Versailles - gardens

The gardens are Versailles were meticulously laid out by the best gardeners and architects in France, mostly during the reign of Louis XIV in the late 17th century.  They are absolutely huge but just a fraction of what used to be the royal demesne of Versailles.  Today's statistics: the gardens are 800 hectares, with 210k flowers planted annually, 200k trees, and 50 fountains. 

One of the earliest sections of the gardens is the Orangerie, which as the name suggests, used to be filled with orange trees.  Now it looks quite different:

There is a bit of a platform coming directly out of the back of the palace, and most of the garden grounds are situated somewhat below it.  Radiating outward from the main fountain are tons of these little pathways to other sections, seen from above:

The main area if you were to walk out of the back of the palace.  The current Versailles property still stretches as far as the eye can see in this direction, but it used to be many dozens of square miles.  The lake in the distance is an artificial one called the Grand Canal because the king wanted something like the Venetian canals; he had gondoliers who rowed in there to create a pretty scene.

Wandering farther in, through the paths, there is one fountain that has a music show.  The jets are programed to have a little show timed to the music, almost like a water ballet if that makes sense?  It's quite pretty.

In the midst of the gardens are a dozen or so of these little grottoes.  Most of them feature fountains and have some sort of Classical theme.  This one is Pluto and Proserpina:

This one is my favorite, I think, it's the fall of the Titans:

And a view of the palace from in front of the Grand Canal:

So that will give you the main idea of the "designed" part of the gardens.  To add a bit more natural authenticity, though, there is also a huge area of the grounds that are more or less just woods with paths through them, not this very finely controlled, manicured kind of garden.  I didn't really take pictures, but you can imagine; they're like most woods you've ever seen.

One nice thing about the gardens/park area of Versailles is that from the Grand Canal on they are free and open to the public.  It's only the closely maintained areas that need a ticket.  So when it's nice out you see lots of people running, biking, rowing on the canal, even picniking in the fields farther out.  It seems like it's a popular place for weekend family outings.  I would definitely go there to hang out in the nice weather if I lived in the town of Versailles.

Next up, the Trianons, the two small "country" chateaux built as retreats for various queens and mistresses on the grounds of Versailles.