“
Hyde Park Corner is what happens when a bunch of urban planners take one look at the grinding circle of gridlock that surrounds the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and think—that’s what we want for our town.
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”
Ben Aaronovitch (The Hanging Tree (Rivers of London, #6))
“
Out of a human population on earth of four and a half billion, perhaps twenty people can write a book in a year. Some people lift cars, too. Some people enter week-long sled-dog races, go over Niagara Falls in a barrel, fly planes through the Arc de Triomphe. Some people feel no pain in childbirth. Some people eat cars. There is no call to take human extremes as norms.
”
”
Annie Dillard (The Writing Life)
“
Here is everything I know about France: Madeline and Amelie and Moulin Rouge. The Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, although I have no idea what the function of either actually is. Napoleon, Marie Antoinette, and a lot of kings named Louis. I'm not sure what they did either, but I think it has something to do with the French Revolution, which has something to do with Bastille Day. The art museum is called the Louvre and it's shaped like a pyramid and the Mona Lisa lives there along with that statue of the women missing her arms. And there are cafes and bistros or whatever they call them on every street corner. And mimes. The food is supposed to be good, and the people drink a lot of wine and smoke a lot of cigarettes.
I've heard they don't like Americans, and they don't like white sneakers.
”
”
Stephanie Perkins (Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss, #1))
“
We’re going to stroll up the Champs-Élysées like proper tourists and then sit at a cafe and have coffee in view of the Arc de Triomphe.
”
”
Melanie Harlow (Frenched (Frenched, #1))
“
With a mixture of naïveté and British arrogance, she had always thought of London as the center of all culture and knowledge, but Paris was a revelation. The city was astonishingly modern, making London look like a dowdy country cousin. And yet for all its intellectual and social advancements, the streets of Paris were nearly medieval in appearance; dark, narrow and crooked as they twined through arrondissements of artfully shaped buildings. It was a messy, delightful assault to the senses, with architecture that ranged from the gothic spires of ancient churches to the solid grandeur of the Arc de Triomphe.
”
”
Lisa Kleypas (Secrets of a Summer Night (Wallflowers, #1))
“
The absolute worst thing to do when you come to Paris is plan too much. Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame, Arc de Triomphe, stand in line for hours to experience what everybody says you have to. Me? I like to take it easy in Paris, especially if I’m only in town for a few days. “Most of us are lucky to see Paris once in a lifetime. Make the most of it by doing as little as possible. Walk a little, get lost a bit, eat, catch a breakfast buzz, have a nap, try and have sex if you can, just not with a mime. Eat again. Lounge around drinking coffee. Maybe read a book. Drink some wine, walk around a bit more, eat, repeat.
”
”
Anthony Bourdain (World Travel: An Irreverent Guide)
“
Безумие случайности.
”
”
Erich Maria Remarque (Arc de Triomphe)
“
Niko nam ne može postati više stran nego čovek koga smo nekad voleli, pomisli on umorno.
”
”
Erich Maria Remarque (Arc de Triomphe)
“
At one point in the journey, we’re approaching the Arc de Triomphe.
“That’s awesome,” states Paul.
“My guidebook says that it’s the resting place of the ‘unknown soldier’ and the flame never goes out,” I announce proudly.
The taxi driver says something to Elizabeth, who is sitting in the front.
“Franz here, suggests that if the budget deficit gets any worse, they intend to turn the gas off except on Public Holidays.”
“Still practically every day then!
”
”
Chambers Mars (The Ephemeris Protocol - Zac Tremble Investigates)
“
Any girl faced with daily attention from a gorgeous boy with a cute accent and perfect hair would be hard-pressed not to develop a big,stinking, painful,all-the-time,all consuming crush.
Not that that's what's happening to me.
Like I said.It's a relief to know it won't happen. It makes things easier. Most girls laugh too hard at his jokes and find excuses to gently press his arm. To touch him.Instead,I argue and roll my eyes and act indifferent. And when I touch his arm,I shove it.Because that's what friends do.
Besides,I have more important things on my mind: movies.
I've been in France for a month, and though I have ridden the elevators to the top of La Tour Eiffel (Mer took me while St. Clair and Rashmi waited below on the lawn-St. Clair because he's afraid of falling and Rashmi because she refuses to do anything touristy), and though I have walked the viewing platform of L'Arc de Triomphe (Mer took me again,of course, while St. Clair stayed below and threatened to push Josh and Rashmi into the insane traffic circle),I still haven't been to the movies.
Actually,I have yet to leave campus alone. Kind of embarrassing.
But I have a plan.First,I'll convince someone to go to a theater with me. Shouldn't be too difficult; everyone likes the movies.And then I'll take notes on everything they say and do, and then I'll be comfortable going back to that theater alone.A
”
”
Stephanie Perkins (Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss, #1))
“
St. Clair tucks the tips of his fingers into his pockets and kicks the cobblestones with the toe of his boots. "Well?" he finally asks.
"Thank you." I'm stunned. "It was really sweet of you to bring me here."
"Ah,well." He straightens up and shrugs-that full-bodied French shrug he does so well-and reassumes his usual, assured state of being. "Have to start somewhere. Now make a wish."
"Huh?" I have such a way with words. I should write epic poetry or jingles for cat food commercials.
He smiles. "Place your feet on the star, and make a wish."
"Oh.Okay,sure." I slide my feet together so I'm standing in the center. "I wish-"
"Don't say it aloud!" St. Clair rushes forward, as if to stop my words with his body,and my stomach flips violently. "Don't you know anything about making wishes? You only get a limited number in life. Falling stars, eyelashes,dandelions-"
"Birthday candles."
He ignores the dig. "Exactly. So you ought to take advantage of them when they arise,and superstition says if you make a wish on that star, it'll come true." He pauses before continuing. "Which is better than the other one I've heard."
"That I'll die a painful death of poisoning, shooting,beating, and drowning?"
"Hypothermia,not drowning." St. Clair laughs. He has a wonderful, boyish laugh. "But no. I've heard anyone who stands here is destined to return to Paris someday. And as I understand it,one year for you is one year to many. Am I right?"
I close my eyes. Mom and Seany appear before me. Bridge.Toph.I nod.
"All right,then.So keep your eyes closed.And make a wish."
I take a deep breath. The cool dampness of the nearby trees fills my lungs. What do I want? It's a difficult quesiton.
I want to go home,but I have to admit I've enjoyed tonight. And what if this is the only time in my entire life I visit Paris? I know I just told St. Clair that I don't want to be here, but there's a part of me-a teeny, tiny part-that's curious. If my father called tomorrow and ordered me home,I might be disappointed. I still haven't seen the Mona Lisa. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower.Walked beneath the Arc de Triomphe.
So what else do I want?
I want to feel Toph's lips again.I want him to wait.But there's another part of me,a part I really,really hate,that knows even if we do make it,I'd still move away for college next year.So I'd see him this Christmas and next summer,and then...would that be it?
And then there's the other thing.
The thing I'm trying to ignore. The thing I shouldn't want,the thing I can't have.
And he's standing in front of me right now.
So what do I wish for? Something I'm not sure I want? Someone I'm not sure I need? Or someone I know I can't have?
Screw it.Let the fates decide.
I wish for the thing that is best for me.
How's that for a generalization? I open my eyes,and the wind is blowing harder. St. Clair pushes a strand of hair from his eyes. "Must have been a good one," he says.
”
”
Stephanie Perkins (Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss, #1))
“
No matter how often you come back to Paris, if you go away that first time, you leave behind the life you might have led there, the man you might have been, the essays you might have written at the cafe tables, the manifestos you might have signed, the mastery you might have obtained over the French language and Paris taxi drivers. You might have risen high in French politics, romanced Ines de la Fressange from the top of a ladder, hatched a plan to fill in the Arc de Triomphe with a split level shopping mall, been run down in the Boulevard Saint-Germain by Françoise Sagan, buried in Père Lachaise and Natalie might have been your daughter. I can't imagine a more satisfactory life.
”
”
Clive James
“
By half-past eight Paris is a terrible place for walking. There's too much traffic. A blue haze of uncombusted diesel hangs over every boulevard.
I know Baron Haussmann made Paris a grand place to look at, but the man had no concept of traffic flow. At the Arc de Triomphe alone thirteen roads come together. Can you imagine that? I mean to say, here you have a city with the world's most pathologically aggressive drivers-drivers who in other circumstances would be given injections of thorazine from syringes the size of bicycle pumps and confined to their beds with leather straps-and you give them an open space where they can all try to go in any of thirteen directions at once. Is that asking for trouble or what?
”
”
Bill Bryson
“
Bruce and Hemingway were with the advance fighting units that headed into the center of the city and together they climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe to look across all of Paris. How magnificent it must have felt to be there at that moment. Hemingway suggested that they go straight to the Ritz Hotel. Paris was the city my grandfather loved more than any other in the world. He was proud to assist the OSS in the city’s liberation and the liberation of the Ritz Hotel became one of his most memorable moveable feasts. When he arrived at the Ritz with Colonel Bruce and their band of irregulars, the hotel manager greeted them joyously and asked Hemingway if there was anything he could get for them, to which Hemingway replied, “How about seventy-three dry martinis?
”
”
Ernest Hemingway (For Whom the Bell Tolls)
“
Равик прошел в ванную и открыл кран. В зеркале он увидел свое лицо. Несколько часов назад он точно так же стоял здесь. За это время умер человек. Но что тут особенного? Ежеминутно умирают тысячи людей. Так свидетельствует статистика. В этом тоже нет ничего особенного. Но для того, кто умирал, его смерть была самым важным, более важным, чем весь земной шар, который неизменно продолжал вращаться.
”
”
Erich Maria Remarque (Arc de Triomphe)
“
Ona je zabacila glavu i pila. Kosa joj pade na ramena; ona je u tom trenutku izgledala kao da je sva samo pijenje. Ravik je to na njoj primetio ranije. Potpuno se predavala onome što je trenutno činila. Neodređeno ga se tače misao da u tome nema samo draži nego i opasnosti. Bila je samo pijenje kad je pila; samo ljubav kad je ljubila; samo očajanje kad je očajavala; i samo zaborav kad je zaboravljala.
”
”
Erich Maria Remarque (Arc de Triomphe)
“
On the 22nd of June, a door opened before us, and we didn't know what was behind it. We could look out for gas warfare, bacteriological warfare. The heavy uncertainty took me by the throat. Here we were faced by beings who are complete strangers to us. Everything that resembles civilisation, the Bolsheviks have suppressed it, and I have no feelings about the idea of wiping out Kiev, Moscow or St. Petersburg.
What our troops are doing is positively unimaginable.
Not knowing the great news, how will our soldiers—who are at present on the way home—feel when they're once more on German soil?
In comparison with Russia, even Poland looked like a civilised country. If time were to blot out our soldiers' deeds, the monuments I shall have set up in Berlin will continue to proclaim their glory a thousand years from to-day. The Arc de Triomphe, the Pantheon of the Army, the Pantheon of the German people....
”
”
Adolf Hitler (Hitler's Table Talk, 1941-1944)
“
Neko zakuca. Portir donese konjak. - Žele li gospoda još nešto za jelo? Hladne piletine, sendviče...
-To bi bilo gubljenje vremena, brate. - Ravik plati i izgura ga napolje. Zatim natoči dve čaše. - Evo. Prosto je i varvarski - ali u teškim situacijama primitivno je najbolje. Prefinjenost je nešto za mirna vremena. Pijte to.
- A onda?
- Onda popijte sledeću.
- Pokušala sam. Ne ide. Nije dobro da čovek bude pijan kad je sam.
- Treba samo biti dosta pijan. Onda ide.
”
”
Erich Maria Remarque (Arc de Triomphe)
“
Bio sam na jednom predelu na Mesecu i vratio sam se, i tu si ti i život si ti. Ne pitaj ništa više. Ima više tajne u tvojoj kosi no u hiljadu pitanja. Tu pred nama je noć, nekoliko časova i jedna večnost, dok jutro ne zatutnji kraj prozora. Da se ljudi vole, u tom je sve; čudo i najrazumljivija stvar što postoji, to sam osetio danas, kad se noć rastapala u cvetni džbun i vetar mirisao na jagode, a bez ljubavi je čovek samo mrtvac na odsustvu, ništa drugo nego nekoliko datuma i neko slučajno ime, i može isto tako i da umre...
”
”
Erich Maria Remarque (Arc de Triomphe)
“
On stavi ček u novčanik, a na sto pored kreveta položi paket knjiga. Kupio ih je pre dva dana, da ih čita kad ne bude mogao da spava. Čudna je stvar bila s knjigama - postojale su za njega sve važnije i važnije. Nisu mogle da naknade sve, ali su dopirale nekuda gde ništa više nije dopiralo. Seti se da prvih godina nijednu nije dodirnuo; bile su blede u poređenju s onim što se desilo. Ali sad su već bile kao bedem - ako i nisu štitile, bar se mogao osloniti na njih. Nisu pomagale mnogo; ali su u vremenu koje je jurilo natrag u mraku čuvale od poslednjeg očaja. To je bilo dosta. Negde u nekom vremenu izrečene su misli koje su danas ismevane i prezirane; ali one su stvorene i one će ostati, a to je bilo dosta.
”
”
Erich Maria Remarque (Arc de Triomphe)
“
Some Conseil meetings lasted eight to ten hours, and Chaptal recalled that it was always Napoleon ‘who expended the most in terms of words and mental strain. After these meetings, he would convene others on different matters, and never was his mind seen to flag.’68 When members were tired during all-night sessions he would say: ‘Come, sirs, we haven’t earned our salaries yet!’69 (After they ended, sometimes at 5 a.m., he would take a bath, in the belief that ‘One hour in the bath is worth four hours of sleep to me.’70) Other than on the battlefield itself, it was here that Napoleon was at his most impressive. His councillors bear uniform witness – whether they later supported or abandoned him, whether they were writing contemporaneously or long after his fall – to his deliberative powers, his dynamism, the speed with which he grasped a subject, and the tenacity never to let it go until he had mastered its essentials and taken the necessary decision. ‘Still young and rather untutored in the different areas of administration,’ recalled one of them of the early days of the Consulate, ‘he brought to the discussions a clarity, a precision, a strength of reason and range of views that astonished us. A tireless worker with inexhaustible resources, he linked and co-ordinated the facts and opinions scattered throughout a large administration system with unparalleled wisdom.’71 He quickly taught himself to ask short questions that demanded direct answers. Thus Conseil member Emmanuel Crétet, the minister of public works, would be asked ‘Where are we with the Arc de Triomphe?’ and ‘Will I walk on the Jena bridge on my return?’72
”
”
Andrew Roberts (Napoleon: A Life)
“
Napoleon-commissioned Arc de Triomphe.
”
”
Denise Kiernan (The Last Castle)
“
Here is everything I know about France: Madeline and Amelie and Moulin Rouge. The Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, although I have no idea what the function of either actually is. Napoleon, Marie Antoinette, and a lot of kings named Louis. I'm not sure what they did either, but I think it has something to do with the French Revolution, which has something to do with Bastille Day. The art museum is called the Louvre and it's shaped like a pyramid and the Mona Lisa lives there along with that statue of the woman missing her arms. And there are cafes or bistros or whatever they call them on every street corner. And mimes. The food is supposed to be good, and the people drink a lot of wine and smoke a lot of cigarettes.
”
”
Stephanie Perkins (Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss, #1))
“
The Folly, the slightly shopworn centre of magic in the British Empire, sits on the south side of a garden square not too dissimilar in size and character to Washington Square, although this being New York, the fountain here was bigger and there was a copy of the Arc de Triomphe sitting opposite the start of Fifth Avenue.
”
”
Ben Aaronovitch (The Masquerades of Spring)
“
One of the most famous people in the world came to tour the city of Paris for the first time on June 28, 1940. Over the next three hours, he rode through the city’s streets, stopping to tour L’Opéra Paris. He rode down the Champs-Élysées toward the Trocadero and the Eiffel Tower, where he had his picture taken. After passing through the Arc de Triomphe, he toured the Pantheon and old medieval churches, though he did not manage to see the Louvre or the Palace of Justice. Heading back to the airport, he told his staff, “It was the dream of my life to be permitted to see Paris. I cannot say how happy I am to have that dream fulfilled today.
”
”
Charles River Editors (The Fall of France: The History of Nazi Germany’s Invasion and Conquest of France During World War II)
“
Arc de Triomphe, or Arch of Triumph,” said
”
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Sara Buckey (Danger in Paris: A Samantha Mystery (American Girl))
“
He’d read that it was built with the stone of Château-Landon, the same rock used to construct the Arc de Triomphe. When hit with rainwater, the stone’s natural coating
”
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Steven Rowley (The Guncle Abroad (The Guncle, #2))
“
[…] ce sont des images trop pures et, pour ainsi dire, désarmées, représentant un monde sans maîtres, voué au chaos et au désarroi candide, un monde peuplé par des êtres nés pour une vie plus tendre et paradisiaque, une vie aux lois plus souples et plus efféminées, et qui, "déversés" sur notre planète, deviennent victimes par vocation, des "victimes idéales" qui appellent d'une manière fascinante, avec la puissance de l'acier, le maître, la bête cruelle et rapace qui doit surgir d'un sentier latéral, un sentier quelconque, secondaire, qu'elle parcourt au galop, flairant de loin le sang de ces animaux paisibles au corps tellement suave et transparent que leur sang semble couler dans l'air, qu'il semble dessiner dans l'air frais de ces forêts tranquilles d'innombrables petits arcs de triomphe ouverts aux fauves féroces ;
”
”
Nicolae Breban (În absența stăpânilor)
“
[w]hat he had failed to take into account was the impact (...) of seeing the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre lit up at night for the very first time. True, Sophia had seen them the day before (...) but just as the Count had imagined, she had seen them through the window of a bus. It was a different thing altogether to see them at the onset of summer having received an ovation, changed one's appearance, and escaped into the night. For while in the classical tradition there was no muse of architecture, I think we can agree that under the right circumstances the appearance of a building can impress itself upon one's memory, affect one's sentiments, and even change one's life. Just so, risking minutes that she did not have to spare, Sophia came to a stop at the Place de la Concorde and turned slowly in place, as if in a moment of recognition.
”
”
Amor Towles (A Gentleman in Moscow)
“
Preston Bailey is the be-all, end-all." Mary Ellen sighed. "He is the top celebrity and Saudi royal-family wedding planner, and people pay him millions of dollars just to plan an event. He's like the Baz Luhrmann of weddings---he creates the most transportive, gorgeous fantasy worlds." She pulled a coffee-table book from the top shelf above her desk, ignoring Abigail as usual. At least the indifference was mutual.
Claire and I drooled over every picture in the book about Bailey's events. There was a twelve-foot Arc de Triomphe made entirely of rose heads, massive chandeliers hanging from the ceiling hanging from the ceiling dripping in white phalaenopsis orchids and crystals, every kind of animal you could imagine made completely out of roses, and that was just the first chapter.
”
”
Mary Hollis Huddleston (Without a Hitch)
“
Lying underneath this majestic memorial of military grandeur(Arc de Triomphe) is the "Tomb to the Unknown Soldiers". The edifice affirms the bloody truth that statehood requires triumph, and triumph requires sacrificial death.
”
”
Jacob L. Wright (Why the Bible Began: An Alternative History of Scripture and its Origins)
“
Of an August day in Paris the choice hour is from six to seven in the evening. The choice promenade is the Seine between the Pont Alexandre III and the Pont de l'Archevêché. If one walks down the quays of the Rive Gauche toward Notre-Dame first, and then turns back on the Rive Droite, he has the full glory of the setting sun before him and reaches the Place de la Concorde just in time to get a glimpse up the Champs Élysées toward the Arc de Triomphe as the last light of day is disappearing. I am not yet old enough to have taken this walk a thousand times, but when I have I am sure that it will present the same fascination, the same stirring of soul, the same exaltation that it does to-day.
Choose, if you will, your August sunset at the seashore or in the mountains. There you have nature unspoiled, you say. But is there not a revelation of God through animate as well as inanimate creation? If we can have the sun going down on both at the same time, why not? Notre-Dame may be surpassed by other churches, even in France. But Notre-Dame, in its setting on the island that Is the heart and center of this city, historically and architecturally that high water mark of human endeavor, cannot be surpassed. Standing on the bridge between the Morgue and the Ile St-Louis, and looking towards the setting sun, one sees the most perfect blending of the creation of God and the creation of the creatures of God that the world affords. And it is not because I have not seen the sunset from the Acropolis, from the Janiculum, from the Golden Horn, and from the steps of El Akbar, that I make this statement. Athens, Rome, Constantinople, Cairo- these have been, but Paris is.
”
”
Herbert Adams Gibbons
“
top of the Arc de Triomphe. I wasn’t allowed to take my tripod up there, so I had to get creative. But, man, it was worth it! I took my best night shot of the Champs-Elysées with its horse
”
”
Alix Nichols (The Darcy Brothers: A Complete Series Box Set)
“
THERE IS YET ANOTHER factor that both communities must recall. Even in the moments during which the relationship is most strained, they need to remember one of the central lessons of Jewish history: the unpredictability of survival. Most national traditions celebrate great victories, and monuments are created to commemorate triumphs. They range from the glorious (Paris’s Arc de Triomphe, for example) to the grand (the Arch of Titus in Rome) to the foolish (such as Cairo’s October War Panorama, which portrays the Yom Kippur War as a great Egyptian victory). Jews have long had a different take on history. The Jewish calendar is replete with dates that mark near-catastrophe or actual destruction. The holiday of Purim marks the close call of the Jews’ narrow escape when Haman tried to convince the king to kill all the Jews in his kingdom. There is a fast day to commemorate the beginning of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. Another marks the breaching of the city’s walls. And a more major fast (the aforementioned Ninth of Av) mourns the destruction of both Temples. In a similar vein, Israel is dotted with thousands of monuments, almost all of them to fallen soldiers in one war or another. Tellingly, there is hardly a single monument to an Israeli victory, of which there have been many.
”
”
Daniel Gordis (We Stand Divided: The Rift Between American Jews and Israel)
“
In the eleventh chapter of his epistle to the Hebrews, Paul brings forth an honor roll of faith’s heroes and erects an Arc de Triomphe (arch to celebrate a victory) to their memory.
”
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Charles Haddon Spurgeon (Honest Faith: Or, the Clue of the Maze)
“
At a moment in history somebody says, “I was there.” I wasn’t. They were marching down to the Arc de Triomphe and I didn’t know it. All I knew is I wanted some perfume and scarves. I went to the Galerie Lafayette, a great department store. Nobody was on the street. We walked through the store, wearing boots, with the .45s on the hip and wearin’ a helmet. Great. Out from behind the counters came all those little French girls. They followed us: “Ohhh! Marvelous Américain.” We bought scarves and all of a sudden someone said, in broken English, they are firing on the Place de la Concorde. The diehards were in the eaves of the building sniping at the parade. They had to rout ’em out. But I wasn’t there. I didn’t see the parade. I wasn’t on the Place de la Concorde at this marvelous moment in history. I was in the goddamn Galerie Lafayette buying perfume and scarves. Shit.
”
”
Studs Terkel (The Good War: An Oral History of World War II)
“
rode the gondolas in Venice, eaten cannoli for breakfast, and gotten lost in the maze of canals as we tried to find Saint Mark’s Basilica. In Paris, we strolled hand in hand down the Champs-Élysées, eating croissants and watching the sun set over the Eiffel Tower. I saw the Mona Lisa, walked beneath the Arc de Triomphe, and kissed Lucian at the top of the Ferris wheel.
”
”
A. Zavarelli (Confess (Sin City Salvation, #1))