{"id":2860,"date":"2015-09-14T05:00:54","date_gmt":"2015-09-14T03:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=2860"},"modified":"2015-09-13T22:21:17","modified_gmt":"2015-09-13T20:21:17","slug":"we-could-die-of-pleasure-in-aix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=2860","title":{"rendered":"WE COULD DIE OF PLEASURE IN AIX"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eventually Eugene\u2019s exile at St Laurent came to an end and he immersed himself in the life of the high society of Aix.<\/p>\n

\n
We amuse ourselves like royalty. We run after pleasure, which runs faster than us\u2026.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Letter to his father, 31 December 1803, M\u00e9janes Library, Aix.<\/em><\/p>\n

A month later, the 22 year-old enthusiastically wrote to his father:<\/p>\n

\n
If I did not find Saint-Laurent entertaining, how could I keep up with the pleasures the delightful city of Aix offered to me. In addition to the Odeon which we no longer call Odeon but rather the Circle of Sextus where we gather twice a week to sing and dance, we often stage comedies. But how can I call them comedies? They are operas. Yes, we have reached even that height.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Letter to his father, 27 January 1804, M\u00e9janes Library, Aix.<\/em><\/p>\n

A year later, at 23 years of age, he continued to outline the choices in his social life:<\/p>\n

\n
Miss Simeon, who married a general named De Launay who is the current Commander in Aix, lodges in the house of the Castellane family and entertains the whole city every Friday; Madame. Forbin, born St-C\u00e9saire, receives visitors every day and especially on Saturdays entertains her entire social group, which is composed of all the one-time nobility. On Sunday we hurry, after the theatre, to go dancing at the Sextus Circle. This is held in the Regusse home, where all well-brought up people of the Two Ceti society gathers. On Monday, Ms. Arbaud-Jouques receives the same company as her cousin Forbin\u2026 Tuesday, theatre or if you prefer, Madame de Magalon who entertains beautiful people every day. On Wednesday one takes care not to miss the concert, which starts at 6:00 at the Sextus Circle; once the concert has ended, people of common sense form a group and the youth dance till they drop; when hungry, we find the place where we can eat and pay for it. Thursday, shows and the social gatherings of every day. Add to this the endless entertainment provided by the society comedies performed by Galliffet and others every Saturday; and even more frequently the carnival. Make a summary of all this, and you will see that we could die of pleasure in Aix.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Yet you know that, despite all its resources, which perhaps no other city of France can boast of, there are still young people who claim that Aix is boring. I sometimes get angry about it.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Letter to his father, 18 January 1805, M\u00e9janes Library, Aix.<\/em><\/p>\n

I quote some of these passages because they do highlight the situation that was to lead to Eugene\u2019s change of lifestyle after his conversion experience a couple of years later.<\/p>\n

\"200\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe great danger for family life, in the midst of any society whose idols are pleasure, comfort and independence, lies in the fact that people close their hearts and become selfish.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Saint John Paul II<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eventually Eugene\u2019s exile at St Laurent came to an end and he immersed himself in the life of the high society of Aix. We amuse ourselves like royalty. We run after pleasure, which runs faster than us\u2026. Letter to his … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-letters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2860\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}