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a very flattering review of what is today a
very fashionable resort. «Nice is a boring
place where mosquitoes torment foreigners
preferring them to local residents,» Casa-
nova wrote. Nevertheless, he found solace
in love and gambling.
The most important thing that comforted
him during his journey to Nice was the
presence of Rosalie. «I was attached to
this person, hoping that she would al-
90 / Hello Monaco Summer–Autumn 2018
According to Casanova, the Prince of Mo-
naco received him with a cold politeness
«suggesting that he was not a welcome
guest.» Casanova also describes in detail
the Princess of Monaco as a talented and
intelligent lady.
A Dream Night
in Antibes
ways be mine,» wrote Casanova.
«Living with her happily, I would
no longer feel the need to chase
one beauty after another.» But
fate had something else in store
for him. «When the wind died down in the
evening, we set off to Genoa and arrived
there the next morning.»
An unexpected meeting occurs in Genoa:
Casanova gets acquainted with a certain
Pietri. The latter tells him that he had met
Rosalie earlier; they had got engaged and
she was now pregnant with his child.
And what does the famous Lovelace do?
He is not the kind of person to jump at his
rival with fists. Casanova suggests paying
for Rosalie’s stay in a monastery until she
gives birth. He makes her promise that one
day they will meet again. And that actu-
ally happens during Casanova’s next stay
in Genoa the following year. That’s when
Rosalie introduces him to her 6-month-old
daughter and breaks the news to him of her
marriage to Pietri.
The famous admirer of female beauty
then multiplies his victories on the French
Riviera. During this journey he meets the
Prince of Monaco Honore III and his wife
Marquise de Brignoles whom Casanova
allegedly was courting ten years earlier.
His trip to the
Côte d’Azur
may be one
of his most
memorable
The encounter with
the Prince of Monaco
H
aving parted with Rosalie, Giac-
omo embarks on another trip,
this time with his younger broth-
er who had fled Venice with his beloved
Marcolina. A lady accompanies him on this
journey whom Casanova calls his niece.
The four of them go to the Côte d’Azur,
making a stop in Menton.
«The innkeeper told me that Prince Hon-
ore III, with his wife, Princess of Monaco,
had stopped here in Menton, and I decid-
ed to meet them,» writes the Venetian la-
dies’ man. «Thirteen years ago I was looking
after her, making sure she would not get
bored at a dinner with the Prince and his
mistress Caroline... The Prince was not mar-
ried back then, but subsequently lived in
the Principality with his wife and two sons.
The Princess was a wealthy heiress and a
most charming lady.»
P
erhaps it would be appropriate to
finish the adventures of Casanova
on the Côte d’Azur with an excerpt
from his memoirs:
«As soon as we arrived in Antibes, my niece
held out her hand to me, lowering her eyes
most modestly and gently. Happy to see her
so disposed, which almost resembled love, I
lay down next to this beautiful girl, exclaiming:
— Finally, the moment of my happiness
has come!
— And mine, my dear friend.
— And yours? But haven’t you always re-
jected me?
— Never, I fell in love with you at first
sight and bitterly suffered from your in-
difference.
We spent a night that is easier to live rath-
er than describe.»
The next morning, they set off on anoth-
er journey, stopping in Fréjus, Luke and
Brignoles.
Casanova wrote his autobiography to-
wards the end of his life — from 1789 to
1798. Although the title of the book sug-
gests that this is Casanova’s history up un-
til his last years, it actually ends in 1774.
The Venetian women’s lover died at the
age of 73 in Castle Dux, Bohemia (Czech
Republic). That’s where he worked as a li-
brarian in the last years of his life. In addi-
tion to his autobiography, Giacomo Casa-
nova wrote more than 20 works, including
a five-volume utopia «Icosameron.»