IMAGINE A MOVIE SET IN THE GARDENS TODAY...

PLAYED BY PEOPLE ONE MAY CROSS  

These young women might visit boutiques.

Luxembourg students could be Stendhal's Lucien de Rubempré and Julien Sorel, handsome young provincials who make their way in Paris.

A professor of philosophy in a scene on café discussions.

Actors performing their shows

Madame de Sainte-Amaranthe, grand-niece of the Duke of Saint-Simon, adjusted to the Revolution by opening a salon, which became known for its elegance and was also "n° 50," a place to gamble.

Portrait of Madame de Sainte-Amaranthe by L.C. Carmontelle 1775 / Ces dames de Sainte-Amaranthe 

Her origins and sophistication attracted secretly returned émigrés, who might be spies or counterfeiters.

So long as Danton protected her she was untouchable, but when he was guillotined so was she.

-- Biographical facts, chapter 1 of The Libertines, Pleasure and Liberty during the Enlightenment

by Olivier Blanc, 1997 (in French).

 

A returned émigré turned spy: 

Her discreet door at n° 50.

# # #

The real site was often tragic

(think of the priests waiting for gamblers' confessions), 

but this movie would show a joyous place...

 

And have a happy ending.

*     *     *

Next,

Moving on