When the curtain came down on the Tuileries
Palace for the last time there was a silver lining in
that the Place du Carrousel was revealed for the
first time with the magnificent Arc de Triomphe du
Carrousel in all its glory as a centrepiece { see
"Communism"). Fortunately, the Arch had been
spared the depradations of the Commune largely
because it was hidden from view by the Palace
facade.

Seen from the Tuileries, the glass pyramid can
be seen at the entrance to the Louvre.

The view from the Louvre through to the Tuileries.

The Arc du Carrousel was built in
1806 to commemorate even more
victories by Napoleon { you get a bit
fed up repeating this } and is a
direct copy of the Triumphal Arch of
Septimius Severus in Rome { I knew
I'd seen it before } apart from the
carvings and the statues of The Old
Guard.

There is a story that it is completely
in line with the Arc de Triomphe at
the top of the Champs Elysees and
since the building of the gigantic
Arch at La Defense the three of
them fit within one another like
Russian dolls.

If this is true and I must admit it certainly looks feasible looking from the Carrousel then it is an
impressive feat of mathematical application given that the two original arches were not visible to
each other when building was taking place.

The quadriga at the top of the Arc du Carrousel

Many capital cities can lay claim to being the proud possessors of a Quadriga { no it's not a Spanish
dance ---pay attention at the back } which is a dramatic sculpture of four horses pulling a chariot.
Oddly enough, they are without exception all placed on the highest vantage points possible so that as
well as needing high-powered binoculars to see them, they all look ludicrously out of context { when
was the last time you saw a horse on the top of a wall }. Why for instance, the Cathedral of San Marco
in Venice feel it necessary to have a team of horses on the roof is a mystery but at least they are the
real thing dating from 400 B.C. They once crowned Trajan's column in Rome, then they found their
way to Constantinople and from there the Venetians took them to San Marco where they remained
for the next 600 years until Napoleon took a fancy to them and had them shipped to Paris and placed
them on top of the Arc du Carrousel which was brand new at the time. Ten years later, with the fall of
the Empire, they fell into the hands of the Austrians who very kindly returned them to San Marco
where they can be seen on a clear day with a high-powered telescope.

Napoleon had a thing about quadrigas because he also purloined the one off the top of the
Brandenburg gate in Berlin. This sculpture was comparatively new and remained in Paris until the
Prussian victory in 1870 when the Prussians claimed it back and returned it to where else but the top
of the Brandenburg Gate. Nobody noticed for a long time that it was facing the opposite way.

Anyway, the French finally came to understand that the other kids always want their toys back and so
for a long time the City of Paris was quadrigaless until someone had the bright idea of making a
French one of their own. And that's how a homegrown quadriga came to stand proudly atop the
Carrousel. So for the time being, everyone has their own quadrigas until another big kid comes
along.