An Education Interupted

I'm feeling French today (is it too late to get that dual citizenship?) and, as always, thinking of Mom. This picture of her, on the far right, isn't clear but it's an interesting view of the Louvre in 1957. If my orientation is correct, the glass Pyramid now stands where the trees are in the center of the photo. Interestingly, the wording on the museum website, in the history of the building section, states, "With the Revolution, the Louvre entered a phase of intensive transformation. For three years, Louis XVI lived in the Tuileries palace, alongside the Convention Nationale." No mention that he wasn't exactly a willing resident, no mention of the wife and children who were sharing that grand adventure. But, on the upside, there was a whole section of Marie Antoinette stuff in the Gift Shop. Sadly, nothing taken directly from le Petit Trianon but one can pretend. One of my big regrets is that I didn't get interested in M. A. and French history until after Mom was gone. She loved Marie Antoinette and pretty much all things French. She got teary at the Louvre, talking about her, but I didn't really get it, at the time. Now, learning about Marie Antoinette is one of the ways I hang on to her. It would be so fantastic if we could sit on the phone and discuss Axel Ferson (who wouldn't fall in love with that guy?); was Charlotte Corday a heroine or a psycho?; the allegations Louis Charles made and the psychological pressure put on him to do so; poor Madame Royale; the overbearing letters from Maria Therese; what the heck was wrong with poor Louis; who was the better friend - Princesse de Lamballe or Duchesse de Polignac (definitely voting for de Lamballe); was M. A.'s response to comptesse du Barry appropriate?; what a lousy lot women (even, or is it "especially," royal women?) were given; Louis' less than loyal brothers; scheming duc d'Orleans; could her Austrian family have saved them?; Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson in Paris, Jefferson and Sally Hemmings in Paris; John and Abigail Adams in Paris... the possibilities are endless. Basically, history reduced to gossip. But, it would be fun to discuss. And, she knew so much. Yes, I miss my mother. I had more to learn.