Tea at Trianon: Abandoned Castles in 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

Monday, December 16, 2013

Abandoned Castles in France

Still standing, but for how much longer? To quote:

France is home to thousands of medieval castles, some that are prominent tourist sites or serve as hotels or lavish homes. However, there are hundreds of these sites that have been abandoned and left to slowly ruin. One website is documenting these places in hopes that it will lead to some conservation efforts.

Abandoned France was started in 2009 by John S. (he doesn’t want his last name revealed), in which he visits sites across the country that have been left to ruin. They range from castles and churches to industrial factories and train stations. Many date back to the Middle Ages.

“I was amazed how something of so much beauty could be just left to fall down,” explained John, who has been visiting these sites and taking photos and videos of them. At one 500-year old ruin, “the lady who owns the chateau had her young husband lose his life there, and she walked away never to return vowing to let the castle fall. Local historians I spoke too you say she has never returned, but each year on Boxing Day I return to photograph what is left hoping she may see what it has become and finally pass it on.” (Read more.)