Plenty of Nothing

Dix Sous

Dix sous, from a time when French money looked like wine labels. Source.

L'Inconnue de la Seine

L'Inconnue de la Seine by Michele Lorenzi. Source.

The Porcupine of Louis XII

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Jeanne Hachette

On this date in 1472 Jeanne Laisné, also known as Jeanne Hachette, joined in the defence of the city of Beauvais against the army of Charles of Burgundy, repelling a besieger with her eponymous ax. She's the central figure of Beauvais' annual festival. Here she is on a cigarette card.

Louis-Léopold Boilly

Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761-1845) was one of the most successful artists of Napoleonic France. Among his many skills was the ability to produce an oil portrait in only one sitting, which over the course of his career allowed him to crank out about 5,000 of them. This one is at the National Gallery of Canada. It could almost be one of the Fayum portraits. Source.

Sauqueville

Sauqueville is a town of about 300 inhabitants in the Seine-Maritime department of Normandy. It was the seat of the Norman Herbrand de Salcavilla, who invaded England with William the Conqueror in 1066 and founded a long line of aristocrats named Sackville. The town of Sackville, New Brunswick is named after Herbrand's descendent George Germain, the Viscount Sackville, who was Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1775 to 1782. Sackville and Sauqueville ought to be twinned if they are not already, they look enough alike. Source.

Napoleon in Wood

This is a wooden bottle box in the form of the Emperor Napoleon. Source.

Dune du Pilat

The Dune du Pilat is France's largest sand dune. Source.

Napoleon at Cherbourg

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Six Boules de Pétanque en Bronze

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