L'Arc de Triomphe

To finish off our massively packed Monday (still February 17th) in Paris, we climbed up the Arc de Triomphe for a spectacular night view of Paris!

After our Sacre Coeur/Louvre outing, we ate dinner and rested in our apartment for about 2 hours. I actually fell asleep sitting slumped on the couch for half an hour, I was so tired! At 6:30pm, we rallied and went out on the town again. Jeff mapped out a two-train metro route with the least amount of walking possible for this outing, which felt different because normally we don't shy away from walking. But after the long day on foot we had already had, we wanted an easy outing. 

At the arch, we waited in line for 20-30 minutes before finally getting inside. The Arc de Triomphe was part of our Paris Museum Pass, and kids got in free, so this outing was low commitment/high yield. The kids climbed the 284 spiral stairs up to the top of the arch very quickly. I was impressed with Amber--she got tired halfway up, but rallied and never took a break, keeping up with Jeff, Jay, and Rose the whole way! I was the one trailing at the back of the pack! Amber is an expert at keeping up with her older siblings. 

The night view of Paris from the top of the Arc de Triomphe was beautiful. We admired it and took pictures, then went down a few flights of stairs to the warmer indoor landing to wait 8-ish minutes until almost 8pm. Then we went back up to the top to watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle at 8pm. It was pretty and bright and made me happy. Watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle from the top of another building was a new Paris experience for Jeff and me, which was fun since a lot of this trip was showing the kids places Jeff and I have already seen. 

We didn't mean to time our arch visit so well (and we couldn't have known how long the line to get in to the arch would be, so we couldn't have planned it so well if we had tried), but it worked out great! We enjoyed the view, rested a few minutes, then enjoyed the sparkles for a minute or two and then headed out. Down the 200+ stairs, up and down stairs all over the metro, two metro lines (sometimes I think we walked underground through the metro connections more than we would've if we had just taken one line and walked the rest of the way, but the illusion of walking towards a ride helped our tired legs. We were back to our Airbnb by 8:40pm. 

Monday, February 17th was a very FULL day: starting with a sunrise run to the base of the Eiffel Tower with Rose, then climbing up the steps to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur, then going to the Louvre, walking from there back to our apartment, and then that evening climbing up and down the Arc de Triomphe. We were so tired!

Heading into the tunnel to cross the massive circular intersection with the arch in the middle.

The arch was so big and bright at night!

We had a nice half hour or so to admire the carvings while we waited in line.

Amber was a bit squirmy while we stood in line.

She had fun with the floodlights, trying to look creepy.

Iconic Paris view: golden Eiffel Tower and its spotlight, bright white Arc de Triomphe. We stood in line long enough to notice that the rotating spotlight at the top of the Eiffel Tower wasn't just one light turning in a circle; it switched to a different spotlight partway through its rotation. We stared at it until we could see the brief blip and blink of one light turning off and another turning on. It was quite smooth, and I've never noticed it before, but it was definitely there.

I showed Amber the large chain bordering our line, and that entertained her for a while.

Up the stairs!

The view from the top of the arch is pretty amazing. 12 roads all intersect at the massive traffic circle around the arch, including the famed Champs-Elysees.

Jeff and Rose, admiring the night view.

The Arc de Triomphe is aligned with La Defense, that square modern arch in the distance at the end of the road in this picture. Once, during a different visit to Paris, Jeff and I walked the 5 kilometers from La Grande Arche de la Defense all the way to L'arc de Triomphe.

Sacre Coeur waaay over on the horizon up on Montmartre hill.

Seriously, the roads between the buildings were like canyons of light. It was mesmerizing to look at.

A satisfying night view of the city of lights. Cell phone photography these days still surprises me.

Rose, Jeff, and Amber (and three other random tourists).

Everyone was feeling pretty done with family selfies after our long day, so I didn't force them to try for a less-blurry one.

The sparkling Eiffel Tower! It never gets old.

Selfie mode couldn't manage to capture the sparkling Eiffel Tower and our faces. It was either or in this light.

One last look at the sparkles...my family was already retreating and not waiting for me, as I discovered when I turned around and they were gone! The Eiffel Tower only sparkles for 5 minutes every hour--it's not like I was standing around talking after church for 30 minutes or something! Haha, everyone was tired and ready to relax at our apartment.

Amber, Rose, and Jay spiraling away from me. I got stuck behind some slow walkers who wouldn't let me pass on the way down.

Under the arch!

I love a good well-lit monument at night! The contrast of light and dark is exhilarating.