The arch was commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 to commemorate his victories, but apparently he died before it was complete. The Arc de Triomphe stands at the end of the Champs-Elysees, in the center of the Place Charles de Gaulle. It stands in honor of those who fought for France, specifically during the Napoleonic Wars. Engraved on the inside are all of the French victories as well as the names of all of the generals. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. Next to the tomb lies the Memorial Flame. It was lit in November of 1923, and since then has never been extinguished. It burns in memory of those who lost their lives and have never been identified.
The Arc is now surrounded by the world's busiest roundabout, the Etoile, which means the star. Above you can see a picture of the Arc at night from the Eiffel Tower and the streets surrounding it look like a star.The Eiffel Tower was built as the entrance arch to the 1889 World Fair. It was named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel. At that time, it was the tallest tower in the world. It remained the highest tower in the world until the Chrysler Building was built in New York in 1929.
The tower was originally bright red, covered with an anti-corrosion mix. And there is a small apartment at the very top, where apparently Gustave and his daughter would occasionally entertain guests. We learned that the majority of the public didn't approve of the tower at that time, and thought of it as an eyesore. The city actually planned to tear it down, but after proving to be valuable for communication purposes, it was allowed to remain. Today the tower is widely recognized throughout the world, and one of the most visited paid monuments in the world.
The tower stands 324 meters tall, including the antenna. As I already said in a previous post, we were surprised that the Eiffel Tower is actually brown. The tower has 3 levels - the bottom two levels can be accessed by stairs or elevators, and both levels have restaurants. You have to take an elevator to the very top third level, and the views from up there are spectacular!! There is even a champagne bar at the top. We went at night so that we could see all of the city lights; and for an extra bonus - the tower lights up at the top of every hour for 10 minutes, where thousands of gold lights sparkle. It was beautiful all sparkly!
We were surprised with how big the structure actually is. And considering that Paris is a historic city (no tall skyscraper buildings) it stands out quite a bit. Below you can see Joe & Mike standing next to one of the legs.
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