This is where history, story and real life collide.
I wrote a novel about Marie de Rohan and 17th century Europe. One of my favourite tertiary characters was César, Duke of Vendôme. And also his younger brother, Alexandre.
They HATED Louis XIII and his mother, Marie de Medici and also Richelieu. But they were close friends of Marie de Rohan.
I made César snarky as eff. He calls Marie de Medici the Fat Lombard Banker – and spends quite a lot of time in prison for pissing off his family. Who just happened to be the King and Queen Mother of France.
I’ve also had the great fortune to have stayed in the Ritz, Paris a few times. On both business and for fun.
The Ritz is located in the Place Vendôme and was “founded” by a man called Caesar.
The family friction came from the fact that the two brothers were bastards of Henri VI from his favourite mistress. And Henri legitimised them.
Side Note : Finding the toilets in the Ritz, Paris was an art in itself. La Discretion.
You walk down a corridor and (when told) find a small handle connected to a door that is disguised as a wallpapered wall.
Awesome.
And the staff are amazing. When me and my traveller-in-crime got mugged beside the Louvre, all cash, passports etc stolen, we went back to the reception desk and gaggled out our story. One of the receptionists, a good English Speaker, then took us in hand. She walked us about a mile to the nearest Gendarmerie to file a crime, translated for us, and contacted the British Embassy to say that we needed help.
Another time some volcano in Iceland exploded and all flights from Heathrow were cancelled so four girls drove from London to Paris. Only to find that our rooms had been cancelled. Until they learned that we’d driven all that way, so found us beautiful, vacant accommodation overlooking the garden.
Some people are wonderful !
This is slightly mixed up but both videos are relevant. Trust me :o)
P.S. I haven’t even touched on Mama Russia in the breakfast room. Wow. Scary as…