On August 10th, 1901, two professional educators, Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain, principle and vice principle respectively of St. Hugh's college, Oxford, visited Versailles. They reputedly experienced what is referred to as a "time slip". According to Wikipedia a time slip is defined as
"... an alleged paranormal phenomenon in which a person, or group of people, travel through time through supernatural (rather than technological) means. " Aspects of the phenomenon are described as..."Many time slip witnesses report that, at the start of their experience of the phenomena, their immediate surroundings take on an oddly flat, underlit and lifeless appearance, and normal sounds seem muffled. This is sometimes accompanied by feelings of depression and unease."
The story proceeds somewhat as follows: During the afternoon, after touring the palace, the pair set off for Petit Trianon. Though they had a map, it soon seemed that they had missed the path. As they wandered they discovered an old plow on the side of the road by a deserted farm house. According to her account, Miss Moberly began to feel an untoward depression which she didn't understand - the walk was pleasant even if they had apparently lost their way. In her words:
Miss Moberly saw a woman seated on a chair under the terrace; sketching. She wore a light summer dress and a large shady hat perched on a great amount of fair hair. Miss Moberly took her for a tourist though her costume was old fashioned. Their sense of gloom increased. In the words of Miss Moberly "Suddenly a footman came rushing out of the nearby building, slamming the door behind himself". He told them that the entrance to the Petit Trianon was on the other side of the building, which they proceeded to walk to. After touring the building, they had tea at a hotel and then returned to Paris.
We walked briskly forward, talking as before, but from the moment we left the lane an extraordinary depression had come over me, which, in spite of every effort to shake off, steadily deepened. There seemed to be absolutely no reason for it; I was not at all tired, and was becoming more interested in my surroundings. I was anxious that my companion should not discover the sudden gloom upon my spirits, which became quite overpowering on reaching the point where the path ended, being crossed by another, right and left…Everything suddenly looked unnatural, therefore unpleasant; even the trees behind the building seemed to have become flat and lifeless, like a wood worked in tapestry. There were no effects of light and shade, and no wind stirred the trees. It was all intensely still.Something wasn't right and her companion Miss Jourdain also began to feel in her words "a depression and a loneliness". As they wended their way they came across two men dressed in green coats with small tricorn hats whom they took for gardeners from their accoutrement of spade and wheelbarrow. They asked for help finding the petite manse and were directed to a path close by. After a further bit of confusion they came upon a gazebo. The sense of depression was even more pronounced. It was very still and they notice a man with a dark, pitted complexion, as if he had suffered from small pox - although small pox was virtually eliminated by vaccination in 1901 - leaning on a stile by the gazebo. Ms. Jourdain's mood moved from depression to fear as she looked at him and they hurried on their way. Just then another man ran up to them and indicated that they were going the wrong way. He spoke in rapid french and indicated they should proceed across a little bridge. They crossed the bridge and arrived at the rear of what they assumed to be the Petit Trianon.
Miss Moberly saw a woman seated on a chair under the terrace; sketching. She wore a light summer dress and a large shady hat perched on a great amount of fair hair. Miss Moberly took her for a tourist though her costume was old fashioned. Their sense of gloom increased. In the words of Miss Moberly "Suddenly a footman came rushing out of the nearby building, slamming the door behind himself". He told them that the entrance to the Petit Trianon was on the other side of the building, which they proceeded to walk to. After touring the building, they had tea at a hotel and then returned to Paris. Back in England, Miss Moberly happened to mention the sketching woman to Miss Jourdain, who declared she had not seen such a woman. They were intrigued by the mystery. How could one of them have seen this person and the other not? When they compared recollections they both remembered feeling a deep depression and a sense that something strange had happened, so they decided to each write an account of what they had seen and then compare notes.
It turned out that there were a number of figures whom Moberly had seen that Jourdain had not, but other details they agreed on. Upon further investigation they discovered that the day of their visit was the anniversary of the sacking of Versailles in 1792, which occurred during the early stages of the French Revolution.
Moberly came across a picture of Marie Antoinette drawn by the artist Werthmuller. To her astonishment it resembled the woman she had seen sketching near the Petit Trianon. Even the clothes were the same. This in addition to the coincidence of the date intrigued them. The two began to wonder if they had seen an apparition of Marie Antoinette, or perhaps somehow slipped a cog in time.
Jourdain returned to Versailles in 1902 and found that she was unable to retrace their steps - the grounds seemed altered. She made frequent trips between 1902 and 1904. Each time unable to find the gazebo and bridge she and her compantion had seen on their walk. In July 1904 they made a visit together. Not only could they not find these architectural elements, the grounds were crowded with people. This was quite different from their prior visit. Where had all their fellow tourists been on that occasion?
Misses Moberly and Jourdain decided that they had seen not the Petit Trianon of the present but the Trianon of over 100 years past. They concluded that Marie Antoinette's memory of the decisive date must have somehow lingered through the years, and that they had merely stumbled upon it. They felt that this explained the sensation of deep depression they both agreed they felt upon the occasion.
The two women approached the Society for Psychical Research with their concept that the Trianon was haunted. The Society declined to investigate. They then decided to conduct their own investigation and prove that they had seen the ghost of Marie Antoinette.
Their original accounts from 1901 were the basis for the investigation. Their argument being that they had accurately described the state of the grounds in 1789 when they had no knowledge of eighteenth century Versailles when the accounts were written - that it would have been impossible for them to have remembered such details unless what they had witnessed was a memory of 1789 that they had somehow stumbled into. The result was a book published in 1911 entitled An Adventure which they published under the pseudonyms of Miss Morrison and Miss Lamont. This is some of the evidence they presented.
* They had seen a plough, but on later trips they learned that no ploughs had been kept in the gardens of Versailles in 1901. However, an old plough had been displayed on the grounds in 1789.
* They had crossed a small bridge, but on later trips they could not locate this same bridge. However, they discovered that a bridge had existed there in 1789.
*There was no gazebo on the grounds of the Petit Trianon. However, the women discovered an old map that showed a gazebo-like building where they had seen one. It had been torn down long before 1901.
* They had seen two men in green coats. Neither the gardeners nor any other employees at Versailles wore green coats and tri-cornered hats in 1901. These men, they later learned, were wearing the uniform of Marie Antoinette's Swiss Guard.
* They had seen a sinister man, apparently suffering from small pox. This man exactly resembled Comte de Vaudreuil, an enemy of Marie Antoinette.
*The running man was a messenger sent to the Petit Trianon to warn Marie Antoinette that a mob of French citizens was headed to Versailles.
* They saw a footman rush out of a building and slam a door shut behind himself. However, this door was actually barred and bolted shut when they visited, and had been kept so for many years.
*Finally, the sketching lady herself could have been no one else but Marie Antoinette.
* They had seen a plough, but on later trips they learned that no ploughs had been kept in the gardens of Versailles in 1901. However, an old plough had been displayed on the grounds in 1789.
* They had crossed a small bridge, but on later trips they could not locate this same bridge. However, they discovered that a bridge had existed there in 1789.
*There was no gazebo on the grounds of the Petit Trianon. However, the women discovered an old map that showed a gazebo-like building where they had seen one. It had been torn down long before 1901.
* They had seen two men in green coats. Neither the gardeners nor any other employees at Versailles wore green coats and tri-cornered hats in 1901. These men, they later learned, were wearing the uniform of Marie Antoinette's Swiss Guard.
* They had seen a sinister man, apparently suffering from small pox. This man exactly resembled Comte de Vaudreuil, an enemy of Marie Antoinette.
*The running man was a messenger sent to the Petit Trianon to warn Marie Antoinette that a mob of French citizens was headed to Versailles.
* They saw a footman rush out of a building and slam a door shut behind himself. However, this door was actually barred and bolted shut when they visited, and had been kept so for many years.
*Finally, the sketching lady herself could have been no one else but Marie Antoinette.
An Adventure stirred a firestorm of public interest, selling 11,000 copies. It also attracted a ton of criticism, with debunkers arguing that the two women simply got lost, or their memories of what they had seen were mistaken. There was even a claim by literary critic Terry Castle that a shared delusion may have arisen out of a lesbian Folie à deux between the two women.
Both were highly respected educators, working for a reputable scholastic institution, and news of a "paranormal" experience would most likely not have been advantageous to either their career or personal reputation at the time. Furthermore, they did not broadcast their experience until many years after the event, when they published a book under assumed names. (Their real identities were revealed only after the death of Ms. Jourdain, in 1924). Both women declared to the end of their lives that what they had experienced was real.
I have been fascinated by their story for years and wish that something other than a long hot walk had distinguished my journey from the Palace to the Petit Trianon! If you are interested, their book is available at both abe.com and alibris.com.
I have been fascinated by their story for years and wish that something other than a long hot walk had distinguished my journey from the Palace to the Petit Trianon! If you are interested, their book is available at both abe.com and alibris.com.
For the record, I compiled this account from various sources including Wikipedia entries and other on line websites.
I tried to find a copy of the painting by Werthmuller that Miss Moberly saw and which Madame Campan claimed in her memoir to be the only true likeness of the Queen, but was unable to locate one. Perhaps there is one reproduced in their book - I will have to check....
