Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Olivier Bruchez

This 50 meters high and 45 meters wide arch was built by Napoleon Bonaparte as a sign of his power and victory of the Great Army – Grande Armée in many battles. Its designer was the French architect Jean-François-Thérèse Chalgrin. The construction started in 1806 and lasts the entire 30 years. Last update was completed in the year 1836, during the reign of Louis Philippe d’Orléans.

Triumphal Arch became almost immediately an important place for great national celebrations and funerals. Also, the deceased Emperor Napoleon was in 1840 transferred through the Arc to Les Invalides during the funeral ceremony. In the 19th century, Baron Haussmann decided to transform the image of the city and Arc de Triomphe became the center of Paris. Today, the Arc is a cross of 12 wide boulevards. The site is known as the Charles-de-Gaulle-Etoile and is bordered by the main transport arteries, which actually form the first organized roundabout in the world.

The main facade of the arch is decorated with four massive statues showing a victorious battles of the French Revolution in 1789 and the First French Empire. Along the top edges are shields engraved with the names of battles of the Great Army. Following the model of Roman arch, the Arc de Triomphe is amended with The National Anthem of France also known as the Marseillaise, made by the sculptor Francois Rude.

Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Paul

If you want to enjoy a wonderful panoramic view of Paris, take the elevator to the observation terrace on the upper floor. From a height you can see the Louvre, Place de la Concorde – the largest square in Paris and the modern district La Defense. You will appreciate the pleasant atmosphere in the local museum, or watch short films about the Arc.

The arch serves as a national monument to all Frenchmen, fallen in many wars that took place and still take place anywhere in the world.

Under the Arc are also the remains of a major French poet, writer and author of Les Miserables, Victor Hugo. Currently, the Arc de Triomphe serves as the end of Tour de France.

Paris offers lots of holiday apartments for rent, camping sites or luxurious hotel rooms so it should not be a problem to choose the right accommodation for you.

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Most impressive and largest aqueduct at that time was undoubtedly the Pont du Gard in Provence, in southern France. It dates from Roman times – was built 2000 years ago. It is not only beneficial structure, but also an architectural gem. It can certainly be called wonder of the ancient world. This building has been preserved almost in working conditions until today.

Aqueduct transferred water from the Eure spring to the wells in Nimes (48 km). Noteworthy is that the height difference between spring and wells is only 17 m, which proves truly outstanding calculations of the whole system.

A part of the aqueduct is a huge, three-storey bridge over the river Gard, which is also the most interesting part. The bridge is 275 meters long, 49 meters high and at the highest part it is 3 meters wide. It consists of three rows of arches – the arcades. Blocks of stone are embedded into each other with millimeter accuracy while no fasteners were used.

At the time of the Roman Empire the city of Nimes had approximately 50 000 inhabitants. Aqueduct was able to supply about 400 liters of water daily for each person.

The bridge is now a major tourist attraction and one of the most visited monuments in France with more than 2 million tourists per year. In 1985 it was included in UNESCO World Heritage Site.

You can even stay in camping which is situated right bellow the Aqueduct.

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The Millau Viaduct serves to the speed up and calm the traffic. Before its construction it was necessary first to descend into the valley and then climb again on the other side, which greatly slowed down the transport, and meant a significant traffic load in the valley.

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The Millau Viaduct consists of 8 road fields, supported by seven pillars, which have the shape of an inverted Y. The road is 2460 m long and weighs 36,000 tons. Each field is 342 meters long (2 outer field has a length of 204 m), in the middle of these fields there is a pillar. 90 m high pylons rise above the road (each weighs over 600 tons) and with ropes keep the roadway between the pillars. A maximum height of the road above the ground is 246 meters.

The actual construction work began in October 2001, but weather conditions greatly complicated the construction which finally lasted for 3 years.

Millau Viaduct is not only the tallest bridge in the world but also the world’s longest cable-stayed deck.

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