Arms & Armor of the Musée de l'Armée
Monday, July 31, 2006 
Last week I went to Les Invalides to see the Arms and Armor collection at the Musée de l'Armée. I had already seen Napoléon's tomb under the Dôme. I had walked through the very thorough World War II -- Order de la Liberation collection. I had given tours of the gardens and seen the canons in the courtyard many times.
François I's suit of armor. The head, shoulders and elbows are lion's heads.
But I had never seen the old suits of armor and weapons, dating all the way back to the 13th century. And I heard the museum had air conditioning. It turned out to be pretty cool, and not just because of the A/C!
Intricate ironwork on the back of this one; sorry about the glare!
I was totally surprised at how elaborate the suits of armor were. I also never realized the little boys wore armor, too ( I don't know if it was to train or protect them).
There was actually a large number of children's suits of armor. We wondered if they were hand-me-down's.
If I went shopping for a helmet, I'd totally get this one. It's so me, n'est-ce pas?
Close-up of the helmet's dragon.
This is actually a gunpowder container. Everyone thinks it looks like an Eiffel Tower olive oil dispenser.
This cannon was never fired. It was a wedding gift (thus the entwined lovers). No one gave me a cannon for my wedding. Hmph!
To Visit:
Open daily (except the first Monof the month) 10am-6pm (until 5pm in winter). Entrance €7.50, includes the entire Musée de l'Armée collections and the Eglise du Dôme.
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