Auction of Napoleon's last shirt in Paris

Several items of clothing and personal belongings of Napoleon Bonaparte were due to be auctioned last Sunday in Paris at Maison Orsenat.

Among them were a cambric shirt worn by the emperor the day before he died (estimated at between 30000 and 40 000 euros), a lock of hair cut the day of his death (which may fetch between 3 000 and 5 000 euros), bandages and two handkerchiefs. The items were collected by the emperor's servant, Achille Archambault, but their ownership is now disputed and the auction was postponed in order to enable the courts to establish the identity of the rightful owner.

I always find it fascinating - if a little macabre - to be able to see for myself personal items which have belonged to a historical figure, writer or actor, but I'm really not sure I would ever put a bid in for any of them, even if I had the money. I think they should really belong in a museum, not in the hands of a private collector. 

Napoleon died at Longwood on the island of St Helena on May 5th 1821 after a six year long exile. A striking, desolate mass of rugged rocks St Helena is located in the middle of the South Atlantic ocean with the nearest land six hundred miles away. 

Wathen, T.E. A Series of Views Illustrative of the Island of St. Helena. Clay, London, 1821. 

Napoleon first stayed at Briars Pavillion on the island then moved into Longwood, a two-stories house in a cold, windy and damp part of the island. Although the British government recognised the inadequacy of Longwood as the former emperor's residence, it was deemed the safest place for him. Sir Hudson Lowe, the island's governor, was indeed haunted by the fear that Napoleon should escape and behaved like a jailer toward him, ordering that his correspondence and newspapers be censured, and even forbidding the former emperor any news from his wife Marie-Louise and their son. In fact relationships between Napoleon and Lowe were so bad they only met six times during Napoleon's exile and the former French emperor is said to have complained to his physician O'Meara that Lowe has such a 'horrid countenance' he feared he had the evil eye and had poisoned his cup of coffee just by looking at it!

Wathen, T.E. A Series of Views Illustrative of the Island of St. Helena. Clay, London, 1821. 

Longwood was designed in a cottage style and contained twenty-four rooms, with Bonaparte occupying the right wing. In an illustrated book published in 1821, T.E. Wathen gives a striking description of the desolate, rocky island and of Longwood House and the rooms allocated to the defeated French emperor. 

The drawing-room was coloured 'various shades of green and arabesque gold panels, with curtains of light silk taboret, of Pomona green, and velvet borders edged with gold coloured silk twist'. Wathen even describes some of the furnishing: a carpet of 'various shades of brown, olive, and amber; an elegant oak centre table; pier table, inlaid with a slab of Verd Antique Mona marble; splendid pier glass, with a frame of Buhl and ebony; chairs of British oak; two Greek sofas and footstools ornamented with Or Moulu; a piano forte; and chandeliers and candelabri to light the apartment.'

Thanks to Wathen we know that next to the dining-room was a library, which was 'furnished in the Etruscan style, with several dwarf book-cases' and desks and that the sitting-room was 'ornamented with an ethereal blue carpet shaded with black, and several ebony cabinets inlaid with brass'. The emperor's bedroom featured a high canopy 'bedstead, enclosing a silken mosquito net, and hung with furniture of lilac Persian edged with gold coloured fringe.' 

In the bathroom was a tub was lined with marble 'made to admit hot or cold water'. 

The other wing of Longwood House contained spacious apartments for Bonaparte's suite, with servant's offices and store-rooms in the rear and the kitchen was located in a separate building.

Before Napoleon's funeral, which took place on May 9 1821, one hundred men were made to cut a path directly to the burial site the emperor himself had chosen shortly after his arrival on the island for its proximity to willow trees and a spring - a place called Devil's Punch Bowl. At the time of Wathen's visit to St Helena, a sentinel constantly guarded the grave. 

Wathen, T.E. A Series of Views Illustrative of the Island of St. Helena. Clay, London, 1821. 

Napoleon's remains were removed in 1840 and shipped to Paris where they were buried with full military honours in a marble casket in the Hotel des Invalides on December 15 1840. Despite the biting cold the crowds were huge along the avenues where the military cortege passed, so much so that the government feared a revolutionary outbreak. 

Victor Hugo wrote about that memorable day
 'O frozen sky! and sunlight pure! shining bright in history!

Funereal triumph, imperial torch!

Let the people's memory hold you forever, 

Day beautiful as glory,

Cold as the tomb'

  ("Ciel glacé ! soleil pur ! Oh ! brille dans l’histoire ! / Du funèbre triomphe, impérial flambeau ! / Que le peuple à jamais te garde en sa mémoire / Jour beau comme la gloire, / Froid comme le tombeau." - Victor Hugo, Les Rayons et les Ombres, 1840.)

Only government officials and military personnel were allowed at the ceremony itself, and many French were angry that they had not been able to pay their respects properly to the man they had come to consider as a martyr. Worse still for the government, many people still believed that Napoleon had not died on St Helena, that the commission sent to retrieve his remains had found only an empty coffin and rumour spread that the tomb at Les Invalides was only a cenotaph.

Napoleon's remains repose today beneath the dome in the Invalides, in a monument designed by architect Louis Visconti in 1842, but which was only completed in 1861.

So what will become of Napoleon's last belongings - a shirt, a lock of hair, a couple of handkerchiefs? Time, and the French courts, will tell...

Magical Venice Carnival

This year's edition of the Venice Carnival is now drawing to a close. When I was a student, I had the chance to buy a last minute ticket on a package tour and spend three days there. My friends and I travelled from Paris where I was a student.The journey seemed to take forever. Our accommodation in Mestre was very basic and I only had an improvised, home made costume - a cape, black tricorne hat and fluffy cobalt blue feather boa (a rather strange combination, I do admit!). None of that mattered. I will never forget my first glimpse of Venice from the vaporetto speeding across the Laguna. The moment I got off the boat, I stepped into a fairytale which lasted three days.

It is thought that the Carnival was created to celebrate the victory of the Serenissima Republica against the Patriarch of Aquileia in 1162. It became more and more popular during the Renaissance and the eighteenth century until 1797, when it was outlawed under the rule of the King of Austria. The Carnival reappeared for short periods in the nineteenth century, but mostly for private soirées and celebrations, and it was only in 1979 that the Carnival made its official return.

Masks and lavish costumes are an essential feature of the Venice Carnival and make the whole event magical. I remember couples parading and posing in the most extravagant outfits and masks, looking as if they'd just come out of an eighteenth century fantasy.

The most instantly recognisable Venetian mask is the volto (Italian for face) or larva (meaning ghost in Latin), which is often white but can also be gilded and decorated. The Bauta is a mask which covers the whole face. It has a no mouth and a strong chin line to enable the wearer to talk, eat and drink easily without having to remove it, and was often accompanied by a black cape - a tabarro - and a tricorne hat. During the eighteenth century the Venetian government legislated that all citizens were required to wear the Bauta during certain decision-making events to allow direct, free and equal democratic ballots. They were also prohibited from carrying weapons when masked.

Other masks you see during the carnival are the Columbina, a half-mask that only covers the wearer's eyes, nose, and upper cheeks and is often decorated with gold, silver, crystals and feathers, and the Medico della peste (The Plague Doctor) mask. One of the most bizarre Venetian masks, it has a long nose shaped like a beak and glass openings for the eyes. It didn't start out as a carnival mask at all but was designed by 17th-century French physician Charles de Lorme who wore it whilst treating plague victims. 

One of my fondest memories is going into the Caffè Florian on Piazza San Marco. Opened in 1720, it is one of the oldest cafés in existence and was visited by Casanova, Goethe and later Charles Dickens and Lord Byron. Another lovely memory is walking along the Laguna very early the morning after the carnival had ended. The town was eerily quiet, and the Laguna sparkled in pale golden sunlight. 

I promised myself I would go back...I hope one day I will.

Teri Riggs and Resolutions!

Exciting day today! I am hosting Teri Riggs, author of the thrilling and fast-paced romantic suspense Resolutions (part of the Honor Guard Series).

Hello Teri and welcome on the blog. I really enjoyed Resolutions and have a few questions for you.

Can you tell us a little about you?

I live in Marietta, Georgia. I’m married to my high school sweetheart…we met when we were both 15. How’s that for romance? I’ve been writing for about 15 years now. I’m truly addicted to reading. I love to paint, but haven’t done it for a few years—I’m having too much fun writing.

What did you want to be when you were a child? Did you always know you wanted to write? 

The usual girl stuff. A teacher. A nurse. (Which I was before we had children) And of course I wanted to be a princess. I never dreamed of being a writer. I didn’t even enjoy reading until a few years before I decided I wanted to write.

Where do you get your ideas for your stories?

I get inspirations from TV shows, movies, songs, dreams, people I meet. Just about anything can spark a plot bunny.

In three words - What kind of man is Mac, your hero? 

Pig-headed. Demanding. Alpha.

Yes, I do agree. I found him extremely sexy too! In three words - What kind of woman is Eve, your heroin?

Hard-headed. Strong. Independent.

What did Mac think the first time he saw Eve?

Love at first sight! He knew she was the woman for him and he would do whatever was necessary to protect her.

What did Eve think of Mac the first time she saw him? 

Love at first sight! She knew Mac was the only man she’d ever love. But, she had no intention of letting him rob her of her hard-won independence.

Thank you so much Teri for visiting the blog day.

My review of Resolutions

If you like action-filled romantic novels, brave heroines and stubborn but sexy Alpha male heroes, then Resolutions is for you. From the very first page, the pace is fast and never falters as we follow agent Eve Taylor in her mission to destroy Columbian drug baron and would-be terrorist Mendoza and her bid to prove that she is every bit as good as her fellow agents. The man she needs to convince most of all is over-protective super agent Dillon MacKenna, whom she once loved but had to leave after he issued a typically macho male ultimatum. It's me or your job. She chose the job.

When Eve is taken hostage by Mendoza and Mac comes to her rescue and the spark between them flares into a burning passion once again. As they fight Mendoza and his ruthless killers, Eve and Mac realise they never ceased loving each other. Their past and their pride however stand in the way of a future together. Will Mac demand once again that Eve choose between him and her career? And will Eve's love for him be enough for her to give up the job she trained so hard for?

Although the scenes of violence and torture and some strong language may not be to everybody's tastes, I found Resolutions an extremely enjoyable read.  

Resolutions Blurb

DEA agent Eve Taylor has had her fill of alpha males. When Resolutions’ operative and former lover, Dillon “Mac” McKenna, threatened her hard-earned independence, she ran. On a mission to gather evidence against a Colombian drug-lord, Eve discovers the drug-lord is helping terrorists plan an attack on American soil. Before she can escape with the vital information, she’s captured and comes face to face with her mortality…

As a teen, Mac watched his family fall apart after his mother died doing dangerous U.N. work. The possibility of losing Eve to a mission ignited an overwhelming need to protect her. When he forced her to choose him or her job, she walked away. Two years later, it seems all his nightmares have come true and he’s tasked with rescuing her from a Colombian prison. Mac has never stopped loving Eve, but does he dare risk his heart when he’s so terrified of losing…

On the run, Mac and Eve must learn to trust each other again in order to stay alive.

* * * * * * * * * *

Note: Resolutions is a private black ops agency specializing in the near-impossible extractions of kidnap victims, hostages, and all forms of intelligence other agencies have failed to retrieve.

Fairytale Lights of Lyon 2013!

The Fête des Lumières is held every year in Lyon, the town I grew up, on December 8th.

Although originally held for one night only it now lasts three whole nights and has become a spectacular event. Gone the days when people lit up candles in coloured glass 'lumignons' and placed them on their window sills before going for a stroll in the old town and up to Fourvière, the basilica dedicated to the Virgin Marie on top of the hill.



Although there is some confusion regarding the origins of the Fête des Lumières, there is no doubt that it was always dedicated to the Virgin Marie, under whose protection the city was placed in the Middle Ages. Even though some claim that the festival dates back from the Renaissance, when the Virgin Marie answered the prayers of the people of Lyon and saved the city from the plague which affected the rest of the country, the tradition really started on 8th December 1852. when a statue dedicated to the Virgin was inaugurated on top of the Fourvière hill. The celebrations planned for the event had to be cancelled because of a violent storm, so when the storm finally stopped later in the evening, the people lit up candles they placed on their window sills and took to the street to celebrate. The tradition has carried on until this day.

 

Nowadays extravagant light displays are held throughout the town. Just look at these from the 2013 edition of the Festival!

It's just like being in a fairy tale, isn't it?

 

I

 

 

This one is called 'Le Petit Prince',  no doubt as a reference to the author Saint-Exupéry.

 

 

I would have loved to return to Lyon for the weekend and see all this for myself, but I can't help feeling a little nostalgic for the days when all we needed to be happy were little candles on the window sills. It was such good fun to meet up with friends, have a drink in cafés and stroll through the old town and try to avoid the flour and eggs people used to throw down at passers-by through their windows!

Childhood Memories...

The power of words and music, the power of memories and love...
The pain never goes away.
No one else could have said it better than Barbara.

Il ne faut jamais revenir
aux temps cachés des souvenirs
du temps béni de son enfance.
Car parmi tous les souvenirs
ceux de l'enfance sont les pires,
ceux de l'enfance nous déchirent.

Oh ma très chérie, oh ma mère,
où êtes-vous donc aujourd'hui?
Vous dormez au chaud de la terre.
Et moi je suis venue ici
pour y retrouver votre rire,
vos colères et votre jeunesse.
Et je suis seule avec ma détresse.

Hélas
Pourquoi suis-je donc revenue
et seule au détour de ces rues?
J'ai froid, j'ai peur, le soir se penche.
Pourquoi suis-je venue ici,
où mon passé me crucifie?
Elle dort à jamais mon enfance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP6EwJpKSiI

October poems...

I can't believe it's one year today since I became a published author and my debut historical romance ANGEL HEART was released by Canadian publisher MuseitUp Publishing.

I dreamt of that day for so long, and at times despaired it would ever happen.

One year on, and I still have the same feeling of pride and disbelief when I look at the cover and tell myself that it is true, I have published not one, but two novels!


But if October now reminds me of the publication of my first novel, it is also melancholic...It's the approach of winter with dead leaves swirling in blustery winds and darkening skies.

Whenever I think of Autumn poems, Paul Verlaine's 'Chanson d'Automne' always springs to my mind first.

Les sanglots longs
Des violons
De l’automne
Blessent mon coeur
D’une langueur
Monotone.

I also love 'L'Automne' by Alphonse de Lamartine

Je suis d’un pas rêveur le sentier solitaire,
J’aime à revoir encor, pour la dernière fois,
Ce soleil pâlissant, dont la faible lumière
Perce à peine à mes pieds l’obscurité des bois !

Oui, dans ces jours d’automne où la nature expire,
A ses regards voilés, je trouve plus d’attraits,
C’est l’adieu d’un ami, c’est le dernier sourire
Des lèvres que la mort va fermer pour jamais !

But there is one song which above all others symbolises for me the melancholy of Autumn, and it's 'Les Feuilles Mortes' which was written by French poet Jacques Prévert in 1945. I always preferred Yves Montand's rendition of the song, even if many artists, including Edith Piaf, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra recorded their own version of it - and especially this clip from his concert at the Paris Olympia.

I remember showing this clip to my sixth-form French students one day we were talking about what they thought was 'boring old French music'. They were all in tears after watching this clip...

It always makes me cry too, but then again, I do tend to cry a lot!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLlBOmDpn1s

I couldn't leave out the immensely talented Serge Gainsbourg, who pays tribute to the song in 'La Chanson de Prévert'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzuTdVJG-ck








 So what is October for you? If you have any favourite October poems or songs to share, I would love to read them.

Fall Into Romance Hop with The Romance Rewiews!

Looking for answers about THE LION'S EMBRACE and ANGEL HEART in the Romance Reviews Blog Hop?  Looking for the Blog Hop article about my favourite romance novel, THE ANTIQUE LOVE by Helena Fairfax?

Then you are in the right place! Please scroll down for the blurbs for THE LION'S EMBRACE and ANGEL HEART where you will find answers to my multiple choice questions on The Romance Reviews Website.

And just a little further down, you will find the Blog Hop rules and my article on THE ANTIQUE LOVE, a great contemporary romance by talented author Helena Fairfax. The button you need to click is at the top of the scroll bar on the right-hand side BUT please read the article and the rules at the bottom of this post BEFORE clicking!


To answer the question on THE LION'S EMBRACE, please read this blurb:

Arrogant, selfish and dangerous, Lucas Saintclair is everything Harriet Montague dislikes in a man. He is also the best guide in the whole of the Barbary States, the only man who can rescue her archaeologist father from the gang of Tuareg fighters that has kidnapped him.

As Harriet embarks on a perilous journey across Algeria with Saintclair and Archibald Drake, her father’s most trusted friend, she discovers a bewitching but brutal land where nothing is what it seems. Who are these men intent on stealing her father’s ransom? What was her father hoping to find in Tuareg queen Tin Hinan’s tomb? Is Lucas Saintclair really as callous as he claims—or is he a man haunted by a past he cannot forgive?

Dangerous passions engulf Harriet’s heart in the heat of the Sahara. Secrets of lost treasures, rebel fighters, and a sinister criminal brotherhood threaten her life and the life of the man she loves.

Does forever lie in the lion’s embrace?

THE LION'S EMBRACE is available from https://museituppublishing.com/

Also from http://www.amazon.com/The-Lions-Embrace-ebook/dp/B00BACDSK6
And http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=marie+laval+the+lion%27s+embrace

 

 

You will find the answer to the question on ANGEL HEART in this blurb:

 

Devonshire, 1815

A mysterious Templar relic.

A web of intrigue and lies.

A woman about to lose her heart.

 

Marie-Ange, the young widow of an English officer, accepts an inheritance in France only to find that everything in Beauregard is not as it seems. Why is the sinister Malleval so obsessed with her family? What exactly is this mysterious Templar Cross he believes Marie-Ange can lead him to? And could her darling husband Christopher still be alive?

 

Marie-Ange finds herself trapped in a dangerous web of lies, political intrigue and mystical possession, and the only person to whom she can turn for help is Captain Hugo Saintclair. Yet the enigmatic Hugo represents a danger of a different kind …ANGEL HEART is a lavish mix of romance, adventure and a hint of the supernatural, largely set in France against the turbulent background of Napoleon’s return from Elba and his ultimate defeat at Waterloo.

 

It is available from:  

http://museituppublishing.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Heart-ebook/dp/B009YJT194

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Angel-Heart-ebook/dp/B009YJT194

 

AND NOW FOR THE BLOG HOP! Why I loved THE ANTIQUE LOVE by Helena Fairfax

If you leave a comment and follow this blog, you will be entered into the draw for a chance to win an ebook of either ANGEL HEART or THE LION'S EMBRACE! I will pick the winner and announce in on this blog after 21st September. Once you have left a comment, please scroll back up and click on the button on the right-hand side. It will take you to the next blog.

 

 

THE ANTIQUE LOVE is a wonderful and heart-warming contemporary romance that you won't be able to put down until the very last page.

 

When American Kurt Bold walks into Penny's London antique shop one rainy Saturday afternoon, everything about him immediately captures her imagination and makes her dream of vast spaces and campfires under starry skies. She couldn't be further from the truth.

 

Kurt may be from Wyoming, but he is no cowboy, and the name 'White River' printed on his business card isn't the name of his ranch at all. In fact, far from being a romantic hero, Kurt is the head of a large financial company, and has neither the time nor the inclination for dreams, love or romance. All he wants is a companionable relationship with a reasonable, level-headed woman - the total opposite of Penny. He only needs Penny to help him redecorate his new London house, certainly not to bring impossible dreams of passion and romance into his well-ordered life. 

 

Or does he? Will Penny's smile and romantic outlook on life change his mind, and his heart, before it's too late and he loses his gentle dreamer forever?

I absolutely adored THE ANTIQUE LOVE and the way Helena Fairfax draws the reader into the minds and hearts of her characters - her kind, artistic and deeply insecure heroin and her impossibly attractive, pragmatic and stubborn hero.

Buy links:  Amazon US ; Amazon UK  ; Barnes & Noble ; Kobo  ; Apple iBooks ; Muse Bookstore and all major e-tailersa

 

Thank you for your visit. I hope you enjoyed reading my article! Please leave a comment and follow the blog for a chance to win a copy of either ANGEL HEART or THE LION'S EMBRACE.

Now don't forget to click on the Hop button on the right-hand side of the scroll bar at the top of this page to visit the next blog! You need to be logged in in order to hop via the button. If you haven’t registered at TRR and/or logged in, please click on the button and go to the top right side of the page on The Romance Reviews to do so. Registration is free.