It's time to share the third part of our day trip to the Palace of Versailles! This is by far my favourite part of our tour. I was impressed by the main palace's grandeur, fell in love with the magnificent gardens but my visit to the Trianon Palaces and the Queen's Hamlet tops them all. If you have more time, don't miss out on these parts of the estate. They also play a huge part of the royal history of France and there are many incredible things waiting for you to discover, they are not just a drop in the bucket of the Palace. :) My boyfriend visited Versailles before but only had the chance to see the main palace and he (a hard to please type of person) was impressed to see these other parts in the domain of Versailles. We bought a 1 day passport ticket for €25 each person and it gives you an admission to all the places except for some guided tours. It's €15 for a ticket if you only want to see the main palace, but the additional €10 is really worth it. We are absolutely spellbound by the beauty of it all!The groups of other visitors are overwhelming in the main palace while these parts of the Palace are completely free of crowd. As I mentioned on my previous travel posts, we went out into the vast gardens and terraces first and down to the smaller charming châteaux. It was such a good decision because there was not a large number of people gathered together.I'm not against other tourists but places like these are more enjoyable when they are not jam packed. Anyway, without further ado, let's start talking about these adventures!
Let's begin with "The Grand Trianon". This was originally built in 1687 for King Louis XIV and his family as a retreat. It became the residence of King Louis XVI and one of the famous queen of all time, Marie-Antoinette before moving to the smaller chateau (Le Petit Trianon). The great Napoleon also lived here with his family. This smaller palace is known for it's rare pink Italian marbled architecture hence it's also called the Porcelain Trianon. I like this chateau more than the main palace because it has more of a "homey" vibe but still very elegant. I love the colorful interior designs, they have more furnitures on display than the main palace and every room has a different vibrant color. There's a pink and a blue room and others not shown in the pictures below, they look playful yet sophisticated.
Le Petit Trianon is located in the grounds of Grand Trianon. Although it wasn't originally built for the graceful Queen, the private estate which includes the château and its surrounding park was exclusively given to Marie Antoinette as a gift from Louis XVI. She wanted to escaped the responsibilities and structure of royal life, thus it became her sanctuary. The building was designed with so much privacy to please the Queen's extreme desire of seclusion. It's a small palace compared to Grand Trianon but it was also a sophisticated place with some beautiful gardens.
The Queen was apparently a petite woman. Her bed was so tiny!
The Temple of Love
The Temple of Love
Yup, I keep on smiling on pictures. :D My boyfriend won't take a picture of me if I don't smile. LOL
The Queen's Hamlet
The Queen's Hamlet is my favourite of all the places in the Palace of Versailles.The hamlet was part of Marie Antoinette’s estate, a quaint village that supposed to mimic a country lifestyle. Pour la Reine, sa vie était difficile. The Queen enjoyed a different kind of life far from her formal court life. Nevertheless, she was still surrounded by comforts. It was her playground as she would dress as a shepherdess and pretend to live as a peasant with her closest friends.The"little village" contained the farm full of vineyards, orchards and vegetable gardens, the queen's house, cottages, a dovecote, a mill, guards room, "The Boudoir" (a smaller house for the Queen) and the Malborough Tower. The rustic buildings were so charming, they make the hamlet an idyllic place to visit! The entire place looks like those fairy tales you see in the movies, I didn't want to leave! I dare say that this is the hidden little treasure of Château de Versailles.
It was incredible to see the pond full of fishes!
The farm was also full of healthy looking animals! It's nice to see that they are taking care of this "country village", some buildings are under renovation because they are so old. The Trianon Palaces and the Queen's Hamlet are enchanting places you need to visit. I could spend a whole day there wandering around the area. I recommend that in order to avoid the crowd, on your arrival, walk straight through the palace and gardens and then head for the Marie Antoinette Estate as everyone starts with the palace. Make sure to have enough time (around 2 hours) to visit the main palace when you come back.
This is the last series of my travel post on our Day Trip to Versailles. It might seem that we discovered the entire domain, but really, we did not! The entire place is huge and requires more than a day. It requires a strategic planning to see the most of it. We walked so much that our feet hurt immensely at the end of our tour. I would love to visit again someday because there are so many "secret places" in the gardens that we didn't have the chance to see. We'll probably rent a golf cart on our next visit, I don't want out feet to suffer like that again. hehe Hope you enjoyed reading this travel series on the blog. :)
Part I : PALACE OF VERSAILLES PART I - THE PALACE
This is the last series of my travel post on our Day Trip to Versailles. It might seem that we discovered the entire domain, but really, we did not! The entire place is huge and requires more than a day. It requires a strategic planning to see the most of it. We walked so much that our feet hurt immensely at the end of our tour. I would love to visit again someday because there are so many "secret places" in the gardens that we didn't have the chance to see. We'll probably rent a golf cart on our next visit, I don't want out feet to suffer like that again. hehe Hope you enjoyed reading this travel series on the blog. :)
Part I : PALACE OF VERSAILLES PART I - THE PALACE
Photography: My boyfriend and I
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