The winter following the confinement of the Comtesse d'Artois was very severe; the recollections of the pleasure which sleighing-parties had given the Queen in her childhood made her wish to introduce similar ones in France.

This amusement had already been known in that Court, as was proved by sleighs being found in the stables which had been used by the Dauphin, the father of Louis XVI.

Some were constructed for the Queen in a more modern style.

The Princes also ordered several; and in a few days there was a tolerable number of these vehicles.

They were driven by the princes and noblemen of the Court.