Word: chateau
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...piquant yet noble strains of an orchestral prelude, the work of Jacques Ibert, distinguished French composer (Ports of Call) and former manager of the Paris Opéra. "Here intrigues are woven and romance prevails," proclaims a voice which seems to come from the heart of the chateau itself (it is the recorded voice of Charles Boyer, via 28 loudspeakers, speaking a text by André Maurois). "Here all France is assembled; not only the court, but also Racine, Boileau, Molière [and] ambassadors from all over the world, who have come to see the greatest King on earth...
...stunned agent hastily called up the chateau's owner in Lyons, who accepted the count's offer instantly, and the count moved in. Nobody noticed that the count had picked Assumption day, when all the banks in France were closed...
...Grand Seigneur. The count did not have much time, but he moved fast. Within hours his car rolled out of the chateau's gates under the admiring eyes of the neighboring peasants, who had heard of the arrival of a real "grand seigneur." In the next two days the count bought a nearby model farm for 10 million francs ($28,500), ten paintings (including a Corot valued at $18,500), $2,800 worth of lingerie for his wife, $25,700 worth of jewelry, $1,100 worth of Havana cigars, ten typewriters, assorted washing machines, television sets and kitchen stoves...
Merchants he had neglected in town hurried to the chateau to display their choicest wares. The Count Foucou de Gines (rhymes roughly with jeans) picked over their offerings judiciously, settled on 20 jade statuettes, a few more paintings, some luxury editions of books. By the time he was through, the count had written checks for $71,000 worth of bric-a-brac. The count's secretary, taking advantage of an old French custom, scurried around to each merchant and demanded 10% commission on everything his master had bought. He collected, in cash, some 2,000,000 francs...
...count ordered a diamond neck lace worth $48,700 from a Vichy jeweler. The jeweler took the precaution of calling the count's bank. The count has little or no money, said the bank. The jeweler got in touch with the police. The count buzzed swiftly out the chateau gates in the station wagon and vanished...