Facelift at Marie Antoinette's private palace

PARIS ATTRACTION:MARIE ANTOINETTE'S private palace on the grounds of Versailles, the Petit Trianon, reopened to the public on Thursday after a year-long refurbishment costing €5.3 million.

The Petit Trianon was built by Louis XV's leading architect, Ange-Jacques Gabriel, between 1762 and 1768. It was to have been a gift for Madame de Pompadour, the king's mistress, but she died in 1764, and it was instead inhabited by her successor, Madame du Barry.

When Louis XVI was crowned, in 1774, at the age of 20, he gave the palace to his 19-year-old Austrian bride, Marie Antoinette. The queen was absolute sovereign in the Petit Trianon, and no one, not even the king, could visit unless invited by her. To preserve her privacy she installed a system of mirrors and sculpted wood panels moved by pulleys to cover the windows of her boudoir.

Marie Antoinette also transformed the grounds of the Petit Trianon into English-style gardens, with a mock farming village called the Petit Hameau.

"On October 5th, 1789, Marie Antoinette was walking alone, deep in nostalgia," Pierre- André Lablaude, chief architect of French historic monuments, told a press conference announcing the reopening. "Then someone told her: 'The rioters are at the gates.' It was the last time she crossed the threshold of the Petit Trianon. Today we want the house to look as if Marie Antoinette had just left it."

For the first time, visitors will have access to every room in the palace, including the attic, which was reserved for the king and his guests. It was dilapidated before the renovation but is now restored.

Marie Antoinette had a weakness for timepieces, and the restoration was financed by Breguet, her clockmaker.

• Le Petit Trianon is open from Tuesday until Sunday, noon-5.30pm; last admissions 5pm.  www.chateauversailles.fr