Paris - Aug 19

A good day but a rainy one again.  I went to the Musee National de la Marine as I had already done the army museum, I felt it only fair to go Navy.  And I was glad that I did.  Just recapping yesterday's Louvre experience compared to today's Navy...  Navy wins by a league (notice the use of nautical terms 😊)!

France was a formidable naval power in its day.  The museum was extensive in its displays.

They had scale models of their great fighting ships.  They had 120 gun warships that were massive in size.  Can't imagine what one of those would look like in actuality.  The models had a purpose other than showing off naval might.  They were to scale with exact detail of rigging and sail and armaments  to the actual ships.  They would be used at the Naval Academy to train officers on the ships that they would command.  The officers would become familiar with all the intricacies of the vessel without ever setting foot on board.  It was said that they would know more about the ship this way than trying to accomplish this on board the actual ship.  The ships were so massive in real life that trying to get acquainted on them was daunting.

Many of the scale models had cutaways that would show the below deck structure of the ship.  This would allow the officers to understand stowage and ballast as well as vulnerability of their commands.  To build these warships took almost a forest of trees, huge amounts of manpower and extensive shipyards and several years to accomplish.   

The decorations of these ships was extremely intricate.  The bow was always decorated with a huge carving besetting the fierceness or prowess of the vessel.  As you can see in the picture these were actual bow figurines.  The size of these were massive.  You can see with the size of these actual carvings in relation to the person standing.  They also made extensive ornate carvings and decorations to the galleys at the stern of the boat.  The ships of the day were works of art floating on the seas.

The Musee de la Marine was well worth it.

My next stop of my cultural advancements was the Conciererie.  The Conciergerie you ask???  This was an unexpected little surprise.  I went there thinking it would be just a filler to kill some time while it was raining.  But...

The Conciergerie was the first royal palace where there were massive 14th century rooms.  It would later be known more for its infamy.  It was the seat of the Revolutionary Tribunals and the prison for those to meet the guillotine.

The great hall where the first king held court.  The room was heated by four massive fireplaces.  The room made you feel so small and insignificant due to its size.  The use of this as the palace came and went with the evolution of Paris over time.  It became the seat of justice as the center of the monarchy shifted to the right bank and the louvre.

With the shift from palace to hall of justice, it became more notorious during the revolution.  Here it entered its dark purpose consuming many.  Rooms were converted to cells.  Tribunals were held and "justice" dispatched to those that disagreed or were not of like mind. 

 

There was a room that had these boards covering the walls with the names of 

those that were sent to the guillotine during the revolution.  A total of 2,780 people were sent to the dreaded machine of death.

Here are a couple of the famous names:

Marie-Antoinette listed as widow of Louis.  She spent many months in the prison awaiting trial even after her husband Louis XVI met his demise.

Louis the sixteenth latest king of France as listed on the manifest of those executed.

The prison was a tough place with cells being very stark.  As you can see, there was not much light that made it into the cells.  A dark dismal place to spend your hours either awaiting trial, that most assuredly ended in a guilty verdict, or awaiting the trip to the guillotine.

This is the normal cell with just straw spread on the floor and a bucket for essential dispatches. 😳  This cell would hold multiple prisoners.

If the prisoner could buy privileges they would get an upgrade.

They could get a two person cell with a bed of straw.

And if they had a lot of money to bribe the judge they could get a single cell with a bed and a desk.  Money talked even during the revolution.  These were known as the days of terror.  Most prisoners did not spend too much time in this prison.  They were brought here for trial and once found guilty executed the next day.  The executions took place at the Place de la Concorde a bit of a cart ride through the mob and town.  

A bit on the guillotine...  It was invented by a man, Guillotine, who was against the death penalty.  But he felt the previous way of execution was too barbaric.  The prior way was either have the person lay their head on a block or kneel.  Then the executioner would swing a large ax or sword.  Many times it would take multiple swings to behead the condemned.  It was said one execution took 17 strikes to dispatch the sentence. So Guillotine invented a much quicker and "humane" way to perform executions.  The new way with the efficiency of the guillotine machine was so quick that it created the talking heads of Paris.  After the head was separated the executioner would hold it up to the crowd.  The speed with which the cut happened resulted in blood still in the head.  And thus there were muscle twitches in the face that at times appeared as though the head was trying to speak...  😣

And lastly for the day was a trip to the top of Notre Dame.  The lines to do this are typically way too long.  Many people's spend hours waiting in line to go up the towers.  On my way back from dinner I noticed the line was quite short due to the coolness of the evening and the intermittent drizzle.  So up I went!  It was a great view but I do think the view from Sacre Ceour was better.  Notre Dame was different but if I had to wait hours, no.

The view to the Eiffel Tower from Notre Dame.

The view to Sacre Ceour, as you can see it sits on a high point overlooking the city.

The courtyard in front of Notre Dame.  You can see the outline of the first street in Paris as well as the first church.  They created this with lighter stones.