will ross home page   >   paris   >   inside the arc de triomphe

margueritte on the spiral stairs inside the arc de triomphe.

[ 25 ]

after resting a bit at our apartment we went on an evening adventure. we rode the metro to king george v station on the avenue des champs elysees. it was early evening. we walked to the arc de triomphe and used our museum and monument passes to go inside. spiral stairs led to an observation deck on top of the monument. there were many animated people visiting the monument, speaking various languages.

the lights of paris sparkled around us in the cold night air. we looked at the city in all directions. it was especially fun to watch the free flowing traffic fight for spaces on the streets, which have strictly minimal lane lines, if at all. cars lined up seven or more across at a red light, with scooters squeezing between the cars. when the light changed they all surged madly across the intersection for the three lanes available on the other side, sorting themselves out in random patterns. at one intersection a bus was stranded trying to turn right while streams of scooters and mini cars flowed around it on both sides, like a large stationary rock dividing a rushing stream. after the flood passed the bus ponderously turned down the other avenue and sped off.

we looked down each of the twelve avenues radiating out from place charles de gaulle. in the distance giant electric logos mounted atop large buildings advertised multinational brands like panasonic and sanyo. i held marguerite to keep warm while we enjoyed the view of landmarks like the tour eiffel, le sacre coeur, the tour montparnasse and the skyscrapers of la defense.

inside the arch we looked at a military museum. we walked back down the champs elysees all the way to the grand palais. we entered the metro at clemenceau and rode home. the shops on rue cler were shuttered for the night, except for one cafe half full of animated patrons smoking and conversing. at several shops cleaning crews were scrubbing floors and putting out garbage. the korean restaurant was very lively half a block from our apartment at the corner of rue du champ de mars and rue duvivier. several very expensive european cars were parked outside. around the corner a young woman was carefully squeezing her tiny car into a very tiny parking space. we walked to our front door. i entered the passcode in the security panel and shoved the tall heavy door open, flipping on the light for marguerite.

top of page