History
The French Navy is affectionately known as La Royale ("the Royal"). The reason is not well known; some theorise that it is for its traditional attachment to the French monarchy, some others said that before being named "nationale" the Navy had been named "royale", or simply because of the location of its headquarters, "rue Royale" in Paris (similar metonyms include Matignon for the French Prime Minister, Quai d'Orsay for the French Foreign Ministry, La Coupole ("The Dome") for the Académie Française, etc.). The navy did not sport the royal titles common with other European navies like the British Royal Navy.
Read more about this topic: French Navy
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“There is a constant in the average American imagination and taste, for which the past must be preserved and celebrated in full-scale authentic copy; a philosophy of immortality as duplication. It dominates the relation with the self, with the past, not infrequently with the present, always with History and, even, with the European tradition.”
—Umberto Eco (b. 1932)
“Those who weep for the happy periods which they encounter in history acknowledge what they want; not the alleviation but the silencing of misery.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“America is the only nation in history which, miraculously, has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.”
—Attributed to Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929)