Today was our first ever visit to Napoleon's Tomb, we've been coming to Paris since 1977 and have never visited it. This summer we visited parts of the Musee de l'Armee, which is located at the Invalides and still didn't make it, but today we did.
We started out with the intent to see it and to revisit the Orangerie, which is across the street from the Musee D'Orsay. But when we got off the bus we realized that we were about a 15 minute walk from one of our favorite seafood restaurants, Le Cabanon de l'Ecailler so a quick right turn and a bit of a walk had us up near Montparnasse and sitting in the restaurant. It had been closed the last two times we tried to eat there, so seeing it open today was a treat. We both had a fish soup for a starter and then I had a bowl of mussels marinier while Deb had a couple plates of crevettes, one full of tiny little suckers and the other filled with four tails. Both of us happy to have wonderfully fresh seafood in such an unassuming little place.
Then we walked back down the hill to Invalides and visited Napoleon's tomb. Since we arrived in Paris we've both been reading books on French history, one of which was a biography of Napoleon. It has caused us to become interested in him and his effect on France. The book was decidedly an English point of view and not all that flattering, but it still managed to give us a perspective on the man and his exploits. His impact on the world of that time is immense and I think there is a lingering nostalgia, at least in some French minds, for a time when France ruled Europe.
His bier is almost overwhelming in a red porphyry within five additional separate coffins, it must be 10 feet tall or more. They are made of iron, mahogany, two of lead, and ebony and as they said no expense was spared. In the surrounding rotundas lie the tombs of many of his marshals and also Vauban, the French military architect famous for so many bastions. We finished the day at Invalides and then walked back through the 7th arr. to where we could catch our bus home.
On the way back we found a small shop selling prints and think we may have stumbled on a cache of prints by Cadart to bolster our little fledgling collection. The other thing is that all the January sales are set to begin, Deb has been eagle-eyeing all the shop windows and says that a great many have been putting up the signs.
Today was our first ever visit to Napoleon's Tomb, we've been coming to Paris since 1977 and have never visited it. This summer we visited parts of the Musee de l'Armee, which is located at the Invalides and still didn't make it, but today we did.
We started out with the intent to see it and to revisit the Orangerie, which is across the street from the Musee D'Orsay. But when we got off the bus we realized that we were about a 15 minute walk from one of our favorite seafood restaurants, Le Cabanon de l'Ecailler so a quick right turn and a bit of a walk had us up near Montparnasse and sitting in the restaurant. It had been closed the last two times we tried to eat there, so seeing it open today was a treat. We both had a fish soup for a starter and then I had a bowl of mussels marinier while Deb had a couple plates of crevettes, one full of tiny little suckers and the other filled with four tails. Both of us happy to have wonderfully fresh seafood in such an unassuming little place. 
Then we walked back down the hill to Invalides and visited Napoleon's tomb. Since we arrived in Paris we've both been reading books on French history, one of which was a biography of Napoleon. It has caused us to become interested in him and his effect on France. The book was decidedly an English point of view and not all that flattering, but it still managed to give us a perspective on the man and his exploits. His impact on the world of that time is immense and I think there is a lingering nostalgia, at least in some French minds, for a time when France ruled Europe. 
His bier is almost overwhelming in a red porphyry within five additional separate coffins, it must be 10 feet tall or more. They are made of iron, mahogany, two of lead, and ebony and as they said no expense was spared. In the surrounding rotundas lie the tombs of many of his marshals and also Vauban, the French military architect famous for so many bastions. We finished the day at Invalides and then walked back through the 7th arr. to where we could catch our bus home. 
On the way back we found a small shop selling prints and think we may have stumbled on a cache of prints by Cadart to bolster our little fledgling collection. The other thing is that all the January sales are set to begin, Deb has been eagle-eyeing all the shop windows and says that a great many have been putting up the signs. 
Thank you for teaching me a new word! Interesting that bier is a casket stand (in this case an amazing one) and also beer (in German). I wonder if they're somehow related words.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth you are wonderful, this made me laugh and laugh. Thanks
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