Abraham Duquesne(1604 – 1688)

At a very young age, he followed in his father’s footsteps, who served in the Royal Navy. This young prodigy joined the Navy for his first tour on the “Petit Saint André” as lieutenant at the age of 17. He became Navy captain and took command of the “Neptune” at age 25. He sailed the seas until his final campaign in 1684 at the age of 80 years old.

By his skills alone, this self-educated commoner would rise through the military ranks:

Royal Navy captain under Louis XIII and Richelieu, Rear-Admiral of Flanders under Mazarin (1647), Lieutenant-General of the naval army under Louis XIV (1667) and Vice-Admiral of Sweden against the Danish.

His greatest military feat remains the Dutch war of 1676.

Duquesne won a brilliant victory over the Dutch-Spanish fleet led by Ruyter, the greatest Dutch admiral of all time. Ruyter was mortally wounded in the battle.

To thank him for his loyalty, the King Louis XIV gave him the title of “Marquis of Quesne, Baron of Indret, and Lord of Monros”.

Duquesne was not only a warrior with many titles under his belt. He was a man of courage, who also suffered a musket wound to his jaw. He was above all else an excellent navigator and the greatest shipbuilding specialist in the French Navy.

He laid out the French ports, among them the Brest Arsenal, and was the founder and organizer of the modern French Navy.

The English consider him to be the greatest mariner of his time.

He was the only mariner to have served under Louis XIII, Richelieu, Mazarin, and Louis XIV.

Louis XIV was bothered by him being a protestant and offered him the marshal’s baton and Vice-Admiral if he were to recant his faith, but he refused:

“If I had to betray my God, I might thereafter betray my King”.

In the end, Duquesne was removed from the Navy for Protestantism, but was not pursued and became the only protestant subject to retain his titles.

In 1792, Louis XIV baptized the “Duquesne”, a vessel equipped with seventy four canons. 13 warships would subsequently bear the name of the famous mariner.

Duquesne remains famous in naval history for his courage and audacity in battle. He rose only by the forces of merit and through his remarkable feats, without ever renouncing his faith or convictions.

Tough of spirit, and with a rebellious temperament, Colbert would find his motto: “It is I alone who makes the law”.

Gustave Eiffel (1832 – 1923)

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, born December 15, 1832 in Dijon (Côte d’Or), was a French engineer and industrialist who notably participated in the construction of New York’s statue of Liberty and Paris’ Eiffel Tower.

Gustave Eiffel was born into affluent surroundings. In 1843, Eiffel enrolled at the collège Sainte-Barbe before being accepted, in 1852, into the École centrale des arts et manufactures (School of Art and Manufacturing) in Paris, in addition to his eligibility at the École polytechnique.

While at the institution he would carry out brilliant studies, ultimately obtaining a diploma in chemical engineering in 1855.

His first great achievement was the construction of Bordeaux’s railway bridge in 1858 in collaboration with Paul Régnauld, during construction of which, at age 26, he assumed a leadership role. The success of this undertaking which linked the Compagnie des chemins de fer du Midi to the Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris in Orléans, earned him a first-class reputation.

In 1863, his collaboration with Paul Régnauld would lead him to the construction of la Passerelle Saint-Paul and the Sainte-Cécile Observatory in Arcachon.

A few years later, Eiffel, having already benefited from a great deal of experience, decided to launch his own company.

In 1866, he purchased metal workshops near Paris, in Levallois-Perret, in the former department of the Seine.

The company would go on to win several contracts for the construction of viaducts and buildings or steel structures. In order to do this, Eiffel did not hesitate in travelling all over Europe.

However, he is best known for the Eiffel Tower, built between 1887-1889 for the 1889 World Fair in Paris; the city for which it has become a symbol.

Eiffel passed away on December 27, 1923, in Paris.

The Duquesne Eiffel Hotel

the 1794 explosion of the powder magazine in Grenelle. The explosion was so powerful that the district's houses were shattered and the bridges cracked. The result was at least 1,000 victims, and a blast that was heard as far away as Fontainebleau (50km from Paris).

Inside the Grenelle workshop, two thousand workers were making powder in an overheated atmosphere without any protective measures taken up until that time.

The building, built in 1756, was originally a modest boarding house which hosted young Military School cadets.

It was not until the early 20th century that it became a tourist hotel.

Renovated in 1998 and again in 2009, one can still see traces of the past in the exposed beams and cut stone walls of the lounge, as well as the magnificent vaulted cellars which have undergone few changes since the construction of the building.