His contribution to planning was also significant: at the Tuileries in Paris he extended the westward vista, which later became the Avenue des Champs-Élysées within the Axe historique.

The family lived in a house within the Tuilieries, and André thus grew up surrounded by gardening, and quickly acquired both practical and theoretical knowledge.

He learned classical art and perspective, and studied for several years under the architect François Mansart, a friend of Le Brun.

[5] In 1643 he was appointed "draughtsman of plants and terraces" for Anne of Austria, the queen mother, and from 1645 to 1646 he worked on the modernisation of the gardens of the Palace of Fontainebleau.

André Le Nôtre's first major garden design was undertaken for Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV's Superintendent of Finances.

The three designers worked in partnership, with Le Nôtre laying out a grand, symmetrical arrangement of parterres, pools and gravel walks.

From 1661, Le Nôtre worked for Louis XIV to build and enhance the garden and parks of the Palace of Versailles.

[9] From 1664 he was rebuilding the gardens of the Tuileries, at the behest of Colbert, Louis's chief minister, who still hoped the king would remain in Paris.

[11] His work has often been favorably compared and contrasted ("the antithesis") to the œuvre of Capability Brown, the English landscape architect.