In honour of recieving the M de Lafayette comparison, I'm dropping the mini amrev-related content from my Paris photo backlog!

the man himself aka Marquis de Lafayette (tell me he doesn't look like he's judging you); Versailles

The Siege of Yorktown painting; from the hall in Versailles where they had paintings of all the French and French-adjacent victories because of course that's a thing

Benny boy aka Benjamin Franklin; Musée Carnavalet

Benny and Louis XVI signing a treatise (sorry for the glare it was behind a glass panel); Musée Carnavalet

Thank you for the ask and sorry for taking forever to answer!

1. Pallas Athena/Minerva

She will always be my favourite among all the Greek/Roman goddesses. Her role in Homer's epics (especially the Odyssey) is so interesting! 10/10 would have given the apple to her if I had a chance.

Her statue in Louvre! (one of many, but my favourite I think):

2. Odysseus

Smart, cunning and kind of a bastard? Easily my favourite Greek hero. And I trust Athena to have a good taste in men, obviously.

Plus her and Penelope are my favourite couple from Greek mythology. I really like the interpretation that she displays the same skills as him when tricking her annoying suitors. They would also have had the best banter.

3. Artemis/Diana

Another one of the Greek goddesses that has always resonated with me. I love her role in the story about Iphigenia (re: last post). Would consider joining her all-female hunters' party if positions are still open.

Her statue in Versailles! ->

4. Gorgona Medusa

She's fascinating both as a tragic mythical figure as well as purely from an aesthetic standpoint (the eyes? the snake hair?)

I'm not always there for the feminist reinterpretations of Greek mythology, but I think the idea of her becoming a sort of symbol for SA victims taking back their power is interesting (though probably not very faithful to the original myth).

It's also possible that she's my favourite because I love the Carol Ann Duffy poem so much.

I've also used the Medusa imagery in one of my poems! (& I also have her sticker on my laptop):

5. Enkidu

It's been a while since I've read the Epic of Gilgamesh (we've actually read it in my high school lit class!) but I just remember liking him so much. The origin story of how he became more human-like is both wild and kind of funny.

And – of course – his relationship with Gilgamesh will always be incredibly special to me. They're kind of like the original Achilles and Patroclus.

Also the French seemed to be really hyperfixated on Octavian/Augustus? Especially Louis XIV. with his whole Sun King thing.

Like if I had a Euro for every Octavian statue I found at Versailles I'd probably have enough to rent the place for a night and throw a party there for all my mutuals.

@marcusagrippa sadly Agrippa was nowhere to be seen :(

Case in point: Louis XIV in his ancient Rome cosplay:

(which honestly, understandable. If I had the resources, I'd do the same. Give me the Roman soldier uniform, the Shield of Perseus, the Nemean Lion Helmet!! I'll pull it off I swear!)

Like no you don't understand Versailles + Louvre was where my French history/1700s and my classics/Ancient Rome obsessions collided in the best way possible

Okay, this is it, this is the potentially controversial post - Marie Antoinette-related snapshots from Paris

I didn't go out of my way to see places/things related to her but when you visit Versailles/Louvre, traces of her will be there

1. A painting of Marie Antoinette being led to the execution site

(I can't believe I haven't seen it before! I really like it - you can see each one of those soldiers watching her intensely. It also doesn't infantilise her. Unlike a lot of frev-related media, she looks about the right age here (37). The sign next to it even made a comment how the painter was obviously sympathetic to her – I think so too and I think it's great that they mentioned it!)

2. Marie Antoinette's 'model village' in Versailles/Trianon

Okay, I don't know why I expected it to be much smaller and more subtle after seeing everything else in Versailles but I was still surprised - it's huge irl. It's obviously awful that someone would be play-acting a simple farmer girl while people in actual villages were on the edge of starvation. But in simpler times, I would say that the contrast between the artificial life at the court full of rigid rules and the desire to flee to an (idealised version of) simple rural life is really interesting, philosophically speaking. Makes me wonder if Marie read Jean Jacques Rousseau.

3. A tea set and a bust of Marie Antoinette displayed in Louvre

Nothing much to say here I'm afraid. It looks really nice? There was a huge collection of things belonging to her in Louvre.

Bonus/& more thoughts under read more!

French Revolution Snapshots from Paris compilation: part II

Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People my beloved -> I know it's the 1830 Revolution, but still. It felt surreal being able to see it in person!; Louvre

Marat's L'Ami du peuple!; Musée Carnavalet

The 1793 constitution, too good for this world, too pure (excuse the bad quality I tried my best); Musée Carnavalet

This beautiful French revolution era clock which includes the 10-hour dial; Musée Carnavalet

La Conciergerie which served as a prison during the revolution (didn't have enough time to go inside, sadly)

This detailed map of Paris just before the revolution broke out!; Musée Carnavalet

Marquis de Lafayette, looking like he's judging you severly; Versailles

A painting of the National Guard in Paris, 1792 (there's a painting of Valmy just above it which I have as well); Versailles

Oh no, the pressure!! 😮 I'll reverse-psychology my way through this somehow and go with the first one!

In the meantime, please accept these three photos as a bribe divine offering:

^ Shakespeare and Company bookshop ❤️ ^

^ This cool meta-painting spotted in Versailles ^

^ Aeneas (and his awesome outfit) meeting Dido displayed in Louvre! ^

You're getting this (in my opinion) incredibly cool statue of Cleopatra with a snake!

Congrats! You're getting this cool Bacchus' statue from Versailles (one of approximately 100 that seem to be there - I'm starting to thing that they might have had a wine problem)

Planning to represent the Jacobins on the visit to Versailles today ✨