Tea at Trianon: Modern France

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Modern France

Why is it the best place to live? (I would move there tomorrow if I could.) Share

8 comments:

Alexandra said...: I love it too, and I hope they continue to hold onto their Frenchness with great tenacity.; February 20, 2010 at 4:25:00 PM EST
R J said...: My own preference would be for living in Belgium - if some Belgian employer were to offer me a job, Australia wouldn't see me for dust - but my second choice would undoubtedly be France, which I also had the privilege of revisiting recently. Every second tourist seems to complain about Paris, but even Paris's busiest and noisiest sections (such as the area around the Gare du Nord) seemed like heaven after London's horrors. And as for Toulouse ... if only I could've stayed longer there than just one weekend.; February 21, 2010 at 7:14:00 AM EST
lara77 said...: I am sure every country has positives and negatives. I wonder about a France that a few years ago during a horrible heat wave left many of its older people die in Paris because their children were on vacation. A nation whose true history is still not being told in schools about the savagery of its revolution and its failure to apologize for the genocide of the Vendee. Many French wear the rose colored glasses as many Americans do. I have the feeling that if you are wealthy MANY countries become the best place to live!; February 21, 2010 at 8:49:00 AM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Actually I lived in France on very little money, easier than I could have at home.; February 21, 2010 at 8:52:00 AM EST
Dymphna said...: I think most of what we think about France is myth. There are fat French women and the poor there dont' seem to happy about their situation. The teenaged North African population burn cars on a regular basis and openly hate Jews. It's not Sabrina or Gigi anymore.; February 21, 2010 at 12:39:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Yes, I would not go into certain parts of Paris just like I would not go into certain parts of D.C. or L.A.; February 21, 2010 at 2:12:00 PM EST
Julygirl said...: Australia, particularly New South Wales where Sydney is located, is quite an agreeable place to live, weather wise, economy wise, and the people are friendly and sociable.; February 21, 2010 at 4:54:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: If I can't get to France then my second choice is Maine.; February 21, 2010 at 4:58:00 PM EST