Love and Louis XIV

Love and Louis XIV, Antonia Fraser

“You speak of throwing off a passion as if it was as easy as changing a chemise.” – Angélique de Fontages to Françoise de Maintenon, 1680.

I don’t read a lot of non fiction so this was a nice change of pace. This biography of Louis XIV – the sun king, the one who created Versailles – is told with particular reference to the women in his life. His mother, his nannies, his wives, his mistresses, his daughters… Antonia Fraser is very easy to read but MAN did I get a lot of these people mixed up – theres a lot of the same names going on here. This was also an interesting read to get snippets of court etiquette; most definitely another world.

Photo reblogged from here.

Paris Reading

With two months to go until the big trip I’ve started on my parisian reading list:

• Love and Louis XIV by Antonia Fraser
• Marie Antoinette: The Last Queen of France by Evelyne Lever
• Parisians by Graham Robb
• Versailles: A Biography of a Palace by Tony Spawforth