Can you say Champs Élysées?

It's been my personal goal during my last two days here in Paris to learn how to properly pronounce this famous street name. I know nothing, I mean absolutely NOTHING, about the French language so it's been really hard learning how to say things in French. The words really don't sound anything like they're spelled. This famous street, Champs Élysées, is pronounced Chaunz-eh-leh-zay. I finally learned that (after practicing most of the day). We spent some time walking along this famous, upscale street today and it was so cool. We walked around the Louis Vuitton store - very impressive and very expensive. We also saw the new Abercrombie & Fitch that opened recently - we could actually smell it all the way down the street. It's so "pretentious," as Christy likes to say. There was actually a roped-off area where patrons had to wait in line for their turn to go into the store. Yes, I said wait in line....to enter the store and spend 80 Euros for a shirt!! And there were like 4 A&F models/bodyguards standing outside manning the line and gate. It was a little crazy to see.

 Outside the A&F Store. 

Backtrack to the morning...we actually slept in until 9:15 which I haven't done in years. Us three girls got ready, I had a couple cups of Christy's yummy coffee (which she made just for me because no one else drinks it) and we headed out. First stop was the Arc de Triomphe. Simply amazing!! This is the monument that Napoleon built to celebrate his conquering of Europe. The craftsmanship of these old structures is just awesome. It can't be put into words. Kelli and I paid 10 Euros each and climbed a very long spiral staircase with a couple hundred steps to the top (found out later that there was an elevator, or "lift" as the Europenas call it). I'm so glad we went to the top because the view of the city was simply beautiful.  Surrounding the Arc is the Star which is an intersection where 8 streets meet. It looks like everything in Paris ends at this one particular point in the city. It's also the most dangerous intersection in the world because of all the entering and exiting into this one place. And apparently, when accidents do occur, they don't even investigate fault; it's just 50/50 for those involved and they move on. Fault is too hard to determine because of the design. 

 

From there we walked down Champs Élysées and I just loved that. The true woman in me came out - I could have spent a whole lot more time and money there if I had it. We stopped at a beautiful little boutique bakery and had French Macaroons. Not the coconut macaroons we have in the U.S. but they're these wonderfully delicious little sweet cakes. From there, we toured the Notre Dame Cathedral. That place was so impressive that I really can't find the words to describe it. When we turned from the lobby and walked in the back, I turned and took one look to the front of the church and it completely took my breath away. I was completely awestruck and tears filled my eyes!! The beauty is simply overwhelming. I just can't believe the architecture and detail of the buildings they created back then. Our technology is so much more advanced today but we don't build anything remotely as spectacular as the things they did centuries ago.

For dinner Kelli and I had to leave Christy behind because she had to work. So we ventured out on our own. We headed to a fondue restaurant near the Red Light District (prostitution, etc) and passed the Moulin Rouge restaurant. That was kinda cool to see. We finally found our restaurant, Refuge de Fondues where we drank wine out of baby bottles (some kind of loophole to wine taxes) and shared our table with a couple of girls from Brazil. They were so friendly and so proud of their country. They'd been on a 3-week European trip and we could tell they were missing home. Then we headed back to Christy's flat and have been hanging out ever since.

Tomorrow we leave for London via Chunnel. That'll be another first for us. I'm hoping to get the chance to enjoy a crepe before I leave Paris so maybe I'll get to do that on our way to the train station tomorrow. We shall see. Until then.... Bonsoir (Good Night)!