Marie Antoinette

Hi Tammy — when is your tour? There is a nice exhibit on Marie Antoinette right now at the Conciergerie, where she spent her last days before her execution. It runs through January 26 according to the museum’s website. My friend and I went a couple of weeks ago and loved it!

Also, notice to anyone who goes — do pay the extra 5€ for the “Histopad” — an iPad Mini that the Conciergerie staff has loaded up with virtual reality views of various spots in the Conciergerie — including Marie Antoinette’s cell, which is now a chapel — as they would have appeared in historical times. (English is of course one of the options on the iPad.) It’s very well done and a lot of fun.

The exhibition itself is only 9€.

Tammy,
I’m excited for you, this is a wonderful tour. Paris and the Heart of France was my first RS tour. I’m preparing to leave in 10 days for my 7th - Munich Salzburg Vienna.

When is your departure date? I think spring would be nice especially for Giverny. One of my favorite places!
Enjoy the anticipation!

Be sure to visit Versailles because in the palace garden there is a small village that Marie Antoinette had built so she and her ladies in waiting could go and spend a day away from court life and live like a "commoner" for a day. The village has a working small farm with animals and mill with water wheel, a lake and several cottages. I would guess that the majority of people who visit Versailles never go there or even know about it.

Ooh, Tammy, please take the time to visit the Conciergerie if you can? So many tourists do Sainte-Chapelle but skip this very old (it was around long before Ms. Marie) and very important piece of Paris' history that's virtually next door. I haven't seen the exhibit Kim mentioned (darn!) but certainly would if we were in town! Anyway, if do a little bit of reading about it even if you can't find the time to go?

I recommend to everyone who will listen to do what you're doing and learn about people and history of the region as part of your pre-trip planning. It can add so much to the value of what you're seeing. I'm going to have to remember that series for our next trip to France.

Her tomb/memorial is at St. Denis; people rub her bare bosom for luck or whatever so it is shiny with touching. St. Denis is where French kings were buried although they were ripped from their tombs and trashed during the revolution -- but the tombs were preserved and are amazing -- IMHO this is the most overlooked fabulous tourist site in Paris (just over the line but on the 13 metro).

Thanks everyone! Our tour is at the end of April, I booked that time hoping it would be peak flower blooming time at Giverny and also, hoping it’s not too warm yet. The program talked about the Conciergie, so bummed I will miss the exhibit on her.

Did you watch the movie about Marie with Kirsten Dunst playing her? I must admit that I am absolutely crazy about that movie, somewhat offbeat with the modern songs mixed with period music, but it was filmed at Versailles and it is just delightful. Thanks to the movie I made a point to head out to the Hamlet area when I visited Versailles, actually enjoyed it far more than the palace...it was a cold rainy day and I had it all to myself.

@Christa-thanks! I’m going to look into watching that movie!

In any event, Tammy, you can still visit the Conciergerie when you are here !

I agree with Kim and Kathy on visiting the Concergerie. You'll get a 2-day Paris Museum Pass as part of your tour so you can buzz by there on some of your free time since this is one of the covered sights for the pass. This site does not take a lot of time to visit. Maybe an hour or a bit less, plus there are bathrooms inside.

IF you are able to add days either before or after you could consider doing Basilica of Saint-Denis and Versailles. Versailles takes me a full day (the Hamlet is my favorite part). The Basilica is up in the northern part of Paris so takes a while to get to on the Metro so I usually figure a half a day for going/coming plus the visit there.

Better yet, add the Best of Paris trip before or after, lol, just so you can get all these other sights in! (Just kidding! I know you're still working....and have kiddos at home).

Even without the special exhibit on Marie Antoinette the conciergerie was very interesting to visit. In addition to the building itself, you will still see the cell where she was held before her execution. There's also a plaque listing the names of all those who were guillotined during the revolution. I found it well worth seeing.

Tammy, Ms. Antoinette is also not the only interesting Marie to read up on! Do a little background reading on Marie de' Medici? She was sort of a pill; a meddler and schemer that had her own son, Louis XIII, booting her out of France. As I believe you are planing a trip to Italy, there is an interesting connection with this Queen of France. Take spin through Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris and get a look at Palais du Luxembourg? This Marie had it built to resemble the Pitti Palace in Florence, where she was born and raised. It has undergone numerous enlargements and functional changes (it's now home to the French Senate) since her time but you can still see the fingerprint of the Pitti in the exterior of the current structure.

https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71365/Senat-Palais-du-Luxembourg

She also had her not-so-terribly-illustrious life chronicled in 24 paintings dabbled by that master of pink fleshiness, Peter Paul Rubens, with which to decorate that palace. Mr. Rubens was an apt choice as Marie's physique was reported to be, er, Rubenesque at best. The "Marie de' Medici Cycle" now resides at the Louvre.

Last June I visited Château de Breteuil once home to Louis Auguste de Breteuil, the last Prime Minister of the Bourbon Monarchy and appointed just a few days before the storming of the Bastille. He belonged to the inner circle of the Royal Family and was involved in the Affair of the Diamond Necklage that played an important role in the downfal of Marie Antoinette.

The château is located some 30km south of Versailles and a replica of the necklace is on display there. Not the most exciting of all châteaux from the outside, but packed with a whole lot of history and for that certainly worth a visit.