Another Angle of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris
The Place Charles de Gaulle is one amazing piece of infrastructure. This is not because of some amazing feat of engineering but rather because of the amount to traffic this massive roundabout handles. It doesn’t seem to be one of the largest roundabouts in the world, but it is certainly one of the busiest and possibly scariest to navigate. I would imagine that this is much like trying to cross as street in Vietnam, where there are a million motorcycles which are trying to run you over. The trick is to don’t hesitate, just cross. In the same way, to navigate this massive roundabout, I think you just need to make sure you are able to communicate your intentions to your opponents/fellow motorists. The fact that there was no accident in the short time that I was observing the roundabout means that this thing probably works for the most part. However, this does exclude certain road users from the road – pedestrians.
Arc de Triomphe
The Place Charles de Gaulle is also home to one of Paris’ most iconic landmarks – the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc sits right at the center of the roundabout and makes for a pretty backdrop as you frantically try to safely navigate the roundabout. Visitors to the Arc de Triomphe, will have to go through an underground passage to get to the Arc. It wasn’t exactly very obvious where the underpass was but you will find it. This passage leads directly to the Arc de Triomphe where you will be met by a queue. There is no queue to see the Arc de Triomphe, however, if you want to iconic views of Paris’ you will need to queue to walk up the stairs to the top of the arch. The roundabout is large enough to accommodate a lot of visitors so there is plenty of room to move around.
[xmlgm {http://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/ArcdeTriomphe.kmz} zoom=19]