Created in 1905 by the merging of the artillery museum with the historic army museum, the army museum was one of the very first in the world and today houses the largest museum collection of military history in France. Established in the hôtel national des Invalides, a prestigious 17th century building commissioned by King Louis XIV to house injured soldiers, convalescents and invalids, the army museum brings together numerous masterpieces of military art from medieval times to present day, most notably a collection of weapons and armour, reduced-scale models of artillery and a rich collection of portraits and battle scenes, as well as historic souvenirs and army uniforms from the Old Regime up to the two world wars of the 20th century. Two religious monuments are attached to the army museum: the church of Saint Louis des Invalides, whose vault is adorned with French military trophies and the church of Eglise du Dôme, which houses the tomb of Emperor Napoleon the First. The museum is currently the subject of a modernisation programme called Athéna, with work to be completed in 2009. The first part was finished on the 18th of June 2000, with the inauguration of the wing dedicated to the Second World War.

Following its renovation, the museum's Eastern wing has been open to the public since the 1st of July 2006, displaying collections from Saint Louis to Louis XIII and from the 3rd Republic until 1938,. The 3rd phase of the ATHENA project will run from 2005 until 2009 and is dedicated to the reorganization of the east wing (2005-2007) and the installation of teaching and themed spaces, as well as workshops (2007-2009).
This historic monument, owned by the Ministry of Defence, belongs to the Culture & Defence protocol signed on the 17th of September 2005. Click here for a list of other buildings...
Address: Musée de l'armée Hôtel national des Invalides 129, rue de Grenelle 75007 Paris 7ème Phonenumber : 01.44.42.38.77 e-mail: comm-ma@invalides.org Opening times (Ticket desks close half an hour before): From the 1st of April until the 30th of September inclusive, from 10 am until 6 pm The Eglise du Dôme is open until 6.30 pm on Sundays From the 1st of October until the 30th of March inclusive, from 10 am until 5 pm The Eglise du Dôme is open until 5.30 pm on Sundays From the 15th of June until the 15th of September inclusive, the Eglise du Dôme is open until 7 pm. Closed : on the first Monday of every month, except in July, August and September when the museum is open every day without exception and the 1st of January, the 1st of May, the 1st of November and the 25th of December. Timetable: Open every day from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from the 1st October to the 31st March, and from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. from the 1st of April to the 30th of September The museum is closed on the 1st of January, the 1st of May, the 1st of November and the 25th of December, as well as the first Monday of every month, except during the summer period (July-August-September) during which it is open every day. Transports: Underground : Latour-Maubourg, Invalides, Varenne Bus : 28/49/63/69/82/83/87/92 Tariffs: Individual rate: 9 € Group rates and reduced price: € 7 Group of 10 persons and reservations 01 44 42 43 87 Free for residents and nationals of the European Union under 26 years Services: The Army Museum offers audio guides to accompany your visit to the Eglise du Dôme, which houses the tomb of Napoleon the First. All ticket holders (at full or reduced rate) have free access to a multilingual audio-guide service. Visitors who qualify for free entry can pay for this service (0.50 €). Summary: Reduced rate: students under 26 years old, ex-servicemen, holders of the large family card, groups of people over 60 years old (15 people or more) Free: under 18's, unemployed and benefit holders, disabled, students from the Ecole du Louvre, history and art history students, lecturers from national museums (CNMHF), curators of public museums, journalists, members of ICOM and ICOMOS, active military personnel and civil personnel from the Ministry of Defence. Access : Tickets are for entry to the Army Museum's exhibition halls (permanent collections), to temporary exhibitions, to the Eglise du Dôme (Tomb of Napoleon the First) to the museum of relief maps and to the museum of the Order of Liberation. A single ticket gives access to all the halls of the Army museum, the Church of the Dome, to the museum of the plans and relief and to the museum "Ordre de la Liberation".School groups and "tale visits": 40 euros each group Free: for adolescents under 18 years, active soldiers and civil personnel of the ministry of defence. A single ticket gives access to all the halls of the Army museum, the Church of the Dome, to the museum of the plans and relief and to the museum "Ordre de la Liberation".

Click here to tour Champigny Crypt online. Champigny-sur-Marne was often called Champigny-la-Bataille between 1870-1871 and 1914-1918, in reference to the fiercest battle of the Siege of Paris, which unfurled from 30 November to 2 December 1870.

The victims were given a decent and final funeral in community cemeteries around Champigny once peace was restored. Seine departmental authorities also decided to build a memorial to the memory of the unknown French and German soldiers that had died during that battle, and the French Government built a crypt around it. The several thousand soldiers that had fought each other outside, in other words, rest side by side within. Alfred Rivière, an architect, designed this memorial and supervised the building work.
This strikingly stark monument stands on a 925.75 sq m plot of land. A Lorraine-stone stele with a square base stands 5.75 metres high. A low pyramid stands on four heads, with leaves on the corner encircling the base with a crown. There is a shield protecting a palm leaf on the side facing the street. Bas-relief wreaths adorn the sides and back. There is one stark and concise inscription: Monument élevé par l'Etat à la mémoire des soldats morts pendant le siège de Paris bataille de Champigny (This monument was erected by the State to the memory of the soldiers that lay down their lives during the Siege of Paris, Battle of Champigny). The crypt is a vast rectangular gallery (2.60 metres wide) around the monument. The base at the back runs alongside the street and measures 30.5 metres. The widthways galleries that intersect it are 19.5 metres long each. These underground corridors nestle 31 vaults. Through a wrought-iron gate in the middle, you can see the stone altar of a small oratory. Belgian-granite plaque bear the names and numbers of the corps that took part.
Outside, a heavy iron fence embedded in stone pillars skirts the road and encloses the memorial. Two doors open into the galleries. Le talus of the platform covering the crypt is coated in stone along the galleries. It features two granite staircases which originally led to the garden, which has since become a terrace over the building and around the stele.
The ossuary's front wall has a stone plaque bearing the following inscription in French and German: Des combattants français et allemands inconnus tombés au cours de la bataille de Champigny-sur-Marne pendant le siège de Paris 1870-1871 reposent en cet ossuaire (French and German soldiers fallen during the battle of Champigny during the 1870-1871 siege of Paris rest in this ossuary).
Four period cannons stand on the four corners of the terrace. There are two similar cannons on either side of the front courtyard. There are three deep sloped and shouldered trenches around the building, adjoining the fences. The upper left-hand side has been turned into a grass garden terrace with trees, and there is a retaining wall by the road.
This building dates back to 1873. The crypt was built at a later stage and inaugurated on 2 December 1878. The governments of France and the Federal Republic of Germany agreed to fund necessary restoration work in 1968-1969 to keep alive the memory of their dead.
Champigny Crypt Memorial (Monument commémoratif de la crypte de Champigny) 32 Rue du Monument 94500 Champigny sur Marne

Built after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871, the Fort at Champigny-sur-Marne was intended for the protection of the capital. It forms part of the first defensive network designed by Séré de Rivières. It was built between 1878 and 1880 and has a surface area of 4 hectares. Its position was determined by lessons learned from the war: in December 1870 the Prussians had established two batteries just to the west of this site. Listed as of secondary importance by the legislation of 1874, its role was to block the railway line towards Troyes and to occupy the position of the Prussian batteries of 1870.

This fort with a central section is made up of a front, two flanks and a gorge. The trench, which is edged by a counterscarp and a semi-detached scarp, is separated by two caponiers, a basic one and one with a gorge. The ridge of the rampart is intersected by 13 cross sections, 6 of which have shelters. One of the northern cross sections houses the powder magazine (capacity of 80 tonnes). A passage underneath one of the southern cross sections was built in such a way as to serve as a casemate against indirect fire. The trench is crossed by a wooden bridge, but the entrance hall can be closed off by a retractable bridge and an armour-plated door.
The barracks enclose a cobbled courtyard. Half of it was housed on the ground floor, with men and sub-officers on the first floor, making a total capacity of 388 men, in addition to a cistern and various magazines. The guardhouse at the entrance is attached to the western part of the barracks, where officers were housed. The vaults are built of rough stone. The floors between levels are in brick. The 1911 project allowed 4300 Euros for modernisation works. Three concrete shelters on the ramparts, two machine-gun turrets and observation points were to be established. In 1914, the fort held no more than 10 cannons on the ramparts and 10 in the caponiers.
During the First World War its batteries, armed with ten 12 to 15 cm weapons, fired across the Avron plateau. The quarries were used to shelter troops, provisions and an ambulance. From 1939 to 1940 the fort was occupied by anti-aircraft defence units. There was a fire in the barracks in July 1944. The fort was declassified in 1965 and handed over to the land administration department in 1974. It was registered by ministerial decree on the 16th May 1979 on the Secondary List of Historical Monuments. Since 1984, it has been undergoing restoration.
Fort at Champigny-sur-Marne 140 bis, rue Aristide-Briand 94430 Chennevières-sur-Marne Tel.: 01.45.94.74.74 e-mail: communication@ville-chennevières.fr Bus stop: "Fort de Champigny" Guided tours Saturdays and Sundays 3 pm to 5 pm Free entry

This vast building behind a glass front is nestled in greenery and overlooks the valley below. It towers skyward a stone's throw from Schirmeck. And it casts light on one of history's rambling episodes, and on the suffering and self-sacrifice that episode brought upon thousands of men, women and children. The amazing architecture and setting convey the oft-misconstrued story of an area that jolted from one country to another as the border it skirts shifted. The 3000 sq m museum casts light on this hazy period between 1870 and the aftermath of WWII, which weighs upon this region's identity. And, as efforts to reconcile France and Germany were born from efforts to root peace across Europe, this memorial also showcases the foundations of European construction.

When you leave the glass-walled hall, you get the feeling you are descending into history's depths. At the foot of the sombre steps, you will find a staggering, cathedral-sized room. The 12-metre-high walls on either side bear 148 portraits of men and women from Alsace and Moselle, spanning every generation and every walk of life. They all have names. It might be someone's piercing gaze, engaging hairdo or original dress, but something will no doubt catch your eye. But this room, first and foremost, will put a face on textbook history. The stories this memorial tells, in other words, are not about statistics and remote people in a remote land. They are about children, grandparents, young women. About the children, grandparents and young women in that room. They will speak to you over the audio guide. They speak French, German and Alsatian. They tell you what happened over those 70 dissonant years. They tell you their story.
Hitler's shuddering voice rings out as you step into a rebuilt village station. Posters luring you to tourist destinations hang alongside evacuation orders. You take a seat in a train packed with luggage and personal belongings. A film on the wagon wall shows how 430,000 of Alsace's and Moselle's people were transferred to Southwest France. On the opposite wall, a corridor leads to a fort on the Maginot Line. The white walls strewn with electric wires, floor tracks, dormitories and armoured doors explain are chilling. The instructions aimed at drafted soldiers, speech excerpts and images from the front exude this peculiar war's atmosphere.
After the documents stating the terms of the occupation and de-facto annexation under the Third Reich, you will walk into a circling corridor displaying street name boards. The first ones are in French first, the last ones in German. The flags parading overhead surreptitiously transmute from France's red, white and blue to swastikas.
Then you reach a forward-tilting typically Germanic building. The only way forward is through this oppressive, half-prison, half-bureaucratic universe. Desks on either side show the population brought to heel and enlisted by force. Struthof Camp bodes ill at a distance.
The barbed wire, army camps, pale lights and watchtowers in the next room will give you a glimpse of what concentration camps felt like. Photos, papers and audiovisual documents in this bleak universe also speak of the resistance and of escaping into France.
You walk across this vast room on a 3.5-metre-high footbridge. The Vosges forest pines underfoot are a reminder that people crossing the border over the neighbouring heights were doing so illicitly. The scenery is scarred by war. Bombs have disfigured the land. Everything is littered with disfigured bicycles and car wrecks, strewn petrol drums, and such like debris. Bombers tear through the sky. A house crumbles. And images on the wall speak of the German retreat and the Landings. Liberation nears.
The next room is much more soothing. The floor is even. Towering columns mirror the return of justice and truth. This room tells the story of the Oradour massacre trials in Bordeaux. The red walls seem lined with drawers holding the hundreds of files under review. A well of images shows the process and purge.
The room before last is white and bathed in light. It is a breath of fresh air. Lit blocks show French- German reconciliation and European construction. This soothing and cheerful room leads to a projection room screening a film by Alain Jérôme. Then, you walk back into the vast transparent hall and esplanade, whence you can look out onto stunning views over the Vosges massif. And, across the valley, see Struthof camp and the European Centre on Resistance and Deportation (Centre Européen du Résistant Déporté).
Opening hours The Alsace Moselle Memorial is open from 10.00 am to 6.30 pm in winter and from 10.00 am to 7.00 pm in summer. Tickets are on sale until one hour before closing time. Admission Full fare: €10 Reduced fare: €8 Families (two adults and children): €23 Tours with audio guides Disabled-visitor access Shop Bar / Tearoom Educational Office - Workshops The Educational Office caters for school groups (with an educational director and assigned professor).

Housed in a former school since 1890, the current town museum of Châteaudun was set up in 1864 by the local archaeological society, to conserve local archaeological finds. Over time, the collections have been added to by Egyptian and African objects and, in particular, pieces connected to local history during the Franco-Prussian War.

History of the museum and collections The Musée des Beaux-Arts et d’Histoire Naturelle de Châteaudun was founded in 1864 by the Société Dunoise d’Archéologie, with the goal of preserving local heritage. From the beginning, the archaeological society received many donations from scholars, collectors and scientists.

Among them was the archaeologist Émile Amélineau (1850-1915), who discovered the royal tombs of Abydos in Upper Egypt (1st and 2nd Thinite dynasties). Archaeology and Egyptology
therefore form the cornerstones of today’s collections.

During the course of the 20th century, the museum of the Société Dunoise grew, as paintings, art objects and birds were added to its collections. Meanwhile, the town of Châteaudun received donations and bequests, as well as public loans: the Campana collection, 19th-century paintings, etc. The original museum, housed in the town hall, was transferred for a time to the Chateau of Châteaudun. Then, on 19 August 1890, the town council and the Société Dunoise signed an agreement for the museum to be installed in a former school. In 1897, the size of Marquis Léonce de Tarragon’s bequest to the town meant that an extension to the building was required, with a gallery containing 3 000 specimens of birds and mammals, which are still the making of the museum’s natural history collection today.

In 1952, the Société Dunoise d’Archéologie entrusted the collections to the municipality, while maintaining ownership. The museum therefore came under municipal control. Since then, many new acquisitions have added to the collections, not least the Wahl-Offroy donation in 1971, of art objects from the Near and Far East: ceramics, miniatures, weapons, etc. With a room devoted to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 and a reproduction of a Beauce interior from the early 20th century, Châteaudun’s town museum presents a diverse selection of objects that show the tastes of collectors and donors past and present.

The Franco-Prussian War room Overlooking Rue Louis Baudet, the museum’s second room commemorates Châteaudun’s resistance when it was besieged by the Prussians in 1870. On 18 October that year, the town was attacked by a 12 000-strong German infantry division. A group of 1500 francs-tireurs from Paris, national guards and firemen put up a brave defence. At their head was the Count of Lipowski, a graduate of Saint-Cyr military academy, decorated with the Légion d’Honneur. After the siege, General Von Wittich’s victorious troops set fire to the town, and its motto became Extincta revivisco, meaning “I am born again from my ashes”.

Paintings, engravings, objects, weapons and headdresses present this dark chapter of local and national history. Moullin’s oils and gouaches and Montarlot’s engravings depicting the barricades complement the series of photographs showing the destruction. The display pays tribute to the key figures of Laurentine Proust, Captain Ledeuil and General Lipowski. In the display cases, military paraphernalia is presented alongside mementos gathered from the rubble of the houses. Finally, at the back of the room is the bell from the town hall belltower, dated 1588, damaged by shellfire.
 

Musée Municipal des Beaux-Arts et d’Histoire Naturelle

3, rue Toufaire - 28200 Châteaudun - Tel.: +33 (0)2 37 45 55 36 Fax: +33 (0)2 37 45 54 46 (town hall – specify “Service Musée”)

Email: musee@mairie-chateaudun.fr

Opening hours:

Open daily (except Tuesdays, 25 December, 1 January and 1 May), 10 am to 12.30 pm
/ 1.30 pm to 6.30 pm, from 1 April to 30 September, and 10 am to 12 noon / 2 pm to 5 pm, from 1 October
to 31 March. Open Monday to Sunday, non-stop from 10 am to 6.30 pm, in July and August.

Group bookings for adults or children can be made on any
day except Tuesday.

Learning materials available on request.

Admission:

Adults: € 3.32 Under 18s: Free Guided tours (for groups of
more than 20 people only): € 2.99 School parties Châteaudun school: Free Others: € 1.29

Cycle of four themed conferences: € 43.85

Combo ticket: Museum and Chateau of Châteadun: € 7

Town of Châteaudun

Ouvert depuis 1911, il est dédié à la mémoire des Périgourdins et de leurs familles qui y ont déposé, depuis cette époque, armes, uniformes et souvenirs de toutes sortes, en complément de dons de l’État et de dépôts d’autres musées. Les collections évoquent la mémoire des combattants de la région, à toutes les époques, dans leur vie quotidienne, leurs engagements, qu’ils aient été soldats de métier ou simplement appelés sous les drapeaux, en la situant dans le cadre global de l’histoire militaire de la France.

Du Moyen Age à l’époque actuelle, les objets et documents présentés sont le plus souvent rares, remarquables, émouvants ou simplement pittoresques et proviennent autant de personnages célèbres (Daumesnil, Bugeaud …) que de simples soldats. Vous trouverez au Musée Militaire du Périgord, plus de 15 000 objets militaires.
Les conflits de 1914/1918, 1939/1945, Indochine, Algérie ont apporté leur lot de souvenirs, parfois remis par l’Etat comme les canons et mitrailleuses, prises de guerre sur l‘ennemi d’alors, mais aussi et toujours par les combattants eux-mêmes ou leur famille.

Et le flot ne tarit pas puisque ces dernières années, des souvenirs d’ex Yougoslavie ou de la guerre Du Golfe ont été inscrits à l’inventaire du musée. La présentation permanente des collections au public, s’accompagne d’expositions annuelles consacrées à un thème historique, tout en accordant également une assistance à l’organisation de manifestations locales organisées par diverses collectivités par le biais d’un service de conseil et de prêts d’objets.

Un effort particulier est exercé dans le domaine de l’éducation par un accueil des classes gratuit et accompagné sur des thèmes choisis par les enseignants. L’établissement est, depuis sa création, toujours géré par les membres bénévoles de l’Association du Musée Militaire des Gloires et Souvenirs du Périgord qui ont en charge la présentation et l’entretien des collections, organisent les expositions et assurent les visites guidées.

The château of Balleroy, the design of which inspired the design of the palace of Versailles, was built ex nihilo in 1631 at the request of the duke of Choisy by the architect François Mansart (1598-1666).

The architect gave the structure the first spiral staircase ever seen in France. Works by other masters, such as Baudry, Delaroche, Géricault, Gros and Van Loo add to the brilliance of the place named after count Albert of Balleroy, a talented animal painter a student of Schmitz, who exhibited his works at in the hall from 1853 to 1870.

The reception hall has a series of royal portraits of Juste d'Egmont crowned by a ceiling painted in trompe-l'œil style by Charles de la Fosse.

During the course of the renovation of the interior, the dining hall is fitted with Régence panelling from a private hotel in Paris.

The library, built in English style around 1850, houses more than 3600 works.

The park is lies between romantic gardens built in 1856 and French-style panels designed according to the plans of André Le Nôtre and altered by Henri Duchêne in the 19th century.

The property was acquired in 1970 by media magnate Malcolm S. Forbes (1919-1990).

He was a world-renowned balloonist who set six hot-air ballooning world records, and was the first to successfully cross the United States, from east to west, with a single hot-air balloon. He wass also a member of the consultation committee of the Naval College.

He decided to create an international balloon museum on his new property. The wealthy, passionate individual gradually built up the collection, collecting photographs, sketches, dioramas, genuinely unusual objects and unique documents on the history of air ballooning, in particular on the role of air balloons during the sieges that took place during the war of 1870.

Château de Balleroy - Musée des Ballons

F-14490 Balleroy

Tél. : 02.31.21.60.61 - Fax : 02.31.21.51.77

E-mail : reservation@chateau-balleroy.com

Château de Balleroy

In 1967, the French government acquired the collections of Raoul et Jean Brunon through an intermediary of the Military Museum of Paris.

The collection were transferred to Salon-de-Provence, where they were used to build a municipal museum before being moved to the château of Empéri, which dominates the city centre.

The entrance to the museum is in the ancient chapel that leads to the reception hall of the château.

The collections occupy around 30 of the rooms currently renovated.

The various pieces are displayed in 160 vitrines or hung on walls or ceilings.

The collections of the museum contain 10,000 authentic objects :

personal firearms and slashers, cannons, headgear, uniform helmets, flags and emblems, decorations, equipment, trappings, personal items, reduced-scale models, etc.

The scenography draws a distintion between seven periods: The Ancien Regime, the First Republic, Empire,

the Restoration, the African Army, the Second Empire and World War I.

The finial of the museum consists of halls from the Napoleonic period. The most impressive visual elements are the 130 mannequins, around 15 of which are on horseback.

Their faces have been crafted by Raoul Brunon using illustrations pf famous military figures.

♦ The entrance hall has an armaments and armour collection dating back to the XIV and XVII centuries, as well

as the history of the château. ♦ One hall is dedicated to the history of the Brunon collection : images of Epinal, uniforms and childrens' toys, etc. ♦ Another piece demonstrates the development of uniforms since the reign of Louis XIV. ♦ Two halls dedicated to the training of the French army from the reign of Louis XIV to the Revolution.

♦ Four halls on the army of the First Republic. ♦ There is an exhibit on the First Empire that takes in five halls: Campaigns, marshalls, the Legion of Honour, exile. ♦ The exhibit on the army of the Second Republic takes up

two halls. ♦ Six halls are dedicated to an exhibition on the Second Empire, from Magenta to Sedan, through the Crimean War. ♦ French and German armies echo in the part of the museum dedicated to World War I, from the Champagne fronts to the Chemin des Dames and Taxis de la Marne to victory. This collection was originally brought together by Jean Brunon in memory of his brother, who died at the front. ♦ Firearms and their history since Louis XIII are displayed in the display cabinets in two halls that can be accessed from the entrance hall. ♦ Two other rooms, accessible from the main hall. The first room is reserved for temporary exhibits.

The second, created using collections 14-18 and objects from the Ecole de l'Air, gives an insight into the history of military aeronautics. The collection begins with the period 1970-1980

This library is the second-largest store of military archives in France, after that of the history service of the department of defence. It has 24 000 volumes, 20 000 periodicals, 15 000 paintings, cartoons, etchings, autographs, official and personal documents, photographs, 5 000 maps, designs, letters and ship monographs.

Château de l'Empéri

Montée du Puech - 13300 Salon-de-Provence

Tel. : 04.90.56.22.36 - Fax : 04.90.56.90.84

Opening hours

October 1 to April 15: open daily except Mondays from 13h30 to 18h
From 16 April to 30 September: open every day except Mondays from 9.30am to 12pm and 14pm to 18pm.

The museum gift shop is located in the entrance hall

Association "Les Amis du Musée de l'Empéri"

Gateway to the sites and museums preserving the memory of the last three wars in the Ardennes department, the Museum of War and Peace in the Ardennes is located at Novion-Porcien.

Built by Agence Trois Arches at the initiative of the Ardennes Departmental Council, this site was inaugurated in July 2003.

Occupying four thousand square metres in two complementary spaces on the ground floor and on the first floor or mezzanine, national and local military aspects of the wars of 1870, 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 are presented.

The visitor reaches the museum from the East through an enclosed, semi-underground space.

The ground floor lets you experience the main events of the conflicts through ten large scenes, each accompanied by an explanatory video. The tone is set with the charge of Prussian infantry, the best trained and best equipped army of the day when Napoleon III declared war on Bismarck and Wilhelm I’s Germany after the Ems Dispatch. Then comes the fighting at the house of the last cartridge in Bazeilles, a village 8 km from Sedan where commander Lambert’s group of seventy men stood up to 2,300 Germans in September 1870.

World War I is depicted through the life of German and French troops in the trenches. The soldiers had left home with "flowers in their gun barrels", but found themselves in a war of positions in which men on both sides dug underground to protect themselves, giving rise to the figure of the French “Poilu” who suffered the rigors of the seasons, shortages and bloody attacks, which in the end led to mutiny.

This visit through five tableaux gives an idea of the military aspects of the last war. Everyday life on the Maginot Line during the Phoney War between September 1939 and May 1940, a fortified underground system desired by the French Army staff headquarters who were convinced that the Ardennes could not be crossed. Then "Case Yellow" is presented, the plan for invading France following the principle of the Blitzkrieg, a joint attack by armoured units and aviation that led to the Allied rout at Dunkirk and the establishment of the Vichy government after the armistice was signed on 22 June 1940.

Everyday life: STO (Service du Travail Obligatoire – Compulsory Work Service), deportation and resistance fill the next scene dedicated to the Allied landing in June 1944. The ups and downs and the importance of the logistical resources deployed to win the Battle of Normandy and the re-conquest of Europe form the narrative framework for the display of Anglo-American equipment such as jeeps, Sherman tanks, amphibious trucks and movable bridges.

Upstairs, the mezzanine lets you contemplate the scenes on the ground floor from a distance, but especially provides an initiation to the evolutions in warfare throughout history and the main progress made in weaponry. As before, information kiosks provide the scientific and technical explanations necessary for understanding each exhibit. The windows dedicated to changes in soldiers’ lives presents them in their uniforms, which trended toward keeping them invisible for the enemy, from red trousers to khaki outfits, not to mention the German feldgrau and the French bleu horizon, from the Pickelhaube (spiked helmet) and ceremonial uniforms to the Adrian helmet and the American M1 helmet, but also show their everyday life – packs and supplies, entertainment – and the progress made in health and hygiene – collective showers, toothpaste, shaving cream, etc.

The visit finishes with a look at the changes made in warfare through progress made in military techniques. Each main type is presented. You can take your time to delve into the revolution of rifled arms, cartridges, smokeless powder, shells, automatic arms and the machine gun (Maxim, Chauchat, M1 Garand), but also the continuity of ancestral battle techniques: knives, sabres, bayonets, and the headaches of cleaning out the trenches during World War I.

Museum of War and Peace in the Ardennes

Route Sery - 08270 Novion Porcien

Tel.: +33 (0)3.24.72.69.50

Fax: +33 (0)3.24.72.97.30

Motorway access, A4 to A34. Route de Sery.

Ardennes Departmental Council / General Directorate of Departmental Services /

Departmental Directorate of Tourism and Leisure Centres

Hôtel du Département

08011 Charleville-Mézières Cédex

Tel.: +33 (0)3.24.59.60.60

Fax: +33 (0)3.24.37.76.76 / +33 (0)3.24.52.48.02

Opening hours

The museum is open every day from June to September from 10 am to 7 pm

From 10 am to 12 pm and from 2 pm to 6 pm from October to May, every day except Tuesdays

Annual closing: 15 to 31 January, 1 January, 1 May and 25 December

Admission

Adults: €5 Under 18, military personnel, job seekers, veterans: €3 Families (2 adults and up to 3 children): €14 Groups (at least 20 people) Adults: €3.50 Schools: €2 Children under 6: free

Audioguide services available in French, English, German and Dutch.

Guided tours by reservation. The Museum is fully accessible to the disabled

Other resources – A temporary exhibition room is used to expand upon and round out the permanent exhibit – An auditorium can hold 70 people for conferences and projections – A leisure area

Ardennes Departmental Council

In 1815, the Congress of Vienna sentenced France to return Savoy to the King of Piedmont-Sardinia, allied with Austria. Victor-Emmanuel I used a proportion of the ample compensation paid by France to fortify the Alpine barrier and block the French army's passage into Italy.

Since the glacial rock bar allowing access into Piedmont was no longer protected since Napoleon had destroyed the fortress of Brunetta de Susa in 1796, the decision was made to reinforce the protection of the routes between France and Italy around Esseillon.

Dominating the Arc Valley along two kilometres over Modane, the rocky foothills of Esseillon, a natural defensive barrier a hundred metres high, blocks the access to the Haute-Maurienne Valley and Mont-Cenis Pass, between Savoy and Turin. In 1817, excavation was started to strip the rock intended to hold the future constructions. At the heart of the grandiose mountains of Haute-Maurienne, the huge construction of a military town was entrusted to a young captain from Piedmont, Olivero.

Educated on Austrian defence systems, he put into practice the theories of Marquis de Montalembert, a French artillery general in the 18^th century: the forts were designed to block the enemy’s path following a line of defence perpendicular to the direction of their progression. Five structures were erected, the way the valley flared placing everything out of the reach of enemy artillery stationed on the surrounding summits. Named after the first names of members of the royal family of the House of Savoy, these thick-walled forts flanked by breaks making crossfire possible. They form a majestic architectural ensemble that effectively fulfilled its role of blocking the path through Mont-Cenis Pass, the gateway into Italy, until 1860.

In this year, marked by Savoy's reannexation to France, the crenellations cut into the fort walls, mainly directed towards France, now served no purpose. The defence structures in Esseillon were modified by the French, in such a way as to counter invaders coming from the East.

In 1871, drilling started on the Fréjus Rail Tunnel, transferring the border defence fortifications to the valley around Modane. Stripped of any strategic interest and weakened by shells, these remote and cold imposing structures perched at over one thousand five hundred metres altitude were downgraded to a site for holding disciplinary battalions or prisoners. The fortifications were saved from fire until the Second World War.

Built between 1818 and 1828, Fort Victor-Emmanuel was the major component of the Esseillon defence system. Sat at the edge of a cliff at 1,350 metres altitude, the fort comprises a parallel series of eight, two-storey buildings, two of which were specifically batteries for cannons. The main entrance, reached by a wooden bridge extended by a metal drawbridge, led through to the headquarters building that housed the staff, the barracks, and logistics buildings, including two wells that supplied the garrison with water.

The fort’s fire plans were directed towards the village of Avrieux and the royal road connecting Chambéry to Turin, although a number of embrasures also flanked the area surrounding the Marie-Thérèse redoubt. A path suitable for motor vehicles bordered by projecting stones snaked inside the fort and facilitated the movement of batteries. Inside the building, a maze of staircases and vaulted galleries provided easy access for moving cannons about. On the Sardinian side, a ditch was bordered with caponiers, structures detached from the escarp.

A prison was built in 1833 for the purpose of holding Italian liberals. Initially conceived as a base station in the event of an attack, the fort was designed to hold a garrison of 1,500 men serving 35 cannons. A thriving hub, it also contained a hospital and a chapel. In June 1940, it was at the centre of the defence system of the 281st artillery regiment, before being used by the Italians, who started to imprison French resistance fighters there in 1943. During the course of winter 1944, Fort Victor-Emmanuel was used as a support base for the 6th battalion of Alpine hunter operating against the German troops entrenched at Mont-Cenis. Today, some entrance points into the fort are dangerous and are currently being reinforced as part of the general restoration programme of the complex.

Erected between 1819 and 1830, Fort Marie-Christine is the highest fort of the complex overlooking the structure in its entirety from an altitude of 1,500 metres. A typical perpendicular fortification structure popular with Marquis de Montalembert, rid of its traditional bastions, the hexagonal complex still maintains a perpendicular face to the enemy. Dedicated to defending the north side of the valley, the fort and its 20 cannons provided an effective flank of the Charles-Albert and Charles-Félix forts as well as the road leading to Aussois.
Encircled by a wall and preceded by a ditch in the east, and a vertiginous cliff to the west, the fort was built over three levels: a ground floor occupied by rooms used for logistics; a first floor where the army barracks were situated, and an upper level consisting of a covered terrace with cannon embrasures. The main entrance was protected by a weighbridge positioned under the crenellations at the guard posts. The central courtyard is surrounded by blockhouses surmounted with vaults that could hold up to 500 men. Originally, a secure passage was provided to Fort Charles-Albert by a long low building that is no longer standing today.

Entirely renovated, today Fort Marie-Christine offers visitors a number of features in addition to its historical interest and importance as a national monument. Housing a gîte and a restaurant, it is a fascinating place to stay and enjoy a meal. Also an activity centre, in 1987 it was made the fifth entrance to Vanoise National Park and offers climbing enthusiasts a range of well-established ascents for both novices and the more experienced.

Protected in the north by the Arc Abyss, to the west of the Saint-Anne Nant ravine, Marie-Thérèse redoubt is the only structure in the Esseillon defence system built on the left bank of the Arc Valley. Constructed from 1819 to 1825, this redoubt in the town of Avrieux was intended to block the Route Royale through Mont-Cenis Pass.

Within reach of the cannons at Fort Victor-Emmanuel, from the other side of the abyss, the structure resembles an irregularly-shaped horse shoe, the western end extended to house the entranceway and the weighbridge facing France. Designed to hold a garrison of two hundred men, the Marie-Thérèse redoubt was organised over two levels of vaulted blockhouses placed around a modest central courtyard. On the upper level, visitors can see triple embrasures, which can accept one cannon and two rifles. A shooting gallery buried in the counterscarp of the ditch thus guaranteed an efficient close defence system. Goods were initially supplied using a system of cables erected across the Arc Ravine and connecting the structure to Fort Victor-Emmanuel. Then in 1850, a narrow suspension bridge over the abyss broke the redoubt’s isolated position by connecting it to the structures located on the opposite side of the Arc Gorges: a covered walkway stretched the length of the bridge, which was defended by a guardroom.

The same year, a swing bridge controlled by a small fort set 50 metres back from the redoubt was erected to protect the access to the fort.

In June 1940, the redoubt was occupied by the 281st infantry regiment, then, after the armistice, by the Italian and German troops until September 1944. Currently under renovation, a part of the structure is today open to visitors. Suspended 100 metres over the void, the bravest visitors can enjoy an unspoilt view over the Arc Gorges from the ‘devil’s bridge’. This gangway destroyed in 1940 was reconstructed in 1989 as part of the project to open the Esseillon site as a cultural and sports site and is today one of the starting points of the via ferrata climbing trail.
Completed in 1827, this building, just like Fort Marie-Christine (wife of Charles-Félix) formed a small unit designed to block the path of troops along the road connecting Aussois and Modane. Stood on the western cliff, it was accessed from the east via an earth ramp leading to an immense door made from hewn stones facing Fort Victor-Emmanuel.

To the rear of the building, a cemetery, known as the Sardinian Cemetery, was used to bury the dead from across the Esseillon site.

When Savoy was annexed to France in 1860, the agreements signed by Napoleon III and Cavour, the prime minister of the nascent state of Italy, stipulated that the fortified complex at Esseilon must be completely destroyed. However, Fort Charles-Félix was the only structure wrecked on the emperor’s order, after three days of shellfire. Visitors are strongly dissuaded from entering the structure today due to the high risks of collapsing walls. Between Fort Marie-Christine and Fort Victor-Emmanuel, the fort ruins make a breathtaking site from the main road, revealing the former dungeon surrounded by a star-shaped wall.

In 1832, the construction of a last fort was started. This was due to the fact that the defence system made up of the existing four structures contained a breach north of the village of Aussois. Linked by a trench to Fort Marie-Christine standing at the same altitude, Fort Charles-Albert was therefore intended to complete the entire complex by blocking access to the north of the site of Esseillon. The structure was never completed and the construction terminated in 1834. Today, only the ruins of two small garrison buildings and the base of one tower can be seen overlooking the valley in Aussois.

Esseillon Fort

Aussois Tourist Information Centre, Maison d’Aussois, 73500, Aussoi

Tel: +33 (0)4 79 20 30 80

Fax: 04.79.20.40.23

Email: info@aussois.com 

Tours

Visitors can take guided tours around the buildings open to the public. The new vocation of Esseillon’s defence system is also enhanced by numerous tourist trails with a variety of themes. Nature trails are a great way to explore the wealth of flora and fauna in the region, offering routes to be explored by foot or snowshoe via a network of footpaths, climbing trails for the more athletic or restoration projects at the structures in high season for a more laborious activity. There are a variety of ways to discover the forts in Esseillon and the area surrounding this unique fortified complex in France.

Getting there

From Chambéry (107 km), Grenoble (145 km), Lyon (220 km), Geneva (200 km), or Turin (110 km), via the alpine A43 or A41 motorways (exit at Modane). From Modane (7 km), international train station, by the D215.

Site of Maison d’Aussois