The Ultimate Garden Field Trip- The Gardens at Versailles

Paris.  This one little word means something different to everyone who is lucky enough to visit there. 

The Eiffel Tower.  Notre Dame Cathedral.  The Louvre.  The Arc de Triomphe.  French wine and French food. 

To me, Paris means gardens.  Massive, opulent, colorful, breathtaking and inspiring.  A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to visit Paris and experience all the area has to offer. 

For a gardener, there is no better time to visit the gardens in and around Paris than the fall.  Whoever sang about “April in Paris” definitely wasn’t there to see the flora and fauna in April.  I found spring to be cold and drizzly.  Granted, there aren’t many tourists, but there is nothing to see horticulturally. 

September and October offer comfortable temperatures, clear skies and warm sun, a minimal amount of tourists, and gardens bursting with color and blooms.  Let me take you on a virtual trip to Versailles.

Versailles is just a 30-minute train ride out of the city of Paris.  Upon exiting the train station, the ornate black and gold gates of Versailles can be viewed across the street.  The buildings are mammoth- there is nothing that compares in the states.  But, we weren’t there to see the opulence inside the mansions.  We were there to see the gardens, fountains and statuary.

My husband and I arrived on a Saturday before 11am.  The fountains at Versailles are run on certain days and limited hours.  It’s worth checking to see if they’ll be on when you visit.  I highly recommend that, if you are going to Paris, you plan your visit when the fountains are on.  It’s a spectacle like no other!

The “Water Parterre” is the first set of fountains you see when you arrive on the upper level at Versailles.  Two pools, built in 1684, have 8 sets of statues depicting children in charming poses.  It’s impossible for me to describe how deafening the sound of the water is when all the fountains are on.  Some of the sprays rival a fire hydrant for sheer water pressure. 

As Louis XIV requested, everything should be monumental in scale and symmetrical in appearance. Heading down the enormous sets of while marble steps towards the Neptune Basin found me with my mouth still hanging open. 

The Neptune Basin with Dragon Fountains is, in my estimation, the grandest spectacle in the garden.  Begun in 1682 and finished in 1741, the gilded groups of fountains contain the Dragon, 2 Neptune fountains, 4 dolphins and 4 swans.  Additionally, the fountain inside the dragon’s mouth shoots to a height of about 30 feet.  Now, that’s impressive! 

As a side note: I halfway expected Donald Trump to sidle up to me as I toured the over-the-top Versailles gardens.  The multitude of gilded-gold statuary, never ending white marble steps and numerous precisely clipped topiaries had me thinking “The Donald” might be Louis XIV reincarnated!

On each side of the mind-blowing fountain groups are the gardens of the North and South Parterre.  These gardens are symmetrical.  Louis XIV commanded these be planted with elaborate floral displays so he could view them from his apartments that overlooked the grounds.   

The plants in the displays change with the seasons and they are placed inside elaborate, precisely clipped boxwood hedges.  In the fall, the beds are overflowing with dahlias of all colors, including black, cosmos in pink and white, salvias in powder blue and pale pink, delphiniums in vivid purple and vast amounts of stick verbena.  “Stick” Verbena (botanical name Verbena bonarensis) is one of my favorite plants; it’s a “see-through” plant that is at home in any garden setting.

The Royal Orangery is below the Parterre Gardens.  Amazingly, it was built in 1684, taking only 2 years to build.  A large round reflecting pond is at the center and 1,200 wooden planter boxes line the aisles.  Of course, they are lined up perfectly according to type and size of plant.  They are trimmed to within an inch of their life, placed outside of manicured lawn areas. 

Swirls and circles of clipped sod are perfectly shaped.  Honestly, this garden is so perfect it made me want to weep.  By the way- when I returned home I did some investigating as to the price of the famous “Versailles Planters.”  Only one company, Authentic Provence, distributes them, and the base price for a small, unfinished planter is over $1,000.  If you’re interested, the website is www.versailles-planters.com

The largest expanse of water, by far, is the Grand Canal.  It runs the entire length of the lower gardens and has 2 sets of smaller canals on each side.  Work began in 1667, taking over 11 years to finish.  The base is clay, keeping it watertight.  It has only been drained 3 times since it was built.  Once, when it was turned into a vegetable garden to feed the French, another when Napoleon ordered it to be restored to its initial glory, and the last when it was drained to prevent it from being used as a point of reference by enemy bombers. 

Today, you can rent boats and paddle away to your hearts content on a leisurely fall afternoon.  In early October the canal is relatively empty and boat rentals are easy to come by.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention all the white marble statuary at Versailles. All along the sides of the fountains and gardens are statue after statue, all with plaques describing the artist and their creation.  Unfortunately, there are so many statues that it begins to seem like overkill. 

Additionally, topiaries of all shapes and sizes flank the statues.  I have been to the gardens twice over the past 2 years and I believe that there are more topiaries now than there were in 2009.  I can’t imagine how many gardeners it takes to keep them all properly clipped.

There are trams at Versailles that will take you to the farms outside of the palace.  Fields of sheep, horses and ducks snap you back to reality and hearken back to Marie Antoinette’s day when she called the place home.  You can also break for lunch or a snack to regain your energy on the grounds of Versailles.

We managed to spend almost the entire day in the gardens at Versailles and still didn’t see everything. It was exhausting, but I found my mind churning with fresh, innovative gardening ideas as I rode the train back to Paris. 

It’s a destination like no other and one that should be on the “Bucket List” of every passionate gardener.