King Louis XVI

[Sissi]

[Sissi]

you can see the tower named Louis XVI!!!!

[Sissi]

Marie Antoinette travel necessaire!

[bell_the_cat]

Actually I'm quite impressed with their speed. Especially  since they got off to a bad start (Marie Antoinette late etc.). They made it to Varennes in within one day. At least 70 horses were involved in the operation!

Last year I travelled the same route on the A4 motorway in a bus - It took almost as long, as we got stuck on the périphérique.

Though the coach was admittedly an odd colour, it was made to the highest specification which was why it could go so fast.  Coach times had improved dramatically during Louis' reign - in the 1770s it would have taken at least twice as long to reach Varennes.

[Sissi]

Interesting!!!!! the berline served as Diligence for a couple of years until it caught fire!

[bell_the_cat]

Interesting!!!!! the berline served as Diligence for a couple of years until it caught fire!

The Comte and Comtesse de Provence both escaped on that same day, though separately. They left Paris a few hours after Louis and Marie Antoinette. They chose a shorter route to the border, heading for Brussels.

I don't know why Louis and MA chose the route they did. It may be that they were hoping to be greeted by supporters at some stage, but in this they were sadly mistaken.

[ilyala]

i remember when i was little reading the countess of charny, by alexandre dumas. it said there that at some point the royal family could have chosen a more straight road, meaning they couldn't have been reached by anyone following, since they were going so fast. but they took a turn so the one following was able to shorten his road by taking a shortcut... any truth to this or is it just one of dumas' dramatical add-ons?

[Sissi]

Definetely The road they took was not the most fast or direct, besides they could have ride in two diferent carriage, I know they did not want to seperate but still it was the best thing to do! besides the Baronne de Korff said that she was going to Franckfort however the road they took was not leading to Franckfort, that was suspicious!

  It was a fiasco, I read that also Louis XVI stretch his legs a couple of times even when as far as to talk with peasants, I think they took it as a promenade!!!!

   

[ilyala]

what were they thinking? why didn't they take the shorter way?  

[bell_the_cat]

what were they thinking? why didn't they take the shorter way?  

There is a good map of the route on this site:

http://www.museelouisxvii.com/depVar.htm

It says it was the King's decision not to take the shorter route - he was reluctant to travel through Rheims. as he was afraid that the people there would remember his face from the coronation (16 years previously).

[Sissi]

Thanks bell the cat really good resume on their escape!
  I really don`t know what they were thinking, I did not know that Madame Elisabeth was in the same coach as the family! It is amazing!!!! they were 6 in the berline! they should have travel in seperate small cariages! maids!!!!! what was the point of having maids!!!! in the middle of an escape!! they should have take Fersen or another man of action!  

  Reading the link you post, it was bound to fail, there was a superficial organization, they wer preocupy with nonsense and disregarded the REAL important aspect if the flight!
   

[Ortino]

Thanks bell the cat really good resume on their escape!
   I really don`t know what they were thinking, I did not know that Madame Elisabeth was in the same coach as the family! It is amazing!!!! they were 6 in the berline! they should have travel in seperate small cariages! maids!!!!! what was the point of having maids!!!! in the middle of an escape!! they should have take Fersen or another man of action!  

   Reading the link you post, it was bound to fail, there was a superficial organization, they wer preocupy with nonsense and disregarded the REAL important aspect if the flight!
    

Fersen was with the royal family on the first stage of the journey out of Paris, but he should have probably been allowed to accompany them further. Fraser states that the most probable reason that Louis did not allow him to go further was that he was a foreigner, and even though he was a French military commander, the king didn't want any "foreign taint" touching his and his family's escape to Montmedy.

[coquelicot]

Romantic people have rather think that the king refused his wife's lover !   But, let's take it seriously !   I agree with you Fraser must be right. It's a logical reason, for Louis left a note saying he wasn't about to leave France. He was very upset about that...

[ilyala]

why didn't they go to verdun? why varennes?

[coquelicot]

Actually, they were going to Montmédy, a place-forte (a military place) near austrian border. Varennes was just on their way, and they were stopped there under these awful circumstances we know...