. We could not stay in to watch the parade. But we did see the aftermath of the parade! We went up to the Seine along the avenue de Suffren. When we reached the river, we could see hundreds of people, all coming back from the Tour and the parade. Here you can see some on the Pont d'Iéna (below).
We walked over the bridge to reach the very fashionable avenue de Montaigne, where I took this shot of us reflected in a fur coat display window (left). Yes, the Fall and Winter collections are already being shown everywhere! Before we got there, we noticed some colorful folks and things. |
Exhibitionists are everywhere in Paris, especially after a celebration. |
These
three ladies, dressed for the parade, no doubt, asked if I'd like to take their picture.
I said "Bien sur!" and took this shot as they were getting ready (left).
Suddenly, an equally colorful man appeared, someone unknown to the women, and
joined in the photo session (below). |
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I
saw this vintage van (left) when my camera was in zoom position. So I took another
shot as zoomed away (below).
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Finally
at the Champs Élysées, we caught a glimpse of the U.S. Postal Service team bus as it
zoomed away. Notice all the yellow-dot confetti -- it was everywhere, all over the
beautiful, brick, fan-patterned avenue. Moments later, the city of Paris street
cleaning trucks where whisking it away.
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Paris tries very hard to be clean. It isn't easy being clean. And it isn't easy being green. Especially when the summer has been so hot and dry. But these flowers at the Rond-Point Champs Élysées are doing just fine. |
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All
day, traffic was forbidden in a swath of Paris, essentially cutting central Paris into two
sections, north and south. If you were north of the Tour route, you just stayed
there. And if you were south, you stayed south. Lots of streets were still
closed down from the Tour de France and parade, although the metal pedestrian barriers
were being removed all around us as we walked. Here you see the grand avenue Winston
Churchill without cars, only pedestrians. We were among them as we walked back over
Pont Alexandre III to the 7th arrondissement, where we needed to find dinner. Dinner was at Bistrot du Septieme on blvd. de la Tour Maubourg, undoubtedly one of the best values in Paris dining. I had foie gras and salmon with béarnaise sauce, accompanied by a nice dry half-bottle of muscadet; Tom had the auvergnate salad and veal, which came with wicked French Fries (wicked because they were too good for Tom to avoid), a big bottle of Badoit, and ice cream. The total bill, tax and service included, was 44 euros. The place was packed with people, needless to say. |
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Walking
back home along the rue de Grenelle (a very different street from the blvd. de Grenelle),
we looked back to see the twin spires of the Église Sainte Clotilde (see
July 19). And I noticed these wonderful salamander door handles:
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Crossing
the Champ de Mars, the tower began to sparkle for us (left). Unfortunately, because
of the shutter speed, you can't see here how dazzling that sight is. The dark
shadows coming up on the right and left of the tower are the rows of manicured trees that
line the Champ.
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