Paris, a world-renowned city, has tons of scenic spots and historical sites, such as the Eiffel tower, Triumphal Arch, Elysee Palace, Palace of Versailles, Louvre, Place de la Concorde, Notre Dame de Paris as well as Georges Pompidou National Culture and Art Center, among which Elysee Palace, the work place of French Presidents, is off limits to visitors. We have visited all the places of interest mentioned above except the Place de la Concorde, which we passed several times yet did not stay at.
This morning we planned to go to the Avenue des Champs Elysees which is a world famous main street in Paris. It traverses across the principal east-west corridors in Paris with the length of 1,800 meters and height of 120 meters. It runs eight lanes bothway, starting from Place de la Concorde in the east to Place Charles de Gaulle in the west.
After arriving at the Avenue des Champs Elysees, we were divided into groups based on different interest. However, we decided to gather together at Triumphal Arch at 12.30 P.M. I only recorded the activities which three students and I attended to share with you, because I was unaware of the conditions in other groups.
To be specific, the four of us walked to the Place de la Concorde and the Seine River. Then we went to the American Embassy in France where we intended to take pictures but were not allowed to. Afterwards, we arrived at the Elysee Palace and took photographs. Finally, following the Google Maps, we tried to find the Chinese Embassy in France but could not find it. At 1.30 P.M. we reached the Triumphal Arch as scheduled. I reported our itinerary to the tour guide and mentioned that we could not find the Chinese Embassy in France. The tour guide said that it used to be there but now moved to another place!
The Place de la Concorde, the most famous square in France, is located in central Paris on the north coast of the Seine River. It was constructed by the order of Louis XV in the 18th century to showcase his supreme imperial power, so it was named ‘the Square of Louis XV’. During the Great Revolution period, the name was changed to ‘Revolution Square’, which was regarded by the French people as the stage to display the kingship destruction. In 1795, it was switched to ‘Place de la Concorde’. What’s more, in 1840, it was re-renovated to this scale. The Concord Square was octagonal with an Egyptian Obelisk in the center, which was presented to Charles V le Sage from the khedive.
The obelisk was carved out of massive pink granite with Egyptian hieroglyphics on it, which praised the great achievements of Egyptian pharaohs. Eight statues stood around the four corners of the square, symbolizing the eight biggest cities in France.
Paris, a synonym of romance, fashion and luxury, is a place which fascinates countless people. Paris can lead the fashion trend and create a great many articles of luxury which people scramble for. For this phenomenon, we wondered how the French people made it.
We had dinner in the dining hall of the hotel which we checked in. Today we were served western food: appetizer first, followed by main course and dessert, which tasted really delicious.
When we were having dinner, the tour guide began to handle relevant preparatory work for tomorrow’s boarding procedures in Paris airport.