The Crown Prince of France - Chapter 149

Chapter 149: Eden Amusement Park

To the northwest of the Palace of Versailles.

In the music room of the Petit Trianon, Queen Marie gestured for the musicians to pause. She turned to a court official standing nearby, frowning as she asked,
"Are you sure you heard correctly?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. The Dauphin was preparing his carriage at that time. He and Princess Maria should have already left the Palace of Versailles by now."

Queen Marie appeared somewhat anxious—this official was responsible for the care of the Two Sicilian princesses. He had just reported that the Dauphin planned to travel to Paris with Princess Maria for leisure.

If Clementine doesn't hurry to Paris, her son's heart may very well be stolen by that Italian girl!
The Queen sighed: My poor niece, your luck is truly terrible—Clementine had originally planned to leave very early, intending to travel by ship to Marseille and then to Paris.

However, no sooner had she boarded the ship than a storm broke out in the Tyrrhenian Sea—every January, the weather in the Mediterranean is often not so calm.

For safety's sake, her escort decided to take the land route, traveling north through Aosta to the Alps and then into France. Although it was a large detour, if everything went smoothly along the way, she would still arrive in Paris before the Two Sicilian princesses.

But then, before Clementine had even left Tuscany, news arrived of a peasant revolt in southwestern Austria due to Emperor Joseph II’s reforms to the serf system—yes, those foolish people actually opposed the reforms that would have granted them freedom!

The poor Clementine was forced to wait for the storm in the Tyrrhenian Sea to subside before setting off. After continuous travel, she was only near Nîmes now, still three or four days' journey from Paris.

Queen Marie wrote a letter urging her niece to hurry and sent it off with a messenger, praying that her son wouldn't fall in love with that Princess Maria...

On the Champs-Élysées in Paris, at the Paris Angel Boutique, the Dauphin's guards stood shoulder to shoulder in two rows, separating the Dauphin and the Princess from the other curious onlookers.

Indeed, this was the first place Princess Maria wished to visit. As expected, all women cannot resist the temptation of beautifying themselves.

The princess, with her exquisite makeup and wearing a light purple puffed dress, was stunningly beautiful.

Her eyes scanned the luxuriously packaged cosmetics, murmuring to herself about their functions. Her eyes sparkled with delight, yet she modestly selected only a few items, instructing the shop assistants to give them to her maid.

Joseph, recalling that his plan to have Princess Maria attacked had caused her unnecessary distress, had long intended to compensate her. When he saw her interest in cosmetics, he immediately ordered the shop assistant to bring a gold card and presented it to Princess Maria.

The latter, holding the gold card worth one thousand livres, was bubbling with happiness inside—The Dauphin truly has feelings for me! He gave such a precious gift on our first "date"! Oh Lord, thank you so much!

Then, Joseph selected a large number of cosmetics for her, along with the "Young Lady’s Health" liquid— a younger version of the "Ladies' Delight" product— and packed them all into a large bag, instructing the shop assistants to send it directly to Princess Maria's room at the Palace of Versailles.

After leaving the boutique, Princess Maria gazed at Joseph with sparkling eyes and softly asked, "Dauphin, where shall we go next?"

Joseph remembered his original plan to inspect the preparations for Fashion Week, and thought it would be a good opportunity to take the princess along, perhaps even receiving some of her suggestions for improvements.

"Let’s visit the Tuileries Palace. You may have heard that Paris Fashion Week will be held there soon. The preparations are almost complete now."

"Mm, I’ll follow your lead."

As their carriage left the Paris Angel Boutique, Joseph didn’t expect that reporters were already writing articles about "The Dauphin and the Two Sicilian Princesses visiting the boutique, presenting a gold card to express their feelings."

Outside the Tuileries Palace.

Princess Maria’s gaze swept past the large area under construction for the new villa district and immediately spotted a tall, circular structure on the northern side of the Tuileries Garden. She pointed curiously and asked, "Dauphin, what is that for?"

Joseph looked in the direction of her finger and replied, "Oh, that’s called a Ferris wheel, an amusement ride. When you sit on it, it takes you up high, offering a view of Paris."

"By the way, the Ferris wheel is surrounded by an amusement park with lots of fun attractions. If you'd like, let me take you there."

"I’d love to, thank you, Dauphin."

Soon, the carriage stopped in front of the world's first dedicated amusement park—"Eden Amusement Park."

Through the white fence, one could see steam-powered carousel rides, Ferris wheels, pirate ships, haunted houses, teacup rides, and traditional playground swings and slides.

Of course, due to technological limitations, most of the facilities were nowhere near as large as the amusement parks of the future. For example, the Ferris wheel was only about ten meters tall. Its structure had been adapted from a water wheel, and compared to the towering rides of the future, it seemed insignificant. However, for people in the 18th century, this was already an incredibly novel and thrilling sight.

The moment Princess Maria stepped into the amusement park, she eagerly looked around, just like those little girls visiting amusement parks in later generations.

However, the first thing that caught her attention was the carousel, which seemed to be straight out of a fairytale. She turned to Joseph and cautiously asked, "Dauphin, may I ride this?"

"Of course, you may try it," Joseph smiled and nodded, then signaled to the park attendants to start the ride.

The carousel was powered by a 12-horsepower steam engine. Naturally, the steam engine was made by the Watt Company, as France's own steam engine factory was still in the process of being established.

After waiting for more than twenty minutes, white smoke emerged from a small wooden hut next to the carousel—this was the steam engine that powered the ride.

Soon, the large wooden base slowly started to turn. As the lever worked, the beautifully carved wooden horses, deer, and elephants began to move up and down, rotating along with the platform.

Princess Maria took a couple of hesitant steps back. Joseph chuckled, took her hand, and jumped onto the wooden platform, gesturing around, "Which one would you like to ride?"

Maria carefully pointed to a white wooden swan, "Can I ride this one?"

"Of course. I’ll help you up."

Joseph, ever the gentleman, helped the princess into the seat on the swan's back. Maria nervously sat sideways, gripping the wooden post tightly with both hands. As the music played, the ride slowly started to go up and down.

Although the steam engine’s power was not very high, and the mechanical connections were rather crude, causing the carousel to move at a snail's pace, the princess—who had never experienced such a ride before—laughed excitedly, feeling as though she were flying through a fairytale world, riding a swan high above the ground.

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