New York Social Diaries, JANUARY 10, 2023 By Sharon King Hoge
Aristocratic villas, sumptuous gardens, and historic sites surrounding picturesque northern Italian Lakes Garda, Iseo, Como, Orto, and Maggiore were autumn destinations on the annual tour of the American Friends of Versailles. Organized to help support preservation projects at the celebrated chateau, the group welcomed the chance to study derivative and similar vernal settings in Italian regions, which were intermittently ruled by the dynasty of Marie Antoinette who was born a Hapsburg princess.
Assembling on a late September evening at Sirmione overlooking Lake Garda, international AFV participants from New York, Boston, Texas, Chicago, Nantucket, Palm Beach, Sarasota, Cape Coral, Lake Forest, Vail, Washington, DC, California, France, Italy greeted each other for a sunset dinner on the terrace of the Villa Cortine Palace Hotel.