Ahhhh Versailles! The ultimate 1%-er house (and we see how well that turned out, huh?). And not really a house, more like a luxurious village all stuck together and daubed with gold leaf.

Hi Cath!

See what I mean about the gold leaf?

Look at this behemoth! It stretches for miles. In fact, it is so large that back in the days of Marie-Antoinette random people just took up residence in the numerous hallways:

Cath and I had to take a photo together in this hallway because we had both used this Marie-Antoinette screen-saver (below) for months when Sofia Copola’s “Marie Antoinette” came out:

Speaking of Marie Antoinette, here is her beautiful bedroom:

I’ve had a bit of a soft spot for Marie A since reading Antonia Fraser’s biography on her (highly recommended read, btw). History has condemned her a bit too harshly. I mean, sure, she was extraordinarily rich and turned a blind eye while people in Paris starved, but really, that’s no more or less than any royal in any country had done and was doing at the time.

For instance, her grandfather-in-law Louis XIV was much more bombastically monied than she. He called himself the Sun King, pranced around in extravagant costumes (see below), and built Versailles to be the largest palace ever seen. This rich megalomaniac got to keep his head.

Right place and right time eh, Louis? You certainly couldn’t wear this now (Louis’ sun king costume… really):

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Marie Antoinette was wrongly accused of saying “Let them eat cake” indirectly by Monsieur Rousseau in his autobiography. He says, “Finally I recalled the stopgap solution of a great princess who was told that the peasants had no bread, and who responded: “Let them eat brioche.” At the time of his bio, Marie was just a mere nine years of age, living in Austria, and not even princess yet:

Lady Fraser attributes the dismissive saying to Maria Theresa of Austria (daughter of Phillip IV of Spain and married to Louis XIV), but there seems to be some doubt about that as well. (I’m getting all my “scholarly” information from this wiki article):

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Marie A definitely deserved being stripped of some of her wealth, but not being brutally beheaded. A bit harsh, don’t you think?

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I think going to a beautiful, gorgeous place like Versailles just makes me a bit thoughtful about how something so awe-inspiring came to be: the good and the bad of it.

Anywhoddle, enough of my history lesson mumblings… if you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading, lovelies! And thanks for tagging along on some more of our Paris adventures. There’s a few more installments to come!

——

Dear Kitcath,

Hahaha! I loved your outdoor outfits for Edi and Paris and always wished I could feel as warm (that Primark coat is more like a jacket).

I can not wait for the summer! Even if it’s still only 55 degrees, at least we’ll be together again!

xoxoxo,

Larbar

I like to consider myself an armchair art historian. Art history was my major in undergrad and I love museums. Museum’s are my Tiffany’s (lucky for Matt that the art isn’t for sale): “If I could find a real-life place that’d make me feel like Tiffany’s, then – then I’d buy some furniture and give the cat a name!”*

So I was ecstatic to find out that the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, which had been closed for extensive renovations for two and a half years, had just reopened this past week! (I spent a summer as an intern at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. during the six years that it was closed for renovations and always felt kind of cheated).

I love the building. I’m usually not a big fan of neo-Gothic, but I feel like I’m entering Highclere Castle (aka Downton Abbey or Toleigh Towers) when I walk through the doors.

It’s a small space for a national gallery, but I think that makes for a nice change. You certainly don’t have a chance to get art fatigue or be overwhelmed, and it gives you time to enjoy all the historic, tartan-clad peoples. Here are a few of my favorites:

So, not all are tartan-clad. I call this one Mr. Fancy Pants/Trousers (studious art historian that I am). His actual name is James Hamilton (painted by Daniel Mytens in 1629). Just look at James’ heels (and spurs!). Chanel boots have nothing on his footwear. I think I’m quite fond of the 17th century just based on this portrait. Men could wear high-heeled slouchy boots and silver lamé. My kind of look for sure.

Here’s another nice looking man… and, in the inset, what he looks like dressed as a lady:

This is Prince Charles Edward Stuart (aka Bonnie Prince Charlie). In order to avoid his captors (one of many such daring-dos), he dressed as Flora MacDonald’s maid. Very convincing don’t you think? In fact, I don’t even think he needed the dress. (Flora is below):

I like Flora’s more feminine version of plaid: give it some bows, ruffles and balloon sleeves with arm slits. Lovely! Why should the menfolk have all the sartorial fun?

For those of you less fond of tartan, how about some more contemporary Scots, such as John Smith:

Don’t you just love his glasses? Mr. Smith led the Labour Party in the 90s — which of course I knew without reading the sign next to his head.

Sometimes the portraits come to life and join in a parade outside the gallery  (for the opening weekend festivities):

And here is one parting image of the lobby all dressed up for Christmas. Lovely, isn’t it?

Thanks for all the kind words on my Christmas decor, lovelies! I hope you have a fabuloso weekend!

—-

Dear Kitcath,

I wasn’t sure if you guys will be so overly-museumed after Paris, so we might not make it to the NPG. Did you remember I tried to get a job here when we were studying abroad in Edinburgh? Apparently I have a thing for portraits in general: talking about them and drawing them.

EIGHT more days! Yippeeeeee!!!!

Love,

Lar

*Holly Golightly

Sorry Cath and I have slowed down this week. Civic duty abounds in the AsianCajun household: Cath has been working late hours (Strategic Planning for the City of Decatur- woohoo) and I’ve had jury duty!

In between sitting through voir dires and thinking about a vision for Decatur in the next ten years, I’ve been reading about central Asia. My bf and I plan to hit up at least Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan next year, so I’m trying to brush up on my central Asia history (when I say “brush up,” I mean “learn from scratch”- apart from some Genghis Khan references in high school, I knew very little about The Stans and Mongolia).

Here’s where the abbreviated art history lesson comes in! Guess how old this photo is:

Here’s a hint: this man is the last emir of Bukhara (in what is now Uzbekistan). I know! That wouldn’t have helped me either!

It’s taken in 1911. 1911!!! The most amazing thing is that this photo was not doctored in Photoshop or even tinted back in the day by the original photographer. Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky received permission from the (last) czar, Nicholas II, to document the Russian Empire. Not only did Prokudin-Gorsky take over 3500 photographs (about half have survived and are housed at the Library of Congress), he also found a way to kinda/sorta take/create colored photographs while traveling around an exhaustive empire. He actually had a dark room built in a train car. Pretty spiffy, non?

I think black and white photography is beautiful, informative, and sometimes haunting, but there is something about seeing a subject in color that makes them seem more present and alive.

Here are a few more examples of Prokudin-Gorsky’s work to delight your workweek-wearied eyes:

These photos also capture the diversity in the Russian Empire/current central Asia.

We hope you guys have a lovely weekend! We’re off to Baltimore (and then to the beach for Cath) for a friend’s wedding- ’tis the season! What do you guys have planned?

ps- You can see a complete visual listing of photographs here. For larger images, enter the number in the LOC search bar.

As part of the current Fashion Week hullabaloo, Anna Sui has collaborated with the Smithsonian to celebrate the Freer Gallery’s Peacock Room.

Did that sentence make any sense? I’m no art historian (like Lar), but I think I can break it down a little for you. Anna Sui = famous American fashion designer. Peacock Room = originally a dining room in London over a century ago painted by famous American painter James Whistler, now permanently displayed in its entirety at the Freer in D.C.

Photos found on Facebook.

Our parents use to take us to the Freer Gallery all the time when we were young and the Peacock Room was one of our favorite exhibits. The Freer features Asian art so it seems fitting that an Asian American designer would pay tribute to the gallery. All the proceeds from the shirt sales go towards the Smithsonian’s Freer and Sackler galleries to help further the appreciation of Asian art and culture.

Although the room is dark and gilded, there’s something very magical and uplifting about it. If you ever find yourself in D.C., I highly recommend that you stop by the gallery and take a look at the room. Since its a Smithsonian gallery entry is free – it doesn’t get much better than that!

h/t: Aunt Mare – our lovely aunt who works at the Smithsonian.