I am wondering if anyone else has heard stories probably invented by everyday folk about the attempt to get the royal family out of Paris.

When I was growing up, my father would tell me this story about the escape. The king loved nothing so much as well-prepared snails. The inn at Varennes was supposed to serve the most magnificent snails in the whole of France. Letting his tastebuds get the better of his logic, the king ordered that the entourage stop in Varennes so that he might sample this culinary delight. Everyone with him tried to convince him that they should continue, that they would be recognized, but the king threw caution to the wind. So it was at that tavern in Varennes that the royal family was indeed recognized and troops called in to capture the fugitive royals. Regardless, the king enjoyed his snail meal.

Now I don't know what truth if any other than Varennes there is to this, but it is an interesting way to depict the event.

Any others?

Interesting Marilys,
I know that the king and queen insisted on traveling with all the luxury that they could manage. A revolutionary had stopped the carriage as it was on on the outskirts of the town and heard a woman dressed as a servant issuing orders, when he asked for their papers he discovered their true identity.. I had never heard of them planning a stop to Varennes for snails... although... we cannot know exactly what the king and queen were thinking....

From the information I have researched upon the internet here are many mentions of the King stopping simply because he was hungry. Though I know nothing of whether it was snails or anything else. I do know a controversial tale of what happened to Marie Therese, Marie Antoinette's only surviving child, you can ask me about it if you like.

HI! There are posts about the "Dark Countess" legend elsewhere on this forum, if that is what you are referring to.....

Hi Therese, Could you direct me to where this "Dark Countess" legend is? I've never heard of it. Thanks!

I will. I hope it did not get deleted by accident....

For those who read French, there is a wonderful site about Mme Royale, made by a very erudite person !
http://madameroyale.free.fr/accueil.htm

http://www.marie-antoinette.org/forum/v ... c&start=15

Here is where we discussed it - somehow it got under the category of Louis-Charles. The "Dark Countess" or "Dunkelgrafin" legend claims that Marie-Therese-Charlotte was raped and impregnated in prison by a guard and thereafter exchanged with the "illegitimate daughter" of Louis XVI who took her place during the restoration and became the grumpy Duchesse d'Angouleme. The "REAL" Madame Royale lived in Germany as a prisoner of the masons.

My problems with this theory:

1. Louis XVI did not have an illegitimate daughter. Most scholars concur on that point.

2. There were too many people who knew little Madame Royale and who NEVER questioned that she and the Duchesse d'Angouleme were not one and the same person. Louis XVIII was perfectly capable of such trickery, but Artois, Angouleme and Berry were awful at keeping secrets, and such conniving was beyond them. Pauline de Bearn and her mother the former royal governess Madame de Tourzel had been close to Marie-Therese-Charlotte before and after the revolution. They would have known if an imposter had been put in their princess' place. There are other persons of high integrity, such as one of Madame Elisabeth's ladies Madame de Serent, who later waited upon the Duchesse d'Angouleme, not to mention numerous lesser retainers, who acknowledged her to be Madame Royale. Louis XVIII did not have enough money to buy the secrecy of so many people if a hoax was being perpetrated.

Thanks for posting this site, Pim; I was about to go looking for it. It has GREAT pictures!

And there is a forum too. We are invited to debate in any language !

I was just surfing that forum!! It looks very interesting!!

Thanks Therese!

I have never believed that myth. Its just too absured IMO
It is the same one that say Ernstine took Marie Therese's place right?

Yes, Rudy and that Ernestine was really Louis' illegitimate daughter.

the stories people make up