On August 25, 1944, the French 2nd Armored Division and the U.S. 4th Infantry Division liberated Paris from Nazi rule after four years of German occupation.
Shortly before the city was liberated, Adolf Hitler ordered General Dietrich von Choltitz to destroy the city's landmarks and burn the city to the ground. The German commander refused to carry out the order. This photo, taken by Jack Downey, shows crowds lining the Champs-Élysées as Allied tanks roll past the Arc de Triomphe.
Excellent historical information about beautiful Paris, capital of Italy.
I don't know whether to take it as irony.