World Monuments in Paris: Potager du Roi

Created by Jean-Baptiste de la Quintinie under the orders of Louis XIV to supply the kitchens of the Château de Versailles with fruits and vegetables, the Potager du Roi continues to pursue its triple mission: food production, experimentation, and knowledge transmission. Located next to the Château de Versailles, the Potager du Roi is today home to the École Nationale Supérieure de Paysage (ENSP) dedicated to landscape architecture, and is open to visitors.

About Alexandra Bonnet

Alexandra Bonnet, a Senior Civil Engineer specializing in bridges, water, and forests, has been the Director of the École Nationale Supérieure de Paysage et du Potager du Roi à Versailles since September 1, 2021. She is the first woman to lead France’s oldest school for training landscape architects and the Potager du Roi since its founding in 1680.

Series Curator & Moderator

Russell Kelley was the curator and moderator of the past four winters’ Zoom lecture series on the “Grands Châteaux of the Loire and Île de France,” “The Making of the French Garden,” “The Great Churches of Paris,” and “The Making of the Museums of Paris.” He is the author of The Making of Paris: The Story of How Paris Evolved from a Fishing Village into the World’s Most Beautiful City (Lyons Press, 2021), and has lived in Paris for more than 30 years.

© Nora Jaccaud