NB!
Alexandr Radayev
Architecture · Monarchies · Museums · Mores · Paris
The gilded apartment of Madame du Barry on the upper floor of the Palace of Versailles
Louis XV came to the apartments of his favourite, Madame du Barry, by a private staircase. The corridor leading to the countess's twelve-room suite is so narrow that two people can barely pass in it. As for the furnishings, Madame du Barry saw to it that her
Books · Nature
Boris Slutsky’s poem “Horses in the Ocean” about horses drowning on the ship Gloria
Horses can swim, But not well. Not far. "Gloria" in Russian means "Slava", That you will remember easily. A ship was sailing, proud of its name, Trying to overcome the ocean. In the hold, tossing their kindly muzzles, A thousand horses trampled day and night. A
NB! · Architecture · Paris
Possibly the most beautiful doors in Paris: the carriage entrance of the Hôtel of the Dutch Ambassadors in the Marais, an old eighteenth-century mansion that belonged to the immensely wealthy entrepreneur Louis Letellier, who let the house to a playwright
Architecture · The East · Monarchies · Heritage · Society
A cannonball fired by Ottoman troops during the siege of Nice in 1543 is still embedded in the wall of a residential building in the city
A cannonball fired by Ottoman troops during the siege of Nice in 1543 is still embedded in the wall of a residential building in the city. How did it come to be there? The Turkish siege of Nice was one of many operations of the Franco-Ottoman military alliance against
Aristocracy · Books · Society
Pierre Augustin de Beaumarchais's play "The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro", on which the opera was based, was banned by the censors for its social criticism
Pierre Augustin de Beaumarchais's play "The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro", on which the opera was based, was banned by the censors for its social criticism. The play mocked the aristocracy and demonstrated the servant's superiority over his master. With the French
Books · Nature
Ivan Turgenev on the likeness of man and dog in his prose poem “The Dog”
There are two of us in the room: my dog and I. Outside, a terrible, frenzied storm is howling. The dog sits before me, and looks me straight in the eyes. And I, too, look into her eyes. She seems to want to tell me something. She is dumb, she
Faith · Observations · Society
Condolences to victims of a terrorist attack and a call to trust in the Lord
And the Light Shineth in Darkness, and the Darkness Comprehended It Not. Gospel of John 1:5 I offer my most heartfelt condolences to all those affected by this monstrous, inhuman act of terror, and to their families and friends. Hold fast, my dear compatriots, do not lose heart in
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Notre-Dame de Paris after the fire: light through a hole in the nave vault
NB! · Architecture · Observations · Heritage · Paris
Notre-Dame de Paris stands firm, and is none the worse for wear
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Chopine, a historic platform shoe with perforated rosette decoration
Mores · Ethnography
Pattens, protective overshoes worn in Europe since the Middle Ages against street filth
Pattens: a special kind of footwear used in Europe since the Middle Ages, chiefly as a means of protecting feet and shoes from mud and urban filth where road surfaces were not good enough. Pattens were made of metal and wood and fastened over ordinary shoes with leather straps or