Episode 89 - Vivian Maier

Vivian Maier stacks up next to some of the greatest photographers of our time, but she never planned on being seen. Born February 1, 1926 to a French mother and an Austrian-American father she would be remembered as never without her camera after the age of 10. Vivian’s parents separated when she was just three and in 1932 she left for her mothers native France. Influenced by Jeanne Bertrand and artist and photographer and close friend to her mother, she began to take photos around the small Haute Alps village. 

In 1951, Vivian was hired as a  nanny  for a Southampton family. In 1956 she moved to Chicago and began to work with the Gensburg family and their three boys who would remain in her life until her death. A series of families followed and each move included her 200 boxes filled with every single piece of her life including hundreds of undeveloped film canisters.

In 2007, Jon Maloof, a young Chicago real estate investor bought a new house and wanted to write a history of the area and needed some old photos. At the auction house across the street he found a large collection of negatives and film. He placed a bid on the largest box for $380 and that was the start of a obsessive hunt. Once he began to look at the photos he was stunned by how amazing they were. He tried to find info on the photographer but she was totally unknown. 

Maloof hunted down the buyers of the other boxes and purchased everything he could and found the artist's name, Vivian Maier. A google search came up with nothing but he continued to put her life together like a puzzle. In 2009 he happened to search for her online again and this time found her obituary.

Vivian worked as a nanny for more than 50 years. In her final years without any of her own family left, the Gensburg boys stepped in and took care of her. She lived a very quite life venturing between the park and her apartment until November of 2008 when a fall on the ice landed her in a care facility. The boys took care of her and also rented a storage unit for her things. On April 21, 2009 she took her last breath and finally came out of the shadows. 

In 2008, a year before she died Jon Maloof began to upload her photos one by one onto Flickr and became a instant sensation. In 2009 after he found her name it led to the Gensburg boys and they told him to take whatever they didn’t keep. Her life now came together before their eyes. 

The rest of the world finally discovered Vivian in 2013 when Finding Vivian Maier's documentary came out and was a hit. There was a court case against Maloof wondering if he did enough to find her heirs and a foundation in her name and a scholarship created by Maloof. Today her collection is featured in museums around the world and recently in Paris at the Musée du Luxembourg which constantly had a line to attend.

The photos in black and white are amazing and a slice of time that is long gone. Vivian had an amazing eye and her photos are some of the best I had ever seen. A few pulled you in and still have not let me go. To see more of her work visit VivianMaier.com and keep an eye on where and when you can see the images yourself.

Episode 88 - The Statues of Notre Dame

On the night of April 15, 2019 as we watched the flames reach the sky from the roof of Notre Dame de Paris it was hard not to be heartbroken. The cathedral of Paris belonged to the entire world and there was a collective gasp as we watched and hoped it for the best. 

In an unbelievable stroke of luck just four days before the fire the statues of the roof were removed one by one. On April 11, 2019 the twelve apostles flew over the streets to head south for a bit of a freshening up. The plan was to return them two by two to Notre Dame to be placed on display before their return to their roof. The plans changed but we are very lucky they can now be seen up close, an opportunity that you don’t want to miss. 

In 1795, my hero Alexandre Le Noir jumped into action to save the monuments of France that were in the path of destruction by the Revolution. The tombs of the kings and queens in the Basilique Saint Denis would have been lost if not for Alexandre. The rescued monuments made their way to the Ecole des Beaux Arts and became the first Museum of French Monuments. It lasted until 1815 when the contents were returned to their rightful homes Emmanuel Viollet-Le-Duc, an architect that plays a major part in Notre Dame had a dream to recreate the museum and in 1879 it was revived and opened at the Trocadero. 

Filled with the casts of French churches and monuments it was the perfect home for the statues of Notre Dame until they can return to their peak over the Seine.

In 1842 Viollet-le-Duc and Baptiste Lassus were selected to rehabilitate the grand lady. HIs early plan included the addition of two spires on the roof. The former spire had been removed in 1797 for safety issues and an entire generation never knew the church with a spire. Coming off the renovation of Sainte Chapelle, Viollet-le-Duc wanted to add statues to the roof and tapped Adolphe Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume who he had worked with on Sainte Chapelle. 

Work began on the Apostles in 1848 and they were a bit more than meets the eye. The inner structure was created with iron and then covered with copper sheets making for a much lighter statue that could stand far above the streets. In the Périgeux offices of SOCRA the statues arrived and the work began. Many of the internal structures had to be partially replaced. Micro-sandblasting with apricot powder the outer layer of patina was removed. A dark bronze colored paint was added and coated with wax and after a month of work the statue was complete. 

There are 16 total statues, twelve  Apostles and four Evangelists and they can all be found in the rarely visited Cité de l’Architecture & Patrimoine. There are four different body types and Dechaume then made each unique with their head, hands and attributes. 

Saint Pierre (Peter), is of course holding a key as he is always depicted in almost every church you will ever enter. Waiting at the gates of heaven, the “Prince of the Apostles” is the first you'll also encounter as you walk in. Saint Pierre is the patron saint of clockmakers, locksmiths, foot problem and Las Vegas as well as a very long list of others. 

Saint Matthieu (Matthew) A former customs officer and tax collector that left to follow Jesus also wrote the first gospel. The open book he holds is a nod to that. Matthieu is the patron saif of accountants, Italy and perfume makers. 

Saint André (Andrew) The brother of Saint Pierre, he was a fisherman and one of the first disciples chosen. Sentenced to death by dying on the cross he asked that his cross be different from the one Jesus was crucified. A cross in the shape of an X was created and he magically attached to it instead of having to be nailed. Today he is the patron saint of fishermen, singers, pregnant women and Scotland which uses the cross of Saint Andrew as its flag. 

Saint Jude The same body as Saint Thomas he is without any attributes. 

Saint Simon In this statue he is holding a book, but is often seen holding a long saw that was the instrument of his death. 

Saint Bartholomew The first statue to be restored, he is holding a knife to signify his rather gruesome death. He had been skinned alive and beheaded and now is the patron saint of butchers and leather workers, which is a bit gruesome. On a lighter note he is also the patron saint of cheese and salt merchants. 

Saint Jacques Le Mineur (James the Younger) Holds a club that he was killed with, often depicted with stones that he was struck with. 

Saint Paul Once the persecutor of Christians he had a divine revelation and converted and became a preacher. Killed in 64AD with a sword that cut off his head, he now rests his hand on a sword and strokes his beard. 

Saint Jacques Le Majeur (James the Major) At the scene of many of the most important events he was one of the closest disciples of Jesus. He preached through Spain and was the first to be executed in 44AD. His names is given to the pilgrimage walk, the Compostela and can be seen with a walking stick. He also gives his name to scallops and is the patron saint of Spain, Seattle, pharmacists and oyster fishermen. 

Saint Jean (John) The youngest and beardless one is always easy to spot. One of the most loyal Apostles, he holds a cup that signifies his miracle of drinking poison and surviving. 

Saint Philippe Holds the cross from which he was killed and is the patron saint of pastry chefs and hat makers. 

At the base of each cardinal point leading to the spire is one of the four evangelists in the form of four living creatures. Each is in the same pose and has their heads turned towards the saints that look below. 

The Eagle of Saint Jean, the Angel of Saint Matthieu, the Lion of Saint Marc and the Ox of Saint Luc. 

The last saint you will find has a special added touch. Saint Thomas, the patron saint of architects, takes on the physical appearance of Viollet-le-Duc. Dechaume also added the architect's name to the ruler that he holds out from his right side as his left arm is raised. Unlike the other 11 statues of the Apostles, Saint Thomas turns to look up at his spire. 

I am relieved that he didn’t have to see his beloved spire burn on that early spring evening. 

Also on sight is the miracle rooster that once crowned the spire. As the fire ate away at the fleche, all I could think of was the rooster that held three precious relics. When the spire could no longer hold itself up it crashed into the transept of the church and the rooster was thought to have perished. The next day, architect Philippe Villeneuve was photographed holding the battered rooster with the relics still safely inside. 

Those precious relics include a piece of the Crown of Thorns. A relic of Saint Denis, the 3rd century patron saint of Paris that was beheaded and walked five miles holding his head. And a relic of Sainte Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris that saved the city numerous times during her life and many times in the 1600 years since her death.  I think she did it once more on April 15, 2019 saving the beloved Notre Dame from total destruction. 

Be sure to visit the Cité de l’Architecure & Patrimoine when you are next in Paris. Located at the Trocadero, just across from the Eiffel Tower it is open Wednesday - Monday 11am - 7pm and Thursday 11am - 9pm. 

However, don’t wait to explore, watch my video that shows you all these treasures of Notre Dame and more.

Episode 87 - Olympe de Gouges

There are always a few women in history that are remembered for shaking things up a bit. Olympe de Gouges is definitely one of them and she did it back in the 18th century. 

Born May 7, 1748 in Montauban, Marie-Olympe Mouisset wasn’t sure who her father was. At 17 in 1765 she married Louis-Yves Aubrey de Gourges. The next year son Pierre was born and just two years after their marriage her husband was swept away in a flood. 

In 1770 she moved to Paris with her sister and became the belle of the Paris Salons. Jacques Biétrix de Rozières who was a director of a military transport company who wanted to marry the lovely Olympe but she knew she had more freedom as a writer as a widow than married.

Olympe began to speak up through her words and on the stage. Creating her own theater company of women that would perform her plays. Her first play was Zamore et Mirza. The story of slavery in the colonies that never took the stage. It was 1784 and the Comedie Francaise received death threats and the controversial play would have to wait but would still send her to the Bastille. 

One play after another spoke out against women’s rights and those that couldn’t and would all lead her to her biggest accomplishment. As the Revolution neared she supported the monarchy until the day Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette tried to escape. She had hoped MA would support the rights of women including the freedom of speech, voting and running for office. The Rights of Men was published in August of 1789 and two years later Olympe would publish her own version.

On September 14, 1791 the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen was made public. The 17 articles were reimagined and many were the same as the mens, just changing the gender. 

Of course this didn’t sit well with Robespiere and had her arrested on July 20, 1793. She was charged five days later with “writing works contrary to the wants and needs of the people”. A trial followed in October, but the end was laid out long before. On November 4, 1793 she walked the scaffolding to her death by guillotine. She would live on as a symbol for centuries as the woman that stood up for so many and laid the path for equality.

Episode 86 - Sainte Genevieve Part Two

When you visit the many churches of France you will find small marble plaques in many of the chapels. The Ex-votos are messages of appreciation to a certain saint or to Christ. These can also come in other forms as well. 

There are many dedicated to Sainte Genevieve all over Paris in statues, art and even a grand piece of architecture.  After her relics were used to save the city and country members of the government and royalty thought it was a smart PR move to align themselves with Sainte Genevieve. 

In 1696 Nicolas de Largilliere had sketched out a design for a calendar but as the piece came to life it needed a large canvas. The Ex-voto for the Corps de Ville de Sainte Geneviève"  featured the leaders of the city government including the prevot Claude Bose and is surrounded by other officials seated inside of Notre Dame de Paris. Above them in the dark  cloud is Sainte Genevieve who looks down and reminds of the 1694 miracle of her relics bringing the rain back. 

The largest ex-voto was as a result of a promise made by Louis XV. On August 17, 1744. At war with Austria, Louis XV fell deathly ill in the city of Metz. He said a prayer that if he survived he would have a church built and dedicated to Sainte Genevieve. He survived and kept his promise, but it took ten years before the funds were requested and another ten before anything began.  

On September 6, 1774 the first stone was laid with the king and architect Jacques Germain Soufflot on hand. A large wooden model of the Pantheon stood at the top of the hill while fireworks exploded and cannons fired. In August of 1788 enough of the Eglise dedicated to the saint was completed that she was finally able to move in. It wouldn’t last long, by 1790 she was moved over to Eglise Saint Etienne de Mont. 

At the death of Mirabeau on April 2, 1791 the government decided they needed a temple dedicated to the great men of France and the Eglise Sainte Genevieve was changed to the Pantheon.

After the Revolution and through multiple rulers the building bounced back and forth between church and temple many times. While she never came back, the inside of the structure today still has some reminders of her. Between 1882 and 1885 four artists were commissioned to paint the many scenes of her life. Surrounding the Greek cross transept on the high walls are the paintings of Pierre-Puvis de Chavannes, Théodore Pierre Nicolas Maillot, Jean Paul Laurens and Jules-Elie Dalauny.  From her childhood meeting of Saint Germain l’Auxerrois to her death bed surrounded by dozens of people including Rodin. 

After all the moving around Sainte Genevieve has finally found her home in the Eglise Saint Etienne de Mont. Many know it as the Midnight in Paris church but it is so much more than that. Dating back to 1494 and named after Saint Etienne (Stephen) the first martyr saint and the namesake of the first church in Paris where Notre Dame stands today. Once connected to the Abbey of Saint Genevive the south wall was shared and served as an entrance. In 1804 when the former abbey was destroyed a stone believed to be the tomb of the saint was discovered. 

Another favorite is the tall statue by Paul Lendowski installed in 1928 on the Pont de la Tournelle just past Notre Dame, She stands behind a child that is holding a ship, the symbol of the city. 

The newly reopened Musée Carnavalet has many amazing pieces depicting the life of the saint and just about every church in Paris has a reminder of her.

Listen to todays newest episode of La Vie Creative - Paris History Avec a Hemingway podcast today

Episode 85 - Sainte Genevieve Part One

Today, January 3 on the 1,510th anniversary of the death of Sainte Genevieve we begin a special two part episode of the life of the Patron Saint of Paris. 

 She stands on the banks of the Seine guarding the edge of Paris. Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris, was born around the year 420  in Nanterre, west of Paris. At the age of 7 she was blessed by St Germain, bishop of Auxerre, and from then on she dedicated her life to God Following the death of her parents a young Geneviève  moved to Paris to live with her godmother, Lutetia. 

As a child she was visited in visions by angels and saints and her family and village thought she was crazy. Saint Germain l’Auxerrois was always a supporter spreading the word that she was a child of God to be listened to.  Her first miracle dates back to when she was just 8 years old. One sunday morning her mother told her she needed to stay home and not attend church where she was the talk of the village. Upset she spoke up to her mother which resulted in a slap to her face. Within minutes her mother went blind. 

Two years later in 430, her mother asked Genevieve to retrieve water from the well. She spilled a bit and made the sign of the cross on her mothers face. Her mother wiped the water away and within a few minutes her sight returned. 

 Marcellus, Bishop of Paris appointed her to care and look after the welfare of virgins, but it would be her future deed that gives her place as the patron saint of Paris .  In 451, Atilla the Hun and his army were on their way to Paris to take the city. 

 The young Geneviève gathered the frightened Parisians together to pray. Atilla's Huns changed their plans and headed to Orleans, saving Paris. In 464 she would do it again, this time during Childeric’s siege of Paris. She took a boat to Brie and Troyes numerous times, buying grain and returning to Paris and through his blockade to feed the starving people.  

Genevive died on  January 3, 512 and was buried alongside King Clovis and his wife Queen Clotilde in the Abbey of Sainte Genevieve built by Clovis. In 630, Saint Eloi had her shrine covered in gold and precious stones. Over time it was moved and somewhat destroyed. In 1240 Bonnard, a Parisian goldsmith repaired it and 400 years later in 1614 Marie de Medici had it rebuilt again. In 1793 during the French Revolution, she was moved to the Monnaie (mint) where her shrine was melted down and the precious stones removed. 

Between 1500 and 1793 the reliquary of Sainte Genevieve was called on more than 120 times to save Paris from weather events, plaques and attacks. In May 1694 France had suffered a very dry winter that turned into spring. Famine spread through the countryside and the government had exhausted every resource they had. They went to Louis XIV and asked if he would allow a ceremony to be held calling on Sainte Genevieve to bring them a miracle. 

On May 27, 1694 the abbey was filled with the sick and invalid and a grand ceremony was planned. Involving another saint, church and government officials and thousands of Parisians were part of the procession that started at Notre Dame de Paris. There were specific instructions that needed to be followed. The relics of Saint Marcel, held in Notre Dame had to first leave the Ile de la Cité. With church officials the procession traveled up the Montagne Sainte Geneviève to the door of the abbey. Once inside the reliquary of Saint Marcel was placed next to that of Sainte Genevieve on the altar. After a full mass the two then departed with hundreds in tow and thousands lining the streets back to Notre Dame. After another mass Marcel walked Genevieve to the end of the Petit Pont where he bid her adieu and then she returned home.  

As she was taken back into the church the sky turned dark and the clouds opened and after many long months rain had returned.  In 1725 she was brought out again, this time to stop the rain. These episodes were captured in Jollain Francois’s engraving that will later be turned into stained glass. 

On 21 November 1793 her bones were burnt on the Place de Greve in front of the Hotel de Ville. The Revolutionists paraded her remains slowly through the city wanting everyone to see their beloved saint burned so she could no longer save them. Her ashes were thrown into the Seine, the same Seine she used to save the people of Paris many times. 

The shrine seen today in the Eglise Saint Etienne de Mont holds relics of her that had been sent to other churches in France prior to the Revolution. In the large shrine, the stones from the original sarcophagus that her body had laid on for thirteen hundred years. 

Listen to todays newest episode of La Vie Creative - Paris History Avec a Hemingway podcast today and tune in next week for part two.

Episode 84 - Art in the Churches of Paris

Paris itself is a living museum. Filled with over 150 museums and the streets that ooze with history and architecture spanning centuries. Before we had my beloved Musée du Louvre we had the churches that filled their walls with art from some of the biggest artists of the time. The Louvre opened in 1793 and over three hundred years before Notre Dame de Paris opened its doors. 

Art of the past was very different then it is now. Today it is just as much about the artist itself sometimes selling for millions of dollars just because of their  name. Centuries ago the only way for an artist to be seen was in the churches and the Salons. For this we are very lucky and you can see some of the greatest French painters for free by just popping into a few of the churches in Paris. 

In the newest episode of Paris History Avec a Hemingway on La Vie Creative podcast we talk about many of the ones you should search out when you arrive. You can discover the painter of Louis XIV Charles Le Brun in Saint Nicolas du Chardonnet where he was also laid to rest. The designer of Vaux le Vicomte was appointed by the king to bring the vision of Versailles to life as well as the Galerie d’Apollon in the Louvre where you can find another master.

Just off Boulevard Saint Germain is the Latin Quarter  church of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet and  is a treasure trove of art.  Charles Le Brun’s 1862 The Martyrdom of Saint John the Evangelist is striking and was a departure from the usual way the saint was depicted.  The painting shows the saint John being lifted by a rope towards the vat of boiling oil while the executioner blows on the fire below. Humanizing the Saint for the first time by showing his full body it gave the painting movement and life.  

Eugene Delacroix was the leader of the Romantic movement and believed the best way for an artist to be remembered was to hang large scale pieces in public spaces.

Follow down Rue de Turenne  for a few minutes and you will reach the gem of Rue Saint Antoine. The Italian and French Gothic church with its red doors is not to be overlooked.  The inside is beautiful with its high dome, stonework, statues and chandeliers. In 1824 Delacroix was commissioned to create a painting for the Eglise Saint Paul Saint Louis. On the left of the transept above the door is Delacroix’s Le Christ au Jardin des Olivers shows why he is the master of Romanticism. It shows Christ pushing back three angels that are hanging their head in sadness, which is a slight change from the printed word. It was his liberal use of the biblical text and the changing of the story he would continue in all his religious pieces. 

Often overlooked in the bustling Le Marais is the Saint-Denys-du-Saint-Sacrement church. This was the first public commission for a religious mural for Delacroix in 1840. The familiar scene of La Pietà depicting the body of Christ in the arms of the Virgin after he is pulled down from the cross, was painted directly onto the wall of the Saint Genevieve chapel. Using bright colors for the figures and placing them in the foreground of the painting give it even more depth and emotion.

You can’t mention Delacroix without a visit to the largest church on the Left Bank, Saint-Sulpice where we will find his finest of religious paintings that remain today. Just inside the door to the right in the Chapel of the Holy Angels where Delacroix was given free reign of the paintings, the only stipulation was that they referred to the subject of angels. For the two walls he chose; Jacob Wrestling the Angel on the left, and on the right Heliodurus Driven from the Temple. Painted directly onto the walls with a medium mixed with wax and oil, it would take him over three years to complete. Hanging above is the beautiful Saint Michael Defeats the Devil, painted on a canvas and later secured into place. Each of these three works is filled with symbolism and even some small features that are more reminiscent of modern times than that of biblical. A restoration was completed in 2017 where the layers of the years were removed so they can now be seen in all their glory.

Located in the 7th arrondissement is the Second Empire Neo-Byzantine church, St-François-Xavier. From the outside, it is not the most interesting of facades, but do not let that stop you. Inside you will lay your eyes on one of the greatest pieces by the Italian painter of the Venetian school, Jacopo Tintoretto. The Last Supper by Tintoretto was an image he painted many times, refining it along the way. Unlike the Leonard da Vinci version, Le Tintoret, as he is known in France, decided to gather the Apostles around a square table. It gives you the perspective that you are looking at them gathered from a hidden vantage point. A gift to the church in 1905, it can be seen today hanging in the wedding sacristy.

Before the fire at the highly visited Notre Dame de Paris, you could find a few of the greatest examples of French religious paintings. Tucked away in the very first chapel of Saint Éloi was a painting by Charles Le Brun, the official court painter of Louis XIV who would be instrumental in the construction of Versailles. The Stoning of Saint-Etienne and his other painting The Crucifixion of Sainte André are part of the collection called Les Mays. Between 1630-1707 the Saint Anne guild of Parisian goldsmiths commissioned paintings to be donated to the churches by some of the great 17th century French painters. While some of Les Mays have been removed and placed into museums, Notre Dame de Paris still holds most of these masterpieces that often go unnoticed. They all survived the fire and are currently being restored and cleaned after decades of candle soot and dust and might go on display in the Louvre for display before returning Notre Dame

Listen to the newest episode to hear all about these paintings and more.

Episode 83 - Hemingway's Arrive in Paris

One hundred years ago today, on 20 December 1921, the newlywed Hemingway’s arrived in Paris. After almost two weeks on the S.S. Leopoldina that left New York on December 8th the two finally arrived in the City of Light. Relying on Hadley and her eight years of French, the two found their way through day to day life. Friend and author Sherwood Anderson armed Hem with letters of introduction to other American expats and even made them a reservation at the Hotel Jacob et d’Angleterre on the Rue Jacob in Saint Germain-des-Près.

Filled with fellow Americans, the hotel fittingly sits on the same spot that Benjamin Franklin and John Adams worked on the Treaty of Paris in 1783 that would end the American Revolution. When Ernest and Hadley stayed it was just 12 francs a day and in a bit of disrepair. Holes in the staircase carpet that Hem would call “traps for drunk guests”, but the price was right. Today the staircase and the inner garden is still the same, although they have changed the carpet.

On those cold days of December the two would walk the streets of St Germain “arm through arm, peering into courts and stopping in front of little shop windows”. Dining almost nightly at the nearby Le Près aux Clercs on the corner of Rue Bonaparte and Rue Jacob, just steps from their hotel. They could get a fantastic meal for just 12 francs and dine like royalty.. 

Those next few months and years are the most documented of his life. The countless books change the facts or add in a bit of their own point of view. Listen to the newest episode of Paris History Avec a Hemingway on La Vie Creative Podcast to hear about these early days when everything was “poor and happy”.

Episode 82 - Sonia Delaunay

Many of the female artists we have shared on Paris History Avec a Hemingway on La Vie Creative Podcast have been hidden behind their male contemporaries. Sonia Delaunay is just as well known as her husband Robert, but there was a whole side to her art that I had never noticed before. 

Sonia Stern born November 14, 1885 in the Ukraine. Her parents were working class and at 5 years old her mother gave her up for adoption to her wealthy uncle Henri Terk. Henri showed the young Sonia a life of art and culture and exposed her to an education she would not have received from her working class parents.  At 18 she was fluent in four languages and was off to the Academy of Fine arts in  Karlsruhe, Germany in 1904. 

The next year she was in Paris at the Academie de la Palette. The same year Wilhelm Uhde arrived in Paris from Germany and opened a gallery on Rue Notre Dame des Champs and purchased his first Picasso and built a collection and circle of friends that would include Sonia. In 1908 she and Wilhelm married, a marriage of convenience between friends. Sonia wanted to avoid returning to Russia and Wilhelm needed to conceal his homosexuality. That same year she met French artist Robert Delaunay.

On November 15, 1910 Robert and Sonia married but she and Wilhelm remained close for the rest of their lives. Sonia had already begun painting and exhibiting at the Salon and the couple now influenced and inspired each other as a force few had seen in Paris. Sonia was constantly looking for other ways to share her art. She moved from the canvas to every other form of art she could find. 

Her focus would turn to home furnishings, fabric, clothing and even cars. During WWI while in Spain she opened Casa Sonia, selling her fabrics and home goods and opened 4 locations. In 1920 the Delaunay’s returned to Paris and opened another store, Maison Sonia and focused all her time on home decor even taking on clients as an interior decorator. Their new home at 19 Boulevard Malesherbes was completely furnished in her own designs. 

The couple gladly worked together with a few of the biggest names in ballet from Spain to Paris. Robert would design the sets and Sonia the costumes. Robert kept his mind on the canvas while he encouraged all of her ideas. Their style was born in Cubism and moved through Fauvism until they created a style all their own. Coined by friend Guillaume Appolinair, Orphism was their own bringing back all the colors to the canvas from the monochromatic world of Cubism. 

In 1940 they fled Paris for Montpellier and on  October 25, 1941 Robert lost his battle with lung cancer. Sonia for the next ten years made it her mission to share his legacy with the world. Writing books and putting together exhibitions from Paris to New York. Many of the gallery owners wanted to feature her work as much as Roberts and her art spread just as fast. 

Early in her time in Paris, she spent time inside the Musée du Louvre.  While most of the greats were inspired by the masters, she was drawn to the jewelry of Egypt and Messopotamia. In 1964 she was given the first living female artist exhibition inside the walls of the museum that inspired her. Even Picasso didn’t exhibit in the Louvre until 1971. 

On December 5, 1979 at the age of 94 she passed away at her home at 16 Rue de Saint Simon. Today her colorful legacy is left in museums around the world, many times next to her beloved Robert. 

Hear her entire story today at La Vie Creative Podcast - Paris History Avec a Hemingway.

Episode 81 - The Musée d'Orsay

35 years ago this week the Musée d’Orsay opened to the impressionist, loving public for the first time. It’s hard to image a time when the museum wasn’t part of the landscape of central Paris with the lovely clocks standing over the Seine.

We have to go back to the 16th century when it was once the garden of Marguerite de Valois first wife of Henri IV until her death when they turned the property into elegant homes. In 1810 under Napoleon a building was ordered for his expanding government and architect Jacques-Charles Bonnard who had restored the Tuilieres was tapped with the project. The first stone was laid April 4, 1810 but the fall of Napoleon would delay the finish until 1838.  The Council d’Etat decided to move in to finally complete the building in 1842. 

In 1845 the young painter Thédore Chassériau was asked to complete a series of paintings to decorate the Cour de Comptes stairwell. Chassériau had a gift for drawing as a child. In 1830 at just eleven years old he joined the atelier of Jean-Auguste Ingres, the great French classical painter. He was struck right away at his talent and told everyone about his young protege. Working with him for four years until Ingres left for Rome, he would find another amazing instructor, Eugene Delacroix. The leader of the Romantic movement was the opposite of Ingres. With Delacroix he discovered the magic of the Orient, the use of color and the large sweeping murals. Chassériau was the bridge between the classical and romantic style and it fit him perfectly. 

Chassériau’s paintings lined the stairwell and were partially destroyed that horrible night on May 23, 1871. However, it wasn’t the fire that did most of the damage. For 27 years the burned out remains of the Palais d’Orsay and the paintings stood through the wind, rain and sun damaging them further. 

In 1898 it was finally demolished and thankfully the paintings were saved. What is left of them can be found in the Musée du Louvre hanging high above in Salle 225 of the Richelieu wing. A few are painted in the grisaille fashion of shades of grey, those are more complete the the paintings that are torn and worn away. Chassériau died far too early at just 37 years old but lives on forever on the walls of the Louvre.

Laloux was tasked with creating a building that would fit into its elegant surroundings as well as balance with the Musée du Louvre seen just across the Seine. Running for almost 40 years, with over 200 trains a day it would stop in 1939 and again a team of people would argue over what to do with it.

On October 20, 1977 it was decided to turn the former station into a museum, bridging the Louvre to the Centre Pompidou. Three architects, Colbac, Bardon & Philippon embraced the structure that Laloux designed, keeping his many elements including the stone roses that rise up the walls. The salles and aisle was completely reimagined and now filled with art from 1848-1914 much of which once graced the salles of the Louvre.

On October 9, 1986, the doors of the Orsay were open to the public and today thousands of people come each day to see the art of Van Gogh, the Impressionists and statues of the Second Empire.  The idea of taking a building associated with noise and movement and turning it into one of quiet reflection and beauty is something only the French know how to do. 

The original facade of the Gare d’Orsay with its two large clocks and topped with three allegorical statues overlooking the Seine. It Represents Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nantes, each by a different artist, but with one characteristic that is all the same. Each has the face of Madame Laloux, a fitting tribute to the man that designed such a beautiful building.

The Musée d’Orsay is open Tuesday - Sunday from 9:30am - 6pm and each Thursday until 9:45pm

However, the greatest secret of all is how you can get in there before the thousands of art lovers arrive each day. If you come to Paris often or plan to visit the Orsay a few times on your trip or just want to have an amazing experience, become a member.

The Musée d’Orsay Carte Blanche can be purchased for 42€ - 65€ for a solo pass and with that little golden card you can enter the Orsay 30 minutes before it opens to the general public. Thirty minutes might not sound like much but while it takes a bit for the growds to gather you can have more than an hour of the museum somewhat all to yourself depending on where you are.

Another great way is to become a member of the American Friends of the Musée d’Orsay that also allows you inside early and depending on your level even more great advantages.

How ever you decide to see the Orsay be sure to have it on your list of things to see in Paris. And if you want a guided personal visit with me giving you all the history and behind the canvas stories book me for a tour.

Listen to the newest episode today at Paris History Avec a Hemingway on La Vie Creative Podcast

Episode 80 - Marie Laurencin

Marie Laurencin is known for her lovely pastel dreamy paintings but she was also able to do something few female artists were able to do. Marie was accepted into the folds of the biggest artists of the time and held her own. 

Born on October 31, 1883 she showed very early, against her mothers wishes, a talent for art. At 18 she enrolled in the porcelain painting school at Sévres, much like Renoir started. The next year she joined the Humbert Academy and met fellow artists Georges Braque and Francis Picabia who led her into the art circles of Paris.  

Writer, art broker and collector Henri-Pierre Roché met Marie through Braque and was attracted to her art and to her. Roché was a big promoter of female artists including Suzane Valadon and Berthe Morisot. Roché and gallery owner Berthe Weill worked together sharing their art when most ignored them.

Gallery owner Clovis Sagot on Rue Laffitte gave Marie her first solo exhibition where she would meet Picasso, Delauney, Rousseau, Max Jacobs. and poet Guillaume Apollinaire. Marie inspired the struggling writer and served as his muse over their six year relationship. Her first painting she ever sold featured Picasso surrounded by Apollinaire, Marie and  Fernande and was purchased by Gertrude Stein. 

After Apollinaire was arrested and thought to be involved in the theft of the Mona Lisa, Marie moved on. Things were already rocky between the two at the time but that put an end to it. In one last gesture, Marie painted a 2nd copy of her Apollinaire et Ses Amis. Surrounded by his friends including Marie, Fernande Olivier, Stein, Gillot and Cremnitz. It hung over his bed until his death and today is in the Pompidou. 

Spending a brief period in the Cubist and Fauvist movement she later named her style “nymphism”. Staying close to what she liked she used her favorite colors, pink, grey, blue and white and predominantly painted women and girls. As a child she would keep beads and ribbons in her pocket, always gravitating to pretty things. 

In 1914 Marie married German Baron Otto von Watjen. Marrying a German at the start of WWI may not have been the ideal situation and the couple were forced to remain in Spain after their honeymoon. As a young girl she spent her days in the Musée du Louvre, copying and learning how to paint from masters including Elisabeth Vigee le Brun. In Spain she would once again hide in the Prado, copying Goya and Greco. 

Their marriage didn’t last long and she returned to Paris and into her most productive time. Gallery owner Paul Rosenberg took her on and displayed her on the walls next to Picasso and Bracque and even set up exhibitions of her work in New York. 

In the 20’s & 30’s she was commissioned to paint portraits of the Paris elite which she didn’t like. Instead of painting them how they wanted to be seen, she painted them as she saw them. Chanel asked her to paint her and when it was complete she refused to pay her for it. As one that controlled her story and her image that was always seen through a filter she didn’t like the stern look on her face. The painting would end up in the collection of Paul Guillaume and now hangs in the Musée de l’Orangerie today.

Her later years she retired to her house in Meudon with the daughter of her housekeeper that had been with her since the 1920’s. Without an heir or any relatives she adopted her housekeeper's 49 year old daughter, Suzanne Moreau, leaving her everything.  On June 8 1956 at 72 years old she died in her apartment off the Champs Mars of a heart attack. 

She was buried at Père-Lachaise just steps from Apollinaire. She was wearing a white dress and holding a red rose with a love letter from Apollinaire resting on her heart. After Suzanne’s death much of Marie’s collection went up for auction. Wealthy Japanese taxi magnet Mashiro Takano bought up a vast majority and in 1983 opened the first museum in the world dedicated to a female artist. Sadly it closed in 2011. 

Marie’s life story is greatly overshadowed by her many relationships but her art should never be forgotten. The airy dream like pastel paintings of dancing ladies always bring a smile to your face when they are discovered. 

Listen to her whole story in this week's newest episode of Paris History Avec a Hemingway on La Vie Creative podcast. #paris #podcast #art

Episode 79 - the Musée Rodin

Paris is filled with museums and a few stand out over the rest. Of course there is my love, the Musée du Louvre and the Orsay and smaller ones like the Picasso and the Delacroix. However one that might not be on the list for those heading to Paris for just a few days but should be is the Musée Rodin. 

On today’s new episode of Paris History Avec a Hemingway on La Vie Creative Podcast we jump into the history of the museum and the life it had before Rodin discovered it.

The Musée Rodin is housed in the Hotel Biron but that's not where the story begins. Wealthy wig maker Abraham Peyrene de Moras was also a close confidant of Louise Francoise de Bourbon, the legitimized daughter of Louis XIV and past podcast subject, Madame de Montespan.  Moras tapped architect Jean-Jacques Aubert who also designed the nearby Palais Bourbon for Louise Francoise. Between 1727 & 1732 on the Rue de Varenne outside the city of Paris the Louis XIV style mansion was built. 

Moras only enjoyed it for a few years before he died in 1736 and his widow rented it to  Louise-Benedicte de Bourbon-Condé, wife of another legitimate child of XIV. It was Louise that would add the beautiful carved wood moldings and paintings above the doors that still remain today. 

 In 1753 the Marshall de Biron purchased it and it was under Biron that the gardens came to life. The mansion would survive the Revolution, the Russian embassy moved in for a year then the Sisters of the Sacred Heart for 84 years before they were asked to leave and then in 1905 the artists arrived. 

Jean Cocteau was the first to move in and he told Isadore Duncan and Matisse who taught classes here. On  October 15, 1908 its most famous resident arrived. Cocteau had told the 68 year old sculptor about the wonderful building flooded with light. Rodin moved into the ground level 4 rooms that face the garden.  The next year the city was going to break the property into 45 lots and sell them off but Rodin asked Clemenceau to step in and stop it. 

Rodin offered his entire collection to the State if they saved the property and agreed to turn it into the Musée Rodin after his death.  On November 17. 1917 at 77 the sculptor died and on August 4, 1919 the museum was open to the public. 

More than 32,000 pieces of sculptures, documents, photos, art including his personal collection make up the museum today. Of course only a fraction is on display at any one time. It is one of the best ways to spend a day in Paris. If you visit on a sunny day and the light floods into the garden-facing rooms it's clear to see why the artist loved the space so much.

Another gem of the museum is the garden that surrounds it. At one time it was twice the size of what we see today. During the Revolution it was the site of an amusement park and Parisians could take hot air balloon rides from the garden. In 1908 Rodin installed the first sculptures and today it is filled with dozens. 

In 1918 Claude Monet gave his gift of his 8 paintings, the Grande Decorations to the State and for a short time the gardens of the Rodin were discussed but the modern structure wouldn’t blend with the classic mansion. Today you can visit the gardens for a few euros and even enjoy lunch or cafe and admire Rodin’s sculptures and sketches within the beautifully curated garden. 

The Musée Rodin is open Tuesday-Sunday 10am-6:30pm

Listen to the newest episode today at La Vie Creative Podcast

Episode 78 - Jeanne de la Motte

In this week’s episode we look a little further into the woman that would take down Marie Antoinette.  

Jeanne de Valois Saint Rémy Comtesse de la Motte started out life being told she was descended from royalty. Her father Jacques de Valois was the illegitimate grandson to king Henri II and his mistress Nicole de Savigny. Henri was involved with her when he and Diane de Poitiers took a break. Never recognized they constantly lived far beneath where they believed they should be and by the time Jeanne came around, she wanted to do something about it. 

It was 1785 and tensions were high in France and the Austrian queen was the subject for pointed criticism and hatred in France. Her appearance of lavish spending would be used by Jeanne de la Motte to her advantage.

In 1772 King Louis XV wanted to have a necklace made for his mistress Madame du Barry and asked jewelers Boehmer & Bassange to create a lavish gift. Taking years to gather the more than 600 diamonds needed, Louis XV would die before it was finished. Left with a very expensive necklace on their hands without being paid they reached out to Louis XVI thinking he would want to buy it for his queen. With a very high price tag, the queen refused telling her husband “we have more need of 24 ships”. However, it could also be that she never liked Du Barry and didn’t want to have anything intended for her. 

Jeanne was the mistress of Cardinal Rohan who had a falling out with the Queen and her mother and was desperate to get back into her good graces. Jeanne told him she was friends with the Queen and that if he wrote her a letter she would get it to her. Jeanne had another agenda. She answered the letters herself, posing as the Queen and when he begged to have a private meeting with the Queen she hired a prostitute at the Palais Royal to impersonate the Queen and met him in the Grove of Venus at Versailles. 

Once word had spread throughout Paris, the jewelers reached out to Jeanne in hopes to appeal to Marie Antoinette and to buy the necklace. Jeanne told Rohan that the Queen wanted the necklace but needed someone to get it for her. Jeanne forged a letter and a purchase order for the necklace and he took it to Boehmer. Handing over the necklace to Rohan, he then took it to meet Jeanne and what he thought was one of the Queen’s valets. It was Jeanne’s husband who promptly took the necklace, broke it apart and sent the jewels around Europe to be sold. 

Months went by and when Boehmer still hadn’t been paid he went to the court with the order signed by the Queen. She had never seen it before. Rohan was arrested in the Hall of Mirrors, would go on trial and be found innocent. 

For the Queen who was innocent in the plot, it was too late. It only fed into the rumors of her excess. People even thought she orchestrated the entire thing to get back at Rohan. The Affair of the Diamond Necklace led to her final fall that was to come in just a few years. 

Jeanne de la Motte, would also be arrested and at trial she was convicted and her sentence included life in jail and her shoulders were branded with the letter V for voleuse, French for thief. A year later she broke out of prison dressed as a boy and fled to London. On August 23, 1791 in an attempt to evade creditors she fell out of a window and died. The report stated that she was “terribly mangled, her left eye cut out and her arm and both legs were broken. 

Today that necklace would be worth over $15 million dollars and hold 2800 carats and 685 diamonds. When I saw a replica at the exhibit at the Conciergerie I gasped, but then again I love a statement piece. 

Listen to the newest episode today, out now on La Vie Creative, Paris History Avec a Hemingway

Episode 77 - Marie Guillemine de Benoist

On this week’s newest episode of Paris History Avec a Hemingway on La Vie Creative podcast we visit the unknown life of artist Marie Guillemine de Laville-Leroux Benoist. Born December 18, 1768 in Paris into a political family which would help her enter into one of the most prestigious ateliers in Paris. 

At just 13 years old she began training with Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun who was the First Painter to the Queen, Marie Antoinette. Her talent was noticed early on and in 1784 she exhibited for the first time at the Salon a painting of her father. The 18th century and a few after that wasn’t that kind to female painters but under the lead of Vigee Le Brun she was able to traverse the art world and get noticed by a few of the biggest names.

When Vigee Le Brun decided to move her studio, Marie was asked by Jacques Louis David to join his atelier. The king of the Neoclassical movement was happy to take women in as a way to get back at king Louis XVI who forbade women artists to train in the Louvre. At the time David lived and had his studio in the SE corner of the Sully wing. Most women were relegated to only painting flowers, landscapes and gentle girly themes, but David actually suggested she try her hand at historic themes. 

In 1800 she created a painting that would change the landscape of art at the time. After a visit to her brother-in-law's home she met the beautiful Madeleine and decided to paint a subject that was rarely seen in art at the time. Madeleine was a beautiful black woman that came from Guadalupe and was hired as their servant when Marie met her. Using the classic pose that she learned under David she placed Madeleine on a winged chair and draped her in white fabric in the Empire style and suddenly transformed how black skin was depicted in art. Up until then, the only time you would find black models in paintings is as the servant tending to a white man or woman.. Slavery was abolished February 4, 1794 and her painting is a bit of an allegory as much as it was Marie making a statement.

The model was unknown until a  few years ago before an exhibit at the Orsay unveiled her name and made the painting come to life. On June 27, 1818 the painting was purchased by the Director of the Maison du Roi along with three of her other paintings. Under Louis XVIII the painting was sent to the Louvre where you can still find her today. On the second floor of the Sully wing in salle 935 alongside other paintings from David and his students. I wish she was somewhere where more people could discover her but until that day, be sure to search for her when you visit the Louvre or ask me to take you. 

The painting got the attention of everyone including Napoleon who commissioned her for a portrait of the Emperor and members of his family. Sadly in 1814 she hung up her paintbrushes as her notoriety became too much for her political husband. She sold off most of her paintings and unfortunately very few remain. Of the four purchased in 1818, only one remains in the Louvre. 

Marie died on October 8, 1826 at 57 years old and while few may not know her name, Madeleine hangs on the walls of the most wonderful place in the world to remind us. 

Listen to the newest episode today

Episode 76 - The Cemeteries of Paris

On a beautiful fall day, a walk through one of the three big cemetaries it is one of the best strolls in Paris. Baudelaire, Dreyfus, Man Ray and the man of Statue of Liberty fame, Frédéric Bartholdi are all buried here. But, one tomb stands out over the many, that of Charles Pigeon. The French inventor who started out working at the Bon Marché before he opened his own shop on rue du Cherche-Midi selling lamps. During the late 19th century, lamps would easily catch on fire and he set out to fix that. Inventing the gas lamp, that wouldn’t explode in 1884 brought him fame and fortune. In 1909 his wife would die, and six years later in 1915, Charles himself would pass. Having purchased the plot in 1905, they were interred together following his death. Before he died he commissioned French sculptor Caveau to create a bronze monument to grace the top. His wife on her deathbed is clutching a flower, while Charles props himself up on the bed with pen and paper in hand. Is he coming up with a new invention, writing her last words or pledging his love to her one last time, we will never know. Above their head is an angel watching over them holding up one of the famous Pigeon lamps. Their eternal love is rather sweet, captured in bronze and tells us a story of a man we would most likely never know or even look into if it wasn’t for the monument he left behind. Located in the Petit cemetery, in division 22.

Charles Baudelaire, the French author had an opinion on everything and everyone back in his day. Quite the dandy around town, he was known in just about every group of Paris. In 1857 he wrote Les Fleurs de Mal, a collection of short essays many with racy themes, so of course it became one of his best known pieces. Baudelaire also lived in just about every neighborhood in Paris, relying at times on the help of friends. He died on August 31. 1867 at 46 years old. He was laid to rest in the tomb of his parents, but one grave wasn’t good enough. Later his fans didn’t think his grave was fit for the great writer and had another monument created. The L shaped grave is topped with a bust of a thinking man as he looks out and over the mummified body below. The family grave is in division 5 and the cenotaph is on the back wall of division 26 and 27, both in the Grand cemetery. (the Petit also has divisions 26 & 27 to make it more confusing)

Other graves not to miss include Jean Paul Sartre & Simone de Beauvoir, together for eternity. Jules Dumont d’Urville, the man that discovered the Venus de Milo. One of my favorite artists, Henri Fantin-Latour who deserves a beautiful bronze bouquet of flowers and Charles Garnier, the architect behind the Palais Garnier.

Montmartre 

After the Cimetière des Innocents was closed in 1780 and the remains mostly used to fill the Catacombs, the Parisians were looking for a new place to bury their loved ones. The next few weeks in honor of spooky Halloween, I will share with you some of my favorites from the big three cemeteries of Paris. A few of the famous residents and a few you may not even know.

On January 1, 1825 the Cimetière des Grandes Carrières also known as the Cimetière du Nord officially opened. During the Revolution the old gypsum quarry was a mass grave at the base of Montmartre. Spreading out over 28 acres the Cimetière Montmartre is as much a part of the neighborhood as the historic Moulin Rouge.

One of the biggest names in the cemetery is of course Dalida. The Italian-Egyptian singer moved to Paris and became an international star. Sadly her life was filled with tragedy including her very own ending. On May 2, 1987 she overdosed on barbiturates, washing it down with whiskey leaving behind a note saying, “life is unbearable to me, excuse me”. She was just 54 years old. Her tomb is hard to miss and fitting for the Egyptian beauty. Created by Alain Aslan who also did the bust of her in Montmartre at Place Dalida. The full size statue stands in front of a marble wall with a golden sun behind her head. For more Dalida check out our podcast episode about her. You can’t miss her in division 18.

Edgar Degas, the great Impressionist painter, but didn’t like to be called one lays near the eastern wall in division 4. The first thing you notice is the name. The family plot is marked with his birth name, De Gas. The artists known for his paintings of the ballet dancers, lived most of his life in Montmartre taking artists under his wings including Suzanne Valadon and Mary Cassatt.

You will also come across a large tomb dedicated to Émile Zola in division 19. Topped with a bust of the writer with some pretty fantastic hair, he looks over his family that lay at rest in the red marble tomb. Zola himself was moved to the Pantheon in 1908. A friend and supporter of Manet, but best known for his involvement in the Dreyfus affair causing him to flee France for a time. Zola died on September 29, 1902 from carbon monoxide poisoning. Thought to be an accident, later a roofer confessed in the final moments of his life that he shoved linens into his chimney for his political views.

Pere Lachaise isn't any cemetery, it is the final resting place of some of the most notable people in French history. Père-Lachaise gets its name from the confessor of Louis XIV Père François de La Chaise, who lived in a house near the chapel built in this spot in 1682 until his death in 1709.  On May 21, 1804 the land was reopened as a cemetery at the time far outside of Paris and called Cimitiere de l'Est.  Rather unpopular due to the distance, few wanted to hold funerals or burials there. 

The very first burial on June 4 was of 5 year old girl Adelaide Paillard de Villeneuve.  In 1805 somebody had an idea to move some famous names to Père-Lachaise. Two of the first of these famous people to find their way there were two of France's masters of words. The playwright Molière and fabulist Jean de La Fontaine. Two large gravesites were erected side by side, although none of their remains are actually here, which is common amongst the more than one million people interred within the walls of Père-Lachaise. It isn't just famous people, anyone can be buried at Père-Lachaise which was also a first when it opened. With Moliere and Fontaine along, people clamored to spend eternity there. Colette, Pissarro, Ingres, Balzac, Delacroix, Géricault, Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf and Victor Noir are just a handful of the names you can visit. I always have an ever running list of tombs to search out.

You can almost hear the beautiful notes of one of his Nocturne’s floating in the air as you get close to his tomb. Frédéric Chopin, the Polish virtuoso made Paris his home and staked his claim to the Romantic Movement of the 19th C. Arriving in September 1831 after his plans to move to Italy was thwarted by the Revolution through the country. Having a hard time getting a visa to France from Poland, he reached out to the French and was able to get a visa that stated he was “passing through on his way to London”. He never arrived in London staying in Paris the rest of his life and became a citizen in 1835. His life was filled with friends like Delacroix and Liszt and lover George Sand, but it was his music that still fills the air today. Between 1830 and 1832 he would write three of his most famous pieces, Nocturne Op 9. The twinkley and graceful notes were written when he was just 20 years old. No 2 is one of the most recognized pieces of music in the world and is what I play many times in the background as I sit and write.

Like the many great artists Chopin would die at a very early age. Rarely performing publicly and falling ill over the last few years of his life at 36 he would die of tuberculosis.

Before he died Chopin planned out his funeral down to the last detail. He wanted it to be held in the Eglise de la Madeleine and Mozart's Requiem to be performed and this is where it all came screeching to a halt. At the time women were not allowed to perform in the church and it took almost two weeks for the church to give in and allow Jeanne-Anais Castellan and Pauline Viardot to perform, although they had to hide behind a black curtain.

Delacroix served as a pallbearer for his friend and would remember him in a painting that he had painted of him before he died that is now in the Louvre. Buried in Pere Lachaise in a grand tomb by Jean-Baptiste Clèsinger, son-in-law of his former lover George Sand. A marble Euterpe, the muse of music cries over a broken lyre.  As he was lowered into the ground his very own funeral march, sonata no 2 was played. While his body lies in Père Lachaise in division 11, his wish was to have his heart buried in Poland.

Louis Visconti came from a long line of archaeologists and art lovers and enrolled in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and began to study under Charles Percier, a man that would also leave his mark on one of my favorite buildings in Paris. During his teaching Percier was also walking over the newly built Pont des Arts to the Louvre where he was working under Napoleon Bonaparte breathing new life into the former palace of the kings. Visconti was taking it all in and when he finished school he began working for the city of Paris as architect of the 3rd and 8th arrondissement and their monuments. While his old teacher worked under Napoleon it was Visconti who was tasked with the job in 1840 to transform the city for the arrival of the former emperor's ashes as they returned to their final resting place.  Visconti was also asked to create the sarcophagus that lies under the dome of Les Invalides holding Napoleon. One of my favorites, the Fountain of the Four Bishops in front of Saint-Sulpice with their angry lions guarding the parve was also from the mind of Visconti. 

In 1851 Napoleon III asked Visconti to complete the design of the Palais du Tuileries and join the building to the Louvre. Immortalized in the painting by Jean Baptiste Tissier, Visconti is presenting his design to the Emperor and his wife Eugénie where you can see his plan of joining the two palaces creating a royal residence and offices for the second empire. It was the perfect job of Visconti in a place he loved. As a child his father was named the curator of antiquities and paintings of the Musée Napoleon, later known as the Louvre. Visconti would grow up inside the Louvre and it would be the final project he never finished. Dying in 1853 of a heart attack he would never see his vision of the Louvre come to life.

His tomb with a marble reclined image of Visconti over a bas relief of the “New Louvre” was designed by Victor Leharivel who also worked alongside Visconti on the Louvre and can be found in division 4

Listen to the full episode today with even more history of the inhabitants of these historic cemeteries.

Episode 75 - Finding the Historic Ladies of the Past in Paris today

It’s already 75 episodes of Paris History Avec a Hemingway and we can hardly believe it. In this week's episode we reflect on a few of them and how you can still find them today in Paris. 

We have covered many of the wonderful female artists over time, a few that you may have known and a few that have been forgotten to time. Berthe Morisot, Camille Claudel and Mary Cassatt are easy to find in the Musée d’Orsay on the walls along with Rose Bonheur and her amazing large scale paintings of animals. However don’t miss Manet’s capturing of Victorine Meurent and Renoir’s Suzanne Valadon who would each become artists on their own. 

In a small hall within the permanent collection of the Pompidou you can find a collection of her sketches and paintings and after venture up to the Musée de Montmartre to take a peek into her former studio complete with her easels and palettes. 

My beloved Musée du Louvre also has a few ladies to search out after you say a long bonjour to Winged Victory of Samothrace. Elisabeth Vigee Lebrun is known as the painter to Marie Antoinette but she did tons of portraits before she painted the fated queen including the first smile in western art. Other ladies were captured on the canvas including Diane de Poitiers, Madame Recamier, the love of Henri IV Gabrille d’Estrees and Empress Eugenie. 

Other smaller museums hold a few ladies including the Musée Marmottan Monet and a brand new special exhibit devoted to Julie Manet, daughter of Berthe Morisot and niece of Manet who counted the greatest artists of the Impressionist period as her “uncles”. 

There are even more we chat about in the newest episode of Paris History Avec a Hemingway on La Vie Creative podcast. 

Grab a notebook and start jotting down a list for when you return to Paris and check out all the past episodes you may have missed.

Episode 72 - Ladies of the Luxembourg part II

Laure de Noves

Little is known about her other than she was born in 1310 in Avignon to the Knight Audibert of Noves and was married at fifteen to Hugues I de Sade. Poet Francesco Petrarch saw her at Good Friday mass in the Eglise Sainte-Claire d’Avignon and was spellbound. For three years he would find her walks and at church and write endless poems praising her

Statue by Auguste Louis Marie Ottin

Commissioned in 1846, finished in 1846

Marie de Medicis

26 April 1575 - 3 July 1642

Born in Florence to Francois I de Medicis and Joan of Austria who died when she was just two years old. Her father remarried and they would both die when she was ten years old. Uncle Ferdinand I, Duc of Tuscany watched over her and when Henri IV of France came knocking, a marriage was arranged. Ending the debt that France owed the Medicis family and hoping to bring an heir to the throne. Ten years later on May 13, 1610 Marie was finally crowned queen of France at the Basilique Saint Denis, the next day Henri IV would be killed in the streets of Paris. Their son, Louis XIII was only eight years old leaving Marie as regent until he was old enough. However, Marie wasn’t too quick to release the power of the throne and held on until Louis XIII staged a coup and took them back at sixteen. Marie was banished from Paris and stayed in the Chateau de Blois until she escaped out a window. Eventually she made it back to Paris and continued to build her Florentine palace in the Luxembourg until her son yet again intervened. Stopping on the way to Germany she fell into a trap set by Louis XIII who then stripped her of her title and power. She never returned to Paris or saw the completion of her beloved palace. For more Marie make sure to stop in the Musée du Louvre and make your way to the Richelieu wing to see Peter Paul Rubens twenty four paintings of her life. 

Statue by Louis Denis Cailloueté

Commissioned in 1844, finished in 1847

Marguerite d’Angouleme 

11 April 1492 - 21 December 1549 

Older sister to Francois I and daughter of Louis de Savoie was intended to marry Henry VIII of England, but thankfully that didn’t go through. Louis XII decreed that she was to marry Charles IV of Alencon, a marriage that only lasted a few short years. Next up was Henri II of Navarre in 1526 which was followed by the birth of Jeanne d’Albret, future mother of Henri IV. Marguerite spent most of her time at court with her brother, transforming it from the medieval court to the monarchy we know of today. With the heavy influence of the Italian Renaissance, art, culture and music was now a staple in the Palais du Louvre. 

Statue by Joseph Stanislas Lescorne

Commissioned in 1845, finished in 1846

Valentine de Milan

1370 - 4 December 1408

Born in Milan to Glan Visconti of Mila she was married off to Louis I, duc de Orleans. Close relatives as they often were then, they had to have the Pope sign off on the marriage. A celebration was held in Milan and France on April 8, 1837 but she wouldn’t join her husband for two more years. On August 17, 1389 in Melun they were finally united and eight children followed. On November 23, 1407 Louis I was murdered on Rue Saint Antoine by fifteen men wielding axes. Three days later it was discovered his cousin Jean sans Peur, Duc of Burgundy was behind the killing. It would be the start of the civil war between the court of Burgundy and the French royal family that would last 28 years. Valentine died a year later, never getting the justice she wanted for her husband. 

Statue by Victor Huguenin

Commissioned in 1843, finished in 1846

Anne de Beaujeu 

3 April 1461 - 14 November 1522 

Daughter of Louis XI and Charlotte de Savoie would serve as regent to her younger brother Charles VII who her father called “feeble minded”. In 1473 at twelve years old she married Peter II de Bourbon who was thirty-five at the time. As regent she was also the teacher of the royal children that included Diane de Poitiers and Louis de Savoie. A keen sense of diplomacy she helped negotiate the ending of the Guerre Folle and was considered the most powerful woman in Europe. 

Statue by Jacques Edouard Gatteaux

Commissioned in 1844, finished in 1847

Blanche de Castile

4 March 1188 - 27 November 1252

Born in Castille, her father king Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England who was the daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor decided Blanche was the most regal looking and in the 1200 Peace Treaty it was added that Blanche would marry the son of Philippe Auguste, Louis VIII. In 1214 she gave birth to Louis IX and devoted her entire life to him. At just twelve years old when his father died, Blanche served as regent, with an iron fist. Louis and his mother were very close, raising him to be pious, devoted to the church and teaching him to respect his role as king. It would change a bit when Marguerite de Provence joined the family.

Statue by Honoré Jean Aristide Husson 

Commissioned in 1843, finished in 1847

Anne d’Autriche

22 September 1601 - 29 January 1666

The infanta of Spain and eldest daughter of king Philip II of Spain and Marguerite d'Autriche, a branch of the House of Habsburg was raised in a very religious chateau. At eleven years old she was betrothed to Louis XIII and the two were married when she was fourteen. Their wedding night included his mother Marie de Medicis standing over the bed waiting for them to consummate the wedding but it wouldn’t happen for quite some time. Miscarriages and stillbirths followed and drew Anne to the church. In 1634 she commissioned the building of the Val-de-Grace abbey and church dedicated to the Virgin and came with a prayer that she finally give birth to an heir. On September 5, 1638, Louis XIV after a rather stormy night in Paris in December 1637. Although some historians argue the true father is Cardinal Mazarin. Louis XIV treated his mother like a queen giving her anything she wanted up until her death in 1666.

Statue by Joseph Marius Ramus

Commissioned in 1846, finished in 1847

Anne de Bretagne

25 January 1477 - 9 January 1514

Oldest child of Francis II of Brittany was an orphan by eleven years old but holding onto the estates of Brittany. In December 1490 it was decided she would marry Maximillian I of Austria, but when word reached Charles VIII of France he raced to Rennes. Beginning a two month siege until the city fell and a treaty was reached that included ending the uniting of Anne and Maximillian. Anne and Charles were engaged on November 17, 1491 angering Austria and a quick and secret wedding was planned. However, Pope Innocent VIII wouldn’t recognize the nuptials since they were fourth cousins and wouldn’t sign off until February 15, 1492. Charles died in 1498 after hitting his head on a doorway and a clause in their marriage contract stipulated that if Charles died she must marry his successor. Louis XI was already married and an annulment would need to be reached. By November 7, 1499 Louis XI and Anne were married and two surviving children followed. 

Statue by Jean Debay

Commissioned in 1844, finished in 1846

Marguerite de Provence

Spring 1221 - 20 December 1295

Oldest daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Provence and Beatrice de Savoie, her three sisters would become the queens of Sicily, England and Germany. In 1233 Blanche de Castile sent a knight to Provence to see this young girl whose beauty and devotion to the church was well known. At thirteen on May 27 1234 Marguerite and Louis IX at the Cathedral de Sens. Marguerite and Louis were very close spending all their time reading and riding horses which made Blanche very jealous. Traveling to Egypt with Louis in 1249 when he was captured she was able to gather enough money to have him released at the same time as giving birth. In 1270, Louis IX ded on crusade in Tunis leaving her son Philipe III with the throne. Marguerite died on December 20, 1295 at 74 years old and was buried near her husband at the Basilique Saint Denis. Her grave had only a small marking and without a statue allowing her to be the only tomb to escape the desecration during the Revolution. 

Statue by Honoré Jean Aristide Husson

Commissioned in 1843, finished in 1847

Sainte Clotilde

473 - 545

Daughter of Burgundian king Chiperic II who would send her at just eleven years old around France as his ambassador. Clovis, king of the Franks heard about her and asked for her hand. As a very devout Catholic she tried endlessly to convert Clovis but he resisted until the Battle of Tolbiac. Praying to the “God of Clotilde” he promised if they were victorious he would become Catholic. On Christmas day in Notre Dame de Reims among 500 of his soldiers he was baptized. Clotilde was very close with Geneviève and she and Clovis had an abbey built at the top of Mons Luctitus.After the death of Clovis in 511, Clotilde spent her remaining years writing about the life of Geneviève, and it is due to Clotilde that we know the story of the Patron Saint of Paris. 

Statue by Jean Baptiste Jules Klagmann

Commissioned in 1845, finished in 1847

Episode 71 - Ladies of the Luxembourg Eastern Side

Louis-Philippe commissioned twenty statues illustrious women in French history to fill the Jardin du Luxembourg. Involved in picking each and every lady as well as the artists they would come to life between 1845 and 1851.

Jeanne d’Arc was originally one of the twenty, bien sûr, but was removed and placed in the Musée du Louvre in 1872. The statue by Francois Rude was deteriorating rapidly in the Paris weather but today can be seen in the Louvre’s Cour Puget. 

Starting on the eastern side near the Palais du Luxembourg:

Saint Bathilde 

626/627 - 30 January 680

Wife of Clovis II, King of Burgundy & Neustria. As a young girl she was sold into slavery by Danish raiders that kidnapped her in Saxon and sold her to Erchinoald, Mayor of the Palace of Neustria. Bathilde married Clovis in 650 and they had three children before he died in 657. As Regent for her son Clotaire she abolished childhood slavery and changed the tax code that led to it. 

Statue by Louis Victor Thérasse, student of James Pradier. 

Commissioned in 1845, finished in 1848

Reine Berthe 

720 - 783

Betrothed to Pepin the Short, future King of the Franks. On the way to court to meet Pepin, her dastardly cousin Tybers thought his own daughter resembled the beautiful Berthe and hatched a plan. On the way, he tied Berthe up and was planning on killing her until a kind hearted soldier overheard and let Berthe escape. Tybers arrived at court with his daughter Aliste posing as Berthe and the charade would last a few years until Berthe’s mother Blanche-Fleur de Prum arrived. Berthe had one distinct physical feature that could not be faked, she had a club foot. The scam was finally uncovered and Berthe was found in the forest of Le Mans by Pepin who was out hunting. The two would marry in 734/735 and on April 2, 748 she gave birth the Charles, later known as Charlamagne 

Statue by Eugène André Oudine 

Commissioned in 1846, finished in 1848

Reine Mathilde

1031- 2 November 1083

Daughter of Count Baldwin V of Flander & Adele de France. A marriage to her third cousin William, son of Robert I, Duke of Normandy was decided but she wasn’t too excited about the idea as he was a bastard and not a true blood royal. When he heard he rode his horse from Normandy to Bruges finding her in a church and dragging her into the street. The two were married in 1051 and he was named the king of England in 1066, but she preferred to stay in Normandy until 1068 when she would be crowned queen of England.

Statue by Marie Carle Vital Elshoecht

Commissioned in 1846, finished in 1848

Sainte Geneviève

423 - 512

The Patron Saint of Paris who at just seven years old devoted her life to God and was blessed by Saint Germain of Auxerre. When Atilla the Hun was headed to destroy Paris, she gathered everyone at the banks of the Seine to pray. Atila and his men changed course and headed to Orleans. In 464 she saved hungry Parisians by navigating the blockades on the Seine to gather grain in Brie et Troyes to feed the citizens. Upon her death on January 3, 512 she was buried alongside King Clovis in the abbey Sainte Geneviève built for her. Another one of our ladies, Sainte Clotilde wrote the story of her life and her path to sainthood. 

Statute by Michel-Louis Victor Mercier, student of James Pradier 

Commissioned in 1843, finished in 1845

Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots 

8 December 1542 - 8 February 1587

At just six days old she was named queen of Scotland when her father James V died. Her mother served as regent and at five years old she was sent to France and betrothed to Francis II, son of Henri II and Catherine de Medicis. Raised together they were very close and would be married at Notre Dame de Paris in 1558. The wedded bliss would be short-lived when Francis II died just two years later in 1560. Mary returned to Scotland shortly after and began the long feud with her cousin, Elizabeth I of England. Elizabeth would later have her imprisoned and killed by beheading, even though the two would never meet face to face 

Statue by Jacques Feuchères

Commissioned in 1843, finished in 1846

Jeanne d’Albret

16 November 1528 - 9 June 1572

Her father, Henri II of Navarre choices of spouses wasn’t to the liking of her uncle King Francois I so he decided to bring her to court. At just twelve years old she was married off to Guillaume, duke of Cleves but was less than thrilled about it. She had to be pushed and carried down the aisle. Four years later she was able to convince Pope Paul III to have the wedding annulled. After her uncle died in 1548 she was able to marry again to Antoine de Bourbon, who would be king of Navarre following her fathers death in 1555. In 1553, she gave birth to Henri III, future king of Navarre who would become Henri IV, king of France. As the Valois line was ending an agreement between Jeanne and Catherine de Medici was reached uniting her daughter Marguerite to Henri III with the stipulation that Jeanne not convert her daughter to Protestantism. Jeanne wouldn’t live to see the wedding as she died from the suspected poisoning at the hands of Catherine 

Statue by Jean Louis Brian
Commissioned in 1843, finished in 1848 

Clémence Isaure

The one statue that is based on a myth more so than a real person. In the 14th century the seven occitan poets of Toulouse held a gathering each year on May 1 to celebrate poetry. The Academy of the Floral Games as it would be known handed out silver and gold flowers each will to the top winners. In the 16th century poet Pierre de Saint-Anian wrote The ballad of the epitaph of the Lady Clémence Isaur, that added to the myth. Pierre wrote that she was the one that created the floral games and the rest is history. 

Statue by Auguste Préault

Commissioned in 1844, finished in 1848

Anne Louise de Montpensier 

29 May 1627 - 5 April 1693

The granddaughter of Henri IV was born to Gaston Duc d’Orleans, younger brother of Louis XII and Marie de Bourbon. Marie died days after her birth and as the end of the line of the Montpensier Bourbons a vast fortune was bestowed on Anne. The Grande Mademoiselle as she was known was the princess every man in Europe wanted to marry. As a teenager her father sent her to Orleans as his representative and rarely held her opinions inside. Eventually Louis XII grew tired of them and had her sent to the Chateau de Saint Fargeau for three years. Many suitors were proposed but she refused until she fell for Antoine de Caumont. A speedy wedding was planned before the union could be discovered but it would never happen. Caumont was only after her money and the wedding ended just in time. Anne would never marry or have any children and would die in the Palais du Luxembourg that she had inherited through her grandmother Marie de Medicis. 

Statue by Camille Demesmay

Commissioned in 1846, finished in 1848

Louise de Savoie

11 September 1476- 22 September 1531

Daughter of Philipp II Duc de Savoie and Margaret de Bourbon who died when she was just seven years old. At eleven she married Charles d’Orleans who was 32 at the time but luckily wasn’t forced to live with him until she was fifteen. They had two legitimate children Marguerite in 1492 and Francois in 1494, he had many more children with his many mistresses. Louise loved everything of the Italian Renaissance and raised her children with an appreciation which would transform the court of France. Her husband died in 1496 and Louise took her children to live at the Hotel des Tournelles with Charles' cousin Louis XII. Without a male heir, he had his daughter Claude de France marry Francois and name him as his successor. On January 1, 1515 Francois I became the king of France at 15 years old. Extremely close, she stood by his side and served as regent when he was outside of France and helped negotiate the end of the 7th Italian war. When she died in 1531, Francois I held a funeral fit for a king in Notre Dame de Paris. 

Statue by Jean Baptiste Auguste Clésinger

Commissioned in 1846, finished in 1851

Marguerite d’Anjou 

23 March 1430 - 25 August 1482

Daughter of René, king of Naples was married by proxy on May 24, 1444 to Henry IV of England. She hoped she could help repair the rift between England and France with the marriage and for a short while it worked. Thousands of people lined the streets as she traveled down the street to be crowned in Westminster Abbey, but the love was short lived. Her husband Henry IV suffered bouts of insanity that could last up to a year and during the lowest points she would serve in his place. On October 13, 1453 she gave birth to Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales that forced the Duke of York out of the running for the throne. Marguerite took her husband and son to Scotland and rallied the troops of Scotland and France to support her. Upon their return to England, Henry was captured and tossed into the Tower of London where he would die and the young prince was captured and killed. After Marguerite was also imprisoned a deal with Louis XI of France was reached returning her to France but without a title and any land or money. 

Statue by Ferdinand Taluet

Commissioned in 1874, finished in 1877

Episode 68 - The Ladies of Monet

This week's new episode of Paris History Avec a Hemingway is all about the ladies of Claude Monet. He of course captured them on his epic canvases but it is a much more dramatic story than that. 

Camille Doncleux arrived in Paris from Lyon and quickly became the sought after model of the Impressionists. She met Claude Monet in 1865 at 18 years old and it quickly led to a relationship between the two. In 1866 he painted her in The Woman in a Green Dress and exhibited it at the Salon of 1866, but with the simple title of just Camille. It was met with rave reviews winning a silver medal and bought for 800 francs by Arsène Houssaye. By the next year they were living together and pregnant with their first son Jean which caused quite a stir among the Paris gossips.

So enamored with Camille, Claude would use her for the model of every woman in Les Femmes au Jardin et Le Déjeuner. Look closely at each of the women, they are all Camille. She would also sit for Renoir and Manet, Manet even painted the couple and family a few times. I love the painting Manet did of Claude and Camille sitting in his floating studio while she looks on as he works.  In 1870 the two would finally marry and in 1878 they would have their second son Michel. Michel’s birth was difficult and would in a few years take its toll. Cancer of the uterus had spread to her digestive system and urinary tract and she was barely able to walk around Monet’s beloved pond. 

In 1876, Claude Monet met Ernest Hoschedé and his wife Alice. Hoschedé came from a wealthy family that was happy to spend money on art and anything else he thought would keep him in the elite standing of Paris. Ernest invited different artists to his lavish home to add to the decor and when the always cash strapped Monet heard this he offered his services. Leaving Camille in their small apartment he moved into the Hoschedé’s where he painted canvases as well as the walls of their dining room. While Ernest was back in Paris, Claude and Alice struck up a flirtation as well as an affair.

Ernest’s spending got out of control and his family refused to pay his bills. Creditors and the bank came after his home and everything in it. Alice, now pregnant with her fifth child that may have been Claude’s left, moved into the small home with Claude, Camille and their two sons. Thirteen people in a two bedroom home was tight, not to mention having your wife and mistress within the same walls. 

As Camille got sicker each day, Alice Hoschedé helped take care of her, but in the summer of 1879 she deteriorated quickly. Camille Monet, the beloved wife of Claude Monet and inspiration for his many paintings died on September 5, 1879.

As Monet watched his beloved wife slip away he said “I caught myself watching her tragic temples almost mechanically searching for the sequence of changing shades which death was imposing upon her rigid face. Blue, yellow, grey. My reflexes compelled me to unconsciously act in spite of myself”, he picked up a canvas and painted her.  Today the painting is the Musee d’Orsay and stayed with Monet his entire life. 

As Camille was lowered into the ground, Alice cried out “destroy everything”. Every photo, letter and reminder of Camille was burned and destroyed. Aiice was no longer going to take second place as she watched Claude battle with his extreme grief. Her own husband Ernest died on March 18, 1891 and on July 16, 1892 Claude and Alice married.

Her daughter Blanche married Jean Monet in 1897 and after 35 years together in 1911, Alice died in Giverny. Blanche would stay and care for her step/father in law until he died on December 5. 1926. 

Alice was also captured in his art, but it’s the haunting and beautiful painting of Camille on her deathbed that will stay with you forever and luckily Alice didn’t have it destroyed.

Episode 67 - Chateau de Versailles

The Chateau Versailles, just the name evokes glamour, golden splendor and the regal days of France. We cover it all today on the newest episode of Paris History Avec a Hemingway.

Versailles began in 1604 when Louis XIII would come out to the woods to hunt and decided to build a hunting lodge. In 1623 a small lodge next to a windmill that sat on top of a low hill was the humble beginning that is hard to imagine today. Louis XIII would gather his hunting friends and head out to the lodge. His wife Anne d’Autriche had her own suite of rooms but she wasn’t allowed to stay the night. There is a lot more to the “boys weekend” at the Louis XIII Versailles and I’ll let you fill in the blanks.

His son Louis XIV first visited as a child and after his father died on May 14, 1643 Versailles was far from his mind. On the night of August 17, 1661 his superintendent of finance, Nicolas Fouquet held a lavish party at his finished chateau, Vaux-le-Vicomte. Inviting the boss over and his 6,000 friends entertained by Moliere and Fontaine and overcome by the beauty of the property and the chateau. A few days later, the Sun King had Fouquet arrested and then stole his artists. Architect Louis Le Vau, garden designer Andre Le Nôtre and designer and artists Charles Le Brun. In June of 1662, they would begin the construction on Versailles.
For the rest of his life he would continue to add on to Versailles to create one of the most splendid chateaux in Europe. Upon his death on September 1, 1715 it was still incomplete and Louis XV wasn’t as in love with living outside of Paris as his great-grandfather was. He moved the government back to Paris and Vincennes and left Versailles falling into disrepair until his return.

The days of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI are well known for frolicking in the meadow of the Hamlet and their last day of golden carefree luxury.

Today the Chateau de Versailles is one of the most popular attractions in France that was largely saved by John D Rockefeller who gave a vast fortune in thanks to France for standing by the USA through the American Revolution. Open Tuesday - Sunday it can be reached in 30 minutes from Paris and allow an entire day to wander through the gardens and chateau. On the weekends in the summer make sure you visit to enjoy the musician fountain show and maybe even rent a row boat along the canal.

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Episode 66 - Madame Elisabeth de France

In our final episode about the ladies of Marie Antoinette there wasn’t anyone closer in those final months than her sister in law Madame Elisabeth. 

The youngest child of Louis and Marie-Joseph, her older brothers would become king over the next 70 years. Born on May 3, 1764 a year later her father died and she spent most of her time in the shadow of the older brothers living a carefree life at court.  When she came of age, Louis XVI wanted to marry her off but she begged him not to so she can remain with her family. Which is exactly what she did until the end of her life. 

Pledging a life to God she was off the marriage market and at 19 her brother purchased a chateau in Montreuil as her own private estate. She wasn’t allowed to spend the night there until she was 25 so she visited each day riding a horse back and forth each night. The day she came of age on May 3, 1789 she stayed what would be only a few months at her beloved chateau.

On the night of October 5, 1789 she and the family were forced to leave it all behind for Paris. Ever the loyal sister she went with them all the way to the Temple prison in 1793. In a small cell once the family was pulled apart Elisabeth remained with Marie hidden away from the world.

As her brother was taken to the guillotine on January 21, 1793 her sister in law followed as she was pulled away and taken to the Conciergerie. At first the Convention was going to exile Elisabeth but after the “trial” of Marie Antoinette and the false accusations against her the “sister of the tyrant” was going to end with the same fate. 

In the final hours of her life, Marie Antoinette wrote a letter to Madame Elisabeth that would never reach her, intercepted by Robspierre. Today you can see that letter engraved in marble in the former cell of the queen at the Conciergerie.

Months later and unaware that MA had been killed she had her own date with the guillotine. Just prior to being carted through the city she learned that MA had also been killed. On May 10, 1794 she sat next to the blade and had to watch all 24 people die before it was her turn. Each person walked by kissing her hand before they died. She spent every day of her life giving others comfort. 

Listen to her full story today on Paris History Avec a Hemingway, link in bio