A Mid Summer Night at Chateau de Versailles

As per tradition, there are countless activities in France in summer. Château de Versailles has their fountain night show every Saturday night during summer (with some exceptional dates). The night show starts from 9 to 11.20pm, and there is a combined ticket price to watch the "Royal Serenade'' at the hall of mirrors. We have 2 hours to visit the fountains before the fireworks at 11pm. Beautiful display of fireworks with orchestra music in the background, fountain display from Apollo's basin and fire torches on the green belt. A grand experience fit for a King indeed.

Practical information for the night show after the jump break...

The Orangery before sunset at 8.30pm

2 idiots waiting for the groves to open... 

This is the best place to view the fireworks - top of the staircase leading to the Latona Fountain

This is the crowd on a mid summer night Saturday! Everyone's crowding around the entrance to the groves.

The show begins at 9pm sharp!

Circuit B consist of fountains like that, with music and water flowing...(the map has got 2 circuits, A & B for the night show)

The night is still young, 9.30pm under the blue sky.

If we were to do this again, we'll just grab our wine and cheese and sit at Latano fountain to enjoy this show which is ongoing for the entire night.

Water display at Apollo's basin

This is along circuit A, a sculpture of Pluto snatching Proserpine and carrying her up to the sky.

This is an entertaining piece along circuit A, water display with music.

The King's garden.

Finale fireworks for 15 mins.

Practical Information not in the website:

Ticketing 

There is hardly any advantage in buying the tickets on-line. Worst still, it is not refundable if the weather is bad on that day. So, just hop in to buy on site when the meteo is agreeable. There is no seating, and tickets will never run out. Site ticket office is not at the usual ticket office, but at the entrance to the gardens. Do not worry about the closing time of the office, they sell tickets for the night show until 8pm. We went at 6pm, and the queue was decent. The ticket booth looks temporary, so I suppose ticketing is not open before a certain time, since they have to chase the day crowd out of the gardens before letting the night show visitors in.

Ticket cost: 23 euros per pax (check their website for more details/ changes)
http://en.chateauversailles.fr/prepare-my-visit-/single/tickets-and-rates/billets-et-tarifs/les-grandes-eaux-1-en

Parking

It is not true that parking is a problem, in fact, we parked right outside the château's entrance. We arrived at about 5.30pm, and found plenty of space, since people who were not going for the night show were leaving. When we left the château at 11.30pm, the gantries were all open, so we were free to leave the carpark without paying. The downside is that everyone were leaving at the same time, so there were a little congestion at the carpark.

What happens during the show

The gardens is cordoned off limits from the grand canal onwards, since the fireworks will be set off from there. This leaves only a few "groves" opened for viewing. The entrance to the groves are opened at 9pm, when the fountains will start to function. Before 9pm, visitors can still loiter around the area in front of the castle where the 2 water features are. No readmission after you go through the entrance for the night show, so plan a light picnic if you intend to picnic and walk the gardens before the fireworks at 11pm.

2 hours to walk all the groves at night fall was a little challenging. Most of the groves we went to were not worth squeezing with the crowd, but there were a few groves in circuit A which were pretty interesting. If I were to do this again, I will skip circuit B altogether (map given at the entrance of the gardens to the night show), and go for circuit A only. Then, equip ourselves with some wine and cheese at the top of the staircase of Latona Fountain to watch the fountain show before the fireworks.

The green belt (grass patch before Apollo's basin) is off limits, as there are some fire torches placed there. So forget about laying on the grass to watch the fireworks...

Best place to view the fireworks

Seat at the top of the staircase of Latona Fountain or stand at a slight angle right at the top of Latona Fountain for a closer view (the fountain may block your view if you stand staring straight at Apollo's basin).

If you can't get to the top of the staircase, you would probably be better off standing near the green belt. For me, it was a real challenge to see anything when fathers started to put their children on their shoulders, and when tall dudes started sashaying in front of me.