Valentine was a Christian priest in the 3^rd century Rome. He was a kind-hearted soul who liked the company of young couples, and would wisely advise them on their future.

The Emperor of the time was Claudius II who, having problems finding enough soldiers to fight his campaigns, outlawed marriage.
Saint Valentine, realizing the injustice, continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. 

For this act of goodness he was thrown into prison. The jailer?s daughter, Julia, was blind and often visited Valentine in his cell. He described the world for her and told her about God.

One day, during one of her visits, the girl regained her sight. Convinced by the miracle, her family converted to Christianity. Claudius II, irritated by this new act of defiance, condemned Valentine to death. The day before his execution he wrote to Julia, signing his letter ?from your Valentine?.

He was decapitated on February 14^th 268 AD. Saint Valentine officially became the patron Saint of lovers in 1496 thanks to Pope Alexander VI.

A more romantic legend coming from England says that, in the Middle Ages, mid-February marked the beginning of the mating season for birds like thrushes, partridges, and blackbirds.

The legend travelled down the ages, and Saint Valentine became the patron of the loving ones, granting his protection to all young boys and girls.

In 1595, Shakespeare wrote, a Midsummer Night's Dream, where he put these words in the mouth of one of his characters: Good morrow, friends. Saint Valentine is past: Begin these wood-birds but to couple now.

In the last century, Auguste Angellier wrote:

February comes, it is Saint Valentine,
February comes, and makes the willows redden...
... All the birds, it is Saint Valentine,
Blackbirds, jays, peaks, all impish people,
House sparrows, lively skylarks,
Awaking and shaking their feathers,
With insane desire and uncertain flight,
Sought each other in the last mist.

The dove represents the amorous fulfilment the lover offers to his beloved.

It symbolizes grace, gentleness, purity, simplicity, and sociability.
Indeed, it is one of the most universal metaphors celebrating women.
Forever the dove will remain the symbol of romantic Love.

The swan, favourite bird of Venus, the goddess of the Love, is the noblest. All its life, the male remains faithful to his female and even takes care of the cubs. This bird, symbol of honesty, is regarded as the Messenger of Love.

An old-time post office will be open especially for you Place de la Pousterle.

Thanks to it, you will be able to send your Saint Valentine postcards to your beloved....

At the time of Valentine, a "Valentine" was a message of friendship. The message of Love was further introduced in the Middle Ages.

There are traces of this custom in England in the 14^th century, where the poet John Gower cited it in the 34th and 35th ballads. In 1381, the father of English poetry, Geoffrey Chaucer, also mentioned this custom.

After the defeat of Azincourt in 1415, Charles of Orleans left England after 25 years of captivity. He brought with him a very romantic English tradition consisting, for a lover, to send his beloved a message full of love and tenderness, called a "Valentine", on Saint Valentine's Day.

From then on, this custom was instituted at the Court of France.

It was only in 1496 that Saint Valentine officially became the patron of Lovers.

Valentines, decorated with hearts and Cupids spread throughout Europe in the 18^th century.

At the beginning of the 19^th century, Valentines were the most widespread way to declare one's love. They were sometimes anonymous and made the hearts of the young ladies beat.

For those young people who could not write verse of their own for the object of their love, an English editor even proposed Valentines with poems.

Around 1840-1860 appeared the Victorian times Valentines. They were true works of art: quill drawn, decorated with lace, silk, satin, flowers, some even scented, and supplemented with highly romantic poems.

In 1848, an American paper-maker, M. Howland, imported Valentines from England, which immediately drew the attention of his wife.

Very quickly, she hired a dozen of employees and launched a line of products that met with great success in the Americas.

Since 1865, American people have been very keen on these Valentines.

It is only at the end of the 19^th century that postcards started being mass-manufactured and that a real postcard industry developed in England, Germany, and the United States.

Nowadays, each year more than one billion postcards are exchanged in the world for Saint Valentine's Day, of which women write 85%.

In the beginning of our 21^st century, other means of communication arise: fax, video message, email, and so on. But can any of them replace the old-time "Valentine" that tells so well how much Love unites two Valentines?

Since antiquity, flowers have been associated to the feelings of Love.
At the time of King Solomon, the rose was already the symbol of Love and Romance.
Cleopatra used to cover the ground with rose petals before receiving Marc Anthony.

The tradition of offering flowers for Saint Valentine's Day is as old as the 16^th century. During a party organized for Saint Valentine's Day by one of Henry IV's daughters, each girl received a bunch of flowers from the young man who had chosen her for his Valentine.

According to an old Persian custom, the shape of a bunch of flowers was to indicate affection, attraction or even love.

But it was Lady Mary Wortley Montague, wife of the English ambassador of Constantinople, who first introduced the language of flowers in Europe, in 1718.

To her, flowers can express anything: civilities, friendship, passionate love, reproaches, break-up, etc.

Louise Cortambert, a Frenchwoman who used the pseudonym of Charlotte de la Tour, wrote the first book about the language of flowers in 1819.

The interest of the English people with botany and flowers reached its peak only during the Victorian times. Kate Greenaway, the famous illustrator of children?s books, wrote the first English guide about the secret code of flowers in 1884.

Nowadays anyone can compose his/her own message of Love with flowers, in the purest romantic tradition...

Thus a shy man who does not dare to declare his love will be able to reveal his secret feelings with a bouquet of violets. A tender-hearted lover will offer irises, and one for whom nothing else exists but his beloved, will offer daisies.

A lady friend who receives tulips will know it means a declaration of love, while gladioli represent an invitation to a rendezvous.

The fervour of one's love is evoked by the orchid, the ardour by the carnation, and the desire by the snapdragon. The one who is happy to love will give his beloved an azalea, the pure one a spray of lilies, and the sincere one peonies.

As far as marriage is concerned, the ivy symbolizes fidelity, whereas the lotus announces a birth.

However, the flower of maternity par excellence remains the lilac, flower of Hera, goddess of Women and Children.

One can also level reproaches with buttercups, express his doubts with sweet peas or break off gallantly with chamomile.

Offering flowers can reveal many things. So take care of interpreting properly their language.

Also, please note that each month and each day have a corresponding flower. For instance, February?s flower is the hollyhock and the crocus is the flower of February 14^th.