From September 22, 2026, to January 24, 2027, the Palace of Versailles, or Chateau de Versailles, celebrates the twentieth anniversary of Sofia Coppola’s film Marie Antoinette with an exhibition at the Petit Trianon—designed in collaboration with the director—that explores the work’s genesis, aesthetic choices, and cultural impact.

 

 

Behind the Scenes of a Cult Film

 

Released in 2006 and filmed largely at the Palace of Versailles, Marie Antoinette boldly breaks away from the conventions of historical biography to explore—in an intimate manner—a fascinating figure long obscured by legend.

Vilified during the French Revolution, sanctified under the Restoration, and later aestheticized from the Second Empire onwards, Marie Antoinette emerges under Sofia Coppola’s lens as a deeply human figure: a young woman grappling with isolation, boredom, and the constraints of court life.

 

Now considered a cult film, Marie Antoinette—in which the title character is brilliantly portrayed by actress Kirsten Dunst—played a key role in shaping a cultural icon that blends history, modernity, and pop-culture imagination.

 

Winner of the 2007 Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Sofia Coppola’s distinctive aesthetic—balancing historical accuracy, contemporary boldness, and pastel refinement—gave rise to a genuine "Marie Antoinette style," the influence of which is still felt in fashion, design, and photography today.

 

Presented at the Petit Trianon, the exhibition—conceived in collaboration with Sofia Coppola—invites visitors behind the scenes of the film’s creation, showcasing original costumes by Milena Canonero, props, storyboards, annotated scripts, on-set photographs, set elements, and recreated spaces.

Screenings allow visitors to view sequences in the very rooms where they were filmed, offering a unique experience where the historic setting and the cinematic reinterpretation dialogue with one another.

 

 

Openin dates and times :

From September 22, 2026, through January 24, 2027

Afternoons only:

- Through October 31, from 12:00 PM to 6:30 PM; last admission at 5:45 PM

- From November 1, 2026 to January 24, 2027 from 12:00 PM to 5:30 PM; last admission at 4:45 PM

- Closed on Mondays, December 25, and January 1

- During the All Saints’ Day school break, from October 17 through November 1, 2026, the exhibition is open from 10:00 AM to 6:30 PM, Tuesday through Sunday.

 

Admission Prices:

Full Price: €15.00

Reduced Price (Reduced rate—France and the European Economic Area): €12.00

Free Admission for children under 18, teachers with an Education Pass, job seekers in France..., people with disabilities (with one companion)

 

 

How to get to the Palace of Versailles from the Hotel Jardin Le Brea?

Palace of Versailles - Place d’Armes, 78000 Versailles

- From the Hotel Jardin Le Bréa, take the Transilien N line from Gare Montparnasse (a 10-minute walk), towards Gare de Rambouillet, get off at Gare de Versailles Chantiers station. The Palace is about a 15-minute walk from there.

Alternatively, take metro line 4 from Vavin station (a 1-minute walk), towards Porte de Clignancourt, get off at Saint-Michel station, then take the RER C towards Gare de Versailles Château - Rive Gauche station. The Palace is about a 10-minute walk from there.

The total travel time from our hotel via either route is approximately 1 hour.

 

 

Practical Information

https://en.chateauversailles.fr/

 

 

 

Credit: © Photography: Sofia Coppola; Design: Joseph Logan Design; © Graphica.fr