Gilded Heiresses

Gilded Heiresses

Paris in a Day: Couture, Croissants, and a Family Mystery

A 5 a.m. dash to Paris for the House of Worth exhibition, and the discovery that Alberta’s missing gown might still be waiting in the Mapperton trunks.

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Julie Montagu
Sep 04, 2025
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Paris in a Day: Couture, Croissants, and a Family Mystery

It’s 5 a.m. on the dot, and I’m in a black taxi heading through the quiet streets of London towards St Pancras Station. For those who don’t know it, St Pancras sits right next to King’s Cross in central London, a soaring Victorian Gothic landmark that looks more like a cathedral than a railway station. This morning, it feels less like a station and more like the gateway to an adventure, months in the making!

London St Pancras International

I’ve been looking forward to this trip all summer. The House of Worth exhibition at the Petit Palais has been right at the top of my list, but between wrestling with my Mapperton coffee table book (which nearly finished me off!) and the madness of the open season at Mapperton, finding the time has been impossible. With the exhibition closing on 7 September, today was my very last chance, and there was no way I was going to miss it.

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