Author’s Note
152 Words
Author’s NoteThe ‘castle made for love’ in this story is the Castle d’Ussé, built on the edge of the dark mysterious forest of Chinon in the Indre Valley.
It inspired Perrault to write the tale The Sleeping Beauty. Built in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it is the most beautiful Fairy tale building I have ever seen.
The Paris International Exhibition of 1867 was the apotheosis of the Second Empire. Held mainly for political reasons it attracted visitors from all over the world and the list of Royal guests was endless.
The whole of France became intoxicated with pleasure and pride – pride in its machinery and magnificent Army, pleasure in its money and its beautiful Capital.
But three years later the Prussians had defeated the French Army at Sedan, the Emperor Louis Napoleon and the Empress Eugenie had fled into exile, the Palace of the Tuileries was burnt down and the Siege of Paris began.
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