The Orangerie staircase

Flanking the Orangerie are the Cent Marches, twin stone staircases of a hundred steps each, wide as a road and built to be seen from below. From the balustrade at the top, the whole Orangerie parterre lays out beneath you — scrolled lawns, citrus trees in white tubs, the Pièce d'eau des Suisses stretching away beyond. From the bottom, the staircase itself becomes the subject: a couple small against the sweep of steps and the great retaining wall.

The scale is the photograph, so give it room — go wide, place the couple off-centre and let the geometry run. Morning light rakes across the steps and models them; the parterre below holds soft, even light much of the day thanks to its high walls. The citrus trees winter indoors — roughly October to May the parterre reads barer, still graphic but without the green.

It is also one of the quieter corners of Versailles: the crowd settles on the palace terrace above, while the staircase mostly gets people passing through. Wind is gentler down in the parterre than up on the terrace — useful to know with veils and long dresses.