![]() Landscape architecture is the art and science of designing outdoor space. I had never seen a garden look more beautiful. The Canal reflected the slate grey clouds so perfectly that the line between earth and sky dissolved in illusion, the ultimate accomplishment of Baroque art. Beyond the Green Carpet and the stupendous Fountain of Apollo, the water of the Grand Canal stretched to the horizon. Beyond this was the Fountain of Latona, then the rectangular lawn of the Green Carpet, defined on both sides by rows of sheared hornbeam trees, their bare branches etched against the sky. On the terrace where I stood, the majestic sculptures that represent the rivers of France reclined around the edge of the pools. The grey winter light revealed the elegant structure of the garden. The July sun had been broiling hot and the crowd so enormous that it had pressed in around me and almost lifted me off my feet. Once I had visited these gardens on Bastille Day, one of the few days in the year when the fountains play. Versailles, the world’s most famous formal garden. I looked out at the most famous garden vista in the world. I walked to the main axis of the chateau and garden and stopped at the top of the stairs. I leaned into the wind and pressed forward onto the Water Parterre, the vast terrace with reflecting pools that overlooks the enormous garden. Marjorie staggered back and retreated indoors. When we rounded the corner of the chateau on the way to the gardens, a blast of cold air hit us. ![]() Exasperated, my sister said, “You don’t look like you’re visiting a garden-You look like you’re fleeing Poland.” You just look at them in a different way-You look for the structure of the garden.” We rose and I began pulling on a sweater, a long coat, a raincoat over it, a knit hat over my ears, a thick scarf, gloves and an umbrella. The best gardens are also beautiful in the winter. “The best gardens are not only beautiful in the spring, summer, and fall. ![]() As we hovered over steaming cups of tea, my sister demanded, “What are we doing visiting a garden on a day like today?” It was a cold, blustery day in late November, threatening rain. We were sitting in the deserted cafeteria at Versailles on the ground floor of the chateau.
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