The haunted Versailles

 

This is a fascinating ghost story, a documented event that is still a mystery to us 123 years later. It began in the year 1901 when two English women visited France. They both travelled to the gardens of Versailles after enjoying a nice trip to Paris. The two friends worked at St Hugh's College in Oxford as academics. Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain visited Paris and then planned to see the Grand Trianon, although they found it was closed, so they then decided to see the Petit Trianon.

Both women had a guidebook, although things started to look strange. They found themselves lost in a place without any signposts and appearing different to the map, which made them wander into a shadowy wooded area of the gardens. They noticed empty small buildings and people that seemed like "in a tableau vivant" or the scene was unnatural looking and almost dreamlike. Both women felt an intense emotion that was oppressive, perhaps like the sensation of being near a thunderstorm. It was heavy, and the atmosphere was depressing. They noticed a couple of gardeners but wearing old fashioned clothes including tricorn hats. They asked the men for directions and were told to walk straight ahead.  

Soon everything looked flat and two-dimensional; without any life, as if everything around them was a scene on a tapestry or a picture book. They continued walking, both feeling unnerved by the creepy change of surround. They passed an eerie looking man sitting in a garden kiosk staring at them, and he made them feel very nervous, until another man rushed over to them to rescue them. He warned them away from the kiosk, and directed them to a path, and then he was gone. The women said later of him that he wore buckled shoes, was red faced and dark eyed. 

The women crossed a small bridge that led to a garden lawn by the palace. There was a beautiful lady sat drawing a picture on a sketch pad. She was blonde and wearing an 18th century style dress, the lady made eye contact with Charlotte but this made her feel quite nervous. Later on, Charlotte said that she believes this lady was Marie Antoinette's ghost. 

Soon the two women arrived at the Petit Trianon. A cheerful footman appeared and showed them the door to the entrance. It was inside they found the place full of tourists and everything felt real again as though it returned to normal. The women were so disturbed by their experience at the gardens around the Petit Trianon that they recorded it all. This became known as the "Moberly-Jourdain Incident". Some put this down to a haunting of events before the French Revolution, where Marie Antoinette enjoyed staying. Others believe the two English women had a timeslip. However, sceptics and others believe that the women either hallucinated or came across people in costumes. Other explanations have been put forward to but still the subject is fascinating.

Shadow Girl