Les Invalides

Today I am proud to take you to one of my special places in Paris - l'Hôtel National des Invalides. Those of you who have been reading my blog already for a while know that my family has a long tradition of military service and that I always enjoy visiting military museums and exhibitions.

Les Invalides were built in 17th century upon an order of Louis XIV. Until the early twentieth century it used to be a home and hospital for aged and injured soldiers. In 1905 it was turned into a museum devoted to the French Army. Its courtyard was the witness of many major events in the French history.

The building undergoes now some refurbishement. It is interesting to see the results on the left and the original state on the right.

The man above the porch is, of course, Napoleon. He is burried in the building just behind. Did you notice the nice decorations around the windows? I like them a lot.

In the courtyard you can see lots of cannons. They seem a bit smaller than the ones I saw in Fort Henry last year.

Here I am, here I am!

Further, you can see a small tank.

Finally, here comes the church in which Napoleon waits for eternity. I could not enter inside this time so definitely we need to make up for it on some other day.

Let's stroll now in the direction of the Latin District. First, we will pass next to the lower chamber of the French Parliament, located in Palais Bourbon.

Then we come to the Musee d'Orsay, housed in the former Gare d'Orsay. It exhibits mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, housing the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces in the world.

To see it in full we need to jump just for a moment back to the Tuileries.

This was quite a long walk. Let's then take some rest in a nice French-style cafe.

A good cup of tea. This was exactly what I needed ...

Museum of the Polish Army

As you recall, I mentioned more than once that my family is proud of its military tradition. I have myself a particular interest in the military technology. In September I took you to MSPO fairs. Today I will show you a bit of the history of the Polish military equipment.

In the Museum you can see lots of interesting things. First of all let's have a look at the artillery. You can see there mortars ...

... and guns.

That one was surely not a small one, especially if you compare it to the size of a horse!

Then comes the Multiple Launch Rocket System ...

... and a self-propelled gun (here you see the SU-76).

Now admit it, you were sure that the next one will be a tank. And not, tanks are not artillery, they are armored cavallery. So a bit like horses. Just armored. Of course in the Museum you can see lots of tanks (the first one is the T-34).

Then come the infantry and their armored personal carriers. I climbed on a Russian made BTR-60 (believe it or not, it is still in use!).



As I moved on I noticed some strange structures. Coming closer I realised they are radars. They can be tall like this one ...

... or large like this one.

Radars are of course used to detect aircrafts. I detected lots of them. On the right the Russian-made Su aircrafts and on the left the Polish-made Lim aircrafts).

Once the artillery spots an aircraft they bring the anti-aircraft missiles. So we'd better run home. And fast!

Studzianki Pancerne

Studzianki Pancerne is a small village in the Central Poland. It is best known for the battle of tanks that took place in August 1944.Today, you may see there a monument dedicated to those who perished in that battle.

You may also see there one of the tanks.

The best thing is that you can touch it and even walk on it! As you recall, my family has a long military tradition so I simply had to profit from this chance.

This seems to be the entry.

Afterwards, I made a little tour in the neighbouring forests and fields. You can see that summer time is past and gone with the wind.



The leaves become brown ...

... and red.

MSPO

Like most of the horse families, my family has a long military tradition. Unfortunately, during the last century the army changed a lot and we, horses, are not needed in the army anymore. But when opportunity arises I like to see some military equipment and vehicles during parades and exhibitions. Therefore, I went recently to MSPO in Kielce.

I have seen there Polish military trucks ...


... the S-70i helicopter ...

and the CV-90 infantry fighting vehicle.

I have also checked my ability to become a special force operator. My great advantage is low visibility - can you see me in the pictures ? Both on land ...

... and in the deep water.

As you can see below I might be useful directing online man portable air defense missile Grom...

... although I would most probably fail to direct the rifle fire (the trigger is not designed for horseshoes).

Obviously, as most horses today do, I would become great expert in parades, especially of buoyancy models.

Hope to see you there next year in the MSPO fair (although you must be at least 18 years old to be allowed).