Tea at Trianon: Talk or Type?

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, August 10, 2015

Talk or Type?

From Vicki Archer:

Talk or type?

Do you call or do you message?

The way of communication has changed in the last few years and I have taken for granted this subtle shift in the way we approach talking to each other.

Before, we called.
We called to chat, we called to arrange appointments and we even called to complain. Now many of us report our lives by email, text or instant message. I do.
Life is programmed with the touch of a key and our fingertips are the conduits that make it all happen.

In Provence there is a whole load of chat.
We don’t message, we sometimes email, but around here it is all about the face to face. It is refreshing and it has made me aware of how dependant I am on my gadgets to spread the word.

Is it because there is more time to spend talking in the old fashioned way?
Yes, there is a whole lot more time. Provence has a very special and unique time clock. No rush, no pressure. C’est la vie.

It is not all about time restraints. I believe the reason we communicate via message is because we can; a technical evolution that has become habitual. As communication methods have become more sophisticated we have learned how to adapt and use them to our advantage.

In Provence we still plan and shop old school. We call the plumber and the electrician and we pay accounts by cheque rather than bank transfer. Slowly the system changes and with that comes less one-to-one and less contact.

There is so much to be gained with a personal approach. Taking the time to talk in person and making that call means the depth of engagement is more. Lately, I have found myself picking up the phone in preference to writing an email or sending a What’s App message. (Read more.)