Now all I have to do is find a way back, though according to a family story, I'm the father of my father, and I die rather spectacularly during Hitler's invasion of Paris (though no remains were ever discovered).

So how did a poor French lad become the richest man in the world? How did I create a time machine? It is a long and agonizing tale -- perhaps someday I shall write a book.

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema painting via Art Renewal Center.