YES!
Paris was my first non-American city. I did an awful lot of becoming an adult there. The riddle referred to Napoleon – my first brush with dangerous history! Picture it… Fontainebleau… late 1980s. Young Vance Bastian is being cocky and teasing the chateau’s peacocks in an attempt to get a full tail-fan picture. One peahen takes ire and bites and chases the intrepid teenager around the garden! Yeah, my friends laughed their asses off. Napoleon’s 6-layered casket still lies under the Dôme des Invalides if you’re ever in the area.
The final clue…
A Shephard once whacked a ball.
It was slow to rise and slow to fall.
Brother Mauro has kept that sphere.
For nearly fifty years it’s lain here.
Replace the “xxxx” in http://www.vancebastian.com/xxxx with your answer to proceed!