The Arch de Triomphe

After lunch we hopped on the wonderful subway again (after going up & down several steps with our double decker stroller) & rode it all the way to the Arch de Triomphe. Opa was excited about this one. He likes anything that has to do with war history. Napoleon marched his troops through this very arch. Under the arch is the tomb of the unknown soldier. On top of the tomb is a "eternal flame." I guess the Kennedy's visited the Arch when he was President & when President Kennedy died, Jacqueline remembered the flame & asked that one be put on top of her husband's grave. So that's where they got the idea for the eternal flame. I couldn't believe how packed Paris was. This was our 3rd visit here & we've never run into so many people. The other 2 times we visited the arch, there were maybe 5 other people there when we were, but holy cow!! The tunnel underneath the traffic circle that you have to go in to get to the arch was massively packed with people. We were all going to go up to the top of the arch to over look Paris, but decided not to because: #1 - Another HUGE line to get tickets, #2 - they wanted 10 Euro a person to go up, & #3 - NO ELEVATORS. . . 284 steps up to the top. Opa's back wasn't feeling very well & we didn't want to risk the steps up. So we kept our feet on solid ground & enjoyed the arch from below. The girls had a blast running around chasing each other. We love the arch because it's just a large area to run around on. The girls were loving it. We all loved it!