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.

Paris - Eglise du Dôme Des Invalides - 7me

Plate LVI - Eglise du Dome Des Invalides…

I never realized what a presence Napoleon still has in Paris. Nor how much he continues to be revered in the city, for even today the street signs near his tomb are of a respectful, if sombre, gilt edged black. Certainly, I knew the Arc de Triomphe celebrated his victories, but I was not prepared for how the spirit of the man and of his lieutenants seems omnipresent throughout the streets of Paris.

Dominating the buildings of Les Invalides, and indeed many views across Paris is the gilded dome of the Church of Les Invalides. A chapel, known as the church of St Louis, for the (compulsory) use of hôtel residents, had been constructed as part of Les Invalides in 1679. Louis XIV then had his architect Jules Hardouin Mansart extend the church with a separate royal chapel crowned by this magnificent dome, inspired by St Peter’s basilica in Rome, but interpreted by Mansart with a uniquely French understanding.  Decorated with garlands and floral motifs, the cupola of the dome is surmounted by a lantern and a spire, rising to a height of some 100 metres above ground. Built between 1679 and 1706 many consider this the masterwork of Mansart’s career. 

The church today is the final resting place of French heroes, not surprisingly many of the Napoleonic age.

But beyond all, in a spectacular crypt beneath the massive dome internally decorated by Charles de la Fosse, and surrounded by 12 carved caryatid sentries (the Victories), in a red porphyry outer sarcophagus and six internally layered coffins, since 1840 have lain the mortal remains of Napoleon Bonaparte - the Corsican, the Little Corporal, General, First Consul and  Emperor of France.