Arc de Triomphe (Day 12) (Historical)

It was our second to last day in France. As per usual, I was the first one awake. We did not have any tour scheduled so I decided to let everybody sleep in. "What's today?" asked Evan as he shifted in his bed. "The Arc de Triomphe" I proudly exclaimed. "Isn't that just the big arch in the middle of the city?" Ethan asked with an attitude. "Honestly, I'm not even sure what it is" I announced. We all began getting out of bed at about 11:00 and finally made our way out the door at 11:30. Since the monument was so close to our hotel, we decided to walk. We arrived at the Arc de Triomphe at about 12:00.
The Arc de Triomphe was an incredibly large, wide arch. I had read somewhere that it was constructed in the early 1800s. It appeared to be made of stone. We overheard a Frenchman describing the arch to a group of bystanders. "It is over 160 feet tall, and has the names of the soldiers who died in both the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars". I leaned in to hear better. "The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is buried under the arch" he explained "The eternal flame burns in memory of the soldier in World War One and World War Two who were never identified".

I crept up closer to arch to get a better view. The pillars on either side had sculptures of horseman, angels, and warriors in battle. The handiwork required to create these intricate sculptures is nothing short of incredible. The small eternal flame under the center of arch reminded me of a similar one on JFK's tomb, which I later learned was inspired by the flame under the Arc de Triomphe. There were several golden plaques surrounding the arch which I could not read.
As I circled back around the arch, the Frenchman came into earshot once again. "This was a major rallying point in WW1 for the French" he continued "After victory in WW1, a man by the name of Charles Godefroy successfully flew his biplane under the arch". I stared in awe imaging a plane going through this arch.

The rest of the group was not as intriguied as me. They saw it as big stone slab and did not care for its historical significance whatsoever. Everyone had wandered off, so I decided it was time to leave. I gathered everyone and we walked back thorough the streets of Paris together. It took us longer to get back as we stopped to eat at Burger King. We continued on our journey back to the hotel and arrived back at it around 5:30. Everyone was exhausted, so I proceeded to turn off the lights and announce "Tomorrows the last day, let's make it a good one. Rest up boys."