Tea at Trianon: Melanie in Paris

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

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Melanie in Paris

Author Melanie Clegg has just returned from visiting Paris with her family. As usual her blog is filled with exceptional pictures, in this case her moving photos of the statues Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette at Saint Denis and of the Chapelle Expiatoire.

More HERE and HERE.

Melanie also offers an extremely helpful Guide to Paris with Small Children. Share

3 comments:

Anonymous said...: The pictures here are too good the just gave me a positive approach for moving to Paris.....thanks for this post......MOVING TO PARIS; June 15, 2010 at 8:08:00 AM EDT
lara77 said...: I am struck by the irony of the King and Queen buried in elegant yet solemn settings; both victims of murder and injustice. Contrast that with the usurper Napoleon; little man wth the big ego buried under the huge dome of Les Invalides. The pretentious surroundings as if he were a god of Olympus; I am always amazed at the twisted view we have of history.; June 16, 2010 at 8:54:00 AM EDT
Julygirl said...: At least some dignity was restored to their remains.; June 17, 2010 at 4:54:00 PM EDT