‘The bourgeois of Parma’, a quote out of the book ‘The Charterhouse of Parma ’ of the author Stendhal. Although he never described the palazzi, the piazzas or the Duomo of Parma, Stendhal evokes the spirit of Parma exactly in his book.
Some time ago, I have met a 'Parmesan lady' who spoke Italian with the French rolling 'rrrr'. Apparently, that's the way how Italian is supposed to be spoken as a real Parmesan. She explained me why Parma has such a 'bourgeois' charisma in comparison with the other cities of the region. As told, this has everything to do with the arrival of Marie Louise of Austria in Parma. She was the second wife of Napoleon en reigned over Parma from 1816 till 1847. She brought the flair, style and influence of the Parisian and European courts to Parma. So Parma is commonly called ‘le petit Paris’.
Why ‘le petit Paris’? The Italian lady motivated as follows:
(1) Just like Paris, Parma has a river;
(2) real authentic Parmesan citizens are speaking well french;
(3) Just like Paris, Parma has also an ‘arc de triomphe’, the ‘arco di San Lazzaro’;
(4) in Colorno (15 km from Parma) you will find the former summer residence of Marie Louise (commonly called “petit Versailles” ) and last but not least
(5) the cemetery 'La Villetta' is as monumental and impressive as the cemetery 'Père Lachaise'.
To compare Parma with Paris... a funny thought. For sure Marie Louise has done a lot for the cultural inheritance of the city. She changed Parma in a vanguard city with French influences. Besides Marie Louise, also William du Tillot and the architect Alexandre Petitot left a lot of French traces in Parma.
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