The soldiers of the French Revolution are coming back to the Invalides in Paris!

French Revolution soldiers in the "Cour d'Honneur" (Court of Honor) of the Invalides

Do you know the "Hotel National des Invalides" in Paris?
The King Louis XIV built the "Invalides", a military hospital for war veterans and unwell soldiers (the "invalides" of war). See this link.

Les Invalides - La Cour d'Honneur

The Dome Church is very famous (now covered by gold), notably because it contains the tomb of Napoleon I.

Napoleon I in the Cour d'Honneur (statue previously at the top of the Vendôme Column)

This weekend of December 7th and 8th is the celebration of the Artillerymen with numerous Artillery demonstrations and many historical re-enactments. See the following program:

Click on the picture for a larger view

Horse drawn Gribeauval cannon in the Invalides

See the following films of some of these demonstrations (you can choose HD mode):

Where was the FIAC?

WHERE

HERE (Jean Dupuy - 2013)

Where was the FIAC this year? Here => http://www.fiac.com/en/hlmfiac2011.html?lg=en

Read this post of 2012 for more explanations.
Look at some of the FIAC artistic pieces in Paris gardens:

• Like WHERE and HERE, also in the Tuileries:

The Golden Sphere - James Lee Byars - 1992-2012

Pont - Shen Yuan - 2004

• or in the Garden of the Plants:

Nijinski Hare - Barry Flanagan - 1996

Château de tôle - Stéphane Vigny - 2011

Man Still - Gilles Barbier - 2013

• or on the new banks of the river Seine:

Rémanence Chlorophyllienne - Philippe Rahm - 2011-2013

You can still see some of them in November. Enjoy!

Growth of the "love" padlocks on the "Pont des Arts" in Paris

7 days of a new railing on the Arts footbridge ("Passerelle des Arts" or "Pont des Arts")

Look at the following slideshow. See how quickly evolves the newly installed railings on the Bridge of Arts.
See 7 days of these 3 new railings, from 13th to 20th August 2013:

The "Love padlocks" have been very much in the media. You surely heard about them. The "Pont des Arts" is surely one of the most romantic spots in the world that is why it has such a success with the padlocks...

See three posts of mine with some pictures and explanations:
A little pause on the Pont des Arts (see the bridge in 2010 and the density of the padlocks)
On the bridge of "L'archeveché" (explanations of the "Love padlocks")
The bridge in June 2012 (see the bridge in 2012 and the density of the padlocks)

This "Love Padlocks" fashion is recent, look at the "Pont des Arts" in 2009:

Le Pont des Arts in 2009 - You can see the water through it (no padlocks at the time)

Consider the density of the padlocks now, in 2013:

Compare the left railing to the new installed one on the right

Why does the City of Paris installs new railings?

Look at this photo:

Heavy padlocks - This railing is to be replaced

Installation of a new railing:

There are nearly 84 railings on the Pont des Arts, each one, due to the padlocks, weighing 150 kg, it gives more than 12 tons of padlocks for the Bridge...

Paris replaces them regularly to avoid a security issue due to the weight.
Well, don't worry too much for your padlock, your love is forever and the key at the bottom of the river Seine is still there to testify your link!

See also this report (in French):
http://www.francetvinfo.fr/tourisme-le-canal-du-pont-des-arts_372692.html