Petit hameau the English translation of which is "Little hamlet" sometimes called "Le Hameau de la Reine" was part of the private area of Queen Marie Antoinette at Verailles in France. It is situated in a part of the Versailles Park, centred on Jacques-Ange Gabriel 's Petit Trianon which Louis XV had built for Madame de Pompadour and which Louis XVI subsequently gave to his wife, Marie Antoinette,
Petit hameau was a small rusticated pretend farm built around a landscaped pond in 1783, complete with farm house and dairy, and "Temple of Love". Here, it was said, the Queen and her attendants would dress as shepherdesses and milkmaids . Particularly docile cows, washed and clean would be milked by the ladies, the milk being placed into porcelain pales specially made by the royal factory at Sevres complete with the Queen's monogram. The ambiance here would have been rather like a scene in a painting by Fragonard. The rooms of the farmhouse were however far from simple, luxurious and comfortable, they were though more intimate than the grand salons at Versilles and the Petit Trianon itself.
The queen, accused by many of being frivolous, escaping from the mounting horror of her real world, reigned supreme in this small area, even the King only went their at her invitation. The activities presumed, probably wrongly, to have been carried out in this idyllic domain, including free love and lesbianism were raised at the queen's trial which lead to her subsequent execution.
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Le Hameau de la Reine
