French Friday and a Freebie!

Hello All
Welcome to French Friday, where I share something from my recent trip to Paris. I have adored all things French for a while now and going to Paris was a real dream of mine. The trip went very well, and my husband and I had a terrific time.

Today I want to share about Marie Antoinette and her Petite Trianon. Her first home away from Versailles. It is not that far from Versailles actually, about a 15 or 20 minute walk.

After visiting the palace, we began walking the enormous grounds behind it. There are gardens and pools almost as far as the eye can see. We came upon the Grand Trianon first, this was King Louis XIV recreational residence. Then we went to the Petite Trianon. It is built in the neoclassical style. It was the originally built by Louis XV for his...um..."special lady" Madame de Pompadour, but she did not live long enough to live in it, and Louis the XVI gave it to Marie as a wedding present. The key he gave her was on a ribbon with 531 diamonds (I wonder if the number was significant?). Marie decorated it in her her new home away from home in her own style. Here she could live more privately, more peacefully than in the palace. It is a much more intimate place than the huge gilded rooms of Versailles.

Walking into it is walking into a small palace. The first thing one sees is the enormous winding stairway, gilded with gold, heading to the second floor.
The rooms are small with very high ceilings. Some of the furnishings are original to Marie's time, most are not. But they have preserved it well and it is a beautiful place to walk through.

The beautiful staircase

The famous "M" on the balustrade of the second floor

Some of the dishes used in the Petite Trianon

The kitchen, which was fairly large. I couldn't help but imagine how it would look fitted for today. It is a lovely room.

This tunnel is behind the kitchen

Here are some garden tools. They are adorned with fancy ribbons

Gorgeous!

More Gorgeous!

The music room

The most exciting part to me was visiting Marie's bedroom and private sitting room.

I could hardly believe I was there, in the same room that Marie actually lived in, with furnishings that she herself used. It was truly unreal. I didn't want to leave. In fact, I went through the house, especially these rooms, three times! I think the security man was looking at me funny on the third time in Marie's room. Then again, it could happen a lot there.

Big grin on me!

What surprised me was how small her bedroom was. It was such a lovely room with sun pouring in the windows. But it was simply decorated and there were few furnishings. Her bed is small compared to her bed in Versailles. It looked like a plump twin size. But oh so cozy!

It wasn't easy to take photographs (no flash allowed), so we have only a few that turned out.

I had planned to spend two days at Versailles, but the truth was, I was exhausted from the one day. So we only did one full day. I am excited to think about the next time I visit there. There is a great deal of walking to be done. Next time I will know where to rent one of those golf carts!

Here is a lovely French Vintage Post Card that you can copy and use in your art.
(Please do not use it to sell copies of it in anyway). Thanks so much.

Now, if you have stayed with me through this extremely long post....I have another giveaway to tell you about!

This is a Limoges tea cup and saucer, made in France. It is my next giveaway!
Limoges makes such delicate cups, and this dainty cup will be one of yours soon. This photo makes it just a tad brighter than it is, but it is really a lovely cup! I have still have two for myself!

Please state in your comment if you would like to be included in this giveaway and I will put your name in the hat. The giveaway will take place two weeks from today.
I wish I had a cup for everyone of you. I appreciate all your super kind comments! I appreciate that you take the time to stop by.

Thank you all so much for coming by today.
I hope you enjoyed our little visit to the Petite Trianon.

Hugs,
Terri

As a side note: Two women in 1909 said they were at the Petite Trianon and slipped through time, saw Marie and others of that time and then returned.
They wrote a book about their experience called "An Adventure". Follow this link to Wikipedia where you can read more about it.