A day in the life: Duchesse de Choiseul

"The Duchess has only two hours' time to herself, and these two hours are devoted to her toilet and her letters; the calculation is a simple one,- she gets up at eleven; breakfasts at noon, and this is followed by conversation, which lasts three or four hours; dinner comes at six, after which there is play and the reading of the memoirs of Mme. de Maintenon...the company remains together until two o'clock in the morning."


Taine, Hippolyte A. The Ancient Regime: The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 1. Gloucester, Massachusetts: Echo Library, 2006.

9 comments:

  1. i think you would enjoy my new art blog =)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous1:16 PM

    Interesting post! I would really like to know more about the "daily life" of some personalities like her.

    Keep up the great work! :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Makavetis ohh I will check it out! Thanks!

    @Anonymous oh I completely agree, I love little insights to 'daily life'! Whenever I come across one I will post it! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  4. truly exhausting!

    If you have a moment, please stop by and enter my FAB FALL FRENCH GIVEAWAY.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I really don't know how she made it through the day with all that stress!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. A difficult life indeed. Ah, to be queen! Glad to have stumbled on this lovely blog of yours:) Paris in Pink

    ReplyDelete
  7. remarkably similar to a college student's life today -- must be one reason we get so nostalgic for those days of our youth

    ReplyDelete
  8. @Lucy, that's such a funny comment. Exactly what I was thinking.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Amirak1011:40 AM

    "With all that stress"?
    "Difficult Life"?

    Oh boohoo the aristocrats have to read, and watch plays. You people do know there were peasants right?

    ReplyDelete