Tea at Trianon: Planning a Road Trip?

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

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Planning a Road Trip?

Here are some excellent tips for a cross-country trek with the family.

During a road trip it is essential to bring with you some things for emergency because you never know what will happen so it's better to be prepared. These are some of the things that we brought with us:

car tools, extra tire and car cleaners

medicines and First Aid kit

gallons of distilled water

ready to eat can goods, nuts and chocolate

2 coffee mugs, paper plates, bowls,cups and plastic spoons and forks

personal things like sunglasses, pen, cameras, paper, tissue paper, beauty kit etc.

personal IDs and all important contact numbers and account numbers.

iPod, if no iPod some kind of music player.

clothing, extra shoes

Light jacket, blanket sand pillows - in case stranded (Read More.)