France - Paris Again Day 2 - Musee de L'Armee - Later French Exibits

 There is a section of the museum that encompasses the time period from the French Revolution of 1792 to the third French Republic in 1870. There is also currently a special exhibit centering on Napoleon the first's reign.

 A model of the Bastille.

 This is what a typical section looks like. Uniforms of the time period, paintings of famous personages of a particular battle or era, artifacts from that era and...

 ...a large table with a particular battle played out on it. They did an excellent job of setting up the battle including reasons for it then played it out from start to finish. By this point my wife and I were war museumed out and could have spent another day here. We had not even seen the WW1 and WW2 section yet. Another time.

 In the Napoleon exhibit they had the painting of "Napoleon Crossing the Alps" by Jacques-Louis David in 1800. It is a magnificent painting full of symbolism and meaning. It is no wonder the image was put on pottery and copies made.

 Lord Nelson's uniform he was wearing when shot at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The white hole in the left shoulder is the wound that killed him.

 Napoleon's uniform.

 Royal jewelry worn by Marie-Louise of Austria.

In the Napoleon exhibit they also show the other side of the stories. There was this impressive picture of Agustina de Aragon. She was a woman who fought in the Spanish war of Independence against the French as a civilian and when she entered the military, rose to the rank of Captain. She was an inspiration for the Spanish to throw off the French invaders and lived to 71 years of age.

France - Paris Again Day 2 - Musee de L'Armee - Weapons that Cannot Decide if they are Melee or Ranged

Sometimes a melee weapon isn't enough and you need that extra ranged oomph.

 These two maces are also gunpowder guns. They shoot from the top. The one on the left was made in 1550. The one on the right was made for French King Henry the second around 1536 to 1542.

 A falchon made in 1550 has a pistol in the hilt and the barrel in the spine of the sword.

 Made in Germany in 1580, this sword stick with a pistol is all sorts of hidden nastiness.

 Made for Nicolas de Lorraine in 1570, this triple bladed spear, with cutting blades, also has three pistols in between each spear blade. Ouch. This is steampunk well before steampunk was thought up.

Henry the fourth's sword pistol from 1600.

France - Paris Again Day 2 - Musee De L'Armee Ranged Weapons

 Flintlocks from 1610 to 1630. They have LOTS of ones like this in the museum.

 Wheelock pistol from 1600-1610.

 A triple barreled wheelock pistol from 1610.

 A Matchlock musketoon from 1620-1630. It has multiple chambers to load the shot ahead of time and fire repeatedly at an enemy.

 Wheelock arquebuses from 1590 to 1600. The art on them in pearl is extraordinary.

 These are handles on a large cannon of two lovers on each handle. How romantic to be on a cannon!

 This lady is at the back of a cannon.

 These are powder containers of all sorts with all sorts of art on them.

 Miquelet gun made for King Phillip the fifth of Spain in 1715. This one had spare loaded chambers that one could insert and fire.

 The classic ranged weapon, the crossbow. It was still used alongside of gunpowder weapons.

 A metal goat's foot crossbow 1620-1640.

 A grenade launcher from Napoleon's era! I had no idea they were made this early in time!

These are miniature steampunk style pistols from 1580.

France - Paris Again Day 2 - Musee De L'Armee Melee Weapons

 Made for the French King, Henry the forth in 1600. It looks nice from a distance but zooming in...

 ...it has extreme detail. It has all the signs of the zodiac.

 It continues along the blade.

 Italian swords from the late 1400's and early 1500's

 This one in particular caught my eye with the detail it had.

 French sword made around 1595. I love the chain detail on the pommel. Probably quite fragile but very nice.

 A parade sword made in Southern England in 1650. Its a very man themed sword.

 Swords from Java circa 1750.

 Mongol daggers from 1730. If you look carefully at the one on the right, you can just barley see the sands of time (Prince of Persia video game reference).

 Japanese weapons from the 1300's to the 1800's.

 English hunting daggers from around 1590. Note the smaller skinning blades in the sheath.

 Halberds from various eras.

Two handed blades from various eras.

There were many many more melee weapons.

France - Paris Again Day 2 - Musee De L'Armee Armor

 The museum is very very large and a "it should take us two hours max" promise turned into a four hour "we need to come back someday". So i've paired down heavily the pictures but uploaded than at 10 megapixels each, so if you want to see detail, click on one.

 This armor was worn by King Francois the first and is known as his lion armor (1540-1545).

 Also worn by King Francois the first (1539-1540)

Worn by the future Henri the second (1540)

 The armor of Mars and the Victory (1565-1570)

 

 The back of it.

 Gifts of armor and weapons were made to the royalty of France and these are some of them. Japenese Samurai armor (1580-1590).

 Italian shields from 1550-1560.

 Northern "Savoyard" Italian helmets from 1620.

 Jousting armor for the joust of peace in 1510, gifted by Maximilian the first of Austria.

There is a lot of armor in storage as well.