Le week-end a été bon!

History, Rugby, Snails and TV

Now the velvety wines are finally wearing off, I am able to reflect on what an extraordinary few days it has been doing this history-thing. Please allow me this indulgence!

Last Friday I travelled to France to give my first ever international talk, and the venue couldn’t have been grander – the British Embassy in the heart of Paris. In fact, when I say the heart, that doesn’t do the location justice - the Embassy is located on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, one of the most luxurious streets in the world and a few doors up from the Elysée Palace, the residence of the President.

Facilitated by the excellent Jo (follow her here), I spoke to a full room about Henry Tudor’s French connection – his years in exile, the support he received from the French in the run-up to becoming king of England, and Henry’s tricky cross-Channel relationship thereafter. It was a talk exclusively written for this event and I thoroughly enjoyed delivering it. Fingers crossed I get to do so again. Everyone was very kind and there were plenty of new connections made. A reminder to every one - you never know whose paths you will cross or what opportunities will arise.

Afterwards, I was given a privileged and private tour of the adjacent Ambassadorial palace, the Hôtel de Charost, and it didn’t disappoint. Three hundred years old, the palace has played host to some of the most famous dignitaries and royalty in history, most recently where President Donald Trump sat down for a private assembly with Prince William.

Ordered by Armand de Béthune-Sully, Duke of Charost, a courtier of Louis XV, elegant is the perfect work for this palace. One of its more famous owners was Pauline Borghese, the controversial sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, and her imprint can be felt and seen throughout. It was Pauline who added two large wings to the house, one of which to house her considerable art collection. Today, one of the wings, later remodelled, serves as the state dining room and sometimes as a ballroom in which many people, including Elizabeth II, have danced upon.

In 1814, the Duke of Wellington, on behalf of the British Government, acquired the palace and its contents from Pauline, and it has remained the nation’s embassy in France ever since. I think my favourite room, by far, was Duff Cooper’s extensive library.

That evening, it was time for a change of pace, and I ticked off one of the biggest bucket list items I have which was to watch Wales play rugby in Stade de France, and to hear La Marseillaise blasted out by 80,000 French people with full gusto. Wales were abhorrent but that and the downpours failed to dampen my spirits. I also took the opportunity to try snails which were far more pleasant than I was expecting!

I’ve been fortunate to visit Paris a few occasions before, so took the opportunity across the rest of the weekend to check out some more unusual sights than the famous ones you know. These included:

The Hôtel de Sens, a 15th Century mansion which at one stage served as the principal residence of the Valois kings of France, notably Charles V. Now much restored, it is nonetheless one of the few medieval-style buildings which can be admired.

Nearby, stands the sole remaining wall which once formed part of the Hôtel Saint-Pol, another royal residence built on orders of Charles V. It was here, on 27 October 1401, that Charles’s granddaughter Katherine de Valois was born, a future queen of England through her first marriage and a Tudor wife and mother through her second. The palace which once stood here was sadly demolished in the 1540s

Finally, away from Paris, on Sunday evening, I popped up on your screens once again, this time in the new show Battlefield Healers: Bosworth Field. It was fascinating being able to film for three days around Bosworth, and to be recorded discussing the rise of Katherine de Valois’s grandson Henry Tudor and the downfall of Richard III. I like to think I was fair, but people will always find something to nitpick.

If you want to learn more about how TV history is filmed, you can read an article I produced exploring just that.

OH WAIT:

There is one more finally from this edition of A Chronicle of Dragons & Cats. I bought a new glasses holder whilst in Paris. I think it reminds me of a certain feline, no?

À bientôt!