Despite the humiliation of the Franco-Prussian War, we owe much of Paris, and of France, to Napoleon III, nephew of Napoleon I. #III, who had been elected President in 1848 or so, appointed himself Emperor a few years later, and then presided over the industrial revolution in France, had genuine concern for the masses, and made some great appoinments, mainly Baron Haussmann to rebuild Paris. Anyhow, in the 1860's this part of the Louvre was the State Department, so to speak, and what are called the Napoleon III Apartments are really the halls of state for reception, socializing, dining, and dealing. They are very nearly as they were in the reign of III and are as sumptuous and over the top as anything you'd see at Versailles, Garnier, or the Hotel de la Marine.
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| Love the menage a trois couch in the foreground |
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| Musicians' balcony |
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| Empress Eugenie |
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| Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte III |
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| Nice view |
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