Following World Book Day lets visit some French locales where major literary works have taken place.
Paris has been the center of so many literary works -Victor Hugo's
"les Miserables" and "
The Hunchback of Notre Dame , the many novels of Balzac and Emile Zola ; Henri Miller's
"Tropic of Cancer" and on and on. Here are two most evocative reads about Paris :
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| Hemingway in front of Shakespeare &Co. |
Hemingway's "
A Moveable Feast" - retraces the footsteps of young Ernest when he lived in Paris in the 20's as a struggling author. He described his walks in the city, the strolls through the Luxembourg Garden, the apartment he shared with his wife Hadley in the Latin Quarter, the bistros where he ate, wrote and kept warm, the visit he paid his friends Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Emile Zola "
Ventre de Paris" (Belly of Paris) . This mid 19th century novel depicts the life and struggles of the working class in Paris around the busy central market of
Les Halles . Zola was remarkably precise in detailling the sensations- smells, sound, colors of the market. This atmospheric neighborhood depicted by Zola is only a shadow of itself today. Gone are the central market Balthar pavillons and the workers and vendors that populated this very intense and picturesque neighborhood; they have been replaced by trendy boutiques and chic cafes. Other oeuvres of Zola featuring 19th century Paris include notably "
Nana" "Au Bonheur des Dames" (Ladies' Paradise),
"L'Assommoir" and "
l'Oeuvre".
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| Bovary.fr |
Rouen was the setting of the classic novel "
Madame Bovary" by
Gustave Flaubert. Emma, the wife of a provincial doctor escapes the banality of her country life by spending beyond her means and having adulterous affairs. Emma spends time away from home visiting her lover Leon in Rouen where they attend the theatre and take horse driven rides around town. The author himself was a native of Rouen.
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| Grand Hotel Plage-Cabourg |
Cabourg is the resort on the Normandy coast where
Marcel Proust's alter ego spent long lazy summers meeting "Jeunes filles en fleurs" . In the late 19th century and Belle Epoque era, the resort was popular with Parisians who came to spend the summer by the sea. The
Grand Hotel where Proust himself came to vacation and seek inspiration is still popular today.
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| Nohant |
George Sand's house in the Berry region, in the center of France, offers visitors a feel for the peaceful countrylife the 19th century author ( born Aurore Dupin) came to seek away from Paris. Nohant as it is known was her refuge. Here she wrote novels like "
La Mare au Diable", "
La Petite Fadette"; entertained her artist friends like Flaubert, Delacroix, Balzac and where she lived with her lover Frederic Chopin for 12 years ; here is composed many of his preludes.
Marcel Pagnol and
Jean Giono are the quintessential authors from Provence. We hear the sunny and colorful accents of the south of France when we read the works of these two authors. Marcel Pagnol, evoked his early life growing up in around Marseille in two books: "
Gloire de mon Pere" (my Father's Glory) and "
Chateau de ma Mere" (My Mother's castle). In his other works
Jean de Florette" and "
Manon des Sources", Marcel Pagnol depicted the miserable and hard scrabble life of Provence countryside and its people, their superstitions and greed.
Gionno, a native of
Manosque described the countryside life of Haute Provence in his works such "
the baker's wife" (adapted to the screen by Marcel Pagnol); the "
Horseman on the Roof".
The more recent memoir, "
A Year in Provence by English author
Peter Mayle is set in
Menerbes, a picturesque village in the Luberon hills where the author recounts through expatriate eyes his hilarious adventures with local customs when building a country home. The book and its sequels "
Encore Provence" and "
Toujours Provence" have brought on notoriety and many tourists to the little village and Provence in general.
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If you want to channel the spirit of
F. Scott Fitgerald, head to the
French Riviera. In the early 1920's the american writer and his wife Zelda moved to a rented villa in
Saint Raphael where he worked on the the
Great Gatsby. They would often drive to nearby cap d'Antibes to meet friends for drinks and sunbathe on the beach. In 1926 , needing respite from the success of the Great Gatsby, F. Scott and Zelda retreated again to the peacefulness of the Riviera , this time renting the villa St. Louis in Antibes. It later became the art deco hotel
Belles Rives, a much sought after 5 star Riviera retreat today. "
Tender is the night' is a story of a wealthy American couple sojourning on the French Riviera and their tortuous relationship.
Happy reading and Happy travels !!
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www.enchanted-france.com
#France #Paris # French Riviera, #Provence #books
The Nice Carnival is is in full swing. From February 14 to March 4 revelers welcome back the King and its court. For two fun filled weeks, day and night, parades of flower bedecked floats accompanied by thousands of musicians snake along the coastal seafront on Promenade des Anglais and Avenue Massena, loudly cheered by delirious crowds. This year's theme is King of Gastronomy and parade of giant figures made of colored paper-mache will celebrate food and the tradition of French and Nicoise cuisine, in particular. The Paul Bocuse look-alike float is especially delightful. 
Azay le Rideau is a gem of early Renaissance and rivals Chenonceau in its elegance. It was built on the island in the middle of the Indre river by Francois I's treasurer - Gilles Berthelot between 1518 and 1527 and features a straight flight staircase rather than spiral, which was unusual at at this time period. 
It started as a medieval castle, residence of the Counts of Blois. Louis XII, who was born in the castle, upon becoming king in 1498 promptly undertook reconstruction of the residence allying gothic architecture with the new Renaissance style. Francois I who succeeded him also undertook renovation of the royal residence between 1515-1519. He had a new wing built of brick and stone with its most stunning feature -an octogonal spiral staircase. Blois was the site of many intrigues and conspiracies most famous was the murder of the Duke de Guise by the king's guards. You will also discover on the tour of the castle that Catherine de Medici's bedchamber holds many hidden panels (237) ; secret cabinets to hide jewels, documents and even poison.
Langeais was originally a fortress keep built in the 10th century by Foulque de Nerra, Duke of Anjou. to protect from the territorial attacks by his neighbor the Count of Blois. The ruins of the stone keep are the oldest surviving of this type in France. The present castle was quickly built by Louis XI between 1465-1469 and features high walls, round towers, a crenelated and machicolated sentry walk and a drawbridge spanning the moat. The marriage of Charles VIII and Anne de Bretagne took place at the castle in 1491. 
Villandry castle was the last of the great chateaux of the Renaissance built in the Loire valley. It was a minister of Francois I, Jean le Breton who built it in the 16th century. Being fond of the art of gardening and especially Italian landscaping, Jean le Breton had gardens laid out at the foot of the castle overlooking the River Cher. Today, the reconstitued Renaissance gardens are the main attraction when visiting Villandry for they are magnificent. There are laid out in three sections- a vegetable garden in which over 80,000 vegetable plants have planted in geometric patterns; an ornemental flower gardens dedicated to courtly love and the water garden.
Its long and rich history dates back to its founding by a Gaulish tribe, the Veliocasses who named it Ratumacos. When the Roman conquered Gaul, they changed its name to Rotomagus and it became a thriving gallo-roman settlement. Flash forward a few centuries, in the late 10th century, the Vikings overrun the Lower Seine Valley and took over Rouen. In 911 Rouen became the capital of the duchy of Normandy until William the Conqueror built his castle in Caen in 1060. 
Over the centuries, Rouen thrived as a commercial and artistic center. In the Renaissance and throughout the 17th century it was renowned for its cloth, ceramics and naval capabilities. During WWII Rouen suffered much destruction as a number of historical monuments were heavily damaged during the Battle of Normandy that took place between March and August 1944. The city was liberated by the Canadian on August 30, 1944 ending a four year German occupation. In modern times the historic center of Rouen has been meticulously restored and since 2002 has been labelled by France's ministry of Culture and Patrimony as a City of Art and History. 
Its mainly pedestrian core is fun to explore starting with the gothic Cathedral Notre Dame dating from the 12th century and remodelled in the 15th and 16th century, its two assymetric towers- Butter tower and Saint Romain and the central Lantern Tower dominate the city skyline. The intricately carved facade has been the favorite subject of painter Claude Monet in his 30 painting series of the cathedral executed between 1892-93 at different time and light of the day. The paintings can be viewed at the Orsay museum in Paris.
