A couple of times, I just sat on a bench, with this view, contemplating how much has happened there and how much I don't know. I wanted to fully immerse myself in the aura of it all by knowing exactly which part of the building housed the Royal Family during the early stages of the Revolution. I emailed a woman who has an amazing art history/European history/French Revolution/Marie Antoinette blog and was told that it burned down late in the 18th Century. I was surprised, but thought she meant that particular section burned down. I still didn't catch on when she posted, on her blog, that there's a proposal to rebuild the Tuileries Palace, in all it's formal glory. Just yesterday, while researching, it hit me that the whole Tuileries burned down and what is pictured here is the Louvre Palace. I thought that the museum was named the Louvre and that it was part of the Tuileries Palace. My mother planted the idea. For ten years, I've had a crystal clear memory of standing in this courtyard and her saying, wistfully, that this is where Marie Antoinette had been held. Maybe the ground on which we stood, but now I know, not in the building at which we were looking. Actually, if I'm understanding correctly, the Tuileries Palace, when intact, made up the 4th side of this almost-square and no longer exists. It's humiliating to realize how many times I misspoke and mis-wrote. The fact that no one corrected me makes clear how few people were paying attention. Bless me Father, for I have sinned. A seemingly sacrilegious statement, but I take this pretty seriously. If I'm still wrong, set me straight.
A couple of times, I just sat on a bench, with this view, contemplating how much has happened there and how much I don't know. I wanted to fully immerse myself in the aura of it all by knowing exactly which part of the building housed the Royal Family during the early stages of the Revolution. I emailed a woman who has an amazing art history/European history/French Revolution/Marie Antoinette blog and was told that it burned down late in the 18th Century. I was surprised, but thought she meant that particular section burned down. I still didn't catch on when she posted, on her blog, that there's a proposal to rebuild the Tuileries Palace, in all it's formal glory. Just yesterday, while researching, it hit me that the whole Tuileries burned down and what is pictured here is the Louvre Palace. I thought that the museum was named the Louvre and that it was part of the Tuileries Palace. My mother planted the idea. For ten years, I've had a crystal clear memory of standing in this courtyard and her saying, wistfully, that this is where Marie Antoinette had been held. Maybe the ground on which we stood, but now I know, not in the building at which we were looking. Actually, if I'm understanding correctly, the Tuileries Palace, when intact, made up the 4th side of this almost-square and no longer exists. It's humiliating to realize how many times I misspoke and mis-wrote. The fact that no one corrected me makes clear how few people were paying attention. Bless me Father, for I have sinned. A seemingly sacrilegious statement, but I take this pretty seriously. If I'm still wrong, set me straight. 
Comments