Travelogue XV: Paris night and day

 Upon arrival in Paris, in the evening, we set up in the hotel then took to the warm May night in Paris.

a little bit of tourist activity in front of
Moulin Rouge

Part of the plan for me was to
trade some patches I had from
Sayward Volunteer Fire Rescue
for some patches from places
we visited

 

I planned to make contact with "les Pompier de Paris" as a feature of our visit to the city.

I got a great little visit to the station 7, near the Moulin Rouge (you see it in their patch), and had a huge opportunity to practice some technical French in the hydrant discussion, you see the firefighter doing a talk about the wet hydrants under the streets of Paris and pointing out that there is only one 'above ground' hydrant in the city.

The next day we went out to explore more with the plan to go to Les Invalides and the Army Museum. 

Upon seeking breakfast we found an immense street market (it went for at least 6 blocks we could see), that apparently only happens in the city two times each year and the day before (while we were under the English Channel on Eurostar) there had been an immense rain and hail storm with fist sized hailstones.

there was a wonderful carousel

It was in this (no so) little market that I spotted some Del Prado 54mm miniatures, then the vendor showed me a covered basket (from the day's rains before) that was filled up with dozens of these miniatures, including three cannon carriages.  There were no cannons on them as the vendor said the street thieves had taken them.

He sold the lot to me for 45 euro, and we would come to understand how great a deal that was in our last night in London to come in another day.

happy vendor

 

the seven figures at 5 euro each

note the 'Marie-Louise' soldier in the front
(with shouldered musket)

I took these photos just before posting
this blog post after returning home

 

I have a mold for a rather large cannon barrel, that I think I can modify to work for all three of these carriages.

While I am at discussing a purchase I should also share what was picked up at Foundry in Nottingham:

the whole grouping

ECW was half of my focus
and I was surprised by this King Charles
and Cromwell set that I had not seen before

while seeking some dueling minis I spotted this set

my other main focus was duelists to fill
out for the planned "Duelist" film game
vignettes and mini-games

the sandwich-board man (seen at the bottom of the picture)
was my main aim with this purchase, and I also found
the suffragette version of the same person
along with Sherlock Holmes fun and others
making for a potentially interesting Victorian Pulp game set

We then took to the road, in a taxi this time as the metro is not as developed as in London, and made for Les Invalides.

too many cannon to count

this shield appeared to be made this shape

so many statues and artistic parts of the city

Mars

and Minerva

flanking the entrance

to the French Army Museum

the sculpture is exquisite

eventually we would visit the dome

we get to his tomb there in the dome

the 'sun' King

This post is already running long and I want to dedicate many posts to the amazing displays inside the French Army Museum.

for now we start with the army museum

Travelogue X: FOUNDRY in Nottingham

 

yours truly in the FOUNDRY factory store in Nottingham

So I was off on a solo adventure into the Midlands, driving a stick shift manual transmission on the opposite side of the road (from what I am used to) and there were so many diversions!  I was out into little hamlets with tons of roundabouts and could not get onto the A2 because of construction in the primary area I wanted to connect.

along the way I managed to get behind a larger
'lorry' and followed it quite a ways
along the diversion path ...
the roads were so close, these two trucks
nearly kissed mirrors

the factory and store was in a church

located near a historic battlefield

I was amazed as the simple mass of minis available.  Essentially everything on the website could be found here.

my view upon arrival

So while I searched for some specific models I wanted, I also took many photos.

there are loads of painted models
sort of a reference collection in many
of the eras that FOUNDRY has

old Warhammer?

there were so many collections

they were in double-sided glass cases (to keep down dust)
and were used as 'room dividers'
between the different sections of the store

then there was this amazing METAL
castle wall and towers setup

apparently this was from a foam set
that was first made in the 1980s
the wooden original had disappeared

then one day this METAL copy appeared
looking like it had been made from a mold
based on the wooden original

then there was another little room
dedicated to only the
painted models

My purchases were mostly related to ECW (some 'wounded' and 'disorder' markers), a few dismounted dragoons, a Scottish frame gun and crew and I also stumbled upon a Cromwell and King Charles set that I had not seen before.

Added in a highwayman and woman set.  Along with a charging Napoleonic Hussars set(s) so that we can re-create "The Duelists" horseback duel.  (more about duels stuff coming)

I also wanted to have the 'sandwich board' man from the Victorian era, and found a protest woman with a sign as well (in sets).

Expect a follow up on all of these once painting progress can be returned to - summertime has made the painting time more limited along with various multiple house(s) that need repairs/updates/changes - having to sell a house and still keep up one while searching for a bigger replacement brings all sorts of issues.

the cases were mirror backed

you could almost track the styles of painting
back to the 1970s

then it was time to leave ...
finding the shop is just past this 'gateway'
at the end of the post code roadway
going too far takes you into pastures
that were the old battlefield

Then I was on my way to meet up with a gamer that I had only met via our email connection after conversing on FB.

dinner in Birmingham!