Egyptian Culture in France

France conquered Egypt between 1798 and 1801. During that period, France's greatest military leader, Napolean Bonaparte became extremely fascinated with the wonders of Egypt that he ordered various scholars to study its treasures. Their extensive research resulted in a series of publication called Description de l'Egypte (English translation: Description of Egypt).

Napolean's discoveries in Egypt gave rise to a fascination for ancient Egyptian culture and the birth of Egyptology in Europe. This is probably why I saw a few Egyptian culture in France like this statue in Versailles:

This statue has a fusion flavour to it - top part is decked in Egyptian regalia, whereas the bottom part is dressed like a Greek goddess. I almost missed this statue because it's small.

And this obelisk in Place de la Concorde, Paris:

Night shots are difficult to snap as they turn out blurred most of the time. Luckily you can still see that this is an obelisk :P

But the most obvious Egyptian influence in France would probably be the popular glass pyramid at The Louvre Museum:

The glass pyramid at The Louvre has also become popular due to Dan Brown's best selling novel, The Da Vinci Code.

The next time you visit France, watch out and see if you can spot any more Egyptian culture. They may be right in front of your eyes like the glass pyramid at The Louvre, or hidden in a corner like that small statue in Versailles.