The Parminter Ladies' Grand Tour
![Detail of the interior of a painted and decorated octagonal work table at A la Ronde, Devon.](http://nt.global.ssl.fastly.net/binaries/content/gallery/website/national/regions/devon/places/a-la-ronde/library/built-heritage-history-and-collections/detail-of-painted-and-decorated-octagonal-work-table-at-a-la-ronde-devon.jpg?auto=webp&width=767&crop=16:9&dpr=2 2x)
The Grand Tour, a traditional educational trip through Europe in the 18th century, was usually undertaken by wealthy young men. Their sisters conventionally stayed at home; although it was not that unusual, later in the century, for unaccompanied wealthy women to travel in Europe as tourists. Jane, her sister Elizabeth, her young cousin, Mary, and a female friend set off together in 1784 to see the sights for themselves.
Throughout her travels, Jane wrote a journal. However, this journal, with whatever else it contained, was lost when the Public Records Office in Exeter was destroyed by a bomb in 1942. Luckily, extracts covering the first few weeks of the tour were published by a subsequent owner of A la Ronde in 1902.
Jane’s journal begins: ‘June 22 set off from London at half after five, passed thro’ Greenwich, breakfasted at Dartford very fine pleasant country; onto Rochester…; dined at Mr Frend’s Canterbury & in a coach to Dover, very pleasant indeed the high cliffs behind the houses; very tolerable treatment at Dover.’ They spent their first night at the Hotel Dessin in Calais.
![The interior of the cabinet of curiosities in the Library at A la Ronde, Devon.](http://nt.global.ssl.fastly.net/binaries/content/gallery/website/national/regions/devon/places/a-la-ronde/library/built-heritage-history-and-collections/14784951.jpg?auto=webp&width=767&crop=16:9&dpr=2 2x)
During the first week the ladies explored Montreuil, Abbeville, Clocher, Flixcourt, Piquigny (Pecquigny), Amiens, Marigny (Wavignies), St Just (Saint-Just-en-Chaussée), Clermont and Chantilly. The Duc de Conde’s Cabinet of Curiosities at the Château de Chantilly with its ‘spar coral, amber, Crystal, Seeds of plants, shells, and many other natural Curiosities’ particularly captured Jane’s attention. Seeing collections such as these may have influenced their own cabinet of curiosities.
Then on to Paris, where the ladies visited lots of churches, the Gobelins tapestry factory and the Tuileries gardens. Jane particularly admired the Eglise du Dome at Les Invalides, with its central domed space and satellite chapels. Similar to the Basilica of St Vitale at Ravenna, these buildings probably inspired the design of A la Ronde.
![Pirenesi prints on the walls of the Dining Room, A la Ronde, Devon.](http://nt.global.ssl.fastly.net/binaries/content/gallery/website/national/regions/devon/places/a-la-ronde/library/built-heritage-history-and-collections/pirenesi-prints-a-la-ronde-devon-1478490.jpg?auto=webp&width=443&crop=9:16&dpr=2 2x)
Tourism in those days was not for the faint hearted. Food and accommodation were often pretty grim. The itinerary that the ladies followed was the 1784 edition of the Liste Générale des Postes de France. In Paris, the party endured ‘a very dirty Inn indeed, the staircase shaking, the maids bold and impertinent, the treatment sparing and the charge extravagant.’
On a visit to Versailles, Jane admired the tall and elegant figure of Marie Antoinette, although the King left her cold. At St. Cloud she rather disapproved of the formal gardens, noting: ‘I had rather see a natural stream dripp from a natural rock in its own wild meandering gushings.’ However, she liked Madame du Barry’s house and garden at Marly.
On 6 August the party were on the road through the bandit infested Fontainebleau Forest to Dijon, where ten days sightseeing are recorded. Here, sadly, the extracts from Jane’s diary cease. Fortunately, we can use other evidence to trace the travellers’ probable route through Switzerland, Southern Germany and into Italy.
We know from contemporary accounts that Jane and Mary can claim to be the first women to climb an alpine peak exceeding 3,000 metres in height. In the summer of 1786 they scaled Mont Buet, although Elizabeth was too delicate to reach the summit with them. Evidently the fourth member of the party had returned home by then.
![Interior of a painted and decorated octagonal work table.](http://nt.global.ssl.fastly.net/binaries/content/gallery/website/national/regions/devon/places/a-la-ronde/library/built-heritage-history-and-collections/octagonal-work-table-at-a-la-ronde-devon.jpg?auto=webp&width=676&crop=16:9&dpr=2 2x)
Elizabeth was in England by October 1788, when she made her will. She died shortly afterwards. Legal documents also confirm that Jane was in London in June 1791.
The souvenirs that the party brought home from their Grand Tour, still to be seen at A la Ronde, provide the evidence for the other places that these intrepid ladies visited.
![The interior of the cabinet of curiosities in the Library at A la Ronde, Devon.](http://nt.global.ssl.fastly.net/binaries/content/gallery/website/national/regions/devon/places/a-la-ronde/library/built-heritage-history-and-collections/14784951.jpg?auto=webp&width=505&crop=16:9&dpr=2 2x)
The Compendium
The Compendium is a collection of stories to delight and surprise. You can explore all things A la Ronde here in one central place for the first time. We will be adding new stories for years to come.
![Three 18th century wood and leather travelling trunks, pictured after receiving conservation.](http://nt.global.ssl.fastly.net/binaries/content/gallery/website/national/regions/devon/places/a-la-ronde/library/built-heritage-history-and-collections/travelling-trunks-after-conservation-a-la-ronde-devon.jpg?auto=webp&width=505&crop=16:9&dpr=2 2x)
The Travelling Trunks
Find out more about the history and conservation of the Travelling Trunks at A la Ronde, thought to have been used by the Parminters on their Grand Tour.
![Interior of a painted and decorated octagonal work table.](http://nt.global.ssl.fastly.net/binaries/content/gallery/website/national/regions/devon/places/a-la-ronde/library/built-heritage-history-and-collections/octagonal-work-table-at-a-la-ronde-devon.jpg?auto=webp&width=505&crop=16:9&dpr=2 2x)
The Vesuvius Table
Learn more about the Vesuvius Table, its creation and collection, at A la Ronde, Devon.
![Black and white image of the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, on a postcard.](http://nt.global.ssl.fastly.net/binaries/content/gallery/website/national/regions/devon/places/a-la-ronde/library/built-heritage-history-and-collections/st.-vitale-postcard-front-a-la-ronde-devon.jpg?auto=webp&width=505&crop=16:9&dpr=2 2x)
The Basilica of San Vitale: A la Ronde's Inspiration
Learn more about how the Basilica of San Vitale influenced the Parminters and their home at A la Ronde.