Day 20 …
Late start and a lazy breakfast at a little café down the
hill near the Moulin Rouge, before heading off to the Musee de l’Armee. Housed in the Invalides complex which was
built by Louis XIV in the 1670’s, as
a home and hospital for aged and unwell soldiers. First security check-point (check backpack contents and get 'wanded' by security staff - with armed soldiers nearby) was to enter the complex.
Over the years it’s been enlarged - the Église Saint-Louis des Invalides (a
chapel for veterans) was added in 1679, the Dome Church (which shares a back
wall with the Saint Louis) about the
same time and the final complex contains 15 courtyards.
It now houses the massive Museum of the
French Army. Documenting the long history of the French Military, and containing
more than half a million individual objects, there are displays of 17th
& 18th century cannons, a huge collection of armour, paintings,
uniforms and weaponry from 1640 to WW2 and an exhibition devoted to the political
and military career of Charles de Gaulle. There was also a special exhibition on the
life of a Soldier from Ancient Rome to the Present Day, a room full of flat
tin, paper and lead miniature soldiers and another with an extensive display of
miniature canons – all fully capable of firing – that were given as diplomatic
gifts.
 |
| The embroidery on this jacket was divine. |
 |
| Flat tin model soldiers |
 |
| Paper models - the detail on these guys was incredible - right down to facial expressions |
 |
| Lead soldiers |
Most mind-blowing of all the displays was a piece of armour from 1815 - showing exactly what happened when a small canon ball was fired during the battle of Waterloo.
Its two other
claims to fame was that on 14 July 1789 it was stormed by Parisian rioters who
seized the cannons and muskets stored in its cellars to use against the Bastille
later the same day, and that Napoleon was entombed under the dome of the
Invalides with great ceremony in 1840.
We had a timed
ticket to go up the Eifel Tower at 3.30 so we had a late coffee stop and headed
for the Champs du Mars for some views of the famous tower. We’ve had wonderful weather the last few days
but today Mother Nature was not co-operating and the tower was shrouded in
fog.
Not deterred we went up to the 2nd
floor for some pretty spectacular views. I'm not an architect or an engineer - and in fact that stuff is so far out of my brain capacity its not even funny but I was utterly intrigued by the actual structure of the tower and it was incredible to be able to see it all up close.
 |
| The fog was trying to clear - with much less success than this photo might suggest |
We planned to finish
the day’s touristing with a visit to the Trocadero for some night time views of
the Eifel Tower. It wasn’t quite dark when
we came down the tower so we headed off for some dinner and came back for the
8pm ‘twinkling’ The cloud still hung low
but it was a pretty magic sight.
We had to pass through security checkpoints entering the area round the base of the tower, going to the toilets (yes really!) and before getting in the lift to go up the tower. There is a very visible police and army presence in Paris - its not intrusive and we certainly don't mind. Given the attacks that France has endured over the last couple of years its entirely understandable.
 |
| Twinkle twinkle Eifel Tower |
No comments:
Post a Comment