EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EXTREMES 275 



bakeries. One of the barns, however, contained a superb 

 salon, decorated in the most elaborate way, where a ball 

 was given in honour of the king and queen. These 

 miniature villages are said to have inspired Marie An^ 

 toinette with a desire for the farm at the Little Trianon. 



Etiquette was so burdensome at the French court 

 that the pleasure-loving queen had to create a spot 

 where she could lay it aside. Apparently she was suc- 

 cessful, for the Prince de Ligne wrote of the Little 

 Trianon, " Here truly one may breathe the air of happi- 

 ness and liberty. One might believe oneself a hundred 

 leagues from the court." 



The English Garden at the Petit Trianon was The Petit 



Trianon. 



planned, directly under Marie Antoinette's supervision, 

 by the Comte de Caraman and carried out by her gar- 

 dener, Richard, who had visited England. The latter 

 was succeeded by his son, a celebrated horticulturist. 

 Near the chateau were the more formal grounds, con- 

 taining the pagoda, grotto, and belvedere. A hamlet, 

 inspired by that of the Prince de Conde, at Chantilly, 

 was added to the original plan in 1783. It consisted 

 of two groups of buildings: the first comprising the 

 queen's cottage and a mill connected with a billiard- 

 room; the second, a gardener's lodge, poultry-house, 

 tower, dairy, and farmhouse, with its dependencies. 

 Here the queen could play the milkmaid or the 

 shepherdess and indulge in all her frivolous whims. 



