We love the Arc de Triomphe from a distance. We love the way it looks; we love the carvings on it; we love the meaning that it holds. But overall, we had a terrible time. After queueing and paying, you find that you've queued and paid for a 284 step climb, most of it spiral and narrow, and once you start, you are committed. There are people in front of you and people behind you. It was hot, the kids were tired. John also had the misfortune of carrying all our coats in an overloaded bag.
Finally, we lumbered to the top, sweaty and out of breath. It was very bright. The view was breathtaking. For about 4 seconds.
Because we were attacked by gnats. They bounced off our eyelashes, twisted around in our hair, dive bombed at our ears, pecked at us from head to toe. If you could blink open your eyes, you could see people all around swatting and dodging while desperately trying to take one decent photo.
At the end, we spiraled back down the stairs. Parched and exhausted, we tried to drown our sorrows in a cafe nearby, but we never got served. That was a low point.
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| Looks great from the outside. Anna likes the pebbles on the ground. |
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| The ascent. |
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| What you feel like on the ascent. |
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| I'm amazed you can't see the gnats in this photo. |
(P.S. Don't tell me about the elevator. Heard about that later.)
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