Paris in Bleu Blonde Rouge

Claudine Hemingway
  • 4.6 (11)
  • History

The wonderful art and history of Paris and France 

  1. 3d ago

    Saving the Louvre

    In 1939, as Hitler came knocking on the door of France, the keepers of the great art of Paris sprang into action. While Hitler’s art-loving henchmen headed to Paris with a shopping list of must-have pieces of art, the treasures of the Musée du Louvre were at the top. Jacques Jaujard, the director of France’s National Museum, and René Huyghe, curator of paintings, devised a plan to save the art of the Louvre. On August 25, the Louvre was closed for cleaning for three days. However, what really happened behind the historic walls of the Louvre would alter the dictator's plans. On those three days, the staff of the Louvre, students, and employees from the Samaritaine worked around the clock, removing paintings from their frames, rolling and packing. Beginning on the 28th and the days that followed, more than twelve hundred crates left the Louvre headed to the Loire Valley. One special crate would travel on its own. The most famous painting of the Louvre, the Mona Lisa, would be packed separately in a box lined with English paper and wrapped in red silk. Marked with only the initials MN noted on the outside, she was strapped to a stretcher of an ambulance and hermetically sealed.  When she arrived in Chambord, National Museum officer  Pierre Schommer passed out due to a lack of air but was thankfully revived. She moved on to the Château de Louvigny along with curator Andre Chamsen and kept moving every few months. Always trying to outrun the German forces as they came closer and closer. Following the German surrender on May 8, 1945, the artwork began their return to the Louvre. On June 16, 1945, the Mona Lisa was hanging back on the walls of the Musée du Louvre, and on October 6, 1947, the museum was reopened to the public. Without the quick thinking and work of Jacques Jauhard and René Huyghe and the countless people who gave their time, most of the Louvre would have been lost. Listen to the whole story and the other times the art left the Louvre in this week’s Paris in Bleu Blonde Rouge podcast, out now.  Support the show

    Saving the Louvre

  2. Aug 25

    The Liberation of Paris

    There are many events that truly altered and changed the entire trajectory of hundreds of thousands of people's lives. Every five years, we mark the rounded anniversaries of the Armistice, VE Day, D-Day, and the Liberation of Paris. While the clean numbers on the 5s and 10s look good, we should be reminded of many things every single year. At the end of August 1944, the Parisians had had enough, and after four years of occupation, they were going to take matters into their own hands.  It all began in the most French way possible: strikes. On August 10, 1944, the SNCF metro and train workers went on strike. The trains had been an integral part of the Nazi looting of art, furniture, and the deportation of French citizens. The resistance frequently blew up train tracks and disrupted the lines as often as possible over the four years of occupation.  Support the show

    The Liberation of Paris

  3. Aug 18

    The Theft of the Mona Lisa

    Six days a week, for 115 years since her theft, more than 30,000 people a day push and shove to snap a photo or selfie with the Mona Lisa, and most have no idea why they even need to.  On a hot Sunday, August 20, 1911, at around 4 pm. Vincenzo Peruggia entered the Musée du Louvre just like any other visitor. In the final moments, as the museum closed and guards ushered people out, Peruggia slipped into a storage closet between the Galerie d’Apollon and the Salon Carré. With a chunk of cheese, a small bottle of wine, and a baguette, he waited until the dark of night to emerge to begin the heist of the 20th century.  Visit ClaudineHemingway.com for more info and photos  Subscribe to my Substack for more https://claudinehemingway.substack.com/ Support the show

    The Theft of the Mona Lisa

  4. Aug 10

    The Birth of the Musée du Louvre

    On August 10, 1793, the Musée Central des Arts de la République was opened. You may know it as the Musée du Louvre.  Art was not a stranger to the Palais du Louvre and going back to the 16th century, François I first held a few of his prized pieces. Under Louis XIV, they added the Salle des Rois, today's Galerie d’Apollon, and in 1725 moved the yearly Salon to the Salon Carré along with the Academy of Paintings.  At its opening, the museum held 538 paintings, 48 sculptures from the Salle des Antiquities, 39 antique and modern busts, and 29  hard stone tables with 36 hard stone vases, 37 porcelain as well as many bronze clocks, objets d’art, and two large Sèvres vases filling the Grande Galerie, and no Mona Lisa in sight.  Listen to the entire saga in this week's newest episode.  For more info, check ClaudineHemingway.com  Support the show

    The Birth of the Musée du Louvre

  5. Aug 4

    The Vow of Louis XIII & Notre Dame de Paris

    On February 10, 1638,  Louis XIII officially proclaimed the Virgin as the “special protector of the kingdom of France”. After 23 years of marriage, Queen Anne d’Autriche was finally pregnant, and Louis XIII vowed his kingdom to the Virgin Mary and to Notre Dame de Paris.  Louis XIII wanted a “great altar of the Cathedral church of Paris built with an image of the Virgin and her son,” and at her feet, the king offering his crown.  These things take time, and Louis XIII died in 1643 and would never see it started. His son, Louis XIV, took on the project in 1699, 61 years after the “vow,” and the statue's creation finally began.  In this week's episode, we share the story of the Vow and the creation of the beautiful statues held in Notre Dame de Paris.  Visit ClaudineHemingway.com for mpre  Support the show

    The Vow of Louis XIII & Notre Dame de Paris

  6. Jul 28

    Liberty Leading the People & the Three Glorious Days

    The most recognized painting by the Romantic master Éugene Delacroix, La Liberté Guidant le Peuple le 28 Juillet 1830, depicts the event of this day, 196 years ago. Painted in 1830 for the Salon of 1831, the painting commemorates the Paris uprising of 1830, known as the Trois Glorieuses (Three Glorious Days) that ousted King Charles X.  Liberty is the focal point of the painting, an allegorical figure rich with Greek imagery.  In this week's newest episode, we go into the events leading up to the July Revolution and the painting it inspired.  For more info and photos ClaudineHemingway.com  Coming to Paris? Book a walking tour with me at ClaudineHemingway.com  Support the show

    Liberty Leading the People & the Three Glorious Days

  7. Jul 21

    Napoleon's Looting of Art

    Napoleon has carried the brunt of most of the blame for the looting of art from Italy and other European countries, but not all of it lies on his shoulders.  The looting of art from country to country isn’t a new idea. It all started with the Romans and the Greeks and continues to this day. There are a few more international rules in place to stop this, but not everyone follows them. In the 12th century, Doge Enrico Dandolo looted treasures and the horses later known as the horses of Saint Mark’s while in Constantinople. Something Napoleon would steal as well.  Between the Revolution and the fall of Napoleon in 1814, the looting of art from the Vatican, Venice, Tuscany, and other corners of Europe was used to enrich the national museum. Authorized by treaties put in place at the same time, making the seizure legal. After the fall of the First Empire, a large majority of art was returned to its owners, but not everything.  What remains, and why is it still here in France? Listen to the episode to get all the details now.  Support the show

    Napoleon's Looting of Art

  8. Jul 14

    The Death of Marat, the Painting & the Event

    On July 13, 1793, Charlotte Corday talked her way into the apartment of writer Jean-Paul Marat and plunged a knife into his chest while he soaked in the bath, killing the Voice of the People within seconds.   It was a pivotal moment in the French Revolution and was made famous by the painting by Jacques-Louis David. A painting that is as much propaganda as it is historical and has become the very definition of the event. If you say “The Death of Marat” to anyone, they don’t think of the event itself; they think of this painting, but few know the actual details of the crime.  In this week's episode, we explore the event, what led to it, the event and the aftermath, and how it's been depicted in art of the last 233 years.  Visit ClaudineHemingway.com for more info and photos  Support the show

    The Death of Marat, the Painting & the Event
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About

The wonderful art and history of Paris and France 

Information

  • Creator
    Claudine Hemingway
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    35
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Paris in Bleu Blonde Rouge
  • Show Website
    Paris in Bleu Blonde Rouge

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