A bank succurcal

I refer to my post on Rue Fortuny last week. When leaving this place you arrive at a square, called Place du Général-Catroux (17th arrdt.), once called the place of the Three Dumas.

On this square you will find the statues of Alexandre Dumas, father/père (The Count of Monte Christo, The Three Musketeers…) and son/fils (The Lady of the Camelias…)*. There used also to be a statue of the grandfather, also called Alexandre, bastard son of a Tahitian slave and a noble Frenchman, who became a General in the French Army in 1793. This statue was destroyed by the Nazi occupants in 1942.

There is a remarkable building here, built as a private home (hôtel particulier / mansion) for Emile Gaillard in 1884, who was governor of the French National Bank (Banque de France) and a great art collector. Some years after his death, the building was bought by the French National Bank. Despite its size and prestigious style, this is however not the Bank’s official site and major building in Paris, just a succurcal.

The building is normally hidden by the trees, but as some of them had now lost their leaves; it was possible to get a more general view.

One small detail that you can find above some windows; a “G” for Gaillard. Some of these photos can be seen “in full” on my photo blog.
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*/ I have previously posted on the graves of Alexandre Dumas fils and of “The Lady of the Camelias” (Marie Duplessis), both at the Montmartre cemetery.

La Dame aux Camélias

I continue my visit of graves at the Montmartre graveyard. Here is the one of "la Dame aux Camélias" ("Camille"). You can see some camelia flowers incrusted on the top of the monument and some more or less natural camelia flowers, which people have placed there.



The lady has really exisited. Here real name was Marie Duplessis (actually the "du" was added by herself, to make her name sound more noble). She was a courtesan (mistress), who died of tubercolosis in 1847, at the age of 23. She had a number of wealthy and famous lovers, including Franz Liszt and Alexandre Dumas the younger, who immediately wrote about her and made her famous (under the name of Marguerite Gautier). La Traviata by Verdi is based on Alexandre Dumas' play.



Actually, Alexandre Dumas the younger (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/adumas2.htm) is also buried at the Montmartre graveyard. Alexandre was the illegimate son of Alexandre Dumas senior - author of The Three Musketers, The Count of Monte Cristo... , who in his turn was the illegimate son of a general from the French revolution, who was the son of a Haitian slave.


(There are a lot of graves of famous people at Montmartre, 10 minutes walk away... More to follow.) This was supposed to be my contribution for April 26, wen I will be rather busy. Obviously I put it in just before midnight instead of just after midnight.