Paris: Arc de Triomphe

escaliers: stairs
enfer:  hell 

crise cardiaque:  heart attack 

défibrillateur:  defibillator

I live on the 5th floor up these winding, narrow stairs in the first picture with wooden steps.  The French would say I live on the 4th floor:  they count the ground floor as 0 with the 2nd (US) floor being their 1st.  My building was built in the 1800s, and such 19th century walk-up apartments are common in Paris.  In many neighborhoods small retail shops occupy the first floor.

I visited the top of the Arc de Triomphe last weekend.  There are something like 284 steps to the top.  You can see the winding stairs in the second picture.  People sit at the top just to watch visitors huff and puff as they arrive. It is not a tour for anyone out of shape or with a heart condition.  The view is indeed grand at the top though.

I must admit that I was hazy exactly whose triumph the Arc memorialized.  I can happily report the triumphal arch commemorates Napoleon and his victories.