Versailles Part 5: Les Grandes Eaux Nocturnes

Since we were just here yesterday, finding the Château from the RER train station was a breeze.  We expected crowds and a long wait to purchase tickets, but were pleasantly surprised by short lines and lots of ticket kiosks.

We broke the rules by bringing a picnic (expressly forbidden according to the verbage in our map handouts).

But we weren't the only ones, so we didn't feel too bad.

In the post yesterday I mentioned the river-themed sculptures on the Parterre d'Eau (Water Terrace).  Well, here is another one, representing the River Saône.

Sunset illuminating the palace taken from the southern angle...

....and from the other side.

Here is a view of the Orangerie; they had just turned on the lights in the garden.

Numerous attempts to catch the "perfect shot" of the setting sun were unsuccessful.  This is the best one of the bunch.

The gardens opened right at 9pm.  Bubbles floated on the air as we descended the steps.

We walked to the northern section of the garden, towards the Dragon Fountain.  We could see loads of spectators gathering in the Neptune Basin (background)...

...but we ignored that to take photos of the Dragon Fountain.  That was a mistake...

...because we soon realized that the Neptune fountain only runs at 9:15 and 9:30pm.  Despite literally running (okay...jogging) to try to catch the tail end of the 9:30 show, we ended up missing all but the last 30 seconds.  This is a shot of the fountains winding down to a trickle...just 10 seconds before there were 40 jets of water shooting at least 50 feet into the air.

Three Fountains Grove was our next stop, but it was very crowded with people still spilling out of the Neptune Basin spectacle.  There was a fog machine making a cool smoky effect.

The narrow staircases at the Three Fountains were a bit of a bottleneck for all the people, but at least the fountains were lovely to look at.

The Apollo's Baths Grove offered a little more breathing room, and a chance to set up the tripod.  Of course an attendant asked us to put the tripod away, since they are not allowed during the Grandes Eaux shows.

But we did get at least one in-focus shot of the grotto, so it was worth it.

The Bosquet de l'Encelade had a fountain with music and multicolored lighting.

There was no show in the Bosquet de Domes, but the statues were beautifully illuminated.

There was a very impressive display set to music at the Bassin du Char d'Apollon.

The Girandole grove also had a light show, but we got there just at the end.  It was not easy to walk around the entire garden to try to see everything in just a 2-hour time frame.  Even at a fairly fast clip, we know we missed quite a few things.

The sculpted shrubs looked beautiful when backlit.

Even the statues take on a different appearance at night.  Here is a day and night shot of the same statue:

The Colonnade had an eerie green laser and fog display.

Strangely-shaped lanterns lined some of the walkways.

The Bassin du Mirroir had a beautifully choreographed show to Rambeau's Naïs overture; one of our favorites of the night.

And then it was time to make our way back up to the terrace to find a place to watch the fireworks.  This is a shot across the Royal Pathway/Tapis Vert (Green Carpet).

The Feu d'Artifice (fireworks) show kicked off at 11:05 with some shooting stars.

The whole display was set to music and really well coordinated.

On the ground along the Royal Pathway, there were fire jets that were synchronized to the music.

Some more shots of the show, with a collage of the finale.

Here is a video we shot of the finale



The fireworks display was not very long, only 15 minutes.  It ended at 11:20, leaving us plenty of time to walk to the train station and catch our 11:50 train back to Paris after a fabulous evening.