A Literary Valentine~

Lapérouse: Favorite of Victor Hugo (and Nicole Kidman)

Part of Victor Hugo Museum in Villequier, France
The home that belonged to his daughter Leopoldine's in-laws

Victor Hugo's favorite daughter and muse Leopoldine
who died at 19 with her new husband, his uncle, and cousin 
when their canoe overturned in the Seine

For Valentine’s dinner in Paris, literature lovers would appreciate the 1766 Lapérouse, in the sixth arrondissement. A favored haunt of Victor Hugo (1802-1885) who from his youth regarded François-René de Chateaubriand as a hero of romanticism. Even scribbling in his intention in his notebook: "To be Chateaubriand or nothing!"   

If the demonstrable public sorrow at the 1885 state funeral held for Hugo is the measure--the greatly beloved poet, dramatist, artist, humanist, statesman, and author of novels including, "Les Misérables" and "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame" surpassed his youthful aim. For over 2-million lined the streets in Paris--many as desolate as he was on the death of his 19-year old daughter and muse, Leopoldine. A lifelong grief he conveyed in poems including, "À Villequier"~

“Alas! turning an envious eye towards the past,
inconsolable by anything on earth,
I keep looking at that moment of my life
when I saw her open her wings and fly away!
I will see that instant until I die,
that instant—too much for tears!
when I cried out: "The child that I had just now--
what! I don't have her any more!"

Victor Hugo on love~

~"To love or have loved, that is enough. Ask nothing further. There is no other pearl to be found in the dark folds of life. To love another person is to see the face of God.” 

~“What Is Love? I have met in the streets a very poor young man who was in love. His hat was old, his coat worn, the water passed through his shoes and the stars through his soul.” 

~“The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved -- loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.  What a grand thing, to be loved! What a grander thing still, to love!” 

~“When love has fused and mingled two beings in a sacred and angelic unity, the secret of life has been discovered so far as they are concerned; they are no longer anything more than the two boundaries of the same destiny; they are no longer anything but the two wings of the same spirit. Love, soar.” 

In Paris, Victor Hugo rests in the Panthéon alongside Alexandre Dumas and Emile Zola. Information about his museum in Villquier…about two hours by car out of Paris is (here).

Chateaubriand dinner recipes:

Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page for recipes to accompany the special main dish named for the man who set Victor Hugo's literary dreams soaring as a lad: (here)  And from ‘Paris Je T’Aime’~ ‘We’re All in the Dance.” (here). Lift a toast to Victor Hugo on his birthday, February 26th! And very Happy Valentine's Day to you. Toujours l'amour~(here)