Marie Antoinette arrived at the court of Versailles in May 1770. The young Austrian archduchess left her family and Vienna behind for the life of the Dauphine and future queen of France. For three years she only left Versailles to go to Château de Saint-Cloud, but longed to spend a day in the city of love. Very close with Louis XV who adored her was an easy target and after constant urging she finally wore him down. The royal family couldn’t just pop into Paris, it had to be organized and they needed to arrive with great fanfare on June 8, 1773.
The people of Paris hadn’t seen the Austrian beauty yet outside of portraits in pamphlets. Paris was abuzz with the news and couldn’t wait for her arrival. However, Marie Antoinette could hardly stand it and couldn’t wait to get there. A few days before she was able to convince her husband, Louis XVI and his brother that they sneak out of Versailles and go to a masked ball at the Paris Opera.
The party loving Marie loved it, Louis XVI would rather be at home playing with locks but he was still a good sport. It was at this party that she would meet a handsome Swedish count Axel von Fersen, the man who would become theThe people of Paris hadn’t seen the Austrian beauty yet outside of portraits in pamphlets. Paris was abuzz with the news and couldn’t wait for her arrival. However, Marie Antoinette could hardly stand it and couldn’t wait to get there. A few days before she was able to convince her husband, Louis XVI and his brother that they sneak out of Versailles and go to a masked ball at the Paris Opera.
The party loving Marie loved it, Louis XVI would rather be at home playing with locks but he was still a good sport. It was at this party that she would meet a handsome Swedish count Axel von Fersen, the man who would become the love of her life and would try to save her from her final demise. love of her life and would try to save her from her final demise.
She would dance the night away until the wee hours arriving back to Versailles just in time for them to sneak into mass. The king was never the wiser. On June 8, as the royal carriages arrived onto the Parisian streets the cheering crowd for the Joyeuse Entrée. It was quite the reception for the dauphine who loved every second of it. Cries of Vive le Dauphine filled the streets. Louis Hercule de Cossé, duc de Brissac and military governor of Paris greeted them upon their arrival. Arriving at the Palais des Tuileries to a crowd of thousands of people, the young couple stood on the balcony. Meeting Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI he reportedly said “Madame, they are 200,000 of your lovers”. Sixteen years later, they would call her again to a balcony, this time wanting her death.
*the opera they attended has burnt down, but the Palais Garnier is still beautiful to imagine.
