Personal story

I am posing with my mother Victorine, my father Manuel, and Inès, a cousin. Her husband Francisco took the photo with our Kodak. My Spanish grandparents had moved to the Paris region, where they had a hair salon. My mother was a seamstress at Hermès. We are both wearing clothes that she had made: a royal blue suit for her and a red pinafore dress and a coat with a black velvet collar for me. They had a taste for well-done details providing a certain aesthetic. I think that is why they liked Versailles, which is quite a contrast with their Communist opinions. Every time a member of the Spanish family came to visit, they took them to Versailles. This visit was during my cousins’ honeymoon trip. For us, Versailles was important! For my mother, this picture was THE photograph of Versailles. I have always seen it around.

Hélène