Settling In and Playing Tourist

In the few days before my job starts, I needed to settle in to the city and setup the basics... bank account, internet, phone, bus pass, etc., and take in a few tourist attractions at the same time.  Fortunately, my bank and a local Orange store (phone/TV provider) were both located on Avenues des Champs-Élysées, so I was able to get the essentials and do the touristy window shopping at the same time.

The highlights of Champs-Élysées:

• The car shops for Mercedes, Renault and Toyota were more for marketing than for actually selling cars, but they all had great displays.
• The watch shops for Omega and Tissot did not appear to offer much more than what you would see in a larger upscale jewelry store. However, the Swatch store had a wider selection than I've ever seen, but that's probably because they aren't widely carried in North America. Swatch is starting to offer more automatic mechanical models with some interesting designs. If only they built their watches with a sapphire crystal, they might get more interest from the market segment that seeks Swiss-made mechanical movements.
• The Abercrombie and Fitch store was a surreal experience. They place a muscular teenager in a tight A&F shirt to greet everyone at the front of a well kept garden, which you walk through to loop around this stone building that looks almost like a small mansion. In what you think is the backyard is the main entrance with another muscular teenager greeting you again. When you enter the mansion, it's like a combination night club / walk-in closet... dark, loud music, flashing lights and countless shelves of overpriced jeans and T-shirts, which won't look good on you unless you hit the gym everyday. Still, the cashiers were ringing up a lot of sales. Presentation counts in retail.
• The Adidas store didn't have anything special, except for those sharp looking winter soccer gloves that the Bayern Munich players wear whenever they play in colder weather. I bought a pair and that's my one souvenir of Champs-Élysées, as everything else felt like it was priced for richer tourists.

Some photos from Champs-Élysées and some other major landmarks around Paris:

The latest Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

Renault's current Formula One car

Arc de Triomphe, at the end of Avenue des Champs-Élysées

Visited the Eiffel Tower on a cloudy day...



View from the glass floor on the second level of the Eiffel Tower.

I took a lot of photos from the second level and the top level of the Eiffel Tower. This second level shot captured the Seine, the Palais du Chaillot, and La Defense way out on the horizon, all in one shot.

I took this shot while in Champs de Mars, which was coincidentally hosting the grand finale of the OECD Tohoku School events for 2014.

One of the towers from the Pont Alexandre III, with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

At Notre Dame Cathedral during the International Mass. Most of it was in French.

 

The Musée d'Orsay does not allow photos inside, but people were sneaking photos anyway. The museum had a lot of incredible works by Van Gogh as well as a huge collection of Impressionist art. What was also stunning was its Salle des Fêtes, pictured above.

I have not seen the Louvre yet, but am planning to go after tourist season ends and the crowds dwindle.