Napolean's Arc de Triomph du Carrousel

As great as he was, Napolean was a very short guy. And he had to do all sorts of things to remind people that he still existed, even though he was always below eye level. You know what they say, out of sight, out of mind.

Lord Farquaad had that same problem too. That's why he resorted to bullying small Gingerbread men to assert his power & dominance.


The Arc de Triomph du Carrousel was built by Napolean to commemorate his victories at battles in 1805. This arc is located right in between the two palace grounds - The Louvre & Tuileries. So in way, it was something like a gate. If you walked through it, hey, it's Touleries! If you walk back, hey, it's The Louvre.

Napolean probably didn't spare a single dime when he was building this. The intricacies of the floral sculptures purposefully reflect the richness & power of his vast empire.

In today's terms, it'd be something like driving a mercedes or a BMW. And like those luxury cars, this arc is a statement. It's basically saying I can afford this & some more. Can you?

The arc was probably designed to overwhelm all potential enemies. Look at the old man.

Do you prefer him to keep holding that girly bunch of flowers, or do you want to make him take up his sword at you?

I think Napolean's message here was quite clear, I win. You lose. Don't even think about trying.

Meanwhile, a little bit closer to home, Mahathir also erected gigantic monuments like his twin towers, in the spirit of Napolean.

I bet he liked to think that Malaysia's winning, but in actual fact, we've been losing for 51 years now.