France June 2016 - Minitures Museum, Compiegne
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| We had just enough time for a quick visit to the Musee Municipal de la Figurine, featuring 30,000 little hand-painted figurines participating in historical events like Joan of Arc's capture and Napoleon's most famous battles. |
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Napoleon and his staff on the go in another huge diorama, I believe the “Bataillon au bivouac” which portrays of camp-life according to the rules set out in 1809 for the infantry.
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| Le Grande Armee on the march. |
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Le Grande Armee passing in review in front of the Tuileries Palace. [The Tuileries Palace was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine. It was the usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henry IV to Napoleon III, until it was burned by the Paris Commune in 1871.]
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| This huge diorama was the Battle of Waterloo. From Napoleon.Org: The most impressive diorama has to be that of the battle of Waterloo by Charles Laurent, who for greater accuracy used charts from Belgian military headquarters and worked on the reconstitution for 18 years (1905-1923). The diorama features almost 12,000 figurines spread out over 270 square feet and triangular panels signal the positions of all the protagonists (Napoleon, Wellington and the Ompteda's Hanoverian battalion). The different phases of the battle are related using lights and recorded commentaries. [Wish I'd known all this when I was looking at it!] |
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| The funeral processession of Napoleon after his remains returned from St. Helena. |
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American soldiers landing at Omaha Beach.
I could have spent half a day here but alas, we had places to go!
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Nearby the Musee Municipal de la Figurine was town center, featuring the Mairie De Compiegne (City Hall). As you can see, its raining so everything looks dark and gloomy.
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| The town square with the City Hall out of sight to the left. |
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