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Published: September 11th 2008
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Hotel Des Invalides
Garden outside the Dome Well, I was successful! After my "macaroon trip", I walked back to my apartment (I'm becoming quite a walker, I think I should consider the 2012 Olympics...) and rested for a bit. Then, as the sun began to set in the cloudless sky, I metroed it back to the Eiffel Tower. The gate to the Dome of Les Invalides was locked, and I contemplated climbing around it, moatside, despite the sticky barbs that protruded over the edge (see picture soon). There were many security guards patrolling though, and I wasn't carrying my passport. I decided against it. But I kept seeing more tourists enter the garden in front of me, and couldn't figure it out. So, putting my education to good use, I walked over to where I saw them appearing, and there was another entrance! I would've been so mad if I'd come all the way back and couldn't get in. Sometimes being frugal doesn't pay off. But in this case it did!
I used my youthfulness to get my free ticket, and inside saw the most extravagant casket...it had six layers of various sturdy materials, like lead and ivory. It was where Napolean Bonaparte's body rested. The man seriously
Hotel Des Invalides
Dome across the moat did have a complex, this coffin could have fit Yao Ming and all the rest of the Chinese basketball team. I think the layers were supposed to be extra protection, but, he's dead, what does he need protection from?
The inside was a testament to Napolean and all his friends and relatives. There were a few Napoleans entombed here, including Joseph Napolean (I guess they assumed his first name). No one had quite as magnanimous a tomb as Bonaparte. His was actually a whole level down, in the crypt, but there was a large aperature through which people on the ground level could gaze upon him. You could also go down the stairs into the crypt, which was pretty cool, being so close to the tomb, and the walls were covered in carvings of angels and mighty men of the past. It was dimly lit with candled chandeliers. Eerie!
After the tomb, I walked through an amazing courtyard full of green-rusted cannons, I forget how many, but it must have been hundreds. It was very intimidating. I made it to the Eiffel Tower with perfect timing, it was already alit with the blue glow. I discovered that there are floor
Hotel Des Invalides
The Dome from underneath lights that create this color, rather than lights on the actual tower itself. I guess each level (there are three) has its own set of lights. The line wasn't as long as I anticipated, about 30 minutes rather than the reported hour. I bought a ticket to the top, and got in another line for the elevator. The elevator ride is slow, but tilts the entire way, since the Tower slants, and makes ou very comfortable with the tourists next to you. The elevator stops at the first level for the chickens who want to get off, then continues to the second, with an even more exaggerated slant. At the second you have to change elevators, since there's a maximum of 400 people allowed at the third, and final level. So, get in line again, but again, not too long, and you get out at the top and run smack into the line of tourists waiting to get down. Considering all the waiting, everyone around was in a pretty good mood. There were even two Hell's Angels, Australia chapter who were joking around, trying to let people in to cut in line.
The viewing deck at the very top is
Hotel Des Invalides
Barbs that tried to keep me out. an open grate, so you're exposed to the elements, and can feel the chilling wind (most people head immediately for the lee side). The view was amazing, and I could see all the places I'd already been...but one travel book made a good point: what's a view of Paris with it's most important monument missing? I tried to take a picture of myself with the view in back, but couldn't figure out how to make the flash work with the lights, when the flash from someone else's camera lit up my face. Then I realized, it wasn't a camera, it was the Tower! Those sparkling lights I had seen from my window were ablaze, glittering all around me. Tiny bulbs along the metal skin of the Tower flashed intermittently, and I was inside it all! It was a great feeling. I felt kind of like Napolean commanding a hundred cannons. I can see why someone might want to build a giant coffin that would draw the attention of travellers from around the world.
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