Tea at Trianon: Le Château de la Motte Fénelon

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, August 9, 2014

Le Château de la Motte Fénelon

From Vicki Archer at French Essence:

Most years we drive from London to Provence for the summer. A long journey, but there is a certain luxury to your own car and escaping the joys of airports and plane travel. We usually stay somewhere different overnight… a chance to explore new areas of France and to break the journey. This year we stopped in Cambrai at Chateau de la Motte Fenelon in northern France. Cambrai is a popular stopping off point for those history buffs interested in exploring the French battlefields… the Western Front and memorials from World War I. Cambrai is not the most scenic of French destinations that I have been too… yet the hotel that we stayed in was a true surprise. Chateau de la Motte Fenelon is one of those beautiful buildings that has survived yet been encroached upon by modern life and progress. (Read more.)

The North Coast said...: What a beautiful place! I love the many shades of purple used in the decor of this wonderful old place, and am really impressed with the talent of any designer who can use these gorgeous, but demanding, colors to advantage.; January 19, 2020 at 1:00:00 AM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Me too!; January 19, 2020 at 12:47:00 PM EST