2018 is here!
It’s going to be a busy year at Versailles Century headquarters.
The most exciting news for me, and hopefully you, dear reader, is that I’m going to spend Easter in France. I haven’t yet decided how to divide my time between Paris and Versailles — 50-50? 60-40? 70-30? — but I do know that I will have to spend at least 2 days in Versailles. As you may have realized, I try as much as possible to use my own photographs to illustrate this blog, and I use ONLY my own photographs for the Instagram gallery (@versailles_century). I’ve already used more than 80% of the photo archive from my 2016 visit to Versailles, so it’s high time to go and take more.
Gardens of Versailles from the roof. Credit: Wikipedia.
I’d like to spend several days in Paris, where I’ve never actually stayed for more than 2 nights in a row. My particular focus for this will be on places and things from the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI. Already on the itinerary: the Musée Cognacq-Jay, the Musée Nissim de Camondo, Bagatelle, the École Militaire, the Palais Royal, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, and the Place Vendôme. What else should I see?
The courtyard of the Hôtel de Donon, home of the Musée Cognacq-Jay. Credit: Mbzt – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23434544.
In 2017, I translated one of Mme de Boigne’s posthumous novellas, La Maréchale d’Aubemer, nouvelle du XVIIIe siècle (The Widow of Field Marshal d’Aubemer: A Novella of the 18th Century). The first draft is available to read for free on this blog, but I’ve decided to self-publish the polished final version, which will be embellished with an introduction, a biographical note on the author, a translator’s note, a list of characters, family trees, and a glossary. It will be available as both a print book and an e-book. I hope to have it on the market, hopefully both via Amazon and this website, by the beginning of summer.
The title page of the 1867 edition of Mme de Boigne’s novella ‘La Maréchale d’Aubemer.’
Those of you who have been following my translation of A Childhood at Versailles, which consists of the first 5 chapters of Mme de Boigne’s memoirs, will be glad to know that I’m going to resume working on it now that the holiday period is over. Look for Part 1.5 next week!
The cover of a new reprint of Mme de Boigne’s memoirs.
Finally, I would like to thank you for your support in 2017, and invite you to keep reading in 2018. Happy New Year to you all!
Leave a Comment