The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Volume 21: South of France

In this part of the long‑spanning memoir, the famed adventurer wanders the sun‑kissed towns of the south of France, tracing threads of his past while navigating a world of salons, merchants and secretive courtesans. He drops in on Rosalie, now Madame Paretti, and finds her life reshaped by marriage, children, and a contented domestic routine that feels both familiar and startlingly distant. Their brief, tender reunion is tinged with the polite restraint of a respectable wife, hinting at the lingering spark that once bound them.

The narrative glides through encounters with colorful figures such as the painted‑face Signora Isola‑Bella and a host of relatives and lovers whose motives shift between affection, ambition and curiosity. Casanova’s observations blend wit, melancholy and a keen eye for the manners of the era, offering listeners a vivid portrait of 18th‑century provincial life and the lingering echo of a legend still chasing old ghosts.