I will take on again, the Palace of Versailles on this post. Of course, plenty more in my blog but just found older pictures on one of my cd roms ,that I like to show them for you and me. This is a wonderful huge property , and a must to come even crowded, very popular by all. Versailles is it !!! can’t stop bragging lived here for 9+ wonderful years, Let me tell you about the Hameau de Marie Antoinette in Versailles, part III !!! Hope you enjoy this post as I.
The Queen Marie-Antoinette developed the Trianon gardens in two distinct phases. The first, from 1777, corresponded to the creation of the English Garden. In a second phase, in 1783, she asked Richard Mique to extend the garden to the north by building a village around a new lake. Work began in the summer of 1783 and was completed in 1786. The style of the Hameau de la Reine or Queen’s Hamlet is not clearly identifiable, made up of a mixture of varied rural architectures, but exudes an undeniable unity. The cottages are arranged around the eastern shore of the large lake, like a veritable arc-shaped decor with the ideal viewpoint located on the other side of the body of water. The hamlet is divided into three distinct sectors established by Richard Mique. The first, located to the south of the stone bridge spanning the river, contains the houses intended for pleasure: the mill, whose wheel is only a simple decorative element, the boudoir, the Queen’s house, the billiard room and the warming room. Beyond the bridge, the houses are more devoted to the actual agricultural exploitation: barn, preparation dairy, cleaning dairy, fishery and guard’s house. Further back, the farm completes the whole and its activity develops until the eve of the French revolution, comprising stable, pigsty, sheepfold and chicken coop.
The tower dominates the lake is called Tour de Marlborough due to the song in vogue at the time of construction. More behind, the farm completes the whole and its activity developed until the day before the French revolution, comprising stables, pigsties, sheepfold and chicken coop. Unlike the tenacious tradition that the queen and her entourage have “played the farmer” in the middle of this country decor populated by wrapped sheep, Marie-Antoinette uses her hamlet as a goal of a walk and as a reception. The real exploitation of this small field, expressly wanted by the Queen, also played an educational role for the Royal children as between 1778 and 1786, Marie-Antoinette will have four children, but only her daughter Marie-Thérèse called Madame Royale (see post) will reach adulthood.
This name Tour de Marlborough came from a complaint song composed in 1722, after the death of the English general who bore it. It had been taken over in the marriage of Figaro de Beaumarchais sung by Chérubin. However, the play had been prohibited in France. Only the theater of M. de Vaudreuil had authorized to produce it. The air was widely spread and one day, Madame Poitrine, the dauphin’s nanny was surprised by the king and the queen singing it. They asked her to sing to them and wanted to learn it by heart, having fun from the words. Thus, she entered the Court of France. All began to imitate them! The complaint song of the Marlborough in many ways spread, between the pantomimes of Audinot, a masquerade for the theater and other forms of entertainment. To build it, it was said, was inspired by the Belle Gabrielle tower on the shore of Lake Ermenonville, in memory of the mistress of Henri IV, Gabrielle d’Estrées. In June 1780, Marie Antoinette had made a visit accompanied by the Court. The tower had a balcony, carried by twelve arcades of wood, surmounting the slots. It was accessed by an outside staircase, decorated with the queen’s time by clogged and geraniums. In a small tour, a watchman could communicate with the Palace of Versailles. From there, we had a view of all around. Upstairs, a smalls round living room was fitted out. At the foot of the tower, a stone fisheries had been built. Indeed, in the pond, we had dropped twenty-seven pike and two thousand carp. Inside the building, Van Blarenberghe miniatures represented fishing boats,with fishermans throwing their net into the water.
Inspired by Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s theories on the return to nature, the Queen’s Hamlet at Trianon was built at the initiative of Marie-Antoinette by the architect Richard Mique, from 1783 to 1787. It originally comprised twelve houses with a rustic exterior and sophisticated interior decor. It was a real village, organized around a lake and completed by a small farm where animals were grown and raised. The Domaine de la Laiterie served as a tasting room for the Queen for dairy products prepared in the adjoining Laiterie de préparation or preparation dairy, which disappeared since the beginning of the 19C. The Dairy is associated with the tour Marlborough, a kind of belvedere used as a landing stage for walks or fishing on the Lake. The Domaine de la Laiterie is a small, rectangular, single-story building built of jointed rubble and covered with a flat-tiled roof with three dormer windows. The interior consists of a single, large room, well lit by four windows and three French windows with stained-glass windows. Pretty nice wonderful !!
During the French revolution, the hamlet survives as best they can. The constructions, built without worry of duration, like the majority of buildings of this type, age badly, eaten away by bad weather.Napoleon made them restore between 1810 and 1812, but made the most damaged buildings demolished, such as the barn and the preparation. A second restoration campaign saved the hamlet of an inevitable ruin in the 1930s, thanks to the donation of John Rockefeller. At the end of the 20C, part of the hamlet was restored again. Some houses are even returned in their original configuration, such as the mill. The farm, which had almost disappeared in the 19C was completely rebuilt in 2006 and now houses a varied herd with the animal assistance foundation.
The Château de Versailles on the Hameau of Marie Antoinette :https://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/estate/estate-trianon/queen-hamlet
The City of Versailles tourist office on the Hameau of Marie Antoinette : https://www.versailles-tourisme.com/hameau-de-la-reine.html
There you go folks, some more of my favorite Domaine (including palace, trianon, hameau etc), a dandy in beautiful Versailles, the most Royal of all French cities and the base of the new French constitution. A beautiful , wonderful, magical, and just gorgeous after all the nice restorations. Again, hope you enjoy the this post on the Hameau de Marie Antoinette in Versailles, part III !!! as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 