Conference > Excursions

On Saturday 9th of July an excursion will be organised to the gardens of the Royal Castle of Versailles, located to the West of Paris.

We will begin the day (11-12 am) with a guided tour (in English) of the Royal vegetable garden (Potager du Roi).

Jean-Baptiste La Quintinie, director of the royal fruit and vegetable gardens, created the Potager du Roi, close to the royal palace of Versailles, between 1678 and 1683. Today it is run by the École Nationale Supérieure du Paysage, the national school for landscape architecture. Listed as one of the remarkable gardens of France, the gardeners perpetuate the art of traditional art of pruning and cultivate a large diversity of ancient varieties of fruits and vegetables.

After a common picnic, you will be able to stroll around and marvel at the playing fountains (les Grandes Eaux) in the garden of the palace of Versailles.

The Château de Versailles, which has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage List for 30 years, is one of the beautiful achievements of 18th century French art. The site began as Louis XIII’s hunting lodge before his son Louis XIV transformed and expanded it, moving the court and government of France to Versailles in 1682. Each of the three French kings who lived there until the French Revolution added improvements to make it more beautiful.

In 1661, Louis XIV commissioned André le Nôtre with the design and laying out of the gardens of Versailles which, in his view, were just as important as the palace. The works were undertaken at the same time as those for the palace and took forty years to complete.

For more information.

The excursion will cost 35 € including the train Paris-Versailles, the guided tour of the Potager du Roi, a picnic and the entrance to the gardens and the musical fountains show. The reservation and payment for the excursion is done when you do your final registration and payment online (see registration and fees).

Please note that the excursion and the fees do not include the visit of the Château de Versailles’s interior. If you want to see it, you are free to get your ticket and visit the Palace by yourself before the Potager du Roi (from 9 to 10:30 am) or when we will be in the gardens. Because of the high attendance, we recommend you to book your ticket online. If you opt for this option, you should nevertheless be aware that this will be probably become a very dense day for you !

How to get to Versailles : The meeting place will be located in front of the train station in Versailles. The easiest option is to take the RER C from Paris and to stop at the station Versailles-Rive Gauche (it takes about 45 minutes).