French Art History – Les jardins à la française
Transform your French classroom into the Gardens of Versailles!
Parlez-vous l’Histoire de l’Art ? – Les jardins à la française is a highly visual, ready-to-use French resource designed to help students observe, understand, compare, think and create while discovering one of the most iconic forms of French landscape design.
Students explore the spectacular gardens of Versailles and discover how André Le Nôtre transformed nature into a work of art through symmetry, perspective, geometric parterres, fountains, bosquets and carefully designed views. They also investigate an essential question: How did Louis XIV use art and nature to express royal power?
What students will discover
The main characteristics of a jardin à la française
André Le Nôtre and his work at Versailles
Symmetry, axes and geometric organization
Perspective and optical effects
Parterres, bosquets, fountains, statues and water features
The Bassin d’Apollon and its symbolism
The people and professions behind the gardens
Gardens as an expression of Louis XIV’s power
French gardens vs. English gardens
Art-history vocabulary and visual-analysis skills
Creative Purple Missions
Students become active designers and problem-solvers:
Mission A – Crée ton jardin royal !
Design an original French formal garden while respecting its artistic principles.
Mission B – Sauvez les jardins de Versailles !
A storm has damaged Versailles. Students have a limited budget and must decide what to restore first, calculate their choices and justify their priorities.
Mission C – Versailles dans un autre climat !
What would a French formal garden look like in Madagascar, the desert, the mountains or a Mediterranean climate? Students adapt plants, water and materials while preserving the principles of French garden design.
Mission D – Le jardin impossible !
Create a French formal garden somewhere unexpected: on a rooftop, on an island, in a school courtyard, in the mountains or even in the middle of a city.
More than a reading comprehension resource
The booklet includes a comic-strip introduction, observation and vocabulary activities, visual analysis, true/false and multiple-choice tasks, creative drawing and design challenges, historical and artistic investigations, opinion and argumentation activities, a Zoom sur un détail focusing on Apollo, Dans les coulisses with the gardeners of Versailles, a comparison of French and English gardens, Le jardin et le pouvoir, and a complete Bilan de la leçon.
Students are repeatedly invited to explain what they see, what they think and why.
Perfect for
Cycle 3 – collège • French • History • Art History • Cultural Studies • Interdisciplinary projects • French culture
The resource works particularly well for lessons about Versailles, Louis XIV, the Grand Siècle, French heritage, landscape architecture or art and power.




















