Arc de Triomphe

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Arc de Triomphe

The full name is Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile but everyone calls it the Arc de Triomphe. I expect that most people of my generation remember photographs of the Free French Forces and the allied armies marching through the Arc during the victory-liberation celebration at the end of the Second World War. I wasn't old enough to realize what was happening but I was alive then. What a day that was for the people of Paris compared to the parade of the German army after the fall of Paris in 1940. Their joy must have been simply overwhelming!



I expect, just about every visitor to Paris visits the Arc as well as the Eiffel Tower. A short walk of about a mile is all that separates the two famous sites. The streets between the two are interesting and very pleasant to walk. We planned to visit both the day of our visit. I had not realized how close the two are to each other. While on the topmost level of the Eiffel Tower, Nancy and I mentally mapped the route we would take from the tower to the Arc. It was easy from that height to see exactly the fastest route. The Eiffel Tower is on the left side, the left bank, of the Seine River, the Arc de Triomphe on the right.



When we left the Eiffel Tower we crossed the Pont d'Iéna ("Jena Bridge") that spans the river. On the other side, there were Christmas booths open selling hot drinks and food. To our left a snow machine was spitting snow into the air. Parents their children were having great fun together, playing in the snow and happily talking to each other. We had seen the pretty fountains below the Trocadéro playing from up in the tower and had hoped to see them again up close but after watching the children play for a while realized we had no idea when they would again have the fountains back in action, so we left without seeing them again.



Once we got our bearings we set off for the Arc de Triomphe. We always find it fun and interesting to wander the streets of a European city. There are so many things to see. I never window shop when I am home in the States, but when in Europe, well, that is different. It is especially interesting to peek into shop windows to see what is for sale and that is doubly true of bakeries. The breads and the sweet rolls are always fun to see … perhaps the sweet rolls more than the bread. Though there have been specialty loaves of bread, such as those at Easter in Poland, that were simply amazing.

What? No French Onion Soup?

By this time of day, a little after 1:00 p.m. hunger pains were telling us that, perhaps, it was time to eat. We passed several pizza shops, it seems there is one always nearby, but declined these in favor of a French soup and salad restaurant. We ordered a bowl of soup and a salad. Interestingly they did not have French onion soup on the menu, at least not this day. What they had was totally delicious and we felt we had made a good choice.



Leaving the restaurant we walked on to the Arc de Triomphe. Twelve boulevards meet at this point and normally the traffic is bumper-to-bumper with every lane filled. Today however, it was Christmas Eve and there was little traffic. We were able to cross the boulevards without having to dodge, run, jump or lay flat as traffic passed over us. Surely Christmas Eve must be one of the lightest traffic days in Paris.

A Memorial ...

The Arc de Triomphe, "Triumphal Arch" is the memorial honoring those who fought and died for France in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars. The names of French victories and French generals are inscribed on the inner and outer walls. Notice French victories. Not surprisingly French defeats are not mentioned. Remember the good and forget the bad … it is a very human trait I suppose. Buried beneath the Arc is the World War I Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I find such sites sobering, thinking of all those hundreds of thousands, if not millions of men and women who have lost their lives in so many wars.

Napoleon

Napoleon commissioned the building of the Arc in 1806 after his victory at Austerlitz. Napoleon never saw the completed Arc. By the time it was completed in the 1830's he had been exiled to the island of St. Helena. After his death his body was returned to France and his remains were transported through the Arc on their way to his resting place at Invalides.

Military Parades

Not surprisingly there have been many famous "victory marches" at the Arc. These inlude:



· The Germans in 1871

· The French in 1919

· The Germans in 1940

· The French and allies in 1944 and again in 1945



A person does not have to be a history buff to realize that Germany and France have not always been the best of buddies. Seeing that two of the four parades were of German troops in a victory parade after the defeat of France gives a pretty clear impression of this historic fact.



A US postage stamp was issued in 1945 showing the Arc de Triomphe as American troops marched down the Champs-Élysées with American war planes flying overhead.

A Long, Leisurely Walk

Once we were sated with the Arc we took a long, ambling walk on the Champs-Élysées. To say this is an upscale shopping area is an understatement. This is an UPSCALE shopping street. The sidewalks were crowded with holiday shoppers and others, like the two of us, just amblers taking in the sights, sounds and smells. The sweet smell of crepes pulled us to one shop. I like crepes. Nancy loves crepes and so we bought one. A very nice young woman took Nancy's order and immediately poured batter onto her grill. Soon Nancy had a hot chocolate filled crepe ... as well as a smile on her face.

A Surprising Ice Skating Rink

As we walked quite a way down the street far from the upscale shops and into an area full of Christmas booths and delicious smells of good grilled meats, we heard the sound of music playing. Soon we came to a quite amazing sight. Alongside the street was a long ice skating rink. It was in the form of an oval like a race track (at least that is the way it seemed from the sidewalk and since we couldn't see the back part it might have been more elaborate on the back than on the front which ran straight beside the sidewalk). Why couldn't we see the back part of the rink? Good question. Beside the place where the children and their parents were skating was a long, life size, very realistic diorama of an Arctic scene. There were polar bears and other northern animals in a snowy scene. It was a little odd that polar bears (Arctic animals) and penquins (Antarctic animals) were there side by side. The children looked very excited and happy and the moms and dads, some of them skating with their children and some watching from the sidewalk, also looked as delighted as the kids. We watched for a long time and then headed toward the enormous ferris wheel at the end of the street. No, Billy didn't let me ride the ferris wheel. It was getting dark and time to head back to the subway and to our hotel for Christmas Eve. Since we were losing light and had NO idea where the subway was from where we were, it was absolutely time to locate our way home. We found it without a problem and were very thankful for good urban transportation systems.

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Comments

[Virginia Fairley]

Paris
You are having too much fun! Sounds great. Two of my grandaughters are in Paris now with a college class. Good to hear from you. When will you be home? Take care, Virginia