The Arc de Triomphe (Bow of Triumph) is considered the national war memorial of France. Commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 it was completed after his death.

     The Louvre is now the National Art Museum of France. When first built in 1546 it was a palace for Francis I. Almost every king since lived there until Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and the French revolution. It became a museum in 1793 and the property of the state in 1848. It houses some of the most famous art works in the world.