Our first AirBnB stay is located on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées which is filled to the brim with theatres, cafés, and luxury shops, as well is the finish of the Tour de France cycling race, and is the avenue used for the annual Bastille Day military parade! The name is French for the Elysian Fields, the place for dead heroes in Greek mythology. It has been described as the “most beautiful avenue in the whole world”.[1] We were surprised by an event that we did not know was happening this day, that being King Charles was visiting! (Though I’m sure many of us would have preferred Queen Elizabeth II if she were still alive.) He arrived in France today for a three-day state visit to work with President Emmanuel Macron in hopes of smoothing over their rocky relations in the past. The anti-Charles sentiment is quite prevalent in Paris. We walked into a little convenience shop to ask about nearby ATMs and he was telling us about the procession and was like, “would you like something to throw at him? A banana? A banana?” The procession was quite impressive, as expected of a monarch, but I was mostly interested in the battalion of men on horseback.
The rest of our day has been mostly keeping ourselves awake to resist the effects of jet lag for tomorrow. We explored a bit and found a little market, MonoPrix, nearby to grab some groceries for a simple meal back at the BnB. I’m happy about the conversion rate of $ to € at the moment.
See here, the Vagabond For Honey 