#lac leman

[burningvelvet]

Mary Shelley’s Lake Geneva diary from August 2nd, 1816…

“Friday, August 2. — I go to the town with Shelley, to buy a telescope for his birthday present. In the evening Lord Byron and he go out in the boat, and, after their return, Shelley and Clare go up to Diodati; I do not, for Lord Byron did not seem to wish it. Shelley returns with a letter from Longdill, which requires his return to England. This puts us in bad spirits. I read Rêveries and Adèle et Théodore de Madame de Genlis, and Shelley reads Pliny’s Letters.”

This was the day that Percy, Claire, and Byron discussed Claire’s pregnancy and what they were going to do about custody rights. Shelley had already known about Claire’s pregnancy for at least a month and was most likely the first to know, since after he and Byron almost drowned on June 25th he had secretly written a will that left sums to Claire and any person of her choice — her name being near the top of the list along with Mary, his wife Harriet, and all his children. Considering that Byron later believed the Hoppner Scandal (unconfirmed rumours that Claire had a secret child with Percy which was given for adoption or aborted) — and that historians believe Claire and Shelley were probably sexually involved at various periods — some people believe that the paternity of the child was called into question. Claire’s identity as the child’s mother would be hidden from the public to protect her reputation, and Byron and Shelley both accepted responsibility for the child (though Shelley was arguably more attached), although everyone agreed that the child (Allegra) looked and acted like Byron, and was therefore his.

Byron in a letter to his sister about Claire and the rumours surrounding his time at Geneva:

“. . . as to all these ‘mistresses’ — Lord help me — I have had but one. Now don't scold — but what could I do? A foolish girl, in spite of all I could say or do, would come after me, or rather went before, for I found her here, and I have had all the plague possible to persuade her to go back again, but at last she went. Now, dearest, I do most truly tell thee that I could not help this, that I did all I could to prevent it, and have at last put an end to it. I was not in love nor have any love left for any, but I could not exactly play the Stoic with a woman who had scrambled eight hundred miles to un-philosophize me, besides I had been regaled of late with so many ‘two courses and a dessert’ (Alas!) of aversion, that I was fain to take a little love (if pressed particularly) by way of novelty. And now you know all that I know of the matter, & it's over.”

A decade later, Claire Clairmont wrote to Jane Williams:

“What would I not give to have an unhappy passion, for then one has full permission and a perfect excuse to fall into a happy one; one has something to expect, but a happy passion, like death, has finis written in such large characters in its face there is no hoping for any possibility of a change. You will allow me to talk upon this subject, for I am unhappily the victim of a happy passion. I had one; like all things perfect in its kind, it was fleeting, and mine only lasted ten minutes, but these ten minutes have discomposed the rest of my life.

The passion, God knows for what cause, from no faults of mine, however, disappeared, leaving no trace whatever behind it except my heart wasted and ruined as if it had been scorched by a thousand lightnings.“

Sadly, Allegra Byron died at the age of five due to a sudden outbreak of typhus in Romagna where Byron had enrolled her in a private convent school. This was a betrayal to Claire, as they had promised each other that Allegra should never be apart from one of her parents, due to Claire’s prediction that something terrible would happen if so. However, Byron argued that having a good Italian-Catholic education would give Allegra higher marriage prospects in Italy than any education she could have in England, partly due to her illegitimacy and partly due to the tarnished reputations of the Byron/Shelley/Godwin households, among other reasons. Claire blamed Byron for Allegra’s death, and she felt that while Shelley sympathized more with her, Mary sympathized more with Byron. Three months later, Shelley followed Allegra to the grave, and the already fragmented social circle would further break apart.

[surelookbutnothingtoseehere]

[hauntedbystorytelling]

Bisson Frères (*) :: Chateau Chillon sur le lac Leman, Suisse, 19ème siècle. | src Proantic

(*) Photo des Frères Bisson Louis-Auguste Bisson (French, 1814–1876) et Artist: Auguste-Rosalie Bisson (French, 1826–1900)

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Bisson Frères :: Chateau Chillon sur le lac Leman, Suisse, 19ème siècle (detail). | src Proantic

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[photo-musik]

[fabricoletout]

Aujourd'hui au bord du Lac Léman

[antigonipapantoni]

[monochromeradiationsensitive]

Winter 2015, Switzerland

[zaboun64]

Yvoire

©️isabelle buffet

[debrink]

Vevey

Lac Leman

~ JEM (Johannes Emil Müller, Swiss, 1885-1958), circa 1925

[transparentgentlemenmarker]

Sur la terrasse en face le lac Léman et après la France

Restaurant la Galerie

Air printanier 6 mars 2023. Par ce court message je tenais à vous remercier, vous le personnel de cuisine, ainsi q'aux dévoués serveurs qui ont été à l'écoute de mes demandes. Pour le repas une farandole de découvertes aux saveurs surprenantes que j'ai eu plaisir à savourer. J'ai pour ma part passé un agréable moment. Merci également pour cet échange très enrichissant sur vos fournisseurs.

[burningvelvet]

Mary Shelley’s Journal Entry from July 27th, 1816: she, Percy, and Claire return to Byron’s villa and to their child and nanny after visiting Mont Blanc.

“Saturday, July 27. — It is a most beautiful day, without a cloud. We set off at 12. The day is hot, yet there is a fine breeze. We pass by the Great Waterfall, which presents an aspect of singular beauty. The wind carries it away from the rock, and on towards the north, and the fine spray into which it is entirely dissolved passes before the mountain like a mist.

The other cascade has very little water, and is consequently not so beautiful as before. The evening of the day is calm and beautiful. Evening is the only time I enjoy travelling. The horses went fast, and the plain opened before us. We saw Jura and the Lake like old friends. I longed to see my pretty babe. At 9, after much inquiring and stupidity, we find the road, and alight at Diodati. We converse with Lord Byron till 12, and then go down to Chapuis, kiss our babe, and go to bed.”

[surelookbutnothingtoseehere]

[everyday1photo]

Leman Lake

[dygn]

[thatnormalcrazygirl]

time to celebrate my new hair colour~

[fabricoletout]

Commencer les cadeaux de Noël au bord du Lac.