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Showing posts from January, 2014

Madame de Florian's Apartment: A Long, Lost Treasure Discovered

This story has been gleaning some recent attention, and since it deals with Paris and WWII, I thought I would jump in on the action. It has to do with a Parisian apartment on the Right Bank near the Opéra Garnier (9th Arrondissement) that was abandoned during the Nazi occupation when its owner, one Madame de Florian, fled to Vichy. If that doesn't have my name written all over it, well, I don't know what does! Apparently, after the war she never returned but paid on the property until her death in 2010. When an auctioneer entered the apartment, he found a treasure trove. The apartment, although covered in a thick layer of dust, was like a piece of history frozen in time. The de Florian Apartment - just as it was in 1942  photo credit:  © Getty Images Gorgeous Vanity in Mme. de Florian's Apartment photo credit:  © Getty Images Apparently, Madame Marthe de Florian left this lovely apartment to her granddaughter, also known as Madame de Florian. The granddaughter