Hameau de la Reine, Versailles (must see)

When you visit the Hameau de la Reine, it will be up to you to decide if it was built on the whim of a frivolous queen or for a lonely young woman who wanted to escape disapproving courtiers and lose herself for a few hours by pretending to be an ordinary woman.

The Hameau was built between 1785 and 1792 by Richard Mique, the queen’s favorite architect. It consisted of twelve cottages, five of which were set aside for the queen, the rest were part of a working farm that produced dairy products, fruit, vegetables and eggs for the queen.

The Maison de la Reine, her billiard room and boudoir are in the centre of the Hameau and in spite their rustic exteriors, the interiors were richly decorated with tapestries, stucco work and wooden paneling.

The Réchauffoir - or warming room at the back of the Queen’s House was used as a pantry, a bakery and a kitchen where meals were prepared for the queen and her guests. The Moulin (mill) has a steam-driven wheel, but the building was never used to grind anything as there is no grinding wheel inside.

The lighthouse shaped Marlborough Tower was used for storage, while the Laiteries (dairies) nearby produced butter, cream and cheese in one part, while the second was used as the Queen’s Tasting Room.

The Farm is set a little apart from the rest of the Hameau and had its own fields, vegetable gardens, vineyards and orchards. Sheep and cows were imported from Switzerland and raised on the farm. Marie-Antoinette often dressed as a peasant and milked the cows.

The Columbier (dovecote) was filled with poultry; the Grange which also served as a ball-room was destroyed during the Revolution. The Housekeeper’s Cottage is the building nearest the lake.