Bulletin du Centre de Recherche du Château de Versailles (Mar 2006)
« Nottes sur le voyage de M. le comte et de Mme la comtesse du Nord en France au mois de may 1782 »
Abstract
During their visit to France in 1782, the “count” and the “countess of the North” (Grand Duke Paul of Russia and his wife Maria Feodorovna) were lavishly received and entertained by the royal family, as well as by the princes of the blood and the great dignitaries of the court. The major events (ceremonies, celebrations and performances) that took place at Versailles on the occasion of their visit are reported in “Nottes sur le voyage de M. le comte et de Mme la comtesse du Nord en France au mois de may 1782” (Paris, Archives nationales, K 161 nº 221, fol. 1r-13v). This text contains detailed descriptions of the grand ball of 8 June and the walk in the company of the king and the queen of France at Marly on 15 June 1782. The attention of the “Nottes …” author is primarily focused on the contacts that the Russian travellers established with the Duke of Penthièvre and the members of his family. Eager to note every detail of the visit’s courtly protocol, the author provides us with a perfect illustration of the system of the exchange of notes and private visits, such as the walk, refreshments at Sceaux or the visit the Duke of Penthièvre paid to the ducal couple in the Parisian mansion of the Russian ambassador, the Count of Bariatinsky. The manuscript’s documentary value is accentuated by the invaluable testimony about a dinner in the Princesse de Lamballe’s apartments after the grand ball on 8 June, as well as by the fact that this text is the only one known that allows us to follow step by step the process of arranging the meeting between the “illustrious travellers” and the Princess of Conti shortly before their departure from Paris.
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