4 Chapter 3 Trying to Fit In

Chapter 3 Trying to Fit In The palace at Versailles was beyond fancy. It was richly decorated with gold and marble, mirrors, and thousands of arched windows. Paintings on the ceilings and the walls, sculptures, and tapestries adorned the rooms and hallways.

The gardens were equally fancy. A large body of water, called the Grand Canal, covered just a small part of the two-thousand-acre grounds. Throughout French history, the monarch and his family had lived in Paris, France's capital city. The city palace was called the Tuileries (TWEE-luh-ree). But Louis XIV (the Fourteenth) built a new palace in the village of Versailles, about twelve miles away. He moved there in 1682. The palace was the home of the French royal family, as well as wealthy and important noble families. The palace at Versailles was also the seat of the French government. Every day, about ten thousand people walked its halls. Crowds visiting the palace could even buy souvenirs in the courtyard.

Marie Antoinette had her own rooms, including a room for guards, a room for public events, a room for her ladies-in-waiting, and a bedchamber. She was certainly used to royal life. But she was not used to being on constant display as the future queen. She had to respect the rules and customs of the French court. And there were lots of rules. French royalty followed guidelines about how to speak to people, how to dress, and how to eat.

Each day followed a strict schedule. Marie Antoinette woke between nine and ten. Most mornings, she ate breakfast while taking a bath, wearing a flannel dress for modesty while in the water. Then she got dressed. This was called the lever (luh-VAY), which means "to get up." The

lever was like a tourist attraction. Both men and women would come into her room to watch her get ready—not just nobles, but common people, too, as long as they were dressed nicely enough. "I put on my rouge and wash my hands in front of the whole world," she wrote in a letter to her mother. The men would then leave, and Marie Antoinette's attendants would finish dressing her in front of her female audience.

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