The picture above is the base image used to create the Arc De Triomphe art design. Arc De Triomphe is located at Place Charles de Gaulle 75008 Paris, France. Click on the picture to see the abstract version in my shop.
The last stop on my Paris journey was the Arc De Troimphe. I must admit by this point my body was screaming to stop moving. My feet were in so much pain that every step I took was close to excruciating but the worse was yet to come in the pain and fatigue. After my wonderful experience visiting Museum d’Orsay, I took another Uber that dropped me off close to the Arc De Troimphe. I know that I had to go underground to reach the entrance and I thought it would be nice to take a look at Champs-Élysées and all the shops along the way to the Arc De Troimphe. It wasn’t a long walk just a couple of blocks. This turned out to be a good idea because I was able to get great pictures of the Arc De Triomphe. The best pictures were taken in the middle of the street. I’m glad not all my photos were a bust and I could actually use some without doing much editing. I like using a clean base at the start of the design process.
To get to the top of the monument you have to go up at least 300 steps. This is optional and you don’t have to go to the top but I wanted to see the view of Paris from there. I wanted to use the elevator but I didn’t know where it was and I think it was out of service at the time. I was definitely not in the mood for the trek up 300+ steps since my feet were already hurting me something awful but I knew the views would be worth of it and disregarded the pain. It’s crazy… being in the moment and fueled by adrenaline and wonder really helped me press forward when I felt lots of pain. I never done anything like this before. On my birthday alone, I walked over 12 miles.
Once I reached the top, I was so exhausted that I needed a moment to catch my breath. I know if I headed to the Arc De Triomphe first I wouldn’t have been so tired. I walked close to a marathon in steps by this point in my journey and I needed a rest.
I could see the Eiffel Tower at the top from a short distance and the moment just felt divine to me. The air was crisp. I was in a lot of pain and exhausted from the climb but just being in that moment… It felt like I was at the precipice of the best moment of my life. I was almost in tears. Despite all the things that happened during the last two days, some brilliant moments and some negative moments, it all came together there. I remember saying I wanted to stay in Paris despite everything. I wanted to live in this dream forever. I was just taken aback by the beauty of Paris. The picture you see doesn’t even do the moment justice. Just being there. It meant so much to me. I guess you can tell I’m not good with descriptions but it was just another pure magical moment.
After I left the top of the monument, I started crying in the tunnel while heading back up to the surface. I was thinking about the day I had. It was a lot. The morning was awful. Even though I tried to bury it, I was still very upset about what happened. I was going to mention this on the La Danse design but since I didn’t make it, I’ll mention it here. On my way to Musee d’Orsay I took an uber from Palais Garnier. The Uber driver was a sweetheart. He didn’t know much English and I told him I didn’t know much French and we were laughing about it and tried our best to have a conversation. I was telling him it was my first time visiting Paris and I was from the United States. There was one thing he said that had me speechless. He said Paris is a nice place to visit but not a nice place to live. Going by the morning I had and some other negative encounters I had that I don’t want to go into because I just don’t want to dwell on it, reality just hit me hard in that moment. I mean… I went in realistic. I know Paris is a city just like any other city in the world and people are people at the end of the day. But this was a dream of mine to be here. Paris was my dream and here someone knocked some sense into me. I wanted to asked him to go further into what made him feel that way but I was literally speechless. The words just wouldn’t come out. In that moment at the Arc De Triomphe, I thought about what he said as well, and I guess everything came to a head in that moment. I felt miserable and a second later I was angry that I was feeling this way. This was my dream. I fought so hard to be here. There’s no reason to be crying in a place I wanted to visit for close to two decades. I didn’t want to look upon this experience in a negative way on any level.
So… I wiped my tears and left the monument and tried to find a way back to the hotel. There was no uber willing to come out to my location and several of them were not that far away. I noticed I was only a mile and a half from the hotel but my battery on my phone was about to die and I was still in a lot a pain and I wasn’t sure I could make it back before my phone died. So, I opted to find a taxi. Again, the language barrier was an issue and there was some rough communication at the beginning. I wasn’t sure if he understood where I needed to go and the driver was a bit abrasive but I apologized in French that I wasn’t fluent in the language and only knew a little bit. I was honestly very intimated to have any real conversation in French. I’ve studied for years but I would freeze up at any opportunity to talk to anyone. He seemed kind but I didn’t want to make it seem I was just an ignorant tourist. If I ever go back to Paris which I highly doubt, I would like to be conversational and be comfortable talking in French. Either way, it was just another negative experience but I know it was mostly my fault for not knowing French. However, I was grateful to find a taxi instead of having to walk back to the hotel. Looking back, I probably would have collapsed halfway there if I walked.
The pain was secondary to visiting as many places as possible and soaking up as much of Paris as I could at the time. I would definitely do things a lot differently if I had more time. I don’t have any regrets about the journey itself. It was exciting to explore Paris. I guess my only regret was not taking pictures at the right resolution. I have over a thousand pictures. I feel like I left a good portion of the journey out of the album because I made such a huge mistake.
Going back to the monument. Despite the steps, the view at the top was gorgeous. Just as the Uber driver knocked me back into reality, seeing Paris on top of the Arc De Troimphe kind knocked me back into the dream. I had chills in every sense of the word of how beautiful Paris looked. There were moments where I felt I was in heaven. This was that moment. The other three moments were when I was walking from Sacre Coeur to Palais Garnier, seeing the Eiffel Tower on my birthday from Trocadero, and walking to the Louvre from the Pantheon. That’s the only way I can truly describe it. I know that’s crazy to say. The skies kind of reminded me of Monet’s skies of the painting The Seine at Argenteuil that was in the movie Vanilla sky. The weather was perfect. Everything felt so divinely serene and mesmerizing. I never felt this way before in my life! It was like my mind and body was in constant splendor of the moment. More than just happiness… I don’t know if it was the fact that I was living a dream or me falling deeper in love with Paris. I’ve said it before but it was like magic. I would love to experience it again but I can also accept that it could have been just a once in lifetime experience.
You know… despite all the failures, the pain, blood, sweat and tears throughout the years, it was all worth it to be in Paris. Even if it was just for a few days. Even if I’ll never experience splendor again. I’m truly grateful… really…
I didn’t talk much about the design itself but since this post is already really long, I’ll be brief. This design was actually one of the easiest ones to make. I made several variations and I love them all. I was torn on which one to feature in the video album and I’m thinking about adding more than one variation to the shop. The lines that heavily appear in the design is the digital drawing I made. Compared to other designs, my drawings have a clear influence on this design. I hope you love it! If not, that’s ok too! Thanks for reading.
Credits
Programs used: Paintshop Pro and Adobe After Effects
Design Base: Photo taken of Arc De Triomphe and a digital abstract drawing I created.
Art Design created by me (Katherine Barnett|BeatnikBlends)
Click here to view Arc De Triomphe in my shop.