Time Warp: A Strange Encounter at Versailles

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Time Warp – A Strange Encounter at Versailles

The gardens at Versailles were in their full glory on August 10, 1901. It was a hot afternoon, the scent from the pants was heady, and the colors brilliant. Yet two English women, visiting the magnificent French palace for the first time, felt unaccountably depressed as they walked through the grounds.

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Miss Anne Moberly, principal of St. Hugh’s, a women’s college of Oxford University, was spending a few days sightseeing in Paris. She was accompanied by Miss Eleanor Jourdain, who was soon to become vice-principal of the college.

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While strolling through the palace gardens, the two women decided to find the Petit Trianon, the small, private chateau that had belonged to the ill-fated Adventure. Deep in conversation, they soon noticed that they had lost their way.

“I began to feel as though I was walking in my sleep; the heavy dreaminess was oppressive,” Miss Jourdain later wrote. Miss Moberly felt similarly strange, but each kept her feelings to herself.

A Walk into the Past

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They were surprised to see very few people, given the time of year. They passed two men standing near a wheelbarrow, whom they took to be gardeners, despite their long coats and tricorn hats. The men directed them straight ahead. A small bandstand came into view beneath a canopy of trees. Nearby sat a man dressed in a cloak and large hat; he seemed a sinister character and made the women feel ill at ease. They moved on and were later given directions by another man whose appearance seemed strangely old-fashioned.