River Doubs, Besançon, France.

© Patrick. CC BY-SA 2.0. Source

Charles Dickens 1812-1870

My being on the Dover line, and my being very fond of France, occasion me to cross the Channel perpetually. Whenever I feel that I have worked too much, or am on the eve of over-doing it, and want a change, away I go by the mail-train, and turn up in Paris or anywhere else that suits my humour, next morning.

Letter, 1864

Subjects

France

Stories about our friends across the Channel, from Roman times to the Hundred Years’ War, her bloody Revolution, and the giddying rise and fall of Emperor Napoleon.

There are twenty-five posts in The Copy Book tagged France. To see all our posts, go to the Archive.

The posts are currently listed with the most recent shown first. You can also list them alphabetically, and shuffle them to see posts you may have missed.

Most Recent A-Z Shuffle

1

A Credit to His Country

The diplomat’s task is to see the best in other peoples, not to scold them for their failings.

2

Émilie’s Plan

The night before the Comte de Lavalette was to be executed, his wife Émilie came to visit him with a proposal that left him speechless.

3

Fricassée in France

In the opening lines of Laurence Sterne’s Sentimental Journey, the narrator explains the perverse whim that led him to leave his home shores behind.

4

The Best Laid Plans

Louis XIV picked up the reins of power in France vowing to to drive the national economy in the common interest, not his own.

5

The Prisoner from Provence

When Saint-Mars arrived to take over as warden of the Bastille in 1698, staff at Paris’s most famous prison had eyes only for his prisoner.

6

The King Who Would Not Turn His Back

When Richard I heard that the town of Verneuil in Normandy was under threat, he made a vow that few could be expected to take so literally.