EP 35: Sharon Santoni Shares her French Country Life Creative Adventures

08/26/20 • 33 min

Sharon Santoni has gained millions of readers through her blog where she shares with people what it means to live a French country life. Her blog has grown into tours, a podcast, books, magazine, delivered gifts and much more!
We chat about how France brought so much creativity into her life and inspired her to create a thriving business after her children grown into adulthood. We chat about how creativity lies everywhere and how creativity is vital to life.

Learn more about her life and offerings here: https://sharonsantoni.com/meet-sharon/

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Learn more about her life and offerings here: https://sharonsantoni.com/meet-sharon/

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EP 34: Paris History avec a Hemingway (Marie de Médicis)

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Once upon a time there were two Florentine queens that left their mark on Paris. In the newest La Vie Creative - Paris History Avec A Hemingway episode we talk all about one of them, Marie de Medicis from her childhood in Florence to her life in exile.

She was born on April 26, 1575 to Francois I de Medicis and Joan of Austria in the Pitti Palace in Florence. Joan of Austria would die by the time she was two years old and her father married his mistress Bianca Cappello, but the two would die ten year later hours apart. A touch of the Medicis poison and the urge to get ahead by another brother.

Marie now an orphan was raised by her uncle Ferdinand I, Grand Duke of Tuscany who took the throne. As a young girl there were many suitors looking to attach themselves to the Medicis fortune but they waited until Henri IV, king of France turned in his dancing card. Marie was 25 years old when the marriage was arranged, to not only join the two families but also eliminate the debt France had to the Medicis.

It was the second marriage for Henri IV who had first married the daughter of her distant cousin Catherine de Medicis, Marguerite de Valois. Unable to provide an heir to the king, a new more fertile wife was needed. On October 5, 1600 by proxy her uncle stood in for the groom at the ceremony and was followed by a lavish party lasting for days, without Henri IV.

Marie headed to France later in the month and on November 3, 1600 arrived in Marseilles thinking she was leaping into the arms of her new husband, but Henri wasn’t there. Continuing onto Lyon it would take until December 12 before Henri IV would set eyes on his new bride. A little over 9 months later, the heir, Louis XIII was born followed by five more children. Her role was complete but everything was about to quickly change.

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EP 36: Paris History Avec a Hemingway (Berthe Morisot)

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Berthe Morisot, one of the few women of the Impressionist Movement, with her dark locks and stunning gaze, was the perfect model for Édouard Manet. However, she would become an artist in her own right stepping behind the canvas to create paintings that showed everyday family life, forging her own path among the male dominated Impressionists

Born on January 14, 1841 to a wealthy family, her father was the prefect but also studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Her mother was the niece of the Rococo master Jean-Honoré Fragonard, she was born with art running in her veins. In 1852 they moved to Paris and her parents let Berthe and her sister Edma take art lessons from Joseph Guichard.

The two girls visited the Louvre as art students and spent their day copying the great masters under the watchful eye of Guichard. One day artist Henri Fantin-Latour took his friend Édouard Manet to the Louvre to meet the Morisot sisters who were copying a Rubens painting. It would be the start of a very long friendship.

Following Manet’s shocking of the Parisian Salon with Olympia and Déjeuner sur l’herbe he was looking for a new model, and Berthe would have everything he wanted. In 1868, Manet painted The Balcony for which Berthe would pose after much apprehension. Being a model for an artist was not the profession for a woman of society in Paris at the time. Continuing to work with Manet for six years, he would capture her many times including his hauntingly beautiful painting, Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets that can be seen in the Orsay. Painted in 1872 Morisot is in black mourning attire after her father's death. You almost miss the violets as you are so drawn to her striking face. Morisot and Manet had a relationship built on great respect and between two artists. I can stand in front of this painting for hours and lose all track of time.
Find out more on Claudine's website:
https://www.claudinehemingway.com/

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