He became engaged in the planning and construction of the Paris Universal Exposition of 1878. He proposed to the Minister of Education, Jules Ferry, that the Palais de Trocadero, the main building of the Exposition on the hilltop of Chaillot, be transformed after the Exposition into a museum of French monuments, displaying models of architecture and sculpture from landmarks around France. This idea was accepted. The National Museum of French Monuments opened in 1882, after his death. The Palais was reconstructed into the Palais de Chaillot in 1937, but the Museum of French Monuments was preserved and can be seen there today.