Tea at Trianon: A Design Lover’s Guide to Champagne-Ardenne

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, July 17, 2023

A Design Lover’s Guide to Champagne-Ardenne

From Architectural Digest:

Champagne might just be France’s most underrated wine region—and not only because of its world-renowned sparkling beverage. Located just one 30-minute RailEurope train stop away from Charles de Gaulle airport (and another 15 minutes from Paris’s Gare de l’Est), Champagne-Ardenne—as it is properly known—is an easy jaunt trip from the capital city. And yet, the area is not nearly as frequented by French and international visitors as one might expect. Whether that’s due to the nation’s many other famous wine regions or the bubbly drink’s reputation as a treat reserved for special occasions, it may be about to change. For starters, the region now has its first-ever five-star, modern luxury hotel. And then of course, beyond the hospitality and beverage options that abound, the French region also boasts hidden design gems. (Read more.)