Mornings of parades, afternoons of riots and evenings of jubilation. At the heart of one of the most beautiful urban perspectives in the world, it attracts as much as itrepels… And when it is ransacked, it’s France as a whole that is attacked… The Arc de Triomphe.

Its original meaning has been subverted, diverted or betrayed, at the pace of the great French and European adventures. That is why it continues to bear such an emotional charge, as an immutable witness to the march of history. Pride of Napoleonic Empire victories, 1940’s German humiliation, exultant joy in 1998 and 2018 for the World Cup, Yellow Vests in a blind rage: no other monument has everpolarized the passions of the whole nation.

And yet, the history of this patriotic temple remains little known. Desired by an emperor, built by a king and sanctuarized by the Republic, the history of the Arc de Triomphe is full of anecdotes and unsuspected details…

Exciting immersion in a monument with an exceptional destiny.