“My tent needs to fit in a single truck. This reflects the art of the Garde-Meuble (furniture storage). Spend twice as much if necessary but build a practical, strong and light furniture.”
— attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, 1812 (hat tip to Suzanne “the Saucy Indexer” Ellison for the quote)
I bet he drove a short bed.
Do you suppose it should have been “trunk?” I believe a truck in Napoleonic times might refer to the wheels and undercarriage of a cannon. Of course he might have intended his tent fit in one cannon:-)
Still interesting.
But not on his head.
Citizen Bonaparte was a great enthusiast for working on the go. Several of his carriages survive with all sorts of ingenious fittings, like fold out desks and seating that converts to a bed while on the move (his legs stuck out into the trunk). In the end the lifestyle effectively killed him, destroying his kidneys along with other ailments that could be attributed to hard living on campaign.
“Spend twice as much if necessary but build a practical, strong and light furniture.”
If only all clients were like him.
… then we would probably all be speaking French.
Touche.
Sounds very similar to Gary Fisher’s quote regarding mountain bikes ” strong, light, cheap. Pick two”. Apparently somethings don’t change….Good to know!!
Cheers Andy
My feet or your feet. The little dude was 5’3″ (169 cm) that would be 5’11” in my town and 5’7″ across the pond. Too small to be a grenadier and too big for the voltigeurs.