Tag Archives: louis XIV
French Legend: Fontainebleau from Henry II to Henry IV Posted by Hichem on May 23, 2013
Tel père, tel fils (as father, as son), says the popular adage. We previously saw how the father, in this case François Ier (or Francis I in English), was le responsable numéro 1 of introducing la Renaissance to France, by inviting the likes of Rosso Fiorentino and le Primatice to his court. There, the Italian masters…
François Ier: Patron of French Renaissance Posted by Hichem on May 21, 2013
“Une cour sans femmes est comme un jardin sans fleurs” (“a court without women is like a garden without flowers.”) Thus spoke François Ier (Francis I in English), like a true Frenchman some would say. But contrary to some other French monarchs, female company was not his only preoccupation. In fact, the lifetime dream of François was to bring…
Lyon’s Most Famous Fountain by the Statue of Liberty Sculptor Posted by Hichem on Mar 9, 2013
The most famous fountain in the city of Lyon was made by a Frenchman whose name is not likely to tell you much: Auguste Bartholdi, originally from the Alsace region. Doesn’t really ring a bell, non? His other work, however, is one of the best known monuments in the world. Ever heard of New York‘s Statue of Liberty…
La Fontaine’s Fable: “Le Lièvre et la Tortue” (The Hare and the Tortoise) Posted by Hichem on Jul 11, 2012
This non-exclusively French fable is about one of the most famous running races that ever took place in the history of the world—and probably the most unlikely! Most bookmakers didn’t think twice before picking their winner, between the overconfident “fast and furious” lièvre (hare) and the “slow and steady” tortue (tortoise.) Le Lièvre et la Tortue (The Hare and the Tortoise) is…
L’Homme au Masque de Fer: The Man in the Iron Mask Posted by Hichem on Sep 30, 2011
Today’s article is about une énigme (an engima) of l’histoire de France. But don’t get too excited while reading the title above: It’s got nothing to do with any comics fictional character—Fans of “Iron Man“, really désolé, but stick around nevertheless! Usually, les secrets d’états (state secrets) take a few decades before they are divulgués (divulged) to le public, but it seems that some secrets are…
L’Homme Providentiel (The Providential Man) Posted by Hichem on Jun 18, 2011
“L’Homme Providentiel“, the “Providential Man”, the “Savior of the Masses”, is one of those “dynamite figures”, so to speak, that have for long jalonné (punctuated) the History of France: From Louis XIV, “le Roi Soleil” (The Sun King), to his Supreme Highness, le Grand Empreur Napoléon Bonaparte—To, finally, the much less sophisticated “parodical figureheads” of later pedigree… Much…
Le Roi Soleil: “Être à la hauteur” (“To measure up”) Posted by Hichem on Jan 9, 2011
You have already discovered in the French Blog several “episodes” that make up l’histoire de France(the History of France), especially the history of the XVII siècle (the 17th century, of course!) Today, we’ll evoke the “central figure” of that century for France, namely Le Roi Soleil(the Sun King), but not from une perspective historique, but rather…