French History but Make it Juicy

Celebrating all things French and Parisian for our special Bastille Day edition of weekly distractions...

Parisians knew how to throw down even during the height of the Great Depression. For much of the working class, national holidays were often their only opportunities for some rest and respite. Slip away into this world of sack races, picnics in the park, slippery pole-climbing competitions, and waltzing in the street.

One of the world's most prestigious wine cellars isn't where you think it might be.

They might easily be mistaken for playhouses fit for a princess, like Marie Antoinette's little hamlet houses at Versailles, but these pint-sized castles dotted around France were in fact designed for a much smaller tenant– one with wings to be precise...

When the world wide web entered our homes in the mid 90s, the French must have been feeling a distinct sense of dejá vu. After all, anyone in France with a telephone had been online an entire decade before the internet came along.

As the story goes, in 1932, a family of wealthy French aristocrats were waiting to board a train in Paris when they realised that the porter carrying their luggage was one of their own – a fellow aristocrat, that is – who had fallen on hard times.

Ah, la douce France! Cobblestone streets and cafés lost in time, quaint little ancient villages surrounded by vineyards, heart-achingly beautiful architecture and skylines, just like you've seen it in the movies. Right?!

Picture an IKEA warehouse – but make it chic – and add an inventory of priceless furniture, textiles and objects that date as far back as the reign of the Sun King, Louis XIV, who indisputably raised the bar on what we'll call French 'power decorating' for centuries to come.

Join us remotely this Thursday at Messy Nessy’s Cabinet, co-hosted by the author of The Art Spy, Michelle Young.

We’ve taken a bath in front of the Eiffel Tower, in the middle of a desert, and even seen a bath tub on wheels. But for all our apparent interest in unconventional bathing, we’d never heard about Louis XIV’s luxurious perfume bath. In a ritual so over the top– even for the French Sun King– Louis would bathe in a rare marble basin filled only with a coveted citrus eau de parfum, extracted from his very own Orangery in Versailles. What’s more, the bath is still there, hiding right under our noses.

If you've stepped foot in France you have probably seen her, the beautiful woman wearing the odd hat who is adorned on French euro coins, stamps, wine bottles, and many other places. This woman was one of many country personifications that used to be prominent figures for their countries, but have

Shop Messy Nessy’s Cabinet and use the checkout code “Bastille”.