Petit Trianon Honour Staircase

Find the interlaced letters in the railing as the staircase rises around its open centre. They are Marie-Antoinette’s initials, replacing the earlier monogram of Louis XV. The metalworker François Brochois made the iron and gilded-bronze balustrade. Light enters through the upper windows, while the green-and-white marble gives the lower floor a clear pattern. The staircase joins the service and entrance level to the first-floor reception rooms. Because the house stands on a slope, those upper rooms also meet the garden. The change of level is part of how this compact residence was fitted to its site.