La Nuit aux Invalides is one of the not-to-miss highlights of a summer night in Paris. The monumental sound and light show is displayed on the interior courtyard of the Military Museum. The late night spectacle – it starts at 10:30 pm – is a sumptuous display of video, narration and music that tells the history of France in just 45 minutes.
We arrived very early because we wanted to make sure we got a good seat….meaning we did not want to stand or sit on the hard cobblestones. Turns out 30 minutes ahead of time is plenty of time. We spent our waiting time watching kickball teams of young people playing ball on the grass lawns in front of the museum.
The workers, however, responded to our request for seats and gave us a place to sit while we waited and escorted us to a small section of seats reserved for handicapped and elderly. After a month on the road we are a bit of both.
While waiting for the show we noticed hundreds of rabbits romping in the bushes outside of the military museum. One of the employees laughed and said the rabbits are very used to humans. “And what else do they have to do? So, voila! we have many, many rabbits.”
Rabbits aside, the computer-generated sound and light show gives breathtaking visuals from Gaul to the middle ages to the French Revolution and two world wars. The story line is all based on the history of the Sun King’s palace for the veterans of France’s wars and the many uses of the building for nearly 350 years.
Here’s the 2014 promotional video for the event. The promotional videos are just a tease for the beauty and spectacle of the show. Here’s the 2016 promotional video.
You can buy tickets at the museum or online for about 18 Euros. The show is presented in English on Monday and Thursday nights.
The Invalides metro stop is nearby but we Ubered over for about 7 Euros and got dropped off at the front gate.
After the show, we called another Uber who arrived in about 5 minutes. It was thrilling to see Paris lit up at night. We should have done a night right earlier because everything was so beautiful.
Enjoy the show!
My sister is so smart! That’s why she always beats me at trivial pursuit. Thank you.
I love the picture of all the “Military Museum rabbits” just wondering around 🙂 They must have been interested in the history too!
It was really funny to encounter the rabbits – the last things we expected to see.