Champs-Elysees Walk

July 24th--Since we didn't see a whole lot of the Champs-Elysees on Tuesday, we decided to go back today. Our first stop was the climb to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. We climbed the 284 steps up to the top where we got a great view of Paris. We clearly weren't as tall as the Eiffel Tower, but had a great view of it along with the Champs-Elysees. After coming back down from the top, we started our walk down the Champs-Elysees. We stopped off at Cafe Romain for a wonderful lunch. We enjoyed sitting outdoors and the weather was a little cooler today. After lunch, Shanda and I went into Guerlain perfume shop where we smelled a lot of different perfumes. Shanda decided on getting a few bottles for Christmas gifts which I thought was an excellent idea. While we were in the perfumerie, it started raining so the guys and kids had to escape into a local mall area. By the time Shanda and I came out of the store, the rain had pretty much stopped and everyone was waiting outside for us. Brent had a 5:00 conference call so we all decided to split up and meet back up at the apartment later. We continued our walk down the Champs-Elysees ending at Place de la Concorde. They were setting up the grandstands and stage for Sunday's final of the Tour de France. We went through the Tuileries Gardens to get to a side street with shops on it. We went inside some shops looking for a Tour de France shirt for Mike. After purchasing his shirt, Abby said that she wanted some hot chocolate. The rain had brought even cooler weather, so her request was very appropriate (even for July). Funny story coming up...Mike has a friend that lived in Paris for a while and had sent us some restaurant recommendations. Well, I had read her list earlier this morning and remembered seeing her mentioning a place that served the best hot chocolate. When I originally read it, I pretty much dismissed the idea because who would want hot chocolate when it's 70/80 degrees outside. But, when Abby mentioned it, I pulled the list out and found the information for Angelina's Tea Room. It said it was on Rue de Rivoli. We looked up and we were actually on Rue de Rivoli. We then found the street number and were only about 3 stores away from it. We looked up and immediately saw the sign for Angelina's Tea Room. So, we were basically standing right at it when Abby made her request. What are the odds? We entered into Angelina's, got a table and placed our order. The hot chocolate came in small pitchers with whipped cream on the side. It was basically melted chocolate, but was really good. We also got a Mont Blanc which is Angelina's famous dessert. It was in the shape of a cupcake, but the base was like a meringue cookie with chocolate icing on top. It was a great end to our day out so we headed back to the apartment on the Metro. Since we had a big lunch and late snack, none of us were hungry; so the rest of the evening was spent with the kids playing and the adults relaxing.