The 14th of July is the day of the national French celebration. Established in 1880, this date commemorates both the storming of the Bastille on the 14th July 1789, which ended absolute rule, and the Festival of the Federation of the 14th July 1790.
Celebrations are held all over France with fireworks. We are all aware of the oldest and largest military parade in Europe held on the Champs-Elysées in Paris.
In 1984, Pauline and I visited Paris and we rented a car to travel through a section of the French countryside. This allowed us to embrace the people and culture through visits to museums; sites (e.g., Mont St Michel, Normandy, Palace of Versailles, etc.); vineyards and champagne houses; and enjoyed French cuisine. Our appetite was wetted! If it were not for Pauline’s MS diagnosed the following year, we would had returned on a regular basis.
With Paris known as the City of Love and the French people being deeply passionate, I wanted to capture that passion and love in my tribute.
To make my selection, I identified several romantic French quotes about love. The quote I selected was by Victor Hugo. “La vie est une fleur dont l’amour est le miel.” The English translation: “Life is a flower, of which love is the honey.” This is from Le roi s’amuse, a play about romance, which Victor Hugo handled with sweetness.
With the underlying feel of my floral studies ranging from sensual … erotic … classical, the selection was difficult. First, I selected an image from the Casablanca lilies series because the Casablanca lily symbolize celebration. Secondly, the fragrance is a heavy, sweet, almost honey like. Finally, I selected Casablanca 4 because to me the open flower symbolizes that passionate love!
About Victor Hugo (1802 – 1885)
Poet, novelist, and dramatist Victor Hugo is considered the most important of the French Romantic writers. Though regarded in France as one of that country’s greatest poets, he is better known abroad for such novels as Notre-Dame de Paris (1831; The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) and Les Misérables (1862).