After the Eiffel Tower I took the Métro to l'Arc de Triomphe.
It is strong, rigid and a powerful imposing structure. Built to welcome home triumphant troops. It is MASSIVE!
I did a full circuit of this wonderful building. Crossing roads and pausing to sit and marvel at it's regal majesty. It took an hour to do this. The streets were very busy and I was tourist -watching as well.
Often tourists are partners, family groups, bus loads of like-minded people or school groups. The thing that really struck me, was the way that they seemed to dress very, very, similar to each other. I remember reading somewhere that it is a form of polite social behaviour. Family groups were astounding at facial features that exactly replicated each other. Couples, too, dress in similar code.
If I may be so bold as to make a couple of other observations. Young teenage girls have a spoilt, bad tempered pout. Young teenage boys have an air of indifference when sight seeing. I saw a lot of parents enjoying taking their two kids to visit Paris. I know that it would have cost a lot of money, to get them there, feed them and visit the sights.
Whilst doing my circuit of the beautiful Arc de triumph, a woman found a shiny ring, just in front of me. Funny that!!
Whilst waiting to cross the road, I was so lucky to see a tall moroccan goddess near me. She was wearing evening attire; long ,dangling, sparkling earrings; a waist the size of my thighs and groomed to exquisite perfection. Her cheekbones were that of a model. She was trailed by photographers and other minions. Ah. At last, I experienced a touch of glamour in Paris. I think that they were going to take some shots of her with the majestic arc de triumph in the background.
I wished that I could have taken a photo of her, but alas, I was too self conscious.
I am somewhat disappointed that I wasn't able to see all the fashion and chic dressing that I had been led to believe was a common feature in Paris. Most people wear flat comfortable shoes and dress in dark clothing. Having said that, I DO think that understated excellent grooming is the order of the day for Parisians.
Ha ha ha. Instead, here is a very glamourous shot of me, with the Arc de Triomphe in the background!
The details on the walls of this monument were astounding!!!
Apparently, the guy in charge of things way back in the day, ordered all the dwellings to be demolished so that the troops could march victoriously in a straight line to the centre of town. The Champs Elysée stretches for about 5 kilometres.
It is necessary to take an underpass to get to the centre of the Arc. I saw two dumb young, male tourists hop of the bus and try and cross the busy intersection to get to the centre without taking the underpass. After a few attempts they were told by a passerby to take the underpass. I heard one of them mutter under his breath that he wanted to do it for a laugh. I thought that I was going to witness a terrible accident.
Funnily enough, I DID witness an accident. A motorbike crunched into the side of a car. What a FIEND I was to take a photo of someone's misfortune! How awkward!
The Gendarmes were quick onto the scene. I bet they wanted to clear the way so that a jam didn't ensue. The word for traffic jam in french is bouchon. It translates as "cork".
Apparently, once you hit the roundabout (rond point) at the Arc de Triomphe, you are not insured. No car insurance will cover you. My cyclist tour guide told me that he did a circuit of the Arc triumph on his cycle …… once! He said it was very hairy. There are no lanes marked on the road. It's a free for all. Horns honking is extremely common.
I took a shot of the eternal flame, in commemorance for the brave soldiers that fought in the war.
I chose not to join the endless snaking queue that would have enabled me to pay 10 euros to limb to the top of the Arc.
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