Day of tours, Nuit des Musées

Tonight is Nuit des Musées, when France opens most of its museums most of the night, and many have special programs. The boys (and we) got good naps this afternoon, and the promised big storm blew through during dinner, so we took advantage and walked over to Les Invalides, the 17th-century military hospital and home of Napoleon's tomb. In the outer courtyard, we saw a military band parade, featuring around 30 horses and riders playing horns. After, we went into the big golden dome, and saw a "son et lumiere" (sound and light show) projected inside that explained the history of Les Invalides, from Louis XIV through Napoleon I and on to today.


Turned out to be a day of tours, as this morning Betsy and I had the rare treat of touring the French Prime Minister's residence. The American Cathedral is celebrating a kind of homecoming weekend, and as part of the festivities wrangled a tour guided by the Curator of the property. Turns out the Church traces its routes to the first services held in the Hôtel de Matignon in the mid-1800s. (See map.) The house was built in the early 18th century, and has a truly incredible history of characters who lived there, including a fabulously rich American named Colonel Herman Thorn who hosted those first services. The Curator told us that, contrary to long-standing Paris tradition of showing up a half-hour late to dinner parties, Colonel Thorn demanded to start on time. If the invitation said 8pm, he would have the doors locked promptly at 8:00, and noone was allowed in after. Apparently he and his wife ended up dining alone fairly often! Anyway, the place and grounds were incredible - check 'em out below.


Oh, and last weekend we trekked out to Monet's garden at Giverny, and here's a couple of teasers while we work on the other pictures and a blog post ... sometime other than 1am. Good night!