Arc de Triomphe

Located 2km northwest of place de la Concorde in the middle of place Charles de Gaulle (or place de l’Étoile), Paris’ Triumphal Arch is the world’s largest traffic roundabout. It was commissioned by Napoléon in 1806 to commemorate his imperial victories but remained unfinished when he started losing battles and then entire wars. It was not completed until 1836. Since 1920, the body of an Unknown Soldier from WWI, taken from Verdun in Lorraine, has lain beneath the arch; his fate and that of countless others is commemorated by a memorial flame that is rekindled each evening around 6.30pm.

From the viewing platform atop the arch (50m up via 284 steps and well worth the climb) you can see the dozen broad avenues – many of them named after Napoleonic victories and illustrious generals (including the ultra-exclusive av Foch, which is Paris’ widest boulevard) – radiating towards every part of the city. Tickets to the viewing platform of the Arc de Triomphe are sold in the underground passageway that surfaces on the even-numbered side of av des Champs-Élysées. It is the only sane way to get to the base of the arch and is not linked to nearby metro tunnels.