Arc de Triomphe

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This is the Arc de Triomphe (“Arch of Triumph”, /aʁk də tʁiõf/), a 16-story war monument conceived by Napoléon, designed by architect Jean-François Chalgrin, and built at the top of the avenue des Champs-Élysées. It was constructed between 1810 and 1836 (there were a number of long delays).

It is possible to reach the roof of the monument by climbing nearly three hundred steps, and the view is excellent. I haven't been up there very often, but I do have some nice photos of several Paris streets taken from the top of the arch, including a photo of the avenues leading to La Défense, a photo of the Avenue Foch, and a photo of the ever-popular Champs-Élysées.

The arch is surrounded by a huge vehicular roundabout. Some tourists foolishly try to cross the roundabout in front of hundreds of cars in order to get to the monument. The seasoned habitués of the city know that there is an underground pedestrian walkway on the northern side of the Champs-Élysées that provides safe access to the monument.

This monument, like so many others, is intended to glorify war and those who died waging it. Initially it was intended to glorify Napoleon's wars, but so many wars followed that others were added to the monument, notably World Wars I and II. Beneath the arch lies the tombe du soldat inconnu (“tomb of the unknown soldier”) from WW I, and a flame of remembrance burns above the tomb (it is symbolically rekindled daily at 6:30 PM in a small ceremony). There are regular military ceremonies at this location to commemorate the many and varied massacres that have colored French and world history.

The site on which the monument stands is called the place Charles de Gaulle; it used to be called the place de l’Étoile, because of the multicolored star built into the pavement of the roundabout (look closely at the pavement, and you’ll see the alternating gray and red colors of the star), and it is still referred to casually by this name.

This was taken from the southeast corner of the roundabout, just on the south side of the Champs-Elysées.

I have a night shot of the Arch, also, if you are interested.

Photographed on July 24, 2008.