I took this photo of the Hôtel de Ganges on July 14th (le 14 juillet). It had been decorated with dozens of French flags for the occasion, which seemed to me a little anachronistic as the drapeau tricolore had not yet been designed when the hôtel was built.The Hôtel de Ganges dates back to the 17th century. It is the Cardinal de Bonzi who had it built for his mistress, Jeanne de Gévaudan, comtesse de Ganges. In the seventeenth century, and certainly before and after, cardinals could have mistresses. John Locke, whose Journal I have translated, reports it, adding that Bonzi had also a few "fine boys" in his suite.
Nowadays the hôtel houses the préfecture de région. It is also the résidence of the préfet.
I have just added the photo of the portraits of Bonzi and Mme de Ganges. I was unable to place it at the bottom of my post......
