relationship between the great houses of
France and the great families who, over
centuries, have designed, built, decorated
and lived in them. Certain of De Nicolay's
chapter headings in Visite privee: Hotels
particuliers de Paris invoke legend and
letters as well as history: "Souvenirs de la
Duchesse de Berry"; "chez la Duchesse de
Guermantes"; "Un Salon de Madame de
Stael".
Visite privee is an insider's view—de Nicolay
is herself the descendant of a noble family—
of fourteen magnificent houses in Paris, most
of them inhabited still, all bespeaking a large-
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