Ag with kids said:
Back in 2015, I'd gone to Paris for work. We had a simulator at the Paris Airshow.
Well, we had a day off during the time we were there and the pilot and I decided to do a walking tour of Paris. We walked all over the place.
Finallly, we came up to the Arc de Triumph from the south because we'd just been at the Eiffel Tower (this piece of info is actually really important to the story).
So we get to the traffic circle around the Arc and start walking west around it, trying to find a way to get to the actual Arc.
All of a sudden, there is no traffic in the circle. The pilot says Hey, let's go now and proceeds to take off across the circle. Like the dumbass I am, I followed him.
All of a sudden, here comes the traffic - and if you've never seen it, it's about 8 lanes of vehicles and I don't think there are actually any road rules in Paris. We both yell **** and start doing our fastest version of Frogger that we could do.
Seemed like an eternity, but it was just about 30-45 sec and we finally made it to the Arc and out of the traffic circle. Some guy on a motorcycle stopped and yelled at us. I assumed he was praising us for being so good at Frogger.
Turns out there's a tunnel that goes from the north side of the Champs Elysees under the circle that gets you to the Arc. Wish we'd come THAT way when we arrived.
Moral of the story: When a Marine experimental test pilot says let's go now, DON'T.
I went to Paris with a student group in high school. Nearly all of the 30 or so others were from the Metroplex, places like Trophy Club, Arlington, and Mansfield. I'm from a small town 30 minutes away from anywhere considered to be the Metroplex.
So anyway, we get to the Arc de Triomph, look around, and can't figure out how to get across. It's obvious to me, though: you wait for a break in the traffic and go across. The rest of the group is hesitant, so I wait and then calmly walk across. I'm on the other side before the next wave of cars is in sight.
So the group waits for the next break and follows my example. They get about half way across and a wall of motorcycles and mopeds appears. There's terror in their eyes and they begin to run. The motorcycles hit them and it's chaos. Thankfully, no one is hurt and they finally reach safety.
Well, we do our tourist things and get ready to leave. We all line up at the edge of the road and are waiting for the next break in traffic when a French cop walks up and directs us to the tunnel.
