I started off the day with hostel breakfast again, it's free and just bread and coffee essentially but it saves a couple of Euros and the coffee rocks so it's gotta be done. After that I said bye to my German friends who were leaving and then headed to the Métro station, and took the Métro all the way to Concorde again, that's where the Obelisk is, and also the location of L'Orangerie, the art gallery with some of Monet's Waterlillies.
I had some coffee in the park and wrote some postcards back home first. Then I went to see the artwork and the Monet painting were aawessome. There were also some works by Picasso and others. I then walked along the Seine river to the Eiffel Tower, walking through random sidestreets until I found a nice place to eat lunch. After that I got to the Eiffel Tower but it looked like rain so I decided to go up the tower another day, and just took photos from the bottom. After that it did in fact start raining, pretty hard too, but only for about 10 minutes!! I talked to some nice people who helped me find the nearest Métro stop and I think they were Italian. I don't know Italian and they didn't know English, so we sort of "met in the middle" and spoke in French. :)
In the rain I jogged with my stuff to some sort of memorial at a place called Place des martyrs Juifs du Vélodrome d'Hiver. From my rough translation of the sign there it looks like
this is a memorial to the French soldiers who faught in the Battle of Bir Hakeim.
I just Wikipedia-ed this to find out some more info.
The station was called Quai de la Grenelle until 1949, when it was renamed to commemorate the Battle of Bir Hakeim. A commemorative panel is situated at the entrance of the platform for trains traveling towards Nation.So I saw this memorial right near the Bir-Hakeim Métro station.
It is the station closest to the Eiffel Tower; the signs on the station walls say "Bir-Hakeim — Tour Eiffel".
Near the station is the site of the former Vélodrome d'hiver (Winter Velodrome or "Vel'd'Hiv"), which was famous for its cycling competitions but infamous as having been the first place of detention for thousands of Parisian Jews who were rounded up by the police on July 16, 1942 before their deportation to concentration camps. The velodrome was destroyed in 1960 in the course of work done on the bank of the Seine (Front de Seine). A commemorative monument has been raised near the south side of the station, above the tracks of the RER C.
Also I looked into the sign that said that Emile Reynaud lived on the street where my hostel is. Turns out that this is Charles-Émile Reynaud, creator of some of the first animated films! (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile_Reynaud)
Ok, onto the photos!
Cheese at the supermarket!!
Mmm... fromage!!
Probably more yoghurt than I have ever seen, it was 2 full aisles of yoghurt!!
Some really crazy "Apple Litchi" Tropicana
My new American friend from Seattle
Breakfast at the hostel
Italian Ice Cream!!
At the Jardin des Tuileries
Really nice trees at Jardin des Tuileries
Swweeeet
Cappucino and writing postcards at Jardin des Tuileries
Monet's Waterlillies!!
Awesome
More Waterlillies
Word!!!!
Sooooooooo amazing!!!!
Monet is awesome
Cool Picasso painting
A court jesters painting
Very cool clouds and sun rays today in Paris
Walk from the Jardin des Tuileries to Tour Eiffel
Bridge at Pont Alexandre III
Hehe this was cool, a reaaaally hot model was being photographed by a whole crew of fashion magazine people at Pont Alexandre III
The sign on the bridge across the Seine
Me chillin', Tour Eiffel in the background
Haha the drink I got for lunch was called "Pschitt!"
Haha, check out the website, http://www.pschitt.fr, haha
I got a crazy club sandwich, smoked salmon, egg, mayonaise, cheese, tomatos and also a salad
Word
Me at the Eiffel Tower!!
Sweet Eiffel Tower picture
Eiffel Tower from underneath
Sweet
Haha weird sign, "New Safe Ice Cream Heat Treatment"?!?! Lost In Translation I reckon...
Sweet pic just before it rained
Merry-Go-Round
Bridge across the Seine as it was raining
Place des martyrs Juifs du Vélodrome d'Hiver sign
Place des martyrs Juifs du Vélodrome d'Hiver memorial
Bir-Hakeim station
Haha, this is funny, it says en anglais, that "Between 2007 and 2008, Bir-Hakeim station will be changing" and it has a wooden screen up as if the station is "changing clothing" haha
This was nuts, some of Ans's mechanical engineering friends from UWO showed up at my hostel, and Otto is staying in my room!!
The cat at the hostel
Thank you for posting your photos of La Place des Martyrs Juif du Velodrome d'Hiver. I was in Paris 2 years ago and could not find this monument and it was not listed in Frommers guidebook. I wanted to visit it and you really showed me it was there and where it is. Thanks. Sondra
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