CHARLES FAIR
7th Arrondissement cont.
Up to this point, Les Invalides are free. If one wishes to see more, one has to pay 37 FF. This gains one entrance to the museum. Les Invalides have been undergoing restoration for the last decade, with further work scheduled for the next couple of years. Through the windows I noticed two small courtyards that are full of rusting WWI era artillery pieces and trench mortars: I believe these are due to be opened to the public in due course. Many of the galleries have been renovated to modern standards of presentation since my first visit in 1991. The collections of medieval and oriental arms and armour are among the finest in the world and must compare well with those in Britain*s Royal Armouries.
The Great War gallery is disappointing and has not yet been renovated. The objects and paintings are in chronological order, but there is nothing to link them and tell the story of the war. There are, for example, many excellent paintings by the war artists Georges Scott and Francois Flameng, which feature places such as the Butte de Vauquois, Hurtebise Farm, Notre Dame de Lorette and Carency. I also noticed a display about Corporal Peugeot, the first French casualty of the war and a painting showing the storming of the chateau at Mondement by the zouaves of the 45 DI on 9 September 1914. The net effect is that of a collection of disjointed images and unrelated facts which demand that, in order to make sense of everything, the visitor has a reasonable knowledge of the Great War and Western Front. A reasonable command of the French language is a useful asset too. If this is the only gallery you want to see, I would recommend saving your money and coming back in two or three years by which time it should have been renovated. In contrast the WWII display appeared to have been newly reopened and is laid out in a modern style which aims to educate the visitor.
The ticket also gives one entrance to the L*Eglise du Dome. This contains the Tomb of Napoleon: the emperor*s remains being placed in it in 1861. He is surrounded by several other famous soldiers such as Vauban. Foch is the only representative from the Great War. To me it is a little strange that the soldier who was ultimately defeated in 1815 appears to be elevated so much above the Generalissimo of 1918 - but then I*m biased.
Behind Les Invalides, on the south side, is the Place Vauban. It contains a Statue of General Gallieni, the Governor of Paris, who I have mentioned previously in connection with the Ourcq battlefield. The place also has a Statue of General Fayolle who commanded the French Sixth Army in 1916 when it took part in the Battle of the Somme. Two hundred yards or so south of the Invalides on the Avenue de Breteuil (just behind the church of St François-Xavier) is a Statue of General Mangin. The plinth lists his military service and commands from the 19th Century, the command of the 5eme D.I. in 1915, Verdun, the Chemin des Dames in 1917 (Nivelle Offensive) and the command of the 10th Army in July 1918 (2nd Marne) during the counterattack a few miles SW of Soissons. It finishes with the liberation of Metz on 19 November 1918 and explains that this was a particularly appropriate act for him since both his parents were from Lorraine.
A few blocks away, near the Western end of the Boulevard St. Germain, is the Ministere de la Guerre. The wall near the main entrance shows clear signs of bomb damage. An inscription states that this was caused by a bomb dropped by a German bomber on 11 March 1918.
Copyright © Charles Fair, May,
1997.
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