enchanted with her. She tells everyone that there is no one more amiable, that she did not know her well before, but that now she has made her her friend and that it will be for life." Élisabeth, however, was close to her aunts, the Mesdames de France, who were members of the anti-Austrian party at court, noted for their animosity toward the queen and deeply opposed to her informal reforms in court life, and the latter view was shared by Élisabeth who, as a monarchist, regarded the queen's disregard of etiquette as a threat to the monarchy, and once remarked in connection to it: "if sovereigns descended often to the people, the people would approach near enough to see that the Queen was only a pretty woman, and that they would soon conclude that the King was merely the first among officials." She also attempted to criticize the queen's behavior in this regard, but never did so openly, instead asking her aunt Madame Adélaïde to do it for her. Regardless of these differences, she did occasionally visit Marie Antoinette in the Petit Trianon where they fished in the artificial lake, watched the cows being milked and welcomed the king and his brothers for supper "in white cotton dresses, straw hats and gauze fichus", and she did, at least on one occasion, agree to participate in one of the queen's amateur theater performances. She became devoted to the children of the king and queen, in particular the first dauphin and Marie Thérèse of France. Élisabeth became the godmother of Sophie Hélène Beatrix of France in 1786, and the same year she participated in the centenary of St. Cyr, a school in which she took a great interest. In 1781, the king gave her Montreuil not far from Versailles as a private retreat, and the queen presented it to her with the words: "My sister, you are now at home. This place will be your Trianon." The king did not allow her to spend her nights at Montreuil until she was twenty-four, but she normally spent her entire days there from morning Mass until she returned to Versailles to sleep. At Montreuil, she followed a schedule that divided her days into hours for study, exercise by riding or walking, dinner and prayers with her ladies-in-waiting, inspired by the schedule set by her governesses during her childhood. Élisabeth took an interest in