I began today by taking the metro to the Place de la
Concorde and then crossing the Seine and walking to the Hôtel des Invalides. It was constructed by Napoléon as a
hospital/residence for the soldiers who had been handicapped while serving in
his army. It is a very large, beautiful structure
surrounded by pleasant gardens. Today it
houses France’s Army Museum, showcasing arms, armor, and military effects from the
Middle Ages (and earlier, given that the Royal Family’s collection of antique
Greek and exotic Oriental weaponry was added) all the way up to the WWI and
WWII museum. The first thing I saw were
wax figures mounted on horses bearing the uniforms and equipment of French
cavalry from the Napoleonic Wars just up to the Franco-Prussian War, which was
perhaps the last time that cavalry was used effectively in European warfare (swords
and horses are no match for the power of a machine gun or tank). My next stop was a very large series of
galleries showcasing the history of French warfare from Louis XIV up through
the Second Empire. The exhibit did a
good job remaining relatively unbiased, presenting both France’s good fortunes
and its defeats. After that, I went
through the exhibit of medieval arms and armor, the exhibit showing the
evolution of weapons, the armor used to defend against it, and how the weapons
were then adapted to nullify these improvements in defense. It really showed mankind’s dedication and
finding new and exciting ways to kill. A
special mention must be made to Switzerland, who has shown throughout history
to love taking weapons up to eleven.
That’s a cool axe you have there, but check out this one that
I attached to a five-foot pole! Oh,
sweet sword, but mine is so big that you have to use both hands to use it! You attached a knife to a pole? I attached a full-sized sword to an even bigger pole!
Often laughing at the Swiss obsession with size, I went and
saw the tomb of Napoléon, who is interred in the cathedral attached to the
building.
The cathedral is spectacular in and of itself. Added to the Hôtel des Invalides during the
Restoration (the return of the Bourban kings in the years following the
abdication of Napoléon), the architect was presented with a peculiar
problem. The king wanted to celebrate
mass there, but he didn’t want to have to do it with a bunch of commoners. It was, however, the only place that a number
of the crippled soldiers residing in the Invalides could go to mass. The architect simply portioned the building
into two: there was an entrance from the Invalides and an entrance from the
other side and the two halves of the structure met at the altar. Thus, everyone was happy. After his death in exile, Napoléon’s remains
were brought back to Paris and interred in the half opposite that of the
Invalides. During his exile on the island of St. Helena,
Napoléon had written of his desire to be buried "on the banks of the Seine,
in the midst of the French people [whom I] loved so much". This inscription is carved on the entrance to
his resting place. Also entered at the
Invalides are several members of his family, several generals who served with
him and under him, and several French war heroes. The dome of the church also served as the
inspiration for the dome of the US Capital Building. Surrounding Napoléon’s casket are the carved
figures of twelve amazons, each bearing the name of one of the general’s
greatest victories.
After taking a brief break for lunch, I set out next for the
Eiffel Tower. It is quite a landmark,
visible from most places in Paris, always looming just over your shoulder. As you approach, it gets larger and larger,
filling up more and more of your vision until at last you stare up at it, head
back as far as it can go, vision filled by the massive metal structure. The tower is 1,040 ft tall. The plans for the structure spanned 58,000 ft2
of paper. It weighs 7,000 tons, but exerts
the same amount of pressure on the ground as an average person sitting in a
chair. It is the master work of engineering
by designer Gustave-Alexandre Eiffel, who built it for the 1889 World
Fair. Like the World Fair itself, the
tower also celebrated the centennial of the French Revolution and contains 1,789
steps, the date of the Revolution.
During the Second World War, as the German army approached, elements of
the French army cut the elevator cables inside the tower, preventing the
occupiers from using them to reach the top.
The only way up would be climbing those 1,789 steps. When Hitler visited Paris, he expressed
interest in going to the top of the tower, but changed his mind after being
told that he would have to do it on foot.
Thus it is a source of pride for the Parisians, who say that even while
the city around it was occupied, Gustave Eiffel’s tower was never conquered.
I climbed the 340 steps to the second level and took the
elevator up to the top. The view really
is spectacular and should be on everyone’s Paris to-do list. It is worth the 11 Euros and even the long
line filled with crying children. It is
truly a unique experience to see the once-tall spires of the other monuments miniaturized
beneath you. You can see just about
every single other great monument of Paris from the tower. You can also see the geometric city street
layouts of Paris, which came into being in the mid-1800s when Baron Haussmann,
under orders from Emperor Napoléon III, leveled the center of Paris to rebuild
it as a modern city.
After the Eiffel tower, I went to the Musée d’Orsay. I have to say that it is my favorite art
museum so far. While the Louvre is
impressive, it is almost too overwhelming.
The Musée D’Orsay’s works are more at an eye-level and many of the sculptures
are scattered about in the middle of the exhibits, all of which allows a much
more intimate experience as you explore the art. By this point in the day, it was rather late
in the afternoon/early-evening. The museum
closed before I was able to see everything, so I may return for another
half-hour, just to complete the experience.
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