An afternoon in the private estate of Marie Antoinette – the Petit Trianon and hamlet

To round out your experience at Versailles and learn more about Marie Antoinette’s rise and fall, you can treat yourself to an afternoon excursion to the queen’s personal domain. During this three-hour tour you’ll visit the Petit Trianon, an exquisite private palace set in a luxuriant garden where Marie Antoinette spent much of her time. You won’t want to miss her private theatre, one of the most remarkable venues in the entire estate. You’ll also wander through the queen’s ersatz Normandy village, featuring a vineyard, a dairy, and a vegetable farm, specially built for her to simulate the healthy simplicity of country life.

Over 4 million people annually visit the Palace of Versailles, but for nearly 90% of the visitors the experience is limited to the State Apartments and the distant perspective of the gardens. With your expert and entertaining guide, you have the rare opportunity to really make the period and the personalities come to life by continuing your visit into more exclusive areas. Upon leaving the main palace behind, distance the crowds and access areas reserved for the private lives and loves of the royalty.

With a diamond-encrusted key, Louis XVI offered his wife Marie Antoinette an escape from the ritualized public life she found so suffocating. This key unlocked the small Petit Trianon palace, sheltered from gossip and criticism, where she could feel free. Follow in her footsteps, through her English gardens and into the place she called home. The furniture and decoration authentically represents the queen’s own taste and favored craftsmen. You’ll be able to take a peek at Marie Antoinette’s private theatre, a hidden jewel of Versailles, installed so the queen herself could star in popular plays applauded by her fashionable ladies-in-waiting!

Just down the path from the richly adorned palace, Marie Antoinette commissioned a replica rustic village, evoking Normandy with its thatched cottages and dairy herd. Here she appreciated the informal atmosphere and healthy air, and indulged in pastoral amusements.

Spend an afternoon exploring the private life of Queen Marie-Antoinette. A perfect add on to a visit to the Palace, you will discover both the splendor of court life at Versailles and the private lives of the Royal Family, allowing you to fully understand their lives and ultimate downfall.