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More diaries of our favorite 18th-century Prussian diary-keeper have been unearthed and have been synopsized!

January 18th: Blessed be thou to me! Under your light, my Prince Heinrich was born!

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From:

selenak

Selena, this was hilarious and I kept laughing every time I reread this comment, even BEFORE Cahn came along and took it from hilarious to downright hysterical.

I'm chortling on my side of the Atlantic, too, at the reading of the filk. Also because, let's face it, spending eternity with no Voltaire and German writing writers would be Fritz' idea of hell...

Re: French gardens, here's the ultimate Italian-French combo, not Versailles but the Renaissance gardens of Villandry (one of the Loire chateaus):

Which I found very pretty indeed, but yes, I prefer the English style, too. For some photos of the Munich English Garden in autumnm, see here.

Incidentally, FW2 changing the garden style at Sanssouci from French to English may or may not have been just for aesthetic reasons, of course....

From:

mildred_of_midgard

Also because, let's face it, spending eternity with no Voltaire and German writing writers would be Fritz' idea of hell...

So true. I maintain that no matter where they ended up, though, Voltaire and Fritz would find a way to correspond. I choose to believe.

Also, do the German greats really *want* to hang out with Fritz in the afterlife? That sounds like a case of "Be careful what you wish for, you may get it" to me. ;)

Which I found very pretty indeed, but yes, I prefer the English style, too.

Yes, exactly! My reaction to the Hofgarten and later such gardens was: "It's extremely pretty, but it doesn't speak to me."

From:

cahn

Also, do the German greats really *want* to hang out with Fritz in the afterlife? That sounds like a case of "Be careful what you wish for, you may get it" to me. ;)

German greats, two hours of hanging out with Fritz later: "Actually... you know what, if he really wants to be with Voltaire that much, that's okay, we can find someone else to hang out with."
Fritz: *has been texting with Voltaire the whole time*

From:

mildred_of_midgard

Clearly, Fritz has been reading them passages from Voltaire and expecting them to join in his praise!

German greats: *back away slowly*
German greats: *go hang out with Carl August*

Voltaire: The worst part isn't when he reads my poetry out loud and expects you to praise it, it's when it's his own!

Mildred: That's why the most hilarious line of many from your memoirs will always be:

Leaving my palace of Alcina, I went to pass a month with the Dutchess of Saxe-Gotha, the best of Princesses, full of gentleness, discretion, and equanimity, and who, God be thanked, did not make verses.

Selena: "Alcina", Voltaire, really?

Cahn: You mean Pamela. :P

Edited Date: 2022-07-25 11:52 am (UTC)

From:

cahn

Oh, those are pretty! I'm particularly taken by the third and fourth pictures.

(But if I had to look at it every day, still prefer English. :) )

From:

mildred_of_midgard

Even Sophia of Hanover, responsible for the beautiful French gardens at Herrenhausen that Selena has shown us, apparently found those at Versailles just a bit too much:

...the beauty of Versailles, where money has worked greater wonders than nature. If I had to choose, I would prefer St. Cloud.

I was also tickled at Louis ordering his people to prepare the view for her, since the fountains at Versailles didn't go off without preparation. Wikipedia says the fountain at Herrenhausen was the tallest in Europe!

Moral of the story: build your palace near a ready source of water, at an elevation where it can access that water.