Arc de Triomphe

The Arc de Triomphe is a central landmark in The Jackal’s reconnaissance and in the public itinerary that exposes Charles de Gaulle to danger. For three days, the apparent tourist studies the monument and the surrounding rooftops, calculating possible lines of fire and escape; later, the same space becomes the focus of an immense security operation when de Gaulle rekindles the Eternal Flame there. The Arc thus joins two views of the city: the assassin’s measured field of angles and the state’s guarded stage for public ceremony.

Setting and reconnaissance

During his first days in Paris, The Jackal visits the Arc de Triomphe repeatedly, either walking around it or sitting on the terrace of the Cafe de L'Elysee. From there he scans the monument and the buildings around Place de l'Étoile. His attention appears to be that of a devoted observer of architecture, but his actual calculations concern practicalities: firing angles, the distance from upper storeys to the Eternal Flame, and whether a gunman could escape down a rear fire escape and disappear into the crowds.

The visit lasts three days, and no one follows him closely enough to recognize the purpose behind it. That gap between appearance and action is essential to the location’s role: the Arc’s celebrated architecture provides a plausible object of tourist interest, while its surrounding rooftops offer a potential vantage over a public gathering. The Jackal does not merely look at the monument; he studies how a person might approach it, shoot, and get away.

A possible position, not a settled plan

The Arc is one part of a broader examination of possible sites. The Jackal also considers the western side of the Place des Invalides, estimating that a high floor at 146 Rue de Grenelle could command several nearby areas. He judges that position suitable for a last stand but not for an assassination. This comparison establishes that his visits are practical assessments rather than a simple itinerary of landmarks. The evidence does not establish that he finally chooses the Arc as his firing position; it shows him working through the surrounding city’s possibilities.

The investigators, meanwhile, have no name at first and only a poor description of the suspected man. Claude Lebel asks foreign police forces to consider whether their files contain a political contract killer with successful assassinations behind him, while carefully presenting the request as a preliminary tip-off rather than a formal inquiry. He recognizes that France has only one target likely to interest such a killer: the President. When the investigators later assess how little they know of the assassin’s timetable, Lebel warns that the man could already be in France, even in central Paris. The Arc’s importance is therefore not only visual or architectural: it belongs to the geography of a threat that the police cannot yet place with certainty.

The public ceremony and its security

The official programme places de Gaulle at the Arc at ten o’clock to rekindle the Eternal Flame. It is the first of several public engagements that day, followed by High Mass at Notre-Dame de Paris and a private observance at the shrine at Mont-Valérien. The President refuses to alter the published itinerary, leaving the Arc ceremony in place despite the danger. The landmark is accordingly both a commemorative site and a point where the government’s determination to preserve normal public appearances meets the need to protect the head of state.

Security transforms the surrounding roofs into a defensive perimeter. Hundreds of men with binoculars and rifles crouch behind chimney stacks overlooking Place de l'Étoile, watching and guarding as the ceremony proceeds. When the motorcade moves down the Champs Elysees towards Notre-Dame de Paris, those rooftop observers breathe a sigh of relief and begin to come down. The ceremony at the Arc goes ahead exactly as planned; the concentrated precautions prevent the gathering from becoming an opportunity for an attack.

Narrative significance

The Arc’s two appearances create a sharp contrast between concealed preparation and visible ceremony. The Jackal’s quiet scrutiny makes the monument’s approaches, rooftops, and escape routes matter as much as its public grandeur. On the day of the ceremony, the same elevated surroundings are occupied by armed watchers, and the open civic space is rendered legible to the security forces as a field to be covered.

That contrast also gives the site a structural role in the pursuit. The police initially know neither the assassin’s identity nor where he will strike, while the President’s itinerary keeps the Arc among the places where danger might become immediate. The landmark concentrates the novel’s central tension: a public ritual must continue on schedule, even as the city around it is silently organized to prevent a hidden marksman from turning observation into violence.