I am staying at the Hotel Bradford just off the Champs Élysées. The hotel is pretty nice, rooms a little small, but that is to be expected. Staff is friendly and helpful. My room even has a window that looks out onto the street and sunlight comes in at times! Woo Hoo!

There was even a little card on the shower/bathtub controls with instructions on how to use it. Believe me, it was needed!

Breakfast was included in my room price so I headed down to see what they had. Not your typical Holiday Inn Express or other American hotel breakfast.

A waiter serves your coffee. I found this out after I poured my own and he came in and got me a little pot of coffee and cream. There were croissants and other pastries, breads, juices, little crepe/pancakes with all kinds of things to go on them, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, sausage, bacon (limp), potatoes, lunch meats, vegetables, yogurt, fruit, and then my kind of breakfast – about 8 different types of cheeses and about the same number of salumi.

I then got ready and walked to the Champs-Élysées towards the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile, Arch of Triumph of the Star. It stands in the Place de Charles de Gualle at the Western end of the Champs-Élysées. It honors those who fought and died in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Quite impressive.

It was funny, though, walking down the Champs-Élysées after having just read a book about WWII called The Nightingale. It talked about how when the Nazis took over Paris there were Nazi flags flying all along the street. I almost expected to see them. There were a lot of flags flying, but not with swastikas!

I then walked to the Eiffel Tower. It was a nice sunny day but lots of smog. I had read that just a couple of days ago that they had implemented emergency measures to combat the pollution. Only allowing cars with 3 or more passengers into the city, for instance. I did see one intersection where they were flagging cars over, and I expect ticketed. I didn’t know what was going on at the time I saw this, however.

There were a lot of people waiting in lines to either climb or take the lift up the tower. Those who know me well, know I am no fan of heights, so it didn’t even cross my mind to do either. I did sit down and enjoy the view for a while and walked all around it.

I then rambled around through neighborhood streets just soaking up the atmosphere and the sun. I came across a construction area where it cracked me up. There along the fence were a bunch of push scooters, no doubt belonging to some of the workmen, all locked up along with bikes. You don’t see many people commuting on these in Seattle. But, I saw all ages and genders on them in Nice. Not so many yet here in Paris, but they are obviously used.

I came across this beautiful church on my walk, but haven’t identified it yet.

By the time I made it back to my neighborhood, I was tired and hungry. I randomly stopped at a cafe I saw, Villa Berri. I ordered the Salad Paysanne. It had ham, egg, cantal cheese, potatoes, and tomatoes. It was fine, but nothing to get excited about. Good bread to go with it, though! Back in France with salted, chewy bread!

I went back to the hotel and laid down for a nap. The long train ride and little sleep, plus all the walking had caught up with me.

I decided I wanted Steak and Frites for dinner. I did my research and found a couple of places nearby. I went to the one that was closest, Chez Boris. It was huge compared to most of the places I have eaten at in Europe.

I told the waiter that I wanted a good, juicy steak. He showed me a few on the menu called Entrecôte, or rib steaks. They were from various regions of France, Germany, and Angus from the States. I asked the difference between the two from France. He asked me if I like flavorful or tender. I said flavorful so got the one from Salers in middle France.

To start I was served an amuse-bouche of crostini with olive tapenade. It was very good tapenade.

All the steaks are served with frites and a green salad. The steak was dry-aged for 21 days and had a slight funk smell to it. It was cooked perfectly and tasted excellent. Just what I wanted.

The frites were crispy and hot and wonderful. I had read thaty they double fried them in beef fat, so why not, right?

After dinner, I headed back to the hotel. The hotel offers ‘snacks’ from 1:00 PM until 2:00 AM. There are chips, peanuts, lots of sweets, and even tomatoes. I thought about getting some dessert but was pretty full so grabbed a couple of bite-sized Toblerone to have just a bit of chocolate. Perfect!

It was a fine day in Paris.