Monday, January 30, 2012

Montaigne, the lucky charm...


Let me share with you a real Paris insider story. This statue is the one of Montaigne, a very famous French author and public figure from the French Renaissance era (1533-1592). It's located at rue des Ecoles, right in front of the entrance of La Sorbonne university. The statue is stunning (it was made by Paul Landowski during the 20th century), but it's got a funny story too; if you look carefully at his right foot, you'll see that his shoe is exceptionally shiny... Why? Because students believe that touching it before an exam will bear them luck!

11 comments:

  1. Nice to find out that the french students also have their superstitions. ;)

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  2. LOL I'm so glad that it is his foot! While in school, I worked really hard and studied like crazy. I tried to skip class a time or two, but could never quite manage it. I figured if I was paying for it, I was going to get my money's worth! Bonjour!

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  3. i guess that makes him the 'sole' of good fortune. ; )

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  4. What a nice story ;o) and it is very seldom to see the shining bronze in these old statues, it's hard to imagine the whole statue this shining.

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  5. Here is another case. The Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume 1711 - 1776 in the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. Why do people pick on certain statues and not others. Both philosophers. Hume is outside the court not the university. http://edinburghleithdailyphoto.blogspot.com/2011/07/philosophers-toe.html

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  6. The tomb of Victor Noir in
    Pere Lachaise also has a shiny spot but it is not his foot .

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  7. I wonder what they do to him if they fail their exams.

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  8. Hey, it worked for me! And I needed all the help I could get. :~}

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  9. What a lovely story and picture. We have a statue of a wild boar in Sydney and people rub his nose for luck. In Dublin they rub Molly Malone's breasts

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  10. that's funny my comment won't post until I read the Google policy. F' that!


    I said " I remember it well. this statue is especially interesting in person because the shoe really does stand out. I touched it too, for good luck. You can never have too much good luck in this world."

    tomate farcie

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