Blogging Anniversary - 10 years

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A while ago I checked when I did my first blog post, in order to celebrate with an anniversary post. Well, that day came and went without any reaction from me. Better late than never, so here a reminder of my very first blog post from 24 October 2012.  The book was New Finnish Grammar  by Diego Marani. Marani is an Italian novelist, translator and newspaper columnist. While working as a translator for the European Union he invented a language ‘Europanto’ which is a mixture of languages and based on the common practice of word-borrowing usage of many EU languages. It was a suitable book to start with, being a book about letters, languages and memories. With a beautiful prose, the novel went directly to my heart.  "One night at Trieste in September 1943 a seriously wounded soldier is found on the quay. The doctor, of a newly arrived German hospital ship, Pietri Friari gives the unconscious soldier medical assistance. His new patient has no documents or anything that can ide...
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Bookmark Monday

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It has been rather quiet here on the blog, the reason being, that I have been on a tour in France and Switzerland. On our way to visit friends in Zürich, we decided to take a few days and drive via Champagne and Bourgogne in France, to do wine tasting and sightseeing. I had some literary visits planned, but unfortunately, most of the houses I wanted to visit did not open until 1 April. They will have to wait for another time.


The good thing about travelling is that I can collect yet a few bookmarks, which will be revealed during the next three Mondays. I start with two bookmarks from Chateau de Bussy-Rabutin which we visited. Very interesting castle and owner, Comte de Bussy, or as he was called Bussy-Rabutin. The castle is located in the Cote-d'Or department of Bourgogne, in eastern France. We just happened to pass by and stopped to investigate. The castle was founded in the 12th century and rebuilt in the 14th century, and the galleries (beautiful) were added in the 1520s.



The most famous inhabitant was Roger de Rabutin who was a member of the Academy during Louis XIV's reign. He was a notorious womaniser, and wrote a scandalous book about the royal court life, Histoires Amoureuses des Gaules. That publication led him directly to the Bastille where he had to spend some time and later he was exiled to his chateau. The galleries contains portraits of great characters of the time such as military men and female beauties. The rotunda with portraits of beautiful ladies is a fantastic room. Even more so, since le Comte amused himself by adding sharp comments to each portrait. One comment reads: "The most beautiful woman of her day, less renowned for her beauty than the uses she put it to."

 Although my French is very primitive, I just had to buy the book that he wrote. When I was younger I read a lot about the times of the Sun King, and if I can decipher it, I presume it can be quite entertaining. A page a day maybe...?


Two bookmarks were added to my collection. One of the man himself and one of the wonderfully, painted ceiling in the rotunda. If you are in the vicinity, it is definitely worth a visit.


Comments

  1. Jeanie10 April 2018 at 14:43

    I will look forward to your travels in France over the next few posts. I would say you aced the bookmarks very well indeed! Those are beautiful ones.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lisbeth 12 April 2018 at 11:02

    Thank you. It is always interesting to see what is on offer through the museum shops. I love museum shops, not all, but many, have a lot of various objects to offer.

    ReplyDelete

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