Tea at Trianon: Le Meurice

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

Sunday, June 5, 2022

Le Meurice

From Town and Country:

Queen Victoria used to stay so often at Le Meurice in Paris that it became known as the "Hotel of Kings." It's easy to see why she and other royals returned there so often. With pristine views of the Tuileries—and, if you're on the right floor, a good chunk of the City of Light—this 207-year-old jewel on the Rue de Rivoli in the 1st arrondissement is both at the center of the action and above it, offering a respite and proximity to the hubbub beyond its immaculate Louis XVI-style interiors.

From the serene Restaurant Le Dali by Alain Ducasse, known for its ceiling mural by Philippe Starck's daughter Ara, guests can sit back with perfectly well-done scrambled eggs and enjoy at a remove the entertainment offered by the constant stream of celebrities and flow of luxury shopping bags. The people watching is especially captivating during the twice-annual shows of ready-to-wear and haute couture fashion collections. With the fall couture season kicking off this summer, general manager Franka Holtmann shared some of her personal favorites, both within the hotel and outside its walls, for those planning a return to Paris, which, we hear, may just be the healthiest city in the world. (Read more.)