The Queen's Hamlet, Versailles, France - the play ground of Marie Antoinette

in Worldmappinlast year (edited)

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 !

_XN09_A7TL2N5XxQ8xKeAQ.jpeg

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).

pbPD_uU6QFy-1x_0aMko4Q.jpeg

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 !

TiIpN0vZRPKgEpZjr0dG2w.jpeg

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).

7fFEvCFtRI-wyeZ60x2hSw.jpeg

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 !

2zwR0dWESWCzOrmqSiNY5Q.jpeg

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.

ZLjVjkD8SuOiVJN7LYDDtw.jpeg

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.

ceBX0gJwQ0-6aX0QQcf04w.jpeg

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.

ruIZBtaDTYWf3H2pVRcCEQ.jpeg

Close to the Hamlet, there was also Maria Antoinette's Grotto. Having a grotto was all the rage back then - didnt you know !

fb9TInbUQVmKHRwsdafI2g.jpeg

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 !

NsPNYHmOSaOpFlJLLMk0Zw.jpeg

I did find it all quite magical - with an additional hidden pond behind it.

xQvNCexETvihxUVcHRwW-g.jpeg

It was impressive to see.

3yZVk4OMRZuu80E8DV1alA.jpeg

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 !

RyX47EGpSdqVOzE4sd73GA.jpeg

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.

UAWrYgxOSmmue7QdUXm7Cg.jpeg

What a stunning place to stumble upon - we certainly were lucky to find it, and not waste a trip to Versailles !

ZLjVjkD8SuOiVJN7LYDDtw.jpeg

XHzoj9niSj-XR144ymm_KQ.jpeg

Sort:  

The fish look cool, was that dinner 😎
Glad you are having fun and got some decent weather.
!PIZZA
!LOLZ

The punch line comes first.
The worst thing about time travel jokes is…

Credit: reddit
$LOLZ on behalf of tengolotodo

(2/8)
Delegate Hive Tokens to Farm $LOLZ and earn 110% Rewards. Learn more.@hoosie, I sent you an

Aye - the fish were very cool - some of them were really big !
And yes, been getting great weather on the whole.
!LOLZ
!PIZZA

What do you call it when a chickpea kills someone?
Hummus-cide

Credit: reddit
$LOLZ on behalf of hoosie

(1/10)
ENTER @WIN.HIVE'S DAILY DRAW AND WIN HIVE!@tengolotodo, I sent you an

Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! 🎉🥳🍍

Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!

Want to have your post on the map too?

  • Go to Pinmapple
  • Click the get code button
  • Click on the map where your post should be (zoom in if needed)
  • Copy and paste the generated code in your post (Hive only)
  • Congrats, your post is now on the map!

What beautiful photos, what a beautiful privilege to be there, I am very happy to have been able to do it through your photos 👌👍

Many thanks - and yes, we were lucky to be there - it was a lovely place to visit !
!LOLZ
!PIZZA

How do you look for Will Smith in the snow?
Just follow the fresh prints.

Credit: reddit
$LOLZ on behalf of hoosie

(2/10)
Farm LOLZ tokens when you Delegate Hive or Hive Tokens.
Click to delegate: 10 - 20 - 50 - 100 HP@lileisabel, I sent you an

Wow! This is such a nice place to explore. Thank you for sharing your photos and stories about it. It's like I was there too. Glad you found a lovely alternative to the one you planned. Hope you enjoyed your weekend. Have a fantastic new week ahead!


Made in Canva

!ALIVE


_
This post has been curated by the Alive And Thriving Team, we curate good content in the We Are Alive Tribe that is on topic for #aliveandthriving, and it's included in our daily curation report on @aliveandthriving, plus @youarealive is following our Curation Trail. - @iamraincrystal - Moderator/Alive Video Master

Many thanks @iamraincrystal, we really we lucky to find it !

That's great! 🙌 !LUV hidden gems like that place 😊 keep the adventures coming 😉 I do enjoy reading them 😀 happy Chooseday -- choose happy! 😊

!ALIVE
!BBH
!PIZZA

Your Content Is Awesome so I just sent 1 $BBH(3/20)@hoosie! (Bitcoin Backed Hive) to your account on behalf of @iamraincrystal.

You were very fortunate indeed to have found such a exquisite place! Thank you for sharing your visit there! I have never heard of, or seen it, before! 😁🙏💚✨🤙



Made in Canva

- @tydynrain - Comment Moderator

Daily Travel Digest #1967.



Become part of our travel community:

Hiya, @ybanezkim26 here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Your post has been manually curated by the @pinmapple team. If you like what we're doing, please drop by to check out all the rest of today's great posts and consider supporting other authors like yourself and us so we can keep the project going!

Many thanks @ybanezkim26 - its really appreciated as ever !

Great tour of France you are having so far! Super snaps.

Aye - totally loving France, great place to visit !
!LOLZ
!PIZZA

Whats the nuttiest Band in the history of rock and roll
The Allmond Brothers.

Credit: reddit
$LOLZ on behalf of hoosie

(3/10)

PLAY & EARN $DOOM

@mypathtofire, I sent you an

Congratulations @hoosie! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)

You received more than 130000 upvotes.
Your next target is to reach 140000 upvotes.

You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

Check out our last posts:

Women's World Cup Contest - Quarter Finals - Recap of Day 2
Women's World Cup Contest - Quarter Finals - Recap of Day 1
LEO Power Up Day - August 15, 2023

My goodness is that place impressive and gorgeous! It's ridiculously aesthetically pleasing! What incredible fortune that you couldn't go to the Palace! 😁🙏💚✨🤙

I know - it was pretty awesome - how lucky were we ?!!!
!ALIVE
!PIZZA

Yes, absolutely, and I'd say exceedingly fortunate indeed! 😁 🙏 💚 ✨ 🤙

!LOLZ
!HUG


I sent 1.0 HUG
(2/3)Dear @hoosie, you just got hugged. on behalf of @tydynrain.

What do they call a cubic zirconia in Ireland?
A sham-rock.

Credit: reddit
$LOLZ on behalf of tydynrain

(3/10)
ENTER @WIN.HIVE'S DAILY DRAW AND WIN HIVE!@hoosie, I sent you an

Now I see why that the French called her Madame Déficit😂 Lovely place btw