Sunday: May 23

Jardin des Champs Elysee!

It is difficult to understand. The Champs Elysee from Rund Point to the Arc is about .9 miles; 1.4 kilometers. On Saturday evening, Sema and I walked by and it was traffic and people as usual. If you not familiar, it is six lanes and a major throughway....lots and lots of traffic. We saw the ad, and the preparations but who could believe it could be done. Well Saturday night they began work. And at 8:00AM Sunday morning, the Champs Elysee was closed and converted into a garden. Plants and trees were in place the entire stretch; with pathways for people to walk. It was amazing. And  more amazing, they went through this for two days....it is a garden for Sunday and Monday, then will be cleared for normal traffic beginning Tuesday morning. The logistics astound, the cost, mind boggling....for two days! But it was wonderfrul.

In the other direction, from Rund Point to Place de la Concord, which is about 1.0 kilometer, they stacked tree trunks that had fallen during the high winds in early spring. And on the side they erected many mnay tents where different sections of France were selling their products, e.g., cheese, meats, etc. There were also some food stands and of course, plenty of beir (beer) and wine. Traffic was allowed on this segment but there wasn't much as most had to go around due to the blockage in the other section.

I''m not sure my pictures do it justice. There were hundreds of thousands of people out here today.  And the planting was incredible. As you look at the pictures where the planting is, if you see the Arc at one end, that was the direction we were walking - starting at Rund Point. Occassionally I took a picture facing the other way, and in that case you will see the Obelisque of Concord in the far distance.

Among other things, they were trying to convince people of conservation. Sometimes the message was confusing. For example, they said we should burn wood since it is renewable and stop buring oil and coal. The problem is we have little to say about what the companies use, and it is illegal to burn anything in your own fireplace. They also want people to use wooden crates rather than plastic, etc etc.

The weather was perfect: sunny and about 78, or 25.5 cel; with a nice light wind. What a marvelous day. So I decided to suspend for a day the normal tour and show you  what I'm calling the Jardin des Champs Elysee. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Click here to see other pictures.

Click here to see other pictures.