Versailles - Le Petite Trianon

Lillian : This post will be all about Le Petite Trianon - The Queen's Palace

Audrey : It isn't very petite at all!  But everything is quite lovely - even the curly bits on the gates.

Lillian : It was built in the 1760s for Madame de Pompadour but it really seems to be Marie-Antoinette's house and her initials are everywhere ... here they are in the main staircase.




Audrey : I thought all the MAs were for someone's mother!








Lillian : Here is that staircase - it is quite lovely with very graceful curves.

Audrey : Like us?   But that gentleman has a very French profile don't you think?

Lillian : Oh Audrey!!   Our stylist was very interested in these reproduction uniforms - I think this is what the Queen's Guards wore but we don't know why these beautifully sewn reproductions were made.

Audrey : Perhaps they were made for that movie about Marie-Antoinette - the one with all the pretty shoes and dresses ... 

Lillian : by Sofia Coppola and starring Kirsten Dunst.  You could be right.


Audrey : We should watch it again ...

If I was in a movie about Marie-Antoinette I'd like a dress like this one ...

 

Audrey : Isn't it pwetty?
Lillian : Perhaps you should ask our stylist to make you a dress like that - or perhaps like this one?

Audrey : Well that is quite pwetty too but it is extwemely wide!  I don't want to be a dolly in a cushion!

Lillian : Ahem - let's get back to telling the people about Le Petit Trianon.
Audrey : Yes dear, do you remember this little carriage?  I don't think a lady wearing a wide dress would fit in it!

Lillian : It was tiny and very pretty (and in a glass case).  I think it was meant for children to ride in - pulled along by a goat perhaps.
 
Audrey : I think the people who lived there must have had very stwange lives!  Remember the gardening tools?  They were theatrical props but they were just too pwetty, all those ribbons would get all dirty ...


Lillian : Well even the theatre was very different then, they weren't trying to be realistic. 



Audrey : And the kitchen which is so enormous - it turns out that it was just a "Warming Room" for re-heating the food to be served to the very important people.

Lillian : It is wonderfully large and the fireplace is huge - our Tour Manager inspected the wonderful chimney.

Audrey : tee hee looks like he is expecting Santa any minute !

Lillian : You are in a naughty mood today Audrey.  There were enormous fireplaces upstairs in the grand rooms too - this one is made of purple breccia marble.  

 

Lillian :  That is in the "Living Room" or Salon - the damask fabrics are from Lyon

Audrey : Where we went later on.

Lillian : Yes, and there is an elegant harpsichord (or perhaps it's a clavichord) and a beautiful harp.  The harp has pedals ... single action I think which would mean it was from the correct period.

 

  

Audrey : This is the Bedchamber all very sweet and feminine.  I like the gold tulips.

Lillian : In the main palace the decor is very grand but in Le Petit Trianon everything is quite delicate - pastel colours and yes, feminine.  This is a boiserie - on the wall of the "Cabinet of Movable Mirrors" or  Boudoir.  The movable mirrors are quite fascinating.

Audrey : This is one of the wonderful windows on the ground floor.  Shall we show the people Marie-Antionette's hamlet next time?

Lillian : Yes, we both loved the hamlet.