The Queen's Hamlet

OK this is not the world's best photo but it does give you a bit of idea of what Marie-Antoinette's farm is like. We met up with friends there on Sunday since the weather was so good. If I have understood correctly, Marie-Antoinette wanted a place she could call her own (since actually France in its entirety belonged to her husband the king) and so she got her husband's permission to build a little farm in the grounds of the Château de Versailles and then she hung out there with her girlfriends, milking cows and feeding lambs and listening to doves coo while the rest of France starved to death in miserable poverty. Hum did that come out a little irreverently? The Château de Versailles (and its gardens) is a wonderful place to visit and since we live a short bus ride away we often go there for walks. There seems to be a special climate there - every time I go the weather is the same as outside my front door but more intense (intensely hot, intensely cold, intensely wet... today it was intensely inappropriate weather for February - warm, sunny, blue sky). The light is absolutely beautiful too. Versailles is a crazy place believe it or not and I'll have to explain that later because for now I don't have the time.
These are some delicious vegan fairy cakes (actually the Faustess ones from Vegan With a Vengence without all the fussy icing bits) that I made on Saturday to take round to D's friend's house for tea - she was invited over to play. D of course helped decorate them but I don't have any photos unfortunately (D wanted three sorts of icing which probably turned out even more complicated that the original recipe's two sorts). I don't really know the Mum of D's friend that well and so didn't even bother explaining that they were "special" fairycakes (i.e. vegan) because I didn't want her to think I was a total crackpot (usual opinion of almost everybody with regard to avoidance of animal products) and to forbid her daughter from coming round to ours to play again!

Bon je vais faire vite, puisque je suis sûre que si vous lisez ce message en français vous êtes plus au courant que moi de l'histoire de l'Hameau de la Reine à Versailles où nous sommes allés nous promener entre copains dimanche. J'adore cet endroit! Elle a vraiment réussi son coup je trouve (je parle de Marie-Antoinette bien sûr) et on arrive rapidement à oublier que nous sommes à Versailles et non dans une idylle champêtre flottante loin de tout (je ne sais pas si cela se dit mais j'aime bien). Loin de tout sauf les gentils Versaillais qui se ruent ici pour jouer ensemble, en short gris et duffel gris et pull en cashmere gris. Hmmm. Je vais laisser cette remarque parce que mon fils est Versaillais donc il serait impossible pour moi de aller plus loin que la gentille moquerie.

Et une photo de mes petits gâteaux (fairy cakes) végétaliens que j'ai faits avec D samedi pour ramener chez la copine chez qui elle était invitée pour jouer. D a voulu les décorer bien sûr et il a fallu faire trois sortes de glaçage au cas où sa copine n'aimait pas telle couleur, ou le goût du citron, ou la texture... C'est dommage que je n'ai pas de photos - ils étaient jolis comme tout. (B si tu lis ce message, moi je les trouvais jolis, d'accord?).