Musée de l'Armée

The Musée de l'Armée is located in the rear of the Hotel de Invalides, which is where veteran solders went to live in the days of Napoleon if they couldn't find another place - even today, veterans that need special care live in one wing.

This is the ticket for Aviva and I to the Musée de l'Armée

L'Eglise du Döme (Dome church)

"The work to erect the Eglise du Döme began in 1677 under the supervision of the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart. Its openwork skylight rises 107 meters above the ground. In 1989, the Dome and its decorative elements, in particular its trophies, were regilded. Twelve kilograms of gold were necessary for this operation. Inside, the large painted fresco under the cupola is by Charles de la Fosse and was recently restored. Like the Soldiers church, the Dome church, which has become a military necropolis, houses, around the Emperor's tomb, the tombs of Turenne, Vauban, Foch, Lyautey, Joseph and Jéröme Bonaparte." (quoted from the military museum pamphlet)

The Emperor's tomb

"In 1840, it was decided that the remains of Emperor Napoleon would be transferred and his national funeral took place on December 15th of the same year. The sculptor Visconti was commissioned to build the tomb which was completed in 1861 and the Emperor's remains were placed in it. The tomb, made of red porphyry, placed on a base in green granite from Les Vosges, is surrounded by a wreath of laurel and inscriptions recalling the major victories of the Empire. In the circular gallery, a series of low-reliefs sculpted by Simart represent the principal actions of his reign. At the center, above the slab under which the King of Rome (Napoleon's son) rests, stands a statue of the Emperor, bearing the imperial emblems." (quoted from the military museum pamphlet)

Vauban's tomb is large and traditional. Marshall Foch's tomb, however, is haunting - it shows him dead on a bearer carried overhead by eight French World War I solders. Its lifesize and very impressive (and dark).


Napoleon I's tomb	Marshal Foch's tomb	Vauban's tomb

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Send email to Aviva at avivakramer@earthlink.net