TRIOMPHANT!

L'Arc de Triomphe stands proudly at the top of the Avenue des Champs-Elysees. It was completed in 1836 after Napoleon had promised his troops after their victory in the Battle of Austerlitz (1805) that they would return home beneath triumphal arches!

The panels depict the battles won by Napoleon's armies in his quest to establish France as the dominant power in Europe and North Africa. The panel below shows the volunteers of 1792 leaving to defend their country ...

I wonder if Les Bleus feel like their 1792 ancestors this morning at the start of RWC 2015?

Bonne chance!