The griffin at St Michel...the text reads:
From the 19th to the 25th of August
after 50 months of German occupation,
the people of Paris were liberated by allied forces.
So, earlier than we'd bargained, we were pulling into the Gare de Lyon and phoning Rosanne's old friend Chrystèle and arranging for a bed... being back in Paris was quite bizarre... David's impressions were slightly different (and he still hasn't entirely forgiven Rosanne for making him get a map in front of the Prime Minister's offices, causing armed guards to reach for automatic weapons as the long-haired leather-jacketed guy reached into his pocket.
The first thing we did was take a long walk through the streets...
Looking across the bridge towards
Les Invalides... |
The 3000 year old Egyptian obelisk at the Place de la Concorde... |
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The Jardin des Tuileries... and the history of the tilers is written on placards nearby... |
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This is not the big Arche de Triomphe which is down the other end of the Champs Elysees (although that's where we started our walk). No, rather this is the small one at the other end, in the Tuileries. David had a good laugh about Napoleon's description of 'menacing England'.
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More of Paris...