Le Petit Trianon, Versailles

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During my recent stay at Airelles, Le Grand Contrôle, another out of hours tour I had the privilege of enjoying was of Le Petit Trianon (literally ‘the small villa’).

In 1758, Louis XV decided to build a new palace in the middle of his gardens for his long term mistress Madame de Pompadour, and Le Petit Trianon was completed 10 years later. However, she died before it was completed, and in fact Louis XV himself died in 1774 shortly afterwards.

Le Petit Trianon

That meant the new King, Louis XVI came in to power and he gifted Le Petit Trianon to his wife, Marie-Antoinette. She quickly made it her own and ordered an extensive redesign of the external areas, and continuously developed the house inside to put her stamp on it.

The house is split in to three floors. Entering the house on to the ground floor via the Honour Courtyard, visitors are greeted with a sweeping atrium housing the honour staircase. Whilst much more understated than the opulent King’s Apartments within the main Palace of Versailles, the entrance is still beautifully and tastefully done. The atrium is made from marble and stone, and the banister bears the monogram of Marie-Antoinette.

On the ground floor, you can find the Billiard’s Room, Warming up Room (to heat food brought over from the kitchens), and the Silverware Room. Marie-Antoinette actually closed down the use of the Warming Up Room as she didn’t like the smells, and despite preferring private dining, she of course still had multiple luxury silverware sets which are now on display.

The first floor of the house is home to the rooms that would entertain visitors. The first room is the Buffet’s Room, which houses “Marie-Antoinette with a Rose”, probably the most famous portrait of the Queen. The Buffet’s Room opens in to the Dining Rooms which are decorated in wood and could host up to 50 people.

The Dining Room

From the dining room, the next room is the Reception Room, the most opulent of all the rooms in the house but still understated compared to the main Palace. It hosts a harp and a piano, reflective of what Marie-Antoinette enjoyed playing.

The Reception Room

Off of the Reception Room is Marie-Antoinette’s private bedroom, which is decorated with sculpted wheat sheaves tied with ribbons, ivy and jasmine, lily of the valley and pine cones, representing the four seasons.

On to the third and final floor, known as ‘The Attics’, and the first room you enter is The King’s Bedchamber, decorated in reds. Whilst the King is unlikely to have stayed overnight at Le Petit Trianon as he preferred to sleep in the Palace proper, he of course still had to have a room! Not only did he have a bedroom, but also a study as well.

Finally, the last few rooms in The Attics are dedicated to the women who would have stayed in them. Firstly, there is Madame Elisabeth’s bedroom – she was the sister of Louis XVI, and often stayed at the house in place of her brother. There are also multiple other rooms where Marie-Antionette’s ladies in waiting would have stayed. It was here we were told the story of one of her ladies, who was arrested as part of the French Revolution, having her head cut off with a hand knife. It took hours and of course would be unimaginably horrific. Her head was then paraded around as a show as to what was to come for those aligned to the Monarchy.

Madame Elisabeth’s room

In 1791, the French Revolution swept through the country and the French Monarchy was toppled making Louis XVI and Marie-Antoniette the last King and Queen of France. Marie-Antoinette, from around 1789, was instrumental in trying to ensure the survival of the Monarchy so undoubtedly lots of her fears, hopes and plans would have been considered within the walls of Le Petit Trianon.

Marie Antoinette was ultimately tried by the Revolutionary Tribunal on 14 October 1793. Some historians believe the outcome of the trial had been decided in advance, and she and her lawyers were given less than one day to prepare her defense. Among the accusations against her: orchestrating orgies in Versailles, sending millions of treasury money to Austria (her country of birth), planning the massacre of the French National Guards in 1792, and incest – a charge made by her son Louis Charles, pressured into doing so (he was 8 and taken away from his mother whilst she was imprisoned to be turned against her).

Standing where Marie-Antoinette once would have walked

Throughout her life, she was often branded a ‘harlot’, with multiple claims of affairs, labelled a ‘Royal Dildo’ and even of having orgies and lesbian affairs with all sorts of people. There is no evidence to support any of these accusations. She was also often judged for the fact she was foreign, having been born in to the Austrian royal family and often referred to in France as ‘that Austrian woman’, or a spy. Ultimately the court of public opinion found her guilty, and she was executed via the guillotine.

Marie-Antionette was undoubtedly a woman who liked the finer things in life, and of course she spent money in a way which was offensive to a public who were largely living in poverty. However, she was also sent away from home to another country to be married at 14, was Queen by 18 and a mother shortly after, and had lost 2 children before she was 30. She was constantly judged for being foreign and for being a woman. I can’t even imagine the terror she lived through before being publicly executed at 37, and ultimately I couldn’t help but feel for Marie-Antoinette.

Le Petit Trianon’s gardens

I’m in no position to pass judgement on the French Monarchy in the 18th Century of course, but at least she got to live in this nice house while she was alive. What do you think of Le Petit Trianon and Marie-Antoinette? I hope you enjoyed the tour – stay safe and happy travelling!

28 responses to “Le Petit Trianon, Versailles”

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  2. Gorgeous! How wonderful it is to walk along the same corridors that Marie-Antoinette once did. I don’t recall visiting le Petit Trianon despite visiting Versailles twice, but it’s on my radar for a return trip! Thanks for sharing your time there, Han. 🙂

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    1. It was really special to explore the house and learn more about Marie-Antionette. I learned a lot 🙂

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  3. Le Petit Trianon is beautiful and far more live-able than the Palace of Versailles. I’ve always felt quite sorry for Marie-Antoinette and felt that as a foreigner, she was made the scapegoat for all the excesses of the French court.

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    1. I agree, it’s definitely more of a ‘home’ (well, when you’re Royalty anyways). I agree completely, I really felt for her learning more about her story. Thanks so much for stopping by 🙂

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  4. Interesting history, but horrific what happened to her lady in waiting. Gruesome. Still, fascinating stories abound when the curtain is pulled back on history.

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    1. Totally gruesome, definitely made me wince as the guide was talking about it!!

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  5. Thanks for sharing this history and these beautiful photos of Le Petit Trianon. I’ve read the biography of Marie-Antoinette a few years ago and have always been fascinated by her story and her sad ending. It must be so interesting to visit this place!

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    1. Thanks so much Vanessa, I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂 Marie-Antoinette is definitely an interesting character, with such a story to tell!

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  6. I thought La Petit Trianon a beautiful building. As for Marie- Antoinette I have mixed feelings. I feel that if I were in France at the relevant time, I would have been a revolutionary. A monarchy is not a system which endears itself to me, but visiting the Conciergie in Paris and seeing the room in which she was imprisoned, I did feel some sympathy for her. History has not been kind to her, but she was a vulnerable child, and young woman, from a foreign country, and I believe that it is highly likely that she was a scapegoat.

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    1. I totally understand the mixed feelings. I think also looking back with so many hundreds of years gap, we can’t really know or even begin to understand the feeling or mood at the time. I imagine if I was living in abject poverty, I wouldn’t want a monarchy spending all that money either!! Thanks so much for reading and sharing your thoughts 🙂

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  7. Le Petit Trianon is certainly a beautiful place. We visited many years ago and I still remember much of the design. Your photos are stunning as usual. Like you, I do feel Marie-Antoinette was treated unfairly and judged harshly because of her foreign birth; particularly in the end when she taken away from her children, imprisoned and executed.

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    1. It’s a really lovely place, I’m very glad to have explored it and I learned a lot about the history which was fascinating.

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  8. “A palace in the middle of its gardens for its long-term mistress” … it seems to me that it was “rewarding” to be a “long term mistress” in the 1700s. In the end, I must admit that Marie-Antoinette had good taste (whatever is written about her and her way of life). Thanks for a piece of history from her that I didn’t know about at all.

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    1. Hahahaha, I know right?! I’m glad you enjoyed the history, I learned a lot from my visit too 🙂

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  9. I loved visiting these “smaller” palaces haha. It’s just incredible how much money went into everything on the grounds, but it’s all so beautiful!

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    1. Haha, I know what you mean. Still bigger than probably all of our houses put together, and then some! It is so beautiful though I agree.

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  10. Wow, you’re really onto something with the whole after hours tour thing. Beautiful!

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  11. What a lovely retreat house in the gardens of Versailles. And another incredible experience of having the place to yourself. I liked how you talked about the part of her story that is often overlooked and about how hard that must have been at such a young age to be thrown into that role.

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    1. Thanks Meg for taking the time to read and comment – I found the tour really interesting and learnt a lot about a period of history I wasn’t that well clued up on!

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Le Petit Trianon looks like a stately and elegant mansion, with wonderful historical features and grounds. You visit the most wonderful places, my dear friend Hannah ~ thanks for sharing! 🙂

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    1. Thanks so much Phil, you are too kind as always 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  13. What a treat to be able to take a tour of Le Petit Trianon whilst in Versailles Hannah.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. It was so very special, memories I will never forget 🙂

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  14. Sounds like you made the most of your stay by taking advantage of these after hours tours. Thanks for taking us along on the tour and for the history lesson.

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    1. Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and comment 🙂

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  15. This is a great post, and thanks for sharing. It brings back fond memories of when we visited the Palace of Versailles twice. The history is fascinating. Marie-Antoinette’s life story is interesting, but what happened to her was horrifying.

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Hi! My name is Hannah, I’m a travel blogger from the UK who fits travel around a full time (and full on) job. In this blog I share my adventures around the world and hopefully help you to find some inspiration for destinations, things to do or places to stay. Thanks for stopping by – stay safe and happy travelling.

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