Marie-Antoinette as she arrived in Versailles

How was Marie-Antoinette as she travelled through European lands to meet her future husband?

She was a happy child, spoiled and well raised.
Dancing and playing music were among her favourite leisures.
She tried to read more and study better. Nevertheless, these two activities remained secondary to her occupations for a long time.
Most of contemporaries didn't consider her shy, which could be a good and important point since she was to be the first lady of France, a future queen. Moreover, a great and numerous court was supposed to surround her from day 1.

As arts were very much appreciated in Versailles, she promised to brighten the aging court.
Physically, she offered some satisfaction: blond, blue-eyed, very fair-skined (all her life MA would be known for her beautiful pale complexion), smiling and graceful. But it didn't seem enough: she was still short in size, her breasts were rather small. However, hopes were allowed since she was only 14 and a half when she arrived. So she had all her time to mature and become a woman.

As for her weight, there are some contradictory opinions. Some historians say she was a bit skinny when curvy women were considered beautiful and appealing; others say that Louis XV noticed her slight overweight. Marie-Antoinette, according to a few portraits and a sculpture, had a double chin.

Upbrought in a warm family with strict moral codes, Marie-Antoinette barely knew about the frivolity in the French court. The latter was also filled with intrigues and gossips. Furthermore, the French king shamelessly showed off his new mistress, countess du Barry, a woman of low birth and it seemed, former prostitute.

Compliant, generous, kind-hearted, Marie-Antoinette was all in all ready to live in this corrupted foreign court at first sight. Nonetheless, she probably lacked a great deal of knowledge about Versailles' real codes, since her mother might have overlooked this important point; it could have certainly helped MA to lead a better life in Versailles. Though respectful and conscious of her rank, Marie-Antoinette was also lively and a follower to more simplicity. So Versailles' rigid ceremonial and rituals, and its court filled with old-nobility families, overshadowed the gossips, rumours that ruined her.