Almost wordless:
“Le triomphe de 1810”
Can you guess what this is and where?
Answers below

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Next Monday, France Book Tours presents The Conversation: The Night Napoleon Changed The World, by Jean d’Ormesson.

So to announce this tour with a picture, I share a picture I took 2 years ago.
Yes, this is Napoleon, and you can found this sculptured high relief on the lower section of the southeast pillar of the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile, facing Avenue de Champs-Élysées.

It is also called Napoleon’s Triumph and was executed by Jean-Pierre Cortot.
It depicts Napoleon, crowned by Victory, in antique vestments pressing a sword against his chest.
In the background, to the right, a profiled kneeling man symbolizes a prisoner enchained at the feet of the victor.
To the left, an allegory of a city, with a crenelated crown, kneels before the conqueror whose protective hands extends over her.
Behind, the Muse of History inscribes on a tablet the memorable events of Napoléon’s reign.
Above, sounding a trumpet and bearing a standard, winged Fame soars across a palm tree, an image evoking the Egyptian expedition.

The scene illustrates the year 1810, the date of the apogee of Napoléon’s reign, his marriage to Marie-Louise of Austria to assure the future of the dynasty, and conquests which expanded the Empire to the maximum.

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More Wordless Wednesday

Armistice Day is celebrated every year on 11 November to commemorate the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o’clock in the morning—the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” of 1918.

The date was declared a national holiday in many allied nations, to commemorate those members of the armed forces who were killed during war.

The Initial or Very First Armistice Day was held at Buckingham Palace commencing with King George V hosting a “Banquet in Honour of The President of the French Republic” during the evening hours of November 10, 1919. The First Official Armistice Day was subsequently held on the Grounds of Buckingham Palace on the Morning of November 11th. 1919. This would set the trend for a day of Remembrance for decades to come.

After World War II, the name of the holiday was changed to Veterans Day in the United States and to Remembrance Day in the countries of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Armistice Day remains an official holiday in France and Belgium, very well respected and celebrated.

So today for Armistice Day, I would like to highlight the books presented on France Book Tours related to World War I and World War II.

Please click on the book cover to access the tours and the many reviews:

and a special warrior, further back in history

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE WAR NOVEL?