Place Vendome - Our first weekly walk

For our first weekly walk we headed west from our place to the 1st Arrondissement and ventured to the other side of Ave de l'Opera. First, we had to stop at this little bistro for a café on Rue du Juillet.

While we had our café, the owner brought in an armful of fresh baguettes. He and his wife then sat down with their staff for lunch and wine.The bistrowas very small with no more than five tables and there were big bouquets of flowers everywhere. It seemed very french.

                                              

We passed by an outdoor market and then made our way back to Ave du l'Opera.

Of course, I can't wait to go inside the Opera House to see the ceiling painted by my favorite artist, Marc Chagall, but we're saving it for my 30th birthday. Instead, we just went inside their gift shop which has a huge assortment of books, CDs and DVDs on the opera and dance.

We continued on to the very ritsy Rue de la Paix past Place Vendome (below). This road was definitely meant for the rich and famous! the street was lined with jewelry shops such as Cartier, as well as the Ritz, Godiva chocolate and perfume shops. There were men in black suits everywhere keeping guard inside the stores and standing by cars ready to escort their employers. I don't think Chris and I will be spending much time in this part of town!

 

After stopping in the English bookstore W.H. Smith,

we made our way down Rue de Rivoli to Place de la Concorde.

There are homeless people everywhere asking for money, especially outside of churches. There are also lots of people trying to trick you into giving them money. Several times we've seen guys pretending to come upon what looks like a gold wedding band on the ground. They then show it to whoever is nearby and say that the person can have it. Then they walk away, only to turn back a few second later to ask for a euro. We're not sure why they have come up with this particular way of asking for money .... ? 

But, anyway, here is another interesting way of asking people for money ....

dressing up like a Pharoah! Maybe if things get bad, I'll have to resort to doing something like this!

We then concluded our walk by walking back through the Jardin de Tuileries.