Versailles (AFP)

They have survived the centuries, overcome the turbulence of history and survived the ravages of the storm of 1999: the Palace of Versailles has created a walk to celebrate its "admirable trees", living witnesses of the past and precious specimens of species come from the back of the World.

Numbering 30, spread over more than 800 hectares of gardens and parks, "they are extraordinary trees - some are almost 400 years old - and they all have a story to tell us" says Alain Baraton, gardener Chief of the National Estate of Trianon and Grand Park of Versailles.

A route marked out by signs, accompanied by an audio guide, available free of charge on the Castle's application, and a beautifully illustrated booklet, allow visitors to Versailles to savor this journey through time.

Starting with this immense cedar of Lebanon, which borders on the 30 meters high, and whose legend wanted it to have been planted in 1722 by Bernard de Jussieu, a venerable botanist whom Marie-Antoinette would have asked herself to water the tree. But research has shown that he was actually born in 1840?

- Miraculously from the storm -

Or this Sophora from Japan, a small miracle of the storm of 1999. It was brought back from England in 1764 by the gardener of Marie Antoinette, Antoine Richard, who had it moved in 1768 so that it can better admire it since the Trianon. Conversely, a plane tree said to walk elephant, because its strain reaches 7 meters in circumference, would have been planted under the Revolution by a Republican gardener to break one of the royal perspectives?

The walk is reminiscent of the triple plant destiny of Versailles.

After Louis XIV, who built the sumptuous gardens and planted thousands of oaks, beeches and chestnuts, Louis XV set up a botanical garden which became a renowned collection throughout Europe, with 4,000 varieties preserved. And it is Marie-Antoinette who had the idea to create around her refuge of Trianon an English garden, serving as box with exotic essences.

Several surprises punctuate this walk, like one of the first giant sequoias planted in France; or the twisted beech, a pure botanical curiosity whose branches grow in all directions, forming a vegetable hut in which one can hide.

This course, which came about thanks to Rémy Martin's patronage, is a way to celebrate the park's rebirth, 20 years after the 1999 storm that disfigured its gardens, alleys and groves.

- "Present, past, future ..." -

"On December 26, 1999, thousands of trees fell in a few minutes.That day, we understood that everything could stop, but also that everything could start again, and for 20 years the architects and gardeners of Versailles The only thing we've done is to return the park to its original state, "says Catherine Pégard, president of the national estate of Versailles.

This walk is just as steep as the French are (re) discovering a passion for trees, as illustrated by the phenomenal success of the book "The Secret Life of Trees", written by the German Ranger Peter Wohlleben and sold more than a million copies in France.

"It's a change of mentality", explains to AFP Alain Baraton. "Before, we appreciated the trees for their beauty, and today we appreciate them for what they are: citizens have realized their importance to fight against pollution and global warming, but also to preserve the landscapes and avoid destroying everything ".

"The tree is the present, the past and the future, and today everyone is aware of its power and fragility," says the chief gardener.

© 2019 AFP