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Legendary Parties

Legendary Parties is a book by Jean-Louis De Faucigny-Lucinge. The author, who traces his family to the 11th century when they ruled the Barony of Faucigny in Savoie, and who was active in French political and banking circles, records details of certain rarefied fetes held in France between 1922 and 1972, which he hosted or attended as a guest. He recalls the lavish costume balls presided over by such glitterati as the Count Etienne de Beaumonts, the Viscount de Noailleses and the Baron Guy de Rothschilds. In 1928, the author and his first wife "Baba," now deceased (he describes her as "exotically beautiful" and "one of the most elegant women in Paris"), gave a soiree, based on the theme of Proust's Remembrance of Things Past, which ended at six in the morning under the Eiffel Tower. There are handsome photographs by Cecil Beaton and reproductions of drawings by Pablo Picasso and Yves Saint Laurent, and of Christian Berard's hand-painted screens.

Lake Peigneur

Lake Peigneur was a 3-meter deep freshwater lake popular with sportsmen until an unusual man-made disaster on November 20, 1980 changed the structure of the lake and surrounding land. The lake then drained into the hole, expanding the size of that hole as the soil and salt were washed into the mine by the rushing water, filling the enormous caverns left by the removal of salt over the years. The resultant whirlpool sucked in the drilling platform, eleven barges, many trees and 65 acres (260,000 m2) of the surrounding terrain.