The grandeur and extravagance of the court of Napoleon I once surpassed even that of that Louis XIV, the Sun King.
His palaces at Saint-Cloud and the Tuileries shimmered with walls of Lyons silk and exotic treasures gleaned from distant campaigns; it echoed with the rustle of jewel-encrusted gowns, the drums of military marches and the whispers of his courtiers' intrigues.
This was the center of Napoleon's magnetic power, a dazzling reflection of the greatest empire in European history.
Napol.
I. B. Tauris & Company The eagle in splendour: inside the court of napoleon, hardcover/philip mansel
