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 The Incroyables was first introduced after
Louis–Philippe was thrown from power by the 1848 Revolution at the very
beginning of the Second Republic whose spirit and creed revived freedom
and creativity. We presented once more the elegant box twenty years ago,
embellishing it with the gold Kings of France coat of arms instead of
the past red Revolution symbols.
The actual name of this lovely case is "Les Incroyables et Merveilleuses," which
refers to the young and fashionable men and women who were all born into
well-to-do families and, after the end of Robespierre's bloody dictatorship,
bold enough to exhibit themselves in clothes that were as eccentric as
they were expensive as a way of proudly claiming the return of individual
freedom.
The bonbon was designed as a metaphor for this
event; the bitter ganache at the center is for the Incroyables, and is
completely surrounded by the sweet nougatine of the Merveilleuses. The
Incroyables are the Merveilleuses prisoners. Locked together in sweetness,
each couple is preserved from the outside world by the colour of love.
An anecdote about Les Incroyables: When first
issued, the boxes were not numbered (the royal orders were normally numbered).
One of our first customers was Prince Napoléon (nephew of Napoleon
I; also the future emperor as Napoléon III), who, being the recipient
of a box as a gift from a retired general, found it and the chocolates
lovely as well as politically appropriate for his wish to recall the
last years of the French Revolution when his uncle, after the fall of
Robespierre, took over. When we asked how many boxes the Prince would
order, his butler, a faithful servant of the former emporer, answered, "As
many as the braves who died with General Cambronne at Waterloo. When
they were surrounded by their enemies, the General declared, 'The soldier
dies but never surrenders!' " We supposed they were 2,000 since our box
sets are always numbered up to 2,000.
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