Hameau de la Reine at Versailles

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This is the Hameau de la Reine (Queen’s Hamlet), a tiny, more-or-less fake village built to please the Queen (Marie-Antoinette, at the time) and her entourage. It was patterned after a similar hamlet in Chantilly—such things were apparently popular among the aristocracy at the time. This hamlet includes a number of little houses. The one shown here is the Queen's House, on the right, and I believe the part on the left was a game room, where they played billiards (yes, really!). This was all more than 200 years ago, mind you.

Photographed on August 24, 1999.