Thursday, May 12, 2016

DETOUR: THE FRENCH MONARCHY'S LASTING ÉCLAT


FRENCH CULTURE'S FIRST EMISSARY
WAS YOUNG ANNE BOLEYN

 She had grown up in the court of François I
where her father was England's ambassador to France,
and stood out by her French fashions
when she returned to the rustic English court
(in 1522) 

Anne Boleyn by Hans Holbein the Younger
 Scouts de France, source not named
Ladies in waiting, background to royalty  
Skinny Anne was the opposite of the voluptuous beauties that were admired then as now, but she had absorbed the sophistication, allure and flirtatious repartie of Francois's court. Brilliant and cultivated Henry VIII composed motets in Latin to sing with her...

Their love letters are in French. 
-- An unconventional queen by Dominique Muller, 1996 (in French):
Having the main characters speak for themselves
 -- Anne, her awful father, Henry -- 
makes this story still more gripping. 

 • The aura now


 ° A servant's daughter (Audrey Hepburn)
 returns to Connecticut from Paris

Sabrina by Billy Wilder, 1954
 ° "Christine Lagarde's Power Dressing" 

Forbes, 2011

° The Denver Kiwanis club
makes a French dinner a raffle prize

French-flag cupcakes

John Kelly
The competition was for a dinner of French cuisine at the home of member who had learned French, come regularly to Paris and followed classes in French cooking. 

French nobles have admired Americans since Benjamin Franklin,
and democratic Americans admire an "art de vivre"
that harks back to the court:
Opposites attract.

*     *     *
Next,
Catholics defend barriers to gain...






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