Françoise de Châlus

Françoise de Chalus, was a French noblewoman and courtier. She was the mother of Louis, comte de Narbonne-Lara, possibly by King Louis XV. She was the lady-in-waiting of Louise Élisabeth of France in 1749–59, and the influential favorite lady-in-waiting of Princess Adélaïde of France in 1764–1800.

Basic Attire of Ordinary People

Ordinary French men typically wore a simple shirt, a frac, breeches, stockings, and leather shoes. Ordinary women wore a shirt under a corset, a skirt, an apron, a fichu, and a bonnet.

Carefully Patched Clothing

Respectable poor individuals often wore carefully patched cast-off clothing, where the patches were chosen to match the original faded fabric.

Public concert series started in Paris

Starting in 1725, Parisians could attend public concerts organized by the Concert Spirituel society, which performed in the Tuileries Gardens when the Opéra was closed for religious festivals.

The Pocket-Sized Teacher's Violin

To make professional dance lessons convenient at home, masters used the pochette, a small, boat-shaped violin that could be easily carried in a pocket or sachet.

Sledding down the Alps

Adventurous travelers crossed the snowy Mont-Cenis pass in winter using a sled called a ramasse, which could slide down the slope in just fifteen minutes.

Travel by mule

A trip between San Remo and Genoa over 90 miles could take three days on muleback due to narrow, rugged mountain paths.

Daily struggles for light and water

Domestic lighting relied on oil lamps, tallow candles, or wax candles, which were expensive and labor-intensive to manage. Families often had to fetch water manually from communal fountains, as running water in homes was not available.

Limited schooling for rural children

Many rural parishes lacked schools entirely, and for those that existed, instruction was often limited to basic reading, writing, and the catechism. It was common for the local parish priest to conduct classes, though schooling for girls was significantly rarer than for boys.

Bread as the Foundation of Daily Meals

The staple of the ordinary diet was bread, often consumed as a soup by soaking pieces in water, broth, or vegetable mixtures. This meal structure, centered on a starchy base accompanied by secondary savory foods, remained remarkably stable for centuries.

Scarcity and Alternative Food Sources

Ordinary families consumed very little meat, typically limited to pork, lard, or sheep tripe. During harsh times or shortages, the rural poor were forced to supplement their diet with wild plants like ferns, acorns, or grass.

Daily wages for ordinary workers

In the mid-18th century, a rural laborer typically earned about 16 sols per day, while city workers could earn between 10 and 30 sols. A full day's work was often required just to afford bread for the family.

High cost of basic food

Meat was a luxury item; a single kilogram of beef, veal, or mutton could cost two days of labor for an ordinary worker. In 1725, due to shortages, the price of bread rose significantly, sometimes costing up to four days of work to afford a kilogram.

Common Work for Day Laborers

Day laborers, known as manouvriers, were common and performed arduous rural tasks like harvesting, plowing, and ditch-digging for roughly 7 to 9 sous a day.

A long sunrise-to-sunset workday

The workday typically lasted eleven to thirteen hours, starting at sunrise and continuing until sunset, with short breaks for meals.