: The summer of 1686 was a tranquil time for Louis XIV. His court
was by then permanently settled at Versailles and he had recently
entered into a companionable second marriage. Apart from an
embarrassing health complaint (one that his courtiers
euphemistically located on his thigh), his domestic life was
contented and uneventful.
It was at this time that an embassy from Siam landed in Brittany
with the desire to be presented to the king. The entourage,
accompanied by a French escort, made a circuitous journey,
passing through the principal towns along the Loire to Orleans,
then north to Paris. Along the way, there were visits to the
chateaux of Chambord and Fontainebleau, and, in Paris, to the
Louvre and Notre Dame. During their sightseeing, the foreigners
were themselves an attraction. Crowds gathered wherever they
went, and their escorts made note in dispatches of their exotic
habits - like bathing.
