Recently my travels took me to France, and over the next few weeks, I’ll be sifting through my 2000+ photos to post the favorites from the trip.  First is Versailles.  The must see Palace and Garden in the Paris region.  The first thing that struck us about the garden was both the vastness of the grounds, and the enormity of the old trees.

Versailles Plane Tree Avenues. Photo: L. Howard

A number of the garden parts close periodically to be redone and restored to their former glory.  There is probably also an endless cycle of trimming plants – we saw the giant cardboard cutouts these ladies were using to get the topiary shapes perfect.

Versailles Trimming Topiary. Photo: L. Howard

We hired a couple of bikes and pedalled around the main lake – they were setting up for a big function, with boats and seating stands etc.

Versailles Lake. Photo: L. Howard

Marie Antoinette’s garden within the grounds was also worth a look (and also a hive of activity with 10s of gardeners trimming the box hedges back into shape).  The garden is equally formal, but a much more modest scale.

Versailles Marie Antoinette's Garden. Photo: L. Howard

And of course, with all these beautiful gardens everywhere, and so many flowers.. there were lots of giant soft, fluffy bumble bees!

Versailles Bumble Bee. Photo: L. Howard