Tea at Trianon: The Power of Perfume

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

Thursday, September 22, 2016

The Power of Perfume

From Victoria:

Such is the power of scent that it can bring forth recollections of treasured moments in time. Perfume-makers, such as Galimard in Grasse, France, have been perfecting their fragrance distillation techniques for centuries. Today, the company offers workshops where attendees can choose from 127 different “notes,” or scents, to create a personalized fragrance.

Fragrance is rooted in the everyday, the romantic, in cosmetics, the culinary arts, and even in the therapeutic arts. And it is undeniably intertwined with our memories. The smell of freshly baked bread or a certain perfume often recalls specific moments in time. So perhaps it is no surprise that companies like Grasse, France–based Charabot employ ingredients from olfactive families including gourmand, fruity, and citrus, as well as the more traditional, such as spicy, ambery/vanillic, aromatic, and floral scents. (Read more.)