Chapter 11: The First Return to Paris

Now that calm has returned to Paris, it is certainly impossible for the king, the queen mother and the younger brother to remain in Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

The Louvre in Paris was first built in the twelfth century, just a small castle for defense, and later with King Henry VIII of England engaged in a "construction" war, François I in succession to expand the Château d'Amboise, after the construction of the new Chambord Castle, turned his attention to Paris, but at that time neither his energy nor his money was enough, after the demolition of the main tower of the castle, the progress of the project was greatly slowed down, his "Hall of Caryatids" (modeled after the ancient Greek architectural style, with four armless goddesses as pillars supporting the stage) was taken over by his son Henry II, who also completed the construction of the left wing of the square building (later), but the frequent rotation of François II, Charles IX and Henry III (three brothers) halted this monumental project. Bourbon became the new king, Henry IV, who married Henry II and Catherine's youngest daughter, Margaret, better known as Queen Margot.

Henry II's queen, Catherine de Medici, left the Louvre after the death of her deceased husband, but she did not go far and rebuilt the palace 1,500 feet from the Louvre, which was named Palazzo Durrey, and in front of the palace, according to Florentine custom, there were two square gardens, the Gardens of Touriery, with a wide tree-lined promenade on the outer side of the garden, which later became part of the central axis of Paris.

However, there were still unfinished parts of the new palace at the time of Catherine's death, and later Henry IV - Speaking of which, we have to mention the identity of Henry IV, because as the king of Navarre, he was Protestant, and he did not convert for many years, which made the French people, who were mostly Catholics, very dissatisfied, and his coronation was not done in Reims Cathedral, so although he was later converted, there were still people who questioned his legitimacy, perhaps to prove this, he not only completed the construction of the Tourry Palace, but also connected the Tourry Palace with the original Louvre with a long gallery- It's the Grand Gallery.

It was not until his son Louis XIII (who later divorced Marguerite on the grounds of childlessness and married Marie de Medici of the Medici) that the right wing of the square Louvre was completed, and the sprawling building finally had some vague rudiments.

Beginning with François I, the kings of France devoted themselves to collecting a large number of works of art, such as statues, paintings, Books and so on to show their financial resources and art appreciation, and the two queens from the Medici family brought the Italian pompous and extravagant hobby into the strict court, when Louis XIII was alive, even if there was no magnificence and splendor of later generations, the Louvre was still quite exquisite and comfortable, but after Louis XIII died, the king was young, the queen mother and the bishop were busy with court affairs, the attendants and servants in the palace slowly slacked off, and this huge palace gradually became decadent and desolate.

Dust was piling up, plants were growing everywhere, small animals were scurrying around, and some people even saw foxes in the big gallery.

By the time Queen Mother Mary and King Louis, as well as the brothers and bishops fled in a hurry under the pressure of the slingers, the palace became a place of revelry for the mob, and everything of value was swept away, from the gold leaf of the portrait frame to the drapery hanging from the windows, the statues were torn down, the corners were blackened, and the pillars were carved with unbearably crooked handwriting, full of blasphemy, and of course such a place could no longer be inhabited by the noble king, so they moved to another palace.

Speaking of the palace, it was originally a count's residence, close to the Louvre, and was later bought and enlarged by Cardinal Richelieu, who gifted it to Louis XIII on his deathbed, and now it is naturally owned by Louis XIV.

Unsure of whether there were mobs everywhere, the king and his party returned to Paris at nightfall, the carriage swaying along the rough road, Louis looked at the Queen Mother, her face was not joyful, only tired and irritable, and it was clear that although Anne of Austria and Marie of the Medici were equally ignorant of government, they knew that the return to Paris was the beginning of the real battle.

As soon as Louis entered the mansion, in the next room to his chamber, the fire in the fireplace was already blazing, and in front of the fireplace was a white tin bath made in the shape of a boat, covered with precious silk so that the king's skin would not be pierced by possible spikes, and the pot hanging on the fireplace was constantly boiling clean water, mixed with cold water, and poured into the bath.

The servants also meticulously put medicine bags in the bath water, which contained ground rosemary, lavender, and myrrh. This was not Louis's request, and when it came to descaling and sterilization, he believed in olive oil soap, but people now trust these herbs more than they have been recommended by physicians and astrologers...... But he won't say much, after all, since the outbreak of the Black Death, bathing has become a terrible thing to smell and discolor, to take a bath, you must have a doctor prove that you are sick, you must take a medicinal bath so as not to make a fuss.

He had just entered the bathtub at the service of the servants—the boat-shaped bathtub was shallow, but suitable for a child, and would not have caused him to worry about choking on the water, but in a few moments the rare tranquility was ruined by his brother, the Duke of Anjou, Philippe—one of the few who could go straight to the king without notice, whether the latter was sleeping or bathing, and he could even be called arrogant to reach into the hot bath.

"If you want to wash too. Louis said helplessly, "Then come in." "It was still a little cold in April, and it was not a small matter that Philip had premeditated his hands wet in only a linen robe, and that he would get cold if he went back like this.

Philip was immediately happy, people in this era did not like to take baths very much, in addition to worrying about the invasion of epidemics, and after the closure of public bathhouses, bathing in their own homes became a luxury, bathtubs aside, silk to prevent cut by warped spikes or splinters was a big expense, medicine bags were also worth a lot of money, and charcoal burning in the fireplace, and the servants who served— In Saint-Germain Aung Laye, only the king can bathe whenever he wants, and the queen mother, bishops and nobles who are influenced by him can only take a bath every few days depending on their rank and wealth, and usually wipe their faces and bodies with clean linen.

When the Prince of Condé came to the Château d'Enlaing, they were still very nervous about the money they had to spend, even if they had to meet the demands of the Prince of Condé, and even the king had to succumb to the Seine, but fortunately bathing at this time was a sight to behold, no one cared about swimming, and if you wanted to, you could be as honest with nature as the ancient Greeks did.

The noble brothers played in the bath with great interest for a while, until they were both tired, and the king sent his bedchamber keeper, Bontang, to tell Queen Mother Anne that Philip was resting with him tonight, and Bontang went and brought back Philip's servants, and the king looked at him: "Mother is still awake?"

Bontang visibly hesitated, for he had seen not only Queen Anne but also Cardinal Mazarin, but he did not know whether he should let the king know or not.

Fortunately, His Majesty did not care too much about this matter, and with a wave of his hand, Bang Tang stepped forward and pulled up the curtain in front of the bed for the king and his brother.

————————

In fact, Queen Mother Anne and Cardinal Mazaran had no personal relationship, and the reason why they were still in the same room so late was because Charles, Duke of Cornwall, son and heir of King Charles I of England, was coming to Paris.

"But he was a Protestant. Queen Mother Anne said.

"A king," said the cardinal, in a comical spectacle, because a bishop cares not about faith, and a queen mother is pious enough: "Although he has not yet been officially crowned." ”

"Then we shouldn't call him that. Anne said, "Perhaps we should deny him access to Paris." ”

"He'll be full of hatred. ”

"So what. Anne said angrily, "If Mary were not my husband's sister, I would not even care about them." ”

The bishop thought for a moment: "Well, your majesty, wait until tomorrow and ask the king what he thinks." ”

Anne raised an eyebrow in surprise, but she didn't say anything, just nodded.