The Musee de 'Armee is a museum devoted to military history from the Stone Age onward and up until World War II.

Even pacifists will find this collection fascinating. It is filled with masterpieces of military art, exquisitely crafted and quite beautiful.

Weapons such as swords and artillery guns, gleaming with polish and perfectly in order, seem stunningly benign. Period uniforms are eerie, when you view them with the knowledge that a soldier from a time long gone, went into battle wearing this garb.

There are banners and flags, including the one Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte flew at the castle of Fountainbleau, upon his abdication in 1814. Body armor, helmets, lances and daggers, oh, my!

After a tour of the museum, go next door, to the Dome Church, built by King Louis XIV in the 1600s.

Pay homage to Napoleon here. His body was placed inside six coffins and consecrated in this crypt with great ceremony in 1861.

Musee de l'Armee
Hotel des Invalides (completed in 1676)
129 Rue de Grenelle
7th Arrondissement
Metro: Latour-Maubourg, Varenne, Invalides
Closed First Monday of Each Month (check website for hours)
www.invalides.org