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 Napoléon I, and again by Napoléon 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 Napoléonic wars. Now in these poignant days of
unparalleled 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 Napoléon 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 1910. 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 hôtel 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 Napoléon’s time, but
show us no historic structures. In Avenue de Lowenthal we see the façade
of l’École 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 Napoléon 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 (_see_ p. 194). No. 41 was l’hôtel de Condé. No. 50 l’hôtel
de Richepanse. No. 52 l’hôtel de Masserano. No. 56 is the Institution
Nationale des Jeunes Aveugles, a modern structure, its foundation dating
from 1791, one of the last foundations of Louis XVI. The statue we see
is that of Valentin Haüy, its original organizer.
Boulevard de la Tour Maubourg is lined by fine _hôtels_, 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 (_see_ p. 191). 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.