Laduree opens! Macarons in NYC

Macarons are $2.75 apiece from Laduree. Photo from Stylelist.

 

There is but one Laduree in all of the United States and it happens to be just a few blocks away from your Blogmistress’ work. I have been remiss in many things regarding this blog, especially in trying out this well-esteemed Macaron shop (a favorite even of the regrettably fictional Blair Waldorf) that opened just last week. I mean to visit it soon and have scoured articles on its opening(here, here, and here), but wondered if anyone had beat me to it and had any thoughts. Is it magical? better than Macaron Cafe? Please let me know.

For other great Marie-worthy spots in Manhattan, check out this link.

 

 

Tiny, lacey Marie Antoinette petits fours

 

 

For those needing a Cupcake Display upgrade, this Marie is a simple figure atop a tiered tray with doilies for skirts. From Ullabenulla. 

For more Marie Antoinette Party ideas, click here.

 

 

 

 

A queen sets her privacy settings

Each week, the queen of France answers questions of worry and wonder in this space, lending her wisdom for the masses. If you have a question for the queen, send an email to whatwouldmarieantoinettedo at gmail dot com.  

My queen, 

A woman I work with is very close with one of my good friends. It’s total accident her friend and I now work in the same office. This coworker is one of those women who thinks everyone is their best friend, regardless of if they actually are, how long they’ve known someone or in what context. I realize that this is charming and quaint for some people, like she’s an eager puppy dog,  I find it completely unnerving. Because of our mutual friend, she knows things about my life that I’d prefer she didn’t — things that I would never discuss with her and especially wouldn’t discuss with a coworker. Because of our mutual friend she thinks we are closer than we are. She is one of those people who shares every detail of her own life she can’t help but ask me inappropriately about things she’s heard second hand from my actual close friend. I don’t think she means to be inappropriate, but has absolutely no discretion. I don’t want to stop sharing with my close friend (which would stop info funneling) but I also don’t want to feel even more uncomfortable at work if I asked this woman to dial back. What do I do?
-The overshared

"That's not where I heard she got the parasol..."

My darling, I was not the most discreet girl in my youth but as I matured so did my need for my own space away from clucking gossips or even curious eyes and ears. I lived in public at Versailles, as many do in the workplace, their lives served up in snippets to their coworkers in muffled cell-phone calls and attempts to keep work and personal lives separate. You will need a two pronged approach. When you talk to your close friend, mention how alarming it was to hear about your latest doctor’s appointment or hooky day coming from her mouth and ask her how she knew. She’ll likely be redfaced that she’d talked so freely herself without realizing how it might make you feel or what her loose-lipped friend might do. If she balks, you’ll know she sees your candid talks as gossip fodder and not the heart-to-hearts you’d imagined. If the coworker spills some tidbit, direct the conversation to work related matters and in private tell her that it makes you uncomfortable, and you’d rather keep girltalk to social situations.

In the meantime, and as a service to modern ladies, I thought I’d list some modern updates to my own favorite privacy strategies:

A queen seeks privacy

What I did: Install mirrors that covered her windows in the flick of a button.
What you can do: Assume your neighbors can see through those trees and invest in heavy, dark, light-blocking curtains.

What I did: Have a lock to her bedroom installed at Versailles she could activate from her bed.
What you can do: Spend that $14 to have a lock installed on the rooms that need locking.

What I did: Create a network labyrinth of private rooms that few were invited into.
What you can do: Create one special place to gather your thoughts, read in peace and have time for yourself, by yourself.

What I did: Steal away to Trianon to be with friends and confidants.
What you can do: Block toxic people from your social networking sites and day-to-day life.

What I did: Meet ministers in secluded, out-of-the-way spaces.
What you can do: Create physical boundaries such as removing extra chairs from your table and meeting in quiet places where gossips can’t see you.

What I did: Burn her papers to keep them out of revolutionary hands.
What you can do: Put your shredder and your passwords protection software to good use. Ask people who post unflattering photos to take them down (they usually will).

What do you think? Do you have comments to add? Give your advice in the comments. 

 

 

A reader asks: How can I stay healthy in an unhealthy house?

After an extended absence, your blog mistress has returned. She brings many apologies and the return the fun and frippery known to this space. From now on, she will continue to answer your questions, again each Sunday. Send your emails to whatwouldmarieantoinettedo at gmail dot com.

Family time at the Temple prison.

Your Majesty,

I hope this letter finds you well.  I am having a little trouble, and was thinking that perhaps you could help me. I have been having a difficult time losing weight.  I am quite a bit heavier than I should be, and while I do exercise and have a physically demanding job, I have not managed to lose a single pound!  This is quite strange to me, as I do not eat very much.  There is very little in the house that is around for me to eat, or that I am willing to eat at all (roast beef cold cuts?  No thank you!).  It seems to me that, when I try to find something to eat–even as early as a day or so after I have been grocery shopping with Mother–it turns out that she and Father have both eaten everything already and I am left staring at empty shelves! 

I have heard that if one does not eat enough, one’s body can fall into some kind of “starvation mode,” which causes the body to store whatever food it receives during that time.  Is that what is happening to me?

I would, of course, purchase my own groceries if I could, however, I am saving up my money so that I may pay off my University loans when the time comes.  Should I discuss with my parents a possible stipend added to the grocery fund so that I can prepare healthy meals for myself and for my family, or would that come off as quite greedy?  I have tried to gently make it known that I usually do not get much food even after we have shopped for it, but that does not end well at all for me.  I have been told that I can “live off of myself” for months and not starve.  

I don’t want to be starving myself fat, but that seems to be what is happening, and I am quite at a loss for what to do.

Sincerely,
Mademoiselle Rubenesque

My Darling Rubenesque,

First off, a curvy figure is nothing to be ashamed of. Your blogmistress herself has her share and takes pride in her ability to fill out her grand corps. I’ve never been one to shy away from a hearty meal either. At least with friends and familiars.

I’ve had the good fortune to be without a good meal only a few time in my life. As a child, my mother ensured that my brothers and sisters ate a diet featuring fresh vegetables and fruits not the typical fare of the time. As a dauphine and queen, I had the choice not to eat at palace meals, uncomfortable by the teeming masses who would crowd to watch me chew. But in private and at my beloved Trianon retreat, I munched on fresh berries and poured fresh cream for my girlfriends.

Even in prison I ate well. While the King was alive, my family and I could order meals we consumed on china and linens. Our supporters still existed in the ranks of the markets and those assisting at the prison and we would sometimes benefit from roasts and other treats.  After Louis was executed, my food at the Conciergerie was spartan but good. I drank coffee at breakfast and my dinner and suppers started with soup and included vegetable ragoux. I ate desserts, ones comprising mostly of fruit.

Except the last day — my trial. I suffered through interminable accusations all while weakened from constant hemmorrhaging. Hours and hours and hours passed while I was blamed for espionage and debauchery and even child molestation. I’d had just a few sips of boullion to sustain me — a guard’s girlfriend insisted on serving it and spilled it as she walked. I would have gone to the scaffold with nothing more if not for my maid Rosalie who kept some more warming on the hob.

The soul needs to be nourished as does the body. See a doctor or a nutritionist about your intake to help you diagnose the healthiest option. As for your family, you could cook slightly more take the first helpings and leave it to that. If they cannot see your need to make a change for you, try to do what you can to keep yourself healthy and well, and know that at least you are committed to a healthy change.

What do you think? Did the queen get it right? What would you do? 

To the Queen: Am I empowered or just downright tarty?

Each Sunday, modern mortals are graced with the sound advice of Marie Antoinette as she weighs in on social dilemmas in her weekly advice blog. If you are struggling with your own life puzzle, allow the queen to help. Send an email to whatwouldmarieantoinettedo at gmail dot com.

My Queen,
I love to wear short skirts  and body conscious dresses because that’s who I am. I’m not ashamed of my body so I don’t know why I should cover up or hide myself. I also don’t like to lie about who I am so it feels wrong to dress any other way. My boyfriend’s mother told me I might think about covering up a bit, especially to work (I’m a receptionist) but I think she’s just old fashioned. What do you think?
-Confident in her own skin

Observe CharlesII's mistress, Louise de Kéroualle, looking always as she is on her way to or from a thorough dishevellment.

For a young woman in my day, as in yours, those can seem the only choices: Looking virtuous or looking loose, as if it’s an either/or scenario. In my France, there weren’t many powerful female role models, and many of them had been mistresses, courted for their spending power and perceived influence over the King. I might have felt that if I couldn’t earn the influence due the mother of the future King’s children, I could at least look like she held his sexual esteem and the power that went with that I started dressing and acting like a flighty courtesan with crazy spending on parties and dresses. I even held Renaissance costume party where my husband dressed as Henri IV’s and I dressed as his legendary mistress Gabrielle d’Estrees. (Imagine a Halloween party with Monica Lewinsky dressed as Anne Boelyn.)

Here’s the thing: What you think feels empowering can at the same time look downright tarty. And looking like the scheming mistress rarely does a girl favors (There’s no easier way to get booed on a talk show than to come on as the mistress. And if you’re not even going to sleep around when you pretend you are a mistress – and I kept my virtue, thank you very much – you aren’t even going to enjoy it.) In my case, the French people in 18^th century France were particularly tired of mistresses. Louis XV’s mistress, Jeanne Du Barry had been an actual street harlot. They blamed her spending for putting the crown into debt and now I was doing the same thing? They were done. They had had enough of royal favorites who put their spending power before the country’s reputation. And now their Marie was parading around like the most notorious woman of their time? I became the target of the country’s frustrations and hostilities and the most hated person in France. Partly because I thought how I presented myself was no one’s business but my own.

Our modern gals should take note: Dressing slutty isn’t something respected leaders do. I didn’t have time to wait the 212 years for a modern-day Lawrence University study on the topic, but it would have been worthwhile for her. The research found that while a receptionist might dress as sexy as a manager, only the manager’s intelligence, competency and leadership ability would be questioned. In other words, people expected better of the manager. You can always dress however you please but don’t think for one minute that your clothes don’t speak volumes about your judgement or the type of duties you can perform — or could. A leader lets her actions, not her cleavage, represent her.

What do you think? Did the queen get it right? What advice would you add?

Take it from the Queen: Don’t get too comfortable

She’s Baa-aack. Your blogmistress had been away completing her graduate studies. That’s finished now and she can get back to what’s really important, assisting the Queen of France with her Sunday advice blog. If you have a question for the queen, send an email to whatwouldmarieantoinettedo at gmail dot com.

My Queen,
My boss will retire next year and I think I’m a shoo-in for the spot. My boyfriend isn’t so sure since there are a few people at my same level, even though none have been working at this company as long as me. He’s telling me to step up things up and that just feels silly to me. What do you think?
-The Heir Apparent

We’ve all done it. We get a little too fat and happy, a little too convinced of our own awesomeness. We just don’t usually do it as I did, while fleeing for my life. When myself and Louis XVI attempted to escape the Tuileries Palace in 1791 during the French Revolution, we did it in the most casual way possible. And by that, I mean in an RV.

This is no knock on the RV. They are fine vehicles and a great way to see a country. It’s just that they aren’t exactly high-speed chase vehicles, even ones as top-of- the-line as the royal family’s, outfitted with a cooker, a larder, and a canteen that held 8 bottles of wine. To enhance the scheme’s ninja-like agility, that berlin was accompanied by another vehicle, a cabriolet, and together they were drawn by a total of 9 horses. The only thing missing, seemingly, was a drum major, fife player or high school marching band to announce our arrival.

So the harrowing escape that would save the monarchy was really an ambling drive into the country. In total, 11 people made the trip, including a governess and 2 waiting women. I brought with me a walnut traveling case I’d ordered just for the occasion[1] that was part lap desk and part picnic basket, complete with candlesticks and silver plates and goblets[2] from silversmith Jean-Pierre Charpenat.[3] As revolutionaries chased us fugitives, we snacked and took bathroom breaks. We stopped so the children could chase butterflies and Louis XVI could chat up peasants about the harvest. At one point, the carriage slowed to a walking pace so that I could walk arm in arm with Louis behind the carriage and the two of us could stretch our legs.[i]

You might hesitate to judge, since you’ve never abdicated a throne myself. Still, it’s safe to say that these were the types of mistakes you wouldn’t make if you had even a passing understanding of words like “urgency” and “life or death.” We found ourselves so far behind schedule that the people who were trying to help use thought the escape had been cancelled and the people who were trying to capture us had actually caught up. By the time we arrived in Varennes, the guards for the fresh horses they’d need had gone to bed or to the bar. The fugitives missed these horses by 30 minutes and the group wandered fruitlessly throughout the town, wondering what the heck happened.

Modern gals should remember that not even absolutism was a given for Marie and Louis. I think it’s fair to say we got too comfortable and took our roles for granted. We didn’t imagine the hatred brewing for us in the countryside and lost the monarchy to the revolution. Modern Maries take note: No queen, historical or otherwise, enjoys a luck so guaranteed that she can forget to hustle for her own survival.

Did the queen get it right? What would you advise?

---

[1] As if ordering a traveling case when people think you are going to escape isn’t the 18^th century version of leaving your resume in the copier.

[2] If you’re planning your own ill-fated journey, replicas of these goblets are available from the Versailles gift shop at 36 Euros apiece.

[3] In true Marie Antoinette fashion, I actually ordered two of these traveling cases because I thought it would look less conspicuous.

Marie Antoinette Inspired Home: A NYC apartment

No, not my own sillies. My husband draws the line. But a fantastic one nonetheless. This one came from New York Magazine’s Home Decor issue. and you have to check it out. The inspiration was the famous portrait of the Queen as a pre-teen and the very modern space is mostly minimal but with sparing ornateness in chandeliers, accent chairs and the like.

For a photo slideshow and the story, go to New York Mag.