Day 13 - Rodin and Invalides

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Posted on Monday, January 09, 2006 05:21, by Teri

Another day without rain (thankfully!).  We headed out around noon for the metro to Varenne, a short walk to the Musee Rodin.  As history has it, the building was once the Hotel Biron, where Auguste Rodin and other artists of the time stayed temporarily around 1908.  The state claimed the hotel a few years later, and Rodin offered to contribute his collections of his works to the government if they would turn the building into a museum of his work.  In 1919, the building opened as the Musee Rodin.

The gardens of the complex were vast and beautiful, with life-sized statues scattered throughout, as well as the massive doors entitled, "The Gate of Hell".  I was delighted when we finally happened upon Rodin's "The Thinker" - the original work setting on a large pedestal in the gardens (Kristen was delighted as well, mostly because I had told her all week I simply "had" to see it!).  We left the gardens and entered the interior displays, some of which were complemented by the painings by Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh and others.  We left the museum about 2 hours later, walking toward Invalides. 

A bit of hunger and a greater need for a restroom headed us in a slightly different direction to the only restaurant that seemed to be open in this area on a Sunday afternoon.  Wow - what a beautiful restaurant it was, and just on the opposite corner of Invalides, so it also graced with a view.  We tried again to read the menu; my eyes shot directly to the "something or another in french with fois gras and truffle".  OK, that's good for me.  I didn't really care what the course was - at least I'd have a taste of fois gras in France!  Kristen ordered a beef steak with fries.  The meal actually looked better than it tasted (both meals, for that matter) - mine turned out to be duck or goose - definitely a fowl that was not chicken.  We finished a leisurely lunch and headed back out.

The Hotel des Invalides was built in the 1670's to house wounded soldiers.  There are still a sprinkling of soldiers in residence there; however, the majority of the rooms house the Musee de l' Armer - one of the world's foremost military museums, with vast displays of armor, uniforms, and military pictures.

The Invalides' original church is directly behind the Eglise du Dome (the most impressive dome in Paris, based on that of St. Pater's Basilica in Rome); it has been blocked off from the original church.  Napoleon's tomb is found here, his remains in at least 6 coffins, each inside the next, and surrounded by marble sculpted angels and sculptured reliefs signifying his campaigns.  Others of importance are intombed in various rooms of the domed building, as well.

We departed after a good hour and a half, and headed back to the room, retracing our route here.  I read for awhile, Kristen worked on the computer.  Around 7:30, we headed out to use up our remaining paid time at the internet cafe down the street.  I was able to speak with Heather briefly, then with Richard.  Mom and dad didn't show up online while the minutes wasted away.  We stopped at an Italian restaurant for supper, and headed back to the hotel, requesting an early wake-up call so we could attempt the trip to Rouen.

The wake-up call didn't hit me well; neither Kristen nor I slept well.  I decided to let the Rouen trip go, and dozed back off.  We'll have a light day today, pack this evening, and we head out tomorrow for home!  And home sounds just *way* more exciting to us right now than Rouen...  *smiles*