Marie Antoinette's refuge at Versailles reopens
VERSAILLES, France -- The Petit Trianon was Marie Antoinette's refuge, the mini-chateau where she escaped from queenly protocol and played at living a simpler life. Curators who oversaw its renovation have tried to recreate that intimate atmosphere.
The boxy neoclassical building on the grounds of the immense chateau at Versailles reopened Wednesday after a yearlong, $7.34 million renovation funded by Swiss watchmaker Breguet, which once made a timepiece for the queen...
Curators said they wanted to avoid a stuffy museum feel, making it seem as though the 18th-century French queen and her entourage had just stepped away for a moment.
Instead of glass cases to hold period china, for example, curators had cupboards rebuilt in keeping with period plans. They restored servants' quarters, giving a clearer idea of how royalty and their help would have interacted.
Read entire article at AP
The boxy neoclassical building on the grounds of the immense chateau at Versailles reopened Wednesday after a yearlong, $7.34 million renovation funded by Swiss watchmaker Breguet, which once made a timepiece for the queen...
Curators said they wanted to avoid a stuffy museum feel, making it seem as though the 18th-century French queen and her entourage had just stepped away for a moment.
Instead of glass cases to hold period china, for example, curators had cupboards rebuilt in keeping with period plans. They restored servants' quarters, giving a clearer idea of how royalty and their help would have interacted.