2.9.13

What is this?


There is a surprising piece of facade on an ordinary haussmannian building on Boulevard-de-la-Tour-Maubourg. It clearly reminds you of a piece of the Château de Blois, more particularly the part of the castle which was initiated by King Louis XII; Blois was his favourite royal residence. Louis reigned 1498-1515.

The resemblance with this piece of facade and the Château de Blois is even more striking when you look on some details, similar to the ones you can find on the Blois castle. The porcupine was Louis XII’s emblem. One of his (three) wives was Anne de Bretagne (Brittany) and we can read an “A”.




I have tried to find out what this façade may hide, but have no clear answer. The place seems abandoned, empty.  On the net I have found some guesses about a former (antique?) shop. I even asked someone who obviously lived in the building, but he didn’t know. On the net, there are also some hints about the “Order of the Porcupine”, which however only officially existed between 1394 and the beginning of the 16th century when Louis XII dissolved it.   I hope that maybe one of my readers may have a good explanation.  
  

10 comments:

Virginia said...

I"m sure you're shocked that I can't reveal the mysteries here for you Peter! :)

You find some amazing places in Paris.
V

Thérèse said...

"Qui s'y frotte s'y pique" Mieux vaut peut-être ne pas chercher :-)

hpy said...

je ne me souviens même pas de l'immeuble...

Alain said...

Il s'agit sans doute de l'ancien consulat de Syldavie. En effet, la devise de ce pays était "Qui s'y frotte s'y pique" (Cf. Le sceptre d'Ottokar, page 21).

Cergie said...

J'aime bien les tonalités chaudes de ta façade parisienne...
Il ne faut pas trop se frotter non plus au chardon...
Ni à la rose...

Synne said...

Oh my gosh, maybe the order still exists! Secret meetings and hidden activities for hundreds of years... You never know, huh? Do tell us if you solve the mystery one day!

Jeanie said...

I LOVE how you "see," Peter. And all you discover simply amazes me!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for another post which makes us think and explore. I could find nothing except http://www.paristoric.com/fr/paris-visite/tourisme-arrondissements/paris-7eme-arrondissement/848-paris-7eme-le-porc-epic-a-paris.html?&tmpl=component'which I assume you knew about anyway.

I hope someone finds the answers.

Linda

JPD said...

This place used to be a cozy cocktail bar where the waitresses were very, very, very welcoming... if you see what I mean.
I've never been there of course, someone told me !!! ;-)

PeterParis said...

Thanks JPD! It's good to have friends who know! :-)