My 22-km walk on July 7th from Roissy to Pierre's flat near Gare du Nord, was totally eclipsed by our experience of France beating Germany in the soccer semifinals that evening. We had dinner in the Latin Quarter with another friend of Pierre's, Stephen (a Scottish expat), and watched the entire game at the restaurant. Yes, I finally got to enjoy some escargot! After the win, Paris went crazy.
We walked all the way to past the Place de la Concorde and half way down the Champs-Élysées, which the police had blocked off to cars-you can see the swarm of blue lights from the police vans. I mean, how often in one's lifetime does one get to walk down the Champs?? It was crazy, but fun crazy! On the way we saw the Eiffel Tower in colors and then sparkling at midnight. By then, I was more than exhausted.
On Friday, Jul 8th, I walked the short 3.9 km from the flat to the Tower of St Jacques, the starting point for pilgrim's beginning in Paris. Then a visit to Notre Dame de Paris, a ride back on the Metro, and time with Pierre finished the day.
