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En tout bien tout honneur
On the 29 floréal An X under the Revolutionary calendar, or the 19th of May, 1802, Napoléon Bonaparte, in his role as First Consul, established the Légion d’honneur as a way of recognizing military or...
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Le baccalauréat
It’s time for le baccalauréat (luh back-a-lor-ay-a) in France, or le bac, as it’s colloquially known. Napoléon I introduced the exam in 1806. Today, it’s basically de rigueur for those wanting to...
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L’impossible est le refuge des poltrons
Napoléon Buonaparte (later changed to Bonaparte) was born on Corsica, August 15, 1769, a year after it became French. For the purpose of focusing on the finest in French culture, which is, after all,...
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Faire bouillir la marmite
French singer Serge Lama was born on February 11, 1943. His most famous song, “Je suis malade” has been recorded by numerous artists including Dalida and Lara Fabian, but I think Lama does it best. His...
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Mémoires d’outre-tombe
French writer, politician, diplomat, and historian François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand was born on September 4, 1768. He was the son of an aristocratic but dysfunctional family from Saint-Malo....
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Un realisateur de films
A few years ago, I took a course on Napoléon. Our final day was dedicated to watching the monumental five hour epic about the Corsican general directed by Abel Gance. The professor grew misty-eyed...
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Une fontaine de jouvence
I’ve only visited Fontainebleau once, but it’s just gone higher on my list of places to see the next time I’m in France. Until now, only about one third of the home to 34 kings and emperors has been...
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Récamier
Some faces launch 1,000 ships; some faces immortalize a piece of furniture. Jeanne-Françoise Julie Adélaïde Récamier (ray-cam-ee-ay), otherwise known as Juliette, was born on December 4, 1777. Her...
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Être à la bourre
After having visited several exhibits dedicated to Napoléon and Joséphine in recent years, it had been on my mind to visit Malmaison, Empress Joséphine’s home on the outskirts of Paris. It’s easy to...
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Raplapla
My husband’s favorite part of our Paris vacation was a day trip to the Château of Fontainebleau. He’d never been before and I hadn’t been there for ten years. I was amazed by all of the changes in the...
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