They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes there is more to a photo than what you see. This is Behind The Photo where we explore the story behind the shot, from why we took the picture to interesting history and tidbits of the subject.

Hameau de la Reine

Today’s subject is the Hameau de la Reine at the Palace of Versailles in France. When I visited a couple years ago, I had no idea this even existed. I’d heard of the palace’s extensive gardens, but not this! If you are not on the up and up like I was, the Hameau de la Reine, or the Queen’s Hamlet, is a fake medieval village constructed by the famous Queen Marie Antoinette as a way to escape the daily rigors of royal life. (If only that was my only problem!) Her little getaway was populated with hired peasants and farmers and the Queen even dressed down to blend in. It was a simpler life, for her anyway. Of course it would be simpler if you didn’t actually have to deal with being poor, but I digress… Multiple cottages were built to look rustic, but the interiors definitely didn’t match the outsides, many just as fancy as the palace itself. As you can probably guess, this didn’t go over well with the actual peasants of the time. And well, I think we all know what became of Marie Antoinette…

Fun Fact: We still didn’t know about all of this when we were walking around the place! It was only after when I did a little research that I found out about the history of the Queen’s Hamlet. We walked around wondering why there was a quaint medieval village and farm in the palace grounds and tried to find the Queen’s boudoir, which also is disguised as a cottage. The more you know! Next time I will remember to do my homework before I visit!