Crawl Notes | L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped by Christo and Jeanne-Claude

By Quan | 09 September 2026 | 5 min read

An Ephemeral Gift for 16 Days

L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped

“It's beautiful. It's marvelous." said a gentleman standing within earshot of me talking on the phone in French. He described the rose color painted across the sky at the Étoile to his audience of one.

Beneath it was the Arc de Triomphe, sheathed in fabric and rope, reflecting a soft golden hue to admirers below.

It was the final evening of Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped's two-week exhibition and Paris delivered a final sunset nobody would soon forget.

From September 18 to October 3 six million people came to take a look, pose for photos, and interact with the cloth and ropes draped over the national treasure. The reactions ranged from bewilderment to laughter from children.

A National Monument Reimagined

Unlike most museums that asks guests to keep a distance, the army of volunteers there encouraged people to feel the art. Some 25,000 sq meters of silver and blue fabric draped the monument, which was protected by a steel shell. I was handed square pieces of it from a volunteer. "It's free, you can take it!" they explained. It was a piece of the work. A memento.

It rendered the monument in a surreal way, like a video game from my youth, Star Fox or the like, polygons shaded to give you an idea of a structure. It didn't seem real. Yet at the same time it was sensual and soft, hinting at what was underneath, leaving the mind's eye to fill in the blanks, like an unopened gift sitting under a tree.

The First Days

I planned my trip to Paris around the duration of the exhibition, landing the day before. It was originally scheduled for September of 2020, but covid had other plans. Sadly, its artist, Christo, passed during that time as well, never seeing his and his wife's sixty year vision come to fruition. There was some anxiety leading up to its opening. France was coming off its third covid lockdown in March and April. Would there be another?

Straight from my long masked flight

Upon landing that morning in Paris I had some anxiety as well. My health pass had not come through yet. It was needed to attend the exhibition and do other things like go to restaurants. Once I got off and checked email, an animation of confetti greeted me. My pass arrived. It was go time and so I decided to go get a sneak preview of the monument draped.

Cars were still buzzing by out on the road. A smattering of people were perched across the Arc de Triomphe. The finishing touches were being worked out. I pulled out my phone to take a quick selfie. Along my face were indentions of where my mask made its trenches along my face. I certainly do not miss long flights masked up.

The next day felt like an awakening. I left my place nearby to see it on the first official day of its opening. The roads were closed off on the streets. Pedestrian only. Security checked my health pass, a QR code and let me through. In time, people started gathering and the crowd began to grow. I would be back again as I left to go visit Le Sénat as it was Heritage Days that weekend.

An Ephemeral 16 Days

Over the course of 16 days I visited the exhibition five or six times (it bookended my travels to Normandy and Germany where I visited family). Like Monet, I was interested to see how the light would reflect off the piece. To get to the top you had to go up a spiral staircase. It was quite a bit of steps. Before the top there was an exhibition of Christo and Jeanne-Claude inside the building itself. The gift shop was filled up with all things Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped. I purchased a book and a bookmark. The tote bags were a popular seller, you saw people carrying them everywhere.

From the top though you had a clear line of the city in all directions. I took my time and watched all the people walking along the Champs-Elysées at night. Another time I watched the sunset on the opposite direction towards La Défense and its modern arch. The entire roof was covered in fabric. On one occasion some of the workers, all clad in their bright orange jumpsuits, repelled from the top to do some maintenance work as the crowd bid them an au revoir, waves, and some laughter.

There was a lot of laughter. The crowds grew bigger. Every language seemed to be represented, which also was reflected in all of the volunteers who faithfully walked the grounds. They took pictures for people, answered questions, and as I would find out, came from other countries, wanting to come and be a part of the ephemeral experience. On the final day I watched a group of them pose for a group photo, celebrating a job well done.

Final Impressions

The numbers were impressive and undoubtedly more would have shown up if not for the context of covid. But people still came and collectively, it felt like we were all taking off our training wheels, learning to gather together again.

It was bittersweet thinking Christo and Jeanne-Claude would have enjoyed seeing their vision come to life. And to see life enjoying it on the ground. I imagined his boisterous nature saying, "We didid it!" the extra syllable added with his rush of energy.

For sixteen days they truly did it. They and an army of workers, volunteers, and visionaries did. And as the gentleman on the phone had told his recipient on the other end, it was merveilleux.