A short walk from Le Petit Trianon is the Queen's Hamlet, which demonstrates a striking contrast to the luxury of the Palace at Versailles. Queen Marie Antoinette, the last Queen of France before the French Revolution, had been gifted Le Petit Trianon by Louis XV1 in 1774. But she had trouble adapting to life at the French court and envisioned a small town or hamlet where she could experience the simply joys of country life. To realize her dream, she created a charming village complete with rustic cottages with thatched roofs, a lake and fully functioning farm, even a water mill. It was a place where the Queen and her closest companions could play as milkmaids and shepherdesses, a sharp contrast to the grandeur of the main palace. Today, the Queen's Hamlet is an open-air museum that transports visitors back to the romanticized version of rural life that captivated the Queen.



















