Champs Elysee, Friday, 6 November

It has been a busy day today and an interesting one. For the ladies, one of the most interesting streets in Paris must be the avenue Montaigne which runs from the Rond Point des Champs Elysee to the Place de l'Alma (yes, where Diana died). We told you about this road before so won't bore you again except to say that just about every top fashion house is represented and unless you are in your chauffeur driven car don't bother to knock on the doors. The one shop that Virginia was interested in was Baby Dior. The restaurants are very posh in avenue Montaigne. No quick baguettes here, rather the full long lunch! And, of course, one can sit outside and watch the Plebs watching you if you are one of the beautiful people.



There are all sorts of fascinating things along the Champs Elysee, ranging from the very unexciting Macdonalds to the most exclusive shops imaginable. The windows of shops are dressed beautifully. Here's a little item we spotted at the Rond Point des Champs Elysee. Even the "street art" in Paris is something else!



There seem to be few overweight men and women in Paris. We have speculated that this is because it is difficult to have a car in the city which means a lot of walking and since most people live in apartment blocks of up to six stories and without lifts in many cases, people get plenty of exercise just doing their daily chores. I might add, too, that many of the Metro stations are seriously underground and there are few if any escalators or lifts.

In the past we have talked about entertainers getting on the Metro for a station or two and then taking up a collection and moving on to the next train. In the long corridors in the Metro stations there are often beggars and entertainers. The latter range in talent from little or none to a very high standard. Today, as we walked through an area of the Concorde station we were serenaded by a first-rate band of half-a-dozen or so Spanish musicians. They deserved whatever they earned both for their talent and their enterprise.

The weather today was cold but sunny and a walk up the Champs Elysee took up a good part of the afternoon. All the flags are out for the Armistice Day parade on the 11th. We are hoping to be able to watch it and will tell you about it in a future blog.

A Paris Night from our Window