'Lumieres en Seine' recaptures the French art of sculpting lights

Paris, the City of Light, reclaims its title with a magical journey of dazzling lights illuminating the frosted gardens of the Parc de Saint Cloud.

The historic Domaine de Saint Cloud hosts “Lumières en Seine”, a two kilometre night time stroll lit up by 90,000 LED bulbs meant to dazzle visitors with a magical show of lights. © RFI/Edmond Sadaka

The Domaine de Saint Cloud, located on the western outskirts of Paris, celebrates Christmas and the end of the year with an immersive show, "Lumieres en Seine", up till 9 January.

The historical Saint Cloud park is easily accessible by public transport from Paris.

RFI's Edmond Sadaka enjoyed a stroll with his camera:

The Lumières en Seine trail starts, at dusk, right at the entrance, at the Clémenceau gates. © RFI/Edmond Sadaka

The light path will be run in accordance with Covid-19 guidance.

Visitors, young and old, map in hand are guided in the dark by the lights on both sides of the trail. © RFI/Edmond Sadaka

In addition to regular cleaning of touch points and hand sanitisation stations throughout the outdoor site, Lumières en Seine will operate a timed entry system, ensuring a spacious and safe environment for all visitors.

Magical floating water lilies. © RFI/Edmond Sadaka

Visitors may enjoy rest spots with a selection of food stalls, mulled wine and hot chocolate, as well as specially designed firepits for outdoor marshmallow toasting.

The installations, like the fairies’ field, weave their way into the fauna and flora of the Saint Cloud Park. © RFI/Edmond Sadaka

Tickets range between 20 to 18 euros and are free for children under 5.

Opening hours run between 5 and 11 PM.

At night time, the Grande Cascade changes into an illuminated waterfall. © RFI/Edmond Sadaka

An endless maze of paths, passageways, trees and water features within the Parc de Saint-Cloud will be awash with hundreds of thousands of lights, lasers and projections.

A pyrotechnics display in front of the waterfall. @RFI/Edmond Sadaka

"Lumieres en Seine" claims to be a sensory experience to be enjoyed by families, friends and lovers.

Saint Cloud’s impressive merry-go-round dons Christmas decorations; Santa’s sleigh not so far away. © RFI/Edmond Sadaka

Paris became known as the City of Lights as far back as the 17^th century when the Sun King - Louis XIV - ordered that lanterns be placed on the main streets and residents light up their windows with candles or oil lamps.

This was in addition to a larger police force to dissuade potential miscreants from hiding in dark alleys.

Towards the end of the walk: beads of lights growing in the underwood. © RFI/Edmond Sadaka

Visitors described their experience as stunning, saying that the music chosen to accompany the experience was the right fit.

Suddenly, Marie Antoinette's "forgotten chateau" emerges thanks to a stunning combination of video design, projection mapping on water and light. © RFI/Edmond Sadaka

The château and grounds were created in the 16th century and embellished by Monsieur, the brother of Louis XIV, and his architects Le Pautre and Hardouin-Mansart.

Queen Marie-Antoinette carried out further modifications. In the 19th century it was the royal summer residence, but the château burnt down in 1870.

The remaining parts of the building were razed in 1891 as it was too intimately linked with the monarchy and the Empire.