In addition to planning our World War II history heavy days in Normandy, we also planned to spend the majority of our first full day in Paris at....The Museum of the Army (Musee de l'Armee at Les Invalides)! Our reservation was for noon and we were waved out at the 6 p.m. close without getting to spend adequate time on the Napoleonic era displays. We did see A LOT of arms & armors, WWI & II, Napoleon's Tomb, and various other others. But really we could have used another hour.
We started our day on Rue Cler, a market street near our hotel, where we ate brunch at L'Eclair, which ended up being a go to spot for us. We explored some of the other shops as well before heading back the other direction and to the museum, which was directly across the street from our hotel. Yes, on purpose.
Les Invalides was a home for invalid soldiers among other uses. The Cathedral had a side for the King and a separate side for the soldiers. From the king's entrance is where it was rebuilt to house Napoleon's Tomb, which has seven layers of coffins.
Must explore each cannon
So much armor
Soldier's entrance
Tenth Station of the Cross
Napoleon's Tomb in the Golden Dome Cathedral
This reminded me a lot of the altar at St. Mark's in Vatican City. There is glass that separates the king's side from the soldier's side.
Tomb from the lower level
From King's entrance side. You can't really see the extent of Les Invalides behind it. But if you go straight through the Cathedral and out the soldier's side it's the courtyard with the cannons.
World War I trenches. There was an exhibit that had a soldier's long duster coat covered in dried mud. To be sloshing through wet, cold mud in the European winter would be miserable. Especially in trenches full of rats and whatever else.
And entire room of toy soldiers. Some two dimensional and some three dimensional. Certainly makes William's bedroom look under capacity!
Napoleon's tent, nightgown and cap. Not sure why this particular display was so intriguing to me, but I was fascinated they had it.
Looking back out toward the Seine from Les Invalides upon departure.
Fat rabbits in the lawn. And an airplane on the lawn that the guys didn't think belonged.
How did this boy grow up overnight?! For dinner we ate at a steak frite restaurant. This particular one was recommended by a colleague but I think they're fairly ubiquitous. No reservations. One menu. All you decide is rare or medium for your steak. Salad, sirloin, fries, and then ala carte drinks and dessert. We waited about 45 minutes for our table (which we expected) and enjoyed people watching while we did so. We also enjoyed people watching while eating! The food was fine/good but it was the experience more than anything. This was also our first experience with the relative value of Bordeaux wine so that was good. Desserts were tasty. We walked the 25 minutes back to the hotel to settle our very full stomachs and then crashed out for the night. William bought his first souvenirs of the trip at the Army Museum.
