Laurent Duchêne
When I was finishing up at my high school, Lycée Corbon, I had drinks with one of my fellow teachers, a teaching aide in fact who assisted those students with learning difficulties.
My colleague then proceeded to take me to Laurent Duchêne nearby, which she told me was her absolute favourite in Paris. We both discussed how dangerous it was given the proximity of the high school around the corner. She proceeded to then purchase for me her favourite little cake.
At the time, I was feeling rather guilty and joked to my colleague that I would perhaps go and visit the Arc de Triomphe the next day and do the steps to burn it off!
It was originally meant to be half in jest and the other half was being very serious.
And voilà... I did. See...
The View from the top of the Arc de Triomphe
Photo Credit: Libby Crozier
A great perk to working for the French Education Department was receiving the Pass Education. This allowed those cardholders free entry to all the Monuments Nationaux and Musées. So this was for the whole of France. It also allowed for reduced tickets for other museums/monuments not included on the list.
It was obviously very good when living in Paris as the capital of France. Paris is basically the cultural and historical hub for the country.
Due to the pandemic, it was not busy whatsoever and the other other tourists appeared to be a French family who were visiting.
Unfortunately, as I found out as I was climbing, the stairs were a piece of cake (sorry) and I considered actually going back downstairs and then going up again. However, I felt somewhat conscious that the staff at the entrance next to the stairs and those at the top would find me rather ridiculous and wonder what on earth I was doing. Alas, I took myself back home.
Address: 238 Rue de la Convention, 75015 Paris, France