Yesterday Paris went car-free, and it was absolutely amazing. Well...most of Paris, and it was mostly car-free, but it was still one of the best things ever! From 11-6, arrondissements 1-7 and 10 and 11 (basically the center of the city) were shut off to traffic (but with the exception of buses, taxis, and emergency vehicles).
We were super excited to be a part of this day. When will we be in Paris when it goes car-free again? It was too much of a fun and unique experience to pass up!
But first, we had a mission. And that mission was to get the best lunch ever at L'As du Fallafel. So we walked over to the Jewish district to accomplish said mission. It was amazing to see no cars on the way! We just couldn't get over it. There hasn't been a day while we've been here that the streets of Paris have been so empty.
Everyone was out. People were rollerblading, families were riding bikes together, and tons of people were just walking down the streets. The mood felt like everyone was happy to be out on this beautiful Sunday.
When we got to L'As du Fallafel, there was a HUGE line for take away. So we decided to sit inside again, which was no biggie. L'As du Fallafel is a very popular place to get a shawarma/falafel pita sandwiches. We came here about a week ago, and had amazing sandwiches. Since our trip is coming to a close, we just had to come back!
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| Photo taken from last time we were here |
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| I had the falafel special sandwich again |
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| Adam is very happy to have his shawarma |
After lunch, we decided it would be a great idea to rent city bikes and bike over to the Champs Élysées. It's not often that this popular street in Paris is blocked off to traffic. Usually its bumper to bumper cars all the way down. But today, it was free of that!
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| Paris' city bikes |
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| Biking past the Louvre |
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| And past the Tuileries Garden |
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| So excited!! |
When we got to the Champs-Élysées, it was packed with so many people! We started to ride our bikes down the street, but soon enough there were just too many people to wiggle through. So we eventually parked our bikes and walked toward the Arc de Triomphe...ON THE CHAMPS.
We walked around, enjoying the time. We were hoping that the roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe would be closed off to traffic as well, but unfortunately traffic was open a few blocks ahead. So we continued our walk, and then stopped for a hot chocolate break at the famous Fouquet's.
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| Tasty tasty snack |
After our break, we hopped back on a couple of bikes, and biked back down the Champs, around the Place de la Concorde, along the Seine, and stopped just before Notre Dame.
After parking our bikes around the corner from the church, we wandered around for the last hour of no cars before calling it a day, and heading back to our apartment.
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| Entertainment on the Seine |
Yesterday was an unforgettable experience. It has definitely made my top 3 experiences while on this trip. And it seemed that everyone in Paris really enjoyed the day too! It's so cool that a big city can come together to get rid of cars for one day, and the added bonus of great weather made for a perfect day.
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