Versailles



On a rainy Sunday we took the train to Versailles, once a small town but now a suburb (district) of Paris and of course home to the famous palace; Versailles.

Built 1660-85 by Louis LeVau and Jules Hardouin-Mansart; André LeNôtre (gardens), Charles LeBrun (decoration) 36,000 workmen were employed to build the palace. In 1677 Louis XIV moved the court there.

The grounds of Versailles contain one of the largest formal gardens ever created, with extensive parterres, fountains and canals, designed by Andre Le Nôtre modified the original gardens by expanding them and giving them a sense of openness and scale. He also liked to enjoy sunbathing in his wonderful work of art. He created a plan centered around the central axis of the Grand Canal. The gardens are centered on the south front of the palace, which is set on a long terrace to give a grand view of the gardens. At the foot of the steps the Fountain of Latona is located. This fountain tells a story taken from Ovid's poem metamorphoses and served — and still serves — as an allegory of the Fronde . Next, is the Rotal Avenue or the Tapis Vert. Surrounding this to the sides are the formal gardens. Beyond this is the Fountain of Apollo. This fountain symbolizes the regime of Louis XIV, or, the "Sun King". Beyond the Fountain lies the massive Grand Canal. The wide central axis rises on the far side. Even farther into the distance lie the dense woods of the King's hunting grounds.

The Grand Canal.

Apollo rising.

The Royal Avenue.

Versailles was one of the principal reasons for the French revolution, it was the extravagance and perceived waste by the rich in the eyes of the poor that saw the monarchy fall.

Versailles is a grand garden, it is however a very controlled environment and is in regard a false image of nature as was the intention: man’s control of nature.


http://www.chateauversailles.fr/

Paris

Paris with Sue and Gunter



On the 26, 27 and 28 of May I went to Paris to meet with Sue and Gunter and their tow daughters. Sue teaches in the Horticulture program at Fanshawe and Gunter is a famous chef, so we were assured of eating the best food and drinking the best wine which we did. It was a great time to sit back and relax, the first I have really done since coming to England in October and forget about all the pressures of the research. We had no agenda and were content to walk around, admire the sites and sit in cafes.

Above, the view from the roof of the Arch de Truimph.

The entrance to a museum, Paris is very grand as you can see from the images, with something to see at every corner.

The church at the veterans hospital.

Some famous short guy, who was defeated at the battle of Waterloo.

The veterans hospital, part of which is still in use today. At the back are extensive parterre gardens.

Plumpton College

Plumpton College Open Day

Towards the end of May the local agricultural college held a public open day. It was a day full of demonstration's, activities, crafts and competitions. It was well attended, I do not know the numbers but I would guess in the thousands. A lesson for us at Fanshawe.





They have a very intense arboriculture program, and the image above shows students in a competition climbing. What was also worthy of note was that part of their course taught the use of a portable sawmill to use the trees that were cut down, much more sustainable than what we do.

Not so sustainable was their annual production techniques, plants grown in foam packs. I was assured that this method of production was on the way out and that they were moving towards plastic. Their annual quality was poor as was their greenhouse hygiene. In fact the facility and organization and quality did not impress me: I expected much better.

Their greenhouses were older and made of several rooms, individually climate controlled which we lack at Fanshawe but I hope with the Ivey donation we will be able to do when we start the new building.

A new building that I did like was the construction shop and classroom, this was attached to the main greenhouse complex but was I thought, a little small.

What I did like was the gardens constructed by the students, there is much more detail and imagination used here than in Canada.