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
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"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
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Marshal
Foch's tomb
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Vauban's
tomb
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Send
email to Bob at electricbob@alephnaught.com
Send
email to Aviva at avivakramer@earthlink.net