Inside Student BlogsLearning about Versailles at VersaillesParis, Spring 2012
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- My friend Sarah walking around to the back of Versailles with the class.
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- One thing we learned during our visit was that gardens in France at the time, as represented by Versailles, we less about flowers and more about sculpture, grasses, topiaries, and fountains.
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- Sculpture of Ariane that we learned about in class a few days before our visit. Had to take a photo, she’s my namesake!
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- View of the Fountain of Apollo, garden, and chateau in the distance just at the boundary between the garden and enormous park contained within the Versailles property.
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- Another sculpture we had learned about in class and then got to see in person, this one was part of a series of representations of the rivers of France.
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- The grounds were all so well manicured we kept wondering out loud how many people it must take to groom this place.
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- Out in the park the landscape gets a little more of a country feel. This is part of the huge canal on the northern side of the park, and a friend, Sarah.
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- My housemate Sydney got mango gelato for the road as we made our way through the park after our class left.
Last Friday, my IES French Art and Architecture class went on a trip to Versailles with our professor to study the sculpture in the gardens. It was awesome to get to see all the things we had just learned about, and reminded me of what a incredible opportunity I have here to learn in France! Though we didn’t go into the chateau (I’ve been there before and it was quite crowded), we were able to occupy ourselves for hours out in the gardens and park alone… No surprise, it’s enormous! After our tour we sat down in the grass for a bit by the Grand Canal and our class headed back toward the RER to return to Paris. A few friends and I stayed behind to spend some time in the park, and it was super worth it. The weather was beautiful and it was, without a doubt, springtime in Versailles.
Best,
ari
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