Marie Boulet was a woman of humble origin who grew up and lived her whole life in Paris, the adoptive mother of Madeline Boulet.
History
- She married a soldier at the customary age and was soon widowed. The marriage gave her an only son, Pierre, for whom she worked ceaselessly, telling him stories of his father’s valor.
- When Pierre was called to the wars of the continent, in the last years of the conflict that shook the Empire, she went with him. The Battle of Breitenfeld took him, leaving her devastated.
- In a sacked enemy camp she found an abandoned girl crying silently, adopted her and named her Madeline.
- Mother and daughter returned to Paris as the war was ending. Madeline, raised among soldiers, bought a country house outside the city and made it an inn and tavern, the St. Pierre, named for the son who could not return.
- Marie spent her last days there. She died in her bed on 20 February and was buried on the grounds of the establishment.