Tea at Trianon: The Chameleon

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

Friday, October 12, 2018

The Chameleon

An Indonesian restaurant in Dublin. From The Taste:

“People don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes half the time and everybody has a story. You don’t even know what your customers are going through. But when they come in, you greet them, make them feel comfortable and give them a good food experience, and hopefully they come back again. Be personable and create a warm, friendly atmosphere to work and to entertain.”

These are the words of Carol Walsh, who owns and runs Chameleon Restaurant with her husband, Chef Kevin O’Toole. Open for 24 years, Chameleon has grown and changed with every challenge and each passing season, much like the restaurant’s namesake would. "We called it the Chameleon because of me changing from so many careers and styles and such”, Carol says and it’s a pretty accurate description. Carol is the kind of person with whom you’re instantly captivated by. As quite the traveler myself, I could have listened to her tales from Asia and beyond for hours. (Read more.)