Sophie Blanchard was destined to become an aéronaute. As a little one safely ensconced in her mother’s womb, a stranger passed through her tiny village in 1778 and happened to enter into conversation with her mother. He told her that if her baby was a girl, he would return sometime to marry her. Obviously one …
Sophie Blanchard, a woman who took to the skies Continue reading
Fancy a night out at the movies? To be the first to ever see a screening of a moving film, you’ll have to be at the Grand Café, Boulevard de Capucines, Paris, 28 December, 1895. Bring one franc for entry. In 1895 Auguste and Louis Lumière created the Cinématographe, a machine to record moving pictures …
I’ve always wanted to go to a restaurant, raise my hand languidly and say “Waiter, a bottle of your finest Dom Perignon”, as if it were a regular occurrence. Unless this history blog takes off into the stratosphere, this is likely to remain a dream. So, champagne. Not sparkling wine, I mean the real deal. …
The Reign of Terror was exactly as it sounds – terrifying. Whilst the French Revolution in 1789 was generally fairly violent, the part of it which was the Reign of Terror was horrifyingly so. If you were of the aristocracy, if you were of the pre-Revolution parliament, a collector of taxes, or basically anyone who …
“There it is! I see it! I saw it first!” Whenever we drive into Paris, necks are craned, eyes are poised, waiting for that first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. Someone always has to be the first to set eyes on it, and there’s tears if you happen to be the second. It is truly …
Surprising facts in the history of the Eiffel Tower Continue reading
