Underneath the Arc de Triomphe
As you would already know, the Arc de Triomphe is one of Paris’ most recognizable monuments. It is on the massive Place Charles de Gaulle and can only be access by an underground passage. You emerge right beside the arch and you can already start exploring. At the time of my visit, part of the top of the Arc de Triomphe is under repair so there was some obvious construction work going on. At ground level you can see how much large it actually looks. I was surprised at how big this place actually is since I have only seen this in photos. The roundabout provides a good view of the arch itself. You can also have a closer look at the arch as there are numerous details worth noting. The arch is a actually memorial arch built in honor of the dead of the French revolution. I don’t know much about French history but you can see the names of the dead engraved on the walls of the arch.
Names of the Dead on the Walls of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris
It is possible to walk underneath the arch and you can see even more detail here. The arch itself is modeled after a classical Roman triumphal arch. The designer, however, added his own design to it by added the sculptures of heroic figures which are found in French history. There is a queue to enter the Arc de Triomphe and as you might expect, it is quite long. It would have been nice to see the streets around this roundabout from the Arc de Triomphe but I don’t think we could wait that long. I think if you need to visit this place, you need to come early. Given that you have a lot of places to see here in Paris, you probably need to spend a lot of mornings queuing up in different places.
[xmlgm {http://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/ArcdeTriomphe.kmz} zoom=19]