Although we'd both been to Paris before, neither Kevin nor I had ever been inside the golden-domed Hôtel des Invalides. So today we decided we should go inside and see what is in there.
Originally the building was intended to be a home and hospital for aging and sick veterans. It was built at the command of King Louis XIV in the late 1600's by the architects Libéral Bruant and Jules Hardouin Mansart. Parts of the building are still in use today as a retirement home for veterans, and it includes facilities for inpatient and outpatient care. The rest of the space is divided into several museums including the Musée de l'Armée, a museum dedicated to the military history of France. Bronze classical French canons decorate the courtyard inside.
Our first stop was the church, which was created to allow the veterans a nearby place to worship. Napoleon glowers at visitors from his perch above the entrance.
The church is divided into two chapels: one for the veterans and the Église du Dôme, which was created only for the king. The veteran's chapel is bright and decorated with flags. You can enter here without a ticket, since it is a church.
The church's pipe organ was built in the 17th century by Germain Pilon, one of the joiners in the King's Building Regiment.
There is a glass partition behind the altar, through which you can see some of the more ornate decoration in the royal chapel.
The completely separate royal chapel sits under the gilded baroque dome. To enter this area you must have a ticket. This is the altar for the royalty.
Looking down from this level, you can see Napoleon's tomb. Without people in the photo it would be hard to tell, but it is enormous. Napoleon was originally interred on the island of Saint Helena, but his remains were brought here in 1840 and enshrined in this sepulchre.
Looking up from this level you can see the underside of the famous dome.
Downstairs, the entrance to the tomb is guarded by two solemn telemones carved from black marble.
There are twelve winged Victory statues encircling the sarcophagus, each one symbolizing one of Napoleon's military campaigns.
We then made our way over to the military museum. Some of the display cases along one of the hallways showed models of armor and military dress throughout the ages.
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| "None shall pass!" |
We were intrigued by the exhibit showing objects from WWI and WWII. The WWI area had soldiers' uniforms, weapons, and a computer-aided map showing the battlefield movements.
This exhibit in the WWII area focused on the Nazis' rise to power in Germany.
A large part of the WWII exhibit focused on the conflict in France, and the French resistance. Here are maps showing the German-occupied and Vichy territories, the Allied invasion on D-Day, and a bust of General Charles de Gaulle.
The rest of the exhibit was a weaponry-buff's dream, with machine guns, tanks, mines, rifles, and bombs. Clockwise from upper left: Renault 31R UE Tracked Infantry Support Vehicle, German naval mine, German MG-34 machine gun, replica of
Little Boy (the bomb dropped on Hiroshima), and an American 105 HM2 A1 Light Artillery Piece.
On our way back to the Metro, we passed a few quirky things such as this empty shop window indicating that the owners are
en vacances.
Something that really caught our attention was this amazing Art Nouveau building at 29 Avenue Rapp. It was designed by Jules Lavirotte in 1901. This is the front doorway and balcony facing the street.
And this is the courtyard behind the house.
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