The Flame of Liberty and the Arc de Triomphe, Paris

Emily

A very common misconception of the Flame of Liberty, is that it was built in memory of Princess Diana. Whilst she was more than deserving of the sculpture, the flame was actually built in 1986, eleven years before Diana’s death. Symbolising enlightenment to the world, it became known as Diana’s Flame.Diana’s death is still one that holds heavy in hearts around the world. She was a truly amazing, selfless person and a huge loss to us all.

My sister and I actually stumbled upon this monument whilst using Atlas Obscura (not an advertisement just really love it). When we got closer to the flame, the streets which were bustling with chit chat, suddenly became hushed with a dense silence. The flame actually sits on the tunnel of where Diana’s accident took place. Adorned with photos, flowers, messages and teddy’s, the flame now serves as a reminder of what a terrible loss we have had.After visiting the flame, we took a long walk down the river to the Arc de Triomphe. On this day, our step counter recorded that we had taken over 24,000 steps! There is so much to see in Paris, so be prepared to walk.Standing at 50m tall, this 213 year old sculpture is actually decorated with 21 sculpted roses. It was built by order of Napoleon to glory the French Army and today stands as one of France’s most iconic sculptures.The photos of the Arc de Triophme were actually taken from half way across the road. We had to wait until we could cross to take photos and every one else had the same idea… Apologies to all the Parisians just wanting to cross the street normally without all of tourists abruptly stopping for selfies!

Published by Emily

A strong love and passion for travel, dogs, coffee, dogs and motorbikes. Yes, I did say dogs twice.

11 Comments

  4. Emily,
    Enjoy your time on France. Are you there for a while or just passing through? Europe is on the wish list.
    Thanks,
    Gary
    On Sun, May 12, 2019 at 10:50 AM The Blog of Travel wrote:
    > Emily posted: “A very common misconception of the Flame of Liberty, is > that it was built in memory of Princess Diana. Whilst she was more than > deserving of the sculpture, the flame was actually built in 1986, eleven > years before Diana’s death. Symbolising enlightenment ” >

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    1. Unfortunately just passing through, I would of liked to of stayed there a lot longer. Paris is beautiful and there’s so much to see.
      I thought I would do Paris quick before the dreaded Brexit… Which now has been pushed back until October, so who knows what will happen with that!

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