11/8/2022 — Sunrise from the Arc de Triomphe
The bearing from Place de Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe is 295°. On November 8th, 2022, the bearing from where the sun rises to the Arc de Triomphe is also 295°. The distance to the horizon, if you’re 5'7, is 2.9 miles. The back bearing of 295° is 115°. On November 8th, 2022, the sun rose at 7:48. This jumble of numbers and coordinates means that if you’re 5'7, the sky isn’t too cloudy, and you’re standing on the Northwest side of the Arc de Triomphe at 7:48 a.m. with a 115° bearing down the Champs-Élysées past Dior, past Louis Vuitton, past Cartier, past Franklin D. Roosevelt, past Concorde, past the Tuileries garden, past the Louvre and its glass pyramid, all the way to Hotel de Ville about 2.9 miles away, you’ll see the first edges of the sun peeking over the horizon through the center of the triumphal arch of Napoleon the first.
If you were to walk around the arch at 7:50 a.m., you would see the two French Gendarmes standing by the eternal flame of the tomb of the unknown soldier chatting in the early morning glow. You would see the front of the arch lit up by a golden light as if the stone had momentarily been permuted into copper, the edifice burning. You would walk around the center of the Place de Charles-de-Gaulle and see no tourists, but you would see the beginnings of the morning traffic of Paris as locals begin their daily routine, circling the neo-classical monument. You would walk down the Champs-Élysées, just a little bit, and you would see the still air glowing red and orange and yellow like a viscous syrup, as if the city had been covered by molten metal, and the jewelry makers of Paris could open their doors and scoop a bit of the air and hammer out watches and rings and necklaces. You would look back towards the arch, and through the empty space supporting the tons of limestone hanging above, you would see the glittering glass and metal skyscrapers of La Défense where on the 48th floor of the Tour First an overworked EY France consultant would be waking up from sleeping under their desk to the unwelcome light of another day.
Then, if you were to walk back towards Charles de Gaulle — Étoile RER A station at 8:00 a.m., you would see no golden light blanketing the city and no liquid metal filling the air. The Arc de Triomphe would return to its usual state of limestone gray. The sky would once again be the normal blue of mornings. The consultant in the 48th floor of the Tour First of La Défense would be downing their first cup of coffee, and another day in Paris would have begun.
