It’s as bad as a soap opera… 500 years ago!
Effie Law | January 16, 2012
Ok, let’s be honest, most of us have at least peeped at TV series such as the Tudors, the Borgias and suchlike (and perhaps, as in my case, turned away in horror afterwards…). There is undoubtedly nothing more exciting than the French Renaissance court as anyone who has seen the châteaux of the Loire will be able to relate to. Last week, I was happily reading away about sixteenth-century politics thinking nothing bad when I came across a range of court gossip. As it turns out, there are so many juicy stories I don’t know even know where to start!
There was one tale about the French king and his best friend sharing the same mistress. One summer, said gentleman was with the lady in question when the king showed up as well, so said gentleman was fo
rced to hide in the greenery in the fireplace to avoid being caught. Lucky for him it being summer he did not get burnt. Good fortune does not last forever though, and said king subsequently relieved himself on the bushes, resulting in the gentleman getting rather drenched. Tells you something about the king’s manners, doesn’t it?! To be fair, whether this episode was deliberate I cannot say, but stories like that, especially when you don’t expect them, seriously brighten up your day. Once you get behind the scenes, it only goes to show that ‘monuments of the dead’ they may be, but ‘dead monuments’ tombs certainly are not!
Now that I’ve found the gossip, I’ll better find out how much of this is actually true, if any… This, however, will be a story for another day.
On a more serious note, I’m getting really excited about going to Paris again in two weeks. There are some absolutely magnificent tombs out there which I first went to see in May and I can’t wait to look at them again! This time, I promise, I will not be caught skipping through the Louvre – honest!