I posted the film of the first time we set our eyes on the Mona Lisa the other day, and then we saw it again with the kids. \u00a0The crowd was four times as big on the Monday, than on the Sunday. \u00a0Somehow we discovered that the average time each person actually gazes on ‘IT’ is 15 seconds … hmmm, and it’s warped a little over time. \u00a0Now it’s behind bullet proof glass etc etc and in a climatically controlled space (hell, as you would expect !).<\/p>\n
Yesterday we walked up the Arc de Triomphe. \u00a0I was NOT HAPPY as, after having a generational dispute with son over navigation he called me ‘POPS’ (with some spite). \u00a0Now I call him JUNIOR and have asked him to find a new partner for Europe’s highest and fastest roller coaster, which awaits me just outside Barcelona. \u00a0Last night Meiduo asked, ‘What’s wrong old man?’ as she stole my dessert.<\/p>\n
She is now BUBS.<\/p>\n
Anyway, yesterday we went to the\u00a0The\u00a0Arc de Triomphe. <\/em>I had no real sense of what it actually was, except something for the cyclists to enjoy as they finished le Tour. \u00a0Now I know it is a war memorial in the world weary sense of the words – it\u00a0honours those who fought and died for France in the\u00a0French Revolutionary\u00a0and the\u00a0Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its vault lies the\u00a0Tomb of the Unknown Soldier\u00a0from World War I. It is also a great place to view the Haussmann layout … the l’\u00c9toile …<\/strong>\u00a0for this magnificent city.<\/p>\n It is impressive in all its physical and cultural dimensions … and like many great monuments, I discovered you can actually climb over the thing. \u00a0And like all really great monuments, that does entail a rather arduous set of steps … though post-India, the family cruise up these no worries. \u00a0Meiduo actually scampers and counts at the same time.<\/p>\n You can share some of \u00a0the experience …<\/p>\n http:\/\/youtu.be\/TIQohjOeCKU<\/p>\n From THE WIKI:<\/p>\n The\u00a0Arc de Triomphe<\/em>\u00a0is the linchpin of the historic axis (Axe historique<\/em>) \u2013 a sequence of monuments and grand thoroughfares on a route which goes from the courtyard of the Louvre, to the\u00a0Grande Arche de la D\u00e9fense. The monument was designed by\u00a0Jean Chalgrin\u00a0in 1806, and its\u00a0iconographic\u00a0program pitted\u00a0heroically nude\u00a0French youths against bearded\u00a0Germanic\u00a0warriors in\u00a0chain mail. It set the tone for public monuments, with triumphant patriotic messages.<\/p>\n The monument stands 50 metres in height, 45\u00a0m wide and 22\u00a0m deep. The large vault is 29.19\u00a0m high and 14.62\u00a0m wide. The small vault is 18.68\u00a0m \u00a0high and 8.44\u00a0m \u00a0wide. It was the largest\u00a0triumphal arch\u00a0in existence until the construction of the\u00a0Arch of Triumph in Pyongyang, in 1982.\u00a0Its design was inspired by the Roman\u00a0Arch of Titus. The\u00a0Arc de Triomphe<\/em>\u00a0is so colossal that three weeks after the Paris victory parade in 1919, (marking the end of hostilities in World War I),\u00a0Charles Godefroyflew his\u00a0Nieuport\u00a0biplane through it, with the event captured on newsreel.<\/p>\n Couldn’t resist this:<\/p>\n