Paris - The Ecole Militaire - 7me

Plate LXIV – The Military Academy…

I have at least two occasional recurring dreams. One has me back at school, the other back in the army (I was part of a generation of conscripted military trainees). Neither was a time I'd voluntarily relive - so my fascination with, and visit to, a military academy (combining those two facets of life) seems a little inexplicable. But - such is the effect of the passage of time: while history was a school subject I'd rather have avoided, as I've grown older my fascination with the past has grown deeper and stronger. So, down the other notable Champs of Paris I went walking.
The panoramic Champs de Mars which lies before Eiffel’s famous tower was once the parade ground of the Military Academy (Ecole Militaire).

The academy buildings, completed by Jacques-Ange Gabriel (who also laid out the Place de la Concorde) in 1773 still house the French War College, and public visits are not generally allowed. The Ecole was built in the reign of Louis XIV on an initiative backed by the King’s mistress Madame de Pompadour, who apparently believed that young men from all walks of life, especially the lower classes, should be able to pursue a military career. It was here after his first year that a young Corsican named Napoleon Bonaparte graduated as a second lieutenant (artillery) in 1785. A later notable graduate of the école was Charles de Gaulle.