CHAPTER THIRTEENDuring the years of peace (I8oi--oJ), sightseers and tourists thronged
Paris, which became the same kind of Mecca to the curious it would be
after I945· The pent-up demand for things French was a particular
feature of English travellers, who had been effectively barred from the
country since 1792. In these years Paris was regarded as the arbiter of
elegance and fashion; the permissive sexuality and the provocative clothes
of the women, with dresses decollete, tight and clinging were especially
remarked on. Among the innovations in manners and morals from these
years was the idea of the 'late' (7 p.m.) dinner, the 'barbar ous' fashion for
place cards at formal meals, and the introduction of menus in restaurants.
Napoleon may have signed the Concordat to regularize religion, but the
true god during the two-year breathing space between wars was
conspicuous consumption, which in turn engendered more work than the
capital's goldsmiths, jewellers and milliners could handle.
The two years of peace saw Napoleon almost entirely Paris-based and
preoccupied with affairs of state. In January 1802 there was a quick visit
to Lyons to review the troops who had returned from Egypt, and on 29
October the same year he made a fortnight's lightning tour of Normandy,
taking in Evreux, Rouen, Honfleur, Le Havre, Dieppe and Beauvais. He
told Cambaceres that he was everywhere received with ecstasy and, two
months after his overwhelming triumph in the plebiscite on the
Consulate for life, there is no reason to doubt this. Another significant
development in 1802 was the move to the palace at St-Cloud. The
commute between his official headquarters at the Tuileries and Jose
phine's 'petit Trianon' at Malmaison - both, incidentally, on the 'must
see' list of all British visitors to Paris in these years - c ame to irritate him
and, once he was Consul for Life, he felt the need of an official residence
more in keeping with the grandeur of his new status. The palace at
Versailles was too redolent of the ancien regime and St-Cloud fitted the
bill better, being a short drive from the Tuileries.
The move to St-Cloud was of course yet another imperial manifesta
tion, much regretted by those who thought a First Consul should aspire