Drochki

## Overview

A drochki (also droshky, дрожки) is a light, low, open Russian carriage on four wheels, originally little more than a bench mounted on a plank between two axles. Marie spells it "drochki" in the French manner. The vehicle is distinctively Russian and appears in the diary only during Marie's visits to Russia.

## Description

Marie describes two variants: - *Drochki de course — a racing drochki: "une planche placée sur quatre roues" (a plank placed on four wheels), with a small coachman and a rustic lantern - Drochki à capote* — a drochki with a folding top, "attelé d'une troïka insensée" (hitched to a wild troika of three horses)

## Social Significance

The drochki marks a shift in the diary's transportation vocabulary from the French/Western European world (calèche, landau, fiacre) to the Russian countryside. Marie describes the departure from the family estate as a procession: "un carrosse à quatre chevaux, une calèche, et un drochki à capote" — a full display of the family's Russian equipage.

## References in Diary

- 1876-08-20 (carnet 065): Departure from estate, drochki de course with lantern - 1876-08-22 (carnet 065): Departure procession including a drochki à capote with troika