Parisian Paradise - Part IX: Arc de Triomphe

After our Sunday afternoon walk through Notre Dame and the Latin quarter, we hopped on the metro and headed to the Arc de Triomphe, a huge Arch that honors those who have fought for France, particularly those who fought during Napoleon's reign.

Brain and I were being triumphant:

Deidra being cute and cold:

The Arc de Triomphe became a symbol of conquests, ever since it first symbolized Napoleon's victories. From my understanding, it also became a ceremonious entry into Paris for the Germans when they conquered France (twice), and for the French and Allies when they conquered the Germans in WWII.

We took almost 300 steps up to the top of the arc:

And what greeted us at the top? A souvenir shop, of course! Complete with Eiffel Tower tops that we would have purchased for Deidra's dad (since he is obsessed with tops), but they were worthless when it came to actually spinning them. So we figured a picture was cheaper than paying money for a non-functioning top.

Once we got past the souvenir shop and took one last flight of stairs, we finally saw the view from atop the arc. Hey look! It's that pesky Eiffel Tower again:

Love was in the air at the top, and the Eiffel Tower gave us the spotlight as we showed a little PDA:

Don't worry, Whit and Brian were also guilty:

It was pretty much required for couples to kiss on the observation deck (or the makeout deck, as we called it). And who are we to argue? When in France . . .

As we descended the 300 or so steps back to the ground, we realized there was a wreath laying ceremony going on at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (similar to Arlington National Cemetary in DC), so we got one final picture:

Then we moved on to the ritziest street in Paris, which I still can't pronounce.

But you'll have to wait for until the next post for that one . . .