CDP Theme Day - "look down"

Avenue des Champs Elysées

seen from l'Arc de Triomphe

The first day of each month is Theme Day

for City Daily Photobloggers and today's theme is

Looking Down

Check here to see the photo interpretations

from around the world

Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile

Place Charles de Gaulle

75008, Paris

Avenue de la Grande-Armée

Looking down from Arc de Triomphe

the Paris skyline looks as if you could 

just reach out and touch it.

It is a walking distance of 5.2km, 

not as close as it seems.

Avenue de la Grande-Armée

75008, Paris

Aux Champs-Élysées

Avenue des Champs-Élysées

The avenue has many looks and 

is always well-dressed whether at Christmas,

for Quatorze juillet, or anytime in between.

Aux Champs-Élysées

Aux Champs-Élysées

Au soleil, sous la pluie

À midi ou à minuit

Il y a tout ce que vous voulez

Aux Champs-Élysées ♪♫

Avenue des Champs-Élysées

75008, Paris

Les Villages de Noël

Les Villages de Noël

Although there was no snow in Paris,

the white-flocked trees provided 

an imaginary winter wonderland

Rond-point des Champs-Élysées-Marcel-Dassault

75008, Paris

Champs Elysées et La Grande Roue

Champs Elysées and the Big Ferris Wheel

La Grande Roue becomes an iconic landmark 

between November and February each year.  

It sits in Place de la Concorde at the foot of Avenue des Champs Elysées.  

An adult can ride for 10€ and see all of Paris.

Avenue des Champs Elysées

75008, Paris

 

Avenue des Champs Elysées

Avenue des Champs Elysées

Dressed for the Christmas season

the "avenue" is awash in alternating shades 

of blue and purple

Ave des Champs Elysées

75008, Paris

Le Défilé Militaire - des pompiers

Les Sapeurs-Pompiers

One of many groups in the Military Parade of Quatorze Juillet...  

On the eve of the Bastille Day celebrations the pompiers have parties 

all over Paris that do not end until the sun comes up.  

All of the arrondissements have Bals des Pompiers 

and by some count it may be as many as 60 (!) in Paris and the near suburbs.

Have you been to one?

Avenue des Champs Élysées

75008, Paris

 

Quatorze Juillet! - Bastille Day

Military Parade

of Bastille Day

2008

The parade involves around 7,000 soldiers 

(5,000 on foot, the rest are crew members or cavalrymen), 

300 vehicles, 240 horses and more than 80 planes and helicopters.

And, a celebration for me as today makes 

4 years of daily photos on Paris and Beyond

without missing a day!

A special thanks to all of you who follow my blog 

and to Virginia (Paris Through My Lens) 

who helped me "birth this baby" four years ago.

Avenue des Champs Élysées

75008, Paris

 

Réflexion - Avenue des Champs-Élysées

Avenue des Champs-Élysées

...a delicious panoply of lights

Christmas in shades of blue, white, and silver

Ave des Champs-Élysées

75008, Paris

Métro Franklin D. Roosevelt

Cartier - la panthère

Cartier

This jeweler has an over-the-top display for the holidays.  

The building is washed in red light 

and one expects that the panthers will leap at any moment.

This well-known street was unusually quiet 

which suits me just fine.  

It could be that the intermittent rain 

and frigid wind kept the shoppers at home.  

No, I did not do any shopping here.

Cartier
154, avenue des Champs-Élysées
75008, Paris

Les Vélibs

Try it!

Well, Holly has a big smile because we were having so much fun riding around Paris on the Vélibs.  The cost can be a little as $2.20 to ride for the day.  If you return your bike to one of the 1,800 stations within 30 minutes, there is no additional charge.  We rode for two days all over Paris, mixing it up with the traffic.  On my recent trip, I spent one day riding alone, crossing the Seine bridges and riding as far as Jardin des Plantes from the 2ème.

There are 20,000 bikes ready to ride, waiting on you.  Check out the site here.

If you are hesitant, start away from congested traffic areas (Place Charles de Gaule for sure!) 

On our first 30-minute ride we bumped across the cobblestones of Champs Elysées, passed between Grand Palais and Petit Palais, and then crossed Pont Alexandre III.  What a rush!  

(Learn the words - It will make you feel so cool - 

do not forget to ring the little bell as you sing, too)

Je m' baladais sur l' avenue
Le coeur ouvert à l' inconnu
J' avais envie de dire bonjour
A n' importe qui

N' importe qui et ce fut toi
Je t' ai dit n' importe quoi
Il suffisait de te parler
Pour t' apprivoiser

Aux Champs-Elysées
Aux Champs-Elysées
Au soleil, sous la pluie
A midi ou à minuit
Il y a tout c' que vous voulez
Aux Champs-Elysées!

Les rues du 15ième

75015, Paris

Métro Champs-Elysées Clemenceau

 

In Lisbon the Metrolitano Picoas station has a very French Guimard entrance, a gift from RATP.  In exchange, the Portuguese ceramist and painter Manuel Cargaleiro created these tiles, giving the Métro Champs-Elysées Clemenceau station a unique atmosphere.   

(Merci à Paris-bise-art) 

Métro Champs-Elysées Clemenceau

Avenue Winston Churchill et

Avenue des Champs Elysées

75008 Paris

Il est très sérieux

One more photo before we leave le quatorze juillet -- There was a whole batallion of these guys with big guns, some with bayonets. I have never seen so many tanks, trucks, and weapons in a row, ever! The uniforms range from the simple as seen here to the elaborate. This guy was the only serious one in the crowd waiting for the parade to begin. Maybe he was Big Cheese's lookout.

From what I saw, every soldier, sailor, wheeled vehicle, horse, weapon (tout) that is part of the French military was there on Champs Élysées. The crowd was well behaved -- bien sûr, with all of that weaponry present!

Hail to the Chief!

The procession begins with President Sarkozy who stands tall (?) as he rides down the Champs-Élysées, la plus belle avenue du monde. Obviously, this year's weather does not match the blue skies of 2008 -- I stood alone making friends at the barricades for 4 hours to see the parade from Arc de Triomphe to Place de la Concorde. Quelle bonne fête nationale!