This article is taken from
Figaro Histoire “Napoleon III, impostor or visionary?”.
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a special file on the last French sovereign on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his death.
"Napoleon III, impostor or visionary?"
Le Figaro History
On this December 1, 1851, like every Monday, the President of the Republic receives.
Thoroughly refreshed and refurnished from scratch, the Élysée Palace shines in the night.
It was not always so.
Barely three years ago, during his triumphant election, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte found the former mansion of the Marquise de Pompadour, then of Joachim and Caroline Murat, quite dilapidated.
Victor Hugo, who had contributed to the electoral success of the prince-president, then made fun of the approximate service and the poor and badly accommodated flesh.
Three years of petty struggles, frank for frank, did not make it a setting worthy of the function, but that evening, all of Paris crowded under the golds of another century.
It's because the city is buzzing with nasty rumours...
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