The Belvédère is a small octagonal garden pavilion designed by Richard Mique in 1781 for Marie Antoinette, set on an artificial hill in the English garden of the Petit Trianon with views over the lake below. It was used as a summer music room — the queen held private concerts here, the small interior lit by lanterns hung in the surrounding trees.
The building is one of the finest small pieces of 18th-century garden architecture in France: the exterior decorated with bas-reliefs of garlands and medallions, the interior with painted grisaille panels and a marble floor. It was designed to be approached from the water, the hill rising directly from the lake's edge with a small cascade to one side.
The Belvédère is not always open to enter, but is visible from the paths around the lake and worth seeking out as part of an exploration of the Petit Trianon gardens. It sits in a very different world from the formal geometries of the main garden — smaller, more intimate, and clearly made for pleasure rather than display.