The Grand Canal is a cruciform lake 1.5 kilometres long and 62 metres wide, dug out by 30,000 workers between 1668 and 1679. At its T-junction, the north arm leads to the Trianon area; the south arm to the Menagerie (the royal zoo, now gone). Louis XIV kept a flotilla of gondolas on it and imported real Venetian gondoliers, along with miniature warships and a small yacht. He held water festivals here and watched his navy rehearse tactics on the water.
Today you can hire rowing boats near the canal's east end — one of the better ways to spend time in the gardens, getting away from the crowds around the palace and covering ground at your own pace. The perspective looking back toward the palace from the water is very fine, especially in late afternoon light.
The canal is at the heart of the garden's geometry: every major axis in the design passes through or terminates here. On summer evenings, if you time it right, the sun sets directly down the length of the canal — the same alignment Louis XIV specified to his gardeners so that he could watch it from his window.