Arc de Triomphe and D'Orsay Museum

The Arc de Triomphe is one of the world's most recognizable monuments, and a popular tourist attraction. We rode past it on several occasions, and Scott managed to take some great photos. The arc honours those who fought and died for France in the Napoleonic and the French Revolutionary Wars. Names of battles and generals are inscribed upon it. At it's base lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a victim of 

World War I, marked by an eternal flame. The arc itself is massive: 164 feet tall, 148 feet wide, and 72 feet deep. 12 different streets come together here, and the traffic circle that goes around this arc is positively frightening! There is an elevator nearly to the top, followed by about a dozen steps to the very top where the views of Paris are really nice. We drove past this several times, but we did not make the journey inside. Perhaps on our next visit.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I really enjoy the art of Monet and Renoir and Scott and I spent an afternoon in the D'Orsay Museum, home to the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces in the world. Here I found my Monet's, Renoir's, Degas', and Cezanne's, as well as quite a few Van Gogh's. This building was originally a railway station, became a mailing centre during WWII, was used for filming several movies, and then was slated to be demolished in the 70's. Instead of demolishing this beautiful building, however, a decision was made to turn it into a museum containing mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915 (too "young" for the Louvre and too "old" for the modern art museum). This was definitely one of my favourite stops in Paris! No photos allowed inside, but Scott did manage to take a couple looking out through the clock face, and a quick "illegal" photo of the inside of the building.