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Lunchtime Photo

This is Eve Despairing by Auguste Rodin. In the background is the dome of Les Invalides, the complex built by Louis XIV for soldiers who were wounded and disabled in his interminable wars.

Adjusted for population, Louis's wars accounted for about half as many fatalities in Western Europe as in all of World War II. However, he didn't like to be reminded of this by the soldiers who made it back. The dome of Invalides sits on top of a private chapel that Louis could use to attend Mass without having to mingle with the disabled veterans.

May 31, 2022 — Paris, France

5 thoughts on “Lunchtime Photo

  1. J. Frank Parnell

    Front and center in Les Invalides is the tomb of Napoleon. Stuck into an alcove is Field Marshall Foch, who surely ordered as many men to their death as Louie XIV.

      1. J. Frank Parnell

        Ah for the old days, when Mother Jones banned me for posting something approximating the following:

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