Saturday, November 20, 2010

Salon of the Grand Couvert

Where the Royal Family dined in public. To quote Madame Delors:
The Salon of the Grand Couvert is part of the Queen’s Grand Apartment. Couvert means place setting in French, and this is the room where the royal couple took its formal dinners. The King and Queen sat on armchairs, facing the audience. Duchesses had the privilege of sitting on a row of stools arranged in a semi-circle a few feet in front of the table. Further away stood the rest of the courtiers and the public, for anyone decently dressed was admitted to the palace.
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1 comment:

lara77 said...

I saw photos recently of the restoration of the Queen's Grand Couvert. It is simply beautiful;though much of the original decor and furnishings are gone the curators still give you a splendid ensemble. I was amazed that the Louvre owns the King George III silver service. I would have thought that was part of the Queen's Royal Collection. The monarchs eating in public just proved how the French Monarchy "belonged" to the people. I personally would have agreed with Queen Marie Antoinette. THAT was a true invasion of privacy.