I checked the forecast today and it says Paris will be cloudy for the two weeks remaining in our visit. So I might as well resign myself to moody, misty photos of the city — not really a problem, though it does make the Tour Eiffel look beheaded when the fog is thick. (I’ll have to take a photo of that sometime, to show you!)
Today we walked the Champs-Élysées, starting from the Jardin de Tuileries (near the Louvre). There’s a big Ferris wheel where the Tuileries meets the avenue.
Near here, the street was lined with outdoor booths, in preparation for Christmas; there was a lot of kitsch for sale, along with cheese and saucissons, crêpes (and churros), and hot spiced wine. The rest of the famous street looked more or less like any other major shopping avenue (I suspect it looks cooler at night), but at the opposite end from the Ferris wheel, there is the Arc de Triomphe.
In the afternoon we visited the Musée de l’Orangerie, home to a suite of rooms housing eight Monet “Water Lilies” murals. Monet is so over-reproduced — especially the water lilies — but these paintings were incredible, vibrant and rich with color and movement and light, and beautifully showcased in the simple, harmonious galleries Monet helped design. Check out the virtual tour at the museum’s website.
When we left the museum, the clock faces were glowing across the Seine at the Musée d’Orsay:
And in keeping with the darkish, hazy ambience of these photos… before Wednesday night’s show at the Palais de Tokyo, I sat in the Palais’s vintage Fotoautomat and captured my new haircut:
Wow….I ndidn’t think the Arc de Triomphe would be so huge….I liked the pic you took standing inside looking up.
Love the series of pix.
And you look great in that haircut!
Thanks, Munira! I didn’t think it would be so huge either!! I think I really like a lot of monumental architecture. It makes me feel proud to be human, I think… even though I know there’s a lot of suffering associated with a lot of these structures (or commemorated by them).
Loving your pics, and your new haircut is fabulous!
Merci beaucoup, Stacie!
I’m loving the haircut even more, now that I’ve washed it and it’s a little chaotic again. I love the smooth look but it’s more “me” when it’s messy. 
Very Paris-ienne
I’ve yet to cut my hair in Paris as I’m afraid that the hairdresser wouldn’t know how to handle my thick Asian tresses! Nice pics from the Fotoautomat – I especially like the second from the top : )
I very much liked my Paris haircut, and the salon was lovely — it’s a one-man operation, on a small side street near Port Royal and Raspail métro stops. I asked my host for a recommendation and she told me about him. If you want his info let me know.
Thanks on the Fotoautomat photos!
They’re now on my nightstand at my parents’ house, along with some other travel mementoes!
Yes please, would be great to have a reference/recommendation for a hairdresser in Paris! The only salon I’ve been recommended in the past was in a Japanese one in the Opéra area and it was rather expensive, so I never tried it out as I wasn’t working full-time then (i.e. poorer!) And in Brussels, my colleagues seem to only have mediocre feedback about the hair salons here. haha.
Hee, finding a good hairstylist is almost harder than finding a place to live.
The salon is called Dean; there’s a website but when I try to access it Google tells me the site might be compromised, so I won’t give you that. But you can get the info on Facebook. 
Interesting – it looks like he also makes bamboo bicycles?! Anyway, I found the address (6 Rue Campagne Premiere) using the information that you provided : ) It’s actually really close by the Sorbonne language school where I used to go to for classes! Thanks for the tip
Wow, bamboo bicycles?! If you ever get a cut with him, let me know how it goes! I hope you have as good an experience as I did!