Monday - I Venture to the Tomb of the Known Soldier

As mentioned in the last posting, today was to be another “on my own” day. I had a multitude of options, of course, and I ended up electing to visit Napoleon's Tomb at the Hotel des Invalides, which also houses The French Army Museums, so I would get two cultural events for the price of one.

David urged me to take public transportation but the weather was so nice that I opted instead to walk, a distance I later calculated to be a little over 3.5 miles on the route I took from the apartment to the Seine and then along the Seine to des Invalides. I left the apartment around noon and was at the tomb at 1:30pm. On arrival I discovered that it was undergoing substantial maintenance in the entrance area but that was really no problem.

This picture is ... tada ... Napoleon’s Tomb.

Of course others besides the Emperor are buried in the church, including family members and other war heroes.

Oh, speaking of members - did you know that it is alleged that Napoleon's penis was removed during the autopsy following his death and ultimately made its way into the hands (pun intended) of a recently deceased American urologist. For reasons unknown to me, David seems to be obsessed with this little known so-called “fact,” so I want to share with him and you, my faithful and loyal readers, a website that debunks the myth:

www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2487/what-happened-to-napoleons-penis

Hey, I report - you decide.

Anyway, after completing my tour of the tomb I then went to The Army Museums. The east wing traces uniforms and weapons through French history, from Louis XIV to World War I, with emphasis on Napoleon. I have to admit that I was about to OD on Napoleon so I pretty much just walked through this exhibition.

The west wing is devoted to weapons through the ages, including World War I. I spent a bit more time here.

The World War II Wing was the highlight. It is a series of rooms devoted to different aspects of the war. beginning with the Treaty of Versailles and ending with the surrender of Japan. I’ll bet you, like me, didn’t know that it was General Charles de Gaulle who won the war for us. Yes, the message was loud and clear - without his leadership and the courage of the brave French military, the Eastern half of the US would be under Nazi rule and the Western half under the Japanese. Now you know.

Anyway, at 4:15 I had had enough, so I headed out. Thought I would take buses back to the ‘hood, but the weather was still awesome so I decided to walk back. I took a different route which took me up to the Montparnarsse tower and the district and then back along Boulevard Montparnarsse to rue Monge and the apartment. I calculated the distance to be 4.0 miles, making the total for today 7.5 miles, not including the walks inside the museums. Not bad, Billi Pod, not bad at all.

It was 5:45 when I got back to the apartment and I have to admit to being a bit tired. In fact, I took a brief nap to rest my aching legs.

I told David that no way was I walking outside of the ‘hood, so dinner later in the evening was at the same restaurant where we dined the night of my arrival. I had a great Veal entree.

This was another awesome day in Paree.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, I think I will go to the Musee d’Orsay, just across the Seine from the Louvre. Not sure if David will join me or not. Rain is predicted. I can feel the beginning of the mental countdown to departure.

Billi Pod
wanjr@aol.com