Episode 147- Violette Nozière - Part 2

When we last left Violette in Part 1 she had just killed her father and attempted to kill her mother. After a 48-hour spending spree without little to no remorse, she was about to face the music but she wasn’t finished manipulating everyone in her path.

Police commissioner Guedet knew this was a crime scene the moment they came across it and after discovering the past of the teenage Viollet, she was suspect number 1. Her mother was taken to the hospital and as soon as she was able to speak that same day the police took Violette to visit her. Realizing her mother was about to spill the entire history she fled the hospital. 

The story was all anyone in Paris was talking about and just like the Landru case it was on the front page of every paper in France with a photo of the “black angel” or the “monster in petticoats”. For five days she outran the law, spending money as fast as she could and even dating a few men whom she hoped would take care of her, but that was to be her mistake. One of the men recognized her from her photo in the paper and called the police. 

On August 24 an autopsy on her father performed by Dr. Charles Paul discovered that he had a large amount of Somenal in his system which resulted in his death, but his fall the month before also weakened his system. 

On August 28 in the 7e she was arrested and charged with intentional homicide and taken to the Quai des Orfèvres (OR-fev-ra) on the Ile de la Cite. Under interrogation, commissioner Marcel Guillaume who was also involved in the Landru case asked where she got the money to fund her newfound lavish lifestyle, Violette said it was a Monsieur Pepin that was buying her whatever she wanted and giving her 3000 francs a month, but  M. Pepin never existed. Breaking down into tears she said her mother was away often and her father had been raping her for 6 years. Some days even took her to work with him and raped her in a small cabin near the tracks and threatened to kill her if she told her mother. 

Realizing that her own daughter tried to kill her and successfully killed her husband and held little remorse, Germaine gave the police everything they could have wanted.

After the Landru case, the public was obsessed, much like today, with every small detail they could get. They crowded on the street below their Rue de Madagascar address at the scene of the crime and lined up outside the police station hoping to see her. Henri Géraud was a powerful criminal attorney that had defended other criminals, albeit not successfully used the press to their advantage. 

Violette was claiming that it was an act of self-defense after years of physical abuse by her father, although the press would not use the term rape or incest, the public was able to figure it out. Influential supporters came to her defense including Marcel Aymé who wrote the story of the man who walked through walls. Her lawyer also mounted a defense that other men including, her boyfriend Jean Dabin took advantage of her and forced her to steal for him. After all, how could a teenager kill her own parents? 

On August 31, Benoite in the presence of his wife and father was buried in Neuvy-sur-Loire in a family plot. The entire town was there and muttered in disbelief that this could have happened. 

Back in Paris, Viollete’s stories went on and on. Describing suggestive photos her father had hidden he would look at and even the cloth he would you as contraceptives. Full searches were held and nothing was recovered to back up her story. Taken to the Petite Roquette prison she stood by her tale and told everyone who would listen. 

The first part of the case went to court at the start of October. Her mother got her own lawyer and mounted her case against her. Every seat was filled and the day Jean Dabin walked in everyone sat a little taller to hear his recount of their relationship. Looking down at his hand Germaine noticed a ring on his finger. The court stopped as Germaine screamed that the ring belonged to her husband. Asked where it was from he said Violette had given it to him as a gift. It was quickly returned to Germaine. 

The judge ordered the lawyers and defendants to return to the crime scene and walk through the events. Germaine wouldn’t even look at her daughter. In December, judge Lanoire finished ruled that on January 5, 1934, the case would go to the attorney general and she would face trial and be indicted for murder. 

The official trial started on October 10, 1934, in the Assize court of the Seine. The details of the first attempt on March 23 and the final blow on August 21 were brought up but never the suggestion of rape. Her biggest strike against her was the day the doctor came to court and told the story of her diagnosis of syphilis and her behavior. Her parents had both been tested and neither had it. So how could she have been raped for 6 years at the same time as having the virus of the times? 

On October 12, 1934, at 7 pm the jury deliberated for just one hour and returned with a unanimous guilty verdict and sentenced to death at 19 years old. In 1934 women were no longer killed by the guillotine but they would be covered in black cloth as the charges were read and then shot. She had enough time to file an appeal that was quickly tossed out. On December 6 her attorney reached out to the President of France Albert Lebrun who overturned the death penalty in exchange for sending her to a forced labor camp for the rest of her life.  At the start of 1935, she left for Alsace with 14 other women. Isolated she couldn’t have contact with anyone else. 

Once there she rediscovered her Catholic faith and became a model prisoner. In October of 1937, she took back the allegations she made against her father in a letter sent to her mother who then gave it to the press. The two had reconciled over the years and Germaine was now doing all she could to get her daughter’s sentence shortened. 

In May 1940, she was moved to a prison in Rennes. Due to her high notoriety, multiple guards surrounded her in case, the Germans had the idea of kidnapping her. The Vichy government was filling the prisons with resistance fighters and Jews under the orders of the German officers and Violette tried to keep to herself.  

In 1942 the Catholic church reached out the Marshal Philippe Petain and pleaded for a reduced sentence showing how she had turned her entire life around. On August 6, 1942, 9 years after the crime her sentence was reduced from life to 12 years counting the years served. A few weeks later she was given a job with the prison accountant which she would hold until her release and would change the rest of her life. 

On February 24, 1944, her parol was denied but she took it in stride and stayed for another year until August 29, 1945, when she was finally released. On November 17, Charles de Gaulle, the third head of the state to help her canceled the two-decade ban, essentially house arrest against her and she was able to return to Paris. 

Now taking her mother’s name Germaine (Violette) was living in the 14th and working as an accountant for a Catholic charity. Back in prison the accounting clerk who took her under his week, Eugene Garnier was a very kind gentleman and the two grew close. A widow with 5 children his oldest son Pierre and Violette became quite close. 

Shortly after her return to Paris, Pierre who was divorcing his wife moved to Batignole and worked as a cook to be closer to Violette. On December 16, 1946, the two married back in her hometown of Neuvy-sur-Loire. Her grandfather had passed away but never forgive and neither did most of the town but Violette was a changed person now and she and her mother were very close. 

Over the years the couple purchased a hotel and restaurant near Rouen and had five children, Her mother lived with them and helped with the grandkids. Violette’s lawyer never stopped and in 1953 he was able to get her entire conviction tossed out with the help of the testimony of her mother. 

They had a happy life until June 30, 1961, when Pierre died after a horrific car accident. Two years later Violette was diagnosed with breast cancer. Surgery successfully removed it and she opened a new hotel and restaurant she would run until 1963 when cancer returned, this time in her bones. On November 26, 1966, in Petit-Quevilly she died surrounded by her mother and children. 

Her mother lived until September 5, 1968, outliving both her daughter and husband. 

The story captivated France for years and has been made into numerous movies and documentaries. In 1977 Isabelle Huppert played the black angel and some clips can be found on you tube, 

Episode 146 - Violette Nozière -Part 1

Parents Baptiste Nozière was a mechanic for the railroad and met  Germaine Josephine Hézard in Paris in June 1913 at 10 bis rue Montgallet in the 12e. Germaine had been married before but her husband had died before the war started. Baptiste & Germaine married on August 17, 1914, she was already 4 months pregnant with Violette. 

Returning to Neuvy-Sur-Loire during the war years, Baptiste became a driver moving troops and equipment during the war and Germaine became a mechanic as the war began as many men were sent out to the front. At the end of the war, the trio returned to Paris in the 12e to 9 Rue de Madagascar to a very small 2-room apartment on the 6th floor near the Gare de Lyon. 

The first signs of trouble came when Violette had to bounce around from one school to another. From the 12th to the 4th and ended at the 6th at the Fénelon school where Simone de Beauvoir had also been a teacher until she was fired for having relations with the young girls. Violette had outbursts and was critical of classmates that looked down on her so she began to make up grand stories about her family, 

Violette started to make more friends including Madeline Georgette Debrize, Maddy who lived around the corner, and Jean Guillard.  Many of the kids that were more in the years of the Great War were a bit lost. And for girls, they were able to work but were still limited to two goals, marriage, and motherhood, neither appealed to Violette. The free-thinking, a bit too free teenager realized early how to get what she wanted.  

She liked the finer things like clothes and sitting in cafes for hours with friends drinking but her parents did have that kind of money. At 15 she started to steal things and when she needed more money became a prostitute. She was very selective and would only sleep with older men that had a lot of money and she normally found around the business district of the 1e & 2e.

Her promiscuity also came with the disease of the day, syphilis in April of 1932. Dr. Henri Déron was no match for her manipulation and she convinced him to not tell her parents. At home, there were constant battles between the three and questioning everything she was doing. She also invented a new friend, a sister of Dr. Henri Déron that she used as a cover for the time she was spending out at bars. A few months later on December 14, 1932, she was arrested for shoplifting for stealing a dictionary. Her parents had enough and locked her in the house for days. 

Sneaking out overnight, Violette left a note that she was going to go and kill herself by jumping into the Seine. Her parents notified the police and found her sitting in a bar on the Boulevard Saint Michel with friends without a care in the world. 

Violette’s stories to friends became taller and taller. She said her father was an executive with the railroad and her mother was the lead salesperson at the Maison Paquin. However, they also became darker. Viollet implied that her father took “liberties” with her to friends in passing but always laughed it off. 

Left untreated her syphilis began to take its toll on her body and a return visit to the gullible Dr. Déron was in order. This time she convinced him to write a note to her parents that she was still a virgin and the only way she was able to catch the sexual virus was from them, through birth. On March 19, 1933, the family went to the hospital where the doctor shared the news. Her parents were shocked and embarrassed and knew this could be true as neither one of them was positive for the disease. Returning home another large argument ensued, this time she would take things up a notch. 

Four days later on March 23, 1933, she returned home with a bottle of Somenal sleeping pills and passed them off as a prescription from Dr. Déron for their “hereditary syphilis”. In order to really sell it she took some herself but far less than she gave her parents. In the middle of the night, her parents woke up to a banging on the door and the smell of smoke. A fire had broken out in the kitchen and the neighbor alerted them just in time. Taken to the hospital their lethargic symptoms were blamed on the smoke they ingested and they returned home that same day. 

Baptiste and Germaine were suspicious that their daughter may have been behind this and left Paris for a month to visit family in Neuvy-sur-Loire.  Grandfather Félix kept a keen eye on Violette but she still managed to sneak out and disappear for days at a time after her parents went back to Paris for work and a new promotion for Baptiste. Reporting back to Paris, grandpa Félix was not fooled by the headstrong young lady and suggested they send to her a school but Baptiste and Germaine still didn’t want to see who she really was becoming. 

On June 30 Violette was back in Paris and a few days later met a young law student Jean Dabin. Infatuated with this boy she offered to pay for everything and even gave him money that she was stealing from her parents and through prostitution. On July 2 her father was given the honor of conducting the train for the President of France, Albert Lebrun. For his service, he was given a raise and a medal, and even a bonus. A few days later on the platform of the Gare de Lyon, he fell injuring his leg and landing him in the hospital for over a month. 

Poor Germaine was no match for Violette who was now head over heels in love with Jean. When Jean told her that he was going to leave to visit his family in the south of France she panicked and tried a find a way to go with him. She had a brilliant idea to offer up a Bugatti that the two could drive through the south of France on a romantic vacation. How could she pay for it was the big question. Back at home, she knew her parents had kept some of the money from his new promotion and even more in the bank. 

On August 21, 1933, Violette went to the local pharmacy and purchased three bottles of the same Somenal sleeping pills with a forged prescription from Dr. Déron. Grinding them all up she placed them in three separate envelopes. One marked with a cross. When her parents returned home Violette was away but the money was missing. When she returned their biggest fight yet occurred and now she knew this was the time. Mixing the two packages into the water and a third for herself from the envelope with the cross which was harmless she gave the glasses to her parents with dinner. 

Her father drank all of his but Germaine thought it was too bitter and only drank half. This choice saved her life. After dinner, her father stumbled around and collapsed on the bed. Checking on him Germaine fell and hit her head and was knocked unconscious. Violette thought she had succeeded, She took all the money she could find and quietly snuck out of the building in the middle of the night.  

For over 48  hours Violette hit the town going on spending sprees and buying her friends drinks and anything they wanted. At 1 am on August 23, she snuck back into the apartment and turned on the gas hoping to create the scene of a double suicide. A few hours later the same neighbor that alerted them of the fire back in March noticed the smell of gas and called the fire department. Upon their arrival, they discovered Baptise dead and her mother barely alive, and Violette nowhere to be seen. 

Episode 145 - L'Affaire des Poisons - Part 2

Reynie first went to every alchemist in and around Paris which led him to poisoners and in no time was at the door of Catherine Deshayes Montvoisin. 

Catherine was born in 1640 and married Antoine Montvoisin, a Parisian jeweler. They had one daughter, Marie-Marguerite that would later turn against her mother. Catherine was first just a palm reader and fortune teller but that quickly led to being a potion and poison maker and performing abortions. 

One of the most horrific acts during this time was the Black Mass a practice that had been around for centuries but was given a dark name in the 17th century. Another woman who loved to dapple in the occult world Catherine de Medici was known to hold a Black Mass on May 28, 1574. In the time of Poison Affairs, a defunct priest Etienne Guibourg resurrected the practice in Paris with Catherine in 1673. It is not for the faint of heart to hear and the practice involves the killing of a baby which Catherine was never short of. 

In 1658 Montespan was lady-in-waiting to Henriette of England, the young Francoise was now close to king Louis XIV who later died from suspicious causes. Montespan had her eyes on the king but needed to befriend  Louise de la Valliere the current headmistress. When Louise and the queen were pregnant by the king at the same time, she asked Montespan to dine with the king each evening. It was sending the fox into the hen house and after the birth of the illegitimate child of the king, Louise left the court as Montespan had moved into her place. 

La Voisin and Montespan first met in 1665 when she had asked for a love potion to use on the king to keep his attention on her. The mother of seven children with the king was a little rounder around the edges and he had his eyes on some of the younger members on the edges of the court. 

The Black Mass became well known in every corner of Paris after the arrest of Catherine and everyone would learn the truth of her most famous client. In 1672 Guibourg et La Voisin as she came to be known found an empty chateau near Orleans and François de Rochechouart de Mortemart, the Marquise de Montespan. The Marquis laid on a stone slab completely naked with her arms out like a cross and holding a candle in each hand. Guibourg placed a silver chalice on her belly and above her held a baby that would bleed into the chalice. 

Montespan had to chant “Asmodée, prince of love, I beg you to accept the sacrifice of this child in exchange I would keep the king’s affection, the favor of the princesses of the court, and the satisfaction of all desires.”  The ritual was held three times, in 1673, 1673, and lastly in 1679. Her sexual relationship with the king ended in 1678 and she remained at court for her children until it all came crashing down after March 17, 1769. 

On a sunny afternoon, La Voisin was walking out of the church and was arrested by Reynie. Although she was quite adept at the dark arts she was also a very devoted member of the church and a high priestess. Believing her powers and actions were bestowed upon her by God she easily walked away with the Lieutenant thinking she had done nothing wrong. Her abilities were widely known and every morning people lined up outside her door to see her for one of many reasons.  

At the time women had little to no rights, especially over their own bodies, and were happy to pay her for fortunes or alleviate a pregnancy making her a very wealthy woman. 

An inspection of her home on Rue Beauregard in the 2nd authorized by her daughter found more than 2500 babies buried in her backyard. 

The court of the Chambre Ardente was held in the Arsenal in front of 13 magistrates interrogating hundreds of prisoners. Experts including doctors were on hand to help delve into the chemistry and poison terms and evidence. The windows were covered with dark cloth as all of Paris was watching day and night to catch a glimpse of the men and women being brought in. 

In the years of the investigation, the Chambre Ardente as they were called over three years resulted in quite a large outcome. 442 people were accused of which 319 were subpoenaed and 194 were arrested and 36 were executed and twice as many committed suicides. 

Of these were a few closely associated with La Voisin.  Françoise Filastre was arrested in 1680 and confirmed the involvment of Etienne Guibourg and the Black Masses. Francoise was sentenced to life in prison and died in 1686 but her testimony would lead to the incrimination of Montespan. After Voisin’s arrest, Montespan had contacted Filastre to supply her with poison to use at court. 

Françoise de Dreux was of noble birth and married to a high-ranking member of the Parliament of Paris. However, she was in love with Armand Jean de VIgnerot du Plesses and she killed her husband so she could be with her lover.  Arrested and brought to trial for another man M. Pajot she was accused of also ordering the poison to kill her lover’s wife Anne de Richelieu. She was later acquitted but another woman would bring it all back to light. 

Margurite Joly was just as skilled and successful as La Voisin. Arrested she was subject to water torture and gave up the names of many of her clients including François de Dreux who thought she was in the clear, Dreux was going to be arrested but managed to flee France before she could be found. 

Marguerite Leféron was the wife of a judge whom she didn’t like very much. She like Dreux killed her husband so she could marry her lover De Prade. De Prade was only after her money and so she needed to kill him as well.  She was arrested and exiled, not everyone went to the stake. 

Marie Brosse, La Brosse as was known as the first poisoner arrested in the roundup and pointed her finger at La Voisin. One night at a party after a bit too much wine La Brosse bragged to everyone how much money she had due to ceiling poison to many women in Paris that wanted to kill their husbands or lovers. Someone at the party reported it back to Reynie and Brosse was arrested as well as her daughter and sons. Marie met her fate on the Place de Greve on May 8, 1679. 

Marguerite de Poulaillon obtained poison from Marie Brosse to kill her husband Alexandre de Pouaillon but he survived and was able to hand her over to the police. Her beauty saved her from the same fate as many of the other women and when Reynie heard of her lenient sentence of exile he stepped in and had her sent to work at a holding house for former prostitutes in Angers where she would spend the rest of her life. 

The court of the Chambre 

In 1678 the investigation was pointing in many directions to Louis XIV and the court of Versailles. Evidence mounted and it was discovered that Louis XIV had been poisoned for 13 years. The Sun King ordered Reynie to only make notes on unattached paper so it could be destroyed.  

On July 13, 1709, had 29 volumes of evidence were destroyed in a fire. Much of it against Montespan was destroyed in a fire but we have all the notes of Madame de Sévignè and the files of Reynie are still held in the Prefecture of Paris. 

In the end, 3 times the arrested were made and would come 10 years before the Salem witch trials in the US. 

Versailles season 2 all about Poison Affair and episode 9 features the horrific act of the Black Mass 

Episode 144 - L'Affaire des Poisons-Part 1

L’Affaire des Poisons

In the late 17th century all of Paris and the court of Versailles were embroiled in the Poison Affairs and not many were immune from its reaches including the Sun King.

It all began in 1662 when a gentleman named Godin de Sainte-Croix began an affair with Marie-Madeline Dreux d’Aubray Marquise de Brinvillers. The Marquise was born on July 2, 1630, in Paris. Her father served in the military and her mother Marie Olier was the brother of Jean-Jacques Olier who created the Society of Saint Sulpice. 

The oldest of five children her mother would die shortly after giving birth to her youngest brother. As the oldest her father expected her to help with her siblings and be in charge of the house. At just 7 years old she was raped by a neighbor and at 10 she began to have sexual relations with her two younger brothers up to three times a week. 

At the old age of 21 on December 20, 1651, in the Eglise Saint Eustache Marie-Madeline married Antoine Gobelin, Marquis de Brinvilliers. The marriage resulted in three children,   Antoine already had 4 illegitimate ones that she was to care for when he was away as commander of the Regime of Auvergne.  They had a high standing in the Marais where they lived, holding parties and salons that everyone wanted to attend. 

In 1662 Marie-Madeline met Godin de Saint-Croix who began quite the affair. When her husband learned of the relationship he had Godin locked up in the Bastille for three months in 1663. While there Godin met Egidio Exili who was in the Bastille for poisoning the sister-in-law of Pope Innocent X, Olimpia Maidalchinin Rome. 

Godin was already fascinated with chemistry and poisons and Exili taught him all he needed to know about creating tasteless, odorless poisons that could not be detected. Exili told him upon his release to visit Christopher Glasser, a master chemist at the Jardin Royale des Plantes to get everything he needed. 

A prison stint couldn’t keep these two apart and as soon as he was released he was once again at her side and teaching her everything he had learned in the Bastille. 

Godin lived at no 5 Rue Hautefeuille, the Hotel des Abbes de Fécamp they were a short walk to the garden to get their supplies. The two would test out their poisons mixed in with sweet cakes and take them to the patients of the Hotel Dieu where they would track the symptoms, dosage, and length of discomfort before their victim’s death. Killing numerous people in their research just for the thrill of it. It is not known just how many were killed but the list could be quite long. 

Marie-Madeline took what she learned and tried it out on her father on September 10, 1666, killing him, and a few years later in 1670 her two brothers Antoine and Francois, and a sister were also victims of her potions as a way to knock out all obstructions to get to her inheritance. 

Fearing for his own life her husband Antoine fled Paris with their children.

Saint-Crox also became concerned for his own life and began to document and make note of her actions and even take evidence of her crimes and lock it all away in a red leather box. A note was left that if anything was ever to happen to him before she herself died to go look inside the red box. Unfortunately for Marie-Madeleine, he died of natural causes on July 31, 1672, and it set off the Affair of the Poisons. 

Upon his death, he had a long list of creditors looking to be paid and demanded that the king intervene. A search was authorized of his property and the note was discovered a week after his death on August 8. His trusted valet Jean Amilin de La Chaussée was brought in for questioning and he backed up all of the mystery evidence in the red box. 

Upon the discovery, Marie quickly left for London and eventually hit out at the Benedictine convent in Avray where she managed to hide for three years. Charged with murder even though she was nowhere to be found a few determined investigators kept looking for her. One investigator even dressed up as a priest and intragretiated himself with the convent and waited for his moment to arrest her and bring her back to Paris on April 17, 1676.

On April 26 the questioning and torture began that lasted weeks. she admitted to killing her brother and father 

A second trial began on April 29 and culminated on July 14 with Madame de Sévigné in the front row noting everything that was said. Sevigne, the lady of letters we covered before was born in 1626 in the Place des Vosges. Spending time at the court of Versailles her daughter Francoise could have been a victim if she spent any more time under the watchful gaze of Louis XIV. Francoise married Francoise de Grignan and left Paris on April 19, 1678, and thus began the letters that would document all of Parisian society. 

It was discovered in 1669 that Marie-Madeliene attempted to kill Jean-Baptiste Colbert twice on February 18 and again on May 5. He was a close member of the court of Louis XIV and chief minister of State but this was nothing compared to what his court of Versailles would soon go through. 

When Henriette of England, wife of Philippe I, Duc d’Orleans, and brother of Louis XIV died on June 30, 1670, it is believed that the poison came from Marie-Madeline. A glass of Chicory was given to Henriette by the Knight of Lorraine that was also the lover of her husband and wanted her out of the way. Later that day she died at just 26 years old. Upon her death, her autopsy revealed that she died from suspicious causes. 

The entire ordeal captured the attention of all of Paris. The documenter of the day Madame de Sévigné gives us the strongest account of the details. “Assassination is the safest, it is a trifle compared to the eight months of  killing her father and receiving all his caresses and sweetness where she always responds with doubling the dose.” Alexander Dumas also noted all the details of the trial and used them in his books. 

On July 16, 1676, she met her final fate on the Place de Grève, now Place de Hotel de Ville. Beheaded and burned on a stake her ashes were tossed into the Paris wind. Sévigné said that “Never has the city been so aroused, so intent on a spectacle”. She also remarked that Paris had now inhaled her evil and it was to return in the next seven years. 

As Marie-Madeline was taken the short way to her death she said “Out of so many people, must I be the only one to be put to death? Half the people in Paris are involved in this sort of thing and I could ruin them if I were to talk”.   When news reached the king he ordered an investigation. Louis XIV appointed Gabriel Nicolas de la Reynie the lieutenant general of the police to create a group to look into the allegations. He never knew how close to home it would get

Stay tuned next week for part 2

Episode 143- Henri Désiré Landry - Part 2

Detectives went to Gambais where a pile of remains was found in the ashes of the fireplace and stove. Combined it was more than 9,000 pounds of charred debris of which 3,300 was thought to be human remains as well as 47 teeth. The equivalent of three heads, five feet, and six hands. 

In the back yard detectives found three dead dogs with a rope around their necks under a pile of papers in a shed at the far edge of his home. They belonged to his last victim, Marie-Therese Marchandier. Landru told the authorities that he was asked to kill them 

It was all very calculated. After he killed them he would return to Paris to their home and clean it out with the help of his son Maurice. Filling two storage units with everything they owned until he could sell everything. Landru took exacting notes of everything. He noted each and every piece he sold, the date, and how much he was paid. Also noting when he bought saws and coal. All of this today would be a slam dunk but this was over 100 years ago and forensic science wasn’t quite as advanced. 

At his arrest, he had two small black notebooks on hand. One hidden in his coat's lining documents the names of all the women he met. 

His notes were incredibly detailed, like this example from May 19, 1915 

9:30 cigarette kiosk, gare de Lyon Mademoissle Lydie

10:30 Cafe Place St Georges Mme Ho…

11:30 metro Laundry Mme Le C…

14:30 Concorde north Mme Le…

15:30 Tour St Jacques Mme du 

17:30 Mme Va…

20:15 Saint Lazare Mme Le… 

He kept every single piece of paper and receipt and it was the train tickets that broke down his entire case.  

Courtship with Landru always had the same timeline. They would meet and have a few simple dates and once he realized they had means he would propose, visit the bank then go away for the weekend together to his country house, and never return.  Landru would buy two tickets in one direction but only a return for himself. As investigators went through box after box they found the single train ticket over and over. He clearly intended to return to Paris alone and his excuse was rather flimsy. 

It was now the spring of 1919. World War I was behind us for five months now and the press now had a new tool at their disposal, photography. As soon as the story hit the papers with photos of Landru more families wondered if he could be the reason for the disappearance of their loved ones. 

Mademoiselle Freedman on April 16, 1919, contacted the police to say she recognized him and that he dated her sister whom she hadn’t heard from in four years. And this was just the start. 

Newsstands couldn’t stack the issues fast enough and Le Matin named him the Le Barbe-Bleue de Gambais,  (the Blue Beard of Gambais) based on the 17th-century story by Charles Perrault  

TRIAL 

On August 18, 1920, a year and a half after his arrest Judge Bonin filed charges. The supporting documents were over 7,000 pages and the evidence was close to 5,000 pieces. 

On November 7, 1921, his trial began in the Assize Court in Versailles. After 2 and a half years of coverage daily in the newspaper it was the place to be. All of society wanted a seat including Maurice Chevalier and Colette who was dispatched from Le Matin. Colette covered many of the high-profile murder cases and we have another one coming up soon. Bien Sur, Colette couldn’t tell the story like anyone else and always gave a little extra empathy to her subjects and their life. 

Regarding Landru, she wrote: “Did he kill? Then it is while whistling a little tune, and wearing an apron for fear of stains. . . . We remain stunned in front of the tranquil and gentle murderer, who keeps a diary of his victims and rested, perhaps, while at work, with his elbow on the window and feeding the birds some bread.”

His popularity and obsession resulted in over 800 proposals for marriage and close to 5000 fan and love letters. 

For twenty days the train from Paris to Versaille was filled and as the trial came to a close the public hung on every detail. On November 21 the courthouse was filled for the testimony of Fernand Segret, his one-time lover who was a lucky survivor of Landru. She couldn’t get through her first day on the stand and return on the 22nd. She told the story of how they met on the tram one day and he followed her until she acknowledged him. 

On November 30, 1921, at 6:40 pm the jury was sent to deliberate. At 9:10 pm the jury returned with a guilty conviction, although there had never been a body to prove he had killed a single one of these ladies. 

On February 25, 1922, Landru was led to his death in front of the courthouse of Versaille. Sentenced to death by guillotine his lawyer asked him once more if he wanted to confess anything. Landru told him it was a suitcase he was taking with him. Also asked if he wanted a shot of rum and a cigarette but replied they were bad for his health. 

 At 6:10 am on February 25, Anatole Deibler dropped the blade and the life of Landru ended like his victims, without a head. Deibler was a third-generation executioner 

After his family declined burial he was added to the death row cemetery near the courthouse. Years later his family moved him to a hidden location.  In Hollywood, the Museum of Death has on display the head of Landru, or so they say. Much like the penis of Napoleon, can we really know for sure it is his? 

Where was his family?   

His wife/cousin Marie Catherine Rémy Landru tried at first to plead ignorance but during the investigation, another side was discovered. At first, Landru had fooled his family into thinking he was a traveling antique salesman and that is partially correct. Checking back in every few months until their assistance was needed. 

His son Maurice was arrested when he had been found with jewelry that belonged to a few of the victims that his father gave him. After serving two years in prison he was released and went back to helping his father clear out the apartments and selling the belongings of his victims. 

His wife Catherine, would dress up in the clothes of the missing woman and accompany her husband to the bank pretending to be the missing woman and cleaning out her accounts. 

His daughters at first pleaded their innocence but records found that they would rent buildings and homes under other names for their father. 

Fernande Segret never really recovered after the trial. She moved to Lebanon to be a teacher but returned to Paris and sued the director Claude Chabrol for her depiction in his movie on the killer. On January 21, 1968, the anniversary of the day she met Landru she killed herself by jumping into the moat of the Cathedral de Flers. 

The Blue Beard of Gambais continues to inspire. Charlie Chaplin made Monsieur Verdoux in 1947 and countless movies and documentaries come out every other year. 

As for the oven that was the scene of so much horror and brought to the trial of November 1921 it was auctioned off not long after. On January 23, 1932, the director of the Musée Grevin, the Paris wax museum was the winning bidder with 4200 francs. Later it was sold to Laurent Ruquier who wrote a play inspired by the story in 2005. 

And on a more touching note, the French doctor that was called to inspect the pile of ashes later buried a box of bones and remains silently under a weeping willow in the Jardin des Plantes. I will be sure to find that tree and give a little prayer to those victims of the Bleue Bearde of Gambais. 

The house of horrors in Gambais is still there. The Villa Tric was sold and became a restaurant for a few decades and now it is a private residence. Not sure I would want any food from that kitchen or to live there but maybe they got a good deal. Neighbors say people are always stopping to look and walk around the property that so many horrific acts occurred. 

Recently in 2018 RF1 and a team of investigators believes from looking through all the documents that he may have had more victims. Of the 283 names in his journals 72 of the women were never looked into. A few more victims could have died at his hands, but we may never know. 

Victims 

February 1915: Jeanne Cuchet 39 missing in Vernouillet

February 1915: André Cuchet, son of Jeanne Cuchet, 17 disappeared in Vernouillet

June 26, 1915: Thérèse Laborde-Line, born on August 12, 1868 in Chascomús, Argentina missing in Vernouillet;

August 3, 1915: Marie-Angélique Guillin, bornn April 15, 1863 in Bellavilliers, Orne 52, missing in Vernouillet 

December 8, 1915: Berthe-Anna Héon, 55, born in Le Havre missing in Gambais

December 27, 1916: Anna Collomb, 44, widow, missing in Gambais

April 12, 1917: Andrée-Anne Babelay 19 disappeared in Gambais

September 1, 1917: Célestine Buisson missing in Gambais

November 26, 1917: Louise-Joséphine Jaume, 38 , disappeared in Gambais

April 5, 1918: Anne-Marie Pascal, born on November 5, 1880 missing in Gambais

January 13, 1919: Marie-Thérèse Marchadier, born on October 27, 1881 in Bordeaux, former prostitute owner of a passing house on rue Saint-Jacques, in Paris, known as the beautiful Mytèse, 37, who disappeared in Gambais 

Episode 142 - Henri Désiré Landru - Part 1

Henri Désiré Landru was born on April 12, 1869, in Paris.  At first, his path looked to be in the church, and he was an active member of the Église Saint Louis en l’Île on the tiny Île Saint Louis where he lived. After marrying his cousin (as one did back then) and 4 children quickly followed he needed to make a bit more money.

Grew up on the Rue du Cloitre Notre Dame and was a member of the choir of the Eglise Saint Louis en l’ile and even served as a sub-decan in 1888. His parents wanted him to follow the path to the seminary but he had other ideas. 

Henri and his cousin Marie Catherine Rémy began a relationship in 1889. Rémy lived close by on the Rue Saint Louis en l’Ile. Their first child Marie-Henriette in 1891 and the two were married after his return from his mandatory 3-year military service in the 87th Infantry on October 7, 1893. 

Three more kids followed with Maurice Alexander in 1894, Suzanne in 1896, and Charles in 1900. During this time Henri had over fifteen different jobs everything from contractor to cartographer but none gave him the money he needed to take care of his large family.  

His first scam was obtaining a patent for the “Landru with a Renouard engine” oil bicycle, He rented multiple offices and a factory and took out ads offering a special intro price by putting a third of the money down.  As the orders came in he took all the money and disappeared. 

One fake name after another and more scams would result in his arrest and sentencing to prison three times between 1904 and 1906. A psychiatrist confirmed he was in a “sick mental state” and could sidestep being sent to Guyana where many prisoners died. Evading the law again and another name change he purchased a garage and then quickly resold it but never paid the original owner. As the first World War started, he was sentenced to 4 more years in prison in absentia. 

He rarely served any of his terms and evade capture outsmarting and changing his name and the last sentence inspired him to take his criminal activity up a notch. 

It was the start of the Great War and the men were dying on the battlefield leaving women behind in Paris in need of new companions. The war also opened up a woman’s right to work in France as well as dabbling in prostitution. 

Henri used this to his advantage. In 1914 he posted his first ad. “Widow with two children, 43 years old with a comfortable income, serious and moving in good society with a desire to meet a widow with a view of matrimony.” 

He first rented a house in La Chaussée-pres-Gouvieux near Chantilly but quickly moved to a more remote location in Vernouillet. Renting under an alias and keeping to himself the neighbors at first thought he was a German spy. 

His first victim or victims as it was a package deal was Jeanne Cuchet and her son. Jeanne was a 39-year-old widow and worked as a laundress in Paris. The two met by chance in the Jardin du Luxembourg in February 1914

283 women answered his ad and we know of 10 victims but many believe now examing the police documents that there were far more.  The women needed to be lonely and without a circle of friends or family that may miss them as well as having money. 

Meeting them he would size them up and decide if they had the money he wanted. The short man with a pointy scraggly beard had a way with the ladies and could be very charming when he needed to be. A proposal of marriage quickly came, a trip to the bank to add Henri to their bank accounts, and a power of attorney.  

Gambais was even more remote, the Villa Tric was almost 1,000 feet from his nearest neighbor. Just after he moved in one day the neighbors noticed a very large stove being delivered. The town thought he was rather odd and never saw the same woman with him twice. For weeks there was nothing and then Landru appeared with a woman on his arm and for a few days they would be seen in the garden then nothing except for a horrid odor coming from the chimney. 

In the small town of Gambais years before Father Thibaud lived alone and liked to have endless glasses of wine sitting in front of his large fireplace.  One night he had a bit too much and he passed out and fell into the lit fire. Father Thibaud burned to death and the horrific smell spread through the village.  The people of Gambais sadly knew the smell had returned once more. 

Worried his victims could identify Landru, he cut their bodies up, burned their heads, hands, and feet in the oven, and tossed the rest of their bodies in a nearby lake. 

World War I allowed him to sneak through the law as the focus was on the war and the amount of police available was more than three-quarters less than normal. Gambais had only 1 man on their police force. 

In 1918 Mrs. Pellat sent a letter to the mayor of Gambais asking about her friend Mademoiselle  Anne Collonb who had become engaged to a Monsieur Dupont and moved with him to Gambais. They had no record of Dupont and replied that he didn’t know of either one. 

Months later another letter arrived this time from Mademoiselle Lacoste looking for her sister Celestine Buisson who had moved there with Monsieur  Frémyet. 

Now the mayor thought this was odd, he didn’t know of any of these people so he put the families in touch with each other. They learned that their loved ones had answered an ad in Le Journal on March 16 and May 1, 1915. Too many things began to add up and they filed an official complaint with the prosecutor’s office of the Seine. 

The prosecutor’s office appointed the “Tiger Brigade” to the case. Created under Le Tigre, Clemenceau was a squad comprised of police that had spent their career working the streets of the Ile de France.

Inspector Jules Belin visited the home “l’Ermitage” that was owned by Mr. Tric and rented to M. Frémyet. Frémyet hadn’t been seen in weeks even though neighbors rarely saw him. The first break came when Belin learned that Frémyet’s mail had been forwarded to a Paris address, Boulevard Ney in the 18e. The address belonged to Celestine Buissons, who would be another victim. 

On April 8, 1919, Mademoiselle Lacoste was walking down the Rue de Rivoli and noticed Landru and a woman coming out of Le Lion de Faience tableware store.  Calling the police right away Jules Belin went to the store but it had already closed. Finding the name of the clerk they went to the suburbs and woke him up and asked if they kept any records. Sure enough, Lucien Guillet had purchased two sets of dishes to be delivered to his address at 76 rue de Rocherchouart in the 9e. 

It was late at night so Belin waited on the street for two days with no sight of Henri. In the early hours of April 12, 1919, Belin decided to wait on the landing outside his apartment. Just after 8  am on April 12, he knocked on the door. Through the door, Landru told him to come back as he wasn’t dressed but Belin wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Persisting Landru finally let him in. Standing in his pajamas Belin and his men interrogated him and the young woman that was with him. Fernande Segret was distraught at the questions and fainted in the kitchen. The man she knew was lovely although he did try to poison her twice. 

It was his 50th birthday. 

During a search of his apartment and storage units piles of women’s clothes, wigs, and even dentures were found. However, the most damaging piece was the locked trunk with business logs and all the details of his crimes. 

At the central police station on the Ile de la Cité when he was questioned for 24 hours he would not offer up any information. Day turned into night and still nothing. Back at his apartment detectives found some ideas and a photo of Henri Landru and brought the info to the investigator. When confronted Landru finally admitted that was his real name. A search found that he had eight convictions against him and an endless list of crimes he was wanted for. 

On April 14, 1919, Belin charged him with murder.

More next week

Episode 141 - The Floods of the Seine part 2

Along the Seine, in central Paris, the walls of the quais were doing their best under the pressure of the water on both sides. The ground was saturated and pushing out as the Seine speed and waves bashed against it. 

The last flood in recent memory was in 1896 and on the second night, the flood was already exceeding that level with many more days to go. 

On January 23, Parisians began to flee their homes especially those that lived at ground level. It was an exodus that wouldn’t be seen again until the early days of the Occupation of Paris in WWII. Head of police  Louis Lepine tasked all departments to use boats to help save those that were stranded and boards and chairs were constructed to create makeshift walkways. 

The Seine was up to the thighs of Zouave, twelve feet over the normal level. The left bank was hit hard due to another river that still flows today but can not be seen. The Biévre river once cut through the eastern side of the Latin Quarter and was once lined with tanneries and other crafts that disposed of waste and chemicals into the river. For decades the river made people sick and they decided to cover it over. It was still somewhat open at the time of the flood but either way, it wouldn’t matter. Underground it was filling and seeping into the ground further and further and above it was far over its banks on the 22nd. 

Boulevard Saint Germain was buckling and stones were breaking away. The metros were filling and the line ended at Odeon, past that there was no way to navigate the tunnels or pass under the Seine. 

January 24 the city was shutting down more and more with each day. Garbage plants could no longer process or even pick up debris and much of it was now floating down the Seine. In Issy in the early hours of the 24th, the banks of the Seine were now gone and within an hour the water rose six feet while people slept. 

It wasn’t just the Seine, it was also the Marne that ran just outside the city that had lept its banks and flooded everything in its path. 

The islands were in even worse shape. The Ile Saint Louis was created centuries ago by joining two small islands and was at a point of collapse on the eastern side. The junction of the two was filled in with debris and landfill and a road was built over it in the 17th century. With water beating against it on both sides and now rolling over the top the walls were at risk of breaking and falling into the Seine. 

On January 25 Zouave was now covered up to his waist, 14.5 feet over the normal level. Shelters had been set up all over Paris out of the reach of the Seine. Inside the Eglise Saint Sulpice in Saint Germain over 650 people crowded in from all stages of life. The Bon Marche and BHV donated mattresses and blankets and the Croix Rouge was doing all they could. Just like today, the news of Paris always drew international attention and money was coming from all corners of the world to help. 

January 26 saw the entire mail system in the main post office near the Louvre halted. The main telegraph of the city was also located in the basement which also included the international telegraph wires. If they failed, the city was cut off from the world. In the end, all 760 wires failed but ONE. 

Outside the city soldiers and anyone with boats moved in and a full-scale effort to save people began. Hundred were pulled from higher windows and what once seemed like all hope was lost was now returning. 

At the Jardin des Plantes the animals struggled with the water. Polar bears tried to climb a wall and a makeshift, Noah’s Ark created a giraffe that died before it could be saved. 

January 27, Zouave was now covered up to his shoulders. The nearby Assembly saw the water filling in the central meeting room and the officers were trying to quickly pass laws to keep the people safe.

The Louvre sits up a bit higher along that portion of the Seine than most buildings but on the 7th day, it looked as if it may not withstand the water’s force. Workers quickly sprung into action with sandbags and cement to strengthen the walls of the quay to keep the reserves in the basement safe. Cobblestones that were used as weapons and to build barricades during the Revolutions of the past were now used to save the Louvre filling in gaps and strengthening the sandbags. They worked through the night as the water rose higher and higher and over their heads in spots but by the time the sun came up, they had kept all the water from reaching inside the walls of the Louvre. 

January 28 as the day started the Seine was now at its highest point 27.9 feet and Zouave was buried to his neck in water. The lines of the metro that stretched over 2 miles from Austerlitz to the Orsay were now filled with water as well as the lower level of the Orsay itself. 

The Eiffel Tower even shifted ¾ of an inch from its base as it was set into sand. Gustave Eiffel was such an inventor that he had hydraulic pumps in place to move it back into place if that was ever to happen. 

 In the early morning of January 29, Parisians woke to a very welcome sight. Blue skies and sunshine. The rain stopped and the sun returned and people screamed with joy from their windows and danced in the streets where they could. 

The waters were now yellow and filled with garbage, and sewage and the smell were horrific and disease was a big concern now.  

On January 30 as the water slowly went down part so of the city couldn’t hold it together any longer. Near the Palais Royal, a wall collapsed sending sewage into a basement that eventually had to be demolished.  As the streets to Notre Dame could now be somewhat navigated, Archbishop Léon-Adolphe Anette held a mass in the cathedral at 3 pm. No doubt thanking Sainte Genevive who is high above in the rooster that topped the spire for looking after her city once again. 

In all 643 rescues were made and only 6 lives were lost. 

The water spread to the Gare Saint Lazare on the right bank. The central right bank of Paris faired better than anywhere in the city. 

The Eiffel Tower even shifted ¾ of an inch from its base as it was set into sand. Gustave Eiffel was such an inventor that he had hydraulic pumps in place to move it back into place if that was ever to happen. 

On the left bank, it made it up to Boulevard Saint Germain, covered in 2 feet of water.  Today there are reminders throughout the city. 

It took 10 days to rise and 35 to recede 

24,000 buildings were flooded, 14,000 people evacuated and 5,500 were hospitalized. The flood would impact the city for years to come as it also destroyed thousands of jobs. Entire industries were shut down for months if not years. From agriculture to river works and rail trade, 48,000 jobs were impacted.  The damage that would equate to two and a half billion dollars today 

In the first week of February, the water now fell down to the ankles of Zouave and on February 8 the city was quickly frightened when the water rose again a few feet. It would take 2 more months until April 8 for the Seine to return to its normal level. 

2016

May to June 3rd the Seine rose to its highest point in 34 years. 

Since the mid 20the century a level of alerts has been put in place as the water reaches higher. 

3.2 alters are triggered 

3.3 roads on the banks of the Seine are closed

4.3 navigation on the river is stopped

5.1 RER C is closed

6.0 the Neptune plan is triggered which is a city-wide alert and higher level of activity in the   area closest to the Seine 

6.1 all the banks of the Seine are closed

6.6 walls of the metro are enforced and protected 

7.2 the metro is flooded 

Episode 140 - The Floods of the Seine part 1

Floods on the Seine are documented as far back as the 4th century. The first noted flood was in 358 and a sizeable flood was measured in January of 583 as historian Gregoire de Tours mentioned in his 6th-century book on the history of the Franks. The landscape of Paris was far different back then but the buildings would not have withstood any sizeable flow of water. 

The river Seine is much more than what you see flowing down the center of Paris. Beginning in Burgundy it runs 485 miles to Le Havre where it empties into the English Channel. Four dams control the water and three other rivers feed into it including the Aube, Marne, and Yonne. 

In 1206 half of the city was under water and the shrine of Sainte Genevieve was brought in a procession to Notre Dame in hopes that the saint could once again save the city. After mass, she returned up the hill to Saint Etienne de Mont but not before crossing the Petit Pont and bidding adieu to the priests and relics of Saint Marcel. Just after she crossed, the bridge was struck and fell into the Seine. No one was hurt and within an hour the clouds cleared and the sun returned to Paris.  The Petit Pont was destroyed ten times between 886 and 1185 due to floods. 

1280 

The flood destroyed the Pont au Change 

December 1296 

All the bridges were marred or destroyed 

Adding to protecting the city streets of Paris in 1312 the walls of the Quai des Grands Augustin of the left bank were built up. In 1369 the Quai de la Mégisserie kept the center a little bit safer. In 1578 building of the Pont Neuf began and the walls were enforced to hold the new stone bridge. In the 1870s the renovation by Haussmann replaced and added 15 bridges; in the 1960s the expressway of the river bank opened. These measures were far better to control the water than the sandy water edges prior to the 14th century but would be no match for the floods of 1658 and 1910. 

Gaging of the level of the Seine began in 1649 from the Pont de la Tournell. The same bridge Sainte Genevive stands and guards the city she loves. Today it is measured from the Pont d’Austerlitz. Although most use the statue that stands in the water as the unofficial gage. 

Standing on the eastern side of the Pont de l’Alma that crosses the Seine closer to the Eiffel Tower is the Crimean War soldier Zouave by Georges Diebolt. Created in 1856 and modeled on soldier André-Louis Gody who Napoleon III personally selected.  When the Seine swelled in January 1910 it wasn’t just Zouave that stood submerged in the water. There were four statues, two on each side of the bridge when replaced in 1860 and they were actually placed closer to the normal water level of the Seine. If the same water measurements I mention per day were reached today we would be in a world of hurt as he sits almost 3 feet higher on the pilar than he did in 1910. 

In 1970 the bridge was restored and three of the statues were removed. The Hunter can now be found in the Bois de Vincennes, the Gunner in La Fère, and the Grenadier in Dijon. 

1658 

The Seine rose to 8.96m above normal and the highest the Seine has ever been and there were eight more floods that year. 

After the 1658 flood, a plan was put into place to protect Paris and was influenced by Louis XIV. A new canal from the Marne to Paris was planned and a river that would help alleviate some water was going to be dug from the Marne to the Seine but neither of these happened. In 1663 there were over 10,000 meters of drains and in less than 200 years it swelled to almost 80,000 meters. 

In 1879 it was another disaster that was created this time by ice. After a very cold November and the start of December, on the night of the 10th, the temperature dropped to a frigid negative 11 degrees Fahrenheit causing the Seine to freeze. In an attempt to break up the ice dynamite was used sending thick shards down the river and destroying everything in its path. Worried boatmen tried to unsuccessfully move their boats but the ice trapped their boats and barges and no match for the ice, wine barrels, and discarded furniture and wood from crashing into them. 

1910 

The summer of 1909 was a very wet one in France which led to a lot of snow in the mountains in November and December. New Year’s Day 1910 was quite warm in Paris. 43 degrees and sunny was quite odd, 103 years later, this year,  it was 59 degrees. While the warm temps and blue skies were lovely in Paris, off the coast of Brittany a low-pressure system with lots of rain was moving in.  The Seine had already risen three times since the start of December but had receded and was never in a dangerous state until the last week of January. 

The warmer temperatures held on the first two weeks of the new year and all the mountain snow and ice that arrived in November and December began to melt and flow into the rivers. While Parisians were going about their early January days the smaller villages up and down the river were starting to see the water rising higher and higher each day. 

On January 21, 50 miles SE of Paris the coal town of Lorry was in dire straits. The rain had been none stop but it wasn’t a flood of water that they needed to be afraid of. On this night as the miners returned home and were sitting with their families having dinner a loud noise erupted through the town and everything began to shake. On the nearby hillside, the ground gave way sending down tons of mud and debris and crushing homes and people. 

Further away in Troyes where Genevieve had gone to get grain to save the starving people of Paris the banks of the river were overflowing with water as it destroyed the homes and buildings in its path.  As the news spread back to Paris and the water rose, most people stood on one of the many bridges and didn’t think it could ever happen there. Just a few hours later they wouldn’t have the same cavalier thoughts. 

Back in Paris, it was the job of one man, Edmond Maillet to calculate and watch the water levels. In over twenty years he never saw a rise over 5 meters at the Pont d’Austerlitz. As early as January 16, the water was already getting higher but he didn’t alert anyone, and the next day he didn’t report to work for 2 weeks. The same 2 weeks that the Seine would rage. To this day it is unknown what happened to him. 

On January 21, at exactly 10:53 pm the clocks throughout the city stopped. Paris had many functions that ran on compressed air including the movement of mail by the postal service, elevators, ventilation, and factories. All of it came to a screeching halt at 10:53 pm on the dot. 

The water was rising to Zouave’s ankles and had now picked up speed. At over 15 mph, it was the fastest the Seine had been in centuries and nothing in its path was safe. From Troyes and farther the homes and furniture that once belonged to French families were now speeding into Paris. As had happened since the 9th-century bridges were struck and loud explosions could be heard. 

The next day, January 22, the people of Paris woke up to water in their basements but they didn’t see much out their windows in the streets. More than 10 feet flooded into the city through the series of underground tunnels, sewers, and metro lines, and the saturated soil allowed the water to move from below the city instead of over. They didn’t see that coming and Zouave was now up to his knees in the Seine. To make matters worse it was the snow that was now falling from the sky but eventually turned to more rain, the last thing they needed. 

The Bercy area was affected first and the streets were turned into wide waterways that saw the wine merchants trying to swim after their barrels of wine. The current was no match for them and the barrels floated down to the center of Paris. A few eager wine lovers risked life and limb on the bridges to catch a few but police quickly stopped them. The nearby power plant was short-circuiting and the metro lines were filling with water and coming to a halt. 

Make sure to tune in next week for part two

Episode 139 - The Hotel de Salm

The Passerelle Léopold Sédar Senghor was named for the Senegalese poet and politician on October 9, 2006, on what would have been his 100th birthday. The former member of the French Academy and promotor of all things French died on December 20, 2001. 

The life of the bridge first began in 1861 under Napoleon III when the Pont Solderino was built for cars, not just people as it is today.  A hundred years later in 1961, it was replaced with a metal frame bridge covered with wood from Africa. The bridge connecting the Seine's lower level to the upper quai has won numerous design awards. 

At the end of the bridge on the left bank side stands the Jean Cardot statue of Thomas Jefferson. The former ambassador to France whose love of Paris inspired two of his future homes. In his hand, the founding father holds Monticello's design, which was created to resemble the front of the Hotel de Salm that he is looking at. 

We are walking down the Rue de Solferino next to the Hotel de Salm, which was built in 1781 for Frederick III of Salm-Kyrburg. Designed by Pierre Rousseau they would later live there for a period when the owner sealed his fate during the Revolution and his life ended by the guillotine. In May of 1804, it was purchased by the state for the chancellor's office and the future home of the Legion d'honneur created under Napoleon Bonaparte. 

In 1871 just like its neighbor the Palais d’Orsay it was also partially destroyed by the Commune fires but much of it was able to be saved. The inner courtyard side with its tall columns also inspired the American White House. Today it is the Musée de Legion d’honneur and is free to visit and worth a stop. 

Opened Wednesday - Sunday 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Episode 138 - Around the Canal Saint Martin

Today we started at the lovely Église Saint Laurent at 68 Boulevard de Magenta in the shadows of the Gare de l’Est. Once the north-south axis on the Roman road of the 1st century. It also served as part of the pilgrimage road of the Saint-Denis faithful. 

A church has stood on this spot dedicated to Saint Laurent since the 6th century. The first church was destroyed by the Normans in 885. The next church built in 1180 was too small and led to the current church dating back to around 1429. It had an Italian Gothic facade much like last week’s Sainte Elisabeth de Hongrie. U9nder Haussmann, when the Boulevards Magenta and Strasbourg intersected, the facade was destroyed. Simon Claude Constant-Defeux designed the flamboyant Gothic facade in 1863 and the lead spire. 

The tympan over the door by Paul Balzac in 1870 is amazing and very different from most churches. The stained glass inside was created over time by Ernest Lami de Nozan and also Pierre Gaudin, son of Jean Gaudin whose stained glass designs can be found around France. 

In 1768, Jean Bécu married Guillaume du Barry so she could be accepted into the court of Louis XV and his official mistress. Madame du Barry became the chief rival of Marie Antoinette and ended her life kicking and screaming to the guillotine. 

It was also the former burial site of the family Sanson. The family business of the Sanson including Charles-Henri was that of executioners. Charles-Henri dropped the blade on over 2,500 hundred people including Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Her last words, “Excusez-moi monsieur, je ne voulais pas” were spoken to the Charles Henri Sanson. The family was later moved to Montparnasse cemetery. 

Between the church and the Jardin Villemin was the convent of the Récollets. Made up of the 15th-century Franciscan order. A monastery was first here in January of 1604 and enlarged by Marie de Medici in August 1614. It survived until just before the Revolution in 1790 and in 1802 became the Hospice of the Incurables-Hommes and eventually the St Martin military hospital and serviced many of the victims of the Prussian war and WWI. During WWI Big Bertha dropped a shell here and struck the church. 

Walking down the Rue des Récollets is the former grand entrance de l' Hôpital Militaire Villemin. The 18th-century building remains on the edge of the garden and is now the artist’s atelier. 

Jardin Villemin sits where the Villemin military hospital once stretched over. Named for doctor Jean-Antoine Villemin who had also worked treating men coming back to Paris wounded in the conflicts and wars. The Jardin was created in 1977 and has expanded over time to twice its size. 

Don’t miss the lovely first cast iron water fountain in Paris. Commissioned under an 1846 order to add more fountains to the city and two dozen species to the Rue du Faubourg Saint Martin which is where this one lived until 1977. 

Marie Auguste Martin designed this neo-baroque beauty. The child on the top is over two newts and dolphins and looks closely at the cute little turtles. Just above is the signature of the artist. This beauty even predates the other more famous cast iron fountains, the Wallace fountains. 

Heading out onto the lower Canal Saint Martin to the Quai de Valmy that was once named the Quai Louis XVIII who died during the time the canal was constructed. The canal is made up of 9 locks and foot and traffic bridges that cross them. Just outside of the garden is the Passerelle Bichat which is also made of cast iron. 

Crossing the Bichat on the Quai de Jémmapes that follows the canal is where you will find the Hotel du Nord. Built in 1912, it was purchased by Emile and Louise Dabit in 1923. Their son Eugene lived and worked there each night and took notes.  

Eugene Dabit was an accomplished painter before he started to write and even displayed his art at the Salon des Independents in 1927 and 1928. In 1929 he wrote Hotel du Nord, the story centered around a young couple that came to stay at the hotel with a double suicide pact in mind. Things go awry and a prostitute and pimp are also involved. In 1938 it was made into a movie by Marcel Carmé. 

The book was very popular and won the Populist Prize and of course, became a well-received and still beloved movie but it is actually the creation of the movie that makes the hotel itself so popular. When Carmé made it they decided not to film a single shot here on the canal but actually recreated an entire lifesize version of this area of the canal including the buildings and even digging an exact size trench to fill with water and also the cast iron bridge. The building was 7 feet deep and sadly nothing remains but because of this novelty at the time, it drew people to the canal to see the real deal. 

In 1970 the building was in such a bad state it was going to be demolished and the French 

were up in arms and demanded it is saved. In 1989 it was classified as a historic facade and the building was rebuilt and the facade was recreated to the exact specifics. 

Today it is a wonderful Mediterranean restaurant and they love to share the story of the movie. You can watch the movie for free online here. It’s all in French but you may still get the gist of the story.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3s07n7

The Canal St Martin was first created under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 and finished in 1825. It was needed to bring more water into the city to help ward off disease and also for boats to bring important things like wine and cheese to the big city. It was after all paid for by a tax placed on wine. The area was lined with industrial warehouses and not as many residences. In 1860 part of it was covered and also transformed under Haussmann. The canal ends at the Arsenal and eventually into the Seine and can be traveled on daily tourist boats.  

In 2016 a long four-month project of cleaning the canal was undertaken including draining all the water. The amount of bikes, wine bottles, chairs, and tables found is staggering and really disturbing as well.

A walk along the canal on a warm spring or summer day will unfold with lots of people lining the canal laughing and drinking wine, and hopefully not tossing those bottles in the canal anymore.  There are a few green spaces like the Square Frederick Lemaitre who was a French actor popular on the Avenue de Crime. 

Across the Avenue du Faubourg de Temple is a marker dedicated to the victims of the horrible November 13, 2015, terrorist attacks that took place in the area. 

Just past the marker of that horrific event is a lifesize statue of a young lady. La Grisette by Jean-Bernard Descomps was created in 1911 and named for and dedicated to the girls that worked in the nearby laundrette. A Grisette is also the name given to the lower level of young girls that supplemented their small income by turning sexual favors. The dresses they wore while working were a lovely drab shade of grey, gris en Francais, where they get their name.  She looks rather sad and lost here at the end of the Square Jules Ferry. 

Ferry was the mayor of Paris for a short time after the ousting of Napoleon III. A fierce opponent of the Emperor, he constantly had a target on his back and was almost killed 2 or 3 times.  There is also a large monument to him at the end of the Jardin des Tuileries.

In the end, we can see the Bataclan just across the Square May Picqueray. Named in 1920 for Marie Jeanne Picqueray who was born in 1898 and created the anarchist trade unionism paper Le Rédractaire. Published from 1974 until her death in 1983. 

Ending at the Eglise Saint Ambroise, the lovely neo-everything church at 71 Boulevard Voltaire.  The Neo-Gothic, Romanesque, Byzantine church is a feast for the eyes, and its tall bell towers are equal in size to the grand Notre Dame de Paris. Under the porch above the doors, the allegories of eloquence and theology surround Saint Ambrose. Inside are fantastic stained glass windows and murals of the life of Saint Augustine. 

Episode 137 - Jardin des Plantes & the Latin Quarter

The Jardin des Plantes is a beautiful oasis off the banks of the Seine in the 5th arrondissement that includes the oldest zoo in Europe and numerous museums. The lush landscape is filled with a peony, alpine, and iris garden and in the center leading up to the Grand Galerie de l’Évolution a vast landscape that is filled with pink, white and purple blossoms in the spring.  As you walk around although it is hard with all the beautiful flowers, look down and you may find a little piece of Notre Dame. 

A walk-through in the spring is like going through a puffy pink and white blossom wonderland. In the summer and fall the flowers are in full bloom and the winter gives a bright animal-themed light show. Any time of the year you go, it’s worth a wander.

The history of the garden goes back to Louis XIII but it was up to a later king to breathe new life into it. In today’s new episode, we share the fantastic life of the Jardin des Plantes and some Roman ruins in the heart of the city.

In 1626 Louis XIII ordered a royal garden of medicinal plants to be created. Botanist and doctor Guy de la Brosse was asked to lead the project for the king. The idea started under Henri IV who was a lover of the Italian Renaissance and saw medicinal gardens in Italy. 

The land that was chosen was a small portion of land that was cut in two by the Bièvre river on the left bank. Seeing the benefit of the garden the Faculty of Medicine created a garden that was led by Jean Robin who is also the father of the oldest living thing in Paris, the tree near Notre Dame. The all-powerful Cardinal Richelieu and the doctor to king Jean Hérovard looked for the perfect location and the area we see today close to what were two rivers was the ideal spot. 

Guy de la Brosse compiled thousands of plants for the garden from around the world. Like Napoleon would later do for Josephine’s Malmaison, Louis XIII had his officers gather specimens wherever they went. After the death of Louis XIII, the garden was ignored for a time especially as Louis XIV left Paris for Versailles. Jean-Baptiste Colbert added the garden under his umbrella of royal buildings and injected a bit of love into the struggling landscape. 

The nephew of Brosse was sent to the south of France and the Alps to retrieve new samples to replace the many that had withered away. Georges-Louis Leclerc, count of Cuffon was placed in charge and enlarged the gardens to what we see today. A statue of Buffon created by Jean Carfus in 1909 can be seen close to the beautiful museum as you walk in. 

Just to the left of the main entrance is the monument to Emmanuel Frémiet by Henri-Leon Gréber. Frémiet, a lover of animals and master of many fantastic statues including the equestrian Jeanne d’Arc in Paris is seen here working on his Denicheur d’Oursons, the Bear Hunter. At the base, you see the lovely Jeanne d’Arc. Frémiet was also the professor of animal drawings at the Natural History Museum. Just behind Frémiet is the Galerie de Paléontologie et d’Anatomie Comparée which was once a carriage company.  Inside are some stunning and massive skeletons of whales and dinosaurs. The view from above looking down at the skeletons is worth the price of admission. 

The gorgeous building at the end of the center garden is the Grande Galerie de l’Evolution designed by Jules André in 1877 and completed in 1889. The medallions on the facade are the former directors of those that helped establish the gardens and museums. A great museum for families, all of them found in the garden are but this is also one to see for us big kids as well. The lower level is like walking through a safari with giraffes, elephants, and tigers and all the sounds, it’s so fun to walk through. 

The inside of this museum is also amazing and a somewhat hidden staircase is worth a peek at if you can find it. In the northwest corner behind the large whale is a door, rather a nondescript door, push it and go inside. You will be the only one inside. Follow up the stairs taking your time to check out the statues, busts, and lovely ironwork to the top. Once there you will get a wonderful view of the garden, but this isn’t the best part yet. Walk up to the right a little farther and you will see a Harry Potter-like double staircase. At the top peer into what was once the king's personal cabinet of amazing gems and natural treasures.  

The upper levels of the museum have endless cabinets of butterflies and insects and a fantastic view of the architecture of the structure itself and the animals below. I love this museum and it's one of those that few tourists visit. There is also a museum dedicated to gems as well that is worth a visit. 

Back out in the garden are two pavilions. On the left is the Serre de Nouvelle-Calédonie, built in 1836 and holds the history of plants. On the right, the Grandes Serres which was built at the same time holds tropical foliage and is pretty spendy to visit. 

Inside the garden at the highest point is the oldest iron structure in the world. The Buffon Gloriettes sits at the peak of a labyrinth once a medieval dump covered and home to a windmill in the 16th century. Named after the father of the garden it was built after his death and designed by locksmith Edme Verniquet in 1763. It’s made of iron, gold, lead, bronze, and copper which is a perfect nod to the history of metal in the midst of the history of plants. It is 103 years younger than the most famous iron structure, the Eiffel Tower. 

Originally it was topped with a sphere that would show the movements of the sun and a meridian marker that would mark high noon each day.  Inside a small magnifying glass was horse hair and each day as the sun hit it the hair would burn and then trigger a drum to strike. The sphere is still there but none of the cool inside works. On the cornice, it is inscribed with “I only count the happy hours”. 

In the 18th century, it drew people at all hours to come to see. From lovers sneaking away to children waiting for the drum to strike. 

The garden is also filled with roses, over 1000 orchids, a huge peony garden, alpine, botanical and écological garden. Also, the oldest zoo in the world can be found that dates to 1793 and was created for the royal menagerie of Versailles.  Delacroix, Barye, and Frémiet spend endless hours here sketching the animals for their paintings and sculptures.

During the Siege of Paris by the Prussians in 1870  the animals didn’t do so well. As all food was cut off in Paris the elite turned to the menagerie.  On the 99th day of the Siege, December 25, 1870, the Voisin Restaurant at 261 Rue Saint Honoré held a special dinner. Chef Alexandre Etienne Choron developed a menu that includes, donkey, elephant, cat, rat, and everything else you never want to think about. The stars of the menagerie the elephants Castor and Pollux survived this menu, but shortly after they also were killed to feed the starving Parisiens. 

Outside the western exit to the left is the one and only remaining Wallace wall fountain. 

The Fontaine Georges-Cuvier was created in 1840 and replaced a fountain that was dedicated to Saint-Victor by architect Alphonse Vigoureux and dedicated to Georges Cuvier. A self-taught expert on animal anatomy that also once worked at the National History Museum and later teach at the Ecoles Centrales. The allegory of the fountain is holding a large tablet which is inscribed with “Happy who was able to penetrate the reason of things” by Virgil. 

A lion sits next to her and an eagle behind her. Below she is surrounded by animals including a crocodile that turns his head which is actually impossible to do.  

Rue Lacépède, named for Bernard-Germain de Lacépède, a musician that became friends with Buffon and collaborated on many books on animals and natural history. At no 7 on the right is the Hotel Pourfour du Petit once owned by Etienne Parfour du Petit whose father was dean of medicine at the Faculty of Medicine. 

Right on Rue de Navarre, which is one of the oldest streets of Paris and once where the greatest woman in French history once lived. At no 4, Rose Valland returned each night filling her many journals with what she saw each day as the Nazi looters brought in the stolen goods from many Jewish galleries and homes. Listen to her amazing story in my favorite podcast episode we ever did

The Arènes de Lutece was a former stage amphitheater that held over 17,000 people and was built in the 1st century and used for 200 years until it was destroyed in the 3rd century.  In the 6th century Chiperic I, grandson of Clovis and kind of Paris had it restored, before centuries later it was lost to time. 

In 1860 while opening the Rue Monge the former arena was discovered on the northern edge. Victor Hugo sprang into action and sent a letter and wrote in the papers the need to save the ruins. They needed to stop and  “give up living proof. The past brings the future”. In the 1920’s it was used for the French national basketball championship. 

Episode 136 - Paris Fashion Museums

Out today, the newest episode of Paris History Avec a Hemingway on La Vie Creative and we take you through a few of the museums of Paris dedicated to Fashion. La Galerie Dior, Musée YSL, and  Palais Galliera. 

The newest treasure on the museum landscape of Paris is the fantastic La Galerie Dior. Opened in mid-2022 after years of work, the space was created by joining a few buildings and housed in the historic homes that the Paris elite once lived in, including Baron Hans von Bleichroder who came from a very wealthy banking family.

At the start of September 1913, Princess Sophie of Saxe-Weimar paid a visit to Paris with her mother to see Bleichroder. On September 13 on a drive through Fontainebleau, their car hit a child and injured them. The princess and her mother fled back to Warsaw and as the heat increased Bleichroder said the young princess had been driving the car. Distraught at the attention on September 17, 1913, back in her palace bedroom in Warsaw she shot herself and died. 

The next-door neighbor at number 13, was once the home of Martine Marie Pol de Béhagne, countess of Bérn. Martine was the daughter of Octave de Béhague who was a very wealthy art collector. In 1890 she married Rene Marie Hector de Béarn and by 1920 the two ended in divorce. After her parents died she used her vast inheritance to purchase this home as well as renovate her parents' palace on rue Saint Dominique in 1888. 

Just at the corner and what is now connected to no 11 & 13 is the Dior flagship store at 30 avenue Montaigne. As soon as Christian Dior saw the building he knew it had to be his. On December 16, 1946, his dream came true. The building has another interesting history and a tie to Napoleon. In 1865 Alexandre Walewski, the first child and illegitimate son of Napoleon Bonaparte had it built but died before it was finished. His wife moved until it was sold and became known as the Hotel de Millon d’Aily de Verneuil. 

Further down the street at no 24, Alfred and Lucie Dreyfus lived just after they were married on April 18, 1890. Dreyfus affair 1894-1906)  However, most of the street was dominated by the wealthy bankers of the 19th century that led the way to the tv and radio offices and then haute couture houses. 

No 44 was also built by Walewski and where they lived before the Dior building was finished. Today it has been the office for Balmain since 1952. 

Take a left onto the rue Pierre Charron and then to Avenue George V. Of course the name of the street makes you think of the Four Seasons George V with its amazing flower displays by Jeff Leatham. 

George V is somewhat new to the landscape in Paris, but then again anything that is mid-19th century to me is new in the grand scheme of Parisian history. In 1928 André Terrail of La Tour d’Argent and Georges Wybo took on the design of a new luxurious hotel funded by American Joel Hillman. On October 24, 1929, Black Thursday, when he lost all his money he was forced to sell his hotel. Francois Dupré was next up as owner in 1931 and added on an additional wing that was used as apartments with a one-year lease with all the luxury of a hotel. A few other owners passed through until 1997 when the current owner took the reigns. Prince Alwaleed of Saudi Arabia managed on his own until he asked the Four Seasons to step in and take over. Today the 244 hotel rooms start at 1900€ a night. 

The avenue gets its name from the English king, George V who ruled from 1865-1936. Just down the way at no 23 is the American Episcopal church, Holy Trinity. The Greek Revival eglise was designed by British architect George Edmund Street and constructed in 1881. The spire was added on in 1904 and designed by the original architect’s son, Arthur Edmond Street. One of my favorite depictions of the church is the painting by Jean Béraud in the Musée d’Orsay, of all the fancy people leaving the church after a Sunday service. 

At number 15, the Hotel Wagram was built in 1869 and was once home to Berthe de Rothschild after her marriage to Alexandre Berthier the 3rd prince of Wagram. Her son amassed an amazing collection of art including Monet, Renoir, and van Gogh before it would become the Spanish Embassy in 1920. 

For those of you wanting a late night out in Paris on the sexier side add the Crazy Horse to your itinerary. Opened May 19, 1951, the mix of an American striptease club and exotic dance came along long after the Moulin Rouge and the other pioneers shocked Paris. In 1954 Miss Candida started her popular routine of taking a bath on stage which she would do more than 500 times. Dita von Teese and even Pamela Anderson have also graced the stage amid the all-nude review. 

At the end of the street, we find the busy intersection of Alma-Monceau. The Eiffel Tower is in sight and the flame of the Statue of Liberty is just below. 

Near the start of Avenue Monceau is the Musée Yves Saint Laurent, a small museum you don’t want to miss. Yves Saint Laurent worked at Dior from 1955 and took over as a designer after the death of Christian Dior in 1957. Leaving the house he started his own and exhibited his first collection on January 29, 1962. The 60th anniversary has been marked with small exhibits in six of the museums of Paris including the Louvre which is still on display until September. 

In 1974, YSL moved his office to this location and worked there until he announced his retirement on January 7, 2002. The same year YSL and his partner created the Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent Foundation. On June 1, 2008, Yves Saint Laurent took his last breath losing his battle with brain cancer. Pierre died nine years later on September 8, 2017. The museum was opened and inaugurated the same month. Inside it is rather small but with two very well done special exhibits a year as well as a glimpse inside the former office of the fashion genius just as he left it. 

Open Tuesday - Sunday 11 am - 6 pm and until 9 pm on Thursdays. 

Left on rue Léonce Reynard to Rue de Galliera and the Palais Galliera. Marie Brignole Sale de Ferrari de Galliera was born in Italy in 1811, Her father fell in love with Paris and served as an ambassador and also a minister of state under Napoleon. Marie was married off to Raffaele de Ferrari in 1828 but her affection for Paris couldn’t keep her in Italy long. She left her husband behind and headed back to Paris. In 1878 Marie offered the city of Paris a plot of land and an offer to build a palace to hold her art collection. Deals were signed and architect Léon Ginain designed a small palace but things turned sideways when Clemenceau backed a new law targeting immigrant descendants that stayed in France. She tried to pull out of the deal but it was too late. She returned to Genoa with her art collection that was no longer intended as a gift to France. In 1888 she died, never to see her finished palace. 

In 1895 it opened as a temporary exhibit space and in 1902 a contemporary industrial art museum. In 1920 it opened as the first fashion museum in Paris and the current incarnation opened in 1977. The inner frame structure was designed by the Eiffel Tower company and today you can look up and admire it as you stroll the special exhibits. 

Open Tuesday to Sunday 10 am to 6 pm, and Thursday until 9 pm. 

Just off the back of the Palais Galliera is the Square of the same name filled with lovely statues. In the center of the fountain is Avril by Pierre Roche created in 1916. In the right corner are the God Pan and a Tiger by Just Bacquet in 1899 as a monument to Francois Rude.

Under the peristyles of the Palais are Protection and Future by Honoré Picard and On the Evening of Life by Gustave Michel. Don’t miss the allegories of Paintings by Henri Chapin, Architecture by Jules Thomas, and Sculpture by Pierre Cavelier on the center facade of the museum. 

Across the street is the Musée d’Art Moderne Paris housed in the Palais de Tokyo. Built for the 1937 exhibition of arts and techniques to turn into a modern art museum. The MAM opened in 1961 and includes art created after 1905. Picasso, Modigliani, Matisse, Robert and Sonia Delaunay and Raoul Dufy. The pinnacle of the museum is the large Dufy painting La Feé Électricité painted in 1951 of 250 plywood panels stretching 33 by 20 feet around the oval room. It's amazing up close. Arrive first thing in the morning so you can get some great photos before people arrive.

In 2010 the most notable event struck the museum in the dark of night between May 19 & 20. For weeks the alarms were damaged and awaiting repair in parts of the museum and Vjeran Tomic working on behalf of art dealer Jean-Michel Corvey found out. In the middle of the night Spider-Man as Tomic was known, crawled through the window and stole five paintings. All but one were in the same room and chosen just because he liked them. 

Picasso’s Dove with Green Peas was painted in 1912, Henri Matisse’s Pastoral in 1905, George Braque’s Olive Tree near Estaque in 1906, and Léger’s 1922 Still Life with Candlesticks. Modigliani's 1919 Woman with a Fan was in the next room. Guards were on duty but Tomic was able to get in and out pretty quickly and it wasn’t until the next morning that the paintings were discovered missing. Valued at over 1 million euros they were taken to the copiest Yonathan Birn. When he heard the news of the arrest of his accomplices he tossed the five paintings in the trash. To this day they have never recovered. 

The museum is free except for special exhibits and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm and until 9:30 pm on Thursday.  

Episode 135 - Around the Bon Marche

Hotel Lutetia  45 Boulevard Raspail 

In 1910 Marguerite Boucicaut of the Bon Marche thought their clients and vendors needed a place to stay close to the store. Architects Louis-Charles Boileau and Henri Tauzin created this lovely hotel in the Art Nouveau style. Named after the original name of Paris, it is decorated with the sculptures of Léon Binet and Paul Belmondo. 

During World War II on June 15, 1940, German Intelligence moved in and drove all the guests and many employees out. Some quick-thinking workers hid all the good wine in a tunnel away from their greedy grasp. The Nazi officers had a rather high taste and wanted the finest crystal, silver, and china and the Lutetia fit the bill. 

As the Liberation of Paris unfolded they left as quickly as they came. On April 26, 1945, the next chapter in the life of the Lutetia began when the first batch of evacuees from the German death camps arrived. For a solid month, more than 500 people arrived each day. From the harshest conditions, they arrived at the Lutetia tetia and were able to shower, dress in real clothes and sleep in a bed alone. Each day family members arrived in hopes of finding their loved ones or any information they could. This went on until August 1945, and in total 20,000 people returned to a life they were forced from with a stop at the Hotel Lutetia. 

It went through a lavish eight-year renovation, reopening in 2018. Visit the bar and walk through on your next trip. 

Rue du Cherche Midi 

No 21 former home of René Laennec inventor of the stethoscope 

No 19 bas relief was originally added in 1675 and replaced in 1874 depicting an astronomer holding a tablet with a sundial that gave the street its name, looking for noon.  

No 18 Hotel Marsilly, built  1738-1744 by Jacques-Hardon Mansart for Claude Bonneau. It remained in the family as well as members of the court of Louis XV 

No 14 Home to Felix-Eugene Edmond Humbolt engineer during the 2nd Empire and director of the Paris water department, 

No 8 Poilâne

The amazing Poilâne bakery begin in 1932 by Pierre Poilâne in this very store. Downstairs in the bread ovens, he created his miche sourdough loves that lasted through World War II  since it used gray flour with spelt and not the white flour that was unavailable through the war years. 

In 1970 his son Lionel took over, adding new items and the Punition cookies. (these are the best, stop and get some when in Paris). In 2002, Lionel and his wife died in a horrible helicopter accident off the coast of Brittany. Their 18-year-old daughter Apollina who was in the US at school at the time returned and stepped into the role her father and grandfather both held. 

If you can’t make it back to Paris soon, you can order your own loaves and cookies and they will arrive fresh to your door in days. Worth every cent of shipping for a taste of Paris. 

Place Michel-Debré 

Named for the politician and resistance fighter.  Formally known as the Carrefour de la Croix Rouge where in 1750 a riot broke out. A mother had lost her three children and rumors spread that it was Louis XV that had them kidnapped and sacrificed for their blood for the kings bath. 

Le Centaure by César

Created between 1983 - 1985 by French artist César, the centaur's face is a self-portrait while the mask he holds is the face of Picasso. A smaller version is found on his tomb in the cemetery of Montparnasse. A small Statue of Liberty is on his chest 

Rue de Sèvres 

No 6 built-in 1902 by Georges Baaleyguier, the Renaissance-inspired beauty is also decorated with mosaic art by Gian-Domenico Facehina. The five tiled pieces depict the five continents. Oceania, Asia, Europe, America, and Africa 

No 10 Built in 1911 by architects Charlet & Perrin 

Rue Juliette Recamier 

Named for the beauty of the early 19th century who spent her final years in the Abbey-aux-Bois that once stood here. Listen to more of her story in the episode of Paris History Avec a Hemingway. 

Square Roger-Stéphane

Originally the Square Recamier until 2008 when it was renamed for the resistance fighter Roger-Stéphane. In 1941 he created the newspaper Combat for resistance fighters. Arrested many times and released or escaping he stayed in journalism most of his life. In 1994 he killed himself after a long illness.

Square Boucicaut 

Named for the founder of the Bon Marche, Aristide Boucicaut, who founded the store in 1852. Monument to Marguerite Boucicaut and Baroness Clara de Hirsch by Paul Moreau-Vauthier. 

No 33 Rue de Sèvres 

Eglise Saint Ignatius, hidden off the street and built in 1855 

Le Bon Marche 

The first store opened in 1838 by Paul & Justin Videau selling men’s clothes and home goods. Aristide Boucicaut worked here and in 1852 he became a partner and began to revamp the store.  In 1863 Aristide and Marguerite bought out the Videau brothers and built a new store in 1869 on the former Petits-Menages hospital for lepers. 

La Grande Epicerie 

No 38 Rue de Sèvres opened in 1923 and is the destination for all your French goodies including butter, cheese, wine, and for ex-pats in Paris a few of those American items they miss like peanut butter. 

Rue de Bac 

No 120 Former home of François-René de Chateaubriand who lived here from 1838 until his death on July 4, 1848. The author of the Romantic movement started out in politics and was a devoted royalist. During the French Revolution, he went to America visiting Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and Lexington inspiring his book Journey to America. 

A close friend of Juliette Recamier and possible lover, he would only leave his home once a day to visit his lovely friend a few blocks away.

Episode 134 - Latin Quarter

Today, on the newest episode of La Vie Creative - Paris History Avec a Hemingway we take you on a walk from the Pont de la Tournelle through the Latin Quarter. Weaving our way through one little park after another, each one holds a special reminder of the past lives of Paris. 

Let’s start at the Pont de la Tournelle. The first bridge built in 1620 lasted until January 21, 1651, when the wooden structure was no match to one of the many floods that flowed through Paris. Rebuilt in 1656 in stone it lasted 262 years until it was demolished to make room for the bridge we see today.  

The current asymmetrical bridge designed by Pierre and Louis Guidetti dates to 1928. On the Left Bank side standing high above and watching the Seine is the statue by Paul Landowski of Sainte Genevieve. The patron saint of Paris has saved the city numerous times from the 5th century until today. After her death in 502, her relics were brought out in a grand procession to end floods, draughts, and even Notre Dame on the night of the fire in 2019. 

Landowski wanted her to face into the city she loved but the bridge designers wanted her to look out to the east to fend off any invaders as she did in 451 keeping Attila the Hun away from Paris. The beloved saint stands tall like a column with a young girl at her feet clutching the symbol of Paris, a sailboat in her arms. 

Just across the bridge as you look up is the legendary Tour d’Argent restaurant. Claims to have started in 1582, however, there is no mention in history until 1824. Owned by Frédéric Delair in the mid-1890s it was the next owner André Terrail who really created the Tour d’Argent we know today. 

The Canard de Frédérick Delair, (pressed duck) was added in 1890. The whole duck is cooked and served and then a silver medieval contraption is brought out tableside and the carcass of the duck is pressed releasing all the juices. Cooked down the sauce is then added to your plate. Each duck is numbered and has been since the start. You are given a postcard with the number of your duck, not a bad keepsake that comes at well over 100€. Today they have sold over a million ducks. In an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s The Layover,  he visited legendary cooking store E. Dehillerin to purchase his very own for a cool 2,300€. In 2019, following his death, it sold at auction for $35,000. 

If the duck is out of your price range visit for lunch just to catch the view down the river toward Notre Dame as the newly installed large crane begins to build up the roof for the return of the spire. Currently closed for renovation until March 2, 2023, the high-end restaurant has a dress code, valet, and personal elevator attendant that takes you up the entrance. 

And to save a few euros just stream the Disney cartoon Ratatouille inspired by the Tour d’Argent. The cartoon rat works his magic in the kitchen while the diners ate high above the city looking towards Notre Dame. With my high aversion to rodents, it’s the only way, I can deal with those creepy little figures. 

Heading up Rue du Cardinal Lemoine that runs from the Seine to the Place de la Contrescarpe. Just below the Tour d’Argent at no 2 a young Paul Verlaine and his new wife, Mathilde lived in 1870, just months before he met Arthur Rimbaud. 

The street was named for Cardinal Jean Lemoine who founded the Collège de Cardinal Lemoine of  Theology in 1303 and lasted until the Revolution in 1790. 

Cabaret Le Paridis Latin sits at number 28 and was first built under the orders of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. It stood until 1870 when it was destroyed in the Prussian War but not before it was the place to be for many of the writers of Paris including Balzac and Dumas. In 1887 Gustave Eiffel constructed the interior at the same time as the Eiffel Tower was being built and inaugurated on January 20, 1889. The high times of the cabaret were short-lived. It was the Belle Epoque and cabarets had opened all over the city and by 1894 the Latin closed its doors.

For 75 years a few businesses came and went until Jean Kriegel purchased the location to turn it into apartments. Once he got inside and started demolition he realized what he had. The interior of Eiffel must be saved and not destroyed. Today it is the Paradis Latin once again. The 720-seat theater is fully restored and open Wednesday to Monday with shows at 7:30 pm. Seats range in price from 45€ to 200€. Skip the Moulin Rouge on your next trip to Paris and visit Paradis Latin. 

urning right on Rue des Ecoles leads to the heart of Odeon. At number 2 Louis Braille lived when he created the braille language. Today he is buried in the nearby Pantheon. 

Number 7 is a restaurant I adore, Bonvivant. One of the best places in Paris for steak frites. They have fantastic wine, and great music and the staff is friendly and fun. 

The first square we find is the Square Paul Langevin. Langevin was a physicist that lived from 1872-1946. Teaching at the nearby University of Paris and later the President of the League of Human Rights. In 1911 his affair with Marie Curie made national news. Marie was a widow and Paul was getting divorced but the press had a field day. A lot has changed in France since then. 

Inside the garden are a few relics of Paris’s past. Niches from the Hotel de Ville facade that burned in 1871. A mosaic from the 1889 Universal Exhibition and a 1716  fountain that was threatened to be demolished under Haussmann. The square was designed by Adolphe Alphand in 1868 when the land was too narrow to be built on. 

A few steps away we run into the Square Michel Foucault, named for the French philosopher on one end, and the Square Auguste Mariette on the east end. Mariette was a founding father of Egyptology with Jean Francois Champollion. In 1850 the Musée du Louvre sent him to Egypt. While in Egypt he discovered endless antiquities including the Seated Scribe, the crowning piece of the Musée du Louvre’s Egyptian collection

The jardin has a few statues dedicated to the men of letters. A bust of Pierre de Ronsard, the prince of poets and poet of princes. A 16th-century Renaissance poet who became the poet to king Henri II, Francois II, and Charles IX due to his father’s relationship with Francois I. In 1526 his father was sent to Spain to accompany Henri II and his older brother Francis who were exchanged with his father as prisoners of Charles V. The bust was created in 1928 by Aristide Rousaud. 

In the center between the two sides at the top of the steps is a statue of Claude Bernard. Born in 1813, he dreamed of being a playwright but his parents convinced him he would be better off studying medicine. Arriving in Paris in 1834 he lived in the Latin Quarter with other students attending the Collège de France. It was Bernard’s breakthrough in the study of blood and the liver that led him to understand Diabetes and how to treat it. Numerous streets, squares, and schools all over France are named for the great doctor. 

The gentleman just a tad further might be easier to recognize. Dante Alighieri. Why is the Italian poet here you may ask?  Born in 1265, the poet came to Paris in 1307 for two years to attend the University of Paris living on what is now named after him, the Rue Dante. Artist Jean-Paul Aubé born in 1837, attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts as a student and later as a teacher. In 1881 he was commissioned to create a statue dedicated to the great poet.  Aubé also designed a grand monument to Leon Gambetta that once stood in the center of the Cour Napoleon of the Musée du Louvre where the Pyramid is today. 

Just behind Dante and Bernard is the Collège de France. Established in 1530 by king Francois I teaching chemistry, mathematics, philosophy, history, archaeology, and more. 

The building that stands today was created in 1780 by architect Jean-Francois Chalgrin. Chalgrin later restored the facade of Saint Sulpice after it was struck by lightning.

Peek through the gates into the courtyard and spot the statue created by Jean-Francois Champollion by Auguste Bartholdi. Bartholdi of course is best known for the Statue of Liberty. 

Jean-Francois Champollion, the man behind deciphering the Rosetta Stone found his love of languages at a very early age. The youngest of seven children to largely absent parents, he was raised by his older brother Jacques-Joseph. While his brother pursued his profession as an archeologist he was sent to the school of the Abbé Dussert. It was at the age of 11 that he discovered his interest in languages. Learning Greek and Latin first, then Ethiopic, Hebrew, Arabic, Syria, and Chaldean. His abilities were quickly noticed and were invited by the prefect of Grenoble, Joseph Fourier to view some special documents and artifacts. Fourier had been a part of Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt in 1799 when the Rosetta Stone was discovered. Champollion upon seeing it said he was going to be the one that would discover its meaning. 

He began to study Coptic, the modern Egyptian language, adding the final piece to his knowledge puzzle. Living in Paris and still working on the meaning of this ancient stone, it was on September 14, 1822, that Champollion ran out his door on Rue Mazarine yelling “Je tiens mon affaire” (I got it). 

 He would be named the curator of the ancient Egyptian collection of the Louvre by Charles X on May 15, 1826. Working with his brother, the two men would create four rooms filled with Egyptian antiquities. Those rooms were on the ground floor, southeast corner of the Sully wing in the Cour Carrée, today in addition, the collection stretches the entire east end of the wing. The work of Champollion in the Louvre changed it from just being an art museum to a museum that spans civilizations.

Inaugurated in 1875, the statue was originally intended for the town of Figeac where Champollion was from. Unable to raise enough money the statue was given to the Collège de France where he stands today. Not without controversy, there are many that want to see the statue removed. His left foot rests on the top of a Pharoh head which is extremely disrespectful in the Egyptian culture. 

Crossing the Rue Saint Jacques, an even more impressive building on the south side of the street is the Sorbonne Université Faculté des Lettres. Architect Henri-Paul Nénot a student of Charles Garnier designed the building that replaced the 17th-century version. Sculptor Antonin Mercié created the pediments of science above the rue des Écoles entrance. The inside of the building is amazing and only available to visit on the 3rd weekend of September. 

Across the street is a bronze statue of Michel de Montaigne. The Renaissance philosopher was created by Paul Landowski, who also did the wonderful Sainte Genevieve at the start of the walk on the Pont de la Tournelle. Notice the toe of his shoe that is shiny copper from years of students rubbing for luck before big tests. 

Montaigne sits on the edge of the Square Samuel Paty. Originally named the Place Paul-Painlevé but was renamed on October 16, 2021, the one-year anniversary of the death of French teachers Samuel Paty.  Paty was teaching his class about the freedom of the press and shared a photo of Mohammed done by Charlie Hebdo. One of the students shared an inaccurate version of the events with her father and from there it quickly escalated. On October 16, 2020, at the end of the day, Paty was walking home and was stabbed and then beheaded in the street in front of his house. After students and parents were arrested for their role in the horrific death of Paty. 

This small square also packs a punch and is filled with so many great things.  In the western corner is the Capitoline Wolf with Romulus and Remus hiding in the bushes. The twin children of Rhea Silvia and the god of Mars were tossed into the Tiber in a basket and floated to the banks of the river until a wolf found them and breastfed them. This is the moment captured in the sculpture and copied all over Europe. Remus later died and Romulus went on to create the city of Rome and name it after himself. 

You can also find a monument to artist Puvis de Chavannes in 1924 by Jules Desbois.  

Just beyond the square is the Musée Cluny which opened in the spring of 2022 after over seven long years. It is a must-see when you visit Paris. Dedicated to the middle ages the coolest things to see are pieces of former churches and abbeys and the heads of the kings of Judah from the facade of Notre Dame de Paris. 

Open Tuesday to Sunday 9 am - 6:30 pm. 

Episode 133 - Val de Grace and lower Saint Germain

Saint Germain, the well-known arrondissement on the left bank is one of the most popular in Paris to visit and to live in. The history and beauty are endless and extend past the gate of the Jardin du Luxembourg. In the last couple of weeks on the La Vie Creative - Paris History Avec a Hemingway podcast we have shared just a fraction of the best statues in the garden, this week we head south a bit.

Starting outside the beautiful Eglise Val de Grace. The Abbey was first built by Anne of Austria in the 17th century for Marguerite de Vény d’Arbouze. The first stone was placed 398 years ago on July 3, 1624,  At the time Anne of Austria was desperate to get pregnant and give the king an heir so she spent most of her time having abbeys and churches built. She made a promise that if God blessed her with a child that she would build a church at the abbey. 

On April 1, 1645, when Louis XIV was just 7 years old the first stone was laid, fulfilling her promise. 

Francois Mansart was first asked to design the Latin cross-shaped church in the Baroque style but wasn’t able to complete it Jacques Lemercier took over the project. Lemercier also designed the Palais Royal and the Chapel of the Sorbonne and the Pavillon d’Horloge of the Louvre. 

Inside the church which is rarely open to the public except for the Patrimoine weekend in September are an amazing canopy and high altar that was designed by Gabriel le Duc with its twisted columns and the nativity by Michel Anguier. If you get a chance, make sure to visit!  

Anne of Austria had the Sainte Anne chapel installed to the left of the altar to hold over 40 of the hearts of the kings and queens of France. During the Revolution, Louis Francois-Petit Radel took advantage of the pillage at the time and took many of the hearts, and sold them to a paint crusher. Mummy brown was one of the most sought-after colors and was created from mummified remains. The painting Interieur d’une Cuisine by Martin Drolling can be found in the Louvre on the 2nd floor of the Sully wine in salle 938. I have looked closely and have not seen any pieces of the former queen in the painting. 

Rue de Val de Grace

No 6 Alfons Mucha lived, don’t miss looking through the door. 

No 7 & 9, Guillaime Fouae a 19th-century artist lived here at the end of his life. The garden is lovely through the door

Avenue de l’Observatoire 

No 15 Sculptor Antonin Mercié lived and died here in 1916. He designed the Genius of the Arts on the Denon wing of the Louvre on the Pavillon Lesdiquières in 1877.

No 1, one of the most stunning buildings, was built on the corner in 1923 by Henri Delormé. The facade includes lion and elephant heads, corbelled windows, and even mascarons that age as you rise through each floor. At the lower level they are babies, then teens, adults, and middle-aged mascarons at the top. 

Rue Auguste Comte, named for the French philosopher and runs between the lower and upper Jardin du Luxembourg. 

Statue to President Gaston Monnerville who served from December 8, 1958, to October 2, 1968.

No 2 was Built in 1895 for the Colonial school opened from 1899-1934 and now is the National School of Administration. The Moorish architectural details are amazing. 

No 4-6 Faculty of the Pharmacy dates back to 1629

No 8 Institut d’Art et d’Archéologie built in 1925 by Architect Paul Bigot and funded by Marie-Louis Arconati-Visconti.  She was married to Gianmart Arconti-Visconti who died 3 years after they were married and she inherited his vast fortune. She loved art and had a vast collection of over 300 pieces she donated to the Louvre but also gave 2 to 3 million Francs to have this building created. She died before it was finished but the rest of her estate was given to the University of Paris which continued to fund building projects for the university. 

Paul Bigot used a combination of Internationalism and Art Deco style in concrete and red brick from Vitry-sur-Seine. Look closely at the frieze that runs around the building, The terracotta designs include some of the famous pieces that are studied there. The gargoyles of Metapontum, Ludovisi’s throne, and Cantoria of Luca della Robbia. They were created by the famous house of Sèvres.  The doors incorporate Roman lattice and medieval quatrefoil. 

Rue Michelet, named for historian Jules Michelet. 

No 4 Genevieve de Gaulle-Anthonioz lived. She was the niece of Charles de Gaulle and a resistance fighter and leader. Arrested on the Rue Bonaparte in 1943 she was deported to Ravensbrucj on February 3, 1944. Because of her uncle, she was used as a bargaining chip and was somewhat protected. She survived and was liberated on April 25, 1945. 

Married Bernard Anthonioz who was working for the newly formed Ministry of Culture but still worked tirelessly for the survivors and those that perished under the Nazis and later those that suffered through poverty.  On February 15, 2002, she died here in her apartment, and on February 21, 2015, Francois Hollande announced they were moving her remains to the Pantheon. Her family refused to allow her body to be moved from its grave in the Bossey cemetery and on May 27, 2015 dirt from her grave was symbolically interred in the Pantheon. 

Rue d’Assas named for the Captain under Louis XV, Louis d’Assas 

No 100 the Musée Zadkine was created in the former home and atelier of Russian artist Ossip Zadkine. Arriving in Paris in 1910 he and his wife moved to this location in 1928. The first cubist sculpturist served in the Foreign Legion during WWI but was later dismissed when he was charged with using potatoes as projectiles when intended for food.  After his death in 1967, the home was given to the city of Paris by his wife in 1978 and opened in 1982. His pieces can be found around Paris in the Jardin du Luxembourg and Place Saint Germain des Prés. 

No 82 & 84, today the building is modern but in the 19th & 20th centuries it was the home of a few great artists that may be mostly forgotten,  In 1879 Sculptor Jean Gautherin lived here, he is the man behind the statue of Diderot that looms over the Boulevard Saint Germain. 

From 1906-1930 Martha Stettler and Alice Dannenberg were two artists that also created the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere just a few streets away that is still there today. Zadkine, Bourdelle, and Léger were all a part of this historic school. Martha and Alice painted many lovely scenes of the Jardin du Luxembourg 

Also in this spot was the former home of Auguste Bartholdi who lived and died here on October 4, 1904. 

Into the Jardin du Luxembourg on the southwest corner and to visit an old friend. Liberty Lighting the World, aka Statue of Liberty has stood in the Jardin du Luxembourg since 1905. Originally placed inside the Musée du Luxembourg it was moved to the garden near the museum in 1905. The original statue that was here is now in the Musée d’Orsay. 

Triumph de Silene by Jules Dulou is always a statue that catches your attention. The drunken Silenus, related to the god of wine Dionysys, is often seen surrounded by satyrs and they are trying to hoist him onto a donkey. It was placed in the garden in 1897 

Rue Guynemer runs along the western edge of the park and is a mix of 19th century and more contemporary buildings but at the start of the street have two you want to take a look at.  At no 2 the 1914 building designed by Louis Périn is gorgeous even if the Germans took over many of the apartments during the Occupation. 

No 4 next to it was built in 1893 by Germain Cahn-Bousson and is now owned by the Vatican Francois Mitterand once lived there. 

However, it is the one on the opposite corner at no 58 Rue de Vaugirard that I love. The door is a stunner and above it has a balcony with a statue of Zeus that at times moves from one corner to the other, F. Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald once lived here and just a few blocks from Hemingway where he gave strict orders not to tell anyone where he lived. Hem and Zelda had a strong dislike for each other and he thought they were drunk too much. 

Along the Rue Bonaparte is the Allée Seminaire Jean Jacques Olier which in the spring is under a canopy of wisteria. The Fontaine de la Paix that is here started its life in the Marché Saint Germain to the Place Saint Sulpice nearby and moved here in 1937.  

Just across the street is the bronze Andres Lapis statue of the woman under the hat in front of the Hungarian Institute. 

Episode 132 Statues of the Jardin du Luxembourg part deux

It’s a new week and a new episode of Paris History avec a Hemingway on La Vie Creative and today we share even more of the lovely Jardin du Luxembourg. Created by Marie de Medicis after the death of her husband Henri IV on May 14, 1610, to remind her of her childhood growing up in Florence. The garden oasis we know today was expanded greatly by Louis-Philippe in 1848 along with a vast majority of the 107 statues. 

You can spend an entire day wandering through the nooks and crannies discovering many of the great artists, authors, and men and women that added to the culture of France. With something for every member of the family including a historic carousel. 

In 1879 the oldest carousel appeared here in the garden and was designed by none other than Charles Garnier. The master of the 2nd Empire stunning Palais Garnier lent his expertise to this special feature of the garden. Sadly,  it doesn’t have the same gilded gold touches but it is still to visit. 

Built by Charles Garnier and inaugurated in 1879 and was for adults until the 1920s

La Poete by Zaskine 

Added in 1991 and represents the work of poet Paul Eluard. The Musée Ossip Zadkine is nearby at 100 Rue d’Assas in his former home and atelier. Free entrance 

La Comtesse de Segur by Jean Boucher

Comtesse de Suger was from Russia and married Eugene Raymond, Count of Segur. At 50 years old she began to write stories for her grandchildren that were later published in children's books 

Antoine Watteau by Henri Desire Gauquié

Commissioned and paid for by fans of the artist. The baroque & Rococo painter was known for creating the Fetes Galantes under Louis XIV including one of his most famous pieces, Pilgrimage to Cythera which also inspired Debussy to write L’Isle Joyeuse in 1904. The woman in the monument was also Gauquié depiction of one of the women in the same painting. 

Charles Baudelaire by Pierre Félix Masseau 1933

The poet and writer of the Romantic movement and writer of Flowers of Evil let quite an interesting life and lived all over Paris. Be sure to listen to the La Vie Creative - Paris History Avec a Hemingway episode all about Jeanne Duval premiering June 7 all about the life of the muse of Baudelaire

Nubian Lion by Auguste Cain 1870 

The once largest lion in the world that is now extinct is captured by Cain standing over Ostrich. Cain would study animals in the zoo of the Jardin des Plantes, much like Delacroix and Barye also did. The three are masters at capturing animals on canvas and in bronze 

Herd of Deer by Arthur Jacques LeDuc 1891 

The two fawns look as if they have heard something, maybe it’s the lion 

Pierre Mendès France by Pierre Peignot 1943

Politician and former prime minister helped to build the path to form  the European Union 

Fred Le Play by Pierre Guillaume Frederic Altar 1906

Engineer and economist under Napoleon III. The artist Altar also did many statues and bas-reliefs on the many buildings in Paris. The Sorbonne, College de France, and the statues of Jean Bullant & Jean Goujon on the Hotel de Ville. 

The statue of Le Play was installed in 1906, on what would be his 100th birthday and was removed in October 1941 as many were in Paris by the Nazis and the Vichy government. In 1945 it was discovered in a foundry, one of the very few that survived the war. It was returned here in 1947

Le Marchand de Masques by Zacharie Astruc 1883

The young mask seller is holding up the mask of Victor Hugo and around the base are the masks of authors Balzac, Jules Barber d’Aurevilly, and Alexandre Duma. Artists Delacroix, Jean Baptiste Corot, and Jean Baptiste Carpeaux, opera singer Jean Baptiste Faure and composer Hector Berlioz. Originally three masks hung from his hand that have been missing for some time. They represented politician Leon Gambetta, composer Charles Francois Gounod, and author Theodore de Banville. 

Le Cri, l’Ecrit by Fabrice Hyber 2007

To commemorate the abolition of the slave trade. Veins represent pain and the words are from the Senate’s bill abolishing slavery. The top link represents the abolishment of slavery. The middle is the fear of modern-day slavery or entrapment and the bottle going into the ground represents going back to its roots 

Velleda by Hippolyte Maindron 1839

Inspired by the Martyrs by Chateaubriand and the description of the young girl in a short dress that was sent to prison and fell in love with her jailer. He released her but she would return every day waiting outside next to a tree. 

Stendhal by Rodin 

Stone monument by Charles Plumet, the bronze medallion was designed by David d’Angers and carried out by Rodin. Henry Beyle, who went by Stendhal, was a writer who loved music and poetry.

George Sand by Francois Leon Sicard 1904

The plaster model was placed here in 1904 until the final piece was ready. Capturing the famed French writer in a dress that she actually wore quite frequently. While she is known for dressing in men’s clothes she actually wore dresses quite frequently. For more on the celebrated author listen to our episode about her 

https://laviecreative.buzzsprout.com/964123/7146691-ep-81-paris-history-avec-a-hemingway-george-sand

Episode 131 Statues of the Jardin du Luxembourg part one

Beginning inside the southwest corner of the garden at the corner of Rue d’Assas and Rue Auguste Comte

Monument of Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve by Denys Puech. Sainte-Beuve was a author and literary critic and love of Adele Hugo, wife of Victor 

Pavillon Davioud built in 1867 

Named after architect Gabriel Davioud who designed it. Originally a cafe and now is the home of the beekeeping and horticultural school. 

Beehive/Apiary 

Created in 1856 by Henri Ramet, the oldest in Paris. Each year the honey is sold in the Orangerie mid-September each year

Chopin by Paul Dubois 1900 

Dedicated 50 years after his death, the original bust was sent to Poland in 1929

Archidamas by Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire 1887 

Liberty Lighting the World by Bartholdi 1884 

Replaced the original donated to the Musée du Luxembourg by Bartholdi. It was moved outside into the garden and located closer to the museum when Hemingway would come to visit it. The original has been moved into the Musée d’Orsay and replaced with this copy. 

In 2002, the American community of Paris donated the American Oak tree planted next to it in memory of 9/11

Triomphe de Silece by Jules Dalou 

The drunken silenus is surrounded by satyrs that are trying to hoist him up onto a donkey. 

Beethoven by Antoine Bourdell 

Given on the 150th anniversary of Beethoven’s death, March 26, 1827, and donated by the artist's daughter. Check out the Musée Bourdelle near the Gare Montparnasse where you can see over 30 of the artist’s other busts of Beethoven 

L’Effort by Pierre Roche 

Hercules represents one of the 12 slaves that was to clean the Augean stables. Originally it was to be placed into a fountain. Hercules is diverting the river to clean the stables. 

Monument to Stefan Zweig by Felix Schivo 2003 

Zweig was an Austrian writer that was popular around the world in the 1920’s & 30’s. 

He wrote an amazing book about Marie Antoinette, the first time she wasn’t portrayed as the entire reason the monarchy folded

Orangerie Férou 

Built-in 1889 and replaced the former Orangerie that was built in the early 18th century. During the late spring and summer when the trees are emptied out the space holds art exhibits and events.

Along the facade and west side are busts of artists selected by the administer Beaux-Arts. 

Jacques Louis David 

Antoine-Jean Gros 

Francois Rude 

Pierre Prud’Hon

David d’Angers 

Jean Dominique Ingres 

Jean-Jacques Pradier 

Eugene Delacroix

Antoine Barye 

Theodore Rousseau 

Jean-Francois Millet 

Monument to Eugene Delacroix by Jules Dalou 1890 

17 years after his death his beloved followers raised money to have a monument dedicated to the leader of the Romanticism movement. The bronze bust of Delacroix sits on top while on the left Time with wings holds up Glory who is placing some flowers at the base of the bust. On the right Genius of Art is clapping on the right. The six masked water spigots are each slightly different in design

Video of Walk: https://youtu.be/-k7o0hoGFlo 

Listen to the episode here

Episode 118 - Around the Parc Monceau

Today we take you to a few of the streets that are just off the Parc Monceau. I first discovered the Rue Fortuny five years ago just by chance. I love to just wander down streets taking time to see what I can find and this street had me saying “oh my” over and over again. 

The streets of Paris are covered with plaques and other little markers that give you a hint to its past and just enough of a clue to send me down a rabbit hole of discovery. The Rue Fortuny is just such a street. Let’s take a little walk. 

Named after Mariano Fortuny i Marsal, a Spanish painter who lived near here for two years in 1868. The area surrounding the lovely Parc Monceau began to be laid out in 1848 and became a popular place with the elite looking to build new homes.  The streets we walk on today were once the property of artist Louis Godefroy Jadin who once lived here and painted many of the walls and ceilings of the Palais des Tuileries.  In 1861 the Pereire brothers then owned the land and started to build grand mansions for everyone from the Rothschilds to the Camondo’s. 

Rue Fortuny

No 2 was once the home of Edmond Rostand who wrote Cyrano de Bergerac and lived here from 1891 - 1897. He died in 1918 of the Spanish Flu but his works live on and are adapted every year.  Composer and organist August Chapuis who counted the Eglise Notre Dame des Champs and Saint Roch as his own ateliers lived and died here on December 6, 1933.

No 8 built in 1882 by architect Alfred Boland in Troubadour - Gothic style for Emilie Streich. Notice the amazing sculptures in the niches of the facade. 

No 9 with its ceramics and terracotta frieze was built in 1891 for Benjamin Morel by architect Paul-Adrien Gouny, The sculptures are by Jules Paul Loebnitz. The loggia is so magical.

No 12 built the next year in 1892 for Madame Huguet de Chataux by Henri Grandpierre 

No 13 an architect that built many in the area, Paul-Casimir Fouquiau in 1879 designed this Hotel Particulier for artist Paul Payson. Payson was a landscape artist that concentrated on the rural landscape often dotted with farm animals. Later filmmaker and author Marcel Pagnol who was prolific in the 1930s to 1950s lived here for a short period. 

No 15, another by Fouquiau who is well known for his brick facade buildings, In the Belleville neighborhood you can find countless identical houses he designed. 

No 17, architect Charles-Edouard Weyland designed this home for Louis Herbette who served as the Prefect of the Loire-Atlantique from 1879-1882.  The Renaissance- Louis XV-style building was also the location where the Black September group bombed the Jewish Agency that was located here on January 9, 1973, in protest of Golda Meir in Paris.

No 19 Jean Brisson designed the building and brothers Joseph and Jules Chéret created the amazing carvings and ironwork. French politician Arsène Picard served in Parliament for just one year.

No 27 with its defining stripe facade was built in 1878. The Hotel Englebert by Adolphe Viel was built for Spanish actress and courtesan Carolina “La Belle” Otero. Otero arrived in Paris in 1889 during the Universal Exhibition and quickly met Joseph Olier, owner of the Moulin Rouge, and began to perform on stage. Her performances took her to the Folies Bergère and onto the US, Russia, and Europe. With the stage often comes the life of a courtesan and she was one of the most popular of the Belle Epoque. As the biggest rival of Liane de Pougy (listen to the story of her life in the podcast episode we did last year). Known as the Sirène de suicide due to the fact that many men killed themselves or died in duels because they couldn’t be with her. 

Next door at no 29 was also built by Adolphe Viel for Genevieve Lantelme who was also an actress and courtesan. At 14 years old her mother sent her off to work at a brothel in Paris where she met important men like Henry Poidatz who owned Le Matin. Poidatz introduced her to Alphonse Franck who owned the Theatre du Gymnase and gave her the introduction to the stage. At the Paris Conservatory, she studied acting which gave her more opportunities in Paris. Her unique style captured the attention of everyone and her image graced the covers of the papers and magazines of the time, especially in her large hats. 

In 1906 she began an affair with Alfred Edwards who was the original owner of Le Matin but his 4th wife Misia Serves wasn’t as thrilled. Misia, the “Queen of Paris” followed Genevieve around Paris and tried to emulate her style and hats. The tale even inspired Marcel Proust in Remembrance and became the story of Robert de Saint-Loup, Gilberte Swann, and Rachel. 

Genevieve became wife number five on July 5, 1909, and on July 24, 1911, the couple went on a cruise down the Rhine that didn’t end well. That night after a bit too much champagne she opened the window to get some air and sit on the ledge. The boat lunged a bit and she fell into the Rhine. Two days later her body was discovered. She was immortalized in one of the amazing paintings by Boldini, 

At no 35 the amazing Sarah Bernhardt lived in this Nicolas-Félix Escalier built in 1876. She had the best of the best to paint the walls, and ceilings and add glass roofs. Sadly she had to sell it in 1885 but it is still part of her amazing story, complete with two stone rats playing on the edge. 

Across the street at no 42, Alfred Boland built for glassmaker Joseph-Albert Ponsin who also designed the glass ceiling for Sarah Bernhardt. Notice the lovely caryatids up above. 

Around the corner on the Avenue de Villiers is a lovely little museum. The Musée Jean-Jaques Henner is housed in the former home and studio of artist Guillaume Dubufe. In 1921 the niece of Henner purchased the home with the intent of making it a museum, sixteen years after his death. Henner is known for his paintings of women with red hair with an ethereal look to them. It is rarely busy and you can explore one floor after another in the world of Henner.   Open Wednesday - Monday 11 am - 6 pm, 6€ 

At no 42-44 is a set of buildings that will surely catch your eye. Built-in 1800 by Lucien Magne who had once studied under Viollet le Duc, The Gothic Revival structures are joined with an arched portico. Behind the arch and the buildings is the start of a building site that has become quite the lightning rod for the area. 

Just a few steps away is the green space of the Place du Général Catroux with a few statues you may not want to miss including the Dumas family. 

Alexandre Dumas by Gustave Doré inaugurated November 4, 1883. His most famous character, D’Artagnan sits on the rear of the base, and on the front three ladies read one of his well-known pieces. 

Across the street is a monument to his son, Alexandre Dumas Fils by Rene de Saint-Marceaux placed here in 1906. The allegories looking up towards him represent Pain, Resignation, and Youth. Dumas junior lived just a few steps away at no 98, 

The newest statue in Paris is in the Jardin Solitude which was renamed and added on May 10, 2022. Solitude is named after the Guadeloupe slave who died in 1802.  Rosalie was her real name and was raped by a white sailor when she was taken to the West Indies as a slave. 1802 was the year that Napoleon reinstated slavery and she of course opposed but did what few could do, she stood up against it. The Didier Audrat sculpture shows her very pregnant and running through the streets holding up a rolled parchment. She is also the first statue of a black historical woman in Paris, 

Nearby is a set of two huge chains that are dedicated to General Thomas Alexandre Dumas. “Fers” replaces an earlier monument to Dumas that the Vichy government melted down. 

Heading toward the big beautiful building ahead, look below and spot the stone monument to Sarah Bernhardt. Depicted in her role of Phèdre by Francois-Leon Sicard. 

Now for this amazing building just past Sarah. The Hotel Gaillard was built in 1884 by Jules Férrier. It may look much older but the Neo-Renaissance building was inspired by the chateaux of the Loire and specifically Blois where Marie de Medici was once held as a prisoner by her son. Émile Gaillard had a very large collection of Medieval and Renaissance art and needed something larger to hold it. Férrier created the perfect building that also reflected the owner's love for the period. Gaillard died in 1902 and the structure was sold and the contents up for auction. Eventually, in 1919 the Banque de France purchased it and it was the fanciest bank branch for almost 100 years. 

In 2011 the Banque de France announced that the building would become the Cité de l’Economie and after an extensive renovation it finally opened in 2019. It may not sound so exciting but it is amazing and really interesting and few people are ever there. Just to get a glimpse of the inside is worth it. Check it out next time you are in Paris and of course the nearby Parc Monceau. 

Episode 115 - The Trocadero and the Eiffel Tower

The first time you visit Paris undoubtedly your list of must-see monuments includes the Eiffel Tower.  In this week’s episode of Paris History Avec a Hemingway on La Vie Creative Podcast we take you around the Eiffel Tower and Trocadero and share a few other things you might want to check out. 

The Esplanade du Trocadero is one of the best spots in the city to catch the sunrise, but look around and not just straight at la grande dame. On the Esplanade des Droits de l’Homme, eight golden statues look down on the many trinket sellers. Added in 1937, each by a different artist they represent youth, the countryside, flowers, and the day on the north side. On the south side, the garden, sprint, fruit, and birds often is found with a Paris pigeon sitting atop her head. 

1982 taken by my grandfather and compared to 2022

The Palais du Trocadero holds two museums, including one of my favorites the Cité de l’Architecture and the Musée de l’Homme. Each is rarely visited and holds amazing views of the Eiffel Tower.  The Architecture Museum was created by Alexandre Lenoir who saved many of the monuments and tombs from destruction during the Revolution. Originally housed in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts it was another major figure in French architectural history that made the museum come to fruition. Eugene Viollet-le-Duc the master behind the renovation of Notre Dame not only created it but much of the inside is dedicated to the work he did and on Notre Dame itself including the 16 statues that once stood on the roof. Fully restored it is your once-in-a-lifetime chance to see them up close before they return. 

The Palais de Chaillot that once stood here is nothing but a dream now. The Byzantine and Moorish structure was built for the 1878 World’s Fair and was in the shadow of the new iron tower just across the river. Gabriel Davioud designed many of the beloved things we see today in Paris like the gates of Parc Monceau and worked with Jules Bourdais to create what was called “a fly on a soup tureen” building. Like many of the buildings built over time for the exhibitions, they were never intended to last long. It did stand for 60 years and was only taken down for the current palace. 

Many decades before,  the Hill of Chaillot was going to be a grand palace for the King of Rome, the son of Napoleon Bonaparte, and consist of two museums, one on each side of the Seine, Pierre Fontaine came up with the lavish plans but the abdication of Napoleon would come before the first stone could be laid and never came to fruition.

Perhaps one of the most recognized images of the Trocadero and view of the Eiffel Tower was captured in a photo on June 23, 1940. Hitler made his only visit to Paris and at 5:30 am he and his convoy moved through the very quiet streets of Paris checking off the list of monuments like many still do today.  The Palais Garnier, Les Invalides and the tomb of Napoleon, Sacre Couer and the Tower from the Trocadero. He wanted to go up the Tower but some quick-thinking elevator operators cut the cable lines so he couldn’t make his way to the vantage point to see all of Paris below him. 

As you walk down the steps to the right you will come across the bust of Paul Valery. Valery was a famous French author and poet and his writing is even inscribed on the facade of the palace. In 1900 he married Jeannie Gobillard who was the cousin of Julie Manet, daughter of Berthe Morisot and Eugene Manet. Jeannie and Julie were so close the two had a double wedding at the Saint Honoré d’Eylau church. Julie married Ernest Rouart and the two couples also lived in the same house that had been handed down by her mother. 

At his death in 1945 a lavish state funeral was held at the Trocadero on July 25, 1945. The bust seen here today was added in 1975 by Renee Vautier. 

Just below in the Jardin du Trocadero head south on the wondering paths to find a few relics of the former Hotel de Ville and Palais des Tuileries complete with the burn marks from the Commune fire that destroyed them. 

Alongside the basin that runs below the palace statues representing L’Homme and La Femme look towards each other from either side by Daniel Bacqué. A bull and dear by Paul Jouve. Hercule et le Taurareau by Albert Pommier and a Horse and Dog by Geoges Guyot.  Near the bottom are two large rectangular carved pieces that deserve a closer look. On the right La Joie de Vivre by Leon-Ernest Driver is carved from one large piece of stone and could represent the muses of Zeus.  On the other side, is La Jeunesse by Pierre Poisson. 

The Trocadero itself is going to go through a large reconstruction if Madame mayor has her way. Adding grass and eliminating cars just in time for the Olympics in 2024.  

Start to head over the Pont de L’Ena but look up and notice the four large pillars topped with warriors. On the right bank side, on the left is the Arab Warrior by Jean-Jacques Feuchère and on the right, a Greek Warrior by Francois Devault. Look closely, these are rather hunky statues. 

The bridge was constructed under Napoleon to link the military school and designed by Cornelle Lanandé, The five-arch bridge was marked with the eagles of the Empire but was later replaced with the letter L under Louis XVIII. When Louis-Philippe had the little emperor’s remains returned the bridge was once again marked with the eagle and designed by Antoine Louis Barye. 

On the left bank side, the statues of a Galic Warrior by Auguste Preault and Roman Warrior by Joseph Daumas keep an eye on the iron lady of Paris.

The history of the Eiffel Tower is well known but did you know that it wasn’t Monsieur Eiffel that designed it? Engineers Emile Nouguier and Maurice Koechlin worked for Eiffel and had an idea for a tour built on 4 pillars. The boss wasn’t too impressed and told them to keep working on it. Architect Stephen Sauvestre joined in and fancied it up and entered it into the competition for the 1889 World’s Fair.  135 years ago on January 8, Eiffel’s project was selected and a majority of the funding came from his company. Twenty days later construction began.  The rest is history even if maybe it should be named the Nouguier et Koechlin tower. 

It was crafted at the Eiffel factory in Levallois-Perret down the Seine by 326 workers and was brought up on a barge and riveted into place. It is held together with 2,500,00 rivets and less than half were done on-site. On March 31, 1889, after  2 years, 2 months, and 5 days to complete and the first visitor ascended the stairs on May 6, 1889. A month later the elevator was complete and the same hydraulic-powered elevators are still used today. 

In the hot stretches of summer which are becoming more frequent in Paris, the Eiffel Tower actually swells in height by 6 inches and in the wind, it will sway a bit. 

The elements over time have impacted the tower and there is now some worries talk about how long it can keep going before they need to replace much of it. There is one gentleman that only job is to inspect each of the thousands of pieces. When needed they come in after 1 am when the lights turn off and can replace a piece here or there but how long that can sustain is not known.

Every seven years, she is scraped and sanded and for 18 months hand painted with over 60 tons of paint in three shades.​​ The lightest shade is at the top and gets darker as you look down but you may never even realize it. The whole project costs over 3 million dollars and the 25 people that work on it add four coats, two each of primer and paint. 

When it was first painted it was brick red but it was a deep golden yellow that Eiffel wanted. Years ago I was lucky enough to visit the inner workings of the tour and a secret entrance out into the Champ de Mars and saw an example of each of the colors the tower has been in the past. It is now returning to the deep golden yellow the Eiffel always wanted it to be. 

One of the most beautiful things about the monument that was once hated and now the symbol of Paris and France was just added on at the turn of the century. Gustave Eiffel wanted her to serve as a lighthouse and in 1999 a beam of light was added to the top as well as adding 20,000 twinkling lights. Like the tower herself, it was meant to be a temporary addition but it was so loved that they kept it and every night from sunset to 1 am at the top of the hour for 5 minutes she puts on a show. Those 20,000 lights dance and sparkle and can be seen from all over Paris and whether it be the first or fiftieth time you see it, it still takes your breath away. 

Around the first level of the tower are the 72 names of the great scientist, mathematicians, photographers, and doctors of France. Eiffel added them but during the 4th repainting was covered over. In 1986 they returned and include Francois Arago whose name can also be found on the brass plaques in the streets of Paris. 

Episode 114 - Lower Montmartre

As you head up to Montmartre you pass through the streets of Pigalle. The crowning glory is of course the Moulin Rouge. Opened in 1889 by Charles Zidier and Joseph Oller during the Belle Epoque when all of Paris was celebrating the end of the Siege of Paris. Montmartre was the home of the artists and many flocked to the newest venue on the hill including Henri Toulouse-Lautrec who made the dancers and venue famous. Zidier and Oller also owned the Olympia and when they wanted to open a new venue they decided to pay homage to the windmills that once dotted the hill and the nearby Rue Lepic by topping their club with the large red windmill. 

Up until this time a woman's body was not to be revealed and if it was in art it had to be as an allegory or mythological. In 1863 Manet shocked all of Paris with the nude Olympia but thirty years later the temperature began to cool. The Moulin Rouge was to be the first stage to show women's legs and a bit more. At 10 pm each night the doors opened and on the stage was Jane Avril and her jerky dances that wowed the crowd. Listen to more about Jane Avril in the episode we did last year.  

The Moulin Rouge was destroyed by a fire on February 27. 1915 and due to the war it was not rebuilt until 1921. Today it is one of the most popular sights in Paris and the largest customer in the world of champagne. Be sure to also check out the new rooftop bar under the windmill. 

Just around the corner head up the Rue Lepic, named for General Louis Lepic under Napoleon who sealed his deal with the boss by naming all five of his boys, Napoleon. One of the most famous locations on the street is the Cafe des 2 Moulins. You may know it a bit more from the movie Amelie, where the lovely Audrey Tautou worked. In 2001 director Jean-Pierre Jeunet decided to make a movie filmed in his neighborhood and favorite spots. In 2002 the cafe was purchased by a new owner who removed the iconic cigarette booth but left the large image of Amelie in the back. The staff is wonderful if you stop by but be sure to sit down and buy something if you want to take any photos. 

Rue Lepic bends to the left and just around the corner at no 54 is the small apartment that The van Gogh lived in on the 3rd floor in 1886. His brother Vincent decided to move to Paris and moved into his tiny apartment. For two years the brothers lived together until Vincent left for Arles in 1888. Ten years prior another artist lived two doors down at no 50, Edgar Degas. 

At one point most of the hill of Montmartre was covered with convents, abbeys, and churches. The Rue des Abbesses marks the area that was once the abbey built in 1133 under Louis VI. It replaces the 7th-century church that stood for four hundred years. Adelaide de Savoie, wife of Louis VI was very devout and asked her husband to move the monks out so she can create an abbey and a temple to Saint-Denis. 

The new abbey was consecrated in 1136 by Pope Innocent II and over time more than 65 nuns served as the head abbess. Beginning in 1548 it was the king of France, Henri II that named Catherine de Clermont who was also the niece of his lover Diane de Poitiers. In 1559 a fire ravaged Montmartre destroying much of the abbey. In 1590, Henri IV met Abbess Claude and began an affair with her. Claude would travel with the king and thought he would annul his marriage to Marguerite to marry her. On a trip to Senlis, he met Claude’s cousin, Gabrielle d’Estrees would be the love of his life. So many of the nuns were involved with the soldiers of Henri IV the abbey was known as the “store of the whores of the army”. 

Listen to the episode we did on the life of Gabrielle.

In 1611 Marie de Beauvilliers was appointed by Henri IV and had the abbey rebuilt. It stood until the Revolution when they were ordered to leave in 1792 and much of it was destroyed, 

The Eglise Saint Jean de Montmartre stands overlooking the Place des Abbesses. Built by Anatole de Baudot who studied under Viollet le Duc. Baudot wanted to craft a structure out of cement and the Abbot Sobaux was the perfect partner who grew frustrated with the elders of the church that held the pursestrings. In 1900 the church was almost finished until March 23 when Abbot Sobaux was taken to court by the leaders that accused him of pulling a fast one on them. Losing in court it was decreed on August 28, 1900, that the church be destroyed. In the 11th hour, a clause was discovered which would save the church and the abbot. A year later a new judgment was passed down and closed the church until 1903. On June 13, 1904, the church was consecrated and opened and has been open ever since. Check out the fantastic ceramics on the facade by Alexandre Bigot. 

Just across the way is the Abbesses metro station which is one of the few original designs of Hector Guimard that remains in Paris. Originally located at the Hotel de Ville it was moved in 1974 to this location. 

Against the wall, a few steps from the metro stop is a lovely little Paris landmark. In the Square Jehan-Rictus lives the I love You wall, Le Mur des Je T’aime. The blue enameled lava tiles have only been there since 2000, but the story behind it dates back a few more years. Frédéric Baron in 1992 would wander the streets of Paris with a notebook in hand and would ask passersby of all nationalities how they would say, “I love you”. Filling page after page and notebook after notebook just to satisfy his curiosity. 

A friend told him that his project should be shared. Claire Kito, a calligraphy specialist, worked with Frédéric taking each of his pages and bringing them to life. In over 250 languages and 311 phrases they would be recreated onto 612 enameled tiles, each the same size as the pages he recorded them all on. Muralist Daniel Boulogne would hear about the project and join in to complete the final installation. Frédéric’s labor of love would be discovered by a French publisher and would release “the book of I love you’s” two years before the wall was even a thought. Le Mur des Je T’aime is a popular spot for visitors and lovers. 

Often crowded with people looking for the phrase in their native language, standing in front and snapping a photo, or better yet stealing a kiss. The royal blue tiles covered with the phrases written in white are dotted with specs of red. These are to represent a broken heart, if they were all gathered together they would become one solid heart. One thing is certain when you stand in front of this wall, while the phrase is so simple, it means the same thing in every corner of the world. All we all want is love, whether it be the love of another or the feeling of falling in love with a place that makes you feel alive. And maybe we would all be better off if we remembered that.