A Guest Blog from a Visit to Versailles
While visiting Paris, France one must try to see the magnificent palace and gardens of Versailles. I've been to Versailles several times and every visit was more breathtaking than the last. My gardener, Ryan McCallister, picked a lovely day of his recent European vacation to tour the historic landmark and grounds.
When the château was built, Versailles was just a small 11th century village. Today, it is a wealthy suburb about 12-miles southwest of Paris. Known simply as Versailles, it was the seat of political power in the Kingdom of France from 1682, when Louis XIV moved the royal court from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in 1789 after the beginning of the French Revolution. The expansive royal gardens were designed by renowned landscape architect André Le Nôtre. They cover more than 1970 acres and include gorgeous manicured hedges, gardens and groves, reflecting pools, artfully carved statues, and perfectly edged pathways.
Here are a few more photos from Ryan's trip, enjoy.
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- Here is the grand courtyard and front of the Royal Palace of Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. It was a bit overcast to start, but the sun came out during Ryan’s tour of the gardens.
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- The Royal courtyard is all paved in marble with its contrasting colors of black and white stone.
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- Versailles is an excellent example of the Baroque style of architecture, which developed in the 17th century.
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- In 1661 Louis XIV called on André Le Nôtre with the creation and renovation of the gardens of Versailles, which Louis considered just as important as the Palace itself. Work on the gardens was started at the same time as the work on the palace and lasted for about 40 years.
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- Creating the gardens of Versailles was a monumental task. Large amounts of soil had to be moved to level the ground and make room for various fountains, pools and statues and to create the parterres. This is the North Parterre.
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- It took thousands of workers, sometimes even entire regiments, to help create this immense project of the king.
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- To maintain its incredible design, the garden needed to be replanted approximately once every 100 years. King Louis XVI oversaw one of these replanting projects and so did Napoleon III during his reign.
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- The Garden of Versailles is considered the essence of French formal garden design. This “jardin à la Français” uses order on nature by creating lots of symmetry and incorporating water features and plant life. This is the Orangerie.
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- Originally completed in 1663, the Orangerie was intended to supply the much smaller hunting lodge of Versailles and the small retinue, or group of assistants and advisors, which Louis XIV would bring with him in the summer. In 1678, an enlargement of the Orangerie was created by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, which doubled the size of the original. in the distance is the Lake of the Swiss Guards.
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- Potted palm trees, orange trees from Portugal, Spain and Italy, lemon trees, oleander, and pomegranate trees, some more than 200 years old, are all housed in the Orangerie.
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- Today, to keep up with the planting of hundreds of thousands of specimens each year, including the regular maintenance tasks of grooming, pruning, edging, and cleaning, Versailles employs 48-full time gardeners. This is one of the many “walks” – a hedge allée from one area to another. André Le Nôtre organised the Gardens of Versailles around two axes, north-south and east-west.
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- The Neptune Fountain or the Fountain of Neptune was built between 1679 and 1681.
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- This is called Latona’s Fountain and Parterre. The Latona fountain was built for Louis XIV. He wanted a fountain telling the story of the childhood of Apollo, the sun god he selected for his emblem. It went through several stages before it acquired its present form.
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- Here is a closer look at the fountain. From 1687 to 1689, Jules Hardouin-Mansart created the present fountain by turning Latona around and placing her on the top of a marble pyramid. At the base are 20 frogs cast in lead which run water towards the center of the basin.
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- Brightly colored flowers have been planted since the reign of Louis XIV.
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- Each parterre is so perfectly groomed. At the foot of the Palace on the garden side there are three large parterres – the North Parterre, South Parterre and Water Parterre.
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- Every parterre is meticulously designed and beautifully maintained.
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- Scores of trees were planted at Versailles. Originally comprising mainly linden and chestnut trees from nearby forests, it has expanded over the centuries to include more rare trees such as the American tulip tree and Virginian juniper, the Japanese Pagoda tree, the Chinese catalpa, and the giant sequoia.
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- Many of the tall hedges are hornbeams – just like the European hornbeams I have at my farm.
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- Ryan thoroughly enjoyed his trip to France and especially Versailles. I am sure it is on his list to return there, again and again, just like I have. Thanks for sharing your photos, Ryan.
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