We had to be back at the bus station in the early afternoon so we spent Sunday morning at the Arc de Triomphe and walking along the Champs-Elysees. The Arc is in the middle of an enormous roundabout so you have to take an underground tunnel to get to it. We, again, got really cheap tickets because we’re under 26 and proceeded to climb the 284 steps to the top.

The arch was built by Napoleon to triumphantly celebrate the return of his troops from battle. The statue on top has been continuously changed over the last 200 years to reflect the sentiment of the times. There’s an unnamed soldier from WWI buried underneath the arch with a flame that’s been burning since 1923. Names from dead soldiers are carved into the sides.

The views from the top are only rivaled by those you’d get from being at the top of the Eiffel Tower. We took lots of pictures at the top and the Basilique du Sacré Cœur can be seen in the distance. Afterwards we walked down one of the most famous streets in the world looking for something to eat.

We had lunch at a cafe on the Champs-Elysees, on a Sunday afternoon when the sun was shining and there was only a light breeze (how often do you get to say that!). It was perfect – definitely my favorite day of our trip so far. Katherine graciously let me do the ordering and we ended up with the right food. Unfortunately my French (which is nothing more than a series of pointing fingers) wasn’t good enough to convey to the lady that we were overcharged.

Sadly, Europeans smoke like there’s no tomorrow. It’s really bad in Limerick and it wasn’t any better in Paris. Parents don’t see any problem with smoking around their children, all day every day. There was a little girl next to us at the cafe that was getting more than her fair share of arsenic.

It was then time to go and we headed back to the bus station. We missed the bus we were supposed to be on but Katherine snuck us onto another one and we eventually got back to Limerick – where it was cold and rainy.