In the preface to the book Grand Bordeaux Châteaux: Inside the Fine Wine Estates of France, Philippe Chaix describes discovering Bordeaux as a bewitching act: on…
View More Architecture with Heart in BordeauxTag: salonniere
I take my self-described title as a modern salonnière very seriously, mining history for details of other salonieres for fodder for my explorations.
One of my favorite salonnieres is Catherine de Vivonne, or Marquise Rambouillet, who turned The Chambre Bleue into one of the most famous salons in history. I read about notorious figures like her in order to understand what it is they were trying to achieve so I can integrate their values into the literary adventures I create here on The Diary of an Improvateur. One such evening was a fictive salon during which she held court with her salonieres in Ally Coulter’s space at the Holiday House NYC.
After she had settled herself near the fire, Madame Rambouillet listened “intently as poet François de Malherbe, a central figure within her inner circle, read from his poem ‘To Cardinal Richelieu.’ The coterie of intellectuals gathered around her would be quietly engrossed in the verses honoring the powerful clergyman as the poet’s words wafted toward the ornate ceiling, a spate of lively applause echoing after them in the statuesque space.
Her smug expression would signal she had yet again pulled off a sublime evening of titillation, the mix of jealousy and awe on the faces of the shrewdest women surrounding her—Madame de Sévigné, Madame de La Fayette, the Duchesse de Longueville and Comtesse de La Suze, among them—the only sign her trendsetting heart required as confirmation.” All of the details of this evening are make-believe, of course—straight from my imagination—so please treat it as such.
The Architecture of Tango
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I will once again be touching literary history soon, as the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University reopened yesterday following a 16-month…
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A Passion for Painting Billowing ruched fabric, pointy toes of dainty shoes visible from beneath flounced skirts hemmed in gold fringes and ornate trims. A bejeweled…
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In the film A Little Chaos, Alan Rickman, who plays an unlikely Louis XIV, declares, “Heaven shall be here.” He’s speaking of a ballroom he…
View More Heaven Shall Be HereThe Soul of Great Leaders
Whenever I see a photograph of a Native American, I can’t help but think of Crazy Horse, and I’ve seen a fair number of them…
View More The Soul of Great LeadersIt Is Time to Experience More
Experience more. It sounds like a simple directive but how many of us really take the time to savor what is happening right in front…
View More It Is Time to Experience MoreDining with History
A month from Sunday, I’ll be winging my way to Paris to attend Maison & Objet, and I’m thrilled to say I’ve been invited to…
View More Dining with HistoryWe’ll Never Be Royals
Nest Nest Nest features the Alliage pattern.As I write this, I can feel the design energy draining from the Americas as the movers-and-shakers in our…
View More We’ll Never Be RoyalsFurnishing Pastimes of Henry VIII
As I mentioned in my last Improvateur article presenting a brief history of Hampton Court Palace, I launched into a furnishings fantasy when I heard…
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