Alex at Historical Tapestry has a wonderful post on the Paris of For the King. She remarks, and how right she is, that the city is one of the main characters of the novel. So she illustrated various passages with paintings and engravings of the old Paris, and photographs of the modern one. It is [...]
Thanks to Richard at Le Fleur de Lys too for remembering this grim anniversary. On the 10th of June 1944, four days after D-Day, the SS regiment Der Führer, belonging to the division Das Reich, quartered in south-eastern France, is getting ready to leave for Normandy to fight the Allied landing. Nearby stands the quiet [...]
Joan of Arc, or Jehanne d’Arc, died at the stake on the 30th of May 1431. This Sunday if the 579th anniversary of her death, as well as her Feast. Every year, I try to write a post on this blog to honor her. I say “try” because any words I could find are inadequate [...]
Diane de Poitiers is one of the foremost ladies of the French Renaissance. As the mistress of King Henri II, twenty year her junior, she wielded immense political influence. She was given the royal title of Duchesse de Valentinois, and much of the crown jewels. The palatial chateau of Anet was built for her in [...]
Henri was known as le bon Roy, the good King. I found memoirs of the Revolution in which he is mentioned, almost 200 years after his death, as “the only king whose memory the people of France have treasured.” When the royal tombs at the Abbey of Saint-Denis were destroyed in 1793, an eyewitness reports [...]
As promised, Stephanie Cowell‘s guest post! —————————————————- The grave was overgrown, the headstone worn and tumbled when you used to walk through the graveyard of the old church of Vétheuil in search of Monet’s muse and first wife Camille. For a hundred and twenty years, the remains of the beautiful woman who died young had [...]
I am honored to host a guest post by fellow writer Christy English, whose début novel, THE QUEEN’S PAWN, has just been released. Christy kindly agreed to tell us more about the two French princesses, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Alaïs of France, who are the protagonists of her novel.
I could think of no better way to convey my wishes for 2010 than to post another of the extraordinary miniatures of the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, the prayer book of that most worldly of medieval princes, Jean de France. Here we see the Duc himself, ever the bon vivant, receiving his [...]
I had to go to Vincennes this morning to do some research in the military archives and found my city more beautiful than ever in its velvety white coat, under a white sky. So I wish to share this picture of the Square des Batignolles with you, and invite you to watch this slide show on [...]
When people think about Van Gogh, they might think about the Netherlands, his birthplace and locus of his earliest artworks, or they might think about Provence, where his most famous paintings were created. But Paris, key to Van Gogh’s artistic development, should not be ignored. As a fledging art dealer in his youth — yes, [...]
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