CHAPTER XXVII. HÔTEL DES INVALIDES
ARRONDISSEMENT VII. (PALAIS-BOURBON)
IT was Henri IV, le bon Roi, who first planned the erection of a special hôtel to shelter aged and wounded soldiers. Meanwhile they were lodged in barracks in different parts of the city. The fine hôtel we
know was built by Louis XIV, opened in 1674, restored in after years by
Napoleon I, and again by Napoleon III. The greatest military names of
France figure in the list of its governors.
On July 14th, 1789, the Paris mob rushed to the Invalides for arms
wherewith to storm the Bastille. On the 30th of March, 1814, nearly
fifteen hundred flags and trophies were destroyed in a great bonfire
made in the court to prevent them from falling into the hands of the
enemy Allies. But the chapel is still hung with flags and trophies
taken in wars long overpast and three museums —le Musée
Historique, le Musée d'Artillerie, le Musée des
Plans-en-relief—have been important features at les Invalides
since 1905. The ancient refectory has become la Salle-des-Armures,
decorated with frescoes illustrative of the great battles of bygone
days from the time of Louis XIV onward. The big cannons—la batterie triomphale—we
see behind the moats are those captured in the Napoleonic wars. Now in
these poignant days of unparalled warfare, immense cannons of the most
up-to-date construction, monstrous airships, broken zeppelins, are
gathered in the great courtyards. In the chapel St-Louis we see the
tombs of distinguished soldiers and memorials in honour of the heroes
of old-time war-days. The dome-church, separated from it by the immense
stained-glass window, was built as a special chapel for the King and
Court, its dome decorated with paintings by the greatest artists of the
time. The sumptuous tomb of Napoleon I, the work of Visconti, was
placed there in the second half of the nineteenth century.
The gravestone from St-Helena and other souvenirs were put in the
chapel St-Nicolas in 191o. Of late years no new pensioners were
received, veterans of war-days past were for long the sole inhabitants
of the soldiers' quarters—the only "invalides." Now the institution is once more to be peopled with a crowd of disabled heroes, victims of the terrible war.
Avenue de Tourville, planned when the hotel des Invalides was built,
was not opened till the century following. Of the four avenues opening
out of it, Avenue de Ségur, Avenue de Villars, Avenue de
Breteuil, opened in 1780, record the names of distinguished generals of
Napoleon's time, but show us no historic structures. In Avenue de
Lowenthal we see the façade of l'Ecole Militaire, a vast
building reaching to Avenue de la Motte-Picquet. It dates from 1752,
the work of Gabriel, and was originally destined for the military
education of five hundred "young gentlemen." Under the Convention it
was turned into a flour store. Restored as a school, the "Enfants de
Mars"— military students of all ranks—were admitted there.
Young Buonaparte, come from Corsica to study in Paris, spent a year
here and was confirmed in its chapel, now used for storing clothes.
When that young student had made himself Emperor, the Imperial Guard
took up their quarters here—to be followed after 1824 by the
Royal Guard. Under Napoleon III the building was considerably changed.
At No. 13 boulevard des Invalides we catch a glimpse of the former
couvent du Sacré-Cœur, the old hôtel Biron: its
chief entrance is Rue de Varennes. No. 41 was l'hôtel de
Condé. No. 50 l'hôtel de Riche-panse. No. 53 l'hôtel
de Masserano. No. 56 is the Institution Nationale des Jeunes Aveugles,
a modem structure, its foundation dating from 1791, one of the last
foundations of Louis XVI. The statue we see is that of Valentin Hauy,
its original organizer.
Boulevard de la Tour Maubourg is lined by fine hotels, all
modern, only the names of their owners recalling days past. Avenue de
la Motte-Picquet is equally devoid of historic interest, save as
regards l'École-Militaire. But turning aside from these fine
latter-day avenues, we find in the vicinity of the Invalides several of
the oldest historic streets of the Rive Gauche.
Rue de Babylone existed under other names from the early years of
the fifteenth century. Its present designation is in memory of Bernard
de Ste-Thérèse, bishop of Babylone, who owned property
there whereon, at No. 22, was built in 1663 the Séminaire des
Missions Étrangères. At No. 20 we see the statue of
Notre-Dame de la Paix with the inscription: "l'Original de cette image
est un chef d'œuvre si parfait que le Tout-Puissant qui l'a fait
s'est renfermé dans son ouvrage." At No. 21 live "sisters" of
St-Vincent-de-Paul, so active always in Christian work and service. No.
32 is the ancient Petit hôtel Matignon. No. 33 is the property of
the sisters of No. 21. At No. 49 we see the ancient barracks of les
Gardes Françaises, so gallantly defended by the Suisses in July,
1830.
In the short Rue Monsieur (the Monsieur of the day was the brother of Louis XVI), we find at No. 12 the hôtel built
for Mademoiselle de Bourbon-Condé, aunt of the duc d'Enghien,
abbesse de Remiremont, who lies buried beneath the pavement of the
Benedictine convent at No. 20. No. 5 shows us remains of the hôtel of
duc de Saint-Simon, the famous diarist-historian. Passing up Rue Barbet
de Jouy, cut in 1838 across the site of an ancient mansion, we come to
Rue de Varennes, a long line of splendid dwellings dating from a past
age.
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