Hôtel des Invalides (Napoleon's grave)

(Photo of Invalides taken on Sept. 25, 2010)

David and I toured the Hôtel des Invalides today.  According to my Eyewitness travel guide, Invalides "was built from 1671 to 1676 by Louis XIV (the fourteenth) for his wounded and homeless veterans and as a monument to his own glory.  At its center lies the glittering golden roof of the Sun King's Dôme Church, which marks the final resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte.  The emperor's body was brought here from St. Helena in 1840, 19 years after he died, and place inside the majestic (this is debatable) red sarcopagus, designed by Joachim Visconti, that lies at the center of the dôme's circular, glass-topped crypt.  " 

"Today, the harmonious classical facade is one of the most impressive sights in Paris, with its four storeys, cannon in the forecourt, garden and tree-lined esplinade stretching to the Seine.  The facade of the Hôtel is 645 feet long, and is topped with dormer windows, each decorated in the shape of a different trophy." 

David @ Invalides with Eiffel Tower in the distance

Wedding guests--there was a wedding there today

PART 1: War museum

Entrance to the war museum

Armor of Louis XIII as a child

Just helping out with the cannonball

Hercules

End of a cannon (I think it's supposed to be Medusa)

Medusa cannon again

This armor totally has a mustache.  So funny.

PART 2: Crypt & Napoleon's tomb

xo,
aKiP