Prologue: Two love affairs
PT. I. THE MIDDLE AGES: CATHEDRALS AND FORTRESSES. Saint-Denis: The monarchy and the gothic cathedral
Chartres: the high gothic cathedral at Chartres
The coronation ceremony at the cathedral of Reims
The Louvre: a late-12th century fortress
Angers: Blanche of Catile's early 13th century fortress
Vincennes: a fortress of the Hundred Years War
Joan of Arc: 1429 and the end of the Hundred Years War at Orléans
Rouen: Joan of Arc and Monet
PT. II. THE RENAISSANCE. CITIES AND CASTLES. Tours: the rebirth of cities after the Hundred Years War
Blois: a 16th century Renaissance château
Francis I and the Renaissance at Fontainebleau
Henry IV in Pars: The Hôtel de Sens, the Place des Vosges, and the Luxembourg Gardens
The Siee of La Rochelle and the End of the Reformation in France
Pt. III. THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV. 17th CENTURY FRANCE. Magical Vaux-le-Vicomte
The secret castle of Maintenon
Pt. IV. THE COMING OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. PARIS IN THE 18th CENTURY. Parisian sights: Palis-Royal, Hôtel Carnavalet, Hôtel de Soubise, École Militaire, the Panthéon, Place de la Concorde
The Petit Trianon of Madame de Pompadour and Marie-Antoinette
Pt. V. THE EMPIRE AND RESTORATION: THE BOURGEOIS CENTURY. Napoleon as Consul at Malmaison
The Restoration (1815-1848) at Chantilly Coda: my favorite emperor and me.
