Oboes and Fireworks

 

This morning, my friend who is taking an apartment in the Paris Marais, near Place des Vosges, sent me this notice of the square’s anniversary:

A bejewelled treasure, the Place des Vosges was inaurated on 5 April 1612, on the occasion of the double betrothal of Louis XIII to Anne of Austria and his sister Elizabeth to Philip IV of Spain. It was known as Place Royale. The festivities went on for three days, complete with a motley carousel that made its round to the sound of trumpets, oboes and violins, while the guns of the Bastille roared in the distance. At night a torchlight procession left the square and paraded through the streets of Paris to the sound of music, whilst a magnificent display of fireworks illuminated the sky above the Bastille.

I reached page 1000 of Fiesta of Smoke, yesterday, with no more than a couple of dozen pages to go. When I write FINI, I was thinking of a celebration of this sort, myself. Especially the trumpets, violins and oboes.

I’ve always loved and been fascinated by Place des Vosges and so gave the heroine of Fiesta of Smoke an apartment there, so I could live there vicariously for a spell. Tomorrow, I’ll post a description of Calypso’s flat.

Until then, wishing you fireworks and oboes in some part of your life today!