The journey of the Duchess of Berry in the south of France, in 1829,
was scarcely less triumphant than that she had made in the Vendee the
year before. The object of the Princess was to meet her family of the
Two Sicilies, which was traversing the kingdom on the way from Italy to
Spain, to escort to Madrid the young Marie-Christine, who was about to
espouse King Ferdinand VII.--his fourth wife.
Born October 13, 1784, King since March 19, 1808, Ferdinand VII. had
married, first, Marie Antoinette, Princess of the Two Sicilies; second,
Isabelle-Marie Francoise, Princess of Portugal; third,
Marie-Josephe-Amelie, Princess of Saxony. He had chosen for his fourth
wife, Marie-Christine, Princess of the Two Sicilies, born April 27,
1806. Sister of the father of the Duchess of Berry, Marie-Christine was
the daughter of Francois I., King of the Two Sicilies, and his second
wife, the Infanta of Spain, Marie-Isabelle, born October 13, 1784, and
sister of Ferdinand II. The King of the Two Sicilies was escorting his
daughter, Marie-Christine, to the King of Spain, where she was to marry
at Madrid the 11th of December, 1829. Ferdinand VII. had a brother, the
Infante Francois de Paule, born March 10, 1784, who had espoused a
princess of the Two Sicilies, Louise-Caroline-Marie Isabelle, born
October 24, 1804, sister of the Duchess of Berry. From this marriage
was born the Infante Don Francisco of d'Assisi, husband of Queen
Isabelle. The Infante and Infanta Francois de Paule traversed the south
of France, to meet the Bourbons of Naples. We may add that the Duchess
of Orleans, sister of King Francois I., aunt of Marie-Christine and of
the Duchess of Berry, went with her husband to the eastern frontier of
France to meet her relatives.
The Duchess of Berry, authorized by Charles X. to go to the south to
meet her father, her step-mother, and her sisters, left Saint Cloud,
October 10, 1829. The 17th, she was at Lyons, whither she promised to
return. At Valence, she found her step-brother and her sister, the
Infante and Infanta Francois de Paule, and returned with them to Lyons,
where, October 20, she was greeted by a great crowd, eager to look upon
her face. At the Grand Theatre Their Highnesses assisted at a
performance, in which the actor Bernard-Leon, Jr., played the part of
Poudret in Le Coiffeur et le Perruquier.
Their Highnesses quitted Lyons, October 23, visited the
Grande-Chartreuse the 24th, and were at Grenoble the 25th, where they
met the Bourbons of Naples, who arrived in that city the 31st, coming
from Chambery. The Duchess of Berry, the Infante and Infanta Francois
de Paule, the Duke and Duchess of Orleans, received them at their entry
into France. Everywhere, from the frontier to Grenoble, the Sicilian
Majesties were met by the authorities, the mayors, the clergy.
Triumphal arches were erected by various communes. The one constructed
by the Marquis de Marcieu, in the wood of the avenue of his Chateau of
Trouvet, was especially remarked. This arch formed three porticoes,
surmounted by the arms of France, Naples, and Spain. Above were these
words, "Love to all the Bourbons." The grand avenue of the chateau was
draped from one end to the other. Every tree bore a white flag.
Garlands of verdure, mingled with these flags, formed an arbor that
stretched as far as the eye could see. Thirty young girls, clad in
white, crowned with flowers, and holding little flags in their hands,
were ranged in two lines near the arch. They offered to the King of
Naples, to the Queen and the princesses, bouquets and baskets of
fruits. When the cortege arrived before Grenoble, the mayor said:
"Sire, the descendants of Louis XIV. have imprescriptible rights to our
respect, to our love. We can never forget their origin nor the
indissoluble bonds that bind them to our native land, and still less
the virtues and goodness that distinguish this illustrious dynasty." He
added: "Sire, the city of Grenoble deems itself happy in being the
first city of France to present to Your Majesties the homage of our
respects, and to thank you for the noble present you have made to our
land in the person of your illustrious daughter, Madame, Duchess of
Berry. May the future Queen of Spain long embellish the throne on which
she is about to take her seat, and reign over the hearts of her new
subjects as her heroic sister reigns over ours. Long live the King!
Forever live the Bourbons!"
The Duchess of Berry accompanied her relatives to the Pyrenees. The
journey was a long series of ovations. Marie-Christine, who was about
to ascend the throne of Spain, never ceased to admire the riches and
beauty of France. "Ah, my sister," said the Duchess of Berry to her,
"do not contemplate it too much. You would not be able to quit it!"
During the entire passage--at Valence, Avignon, Montpellier, Nimes--the
people rivalled the authorities in making the welcome as brilliant as
possible. Perpignan was reached the 10th of Novemher. The King and
Queen of Naples, the Duchess of Berry, and the future Queen of Spain,
journeyed together in an uncovered caleche. Madame accompanied her
relatives to the frontier at Perthus, where she bade them adieu, the
13th of November. The French troops from the foot of Bellegarde flanked
the right of the road. At the first salute fired from the fort, an
immense crowd of French and Spanish, who occupied the heights, greeted
with harmonious shouts the appearance of the royal carriage. On an arch
of triumph, erected on the Spanish side of the frontier, floated the
flags of the three peoples placed under the sceptre of the Bourbons.
That of France was in the middle and seemed to protect those of Spain
and Naples on either side. Thus was indicated the mother branch of the
three reigning families. The adieux were made with effusion. The
Duchess of Berry fell at the feet of her father, who hastened to raise
her and embrace her tenderly. The two sisters threw themselves into
each other's arms. Then they parted.
While the Bourbons of Naples were entering on the soil of Spain, the
Duchess of Berry returned to Perpignan. She left there the 14th, and
the ovations were renewed along the route. The 16th, she passed through
Montpellier, where she admired the promenade of the Peyrou, whence are
perceived the sea, the Pyrenees, and the Alps, and saw the foundations
prepared for an equestrian statue of Louis XIV. The 17th, at Tarascon,
she breakfasted with the Marquis de Gras-Preville, and was present at
the games instituted by good King Rene,--tambourine dances and the
races of the Tarasque. The 18th, at Arles, she visited the Cloister of
Saint Trophime, and the Roman circus. About eighteen thousand persons
were crowded on the ancient benches. The galleries resounded with
military music which, borne from echo to echo, spread beneath all the
arches. In the evening the entire city was illuminated. From a balcony,
the Princess assisted at a pegoulade, a sort of torchlight promenade of
five or six hundred young people, who bore pieces of tarred rope
lighted at one end. She desired to see again these bizarre and
picturesque effects of light, this joyous procession, this clamorous
animation, and she had the enthusiastic cortege file a second time
under her windows. The 21st, she visited the Roman theatre at Orange,
one of the most curious ruins of the world. The 23d, she passed again
through Lyons. The 28th, she was at the Tuileries for dinner.
The Duchess of Berry returned enchanted with her journey. Never had the
throne of the Bourbons seemed to her more solid, never were the
advantages of the family pact revealed in a more brilliant manner. The
Moniteur wrote: "The Princess Marie-Christine has heard her name
mingling in the air with that of her whose son is one day to be King of
France. Happy the new Queen, if her presence shall deliver Spain from
the factions that still divide it, and if, finding beyond the mountains
the same order, devotion, prosperity, as in our provinces, she can cry,
'There are no longer any Pyrenees.'"
The Duchess of Berry had not found the inclinations of the south less
royalist than that of La Vendee. Everywhere protestations were made to
her, verging on lyrism, on idolatry; the idea of suspecting such
demonstrations never crossed her mind. She persuaded herself that
France loved her as much as she loved France.