New topic Photos

[scarface]

The picture of the Arc d'Triomphe -- is that the side that faces McDonald's or the side that faces away from McDonald's? I don't remember the details.

Actually, here you see the north face of the arch of triumph, so this is not the side that you see on the avenue of the Champs Elysées, which is on the left on the photo. By the way, this photo could have only been taken from the north since the Eiffel tower is located on the south of the arc of triumph. To be specific, it was taken at the beginning of the Avenue de Wagram (exact location here: https://www.google.com/maps/@48.8744869,2.2954349,3a,75y,172.72h,89.92t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1umhb_YyNV0Va1i2v4BIAg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192)
From the Avenue Mac-Mahon, just beside the avenue de Wagram, you can get a three quarter perspective of the monument, which is more spectacular, but then the arch is hiding the Eiffel tower.

[humbert]

I was looking at your link. After doing some searching I found the McDonald's which is, sure enough, on the other side of the Arc from where you took the picture. I remember it was located on the left side of the street facing away from the Arc. This made it easy to find.

Let me ask: atop the businesses that operate on the Champs Elysées appear to be located at the bottom of a building several floors high with windows. Do people live there? If so, then how do they get in and out of their homes?

[scarface]

Let me ask: atop the businesses that operate on the Champs Elysées appear to be located at the bottom of a building several floors high with windows. Do people live there? If so, then how do they get in and out of their homes?

Generally there are shops or restaurants on the first floor of the buildings of the Champs Elysées (Note that in French, the first floor is the "rez-de chaussée", the "premier étage" (literally first floor) being the second floor for the English speakers).
I guess there are many (too many) offices in the higher floors. There are certainly a few apartments too. If you are referring to the location of the Mcdo, it seems there is a door located on the left. Check this photo: https://previews.123rf.com/images/moovstock/moovstock1701/moovstock170100389/68768132-paris-france-december-31-2016-mcdonalds-restaurant-on-famous-french-champs-elysees-street.jpg

[scarface]

Some of you have been interested in the photos of the weeping blue cedar, a huge tree of the Arboretum of Châtenay-Malabry.
So a video was added in this message:
https://www.nomaher.com/forum/index.php?topic=2283.msg37509#msg37509

[scarface]

Tonight, I'm posting a few more photos. I thought they were useless but Humbert showed a strong interest in the last photos posted in this topic and I guess that some users will look at them carefully.


On the Boulevard Saint Germain, a major street in Paris on the Rive Gauche of the Seine. It curves in a 3.5-kilometre (2.1 miles) arc from the Pont de Sully in the east (the bridge at the edge of Île Saint-Louis) to the Pont de la Concorde (the bridge to the Place de la Concorde) in the west and traverses the 5th, 6th and 7th arrondissements. At its midpoint, the boulevard is traversed by the north-south Boulevard Saint-Michel. The boulevard is most famous for crossing the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood from which it derives its name.
Note that apparently there is a man lying on the floor in front of the bank.



In the rue de l'ancienne comédie, in the 6th arrondissement. In case humbert or shadow.97 want to buy a flat here, they have to know that the real estate of this arrondissement is the most expensive of Paris.
On the right you can see the famous café Procope, the oldest café of Paris.
Throughout the 18th century, the brasserie Procope was the meeting place of the intellectual establishment like Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.
5 or 6 years ago, I came here with my father to drink a coffee, and I remember that it wasn't the regular price for a coffee, but at least you are received in a unique setting.



The Panthéon



Another photo of the cathédrale Notre Dame.



A photo of the "rue du chat qui pêche", literally street of the fishing cat, the narrowest street of Paris, in the 5th arrondissement.



A photo of the arc de triumph as seen from the south sidewalk of the Champs Elysées.

[humbert]

I guess there are many (too many) offices in the higher floors. There are certainly a few apartments too. If you are referring to the location of the Mcdo, it seems there is a door located on the left.

So those windows on the 2nd floor and higher are both offices and apartments. How do you get up there? Are there doors somewhere on the 1st floor with access to stairways or elevators?

Who in their right mind would want to live in one of those apartments on the Champs-Élysées? Not only is it notoriously expensive but the street noise must be intolerable.

With respect to McDonald's, unless my memory fails me there was second floor (this was Nov 2007). We walked in from the street and right there was the front counter. There was no place to eat. We had to sit down in the middle of the Champs-Élysées to swallow a hamburger. BTW, judging how the people are dressed, you must have taken this picture some time during the past winter.

[scarface]

So those windows on the 2nd floor and higher are both offices and apartments. How do you get up there? Are there doors somewhere on the 1st floor with access to stairways or elevators?

I think there are doors somewhere indeed. For the stairways or elevators, I think you replied to your own question. If you're a bird you can easily go to the upper floors with your wings but if you're a mere man, it doesn't work.

Who in their right mind would want to live in one of those apartments on the Champs-Élysées? Not only is it notoriously expensive but the street noise must be intolerable.

You're certainly right. And If the avenue of the Champs Elysées is Europe's most expensive retail location, and one of the most expensive in the world after the 5th avenue in New York, for the real estate prices it's not the most expensive street. In Paris, the most expensive street is the avenue Montaigne (which adjoins the Champs Elysées). Probably a perfect place for the would-be starlets.
I think the 6th and 7th arrondissement are the most expensive (the 19th and the 20th being the least expensive).

With respect to McDonald's, unless my memory fails me there was second floor (this was Nov 2007). We walked in from the street and right there was the front counter. There was no place to eat. We had to sit down in the middle of the Champs-Élysées to swallow a hamburger. BTW, judging how the people are dressed, you must have taken this picture some time during the past winter.

Actually I didn't take this photo, I found it...
As for the date of the photos, the URL shows it was taken on December the 31st 2016.

[scarface]

Today, I went to the Meudon observatory park.
The heights of Meudon have always been noted for their beauty. French style gardens and royal hunting grounds in the past, they enclose today an outstanding and protected biodiversity.

When Servien, superintendent of finances and baron of Meudon, bought the château perched above Meudon, in 1655, there was no park. He spent his fortune to buy the land, to create the large terrace held up by the magnificent wall which can still be seen today, to lay out the paths, to dig out the pools, right up to his death four year later.

Enamoured by the marvellous gardens, by the magnificent layout, by the effects induced by the changes in height and by the view of Paris, Louis XIV bought the domain for his son in 1695. He planted tens of thousands of flowers and 8000 chestnut trees. The forest of Meudon, traversed by alleyways wide enough for horse-drawn carriages, became a place where the Court could go and hunt.

After the death of Louis XIV, the Royal domain was increasingly neglected. Louis XV and Louis XVI used it for hunting. The latter sold the lower gardens to the peasants. To separate the pleasure gardens from the hunting grounds, he built a wall, which is still there, and destroyed the water reservoirs and pools.
After 1800 the domain was divided up. Napoleon bought a part of the grounds ; he tore out the boxwood hedges and the old arbours so that his troops could parade on the large terrace.

In 1876 a part of the domain was given to the astronomer Janssen to create an observatory. In 1913 the domain was classed as a historical monument and registered as a protected site in 1930. This classification ensures the conservation of monuments and sites. In spite of the damage caused by the storms in 1990 and 1999, the forest still has a large number of very large trees, a significant variety of species, and is home to a large population of birds and insects.


This photo was taken from a terrace of the park of Meudon. There is already a photo taken in this park and posted a few months ago, but the quality of this one is better: it was taken with a Samsung s21 FE. What's more, the sky is unusually bright.


Here you can see a second shot with a zoom x3. And this is a sharp photo. The photo with the s6 would have been certainly blurry with such a zoom.
This photo was taken from the southwest of Paris and yet you can clearly see the Pleyel tower in Saint Denis on the left, or the twin towers Les Mercuriales in Bagnolet on the right, whose architecture was inspired by the twin towers of the former World Trade Center.

[humbert]

You're certainly right. And If the avenue of the Champs Elysées is Europe's most expensive retail location, and one of the most expensive in the world after the 5th avenue in New York, for the real estate prices it's not the most expensive street. In Paris, the most expensive street is the avenue Montaigne (which adjoins the Champs Elysées). Probably a perfect place for the would-be starlets.

Check this link. If you refer to residential property values, Paris and New York aren't too high on the list. If you mean commercial, according to this link New York is 4th, and Paris isn't on the list at all. Naturally I found this on Google.

[scarface]

Check this link. If you refer to residential property values, Paris and New York aren't too high on the list. If you mean commercial, according to this link New York is 4th, and Paris isn't on the list at all. Naturally I found this on Google.

Actually it depends on the criteria that is used. For residential property values, the study you gave shows the average property price. But if you take the average price per square meter, you can get very different results. This study Link for the European countries shows that in 2021 Paris remained at the position of the most expensive city to purchase a square meter of apartment in Europe ahead of Tel Aviv and Munich. I'm surprised to see that London comes after Munich, real estate in Germany used to be affordable. It's also surprising to see that Israel is considered as a European country. I guess that Maher has never felt so European.
As for commercial locations, demonstrations of the yellow vests calling for social justice and global revolution every Saturday may have had a negative impact on the commercial leases prices on the Champs Elysées.