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Gardener of Versailles: My Life in the World's Grandest Garden
INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards -- 2014 Finalist
For gardening aficionados and Francophiles, a love letter to the Versailles Palace and grounds, from the man who knows them best. In Alain Baraton's Versailles, every grove tells a story. As the gardener-in-chief, Baraton lives on its grounds, and since 1982 he has devoted his life to the gardens, orchards, and fields that were loved by France's kings and queens as much as the palace itself. His memoir captures the essence of the connection between gardeners and the earth they tend, no matter how humble or grand.
With the charm of a natural storyteller, Baraton weaves his own path as a gardener with the life of the Versailles grounds, and his role overseeing its team of eighty gardeners tending to 350,000 trees and thirty miles of walkways on 2,100 acres. He richly evokes this legendary place and the history it has witnessed but also its quieter side that he feels privileged to know. The same gardens that hosted the lavish lawn parties of Louis XIV and the momentous meeting between Marie Antoinette and the Cardinal de Rohan remain enchanted, private places where visitors try to get themselves locked in at night, lovers go looking for secluded hideaways, and elegant grandmothers secretly make cuttings to take back to their own gardens. A tremendous best seller in France, The Gardener of Versailles gives an unprecedentedly intimate view of one of the grandest places on earth.
For gardening aficionados and Francophiles, a love letter to the Versailles Palace and grounds, from the man who knows them best. In Alain Baraton's Versailles, every grove tells a story. As the gardener-in-chief, Baraton lives on its grounds, and since 1982 he has devoted his life to the gardens, orchards, and fields that were loved by France's kings and queens as much as the palace itself. His memoir captures the essence of the connection between gardeners and the earth they tend, no matter how humble or grand.
With the charm of a natural storyteller, Baraton weaves his own path as a gardener with the life of the Versailles grounds, and his role overseeing its team of eighty gardeners tending to 350,000 trees and thirty miles of walkways on 2,100 acres. He richly evokes this legendary place and the history it has witnessed but also its quieter side that he feels privileged to know. The same gardens that hosted the lavish lawn parties of Louis XIV and the momentous meeting between Marie Antoinette and the Cardinal de Rohan remain enchanted, private places where visitors try to get themselves locked in at night, lovers go looking for secluded hideaways, and elegant grandmothers secretly make cuttings to take back to their own gardens. A tremendous best seller in France, The Gardener of Versailles gives an unprecedentedly intimate view of one of the grandest places on earth.
290 pages, Hardcover
First published May 17, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
February 22, 2021
Literary chocolate! Alain Baraton text regurgitates love for his profession. Great translation from French. Some phrases that exemplify the "chocolate" are: "at Versailles, it is felt that we need the best, the newest, and the most expensive, even if the results turn out to be disastrous. Unlike tractors, a horse does not pollute, destroys nothing and makes work time more agreeable for its gardener companion and even for the visitors watching regular garden work, which becomes sort of a spectacle." A absolute pleasure to read, do not hesitate to buy this rectangular tactile version of chocolate. The Gardener of Versailles was a welcome addition to our family library. The name Alain Baraton was not associated with boring words, dragging storyline or horrible purveyor of banal sentences. Superb!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 14, 2014
Lost in translation. That is the only excuse I can imagine for the way this book turned out. What should have been an interesting read turned into a disjointed, frustrating experience. (If you’re interested in reading about the park police chasing lovers through the park, then this is the book for you). The author jumps around from one interesting feature to another, however, the actual physical layout is left to the reader’s imagination, as there are no maps or photos to orient oneself. The book could have been much better with a map identifying the areas. Much more so with some photos. The author’s depicting of the history of the garden is the more of the same, jumping around in time and seemingly more concerned with royal gossip than the actual garden. What a disappointment!
February 11, 2018
A charming book written by the longtime gardener of Versailles. This book interweaves the historical heyday of Versailles with current day. The author starts with the devastation of the storm of 1999 and the effects on these remarkable gardens. A delightful read.
July 14, 2014
a fun look 'behind the scenses' at versailles, you get background and history, first person tales of trials of gardening (the huge storms of 1999 and ?) so reader gets a good view of the gardens and buildings 1976-2012
but, then reader also has to slog through rather arrogant idiosyncrasy blatherings of a frenchman too.
no pictures (Wha?, great job rizzoli, you of the picture book world), no notes, no bibliography, no index. but fairly fascinating look at really cool , huge formal gardens (an not so formal, as author keeps telling us, but we never really get to know or know about the rough woods there, only the formal parts) with cool historical plants, 300 year old tulip trees and cedars and such.
recommended and frustrating in equal parts
but, then reader also has to slog through rather arrogant idiosyncrasy blatherings of a frenchman too.
no pictures (Wha?, great job rizzoli, you of the picture book world), no notes, no bibliography, no index. but fairly fascinating look at really cool , huge formal gardens (an not so formal, as author keeps telling us, but we never really get to know or know about the rough woods there, only the formal parts) with cool historical plants, 300 year old tulip trees and cedars and such.
recommended and frustrating in equal parts
December 20, 2017
Interessante la parte aneddotica e alcune chicche storiche.
Ad esempio: esisteva un Trianon di porcellana (citato en passant anche da De Waal in La strada Bianca), che verrà demolito perché troppo umido.
Oppure, che per l'inaugurazione di Versailles Re Sole mette in piedi tre giorni di festeggiamenti basati sull'Orlando Furioso con fastosissimi scenari e rappresentazioni. Oppure sulle diverse personalità chiamate a disegnare e ridisegnare i giardini.
- Lettura scaturita dalla mia fissa attuale: giardini storici/storia dei giardini :-)
Ad esempio: esisteva un Trianon di porcellana (citato en passant anche da De Waal in La strada Bianca), che verrà demolito perché troppo umido.
Oppure, che per l'inaugurazione di Versailles Re Sole mette in piedi tre giorni di festeggiamenti basati sull'Orlando Furioso con fastosissimi scenari e rappresentazioni. Oppure sulle diverse personalità chiamate a disegnare e ridisegnare i giardini.
- Lettura scaturita dalla mia fissa attuale: giardini storici/storia dei giardini :-)
July 30, 2014
I had the pleasure of visiting the Palace of Versailles last spring, on Easter Sunday as a matter of fact. For some reason, I was under the impression that because we were celebrating a catholic holiday in a catholic country, I would be greeted by relatively few tourists. Boy was I wrong! Instead of strolling care free through the palace corridors as I'd hoped, I enjoyed (not really) a "stiff-necked" experience, unable to move freely about as I was shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of other tourists, mostly Asians. And while I enjoyed eating un gâteau au chocolat on the palace grounds, I left without seeing the Petite Trianon or Marie Antoinette's Hamlet, the intimate parts of the garden where I like to lose myself in daydreams.
And while I do not doubt the experience of any tourists, I suppose the only way to truly know and indulge in the gardens is, well, to become a gardener of Versailles!
Alain Baraton has been head gardener-in-chief at Versailles for nearly
thirty years. He actually lives on the palace grounds, in the former abode of Monsieur Moliere, court writer under Louis XVI. In this book, he brings together the history of the palace, its evolution through time, and his own personal encounters working at what was not simply the grandest estate in all of France, but all of Europe as well.
As Baraton explains, the gardens, unlike the palace, are alive, and they have stories to tell. Inanimate objects, while impressing some with their embellishments and their beauty, while making others envious of the royal family's once great wealth, can only do so much when it comes to bridging the gap across centuries. An old tree, for example, planted during the time of Louis XVI, can bring us closer to history than can the king's bed chamber. We've all heard the phrase "If trees could talk..." The simple fact that the tree is living, and bared witness to the events that transpired here, bring us closer to the people whose names we've only ever encountered in history books. The giant oaks, the fragrant roses, the endless greenery, the sensation of the wind in one's hair - all of these things allow us to understand why Louis XVI loved his gardens so much, and why Marie Antoinette saw them as a retreat from the confines of French court life, where privacy was non-existent.
I was tickled pink to learn that, just days before his death, Louis XVI was completing a manual on how to present his gardens. It reminds us that Louis, the Sun King, the center of the universe, was in his early twenties when he first brought his mistress to the small hunting lodge his father had built. Escaping the chaos of Paris and with it the conniving French nobles, at Versailles, he was free to let his imagination run wild. As Baraton explains, it's hard to feel sympathy for the cunning Louis, but it's also hard not to feel a little sympathy for a man whose garden manual is populated with spelling errors. The gardens remind us that Louis XVI was also human.
(Here, I would like to say as much about Marie Antoinette, but because I have her biography sitting unread on my shelf, I will leave that discourse for another time.)
Of course there are other names, smaller names, to whom the gardens are indebted. Notably, Le Notre, a man well loved by Louis XVI for his design work on the gardens. Then too, there is also La Quintinie, the famous botanist, and the gardener Richard, who Baraton credits with saving the gardens from the destruction of the Revolution.
Then, just as now, the gardens have a tendency to arouse passions. The differences is that now, instead of meeting to discuss some secret plot against the monarchy, lovers, perhaps enraptured by the profound legacy of the place, meet for another reason...and are very often caught! But where there is life, so to there is death, and unfortunately, due to another kind of passion altogether, the park has been the site of several suicides.
The gardens are a place where life, old and new, conjoins. And whether you're a gardener employed at the palace, like Baraton, or one of the thousands of tourists who visit every day, we are all "passing guests" at Versailles. As for the gardens, I think they are eternal. "May they last a thousand years."
________________________________________
I wish that I could have made this review longer, but was discouraged from doing so for fear that I'd simply have too much to say.
I do not know what people mean when they say that Baraton is just a mediocre writer. I think his writing, at least in this book, was outstanding. His descriptions are vivid, and his love for the gardens and their history shines through in the reflective way he draws connections between the past and present.
And while I do not doubt the experience of any tourists, I suppose the only way to truly know and indulge in the gardens is, well, to become a gardener of Versailles!
Alain Baraton has been head gardener-in-chief at Versailles for nearly
thirty years. He actually lives on the palace grounds, in the former abode of Monsieur Moliere, court writer under Louis XVI. In this book, he brings together the history of the palace, its evolution through time, and his own personal encounters working at what was not simply the grandest estate in all of France, but all of Europe as well.
As Baraton explains, the gardens, unlike the palace, are alive, and they have stories to tell. Inanimate objects, while impressing some with their embellishments and their beauty, while making others envious of the royal family's once great wealth, can only do so much when it comes to bridging the gap across centuries. An old tree, for example, planted during the time of Louis XVI, can bring us closer to history than can the king's bed chamber. We've all heard the phrase "If trees could talk..." The simple fact that the tree is living, and bared witness to the events that transpired here, bring us closer to the people whose names we've only ever encountered in history books. The giant oaks, the fragrant roses, the endless greenery, the sensation of the wind in one's hair - all of these things allow us to understand why Louis XVI loved his gardens so much, and why Marie Antoinette saw them as a retreat from the confines of French court life, where privacy was non-existent.
I was tickled pink to learn that, just days before his death, Louis XVI was completing a manual on how to present his gardens. It reminds us that Louis, the Sun King, the center of the universe, was in his early twenties when he first brought his mistress to the small hunting lodge his father had built. Escaping the chaos of Paris and with it the conniving French nobles, at Versailles, he was free to let his imagination run wild. As Baraton explains, it's hard to feel sympathy for the cunning Louis, but it's also hard not to feel a little sympathy for a man whose garden manual is populated with spelling errors. The gardens remind us that Louis XVI was also human.
(Here, I would like to say as much about Marie Antoinette, but because I have her biography sitting unread on my shelf, I will leave that discourse for another time.)
Of course there are other names, smaller names, to whom the gardens are indebted. Notably, Le Notre, a man well loved by Louis XVI for his design work on the gardens. Then too, there is also La Quintinie, the famous botanist, and the gardener Richard, who Baraton credits with saving the gardens from the destruction of the Revolution.
Then, just as now, the gardens have a tendency to arouse passions. The differences is that now, instead of meeting to discuss some secret plot against the monarchy, lovers, perhaps enraptured by the profound legacy of the place, meet for another reason...and are very often caught! But where there is life, so to there is death, and unfortunately, due to another kind of passion altogether, the park has been the site of several suicides.
The gardens are a place where life, old and new, conjoins. And whether you're a gardener employed at the palace, like Baraton, or one of the thousands of tourists who visit every day, we are all "passing guests" at Versailles. As for the gardens, I think they are eternal. "May they last a thousand years."
________________________________________
I wish that I could have made this review longer, but was discouraged from doing so for fear that I'd simply have too much to say.
I do not know what people mean when they say that Baraton is just a mediocre writer. I think his writing, at least in this book, was outstanding. His descriptions are vivid, and his love for the gardens and their history shines through in the reflective way he draws connections between the past and present.
May 17, 2019
2019 bk 157. A most satisfying book for spring reading. Evidently written near his time of retirement, The Gardener of Versailles remembers the highlights of his career at Versailles. Much of the book is focused on the past, the royals of France, and the building of Versailles and its gardens. I would wish for more tales of his early years, and the different stages as he rose through the ranks to become in charge of the gardens. The details of his life living in a home on the Versailles estate are fascinating. I've never been, but I have several friends who have and their overall remembrance of Versailles is how flat the land was - I think if they had had the opportunity to read this, they might have been able to pick out the important landmarks in the park. As I said, a good reading for spring, but I'm not sure that I will read it again.
September 19, 2019
A very interesting account of the history of Versailles and his story of working in the gardens over 30 years. You can see why there was a French Revolution - none of the 3 kings involved in making it, cover themselves in any sort of glory - selfish, self entitled, capricious and megalomaniacs.
Baraton's history is fascinating from a tough childhood to arriving at Versailles when survivors of the 2nd W. War were working at Versailles, with the old ways and even using horses. The irony is that in the final chapters he bemoans the loss of the 'old ways' of gardening which are kinder on the land and more sustainable. He mostly focuses on the grand scheme: fountains, allees, and the Canal and Orangery. So it does feel like the grand park it is - not an intimate garden. It would appear it was written in 2006 so here's hoping the gardens have caught up with the new sustainable trends.
Baraton's history is fascinating from a tough childhood to arriving at Versailles when survivors of the 2nd W. War were working at Versailles, with the old ways and even using horses. The irony is that in the final chapters he bemoans the loss of the 'old ways' of gardening which are kinder on the land and more sustainable. He mostly focuses on the grand scheme: fountains, allees, and the Canal and Orangery. So it does feel like the grand park it is - not an intimate garden. It would appear it was written in 2006 so here's hoping the gardens have caught up with the new sustainable trends.
February 15, 2023
Not my typical genre but I found it at a library sale and I'm glad I came across it.....
"What makes a good Gardener? The essential ingredient can be reduced to a single word: joy."
"The woods and gardens are the theater of ancient legends, and the statues are their actors. "
"Technical progress in my profession has allowed for improved comfort, but not improved living, and it would be a serious error to confuse the two. "
"What makes a good Gardener? The essential ingredient can be reduced to a single word: joy."
"The woods and gardens are the theater of ancient legends, and the statues are their actors. "
"Technical progress in my profession has allowed for improved comfort, but not improved living, and it would be a serious error to confuse the two. "
December 9, 2019
Very enjoyable. Who knew I could care so much about trees?
April 21, 2019
It's always interesting to read memoirs and short biographies from people whose job is part of a national monument or at least, the unusual. To read their insights as well as well as some history from their point of view.
Monsieur Baraton is the gardener-in-chief for the park/gardens at the Palace of Versailles since 1982, a career that he never intended to follow for long. He discusses not only dealing with disasters like the massive storm that destroyed hundreds of trees but tourists, exhibitionists and suicides. Baraton goes into the history of the Versailles palace - the royalty and famed residents that used and expanded each part, the festivities, the galas as well as other key players that made their unique impacts on the chateau grounds. H
What actually brought the story into the current times was his personal views on modern gardening techniques verses the older ones. His preference for the horses and their manure over the noisy, smelly and ground-tearing tractors. The noisy leaf blowers over some rakes. The chain saws who immediately remove branches and trees without any consideration of a tree's age or surroundings. The loss of the wildlife that made nightime walks filled with various sounds - his family's home is a cottage on the grounds - as well as the light pollution from nearby towns and cities that are usually blocked by thick foliage.
The addition of a map/plans of the gardens would have been appreciated since he would talk of this grotto or grove and unless someone was familiar with the gardens, there was no concept of where the area was located in relation of the palace, the Grand Canal or any other major section.
It's interesting and intimate view into the work into maintaining a national treasure.
2019-059
Monsieur Baraton is the gardener-in-chief for the park/gardens at the Palace of Versailles since 1982, a career that he never intended to follow for long. He discusses not only dealing with disasters like the massive storm that destroyed hundreds of trees but tourists, exhibitionists and suicides. Baraton goes into the history of the Versailles palace - the royalty and famed residents that used and expanded each part, the festivities, the galas as well as other key players that made their unique impacts on the chateau grounds. H
What actually brought the story into the current times was his personal views on modern gardening techniques verses the older ones. His preference for the horses and their manure over the noisy, smelly and ground-tearing tractors. The noisy leaf blowers over some rakes. The chain saws who immediately remove branches and trees without any consideration of a tree's age or surroundings. The loss of the wildlife that made nightime walks filled with various sounds - his family's home is a cottage on the grounds - as well as the light pollution from nearby towns and cities that are usually blocked by thick foliage.
The addition of a map/plans of the gardens would have been appreciated since he would talk of this grotto or grove and unless someone was familiar with the gardens, there was no concept of where the area was located in relation of the palace, the Grand Canal or any other major section.
It's interesting and intimate view into the work into maintaining a national treasure.
2019-059
April 30, 2014
I really loved this book. It loses one point for leaving me hanging on HOW he fixed all the problems after the storm and HOW he decided what to plant. Really? We are just going to digress and not get back to that? But I loved the history and the day to day. Great read!
December 30, 2014
It's a great book. It starts with a tragedy when a storm took out many of the trees in Versailles and he talks about several of his predecessors. But I enjoyed learning about the various trees in the garden, including a tulip tree that was 10 feet wide and 100 feet tall.
July 1, 2020
This is a master gardener's rambling remembrance of his garden. It in no way reflects on the overall structure of Versailles, and probably should be the third or fourth book one reads on the topic if you are not familiar with the gardens. I have repeatedly stopped to look for internet pictures to better understand what Baraton refers to in the book. There are no pictures, and no structural attributes aside from cryptically named chapters. It has been a very long and frustrating read, but that is in part due to the time the reviewer finds herself in.
Just the same I have very much enjoyed some of his observations about the history of the garden and how immeshed the gardens were in the disciplines of architecture, drama, dance. I appreciate his sensitivity to being a man of his time, mourning the massive trees previous generations unmindfully cut down when fancy struck them to change the park. In his own time the trees were leveled by climate change, which may have inspired this book-write it down while it is still in memory, if no longer reality. If anything I would like to read a more scolarly book on how the gardens were made on drained swamps, how the hydraulics were engineered, and another book on garden design through history might be required. At some point when concentration is not an issue.
Just the same I have very much enjoyed some of his observations about the history of the garden and how immeshed the gardens were in the disciplines of architecture, drama, dance. I appreciate his sensitivity to being a man of his time, mourning the massive trees previous generations unmindfully cut down when fancy struck them to change the park. In his own time the trees were leveled by climate change, which may have inspired this book-write it down while it is still in memory, if no longer reality. If anything I would like to read a more scolarly book on how the gardens were made on drained swamps, how the hydraulics were engineered, and another book on garden design through history might be required. At some point when concentration is not an issue.
May 15, 2022
Nothing makes me happier than finding something that isn’t found in any book.
In retrospect, I guess this book is about what one would expect of a French gardener. Where I expected to stumble through details about plants and gardening I have little experience with, I instead received tips on romance.
This is part autobiography and part history of the gardens of Versailles and the palace by extension. Scandalous tales of the royalty, ghost stories, and a history of the most prominent gardeners at Versailles over the last several centuries, it's all told here with a beauty to rival the gardens. It stars with the storm of 1999 that felled a large number of the garden's old trees, nearly destroying it.
One interesting thing that stood out to me is that previous gardeners had a goal of innovating and looking to the future, whereas Baraton and other modern gardeners at Versailles are custodians of history, looking to the past to recreate what, say, Marie Antoinette would have seen (and smelled--Baraton points out that modern varieties of roses have little if any scent, something he finds important in a garden).
May 19, 2017
Very disappointing. Hard to tell if this is a translation issue or simply that the translator had so little to work with. This book should have been a lot better, after all it is about the gardens of Versailles and the gentleman who is the chief gardener. But it jumps around and wanders to and fro; very disjointed and difficult to know what the author is talking about some times. After a great first chapter, it just fizzles instead of sizzles. Agree with previous posters that maps and photos would have been extremely helpful.
February 24, 2021
Pop Sugar Reading Challenge - a book set mostly or entirely outdoors; a DNF book from my TBR read list
I started this book and DNF after 100 or so pages. I picked it up again as a DNF from my TBR list for the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge. I see now why I DNF. Rambling, incoherent, and sexist. He loves nothing more than salacious, probably made-up and/or exaggerated, stories about Marie Antoinette and the King's mistresses.
Too bad, because the gardening part could have been a lot more interesting.
I started this book and DNF after 100 or so pages. I picked it up again as a DNF from my TBR list for the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge. I see now why I DNF. Rambling, incoherent, and sexist. He loves nothing more than salacious, probably made-up and/or exaggerated, stories about Marie Antoinette and the King's mistresses.
Too bad, because the gardening part could have been a lot more interesting.
January 28, 2024
With no map of the garden, the book is frustrating.
The author names features in the garden and relates stories about the plants in them, or their background, or events that happened while he worked there. Unfortunately, not having been to the garden in several decades I couldn’t picture the settings he was writing about. Common courtesy to the reader would have been to include one — or preferably several — maps. And no, there aren’t any decent ones on the Internet that I could find.
The author names features in the garden and relates stories about the plants in them, or their background, or events that happened while he worked there. Unfortunately, not having been to the garden in several decades I couldn’t picture the settings he was writing about. Common courtesy to the reader would have been to include one — or preferably several — maps. And no, there aren’t any decent ones on the Internet that I could find.
July 23, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed this read, it was interesting throughout and wove the history of Versailles together with a collection of vignettes. Some call it jumpy, but to me the narrative felt as if I was taking a walk with Monsieur Baraton and he told me about his gardens as we strolled. It gave the book a bit of extra charm.
My only gripe is that I would have loved a map at the very least, preferably accompanied by pictures. Having visited Versailles I was roughly familiar with the gardens, but it would have been helpful to have a little better understanding of where the author was describing.
My only gripe is that I would have loved a map at the very least, preferably accompanied by pictures. Having visited Versailles I was roughly familiar with the gardens, but it would have been helpful to have a little better understanding of where the author was describing.
December 21, 2018
I loved this book. I enjoy gardening, history, France so this ticked many boxes for me. I read it while living in Cambodia doing aid work so this was a great escape from my surroundings, allowing me switch off time. Some reviewers criticise the way the author jumps around, I enjoyed this approach. It was like someone telling stories about their life, conversational and friendly tone. Interesting insights into the history of the gardens.
Read
October 17, 2021When I first got this book, I was worried because it wasn't what I was expecting. I definitely thought that there would be pictures, but somehow a book of stories about the gardens of Versailles is still incredibly interesting even without photos. I loved the behind-the-scenes peek at life in the gardens, the descriptions of the work it takes to keep the garden going, and the historical moments scattered throughout. If you're even just a tiny bit obsessed with France, this is a wonderful book.
February 2, 2024
French Gardening with history
I bought this book when it first appeared years ago. It is still on my desk shelves. I reread it on kindle (great sale) to revisit a garden during my winter. It was fabulous. I remember the humor and the trees. I forgot the salacious details with the French eye to the human condition and history. Charming read. I wonder if anything else of his has been translated to English since this was such a success.
I bought this book when it first appeared years ago. It is still on my desk shelves. I reread it on kindle (great sale) to revisit a garden during my winter. It was fabulous. I remember the humor and the trees. I forgot the salacious details with the French eye to the human condition and history. Charming read. I wonder if anything else of his has been translated to English since this was such a success.
February 22, 2024
I expected to love this book but ended up finding it tedious. I understand it is well received in France, and expect it may be more approachable if all those historical figures instantly mean something to you. I did some googling and research as I was reading, but it was a grind. I love actual gardening, I love books that make you care about past history and real people from the past, but this one just didn't do it for me.
June 29, 2020
3.5 stars. I loved Baraton's descriptions about gardening, plants, etc., and the translation from French was better than some others I have read. Some of his opinion pieces (down with mowers! Bring back horses!) were a little much. Overall, a very interesting read. I am definitely adding Versailles to the list if I go to France...especially since he is still the master gardener there.
September 9, 2020
Une lecture agréable et poétique sur le jardin de Versailles. Cependant, on se serait bien passé des allusions sexistes et débridées de l'auteur lorsqu'il décrit la présence de visiteurs féminins et le côté lubrique qui l'anime à leur rencontre.
August 27, 2024
"Ho sempre avuto la sensazione di essere solo di passaggio a Versailles. La sensazione che i giardini, gli alberi, i boschetti, i viali non solo non mi appartenevano, ma mi sarebbero sopravvissuti. Gli alberi ci danno la misura di un tempo che va al di là di noi"
February 23, 2025
Stupendo. Scritto con uno stile ricco di stimoli che tengono il lettore sempre "in tiro" con l'attenzione. Giardiniere, scrittore, podcaster, l'autore è una vasta fonte di informazioni, disseminando momenti e riflessioni personali "in mezzo" alle sue opere. Consigliato alla grande.
November 6, 2019
Rambling.
August 19, 2020
Transported me into experiencing a span of 400 years of the magical world of The Versailles Palace Gardens that l could have never otherwise so vividly imagined!
April 9, 2021
I liked the chapters about his experiences gardening, not so much the history ones.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews