King Louis XIV of France assigns the design and construction of the Gardens of Versailles to landscape architect André Le Nôtre. Le Nôtre interviews several other garden designers who have submitted designs for the project, including one woman, Sabine de Barra. He sees her move a potted plant in his garden prior to her interview, and asks her if she gives deference to order in design. Sabine affirms her respect for his work but suggests that she would like to create something uniquely French rather than follow classical and renaissance styles. He shows her the door, and she leaves disheartened.
Bosquet de la Salle-de-Bal at Gardens of Versailles, laid out by André Le Nôtre between 1680 and 1683.
After all the interviews, André mulls over the candidates, oppressed by the weight of the king's expectations. A few judicious words from his assistant prompt him to reconsider Sabine's designs. Later that evening, André surprises Sabine at her home and, after examining her seemingly untamed but magical home garden, tasks her with responsibility for an outdoor bosquet ballroom at Versailles, surrounded by fountains and landscaping. André's plans had called for a constant supply of water from a distance at great expense, but Sabine devises another engineering solution: a reservoir from which water can be continuously recycled through the fountains. As work begins on her design, Sabine initially makes little progress with the workmen recommended by one of the designers rejected by André. Another competitor and an acquaintance of hers, Thierry Duras, intervenes and offers the use of his crew.
As a striking commoner, artlessly beautiful and fearlessly honest, Sabine attracts attention at court, and is befriended by the King's brother Duc Philippe d'Orleans and his wife Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine. At times, Sabine appears haunted by recurring images of wagon wheels in movement and brief glimpses of a young girl or the girl's voice. Sabine and André become increasingly attracted to each other but do not act on their feelings. André quietly endures the infidelities of his wife Françoise, who insists that her husband's success is founded on her influence at court. When Françoise senses his interest in Sabine and warns him against an affair, he quotes her own speech declaring their right to seek comfort elsewhere, and becomes resolute in his intention to pursue a relationship with Sabine.
Queen Maria Theresa dies suddenly. The king is stunned at the loss of his wife and takes refuge in one of his gardener's work areas, among his prized pear trees. Sabine finds the king there as she delivers perennials for a trade, initially mistaking him for the gardener. The king enjoys her warmth and forthrightness, and after she recognizes him she agrees to continue their conversation as equals. He invites her to travel with him and his court to the Palace of Fontainebleau.
At the Versailles garden site, Sabine is visited by Françoise, who tells her that André's interest in her is only a whim and will prove short-lived. After they both have left the site, Françoise's lover opens the sluice gates from the reservoir in the middle of a powerful storm and floods the work site, destroying much of the earthworks. Sabine nearly drowns trying to close the gate, and André helps pull her from the gushing water. The next morning, Sabine works vigorously to mend some of the damage done by the storm and flood. That same day, Louis XIV visits Sabine's work site and assesses the project skeptically but allows it to proceed.
Afterwards, André finds a glove at the worksite that he knows belongs to his wife Françoise. He realizes she is behind the sabotage of the project, confronts her with the glove, and ends their relationship.
Sabine goes to court again, where Duc de Lauzun introduces her to the king's mistress, the Marquise de Montespan, who in turn introduces her to the women of the court. At first they tease her, but when they learn that Sabine is widowed and also lost her 6-year-old daughter, they reveal their own losses and welcome her into their circle, where they often discuss topics the king forbids at court. The Marquise formally presents Sabine to the king when he arrives, and Sabine offers him a four-seasons rose — the same kind found in the garden where they first met. They converse about the nature of the rose and its life cycle, beauty, hardships, and death, and the gardener's responsibilities — all of it Sabine's veiled defense of Madame de Montespan, who has begun to lose the king's favor. Again, the king is charmed and touched by her observations.
André waits for Sabine outside her room that night, and they finally make love. In the morning, André finds himself alone in bed. Sabine is upstairs, lost in the memory of the day her daughter and husband died: he was taking their daughter with him on a day trip. Prior to leaving, he reveals to Sabine that he has a mistress. He then rounds up their daughter and gets into the carriage. As they are leaving, Sabine sees that the carriage has a faulty wheel and learns from the footman that her husband is taking their daughter to his mistress's home — not on a business trip as he had indicated. She races after the carriage, and when she tries to block the carriage in the road, it veers off track and topples down a steep hill, killing both father and daughter. André finds Sabine in the grip of this memory, evoked by her conversation with the ladies of the court and her intense night with him, and he convinces her to stop blaming herself for their deaths.
When Sabine's project is complete, the king and his court arrive for its inauguration. To the music of a hidden orchestra, everyone begins dancing as the fountains send water coursing down the tiers around the ballroom floor. After Sabine dances with the king, she and André leave the others and walk into the garden together.
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