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With the very greatest of respect for Christina (whether or not she believe it) since everyone seems to be wondering about whether or not there was, or is, respect for Napoleon, etc., etc., it suddenl;y dawned on me that there are those pastries called "Napoleons" and I honestly wonder if they were named after one particular Napoleon.
I apologize if my question seems snarky, etc., but it isn't. OTOH, the naming of any Metro stop surely happened years ago and I do wonder if the politics of the area in which a stop is located rally had anything to do with its naming. |
Dukey,
I doubt that the métro stop Louise-Michel would have been so named in the 16th arrondissement. Political tendencies have a definite role in the naming of métro stations, especially in the period before W.W.I and after the Dreyfus affair. |
Unfortunately, all I know of Louise-Michel is that she was a well-known anarchist and communard. Didn't she at one time actually advocate the destruction of Paris?
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Not snarky, <i>funny</i> - I laughed! thanks.
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Speaking of Robespierre - the fodorite - where is he?
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Dukey,
You are correct about Louise Michel, and she also spent a number of years in New Caledonia (I believe). But that is why no métro station would be named after her in the 16th while it has been in Levallois-Perret. |
"Napoleon" is the English name for those pastries. The French name is <b> mille-feuilles</b>.
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However, were this Métro station in Levallois built today, it certainly wouldn't be named "Louise-Michel". Lveallois has hugely changed since the 1930s ...
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People tend to distinguish between Bonaparte, the revolutionary general, that is roughly before 1800, Bonaparte the First Consul (1800-1804)and Napoleon the emperor (1804-1814). Of course, his nephew Napoleon III, to whom Paris owes so much of its architecture, came much later (1855-1870).
Napoleon I was celebrated throughout the 19th century, whatever the regime, because is was a simple way for governments to flatter a significant part of public opinion : it was the liberal monarchy of Louis-Philippe who had Napoleon's remains translated from St. Helena to Paris in 1840. Today, Napoleon is no longer politically correct in France, as some historians emphasized the fact that he re-established slavery in the French colonies, which had been abolished by the revolution. The Napoleonic bicentennials of the last few years (coronation, battle of Austerlitz) have been very low-key, while the French navy sent an aircraft carrier to Southampton as part of the Trafalgar anniversary celebrations... On the contrary, Napoleon III, long loathed for his foolish foreign policy and his responsability in the French defeat during the Franco-prussian war of 1870, has been re-evalued in the last decades, especially for his role as a modernisor (the railroads, urban renewal, etc). Therefore, contrary to what visitors might believe, few things are "Napoleon's" in Paris. Among the most common errors : - "Napoleon's apartments" in the Louvre : they were designed for the Duc de Morny, in the 1850's, that is much after Napoleon's death (1821).They are absolutely not in Napoleonic style, - "Napoleon's tomb" : in fact the Dome church, as part of the Invalides complex, was built much before Napoleon (1710). It was simply remodelelled in the 1850's to accomodate Napoleon's huge sarcophagus. Few of the places where N. lived still stand in Paris, since the Tuileries palace burnt down during the Paris Commune (1870). Outside Paris visitors with an interest in Napoleonic history and decoration may visit : - The Malmaison - The Grand Trianon at Versailles - the chateaux of Fontainebleau and Compiègne |
Trudaine,
thank you very much for posting that condolidated history as I found it helpful. Now I will spend the rest of my days wondering which English-speaking individual named those pastries after which of the several Napoleons! |
Metro stations are named after the streets, squares or train stations they are at.
So your question is really, "why is there no avenue Napoléon in Paris?" |
Or railroad stations perhaps?
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Dukey- Now you can ease your mind!
< Origin of the name 'Napoleon' The name appears to come from napolitain, the French adjective for the Italian city of Naples, but altered by association with the name of Emperor Napoleon I of France. There is no evidence to connect the pastry to the emperor himself.> In France, a Napoléon is a kind of mille-feuille filled with almond paste |
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>In France, a Napoléon is a kind of mille-feuille filled with almond paste
I have this memory of Napoleons being a rectangle of sponge cake (possibly almond cake) topped with whipped cream, in a trapezoidal cross-section, and covered with chocolate. If it's not a Napoleon, does anyone know what it is? ((I)) |
If you ask for a Napoléon in France, anybody in France will tell you that today's price is 95 euros. The Napoléon is the 20 franc gold coin first minted in 1803 and used as currency until the first World War.
As for a mille-feuilles (the thing called a Napoleon in the U.S.), it is a rectangle with grotesque thick white icing with chocolate stripes and most definitely no whipped cream. |
<i>However, were this Métro station in Levallois built today, it certainly wouldn't be named "Louise-Michel". Levallois has hugely changed since the 1930s ...</i>
Whereas "Robespierre", located in the second biggest city of Mali, might still be given that name. |
The city of Paris renamed the square at the bottom of Sacré Coeur "place Louise Michel" just a few years ago. Before that it bore the name "place Willette," a painter who was a notorious antisemite.
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Nothing named for Napoleon in Paris? You've got to be kidding. They're everywhere. If you don't believe me, here's a picture:
http://www.fotosearch.com/BDX132/bxp28775/ |
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