Museums in Paris: Musée de l'Armée at Les Invalides

During the Summer, we visited the Musée de l'Armée (the Museum of the Army), which is appropriately housed in Les Invalides, Paris' grand military hospital for French soldiers, founded in the 17th century.   (By the way, the hospital is still operating.)   

In case you want to learn more about Les Invalides, you can click here for two recent articles by Cyril Pasquier, the son of our friends Eliane and Jean-Charles.  The articles are excellent and in French, but tap on Google's "translate this page?" button (top right) to see a readable English translation.

We had visited the Musée de l'Armée during earlier visits to Paris and returned to different parts of the vast museum.  Here is a photographic tour of the building, along with a couple of displays in the museum.  

Without question, the building is majestic, from the gold dome (which is based on the dome of St. Peter's Basilica) to the grand entrance to the lovely cathedral inside.  

Inside the building, under the dome, are tombs of famous French generals, including Louis XIV's General Sébastien Vauban and another general, Napoleon Bonaparte.  

The altar under the dome

Tomb of General Sébastien Vauban (the tomb contains Vauban's heart) 

Tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte

One of the more recent additions to Les Invalides is the Museum of the Order of the Liberation.  This museum within a museum is dedicated to the history of France during the German Occupation in WWII.  In 1940, General de Gaulle created the Order of the Liiberation to recognize persons who fought for the liberation of France.  The museum tells the stories of members of the Resistance and others who fought against the Germans in France.

One of the artifacts caught our attention, a propaganda poster depicting the French flag painted over the Nazi swastika.  The poster's message was simple and clear.

We also visited another museum within a museum, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, which is somewhat hidden in a renovated attic.  The Musée des Plans-Reliefs houses a collection of antique models that depict some of the many cities and towns in France that General Vauban and his successors fortified against attack during the 16th-18th centuries. Two of models depict Bordeaux and Mont-Saint-Michel.  

During our visit, Marie-Chantal took time to be crowned Empress.  Congratulations, Marie-Chantal.

Jean-Claude wanted to be crowned as well.  That's one big melon.  I think we're going to need a bigger crown.

Thanks for visiting the Musée de l'Armée with us.