We were catching the train back to Toulon in the early afternoon, so we didn’t have much time for sightseeing today. This morning we raced off to the Arc de Triumph, located in the center of the world’s largest traffic circle, Charles de Galle. The Parisians seem to have a weird fetish for putting important monuments in traffic circles. 12 streets radiate out from the Charles de Galle traffic circle, going to all sections of the city. There is an accident every 18 minutes in the circle, so some auto insurance companies have a clause that this circle isn’t covered. The Arc was commissioned in 1806 by Napoleon to commemorate his victories, but when he started losing battles, the work stopped. It was eventually finished in 1836.

We got off the subway and went over to the intersection. Yep, it is an arch, much the same as the ones we saw in Rome. And it’s tall.

We wandered from street to street on the outside of the circle looking for the tunnel that goes under the street into the circle. We eventually found it on Champs-Elysees. Like the other arcs we have seen, it is ornately decorated with gigantic reliefs. The names of people that we assume must be war heroes are inscribed on it. There is also a memorial to the unknown soldier under the arc, with the usual eternal flame.

For a fee, you can go up to the top. We bought tickets and climbed what seemed like an endless amount of stairs in a narrow, curved stairwell. We were relieved when we got to the landing, which led to a room with a handful of displays. Though the display area is small, there are a couple high tech exhibits that are cool. One exhibit that Eric liked is a little model of the arc with a big screen behind it. As you turn the model, close up pictures of the exterior appear on the screen.

We were sad to see it was yet another two more flights up to the top. The view from the top was nice, but honestly, it was a bit anti-climactic after the Eiffel tower. In the picture below, you can see three streets jutting off from the circle. Eric got a kick out of watching the cars fight it out in the roundabout below. We both agree that this attraction is overpriced. We think of all the places we have been in Paris, the Arc is the worst value for the money.

After we left the arch, we decided to walk the 2.2 kilometers down Champs-Elysees to the obelisk. The line from the Arc de Triomph to the Arc de Carrousel at the entrance of the Louvre is one of the longest perfectly straight lines in Paris.

The buildings along the Champs-Elysees are nice, but don’t look much different than the buildings around the rest of Paris. Nothing really made it stand out as an exclusive area other than the store names. It is all the usual high end chains: Escada, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Mont Blanc, Armani, etc. There were also all the typical mall stores: Sephora, Esprit, Gap, etc. And there was not one, but two McDonald’s within a couple blocks of one another. About half way down, the buildings ended and both sides of the street became more of a park like setting, dotted with a few historic old houses.

When we got to the obelisk, instead of proceeding forward into the Jarden de Tuileries, we made a left and went to Rue di Rivoli, which parallels the garden and Louvre on the north side. We were searching for a restaurant called Angelina, which we found a few blocks down. We were told by multiple people that we absolutely could not leave Paris without having a hot chocolate and Mont Blanc pastry from here. It turns out Angelina is a high end bakery with lots of beautiful, creative sweets to choose from, but the Mont Blanc and hot chocolate are what they are famous for.

We were nervous about stopping in here, afraid that if the service was slow that we’d miss our train. But the hot chocolate and Mont Blanc were out in literally a couple minutes. The hot chocolate is as smooth and decadent as the hot chocolate we wrote about in Malta, and almost as thick. It is definitely melted chocolate you eat with a spoon, not a flavored milk you drink. As it cooled, it got thicker and thicker and probably would have hardened if it got to room temperature. It is made with a dark chocolate, and they serve it with generous amounts of thick fresh cream so you can lighten it up to taste. They don’t have a variety of flavors like the place in Malta does, just plain chocolate. It is awesome.

According to the menu, the Mont Blanc is made of layer of meringue, a layer of light whipped cream, and chestnut cream vermicelli on top. We think it tastes like a huge ball of frosting. It is very sweet. We were fascinated by the vermicelli on top. The texture is like uncooked fresh pasta (not dry pasta). Christi thinks it is icing shaped into strings, but Eric thinks it really is a sweet pasta. Eric loved it, Christi thought it was too sweet, but that may be because we were also consuming super sweet chocolate at the same time.

We went back to our hotel and picked up our bag, then headed over to the Gare de Lyon station. We exited the subway and entered the connecting tunnel to the train. We could hear accordion music playing up ahead as we passed an instant photo booth. For a second, we felt like we were in the movie Amelie. The train back to Toulon was uneventful. The bus from the station was running surprisingly behind schedule. It turns out there was a lot of traffic on the road. This bus was not an express, so it took a different route along a network of small highways and made a million stops. It was nice to be able to get a closer look at the towns. We mentioned the town centers were all cute, and it seems that like La Lavandou and St. Tropez, outside the center there are a lot of nice, newer homes. And no, they don’t all look like Mimi’s. There is actually a wide variety of architectural styles. From what we have seen of the Cote D’Azur, it is a pleasant and attractive area. However, the bus ride seemed to last an absolute eternity.

Once we arrived back in town we were so hungry that we couldn’t wait. Bag in hand, we found a restaurant and had dinner. Christi ordered pork filet mignon in Dijon, which she thought sounded intriguing. Out came small medallions of tender pork in a creamy Dijon mustard sauce. We are enjoying all the creamy foods we have been eating since we arrived in Monaco. Not many places we have been to in the world incorporate cream into their cuisine, so having all these creamy sauces is a real treat for us.

We are happy to report that we timed our return to Kosmos perfectly. She was right at 50% of battery left, and we don’t like to let the batteries fall below that. In our pre-boating life, Christi would have been baffled by comments such as “We don’t usually plug into power” made in Monaco, followed by “Shoot, we can’t leave Kosmos for long without shore power” made in Le Lavandou. She wants to make a quick, overly simplified explanation for those not familiar with the mechanics behind boat life.

We get most of our electricity from our batteries. As we use the computer, the microwave, the refrigerator and freezer, and other everyday things that use electricity, it drains our batteries down. When the batteries get to the half full mark, we need to charge them back up again. We can turn on the generator for a couple hours or we can plug into shore power.

Not all of our electrical items are wired up to our batteries. The water heater, washing machine, and a few other things run directly from the generator, so if the generator isn’t on, we can’t use them. Since we like hot water for showers and dishes, we generally run the generator every day no matter what, hence we don’t need to plug into shore power when we are on board.

When we are not on board, the only electricity being used is to power the freezer, refrigerator and automatic bilge pumps, which all run off the batteries. They don’t suck a lot of juice, so we can go several days without running the generator if we aren’t on board. But, if we were plugged into shore power, we could be gone as long as we wanted, knowing that the batteries were constantly being recharged.