In 1654, Madeleine de Scudéry drew a map of love, from New Friendship to the villages of Respect, Recognition and Gratitude. Here is why we brought it back.
The salon on the rue Saint-Honoré
In seventeenth-century Paris, Madeleine de Scudéry's salon was full of writers looking for a better way to talk about love: not as a conquest or a deal, but as a journey. You got there step by step, through attention, curiosity and respect.
Why a map?
Feelings are hard to talk about in the abstract. By naming the stops along the way — Petits Soins, Billet Doux, Complaisance — Scudéry turned them into places two people could point to: this is where we are today, and this is where we'd like to go.
The same road, today
Roadmantica borrows her idea. Love isn't a fixed state; it's a road, and where you stand on it changes over time. Mapping what matters to you, and where the two of you are, helps you find out what each of you needs to feel loved.