- Title: "It's a dream" - costumed guests go back centuries at Palace of Versailles
- Date: 28th May 2019
- Summary: 37-YEAR-OLD HAIRDRESSER FROM HOUSTON, UNITED STATES, CODY JEFFERIES, AND BEST FRIEND FANNING THEMSELVES (SOUNDBITE) (English) 37-YEAR-OLD GUEST AND HAIRDRESSER FROM HOUSTON, UNITED STATES, CODY JEFFERIES, SAYING: "And it's a dream. Where we're from, we're from Houston, Texas - we don't have a lot of events that cater to this style of clothing, so this was always a dream for us to come here, and we finally made it happen. It took a year's work of sewing to finally get there, but we got there." GUESTS DANCING ENTERTAINMENT DIRECTOR AT PALACE OF VERSAILLES, LAURENT BRUNNER, APPROACHING GUESTS PLAYING BILLIARDS (SOUNDBITE) (French) ENTERTAINMENT DIRECTOR AT PALACE OF VERSAILLES, LAURENT BRUNNER, SAYING: "Since we started hosting these costumed parties, people come from all over the world, people who love costumes from the Far East, Russia, all over Europe, the United States, Australia. And they have the night of their dreams here, because there's no palace more beautiful than Versailles and we open up all the rooms in this palace for them, even the Hall of Mirrors where they get to dance, which is a kind of dream for them." GUESTS PARTICIPATING IN DANCE LESSON IN HALL OF MIRRORS (SOUNDBITE) (English) 50-YEAR-OLD GUEST AND BALLROOM DANCE INSTRUCTOR OF RUSSIAN ORIGIN LIVING IN UNITED STATES, OXANA AMMONS, SAYING: "Why do I come? Because last year I came first time, really enjoy it, and we decided I need to share with my friends this beautiful, beautiful event. It's unbelievable. It was enough of memory for (a) whole year." GILDED SCULPTURED PEDESTAL TABLES IN HALL OF MIRRORS GUESTS IN HALL OF MIRRORS SUNSET OVER VERSAILLES PALACE GARDENS VARIOUS OF PAINTING OF "MARIE ANTOINETTE AND HER CHILDREN" BY ELISABETH VIGEE-LEBRUN "QUEEN'S ROOM" WHERE MARIE-ANTOINETTE STAYED GUESTS ISABELLE AND MICHEL LAPEYRE WALKING THROUGH ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (French) 45-YEAR-OLD GUEST AND HOUSEWIFE, ISABELLE LAPEYRE, SAYING: "It's a way of discovering the clothes of the time. We really feel like we're living in that time." (SOUNDBITE) (French) 57-YEAR-OLD GUEST AND DIRECTOR OF RETAIL GROUP, MICHEL LAPEYRE, SAYING: "The 18th (century)." (SOUNDBITE) (French) 45-YEAR-OLD GUEST AND HOUSEWIFE, ISABELLE LAPEYRE, SAYING: "Of the 18th century, and people look so nice. It's really great to see people dressed in fine costumes. Everyone's playing a character, and I really like it." GUEST FROM ZARAGOZA, SPAIN, ANA CAROLINA DA SILVA, SITTING WITH FAN IN HAND (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GUEST FROM ZARAGOZA, SPAIN, ANA CAROLINA DA SILVA, SAYING: "I came because I like the 18th century and it's a celebration where we've come together in this idyllic place to have a unique and magical experience."
- Embargoed: 11th June 2019 03:21
- Keywords: Palace of Versailles Versailles castle costumes ball French royalty French history Marie Antoinette
- Location: VERSAILLES, FRANCE
- City: VERSAILLES, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA005AGTCNRT
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hundreds of guests donned soaring wigs and elaborate eighteenth century dress to indulge their royal fantasies at a ball at the Palace of Versailles on Monday, themed around one of its most infamous inhabitants - Marie-Antoinette.
Famed for her life of opulence and excess - the French Queen, one of France's most controversial and fashionable historical figures, met her end at the guillotine in 1793, executed for high treason by the revolutionaries who had deposed and killed her husband King Louis XVI.
Some 630 guests paid between 150 and 510 euros ($168 to $570) to attend, with the most expensive tickets granting access to the whole palace and a private concert in the queen's room. Baroque dance lessons and guided visits were part of the night's programme.
Among the many international visitors was 37-year-old hairdresser Cody Jefferies from Houston in the United States, who had wanted to come because of his love of French fashion and history.
"This was always a dream for us to come here, and we finally made it happen," said Jefferies, wearing a green tunic and cream waistcoat which he had sewn himself. He said he had taken him a year to make the costumes.
Guests could view the private chambers of Louis XIV and Marie-Antoinette, as well as areas usually closed to the public, such as the chapel and the apartments of Madame Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV.
"People come from all over the world... from the Far East, Russia, all over Europe, the United States, Australia. And they have the night of their dreams here, because there's no palace more beautiful than Versailles," said Laurent Brunner, director of the Palace of Versailles.
Brunner said foreign guests outnumbered locals for the first time this year, although there remains a coterie of French guests who return each year.
"We open up all the rooms in this palace for them, even the Hall of Mirrors where they get to dance, which is a kind of dream for them," he added.
The palace and gardens of Versailles, which served as a royal residence from 1682 to 1789, are one of France's most popular tourist destinations, with around 8 million people visiting each year.
(Production: Clotaire Achi, Jeevan Ravindran) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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