Pattersons in Paris: A Walking Tour from les Grands Magasins to the Rue Cler

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day and we were ready to walk the streets of Paris. We started out at the Palais Garnier Opera House but did not take any pictures because it was wrapped for renovation. We were so disappointed. Kate has been using Kelly's old Pentax SLR camera he bought for his mission in 1977 and she wanted a picture on film. Below is a picture of my cousin Ryan and brother Brad from 2022. You can see why we were sad not to see it.

Ryan and Brad
Palais Garnier

We walked behind the Opera House to Galeries Lafayette. It has a beautiful Dome.

Galeries Lafayette Dome

We took the escalator up to the roof for the view. We could see the back of the Palais Garnier and in the distance, the Eiffel Tower.

Palais Garnier
Eiffel Tower in the distance

Rear of Palais Garnier

We had lunch at the department store next door, Printemps. On the 7th floor of the Printemps mens store is Malo, our favorite little crêpe restaurant. They serve buckwheat crêpes that are so flavorful. And there is a nice view of the city from its terrace. My favorite crêpe is the one with goat cheese, spinach and walnuts. Kate's crêpe had leeks, bacon and an egg. We always joke about how the word for strips of bacon in French is so unappetizing-lardons.

Crêpes at Malo in Printemps

It was such a beautiful day and it had warmed up so we decided to walk the 2 miles home. We walked past the Madeleine church, one of my favorites for its classical Greek architecture. I have loved the elegance of this church since I was a student in Paris in 1980.

Église de la Madeleine

The façade has been cleaned and is so pretty. However, the sides and back have not yet been scrubbed clean.

Side of La Madeleine
showing the part on the right
that has not been cleaned

Our next stop was Ladurée of course. The interior had been redone since we were last here and was so pretty.

Ladurée

As we approached Place de la Concorde, we were surprised to see the half of the large square next to the Tuileries gardens was closed to cars. It was closed for the Olympics and the mayor of Paris is not reopening it. She has done so much to make Paris a more walkable city.

View of the Luxor Obelisk
and the Eiffel Tower
at Place de la Concorde

It was so cool to be able to walk right up to the obelisk and see the heiroglyphs up close. There were two obelisks at the temple of Luxor in Egypt. They were given to France by the ruler of Ottoman Egypt in 1830.

The shorter of the two obelisks was transported to France in a custom built ship and arrived in 1833 at an estimated transport cost of almost $20 million. It was erected in Place de la Concorde in 1836 on the pedestal that previously held a statue of Louis XVI. The statue was destroyed during the July 1830 revolution so they just repurposed it for the obelisk. It was such a huge undertaking and so expensive to transport the obelisk that the second one was never sent to France.

Luxor Obelisk

According to Wikipedia, "The choice of the Concorde was politically expedient, because that spot was iconic and emotionally charged — not least for having been the main location of the guillotine during the French Revolution — and it was difficult to find a way to fill it in a way that would convey sufficient prestige but not inflame political passions. The obelisk matched these criteria perfectly, given its antiquity and lack of connection with French history."

France added the gold leaf pyramid cap to the top of the obelisk in 1998 with costs covered by a sponsorship from Yves Saint Laurent. The original cap, perhaps in bronze or gold, was suspected to have been stolen in the 6th century BC.

We were also able to walk right up to the large fountains in the Place de la Concorde.

Place de la Concorde Fountain

We continued along the Right Bank to cross our favorite bridge-Pont Alexandre III-over to the Left Bank where we live. The bridge spans the Seine beween the Grand Palais and Les Invalides. It was completed in 1900 and is named after Czar Alexander III of Russia, who had entered into the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1892. The bridge, the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais were all inaugurated in 1900 for the Paris World's Fair.

Approaching Pont Alexandre III
View of Eiffel Tower

The bridge is widely regarded as the most extravagant and ornate bridge in the city.

Kate walking over the pont
towards Les Invalides

The ornamentation on the bridge is so beautiful and represents the alliance between Russia and France.

View towards the la Tour Eiffel

Can't get enough of the views from the bridge toward la Tour Eiffel!

Once we were over the bridge, we headed to rue Saint Dominique that leads to the rue Cler and home. Rue Saint Dominique has great views of the Eiffel Tower.