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Published: September 7th 2017
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Geo: 48.8566, 2.35097
We woke up this morning not sure if we were going to recharge our Navigo Metro Pass or just do lots of walking, so after a leisurely breakfast and shower we set off on foot at about 10:20 for the Tomb of Napoleon 1 under the Eglise du Dome and the connected Army Museum the whole set of buildings called the Hotel des Invalides, we arrived there at 11. I decided pretty quickly that I was going to be buying another metro pass! Not quite well enough for the hikes, normally would be fine but my endurance isn't back to normal... Quite an impressive tomb for Napoleon 1, all the Roman symbols and imagery is amazing.
Our group decided to break into 2 again as Joseph wanted to spend more time in the Army Museum than the girls wanted to ;-) So we spent 5 hours at Les Invalides!! Joseph and I then walked to the Champ de Mars and had our snack/lunch. We made our way to the closest metro stop "Ecole Militaire" and recharged our metro pass buying a week in zones 1 & 2 for 18,35 euros. We took the metro then on to the
Arc de Triomphe and taking the underground passage going under the huge roundabout circling the arc. We found a spot at the base and just sat and relaxed for a little bit and then went around to the ticket area, I asked the elevator operator about using it as I really didn't think I could make the stairs up to the top. The subway stairs were wearing me out and I think the Arc de Triomphe would have finished me off! Joseph had to go and get his free ticket in order to enter the monument, the woman supervising the line, etc... told me I should have asked her first to use the elevator, I apologized and explained that I was sick and didn't think I could make the 284 stairs, she allowed us to use the elevator and told the operator that we were good to go. Just so people know if you can't do any stairs there are still stairs to climb after the elevator but it's much more manageable than the whole climb, I think there are 40 or so, I counted them the last time so they may be in the other blog...
We enjoyed the
view on all sides before going back downstairs and catching the elevator all the way down. As we were entering the underground passage to catch the metro we noticed a large military presence, I asked one of the women if there was a ceremony going on here and she said yes in about 20 minutes, so we stayed and watched a big brass band and military members prepare for some ceremony, all the tourists were made to move off to one side and get to the side of the arch, eventually we saw a procession come down the Champs Elysees with the first person carrying a wreath I'm assuming for the tomb of the unknown soldier but our view was blocked by the band. I took some videos that I will have one of the kids post hopefully tomorrow.
We made our way back to the apt after getting a few more groceries and just relaxed the rest of the evening, it is now 11:06 pm and time for bed. Joseph is reading a great WWII book he bought at Les Invalides and I've been enjoying visiting with Brenda while the girls are chatting in the bedroom. So a
nice evening for all and we will be off again tomorrow after a good recharge tonight!
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