Yesterday's sight seeing in France didnt quite go to plan ! We drove to Versailles on the outskirts of Paris, with the aim of visiting the palace. We naively didnt know that it would be super busy and that you had to buy tickets in advance. So we never got to see that !
However, it meant we got to see something else, that we'd never heard of, and would not have saw if we had been able to get into the Palace. It was the Queens Hamlet (Hameau de la Reine).
It is a remarkable park area built in the late 1700s, specifically as a playground for the infamous last French Queen, Maria Antoinette. It was quite stunning to see, and almost looked a little disneyish !
It resides in another Versailles park area called the Grand Trianon, which is right next to Versailles Palace. Its a huge parkland with a number of other buildings and impressive gardens, including the Queen's Hamlet off to one corner (which in itself is pretty big).
Our daughter loves history and knew all about this place. It consists of a number of farm type buildings, where Marie Antoinette could basically play at being a farmer with her friends ! Whilst obviously being treated in the highest form of lavish luxury at the same time - of course !
It was quite remarkable to see - picture perfect infact. And generally, the whole 'royal' part of Versailles was huge - absolutely massive in size. You can see why the French revolted - the royals had these vast play grounds, while the population was starving and destitute.
Putting the questionable history aside, it was an absolutely beautiful place to visit. When we first got to Versailles, it was threatening to rain, and then the sunshine broke out, which made the park look even more spectacular.
The Grand Trianon on its own was quite huge, and there is no way we could have seen it and the palace all in the same day. We didnt even manage to see everything in the grand Trianon area, it was that big.
Close to the Hamlet, there was also Maria Antoinette's Grotto. Having a grotto was all the rage back then - didnt you know !
It was also quite grand and stunning, with a lovely fish pond in front of it. The fish in the ponds were pretty big - and the two you can see in the picture above, were actually two of the smaller ones we saw !
I did find it all quite magical - with an additional hidden pond behind it.
It was impressive to see.
Another impressive garden 'ornament' was the temple of love - above. That sat on its own little island in a part of the park - also quite beautiful with its greek-temple styling !
We really enjoyed seeing it all, and it certainly was serendipitous. I would never have even heard off, or visited, the Queen's Hamlet or the Trianon, if it were not for the fact that we could not get into the Palace.
What a stunning place to stumble upon - we certainly were lucky to find it, and not waste a trip to Versailles !