C'est La Guerre "That's War"

France is not immune to the ravages of war. Throughout time as we know it, this part of the world has seen wars of all types. There's the 100 years war. the Franco-Prussian War (with Germany), and the First World War to name a few. But France has had both loss and gain, and under the military command of Napoleon, France was victorious more than it was not. In fact one of France's greatest was indeed Napoleon, but like most successful generals that became rulers, he was also one of France's worst rulers. I suspect that General and then President Washington was the only one I know who had such respect and admiration, that he walked away proud of what he had accomplished and went down in the history books as one of the greatest, and somewhat humble men of the United States. But Napoleon was not.

Still, as Napoleon ruled and warred against other nations, he was successful. With the ravages of war, he looted and brought back phenomenal works of art that hang in the Louvre to this very day. France does not relinquish control of these art works either, which I find rather interesting given the fact that other countries have had to relinquish their possessions that they confiscated from other nations during war. I guess if the French government works towards a deal to get peace between Israel and the Palestinians and land is swapped for peace, France will also have to consider doing the same.

To honor the fallen of Napoleon's army and navy, he built the Arc d'Triumph, and set it as the center of the city of Paris has he built some of the greatest treasures of Paris. Today, we headed there after seeing "Inception". The monument was busy with all sorts of military and police. I was very impressed with the French special forces that were there; they have come a long way since World War Two, and by comparison to what we see in our American military, the French should truly be quite proud of their armed forces. What we did not understand, as we began our 284 step rise to the top of the monument, is that the tomb of the unknown soldier, set there in January 28th, 1921, was having the eternal flame relit in accordance with tradition as has been done everyday since 1932. A solemn occasion with wreathes from all sorts of countries including Canada, Germany, and France. I was unable to make out the USA, though I'm sure they were there.

At the top of the monument, which took 30 years to build, is a view that is only surpassed by the Eiffel Tower. The location of the monument is called Etoile which means star. Based on the fact that all roads emanate from the center of the monument, from above it looks like a star of the city, or perhaps it is the star of the city. Either way, the view was breath taking and from the pictures I include here, should give you an idea of what this place means as a monument to all fallen soldiers of France.