PALACE ROOMS—TRIANONS
July 3rd.—A very hot day. We went along with uncle Lancaster to see the inside of the palace. The first part we were shown into was the chapel. It is extremely beautiful and magnificent. We looked at it over the railing, which is marble and gold; the ceiling is painted, and the organ (though silver) is very light and pretty. We next entered the Salon d'Hercule. It is 64 feet long and 54 broad. It is entirely composed of beautiful marble; there is a great deal of painting and gold about the ceiling. The Salle de l'Attendance, Salle de Vénus, Salle de Diane, Salle de Mars, Salle de Mercure, etc., are all much alike, decorated with painting, gold, and marble. After passing through these splendid apartments several other large rooms appeared quite small. The King's library is not fine, nor the bedrooms of the King and Queen. There are some very curious glass closets in which one sees oneself reflected at the top, the bottom, and all sides, apparently without end. The Œil de Bœuf is a long room, but not very splendid. In it is a picture of Louis xiv. surrounded by his family; at the end is a round window like an ox's eye. There is a very plain dining-room, white, with small paintings, which, though nothing like the other rooms, I liked very much; it was quite a relief to my eyes after so much splendour. The Salle de la Guerre is a good deal painted and gilt; there are some very good imitations of bronze. From this you enter the Grande Galerie, which is 222 feet long, 32 broad, and 40 high. There are seventeen large windows, and as many mirrors opposite to them. These are separated by pillars of marble. On the ceiling is painted, in nine large pictures and eighteen small ones, the history of Louis xiv. From the windows of this gallery you have a good view of the gardens. When we were there they were repairing part of it. We passed from this to the Salon de la Paix and several other apartments. The Salle de l'Opéra is very large, and I dare say when it is lighted up it would look very fine; but I thought it far the least pretty of any of the rooms; it looked gone to ruin. The staircase in the palace is marble. The only piece of furniture in the whole palace is a small clock. I don't think I ever saw anything so unlike the residence of a king: there appears to be nothing but gold, marble, glass, and paintings. A man shows the rooms, to whom you give something; both times I was there it was full of people.
We went through the gardens to the Grand Trianon. The rooms are all on one floor. They look very different to the rooms of the other palace, but amusing in their way. We waited in a hall for the person to conduct us through the other apartments. In one of the rooms there is a beautiful inlaid table, round which are represented the signs of the zodiac; it was made by a pupil of Sicard who was deaf and dumb. The beds have plumes of white feathers at the top; they reminded us of hearses. Some of the chairs are very pretty tapestry worked in lilies, roses, and birds. There are also several tapestry pictures. There is a long gallery between the windows, in which there are a great many models of ships. There are also several statues and some curious little agate ornaments in it. In one room there is a beautiful green malachite-of-copper basin, and slabs of the same, given by the Emperor of Russia to Maria Louisa; the man who showed us the rooms did not seem to like to speak about it. In the same room there were some common, vulgar tongs, such as one would not see in a kitchen. There were gold arrows on the chimney-piece for lights, and very pretty lustres. I think the palace is a great deal more amusing than the other. After we had been through the rooms we got some cider and cakes at the place where we left our umbrellas. We did not see the gardens, which are said to be pretty.
When we were rested we went to the Petit Trianon. There is nothing at all to see in the rooms; it is like any small private house. The Queen's bed is gold muslin, and the walls of the room are covered with blue silk. The gardens are remarkably pretty; they are made in imitation of English gardens, designed by the unfortunate Marie Antoinette, and have none of the stiffness and formality of the other French gardens. At one part of the garden there is the figure of a Chinese holding an umbrella; it ought all to turn round like a swing. Near that is a small theatre, or rather music-room. There are little streams in different parts of the gardens, an artificial river, and a pond. After you cross a bridge with rocks at the sides, you enter a dark grotto, from which you go out by a staircase. There is a music-room and a temple and a tower; the man told us that the late Queen used to get on the top of the tower and sing. The pond scenery makes quite a pretty landscape; several willows overhang it, and three or four swans were swimming in it; at one side there is a farm-house, a dairy, and a mill. We were told that the Queen used sometimes to dress herself up like an English farmer's wife, and call herself Mrs. Browne; she used to stay at the farm, and her attendants used to dress up as her servants.
We returned home very much tired with the heat; in the evening there was rain, thunder and lightning.
MADAME VERNIER
July 6th.—As our house was very cold, and the stone floors were thought to be bad for Catherine, we took a house in the Rue Reservoir, which we this day went to; before we went, however, we had quite a battle with Madame Vernier. We warned her a fortnight before that we were going to quit the house; but it was at five in the afternoon, and she said we ought to have given her warning before twelve; she therefore charged us for another month. As mamma knew this was an imposition she was determined not to pay it. She sent for the proprietor of the house (who was very civil), and also for Madame Vernier. The proprietor talked to her a long time, but she would take no less; he then wanted Miss Wragge to go with her to the juge de paix, which of course she did not do. Madame Vernier had been a camp-follower: she was a great, fat woman with a voice like a man's. We heard of several tricks that she had played the English; she said that the French had payed plenty of contributions, and she was determined that the English should make up for it. Once when some people would not pay her what she asked for, she went round the house and picked out every scratch and hole, saying a franc for this, and so much for that, till she made up the sum she wanted. Another time she charged an unreasonable price to some people who were dining there (her husband was a restaurateur), and on their refusing to pay it she locked the gates and threatened to detain their trunks. As the gentleman was very lame, he was glad to pay what she required and get off, though they had bargained before for dinner at so much less per head! When mamma knew what a woman she was she determined not to pay her for the next month. Accordingly she sent for papa, who was at Paris, and papa and Dr. Murdoch (who had resided long in France and spoke French perfectly) went along with Madame Vernier to the juge de paix, who said she was wrong, and in case of her detaining our trunks gave papa the name of a huissier. Madame Vernier told the juge de paix that papa had attempted to strangle her, to which he replied that she looked more likely to strangle one of the garde de corps. She told him that he knew nothing at all about it, and came away in a great passion. She then got a relation of hers who was a lawyer's clerk (or something of the kind), and she brought him upstairs to convince us. The proprietor tried to persuade her to take the money; she, however, refused it; but when she found papa was determined not to give any more they all went downstairs, and after consulting a little while, she sent up to say she would take the money. After this contest she was, like a tamed lion, and was quite civil. We went to our house in the Rue Reservoir, which we did not find quite so comfortable as we had expected.
