“Was Philippe Lebon really murdered?” someone in the group might ask. A chill runs down your spine as we stand before the grand Avenue Philippe Lebon. No one knows for sure how Lebon met his end, but the stories are as numerous as the trees lining this avenue. Avenue Philippe Lebon, named after the brilliant, yet tragically short-lived, French engineer, Philippe Lebon. He was a visionary who, at the turn of the 19th century, dared to imagine a world illuminated by gaslight. Lebon’s “thermolampe,” patented in 1799, utilized gas distilled from wood, paving the way for the gaslights that would one day illuminate the streets of Paris. Sadly, Lebon’s brilliance was cut short. He died in 1804 at the young age of 37. While some accounts suggest a mundane illness, whispers persist of a more sinister end – perhaps an assassination on the eve of Napoleon’s coronation. Though his life was short, Lebon’s legacy lives on in the warm glow of every gas lamp and, of course, in the avenue that proudly bears his name.
Église Notre-Dame de l’Air
Beneath what appears to be a simple stone and wood structure lies a history interwoven with faith aviation and community.