Vive la France!

6/8/13

Once again all my friends were sleeping when I woke up, so I ventured out by myself. I walked around place de la Concorde which is the beginning place to champs elysee. The walk was very pretty, starting with several park and gardens on the sides, and then phasing into a massive shopping area. The shops ranged from places such as H&M, Zara, other frenchy chain stores, and then there were the big timers such as Cartier, Louis Vuitton… they were incredible! (Hint hint… I believe someone’s birthday is coming up soon? Ha just kidding, those stores are more than my college tuition!!!) It was also quite funny, because there was a very long line for one of the stores but I didn’t see a title indicating which one it was. I was tempted to just stand in line because I imagined that it had to be something incredible because of the massive line. However, when I saw the two beautiful shirtless men standing at the gate entrance and I suddenly ealized what store it was. Good old Abercrombie & Fitch. There is something about this store that Europeans love! As beautiful as the half-naked male employees were, I decided to keep going as I can see the models anytime at MOA. I finally made my way up to the arc de triomph, and patiently waited in line to climb to the top. The top of the arc de triomph was beautiful! As expected, you have a birds-eye-view of Paris and personally I just think it’s cool to see all of Paris while standing on such a historic and monumental piece of Paris. After arc de triumph, I continued along champs elysee to go see la defense and la grande arche. The grande arche is a more modern spin off of arc de triumph. The French were very stringent about Paris’s axis, and so it was made in line with arc de triumph. La defense is also the “skyscraper area” of France. Many people think this area has ruined paris because its architecture is so different from the rest of paris. Moden skyscrapers and other buildings are the majority of la defense, but there is also a very large mall. And when I say mall, I mean an actual mall, not a “gallery”. I sat on the steps of the Grande arche for a while and then headed back home. Magdalena, Sam, and I finally met up for dinner and I finally had someone to talk to… haha just kidding but I did enjoy their company. We then relaxed by Notre dame and along the seine with a bottle of wine and great conversation!