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Article: Snip, snip. (French government's plans to restore the gardens of Tuileries an Versailles causes some dismay)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- April 20, 1991
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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FORGET the politique arabe or Emu. The French government has a new preoccupation: gardening. While others struggle with the new world order, the Quai d'Orsay has been busy announcing plans for two of France's best-loved bits of green-sward, the ex-royal pleasure grounds at the Tuileries and Versailles.
As visitors to both will attest, these two masterpieces of Andre Le Notre (jardinier du roi to Louis XIV and father of French gardening) have not fared well in the past 200 years. Le Notre's coups de perspective at Versailles, abandoned after the revolution, have never quite regained their former glory. A hurricane in February 1990 felled 1,500 trees, leaving gaps ...