Tea at Trianon: Accidental Adventures

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

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Accidental Adventures

How travel helps a writer. It certainly always helped me, especially traveling to Versailles. Share

4 comments:

Julygirl said...: Fun article, and helpful even if one is not planning on writing a novel.; July 21, 2010 at 10:57:00 AM EDT
R J said...: Almost anything that gets writers out of their comfort zone is creatively good. Travel gets writers out of their comfort zone (if it doesn't, it's not travel at all, just tourism).

This doesn't just apply to novelists. Barbara Tuchman, the eminent historian who died in 1989, insisted on exploring every possible World War I battlefield for herself before she wrote The Guns of August. And who would bother with an author who thought he could attempt to describe the American Civil War without personally visiting Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, Antietam etc beforehand?; July 22, 2010 at 5:14:00 AM EDT
Leah Marie Brown said...: Thank you, my friend, for the link. I am glad my article entertained.

Do you have any trips planned? I am hoping for Provence in Spring and Tuscany in the Fall (all girls biking and eating trip - what a combination - just need a few more participants - let me know if you are game ;); August 1, 2010 at 5:47:00 PM EDT
Leah Marie Brown said...: Thank you for posting a link to my page on your blog, my friend. I am glad you found the article entertaining.

Travel is educational and expands one's horizons in immeasurable ways.

Do you have any trips planned?

I am hoping to make it to Provence to visit my best friend in Spring and an all girls biking and eating trip through Tuscany (few spots open for fab writers so let me know if you want to join us ;); August 1, 2010 at 5:50:00 PM EDT