The show we were seeing was La France en relief - From Louis XIV to Napoléon III. Yes, French military relief maps. At a 1:600 scale. Royal surveyors went around recording incredible levels of detail, which were used to create scale models out of wood scaffolding, plaster, and fancy stuff like silk floss for the trees.
They made maps of critical settlements, so you see a lot of rivers and mountains.
The maps include detailed construction of fortifications, some of which were in beautiful patterns.
The levels of detail were just crazy. Weird rock shapes, sheds, shoals in the rivers... Some of it was stuff you just wouldn't really need to know!
After the show we walked through the Tuileries Garden.
Ross and I went to the Orangerie Museum, which is really a great museum. It's not big, but it has those showpiece Monets, and well organized rooms focused on individual artists.
We took the subway back to Ecole Miltaire. They have these odd green dish seats in some of the stations.
That evening we headed to the Eiffel Tower!
Ross and I took the elevators up to the 2nd level...
And then up to the top!
The Eiffel Tower was a lot of fun. The views were great, and the clanky old machinery was pretty cool too.
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