This is very wealthy neighborhood. We were on Rue Saint-Honoré. Ekin used to work there when we were living in Paris. So we decided to buy some Chinese food at this little little Chinese convenient store.
So in France, we have new Coca Cola flavors since we last came. Cherry & Zero. They told me that Zero was like the Diet Coke but for men. But I guess it's different since it doesn't have aspartame either. Anyway, the best Coca Cola is the original one. Please drink with moderation.
We grabbed our food and went to the nearby Tuileries Garden made by the King as gift to his wife. Pretty cool.
As you can see the weather is still cold. around -5°C (23°F).
The building in the back is the Orsay Museum. It used to be a train station and was build for the World's Fair of 1900. It was supposed to be temporary so that people would have an easier access to the Grand and Petit-Palais (see down) where part of the fair was hold.
It was never taken down and was turn into a museum in 1977.
It is actually made of steel construction, the stones being just for the eyes.
After this nice meal we headed toward the Grand-Palais where different exhibitions are held.
Le Petit-Palais.
Inside le Grand-Palais.
Those two buildings were also built to last temporarily to host the 1900 World's Fair. As the Musée d'Orsay they weren't taken down and were later turned into museums. The left wing used to host a branch of the Sorbonne University where foreign languages classes took place.
I actually studied Swedish and Russian there for 2 years. Then it was shut down and the building went through extensive renovations to replace the glass ceiling.
It's the first time I saw the new ceiling since this part of the museum reopened in 2005.
Nearby you can see the Alexander III bridge who was also made for the 1900 World's Fair which is a replica of a bridge in Saint Petersburg (I think). The Eiffel Tower was made for this fair as well and was supposed to last 10 years. The goal of the architect (Gustave Eiffel) was to show what we could do with steel construction at the time. Television saved it from destruction since it was used as an antenna for the whole area.
Front of the Grand-Palais.
A exhibition about trains is held in this part.
Side of le Grand Palais.
We visited an exhibition about design on this side (Design against Design, 200 years of creation). It was very very nice but pictures weren't allowed.
ice ice ice.
Then we went up the Champs-Elysées to meet with my parents and my nephew Lucas.
Where we stopped at the Renault Store to have a drink. They did some magic tricks with a car (a real one) by making it fly and turn around in the air, so my nephew was really amazed.
Concept car Renault Zoé.
After leaving them we went to visit the Virgin Mega store right across the street.
After worth we went back to the Lafayette dpt store to buy some last things and walked to our new place by going through Rue de la Paix (the most expensive street on the Monopoly board game), where all the jewelry stores are.
On the picture is the Vendôme Column on the Vendôme Square where the Ritz Hotel is.
Ekin paused with this original Chagall painting we saw in this gallery right at the corner from rue de la Paix and rue Saint-Honoré.
... see next post...
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