A red Eiffel tower arrived at the Champ de Mars!

Eiffel Tower "Bistro chair" - Champ de Mars - In the background, "Ecole Militaire" (Military School)

This 24th of June, a new Eiffel tower arrived in the Champ de Mars.
A new Eiffel tower 13 meters high constituted by 324 red chairs. 324 Bistro folding chairs. 324 as the 324 meters of the real Eiffel tower.

This folding chair was created at the same time as the Eiffel tower (1889) and build as a very practical and useful furniture for Cafés, Cafés terraces, gardens and parks.
At first, the chair was made in wood and then in colored steel.

Little sister!

Come to see these two sisters!

A new very Great Man at the Pantheon

Mongolian (standing position) - Hong Bia Shen 2009

1. Who is this great man?
2. What is this strange rocket behind him?

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1. This great man is a "Mongolian", a statue created in 2009 and offered recently by the artist Hong Biao Shen to the University of Paris La Sorbonne, temporary exposed in the "rue Soufflot", the street in front of the Pantheon (Soufflot was the architect of the Pantheon).

2. The Pantheon, surrounded by huge scaffolds.

The restoration of the Pantheon

The building is currently under restoration.
See this movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bjQlISRVRE

If you click on the picture, you will read the inscription "AUX GRANDS HOMMES LA PATRIE RECONNAISSANTE" which means "To the great men the grateful homeland".

The Mongolian, another great man?

Well, the Great Men are buried in the Crypt. There you can see the tombs of many very honorable persons, as Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Rousseau, etc.
Only two women... Marie Curie and Sophie Berthelot the wife of the chemist Marcellin Berthelot (buried together).
No doubt it would be fair to have more women honored by the Pantheon. See this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/23/world/europe/at-resting-place-for-frances-great-men-calls-to-include-more-women.html?hp&_r=1

The soldiers of the French Revolution are coming back to the Invalides in Paris!

French Revolution soldiers in the "Cour d'Honneur" (Court of Honor) of the Invalides

Do you know the "Hotel National des Invalides" in Paris?
The King Louis XIV built the "Invalides", a military hospital for war veterans and unwell soldiers (the "invalides" of war). See this link.

Les Invalides - La Cour d'Honneur

The Dome Church is very famous (now covered by gold), notably because it contains the tomb of Napoleon I.

Napoleon I in the Cour d'Honneur (statue previously at the top of the Vendôme Column)

This weekend of December 7th and 8th is the celebration of the Artillerymen with numerous Artillery demonstrations and many historical re-enactments. See the following program:

Click on the picture for a larger view

Horse drawn Gribeauval cannon in the Invalides

See the following films of some of these demonstrations (you can choose HD mode):