Marie Antoinette's

I am very excited to share my review of The Gardener of Versailles: My Life in the World's Grandest Garden, which I recently featured on my my latest reading list! This book was just released February 11th, and I am hosting a giveaway for this new book this week!

"I push myself to find the matricaria, dame's rocket, and rose campion that once flowered along the paths strolled by Marie Antoinette." (166)

My latest commuting read was the Gardener of Versailles and I was lucky to receive a review copy from Rizzoli.   Before diving into the merits of the book let me just say this is the perfect book to read while sitting on a train or waiting for one to arrive.  Not only does the author Alain Baraton transport you into a lovely garden, think spring and summer, but to Versailles and the Petit Trianon. He even takes us back in time to the 17th and 18th centuries. What more could you ask for?

Brouard, View of the Château de Bellevue from the side of the gardens (With the coat-of-arms of Madame de Pompadour). c. 1750, pen, watercolor. Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon.

Written by Alain Baraton, recently retired as Gardener-in-chief at Versailles, the book opens up with his experiences the night of December 26, 1999.  That night a major winter storm swept across Versailles. We are not even sympathetic with the narrator, we don't know him yet but we are familiar with Versailles and we know the history. So without needing to know the author I immediately felt the emotions he described. The storm made news causing havoc on the gardens, with winds so strong centuries old trees were uprooted and died. Our gardener and narrator walks us through that evening and next day describing the the actions of he and his co-workers as the gardens they have cared for were devastated. When he gets angry so did I. When there is reflective melancholy I was right there reflecting on what was as well.

View of the Château de Bellevue from the side of the gardens. Detail.

After that sad memory of the storm I was thankful that he introduced some humor that resulted during that time, and the story moves on. The author's anecdotes about the palace and its gardens are very entertaining. They vary from happy events, to the tragic, and of course humorous too!

Baraton easily teaches his reader about the history of the garden from a gardener's point of view. How refreshing; this is not the art historian's view. Who created the gardens? (who indeed!) Who supported them and who cared for them? Who visited them and who took advantage of them?

Etienne Allegrain, Promenade of Louis XIV, Gardens of Versailles around 1689 (Vue des Jardins de Versailles prise du côte du parterre nord); detail. c. 1695, oil on canvas. Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon.

"Louis XIV adored asparagus, leading La Quintinie to have the brilliant idea of growing asparagus in a primitive cold frames. Panes of glass captured the sun's rays, warming a layer of straw spread beneath the plants allowing the king to propose the precious vegetable at his table year-round" (159)

Promenade of Louis XIV, Gardens of Versailles around 1689 . Detail.

Wonderful sections on Louis XIV and his interest in the gardens prove to be quick reads. The author also tells us about the great founding gardeners and their achievements, scientific and artistic. Baraton has strove to bring the gardens back to some semblance of what they looked like during the time of the Sun King and Marie Antoinette; his two champions of the gardens at Versailles and appropriately so. It was Marie Antoinette's work in the gardens of Trianon that made them so unique, distinctly beautiful and relaxing.

Attributed to Richard Mique, General plan of the French and country gardens at the Petit Trianon.

1783-1786, watercolor. Château de Versailles et de Trianon.

"Marie Antoinette's whims brought about the final modifications, much to the domain's benefit.  Taken by the need for solitude and nature, the young Austrian girl brought in her baggage the first breath of romanticism that was then emerging in Germanic countries, bestowing Versailles with a Grotto, a Hamlet, and a Temple dedicated to amour." (84)

Through his experiences, visits to the archives, and recognizing patterns, plants, and places in the paintings in the palace Baraton was successful in returning sections of the garden to how they would have looked in the past.  After finishing this, I am positive, whether or not you have been before, you will want to go back and enjoy the gardens with new perspective.

Title: The gardener of Versailles: my life in the world's grandest garden.
Author: Alain Baraton and Christopher Brent Murray.
Publisher: February 11, 2014
Date Published: Rizzoli Ex Libris
ISBN: 978-0-8478-4268-1

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Congrats to Lucy R., Tegan T. and Gabriela S.! All three winners have been notified.
Thank you everyone for participating in the giveaway!!!
~Lauren

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