_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.