Les Jardins de Versailles Hermes Carre by Christiane Vauzelles

It is almost impossible for me not to love a scarf that contains both “jardin” AND “Versailles” in its name. And so it is with Les Jardins de Versailles by Christiane Vauzelles.

An elusive design, with an unclear issue date (circa 1960) and a name that is sometimes singular as in a garden, Jardin, or Jardins as in the Gardens of Versailles. Interestingly one of the issues, possibly the very first, has Madame Vauzelles’ signature, something quite rare as Vauzelles, like Grygkar and a handful of other artists, “never” signed her work.

Together these may make this design even more intriguing and perhaps somehow even “more special”.

Both the focal point of this carre, and the Gardens at Versailles, is the gilded Apollo Fountain or the Le Bassin d’Apollon, an incredible statue and beautiful water feature that is between the formal gardens, le Petit Parc, and the Grand Canal beyond. Apollo rising out of the water with his four chariots coming to enlighten the earth.

The sun god, was a favorite of Louis XIV, the self-proclaimed Sun King, responsible for much of Versailles as we know it today.

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As we expand our view away from the fountain, we gaze down at four formal French-Style gardens that Madame Vauzelles arranged in a circle around the fountain, each bearing the name of a Loire Valley chateau: Maintenon, Chenonceaux, Fontainebleau and Rambouillet.

In Madame Vauzelles’ composition the Orangerie encircles these four gardens and at Versailles, the Orangerie is also at its most spectacular when viewed from above.

Finishing off the carre are other chateau names neatly tucked into formal garden beds and all carefully fenced in by Orangerie’s intricate railings.

So with the Les Jardins des Versailles draped over your shoulder you might just feel a bit like royalty no matter where your footsteps take you… be it the Gardens of Versailles or Central Park, or simply down a wooded path…