Having written her debut novel “Bonjour Tristesse”, Françoise Sagan received her first fee for the book. At a time when she had no money, she promised herself, like a vow, the first prize for books “to paint the town red”.
She dreamed of buying herself a small apartment, but she drove away these thoughts from herself, a “vow” is a promise that must be fulfilled. Having received a decent fee, the writer came to the resorts of Honfleur and Deauville to go on a spree.
Having spent almost all the money, she went to play with the rest in the casino. Sagan adored the numbers 3, 8, 11 — her cherished numbers. Having lost almost the entire remainder of her former luxury, she bets almost everything on “8 black” and wins – by the morning she had already beaten the casino by almost 300 thousand euros (at the current exchange rate), the numbers 3, 8 and 11 brought luck to the drunken Françoise.
After beating the casino and finishing the bottle of the most expensive champagne, she went to look for her hotel. They say champagne confuses thoughts, intentions and roads. Soon she saw a very nice mansion with a picturesque view. It was a private family hotel.
Getting out of the taxi, she spoke with the owner of the estate, who said that the hotel was full. Then Françoise replied that she was sleepy and very drunk. The owner just shrugged his shoulders, saying, nothing can be done. Françoise asked how much the house cost. The owner replied 200,000 (in modern exchange rate), to which the drunken Sagan opened her bag and dumped 300,000 on the counter in front of the owner, and declared in a slurred voice to the shocked owner that she did not want the room, she was buying the entire hotel.
The owner stammered with a stunned look, “What should we do with the guests?” She replied that let them live this summer, and she will take the mansion in the fall.
Françoise Sagan spent almost her entire life in this house. She called it “The House of My Heart.” Today this house is the house-museum of the writer, this fragile, charming woman who “broke” the casino and said to herself “Goodbye, Sadness!”
Françoise described the story of the spontaneous purchase in her autobiographical story “With Best Memories.”
Today is the day of remembrance of the French writer.
