The Arches of Paris...

Arc de Triomphe

The building of this arch was commissioned by Napoleon and is the largest triumphal arch - 165 feet high and 130 feet wide. It is located at the convergent of 12 boulevards - quite a large round-a-bout for sure! It is so large that they don't have any crosswalks... instead, to get to the arch, you have to go underground!

But before we get to that... let me start with the most famous boulevard leading to the Arc de Triomphe - Avenue des Champs-Elysees...

At the base/origin of the Champs-Elysees is Place Concorde - a large square with the most ornate fountains in Paris. This is where the guillotine took many lives - includingthose of King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. This avenue is the place where the Tour de France bicycle race ends and as well as all parades in Paris. Just past Place Concorde, it is a bit like a park setting (notice the heavy winds blowing me to and fro!), but before long, the neon lights of big name stores light up the avenue. All sorts of stores are represented here... from Disney and McDonald's...

To Louis Vuitton and Cartier.
Finally, at the end of the avenue, you arrive in front of the Arc de Triomphe...
Down the steps, under the street, as you walk back up the steps again... this is what you see!
Beneath the Arc is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for WWI. Every day at 18:30 (6:30pm) there is a bit of a ceremony...

as the flame for this Tomb is rekindled. Micah and I didn't even realize this was going to happen, but we lucked out and were there just in time to see it.

To give youa little persepctive on just how enormous this arc is... there is Micah standing below one side it.

With my zoom lens I was able to capture some of the detail on the ornament that Micah stood under. It is absolutely amazing how much work was put into its design.

Grande Arche de la Defense

On the outskirts of Paris is a financial district of the city, with lots of tall buildings and buisnesses. Apparently, the goal of building such an area outside of the main city was to divert much of the traffic and communters away from downtown, thus preserving the central Paris elegance.

Among the sights to see (perhaps the only sight to go see out this far) is the skyscraper known as la Defense. Again - to understand the size of it - there is Micah, right in the middle of the steps!

This arche was build in 1989 - the 200th anniversary of the French Revoltution. It holds offices for 30,000 people and is SO big that the Notre Dam Cathedral could fit INSIDE it!