The Other Versailles Garden

Le Potager du Roi fed the King’s household and developed new varieties of fruits and vegetables

View over part of the Potager du Roi toward the Versailles Cathedral. Photo by author.

I would be the last to discourage you from visiting the Palace of Versailles or its vast, splendid public grounds.

But if there is a day when the lines seem too long, or the journey too familiar or repetitive, consider visiting a different part of the royal heritage: the Potager du Roi, or the King’s kitchen garden.

Today that garden is an active part of the French national school of landscape architecture (l’École Nationale Supérieure de Paysage). An American friend of mine, who long since has acclimated to a French life and family, is completing her PhD in landscape architecture at this school. A couple of years ago she invited me to tour the garden, and this spring I returned on a sunny April day almost exactly two years later to wander among the green leaves and the rows and rows of blossoming fruits and vegetables.

Pear blossoms and espaliered fruit trees, Potager du Roi. Photos by author.

There is a wonderful website for the Potager du Roi that also explains its connection to the school. There you can find a history of the garden and a schedule of special events…