Time Travel

This article popped up yesterday about an apartment in Paris, France, abandoned during WWII, discovered recently with its furnishings untouched. 

Here's the short story:  the granddaughter of a well-known Parisian actress of the 1800s, affluent and a bit of a socialite, fled her apartment in a ritzy part of town as the Nazis closed in on Paris. She never returned, but continued paying her rent. She paid her rent until her death in 2009 at the age of 91. Her relatives went in the apartment and were amazed that it not only was a fairly-well-preserved time capsule, literally untouched since the last occupant fled in 1939, but that it housed numerous antiques and collectibles. Among the items was an oil painting by Boldini. They sold that puppy and cleared $1.78M Euros (yeah, that's roughly $2.3M here in the States).

As if finding a beautiful, highly collectible painting by a famous artist isn't enough, they found out that the subject of the painting was none other than the former tenant's grandmother, an actress in her own day and a muse of Boldini.

That wasn't the most interesting piece of the story for me. Note the dust. I go on vacation for one week and feel like this is what my house looks like when I return.

And save for one piece of wallpaper hanging down, the place looks OK. Are you telling me in seven decades, there wasn't once a burst pipe, a leaky window, or a pest problem? Good for turn of the century Parisian contractors and their solid construction!

How about these creepy Mickey and Porky Pig dolls? If Hitler and his goons weren't bad enough, this could have run any sane person out of town.

Scroll back up and check out the third picture. That's probably my favorite. The beautiful carved vanity, all of the different brushes and combs, and the jars lined up. Hopefully, she had some travel sizes to take with her when she left.