Carte de visite Paul Frecker Whatever Pauline Metternich did or proposed to do, her friend the Empress acceded to her every whim. 'I leave it to you, Pauline' was her usual reply to any plan for some new divertissement that Pauline suggested to alleviate the boredom of life at court. She and the Princess supposedly once set off together to see what Paris looked like from the top of an omnibus, the pair of them disguised as men, the better to climb the ladder which was at that time the only means of reaching the upper-deck.