Giacomo Casanova without a recall, however, he wrote a letter of appeal directly to the Inquisitors. At last, he received his long-sought permission and burst into tears upon reading "We, Inquisitors of State, for reasons known to us, give Giacomo Casanova a free safe-conduct ... empowering him to come, go, stop, and return, hold communication wheresoever he pleases without let or hindrance. So is our will." Casanova was permitted to return to Venice in September 1774 after 18 years of exile. At first, his return to Venice was a cordial one and he was a celebrity. Even the Inquisitors wanted to hear
Giacomo Casanova escaped by gondola. Eventually, Casanova reached Paris, where he arrived on the same day (January 5, 1757) that Robert-François Damiens made an attempt on the life of Louis XV. (Casanova would later witness and describe his execution.) Thirty years later in 1787, Casanova wrote "Story of My Flight", which was very popular and was reprinted in many languages, and he repeated the tale a little later in his memoirs. Casanova's judgment of the exploit is characteristic: He knew his stay in Paris might be a long one and he proceeded accordingly: "I saw that to accomplish anything I must bring