Sumptuosity

The Hôtel de Soubise is in the Marais district of Paris and its construction in 1704 was supposedly financed by Louis XIV in gratitude towards the Princess of Soubise, who yielded to his advances - but you'd better ask Mme de Sévigny for further details.


The National Archives of France are housed here and these include such treasures as the personal letters and diaries of the Kings and Queens of France, the Last Wills and Testaments of Louis XIV and Napoleon and the Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen.
These fascinating documents are sometimes on display here and this week we saw letters and dinner-seating plans, secret notes in invisible ink (now revealed) and diaries , all relating to Marie-Antoinette. We saw her gazette (scroll down to page 3), which was a large book containing small patches of patterned silk fabrics of which her gowns were made. As the Queen changed her dress three times a day (don't we all), each morning she would mark her choice of gowns by inserting a pin in the page alongside the fabrics she would wear that day. The silks were of the finest thread count and most delicate shades. Her profligate spending resulted in her being nicknamed Mme Déficit.


As well as hosting exhibitions of documents, the Hôtel with its sumptuous décor is also used as a venue for musical and literary recitals.