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The Queen's Hamlet

The Queen’s Hamlet is a charming attraction in the park of the Palace of Versailles, built for Marie Antoinette in the 18th century. It consists of a group of rustic cottages and farm buildings, arranged around an artificial lake, that served as a place of leisure and education for the queen and her children. The hamlet was inspired by the naturalistic movement in art and architecture, and by the model farms that were popular among the French aristocracy at the time. The hamlet was also a way for Marie Antoinette to escape the formalities and pressures of the court life, and to enjoy a simpler and more intimate lifestyle. The hamlet was designed by Richard Mique and Hubert Robert, who also modified the landscape of the Petit Trianon, where the hamlet is located. The hamlet has three distinct areas: the reception area, where the queen entertained her guests in the boudoir, the billiard room, and the Queen’s House; the farm area, where the animals and crops were raised and the dair

Giant Crocodiile


Sarcosuchus is an extinct genus of crocodyliform and distant relative of living crocodylians that lived during the Early Cretaceous, from the late Hauterivian to the early Albian, 133-112 million years ago of what is now Africa and South America. 

It was one of the largest crocodile-like reptiles, reaching an average estimate of 9 meters and 3.5 tonnes but estimated to grow up to 9.5 m in body length and weigh up to 4.3 tonnes. It is known from two species, S. imperator from the early Albian Elrhaz Formation of Niger and S. hartti from the Late Hauterivian of north-east Brazil, other material is known from Morocco and Tunisia and possibly Libya and Mali.

The first remains were discovered during several expeditions led by the French paleontologist Albert-FĂ©lix de Lapparent, spanning from 1946 to 1959, in the Sahara. These remains were fragments of the skull, vertebrae, teeth, and scutes. In 1964, an almost complete skull was found in Niger by the French CEA, but it was not until 1997 and 2000 that most of its anatomy became known to science when an expedition led by the American paleontologist Paul Sereno discovered six new specimens, including one with about half the skeleton intact and most of the spine.

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