Pavlovsk Park Lorraine and Hubert Robert. The gallery of Pavlovsk has twelve landscape paintings by Hubert Robert that were commissioned by Maria Feodorovna. Its inspiration lay not in England but in continental gardens that Maria Feodorovna and her husband had seen in a tour of western Europe in 1782, during which they travelled incognito as the "Count and Countess du Nord". They visited her family's park at Württemberg, where Maria Feodorovna had grown up, and were impressed by the Petit Trianon in the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in France. The deepest impression, however, was made by the Château de Chantilly
Petit four In a French patisserie, assorted small desserts are usually called "mignardises", while hard, buttery biscuits are called petit fours. Petit four A petit four (plural: petits fours, also known as mignardises) is a small bite-sized confectionery or savoury appetizer. The name is French, "petit four" (), meaning "small oven". In 18th and 19th century France, gas ovens did not exist. Huge brick ovens were used, which took a long time to heat up but also to cool down. Bakers used the ovens during the cooling process, taking advantage of their stored heat, for baking pastry. This was called baking "à