day 7

Monday

Our new lodging ... Hotel Elysees Union ... is between the Arch de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower.

This was our first day back from London. When we checked to see if the museum was open, we learned that it was closed Mondays, so we decided to stroll down Champs de Élysées. Mom and Emily shopped and enjoyed window shopping, including shopping at Zara, Dolce & Gabbana.
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Once diverted onto the high end lane Avenue Montaigne, we browsed the street filled with shops Louie Vatton, Dior, Chanel, Fendi, Valentino and Ralph Lauren--definitely out of my league but perfect for Emily and Linda.
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Next we had lunch at the Le Grande Corona, where I had escargot. I was hopeful but cautious. When the waitress brought my plate, beside my escargot Was a contraption that looked a bit like forceps and tweezers. I asked the waitress what they were for and she explained the the one was used to hold the shells in place. The other was used to extract their contents.everything was working fine until  shell soared out of my forceps and below the chair of a man sitting beside me. Red-faced I retrieved my shell. Linda and Emily about fell out of their chairs. But that was not all. Later we were at a chocolate store and Linda and Emily were happily shopping. I was just trying to stay out of the way. Suddenly whatever I was leaning on gave way nd the chocolate boxes cm crashing down to the floor, not all of them, but two of them. Paris is normally busy and noisy, but at that moment, it was strangely silent.

We walked down to the see the flickering lights on the Eiffel Tower, which starts at 9am and lasts for five minutes on the hour until say midnight.

Exhausted, we hit the sack.

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