Summary - Jefferson’s France: Paris and The Loire Valley

In Thomas Jefferson: Jefferson Abroad, Lucia Stanton and Douglas Wilson write that Jefferson’s five years in Paris were "arguably the most memorable of his life. Paris—with its music, its architecture, its savants and salons, its learning and enlightenment, not to mention its elegant social life ... had worked its enchantments on this rigidly self-controlled Virginia gentleman, and had stimulated him to say and do and write remarkable things." In the company of Colonial Williamsburg’s own Thomas Jefferson, Kurt Smith, we will visit many of the buildings Jefferson admired and enjoy the French cuisine and wines that shaped his culinary tastes and approach to dining.

While in Paris we explore several of the grand salons where Enlightenment philosophers, artists and scientists gathered to share ideas and eventually, change society. At Versailles we encounter the architecture of absolutism, the theatrical stage where Louis XIV consolidated his power, designed to impress and control both nobility and populace. A generation later while serving as Minister to the court of Louis XVI, Jefferson found the choreographed rituals of Versailles “tedious.” During our stay in the Loire Valley we see chateaux in the French Renaissance taste imbued with Italian influences. Francois I centered his court here and attracted Italian artists and artisans, the most famous being Leonardo da Vinci.

With good wishes,

Tom Savage