First a stop at the Musée des Égouts de Paris- I thought this was a museum about the city's water. It is. Well, sort of. It is a museum about the city's sewage system. Note the sign for the WC in this picture. Given my claustrophobia and the smell, I didn't last long.
I enjoyed the fresh air on the Esplanade des Invalides and watched several groups of men were playing bocce ball.
Les Invalides is generally linked to Napoleon, but was built by Louis XIV as a hospital for his veterans. Today it houses three museums about France's military. It is also Napoleon's resting place. His remains are in an enormous building that was designed as a royal chapel, but became an imperial mausoleum in 1840 when his body was returned to France. There are other monuments and crypts within the mausoleum.
Napoleon's remains lie within six coffins, one inside the other.
The Musée Rodin is next door. Rosin's sculptures fill the garden of the Hôtel Biron, which was completed in 1730. It housed the Russian embassy and a religious school before falling into disrepair. Rodin was one of several artists who used the hotel as a temporary studio, moving there in 1908. He dreamed of creating a museum of his work there, but he died before his museum was officially dedicated. The gardens are beautiful, as are the sculptures. Among these photos is The Thinker with the dome of the church as Les Invalides and the Eiffel Tower in the background.
I walked back across the city towards my hotel.
Note the bicycle locks on this bridge.
A building that houses artists' studios.
A vertical garden outside a shopping center.
Salad with warm goat cheese and fries!
The view from my hotel room.
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