Into A Paris Quartier: Reine Margot's Chapel & Other Haunts of St.-Germain

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Intro; ALSO BY DIANE JOHNSON; Title Page; Copyright; Dedication; CONTENTS; Introduction; Part One:; St.-Germain-des-Prés; The Time of the Three Musketeers; D'Artagnan; The Chapel; Rue Bonaparte; Arrondissements; Queen Margot; St.-Bartholomew's Day; Huguenots; Le Divorce; D'Artagnan's Paris; End of the Great Century; The Century of Voltaire; Part Two:; École des Beaux-Arts; The Arch; Académie Française; Some Neighbors; The Mysteries of French History; Details; The Material World; A Nod to the Belle Époque; Nos Jours; Real Life; Apologia; Acknowledgments; About the Author;As a child, Diane Johnson was entranced by The Three Musketeers, dashing 17th-century residents of the famous romantic quartier called St.-Germain-des-Pr?s. Now, the paperback edition of her delightful book will take even more Americans to the richly historic part of the city that has always attracted us, from Ben Franklin in the 18th-century to raffish novelist Henry Miller in the 20th. Modern St.-Germain is lively and prosperous, and fifty years ago its heady mix of jazz and existentialism defined urbane cool, but Johnson takes a longer view. "Beside the shades of Jean-Paul Sartre and Edith Piaf," she writes, "there is another crowd of resident ghosts ... misty figures in plumed hats whose fortunes and passions were enacted among these beautiful, imposing buildings." From her kitchen window, she looks out on a chapel begun by Reine Margot, wife of Henri IV; nearby streets are haunted by the shades of two sinister cardinals, Mazarin and Richelieu, as well as four famed queens and at least five kings. Delacroix, Corot, Ingres, David, and Manet all lived in St.-Germain; Oscar Wilde died there; and everybody who was anybody visited sooner or later. With her delicious imagination and wry, opinionated voice, Diane Johnson makes a companionable and fascinating guide to a classic neighborhood as cosmopolitan as it is quintessentially French. Intro ALSO BY DIANE JOHNSON Title Page Copyright Dedication CONTENTS Introduction Part One: St.-Germain-des-Prés The Time of the Three Musketeers D'Artagnan The Chapel Rue Bonaparte Arrondissements Queen Margot St.-Bartholomew's Day Huguenots Le Divorce D'Artagnan's Paris End of the Great Century The Century of Voltaire Part Two: École des Beaux-Arts The Arch Académie Française Some Neighbors The Mysteries of French History Details The Material World A Nod to the Belle Époque Nos Jours Real Life Apologia Acknowledgments About the Author