The L’Hotel National des Invalides in Paris is a French military museum and memorial complex, as well as the final resting place of the Emperor Napoleon. A military museum is usually the last place you’d find me, but I was spending the morning with my Dad, whose passion for history is so infectious that he made it interesting. My sister, Georgie, had just returned from her student exchange program in Tours, a small town near the Loire Valley, so the three of us were catching up while doing some last minute sight-seeing.

L’Hotel des Invalides was built in the 17th century by “The Sun King” Louis XIV, who also built Versailles.  At 107 metres tall, the dome is one of the tallest buildings in Paris. It’s covered in six kilograms of gold leaf, making it easy to spot from all over the city.

Napoleon’s Tomb at L’Hotel des Invalides

The L’Hotel des Invalides was originally built as a place of religious worship, as the Eglise Saint Louis-des Invalides but after Napoleon died, King Louis-Phillipe decided to turn it into a tomb for the little emperor and other French war heroes. Napoleon died in exile on the island of St Helena, and wished to be buried in the banks of the Seine.

Napoleon’s tomb is below ground level, in a chamber directly underneath the centre of the dome. Napoleon’s sarcophagus is enormous, the outer casing is made of red quartzite, perched on a pillar of green granite. Like a set of Russian Babushka dolls, he is entombed by a series of six coffins, and what we see is only the outer layer. He is surrounded by dozens of statues representing his various victories and he is immortalised in a larger-than-life statue standing at 2.4 metres high.

The Musee de L’Armee at L’Hotel des Invalides

The site is also home to Musee de l’Armee, which is the largest military museum in the world.

We walked around the museum, which is full of military artefacts such as weapons and armour, and the occasional statue. I love how the statues in France are so full of human emotion, they look like they’re about to burst out of the marble.

The museum complex is surrounded by gardens, which are leftover from its days as a home for war veterans. I didn’t get too much of a look at the gardens in winter, but when I visited in summer they were beautiful.