The Arc de Triomphe (or less ambiguously, the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile) is a famous Parisian landmark that was built to commemorate French military successes, originally those occurring during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Construction was begun under Napoleon in 1806, but was suspended after Napoleon's first abdication in 1814. It didn't resume until 1833, during the reign of Louis Philippe, and was completed in 1836. The arch was modeled after the ancient Arch of Titus in Rome, but is much larger. The Arc de Triomphe is 164 feet tall, 148 feet wide and 72 feet deep. It is covered with reliefs, sculptures and inscriptions celebrating French military prowess. The most famous of the sculptures is called The Departure of 1792, or La Marseillaise, by François Rude. Many of the inscriptions are names of battles in which France was victorious during the Revolution and the reign of Napoleon, and others are names of generals of the time. The arch is located at the center of the Place Charles de Gaulle (once called the Place de l'Étoile), where it is surrounded by a busy roundabout with twelve streets radiating from it. One of these streets is the Champs-Elysées, which ends at the arch.



Having just walked the length of the Champs-Élysées, we were interested in visiting the arch. Seeing the arch just across the roundabout from anywhere along the edge of the square, one is tempted to just make a mad dash across the roundabout and hope for the best. But for those whose plans don't include premature death, this course of action is not recommended. Instead, there are two underpasses which make the traversal much safer. We found one of them after a little searching and crossed over to the arch. Entry to the arch was covered by our Museum Passes and we ascended to a small museum located in the "attic" of the arch. Here we found a model of the arch, a life-size copy of a detail from the La Marseillaise sculpture, and a memorial to French soldiers who fought in World War I.

We continued to the top of the arch in hopes of finding a good view, and we were not disappointed. The arch is the tallest structure in the vicinity, so there are unobstructed views in all directions. We could see things like the Eiffel Tower, the Sacré-Coeur basilica and (of course) the Champs-Élysées. And opposite the Champs-Élysées we could see its continuation, a street called the Avenue de la Grande Armée, which leads toward a modern business district called La Défense which features an angular 1980's-style arch of its own.






After getting our fill of the view, we returned down the staircase to street level and looked at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beneath the arch, the resting place of an unidentified soldier from World War I, and its eternal flame.


Our next stop was the nearby Charles de Gaulle Étoile Metro station, where we bought some tickets (there are several options, among them single trip passes, day passes and a discounted set of ten single trip passes called a carnet - we bought a carnet, as we figured we'd have ample opportunity to use the remaining tickets) and boarded a Metro train which took us (after a couple of transfers) to the Odéon station near our hotel. We found a nearby Chinese/Vietnamese fast food place for dinner and returned to our hotel room to recover from the activities of our first full day in Paris. And we would need the rest, as we had an appointment the next morning with this tower...