Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Legion of Honour was established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, then serving as First Consul of France. It was designed to reward both military and civilian merit, open to men of all ranks and professions, not just Catholic noblemen.
The five classes in ascending order are Chevalier (Knight), Officier (Officer), Commandeur (Commander), Grand officier (Grand Officer), and Grand-croix (Grand Cross). Each class requires a set number of years served in the previous rank before promotion is possible.
The President of the French Republic serves as Grand Master of the Legion of Honour. President Emmanuel Macron became Grand Master upon his inauguration on the 14th of May 2017. The Grand Master appoints all members of the order on the advice of the French government.
The first recorded woman admitted to the Legion of Honour was Angélique Duchemin, an old revolutionary of the 1789 uprising, who was admitted in 1852. In 2009, Simone Veil became the first person to enter the order at Grand Officer level; she was later promoted to Grand Cross in 2012.
Six foreign cities have received the Legion of Honour: Liège in 1914, Belgrade in 1920, Luxembourg City in 1957, Volgograd in 1984, Algiers in 2004, and London in 2020. French towns that receive the decoration display it in their municipal coat of arms.
The Legion of Honour's motto is Honneur et Patrie, meaning Honour and Fatherland. Its seat is the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur, located next to the Musée d'Orsay on the left bank of the Seine in Paris.