Letter 1
Dear mother and father,
I am writing to you to tell you all about the life here in Versailles, all the ceremonies every day and the specifics. I hope you are all fine because I know that our poor life is not easy. Don’t worry about me because I am fine here. I am now a servant in the palace and take care after the king.
My day starts at 7 o’clock when King Louis XIV wakes up. During his sleep there are people watching him sleep but it’s something I don’t do. I have to prepare the bath for him and help him bathe. After that I make his bed, choose proper clothes for him and then help him get dressed. Only more devoted people like me can help him dress. I want to say that he is very extravagant and has a lot of colourful robes with lace, shoes and extremely unusual style. I find him quite strange. He is very bossy and arrogant at times as well because we don’t know what he wants from us. When he gets dressed, he eats breakfast we make and it includes milk, fruits and meat. The king loves walking after he eats in the garden which is very beautiful with so many bushes, exotic and different flowers and trees. He always wants a company when he walks and rests in this wonderful place. Another thing that he loves is walking in the galleries with a lot of huge tapestries. I like them too and it’s my favourite time of the day when I accompany the king. At 11 o’clock he goes to his cabinet and holds council. On Sundays and Wednesdays is the Council of State, the other days are devoted to the Royal Council. My day work ends here. There are other servants who prepare lunch and dinner and take care after him the other part of the day.
Every day there are a lot of ceremonies here and a lot of people come. We prepare a lot of different dishes and serve them wine. They come here to have fun and dance all together. The king loves watching theatre and most of days there is a special performance for the king.
Being one of the king’s servants is not an easy task at all. He has a rather different taste in fashion and it is very hard working to create the perfect clothing. I can sew you know and I work with other people. We are all afraid sometimes that the king may not like what we do and get killed. Of course, there are interesting things we do here like attending a performance with the king, walking in the gardens and in the galleries. That is all I do here. Write me back and tell me how the others are. I will send you part of the gold the king gave me.
Lots of love,
Pavlina
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Letter 2
Dear mum and dad,
How are you? I hope you are fine. It has been a month since I came to Versailles and I thought I would write and tell you about the life here.
Versailles is a wealthy suburb of Paris, some 20 kilometers southwest of the French capital. The living conditions here differ depending on the position a person has in society. If you are a noble who is close to the king then you will live in splendor but if you are not that close to the monarch then you would have to make do with a one or two room apartment. Since I work here as a housekeeper I live in one of the small buildings outside of the palace.
Every morning I wake up and dress in my uniform. I then go to the palace where the kitchen is situated. When I arrive my subordinates are already working diligently while preparing breakfast for the king and the queen. When the food is ready I order some servants to serve it in the dining room. The same process repeats when it’s time for lunch and dinner.
In Versailles almost every day there is a celebration. The people in Versailles love having fun, especially the monarchs. Two weeks ago The Grand Canal was emptied of the water which was in it and wine was poured in the place of the water.
The clothing which people wear in Versailles is quite interesting. However, more interesting is the King’s personality and appearance. Louis XIV has not received much of an academic education, although he knows some Latin and modern languages. He is a handsome and athletic youth who has mastered fencing, dancing and riding. He has a high opinion of himself. However, he is also hard-working, spending many hours studying state papers.
I hope that the information I give you in this letter satisfies your curiosity about Versailles. I am very happy here. Write back soon.
Yours,
Magdalina
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Letter 3
Dear family,
How are you? Is everything OK? I am fine. Do not worry about me. I work now as a servant in the Palace of Versailles. In this letter I will tell you about the life here and to make sure that everything is more than good and despite the fatigue, I feel very good.
I am one of the chief servants of the King Louis XIV. He followed strict schedule, as did all the members of the Court. They all are regulated like a clockwork. At 7.30am the first servant wakes the King. Then the King was washed, combed and shaved and so every other day. He was dressed and breakfasted. Only the closest attend and only men. At 10.00am the King passes through the Hall of Mirrors. This was the moment when some people of the crowd were even able to speak to him briefly. In 1.00am the King dined alone in his bedchamber. In the afternoon he goes for a promenades in the gardens or he goes to hunt in the surrounding woodlands. At 6pm the King often let his son preside over the indoor entertainments. Meanwhile, he signed the many letters. In the evening Louis XIV dinner, sitting on the table, surrounded by members of the royal family. Later, he withdrew to his bedroom. And all this is repeated every day.
I get bored with this monotonous schedule of the King. Nevertheless, I am glad that I have the honor to work for King like him in his magnificent palace. The interesting part of the work here is that every day I have the opportunity such important royalty. Also, I am happy that I have the right to live in such a beautiful and cozy palace. Sometimes, I overwork much but I got used to and at that time I feel good. I can’t wait to see you. I am waiting for your replying to my letter. I miss you.
Your,
Magdalena
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Letter 4
Dear Mum and Dad,
Hi! How are you? I don’t have much time so I’ll be short. I’m writing to tell you about the life in Versailles. I work as a gardener with more than 100 other gardeners.
My work time is from 6 am to 9 pm in the spring and the summer and from 11 am to 4 pm in the autumn and the winter. The maintenance of the gardens requires a gigantic work. We need to work very hard because the queen is very strict. For example, if she see a flower or whatever in a bad condition, she punish the gardeners very cruelly, even sometimes they are being murdered. The gardens looks amazing with all this different types of flowers, all the bushes, trees, statues, fountains and the Great Canal. The view from the castle’s balcony is just magical.
Very interesting thing is the ceremonies. There are a lot of people, a rich variety of food and drinks, especially wine – it is the best. The king is very busy and i don’t see him often, but I see the queen every morning. She every day is with a different dress and she is very arogant and bossy all the time. Living here is a great experiance and it is fantastic.
Write back soon. I am looking forward to hearing all your news.
Love, Maria
Maria Kostova
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Letter 7
The Life in Versailles
Dear Mum and Dad, I’m writing to tell you how a day in Versailles passes and to describe the life here.
As you know I’m a maid and I have to keep the palace clean that’s why I don’t have enough free time to write to you especially when there are ceremonies and let me tell you that’s almost every day. The ceremonies here are luscious and the room where they are held in is made of gold. The food is very rich and delicious. Here the people mostly drink wine. Every now and then the canal behind the palace is filled not with water but with wine so people can just go there and drink as much as they want.
The Kind and the Queen are never alone they are always followed by their slaves. The Queen never wears the same clothes 2 days. There is even a rumor that everyday her tailors should make for her new dresses because if they don’t do that they will pay with their life. My job is much better than theirs because at least I wouldn’t be killed if I do something wrong. Except me there are also around 1000 other maids. Each of us has a different part of the palace to work on. My work starts at 7 o’clock and it ends at 12 o’clock. However, I have some breaks during the day too.
All in all, despite the fact that I have to work almost all day every day, the life in the palace is amazing and if I should work as a maid in order to live here then gladly. What about you? How’s the life going there? Hope to hear from you soon.
Lots of Love, Megi \
Миглена Кърлова
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Letter 8
Dear mother and father,
How are you? I am writing you to describe you my life and job here in Versailles.
First of all, Versailles is the most beautiful building I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Most of the rooms are covered with gold. Everything is made in a beautiful way. The palace is spacious too. My favourite place in Versailles is the Hall of Mirrors. The walls are covered with mirrors. There are big chandeliers and when the sun is shining the view is breathtaking I can’t describe it with suitable words.
My favourite parts of the year are when the King decides to make a costume ball in this Hall. All well-known people in France come and have fun in the colossal garden with enormous fountains which are full with red wine. As a result, people don’t have to come back to the palace for a cup of wine. I enjoy when there are events like this in the palace. However, most of the here is very boring.
Let me begin. Here I am working as a wigmaker of the Sun King. It is not very luxury job but it is not that bad as I thought. Every day is one and the same: at about 7:45 the Valet de Chambre wakes the king up with the words “Sir it’s time.” . At this moment I come with two new wigs for the King. After that he is being dressed; he has breakfast; he does his important things whit the courties. After all he dines alone, sitting at a table facing the windows then he goes to sleep. That repeats every day unless something interesting happens. My job here is very hard and stressful at times because every morning I have to give the King two new wigs for his day. Sometimes I have to be awake all night to do the wigs because often he wants something special on his fake hair. In fact, the previous wigmaker was killed because he showed the King only one wig and that way I became a wigmaker.
You may seen Louis XIV once or twice but I see him everyday. At first it was very weird because he is not as handsome as I thought. However, as the time was passing I get used to his appearance.
So, family this is from me by now. Don’t worry about me. I hope you are all healthy and happy. I miss you so much. I look forward for your reply.
Lots of love,
Miryana
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Letter 10
Dear Mother,
How are you? How is it in the suburbs of France? Is it still the same? Oh, how different is here in Versailles! The Queen allowed me to write you a letter within twenty minutes so I will have to be quick.
Living in the court is honestly really hard. You have to be completely devoted to your work or else you can lose your life. Working as a designer for Marie Antoinette is not an easy task. She definitely can not wear the same dress twice. That is why every day I have to draw the perfect sketch of her dress and send it to the sewers. Our Queen is very capricious so yes, it is hard to make her the toilette that she wants, but I think that she trusts me.
I dare to say thet I live the life of a noble lady. Because of my work I even have my own apartment with 5 rooms all of which are beautifully decorated with expensive furniture and gold. Although I have never been to the King’s bedroom, I know that everything there is made of gold. Gold threads are used even for the cushions and the curtains. It is said to be the most expensive room in the castle but I spend most of my time in Marie Antoinette’s room and I think that her room is the most luxurious and extravagant of all! As for the other rooms and halls, all of them are just perfect. One of the most magnificent is the main hall in which different kinds of ceremonies and balls are held every day. Those are the times when all aristocrats come and I am given the opportunity to show my big rakish dresses!
The castle in Versailles is famous for its colorful gardens. Indeed, they are my and the Queen’s favourite place. Despite the hard work of the gardeners, they are often being punished if a single flower has faded. Even so, the gardens are one magical place.
At the end, life in Versailles is never dull. Every day here is a new challenge that you have to except, and if you manage to succeed, you will feel the luxury of the life here.
Well, that is it for now, Mother. I am really happy here and I hope that one day we will be able to live this life together. I’ve got to go now because the Queen needs my advice. You should be proud of your daughter!
Yours,
Rose Bertin
Елена Джолева
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Letter 11
Dear family,
Hi ! How are you ? I am fine. I am writing to tell you a good news. I began a job in the most famous place – Palace of Versailles. I could not believe, it had got so many people for the position and they want me ! I am first assistant on Marie Antoinette, the wife of Louis XIV ( Sun King ). The work is not easy but I deal with it.
The life here is so different from our. I think I am in a fairy tale. All buildings are made of marble. The whole King’s room is covered in real gold. In the palace has got a lot of halls and rooms that for one day you can’t see. I am here from one week and see only four rooms. The rooms on Queen and King, Hall of Mirrors and a big kitchen. The decoration of each of them is different and original. There are fantastic frescoes. I don’t know who can so perfectly to carved the wood. He/ She should be the best master.
The biggest impression made me a Hall of Mirrors and a huge Gardens of Versailles. The Hall of Mirrors is very long, wide and high with 27 glass chandeliers. It has 17 tall windows that let in light and reflects 17 huge mirrors. The gardens can’t describe in words. It has got so much and thousands flowers with different colours. These 2 places I can watch all day and it will not be boring.
A little information about the Queen. Every morning when she wake up I greet her with “ Good morning “. All night I stay beside her and watch if she want something I give on a moment. Then, I am so tired but I already got used. She changes her lavish outfits and accessories on every one hour. She has got over 370 dresses for a year. Yes, I think that this is little crazy. Queen Marie is very kind and not arrogant with her helpers. You haven’t believe me if you don’t see with your eyes.
Dear mum and dad, You already know where I work and who my bosses are. That is it for now . I hope you read this letter with great interest. Please write back soon. Miss you so much.
Lots of love, Vyara
Вяра Чилева
