Bernard-René Jourdan de Launay however written on 5 July that "there are two sources of anxiety concerning the Bastille; the person of the commandant (de Launay) and the nature of the garrison there". De Launay had three daughters by two wives. Some of de Launay's brother's descendants settled in Russia (see Boris Delaunay and Vadim Delaunay for details). His killing is described graphically in Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" (Book II, Chapter 21) and also in Hilary Mantel's "A Place of Greater Safety". Bernard-René Jourdan de Launay Bernard René Jourdan, marquis de Launay (1740–1789) was the French governor of the Bastille, the
Château de Menthon-Saint-Bernard Château de Menthon-Saint-Bernard The Château de Menthon is a medieval castle located in the commune of Menthon-Saint-Bernard, south of Annecy in the Haute-Savoie "department" of France. Standing on a tall rock, its stone towers loom over Lake Annecy, the Roc de Chère National Nature Reserve, and Menthon-Saint-Bernard. Since 1989, it has been listed as a "monument historique" by the French Ministry of Culture. The first fortress was erected in the 10th century, around 923; it was originally a simple wooden guard post, built on a promontory dominating the ancient Roman road and Lake Annecy. The present buildings were constructed between