.7T,
m
i
EMI
McMANUS
WORKS OF
FRANCIS MILTOUN
Rambles on the Riviera $2.50
Rambles in Normandy 2.50
Rambles in Br[ttany 2.50
The Cathedrals and Churches of the
Rhine 2.50
The Cathedrals of Northern France 2.50
The Cathedrals of Southern France 2.50
In the Land of Mosques and Minarets 3.00
Royal Palaces and Parks of France 3.00
Castles and Chateaux of Old Touraine
and the Loire Country 3.00
Castles and Chateaux of Old Na\>arre
and the Basque Provinces 3.00
Castles and Chateaux of Old Burgundy
and the Border Provinces 3.00
Italian Highways and Byways from a
Motor Car 3.00
The Automobilist Abroad net 3.00
(Postage Extra)
L. C. Page and Company
53 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.
ROYAL PALACES AND
PARKS OF FRANCE
BY FRANCIS M IL T o u N
Author of "Castles and Chateaux of Old Touraine," "Castles
and Chateaux of Old Burgundy," il Rambles in Nor-
mandy,' 1 "Italian Highways ways
a Motor-Car," etc.
Illustrations
>>jfs made en the spot
BY B McMANUs
B O S T c
L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
1910
Terrace of Henri IV, Saint Cermain
ROYAL PALACES AND
PARKS OF FRANCE
BY FRANCIS MILTOUN
Author of "Castles and Chateaux of Old Touraine," "Castles
and Chateaux of Old Burgundy," " Rambles in Nor-
mandy," "Italian Highways and Byways
from a Motor-Car," etc.
With Many Illustrations
Reproduced from paintings made on the spot
BY BLANCHE Me MAN us
BOSTON
L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
1910
Copyright, 1910,
BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY.
(INCOBPOBATKD)
All rights reserved
First Impression, November, 1910
Printed by
THE COLONIAL PRESS
C. H. Simonds & Co., Boston, U. S. A.
ROYAL PALACES AND
PARKS OF FRANCE
BY FRANCIS MILTOUN
Author of "Castles and Chateaux of Old Touraine," "Castles
and Chateaux of Old Burgundy," " Rambles in Nor-
mandy," "Italian Highways and Byways
from a Motor-Car," etc.
With Many Illustrations
Reproduced from paintings made on the spot
BY BLANCHE Me MAN us
BOSTON
L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
1910
Copyright, 1910,
BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY.
(INCOKPORATED)
All rights reserved
First Impression, November, 1910
Printed by
THE COLONIAL PRESS
C. H. Simonds & Co., Boston, U. S. A.
Preface
" A thousand years ago, by the rim of a tiny spring, a
monk who had avowed himself to the cult of Saint Saturnin,
robed, cowled and sandalled, knelt down to say a prayer to
his beloved patron saint. Again he came, this time followed
by more of his kind, and a wooden cross was planted by
the side of the " Fontaine Belle Eau," by this time become
a place of pious pilgrimage. After the monk came a king,
the latter to hunt in the neighbouring forest."
IT was this old account of fact, or legend, that
led the author and illustrator of this book to a
full realization of the wealth of historic and
romantic incidents connected with the French
royal parks and palaces, incidents which the
makers of guidebooks have passed over in favour
of the, presumably, more important, well au-
thenticated facts of history which are often the
bare recitals of political rises and falls and dull
chronologies of building up and tearing down.
Much of the history of France was made in
the great national forests and the royal country-
houses of the kingdom, but usually it has been
only the events of the capital which have been
passed in review. To a great extent this history
i
ii Preface
was of the gallant, daring kind, often written in
blood, the sword replacing the pen.
At times gayety reigned supreme, and at times it
was sadness; but always the pageant was imposing.
The day of pageants has passed, the day when
lords and ladies moved through stately halls,
when royal equipages hunted deer or boar on
royal preserves, when gay cavalcades of solemn
corteges thronged the great French highways
to the uttermost frontiers and ofttimes beyond.
Those days have passed; but, to one who knows
the real France, a ready-made setting is ever
at hand if he would depart a little from the beaten
paths worn smooth by railway and automobile
tourists who follow only the lines of conventional
travel.
France, even to-day, the city and the country
alike, is the paradise of European monarchs
on a holiday. One may be met at Biarritz on
the shores of the Gascon gulf; another may be
taking the waters at Aix or Vichy, shooting
pigeons under the shadow of the Tete de Chien,
or hunting at Rambouillet. This is modern
France, the most cosmopolitan meeting place
and playground of royalty in the world.
French royal parks and palaces, those of the
kings and queens of mediaeval, as well as later,
times, differ greatly from those of other lands.
Preface ill
This is perhaps not so much in their degree of
splendour and luxury as in the sentiment which
attaches itself to them. In France there has
ever been a spirit of gayety and spontaneity
unknown elsewhere. It was this which in-
spired the construction and maintenance of such
magnificent royal residences as the palaces of
Saint Germain-en-Laye, Fontainebleau, Ver-
sailles, Compiegne, Rambouillet, etc., quite dif-
ferent from the motives which caused the erec-
tion of the Louvre, the Tuileries or the Palais
Cardinal at Paris.
Nowhere else does there exist the equal of
these inspired royal country-houses of France,
and, when it comes to a consideration of their
surrounding parks and gardens, or those royal
hunting preserves in the vicinity of the He de
France, or of those still further afield, at Ram-
bouillet or in the Loire country, their superiority
to similar domains beyond the frontiers is even
more marked.
In plan this book is a series of itineraries, at
least the chapters are arranged, to a great ex-
tent in a topographical sequence; and, if the
scope is not as wide as all France, it is because
of the prominence already given to the parks
and palaces of Touraine and elsewhere in the
old French provinces in other works in which
iv Preface
the artist and author have collaborated. It
is for this reason that so little consideration
has been given to Chambord, Amboise or Chenon-
ceaux, which were as truly royal as any of that
magnificent group of suburban Paris palaces
which begins with Conflans and ends with Marly
and Versailles.
Going still further afield, there is in the Pyrenees
that chateau, royal from all points of view, in
which was born the gallant Henri of France
and Navarre, but a consideration of that, too,
has already been included in another volume.
The present survey includes the royal dwell-
ings of the capital, those of the faubourgs and
the outlying districts far enough from town to
be recognized as in the country, and still others
as remote as Rambouillet, Chantilly and Com-
piegne. All, however, were intimately connected
with the life of the capital in the mediaeval and
Renaissance days, and together form a class
distinct from any other monumental edifices
which exist, or ever have existed, in France.
Mere historic fact has been subordinated as
far as possible to a recital of such picturesque
incidents of the life of contemporary times as the
old writers have handed down to us, and a com-
plete chronological review has in no manner
been attempted.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. INTRODUCTORY 13
II. THE EVOLUTION OF FRENCH GARDENS . 14
III. THE ROYAL HUNT IN FRANCE ... 43
IV. THE PALAIS DE LA CITE AND TOURNELLES . 61
V. THE OLD LOUVRE AND ITS HISTORY . . 75
VI. THE LOUVRE OF FRANCIS I AND ITS SUC-
CESSORS 85
VII. THE TUILERIES AND ITS GARDENS . . 106
VIII. THE PALAIS CARDINAL AND THE PALAIS
ROYAL 131
IX. THE LUXEMBOURG, THE ELYSEE AND THE
PALAIS BOURBON 151
X. VlNCENNES AND CONFLANS .... 168
XI. FONTAINEBLEAU AND ITS FOREST . . .180
XII. BY THE BANKS OF THE SEINE . . . 203
XIII. MALMAISON AND MARLY 215
XIV. SAINT CLOUD AND ITS PARK . . . .229
XV. VERSAILLES: THE GLORY OF FRANCE . . 244
XVI. THE GARDENS OF VERSAILLES AND THE
TRIANONS 260
XVII. SAINT GERMAIN-EN-LAYE .... 279
XVIII. MAINTENON . 296
vi Contents
CHAPTEB
XIX. RAMBOUILLET AND ITS FOREST
XX. CHANTILLY
XXI. COMPIEGNE AND ITS FOREST .
INDEX
PAGH
. 309
. 324
. 342
363
USTRATIONS
PAGE
TERRACE OF HENRI IV, SAINT GERMAIN (see page
286) . Frontispiece
THE LOUVRE, THE TUILERIES AND THE PALAIS ROYAL
OF TO-DAY facing 12
" JARDIN FRANCAIS JARDIN ANGLAIS " . .15
HENRI IV IN AN OLD FRENCH GARDEN . facing 20
PARTERRE DE DIANE, CHENONCEAUX .... 27
PLAN OF SUNKEN GARDEN (JARDIN CREUX) . . 30
A PARTERRE facing 32
BASSIN DE LA COURONNE, VAUx-LE~VicoMTE facing 42
A " CUREE AUX FLAMBEAUX "... facing 46
AN IMPERIAL HUNT AT FONTAINEBLEAU . facing 52
RENDEZVOUS DE CHASSE, RAMBOUILLET . facing 56
BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF OLD PARIS (Map) . facing 74
THE XIV CENTURY LOUVRE .... facing 82
THE LOUVRE facing 90
ORIGINAL PLAN OF THE TUILERIES (Diagram) . .106
SALLE DBS MARECHAUX, TUILERIES . . facing 116
THE GALLERIES OF THE PALAIS ROYAL . . . 146
BOURBON-ORLEANS DESCENDANTS OF Loufs PHILIPPE"
(Diagram) facing 146
PALAIS DU LUXEMBOURG .... facing 154
DOOR IN THRONE ROOM, LUXEMBOURG . . . 156
THE PETIT LUXEMBOURG facing 156
THE LUXEMBOURG GARDENS .... facing 158
THE THRONE OF THE PALAIS BOURBON . . .161
VlNCENNES UNDER CHARLES V 168
vii
viii List of Illustrations
CHATEAU DE VINCENNES facing 172
A HUNT UNDER THE WALLS OF VINCENNES . facing 174
CONFLANS 176
ORIGINAL PLAN OF FONTAINEBLEAU . . . .180
FROM PARIS TO FONTAINEBLEAU (Map) . facing 180
PALAIS DE FONTAINEBLEAU .... facing 186
SALLE DU THRONE, FONTAINEBLEAU . . facing 190
FRAGMENTS FROM FONTAINEBLEAU . . facing 192
CHEMINEE DE LA REINE, FONTAINEBLEAU . facing 194
MONUMENT TO ROUSSEAU AND MILLET AT
BARBISON facing 200
CHATEAU DE BAGATELLE . . . . . . 204
CHATEAU DE MALMAISON .... facing 218
THE GARDENS OF SAINT CLOUD . . . facing 236
THE CASCADES AT SAINT CLOUD . . . facing 240
COUR DE MARBRE, VERSAILLES . . . facing 264
THE POTAGER DU ROY, VERSAILLES . . facing 270
THE BASSIN DE LATONE, VERSAILLES . . facing 272
THE FOUNTAIN OF NEPTUNE, VERSAILLES . facing 274
PETIT TRIANON facing 276
LAITERIE DE LA REINE, PETIT TRIANON . . . 277
SAINT GERMAIN (Diagram) 280
THE VALLEY OF THE SEINE, FROM THE TERRACE AT
SAINT GERMAIN facing 288
FAUTEUIL OF MME. DE MAINTENON .... 297
CHATEAU DE MAINTENON facing 300
AQUEDUCT OF Louis XIV AT MAINTENON . facing 306
CHATEAU DE RAMBOUILLET (Diagram) .... 309
LAITERIE DE LA REINE, RAMBOUILLET . . facing 312
CHATEAU DE RAMBOUILLET .... facing 316
CHANTILLY (Diagram) 325
STATUE OF LE NOTRE, CHANTILLY . . facing 326
CHATEAU DE CHANTILLY facing 336
COMPIEGNE (Diagram) 343
NAPOLEON'S BEDCHAMBER, COMPEIGNE . . facing 352
COURS DE COMPIEGNE facing 356
Royal Palaces and Parks
of France
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
THE modern traveller sees something beyond
mere facts. Historical material as identified
with the life of some great architectural glory
is something more than a mere repetition of
chronologies; the sidelights and the co-related
incidents, though indeed many of them may be
but hearsay, are quite as interesting, quite as
necessary, in fact, for the proper appreciation
of a famous palace or chateau as long columns
of dates, or an evolved genealogical tree which
attempts to make plain that which could be better
left unexplained. The glamour of history would
be considerably dimmed if everything was ex-
plained, and a very seamy block of marble may
be chiselled into a very acceptable statue if the
workman but knows how to avoid the doubt-
ful parts.
1
2 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
An itinerary that follows not only the ridges,
but occasionally plunges down into the hollows
and turns up or down such crossroads as may
have chanced to look inviting, is perhaps more
interesting than one laid out on conventional
lines. A shadowy something, which for a better
name may be called sentiment, if given full play
encourages these side-steps, and since they are
generally found fruitful, and often not too fa-
tiguing, the procedure should be given every
encouragement.
Not all the interesting royal palaces and cha-
teaux of France are those with the best known
names. Not all front on Paris streets and quays,
no more than the best glimpses of ancient or
modern France are to be had from the benches
of a sight-seeing automobile.
Versailles, and even Fontainebleau, are too
frequently considered as but the end of a half-
day pilgrimage for the tripper. It were better
that one should approach them more slowly,
and by easy stages, and leave them less hurriedly.
As for those architectural monuments of kings,
which were tuned in a minor key, they, at all
events, need to be hunted down on the spot, the
enthusiast being forearmed with such scraps of
historic fact as he can gather beforehand, other-
wise he will see nothing at Conflans, Marly or
Introductory
Bourg-la-Reine which will suggest that royalty
ever had the slightest concern therewith.
Dealing first with Paris it is evident it is there
that the pilgrim to French shrines must make his
most profound obeisance. This applies as well
to palaces as to churches. In all cases one goes
back into the past to make a start, and old Paris,
what there is left of it, is still old Paris, though
one has to leave the grand boulevards to find
this out.
Colberts and Haussmanns do not live to-day,
or if they do they have become so "practical"
that a drainage canal or an overhead or under-
ground railway is more of a civic improvement
than the laying out of a public park, like the
gardens of the Tuileries, or the building and
embellishment of a public edifice at least with
due regard for the best traditions. When the
monarchs of old called in men of taste and culture
instead of "business men" they builded in the
most agreeable fashion. We have not improved
things with our "systems" and our committees
of "hommes d'affaires."
It is the fashion to-day to decry the cavaliers
and the wearers of "love-locks," but they had
a pretty taste in art and an eye for artistic sur-
roundings, those old fellows of the sword and
cloak; a much more pretty taste than their de-
4 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
scendants, the steam-heat and running- water par-
tisans of to-day. Louis XV and Empire draw-
ing and dining-rooms are everywhere adver-
tised as the attractions of the great palace
hotels, and some of them are very good copies
of their predecessors, though one cannot help
but feel that the clientele as a whole is more in-
sistent on telephones in the bedrooms and auto-
taxis always on tap than with regard to the senti-
ment of good taste and good cheer which is to be
evoked by eating even a hurried meal in a room
which reproduces some historically famous Salle
des Gardes or the Chambre of the Oeil de Bceuf
of the Louvre, if, indeed, most of the hungry folk
know what their surroundings are supposed to
represent.
Any chronicle which attempts to set down a
record of the comings and goings of French
monarchs is saved from being a mere dull chro-
nology of dates and resume of facts by its obli-
gatory references to the architects and builders
who made possible the splendid settings amid
which these picturesque rulers passed their lives.
The castle builders of France, the garden
designers, the architects, decorators and crafts-
men of all ranks produced not a medley, but a
coherent, cohesive whole, which stands apart from,
and far ahead of, most of the contemporary work
Introductory
of its kind in other lands. Castles and keeps
were of one sort in England and Scotland, of
still another along the Rhine, and if the Renais-
sance palaces and chateaux first came into being
in Italy it is certain they never grew to the flower-
ing luxuriance there that they did in France.
Thus does France establish itself as leader
in new movements once again. It was so in
the olden time with the arts of the architect, the
landscape gardener and the painter; it is so to-
day with respect to such mundane, less senti-
mental things as automobiles and aeroplanes.
Another chapter, in a story long since started,
is a repetition, or review, of the outdoor life of
the French monarchs and their followers. Not
only did Frenchmen of Gothic and Renaissance
times have a taste for travelling far afield, pur-
suing the arts of peace or war as their conscience
or conditions dictated; but they loved, too, the
open country and the open road at home; they
loved also la chasse, as they did tournaments,
fetes-champetres and outdoor spectacles of all
kinds. Add these stage settings to the splendid
costuming and the flamboyant architectural ac-
cessories of Renaissance times in France and we
have what is assuredly not to be found in other
lands, a spectacular and imposing pageant of
mediaeval and Renaissance life and manners
6 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
which is superlative from all points of view.
This is perhaps hard, sometimes, to reconcile
with the French attitude towards outdoor life
to-day, when la chasse means the hunting of tame
foxes (a sport which has been imported from
across the channel), "sport" means a prize fight,
and a garden party or a jete-champetre a mere
gossiping rendezvous over a cup of badly made
tea. In. the France of the olden time they did
things differently and better.
Not all French history was made, or written,
within palace walls; much of it came into being
in the open air, like the two famous meetings
by the Bidassoa, Napoleon's first sight of Marie
Louise on the highroad leading out from Senlis,
or his making the Pope a prisoner at the Croix
de Saint Heram, in the Forest of Fontainebleau.
It is this change of scene that makes French
history so appealing to those who might other-
wise let it remain in shut-up and dry-as-dust
books on library shelves.
The French monarchs of old were indeed
great travellers, and it is by virtue of the fact that
affairs of state were often promulgated and con-
summated en voyage that a royal stamp came to
be acquired by many a chateau or country-house
which to-day would hardly otherwise be con-
sidered as of royal rank.
Introductory
Throughout France, notably in the neighbour-
hood of Paris, are certain chateaux palaces
only by lack of name of the nobility where
royalties were often as much at home as under
their own royal standards. One cannot attempt
to confine the limits where these chateaux are to
be found, for they actually covered the length
and breadth of France.
Journeying afield in those romantic times
was probably as comfortably accomplished, by
monarchs at least, as it is to-day. What was
lacking was speed, but they lodged at night under
roofs as hospitable as those of the white and gold
caravanserai (and some more humble) which
perforce come to be temporary abiding places
of royalties en tour to-day. The writer has seen
the Dowager Queen of Italy lunching at a neigh-
bouring table at a roadside trattoria in Piedmont
which would have no class distinction whatever
as compared with the average suburban road-
house across the Atlantic. At Biarritz, too, the
automobiling monarch, Alphonse XIII, has been
known to take " tea " on the terrace of the
great tourist - peopled hotel in company with
mere be-goggled commoners. Le temps va! Were
monarchs so democratic in the olden time, one
wonders.
The court chronicles of all ages, and all ranks,
8 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
have proved a gold mine for the makers of books
of all sorts and conditions. Not only court
chroniclers but pamphleteers, even troubadours
and players, have contributed much to the records
of the life of mediaeval France. All history was
not made by political intrigue or presumption;
a good deal of it was born of the gentler passions,
and a chap-book maker would put often into
print many accounts which the recorder of mere
history did not dare use. History is often enough
sorry stuff when it comes to human interest,
and it needs editing only too often.
Courtiers and the fashionable world of France,
ever since the days of the poetry-making and
ballad-singing Francis and Marguerite, and be-
fore, for that matter, made of literature at
least the written and spoken chronicle of some
sort a diversion and an accomplishment.
Royal or official patronage given these mediaeval
story-tellers did not always produce the truest
tales. Then, as now, writer folk were wont to
exaggerate, but most of their work made in-
teresting reading.
These courtiers of the itching pen did not often
write for money. Royal favour, or that of some
fair lady, or ladies, was their chief return in many
more cases than those for which their accounts
were settled by mere dross. It is in the work
Introductory
of such chroniclers as these that one finds a fund
of unrepeated historic lore.
The dramatists came on the scene with their
plots ready-made (and have been coming
ever since, if one recalls the large number of
French costume plays of recent years), and
whether they introduced errors of fact, or not,
there was usually so much truth about their
work that the very historians more than once
were obliged to have recourse to the productions
of their colleagues. The dramatists' early days
in France, as in England, were their golden days.
The mere literary man, or chronicler, was often
flayed alive, but the dramatist, even though he
dished up the foibles of a king, and without
any dressing at that, was feted and made as much
of as a record piano player of to-day.
One hears a lot about the deathbed scrib-
blers in England in the sixteenth and seven-
teenth centuries, but there was not much of that
sort of thing in France. No one here penned
bitter jibes and lascivious verses merely to keep
out of jail, as did Nash and Marlowe in England.
In short, one must give due credit to the court
chroniclers and ballad-singers of France as being
something more than mere pilfering, black-
mailing hacks.
All the French court and its followers in the
10 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
sixteenth century shouted epigrams and affected
being greater poets than they really were. It
was a good sign, and it left its impress on French
literature. Following in the footsteps of Fran-
cis I and the two Marguerites nobles vied with
each other in their efforts to produce some
epoch-making work of poesy or prose, and while
they did not often publish for profit they were
glad enough to see themselves in print. Then
there were also the professional men of letters,
as distinct from the courtiers with literary am-
bitions, the churchmen and courtly attaches of
all ranks with the literary bee humming in their
bonnets. They, too, left behind them an im-
posing record, which has been very useful to others
coming after who were concerned with getting
a local colour of a brand which should look
natural.
It is with such guiding lights as are suggested
by the foregoing resume that one seeks his clues
for the repicturing of the circumstances under
which French royal palaces were erected, as well
as for the truthful repetition of the ceremonies
and functions of the times, for the court life of
old, whether in city palace or country chateau,
was a very different thing from that of the Re-
publican "regime of to-day.
Not only were the royal Paris dwellings, from
Introductory ll
the earliest times, of a profound luxuriance of
design and execution, but the private hotels,
the palaces, one may well say, of the nobility
were of the same superlative order, and kings
and queens alike did not disdain to lodge therein
on such occasions as suited their convenience.
The suggestive comparison is made because of
the close liens with which royalty and the higher
nobility were bound.
It is sufficient to recall, among others of this
class, the celebrated Hotel de Beauvais which
will illustrate the reference. Not only was this
magnificent town house of palatial dimensions,
but it was the envy of the monarchs themselves,
because of its refined elegance of construction.
This edifice exists to-day, in part, at No. 68 Rue
Francois Miron, and the visitor may judge for
himself as to its former elegance.
Loret, in his "Gazette" in verse, recounts a
visit made to the Hotel de Beauvais in 1663 by
Marie Therese, the Queen of Louis XIV.
Mercredi, notre auguste Reine,
Cette charmante souveraine,
Fut chez Madame de Beauvais
Pour de son amiable palais
Voir les merveilles etonnantes
Et les raretes surprenantes.
Times have changed, for the worse or for the
better. The sedan-chair and the coach have
12 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
given way to the automobile and the engine, and
the wood fire to a stale calorifer, or perhaps a
gas-log.
The comparisons are odious; there is no ques-
tion as to this; but it is by contrast that the sub-
ject is made the more interesting.
From the old Palais des Thermes (now a part
of the Musee de Cluny) of the Roman emperors
down through the Palais de la Cite (where lodged
the kings of the first and second races) to the
modern installations of the Louvre is a matter
of twelve centuries. The record is by no means
a consecutive one, but a record exists which em-
braces a dozen, at least, of the Paris abodes of
royalty, where indeed they lived according to
many varying scales of comfort and luxury.
Not all the succeeding French monarchs had
the abilities or the inclinations that enabled
them to keep up to the traditions of the art-loving
Francis I, but almost all of their number did
something creditable in building or decoration,
or commanded it to be done.
Louis XIV, though he delayed the adjustment
of Europe for two centuries, was the first real
beautifier of Paris since Philippe Auguste. Pri-
vately his taste in art and architecture was rather
ridiculous, but publicly he and his architects
achieved great things in the general scheme.
Introductory 13
Napoleon I, in turn, caught up with things
in a political sense, in truth he ran ahead of them,
but he in no way neglected the embellishments
of the capital, and added a new wing to the
Louvre, and filled Musees with stolen loot, which
remorse, or popular clamour, induced him, for
the most part, to return at a later day.
In a decade Napoleon made much history,
and he likewise did much for the royal palaces
of France. After him a gap supervened until
the advent of Napoleon III, who, weakling
that he was, had the perspicacity to give the
Baron Haussmann a chance to play his part in
the making of modern Paris, and if the Tuileries
and Saint Cloud had not disappeared as a result
of his indiscretion the period of the Second Em-
pire would not have been at all discreditable,
as far as the impress it left on Paris was con-
cerned.
CHAPTER II
THE EVOLUTION OF FRENCH GARDENS
THE French garden was a creation of all epochs
from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries,
and, for the most part, those of to-day and of
later decades of the nineteenth century, are
adaptations and restorations of the classic ac-
cepted forms.
From the modest jardinet of the moyen-age
to the ample gardens and parterres of the Renais-
sance was a wide range. In their highest ex-
pression these early French gardens, with their
broderies and carreaux may well be compared
as works of art with contemporary structures
in stone or wood or stuffs in woven tapestries,
which latter they greatly resembled.
Under Louis XIV and Louis XV the elaborate-
ness of the French garden was even more an
accentuated epitome of the tastes of the period.
Near the end of the eighteenth century a marked
deterioration was noticeable and a separation
of the tastes which ordained the arrangement
of contemporary dwellings and their gardens
14
The Evolution of French Gardens 15
was very apparent. Under the Empire the
antique style of furniture and decoration was
used too, but there was no contemporary ex-
pression with regard to garden making.
In the second half of the nineteenth century,
under the Second Empire, the symmetrical lines
JARD1NFPL AM CA I .
of the old-time parterres came again into being,
and to them were attached composite elements
or motives, which more closely resembled details
of the conventional English garden than any-
thing distinctly French.
The English garden was, for the most part,
pure affectation in France, or, at best, it was treated
16 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
as a frank exotic. Even to-day, in modern
France, where an old dwelling of the period of
Henri IV, Francois I, Louis XIII, Louis XIV,
or Louis XV still exists with its garden, the latter
is more often than not on the classically pure
French lines, while that of a modern cottage,
villa or chateau is often a poor, variegated thing,
fantastic to distraction.
Turning back the pages of history one finds
that each people, each century, possessed its
own specious variety of garden; a species which
responded sufficiently to the tastes and necessi-
ties of the people, to their habits and their
aspirations.
Garden-making, like the art of the architect,
differed greatly in succeeding centuries, and it
is for this reason that the garden of the moyen-
age, of the epoch of the Crusades, for example,
did not bear the least resemblance to the more
ample parterres of the Renaissance. Civiliza-
tion was making great progress, and it was neces-
sary that the gardens should be in keeping with
a less restrained, more luxurious method of life.
If the gardens of the Renaissance marked
a progress over the preauoc and jardinets of mediae-
valism, those of Le Notre were a blossoming
forth of the Renaissance seed. Regretfully, one
cannot say as much for the garden plots of the
The Evolution of French Gardens 17
eighteenth century, and it was only with the
mid-nineteenth century that the general outlines
took on a real charm and attractiveness again,
and this was only achieved by going back to
original principles.
The first gardens were the vergers and preaux,
little checker-board squares of a painful primitive-
ness as compared with later standards. These
squares, or carreaux, were often laid out in foliage
and blossoming plants as suggestive as possible
of their being made of carpeting or marble.
When these miniature enclosures came to be
surrounded with trellises and walls the Renais-
sance in garden-making may be considered as
having been in full sway.
Under Louis XIV a certain affluence was
noticeable in garden plots, and with Louis XV
an even more notable symmetry was apparent
in the disposition of the general outlines. By
this time, the garden in France had become a
frame which set off the architectural charms
of the dwelling rather than remaining a mere
accessory, but it was only with the replacing of
the castle-fortress by the more domesticated
chateau that a really generous garden space be-
came a definite attribute of a great house.
The first gardens surrounding the French
chateaux were developments, or adaptations,
18 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
of Italian gardens, such as were designed across
the Alps by Mercogliano, during the feudal
period.
Later, and during the time of the Crusades,
the garden question hardly entered into French
life. Gardens, like all other luxuries, were given
little thought when the graver questions of peace
and security were to be considered, and, for this
reason, there is little or nothing to say of French
gardens previous to the twelfth century.
An important species of the gardens of the
moyen-age was that which was found as an
adjunct to the great monastic institutions, the
preaux, which were usually surrounded by the
cloister colonnade. One of the most important
of these, of which history makes mention, was
that of the Abbaye de Saint Gall, of which Char-
lemagne was capitular. It was he who selected
the plants and vegetables which the dwellers
therein should cultivate.
Of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries there
is an abundant literary record, and, in a way,
a pictorial record as well. From these one can
make a very good deduction of what the garden
of that day was like; still restrained, but yet
something more than rudimentary. From now
on French gardens were divided specifically
into the potager and verger.
The Evolution of French Gardens 19
The potager was virtually a vegetable garden
within the walls which surrounded the seigneurial
dwelling, and was of necessity of very limited
extent, chiefly laid out in tiny carreaux, or beds,
bordered by tiles or bricks, much as a small
city garden is arranged to-day. Here were cul-
tivated the commonest vegetables, a few flowers
and a liberal assortment of herbs, such as rue,
mint, parsley, sage, lavender, etc.
The verger, or viridarium, was practically
a fruit garden, as it is to-day, with perhaps a
generous sprinkling of flowers and aromatic
plants. The verger was always outside the walls,
but not far from the entrance or the drawbridge
crossing the moat and leading to the chateau.
It was to the verger, or orchard, curiously
enough, that in times of peace the seigneur and
his family retired after luncheon for diversion
or repose.
" D illocques vieng en cest vergier
Eascuns jour pour s'esbanoier."
Thus ran a couplet of the "Roman de Thebes";
and of the hundred or more tales of chivalry
in verse, which are recognized as classic, nearly
all make mention of the verger.
It was here that young men and maidens came
in springtime for the fete of flowers, when they
20 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
wove chaplets and garlands, for the moyen-age
had preserved the antique custom of the coiffure
of flowers, that is to say hats of natural flowers,
as we might call them to-day, except that modern
hats seemingly call for most of the products of
the barnyard and the farm in their decoration,
as well as the flowers of the field.
The rose was queen among all these flowers
and then came the lily and the carnation, chiefly
in their simple, savage state, not the highly
cultivated product of to-day. From the ballads
and the love songs, one gathers that there were
also violets, eglantine, daisies, pansies, forget-
me-nots, and the marguerite, or consoude, was
one of the most loved of all.
The carnation, or oettlet, was called armerie;
the pansy was particularly in favour with the
ladies, who embroidered it on their handker-
chiefs and their girdles. Still other flowers found
a place in this early horticultural catalogue,
the marigold, gladiolus, stocks, lily-of-the-valley
and buttercups.
Frequently the verger was surrounded by a
protecting wall, of more or less architectural
pretense, with towers and accessories conform-
ing to the style of the period, and decorative and
utilitarian fountains, benches and seats were
also common accessories.
Henri IF in an Old French Garden
The Evolution of French Gardens 21
The old prints, which reproduced these early
French gardens, are most curious to study, amus-
ing even ; but their point of view was often distorted
as to perspective. In the thirteenth and four-
teenth centuries, perspective was almost wholly
ignored in pictorial records. There was often
no scale, and no depth; everything was out of
proportion with everything else, and for this
reason it is difficult to judge of the exact pro-
portions of many of these early French gardens.
The origin of garden-making in France, in
the best accepted sense of the term, properly
began with the later years of the thirteenth cen-
tury and the early years of the fourteenth; con-
tinuing the tradition, remained distinctly French
until the mid-fifteenth century, for the Italian
influence did not begin to make itself felt until
after the Italian wars and travels of Charles VIII,
Louis XI and Francis I.
The earliest traces of the work of the first
two of these monarchs are to be seen at Blois
and, for a time henceforth, it is to be presumed
that all royal gardens in France were largely
conceived under the inspiration of Italian in-
fluences. Before, as there were primitives in
the art of painting in France, there were cer-
tainly French gardeners in the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries. One of these, whoever he
22 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
may have been, was the designer of the preaux
and the treilles of the Louvre of Charles V, of
which a pictorial record exists, and he, or they,
did work of a like nature for the powerful house
of Bourgogne, and for Rene d'Anjou, whom we
know was a great amateur gardener.
The archives of these princely houses often
recount the expenses in detail, and so numerous
are certain of them that it would not be difficult
to picture anew as to just what they referred.
Debanes, the gardener of the Chateau d'Angers,
on a certain occasion, gave an accounting for
"X Sols" for repairing the grass-plots and for
making a petil preau. Again: "XI Sols' 7 for
the employ of six gardeners to trim the vines and
clean up the alleys of the grand and petit jardin.
Luxury in all things settled down upon all
France to a greater degree than hitherto in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and almost
without exception princely houses set out to
rival one another in the splendour of their sur-
roundings. Now came in the ornamental garden
as distinct from the verger, and the preau became
a greensward accessory, at once practical and
decorative, the precursor of the pelouse and the
parterre of Le Notre.
The preau (in old French prael) was a sym-
metrical square or rectangular grass-grown gar-
The Evolution of French Gardens 23
den plot. From the Latin pratum, or pratellum,
the words preau, pr'e and prairie were evolved
naturally enough, and came thus early to be
applied in France to that portion of the pleasure
garden set out as a grassy lawn. The word is
very ancient, and has come down to us through
the monkish vocabulary of the cloister.
Some celebrated verse of Christine de Pisan,
who wrote "The Life of Charles V," thus de-
scribes the cloister at Poissy.
"Du cloistre grand large et especieux
Que est carr6, et, afin qu'il soit mieulx
A un prael, ou milieu, gracieux
Vert sans grappin
Ou a plante en my un tres hault pin."
It was at this period, that of Saint Louis and
the apotheosis of Gothic architecture, that France
was at the head of European civilization, there-
fore in no way can her preeminence in garden-
making be questioned.
The gardens of the Gothic era seldom surpassed
the enclos with a rivulet passing through it, a
spring, a pine tree giving a welcome shade,
some simple flowers and a verger of fruit trees.
The neighbours of France were often warring
among themselves but the Grand Seigneur here
was settling down to beautifying his surround-
24 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
ings and framing his chateaux, manors and
country-seats in dignified and most appealing
pictures. Grass-plots appeared in dooryards,
flowers climbed up along castle walls and shrubs
and trees came to play a genuinely esthetic role
in the life of the times.
An illustrious stranger, banished from Italy,
one Brunetto Latini, the master of Dante, who
had sought a refuge in France, wrote his views
on the matter, which in substance were as above.
About this time originated the progenitors of
the gloriettes, which became so greatly the vogue
in the eighteenth century. Practically the glori-
ette, a word in common use in northern France
and in Flanders, was a logette de plaisance. The
Spaniards, too, in their glorietta, a pavilion in a
garden, had practically the same signification
of the word.
In the fourteenth century French garden the
gloriette was a sort of arbour, or trellis-like summer-
house, garnished with vines and often perched
upon a natural or artificial eminence. Other
fast developing details of the French garden
were tree-bordered alleys and the planting of
more or less regularly set-out beds of flowering
plants.
Vine trellises and vine-clad pavilions and groves
were a speedy development of these details, and
The Evolution of French Gardens 25
played parts of considerable importance in garden-
ing under the French Renaissance.
In this same connection there is a very precise
record in an account of the gardens of the Louvre
under Charles V concerning the contribution
of one, Jean Baril, maker of Arlors, to this form
of the landscape architect's art.
"Ornamental birds peacocks, pheasants and
swans now came in as adjuncts to the French
land and water garden." This was the way
a certain pertinent comment was made by a
writer of the fifteenth century. From the "Mena-
gier de Paris," a work of the end of the four-
teenth century, one learns that behind a dwelling
of a prince or noble of the time was usually to
be found a "beau jar din tout plante d'arbres
a fruits, de legumes, de rosiers, orne de volieres
et tapise de gazon sur lesquels se promenent
les paons"
French gardens of various epochs are readily
distinguished by the width of their alleys. In
the moyen-age the paths which separated the
garden plots were very narrow; in the early
Renaissance period they were somewhat wider,
taking on a supreme maximum in the gardens
of Le Notre.
Trimmed trees entered into the general
scheme in France towards the end of the fifteenth
26 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
century. Under Henri IV and under Louis XII
trees were often trimmed in ungainly, fantastic
forms, but with the advent of Le Notre the good
taste which he propagated so widely promptly
rejected these grotesques, which, for a fact,
were an importation from Flanders, like the
gloriettes. Not by the remotest suggestion could
a clipped yew in the form of a peacock or a giraffe
be called French. Le Notre eliminated the
menagerie and the aviary, but kept certain geo-
metrical forms, particularly with respect to hedges,
where niches were frequently trimmed out for
the placing of statues, columns surmounted with
golden balls, etc.
The most famous of the frankly Renaissance
gardens developed as a result of the migrations
of the French monarchs in Italy were those
surrounding such palaces and chateaux as Fon-
tainebleau, Amboise, and Blois. Often these mani-
festly French gardens, though of Italian in-
spiration in the first instance, were actually the
work of Italian craftsmen. Pucello Marceliano
at four hundred livres and Edme Marceliano at
two hundred livres were in the employ of Henri II.
It was the former who laid out the magnificent
Parterre de Diane at Chenonceaux, where Cath-
erine de Medici later, being smitten with the skill
of the Florentines, gave the further commission
The Evolution of French Gardens 27
of the Jardin Vert, which was intended to com-
plete this parterre, to Henri le Calabrese and
Jean Collo.
The later Renaissance gardens divided them-
selves into various classes, jardins de plaisir,
jar dins de plaisance, jardins de proprete, etc.
Parterres now became of two sorts, parterres a
compartiments and parterres de broderies, names
sufficiently explicit not to need further comment.
1 Parterre de Diane/' Chenonceaux
It is difficult to determine just how garden
broderies came into being. They may have been
indirectly due to woman's love of embroidery
and the garden alike. The making of these
garden broderies was a highly cultivated art.
Pierre Vallet, embroiderer to Henri IV, created
much in his line of distinction and note, and
acquired an extensive clientele for his flowers
and models. Often these gardens, with their par-
28 'Royal Palaces and Parks of France
terres and broderi'es were mere additions to an
already existing architectural scheme, but with
respect to the gardens of the Luxembourg and
Saint Germain-en-Laye they came into being
with the edifices themselves, or at least those
portions which they were supposed to embellish.
Harmony was then first struck between the works
of the horticulturist the garden- maker and
those of the architect the builder in stone
and wood. This was the prelude to those majes-
tic ensembles of which Le Notre was to be the
composer.
Of the celebrated French palace and chateau
gardens which are not centered upon the actual
edifices with which they are more or less inti-
mately connected, but are distinct and apart
from the gardens which in most cases actually
surround a dwelling, may be mentioned those
of Montargis, Saint Germain, Amboise, Villers-
Cotterets and Fontainebleau. These are rather
parks, like the "home-parks," so called, in Eng-
land, which, while adjuncts to the dwellings,
are complete in themselves and are possessed
of a separate identity, or reason for being. Chiefly
these, and indeed most French gardens of the
same epoch, differ greatly from contemporary
works in Italy in that the latter were often built
and terraced up and down the hillsides, whereas
The Evolution of French Gardens 29
the French garden was laid out, in the majority
of instances, on the level, though each made
use of interpolated architectural accessories such
as balustrades, statuary, fountains, etc.
Mollet was one of the most famous gardeners
of the time of Louis XIV. He was the gardener
of the Due d'Aumale, who built the gardens
of the Chateau d'Anet while it was occupied by
Diane de Poitiers, and for their time they were
considered the most celebrated in France for their
upkeep and the profusion and variety of their
flowers. This was the highest development of
the French garden up to this time.
It is possible that this Claude Mollet was the
creator of the parterres and broderies so largely
used in his time, and after. Mollet's formula
was derived chiefly from flower and plant forms,
resembling in design oriental embroideries. He
made equal use of the labyrinth and the sunken
garden. His idea was to develop the simple
parquet into the elaborate parterre. He began
his career under Henri III and ultimately be-
came the gardener of Henri IV. His elaborate
work " Theatre des Plans et Jardinage" was
written towards 1610-1612, but was only pub-
lished a half a century later. It was only in the
sixteenth century that gardens in Paris were
planned and developed on a scale which was
30 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
the equal of many which had previously been
designed in the provinces.
The chief names in French gardening be-
fore the days of Le Notre were those of the
of SUJSTKEIS G-AfRDEN f < f-K2XT/V
two Mollets, the brothers Boyceau, de la Barau-
derie and Jacques de Menours, and all suc-
cessively held the post of Superintendent of the
Garden of the King.
In these royal gardens there was always a
The Evolution of French Gardens 31
distinctly notable feature, the grand rotates, the
principal avenues, or alleys, which were here
found on a more ambitious scale than in any of
the private gardens of the nobility. The central
avenue was always of the most generous pro-
portions, the nomenclature coming from royal
- the grand roial being the equivalent of Allee
Royale, that is, Avenue Royal.
By the end of the -sixteenth century the Gar-
den of the Tuileries, which was later to be entirely
transformed by Le Notre, offered an interesting
aspect of the parquet at its best. In "Paris a
Tr avers les Ages" one reads that from the win-
dows of the palace the garden resembled a great
checker-board containing more than a hundred
uniform carreaux. There were six wide longi-
tudinal alleys or avenues cut across by eight or
ten smaller alleys which produced this rectangular
effect. Within some of the squares were single,
or grouped trees; in others the conventional
quincunx; others were mere expanses of lawn,
and still others had flowers arranged in sym-
metrical patterns. In one of these squares was
a design which showed the escutcheons of the
arms of France and those of the Medici. These
gardens of the Tuileries were first modified by
a project of Bernard Palissy, the porcelainiste.
He let his fancy have full sway and the criss-
32 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
cross alleys and avenues were set out at their
junctures with moulded ornaments, enamelled
miniatures, turtles in faience and frogs in porce-
lain. It was this, perhaps, which gave the im-
petus to the French for their fondness to-day
for similar effects, but Bernard Palissy doubtless
never went so far as plaster cats on a ridgepole,
as one may see to-day on many a pretty villa in
northern France. This certainly lent an element
of picturesqueness to the Renaissance Garden
of the Louvre, a development of the same spirit
which inspired this artist in his collaboration
at Chenonceaux. This was the formula which
produced the jardin delectable, an exaggeration
of the taste of the epoch, but still critical of its
time.
The gardens of the Renaissance readily divided
themselves into two classes, those of the par-
terres a compartiments and those of the parterres
de broderies. The former, under Francis I and
Henri II, were divided into geometrical com-
partments thoroughly in the taste of the Renais-
sance, but bordered frequently with representa-
tions of designs taken from Venetian lace and
various other contemporary stuffs. There were
other parterres, where the compartments were
planned on a more utilitarian scale; in other
words, they were the potagers which rendered
The Evolution of French Gardens 33
the garden, said Olivier de Serres, one of "prof-
itable beauty." Some of the compartments were
devoted entirely to herbs and medicinal plants
while others were entirely given over to flowers.
In general the compartments were renewed twice
a year, in May and August.
The Grand Parterre at Fontainebleau, called
in other days the Parterre de Tiber, offered as
remarkable an example of the terrace garden
as was to be found in France, the terraces rising
a metre or more above the actual garden plot
and enclosing a sort of horticultural arena.
It was in the sixteenth century that architec-
tural motives came to be incorporated into the
gardens in the form of square, round or octagonal
pavilions, and here and there were added con-
siderable areas of tiled pavements, features which
were found at their best in the gardens of the
Chateau de Gaillon and at Langeais.
One special and distinct feature of the French
Renaissance garden was the labyrinth, of which
three forms were known. The first was com-
posed of merely low borders, the second of hedges
shoulder high, or even taller, and the third was
practically a roofed-over grove. The latter in-
vention was due, it is said, to the discreet
Louis XIV. In the Tuileries garden, in the time
of Catherine de Medici, there was a labyrinth
34 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
greatly in vogue with the Parisian nobles who
" found much pleasure in amusing themselves
therein."
In that garden the labyrinth was sometimes
called the "Road of Jerusalem" and it was pre-
sumably of eastern origin.
In the seventeenth century grottos came to
be added to the garden, though this is seemingly
an Italian tradition of much earlier date. Among
the notable grottos of this time were that of the
Jardin des Pins at Fontainebleau, and that of
the Chateau de Meudon, built by Philibert De-
lorme, of which Ronsard celebrated its beauties
in verse. The art was not confined to the gar-
dens of royalties and the nobility, for the bour-
geoisie speedily took up with the puerile idea
(said to have come from Holland, by the way),
and built themselves grottos of shells, plaster
and boulders. It was then that the chiens de
faience, which the smug Paris suburbanite of
to-day so loves, were born.
By the seventeenth century the equalized
carreaux of the early geometrically disposed
gardens were often replaced with the oblongs,
circles and, somewhat timidly introduced, more
bizarre forms, the idea being to give variety to
the ensemble. There was less fear for the artis-
tic effect of great open spaces than had formerly
The Evolution of French Gardens 35
existed, and the avenues and alleys were con-
siderably enlarged, and such architectural and
sculptural accessories as fountains, balustrades
and perrons were designed on a more extensive
scale. Basins and canals and other restrained
surfaces of water began to appear on a larger
scale, and greater insistence was put upon their
proportions with regard to the decorative part
which they were to play in the ensemble.
This was the preparatory period of the coming
into being of the works of Le Notre and Mansart.
The Grand Siecle lent a profound majesty to
royal and noble dwellings, and its effect is no
less to be remarked upon than the character of
their gardens. The moving spirit which or-
dained all these things was the will of the Roi
Soleil.
Parterres and broderies were designed on even
a grander scale than before. They were fre-
quently grouped into four equal parts with a
circular basin in the centre, and mirror-like basins
of water sprang up on all sides.
Close to the royal dwelling was the fore-court,
as often dressed out with flowers and lawn as
with tiles and flags. From it radiated long alleys
and avenues, stretching out almost to infinity.
At this time the grass-plots were developed to
high order, and there were groves, rest-houses,
36 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
bowers, and theatres de verdure at each turning.
Tennis-courts came to be a regularly installed
accessory, and the basins and " mirrors " of
water were frequently supplemented by cascades,
and some of the canals were so large that barges
of state floated thereon. Over seme of the canals
bridges were built as fantastic in design as those
of the Japanese, and again others as monumental
as the Pont Neuf.
In their majestic regularity the French gar-
dens of the seventeenth century possessed an
admirable solemnity, albeit their amplitude and
majesty give rise to justifiable criticism. It is
this criticism that qualifies the values of such
gardens as those of Versailles and Vaux, but one
must admit that the scale on which they were
planned has much to do with this, and cer-
tainly if they had been attached to less majestic
edifices the comment would have been even more
justifiable. As it is, the criticism must be qualified.
The aspect of the garden by this time
had been greatly modified. Aside from such
great ensembles as those of Versailles was now
to be considered a taste for something smaller,
but often overcrowded with accessories of the
same nature, which compared so well with the
vastness of Versailles, but which, on the other
hand, looked so out of place in miniature.
The Evolution of French Gardens 37
It was not long now before the "style pom-
padour" began to make itself shown with regard
to garden design the exaggeration of an un-
deniable grace by an affected mannerism. All
the rococco details which had been applied to
architecture now began to find their duplication
in the garden rockeries weird fantasies built
of plaster and even shells of the sea.
By later years of the eighteenth century there
came on the scene as a designer of gardens one,
De Neufforge. His work was a prelude to the clas-
sicism of the style of Louis XVI which was to
come. There was, too, at this time a disposition
towards the English garden, but only a slight
tendency, though towards 1780 the conventional
French garden had been practically abandoned.
The revolution in the art of garden-making
therefore preceded that of the world of politics
by some years.
There are three or four works which give
specific details on these questions. They are
"De la Distribution des Maisons de Plaisance"
by Blondel (1773), his "Cours d> Architecture"
of the same date, and Panseron's volume entitled
"Recueil de Jardinage" published in 1783.
The following brief resume shows the various
steps through which the French formal garden
passed. In the moyen-age the garden was a thing
38 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
quite apart from the dwelling, and was but a
diminutive dooryard sort of a garden. The gar-
den of the Renaissance amplified the regular lines
which existed in the moyen-age, but was often
quite as little in accord with the dwelling that
it surrounded as its predecessor.
The union of the garden and the dwelling
and its dependencies was clearly marked under
Louis XIV, while the gardens of Louis XV tended
somewhat to modify the grand lines and the majes-
tic presence of those of his elder. These gardens
of Louis XV were more fantastic, and followed
less the lines of traditional good taste. Shapes
and forms were complicated and indeed inex-
plicably mixed into a melange that one could
hardly recognize for one thing or another, cer-
tainly not as examples of any well-meaning styles
which have lasted until to-day. The straight
line now disappeared in favour of the most dis-
solute and irrational curves imaginable, and the
sober majesty of the gardens of Louis XIV be-
came a tangle of warring elements, fine in parts
and not uninteresting, effective, even, here and
there, but as a whole an aggravation.
Finally the reaction came for something more
simple and more in harmony with rational taste.
The best example remaining of the Louis XV
garden is that which surrounds the Pavilion de
The Evolution of French Gardens 39
Musique of the Petit Trianon, an addition to
the garden which Louis XIV had given to the
Grand Trianon, By comparison with the big
garden of Le Notre this latter conception is as
a boudoir to a reception hall.
The garden of Louis XVI was a composite,
with interpolations from across the Rhine, from
Holland and Belgium and from England even;
features which got no great hold, however, but
which, for a time, gave it an air less French than
anything which had gone before.
From the beginning of the nineteenth century
the formal garden was practically abandoned
in France. It was the period of the real deca-
dence of the formal garden. This came not from
one cause alone but from many. To the straight
lines and gentle curves of former generations
upon generations of French gardens were added
sinuosities as varied and complicated as those
of the Vale of Cashmere, and again, with tiny
stars and crescents and what not, the ground
resembled an ornamental ceiling more than it
did a garden. The sentimentalism of the epoch
did its part, and accentuated the desire to carry
out personal tastes rather than build on tradi-
tionally accepted lines. The taste for the English
garden grew apace in France, and many a noble
plantation was remodelled on these lines, or
40 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
rooted up altogether. Immediately neighbour-
ing upon the dwelling the garden still bore some
resemblance to its former outlines, but, as it
drew farther away, it became a park, a wildwood
or a preserve.
Isabey Pere, a miniaturist, under Napoleonic
stimulus, designed a number of French gardens
in the early years of the nineteenth century,
following more or less the conventional lines of
the best work of the seventeenth century, and
succeeded admirably in a small way in resuscita-
ting the fallen taste. Isabey 's gardens may have
lacked much that was remarkable in the best
work of Le Notre, but they were considerably
better than anything of a similar nature, so far
as indicating a commendable desire to return
to better ideals.
Under the Second Empire a great impulse
was given to garden design and making in Paris
itself. It was then that the parks and squares
came really to enter into the artistic conception
of what a city beautiful should be.
Leaving the gardens of the Tuileries and the
Luxembourg out of the question, the Pare Mon-
ceau and that of the Buttes Chaumont of to-day,
the descendants of these first Paris gardens show
plainly how thoroughly good they were in design
and execution.
The Evolution of French Gardens 41
The majority of professional gardeners of re-
nown in France made their first successes with
the gardens of the city of Paris, reproducing the
best of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth
century work, which had endured without the
competition of later years having dulled its beauty,
though perhaps the parterres of to-day are rather
more warm in colouring, even cruder, than those
of a former time.
The jardin fleuriste and the parterre horticole
of the nineteenth century appealed however
quite as much in their general arrangement
and the modification of their details and their
rainbow colours, as any since the time of Louis
XVI. According to the expert definition the jar-
din fleuriste was a "garden reserved exclusively to
the culture and ornamental disposition of plants
giving forth rich leaves and beautiful, flowers."
The above quoted description is decidedly apt.
The seventeenth century French garden formed
a superb framing for the animated fetes and
reunions in which took part such a brilliant
array of lords and ladies of the court as may
have been invited to taste the delicacies of a
fete amid such luxurious appointments.
The fashionable and courtly life of the day,
so far as its open-air aspect was concerned, cen-
tered around these gardens and parks of the
42 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
great houses of royalty and the nobility. The
costume of the folk of the time, with cloak and
sword and robes of silk and velvet and gilded
carriages and chaises-a-porteurs, had little in
common with the out-of-door garden-party life
of to-day, where the guests arrive in automo-
biles, be-rugged and be-goggled and somewhat
the worse for a dusty journey. It is for this
reason that Versailles and Vaux-le-Vicomte, in
spite of the suggestion of sumptuousness which
they still retain, are, from all points of view,
more or less out of scale with the life of our times.
The modern garden, whether laid out in reg-
ular lines, or on an ornamental scale, as a flower
garden purely, or in a composite style, is usually
but an adjunct to the modern chateau, villa or
cottage. It is more intimate than the vast,
more theatrically disposed area of old, and is
more nearly an indication of the personal tastes
of the owner because of its restrained propor-
tions.
Bassin de la Couronne, Vaux-le-Vicomte
CHAPTER III
THE ROYAL HUNT IN FRANCE
JUST how great a part the royal hunt played
in the open-air life of the French court all who
know their French history and have any familiar-
ity with the great forests of France well recog-
nize.
The echo of French country architecture as
evinced in the "maisons de plaisance" and "ren-
deziious de chasse" scattered up and down the
France of monarchial times lives until to-day,
scarcely fainter than when the note was originally
sounded. Often these establishments were some-
thing more than a mere hunting-lodge, or
shooting-box, indeed they generally aspired to
the proportions of what may readily be accepted
as a country-house. They established a specious
type of architecture which in many cases grew,
in later years, into a chateau or palace of mani-
festly magnificent appointments.
At the great hunting exposition recently held
at Vienna the clou of the display was a French
royal hunting-lodge in the style of Louis XVI,
43
44 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
hung with veritable Gobelin tapestries, loaned
by the French government and picturing "The
Hunt in France." It was called by the critics
a unique painting in a beautiful frame.
In the days of Francis I and his -sons, the
royal hunt was given a great impetus by Catherine
de Medici, wife of Henri II.
Francis, in company with his sons, had gone
to Marseilles to meet the Medici bride, who
was on her way to make her home at the Paris
Louvre, and when he found her possessed of so
lively manners and such great intelligence he
became so charmed with her that, it is said, he
danced with her all of the first evening. What
pleased the monarch even more, and perhaps
not less his sons, was that she shot with an arque-
buse like a sharpshooter, and could ride to
hounds like a natural-born Amazon. She was
more than a rival, as it afterwards proved, of
that arch-huntress, Diane de Poitiers.
History recounts in detail that last royal hunt
of Francis I at Rambouillet, when he was lying
near to death, the guest of his old friend, d'An-
gennes.
The old manor, half hunting-lodge, half for-
tress, and very nearly royal in all its appointments,
proved a comfortable enough rest-house, and
on the day after his arrival, in March, 1547, the
The Royal Hunt in France 45
monarch commanded the preparations for a
royal hunt to commence at daybreak in the
neighbouring forest.
The equipage started forth in full ceremonial
on the quest of stag and boar. The bugles blew
and a sort of stimulated courage once more
entered the king's breast, courage born of the
excitement around him, the baying of the hounds
and the tramping and neighing of impatient
horses. He had forced himself from his bed
and on horseback and started off with the rest,
defying the better counsel of his retainers.
His strength proved to be born of a fictitious
enthusiasm, and, speedily losing interest, he was
brought back to the manor where he had his
apartments, and put speechless and half dead
to bed, actually dying the next day from this
last over-exertion, scarce half a century of the
span of his life accomplished.
Henri de Navarre also was a true lover of the
open. Born in a mountain town in the Pyrenees
he would rather camp on a bed of pine needles
in the forest than lie on a tuft of down. He
preferred his beloved Bayonne ham, spiced with
garlic, to a sumptuous dinner in Jarnet house,
a famous Paris tavern of the day; and had rather
quench his thirst with a quaff of the wine of
Jurancon than the finest cm in Paris cellars.
46 Eoyal Palaces and Parks of Prance
He hated the parade of courts, was dirty,
unkempt and careless, a genuine son of the soil,
heedless of fate, and an excellent huntsman.
Up to the seventeenth century the ladies of
the French court showed a keener interest for
falconry than for the hunt by horse and hounds.
The heroines of the Fronde, and the genera-
tion which followed, seemed to lose interest in
this form of sport, and gave their favour to packs
of hounds, and followed with equal interest the
hunt for deer, wolves, boars, foxes and hares
as they were tracked through forests and over
arid wastes.
The old hunting horn, the winding horn of
romance, still exists at the hunts of France,
a relic of the days of Louis XIV. It sounds
the conventional comings and goings of the hunts-
men in the same classic phraseology as of old
the lancer, the bien allee, the vue, the change-
ment de foret, the accompagne, the bat Veau, the
hallali par terre, and the curee.
The "Curee aux Flambeaux" was one of the
most picturesque ceremonies connected with the
royal hunt in France. It began in the gallant
days, and lived even until the time of the Second
Empire.
The curee, that is the giving up to the hounds
the remains of an animal slain in chase, does
A " Curee aux Flambeaux
The Royal Hunt in France 47
not always take place at night, but when it does
the torches play the part of impressive and pic-
turesque accessories. When a curee takes place
at the spot where the animal is actually killed
the French sporting term for the ceremony is
''force et abattu." This, however, is usually pre-
ceded by another called "le pied," which con-
sists in cutting off one of the feet of the dead
animal and offering it to the person in whose
honor the hunt was held.
When the curee takes place by torchlight the
body of the animal is carried beneath the win-
dows of the chateau, a circle is formed by the
"piqueurs," or head hunters, and all who have
participated in the pursuit; and, to the sound
of a trumpet, loaned by the sportsmen, one of
the valets de venerie cuts up the stag. The
meutes, that is to say, the hounds which are let
slip last of all, and which terminates the chase
are then brought by the valet des chiens, who
has great difficulty in keeping them from break-
ing loose. When the entrails have been cut
away the valet sits astride the animal, holding
up the nappe, or head and neck, shaking it at
the already furious hounds. It is the care of the
valet during this interval to conceal the pieces
of flesh which are still under the body. The
hounds are then loosened, but are kept within
48 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
bounds by the whips of the piqueurs and the
valet des chiens. When the dogs are sufficiently
exasperated the brutes are allowed to rush upon
the remains of their victim; only, however, to
be driven back again by whipping. When their
docility has thus been proven the definite signal,
"lachez tout," is given, and the hounds rush
towards the stag.
The curee then presents a savage spectacle:
the air is filled with growling, barking and yell-
ing, while the ground is covered with scrambling
dogs, their mouths reeking with blood.
The feminine costume for the hunt in the
time of Louis XIII was of broadcloth or velvet,
with a great feather-ornamented " picture" hat.
Only now and again a lady on horseback after
1650 dared borrow doublet and jacket, and
mount astride.
The ladies followed the hunt of Louis XIV
on horseback, seldom, if ever, in the older manner
of sitting behind their cavalier on the same steed.
From the time of Catherine de Medici, indeed,
the Italian side-saddle had become the fashion
for women.
Under Louis XV the ladies sought a little
more comfort, and followed the equipage- sitting
in a sort of hamper-like, diminutive basket,
hung from the broad back of a sturdy quadruped.
The Eoyal Hunt in Prance 49
Dresses became more fanciful, both in materials
and colours. From this it was but a step to even
more elaborate toilettes which necessitated a
conveyance of some sort on wheels, but the most
intrepid still clung to the traditionally classic
methods. Marie Antoinette had her equipage
de chasse, and Madame Durfort was constantly
abroad in the forests of Montmorency and Boissy,
directing the operation of eight or ten profes-
sional huntsmen. Among her guests were fre-
quently the ambassadors of Prussia, Russia
and Austria.
In the time of Louis XIV the Comtesse de
Lude devoted herself to the hunt with a frenzy
born of an inordinate enthusiasm. At the head
of a pack of hounds she knew no obstacle, and, on
one occasion, penetrated on horseback, followed
by her dogs, into the oratory of the nuns of the
Convent of Estival.
By the end of the seventeenth century the hunt
in France had become no more a sport for ladies.
Hunting was still a noble sport, but it was more
for men than for women. The court hunted
not only in royal company, but accepted in-
vitations from any seigneur who possessed an
ample preserve and who could put up a good
kill; magistrates, financiers and bishops, indeed
all classes, became followers of the hunt.
50 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
Montgaillard tells of a hunt in which he took
part on the feast day of Saint Bernard, with
the monks of the Bernardin Convent in Langue-
doc. In the episcopal domain of Saverne six
hundred beaters were employed on one occasion
to provide sport for an assembled company of
lords and ladies. These were the days when
the bishops were in truth Grand Seigneurs.
The women of the court, while they played
the game, ceded nothing to the men in bravery.
Neither rain, hail nor snow frightened them.
On the 28th of June, 1713, Louis XIV was hunt-
ing the deer at Rambouillet when a terrific,
cyclonic storm fell upon the equipage, but not
a man nor woman in the monarch's party quit.
The Duchesse de Berry was "wet to the skin,"
but her ardour for the hunt was not in the least
cooled.
To-day at Fontainebleau or Rambouillet the
echo is sounded from the hunting horn of La-
baudy, the sugar-king, who pulls off at least
two " hunts," with his spectacular equipage,
each year, and it is a sight too; a French hunting
party was ever picturesque, and if to-day not
as practical as the more blood-loving English-
man's hunt, is at least traditionally sentimental,
even artificial to the extent, at any rate, that it
seems stagy, even to the inclusion of the auto-
mobiles which bring and carry away the partici-
The Royal Hunt in France 51
pants. "Other days, other ways " never had a
more strict application than to la chasse a courre
in France.
Two accounts are here given of two com-
paratively modern figures in the French hunting
field, which show the great store set by the sport
in France.
In the annals of the Chateau de Grosbois,
belonging to-day to the Prince de Wagram, are
the accounts of an early nineteenth century hunt,
which shows that the game cost dear. The
"Grand Veneur" of the Napoleonic reign was
a master sportsman, indeed, and to-day, in a
gallery of the chateau, are preserved the guns of
the master, his hunting crop and saddle, his
"colours" and his hunting horn.
From the registers of the chateau, under date
of December 10, 1809, the following, which con-
cerned a hunting party given by the chatelain,
is extracted verbatim.
Note of the Maitre d'Hotel for colla-
tions for the guests 8,226 francs
Illuminations 1,080 francs
Gratifications to the beaters 1,000 francs
Eau de Cologne for the ladies . . 30 francs
Gun-bearers 148 francs
Helpers (150) 600 francs
Aids (200) 315 francs
52 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
Another hunt was given in 1811, in honour of
Napoleon, when such items as three thousand
francs for an orchestra, a like sum for bouquets
for the ladies, a thousand or two for bonbons
and fans, and twelve thousand for hired furni-
ture, etc., to say nothing of the expenses of the
hunt itself, made the bag somewhat costly. It
was not always easy for the master of the hunt
to get justice when it came to paying for his sup-
plies, and in these same records a mention of a
dozen leather breeches at a hundred and forty
francs each was crossed off and a marginal note,
Non, added in the hand of Marechal Berthier,
Prince de Wagram, himself.
The chief figure in the French hunting world
of to-day is another descendant of the Napo-
leonic portrait gallery, Prince Murat. At the
age of twelve the young Prince Joachim had
already followed the hounds at Fontainebleau
and Compiegne. In his double quality of rela-
tive and companion of the Prince Imperial he
was one of the chiefs of the equipment of the Im-
perial Hunt. To-day, though well past the span
of life, he is as active and as enduring in his
participation in the strenuous sport as many a
younger man and his knowledge of the grand
art of venerie, and his ardour for being always
ahead with the hounds, is noted by all who may
An Imperial Hunt at Fontainebleau
52 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
Another 'hunt was given in 1811, in honour of
Napoleon, when such items as three thousand
francs for an orchestra, a like sum for bouquets
for the ladies, a thousand or two for bonbons
and fans, and twelve thousand for hired furni-
ture, etc., to say nothing of the expenses of the
hunt itself, made the bag somewhat costly. It
was not always easy for the master of the hunt
to get justice when it came to paying for his sup-
plies, and in these same records a mention of a
dozen leather breeches at a hundred and forty
francs each was crossed off and a marginal note,
Non, added in the hand of Marchal Berthier,
The chief figure in the French hunting world
of to-day is another descendant of the Napo-
leonic portrait gallery, Prince Murat. At the
age of fwelve the young Pi had
already followed the hounds at : nebleau
and Compiegne. In his double quality of rela-
tive and companion of the Prince Imperial he
was one of the chiefs of the equipment of the Im-
perial Hunt. To-day, though well past the span
of life, he is as active and as enduring in his
participation in the strenuous sport as many a
younger man and his knowledge of the grand
art of venerie, and his ardour for being always
ahead with the hounds, is noted by all who may
The Royal Hunt in France 53
happen to see him while jaunting through the
Foret de Compiegne, keeping well up with the
traditions of his worthy elder, the "Premier
Cavalier" of the First Empire, the King of Naples.
He won his first stripes in the hunting field
at Compiegne in 1868, at a hunt given in honour
of the Prince de Hohenzollern and the Princesse,
who was the sister of the King of Portugal. It
was a most moving event, so much so that it just
escaped being turned into a drama, for one of
the ladies of the court had a leg broken, and the
minister, Fould, was almost mortally injured.
A "dix cors" a stag with antlers of ten branches,
had been run down at the Rond Royal where it
had taken refuge in a near-by copse, and after
an hour's hard chase was finally cornered in
the courtyard of some farm buildings of the
Hameau d'Orillets. A troop of cows was en-
tering the courtyard at the same moment, and a
most confused melee ensued. The Inspector
of Forests saved the situation and the cows
of the farmer, and the stag fell to the carabine
of Prince de la Moskowa, with the young Prince
Murat on his pony in the very front rank.
Thus early initiated in the chivalrous sport
of the hunt the young man followed every hunt,
big or little, which was held in the environs of
Paris for many years, and by the time that he
54 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
came to possess the epaulettes of an Officier de
Cuirassiers he was known to all the hunts from
the Ardennes to Anjou.
For the past generation he has been retired
to civil life by a Republican decree, and since
that time has lived in his suburban Paris prop-
erty, devoting himself to the raising of hunters.
Here he lives almost on the borders of that great
extent of forest which occupies the northern
section of the He de France, occasionally organiz-
ing a hunt, which takes on not a little of the noble
aspect of a former time, the prince following
always within sound of the hunting horn and the
baying of the hounds, if not actually always
within sight of the quarry.
It is here, in his Villa Normande, near which
Saint Ouen gave Dagobert that famous counsel
which has gone down in history, that the Prince
and Princesse Murat come to pass two or three
months each year with their children, their al-
lied parents and the "great guns" of the old
regime who still gather about the master of the
hunt as courtiers gather around their king.
At Chamblay there have been held magnificent
gun shoots under the organization of the prince
and his equipage. His kennels contain forty-
eight of the finest bred hounds in France, and
are guarded by three care-takers, the goader,
The Eoyal Hunt in France 55
Carl, whose fame has reached every hunting
court of Europe and a couple of valets des chiens.
The prince's colours are distributed as follows:
a huzzar jacket of blue, with collar, plaquettes,
and vest of grenadine and breeches of a darker
blue.
Formerly Prince Murat hunted the roe-deer
in the valley of the Oise, but many enclosures
of private property having made this exceedingly
difficult in later years he is to-day obliged to
go farther afield. In the spring the equipage
goes to Rosny, near Mantes, and perhaps during
the same season occasionally to Rambouillet.
The hunts at Chamblay are the perfection of
the practice of the art. Seldom is the quarry
wanting. The refrain of the Ode to Saint Hubert
lauds the prowess of this great "Maitre d'Equi-
page."
" Par Saint Hubert mon patron
C'est quelque due de haut renom
Sonnez : ecuyers et piqueux
Un Murat vien en ces lieux."
Chamblay fortunately being neither populous
nor near a great town there is no throng of curi-
ous spectators hovering about to get in the way
and scare the game and the hounds and their
followers out of their wits. The Chasse de
56 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
Chamblay is the devotion of the vrais veneurs;
the Prince Murat and his son, the Prince Joachim,
(to-day at the military school at Saint Cyr), the
Prince Eugene Murat, the Comte de Vallon,
the Baron de Neuflize and a few famous veneurs
in gay uniforms come from afar to give eclat
to the hunt of the master. And the ladies:
the following names are of those devoted to the
prowess of the Prince Murat Madame la Prin-
cesse, la Princesse Marguerite Murat, Mademoi-
selle d'Elchingen, the Duchesse and the Mar-
quise d'Albufera, the Duchesse de Camestra,
and Madame Kraft.
From this one sees that romance is not all
smouldering. If other proof were wanting a
perusal of that most complete and interesting
account of the hunt in France in modern times,
"Les Chasses de Rambouillet" (Ouvrage ofjert
par Monsieur Felix Faure) would soon establish
it. This was not a work destined for the public
at large. The hunt was ever a sport of kings
in France, and though France has become Re-
publican its Chasse Nationale at Rambouillet
partakes not a little of the aspect of those courtly
days when there was less up-to-dateness and
more sentiment.
There were but one hundred copies of this
work printed for the friends of the late president
The Royal Hunt in Prance 57
of the Republic " Other Sovereigns," as the
dedication reads, "Princes, Grand Dukes, Am-
bassadors."
Rambouillet was the theatre of the most splendid
hunts of the sixteenth century, and down through
the ages it has ever held a preeminent place;
holds it to-day even. Louis XVI in the Rev-
olutionary torment even regretted the cutting
off of his prerogative of the royal hunt, but
he had no choice in the matter. In his journal
of 1789 one reads: "the cerf runs alone in the
Pare en Bas" (Rambouillet), and again in
1790: "Seance of the National Assembly at
noon; Audience of a deputation in the afternoon.
The deer plentiful at Gambayseuil. "
The Revolution felled many French institu-
tions; low, great, ecclesiastical and monarchial
monuments, the trees of the forest, and the royal
game, by a system of poaching, had become
greatly diminished in quantity.
The nineteenth century, so frankly democratic
in its latter years, was less favourable to the
hunt than the monarchial days which had gone
before. It had a considerable prominence under
Charles X, more perhaps than it ever had under
Napoleon, who in his infancy and laborious
adolescence had few opportunities of following
it ; and in the later years of his life he was too busy.
58 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
Napoleon III was not really a "good hunter,"
though he was something of a marksman and
took a considerable pride in his skill in that
accomplishment .
Entering the democratic era, Jules Grevy
seems to have been only a pot-hunter of the
bourgeoisie, who practiced the art only because
he wanted a jugged hare for his dinner, or again
simply to kill time.
Sadi-Carnot was still less a hunter of the ro-
mantic school, but assisted frequently at the
ceremonial shootings which were arranged for
visiting monarchs. On one occasion he was
put down on the record-sheet of a hunt at Ram-
bouillet as responsible only for the death of
eighteen heads, whilst a visiting Grand Duke
pulled down a hundred and fifty.
It was notably during the presidency of Felix
Faure that Rambouillet again took on its ani-
mation of former times. The chateau had
been furbished up once more after a long sleep,
and, to the great satisfaction of the inhabitants
of the town, there were more comings and goings
than there had been for a quarter of a century.
In the summer and autumn the president
made Rambouillet his preferred residence, and
there received many visiting sovereigns and
notables of all ranks. In one year a score
The Royal Hunt in France 59
of " Official Hunts " were held, to which all the
members of the diplomatic corps were invited,
while there were two or three affairs of an "In-
ternational" character in honour of visiting sov-
ereigns.
All was under the control of the Grand Veneur
of the Third Republic, the Comte de Girardin,
and while a truly royal flavour may have been
lacking the general aspect was much the same
as it might have been in the days of the monarchy.
The Captain of the Hunt under Felix Faure
was the Inspector of Forests, Leddet, and the
Premier Veneur was the Commandant Lagarenne.
The president himself was a marksman of
the first rank, and never was there a reckoning
up of the tableau but that he was near the head
of the list. So accomplished was he with the
rifle that on more than one occasion he was obliged
to practically efface himself in favour of some
visiting monarch, as it was said he did in the
case of the King of Portugal in 1895, the Grand
Dues Vladimir and Nicolas in 1896.
Huntsmen not royal by virtue of title, or al-
liance, the Republican president beat to a stand-
still. He had no pity nor favour for a mere am-
bassador, whether he hailed from England or
Germany, nor for members of the Institute,
Senators nor Deputies. With Prince Albert of
60 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
Monaco he held himself equal, and for every
bird shot on the wing by the head of the house
of Grimaldi the "longshoreman" of Havre
brought down another.
La chasse a courre before the law in France
to-day may be practiced only under strictly
laid down conditions. The huntsman must le-
gally have his dogs under such control, and keep
sufficiently close to them, as to be able to recover
the quarry immediately after it has been closed
in upon by the hounds.
Like shooting, since the Decree of 1844, hunt-
ing with hounds may only be undertaken under
authority of a permis de chasse, and in open
season, during the daytime, and with the consent
of the owners over whose properties the hunt
is to be held.
The ceremony of the hunt in France now fol-
lows the traditions of the classic hunt of the
monarchy. The veneur decides on the rendez-
vous, whether the quarry be stag or chevreuil,
fox or hare. The piqueur follows close up with
the dogs, sets them on or calls them off, and re-
calls them if they go off on a false scent.
CHAPTER IV
THE PALAIS DE LA CITE AND TOURNELLES
NOT every one assumes the Paris Palais d'e
Justice to ever have been the home of kings and
queens. It has not, however, always been a tilt-
ing ground for lawyers and criminals, though,
no doubt, when one comes to think of it, it is
in that role that it has acted its most thrilling
episodes.
The Saint Chapelle, the Conciergerie and
the great clock of the Tour de PHorloge mark
the Palais de Justice down in the books of most
folk as one of the chief Paris "sights," but it
was as a royal residence that it first came into
prominence.
This palace, not the conglomerate half-secular,
half-religious pile of to-day, but an edifice of
some considerable importance, existed from the
earliest days of the Prankish invasion, and
when occupied by Clotilde, the wife of Clovis,
was known as the Palais de la Cite.
Under the last of the kings of the First Race
this palace took on really splendid proportions.
61
62 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
When Hugues Capet arrived on the throne he
abandoned the kingly residence formerly oc-
cupied by the Prankish rulers, the Palais des
Thermes, and installed his goods and chattels
in this Palais de la Cite, which his son Robert
had rebuilt under the direction of Enguerrand
de Marigny.
Up to the time of Francis I it remained the
preferred residence of the French monarchs,
regardless of the grander, more luxuriously dis-
posed Louvre, which had come into being.
Philippe Auguste, by a contrary caprice, would
transact no kingly business elsewhere, and it
was within the walls of this palace that he mar-
ried Denmark's daughter. His successors, Saint
Louis, Philippe-le-Hardi, and Philippe-le-Bel did
their part in enlarging and beautifying the struc-
ture, and Saint Louis laid the foundations of
that peerless Gothic gem La Saint Chapelle.
From the windows of the Palais de la Cite
another Charles assisted at an official massacre,
differing little from that of Saint Bartholemew's,
which was conducted from the Louvre.
On the first floor of the Palais de Justice of
to-day is the apartment paved in a mosaic of
black and white marble, with a painted and
gilded wooden vaulting, where Charles V received
the Emperor Charles IV and the "Roi des Ro-
Palais de la Cite and Tournelles 63
mains." The three monarchs, accompanied by
their families, here supped together around a
great round marble table, a secret supper prolific
of an entente cordiale which must have been the
forerunner of recent ceremonies of a similar
nature in France.
Known as the Salle de Marbre, this great
chamber came later to be the Tribunal where
the courts sat. It was only after the death of
Charles VI, at the beginning of the fifteenth
century, that the Palais de la Cite was given
over wholly to the disciples of Saint Yves, the
judges, advocates and notaries. It became also
the definite seat of the Parliament and took the
nomenclature of Palais de Justice, though still
inhabited at intermittent intervals by French
royalties. One such notable occasion was that
when Henry V of England was here married to
Catherine de France, and when Henry VI of
England took up his temporary residence here
as king to the French.
In the fourteenth century the precincts of the
Palais de la Cite the open courtyard one as-
sumes is meant were invaded by the stalls
of small shopkeepers, some of which actually
took root in wood and stone and became fixtures
to such an extent that the courtyard was known
as the Galerie des Merciers.
64 Eoyal Palaces and Parks of France
The great marble chamber after becoming
the meeting place of the Tribunal played a part
at times dignified and at others banal. An in-
cident is recorded where the clerks and minor
court officials danced on the famous marble
table and "played farces" with the judicial
bench serving as a stage. It was said that, on
account of the immoralities which they repre-
sented, the authorities were obliged to suppress
the performances by law, as they have in recent
years the flagrant freedom of the "Quat'z Arts."
Up to the times of Francis I but few events
of importance unrolled themselves within the
Palais de la Cite, but in 1618 a violent con-
flagration broke out leaving only the round
towers of the Conciergerie, the tower and the
church, and that part of the main structure which
housed the great Salle de Marbre, unharmed.
Apropos of this, a joyous rhymester of the time
made the following quatrain:
" Certes ce fut un triste jeu
Quand a Paris Dame Justice
Pour avoir mange trop d'epice
Se mit le Palais tout en feu."
Jacques Debrosse was charged with rebuild-
ing the edifice after the fire and refitted first the
Grand Salle, to-day the famous Salle des Pas
Palais de la Cite and Tournelles 65
Perdus, crowded with the shuffling coming and
going crowd of men and women whose business,
or no business at all, brings them to this central
point for the dissemination of legal gossip. It is
a magnificent apartment, and, to no great extent,
differs from what it was before the conflagration.
This Salle consists of two parallel .naves sepa-
rated by a range of arcades and lighted by two
great circular openings with four round-headed
windows at either end. Its attributes are prac-
tically the same as they were in 1622. The
structure, take it as a whole, may be said to
date only from the seventeenth century, but
certain it is that the old Palais de la Cite is in-
corporated therein, every stone of it, and if its
career was humdrum that was the fault of cir-
cumstances rather than from any inherent faults
of its own.
The Conciergerie, that inelegant, inconsistent
architectural mixture of the ancient and modern,
considered apart, though it properly enough is
usually considered with the Palais de Justice,
was formerly the dwelling or guardhouse of the
Concierge of the Palais de la Cite. His post was
not merely that of the keeper of the gates; he was
a personage at court and was as autocratic as his
more plebeian contemporaries of to-day, for the
Paris concierge, as we, who have for years lived
66 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
under their despotism well know, is a very dread-
ful person.
In addition to being the governor of the royal
dwelling this concierge was the guardian of the
royal prisoners. In 1348 he was further invested
with the official title of Bailli and the post was,
at times, occupied by the highest and the most
noble in the land, among others Philippe de
Savoie, the friend of Charles VI, and Juvenal
des Oursins, the historian of this prince. The
first to combine the two functions, that of Bailli
and Concierge, was Jacques Coictier, the doctor
of Louis XI.
As a virtual prison the Conciergerie only came
to be transformed when Charles V quitted the
residence of the Palais de la Cite, and the Con-
ciergerie, as such, only figures on the Tournelles
registers under date of 1391.
The fire of the latter part of the eighteenth
century destroyed a large part of the building,
but enough remained to patch together the most
serviceable of Revolutionary prisons, for at one
time it held at least twelve hundred poor souls,
of whom two hundred and eighty-eight were
killed off at one fell blow.
But one woman among them all actually came
to her death within the prison walls. This was
La Belle Bouquetiere of the Palais Royal who,
Palais de la Cite and Tournelles 67
in an access of jealous furor, horribly mutilated
a royal guardsman, and for this met a most cruel
death by being transfixed to a post and sub-
mitting to a trial of "le fer et le feu." In just
what manner the punishment was applied one
can best imagine for himself.
The Revolutionary role of the Conciergerie
is a thing apart from the purport of this book,
hence is not further referred to.
Going back to the time of Francis I, among
the famous prisoners of state were Louis de
Berquin, the Comte de Mongomere, the regicides
Ravaillac and Damiens, the Marechal d'Ancre,
Cartouche, Mandrin and others. To-day, as
a prison, the Conciergerie still performs its func-
tions acceptably, safeguarding those up for the
assizes, and those condemned to death before
being sent on their long journey.
The three great flanking towers of the Con-
ciergerie are its chief architectural distinction
to-day. That of the left, the largest, is the Tour
d' Argent, that of the middle, the Tour Bonchet,
and the third, the Tour de Cesar or the Tour
de PHorloge. This last is the only one which
has preserved its mediaeval crenulated battle-
ments aloft. The great clock has been commonly
considered the largest timepiece of its kind
extant, but it is doubtful if this now holds good
68 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
with railways and insurance companies vying
with each other to furnish the hour so legibly
that he who runs may read.
Across the Pont au Change, from the Palais
de la Cite, by the Louvre and out into the Fau-
bourg Saint Antoine, one comes to the Place des
Vosges, the old Place Royale, which occupies
almost the same area as was covered by the court-
yard of the Palais des Tournelles, so called from
its many towers.
All around the Palais des Tournelles was
located a series of splendid hotels prives of the
nobility. In one of these, the Hotel de Saint
Pol, the king once lodged twenty-two visiting
princes of the quality of Dauphin (the eldest
son of a ruling monarch), their suites and do-
mestics.
Charles V in his time amalgamated with his
royal palace three of these magnificent private
dwellings, the Hotel du Petit Muse, the Hotel
de PAbbe de Saint Maur and the Hotel du Comte
/
d'Etampes.
The palace proper really faced on what is now
the Rue Saint Antoine, opposite the Hotel Saint
Pol. Its historic and romantic memories of the
sword and cloak period of gallantry were many,
but the edifice was demolished by the order of
Catherine de Medici.
Palais de la Cite and Tournelles 69
In the palace Charles VI was confined, during
the period of his insanity, by order of the cruel
Isabeau de Baviere. The Duke of Bedford,
when regent for the minor Henry VT, lodged
here, and upon the expulsion of the English it
became the residence of Charles VII. Louis XI
and Louis XII each inhabited it, and the latter
died within its walls.
The Palais des Tournelles will go down to
history chiefly because of that celebrated jousting
bout held in its courtyard on the marriage day
of the two princesses, Elizabeth and Marguerite.
Henri II and the elder princes, his sons, were
to ride forth in tournament and break lances,
if possible, with all comers. The court, in-
cluding Catherine de Medici and the princess
Elizabeth, wife of Philippe II, the late husband
of Mary Tudor, the two Marguerites and other
high personages were seated on a dais upholstered
in damascened silk and ornamented with many-
coloured streamers.
The time was July and the morning. At a
signal from Catherine music burst forth and
the bouts began.
The king rode forth at the head of his chev-
aliers, wearing a suit of golden armour, his
sword handle set with jewels, and, in spite of
the presence of his wife, his lance flying black
70 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
and white streamers, the colours of Diane de
Poitiers, who had lately turned her affections
from father unto son.
A herald proclaimed the opening of the combat,
and before night the king had broken the lances
of the Dues de Ferrare, de Guise, and de Nemours,
and was just about disarming when a masked
knight approached from the Faubourg Saint
Antoine and challenged the king, who, in spite
of being implored to desist by his queen, entered
the lists again and was ultimately wounded
unto death by the sable knight.
Henri II expired the same night in a bed-
chamber of the Palais des Tournelles, whither
he had been carried, at the age of forty-one,
the victim of chance, or the wile of the Sieur de
Montgomeri, the ancestor of England's present
Earl of Eglinton. The captain of the Scotch
Guards, Montgomeri, was not immediately pur-
sued (he meantime had fled the court), but
Catherine de Medici harboured for him a most
bitter rancour. Pro and con ran his cause, for
he had his partisans, but the Marechal de Matig-
non finally caught up with him in Normandy
and he was tortured and condemned to death
for the crime of lese majeste beating the king
at his own game.
The widowed queen angrily ordered Diane
Palais de la Cite and Tournelles 71
de Poitiers from the court, and caused the Palais
des Tournelles to be razed. This was her only
means of showing her contempt for the woman
who had played her royal spouse to his death
as the Romans played the gladiators of old;
and Tournelles, as a palatial monument of its
time, blotted out the rest when it disappeared
from view.
A forest of spirelets soared aloft from the
gables and rooftrees of the Palais des Tournelles.
There was no spectacle of the time more impos-
ing than this sky-line silhouette of a Paris palace;
not at Chambord nor Chenonceaux was the
spectacle more fine. It was like a fairy castle,
albeit that it was in the heart of a great city.
To the right of the Palais des Tournelles,
beyond the Porte Saint Antoine, was the ink-
black, frowning donjon of the Bastille, its severity
in strong contrast with the more luxurious palaces
of the princes which surrounded it not far away.
The charming Place des Vosges, which occupies
the site of Tournelles to-day, is another of Paris's
breathing spaces. Well may it be called a royal
garden a park virtually on a diminutive scale
since it was originally known as the Place
Royale, under Henri IV.
With the advent of the gascon Henri de Beam
this delightful little unspoiled corner of old Paris
72 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
took on the aspect which it now has. Within
this enclosure were the usual garden or park
attributes, more or less artificially disposed,
but making an ideal open-air playground for
the court, shut in from outside surroundings
by the outlines of the old palace walls, and not
too far away from the royal palace of the
Louvre.
The first and greatest historic souvenir of this
garden was a Carrousel given in 1612, by Marie
de Medici, two years after the tragic death of
Henri IV, celebrating the alliance between France
and Spain. Under Richelieu the square be-
came known as the Place des Vosges, and, in
spite of the law against duelling, which had
by this time come into force, it became a cele-
brated meeting place for duellists like Ivry, the
"Grand' Roue" or the "VeP Hiver" of to-day.
It was on May 12, 1627, that the Comte des
Chappell killed Bussy d'Amboise on this spot,
and left a bloody souvenir, which was only for-
gotten by the historians when they had to recount
another meeting, this time between the Catholic
Due de Guise and the Protestant Coligny
d'Andelot.
"Monsieur," said the duke, "we will now
proceed to settle that little account between
our illustrious houses," and with that he drew
Palais de la Cite and Tournelles 73
his sword and killed Coligny, as if he were but
stamping the life out of a caterpillar.
Now, with all this bloody memory behind,
the Place became one of the most elegant resi-
dential quarters of the capital, preferred above
all by the nobility, the Rohans, the Alegres and
Rotroux.
At No. 21 lived Victor Hugo, just before the
Coup d'Etat, in the house first made famous as
the habitation of the somewhat infamous Marion
Delorme.
Among other illustrious names who have given
a brilliance to these alleyed walks and corridors
are to be recalled Corneille, Conde, Saint Vincent
de Paul, Moliere, Turenne, Madame de Longue-
ville, De Thou, Cinq-Mars, Richelieu, D'Ormes-
son, the Prince de Talmon, the Marquis de Tesse
and the Comte de Chabanne.
It is possible that this charming Paris square
will remain as ever it has been, for a recent at-
tempt of the owner of one of the houses which
borders upon it to change the disposition of the
facade brought about a law-suit which com-
pelled him to respect the procedure which ob-
tained in 1605 when it was ordained the Place
Roy ale.
To prove their rights the civic authorities had
recourse to the original plans still preserved in
74 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
the national archives. This is a demonstra-
tion of how carefully European nations preserve
the written records of their pasts.
The decision finally arrived at by the courts
that the Place des Vosges must be kept intact
as originally planned gave joy to the hearts
of all true Parisians and archeologists alike.
CHAPTER V
THE OLD LOUVRE AND ITS HISTORY
A STROLL by the banks of the Seine will review
much of the history of the capital, as much of
it as was bound up with Notre Dame, the Louvre
and the Palais de la Cite (now the Palais de
Justice), and that was a great deal, even in mediae-
val and Renaissance times.
The life of the Louvre was Paris; the life of
Paris that of the nation; and the life of the nation
that of the people. This even the Parisians of
to-day will tell you. It is scant acknowledg-
ment of the provinces to be sure, but what would
you ? The French capital is much more the capital
of France than London is of England, or Wash-
ington of America leaving politics out of the
question.
Paris before the conquest by the Franks
was practically only the Seine-surrounded isle
known as Lutetia, and later as "La Cite," and
the slight overflow which crept up the slopes of
the Montagne de la Sainte Genevieve. From
the Chatelet to the Louvre was a damp, murky
75
76 Eoyal Palaces and Parks of France
swamp called, even in the moyen-age, Les Cham-
peaux, meaning the Little Fields, but swampy
ones, as inferred by studying the evolution of
the name still further.
A rapid rivulet descended from Menilmontant
and mingled with the Seine somewhere near the
Garden of the Tuileries.
Clovis and his Franks attacked the city op-
posite the isle, and, upon the actual achievement
of their conquest, threw up an entrenched camp
on the approved Roman plan in what is now
the courtyard of the old Louvre, and filled the
moat with the waters of this rivulet. The en-
semble was, according to certain authorities,
baptized the Louvre, or Lower, meaning a forti-
fied camp. This entrenchment was made neces-
sary in order that the Franks might sustain
themselves against the Gallo-Roman occupants
of Lutetia, and in time enabled them to acquire
the whole surrounding region for their own
dominion. This the Lower, or Louvre, made
possible, and it is well deserved that its name
should be thus perpetuated, though actually
the origin of the name is in debate, as will be
seen by a further explanation which follows.
Little by little this half-barbaric camp in
contradistinction to the more solid works of the
Romans became a place fort, then a chateau,
The Old Louvre and Its History 77
then a palace and, finally, as the young lady
tourist said, an art museum. Well, at any rate,
it was a dignified evolution.
Two Louvres disappeared before the crystal-
lization of the present rather irregularly cut gem.
From the Merovingians dates the Louvre des
Champs, the hostile, militant Louvre, with its
high wood and stone tower, familiar only in old
engravings. After this the moyen-age Louvre,
attributable to Saint Louis and Charles V, with
its great tower, its thick walls of stone and its
deep-dug moats, came into being. With Francis
I came a more sympathetic, a more subtle
era of architectural display, a softening of out-
lines and an interpolation of flowering gables.
It was thus that was born that noble monument
known as the New Louvre, which combined all
the arts and graces of a fastidious ambition.
Nothing remains of the old Louverie (to
which the name had become corrupted) which
Philippe Auguste early in the thirteenth century
caused to be turned into an ambitious quad-
rangular castle from a somewhat more humble
establishment which had evolved itself on the
site of the Frankish camp, save the white marble
outline sunken in the pavement of the court-
yard of the palace of to-day. By destiny this
palace, set down in the very heart of Paris, was
78 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
to dominate everything round about. From the
date of its birth, and since that time, it has had
no rivals among Paris or suburban palaces.
Its very situation compelled the playing of an
auspicious part, and the Seine flowing swiftly
by its ramparts added no small charm to the
fetes and ceremonies of both the Louvre and the
Tuileries.
Never was a great river so allied with the life
of a royal capital; never a stream so in harmony
with other civic beauties as is the Seine with Paris.
When Henri II entered Paris after his Sacra-
ment he contemplated a water-festival on the
Seine, which was to extend from the walls of
the Louvre to the towers of Notre Dame, a festival
with such elaborate decorations as had never
been known in the French capital.
The kings of France after their Sacrament
entered the Louvre by the quay-side entrance,
followed by their cortege of gayly caparisoned
cavaliers and gilded coaches with personages of
all ranks in doublet and robe, cape and doublet.
The scintillating of gold lace and burnished coats
gave a brilliance which rivalled that of the
sun.
No sooner had the cavalcade entered the gates
of the Louvre than it came out again to partici-
pate in the day and night festival, which had the
The Old Louvre and Its History 79
bosom of the Seine for its stage and its bridges
and banks for the act drop and the wings.
The receptions of Ambassadors, the baptisms
of royalties, royal marriages and celebrations
of victories, or treaties, were all feted in the same
manner.
Napoleon glorified the Peace of Amiens under
similar conditions, and there is scarce a chroni-
cler of any reign but that recounts the part
played by the Seine in the ceremonies of the
court of the New and Old Louvre.
It was amid a setting which lent itself so readily
to all this that the Old Louvre, which was rebuilt
by Francis I, first came to its glory.
The origin of the name Louvre has still other
interpretation from that previously given. It
seems to be a question of grave doubt among
the savants, but because the note is an interest-
ing one it is here reproduced. The name may
have been derived as well from the word ceuvre,
from the Latin opus\ it may have been evolved
from lupara, or louverie (place of wolves), which
seems improbable. It may have had its evolu-
tion from either one of these origins, or it may
not.
Anglo-Saxons may be proud of the fact that
certain French savants have acknowledged that
the name of the most celebrated of all Paris
80 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
palaces is a derivation from a word belonging
to their tongue and meaning habitation. This,
then, is another version and one may choose
that which is most to his liking, or may go back
and show his preference for lower, meaning a
fortified place.
A palace something more elaborate than
a mere habitation stood on the same site in
the twelfth century, a work which, under the ener-
gies of Philippe Auguste, in 1204 began to grow
to still more splendid proportions, though in-
finitesimal one may well conclude as compared
with the mass which all Paris knows to-day
under the inclusive appellation of "The Louvre."
The Paris of Philippe Auguste was already
a city of a hundred and twenty thousand in-
habitants, with mean houses on every side and
little pretense at even primitive comforts or con-
veniences. This far-seeing monarch laid hand
first on the great citadel tower of the fortified
lower, added to its flanking walls and built a
circling rampart around the capital itself. It
is recounted that the rumbling carts, sinking
deep in mud and plowing through foot-deep
dust beneath the palace windows, annoyed the
monarch so much that he instituted what must
have been the first city paving work on record,
and commanded that all the chief thoroughfares
The Old Louvre and Its History 81
passing near the Louvre should be paved with
cobbles. This was real municipal improve-
ment. He was a Solon among his kind for,
since that day, it has been a sine qua non that
for the well-keeping of city streets they must be
paved, and, though cobblestones have since
gone out of fashion, it was this monarch who
first showed us how to do it.
The Louvre of Philippe Auguste was the most
imposing edifice of the Paris of its time. To no
little extent was this imposing outline due to its
great central tower, the maitresse, which was sur-
rounded by twenty-three dames d'honneur, with-
out counting numberless tourelles. This hydra-
towered giant palace was the real guardian of
the Paris of medievalism, as its successor is
indeed the real centre of the Paris of to-day.
The city was but an immense mass of low-
lying gable-roofed houses, whose crowning apex
was the sky-line of the Louvre, with that of Tour-
nelles only less prominent to the north, and that
of La Cite hard by on the island where the
Palais de Justice and Notre Dame now stand.
Before the hand of Francis fell upon the Louvre
it was but an isolated stronghold a combined
castle, prison and palace, gloomy, foreboding
and surrounded by moats and ramparts almost
impassable. Philippe Auguste built well and
82 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
made of it an admirable and imposing castle
and a place of defence, and a defence it was,
and not much more.
For its time it was of great proportions and of
an ideal situation from a strategic point of view;
far more so than the isolated Palais de la Cite
in the middle of the Seine.
Four gates led out from the inner courtyard
of the Old Louvre: one to the Seine; one to the
south, facing Saint Germain PAuxerrois; another
towards the site of the later Tuileries; and the
other to about where the Rue Marengo cuts
the Rue de Rivoli of to-day.
With the endorsement given it by Philippe
Auguste the Louvre now became the official
residence of the kings of the Capetian race,
whereas previously they had dwelt but intermit-
tently at Paris, chiefly in the Palais de la Cite.
The monarch, as if to test the efficiency of his
new residence as a stronghold, made a dungeon
tower, his greatest constructive achievement un-
til he built the castle of Gisors, and in the tower
imprisoned the Comte de Flandre, whom he
had taken prisoner at Bouvines. Louis IX
(Saint Louis), in his turn, built a spacious annex
to Philippe Auguste's Louvre, to which he attached
his name.
Charles V totally changed the aspect of the
The Old Louvre and Its History 83
palace from what it had formerly been half-
fortress, half-residence and made of it a verit-
able palace in truth as well as in name, by the
addition of numerous dependencies.
Within a tower which was built during the
reign of this monarch, called the Tour de la
Librairie, he assembled his royal bibelots and
founded what was afterwards known as the
Bibliotheque du Louvre, the egg from which
was hatched the present magnificently endowed
Bibliotheque Nationale in the Rue Richelieu.
It is related that in 1373 the valet-de-chambre
of Charles V made a catalogue of the nine hun-
dred and ten volumes which formed this col-
lection, an immense number for the time when
it is known that his predecessor, Jean-le-Bon,
possessed but seven volumes of history and
four devotional books as his entire literary
treasure.
This seems to be a bibliographical note of
interest which has hitherto been overlooked.
Charles V was evidently a man of taste, or he
would not have built so well, though all is hear-
say, as not a fragment remains of the work upon
which he spent his talents and energies.
From the death of Charles V, in 1364, until
1557 the Louvre by some caprice ceased to be
a permanent royal residence. At the latter
84 Eoyal Palaces and Parks of France
epoch the ambitious, art-loving Francis I con-
ceived the idea that here was a wealth of
scaffolding upon which to graft some of his
Renaissance luxuries and, by a process of " res-
toration" (perhaps an unfortunate word for
him to have employed, since it meant the razing
of the fine tower built by Charles V), added
somewhat to the splendours thereof, though in
a fickle moment, as was his wont, allowed a gap
of a dozen years to intervene between the out-
lining of his project and the terrifically earnest
work which finally resulted in the magnificent
structure accredited to him, though indeed it
meant the demolition of the original edifice.
It was at this period that Charles V entered
into the ambitious part which Francis was to
henceforth play in the Louvre, so perhaps the
interruption was pardonable.
CHAPTER VI
THE LOUVRE OF FRANCIS I AND ITS SUCCESSORS
ONE can attribute the demise of the Old Louvre
to the coming of Charles V to Paris in 1539.
This royal residence, hastily put in order to re-
ceive his august presence, seemed so coldly
inconvenient and inhospitable to his host, Fran-
cis I, that that monarch decided forthwith
upon its complete reconstruction and enlarge-
ment. Owing to various combinations of cir-
cumstances the actual work of reconstruction
was put off until 1546, thus the New Louvre
as properly belongs to the reign of Henri II as
to that of his father.
Francis I, more than any other European
monarch of his time, or, indeed, before or since,
left his mark as an architect of supreme tastes
over every edifice with which he came into per-
sonal contact. His mania was for building
when it was not for affairs of the heart and
so daring was he that when he could not get an
old fabric to remodel he would brave all, as did
Louis XIV at Versailles, and erect a dream
85
86 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
palace in the midst of a desert. This he did
at Chambord in the Sologne. At Paris his
difficulties were perhaps no less, but he had his
materials and his workmen ready at hand.
Francis's repairs and embellishments to the
Old Louvre were by no means perfunctory, but
he saw possibilities greater than he was able to
perform with the means at hand. He first razed
the central tower, or donjon, and scarce before
the departure of his royal guest, was already
dreaming of replacing the entire fabric with
another which should bear the same name. One
has read of the monarch's thoughts when he was
awaiting the coming to Paris of his old enemy
in the peninsula; how he regretted the moment
when he should sally out to meet him and leave
his new-found friend, the Duchesse d'Etampes,
in spite of her pleadings for him to remain by
her. All this is mere historic incident, and
has little to do with Francis's art instincts and
ambitions. He probably thought this very thing
himself when he replied to the importunate
lady: "Duchesse, I must tear myself away with-
out more ado; I go to meet my brother monarch
at Amboise on the Loire."
It was Francis I, the passionate lover of art,
who collected the first pictures which formed
the foundation of the present collections of the
The Louvre of Francis I 87
Musee National du Louvre. He bought many
in foreign parts, and many others were brought
from Italy by Italian artists, whom he had com-
manded to the capital: Primaticcio brought with
him, upon his arrival, more than a hundred
antique statues. These art objects were first
assembled at Fontainebleau and ornamented
the apartments of the king. Among them were
Da Vinci's "La Joconde" and Raphael's "Holy
Family and Saint Michael."
Henri II, Henri IV, and Louis XIII did little to
enrich the art collections of the palace, but Louis
XIV charged his minister, Colbert, with numer-
ous purchases. In 1661 he bought the fine col-
lection left by Cardinal Mazarin, and ten years
later purchased the contents of the celebrated
gallery belonging to the banker Jacob of Cologne.
The state expended for these acquisitions nearly
six hundred thousand livres, and received for this
sum six hundred paintings and six thousand
drawings.
It was at this period that the royal collections
were transferred to Paris, a little before the
death of Colbert, when they were placed in the
galleries of the Louvre; though it was a hundred
years later that a national museum was actually
created. This was virtually brought about from
the fact that the royal collections were trans-
88 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
ported in a great part to Versailles, only to be
returned to Paris in 1750, transferred again to
Versailles, and ultimately to be returned to
Paris under the sheltering wing of the grand
old Louvre.
The Museum of the Louvre, the Museum
National et Central des Arts, is the outgrowth
of a Decree of the Convention, dated July 27,
1793. It was aided and enriched considerably
under Napoleon I, that passionate lover of the
beautiful, who, none too scrupulously, would
even seek to "make a campaign" in order to
acquire art works for the museum of his
capital.
Many of these abducted art treasures (like
the horses of Saint Marc, for instance) were
afterwards returned to their original owners,
but the nucleus of this unrivaled art museum
was chiefly due to the consul and emperor.
As soon as Charles V had left the Louvre
demolition was at once begun by Francis, and
in 1541 an Italian, Serlio, was bidden pre-
pare a set of plans for the Renaissance glory
that was to be. Serlio, refusing, or debating
the price, was cast aside for the Frenchman,
Lescot, whose plan was adopted.
The work can in no way be said to have suf-
fered by the change of plans, for though Pierre
The Louvre of Francis I 89
Lescot was as yet a name unknown in the world
of architecture his talents were sufficiently great,
magistrate and parliamentary counsellor though
he was, to give to Paris what has ever been ac-
counted its chief Renaissance glory.
Work was begun at once, a work which was
not interrupted by intrigues of court, of love,
of war, nor by the deaths of Francis I nor his
successor, Henri II.
Although the work was begun in an energetic
manner it was 1555 before the western wing
was ready for the hand of the sculptors, but from
this time on, judging from the interpolated mono-
grams of Charles IX and Henri IV on the south
wing, work progressed less hurriedly. The two
other constructions, which were to enclose the
quadrangle to the north and east, were com-
pleted under such circumstances that there has
never been a question as to their period.
For fifteen years the work went on, when
suddenly it was abandoned as were the plans
of Lescot. A sole wing, that following the Seine
and abutting at right angles against the Pa-
vilion de PHorloge, had resulted.
The sculptures of its south facade, as well
as certain of its interior decorations, were en-
trusted to Jean Goujon (1520-1572), who became
a victim of the horrible night of Saint Barthol-
90 Eoyal Palaces and Parks of France
omew, planned in the same Louvre by the wily
Medici.
Henri II often dwelt over Lescot's plans and
devices, and, on one occasion, when the poet
Ronsard was present, demanded of the architect
the meaning of the decorations surrounding
a great asil-de-bceuf window, two kneeling figures,
one blowing a trumpet, and the other extend-
ing a palm branch. "Victory and Fame," re-
plied Lescot. And, in honour of the architect
and his sentiment, Ronsard composed his "Fran-
ciade." The detail was actually by Goujon,
whose design it was, under the oversight of the
master architect. One may see this chef d'ceuvre
to-day just above the courtyard portal to the
west.
At the death of Henri II, Catherine de Medici
came here to live alone, and built the great ex-
tension, which stands to-day and joins the Old
Louvre with that portion along the banks of
the Seine by the double arch, through which
swing the autobusses coming from the Rive
Gauche with such a Juggernaut grind that fears
for the foundation of the palace are ever upper-
most in the minds of those responsible for its
preservation.
It is in this Catherine de Medici portion of
the Louvre (1578) that the present Galerie des
The Louvre
90 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
omew, planned in the same Louvre by the wily
Me*dici.
Henri II often dwelt over Lescot's plans and
devices, and, on t one occasion, when the poet
Ronsard was present, demanded of the architect
the meaning of the decorations surrounding
a great cett-de-bceuf window, two kneeling figures,
one blowing a trumpet, and the other extend-
ing a palm branch. "Victory and Fame/' re-
plied Lescot. And, in honour of the architect
and his sentiment, Ronsard composed his "Fran-
ciade." The detail was actually by Goujpn,
whose design it was, under the oversight of the
master architect, dStaaJn^TSee this chef d'ceuvre
to-day just above the courtyard portal to the
west.
At the death of Henri II, Catherine de Me*dici
came here to live alone, and built the great ex-
tension, which stands to-day and joins the Old
Louvre with that portion along the banks of
the Seine by the double arch, through which
swing the autobusses coming from the Rive
Gauche with such a Juggernaut grind that fears
for the foundation of the palace are ever upper-
most in the minds of those responsible for its
preservation.
It is in this Catherine de Me*dici portion of
the Louvre (1578) that the present Galerie des
The Louvre of Francis I 91
Antiques is installed, and which is usually thronged,
in season and out, with globe-trotting sight-
seers who give seldom a thought to its construc-
tive elegance and its association with the Medici.
With the first years of the reign of Charles IX,
there is to be remarked a notable slowness of
procedure with regard to the construction of
the New Louvre. This was brought about
chiefly by the conception of the Tuileries and
the work which was actually begun thereon.
Soon a gigantic idea radiated from the ambi-
tious mind of Catherine de Medici. In this con-
nection it must be remembered, however, that
Catherine, so commonly reviled as "the Italian,"
was not all Italian; French blood flowed through
her veins through that of her mother, Madeleine
de la Tour d'Auvergne. She came first to France,
landing at Marseilles, whence she arrived from
Leghorn, and forthwith commenced her journey
Parisward, arriving finally at the Louvre as the
bride of Prince Henri in the guise of a simple,
clever girl, though indeed she was twenty years
the elder.
Now she dreamed of uniting her chateau of
the Tuileries with that of the king by a long,
connecting gallery. She put action to the thought
and under Pierre (II) Chambiges, a relative of
the Chambiges of Fontainebleau and Saint, Ger-
92 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
main, the Petite Galerie, a mere means of com-
munication between the two chateaux, and not
the least to be likened to a defensive structure,
was begun and work thereon carried out be-
tween 1564 and 1571, though it remained for
Thibaut Metezeau, in 1595-1596, to carry it on
a stage further under Henri IV.
This architect introduced the -.notorious mez-
zanine, which has so intrigued historians of the
Louvre because of the unequal elevations of the
various floors, a procedure which was unavoid-
able save by recourse to a substitution less to
be objected to than the existing fault. Actually
the connection with the Tuileries was made by
the prolongation of this gallery by the Ducer-
ceau brothers in 1595. The work existing to-
day, but only in its reconstructed form, is the
same as that completed by Napoleon III (1863-
1868).
Charles IX and Henri III, though making
the Louvre tfieir residence, practically had no
hand in its embellishment. The former gave
his energies and ideals full play in the Saint
Bartholomew massacres and shot at poor un-
fortunates who fled beneath the windows of his
apartments on the quay-side of the Louvre.
This, if not the chief incident of his association
with the fabric, is at least the best remembered
The Louvre of Francis I 93
one. Henri III, too, led a scandalous life with-
in the walls of the Louvre and fled on horse-
back, smuggled out a back door, as it were,
on a certain May evening in 1588, never more
to return, for the Dominican monk Jacques
Clement killed him with a knife-thrust before
he had got beyond Saint Cloud.
The accepted tale of the part played by the
famous window of the Louvre in the drama of
Saint Bartholomew's night is as follows: As
the signal tolled from the belfry of Saint Ger-
main PAuxerrois it was answered by another
peal from the great bell of the Palais de Justice,
where, within a small apartment over the water-
gate of the Louvre, the queen and her two sons
were huddled together not knowing what might
happen next. The multitude streamed by on
the quay before the palace, and, finally, amid all
the horror of Coligny's murder, and the throw-
ing of his body from a window of the Louvre
to the street below, Charles IX st6od at his win-
dow regarding the fleeing Huguenots as so much
small game, shooting away at them with an ar-
quebuse as they went by, and with an unholy
glee, even boasting that he had killed a score
of heretics in a quarter of an hour.
Historians of those exciting times were per-
haps none too faithful chroniclers and Charles's
94 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
"excellent shots" in his " royal hunt," and
hideous oaths and threats such as : "We'll have
them all, even the women and children," are
not details as well authenticated as we would
like to have them. Like Rizzio's blood stains
they lack conviction.
The ambitious white-plumed Henri de Navarre,
when he became Henri IV of France, set about
to connect the tentacle which stretched south-
ward from the Old Louvre with the Tuileries
(a continuation of the project of Catherine de
Medici), and, by the end of the sixteenth century,
had built a long facade under the advice of the
brothers Ducerceau. This work was added to
on the courtyard side under the Second Empire,
when a reconstruction, more likely a strengthen-
ing of underpinning and walls because of their
proximity to the swift-flowing waters of the
Seine, of the work of Henri IV was undertaken.
Joining the Tuileries and this work of Ducer-
ceau was the celebrated Pavilion de Flore, a
work of the Henri IV period rather than that
of Catherine de Medici.
From the Pavilion de Flore to the Pavilion de
Lesdiguieres ran this long gallery of the Ducer-
ceau and numerous interstices and unfinished
vaults and arches leading towards the Old Louvre
were, at this epoch, completed by Metezeau and
The Louvre of Francis I 95
Dupaira. The chief apartment of this structure
became known as the Galerie Henri IV y and
was completed in 1608.
At the death of Henri IV, Richelieu, who at
times builded so well, and who at others was a
base destroyer of monuments, demolished that por-
tion which remained of the edifice of Charles V.
The work of Pierre Lescot was preserved, how-
ever, and to give symmetry and an additional
extent of available space the rectangle facing
Saint Germain PAuxerrois to-day was com-
pleted, thus enclosing in one corner of its ample
courtyard the foundations of the earlier work
whose outlines are plainly traced in the pave-
ment that those who view may build anew if
they can the old structure of Philippe Auguste.
In mere magnitude the present quadrangle is
something more than four times the extent of
the Louvre of the time of Charles V.
This courtyard of the Louvre is perhaps that
spot in all Paris which presents the greatest
array of Renaissance art treasures. From ground
to sky-line the facades are embroidered by the
works from the magic hand of the Siede Italien.
Jean Goujon himself has left his brilliant sou-
venirs on all sides, caryatides, festoons, bas-
reliefs, statues and colonnades.
Enthusiasm and devotion knew no bounds
96 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
among those old craftsmen, but all is well-ordered,
regular and correct. "He who mentions the
Louvre to a Frenchman gives a greater pleasure
than that of Mehemet-Ali when one praises
the pyramids." In a way the Louvre is the most
magnificent edifice in the universe; "four palaces
one piled up on another, une mile entiere." And
when the Louvre was linked with the Tuileries
in the real, what a splendour it must have been
for former generations to marvel at! "La
plus belle et la plus grande chose sous le
soleil."
This work of aggrandizement of the quad-
rangle was carried out by the architect Lemercier
on the basis of a project adopted in 1642, and,
to a great extent, completed before the arrival
of Anne d'Autriche, twenty years later.
This queenly personage had ideas of her own
as to what sort of a residence she would have in
Paris, and beyond her personal needs little was
done for the moment towards actually linking
up the various loose ends, each more or less
complete in itself, which now composed the Paris
palace of the French monarchs.
Her son, the king in person if not in power,
was not likely to be endowed with instincts which
would put him in the rank of the traditional
castle or palace builders of his race; it was litera-
The Louvre of Francis I 97
ture, music and painting which more particularly
flourished during his reign, and so the Austrian
contented herself at first with merely putting
the former apartments of Catherine de Medici
into condition for her personal use and building
a Salle-de-Spectacle, and happy thought a
Salle-des-Bains.
Louis XIV, as he found time, after the war
of the Fronde, actually did bethink himself of
completing, in a way, the work of his elders,
and charged the architect Levau to finish off
the north wing, which was done in 1660. A
year later the Galerie Henri IV was practically
destroyed by fire and rebuilt by Levau, who
gave the commission for its interior decoration
to Lebrun.
Soon the south wing was completed, leaving
only the gap for the eastern facade which was
intended to be the chief entrance to the mass
of buildings, which still bore the comprehensive
name of "The Louvre."
For the accomplishment of this facade, the
demolition of certain dwellings of the nobility
which had clustered around the royal fabric
was necessary, and the Hotels du Petit Bourbon,
de Villequier, de Chaumont, La Force, De Crequy,
de Longueville, and de Choisy fell before the
picks of the house-breakers. Levau commenced
98 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
work on the facade at once, and made rapid
progress until 1664, when an abrupt order came
for him to stop all work. Political conspiracy,
graft, if you like, was at work, and Colbert,
little favourable towards Levau, made a proposi-
tion to the king to open a competition for the
design and execution of the facade. Willingly
enough, his mind doubtless more occupied with
other things, Louis XIV agreed, and a general
call was sent out to all French architects to enter
the lists. Confusion reigned, and Levau was
about to be recalled when Colbert spied an un-
rolled parchment in the corner and pounced
upon it eagerly as the means of saving him from
the dubious efforts of the former incumbent.
It was the "non-professional" plan submitted
by a doctor in medicine, one Charles Perrault.
Jealous competitors made all sorts of criticisms
and objections, the chief contention being that
if by any chance an architectural design by a
" pill-roller" proved pleasing to the eye it was
bound to be impracticable from an economic
or constructive point of view, or both. This is
often enough true, and it proved to be so in this
case, for in spite of a certain amount of advice
from an expert Italian builder, who had come
to Paris to help the good doctor with his difficult
task (for he actually received a commission for
The Louvre of Francis I 99
the work and completed it in 1674), the facade
did not fit the rest of the fabric with which it
was intended to join up, and to-day it may be
observed by the curious as being several feet out
of line with the structure which faces on the
Rue de Rivoli.
Louis XIV practically had no regard for the
Louvre and its architectural traditions; his pala-
tial garden-city idea, worked out at Versailles,
shows what an innovator he was. He allowed
the Louvre to be filled up with all sorts of riff-
raff, who were often given a lodging there in
place of a money payment for some service
rendered. The Louvre thus became a sort of
genteel poor-house, while king and court spent
their time in the more ample country-house
behind the Meudon hills.
By 1750 the Louvre had become little more
than an immense ruin, humbled and desecrated;
a veritable orphan. The Marquis de Marigny,
Surintendant des Batiments Royaux, obtained
the authorization to chase out the parasites and
clean up the Augean stable and put things in
order as best pleased his esthetic fancy, but
only with the early years of the nineteenth cen-
tury did the Louvre become a real palace again
and worthy of its traditions.
From 1803 to 1813 the architects Fontaine
100 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
and Percier were constantly engaged in the
work of repairs and additions, and built (for
Napoleon I) the gallery which extends from
what is now the Place Jeanne d'Arc to the Pavil-
ion de Rohan, along the Rue de Rivoli. This
detached portion (bound only to the Tuileries)
was finally joined to the seventeenth century
work of Lemercier under Louis Napoleon in
1852. This gallery, the work of " moderns,"
is no mean example of palace-building, either.
It was the work of Visconti and Lefuel, and with
the adoption of this plan was finally accomplished
the interpolation of that range of pavilions which
gives the architecture of the Louvre one of its
principal distinctions. Named after the princi-
pal ministers of former administrations Donon,
Mollien, Daru, Richelieu, Colbert, Turgot, etc.,
these pavilions break up what would other-
wise be monotonous, elongated facades.
The inauguration of this last built portion
of the palace was held on August 14, 1857,
the occasion being celebrated by a banquet
given by Napoleon III to all the architects,
artists and labourers who had been engaged upon
the work. In the same Salle, two years later,
which took the name of Salle des Etats, the
emperor gave a diner de gala to the generals
returning from the Italian campaign.
The Louvre of Francis I 101
Still further resume of fact with regard to the
main body of the Louvre, as well as with respect
to its individual components, will open never-
ending vistas and pageants. It is not possible
in a chapter, a book or a five-foot shelf to limn
all that is even of cursory interest. The well-
known, the little-known and the comparatively
unknown mingle in varying proportions, accord-
ing to the individual mood or attitude. To
some the appeal will lie in the vastness of the
fabric, to others in the varied casts of characters
which have played upon its stage, still others
will be impressed with the dramatic incidents,
and many more will retain only present-day
memories of what they have themselves seen.
The Louvre is a study of a lifetime.
To resume a none too complete chronology,
it is easy to recall the following important events
which have taken place in the Louvre since the
days of Henri III, the period at which only the
barest beginnings of the present structure had
been projected.
In 1591 a ghastly procedure took place when
four members of the Conseil des Seize were hung
in the Salle des Caryatides by orders of the Due
de Mayenne.
Like the horoscope which foretold the death
of Henri III, another royal prophecy was cast
102 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
in 1 6 10 that reminds one of that which perhaps
had not a little to do with the making away with
the last of the Valois princes.
The Due de Vendome, the son of Henri IV
by Gabrielle d'Estrees, handed the king a docu-
mentary horoscope signed by an astrologer call-
ing himself La Brosse, which warned the king
that he would run a great danger on May 14
in case he went abroad.
"La Brosse is an ass," cried the king, and
crumpled the paper beneath his feet.
On the day in question the king started out
to visit his minister, Sully, at the Arsenal. It
was then in turning from the Rue Saint Honore
into the Rue de la Ferroniere that the royal coach,
frequently blocked by crowds, offered the op-
portunity to the assassin Ravaillac, who, jump-
ing upon the footboard, stabbed the king twice
in the breast.
After having been wounded the king was
brought dying to the Louvre. His royal coach
drew up beneath the vault through which throngs
all Paris to-day searching for a "short cut"
from the river to Saint Honore. It was but a
short, brief journey to the royal apartments
above in the Pavilion de PHorloge, but it must
have been an interminable calvary to the gallant
Henri de Navarre. The body was received by
The Louvre of Francis I 103
Marie de Medici in tears, and the Dues de Guise
and d'Epernon clattered out the courtyard on
horseback to spread the false news that the king
had suffered no harm. Fearing the results of
too precipitate publishing of the disaster no
other course was open.
A gruesome memory is that the Swiss Guard
at the Louvre surreptitiously acquired a "quartier"
of the dismembered body of the regicide and
roasted it in a fire set alight beneath the balcony
of Marie de Medici as an indication of their
faithfulness and loyalty.
It was Sully, the king's minister, who ran
first up the stairs to acquaint the queen of the
tragedy faithful ever to the interests of his
royal master. In spite of this, one of the first
acts of Marie de Medici as regent was to drive
the Baron de Rosny and Due de Sully away.
Such is virtue's reward sometimes.
*******
"Lying on his bed, his face uncovered, clad
in white satin and a bonnet of red velvet em-
broidered with gold, was all that remained
of Henri IV of France and Navarre. Around
the bed were nuns and monks from all the
monasteries of Paris to keep vigil of his soul."
So ends the chronicle closing the chapter of the
relations of Henri IV with his Paris palace.
104 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
No particularly tragic event took place here
for some years. Henriette de France, widow
of Charles I of England, taking refuge in France
from the troublous revolt at home, lived in the
Louvre in 1644. She had at first been graciously
received by Mazarin, but was finally accorded
only the most strict necessities of life, a mere
lodging in the Louvre, a modest budget and a
restricted entourage.
In 1662, under Louis XIV, Moliere and his
troup, in a theatre installed in the Salle des Cary-
atides, gave the first "command" performance
on record. The plays produced were, "Nico-
deme" and "Le Docteur Amoureux."
An "art note" of interest is that Sylvain Bailly,
the first curator of the Musee du Louvre, was
born within its precincts in 1736.
In the dark days of July, 1830, the populace
attempted to pillage and sack the palace, but
after a bloody reprisal retired, leaving hundreds
of dead on the field. The parterre beneath
the famous colonnade was their burial place,
though a decade later the bodies were exhumed
and again interred under the Colonne de Juillet
in the Place de la Bastille.
Le Notre, the gardener of kings, laid out the
first horticultural embellishments of the palace
surroundings under Louis XIV, and with little
The Louvre of Francis I 105
change his scheme of decoration lasted until
the time of Louis Philippe, who made away with
much that was distinctive and excellent.
Napoleon III came to the front with an im-
proved decorative scheme, but the hard flags
of to-day, the dusty gravel and the too sparse
architectural embellishments do not mark the
gardens of the Louvre as being anything remark-
able save as a desirable breathing spot for Paris
nursemaids and their charges.
The iron gates of the north, south and east
sides were put into place only in 1855, and at
the Commune served their purpose fairly well
in holding the rabble at bay, a rabble to whose
credit is the fact that it respected the artistic
inheritance enclosed by the Louvre's walls. No
work of art in the museums was stolen or de-
stroyed, though the library disappeared.
CHAPTER VII
THE TUILERIES AND ITS GARDENS
TXJIUE.R.IE.S
No more sentimental interest ever attached
itself to a royal French palace than that which
surrounded the Tuileries from its inception by
Charles IX in the mid-sixteenth century to its
extinction by the Commune in 1871.
The Palace of the Tuileries is no more, the
Commune did for it as it did for the Hotel de
Ville and many another noble monument of the
capital, and all that remains are the gardens set
106
The Tuileries and its Gardens 107
about with a few marble columns and gilt balls
themselves fragments of former decorative
elements of the palace to suggest what once
was the heritage bequeathed the French by the
Medici who was the queen of Saint Bartholo-
mew's night.
It was a palace of giddy gayety that drew its
devotees to it only to destroy them. " Crowned
fools who wished to be called kings, and others."
Even its stones were chiselled as if with a certain
malignancy and fatalism, for they have all dis-
appeared, and their history, even, has not been
written as large as that of those of many con-
temporary structures.
Of the last five kings to which the Tuileries
gave shelter not counting the Second Em-
peror only one went straightway to the tomb;
one went to the scaffold and three others to exile.
A sorry dowry, this, for an inheritor of a palace
at once so noble and admirable in spite of its
unluckiness.
With the court followers and the nobility of
the last days of the monarchy it was the same
thing; the Tuileries was but a temporary shelter.
The scaffold accounted for many and banish-
ment engulfed others to forgetfulness.
It was a commonplace at the time to re-
peat the warning: "O! Tuileries! O! Tuileries!
108 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
Mad indeed are those who enter thy walls, for
like Louis XVI, Napoleon, Charles X and Louis
Philippe you shall make your exit by another
door."
The origin of the name Tuileries is somewhat
ignominiously traced from that of a tile factory
which existed here in the heart of Paris, on the
banks of the Seine, in the sixteenth century.
The property, which comprised a manor-house
as well as the tile fields, was known by the name
of La Sablonniere, and came to the Marquis
Neuville de Villeroy, Superintendent of Finances,
who built on the spot a sort of fortified chateau,
which, if not of palatial dimensions, was of a
palatial prodigality of luxury.
Louise de Savoie, mother of Francis I, ac-
quired the property in 1518 and nine years later
gave it to Jean Tiercelin, the Maitre d'Hotel
of the dauphin, who later was to become Henri II.
The lodge, or manor-house, had, by 1564,
fallen into so ruinous a state that Catherine
de Medici, the widow of Henri II, set about to
lay the foundations of a new royal palace.
Catherine never resided in her projected palace,
and in 1566 Charles IX, her son, gave the com-
mission to Philibert Delorme to build a palace,
"neighbouring upon the Louvre, but not to be
connected therewith, on the site of the Tuileries."
The Tuileries and its Gardens 109
On July n, work was begun, and the central
pavilion and the two extremes were carried up
two stories within a year. The central structure
was a great circular-domed edifice, enclosing
a marvellous Escalier d'Honneur. The facade,
preceded by two terraced porticos, was on the
courtyard, or garden, between the edifice and
the Louvre. It sat back to the present Rue des
Tuileries.
The Tuileries did not become a royal residence
for some time after its completion, for Charles IX
clung tenaciously to his well-guarded apartments
in the Louvre; for the central structure of the
Tuileries, because of its lack of comparative
height, was hardly as much of a stronghold as
he would have liked.
A contemporary note in connection with
Charles IX and the Tuileries is found in Ron-
sard's "Epitre a Charles IX."
" J'ay veu trop de magons
Bastir les Tuileries,
Et en trop de fagons
Faire les momeries."
Work on the edifice so auspiciously planned
by Delorme was practically discontinued dur-
ing the reign of Henri III, owing to lack of funds.
The Renaissance of Delorme, Bullant, Lescot,
no Royal Palaces and Parks of France
each of whom had a hand in the building of the
Tuileries, expressed certain characteristic phases
of architectural art in the reigns of Francis I
and Henri II. The reign of Charles IX was
only another phase of that long reign of Catherine
de Medici, and architectural influences continued
to follow along the same reminiscent Italian
lines, particularly with reference to such edifices
as the Medici herself caused to be built. In
the dedication of Philibert Delorme's "Traite
d* Architecture" he expressed himself thus with
regard to the Tuileries:
"Madame, I see from day to day with an
increasing pleasure the interest that your Majesty
takes in architecture. The palace which you
have built at Paris near the Pont Neuf and the
Louvre is, according to its disposition, excellent
and admirable to the extent that it pleases me
beyond measure."
After Delorme considerable changes were made
and successfully carried out under the archi-
tects Ducerceau, Duperac, Levau and Dorbay.
A distinct feature of the work of Delorme
was his use of the column ornamented through-
out its length, which, as he says in his written
works, he first employed in the "Palais de la
Majeste de la Royne-Mere a Paris"
Of the ability of Delorme there is no diversity
The Tuileries and its Gardens ill
of opinion to-day, nor was there in his time.
Besides the Tuileries he has to his credit the
Chateau d'Anet, the Chateau de Saint Maur,
that of Meudon built for the Cardinal de
Lorraine, and his important additions to the
Chateau de la Muette and the Chateaux of Saint
Germain, Madrid and Fontainebleau.
As might be supposed Catherine de Medici
professed a great admiration for Delorme and
recompensed his talents with a royal generosity,
even nominating him as Abbe of the Convent
of Saint Eloi de Noyon, a fact which caused the
poet Ronsard to evolve a political satire: "La
Truelle Crossee."
At the same time that she was building the
Tuileries Catherine de Medici caused additions
to be made to the Louvre; at least she undertook
the completion of the unfinished portion, which
had been left for other hands to do.
The first historic souvenir which stands out
prominently with regard to the Palais des Tuil-
eries is the fete given four days before the fate-
ful Saint Bartholomew's night. It was the mar-
riage fete of the gallant Henri de Beam, King of
Navarre, and the wise and witty Marguerite
de Valois.
Henri IV, coming to the throne a quarter of
a century after the admirable first year's work
112 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
on the Tuileries had been completed, found
that little had been done towards making it a
really habitable place. It had been hurriedly
finished off to the second story, and had served
well enough for a temporary residence, or as an
overflow establishment where balls and fetes
might be given without crowding, but to the
ambitious Henri IV nothing would do but that
the pavilions should be bound together with a
more imposing ligature, and that the Pavilion
de Flore should in turn be linked up with the
Louvre by a gallery.
Under Louis XIII this latter really came to a
conclusion according to the plans of the architect
Ducerceau, but the inspiration of making the
Louvre and the Tuileries one was due to Henri IV.
Under Louis XIV and Louis XV the palace
in its still attenuated form was scarcely more
than a rambling lodging, utterly lacking any
of the noble apartments with which it was after-
wards endowed. The court at this time prac-
tically made Versailles its headquarters. Neither
of the above-mentioned monarchs made aught
but cursory visits to the Tuileries and left its
occupancy to officers of the household and minis-
ters of state.
It was in the reign of Louis XV that the Floren-
tine artist, Servandoni, who was at the same
The Tuileries and its Gardens 113
time an eminent architect, a remarkable painter
and a maestro of a musician, organized in the
Palais des Tuileries the Theatre des Machines,
the first installed at Paris, and there came the
Comedie Fran^aise, the Opera and the Bouffes
(the Comedie Italienne) and gave command
performances before the court.
When the French resolved that Louis XVI
should live in Paris, the Palais des Tuileries
was actually offered him, but it was a rather
shabby place of royal residence so far as its
interior appointments were concerned, though
in all ways appealing when viewed from with-
out. Considerable repairs and embellishments
were made, but warring factions did much to
make difficult any real artistic progress.
With the advent of Louis XVI there came a
contrast to gayety and freedom from care in royal
hearts and heads. On October 5 Louis XVI
and the royal family hid themselves behind
barred doors, the convention taking up its sittings
under the same roof and forthwith passing an
act which allowed the completion of the palace
according to the plans of Vignon at an expense
of three hundred thousand limes. An almost
entire transformation took place, the money
being seemingly well spent, and the structure
now first took its proper place among the monu-
mental art treasures of the capital.
114 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
A dramatic incident took place at the great
gate of the Tuileries, which faced the court-
yard, when, on May 28, 1795, the populace
surged in waves against its sturdy barrier. The
Deputy Feraud met them at the steps. "You
may enter only over my dead body," he said.
No reply was made but to crack his skull, be-
head the trunk and carry the head aloft on a
pike to the very Tribune where Boissy d'Anglas
was presiding.
The Salle de Spectacle of the Tuileries was,
even at this period, the largest auditorium of
its kind in Europe, having eight thousand stalls
and boxes, which gave a seating capacity of con-
siderably more than that number of persons.
In 1793 this playhouse, of which the parquet
occupied the ground floor of the Pavilion de
Marsan, underwent a strange metamorphosis
when it became the legislative hall for the Na-
tional Convention. All the names and em-
blems showing forth in its decorations and in-
dicative of its ancient rule were changed into
Republican devices and symbols. The Pavilion
de Marsan was called the Pavilion de PEgalite,
the Pavilion du Centre became the Pavilion de
PUnite and the Pavilion de Flore the Pavilion
de la Liberte, where was lodged the Committee
of Public Safety.
The Tuileries and its Gardens 115
The Hall of the Convention, according to reports
of the time, was an appalling mixture of grandeur
and effeminacy with respect to its architectural
lines. Surrounding that portion where the legisla-
tors actually sat was the great amphitheatre
which for three years was occupied by a curious,
vociferous public, more demonstrative, even, than
those that had attended the former theatrical
representations in the same apartment.
From the opening of the National Convention
to the reaction of "Thermidor" it is estimated
that more than three million people assisted at
what they rightly, or wrongly, considered as a
"spectacle" staged only for their amusement.
By the time Napoleon had come into power
the Tuileries was hardly habitable, and before
taking up his residence he was obliged to make
immediate and extensive transformations.
On February 19, 1800, Napoleon, still First
Consul, left the Palais de Luxembourg and took
up his residence in the Tuileries, the Third Consul,
Lebrun, being lodged in the Pavilion de Flore,
in the "Petite Appartement, " which Marie An-
toinette had fitted up for her temporary accom-
modation when in town. Lebrun, however, gave
up his lodging to the Pope when the Pontiff came
to Paris at Napoleon's orders. Consul Cam-
baceres, however, refused to shelter himself
116 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
beneath the roof of the Tuileries, and indicated
a preference for the magnificent Hotel d'El-
boeuf, which was accommodatingly put at his
disposition.
Napoleon entered the Tuileries in state, pre-
ceded and followed by an imposing cortege.
At the gate of the Carrousel the consuls alighted
from their carriages, and were received by the
Consular Guard. On their arrival the consuls
read the following inscription posted at the
entrance: "On August loth monarchy in France
was forever abolished; it will never be restored."
By the 2oth of February the inscription had
disappeared. Besides, orders were given to
cut down the two liberty trees which had been
planted in the courtyard. On August 10 a
large quantity of cannon shot had been lodged
in the facade of the Tuileries, and around the
shot were written these words: " Tenth of Au-
gust." The cannon balls disappeared, as well
as the inscriptions, when the Arc de Triomphe
was erected on the Place du Carrousel.
This alteration gave great satisfaction. It
was important for the tranquillity of France that
the new government should inherit rather the
sword of Charlemagne than the guillotine of
Marat.
The imperial court soon displayed its splendour
Salle des Marechaux, Tuileries
The Tuileries and its Gardens 117
and magnificence in the Palais des Tuileries, as
a foregone conclusion anticipated.
In a gorgeous and imposing Salle du Trone
one might have seen in the deep casement of the
central window, standing up, their hats off,
the group of the Corps Diplomatique, the mem-
bers of which, loaded with decorations, ensigns,
and diamonds, trembled in the presence of the
Little Corporal of other days; on the other
side, the host of the Princes of the Rhine Con-
federation all the personages that Germany,
Russia, Poland, Italy, Denmark, Spain, all
Europe, in one word, England excepted, had
sent to Paris.
It is needless to say that the wedding reception
of Napoleon and Marie Louise at the Tuileries
was celebrated with unusual magnificence. An-
other event, on account of its peculiar moment,
strongly excited the enthusiasm of the French.
On March 20, 1811, at seven o'clock in the
morning, the first salute of cannon announced
that the empress had given birth to a child, the
future Aiglon, the King of Rome.
After Napoleon's occupancy of the Tuileries
it again served the monarch under the Empire,
the Restoration, under Louis Philippe and under
the Second Empire. The palace of unhappy
memory saw successively the fall of Napoleon,
118 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
the entry of Louis XVIII, the file-by of the Allies,
the flight of Louis XVIII, of Charles X, Louis
Philippe and Napoleon III.
Up to the time of the Second Empire the Tuil-
eries preserved, more or less, its original in-
terior arrangement, and, to a great extent, the
decorations with which it had been embellished
under Louis XIV, Louis XVI, and Napoleon I.
The Pavilion de Flore, at the juncture of the
Tuileries and the Louvre of Henri IV, was prac-
tically rebuilt during the Second Empire, but
it followed closely the contemporary designs
of the adjoining building. Here are quartered
executive offices of the Prefecture de la Seine.
That portion facing the Pont Royal contains a
series of fine sculptures by Carpeaux, the sole
modern embellishments of this nature to be seen
in or on a Paris palace.
As the Commune mob was fleeing before the
army of Versailles a conflagration broke out in the
Tuileries and soon the whole edifice was in flames.
Within what may have been the briefest interval
on record for a conflagration of its size the Tuileries
was but a smoking pile of half-calcined stones.
The Tuileries had another brief day of glory
when the Prince President, Louis Napoleon,
entered its gates, coming straight from his in-
auguration at Notre Dame.
The Tuileries and its Gardens 119
The cannon at the Hotel des Invalides blazed
out a welcome and every patriot Republican
shouted: "Vive Napoleon !" They little knew,
little cared perhaps, that he would some day
become the Second Emperor.
The throng poured forth from the cathedral
after the Domine Salvum and the benediction,
the clergy leading the way, followed by the presi-
dent and his attendants. The orchestra played
a lively march, and the great bell in the tower
boomed forth a glorious peal.
********
The president's carriage drew up before the
gates of the Tuileries and he entered the great
apartment where a reception was given to various
public and military bodies. Between seven and
eight thousand naval and military officers paid
their respects, and about half a battalion of the
army saluted, among them two Mamelukes.
While this ceremony was going on, the Place du
Carrousel was occupied by several squadrons
of cavalry and the inner courtyards were prac-
tically infantry camps. The government was
taking no chances at the beginning of its career.
The reception lasted until well on towards even-
ing, when a banquet of four hundred covers was
laid and partaken of by the invited guests.
The last days of the Tuileries may be said to
120 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
have commenced with that eventful September 3,
1870, at five o'clock in the afternoon, when the
Empress Eugenie received a telegraphic despatch
from Napoleon III announcing his captivity
and the defeat of Sedan. It was the overthrow.
The evening and the night were calm; the
masses, as yet, were unaware of the fatal news
the journals would publish on the morrow. The
following day was Sunday; the weather superb;
the disaster was finally announced and the masses
thronged from all parts to the Place de la Con-
corde, where a squadron of Cuirassiers barred
the bridge leading to the Palais Bourbon where
the deputies were in session.
On the arrival of the news the empress had
called in General Trochu, the Military Governor
of Paris, and asked him if he could guarantee
order. He replied in the affirmative. Some
hours later a group of deputies came to the em-
press and counselled her to sign, not an abdica-
tion, but a momentary renunciation of her powers
as regent. Eugenie refused point-blank.
The throng, passing by the left bank, had
arrived at the Chamber of Deputies, and the
formal sitting became a revolutionary one. At
three o'clock the imperial dynasty was pro-
claimed as at an end, and a provisionary govern-
ment installed. Henri Rochefort, the present
The Tuileries and its Gardens 121
editor of the " Intransingeant," was delivered
from the prison of Sainte Pelagic and made a
member of the government.
By this time the mob which had invaded the
Place de la Concorde became menacing. The
cry, "Aux Tuileries," first launched by the street
gamins, soon became the slogan of the crowd.
To say it was to do it; the great iron gates were
closed, but in default of a protecting force of
arms it was an easy matter to scale them.
Behind the curtained windows of the palace
the empress witnessed the assault and murmured
to her ladies-in-waiting: "It is then finished."
She turned towards the Prince de Metternich
and the Chevalier Nigra, and, in the voice of a
suppliant, demanded: "Que me consillez vous?"
"You must leave at once, Madame; in a moment
the palace will be invaded."
The empress became resigned and accompanied
by Madame Le Breton, Metternich and Nigra
started for the Pavilion de Flore, passing through
the Galerie de Musee and the Galerie d'Apol-
lon, finally leaving by the gate of the Louvre,
which is opposite Saint Germain PAuxerrois.
The empress was at last out of the palace,
but not yet out of danger. A band of mani-
festants, making for the Hotel de Ville and shout-
ing; "Vive la Republique," recognized the em-
122 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
press, but she mounted an empty fiacre with
Madame Le Breton, and giving the driver the
first address that entered her mind thus escaped
further indignities, and perhaps danger. Finally
she found a refuge with Doctor Evans, the Ameri-
can dentist living in the Avenue Malakoff, from
whose house she left for England on the follow-
ing day.
This is the Frenchman's point of view of one
of the picturesque incidents of history. It dis-
poses of the legend that the empress left the
Tuileries in the carriage of Doctor Evans, but
this cannot be helped, with due regard for the
consensus of French opinion. Doctor Evans
was a family friend, besides being the dentist
who cared for the imperial teeth, and it is not
going beyond the truth to state that the fortunate
American acquired not a little of his vogue and
wealth by his association with Napoleon III and
his family.
By this time the populace had invaded the
palace and cursed with indignities unmention-
able the marble halls, and the furnishings in
general, and pillaged such portable property as
pleased the individual fancies of the spoilsmen.
After the signing of the Peace Treaty by the
Bordeaux Assembly, which now represented the
governmental head, and Thiers had become presi-
The Tuileries and its Gardens 123
dent, that worthy would do away with the can-
non of which the National Guard still held pos-
session in their garrison on the Butte of Mont-
martre. The orders which he sent forth came
to be the signal for another outbreak on the
part of the populace. On March 18 the Com-
mune was proclaimed and Citoyen Dardelle,
an old African hunter, was appointed military
governor of the Tuileries. Whatever this indi-
vidual's military qualifications may have been,
he delivered himself to the enjoyment of a high
and dissolute life in his luxurious apartments
in the palace; a fact which was speedily made
note of by the still restless populace.
The Citoyen Rousselle, a member of the Com-
munal Government, had the idea of organizing
a series of popular concerts in the gardens of
the Tuileries for the profit of the wounded in
the late friction.
Hung on the walls, at the entrance of each
apartment was a placard which read: "Fellow
men, the gold with which these walls were built
was earned by your sweat." "To-day you are
coming to your own." "Remain faithful to your
trust and see to it that the tyrants enter never
more. "
During one of these public concerts a poem
of Hegesippe Moreau was read which termi-
124 Koyal Palaces and Parks of France
nated as follows, and set the populace aflame.
********
"Et moi j'applaudirai; ma jeuneusse engourdie
Se rechauffera a ce grand incendie."
He referred to the burning of the former abode
of emperors and kings as a sort of sacrifice to
the common good. The public had held itself
in hand very well up to this moment, but ap-
plauded the verses vociferously. The last of
the concerts was held on May 21, the same day
as the Army of Versailles entered Paris. Night
came, and with it the raging, red flames spring-
ing skywards from the roof of the Tuileries.
In a few moments the flames had enveloped
the entire building. All the forces that it was
possible to gather had been ordered upon the
scene, but they were unable to save the old palace,
and by one o'clock in the morning it was but a
mass of smoking ruins. The Communards had
done their work well. Before leaving its pre-
cincts they had sprinkled coal oil over every
square metre of carpet, window-hangings and
tapestries, and the slow-match was not long in
passing the fire to its inflammable timber. The
library of the Louvre was destroyed, but the
museums, galleries and their famous collections
fortunately escaped.
The Tuileries and its Gardens 125
For a dozen years the lamentable ruins of the
old palace of the Tuileries reared their singed
walls, a witness and a reproach to the tempestu-
osity of a people. Finally, in 1882, Monsieur
Achille Picard undertook their removal for thirty-
three thousand francs, and within a year not a
vestige, not an unturned stone remained in its
original place as a witness to this chapter of
Paris history.
Two porticos of the Pavilion de PHorloge,
originally forming a part of the Tuileries, have
been re-erected on the terrace of the Orangerie,
facing the Place de la Concorde.
There remain but two survivors of the late
imperial sway in France, the Empress Eugenie
who lives in England, and Emile Olivier, "Vhomme
au cceur leger" who lives at Saint Tropez in
the Midi.
A Paris journalist a year or more ago, while
sitting among a little coterie of literary and
artistic folk at Lavenue's famous terrace-cafe,
recounted the following incident clothed in most
discreet language, and since it bears upon the
Tuileries and its last occupants it is repeated
here.
"Last night beneath the glamour of a Septem-
ber moon I saw a black shadow silently creep
out from beneath the gloom of the arcades of
126 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
the Rue de Rivoli just below the Hotel Continen-
tal. It crossed the pavement and passed within
the railings of the gardens opposite, one of the
gates to which, by chance or prearranged design,
was still open. It moved slowly here and there
upon the gravelled walks and seated itself upon
a solitary bench as if it were meditating upon
the splendid though sad hours that had passed.
Was it a wraith; was it Eugenie, late empress
of the French?"
To have remembered such a dream of fancy
for forty long years one must have been endowed
with superhuman courage, or an inexplicable
conscience.
The Rue des Pyramides, which has been pro-
longed to the banks of the Seine, will give those
of the present generation who have never seen
the Tuileries an exact idea of its location. If
it still existed the facade of the palace would
front upon this street.
The most moving history of the detailed hor-
rors of the Commune, particularly with reference
to the part played by the Tuileries therein, is
to be found in Maxime Ducamp's "Les Dernier s
Convulsions de Paris."
One relic of the Tuileries left unharmed found
a purchaser in a Roumanian prince, at a public
sale held as late as 1889. This was the ornately
The Tuileries and its Gardens 127
beautiful iron gate which separated the Cour
du Carrousel from the Cour des Tuileries. Rou-
manian by birth, French at heart and Parisian
by adoption, this wealthy amateur, for a trifle
over eight thousand francs, became the owner of
a royal souvenir which must have cost five hun-
dred times that sum.
The eastern front of the Tuileries opened into
a courtyard formed under the direction of the
first Napoleon. It was separated from the Place
du Carrousel by a handsome iron railing with
gilt spear-heads extending the whole range of
the palace. From this court there were three
entrances into the Place du Carrousel, the central
gate corresponding with the central pavilion of the
palace, the other two having their piers surmounted
by colossal figures of victory, peace, history and
France. A gateway under each of the lateral gal-
leries also communicated on the north with the Rue
de Rivoli, and on the south with the Quai du
Louvre. The Place du Carrousel was named in
honour of a tournament held upon the spot by Louis
XIV in 1662. It communicated on the north with
the Rue Richelieu and the Rue de PEchelle, and
on the south with the Pont Royal and the Pont du
Carrousel. To-day in the square stands the trium-
phal arch erected by Napoleon in 1806, after the
designs of Percier and Fontaine.
128 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
The newly laid-out and furbished-up gardens
make the Place du Carrousel even more attractive
than it was when set about with flagged areas,
gravelled walks and paved road ways, and, while
the monumental and architectural accessories
excel the horticultural embellishments in quan-
tity, the general effect is incomparably finer at
present than anything known before.
Plans for rebuilding the Place du Carrousel
provide for a division into three distinct parts,
three grand pelouses, a boulingrins a la Franfais,
or lawns of a circumscribed area, according to
the best traditions of Le Notre, a border of flowers
and a few decoratively disposed clumps of flower-
ing shrubs, the whole combined in such a way
that the perspective and vista down the Champs
Elysees will in no manner suffer. The architect-
landscapist, M. Redon, who has been charged
with the work, has drawn his inspiration from
a series of unexecuted designs of Le Notre which
have recently been brought to light from the
innermost depths of the national archives. It
was a safe way of avoiding an anachronism,
and this time a government architect has chosen
well his plan of execution.
In later years the question of the reembellish-
ment of the Garden of the Tuileries has ever
been before the public, but little has actually
The Tuileries and its Gardens 129
been changed save the remaking of certain
garden plots, the planting of a few shrubs or the
placing of a few statues.
The Garden of the Tuileries has a superficial
area of 232,632 square metres. It is the most
popular of all open spaces in the capital to the
Parisian who would take his walks abroad not
too far from the centre of things. The chief
curiosity of the garden is the celebrated chest-
nut tree which burst into flower on the day
of Napoleon's arrival from Elba March 20.
The precocious tree has ever been revered by
the Bonapartists since, though the tree has never
performed the trick the second time.
Statues innumerable are scattered here and
there through the garden and give a certain
sense of liveliness to the area. Some are by
famous names, others by those less renowned,
but as a whole they make little impression on
one, chiefly, perhaps, because one does not come
to the Garden of the Tuileries to see statues.
To the left and right are the terraces, first
laid out by the celebrated Le Notre. Like
the hanging gardens of Babylon, they overlook
a lower level of parterres, gravelled walks and
ornamental waters. Along the Rue de Rivoli
is the Terrasse de POrangerie, and on the side
of the river is the Terrasse de la Marine.
130 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
According to the original plans of Le Notre
the garden was set down as five hundred toises in
length, and one hundred and sixty-eight toises
in width, the latter dimension corresponding to
that of the facade of the palace.
Along the shady avenues of this admirable city
garden of to-day an enterprising concessionaire
has won a fortune by renting out rush-bottomed
chairs to nursemaids, retired old gentlemen
with red ribbons in their buttonholes, and trip-
pers from across the channel. It is a perfectly
legitimate enterprise and a profitable one it would
seem, and has been in operation considerably
more than half a century.
It was from the Gardens of the Tuileries in
1784 that took place Blanchard's celebrated
ascension in Montgolfier's balloon and brought
forth the encomium from the British Royal Soci-
ety that the body was not in the least surprised
that a Frenchman should have solved the prob-
lem of "volatability." The French monarch,
more practical, was so mightily pleased with
the success of the experiment that he bestowed
upon the author the sum of four hundred thou-
sand francs from his treasury to be used for the
perfection of the art.
CHAPTER VIII
THE PALAIS CARDINAL AND THE PALAIS ROYAL
WITH the Louvre and the Tuileries the Palais
Royal shares the popular interest of the traveller
among all the monuments of Paris. No other
edifice evokes more vivid souvenirs of its historic
past than this hybrid palace of Richelieu. One
dreams even to-day, of its sumptuousness, its
legends, its amusing and extravagant incidents
which cast a halo of romantic interest over so
many illustrious personages. So thoroughly
Parisian is the Palais Royal in all things that
it has been called "the Capital of Paris."
Not far from the walled and turreted strong-
hold of the old Louvre rose the private palaces,
only a little less royal, of the Rambouillets, the
Mercceurs and other nobles of the courtly train.
They lived, too, in almost regal state until Armand
du Plessis de Richelieu came to humble their
pride, by fair means or foul, by buying up or
destroying their sumptuous dwellings, levelling
off a vast area of land, and, in 1629, commencing
work on that imposing pile which was first known
131
132 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
as the Palais Cardinal, later the Palais d' Orleans,
then as the Palais de la Revolution and finally as
the Palais Royal.
It was near, yet far enough away from the royal
residence of the Louvre not to be overshadowed
by it. The edifice enclosed a great square of
ground laid out with symmetrically planted trees
and adorned with fountains and statues.
From the great central square four smaller
courts opened out to each of the principal points
of the compass; there were also, besides the living
rooms, a chapel, two theatres, ballrooms, bou-
doirs and picture galleries, all of a luxury never
before dreamed of but by kings.
The main entrance was in the Rue Saint
Honore, and over its portal were the graven arms
of Richelieu, surmounted by the cardinal's hat
and the inscription: " Palais Cardinal." Like
his English compeer, Wolsey, Richelieu's ardour
for building knew no restraint. He added block
upon block of buildings and yard upon yard to
garden walls until all was a veritable labyrinth.
Finally the usually subservient Louis saw the
condition of things; he liked it not that his minister
should dwell in marble halls more gorgeous than
his own. As a matter of policy the Cardinal
ceased to build more and at his death, as if to
atone, willed the entire property to his king.
Palais Cardinal and Palais Royal 133
As the Palais Cardinal, the edifice was sub-
jected to many impertinent railleries from the
public which, as a whole, was ever antagonistic
to the "Homme Rouge." They did not admit the
right of an apostolic prelate of the church to
lodge himself so luxuriously when the very pre-
cepts of his religion recommended modesty and
humility. Richelieu's contemporaries did not
hesitate to admire wonderingly all this luxury of
life and its accessories, and Corneille, in the
"Menteur " (1642), makes one of the principal
characters say:
" Non, Punivers ne peut rien voir d'egal
Aux superbes dehors du Palais Cardinal;
Toute une ville entiere avec pompe bade,
Semble d'un vieux fosse par miracle sortie,
Et nous fais presumer k ses superbes toits
Que tous ses habitants sont des dieux ou des rois."
The ground plan of the Palais Cardinal was
something unique among city palaces. In the
beginning ground values were not what they are
to-day in Paris. There were acres upon acres of
greensward set about and cut up with gravelled
walks, great alleyed rows of trees, groves without
number and galleries and colonnades innumerable.
Without roared the traffic of a great city, a less
noisy traffic than that of to-day, perhaps, but still
134 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
a contrasting maelstrom of bustle and furor as
compared with the tranquillity within.
After the edifice was finished it actually fell
into disuse, except for the periodical intervals
when the Cardinal visited the capital. At other
times it was as quiet as a cemetery. Moss grew
on the flags, grass on the gravelled walks and
tangled shrubbery killed off the budding flowers
of the gardens.
Richelieu's last home-coming, after the execu-
tion of Cinq-Mars at Lyons, was a tragic one.
The despot of France, once again under his own
rooftree, threw himself upon his bed surrounded
by his choicest pictures and tapestries, and paid
the price of his merciless arrogance towards all
men and women by folding his wan hands
upon his breast and exclaiming, somewhat uncon-
vincingly: "Thus do I give myself to God." As
if recalling himself to the stern reality of things he
added: "I have no enemies but those of State."
In a robe of purple silk, supported by pillows
of the finest down and covered with the rarest of
laces, he rigidly straightened himself out and
expired without a shudder, with the feeling that
he was well beyond the reach of invisible foes.
But before he died Richelieu received a visit from
his king in person. This was another token of
his invincible power.
Palais Cardinal and Palais Royal 135
Thus the Palais Royal was evolved from the
Palais Cardinal of Richelieu. Richelieu gave
the orders for its construction to Jacques Lemer-
cier immediately after he had dispossessed the
Rambouillets and the Mercceurs, intending at
first to erect only a comparatively modest town
dwelling with an ample garden. Vanity, or some
other passion, finally caused to grow up the mag-
nificently proportioned edifice which was called
the Palais Cardinal instead of that which was
to be known more modestly as the Hotel de
Richelieu.
Vast and imposing, but not without a certain
graceful symmetry, the Palais Royal of to-day is
a composition of many separate edifices divided
by a series of courts and gardens and connected
by arcaded galleries. The right wing enclosed
an elaborate Salle de Spectacle while that to the
left enclosed an equally imposing chamber with
a ceiling by Philippe de Champaigne, known
as the Galerie des Hommes Illustres, and further
ornamented with portraits of most of the court
favourites of both sexes of the time. The archi-
tectural ornamentation of this gallery was of the
Doric order, most daringly interspersed with
moulded ships' prows, anchors, cables and what
not of a marine significance.
In 1636, divining the attitude of envy of many
136 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
of the nobility who frequented his palace, Riche-
lieu great man of politics that he was made
a present of the entire lot of curios to Louis XIII,
but undertaking to house them for him, which he
did until his death in 1642.
At the death of Louis XIII the Palais Cardinal,
which had been left to him in its entirety by the
will of Richelieu, came to Anne d'Autriche, the
regent, who, with the infant Louis XIV and
the royal family, installed herself therein, and
from now on (October 7, 1642), the edifice be-
came known as the Palais Royal.
Now commenced the political role of this sump-
tuous palace which hitherto had been but the
Cardinal's caprice. Mazarin had succeeded
Richelieu, and to escape the anger of the Fron-
deurs, he, with the regent and the two princes,
Louis XIV and the Due d'Anjou, fled to the
refuge of Saint Germain-en-Laye.
In company with Mademoiselle de Montpen-
sier, who had been rudely awakened from her
slumbers in the Luxembourg, they took a coach
in the dead of night for Saint Germain. It was
a long and weary ride; the Pam du Roi was then,
as now, the most execrable suburban highroad
in existence.
When calm was reestablished Mazarin refused
to allow the regent to take up her residence
Palais Cardinal and Palais Royal 137
again in the old abode of Richelieu and turned
it over to Henriette de France, the widow of
Charles I, who had been banished from England
by Cromwell.
Thirty odd years later Louis XIV, when he
was dreaming of his Versailles project, made a
gift of the property to his nephew, Philippe
d'Orleans, Due de Chartres. Important recon-
structions and rearrangements had been carried
on from time to time, but nothing so radical as
to change the specious aspect of the palace of
the Cardinal's time, though it had been consider-
ably enlarged by extending it rearward and an-
nexing the Hotel Danville in the present Rue
Richelieu. Mansart on one occasion was called
in and built a new gallery that Coypel decorated
with fourteen compositions after the ^Enid of
Virgil.
Under the regency the Salon d'Entree was
redecorated by Oppenard, and a series of. mag-
nificent fetes was organized by the pleasure-
loving queen from the Austrian court. Riche-
lieu's theatre was made into an opera-house, and
masked balls of an unparalleled magnificence
were frequently given, not forgetting to mention
without emphasis however suppers of a
Pantagruelian opulence and lavish orgies at which
the chronicles only hint.
138 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
In 1 66 1, Monsieur, brother of the king, took
up his official residence in the palace, enlarged
it in various directions and in many ways trans-
formed and improved it. Having become the
sole proprietor of the edifice and its gardens, by
Letters Patent of February, 1692, the Due d'Or-
leans left this superb property, in 1701, to his son
the too famous regent, Philippe d' Orleans, whose
orgies and extravagances rendered the Palais
Royal notorious to the utmost corners of Europe.
The first years of the eighteenth century were
indeed notorious. It was then that Palais Royal
became the head-centre for debauch and abandon.
It is from this epoch, too, that date the actual
structures which to-day form this vast square of
buildings, at all events their general outline is
little changed to-day from what it was at that
time.
If the regent's policy was to carry the freedom
and luxury of Richelieu's time to excess, replacing
even the edifices of the Cardinal with more elabo-
rate structures, his son Louis (1723-1752) sought
in his turn to surround them with an atmosphere
more austere.
A disastrous fire in 1763 caused the Palais
Royal to be rebuilt by order of Louis Philippe
d'Orleans, the future Philippe-Egalite, by the
architect Moreau, who carried out the old tra-
Palais Cardinal and Palais Royal 139
ditions as to form and outline, and considerably
increased the extent and number of the arcades
from one hundred and eighty to two hundred
and seven. These the astute duke immediately
rented out to shopkeepers at an annual rental
of more than ten millions. This section was
known characteristically enough as the Palais
Marchand, and thus the garden came to be sur-
rounded by a monumental and classic arcade of
shops which has ever remained a distinct feature
of the palace.
A second fire burned out the National Opera,
which now sought shelter in the Palais Royal,
and in 1781 the Theatre des Varietes Amusantes
was constructed, and which has since been made
over into the home of the Comedie Francaise.
The transformations imposed by Philippe- Ega-
lite were considerable, and the famous chestnut
trees, which had been planted within the court-
yard in the seventeenth century by Richelieu, were
-cut down. He built also the three transverse
galleries which have cut the gardens of to-day
into much smaller plots than they were in Riche-
lieu's time. In spite of this there is still that
pleasurable tranquillity to be had therein to-day,
scarcely a stone's throw from the rush and turmoil
of the whirlpool of wheeled traffic which centres
around the junction of the Rue Richelieu with the
140 Eoyal Palaces and Parks of France
Avenue de F Opera. It is as an oasis in a tur-
bulent sandstorm, a beneficent shelf of rock in a
whirlpool of rapids. The only thing to be feared
therein is that a toy aeroplane of some child will
put an eye out, or that the more devilish diabolo
will crack one's skull.
Under the regency of the Due Philippe d' Or-
leans the various apartments of the palace were-
the scenes of scandalous goings-on, which were
related at great length in the chronicles of the
time. It was a very mixed world which now
frequented the purlieus of the Palais Royal. Men
and women about town jostled with men of
affairs, financiers, speculators and agitators of all
ranks and of questionable respectability. Mi-
lords, as strangers from across the Manche came
first to be known here, delivered themselves to
questionable society and still more questionable
pleasures. It was at a little later period that
the Due de Chartres authorized the establishment
of the cafes and restaurants which for a couple
of generations became the most celebrated ren-
dezvous in Paris the Cafe de Foy, the Cafe de
la Paix, the Cafe* Carrazzo and various other
places of reunion whose very names, to say noth-
ing of the incidents connected therewith, have
come down to history.
It was the establishment of these public ren-
Palais Cardinal and Palais Royal 141
dezvous which contributed so largely to the
events which unrolled themselves in the Palais
Royal in 1789. This "Eden de'PEnfer," as it
was known, has in late years been entirely recon-
structed; the old haunts of the Empire have gone
and nothing has come to take their place.
Then came another class of establishments
which burned brilliantly in the second rank and
were, in a way, political rendezvous also the
Cafe de Chartres and the Cafe de Valois. Of
all these Palais Royal cafes of the early nine-
teenth century the most gorgeous and brilliant
was the Cafe des Mille Colonnes, though its
popularity was seemingly due to the charms of
the maitresse de la maison, a Madame Romain,
whose husband was a dried-up, dwarfed little
man of no account whatever. Madame Romain,
however, lived well up to her reputation as being
" incontestablement la plus jolie femme de Paris."
By 1824 the fame of the establishment had be-
gun to wane and in 1826 it expired, though the
"Almanack des Gourmands" of the latter year said
that the proprietor was the Very of limonadiers,
that his ices were superb, his salons magnificent
and his prices exorbitant. Perhaps it was the
latter that did it!
Another establishment, founded in 1817, was
domiciled here, the clients being served by "oda-
142 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
lisques en costume oriental, ires seduisantes" This
is quoted from the advertisements of the day.
The cafe was called the Cafe des Circassiennes,
and there was a sultane, who was the presiding
genius of the place. It met with but an indifferent
success and soon closed its doors despite its sup-
posedly all-compelling attractions.
In the mid-nineteenth century a revolution
came over the cafes of Paris. Tobacco had in-
vaded their precincts; previously one smoked
only in the estaminets. Three cafes of the Palais
Royal resisted the innovation, the Cafe de la
Galerie d' Orleans, the Cafe de Foy and the Cafe
de la Rotonde. To-day, well, to-day things are
different.
The Theatre du Palais Royal of to-day was
the Theatre des Marionettes of the Comte de
Beaujolais, which had for contemporaries the
Fantoches Italiens, the Ombres Chinoises and the
Musee Curtius, perhaps the first of the wax-
works shows that in later generations became
so popular. The Palais Royal had now become
a vast amusement enterprise, with side-shows
of all sorts, theatres, concerts, cafes, restaurants,
clubs, gambling-houses and what not all pay-
ing rents, and high ones, to the proprietor.
In the centre of the garden, where is now the
fountain and its basin, was a circus, half under-
Palais Cardinal and Palais Royal 143
ground and half above, and there were innumer-
able booths and kiosks for the sale of foolish
trifles, all paying tribute to the ground landlord.
Gaming at the Palais Royal was not wholly
confined to the public gambling houses. During
the carnival season of 1777 the gambling which
went on in the royal apartments became notorious
for even that profligate time : in one night the Due
de Chartres lost eight thousand livres. Louis
XVI, honest man, took all due precautions to
reduce this extravagance, but was impotent.
Between the courtyard fountain and the northern
arcade of the inner palace was placed the famous
Cannon du Palais Royal, which, by an ingenious
disposition, was fired each day at midday by the
action of the sun's rays. All the world stood
around awaiting the moment when watches might
be regulated for another twenty-four hours.
The celebrated Abbe Delille, to whom the
beauties of the gardens were being shown, de- *
plored the lack of good manners on the part of
the habitues and delivered himself of the follow-
ing appropriate quatrain:
" Dans ce jardin tout se rencontr6e
Excepte 1'ombrage et les fleurs;
Si Pon y deregle ses mceurs
Du moins on y regie sa montre."
The Galerie de Bois was perhaps the most
144 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
disreputable of all the palace confines. It was
a long, double row of booths which only dis-
appeared when Louis-Philippe built the glass-
covered Galerie d' Orleans.
Up to the eve of the Revolution the Palais
Royal enjoyed the same privileges as the Temple
' and the Luxembourg, and became a sort of refuge
whereby those who sought to escape from the
police might lose themselves in the throng. The
monarch himself was obliged to ask permission
of the Due d 7 Orleans that his officials might pur-
sue their police methods within the outer walls.
It was July 12, 1789. The evening before,
Louis XVI had dismissed his minister, Neckar,
but only on Sunday, the i2th, did the news get
abroad. At the same time it was learned that the
regiment known as the Royal Allemand, under
the orders of the Prince de Lambesc, had charged
the multitude gathered before the gates of the
Tuileries. Cries of "A Mort!" "Aux Armes!"
"Vengeance!" were hurled in air from all sides.
At high noon in the gardens of the Palais Royal,
on the 1 3th, as the midday sun was scorching the
flagstones to a grilling temperature, the sound of
a tiny cannon shot smote the still summer air
with an echo which did not cease reverberating
for months. The careless, unthinking prom-
enaders suddenly grew grave, then violently
Palais Cardinal and Palais Royal 145
agitated and finally raving, heedlessly mad. A
young unknown limb of the law, Camille Des-
moulins, rushed bareheaded and shrieking out
of the Cafe de Foy, parted the crowd as a ship
parts the waves, sprang upon a chair and ha-
rangued the multitude with such a vehemence
and conviction that they were with him as one
man.
"Citizens," he said, "I come from Versailles
* * * It only remains for us to choose our
colours. Quelle couleur voulez vous? Green, the
colour of hope; or the blue of Cincinnati, the
colour of American liberty and democracy."
"Nous avons assez delibere! Deliberate further
with our hands not our hearts! We are the party
the most numerous: To arms!"
On the morrow, the now famous i4th of July,
the Frenchman's " glorious fourteenth," the peo-
ple rose and the Bastille fell.
Revolutionary decree, in 1793, converted the
palace and its garden into the Palais et Jardin
de la Revolution, and appropriated them as
national property. Napoleon granted the palace
to the Tribunal for its seat, and during the
Hundred Days Lucien Bonaparte took up his
residence there. In 1830 Louis Philippe d'Orleans
gave a great fete here in honour of the King of
Naples who had come to the capital to pay his
146 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
respects to the French king. Charles X, assist-
ing at the ceremony as an invited guest, was
also present and a month later came again to
actually inhabit the palace and make it royal once
more.
The table herewith showing the ramifications of
the Bourbon Orleans family in modern times is
interesting all collateral branches of the gene-
alogical tree sprouting from that of Louis Philippe.
The heraldic embellishments of this family tree
offer a particular interest in that the armorial
blazonings are in accord with a decree of the
French Tribunal, handed down a few years since,
which establishes the right to the head of the
house to bear the ecu plein de France d'azur
a trois fleurs de lys d'or, thus establishing the
Orleans legitimacy.
Palais Cardinal and Palais Royal 147
The Republic of 1848 made the palace the
headquarters of the Cour des Comptes and of
the Etat Major of the National Guard. Under
Napoleon III the Palais Royal became the
dwelling of Prince Jerome, the uncle of the
emperor. Later it served the same purpose
for the son of Prince Napoleon. It was at this
epoch that the desecration of scraping out the
blazoned lys and the chipping off the graven
Bourbon armoiries took place. Whenever one
or the other hated Bourbon symbol was found,
eagles, phoenix-like, sprang up in their place, only
in their turn to disappear when the Republican
device of '48 (now brought to light again),
Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite replaced them.
During the Commune of 1870 a part of the
left wing and the central pavilion suffered by
fire, but restorations under the architect, Cha-
brol, brought them back again to much their orig-
inal outlines. Through all its changes of tenure
and political vicissitudes little transformation
took place as to the ground plan, or sky-line
silhouette, of the chameleon palace of cardinal,
king and emperor, and while in no sense is it
architecturally imposing or luxurious, it is now,
as ever in the past, one of the most distinctive
of Paris J s public monuments.
To-day the Palais Royal proper may be said
148 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
to face on Place du Palais Royal, with its prin-
cipal entrance at the end of a shallow courtyard
separated from the street by an iron grille and
flanked by two imimposing pavilions. The prin-
cipal facade hides the lodging of the Conseil
d'Etat and is composed of but the ground floor,
a story above and an attic.
The Aile Montpensier, which follows on from
the edifice which houses the Comedie Francaise,
was, until recently, occupied by the Cour des
Comptes. The Aile de Valois fronts the street
of that name, and here the Princes d' Orleans
and King Jerome made their residence. To-
day the same wing is devoted to the uses of the
Under Secretary for the Beaux Arts.
It is not necessary to insist on, nor reiterate,
the decadence of the Palais Royal. It is no
longer the "capital of Paris," and whatever its
charms may be they are mostly equivocal. It is
more a desert than an oasis or a temple de la
volupte, and it was each of these things in
other days. Its priestesses and its gambling
houses are gone, and who shall say this of itself
is not a good thing in spite of the admitted void.
The mediocrity of the Palais Royal is apparent
to all who have the slightest acquaintance with the
architectural orders, but for all that its transition
from the Palais du Cardinal, Palais Egalite,
Palais Cardinal and Palais Royal 149
Palais de la Revolution and Palais du Tribunal
to the Palais Royal lends to it an interest that
many more gloriously artistic Paris edifices quite
lack.
There is a movement on foot to-day to resur-
rect the Palais Royal to some approach to its
former distinction, which is decidedly what it has
not been for the past quarter of a century. Satir-
ical persons have demanded as to what should
be made of it, a velodrome or a skating-rink,
but this is apart from a real consideration of
the question for certain it is that much of its
former charm can be restored to it without turn-
ing it into a Luna Park. It is one of the too few
Paris breathing-spots, and as such should be
made more attractive than it is at the present
time.
It was sixty years ago, when Louis Philippe
was the legitimate owner of the Palais Royal, its
galleries, its shops, its theatre and its gardens,
that it came to its first debasement. "One went
there on tip-toe, and spoke in a whisper," said a
writer of the time, and one does not need to be
particularly astute to see the significance of the
remark.
It was Alphonse Karr, the Scrivain-jardinier,
who set the new vogue for the Palais Royal, but
his interest and enthusiasm was not enough to
150 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
resurrect it, and so in later years it has sunk lower
and lower. The solitude of the Palais Royal
has become a mockery and a solecism. It is
virtually a campo santo, or could readily be made
one, and this in spite of the fact that it occupies
one of the busiest and noisiest quarters of the
capital, a quadrangle bounded by the Rues Valois,
Beaujolais, Montpensier and the Place du Palais
Royal.
The moment one enters its portal the simile
accentuates and the hybrid shops which sell such
equivocal bric-a-brac to clients of no taste and
worse affectations carry out the idea of a cloister
still further, for actually the clients are few, and
those mostly strangers. One holds his breath
and ambles through the corridors glad enough
to escape the bustle of the narrow streets which
surround it, but, on the other hand, glad enough
to get out into the open again.
CHAPTER IX
THE LUXEMBOURG, THE ELYSEE AND THE
PALAIS BOURBON
THE kings and queens of France were not
only rulers of the nation, but they dominated
the life of the capital as well. Upon their crown-
ing or entry into Paris it was the custom to com-
mand a gift by right from the inhabitants. In
1389 Isabeau de Baviere, of dire memory, got
sixty thousand couronnes d'or, and in 1501, and
again in 1504, was presented with six thousand
and ten thousand livres parisis respectively.
The king levied personal taxes on the inhabit-
ants, who were thus forced to pay for the privilege
of having him live among them, those of the
professions and craftsmen, who might from time
to time serve the royal household, paying the
highest fees.
It was during the period of Richelieu's ministry
that Paris flowered the most profusely. The
constructions of this epoch were so numerous
and imposing that Corneille in his comedy "Le
Menteur," first produced in 1642, made his
characters speak thus:
151
152 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
Dorante: Paris semble a mes yeux un pays de roman
*******
En superbes palais a change ses buissons
*******
Aux superbes dehors du palais Cardinal
Tout la ville entiere, avec pomp batie
*******
In 1701, Louis XIV divided the capital into
twenty quartiers, or wards, and in 1726-1728
Louis XV built a new city wall; but it was only
with Louis XVI that the faubourgs were at last
brought within the city limits. Under the Em-
pire and the Restoration but few changes were
made, and with the piercing of the new boule-
vards under Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann
the city came to be of much the same general
plan that it is to-day.
In the olden time, between the Palais de la
Cite and the Louvre and the Palais des Tour-
nelles, extending even to the walls of Charenton,
was a gigantic garden, a carpet embroidered
with as varied a colouring as the tapis d* orient of
the poets, and cut here and there by alleys which
separated it into little checker-board squares.
Within this maze was the celebrated Jardin
Dedalus that Louis XI gave to Coictier, and above
it rose the observatory of the savant like a signal
tower of the Romans. This centered upon what
is now the Place des Vosges, formerly the Place
Royale.
Luxembourg, Elysee, Palais Bourbon 153
To-day, how changed is all this "intermediate,
indeterminate" region! How changed, indeed!
There is nothing vague and indeterminate about
it to-day.
The earliest of the little known Paris palaces
was the Palais des Thermes. It may be dis-
missed almost in a word from any consideration
of the royal dwellings of Paris, though it was
the residence of several Roman emperors and
two queens of France. A single apartment
of the old palace of the Romans exists to-day
the old Roman Baths but nothing of the
days of the Emperor Constantius Chlorus, who
founded the palace in honour of Julian who was
proclaimed Emperor by his soldiers in 360 A.D.
The Prankish monarchs, if they ever resided
here at all, soon transferred their headquarters
to the Palais de la Cite, the ruins falling into the
possession of the monks of Cluny, who built
the present Hotel de Cluny on the site.
Of all the minor French palaces the Luxem-
bourg and the Elysee are the most often heard
of in connection with the life of modern times.
The first is something a good deal more than an
art museum, and the latter more than the residence
fo the Republican president, though the guide-
book makers hardly think it worthwhile to write
down the facts.
154 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
The Palais du Luxembourg has been called
an imitation of the Pitti Palace at Florence, but,
beyond the fact that it was an Italian conception
of Marie de Medici's, it is difficult to follow the
suggestion, as the architect, Jacques Debrosse,
one of the ablest of Frenchmen in his line, simply
carried out the work on the general plan of the
time of its building, the early seventeenth century.
Its three not very extensive pavilions are joined
together by a colonnade which encloses a rather
foreboding flagged courtyard, a conception, or
elaboration, of the original edifice by Chalgrin,
in 1804, under the orders of Napoleon. The
garden front, though a restoration of Louis
Philippe, is more in keeping with the original
Medici plan; that, at any rate, is to its credit.
To-day the Luxembourg, the Republican Palais
du Senat, is but an echo of the four centuries
of aristocratic existence which upheld the name
and fame of its first proprietor, the Due de Piney-
Luxembourg, Prince de Tigry, who built it in
the sixteenth century. From 1733 to 1736 the
palace underwent important restorations and
the last persons to inhabit it before the Revolu-
tion were the Duchesse de Brunswick, the Queen
Dowager of Spain and the Comte de Provence,
brother of Louis XVI, to whom it had been given
by Letters Patent in 1779.
S'
Luxembourg, Elysee, Palais Bourbon 155
In 1791 the Convention thought so little of
it that they made it a prison, and a few years
later it was called again the Palais du Directoire,
and, before the end of the century, the Palais
du Consulat. This was but a brief glory, as
Napoleon transferred his residence in accordance
with his augmenting ambitions, to the Tuileries
in the following year.
By 1870 the edifice had become known as the
Palais du Senat, then as the headquarters of the
Prefecture of the Seine, and finally, as to-day,
the Palais du Luxembourg, the seat of the French
Senate and the residence of the president of that
body.
The principal public apartments are the Library,
the "Salle des Seances," the " Buvette " for-
merly Napoleon's "Cabinet de Travail," the
" Salle des Pas Perdus " formerly the "Salle
du Trone," the Grand Gallery and the apart-
ments of Marie de Medici. The chapel is
modern and dates only from 1844.
The Palais du Petit Luxembourg is the official
residence of the president of the Senate and
dates also from the time of Marie de Medici.
The picture gallery is housed in a modern struc-
ture to the west of the Petit Luxembourg.
The facade of the Palais du Senat is not al-
together lovely and has little suggestion of the
156 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
Luxembourg, Elysee, Palais Bourbon 157
daintiness of the Petit Luxembourg, but, for all
that, it presents a certain dignified pose and
the edifice serves its purpose well as the legisla-
tive hall of the upper house.
The gardens of the Luxembourg form another
of those favourite Paris playgrounds for nurse-
maids and their charges. It is claimed that
the children are all little Legitimists in the Luxem-
bourg gardens, whereas they are all Red Re-
publicans at the Tuileries. One has no means
of knowing this with certainty, but it is assumed;
at any rate the Legitimists are a very numerous
class in the neighbourhood. Another class of
childhood to be seen here is that composed of
the offsprings of artists and professors of the
Latin quarter, and of the active tradesmen of
the neighbourhood. They come here, like the
others, for the fresh air, to see a bit of greenery,
to hear the band play, to sail their boats in the
basins of the great fountain and enjoy themselves
generally.
One notes a distinct difference in the dress
and manners of the children of the gardens of
the Luxembourg from those of the Tuileries
and wonders if the breach will be widened further
as they grow up.
The Jardin du Luxembourg is all that a great
city garden should be, ample, commodious,
158 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
decorative and as thoroughly typical of Paris
as the Pont Neuf. Innumerable, but rather
mediocre, statues are posed here and there be-
tween the palace and the observatory at the end
of the long, tree-lined avenue which stretches
off to the south, the only really historical monu-
ment of this nature being the celebrated Fontaine
de Medicis by Debrosse, the architect of the
palace. It was a memorial to Marie de Medici.
While one is in this quarter of Paris he has
an opportunity to recall a royal memory now
somewhat dimmed by time, but still in evidence
if one would delve deep.
As a matter of fact, royalty never had much
to do with this hybrid quarter of Paris, though,
indeed, its past was romantic enough, bordering
as it does upon the real Latin Quarter of the
students. Bounded on one side by the immense
domain of the Luxembourg, it stretched away
indefinitely beyond Vaugiraud, almost to Clamart
and Sceaux.
At No. 27 Boulevard Montparnasse is an elab-
orate seventeenth house-front half hidden by
the "modern style" flats of twentieth century
Paris. This relic of the grand siecle, with its
profusion of sculptured details, was the house
bought by Louis XIV about 1672 and given to
the "widow Scarron," the "young and beauti-
The Luxembourg Gardens
158 Eoyal Palaces and Parks of France
decorative and as thoroughly typical of Paris
the Pont Neuf. Innumerable, but rather
mcuiocre, statues are posed here and there be-
tween the palace and the observatory at the end
of the long, tree-lined avenue which stretches
off to the south, the only really historical monu-
ment of this nature being the celebrated Fontaine
de Me*dicis by Debrosse, the architect of the
palace. It was a memorial to Marie de Medici.
While one is in this quarter of Paris he has
an opportunity to recall a royal memory now
somewhat dimmed by time, but still in evidence
if one would delve deep.
As a ^m$$&^&y^ er had much
to do with this hybrid quarter of Paris, though,
indeed, its past was romantic enough, bordering
as it does upon the real Latin Quarter of the
students. Bounded on one side by the immense
domain of the Luxembourg, it stretched away
indefinitely beyond Vaugiraud, almost to Clamart
and Sceaux.
At No. 27 Boulevard Montparnasse is an elab-
orate seventeenth house-front half hidden by
the "modern style" flats of twentieth century
Paris. This relic of the grand siecle, with its
profusion of sculptured details, was the house
bought by Louis XIV about 1672 and given to
the "widow Scarron," the "young and beauti-
Luxembourg, Elysee, Palais Bourbon 159
ful widow of the court," as a recompense for
the devotion with which she had educated the
three children of the Marquise de Montespan,
who, in 1673, were legitimatized as princes of
the royal house the Due de Maine, the Comte
de Vexin and Mademoiselle de Mantes.
Madame Scarron, who became in time Madame
de Maintenon, the "vraie reine du roi," died in
1719, and the house passed to La Tour d'Auvergne.
On this same side of the river are the Palais
de P Institut and the Palais Bourbon. The
Palais de P Institut, or Palais Mazarin, is hardly
to be considered one of the domestic establish-
ments, the dwellings of kings, with which con-
temporary Paris was graced. It was but a crea-
tion of Mazarin, the minister, on the site of
the Hotel de Nesle, and was first known as the
Palais des Quatre Nations, where were educated,
at the expense of the Cardinal, sixty young men
of various nationalities.
The old chapel has since been transformed
into the "Salle des Seances" of the Institut de
France, the Five French Academies. The black,
gloomy facade of the edifice, to-day, in spite of
the cupola which gives a certain inspiring dignity,
is not lovely, and tradition and sentiment alone
give it its present interest, though it is undeniably
picturesque.
160 Eoyal Palaces and Parks of Prance
An inscription used to be on the pedestal of
one of the fountains opposite the entrance which
read:
" Superbe habitant du desert
En ce lieu, dis moi, que fais tu
Tu le vois k mon habit vert
Je suis membre de Pinstitut."
If the inscription were still there it would save
the asking of a lot of silly questions by strangers
who pass this way for the first time. The Palais
de P Institut is one of the sights of Paris, and its
functions are notable, though hardly belonging
to the romantic school of past days, for at present
poets often make their entree via Montmartre's
"Chat Noir," or are elected simply because
some other candidate has been " blackbouled."
Still following along the left bank of the Seine
one comes to the Palais Bourbon, the Chambre
des Deputes, as it is better known. This edi-
fice, where now sit the French deputies, was built
by Girardini for the Dowager Duchesse de Bour-
bon in 1722, and, though much changed during
various successive eras, is still a unique variety of
architectural embellishment which is not uncouth,
nor yet wholly appealing. Napoleon remade
the heavily imposing facade, so familiar to all
who cross the river by the Pont de la Concorde,
but its grimness is its charm rather than its grace.
Luxembourg, Elysee, Palais Bourbon 161
The structure cost its first proprietor twenty
million or more francs, and since it has become
national property the outlay has been constant.
Everything considered it makes a poor showing;
but its pseudo- Greek facade, were it removed,
would certainly be missed in this section of Paris.
The principal apartments are the "Salle des
Pas Perdus," the
" Salle des Se-
ances," and the
" Salle des Confer-
ences" - where,
in 1830, the Due
d' Orleans took
the oath as king
of France.
A recent dis-
covery has been
made in the lum-
ber room of this
old Palais Bour-
bon, where deputies howl and shout and make
laws as noisily as in any other of the world's
parliaments.
This particular "find" was the throne con-
structed in 1816 for Louis XVIII, with its upholster-
ing of velvet embroidered with the golden fleur-de-
lis. The records tell that this throne also served
T&e THRONE
oft/Se
T=>AL.ALS SOTJBJBON
J
162 Eoyal Palaces and Parks of France
Louis Philippe under the Second Empire, and also
was used under the Monarchy of July. It was after
the momentous "Quatre Setembre" that it was
finally relegated to the garret, but now, as a histori-
cal souvenir of the first rank, it has been placed
prominently where all who visit the Palais Bour-
bon may see it.
The history of the Palais de PElysee has not
been particularly vivid, though for two centuries
it has played a most important part in the life
of the capital. In later years it has served well
enough the presidential dignity of the chief
magistrate of the French Republic and is thus
classed as a national property. Actually, since
its construction, it has changed its name as often
as it has changed its occupants. Its first occu-
pant was its builder, Louis d'Auvergne, Comte
d'Evreux, who built himself this great town
house on a plot of land which had been given
him by Louis XV. Apparently the young man
had no means of his own for the construction
of his luxurious city dwelling, for he refilled his
coffers by marriage with the rich daughter of
the financier Crozat.
The new-made countess's mother-in-law ap-
parently never had much respect for her son's
choice as she forever referred to her as "the
little gold ingot."
Luxembourg, Elysee, Palais Bourbon 163
"The ingot" served to construct the palace,
however, though at the death of its builder, soon
after, it came into the proprietorship of La Pom-
padour, who spent the sum of six hundred and
fifty thousand limes in aggrandizing it. It be-
came her town house, whither she removed
when she grew tired of Versailles or Bagatelle.
History tells of an incident in connection with
a fete given at the Palais de PElysee by La Pom-
padour. It was at the epoch of the "bergeries
a la Watteau." The blond Pompadour had the
idea of introducing into the salons a troop of
living, sad-eyed sheep, combed and curled like
the poodles in the carriages of the fashionables
in the Bois to-day. The quadrupeds, greatly
frightened by the flood of light, fell into a panic,
and the largest ram among them, seeing his
duplicate in a mirror, made for it in the tradi-
tional ram-like manner. He raged for an hour
or more from one apartment to another, followed
by the whole flock, which committed incalcul-
able damage before it could be turned into the
gardens. Such was one of the costly caprices
of La Pompadour. She had many.
La Pompadour's brother, the Marquis de
Menars et de Marigny, continued the work of
embellishment of the property up to the day
when Louis XV bought it as a dwelling for the
164 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
ambassadors to his court. Its somewhat re-
stricted park, ornamented with a grotto and a
cascade, was at this time one of the curiosities
of the capital.
In 1773, the financier Beau j on bought the
property from the king and added considerably
to it under the direction of the architect Boullee,
who also re-designed the gardens. Thanks to
Beaujon, the wonderful Gobelins of to-day were
hung upon the walls, and many paintings by
Rubens, Poissin, Van Loo, Von Ostade, Murillo,
Paul Potter and Joseph Vernet were added.
The death of the financier brought the prop-
erty into the hands of the Duchesse de Bourbon,
the sister of Louis Philippe, and the mother of
the Due d' Enghien, who died so tragically at
Vincennes a short time after. The duchess
renamed her new possession Elysee-Bourbon
and there led a very retired and sad life among
surroundings so splendid that they merited a
more gay existence.
At the Revolution the palace became a national
property, and, under the Consulate, was the scene
of many popular ftes, it having been rented
to a concern which arranged balls and other
entertainments for the pleasure of all who could
afford to pay. Its name was now the Hameau
de Chantilly, and, considering that the entrance
Luxembourg, Elysee, Palais Bourbon 165
tickets cost but fifteen sous including a drink
it must have proved a cheap, satisfying and
splendid amusement for the people.
This state of affairs lasted until 1805, when
Murat bought it and here held his little court
up to his departure for Naples, when, in grate-
fulness for past favours, he gave it to Napoleon.
The emperor greatly loved this new abode, which
he rechristened the Elysee-Napoleon.
After his defeat at Waterloo Napoleon, limp-
ing lamely Parisward, down through the Forests
of Compiegne and Villers-Cotterets, sought in
the Elysee-Napoleon the repose and rest which
he so much needed, the throng meanwhile prom-
enading before the palace windows, shouting
at the tops of their voices "Vive PEmpereur!"
though, as the world well knew, his power had
waned forever; the eagle's wings were broken.
The throng still crowded the precincts of the
palace, but the emperor fled secretly by the
garden gate.
On the return of the Duchesse de Bourbon
from Spain the magnificent structure became
again the Elysee-Bourbon. The duchess ceded
the palace to the Due and Duchesse de Berry
but, at the duke's death, in 1820, his widow
abandoned it.
Some time after it was occupied by the Due
166 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
de Bordeaux, and, in 1830, it became one of the
long list of establishments whose maintenance
devolved upon the Civil List, though it remained
practically uninhabited all through the reign of
Louis Philippe.
In 1848, the National Assembly designated
the palace as the official residence for the presi-
dents of the French Republic. Three years
after, on the night of the first of December, as
the last preparations were being made by Louis
Bonaparte for the Coup d' Etat and the final
strangling of the young republic, the residence
of the president was transferred to the Tuileries,
and the palace of the Faubourg Saint Honore
was again left without a tenant, and served only
to give hospitality from time to time to passing
notables.
After the burning of the Tuileries, and the
coming of the Third Republic, the Elysee Palace
again became the presidential residence, and so
it remains to-day.
One of the most notable of modern events
connected with the Elysee Palace was the diner
de ceremonie offered by the president of the
Republic and Madame Fallieres to Mr. and Mrs.
Roosevelt in April, 1910. The dinner was served
in the ''Grand Salle des Fetes" and the music
which accompanied the repast was furnished
Luxembourg, Elysee, Palais Bourbon 167
by the band of the Garde Republicain, beginning
with the national anthem of America and finish-
ing with that of France. Never had a private
citizen, a foreigner, been so received by the first
magistrate of France. The toast of President
Fallieres was as follows: " Before this repast
terminates I wish to profit by the occasion offered
to drink the health of Monsieur Theodore Roose-
velt, an illustrious man, a great citizen and a
good friend of France and the cause of peace.
I raise my glass to Madame Roosevelt who may
be assured of our respectful and sympathetic
homage, and I am very glad to be able to say
to our guests that we count ourselves very for-
tunate in being allowed to meet them in person
and show them this mark of respect/'
CHAPTER X
VINCENNES AND CONFLANS
VINCENNES is to-day little more than a dull,
dirty Paris suburb; if anything its complexion is
a deeper drab than that of Saint Denis, and to
call the Bois de Vincennes a park "somewhat
resembling the Bois de Boulogne," as do the
guidebooks, is ridiculous.
In reality Vincennes is nothing at all except a
memory. There is to-day little suggestion of
royal origin about the smug and murky surround-
ings of the Chateau de Vincennes; but never-
theless, it once was a royal residence, and the
drama which unrolled itself within its walls was
most vividly presented. A book might be written
upon it, with the following as the chapter head-
ings: "The Royal Residence," "The Minimes of
168
Vincennes and Conflans 169
the Bois de Vincennes," "Mazarin at Vincennes,"
"The Prisoners of the Donjon," "The Fetes of
the Revolution," "The Death of the Due d'Eng-
hien," "The Transformation of the Chateau and
the Bois."
Its plots are ready-made, but one has to take
them on hearsay, for the old chateau does not
open its doors readily to the stranger for the
reason that it to-day ranks only as a military
fortress, and an artillery camp is laid out in
the quadrangle, intended, if need be, to aid in
the defence of Paris. This is one of the things
one hears about, but of which one may not have
any personal knowledge.
The first reference to the name of Vincennes
is in a ninth century charter, where it appears
as Vilcenna. The foundation of the original
chateau-fort on the present site is attributed to
Louis VII, who, in 1164, having alienated a part
of the neighbouring forest in favour of a body of
monks, built himself a suburban rest-house under
shelter of the pious walls of their convent.
Philippe Auguste, too, has been credited with
being the founder of Vincennes ; but, at all events,
the chateau took on no royal importance until
the reign of Saint Louis, who acquired the habit
of dispensing justice to all comers seated beneath
an oak in the nearby Forest of Joinville.
170 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
The erection of the later chateau was begun by
Charles, Comte de Valois, brother of Philippe-
le-Bel; and it was completed by Philippe VI of
Valois, and his successor, Jean-le-Bon, between
the years 1337 and 1370, when it became an
entirely new manner of edifice from what it had
been before. It was in this chateau that was
born Charles V, to whom indeed it owes its com-
pletion in the form best known.
To-day, the outlines of the mass of the Chateau
de Vincennes are considerably abbreviated from
their former state. Originally it was quite regu-
lar in outline, its walls forming a rectangle flanked
by nine towers, the great donjon which one sees
to-day occupying the centre of one side. The
chapel was begun in the reign of Francois I and
terminated in that of Henri II. Its coloured glass,
painted by Jean Cousin from the designs of
Raphael, is notable.
The chapel at Vincennes, with the Saint
Chapelle of the Palais de Justice at Paris, ranks
as one of the most exquisite examples extant of
French Gothic architecture. It was begun in
1379, but chiefly it is of the sixteenth century,
since it was only completed in 1552. This chapel
of the sixteenth century, and the two side wings
flanking the tower of the reign of Louis XIV,
make the Chateau de Vincennes a most precious
Vincennes and Conflans 171
specimen of mediaeval ecclesiastical and military
architecture. If Napoleon had not cut down the
height of the surrounding walls the comparison
would be still more favourable. In the reproduc-
tion of the miniature from the Book of Hours of
the Due de Berry given herein one sees the per-
fect outlines of the fourteenth century edifice.
In later years, Louis XIII added considerably
to the existing structure, but little is now to be
seen of that edifice save the great tower and the
chapel.
Charles IX, whose royal edict brought forth
the bloody night of Saint Bartholomew in 1572,
fell sick two years later in the Chateau de Vin-
cennes. Calling his surgeon, Ambroise Pare,
to his side he exclaimed: "My body burns with
fever; I see the mangled Huguenots all about
me; Holy Virgin, how they mock me; I wish,
Pare, I had spared them." And thus he died,
abhorring the mother who had counselled him
to commit this horrible deed.
The donjon of Vincennes was carried to its
comparatively great height that it might serve as
a tower of observation as well as a place of last
retreat if in an attack the outer walls of the for-
tress should give way. Here at Vincennes a cer-
tain massiveness is noted in connection with the
donjon, though the actual ground area which it
172 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
covers is not very great; it was not like many
donjons of the time, which were virtually smaller
chateaux or fortresses enclosed within a greater.
Vincennes, in comparison with many other
contemporary edifices, possessed a certain regu-
larity of outline which was made possible by its
favourable situation. When others were of fantastic
form, they were usually so built because of the
configuration of the land, or the nature of the soil.
But here the land was flat, and, though the edifice
and its dependencies covered no very extended
area, they followed rectangular lines with abso-
lute precision.
As its walls were of a thickness of three metres,
it was a work easy of accomplishment for Louis
XI to turn the chateau into a Prison of State,
a use to which the first chateau had actually been
put by the shutting up in it of Enguerrand de
Marigny. Henri IV, in 1574, passed some soli-
tary hours and days within its walls, and Mira-
beau did the same in 1777. The Due d'Enghien,
under the First Empire, before his actual death
by shooting, suffered sorely herein, while resting
under an unjust suspicion.
In 1814-1815 the chateau became a great arsenal
and general storehouse for the army. It was at-
tacked by the Allies and besieged twice, but in
vain. It was defended against the armies of
Chateau de Vincennes
Vincennes and Conflans 173
Blucher by the Baron Daumesnil. Summoned
to surrender his charge, "Jambe de Bois" (so
called because he had lost a leg the year be-
fore) replied: "I will surrender when you sur-
render to me my leg." A statue to this brave
warrior is within the chateau, and commem-
orates further the fact that he capitulated only
on terms laid down by himself out of his humane
regard for the lives of friends and foes.
The ministers of Charles X, in 1830, had cause
to regret the strength of the chateau walls; and
Barbes, Blanqui and Raspail, in 1848, and vari-
ous Republicans, who had been seized as dan-
gerous elements of society after the Coup d'Etat
of 1851, also here found an enforced hospitality.
The Chateau de Vincennes had become a second
Bastille.
The incident of the arrest and death of the Due
d'Enghien is one of the most dramatic in Napole-
onic history. The scene was Vincennes. Louis
Antoine Henri de Bourbon, son of the Prince
de Conde, born at Chantilly in 1772, became,
without just reason, suspected in connection with
the Cadoudal-Pichegreu plot, and was seized by
a squadron of cavalry at the Schloss Ettenheim in
the Duchy of Baden and conducted to Vincennes.
Here, after a summary judgment, he was shot at
night in the moat behind the guardhouse. The
174 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
obscurity of the night was so great that a lighted
lantern was hung around the neck of the un-
fortunate man that the soldiers might the better
see the mark at which they were to shoot.
Napoleon confided to Josephine, who repeated
the secret to Madame de Remusat, that his political
future demanded a coup d'Etat. On the morn-
ing of the execution, the emperor, awakening at
five o'clock, said to Josephine: "By this time the
Due d'Enghien has passed from this life."
The rest is history of that apologetic kind
which is not often recorded.
In the chapel at Vincennes a commemorative
tablet was placed, by the orders of Louis XVIII,
in 1816, to mark the death of the young duke.
The Bois de Vincennes is not the fashionable
parade ground of the Bois de Boulogne. On the
whole it is a sad sort of a public park, and not at
all fashionable, and not particularly attractive,
though of a vast extent and possessed of a pro-
foundly historic past of far more significance
than that of its sweet sister by the opposite gates
of Paris.
It contains ten hundred and sixty-nine hectares
and was due originally to Louis XV, who sought
to have a sylvan gateway to the city from the east.
Under the Second Empire the park was con-
siderably transformed, new roads and alleys
A Hunt under the Walls of Vincennes
Frojn a Fourteenth Century Print
Vincennes and Conflans 175
traced, and an effort made to have it equal more
nearly the beauty of the more popular Bois de
Boulogne. It occupies the plateau lying between
the Seine and the bend in the Marne, just above
the junction of the two rivers.
There are some forty kilometres of roadway
within the limits of the Bois de Vincennes, and a
dozen kilometres or more of footpaths; but, since
the military authorities have taken a portion for
their own uses as a training ground, a shooting
range and for the Batteries of La Faisanderie and
Gravelle, it has been bereft of no small part of its
former charm. There are three lakes in the Bois,
the Lac de Sainte Mande, the Lac Daumesnil
and the Lac de Gravelle.
A near neighbour of Vincennes is Conflans,
another poor, rent relic of monarchial majesty.
The Chateau de Conflans was situated at the
juncture of the Seine and Marne, but, to-day,
the immediate neighbourhood is so very unlovely
and depressing that one can hardly believe that
it ever pleased any one's fancy, least of all that
of a kingly castle builder.
Banal dwellings on all sides are Conflans' chief
characteristics to-day; but the old royal abode
still lifts a long length of roof and wall to mark
the spot where once stood the Chateau de Con-
flans in all its glory.
176 Eoyal Palaces and Parks of France
Conflans was at first the country residence of
the Archbishops of Paris, and Saint Louis fre-
quently went into retreat here. When Philippe-
le-Bel acquired the property, he promptly gave it
to the Comtesse d'Artois who made of it one of
the "plus beaux castels du temps. " She decorated
its long gallery, the portion of the edifice which
exists to-day in the humble, emasculated form
of a warehouse of some sort, in memory of her
husband Othon. Here the countess held many
historic receptions and ceremonies during which
kings and princes frequently partook of her hos-
pitality.
After the death of the countess, the French
king made his residence at Conflans, and Charles
VI, when dauphin, was also lodged here that he
might be near the capital in case of events which
Vincennes and Conflans 177
might require his presence. A contemporary
account mentions the fact that his valet de chambre
was killed by lightning at Conflans while serving
his royal master.
Conflans was the preferred suburban residence
of the Princes and the Dues de Bourgogne, and
Philippe-le-Hardi there organized his tourneys
and his passes d'armes with great eclat, on one
occasion alone offering one hundred and fifteen
thousand limes in prizes to the participants.
This castle, for it was more castle than palace,
was reputed one of the most magnificent in the
neighbourhood of the Paris of its time, surrounded
as it was with a resplendent garden and a forest
in miniature, really a part of the Bois de Vin-
cennes of to-day, where roamed wild boar and
wolves which furnished sport of a kingly kind.
The view from the terrace of the chateau must
have been wonderfully fine, the towers and roof-
tops of old Paris being silhouetted against the set-
ting sun, its windows dominating the swift-flowing
current of the two rivers at the foot of the fortress
walls.
The greatest event of history enacted under
the walls of Conflans was the battle and the treaty
which followed after, between Louis XI and the
Comte de Charolais, in 1405.
Commynes recounts the battle as follows: "Four
178 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
thousand archers were sent out from Paris by the
king, who fired upon the castle from the river
bank on both sides."
Bows and arrows were hardly effective weapons
with which to shoot down castle walls, but strag-
glers who left themselves unprotected were from
time to time picked off on both sides and much
carnage actually ensued. Finally a treaty of
peace was arranged, by which, at the death of
Charles-le-Temeraire, according to usage, Louis
XI absorbed the proprietary rights in the castle
and made it a Maison Royale, bestowing it upon
one of his favourites, Dame Gillette Hennequin.
The kings of France about this time developed
a predilection for the chateaux on the banks of
the Loire, and Conflans was offered for sale in
1554. Divers personages occupied it from that
time on, the Marechal de Villeroy, the Connetable
de Montmorency and, for a brief time, Cardinal
Richelieu.
It was in the Chateau de Conflans that was
planned the foundation of the French Academy;
here Moliere and his players first presented "La
Critique de PEcole des Femmes"; and here, also,
was held the marriage of La Grande Mademoiselle
with the unhappy Lauzan.
At the end of the reign of Louis XIV Fr. de
Harlay-Chauvallon, Archbishop of Paris, bought
Vincennes and Conflans 179
the property of Richelieu, and, with the aid of
Mansart and Le Notre, considerably embellished
it within and without. Madame de Sevigne, in
one of her many published letters, writes of the
splendours which she saw at Conflans at this
epoch.
Saint-Simon, the court chronicler, mentions
that the gardens were so immaculately kept that
when the Archbishop and "La Belle" Duchesse
de Lesdiguieres used to promenade therein they
were followed by a gardener who, with a rake,
sought to remove the traces of each footprint as
soon as made.
Later, the Cardinal de Beaumont, the persecutor
of the Jansenists, resided here.
" Notre archeveque est a Conflans
C'est un grand solitaire
C'est un grand so
C'est un grand so
C'est un grand solitaire."
The above verse is certainly banal enough, but
the cardinal himself was a drole, so perhaps it is
appropriate. At any rate it is contemporary with
the churchman's sojourn at Conflans.
CHAPTER XI
FONTAINEBLEAU AND ITS FOREST
ORIGINATE PL.AN OF p-OJSnTAlNE.BTL.nAU
OF all the French royal palaces Fontainebleau
is certainly the most interesting, despite the
popularity and accessibility of Versailles. It
is moreover the cradle of the French Renaissance.
Napoleon called it the Maison des Siecles, and
the simile was just.
After Versailles, Fontainebleau has ever held
the first place among the suburban royal palaces.
The celebrated "Route de Fontainebleau" of
history was as much a Chemin du Roi as that
which led from the capital to Versailles. Ver-
180
Fontainebleau and its Forest 18 1
sailles was gorgeous, even splendid, if you will; but
it had not the unique characteristics, nor winsome-
ness of Fontainebleau, nor ever will have, in the
minds of those who know and love the France
of monarchial days.
Not the least of the charm of Fontainebleau
is the neighbouring forest so close at hand, a few
garden railings, not more, separating the palace
from one of the wildest forest tracts of modern
France.
The Forest of Fontainebleau is full of memories
of royal rendezvous, the carnage of wild beasts,
the "vraie image de la guerre," of which the
Renaissance kings were so inordinately fond.
It was from the Palace of Fontainebleau, too,
chat bloomed forth the best and most whole-
some of the French Renaissance architecture.
It was the model of all other later residences of
its kind. It took the best that Italy had to offer
and developed something so very French that
even the Italian workmen, under the orders
of Francois I, all but lost their nationality. Vasari
said of it that it " rivalled the best work to be
found in the Rome of its time."
A charter of Louis-le-Jeune (Louis VII), dated
at Fontainebleau in 1169, attests that the spot
was already occupied by a maison royale which,
according to the Latin name given in the docu-
182 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
ment, was called Fontene Bleaudi, an etymol-
ogy not difficult to trace when what we know
of its earlier and later history is considered.
Actually this fontaine belle eau is found to-day
in the centre of the Jardin Anglais, its basin
and outlet being surrounded by the conven-
tional stone rim or border. After its discovery,
according to legend, this fountain became the
rendezvous of the gallants and the poets and
painters and the "sweet ladies " so often referred
to in the chronicles of the Renaissance. Rosso,
the painter, perpetuated one of the most celebrated
of these reunions in his decorations in the Galerie
Francois I in the palace, and Cellini represented
the fair huntress Diana, amid the same sur-
roundings.
Under Louis-le-Jeune in 1169 was erected,
in the Cour du Donjon, the chapel Saint-Saturnin,
which was consecrated by Saint Thomas & Becket,
then a refugee in France.
Philippe Auguste and Saint Louis inhabited
the palace and Philippe-le-Bel died here in 1314.
From a letter of Charles VII it appears that
Isabeau de Baviere had the intention of greatly
adding to the existing chateau because of the
extreme healthfulness of the neighbourhood. The
work was actually begun but seemingly not car-
ried to any great length.
Pontainebleau and its Forest 183
Such was the state of things when Francois I
came into his own and, because of the supreme
beauty of the site, became enamoured of it and
began to erect an edifice which was to outrank
all others of its class. The king and court made
of Fontainebleau a second capital. It was a
model residence of its kind, and gave the first
great impetus to the Renaissance wave which
rose so rapidly that it speedily engulfed all France.
Aside from its palace and its forest, Fontaine-
bleau early became a noble and a gracious town,
thanks to the proximity of the royal dwelling.
In spite of the mighty scenes enacted within its
walls, the palace has ever posed as one of the
most placid and tranquil places of royal residence
in the kingdom.
All this is true to-day, in spite of the coming
of tourists in automobiles, and the recent estab-
lishment of a golf club with the usual appurte-
nances. Fontainebleau, the town, has a com-
plexion quite its own. Its garrison and its little
court of officialdom give it a character which
even to-day marks it as one of the principal
places where the stranger may observe the French
dragoon, with casque and breastplate and boots
and spurs, at quite his romantic best, though
it is apparent to all that the cumbersome, if
picturesque, uniform is an unwieldy fighting
184 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
costume. There was talk long ago of suppress-
ing the corps, but all Fontainebleau rose up in
protest. As the popular chanson has it: "Lais-
sez les dragons a leur Maire." This has become
the battle cry and so they remain at Fontainebleau
to-day, the envy of their fellows in the service,
and the glory of the young misses of the boarding
schools, who each Saturday are brought out in
droves to see the sights.
Many descriptions of Fontainebleau have been
written, but the works of Poirson, Pfnor and
Champollion-Figeac are generally followed by
most makers of guidebooks, and, though useful,
they have perpetuated many errors which were
known to have been doubtful even before their
day.
The best account of Fontainebleau under
Francois I is given in the manuscript memoir
of Abbe Guilbert. Apparently an error crept
into this admirable work, too, for it gives the date
of the commencement of the constructions of
Francois as 1514, whereas that monarch only
ascended the throne in 1515. The date of the
first works under this monarch was 1528, accord-
ing to a letter of the king himself, which began:
"We, the court, intend to live in this palace and
hunt the 'betes rousses et noirs qui sont dans
la joret: "
Fontainebleau and its Forest 185
An account of Francois I and his "young
Italian friends" makes mention of the visit of
the king, in company with the Duchesse d'fetampes,
to the studio of Serlio who was working des-
perately on the portico of the Cour Ovale.
He found the artist producing a "melody of
plastic beauty, garbed as a simple workman,
his hair matted with pasty clay." He was stand-
ing on a scaffolding high above the ground when
the monarch mounted the ladder. Up aloft
Francois held a conference with his beloved
workman and, descending, shouted back the
words: "You understand, Maitre Serlio; let it
be as you suggest." After the porticos, Serlio
decorated the Galerie d'Ulysse which has since
disappeared owing to the indifference of Louis
XV and the imbecility of his friends; and always
it was with Francois: "You understand, Maitre
Serlio; it is as you wish." The motif may have
been Italian, but the impetus for the work was
given by the esprit of the French.
The defeated monarch was not able to bring
away from Padua any trophies of war; but he
brought plans of chateaux, and gardens as well.
He did more: he took the very artists and crafts-
men who had produced many of the Italian
masterpieces of the time.
The tracing of the gardens at Fontainebleau,
186 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
r
practically as they exist to-day, was one of Francois
I's greatest pleasures. In their midst, on the
shores of the Etang aux Carpes, was erected a
tiny rest-house where the royal mistresses might
come to repose and laugh at the jests of Triboulet.
The edifice of Francois I is of modest propor-
tions and of perfect unity; but it is with difficulty
that it presents its best appearance, overpowered
as it is by the heavier masses of the time of Henri
IV, and suffering as it does because of the elimina-
tions of Louis XIV and Louis XV when they
made their additions to the palace.
Under the Convention, later on, Fontaine-
bleau's palace again suffered. Under the Con-
sulate it became a barracks and a prison, and
finally, not less terrible, were the restorations
of Napoleon and Louis Philippe. A castle may
sometimes suffer less from a siege than from a
restoration.
From every point of view, however, Fontaine-
bleau remains an architectural document of the
most profound interest and value, and, from
the tourists' point of view, it is the most appealing
of all European palaces of this or any other age.
The expert, the artist and the mere curiosity-
seeker all unite in their admiration in spite of
the fact that the fabric has been denuded of many
of its original beauties.
Pontainebleau and its Forest 187
First, this royal dwelling is of the most ample
and effective proportions; second, it possesses
a remarkable series of luxurious apartments;
third, it still contains some of the finest exam-
ples of furniture and furnishings of Renaissance
and Napoleonic times; and, in addition, there is
also to be seen that admirable series of paintings
which represent the School of Fontainebleau.
With such an array of charms what does it matter
if the unity of the Renaissance masterpiece of
Francois I is qualified by later interpolations?
General impression is the standard by which
one judges the workmanship of a noble monu-
ment, and here it is good to an extraordinary
degree.
The palace of to-day sits at one end of the
aristocratic little town of Fontainebleau. Be-
yond is the forest and opposite are many hotels
which depend upon the palace as the source
from which they draw their livelihood.
The principal entrance to the palace opens
out from the Place Solferino and gives access
immediately to the Cour du Cheval Blanc of
Chambiges, which, since that eventful day in
Napoleonic history nearly a hundred years ago,
has become better known as the Cour des Adieux.
At the rear rises the famous horse-shoe stair,
certainly much better expressed in French as
188 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
the Escalier en Per a Cheval, from which the
emperor took his farewell of his "Vieux Grog-
nards" lined up before him, biting savagely at
their moustaches to keep down their emotions.
This Cour du Cheval Blanc acquired its name
from a plaster cast of Marcus Aurelius's cele-
brated steed which was originally placed here
under a canopy or baldaquin held aloft by colon-
nettes. The moulds for this work were brought
from Venice by Primaticcio and Vignole, but
it was never cast in bronze and the statue itself
disappeared in 1626. The courtyard, however,
still kept the name until the last of Napoleonic
days.
As a Napoleonic memory this Cour des Adieux
shares popularity with the famous Cabinet of
the Empire suite of apartments where Napoleon
signed his abdication. Certainly most visitors
will carry away the memory of these words as
among the most vivid souvenirs of Fontainebleau.
" Le 5 Avrilj 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte signa
son abdication sur cette table dans le cabinet
de travail du Roi, le deuxieme apres la
chambre & coucher d Fontainebleau"
The abdication itself (the document) is now
exposed in the Galerie de Diane, transformed
lately into the Library.
Fontainebleau and its Forest 189
On the right is the Aile Neuf , built by Louis XV,
for the housing of his officers, on the site of the
Galerie de Ulysse, originally one of the most
notable features of the palace of Francois I.
Opposite is the sober alignment of the Aile des
Ministres, and still farther to the rear are the
Pavilion des Aumoniers, or de P Horloge; the
Chapelle de la Trinite; the Pavilion des Armes;
the Pavilion des Peintres; the Pavilion des Poels;
the* Galerie des Fresques; and, finally, the Pavil-
ion des Reines- Meres. All of these details are
of the period of Francois I save the last, which
was an interpolation of Louis XIV.
The Fer a Cheval stairway, however, most
curious because of the difficulties of its con-
struction, dates from the time of Louis XIII,
and replaces the stairs built by Philibert Delorme.
The tennis court, just before the Pavilion de
PHorloge, dates only from Louis XV.
The imposing entrance court is a hundred
and twelve metres in width by a hundred and
fifty- two metres in length, and to see it as it was
originally, before the destruction of the Galerie
d'Ulysse, one must imagine it as closed in by a
series of small pavilions with their frontons of
colonnettes preceded only by a staircase and
two drawbridges crossing the moat, which at
that time surrounded the entire confines of the
190 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
palace. The moat is to-day surrounded, where
it still exists, by a balustrade, due to the rather
shabby taste of Louis XV.
An inner courtyard, known as the Cour de la
Fontaine, is incomparably of finer general design
than the entrance court, and the Cour Ovale,
absolutely as Henri IV left it, is finer still. At
the foot of this latter court is the Baptistry where
were baptised, in 1606, the three "Enfants de
France," the dauphin, afterwards Louis XIII;
the Princesse Elizabeth, afterwards the Queen
of Spain; and the Princesse de Savoie.
The Cour Ovale is practically of the pro-
portions of the ancient Manor of Fontaine Belle
Eau, built by Robert le Pieux. There, too,
Philippe Auguste, Saint Louis, Philippe-le-Bel,
Charles V and Charles VII frequently resided.
Francois I had no wish that this old manor should
entirely disappear and preserved its old donjon,
a relic which has since gone the way of many
another noble fane. There are several other
notable courts or gardens, the Cour des Offices,
the Jardin de Diane, the Orangerie, the Cour
des Princes, etc.
All the original gardens were laid out anew
by Louis XIV, and that of Diane underwent a
considerable change at the hands of Napoleon,
who also laid out a Jardin Anglais on the site
Salle du Throne, Fontainebleau
Pontainebleau and its Forest 191
of the ancient Jardin des Pins, where originally
sprang into being the rippling Fontaine Beleau,
or Belle Eau, which gave its name to the palace,
the forest and the town.
The park, as distinct from the great expanse
of surrounding forest, is a finely shaded range
of alleys, due chiefly to Henri IV, who cut the
great canal of ornamental water and ordained
the general arrangement of its details.
The principal curiosity of the park is the
famous Treille du Roy, or the King's Grape
Vine, which, good seasons and bad, can be counted
on to give three thousand kilos of authentic
chasselas, grapes of the finest quality. One
wonders who gets them: Ou s'en vont les raisins
du roi? This is an interrogation that has been
raised more than once in the French parliament.
In general, the aspect of the exterior of the
Palais de Fontainebleau, the walls themselves,
the Cours, the alleyed walks are chiefly reminis-
cent of the early art of the Renaissance. Fran-
cois I is, after all, more in evidence than
the Henris or the Napoleons. Within, the same
is true in general, though to a less degree. The
Renaissance is maitresse within and without;
the other moods are wholly subservient to her
grace.
There is hardly an apartment in all the world
192 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
of palaces in France, or beyond the frontiers,
to rank with the great Galerie Francois I at
Fontainebleau, though indeed its proportions
are modest and its lighting defective to-day, for
Louis XV blocked up all the windows on one
side. It remains, however, one of the richest
examples of the Franco-Italian decoration of
its era, though somewhat tarnished by the heed-
lessness of Charles X.
Never were there before, nor since, its era
such mythological wall-paintings as are here
to be seen. The aspirants for the Prix de Rome
protest each year against such subjects being
set them for their concours, but their judges,
recalling how effective such examples are, are
insistent. The best examples of the School of
Fontainebleau are a distinct variety of French
painting. The veriest dabbler in art can say
with Michelet: "There is no reminiscence of
anything Italian therein."
Frankly, these works were the product of
secondary artists and their pupils. Leonardo
da Vinci, too old to do anything more than direct,
saw himself succeeded by Del Sarto, Rosso and
Primaticcio. Cellini may have contributed, too,
but his labours were doubtless blotted out to a
great extent f by the orders of the all-powerful
Duchesse d'Etampes who feared his competition
IFO JNT TT.A.IM E.EbL-E. AU
Pontainebleau and its Forest 193
with her protege, Primaticcio. One of the masters
of this coterie was Nicolo delP Abbate, better
known, perhaps, for his works painted at Bologna
than for his frescoes at Fontainebleau.
The Galerie Henri II is notable also for its
decorations, the harmonious juxtaposition of
sculpture and painting, and, although "restored"
in late years, presents an astonishing pristine
vigour. This apartment ranks with the Galerie
Francois I, all things considered, as one of the
chief show apartments of the palace. Its length
is thirty metres, its breadth ten, with five ample
round-headed windows letting in a flood of light
on either side, one set giving on the Cour Ovale,
and the other on the Parterre and the magnificent
facade of the Porte Doree. The ceiling is broken
up into octagonal caissons, their depths alter-
nately laid with gold or silver, bearing the mono-
gram of the monarch and his devise. The par-
quet is laid in divisions reproducing the design
of the ceiling. On either side the walls are
wainscoted in oak similarly emblazoned in gold
and silver, with the initials of Diane de Poitiers,
and of her admirer, Henri, everywhere interlaced.
Again, a colossal monogram reproduces itself
in the chimney-piece with the frescoes of Nicolo
dell' Abbate, and fifty figures of mythological
gods and heroes decorate the window casings.
194 Eoyal Palaces and Parks of France
The chapel dates chiefly from the time of
Henri IV, the altar and numerous embellish-
ments belonging to later reigns.
A certain sentiment, not a little real beauty,
and much unauthenticated history attach them-
selves to the Salon Louis XIII, the Salle du
Trone, the Apartment of Madame de Maintenon,
those of Napoleon I, of Pope Pius VII and of
Marie Antoinette.
The Galerie de Diane is little reminiscent of
the day of the huntress, being a reconstitution
under the First Empire, though its decorations
date from the Restoration, and the ceiling, and fur-
niture, apparently of the best of Renaissance
times, are merely copies made by Louis Philippe,
who did not hesitate, on another occasion, to blue-
wash the Salon de Saint Louis, and who hung
worthless third-rate paintings, which even pro-
vincial museums of the meanest rank have since
refused to house, in the admirably decorated
apartments of the period of Francois and Henri.
Fontainebleau, to-day, is but a memory of
what it was, a memory by no means fragmentary,
by no means complete; but all sufficient.
Of later years there is actually little to single
out in the way of remarkable additions or restora-
tions. Under the Second Empire the Galerie
Francois I was repainted, some false antiquities
CHEJVHNE.E:
'Z 7 o N TA. i isi E.BL.E: AU
Fontainebleau and its Forest 195
added as furnishings, and various ranges of books
were stored away in the Galerie de Diane, having
been brought from the chapel which had ceased
to serve as the Library. This apartment was
now refitted as a chapel, and, to supplant six
wall paintings which had been removed, Napoleon
III ordered seven canvases from the painter
Schopin, illustrating the life of Saint Saturnin.
Finally, the Salle de Spectacle completes the
modern additions, and, while gaudily striking,
is scarcely above the taste of a gilded cafe in some
pompous Prefecture.
Henri IV was the creator of the park of the
palace, which extended as far as the village of
Avon and absorbed all the Seigneurie de Mont-
ceau, of which Mi-Voie (the dairy of Catherine
de Medici) occupied a part. The acquisition
of the Seigneurie was made in 1609. Across it
was cut a "grand canal" in imitation of that
already possessed by the Chateau de "Fleury.
It was a great rarity as a garden accessory, and
was more than a quarter of a league long and
forty metres wide. Bassompierre said in his
memoirs that Henri IV made him a wager that
it could be filled with water in two days. It
actually took eight.
To the north of the park, Henri IV built,
under the name of La Menagerie, what he called
196 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
a maison de plaisance, but which was really the
forerunner of the animal house at Versailles.
To all these works of Henri IV in the gardens
at Fontainebleau is attached the name of Francine.
There were two brothers of the name, Thomas
and Alexandre, and it was the latter who chiefly
occupied himself with the Parterre, the Chaus-
see and the Grand Canal at Fontainebleau.
In the Jardin de la Reine he erected the celebrated
Fontaine de Diane which finally gave its name
to the garden itself. The fountain was designed
by Barthelemy Prieur, and was cast in 1603.
The original bronzes are now in the Louvre,
those seen at Fontainebleau to-day being later
works (1684).
The Forest of Fontainebleau is a dozen leagues
in circumference, and of an area of nearly thirty-
five thousand acres. Its beauty, its natural
beauty, is unrivalled. Rocks, ravines, valleys,
patriarchal oaks and beeches, plains, woods,
glades, meadows, lawns and cliffs, all are here.
Its population of stag and deer was practically
exterminated during the Revolution of 1830,
but nevertheless it sustained its reputation as a
great hunting-ground for long afterwards.
The Royal Hunt invariably centered at La
Croix du Grand Veneur, a notable landmark
of the forest even now, at the intersection of four
Fontainebleau and its Forest 197
magnificent forest roads. Its name comes from
a legend of a spectral black huntsman who was
supposed to haunt the forest, and who appeared
for the last time, in reality or imagination, to
Henri IV shortly before his assassination.
In 1854, one of the last and most gorgeous
of Fontainebleau hunts was given by Louis
Napoleon. The emperor spent lavishly for the
equipment of the hunt, and granted liberal stipends
to the attendants that they might caparison
themselves with some semblance of picturesque
dignity; horses and dogs were furnished and
cared for on the same liberal scale.
The costuming of a hunting party under such
conditions was not the least appealing of its
picturesque elements. Three-cornered hats, gold
lace, knee breeches, silk stockings and other
costly properties, when provided for a single
special occasion, as they were in this case, were
apt to suggest the life of centuries long gone
by rather than that of modern times.
The Forest of Fontainebleau can best be
briefly described as a rendezvous for tourists and
"trippers," and as a vast open-air studio for
the youthful emulators of "the men of Harbison."
Historic, romantic and artistic memories and
realities are on every hand; the march of time
and progress has not dimmed them, nor thinned
198 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
them out; the Forest of Fontainebleau remains
to-day the best known and most delightful extent
of wildwood in all the world.
The chief of the well-known names associated
with the Forest of Fontainebleau, and one which
will never die, is that of Denecourt, called also
the "Sylvain de la Foret," a mythological appella-
tion which came from his abounding knowledge
of its devious ways and byways. It was in 1841
that Denecourt began his original studies and
catalogued its every stone and tree. He in-
vented names and gave a historical setting to
many a picturesque and romantic site which
might not have been known at all had it not
been for his enthusiasm.
After the vogue of Denecourt all the world
followed in his footsteps until the Parisian knew
as well the Longue Rocher, the Gorges d'Apre-
mont and the Gorge de Franchard as he did
the Rue de la Paix or the Champs Elysees. Dene-
court's great work, "Promenades dans la Foret
de Fontainebleau" appeared in 1845, and if
he is to be criticised for letting his fancy run
away with him now and then, and for the opera
bouffe nomenclature of many of the caves and mares
and chenes and "fairy-bowers" and " tables of
kings, " he at least has enabled a curious public to
become better acquainted with this great forest.
Fontainebleau and its Forest 199
The flora of the Forest of Fontainebleau is
remarkably varied; Denecourt gives seventy varie-
ties of plants and flowers which grow and prop-
agate here naturally, to which are to be added
a great number of nondescript vines, lichens
and vegetable mosses.
Of the trees the list extends from the imposing
and sometimes gigantic oaks, elms, beeches, and
willows to shrubs and heather growth of the
most humble species.
A score or more of the most commonly known
feathered tribes people the forest to-day with
almost the same freedom of life and abundance
as in monarchial times. The songsters are all
there, from the robin to the nightingale; as well
as the partridge and the celebrated indigenous
grouse.
Previous to 1830 the forest was well supplied
with big game, deer and wild boar without num-
ber; but, in later times, as was but natural, these
have been greatly thinned out. Rabbits and
hares, to say nothing of foxes and the like, were
formerly so abundant that, under Louis Philippe,
it was necessary to carry out what was practically
a war of extermination. To-day they exist, of
course, but in no great numbers.
Another sort of publicity has been given the
Forest of Fontainebleau by its association with
200 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
the painters of the thirties. Theodore Rous-
seau, in 1836, lived at Barbison, which at that
time was but a hamlet of a few houses, with no
encumbering hotels, garages and merry-go-rounds
as to-day.
A certain Pere Ganne kept a sort of a lodging
house where artists were made welcome at an
exceedingly modest price. Not only the really
famous and much exploited painters of the time
gained fortunes here, but those of a more con-
servative school, who never rose to really great
distinction, also drew much of their inspiration
from the neighbourhood, among them Hamon,
Boulanger and Celestin Nanteuil.
Without having to go far to hunt up their
subjects, the Forest of Fontainebleau lying near
Barbison offered to painters much that was not
available within so small a radius elsewhere.
Diaz was here already when, in 1849, Jacque
and Millet arrived upon the scene, and at more
or less frequent intervals, and for more or less
lengthy stays, there came Corot, Dupre and
Daubigny.
Just what the Barbison school produced in
the way of painting all the world knows to-day,
but these men were originally the target of every
prejudiced critic of the Boulevards and the
Faubourgs. The present day has brought its
Fontainebleau and its Forest 201
reward and appreciation, though it is the dealers
who have profited the men are dead.
In memory of the fame brought to this little
corner of the forest in general, and to Barbison
in particular, there was placed (in 1894), at the
entrance to the village, a bronze medallion show-
ing the heads of Millet and Rousseau. It was
a delicate way of showing appreciation for the
talents of those two great men who actually
founded a new school of painting.
At the other end of the forest is the little village
of Marlotte, also a haven for many painters of
a former day, and no less so for those of to-day.
The old forest in three quarters of a century
has seen itself reproduced on canvas in all its
moods. No painter ever lived, nor could all the
painters that ever lived, exhaust its infinite variety.
Hebert in his " Dictionnaire de la Foret de Fon-
tainebleau" says, rightly enough, that, with
the coming of the men of Fontainebleau and
its "artist-villages" the classic type of "Paysage
d'ltalie" has disappeared from the Salon Cata-
logues.
Art amateurs and the common people alike
made the reputation of Fontainebleau; the mere
"trippers" were brought thither by Denecourt,
but the real forest lovers were those who were
attracted by the masterpieces of the painters.
202 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
The town of Fontainebleau has changed some-
what under this double influence. At Fontaine-
bleau itself are two monuments in memory of
painters who have passed away. One of these
is to the memory of Decamps, who was killed
by a fall from his horse while riding in the forest;
it is a simple bust, the work of Carrier-Belleuse.
The other is of Rosa Bonheurwho died at Thomery,
a little village on the southern border of the
forest, in 1902; it is an almost life-size bull from
a small model by the artist herself and surmounts
a pedestal which also bears a medallion of the
artist.
CHAPTER XII
BY THE BANKS OF THE SEINE
ON the highroad to Saint Germain one passes
innumerable historic monuments which suggest
the generous part that many minor chateaux
played in the court life of the capital of old.
To-day, Maisons, La Muette and Bagatelle are
mere names which serve the tram lines for roof
signs and scarcely one in a thousand strangers
gives them a thought.
The famous Bois de Boulogne and its immediate
environment have for centuries formed a delicious
verdant framing for a species of French country-
house which could not have existed within the
fortifications. These luxurious, bijou dwellings,
some of them, at least, the caprices of kings,
others the property of the new nobility, and still
others of mere plebeian kings of finance, are in a
class quite by themselves.
Perhaps the most famous of these is the cele-
brated Bagatelle, within the confines of the Bois
itself. The Chateau de Bagatelle was built in a
month, thus meriting its name, by the Comte
203
204 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
d'Artois, the future Charles X, as a result of a wager
with Marie Antoinette. On its facade it originally
bore the inscription: "Parva sed apta" -"small
but convenient."
Bagatelle occupied a corner of the royal domain
and, after its completion, was sold to the Marquise
de Monconseil, in 1747, who gave to this princely
suburban residence a dignity worthy of its origin.
Then came La Pompadour on the scene, the petite
bourgeoise who, by the nobility acquired by the
donning of a court costume and marriage with
the Sieur Normand d'Etioles, usurped the right
By the Banks of the Seine 205
to sit beside duchesses and be presented to the
queen, if not as an equal, at least as the maitresse
of her spouse, the king.
There is a legend about a meeting between
La Pompadour and the king at Bagatelle, a meet-
ing in which she established herself so firmly in
the graces of the monarch that on the morrow she
formed a part of the entourage at Versailles.
After having come into the possession of the
heirs of Sir Richard Wallace, Bagatelle finally
became the property of the State.
It is in the Chateau de Bagatelle that is to be
installed the "Musee de la Parole" "The
Museum of Speech." The French, innovators
ever, plan that Bagatelle shall become a sort of
conservatory of the human voice, and here will
be classed methodically the cylinders and disks
which have recorded the spoken words of all sorts
and conditions of men.
In this Musee de la Parole will be kept phono-
graphic records of all current dialects in France,
the argot of the Parisian lower classes, etc., etc.
Up to the present the evolution of the speech
of man has ever been an enigma. No one knows
to-day how Homer or Virgil pronounced their
words, and Racine and Corneille, though of a time
less remote, have left no tangible record of their
speech. Monsieur Got of the Comedie Fran-
206 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
aise believes that Louis XIV pronounced "Moi"
"le Roi" as "Moue" "le Roue"; and thus he
pronounced it in a speech which has been recorded
in wax and is to form a part of the collection at
Bagatelle.
The Polo Grounds of Bagatelle, between the
chateau and the Seine as it swirls around the He
de la Folie, are to-day better known than this
dainty little Paris palace; but Bagatelle will
some day come to its own again.
Neuilly bounds the Bois de Boulogne on the
north, and has little of a royal appearance to-day,
save its straight, broad streets.
There is a royal incident connected with the
Pont de Neuilly which should not be forgotten.
It came about in connection with the return of
Henri IV from Saint Germain in company with
the queen and the Due de Vendome. They were
in a great coach drawn by four horses which in-
sisted on drinking from the river in spite of the
efforts of the coachman to prevent them.
The carriage was overturned and the royal
party barely escaped being drowned. One of
the aids who accompanied them recounted the
fact that the impromptu bath had cured the
king's toothache which he had acquired over a
rather hasty meal just before leaving the palace.
"Had I witnessed the adventure," said the Mar-
By the Banks of the Seine 207
quis de Verneuil, "I should have proposed the
toast: 'Le Roi Boit!' " As a result of this in-
cident a new bridge was constructed, though it
was afterwards replaced by the present stone
structure over which a ceaseless traffic rushes in
and out of Paris to-day. It was this present
bridge over which Louis XV was the first to pass
on September 22, 1772.
The Chateau de Neuilly was a favourite subur-
ban residence of Louis Philippe. It was here
that a delegation came to offer him the crown, and,
after he had become king, he was pleased to still
inhabit it and actually spent considerable sums
upon its maintenance. When the Revolution of
1848 broke out, the sovereign took refuge at
Neuilly and, when besieged by the multitude,
took flight in the night of February 26 and
left his chateau in the hands of a band of ruffians
who pillaged it from cellar to garret, finally set-
ting it on fire. It burned like a pile of brushwood,
and it is said that more than a hundred drunken
desperados perished when its walls fell in. This
was the tragic end of the Chateau de Neuilly.
By a decree of the president of the later Re-
public the Orleans princes were obliged to sell all
their French properties and the park of the
Chateau de Neuilly was cut up into morsels
and lots were sold to all corners. Thus was
208 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
born that delightful Paris suburb, with the broad,
shady avenues and comfortable houses, with
which one is familiar to-day. The aristocratic
Pare de Neuilly, with Saint James, is the only
tract near Paris where one finds such lovely
gardens and such fresh, shady avenues.
Another quarter of Neuilly possesses a history
worthy of being recounted. The district known
as Saint James derived its name from a great
suburban property which in 1775 belonged to
Baudart de Saint James. He created a property
almost royal in its appointments, its gardens hav-
ing acquired an extraordinary renown. When
he became a bankrupt a throng of persons visited
the property not so much with a view to purchase
as out of curiosity. A writer of the time says
of this Lucullus that he was the envy of all Paris.
He died soon after his ruin, from chagrin, and
in apparent poverty, which seemingly established
his good faith with his creditors. Under the
First Empire the domain was bought by, or for,
the Princesse Borghese, who here gave many bril-
liant fetes at which the emperor himself frequently
assisted. On the occasion of the marriage of
Napoleon to Marie Louise a series of fetes took
place here which evoked the especially ex-
pressed encomiums of the emperor.
In 1815 Wellington made it his headquarters
By the Banks of the Seine 209
and here had his first conference with Blucher.
Upon Wellington quitting Saint James the prop-
erty was pillaged by the Iron Duke's own troops
and actually demolished by the picks and axes of
the soldiery.
Near the Passy entrance of the Bois is La
Muette, a relic of a royal hunting-lodge which
took its name from the royal pack of hounds
(meute) which was formerly kept here.
The Chateau de la Muette was the caprice of
Francois I, who, when he came to Paris, wished
to have his pleasures near at hand, and, being
the chief partisan of the hunt among French
monarchs, built La Muette for this purpose.
The Chateau de la Muette is thus classed as
one of the royal dwellings of France though
hardly ever is it mentioned in the annals of to-day.
Rebuilt by Charles IX, from his father's more
modest shooting box, La Muette became the
centre of the court of Marguerite de Navarre,
the first wife of Henri IV; after which it served
as the habitation of the dauphin, who became
Louis XIII.
During the regency, Philippe d' Orleans took
possession of the chateau until the enthronement
of Louis XV. The latter here established a
little court within a court, best described by the
French as: "ses plaisirs prives" It was this
210 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
monarch who rebuilt, or at least restored, the
chateau, and brought it to the state in which one
sees it to-day.
In 1783 Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and the
court took up a brief residence here to assist at
the aerostatic experiences of De Rosier, and in
1787, ceasing to be a royal residence, La Muette
was offered for sale after first having been stripped
of its precious wainscotings, its marbles and the
artistic curiosities of all sorts with which it had
been decorated. The chateau itself now became
the property of Sebastian Erard, who bought it
for the modest price of two hundred and sixty
thousand francs.
Somewhat farther from Paris, crossing the
peninsula formed by the first of the great bends
of the Seine below the capital, is Chatou which
has a royal reminder in its Pavilion Henri IV,
or Pavilion Gabrielle, which the gallant, love-
making monarch built for Gabrielle d'Estrees.
Formerly it was surrounded by a vast park and
must have been almost ideal, but to-day it is sur-
rounded by stucco, doll-house villas, and un-
appealing apartments, until only a Gothic portal,
jutting from a row of dull house fronts, suggests
the once cosy little retreat of the lovely Gabrielle.
The height of Louveciennes, above Bougival,
closes the neck of the peninsula and from it a vast
By the Banks of the Seine 211
panorama of the silvery Seine and its coteaux
stretches out from the towers of Notre Dame on
one hand to the dense forest of Saint Germain
on the other.
The original Chateau de Louveciennes was the
property of Madame la Princesse de Conti, but
popular interest lies entirely with the Pavilion
du Barry, built by the architect Ledoux under the
orders of Louis XV.
Du Barry, having received the chateau as a gift
from the king, sought to decorate it and reembel-
lish it anew. Through the ministrations of a
certain Drouais, Fragonard was commissioned
to decorate a special pavilion outside the cha-
teau proper, destined for the "collations du Roi."
The subject chosen was the "Progres de P Amour
dans le Coeur des Jeunes Filles." Just where
these panels are to-day no one seems to know,
but sooner or later they will doubtless be dis-
covered.
Fragonard's famous " Escalade," or "Ren-
dezvous," the first of the series of five proposed
panels, depicted the passion of Louis XV for du
Barry. The shepherdess had the form and fea-
tures of that none too scrupulous feminine beauty,
and the "berger gallant" was manifestly a portrait
of the king.
Perhaps these decorations at Louveciennes were
212 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
elaborations of these smaller canvases. It seems
quite probable.
Sheltered snugly against the banked-up Forest
of Saint Germain, on the banks of the Seine,
is Maisons-Laffitte. Maisons is scarcely ever
mentioned by Parisians save as they comment
on the sporting columns of the newspapers, for
horse-racing now gives its distinction to the
neighbourhood, and the old Chateau de Maisons
(with its later suffix of Laffitte) is all but for-
gotten.
Francois Mansart built the first Chateau de
Maisons on a magnificent scale for Ren de Long-
ueil, the Superintendent of Finance. In a later
century it made a most effectual appeal to another
financier, Laffitte, the banker, who parcelled out
the park and stripped the chateau.
For a century, though, the chateau belonged to
the family of its founder, and in 1658 the sur-
rounding lands were made into a Marquisate.
In 1671, on the day of the death of Philippe, Due
d'Anjou, Maisons may be said to have become
royal for the court there took up its residence.
Later, the Marquis de Soyecourt became the
owner and Voltaire stayed here for a time; in fact
he nearly died here from an attack of smallpox.
In 1778 the property was acquired by the
Comte d'Artois and the royal family of the
By the Banks of the Seine 213
time were frequent guests. The king, the queen
and each of the princes all had their special
apartments, and if Louis XVI had not been too
busy with other projects, more ambitious ones,
there is little doubt but that he would have given
Maisons an e*clat which during all of its career
it had just missed. At the Revolution it was sold
as National Property and the proceeds turned
into public coffers.
With the Empire the chateau became more
royalist than ever. Marechal Lannes became
its proprietor, then the Marechal de Montebello,
who here received Napoleon on many occasions.
With the invasion of 1815 the village was devas-
tated, but the chateau escaped, owing to its having
been made the headquarters of the invading
allies. After this, in 1818, the banker Laffitte
came into possession. He exercised a great hos-
pitality and lived the life of an opulent bourgeois,
but he destroyed most of the outbuildings and
the stables built by Mansart, and cut up the great
expanse of park which originally consisted of five
hundred hectares. His ideas were purely com-
mercial, not the least esthetic.
The scheme of decoration within, as without, is
distinctly unique. Doric pilasters and columns
support massive cornices and round-cornered
ceilings, with here and there antique motives and
214 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
even Napoleonic eagles as decorative features.
To-day all the apartments are deserted and sad.
The finest, from all points of view, is that of the
Salle-a- Manger, though indeed some of the motives
are but plaster reproductions of the originals.
The chimney-piece, however, is left, a pure bijou,
a model of grace, more like a pagan altar than a
comparatively modern mantel. The oratory is
in the pure style of the Empire, and the stairway,
lighted up by a curiously arranged dome-lantern,
gives a most startling effect to the entrance ves-
tibule.
In general the design of Maisons is gracious,
not at all outre, though undeniably grandiose; too
much so for a structure covering so small an area.
The Cour d'Honneur gives it its chief exterior
distinction and the two pavilions have a certain
grace of charm, when considered separately, which
the ensemble somewhat lacks. The surroundings,
had they not been ruthlessly cut up into building
lots for over-ambitious Paris shopkeepers, would
have added greatly to the present appearance
of the property. As it is, the near-by race-course
absorbed the orchard, the pelouse and many of
the garden plots.
CHAPTER XIII
MALMAISON AND MARLY
OUT from Paris, by the cobbly Pave du Roi,
which a parental administration is only just now
digging up and burying under, just beyond the
little suburban townlet of Rueil (where the Em-
press Josephine and her daughter Hortense lie
buried in the parish church), one comes to Mal-
maison of unhappy memory. It is nofc imposing,
palatial, nor, architecturally, very worthy, but it
is one of the most sentimentally historic of all
French monuments of its class.
Since no very definite outlines remain of any
royal historical monument at Rueil to-day the
tourist bound towards Versailles by train, tram or
road, gives little thought to the snug little suburb
through which he shuffles along, hoping every
minute to leave the noise, bustle and cobble-
stones of Paris behind.
Rueil is deserving of more consideration than
this. According to Gregory of Tours the first race
of kings had a "pleasure house" here, and called
the neighbourhood Rotolajum. Not always did
215
216 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
these old kings stay cooped up in a fortress in the
Isle of Lutetia. Sometimes they went afield for
a day in the country like the rest of us, and to
them, with their slow means of communication
and the bad roads of their day, Rueil, scarce a
dozen miles from Notre Dame, seemed far away.
Childerbert I, son of Clovis, is mentioned as
having made a protracted sojourn at Rueil, and
whatever may have existed then in the way of a
royal residence soon after passed to the monks
of Saint Denis, who here fished and hunted and
lived a life of comfort and ease such as they could
hardly do* in their fortress-abbey. They, too,
required change and rest from time to time, and,
apparently, when they could, took it.
The Black Prince burned the town and all its
dependencies in 1346, and only an unimportant
village existed when Richelieu thought to build a
country-house here on this same charming site
which had so pleased the first French monarchs.
Richelieu did his work well, as always, and built an
immense chateau, surrounded by a deep moat
into which were turned the swift-flowing waters
of the Seine. A vast park was laid out, in part
in the formal manner and in part as a natural
preserve, and the neighbourhood once more
became frequented by royalty and the nobles
of the court.
Malmaison and Marly 217
Richelieu bequeathed the property to his niece,
the Duchesse d'Aiguillon, and Louis XIV became
a frequent dweller there as a visitor, but he
did not mind that. Louis XIV was sometimes a
monarch, sometimes a master, and sometimes a
"family friend," to put it in a noncommittal
manner.
The Revolution nearly made way with the prop-
erty and the Due de Massena, a few years after-
wards, reestablished it after a fashion, but spec-
ulating land-boomers came along in turn and
royal memories meaning nothing to them the
property was cut up into streets, avenues and
house lots.
The Chateau de Malmaison, which is very near
Rueil, is in quite a different class. Its history
comes very nearly down to modern times. The
memory of Malmaison is purely Napoleonic. Its
historical souvenirs are many, but its actual ruins
have taken on a plebeian aspect of little appeal in
these later days.
In 1792 Malmaison was sold as a piece of na-
tional merchandise to be turned into ecus, and a
certain Monsieur Lecouteux de Canteleu, hav-
ing the ready cash and a disposition to live under
its roof, took over the proprietorship for a time.
It was he who sold it to Josephine Beauharnais,
and it was she who gave it a glory and splendour
218 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
which it had never before possessed, gave it its
complete fame, in fact.
Napoleon himself, as First Consul, was pas-
sionately fond of the place, but by the time he
had become emperor, because of unhappy memo-
ries, perhaps, for he had them at times, came
rarely to this charming suburban chateau.
It was at Malmaison that began the good for-
tune of Josephine, and it was at Malmaison that
it flickered out like the dying flame of a candle.
In a beating rain, on Saturday, December 16,
1809, Josephine quitted the Tuileries, her eyes
still red with the tears from that last brief inter-
view. She arrived at Malmaison at the end of
a lugubrious day, when the whole place was en-
veloped in a thick fog. She passed the night
almost alone in this great house where she had
previously been so happy. She could hardly,
however, have been more sad than Napoleon was
that same night. He had shut himself up in his
cabinet, remorseful and alone.
The Sunday following was hardly less melan-
choly, for it was then Josephine learned that Mal-
maison had been endowed with an income of
two millions for its upkeep, and that her per-
sonal belongings and the furnishings of her fa-
vourite apartments were already on the way thither
from the Tuileries. The wound was not even
Chateau /ik Malmaison
218 Eoyal Palaces and Parks of France
which it had never before possessed, gave it its
complete fame, in fact.
Napoleon himself, as First Consul, was pas-
sionately fond of the place, but by the time he
had become emperor, because of unhappy memo-
ries, perhaps, for he had them at times, came
rarely to this charming suburban chateau.
It was at Malmaison that began the good for-
tune of Josephine, and it was at Malmaison that
it flickered out like the dying flame of a candle.
In a beating rain, on Saturday, December 16,
1809, Josephine quitted the Tuileries, her eyes
still red with the tears from that last brief inter-
view. She ^ffig^jJ^vWfi4^D at the end of
a lugubrious day, when the whole place was en-
veloped in a thick fog. She passed the night
almost alone in this great house where she had
previously been so happy. She could hardly,
however, have been more sad than Napoleon was
that same night. He had shut himself up in his
cabinet, remorseful and alone.
The Sunday following was hardly less melan-
choly, for it was then Josephine learned that Mal-
maison had been endowed with an income of
two millions for its upkeep, and that her per-
sonal belongings and the furnishings of her fa-
vourite apartments were already on the way thither
from the Tuileries. The wound was not even
Malmaison and Marly 219
then allowed to heal, for she learned that Napo-
leon had ordained that she was to receive the visits
of the court as if she were still empress.
Napoleon had already written his former spouse
to the effect that he would give much to see her,
but that he did not feel sufficiently sure of him-
self to permit of it. This historic letter closed
thus; " Adieu y Josephine, bonne nuit, si tu doutais
de moi, tout sera bien indigne"
On the i yth of December Napoleon actually
did come to Malmaison to see her from whom
he was officially separated. Josephine had con-
fided to Madame de Remusat, her lady-in-waiting,
"It almost seems as if I were dead, and only
possessed of the faculty of remembering the
past."
In this Malmaison, so full of souvenirs of other
days, Josephine was obliged to content herself,
for on January 12, 1810, the religious marriage
of Josephine and Napoleon was annulled auto-
matically because, as was claimed, it had not
been celebrated with the necessary formalities.
Here at Malmaison Josephine even surrounded
herself with the most intimate souvenirs of Na-
poleon: a lounging chair that he was wont to
occupy stood in its accustomed place; his bed
was always made; his sword hung upon the wall;
his pen was in his inkwell; a book was open on
220 Eoyal Palaces and Parks of France
his desk and his geographical globe his famous
mappemond was in its accustomed place.
Princes passing through Paris came to Mal-
maison to salute the former empress, and she
allowed herself to become absorbed in her green-
houses and her dairy, the direction of her house,
her receptions and her petite cour.
In time all came to an end. When Napoleon
returned to Paris in 1815 he interrogated the
doctor who had cared for Josephine during the
illness which terminated in her death the year
before and asked him: "Did she speak of me at
the last?" The doctor replied: "Often, very
often." With emotion Napoleon replied simply:
" Bonne femme: bonne Josephine elle m'aimeit
vraiment."
After Waterloo Napoleon himself retired to
Malmaison, which had become the property of
Josephine's children, Eugene and Hortense, and
closed himself up in the room where she died,
the library which he occupied when triumphant
First Consul.
Here he lived five mortal days of anguish pre-
ceding his departure for Rochefort on that
agonizing exile from which he never returned.
After the divorce Josephine preserved the
property as her own particular residence, and in
1814 received there the celebrated visit of the
Malmaison and Marly 221
allied sovereigns. History tells of a certain boat
ride which she took on a neighbouring lake in
company with the Emperor Alexander which is
fraught with much historic sentiment. It was
this imprudent excursion, in the cool of a May
evening, that caused the death of the former
empress three days later. It was from this bijou
of a once royal abode that Napoleon launched
his famous proclamation to the army which the
arrogant Fouche refused to have printed in
the " Moniteur Officiel." Upon this Napoleon
sent the Due de Rovigo to Paris for his pass-
ports and the necessary orders which would en-
able him to depart in peace. The next moment
he had changed his mind, and he changed it again
a few moments afterwards. As the result of the
Prussians' advance on Paris by the left bank of
the Seine Napoleon was obliged to accept the
inevitable, and with the words of General Becker
ringing in his ears: "Sire, tout est pret" he crossed
the vestibule and entered the gardens amid a
painful calm on his part, and an audible weeping
by his former fellows in arms who were lined
up to do him honour. He embraced Hortense
passionately, and saluted all the personages of
his party with a sympathy and emotion unbeliev-
able. With an eternal adieu and a rapid step
down the garden walk to the driveway, he at last
222 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
entered the carriage which was awaiting him and
was driven rapidly away. Some days after the
Allies pillaged and sacked Malmaison. Its chief
glory may be said to have departed with the
Corsican.
Under the Restoration, Prince Eugene had a
sort of "rag sale" of what was left. The lands
which Josephine had bought of Lecouteaux
were sold to the highest bidder and the exotic
shrubs and plants to any who would buy, the pic-
tures to such connoisseurs as had the price, those
that were left being sent to Munich. A Swedish
banker now came on the scene (1826) and bought
the property the chateau and the park which
he preserved until his death twenty years later.
Then it went to Queen Christina, and was ulti-
mately purchased by Napoleon III.
In October, 1870, during the siege of Paris,
General Ducrot sought to make a reconnoissance
by way of Malmaison, and so weak was his pro-
ject that the equipages of the King of Prussia
and his Etat Major invested the environs and
made the property their official headquarters.
Near by is a fine property called "Les Bruy-
eres," a royal estate of Napoleon III. It was
created and developed by the emperor and was
always referred to as a Pare Imperial.
Perhaps the most banal of all the royal souvenirs
Malmaison and Marly 223
around Paris is that gigantic mill-wheel known as the
Machine de Marly, down by the Seine a few miles
beyond Malmaison, just where that awful cobble-
stoned roadway begins to climb up to the plateau on
which sits the chateau of Saint Germain and its park.
Because it is of unesthetic aspect is no reason
for ignoring the famous Machine de Marly, the
great water-hoisting apparatus first established
in the reign of Louis XIV to carry the waters of
the Seine to the ponds and fountains of Versailles.
It was a creation of a Liegois, named Renne-
quin Sualem, who knew not how to read or write,
but who had a very clear idea of what was wanted
to perform the work which Louis XIV demanded.
For a fact the expense of the erection of the
"Machine," and the cost of keeping its great
wheels turning, were so great that it is doubtful
if it was ever a paying proposition, but that was
not a sine qua non so far as the king's command
was concerned. It had cost millions of livres
before its wheels first turned in 1682, and, if the
carpenter Brunet had not come to the rescue to
considerably augment the volume of water raised
(by means of compressed air), it is doubtful if there
would ever have been enough water for the foun-
tains of Versailles to play even one day a year, as
they do now every happy Sunday, to the delight of
the middle-class Parisian and the droves of Cook-
224 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
ites who gaze on them with wonder-opened eyes.
The water was led from the Machine de Marly
to Versailles by a conduit of thirty-six arches
where, upon reaching a higher level than the gar-
dens, it flowed by gravity to the fountains and
basins below. This aqueduct was six hundred
and forty-three metres long, and twenty-three
metres high. It was a work which would have
done credit to the Romans.
A far greater romantic sentiment attaches itself
to the royal chateau of Marly-le-Roi than to the
utilitarian " Machine," by which the suburb is
best known to-day.
The history of Marly-le-Roi appears from the
chronicles the most complicated to unravel of
that of any of the kingly suburbs of old Paris,
though in the days of the old locomotion a town-
let twenty-six kilometres from the capital was
hardly to be thought of as a suburb.
Marly-le-Roi, at any rate, with Marly-le-Bourg
and Marly-le-Chatel, was a royal dwelling from
the days of Thierry III (678). The neighbour-
ing region had been made into a countship by
the early seventeenth century, and Louis XIV
acquired it as his right in exchange for Neuphle-
le-Chateau in 1693, incorporating it into the
domain of Versailles.
By this time it had become known as Marly-
Malmaison and Marly 225
le-Roi, in distinction to the other bourgs, and
the king built a chateau-royal, variously known
as the Palais and the Ermitage. For a fact it
was neither one thing nor the other, according to
accepted definition, but rather a group of a dozen
dependent pavilions distributed around a central
edifice, the whole straggling off into infinite and
manifestly unlovely proportions. It was as the
sun surrounded by the zodiac.
Isolated on a monticule by the river bank the
chateau overlooked its brood of small pavilions,
which in a way formed an entresol, or foyer, lead-
ing to the Pavilion Royal. All were connected
by iron trellises, en berceau, and the effect must
have been exceedingly bizarre ; certainly theatrical.
The four faces of these pavilions were frescoed,
and balustrades and vases at the corners were
the chief architectural decorations.
The royal pavilion consisted within of four
vestibules on the ground floor, each leading to
a grand apartment in the centre. In each of the
four angles was a "self-contained" apartment
of three or four rooms. What this royal abode
lacked in beauty it made up for in convenience.
Each of the satellite pavilions was occupied by
a high personage at court. The Chapel and the
Corps de Garde were detached from the chateau
proper, and occupied two flanking wings.
226 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
The plans of the " Palais-Chateau-Ermitage "
of Marly-le-Roi were from the fertile brain of
Mansart, and were arranged with considerable
ingenuity, if not taste, generously interspersed
with lindens and truly magnificent garden plots.
There was even a cascade, or rather a tumbling
river (according to the French expression), for
it fell softly over sixty-three marble steps, forming
a sort of wrinkled sheet of water, which must
indeed have been a very charming feature. It
cost a hundred thousand ecus to merely lead the
water up to it. The expenses of the Pavilion
de Marly, in the ten years from 1680 to 1690,
amounted to 4501279 livres, 12 sols, 3 denier s.
From this one may well judge that it was no
mean thing.
The honour of being accounted a person of
Marly in those times was accredited as a great
distinction, for it went without saying in that case
one had something to do with affairs of court,
though one might only have been a "furnisher."
To be a courtier of Louis XIV, or to be a pen-
sionnaire at Versailles, could hardly have carried
more distinction.
The court usually resided at Marly from Wed-
nesday until Saturday, and as "the game" was
the thing it is obvious that the stakes were high.
The vogue of the day was gaming at table, and
Malmaison and Marly 227
Marly, of all other suburban Paris palaces, was
an ideal and discreet place for it. "High play
and midnight suppers were the rule at Marly."
This, one reads in the court chronicle, and further
that: "The royal family usually lost a hundred
thousand ecus at play at each visit." One "gentle-
man croupier" gained as much as three thousand
louis at a single sitting.
Madame de Maintenon was the real ruler of
Marly in those days; she had appropriated the
apartments originally intended for the queen,
from which there was a private means of com-
munication to the apartments of the king, and
another forming a sort of private box, overlook-
ing the royal chapel.
Little frequented by Louis XV, and practically
abandoned by Louis XVI, the palace at Marly
was sold during the Revolution, after which it
was stripped of its art treasures, many of which
adorn the gardens of the Tuileries to-day; the
great group of horses at the entrance to the Champs
Elysees came from the watering place of Marly.
Actually, the royal pavilion at Marly has been
destroyed, and there remain but the most frag-
mentary, unformed heaps of stones to tell the tale
of its ample proportions in the days of Louis
XIV and de Maintenon.
The park is to-day the chief attraction of the
228 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
neighbourhood, like the one at Saint Cloud,
which it greatly resembles. Across the park lies
the great highway from the capital to Versailles,
over which so many joyous cavalcades were wont
to amble or gallop in the days of gallantry. The
pace is not more sober to-day, but gaily caparisoned
horses and gaudy coaches have given way to red
and yellow "Rois des Beiges," the balance lying
distinctly in favour of the former mode of convey-
ance, so far as picturesqueness is concerned.
The Foret de Marly is very picturesque, but of
no great extent. Formerly it enclosed many
shooting-boxes belonging to the nobles of the
court, of which those of Montjoie and Desert de
Retz were perhaps the most splendid.
On the Versailles road was the Chateau de
Clagny, a royal maison de plaisance, of an attrac-
tive, but trivial, aspect, though its architecture
was actually of a certain massiveness. Its gar-
dens and the disposition of its apartments pleased
the king's fancy when he chose to pass this way,
which was often. He is said to have personally
spent over two million francs on the property.
It must have been of some pretensions, this little
heard of Chateau de Clagny, for in a single year
ten thousand limes were expended on keeping
the gardens. To-day it is non-existent.
CHAPTER XIV
SAINT CLOUD AND ITS PARK
THE historic souvenirs of Saint Cloud and its
royal palace are many and varied, though scarcely
anything tangible remains to-day of the fabric
so loved by Francis I and Henri II, and which
was, for a fact, but a magnificent country-house,
originally belonging to the Archbishops of Paris.
To-day the rapid slopes of the hillsides of
Saint Cloud are peopled with a heterogeneous
mass of villas of what the Parisian calls the
"coquette" order, but which breathe little of
the spirit of romance and gallantry of Renais-
sance times. Saint Cloud is simply a "discreet"
Paris suburb, and the least said about it, its
villas and their occupants to-day, the better.
The little village of Saint Cloud which is half-
hidden in the Forest of Rouvray, was sacked
and burned by the English after the battle of
Poitiers, and then built up anew and occupied
by the French monarchs in the reign of Charles
VI. It was he who built the first chateau de
plaisance here in which the royal family might live
229
230 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
near Paris and yet amid a sylvan environment.
After this came the country-house of the Arch-
bishops of Paris that Henri II, when he tired
of it, tore down and erected a villa in the pseudo-
Italian manner of the day, and built a four-
teen-arch stone bridge across the Seine, which
was a wonder of its time.
The banker Gondi, after huddling close to
royalty, turned over an establishment which
he had built to Catherine de Medici, who made
use of it whenever she wished to give a country
fete or garden party. By this time the whole
aspect of Saint Cloud was royal.
It was within this house that the unhappy,
and equally unpopular, Henri III was cut down
by the three-bladed knife of the monk Jacques
Clement. The incident is worth recounting
briefly here because of the rapidity with which
history was made by a mere fanatical knife-
thrust. With the death of Henri III came the
extinction of the House of Valois.
As the king sat in the long gallery of the palace
playing at cards, on August i, 1589, his cloak
hanging over his shoulder, a little cap with a
flower stuck in it perched over one ear, and
suspended from his neck by a broad blue ribbon
a basketful of puppies, an astrologer by the name of
Osman was introduced to amuse the royal party.
St. Cloud and Its Park 231
"They tell me you draw horoscopes, " re-
marked the king.
"Sire, I will tell yours, if you will, but the
heavens are unpropitious. "
####*###
"Just over Meudon is a star which shines
very brightly," continued the astrologer, "it
is that of Henri de Navarre. But look, your
Majesty, another star burns brilliantly for a
moment and then disappears, mayhap it is your
own."
"If ever a man had a voice hoarse with blood
it is that astrologer," said the king. "Away
with him."
"If the Valois Henri doesn't die before the
setting of another sun, I'll never cast horoscope
more," said the astrologer as he was hustled
across the courtyard and out into the highroad.
As he left, a man in a monk's garb begged to
be admitted to the king's presence. It was
Jacques Clement, the murderous monk, a wily
Dominican, bent on a mission which had for
its object the extinction of the Valois race.
J
While the king was reading a letter which
the monk had presented the latter stabbed him
deep in the stomach.
Swooning, the king had just time to cry out:
11 Ha! le mechant moine: II m'a tue, qu'on le tue"
232 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
The murderer in turn was struck down forth-
with and his body, thrown from the windows
of the palace, was ecartele by four white horses,
which is the neat French way of saying "drawn
and quartered."
It was an imposing cortege which wound down
from the heights of Saint Cloud and followed
the river bank to Saint Germain, Poissy and
thence to Compiegne, conveying all that was
mortal of Henri III, the least popular of all the
race of Valois. Following close behind the
bier were Henri IV and his suite, the favourites
d'Epernon, Laschant, Dugastz and an impres-
sive soldiery.
After the death of Henri III, Henri de Navarre,
who played a not unpicturesque part in the
funeral ceremonies, installed himself in a neigh-
bouring property known as the Maison du Til-
let. Thus it is seen that the royal stamp
of the little bourg of Saint Cloud was never
wanting not until the later palace and most
of the town were drenched with kerosene and set
on fire by the Prussians in 1871.
The "Maison de Gondi" came, by a process
of acquisition, and development, in time, to be
the royal palace of Saint Cloud. Its overloaded
details of Italian architecture were brightened
up a bit by the surroundings planned and exe-
St. Cloud and its Park 233
cuted by the landscapist Le Notre and the life
of the court in its suburban retreat took on a
real and genuine brilliance which under the
restraint of the gloomy walls of the Louvre and
Paris streets could hardly have been.
The brightest light shining over Saint Cloud
at this time was the radiance shed by the brilliant
Henriette d'Angleterre. Her reign as a social
and witty queen of the court was brief. She
died at the age of twenty-six, poisoned at the
instigation of the Chevalier de Lorraine whom
she had caused to be exiled. This was the com-
mon supposition, but Louis XIV was afterwards
able to prove (?) his brother innocent of the
crime.
The gazettes of the seventeenth century re-
count many of the fetes given at Saint Cloud
by Monsieur on the occasion of his marriage
to the Princesse Palatine in 1671. One of the
most notable of these was that given for Louis XIV,
wherein the celebrated cascades an innova-
tion of Le Notre were first brought to view.
Mansart was called in and a great gallery
intended for fetes and ceremonies was con-
structed, and Mignard was given the commis-
sion for its decorations.
Monsieur died within the walls of the palace
to which he had added so many embellishments,
234 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
as also did his second wife. Three royalties
dead of ambition, one might well say, for their
lives were neither tranquil nor healthful. They
went the pace.
The regent journeyed out from Paris to this
riverside retreat to receive the Tzar Peter in
1717, and in 1752 Louis Philippe d'Orleans
set about to give a fete which should obscure
the memory of all former events of a like nature
into oblivion. How well he succeeded may be
a matter of varying opinion, for the French have
ever been prodigally lavish in the conduct of such
affairs. At all events the occasion was a notable
one.
The predilection of royalty for Saint Cloud
was perhaps not remarkable, all things con-
sidered, for it was, and is, delightfully environed,
and about this time the Due d' Orleans secretly
married the Marquise de Montesson and installed
her in a habitation the "plus simple" a mere
shack, one fancies, costing six millions. The
nouveau riche of to-day could scarcely do the
thing with more eclat.
The Revolution took over the park of Saint
Cloud and its appurtenances and donated them
to the democracy "for the pleasure of the
people, " read the decree.
On the eighteenth Bruraaire, the First Re-
St. Cloud and Its Park 235
public blinked itself out in the Palais de Saint
Cloud, and the Conseil de Cinq Cents installed
itself therein under the Directoire. Bonaparte,
returning from Egypt, arrived at Saint Cloud
just as Lemercier was dissolving the Conseil.
Seeing trouble ahead he commanded Murat to
clear the chamber by drawn bayonets. He
kept his light shining just a bit ahead of the
others, did Napoleon. His watchword was in-
itiative. Deputies clambered over each other
in their haste to escape by stairway, door and
window, and Bonaparte saw himself Consul
without opposition for ten years for life.
The royal residences were put at Napoleon's
disposition and he wisely chose Saint Cloud
for summer; Saint Cloud the cradle of his powers.
As a restorer and rebuilder of crumbling monu-
ments Napoleon was a master, as he was in the
destructive sense when he was in the mood,
and changes and additions were made at Saint
Cloud which for comfort and convenience put it
in the very front rank of French royal residences.
In March, 1805, Pope Pius VII baptised,
amid a grand pomp and ceremony, in the chapel
of the palace, the son of Louis Bonaparte, and
five years afterwards (April i, 1810), the same
edifice saw the religious marriage of Napoleon
with Marie Louise.
236 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
On March 31, 1810, a strange animation
dominated all the confines of the palace. It
was the occasion of the celebration of Napoleon's
civil marriage with Marie Louise. They did
not enter the capital until three days later for
the ceremonial which united the daughter of
the emperors who were descendants of the Roman
Caesars, to the " Usurper," who was now for the
first time to rank with the other crowned heads
of Europe.
The cortege which accompanied their majes-
ties from Saint Cloud to Paris was a pageant
which would take pages to describe. The reader
of these lines is referred to the impassioned pages
of the works of Frederic Masson for ample details.
A hundred thousand curiosity seekers had
come out from Paris and filled the alleys of the
park to overflowing. Music and dancing were
on every hand. Mingled with the crowd were
soldiers of all ranks brilliantly clad in red, blue
and gold. " These warriors were a picturesque,
obtrusive lot," said a chronicler; "after having
invaded Austria they acclaim the Austrian."
In 1815 the capitulation of Paris was signed
at Saint Cloud. The gardens were invaded
by a throng which gave them more the aspect
of an intrenched camp than a playground of
princes. A brutal victor had climbed booted
a
o
St. Cloud and Its Park 237
and spurred into the bed of the great Napoleon
and on arising pulled the bee-embroidered dra-
peries down with him and trampled them under
foot. Was this a proper manifestation of victory ?
At this period another great fete was given
in the leafy park of Saint Cloud, a fete which
French historians have chiefly passed over silently.
The host on this occasion was the Prince of
Schwartzenburg; the principal guests the foreign
sovereigns, gloating over the downfall of the
capital.
Louis XVIII, after removing the traces of
this desolate invasion, took up his residence
here on June 18, 1817, and in the following
year built the stables and the lodgings of the
Gardes du Corps. In 1820 the chapel begun
by Marie Antoinette was finished and the Jardin
du Trocadero constructed.
Charles X in his brief reign built, on the site
of an old Ursulin convent, further quarters in-
tended for the personnel of the court. The en-
semble ever took on an increasing importance.
At this time were laid out the gardens between
the cascades and the river, which, to some slight
extent, to-day, suggest the former ample magnif-
icence of the park as it faced upon the river.
Leading through this lower garden was the
Avenue Royale extending to the chateau.
238 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
Saint Cloud for Charles X, in spite of his first
interest therein, could have been but an un-
happy memory for here he signed the abdication
which brought about his fall. He left his palace
at Saint Cloud on July 30, 1830, at three o'clock
in the morning, just as day was breaking through
the mists of the valley. He succumbed, the
last of the Bourbons, on the same spot on which
Henri IV, as chief of the house, had first been
saluted as king.
Louis Philippe divided his time between Neuilly
and Saint Cloud, and lent his purse and his en-
thusiasm to elaborating to a very consider-
able extent both the palace and its surroundings.
Napoleon III made Saint Cloud his preferred
summer residence, and was actually beneath
the palace roof when the Prussian horde com-
menced its march on the capital of Clovis. He
left Saint Cloud on July 27, to take personal
command of the Army of the Rhine at Metz.
As did Charles X, Napoleon III ceased to be
sovereign of the French by enacting the final
scene in his royal career in the Palais de Saint
Cloud. Never again was the palace to give
shelter to a French monarch. The empress
left precipitately after the disaster of Woerth,
and two months after the torch of arson made a
ruin of all the splendour of the palace and its
St. Cloud and Its Park 239
dependencies. The inhabitants of the little city,
which had grown up around the confines of the
palace, fled in refuge to Versailles during the
armistice. Scarcely an old house was preserved
in all the town.
Among the chefs d'ceuvres of art which perished
in the flames were the fine works of Mignard
above all, the magnificent Galerie d'Apollon
the paintings of LeMoyne, Nacret, Leloir,
the marines of Joseph Vernet and innumerable
objects of art which had been gathered together
for the embellishment of Saint Cloud by the
later monarchs. Some few treasures were saved
by the care of the Crown Prince of Prussia,
and some vases, chairs and statues were ap-
propriated and packed off across the Rhine as
the plunder of war.
The park of Saint Cloud to-day contains
nearly four hundred hectares, the public park
and the " preserve." From it spreads out one
of the loveliest panoramas in the neighbourhood
of Paris, alleyed vistas leading seemingly to
infinity, with a sprinkling of statues still flanking
the Jardin du Trocadero.
From the town one enters the park through
a great iron gate from the Place Royale, or by
the Avenue du Chateau, which lands one on
the terraces where once stood the royal palace.
240 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
From Ville d'Avray and from Sevres there
are also entrances to the great park, while to
the latter runs an avenue connecting the "pre-
serve" of Saint Cloud with the wilder, more
rugged Bois de Meudon.
Actually the surroundings of Saint Cloud's
great park are the least bit tawdry. Here and
there are booths and tents selling trashy souve-
nirs, and even more unpleasant-looking articles
of food and drink, while fringing the river, and
some of the principal avenues approaching the
cascade, are more pretentious restaurants and
eating houses which are royal in name and their
prices if nothing else.
The cascades are for the masses the chief
sight of Saint Cloud to-day. Historical souvenir
plays little part in the minds of those who only
visit a monumental shrine to be amused, and so
the falling waters of Saint Cloud's cascade,
like the gushing torrents of Versailles' fountains,
are the chief incentives to a holiday for tens of
thousands of small Paris shopkeepers who do not
know that a royal palace was ever here, much
less that it had a history.
There is an upper and a lower cascade, an arti-
ficial water ingeniously tumbled about accord-
ing to the conception of one Lepaute, an archi-
tect of the time of the reign of Louis XIV.
The Cascades at Saint Cloud
St. Cloud and Its Park 241
Mansart designed the architectural attributes
of the lower cascade and scores considerably
over his colleague. Circular basins and canals
finally lead the water off to a still larger basin
lower down where it spouts up into the air to a
height of some forty odd metres at a high pres-
sure. This is the official description, but it is
hard to get up any sympathy or enthusiasm
over the thing, either considered as a work of
art or as a diversion. Frankly, then, Saint
Cloud's chief charm is its site and its dead and
half -forgotten history. The "Tramp Abroad"
and "Rollo" and "Uncle George" knew it better
than we, because in those days the palace existed
in the real, whereas we take it all on faith and
regret (sometimes) that we did not live a couple
of generations ago.
Bellevue, on the banks of the Seine, just be-
fore reaching Saint Cloud, owes its origin (a
fact which the great restaurant of the Pavilion
Bleu has made the most of in its advertisements),
to a caprice of Madame de Pompadour. She
liked the point of view (as do so many diners
on the restaurant terrace to-day), and built a
"rendezvous-chateau" on the hillside, a half-
way house, as it were, where Louis XV might
be at his ease on his journeyings to and from
the capital.
242 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
The Pompadour was able to borrow a force
of eight hundred workmen from the king for as
long as was necessary to carry out her ambitious
projects at Bellevue and on November 25, 1750,
she had a house-warming in her modest villa
(demolished in 1794) and pendit la cremaillere
with a ceremony whose chief entertainment
was the dancing of a ballet significantly entitled
"L'Amour Architect."
Neighbouring upon Saint Cloud is a whole
battery of hallowed, historical spots associated
with the more or less royal dwellings of the French
monarchs and their favourites. It was but a
comparatively short distance to Versailles, to
Saint Germain, to Maintenon and to Ram-
bouillet, and the near-by Louveciennes was liter-
ally strewn with the most charming country-
houses, which, in many cases, kings paid for
and made free use of, though indeed the accounts
for the same may not have appeared in the public
budgets, at least not under their proper names.
At the summit of the hill which gives the town
its name was a chateau belonging originally to
Madame la Princesse de Conti, and opposite
the railway station of to-day, with its prosaic
and unlovely surroundings, was a magnificent
property belonging to Marechal Magnan, and
the Pavilion du Barry, built by the architect
St. Cloud and Its Park 243
Ledoux to the orders of Louis XV, who would
provide a convenient nest in the neighbourhood
of Saint Cloud for his latest favourite. To-day
the pavilion exists in name, somewhat disfigured
to be sure, but still reminiscent of its 'former
rather garish outlines, so on the whole it cannot
be said to have suffered greatly from an esthetic
point of view. The property came finally to be
included as a part of the estate of Pierre Laffitte,
though still known, as it always has been, as the
Pavilion du Barry.
CHAPTER XV
VERSAILLES: THE GLORY or FRANCE
" Glorieuse, monumentale et monotone
La jo, fade de pierre efjrite, au vent qui passe
Son chapiteau friable et sa guirlande lasse
En face du pare jaune ou s'accoude Vautomne.
******
Mais le soleil, aux mires d'or qu'il incendie
Y semble rallumer interieurement
Le sursaut, chaque soir, de la Gloire engourdi."
THESE lines of Henri de Regnier explain the
aspect of the Versailles of to-day better than any
others ever written.
Versailles is a medley of verdure, a hierarchy
of bronze and a forest of marble. This is an
expression full of anomalies, but it is strictly
applicable to Versailles. Its waters, jets and
cascades, its monsters, its Tritons and Valhalla
of marble statues set off the artificial background
in a manner only to be compared to a stage setting
-a magnificent stage setting, but still palpably
unreal.
Yes, Versailles is sad and grim to-day; one
244
Versailles: The Glory of France 245
hardly knows why, for its memories still live, and
the tangible evidences of most of its great splen-
dour still stand.
" Void tes ijs en cone et tes tritons joufflus
Tes jardins composes ou Louis ne vient plus,
Et ta pompe arbor ant les plumes et les casques "
It is not possible to give here either an archi-
tectural review or a historical chronology of Ver-
sailles; either could be made the raison d'etre
for a weighty volume.
The writer has confined himself merely to a
more or less correlated series of patent facts and
incidents which, of itself, shows well the futility
of any other treatment being given of a subject
so vast within the single chapter of a book.
The history of Versailles is a story of the people
and events that reflected the glory and grandeur
of the Grand Monarque of the Bourbons and
made his palace and its environs a more sublime
expression of earthly pomp than anything which
had gone before, or has come to pass since.
Versailles, after its completion, became the
perfect expression of the decadence and de-
moralization of the old regime. It can only be
compared to the relations between du Barry and
the young Marie Antoinette, who was all that was
contrary to all for which the former stood.
246 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
That the court of Louis XV was artificially
brilliant there is no doubt. It was this that made
it stand out from the sombre background of the
masses of the time. It was a dazzling, human
spectacle, and Versailles, with its extravagant,
superficial charms, carried it very near to the
brink of ruin, though even in its most banal
vulgarities there was a certain sense of ambitious
sincerity. The people of the peasant class lived
as animals, "black, livid and scorched by the
sun." The sense of all this penetrated readily
even to Versailles, so that La Pompadour or Louis,
one or the other of them, or was it both together,
cried out instinctively: " Apres nous le deluge."
The intricacies of the etiquette of the daily life
of the king, his follies and fancies, made the his-
tory of Versailles the most brilliant of that of the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries certainly
it was the most opulent. The manners of the
time were better than the morals, and if good
taste in art and architecture had somewhat fallen
there is no doubt but that a charming fantasy
often made up for a lack of estheticism.
The story of the palace, the park, the king and
his court are so interwoven that no resume of the
story of one can ignore that of any of the others.
The king and court present themselves against
this background with an intimacy and a clearness
Versailles: The Glory of France 247
which is remarkable for its appeal to one's curios-
ity. It is a long, long day of life which begins
with the petit lever and only ends with the grand
coucher.
If there was ever a Castle of Indolence and
Profligacy it was Versailles, though indeed it is
regarded as the monarchy's brilliant zenith.
The picture is an unforgetable one to any who
have ever read its history or seen its stones.
In the year 1650, Martial de Lomenci, one of
the ministers of Charles IX, was the Seigneur
of Versailles, but at the will of Catherine de
Medici he was summarily strangled that she
might get possession of the property and make a
present of it to her favourite, Albert de Gondi,
Marechal de Retz.
About 1625 Louis XIII had caused a small
hunting pavilion to be built near by and, by de-
grees, acquiring more land took it into his head to
erect something more magnificent in the way of
a country-house, though the real conception of a
suburban Paris palace only came with Louis XIV.
Levau, the latter's architect, made the neces-
sary alterations to the structure already existing,
and little by little the more magnificent project
known in its completed form to-day was evolved.
War not being actually in progress, or imminent,
great bodies of soldiery were set at work with
248 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
pick and shovel, and at one time thirty thousand
had laid aside their sabres and muskets for the
more peaceful art of garden-making under the
direction of Le Notre.
In three decades the sum total of the chief roll
of expenses of the palace and its dependencies
reached eighty-one million, one hundred and fifty-
one thousand, four hundred and fourteen livres,
nine sols and two deniers. It is perhaps even
more interesting to know that of this vast sum
more than three millions went for marble, twenty-
one millions for masonry, two and a half mil-
lions for the rougher woodwork and a like sum
for marquetry. Other additional "trifling" em-
bellishments of Versailles and the Trianon dur-
ing the same period counted up another six mil-
lion and a half.
The expense of these works was enormous
on all sides. Water being required for the pur-
pose of supplying the fountains it was proposed
that the waters of the Eure should be turned from
their original bed and made to pass through Ver-
sailles, and the enterprise was actually begun.
Beyond the gardens was formed the Little Park,
about four leagues around, and beyond this lay
the Great Park, measuring twenty leagues around
and enclosing several forest villages. The total
expenses of these works may never have been
Versailles: The Glory of Prance 249
exactly known, but they must have been immense,
that is certain, and have even been estimated at
as much as one billion francs. The works were
so far completed in 1664 that the first Versailles
fete was given to consecrate the palace. In honour
of this event Moliere composed "La Princesse
d'Elide."
The improvements, however, were continued,
and in 1670, Levau, dying, was succeeded by his
nephew, Jules Hardouin Mansart, who wished
to destroy the chateau of Louis XIII and erect
one uniform building. Louis XIV, out of respect
to his father, would not allow Mansart 's project
to be carried out and therefore alterations were
only made in the court by surrounding it on the
western side with the magnificent buildings now
forming the garden front. The southern wing
was subsequently added for the accommodation
of the younger members of the royal family.
In 1685 the northern wing was erected to meet
the requirements of the attaches of the court.
The chapel was commenced in 1699 and finished
in 1710.
Louis XIV took up his residence in the palace
in 1 68 1 with Madame de Montespan, and, thirty-
five years afterwards, died there, the reigning
favourite then being Madame de Maintenon.
During this time Versailles was the theatre of
250 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
many extraordinary scenes. Louis XV was born
here but did not take up his residence here until
after he was of age. Here it was that his favourites
Madame de Chateauroux, Madame de Pompa-
dour and Madame du Barry found themselves
most at home. It was under the direction of
this monarch that the theatre was built in the
northern wing, and was formally opened on the
occasion of the marriage of the dauphin, Louis
XVI, in 1770.
Towards the end of the reign of Louis XV a
new wing and pavilion were added on the northern
side of the principal court, and it was proposed to
build across the court a new front in the same
uniform style. The idea could not be carried out
in consequence of the troublous times of Louis
XVI and the enormous estimated expense. The
Revolution intervened and Versailles remained
closed until it was reopened by the first Napoleon,
who, however, was unable to take up his residence
in it on account of his frequent campaigns afield.
At the Restoration Louis XVIII, as the repre-
sentative of the ancient monarchy, wished to
make Versailles the seat of the court, but was de-
terred from doing so by the appalling previous
expense. During the reigns of both Napoleon
and Louis XVIII considerable sums were ex-
pended in its refurbishing so that it was- not wholly
Versailles: The Glory of France 251
a bygone when finally the French authorities
made of it, if not the chief, at least the most
popular monument historique of all France.
And yet the aspect of Versailles is sadly weary-
ing. To-day Versailles is lonely; one is haunted
by the silence and the bareness, if not actual
emptiness. Only once in seven years does the
old palace take on any air of the official life of the
Republic, and that is when the two legislative
bodies join forces and come to Versailles to vote
for the new president. For the rest of the time
it is deserted, save for the guardians and visitors,
a memory only of the splendours imagined and
ordained by Louis XIV.
For nearly a century the master craftsmen of
a nation conspired to its beatification, and cer-
tainly for gorgeousness and extravagance Versailles
has merited any encomiums which have ever
been expended upon it. It was made and remade
by five generations of the cleverest workers who
ever lived, until it took supreme rank as the great-
est storehouse of luxurious trifles in all the world.
One wearies though of the straight lines and
long vistas of Versailles, the endless repetition of
classical motives, which, while excellent, each in
its way, do pall upon one in an inexplicable fash-
ion. It possesses, however, a certain dignity
and grace in every line. This is a fact which
252 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
one can not deny. It is expressive of well, of
nothing but Versailles, and the part it played
in the life of its time.
The millions for Versailles were obtained in
ways too devious and lengthy to follow up here.
Even Louis XIV began to see before the end the
condition into which he had led the nation, though
he punished every one who so much as hinted at
his follies. Vauban, "the hero of a hundred
sieges," published a book on the relations between
the king and court and the tax-paying masses
and was disgraced forever after, dying within
a few months of a broken heart that he should
have been so impotent in attempting to bring
about a reform.
The life of the king at Versailles had little of
privacy in it. From his rising to his going to
bed he was constantly in the hands of his valets
and courtiers, even receiving ambassadors of
state while he was still half hidden by the heavy
curtains of his great four-poster. They had
probably been waiting hours in the Salon de
POeil de Bceuf before being admitted to the
kingly presence.
It was at this period that Michael Chamillard, the
Minister of War, introduced billiards into France
by the way of Versailles. He played with Louis
XIV and pleased him greatly, but Chamillard
Versailles: The Glory of France 253
was no statesman, as history and the following
lines from his epitaph point out.
" Ci git le fameux Chamillard
De son Roy le pronotaire
Qui jut un heros au billard
Un zero dans le Minis tere."
This apartment of the Oeil de Boeuf was the
ancient Cabi du Conseil. It is a wonderfully
decorated apartment, and its furnishings, beyond
those which are actually built into the fabric, are
likewise of a splendour and good taste which it
is to be regretted is not everywhere to be noted in
the vast palace of Louis XIV. The garnishings
of the chimney-piece alone would make any great
room interesting and well furnished, and the
great golden clock, finely chiselled and brilliantly
burnished, is about the most satisfactory French
clock one ever saw, marking, as it does, in its
style, the transition between that of Louis XIV
and Louis XV.
Versailles, in many respects, falls far short
to-day of the ideal; its very bigness and bareness
greatly detract from the value of the historic
souvenir which has come down to us. Changes
could undoubtedly be made to advantage, and
to this point much agitation has lately been
directed, particularly in cutting out some of the
254 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
recently grown up trees which have spoiled the
classic vistas of the park, and the removal of those
ugly equestrian statues which the Monarchy of
July erected.
Versailles only came under Napoleon's cur-
sory regard for a brief moment. He hardly
knew whether he would care to make his home
here or not, but ordered his architects to make
estimates for certain projects which he had con-
ceived and when he got them was so staggered
at their magnitude that he at once threw over
any idea that he may have had of making it his
dwelling.
The Revolution had stripped the palace quite
bare; no wonder that the emperor balked at the
cost of putting it in order. Napoleon may have
had his regrets for he made various allusions
to Versailles while exiled at Saint Helena, but
then it was too late.
Louis Philippe took a matter-of-fact view of
the possible service that the vast pile might render
to his family and accordingly spent much money
in a great expanse of gaudy wall decorations
which are there to-day, thinking to make of it a
show place over which might preside the genius
of his sons.
These acres of meaningless battle-pieces, Al-
gerian warfare and what not are characteristic
Versailles: The Glory of France 255
of the "Citizen- King" whose fondness for red
plush, green repp and horsehair sofas was nota-
ble. What he did at Versailles was almost
as great a vandalism against art as that wrought
by the Revolution.
Last scene of all: Under Lebrun's magnif-
icent canopied ceiling, where the effigy of Louis
XIV is being crowned by the Goddess of Glory,
and the German eagle sits on a denuded tree
trunk screaming in agony and beating his wings
in despair, William of Prussia was proclaimed
Emperor of United Germany. It was almost
as great an indignity as France ever suffered;
the only greater was when the Prussians marched
through the Arc de Triomphe de Pfetoile. That
was, and is, the Frenchman's the Parisian's,
at all events culminating grief.
The apartment referred to is the Grand Galerie
des Glaces (or Galerie Louis XIV), which is
accredited as one of the most magnificently ap-
pointed rooms of its class in all the world. It
is nearly two hundred and fifty feet in length,
nearly forty feet in width, and forty-three feet
in height. It is lighted by seventeen large arched
windows, which correspond with arched niches
on the opposite wall filled with mirrors hence
the name.
Sixty Corinthian columns of red marble with
256 Eoyal Palaces and Parks of France
bases and capitals of gilt bronze fill up the inter-
vening wall spaces. The vaulted ceiling by Le-
brun is divided into eighteen small compart-
ments and nine of much larger dimensions, in
which are allegorically represented the principal
events in the history of Louis XIV, from the
Peace of the Pyrenees to that of Nymeguen.
It was in this splendid apartment that Louis
XIV displayed the grandeur of royalty in its
highest phase and such was the luxury of the times,
such the splendour of the court, that its immense
size could hardly contain the crowd of courtiers
that pressed around the monarch.
Several splendid fetes took place in this great
room, of which those of the marriage of the Due
de Bourgogne in 1697 and that given on the
arrival of Marie Antoinette were the most brilliant.
Following are three pen-pictures of this historic
palace.
THE VERSAILLES or LONG AGO. It was to
Versailles that the Grand Roi repaired after his
stern chase of the Spaniards across Flanders;
through the wood of Saint Germain and over
those awful cobblestones which Parisians know
so well to-day rolled the gilded carrosse of the
king. He had already been announced by a
runner who had also brought news of the latest
victory. Courtiers and populace alike crowded
Versailles: The Glory of Prance 257
the streets of the town in an effort to acquire a
good place from which to see the arrival of the
king. Intendants and servitors were giving orders
on all sides, frequently contradictory, and garden-
ers were furbishing up the alleyed walks and
flower beds in readiness for Sa Majeste Louis
Quatorze and all his little world of satellites. A
majestic effervescence bubbled over all, and the
bourgeoisie enjoyed itself hugely, climbing even
on roof-tops and gables in the town without the
palace gates.
The Roi Soleil came at last to his "well-beloved
city of Versailles." "He arrived in a cloud of
golden dust," said a writer of the time, and any
who have seen Versailles blazing and treeless
in the middle of a long, hot summer, will know
what it was like on that occasion.
Cannons roared, and the sound of revelry
and welcoming joy was everywhere to be heard.
THE VERSAILLES OF YESTERDAY. The lu-
gubrious booming of cannons came rolling over
the meanderings of the Seine from the capital.
The hard-heads of Paris would understand noth-
ing; they would make flow never-ceasing rivers
of blood. The national troops were well-nigh
impotent; it was difficult to shoot down your own
flesh and blood at any time; doubly so when your
native land has not yet been evacuated by a ven-
258 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
turesome enemy. It was the time of the Com-
mune. Traffic at Versailles was of that inten-
sity that circulation was almost impossible. In
spite of a dismal April rain the town was full of
all sorts and conditions of men. The animation
of the crowd was feverish, but it was without joy.
A convoy of prisoners passed between two lines
of soldiers with drawn bayonets. They were
Frenchmen, but they were Communards. It was
but a moment before they were behind the barred
doors of the barracks which was to be their prison,
packed like a troop of sheep for the slaughter.
Versailles itself, the palace and the town, were
still sad. The rain still fell in torrents.
THE VERSAILLES OF TO-DAY. Roses, begonias,
geraniums, the last of a long hot summer, still shed
their fragrant memories over the park of Ver-
sailles. In the long, sober alleys a few leaves had
already dropped from the trees above, marking
the greensward and the gravel like a tapis
d'orient, red and green and gold.
Flora and Bacchus in their fountains seemed
less real than ever before, more sombre under the
pale, trickling light through the trees. A few
scattered visitors were about, sidling furtively
around the Trianon, the Colonnade and the
Bosquet d'Apollon; and the birds of the wood
were even now bethinking of their winter pil-
Versailles: The Glory of France 259
grimage. Versailles was still sad. The last rays
of the setting sun shot forth reflected gold from
the windows of the chateau and soon the silver
blue veil of a September twilight came down
like a curtain of gauze.
Versailles, the Versailles of other days, is gone
forever. Who will awaken its echoes in after
years? When will the Trianon again awake
with the coquetries of a queen? When will the
city of the Roi Soleil come again into its own
proud splendour ?
The sun has set, the great iron gates of the
courtyard are closed, the palace and all therein
sleeps.
" Allan nous en d*ici: laissons la place aux
ombres."
CHAPTER XVI
THE GARDENS OF VERSAILLES AND THE
TRIANONS
VERSAILLES without its court of marble, its
fountains, its gardens and its park, and the at-
tendant Grand and Petit Trianons, would hardly
have the attraction that it has to-day.
The ensemble is something of more vast and
varied extent than is to be seen elsewhere, though
its aspect has somewhat changed from what it
was of old, and the crowds of Sunday and holiday
visitors give the courts and alleyed walks some-
what the aspect of a modern amusement resort.
The gardens of Versailles were but the fram-
ing of a princely dwelling created to respond
to the requirements of a court which was at-
tempting to do things on a grand scale. Every-
thing was designed with most magnificent out-
lines; everything was royal, in all verity archi-
tecture, garden-making, fetes, receptions and
promenades. What setting, then, could have
been more appropriate to the life of the times?
Versailles, the town, had never prospered,
260
The Gardens of Versailles 261
and has never proved sufficiently attractive to
become a popular suburb; and, though to-day
it passed the mark of half a hundred thousand
population, it never would have existed at all
had it not been for the palace of Louis XIV.
Were it not for the palace and its attributes,
Versailles would have absolutely no memories
for visitors, except such as may have lunched
well at the Hotel des Reservoirs or the Hotel
du Trianon. That is not everything, to be sure;
but it is something, even when one is on an his-
toric pilgrimage.
Even in the day of Louis XVI the popular
taste was changing and Versailles was con-
temptuously referred to as a world of automota,
of cold, unfeeling statuary and of Noah's Ark
trees and forests. There was always a certain
air of self-satisfaction about it, as there is, to-day,
when the Parisian hordes come out to see the
waters play, and the sight-seers marvel at the
mock splendour and the scraps of history doled
out for their delectation by none-too-painstaking
guardians.
In spite of all this, no sober-minded student of
art or history will ever consider Versailles, the
palace and the park, as other than a superb and a
spectacular demonstration of the taste of the times
in which it was planned, built and lived in.
262 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
Versailles was begun in 1624 by Louis XIII,
who built here a humble hunting-lodge for the
disciples of Saint Hubert of whom he was the
royal head. So humble an erection was it that
the monarch referred to it simply as a "petite
maison" and paid for it out of his own pocket,
a rare enough proceeding at that epoch.
The critical Bassompierre called it a "chetif
chateau," and Saint-Simon referred to it as a
"house of cards." Manifestly, then, it was no
great thing. It was, however, a comfortable
country-house, surrounded by a garden and a
more ample park.
It was not Lemercier, the presiding genius
of the Louvre at this time, but an unknown
by the name of Le Roy, whom Louis XIII chose
as his architect.
Boyceau traced the original parterres with a
central basin at a crossroads of two wide avenues.
Each of the four compartments thus made was
ornamented with broderies and trimmed hedges,
and the open spaces were ingeniously filled with
parti-coloured sands, or earth. A parterre of
flowers immediately adjoined the palace and
rudimentary alleys and avenues stretched off
towards the wood. Although designed by Boy-
ceau, this work was actually executed by his
nephew, Jacques de Menours, who, with dim-
The Gardens of Versailles 263
culty, collected his pay. His books of account
showed that in five years, from 1631 to 1636,
he had drawn but once a year a sum varying
from fifteen hundred to four thousand limes
while in the same period the king had spent
on the rest of the work at Versailles two hundred
and thirty-eight thousand livres, thirty-two sols,
six deniers, nearly one million one hundred
thousand francs of the money of to-day.
The first of the outdoor embellishments of
the palace at Versailles is the great Cour Royale,
or the Cour d'Honneur, which opens out behind
the long range of iron gates facing upon the
Place d'Armes. At the foot of this entrance
court is an extension called the Cour de Marbre.
This Cour de Marbre, on January 5, 1757, was
the scene of the infamous attack on Louis XV
by Damiens, just as the king was starting out
for the Trianon.
A thick redingote saved the king's life; but
for "this mere pin-prick," according to Vol-
taire, the monarch went immediately to bed,
and five times in succession sought absolution
for his sins. Sins lay heavy even on royal heads
in those days.
Damiens was but a thick-witted, superstitious
valet, who, more or less persecuted by the noble
employers with whom he had been in service
264 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
at various times, sought to avenge himself, not
on them, but on their king, as the figurehead
of all that was rotten in the social hierarchy.
Louis, heretofore known as the "Bien Aime,"
had become suddenly unpopular because of
the disastrous war against England and Ger-
many, and his prodigal dissipation of public
moneys.
Stretching out behind the palace are the famous
gardens, the parterres, the tapis vert, the foun-
tains and the grand canal, with the park of the
Trianons off to the right.
Good fortune came to Louis XIV when he
found Andre Le Notre, for it was he and no other
who traced the general lines of the garden of the
Versailles which was to be. He laid a generous
hand upon the park and forest which had sur-
rounded the manor of Louis XIII, and extended
the garden to the furthermost limits of his in-
genuity. Modifications were rapid, and from
1664 the parterres and the greensward took on
entirely new forms and effects. The Parterre
des Reservoirs became the Parterre du Nord,
and an alley of four rows of lindens enclosed
the park on all sides. The Parterre a Fleurs,
or the Jardin du Roy, between the chateau and
the Orangerie, was laid out anew.
By the following year the park began to take
The Gardens of Versailles 265
on the homogeneity which it had hitherto lacked.
The great Rondeau, as it was called, and which
became later the Bassin du Dragon, was exca-
vated, and the Jardin Bas, or the Nouveau Par-
terre, with an oval depression, was also planned.
At one end of the park was the celebrated
Menagerie du Roy, where the rare and exotic
animals collected by the monarch had "a palace
more magnificent than the home of any other
dumb animals in the world." This was the
first period of formal garden construction at
Versailles, and it was also the period when the
first great impetus was given to sculptural decora-
tion.
In 1679, following a journey in Italy, Le Notre
took up again the work on the gardens at Ver-
sailles, devoting himself to the region south of the
palace which hitherto had been ignored. This
was Le Notre's most prolific period.
The creations at Versailles can be divided
into two distinct epochs, that before 1670 and
that coming after. After Le Notre's generous
design, the king and queen were seemingly never
satisfied with the endless plotting and planting
which was carried on beneath the windows of
the palace, and in many instances changed the
colour schemes and even the outlines of Le Notre's
original conceptions.
266 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
The Versailles of to-day is no longer the Ver-
sailles of Louis XIII, so far as the actual dis-
position of details goes. Then there was very
little green grass and much sand and gravel, a
scheme of decoration which entered largely into
the seventeenth century garden. This refers
principally to the general effect, for Le Notre
made much use of the enclosing battery of lindens,
chestnuts and elms of a majestic and patriarchal
grandeur which have since been cut and re-
placed by smaller species of trees, or not replaced
at all.
No sooner were the ornamental gardens planned
at Versailles than the Potager du Roy, or fruit
and vegetable garden, was created. This same
garden exists to-day with almost its former out-
lines. Here a soil sufficiently humid, and yet
sufficiently well drained, contributed not a little
towards the success of this most celebrated of
all kitchen gardens the world has known.
The work of installing a further system of
artificial drainage was immediately begun, and
the Eaux des Suisses was created, to take the
place of a former stagnant pool near by. Un-
doubtedly it was a stupendous work, like all the
projects launched with regard to Versailles, but,
like the others, it was brought to a speedy and
successful conclusion. The details of the history
The Gardens of Versailles 267
of this royal vegetable garden are fully set forth
in a work published in 1690 by the son of the
designer, the Abbe Michel de la Quintinye, in
two bulky volumes. "It was meet that a royal
vegetable garden should have been designed
by a 'Gentleman Gardener/" said the faithful
biographer in his foreword, and as such the man
and the work are to be considered here.
The work was accomplished by the combined
efforts of a gracious talent and the expenditure
of much money, put at La Quintinye's disposi-
tion by his royal master, who had but to put his
hand deep into the coffers of the royal treasury
to draw it forth filled with gold. Critics have
said that La Quintinye's ability stopped with
the preparation of the soil, and with the design
of the garden, rather than with the actual cultiva-
tion, but at all events it was he who made the
garden possible.
La Quintinye adopted Arnauld d'Andilly's
method of planting fruit trees en espalier by
training them against a wall-like background,
and to accomplish this divided the garden plot,
which covered an area of eight hectares (twenty
acres), into a great number of subdivisions en-
closed by walls, in order to multiply to as great
an extent as possible the available space to be
used for the espaliers. Again, these same walls
268 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
served to shelter certain varieties which were
planted close against them. If this Potager
du Roy was not actually the first garden of its
class so laid out, it was certainly one of the most
extensive and the most successful up to that
time.
The great terraces of at least two metres in
width surrounded the central garden, leaving
a free area for the latter which approximated
three hectares.
These terraces were divided into twenty-eight
compartments, forming nine distinct varieties
of gardens.
The celebrated gardener of Louis XIV sought
not only to obtain fruits and vegetables of a
superior quality and an abundant quantity, but
was the first among his kind to produce early
vegetables, or primeurs, in any considerable
quantity, and, by a process of forced culture, he
was able to put upon the table of the monarch
asparagus in December, lettuce in January,
cauliflower in March and strawberries in April.
All these may be found at the Paris markets
to-day, and at these seasons, but the growing of
primeurs for the Paris markets has become a
great industry since the time it was first begun at
Versailles.
Of asparagus La Quintinye said, "It is a
The Gardens of Versailles 269
vegetable that only kings can ever hope to eat."
The Potager du Roy was begun in 1678, and
completed in 1683. It cost, all told, one million
one hundred and seventy thousand nine hundred
and eighty-three limes of which four hundred
and sixty-seven thousand three hundred and sixty-
four went for constructions in brick and stone,
walls, enclosures and drains. Its annual main-
tenance (1685) amounted to twenty thousand
nine hundred and ninety-nine limes. The effort
proved one of great benefit to its creator, for
La Quintinye, at the completion of this work,
received further commissions of a like nature
from the Prince de Conde, the Due de Montansier,
Colbert, Fouquet and others.
So great a marvel was .this vegetable garden
at Versailles that it was the object of a pilgrimage
of the Doge of Venice in 1685, and of the Siamese
ambassadors in the following year. The garden
has been preserved as an adjunct to Versailles
up to the present day. For two centuries its
product went to the " Service de Bouche" of the
chief of state, that is, the royal dinner table;
but in 1875 the Minister of Agriculture installed
there the French National Horticultural College,
which to-day, with a widened scope, has admitted
ornamental plants and trees to this famous gar-
den. Nevertheless the general outlines have been
270 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
preserved, though certain of the terraces have
disappeared, as well as many of the walls of the
original enclosure, thus reducing the number
of garden plots; in fact but sixteen distinctly
defined gardens remain, including the Clos aux
Asperges.
The general lines of the garden design of Le
Notre and Boyceau at Versailles are to be noted
to-day, but if anything the maintenance of the
gardens is hardly the equal of what it was in the
time of Louis XIV and a seeming disaster has
fallen upon Versailles as these lines are being
written.
The military authorities have set aside, as a
site for an aerostation camp, some twenty-five
acres of the park near Rocquencourt. This
is one of the loveliest parts, shaded by magnif-
icent trees which, presumably, will have to be
sacrificed, since, if left standing, they would
certainly interfere with maneuvering with mili-
tary aeroplanes, dirigibles and balloons.
At a time when deforestation is recognized
to be one of the greatest dangers that menace
a country's prosperity, one of its consequences
being such inundations as those which recently
devastated Paris and the Seine valley, it is re-
grettable that the forest surrounding Versailles
should be depleted.
11
PLAN DU JARDIN JTOTAGER DU KOT A VERSAIJLLS,
ARDIN POTAGER DU ROV AVERS AIL. LES (XX CENTU
The Potager du Roy, Versailles
The Gardens of Versailles 271
Furthermore, the realization of the project
means a loss of revenue to the state which at
present derives some sixty thousand francs a
year from the farming lease of this portion of
the park.
Therefore, for material considerations, as well
as because Versailles and its surroundings should
be preserved intact as a noble relic of one of the
grandest periods of French history, one of the
most beautiful creations of French genius, the
project attributed to the military authorities is
short-sighted. To diminish the attractions of
Versailles would certainly prove an unwise policy,
as the stream of tourists, which is the chief source
of profit to Versailles and its population, would
inevitably be diverted to some other channel.
Only a short time ago a Societe des Amis de
Versailles was created for the purpose of safe-
guarding its artistic and natural beauties. The
government gave the organization its approba-
tion and there is something delightfully ironical
in the fact that the military authorities of the same
government are planning to destroy what the
society, fathered by the Ministere des Beaux
Arts, was formed to preserve.
Another modern aspect of the park of Ver-
sailles was noted during the late winter when,
after a sharp freeze, all the youth of Paris had
272 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
seemingly gone out to Versailles for the skating
only to be met by a freshly-posted notice which
read:
Defense
De Patiner Par
Arrete du 17 Decembre, 1849
These signs were posted here and there about
the park, in the courtyard, on the postern gate,
on trees, everywhere. The authorities were
bound that there should be no flagrant violation
of the order of 1849.
"You see," said one of the park guardians,
"c'est defendu; but as we are only two and the
crowd is very large we can do nothing." This
was evident. Thousands overran the Grand
Canal, which at its greatest depth was scarcely
more than a yard to the bottom, and so, despite
of monarchial decree, Republican France still
skates on the ornamental waters of Versailles
when occasion offers.
"N'oiMiez pas le petit balayeur, s'il vous
plait," was as often heard as "Allez vous-en."
On the whole it was rather a picturesque
sight. A thick haze hung over the now white
"Tapis Vert," and the nude figures of the Bassin
d'Apollon were clothed in a mantle of snow,
while the white-robed statues of the Allee Royale,
The Gardens of Versailles 273
one could well believe, shivered as one passed.
The fountains of Versailles, the " Grands
Eaux" and "Petits Eaux," which shoot their
jets in air " semi-occasionally " for the benefit
of Paris's "good papas" and their children,
are distinctly popular features, and of an artistic
worth neither less nor greater than most garden
accessories of the artificial order. The fact
that it costs something like ten thousand francs
to "play" these fountains seems to be the chief
memory which one retains of them in operation,
unless it be the crowds which make the going
and coming so uncomfortable.
The Orangerie lies just below the terrace of
the Parterre du Midi, and a thousand or more
non-bearing orange trees are scattered about.
They are descendants of fifteenth century ances-
tors, it is claimed but doubtfully.
The great basin of water known as the Eaux
des Suisses was excavated by the Swiss Guard
of Louis XIV to serve the useful purpose of
irrigating the Potager du Roy, and as a decora-
tive effect of great value to that part of the garden
upon which faces the fourteen-hundred-foot front
of the palace.
Still farther off towards the Bois de Satory,
after crossing the Tapis Vert, lie the famous
Bassins de Latone and Apollon, the Bassin du
274 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
Miroir and, finally, the Grand Canal, with one
transverse branch leading to the Menagerie
(now the government stud-farm) and the other
to the Trianons.
The satellite palaces known as the Grand
and Petit Trianons are, like the Palace of Ver-
sailles itself, of such an abounding historical
interest that it were futile to attempt more than
a mere intimation of their comparative rank
and aspect.
The rather sprawling, one-story, horseshoe-
shaped villa built by Louis XIV for Madame
de Maintenon, and known as the Grand Trianon,
was an architectural conception of Mansart's.
It is worth remarking that the Grand Trianon,
to-day, is in a more nearly perfect state than it
has been for long past, for the restorations lately
made have removed certain interpolations mani-
festly out of place.
It is due to M. de Nolhac, the Conservateur
du Musee de Versailles, that this happy amel-
ioration has been brought about and that Man-
sart's admirable work is again as it was in the
days of Madame de Maintenon and those of the
later Napoleon I.
In spite of all this the Trianon of to-day
is not what it was in the eighteenth century.
"Madame de Maintenon," said de Musset,
Fountain of Neptune* Versailles
274 Eoyal Palaces and Parks of France
Miroir and, finally, the Grand Canal, with one
transverse branch leading to the Menagerie
(now the government stud-farm) and the other
to the Trianons.
The satellite palaces known as the Grand
and Petit Trianons are, like the Palace of Ver-
sailles itself, of such an abounding historical
interest that it were futile to attempt more than
a mere intimation of their comparative rank
and aspect.
The rather sprawling, one-story, horseshoe-
shaped villa built by Louis XIV for Madame
de Maintenon, and known as the Grand Trianon,
It is worth remarking that the Grand Trianon,
ay, is in a more nearly perfect state than it
has been for long past, for the restorations lately
made have removed certain interpolations mani-
. out of place.
It is due to M. de Nolhac, the Conservateur
du Muse de Versailles, that this happy amel-
ioration has been brought about and that Man-
sart's admirable work is again as it was in the
days of Madame de Maintenon and those of the
later Napoleon I.
In spite of all this the Trianon of to-day
is not what it was in the eighteenth century.
"Madame de Maintenon," said de Musset,
The Gardens of Versailles 275
"made of Versailles an oratory, but La Pompa-
dour turned it into a boudoir." He also called
the Trianon: "a tiny chateau of porcelain."
It was, too, the boudoir of Madame de Mon-
tespan.
Louis XV, too, built, or furnished, discreet
boudoirs of this order on every hand. More
than one great gallery in which his elders had
done big things he divided and subdivided into
minute apartments and papered the walls, or
painted them, all colours of the rainbow, or hung
them with silks or velvets.
" Don't you think my little apartment shows
good taste," he asked one day of the Comtesse
de Seran at Versailles.
"Not at all," she replied, "I would much
rather that the walls were hung in blue."
That particular apartment was in rose, but,
since blue was the favourite colour of the monarch,
the reply was but flattering. The next time
that his friend, the Comtesse, appeared on the
scene the apartment had all been done over in
blue.
The monarch soon began to turn his attention
to the gardens. Bowers, labyrinths and vases
and statues were inexplicably mixed as in a maze.
He began to have the "gout pastoral," his biogra-
pher has said, a vogue that Madame du Barry
276 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
and Marie Antoinette came in time to push to
its limits.
The king was too ready to admire all that
was suggested, all that was offered, and the ulti-
mate effect was well, it was the opposite of
what he hoped it to be, though doubtless he did
not realize it.
In the garden of the Grand Trianon is a great
basin with a cascade flowing down over a sort
of a high altar arrangement in red and white
marble called the Buffet de P Architecture, and
evolved by Mansart. This architect certainly
succeeded much better with his purely architec-
tural conceptions than he did with interpolated
decorative elements intended to relieve a formal
landscape.
The Petit Trianon, the pride of Louis XV,
was designed by the architect Gabriel, and its
reigning goddess was Marie Antoinette. Souve-
nirs of the unhappy queen are many, but the
caretakers are evidently bored with their duties
and hustle you through the apartments with
scant ceremony that they may doze again un-
disturbed in their corners.
The garden of the Petit Trianon is a veritable
Jardin Anglais, that is, the decorative portion,
where sweeps and curves, as meaningless as
those one sees on banknotes and no more decora-
The Gardens of Versailles
277
tive, are found in place of the majestic lines of
the formal garden when laid out after the French
manner.
The Hameau y where is the dairy where the
queen played housewife and shepherdess, is
just to the
rear of this
bijou palace
and looks
stagy and un-
real enough
to be the
wings and
back-drop of
a pastoral
play.
Near Ver-
sailles was
the Chateau
de Clagny,
with a gar-
den laid out
by Le Notre, quite the rival of many better known.
Of it Madame de Sevigne wrote: "It is the
Palais d'Armide; you know the manner of Le
Notre; here he has done his best."
The Couvent des Recollettes, just across the
Bois de Satory, was built by Louis XIV out of
278 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
regard for the religieux whom he displaced from
an edifice which stood upon a plot which was
actually needed for the palace gardens. The
Chateaux of Noisy and Molineaux were also
affiliated with Versailles.
The rest of the surroundings and accessories
of Versailles are mere adjunctive details of those
chief features here mentioned. To catalogue
them even would be useless since they are all
set down in the guidebooks.
CHAPTER XVII
SAINT GERMAIN-EN-LAYE
SAINT GERMAIN has not the popularity of
Versailles, nor the charm of Fontainebleau, but
it is more accessible than either, and, if less known
and less visited by the general mass of tourists,
it is all the more delightful for that.
Saint Germain, the chateau, the town and
the forest, possess a magnificent site. Behind
is a wooded background, and before one are the
meanderings of the Seine which in the summer
sunlight is a panorama which is to be likened to
no other on earth. Across the river bottom
run the great tree-lined roadways, straight as
the proverbial flight of the arrow, while on the
horizon, looking from the celebrated terrace, one
sees to-day the silhouetted outline of Paris with
the Tour Eiffel and the dome of the Sacre Cceur
as the culminating points.
The town itself is ugly and ill-paved, and
heavy-booted dragoons make a hideous noise
as they clank along to and from the cavalry
barracks all through the day and night. Neither
279
280 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
are scorching automobiles making their ways
to Trouville and Dieppe over the " Route des
Quarante Sous" a pleasant feature. One can
ignore all these things, however, for what is left is
of a superlative charm.
Saint Germain-en-Laye in the first stages of
French history was but a vast extent of forest
Saint Germain-en-Laye 281
which under Charlemagne came to the possession
of the monks of the Abbaye de Saint Germain-
des-Pres. The first royal palace here was built
by King Robert in the tenth century, practically
upon the site of the present edifice. In the
eleventh century there came into being another
royal dwelling, and in the twelfth century Louis-
le-Gros built a chateau-fort as a protection to
the royal residence and monastery. This did
not prevent the Black Prince from very nearly
burning them down on one of his bold raids,
but by 1367, Charles V re-erected the "castel"
of Saint Germain-en-Laye.
The English, by coercion, induced a monk
of a neighbouring establishment at Nanterre
to deliver up a set of false keys by which the
great gates of the castle were surreptitiously
opened, and, for a time, the descendants of
the Conqueror held possession.
The establishment of Charles V in no way
satisfying the artistic ambitions of Francis I,
that monarch gave the task of reconstruction
to the architect Pierre Chambiges, in 1539, pre-
serving only the Saint Chapelle of Saint Louis
and the donjon.
The building must have gone forward with an
extreme rapidity for at the architect's death, in 1544,
it had reached nearly the level of the rooftop.
282 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
Chambiges' successor was his son-in-law, Guil-
laume Guillain, who, without changing the primi-
tive plan, completed the work in 1548.
Saint Germain, above the first story, is es-
sentially a construction of bricks, but the effect
is even now, as Chambiges originally intended,
an edifice with its main constructive elements
of lower sustaining walls and buttresses of stone
binding together the slighter fabric, or filling,
above. Although it is Renaissance through and
through, Saint Germain shows not the slightest
reminiscence of anything Italian and must be
considered entirely as an achievement of French
genius.
This edifice of Francis I was more a fortress
than a palace in spite of its decorative features,
and Henri II, desiring something more of a
luxurious royal residence, began what the his-
torians and savants know as the Chateau Neuf
the palace of to-day which stands high on the
hill overlooking the winding Seine, to which se-
ducing stream the gardens originally descended
in terraces.
Chiefly it is to Henri IV that this structure
owes its distinction, for previously work went
on but intermittently, and very slowly. Henri
IV brought the work to completion and made
the chateau his preferred and most prolonged
Saint Germain-en-Laye 283
place of residence, as indeed did his successor.
It is the Chateau Neuf of the time of Henri IV
which is to-day known as the Palais de Saint Ger-
main-en-Laye. Of the Vieux Chateau only some
fragmentary walls and piles of debris, the Pavilion
Henri IV, and, in part, the old royal chapel remain.
Actually the structure of to-day includes that
part of the Hotel du Pavilion Henri IV which
is used as a restaurant.
Henri IV and Louis XIII gave Saint Germain
its first great eclat as a suburban place of so-
journ, and from the comings and goings of the
court of that time there gradually grew up the
present city of twenty thousand inhabitants;
not all of them of courtly manners, as one learns
from a recollection of certain facts of contem-
porary modern history.
During the days when Mazarin actually held
the reins of state the court was frequently at
Saint Germain. Louis XIV was born here, and
until Versailles and Marly came into being he
made it his principal dwelling.
It was in one of the magnificent apartments,
too, midway between the angle turrets of the
facade, Louis XIII ended his unhappy exist-
ence in 1642. His own private band of musicians
played a "De Profundis" of his own composi-
tion to waft his soul on its long journey.
284 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
The chroniclers describe one of the monarch's
last conversations as follows: "When they trans-
port my body to Paris after my soul has flown,
Laporte, remember that place where the road
turns under the hill; it is a rough road, Laporte,
and will surely shake my bones sadly if the driver
does not go slowly. "
Those who have journeyed out from Paris
to Saint Germain by road in this later century
will appreciate the necessity for the admonition.
Louis XIV, unlike Louis XIII, detested Saint
Germain beyond words, because the towers of
the Abbaye de Saint Denis, where he was destined
one day to be buried, were visible from the ter-
race. Louis XV was not so particular for he
was so morbid that he even loved, as he claimed
himself, the scent of new-made graves.
The arrival of Anne d'Autriche and the royal
family at Saint Germain during the war of the
Fronde was one of the most dramatic incidents
of the period. They had travelled half the night,
coming from the Palais Royal only to find a palace
awaiting them which was unheated and un-
furnished though the time was mid- January.
Always drear and gaunt it was immeasurably
so on this occasion. Mazarin had made no
provision for the queen's arrival; there were
neither beds, tables nor linen in their proper
Saint Germain-en-Laye 285
places, no servants, no attendants of any kind,
only the guardians of the palace. The queen
was obliged to take rest from her fatigue on a
folding camp bedstead, without covering of any
kind. The princes fared no better, actually
sleeping on the floor.
There were plenty of mirrors and much gold
gingerbread on the walls and ceilings, but no
furniture. The personal belongings which the
court had brought with them were few. No
one had a change of clothing even; those worn
one day were washed the next. However the
queen good-naturedly smiled through it all.
She called it "an escapade which can hardly
last a week."
All Paris was by this time crying "Vive la
Fronde": "Mart a Mazarin:" but it proved
to be something more than a little affair of a week,
as we now know.
At this period, when Anne d'Autriche was
practically a prisoner at Saint Germain, the
picture made by the old chateau against its
forest background was undeniably more im-
posing than that which one sees to-day. The
glorious forest was not then hidden by rows
of banal rooftops, and the dull drabs of barracks
and prisons.
In the warm spring mornings the glittering
286 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
facade of the chateau was brilliant as a diamond
against its setting, and the radiating avenues
of the park leading from the famous terrace
stretched out into infinite vistas that were most
alluring. This effect, fortunately, is not wholly
lost to-day.
At night things were as idyllic as by day. The
queen and her ladies, relieved of the dreary pres-
ence of the king who still remained at Paris,
revelled in an unwonted freedom. Concerts,
suppers and dances were the rule and moon-
light cavalcades to the heart of the forest, or
promenades on foot the length of the terrace,
and by some romantically disposed couples far
beyond, gave a genuine " begone, dull care"
aspect to court life which was not at all possible
in the capital.
The following picture, taken from a court
chronicle, might apply as well to-day if one
makes due allowance for a refulgence of myriad
lamps gleaming out Parisward as night draws in.
"It is a rare moonlight night. The queen
and her ladies have emerged late on the stately
terrace of Henri IV which borders upon the
forest and extends for nearly a league along the
edge of the height upon which stands the chateau.
"The queen and her brother-in-law, Gaston,
Due d'Orleans, have seated themselves some-
Saint Germain-en-Laye 287
what apart from the rest beside the stone balus-
trade which overlooks the steep descent to the
plain below. Vineyards line the hillside and
the Seine flows far beneath, the fertile river-
bottom rich with groves and orchards, villas
and gardens. Still more distant sweeps away
the great plain wrapped in dark shadows punc-
tuated here and there with great splotches of
moonlight. Of the great city beyond (the Paris
of to-day, whose myriad glow-worm lights actually
do lend an additional charm) not a vestige is to
be seen. Scarcely a lantern marks the existence
of a living soul in the vast expanse below, but
the moon, high in the heavens, plots out the entire
landscape with a wonderful impressiveness, and
the stars topping the forest trees to the rear
and the heights which rise on the distant horizon
lend their quota of romanticism, and, as if by
their scintillations, mark the almost indiscernible
towers of the old Abbey of Saint Denis to the
left.
" 'Oh, what a lovely night,' said the queen
to her companion. Again it is the old chronicler
who speaks. 'Can the world ever appear so
calm and peaceful elsewhere ?'
This Terrasse de Henri IV, so called, is one
of the most splendid and best-known terraces
in Europe, and is noted for its extent as well
288 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
as for its marvellous point of view, the whole
panorama Parisward being spread out before
one as if on a map, a view which extends from
the Chateau de Maisons on the left to the Aque-
duct de Marly and the heights of Louveciennes
on the right, including the Bois de Vesinet, Mont
Valerian, Montmartre and the whole Parisian
panorama as far as the Coteaux de Montmorency.
This terrace, too, was the project and con-
struction of Le Notre in 1672. It is two and a
half kilometres in length and thirty metres in
width, upheld by a stone retaining wall which
is surmounted by a balustrade. It extends from
the Pavilion Henri IV to a gun battery well within
the confines of the forest. Entrance from the
precincts of the palace is by the great ornamental
iron gateway known as the Grille Royale, from
which an alleyed row of lindens leads to the
heart of the forest.
The record of another merry party at Saint
Germain is that which recounts that summer
evening when the king and court scuttled about
the park enjoying themselves as only royalty
can when some one else pays the bills. The
terrace, the gravelled walks and the alleyed
paths of the forest all led to charming and dis-
creet rendezvous.
So preoccupied was every one on this particular
The Valley of the Seine, from the Tern
at Saint Germain
288 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
as for its marvellous point of view, the whole
panorama Parisward being spread out before
one as if on a map, a view which extends from
the Chateau de Maisons on the left to the Aque-
duct de Marly and the heights of Louveciennes
on the right, including the Bois de Vesinet, Mont
Valerian, Montmartre and the whole Parisian
panorama as far as the Coteaux de Montmorency.
This terrace, too, was the project and con-
struction of Le Notre in 1672. It is two and a
half kilometres in length and thirty metres in
width, upheld by a stone retaining wall which
is surmounted by a balustrade. It extends from
ttotiffilltai^^ within
the n\&k\&F \foE st to Entrance from the
& of the palace is by the great ornamental
teway known as the Grille Royale, from
which an alleyed row of lindens leads to the
heart of the forest.
The record of another merry party at Saint
Germain is that which recounts that summer
evening when the king and court scuttled about
the park enjoying themselves as only royalty
can when some one else pays the bills. The
terrace, the gravelled walks and the alleyed
paths of the forest all led to charming and dis-
creet rendezvous.
So preoccupied was every one on this particular
Saint Germain-en-Laye 289
occasion that the merry-makers had hardly a
thought for their king, who, left to his own devices,
sought out four maids of honour gossiping in a
bower, and, taking the mischief-loving Lauzan
into his confidence, pried upon them in the am-
bush of the night. They were gossiping over
the dancers at the ball of the night before when
one of them proclaimed her fancy for the agility
and grace of the king above all others. It was
the first expression of "La Valliere" since she
had come timidly to court. The rest is an idyll
which is found set forth in all the history books
at considerable length, and at this particular
moment it was a genuine idyll, for the king
had not then become the debauched roue that
he was in later life.
After Anne d'Autriche, Henriette, the widow
of Charles I of England, found at Saint Germain
a comfortable and luxurious refuge.
From 1 66 1 onward Louis XIV made frequent
visits to Saint Germain and was so taken with the
charms of the neighbourhood and the immediate site
that he conjured six and a half million francs out of
his Civil List, in addition to his regular stipend, for
the upkeep of this palace alone. This was robbery :
modern graft pales before this; candelabra by the
pound and writing tables by the square yard were
known before the days of machine politicians.
290 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
James II of England, in 1688, found a hospit-
able refuge at Saint Germain, thanks to Louis
XIV, and died within the palace walls in 1701,
as did his wife, Maria d'Este, in 1718.
Louis XV and Louis XVI gave Saint Germain
scarce a thought, and under the Empire it became
a cavalry school, and later, under the Restora-
tion, sinking lower still, it merited only the de-
nomination of a barracks. Its culminating fall
arrived when it was turned into a penitentiary.
Napoleon III, with finer instincts, here in-
stalled a museum, and restorations and rebuild-
ing having gone on intermittently since that
time the palace has now taken on a certain
pretence to glory. Practically the palace in its
present form is a restoration, not entirely a new
building, but a rebuilding of an old one, first
begun under the competent efforts of the archi-
tect Eugene Millet, who sought to reestablish
the edifice as it was under Francis I. The great
tower has been preserved but the corner pavilions
of the period of Louis XIV have been demolished
in accord with the carrying out of this plan.
For forty years Saint Germain has been in a
state of restoration, and like the restoration of
Pierrefonds it has swallowed up fantastic sums.
The western facade has been rebuilt from the
chapel to the entrance portal and the last of
Saint Germain-en-Laye 291
Mansart's pavilions, which he built to please
either his own fancy or that of Louis XIV, have
been demolished. Mansart himself made way
with the old tourelles and the balustrade which
rounded off the angles of the walls of the main
buildings and substituted a series of heavy,
ugly maisonettes, more like the bastions of a
fortress than any adjunct to a princely dwelling.
The courtyard of the chateau is curiously
disposed; "so that it may receive the sun at all
times," was the claim of its designer. It, too,
has been brought back to the state in which it
was originally conceived and shorn of its encum-
bering outhouses and odds and ends which
served their purposes well enough when it was
a barracks or a prison, but which were a desecra-
tion to anything called by so dignified a name
as a chateau or a palace. This courtyard is to-day
as it was when the lords and ladies in the train of
Charles IX strolled and even gambolled therein.
The Chapelle de Saint Louis (1240) is in every
way remarkable, especially with respect to its
great rose-window, which was found by Millet
to have been walled up by Louis XIV.
The military museum of to-day, which is en-
closed by the palace walls, possesses a remark-
able collection of its kind, but has no intimate
lien upon the history of the palace.
292 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
The parterre before the palace is cut off from
the forest of Saint Germain by three ornate
iron gates. It was relaid, a transformation from
designs originally conceived in 1676, by Le
Notre, modified in 1750 and much reduced in
size and beauty in the nineteenth century, though
later enlarged by taking three hectares of ground
from the forest and turning them into the ac-
cepted form of an English garden.
A peninsula of a superficial area of over ten
thousand acres snugly enfolded in one of the
great horseshoe bends of the Seine contains
the Foret de Saint Germain. A line drawn
across the neck of the peninsula from Saint Ger-
main to Poissy, following the Route de Poissy,
completely cuts off this tongue of land which
is as wild and wooded to-day as in the times of
Francis, the Henris and the Louis.
The routes and allees of the forest are traced
with regularity and precision, and historians
have written them down as of a length of nearly
four hundred leagues, a statement which a glance
at any map of the forest will well substantiate.
High upon its plateau sits this historic wild-
wood, for the most part of a soil dry and sandy,
with here and there some great mamelon (Druidi-
cal or Pagan, as the case may be) rising some-
what above the average level. Francis I, hunts-
Saint Germain-en-Laye 293
man and lover of art and nature, did much to
preserve this great forest, and Louis XIV in his
time developed its system of roads and paths,
"chiefly to make hunting easy," says history,
though it is difficult to follow this. At all events
the forest remains to-day the most extensive
unspoiled breathing-spot of its class near Paris.
Within this maze of paths and alleys are many
famed historic spots, the Chene Saint Fiacre,
the Croix de Noailles, the Croix Saint Simon,
the Croix du Main (erected in 1709 in honour
of the son of Louis XIV), the Etoile des Amazones,
the Patte d'Oie, the Chene du Capitaine and
many more which are continually referred to
in the history of the palace, the forest of Saint
Germain-en-Laye, and of the Abbaye de Poissy.
The forest is not wholly separated from the
mundane world for occasionally a faint echo
of the Rouen railway is heard, a toot from a
river tug-boat bringing coal up-river to Paris,
the strident notes of automobile horns, or that
of a hooting steam-tram which scorches along
the principal roadway over which state coaches
of kings and courtiers formerly rolled. The
contrast is not particularly offensive, but the
railway threatens to make further inroads, so
one hardly knows the future that may be in
store for the partriarch oaks and elms and chest-
294 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
nuts which make up this secular wild wood.
Their ages may not in all cases approach those
of the great Fontainebleau trees, and in point
of fact the forest is by no means as solitary, nor
ever was. One of the most celebrated, cer-
tainly one of the most spectacular, duels of history
took place in the park at Saint Germain-en-
Laye.
Gui Chabot de Jarnac lived a prodigal and
profligate life at the expense it was said -
of the favours of the Duchesse d'Etampes. The
dauphin, Henri, making an accusation, deemed
wholly uncalled for, a "duel judiciaire" took
place, with La Chataigneraie as the dauphin's
substitute as adversary of de Jarnac who sought
no apology but combat.
It was because Henri meantime had become
king and issued his first Letters Patent to his
council concerning the "duel judiciaire," where-
by he absolved himself of the right to partake,
that he appointed his dear friend Francois de
Vivonne, "Seigneur de la Chataigneraie," to play
the role for him.
Unfortunately the young man could not justify
by victory the honour of his king and before the
monarch and the assembled court he was laid
low by his adversary.
This was one of the last of the "duels judici-
Saint Germain-en-Laye 295
aires ' ' in France. What Saint Louis and Philippe-
le-Bel had vainly sought to suppress, the pro-
cedure having cost at least a hundred thousand
livres, was practically accomplished by Henri II
by a stroke of the pen,
CHAPTER XVIII
MAINTENON
OUT from Paris, on the old Route d'Espagne,
running from the capital to the frontier, down
which rolled the royal corteges of old, lie Main-
tenon and its famous chateau, some sixty odd
kilometres from Paris and twenty from Ram-
bouillet.
Just beyond Versailles, on the road to Main-
tenon, lies the trim little townlet of Saint Cyr,
known to-day as the West Point of France, the
military school founded by Napoleon I giving
it its chief distinction.
Going back into the remote past one learns
that the village grew up from a foundation of
Louis XIV, who bought for ninety-one thousand
livres "a chateau and a convent for women,"
that Madame de Maintenon might establish
a girls' school therein. She reserved an apart-
ment for herself, and one suspects indeed that
it was simply another project of the Widow Scar-
ron to have a place of rendezvous near the
capital. Certainly under the circumstances, tak-
296
Maintenon
297
ing into consideration the good that she was
doing for orphaned girls, she might at least have
been allowed the
right of a roof to
shelter her when
she wished. She
was absolutely dom-
inant within, though
never actually in
residence for any
length of time. It
was here that "Es-
ther and "Athalie, "
which Racine had
composed expressly
for Madame de
Maintenon's pensionnaires, were produced for
the first time.
When not actually living at Saint Cyr it was
Madame de Maintenon's custom to come hither
from Paris each day, arriving between seven
and eight in the morning, passing the day and
returning to town for the evening, much as a
celebrated American millionaire journalist, whose
country-house overlooks the famous convent gar-
den, does to-day.
Madame de Maintenon actually went into
retirement at Saint Cyr upon the death of Louis
298 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
XIV, and for four years, until her death, never
left it. She died from old age, rather than from
any grave malady, in this "Maison d'Education, "
which she had inaugurated, and was buried in the
chapel, beneath an elaborate tomb which the Due
de Noailles, who married her niece, caused to be
erected. The tomb was destroyed during the
Revolution and the " Maison Royale de Saint Cyr, "
of which nothing had been changed since its
foundation, was suppressed, the edifice itself being
pillaged and the remains of Madame de Maintenon
sadly profaned, finally to be recovered and de-
posited again in the chapel where a simple black
marble slab marks them in these graven words:
Cy-Git Madame De Maintenon
1635-1719-1836
Napoleon I established the Ecole Militaire
at Saint Cyr, from which are graduated each
year more than four hundred subaltern officers.
The ancient gardens of Madame de Main-
tenon's time now form the " Champs de Mars,"
or drill ground, of the military school.
South from Saint Cyr runs the great inter-
national highroad, the old Route Royale of the
monarchy. It rises and falls, but mostly straight
as the flight of the crow, until it crosses the great
National Forest of Rambouillet f Following the
Maintenon 299
valley of the Eure almost to its headwaters it
finally comes to Maintenon, a town of a couple
of thousand souls, whose most illustrious in-
habitant was that granddaughter of Theodore-
Agrippa d'Aubigne, named Fran^oise, and who
came in time to be the Marquise de Maintenon.
The Chateau de Maintenon was royal in all
but name. The Tresorier des Finances under
Louis XI, Jean Cottereau (a public official who
made good it seems, since he also served in the
same capacity for Charles VIII, Louis XII, and
Francis I), had a single daughter, Isabeau, who,
in 1526, married Jacques d'Angennes, who at
the time was already Seigneur de Rambouillet.
As a dot this daughter acquired the lands of
Maintenon. The property was afterwards sold
to the Marquis de Villeray, from whom Louis
XIV bought it in 1674 and disposed of it as a
royal gift to Fran^oise d'Aubigne, the fascinator
of kings, who was afterwards to become (in
1688) Madame La Marquise de Maintenon.
This ambitious woman subsequently married
her niece to the Due d'Ayen, son of the Marechal
de Noailles, and as a marriage portion or
possibly to avoid unpleasant consequences
turned over the property of Maintenon to the
young bride and her husband to whose family,
the Noailles, it has ever since belonged.
300 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
To-day the Due and Duchesse de Noailles
make lengthy stays in this delightful seigneurial
dwelling, and since the apartments are full to
overflowing of historical souvenirs of their family
it may be truly said that their twentieth century
life is to some considerable extent in accord with
the traditions of other days.
The existence of this princely residence is an
agreeable reminder of the life of luxury of the
olden time albeit certain modernities which we
to-day think necessities are lacking.
Maintenon is certainly one of the most beauti-
ful so-called royal chateaux of France, if not by
its actual importance at least by many of the
attributes of its architecture, the extent of the
domain and the history connected therewith.
It bridges the span between the private chateau
and those which may properly be called royal.
In the moyen-age Maintenon was a verita-
ble chateau-fort, forming a quadrilateral edifice
flanked by round towers at three of its angles,
and at the fourth by a great square mass of a
donjon, all of which was united by a vast ex-
panse of solidly built wall which possessed all
the classic attributes of the best military archi-
tecture of its time. Entrance was only over a
deep moat spanned by a drawbridge.
Jean Cottereau made his acquisition of the
Chateau de Maintenon
Maintenon 301
domain towards 1490 and immediately planned
a new scheme of being for the old fortress which,
according to a more esthetic conception, would
thus be brought into the class of a luxurious
residential chateau. He destroyed the courtines
which attached the great donjon to the rest
of the building, and opened up the courtyard
so that it faced directly upon the park. He
ornamented sumptuously the window framings,
the dormer windows, and the turrets, and framed
in the entrance portal with a series of sculptured
motives which he also added to the entrance
to the great inner stairway. In short it was
an enlargement and embellishment that was
undertaken, but so thoroughly was it done that
the edifice quite lost its original character in the
process. Like all the chateaux built at this
epoch Maintenon was no longer a mere fortress,
but a palatial retreat, luxurious in all its ap-
pointments, and shorn of all the manifest militant
attributes which it had formerly possessed.
The shell was there, following closely the
original outlines, but the added ornamentation
had effectually disguised its primordial existence.
Living rooms needed light and air, while a for-
tress or quarters for troops might well be ordained
on other lines. The Renaissance livened up
considerably the severe lines of the Gothic cha-
302 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
teaux of France, and though invariably the marks
of the transition are visible to the expert eye it
is also true, as in the case of Maintenon, that
there is frequently a homogeneousness which
is sufficiently pleasing to effectually cover up any
discrepancies which might otherwise be apparent.
The warrior aspect is invariably lost in the transi-
tion, and thus a Renaissance residential chateau
enters at once into a different class from that of
the feudal fortress regardless of the fact that
such may have been its original status.
The armorial device of Jean Cottereau
three unlovely lizards blazoned on a field of
silver is still to be seen sculptured on the two
towers flanking the entrance portal which to-
day lacks its old drawbridge before mentioned.
Surrounding the edifice is a deep, unhealthful,
mosquito-breeding moat which is all a mediaeval
moat should be, but which is actually no great
attribute to the place considering its disadvan-
tages. One wonders that it is allowed to exist
in so stagnant a condition, as the running waters
of the near-by Eure might readily be made use
of to change all this. The site of the chateau
at the confluence of the Eure and the Voise is
altogether charming.
Madame de Maintenon did much to make
the property more commodious and convenient
Maintenon 303
and built the great right wing which binds the
donjon to the main corps de logis. Her own
apartments were situated in the new part of the
palace. She also built the gallery which leads
from the Tour de Machicoulis to the pointed
chapel, which was a construction of the time
of Cottereau, an accessory which every self-
respecting country-house of the time was bound
to have. It was by this gallery that the open
tribune in the little chapel was reached, thus
enabling Louis XIV to pass readily to mass
while he was so frequent a visitor at that period
when, at Maintenon, he was overseeing the con-
struction of his famous aqueduct.
Maintenon has had the honour, too, to count
among its illustrious guests Racine, who came
at the request of Madame de Maintenon, and
here wrote "Esther" and "Athalie" which were
later produced at Saint Cyr by Madame de Main-
tenon's celebrated band of " Demoiselles. "
Louis XIV was not the last of royal race to
accept the Chateau de Maintenon's hospitality
for the unhappy Charles X was obliged to ask
shelter of its chatelain for himself and fleeing
family. They arrived a little after midnight
of a hot August night, slept as well as possible
in the former apartments of Madame de Main-
tenon, and attended mass in the chapel on the fol-
304 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
lowing morning. The monarch then discharged
the royal guard and the "hundred Swiss" and
gave up, defeated at the game of playing monarch
against the will of the people.
One enters the Cour d'Honneur by a great
portal of the time of Louis XIV. Immediately
before one is the principal facade, with its towers
of brick and its slender little turrets framing
in so admirably the entrance door. This facade
is of the fifteenth century and on the tympan
of the dormer windows one may still see the
monogram of its builder, Cottereau. The draw-
bridge has been made way with, and the turrets
over the portal have been bound together by a
diminutive balcony of stone, which, while a mani-
fest superfluity, is in no way objectionable.
Under the entrance vault are doors on either
side giving access to the living apartments of
the rez-de-chaussee. In the inner courtyard is
to be found the most exquisite architectural
detail of the whole fabric, the tower which en-
closes the monumental stairway, to which entrance
is had by a portal which is a veritable Gothic
jewel. In the tympan of this portal, as in the
dormer windows, is the device of Jean Cottereau,
except in this case it is much more elaborate
a Saint Michel and the dragon, surrounded
by a "semis de coquilles" bearing the escutcheons
Maintenon 305
of the chatelain d' argent a lezards de sable.
At the left of this stairway tower is the principal
courtyard facade, supported by four arcades,
pierced with great windows and surmounted by
two fine dormer windows, all in the style of
Louis XII, of which the same effects to be ob-
served at Blois and in the Hotel d'Alluye are
contemporary.
At the left of the inner court is the wing built
by Cottereau which terminates in a great round
tower, while to the right is that erected by Madame
de Maintenon ending at the donjon. Directly
opposite is a magnificent vista over the canal
of ornamental water framed on either side by
patriarchal trees and having as a background
the silhouette of the arches of the famous aque-
duct which was to lead the waters of the Eure to
Versailles.
The interior of the chateau is not less remark-
able than the exterior. Entering by the tower
portal one comes at once to that magnificent
grand escalier which is accounted one of the
wonders of the French Renaissance.
The Salle & Manger of to-day was the old-
time Salle des Gardes. It is garnished with a
fine wainscoting and panels of Cordovan leather.
The Chambre Coucher of Louis XIV, to the
left, is to-day the Salon, and here are to be seen
306 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
portraits of Louis XIV, Louis XII, Francis I,
Henri IV, and Louis XIII.
A tiny rotunda contains a statue of Henri IV
as a child, and portraits of Madame de Maintenon
and Louis XIV in their youth. A portrait
gallery of restrained proportions contains effigies
of Madame de Maintenon and her niece Mademoi-
selle , d'Aubigne, the Due de Penthievre, the
Comtesse de Toulouse, the Due de Noailles,
the Duchesse de Villars and the Duchesse de
Chaumont.
The show-piece of the chateau, albeit of recent
construction, is known variously as the "Grand
Galerie" and the "Longue Galerie." Its decora-
tions are due to the Due de Noailles, the father
of the present proprietor. Virtually it is a por-
trait gallery of the Noailles family, going back
to the times of the Crusaders and coming down
to the twentieth century.
The apartments of Madame de Maintenon
form that portion of the chateau which has the
chief sentimental interest. In an ante-chamber
is a chaise a porteurs once having belonged to
the Marquise, and her portrait by Mignard.
Cordovan leather is hung upon the walls, and
the restored sleeping-room is hung with a canopy
and separated from the rest of the apartment
by a balustrade in bois dore. Above the chimney-
Aqueduct of Louis XIV at MaintenOn
306 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
portraits of Louis XIV, Lo is XII, Fn
Henri IV, and Louis XIII.
A tiny rotunda contains a statue of Henri IV
as a child, and portraits of Madame de Maintenon
and Louis XIV in their youth. A portrait
gallery of restrained proportions contains effigies
of Madame de Maintenon and her niece Mademoi-
selle d'Aubigne, the Due de Penthievre, the
Comtesse de Toulouse, the Due de Noailles,
the Duchesse de Villars and the Duchesse de
Chaumont.
: .tteau, albeit of recent
iously as the "Grand
fto**nuM : to :NYK a^^SWiipK Its decora "
ie Noailles, the father
Virtually it is a por-
ies family, going back
lers and coming down
vladame de Maintenon
hateau which has the
In an ante-chamber
aving belonged to
; >nr trait bv Mignard.
.mg v\ -.. walls, and
is i?uug with a canopy
of the aj^rtment
ustrade in boi* dore, Ab'> fiimney-
Maintenon 307
piece is a portrait of Louis XIV, after Rigaud,
and, finally, the oratory is ornamented by a
series of elegant sculptures in wood and a magnif-
icent Boule coffer.
In the left wing is found a beautiful chapel
of the fifteenth century, which is very pure in
style. It is decorated with a series of Renaissance
wood panels of the finest workmanship. The
coloured glass of the windows is of the sixteenth
century.
The rebuilt monumental stairway connects
directly with a passage leading to the entrance
portico which opens on the garden terrace before
the parterre.
The park of Maintenon is in every way ad-
mirable, with its pelouse, its great border of trees,
its waterways and more than thirty bridges.
Jean Cottereau himself planned the first vege-
table and fruit garden, or potager, the same whose
successor is the delight of the dwellers at Main-
tenon to-day.
The parterre, the Grand Canal and the two
avenues of majestic trees were due to the concep-
tion of Le Notre, and their effect, as set off by
the alleyed forest background and the pillars
of the aqueduct of Louis XIV, is something
unique.
The gardens at Maintenon were perhaps not
308 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
Le Notre 's most famous work but they followed
the best traditions of their time, and because
of their vast expanse of ornamental water were,
in a way, quite unequalled.
Ambling off towards the forest is a great avenue
flanked with high overhanging shade trees known
as the Allee Racine. It gets its name from the
fact that the dramatist was wont to take his walks
abroad in this direction and woo the muse
while he was a guest of Madame de Maintenon.
CHAPTER XIX
RAMBOUILLET AND ITS FOREST
Chateau
de Rambouillet
RAMBOUILLET is one of the most famous of
the minor royal chateaux of France. Built under
the first of the monarchies, in the midst of the vast
forest of Yveline, it has always formed a part
309
310 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
of the national domain. Even now, under Re-
publican France, it is still the scene of the hunts
organized for visiting monarchs, and, within the
last half dozen years alone, the monarchs of Spain
and Belgium, Italy and England have shot hares
and stags and pheasants in company with a Re-
publican president.
The occasions have lacked the picturesque
costumes of the disciples of Saint Hubert in other
times; but the huntsman still winds his horn to
the same traditional tune and the banquets given
in the chateau on such occasions are, in no small
measure, an echo of what has gone before.
It was in the old chateau of Rambouillet that
Francis I died. In the month of March, 1547,
Francis, coming from Chambord in the south,
crossed the "accursed bridge" and arrived at
the foot of the ivy-grown donjon which one sees
to-day, the last remaining relic of the mediaeval
fortress. For a year the monarch had led a
wandering life, revisiting all the favourite haunts
of his kingdom, and, though scarce turned fifty,
was prematurely aged and gray.
He was lifted tenderly from his royal coach, and
by the winding stair, carried slowly to his apart-
ments on the second floor, overlooking the three
canals and the "accursed bridge" and the tangled
forest beyond.
Rambouillet and its Forest 31 1
Jacques d'Angennes, to whose ancestors Ram-
bouillet one day belonged, acted as host to his
royal master and cared for him as a brother, but
Francis was dispirited, and growing weaker every
moment. He complained bitterly of the death
of his favourite son from the plague, and of that
of the gay monarch across the channel, his old
friend, Henry VIII of England.
He was restless and wished to move on to Saint
Germain, but his condition made that impos-
sible. After a feeble attempt to rouse himself
for a hunt in the forest, he took to his bed again,
with the admonition to his friend d'Angennes,
who never left him: "I am dying, send for my
son, Henri."
The prince joined the mourners around the
royal bedside and heard his father's confession
thus: "My son, I have sinned greatly; I have
been led away by my passions; follow that which
I have done that is accredited good, and ignore
the evil; above all, cherish France; be good to
my people."
That was all except the final counsel to " be-
ware of the Guises; they are traitors." After
that he spoke no more. Francis I, the gallant,
art-loving monarch, the father of the Renaissance
in France, was dead.
In 1562, Catherine de Medici, accompanied
312 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
by her son Charles IX, here awaited the results
of the momentous battle of Dreux. In 1588,
Henri III, fleeing Paris after the "journee des
barricades" came here to rest, and so fatigued
was he on his arrival that he went to bed "tout
botte."
The son of Louis XIV and Madame de Montes-
pan came into possession of "the palace and
lands" and in his honour the property was made,
in spite of its limited area, a Duche-Pairie.
Louis XIV and Madame de Maintenon, as
was but natural, because of its proximity to Main-
tenon and to Paris, frequently honoured Ram-
bouillet with their presence; and, a little later,
Louis XV and the beautiful Comtesse de Toulouse
followed suit.
The Due de Penthievre, to whom the property
had by this time descended, at the instance of
Louis XVI, ceded to that monarch the domain
of Rambouillet.
Louis XVI built vast commons and outbuild-
ings, all with some architectural pretence, to
house the appanage of the royal hunt, and also
built the Laiterie de la Reine and the model farm
where, in 1786, he established the first national
sheepfold.
To-day this is the famous Ecole de Bergers, where
is quartered the largest flock of moutons a laine
Laiterie de la Reine, Rambouillet
Rambouillet and its Forest 313
(merino sheep) in France, they having been
brought chiefly from Spain.
The Laiterie de la Reine was a tiny sandstone
temple with interior fittings chiefly of white
marble, and with a great, round centre-table, and
smaller tables in each corner, equally of marble,
as becomes a hygienically fitted dairy. It was
restored by Louis Napoleon during the Second
Empire, and is still to be seen in all its pristine
glory.
In addition, Louis XVI had at Rambouillet a
private domain of a considerable extent which
only the Constitution of 1791 united to the Civil
List. This property, except the palace, the park
and the forest, was sold later by the State. The
Imperial Civil List, formed in 1805 by Napoleon,
included these dependencies specifically, and the
emperor frequently hunted in the neighbouring
forest, though, compared to his predecessors,
he had little time to devote to that form of sport.
Here, too, was signed, in 1810, the decree which
united Holland with the Empire.
Rambouillet has fallen sadly since the Revolu-
tion. A decree of the Representants du Peuple,
of October 14, 1793, provided that "the furnish-
ings of this palace, heretofore royal, shall be sold."
Under the Consulate and Empire a certain citizen,
Trepsat by name, received an injury in protect-
314 Royal Palaces and Parks of 'France
ing Napoleon in an attack and, as recompense,
was made the official Architect and Conservator
of the Palace of Rambouillet.
Hardly had Trepsat entered upon his functions
when he suggested the demolition of the chateau.
Napolean hesitated, but finally partially agreed,
insisting, however, that enough should be left
to form a comfortable hunting-lodge. Trepsat
would have torn down all and rebuilt anew.
Napoleon made an appointment with his archi-
tect to visit the property and discuss the matter
in detail the following year (1805), but at that
moment he was campaigning in Austria, so the
interview was not held. This was Trepsat's
chance, and he found a pretext to overthrow the
entire east wing, but was stopped before he was
able to further carry out his ignorant act of
vandalism. Trepsat was severely reprimanded
by the emperor himself, and was ordered to put
things back as he found them. "Even the most
battered and sickly architect who ever lived
could hardly have had a worse inspiration," said
Napoleon. Trepsat, be it recalled, had -lost a
leg.
The restoration was commenced, but Trepsat,
committing one fault after another, and finally
juggling with the accounts, was obliged to take
on a collaborator by the name of Famin, a young
Rambouillet and its Forest 315
pensionnaire of the Academic des Beaux Arts,
recently returned from Rome. It was he who
saved Rambouillet from utter destruction.
The apartments of Napoleon, which were those
given over to public functions in the time of the
Comte de Toulouse, had been, and were, most
luxuriously appointed. That which shows most
clearly the imprint of the imperial regime is the
curious Salle de Bains which was in direct com-
munication with the study, or Cabinet de Travail.
It might have been a room in a Pompeian
house so classic were its lines and decorations.
There was a series of medallions painted on the
wall representing portraits of members of the
imperial family. These were chiefly portraits
of the female sex, and Napoleon, the first time
he entered his bath, in an excess of modesty and
fury cried out: "Who is the ass that did this
thing?" Immediately they were painted out,
and, for the sum of nine hundred and fifty francs,
another artist was found who filled the frames
of the medallions with sights and scenes asso-
ciated less intimately with Napoleonic history.
Under the Empire the architect Famin was
commissioned to furnish a series of architectural
embellishments to the gardens of Rambouillet.
Various stone statues were added and an octagon
pavilion on the He des Roches was restored and
316 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
redecorated. Two great avenues were cut through
the parterre, and, as if fearing indiscretions on
the part of his entourage, the emperor caused
to be planted long rows of lindens and tulip
trees, which were again masked by two rows of
poplars. The peloux of the Jardin Francais
were reestablished and the curves and sweeps
of the paths of the Jardin Anglais laid out anew.
This ancient government property, arisen anew
from its ruins, now bore the name of the Pavilion
du Roi de Rome, after the son of Napoleon.
The Ecuries, or stables, which had been built
by Louis XVI, were transformed into kennels,
and various " posts," or miniature shooting-
boxes, were distributed here and there through
the park.
Under the Restoration the transformation of
the chateau, which had been projected ever since
the time of Louis XVI, undertaken and then
abandoned by Napoleon, was again commenced,
but on a less ambitious scale than formerly.
Chiefly this transformation consisted of opening
up windows, thus making practically a new
facade. It was not wholly a happy thought,
and the spirit of economy of Louis XVIII, no
less, perhaps, than other motives, arrested this
mutilation and the architect was discharged
from his functions.
Chateau de Rambouillet
Rambouillet and its Forest 317
Again the hand of fate fell hard upon Ram-
bouillet and its definite eclipse as a royal abode
came with the abdication of Charles X. The
abdication was actually signed at Rambouillet,
and here, in the same Salle du Conseil, the dau-
phin renounced the throne in favour of the young
Due de Bordeaux.
It was at Rambouillet that Charles X passed
those solemn last days before the abdication.
He had been unmercifully harassed at Paris and
sought a quiet retreat, a not too far from the
Tuileries," where he might repose a moment
and take counsel. In view of later events this
was significant; perhaps it was significant at the
time, for the king speedily repented his abdica-
tion. It was too late, for he had classed as rebels
all the royalists who would have accepted the
" infant king" as their monarch, even though
the following Revolution prevented this.
It was on the third of August that the commission-
ers, deputies of the Provisionary Government, were
brought before the king at Rambouillet. They an-
nounced that twenty-five thousand armed Parisians
were marching on the chateau to compel him to quit
his kingdom. It was not a matter for debate, and at
nine o'clock on the same night the monarch gave as-
sent to being conducted to Cherbourg, where he em-
barked upon his fatal exile.
318 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
After 1830, with a business-like instinct, the
authorities rented the property for twelve years
to the Baron Schickler, and, at the end of the
Revolution of 1848, its career became more
plebeian still; it was rented to a man who converted
the palace into an elaborately appointed road-
house, and the lawns and groves into open-air
restaurants and dancing places.
Under, the Gouvernement du Juillet the cha-
teau, the park and the forest were removed from
the Civil List, and entered upon the inventory
of the Administration des Domaines.
Under the Second Empire Rambouillet ap-
peared again on the monarchial Civil List. Na-
poleon III came here at times to hunt, but not
to live, and of his rare appearances at the chateau
but little record exists. Since 1870 Rambouillet
has belonged to the Republican Government,
and, since royalties no longer exist in France,
Republican chiefs of state now take the lead in
Rambouillet's national hunts.
The property, as it stands to-day, is divided
readily into four distinct parts, the palace, the
parterre, the Jar din Anglais and the park. The
grove of lindens is remarkable in every respect,
the ornamental waters are gracious and of vast
extent, and the Laiterie and the Ferme are de-
cidedly models of their kind; but the Chau-
Rambouillet and its Forest 319
miere des Coquillages, a rustic summer-house
of rocks and shells and questionable debris of
all sorts, is hideous and unworthy.
Not the least of the charming features of the
park is the great alley of Louisiana cypresses,
one of the real sights, indeed, perfecting the
charm of the great body of water to the left of
the chateau.
Of the structure which existed in the four-
teenth century, the chateau of Rambouillet re-
tains to-day only a great battlemented tower,
and some low-lying buildings attached to it.
Successive enlargements, restorations and muti-
lations have changed much of the original aspect
of the edifice, and modern structures flank and
half envelop that which, to all eyes, is manifestly
ancient. The debris of the old fortress, which
was the foundation of all, adds its bit to the con-
glomerate mass of which the chief and most
imposing elements are the two tall corps de logis
in the centre.
Within, a rather banal Salle de Bal is shown
as the chief feature, but it is conventionally
unlovely enough to be passed without emotion,
save that its easterly portion takes in the cabinet,
or private apartment, where Charles X signed
his abdication. Adjoining this is the bedroom
occupied by that monarch, and a dining-room
320 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
which also served His Majesty, and which is
still used by the head of the government on
ceremonious occasions. Its decorative scheme
is of the period of Louis XV.
The Salle de Conseil is of the period of Charles
X, and has some fairly imposing carved wain-
scotings showing in places the monograms of
Marie Sophie and the Comtesse de Toulouse.
A great map, or plan, of the Forest of Ram-
bouillet covers the end wall, and, if not esthetically
beautiful, is at least useful and very interesting.
It was executed under Louis XVI and doubt-
less served its purpose well when the hunters
gathered after a day afield and recounted anec-
dotes of their adventures.
There is another apartment on the ground
floor which is known as the Salle a Manger des
Rendezvous de Chasse, whose very name ex-
plains well its functions.
The Cabinet de Travail of Marie Antoinette
and the Salle de Bain of Napoleon have some-
thing more than a mere sentimental interest;
they were decidedly practical adjuncts to the
royal palace.
Napoleon's bath took the form of a rather
short, deep pool. Its fresco decorations, as seen
to-day replacing that family portrait gallery
which Napoleon caused to be painted out
Rambouillet and its Forest 321
are after the pseudo-antique manner and repre-
sent bird's-eye views of various French cities and
towns, while a series of painted armorial trophies
decorates the ceiling.
On the second floor are the apartments occupied
by the Duchesse de Berry and those of the
Duchesse d'Angouleme.
In the great round tower is the circular apart-
ment where Francis I breathed his last. It is this
great truss-vaulted room that most interests
the visitor to Rambouillet.
On the ground floor is another Salle de Bain,
quite as theatrically disposed as that of Na-
poleon. Its construction was due to the Comte
de Toulouse whose taste ran to Delft tiles and
polychrome panels, framing two imposing marines,
also worked out in tiles.
The parterre, extending before the main build-
ing, is of an ampleness scarcely conceivable until
once viewed. It is purely French in design and
is of the epoch of the tenancy of the Comte de
Toulouse. Before the admirably grouped lindens
was a boathouse, and off in every direction ran
alleys of acacias, while here and there tulip beds,
rose gardens and hedges of rhododendrons flanked
the very considerable ornamental waters. This
body of water, in the form of a trapezoid, is di-
vided by four grass-grown islets and separates
322 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
the Jardin Anglais from the Jardin Francais.
One of the islets is known as the He des Roches
and contains the Grotte de Rabelais, so named
in honour of the Cure of Meudon, when he was
presented at Rambouillet by the Cardinal du
Bellay. It was on this isle that were given those
famous fetes in honour of the "beaux esprits"
who formed the assiduous cortege of Catherine
de Vivonne, mythological, pagan and outre.
The Jardin Anglais at Rambouillet is the final
expression of the species in France. Designed
under the Due de Penthievre, it was restored
and considerably enlarged by Napoleon and,
following the contours of an artificial rivulet, it
fulfils the description that its name implies.
More remote, and half hidden from the pre-
cincts of the chateau, are the Chaumiere and
the Ermitage and they recall the background of
a Fragonard or a Watteau. It is all very "stagy"
but, since it exists, can hardly be called unreal.
The park proper, containing more than twelve
hundred hectares, is one of the largest and most
thickly wooded in France. Between the par-
terre and the French and English garden and the
park lie the Farm and the Laiterie de la Reine,
the caprice of Louis XVI when he would content
Marie Antoinette and give her something to think
about besides her troubles. Napoleon stripped
Rambouillet and its Forest 323
it of its furnishings to install them, for a great part,
at Malmaison, for that other unhappy woman
Josephine. Later, to give pleasure to Marie
Louise, he ordered them brought back again to
Rambouillet, but it was to Napoleon III that
the restoration of this charming conceit was due.
In the neighbourhood of Rambouillet was the
famous Chateau de Chasse, or royal shooting-
box, which Louis XV was fond of making a place
of rendezvous.
On the banks of the Etang de Pourras stood
this Chateau de Saint Hubert, named for the
patron saint of huntsmen, and within its walls
was passed many a happy evening by king and
courtiers after a busy day with stag and hound.
The hunt in France was perhaps at the most
picturesque phase of its existence at this time.
The hunt of to-day is but a pale, though bloody,
imitation of the real sport of the days when mon-
archs and their seigneurs in slashed doublet
and hose and velvet cloaks pursued the deer of
the forest to his death, and knew not the maitre
d'equipage of to-day.
CHAPTER XX
CHANTILLY
CHANTILLY, because of its royal associations,
properly finds its place in every traveller's French
itinerary. Not only did Chantilly come to its
great glory through royal favour, but in later
years the French government -has taken it under
its wing, the chateau, the stables and the vast
park and forest, until the ensemble is to-day
as much of a national show place as Versailles
or Saint Germain. It is here in the marble
halls, where once dwelt the Condes and the
Montmorencys, that are held each year the ex-
aminations of the French Academic des Beaux
Arts. And besides this it is a place of pilgrimage
for thousands of tourists who, as a class, for a
couple of generations previously, never got farther
away from the capital than Saint Cloud.
Many charters of the tenth century make
mention of the estates of Chantilly, which at
that time belonged to the Seigneurs of Senlis.
The chateau was an evolution from a block-
house, or fortress, erected by Catulus in Gallo-
324
Chantilly
325
326 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
Roman times and four centuries later it remained
practically of the same rank. In the fourteenth
century the chateau was chiefly a vast fortress
surrounded by a water defence in the form of
an enlarged moat by means of which it was able
to resist the Bourguignons and never actually
fell until after the taking of Meaux by the English
king, Henry V.
Jean II de Montmorency, by his marriage
with Marguerite d'Orgemont, came to be the
possessor of the domain, their son, in turn, be-
coming the heir. It was this son, Guillaume,
who became one of the most brilliant servitors
of the monarchs Louis XI, Louis XII, and Francis
I, and it was through these friends at court that
Chantilly first took on its regal aspect.
In turn the celebrated Anne de Montmo-
rency, Connetable de France, came into the
succession and finding the old fortress, albeit
somewhat enlarged and furbished up by his
predecessor, less of a palatial residence than
he would have, separated the ancient chateau-
fort from an added structure by an ornamental
moat, or canal, and laid out the pelouse, parterres
and the alleys of greensward leading to the forest
which make one of the great charms of Chantilly
to-day.
Here resided, as visitors to be sure, but for
Statue of Le Notre, Chantilly
Chantilly 327
more or less extended periods, and at various
times, Charles V, Charles IX and Henri IV,
each of them guests of the hospitable and am-
bitious Montmorencys.
Chantilly passed in 1632 to Charlotte, the
sister of the last Marechal de Montmorency,
the wife of Henri II, Prince de Conde, the mother
of the Grand Conde, the Prince de Conti and
the Duchesse de Longueville.
With the Grand Conde came the greatest
fame, the apotheosis, of Chantilly. This noble
was so enamoured of this admirable residence
that he never left it from his thoughts and dec-
orated it throughout in the most lavish taste
of his time, destroying at this epoch the chateau
of the moyen-age and the fortress. These were
the days of gallant warriors with a taste for pretty
things in art, not mere bloodthirsty slaughterers.
On the foundations of the older structures
there now rose an admirable pile (not that which
one sees to-day, however), embellished by the
surroundings which were evolved from the brain
of the landscape gardener, Le Notre. The
Revolution made way with this lavish structure
and with the exception of the Chatelet, or the
Petit Chateau (designed by Jean Bullant in 1560,
and remodelled within by Mansart) the present-
day work is a creation of the Due d'Aumale,
328 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
the heir to the CondeV name and fame, to whom
the National Assembly gave back his ancestral
estates which had in the meantime come into
the inventory of royal belongings through the
claims established by the might of the Second
Empire.
Back to the days of the Grand Conde one
reads of an extended visit made by Louis XIV
to his principal courtier. It was at an expense
of two hundred thousand ecus that the welcom-
ing fete was accomplished. Madame de Sevigne
has recounted the event more graphically than
any other chronicler, and it would be presump-
tion to review it here at length. The incident
of Vatel alone has become classic.
To the coterie of poets at Rambouillet must
be added those of Chantilly; their sojourn here
added much of moment to the careers and rep-
utations of Boileau, Racine, Bourdaloue and
Bossuet. It was the latter, who, in the funeral
oration which he delivered on the death of the
Prince de Conde, said:
"Here under his own roof one saw the Grand
Conde as if he were at the head of his armies, a
noble always great, as well in action as in re-
pose. Here you have seen him surrounded by
his friends in this magnificent dwelling, in the
shady alleys of the forest or beside the purling
Chantilly 329
waters of the brooks which are silent neither
day nor night."
The Grand Conde died, however, at Fontaine-
bleau. The heir, Henri- Jules de Bourbon, did
his share towards keeping up and embellishing
the property, and to him was due that charming
wildwood retreat known as the Pare de Sylvie.
Louis-Henri de Bourbon, Minister of Louis XV
at the commencement of his reign, had gained
a fabulous sum of money in the notorious "Law's
Bank" affair, and, with a profligate and prod-
igal taste in spending, lived a life of the grandest
of grand seigneurs at Chantilly, to which, as his
donation to its architectural importance, he
contributed the famous Ecuries, or stables. To
show that he was persona grata at court he gave
a great fete here for Louis XV and the Duchesse
du Barry.
The last Prince de Conde but one before
the Revolution built the Chateau d'Enghien in
the neighbourhood, and sought to people the
Pare de Sylvie with a rustic colony of thatched
maisonettes and install his favourites therein in
a weak imitation of what had been done in the
Petit Trianon. The note was manifestly a false
one and did not endure, not even is its echo
plainly audible for all is hearsay to-day and no
very definite record of the circumstance exists.
330 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
Chantilly in later times has been a favourite
abode with modern monarchs. The King of
Denmark, the Emperor Joseph II and the King
of Sweden were given hospitality here, and much
money was spent for their entertainment, and
much red and green fire burned for their amuse-
ment and that of their suites.
The Revolution's fell blow carried off the
principal parts of the Conde's admirable con-
structions and it is fortunate that the Petit Cha-
teau escaped the talons of the "Bande Noire."
Immediately afterwards the Chateau d'Enghien
and the Ecuries were turned over to the uses of
the Minister of War, and the authorities of the
Jardin des Plantes were given permission to
transplant and transport anything which pleased
their fancy among the exotics which had been
set out by Le Notre in Chantilly's famous par-
terres.
Under the imperial regime the Foret de Chan-
tilly was given in fee simple to Queen Hortense,
though all was ultimately returned to the Conde
heirs after the Restoration. It was at this period
that Chantilly received the visit of Alexander,
Emperor of Russia, and the historian's account
of that visit makes prominent the fact that dur-
ing the periods of rain it was necessary that an
umbrella be carried over the imperial head as
Chantilly 331
he passed through the corridors of the palace
from one apartment to another.
The host of the emperor died here in 1818
and his son, spending perhaps half of his time
here, cared little for restoration and spent all
his waking hours hunting in the forest, returning
to the Petit Chateau only to eat and sleep.
The Due de Bourbon added to the flanking
wings of the Petit Chateau and cleaned up the
debris which was fast becoming moss-grown,
weed encumbered and altogether disgraceful.
The moats were cleaned out of their miasmatic
growth and certain of the grass-carpeted par-
terres resown and given a semblance of their
former selves.
Some days after the Revolution of 1830 the
Prince de Conde died in a most dramatic fashion,
and his son, the Due d'Enghien, having been
shot at Vincennes under the Empire, he willed
the Due d'Aumale and his issue his legal de-
scendants forever.
Towards 1840 the Due d'Aumale sought to
reconstruct the splendours of Chantilly, but a
decree of January 22, 1852, banished the entire
Orleans family and interrupted the work when
the property was sold to the English bankers,
Coutts and Company, for the good round sum
of eleven million francs, not by any means an
332 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
extravagant price for this estate of royal aspect
and proportions. The National Assembly of
1872 did the only thing it could do in justice to
tradition bought the property in and decreed
that it be restored to its legitimate proprietor.
It was as late as 1876 that the Due d'Aumale
undertook the restoration of the Chatelet and
the rebuilding of the new chateau which is seen
to-day. The latter is from the designs of Henri
Daumet, member of the Institut de France.
In general the structure of to-day occupies
the site of the moyen-age chateau but is of quite
a different aspect.
The Due d'Aumale made a present of the
chateau and all that was contained therein to
the Institut de France. From a purely sordid
point of view it was a gift valued at something
like thirty-five million francs, not so great as
many new-world public legacies of to-day, but
in certain respects of a great deal more artistic
worth.
The mass is manifestly imposing, made up as it
is, of four distinct parts, the Eglise, dating from
1692, the Ecuries, the Chatelet or Petit Chateau,
and the Chateau proper the modern edifice.
Before the celebrated Ecuries is a green, vel-
vety pelouse which gives an admirable approach.
The architecture of the Ecuries is of a heavy
Chantilly 333
order and the sculptured decorations actually
of little esthetic worth, representing as they
do hunting trophies and the like. Before the
great fountain one deciphers a graven plaque
which reads as follows:
Louis Henri de Bourbon
Prince de Conde
Fut Construire Cette Ecurie
1701 1784.
Within the two wings may be stabled nearly
two hundred horses. The Grand Ecuries at
Chantilly are assuredly one of the finest ex-
amples extant of that luxuriant art of the eight-
eenth century French builder. Luxurious, ex-
cessively ornate and overpowering it is, and, for
that reason, open to question. The work of the
period knew not the discreet middle road. It was
of Chantilly that it was said that the live stock was
better lodged than its masters. The architect of
this portion of the chateau was Jean Aubert, one
of the collaborators of Jules Hardouin Mansart.
The characteristics of Chantilly, take it as
a whole, the chateau, the park and the forest,
are chiefly theatrical, but with an all-abiding
regard for the proprieties, for beyond a certain
heaviness of architectural style in parts of the
chateau everything is of the finely focussed rel-
334 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
ative order of which the French architect and
landscape gardener have for ages been past
masters.
The real French garden is here to be seen
almost at its best, its squares and ovals of grassy
green apportioned off from the mass by gravelled
walks and ornamented waters. The "tapis
d* orient" effect, so frequently quoted by the
French in writing of such works, is hardly ex-
celled elsewhere.
All this shocked the mid-eighteenth century
English traveller, but it was because he did not,
perhaps could not, understand. Rigby, "the
Norwich alderman" as the French rather con-
temptuously referred to this fine old English
gentleman, said frankly of Chantilly: "All this
has cost dear and produced a result far from
pleasing. " He would have been better pleased
doubtless with a privet or box hedge and an
imitation plaster rockery, things which have
never agreed with French taste, but which were
the rule in pretentious English gardens of the
same period. Rigby must indeed have been a
"grincheau, " as the French called him, for this
same up-country gentleman said of Versailles:
"Lovely surrounding country but palace and
park badly designed." Versailles is not that,
whatever else its faults may be.
Chantilly 335
Chantilly is more than a palace, it is a museum
of nature, a hermitage of art and of history.
The fantasy of its tourelles, its lucarnes and its
pignons are something one may hardly see else-
where in such profusion, and the fact that they
are modern is forgotten in the impression of the
general silhouette.
The adventurer who first built a donjon on
the Rocher de Chantilly little knew with what
seigneurial splendour the site was ultimately
to be graced. From a bare outpost it was trans-
formed, as if by magic, into a Renaissance palace
of a supreme beauty. The Due d'Aumale said
in his "Acte de Donation de Chantilly": "It
stands complete and varied, a monument of
French art in all its branches, a history of the
best epochs of our glory."
Among all the palatial riches neighbouring
upon Paris, not forgetting Versailles, Compiegne,
Fontainebleau, Pierrefonds and Rambouillet,
Chantilly, by the remarkable splendour of its
surroundings, its situation and the artistic treas-
ures which it possesses, is in a class by itself.
It is a class more clearly defined by the historic
souvenirs which surround it than any other
contemporary structure of this part of France.
Its corridors and gravelled walks and the long
alleys of the park and forest may not take on
336 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
the fete-like aspect which they knew in the eight-
eenth century, but they are not solitary like
those of Fontainebleau and Rambouillet, nor
noisily overrun like those of Versailles or Saint
Germain.
The ornamental waters which surround the
Chateau de Chantilly are of a grand and nearly
unique beauty. It is a question if they are not
finer than the waters of Versailles, indeed they
preceded them and may even have inspired
them.
The Chatelet, the chateau proper and the
chapel form a group quite distinct from the
Ecuries. The Cour d'Honneur is really splendid
and one hardly realizes the juxtaposition of
modernity. The pavilion attributed to Jean Bul-
lant, the western facade, the ancient Petit Chateau,
the Grand Vestibule, the Grand Escalier and the
Gallerie des Cerfs and a dozen other apartments
are of a rare and imposing beauty, though losing
somewhat their distinctive aspect by reason of
the objets de musee distributed about their walls
and floors.
One of the landscape gems of Chantilly is
the Pelouse, a vast esplanade of greensward
now forming, in part, the celebrated race track
of Chantilly. Sport ever formed a part of the
outdoor program at Chantilly, but that of to-
Chateau de Chantilly
Chantilly 337
day is just a bit more horsey than that of old,
a good deal less picturesque and assuredly more
vulgarly banal as to its cachet than the hunts,
the tourneys and courses of the romantic age.
Thousands come to Chantilly to wager their
coin on scrubs and dark horses ridden by third-
rate "warned-off" jockeys from other lands,
but probably not ten in ten thousand of the
lookers on at the Grand Prix du Jockey Club
in May ever make the occasion of the spring
meeting an opportunity for visiting the fine old
historic monument of the Condes.
The "Races" of Chantilly may be given a
further word in that they are an outgrowth of
a foundation by the Due d' Orleans in 1832.
The track forms a circuit of two thousand metres,
and occupies quite the best half of the Pelouse,
closed in on one side by the thick-grown Foret
de Chantilly and ^flanked, in part, on the other
by the historic Ecuries, with the Tribune, or
grand stand, just to the south.
Many tourists arrive at Chantilly by auto,
stop brusquely before the Grande Grille, rush
through the galleries of the chateau, do "cent
pas" in the park, give a cursory glance at the
stables and are off; but more, many more, with
slower steps and saner minds, drink in the charms
which are offered on all sides and consider
338 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
the time well spent even if they have paid "Boule-
vard Prices" at the Restaurant du Grand Conde
for their dejeuner.
It has been said that a museum is a reunion
of objets d'art brought about by a methodical
grouping, either chronologically or categorically.
The Due d'Aumale's Musee de Chantilly is
more an expression of personal taste. He col-
lected what he wished and he arranged his col-
lections as suited his fancy.
The famous Musee de Chantilly, which is
the lodestone which draws most folk thither,
so admirably housed, was a gift of the Due
d'Aumale who, for the glory of his ancestors,
and the admiration of the world, to say nothing
of his own personal satisfaction, here gathered
together an eclectic collection of curious and
artistic treasures, certainly not the least interest-
ing or valuable among the great public collec-
tions in France. The effect produced is some-
times startling, a Messonier is cheek by jowl
with a Baron Gros, a Decamps vis a vis to a
Veronese, and a Lancret is bolstered on either
hand by a Poussin and a Nattier. Amid all
this disorder there is, however, an undeniable,
inexplicable charm.
There are three distinct apartments worth,
more than all the others, the glance of the hurried
Chantilly 339
visitor to the Musee Conde at Chantilly. In
the first, the Santuario, is the Livre d'Heures
of Etienne Chevalier, by Jean Fouquet, con-
sidered as the most important relic of primitive
French art extant.
The Cabinet des Gemmes comes second, and
here is the celebrated "Diamant Rose," called
the Grand Conde.
Finally there is the Galerie de Psyche, with
forty-four coloured glass windows, executed for
the Connetable de Montmorency in 1541-1542.
The great collection of historical and artistic
treasures stowed away within the walls of Chan-
tilly the Due d'Aumale selected himself in order
to associate his own name with the glorious
memory of the Condes, who were so intimately
connected with the chateau.
The Due sought to recover such of the former
furnishings of the chateau as had been dissipated
during the Revolution whenever they could be
heard of and could be had at public or private
sale.
In this connection a word on Chantilly lace
may not be found inapropos. The Chantilly
lace of to-day, it is well to recall, is a mechanically
produced article of commerce, turned out by
the running mile from Nottingham, England,
though in the days when Chantilly's porcelains
340 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
rivalled those of Sevres it was purely a local
product. One may well argue therefore that
the bulk of the Chantilly lace sold in the shops
of Chantilly to-day is not on a par with the ad-
mirable examples to be seen in the glass cases
of the museum.
A wooded alley leading to the great park
runs between the main edifice and the Chateau
d'Enghien, a gentle incline descending again
to the sunken gardens in a monumental stair-
way of easy slope, the whole a quintessence of
much that is best of the art of the landscape
gardener of the time.
To the left extends the vast Jardin Anglais
a veritable French Jardin Anglais. Let not
one overlook the distinction: On conventional
lines it is pretty, dainty and pleasing, but the
species lacks the dignified formality of the Italian
garden or the ingenious arrangement of the
French. Its curves and ovals and circles are
annoying after the lignes droites and the right
angles and the broderies of the French variety.
The Foret de Chantilly covers two thousand
four hundred and forty-nine hectares and ex-
tends from the Bois de Herivaux on one side to
the Foret de Senlis on the other. The rendez-
vous-de-chasse was, in the old days, and is to-day
on rare occasions, at the Rond Point, to which
Chantilly 341
a dozen magnificent forest roads lead from all
directions, that from the town being paved with
Belgian blocks, the dread of automobilists, but
delightful to ride over in muddy weather. The
Route de Connetable, so called, is well-nigh
ideal of its kind. It launches forth opposite
the chateau and at its entrance are two flanking
stone lions. It is of a soft soil suitable for horse-
back riding, but entirely unsuited for wheeled
traffic of any kind.
Another of the great forest roads leads to the
Chateau de la Reine Blanche, a diminutive
edifice in the pointed style, with a pair of svelte
towers coiffed candle-snuffer fashion. Tradi-
tion, and very ancient and somewhat dubious
tradition, attributes the edifice as having be-
longed to Blanche de Navarre, the wife of Philippe
de Valois. Again it is thought to have been a
sort of royal attachment to the Abbaye de Royau-
mont, built near by, by Saint Louis. This quaintly
charming manor of minute dimensions was a
tangible, habitable abode in 1333, but for genera-
tions after appears to have fallen into desuetude.
A mill grew up on the site, and again the walls
of a chateau obliterated the more mundane,
work-a-day mill. The Due de Bourbon restored
the whole place in 1826 that it might serve him
and his noble friends as a hunting-lodge.
CHAPTER XXI
COMPIEGNE AND ITS FOREST
ONE of the most talked of and the least visited
of the minor French palaces is that of Com-
piegne. The archeologists coming to Compiegne
first notice that all its churches are "malorien-
tees." It is a minor point with most folk, but
when one notes that its five churches have their
high altars turned to all points of the compass,
instead of to the east, it is assuredly a fact to be
noticed, even if one is more romantically inclined
than devout.
Through and through, Compiegne, its palace,
its hotel-de-ville, its forest, is delightful. Old
and new huddle close together, and the art nouveau
decorations of a branch of a great Parisian de-
partment store flank a butcher's stall which looks
as though it might have come down from the
times when all trading was done in the open air.
Compiegne's origin goes back to the antique.
It was originally Compendium, a Roman station
situated on the highway between Soissons and
Beauvais. A square tower, Caesar's Tower,
342
Compiegne and Its Forest.
343
gave a military aspect to the walled and fortified
station, and evidences are not wanting to-day
to suggest with what strength its fortifications
were endowed.
It was here that the first Prankish kings built
their dwelling, and here that Pepin-le-Bref re-
ceived the gracious gift of an organ from the
344 Royal Palaces and Parks of Prance
Emperor Constantine, and here, in 833, that an
assembly of bishops and nobles deposed Louis-
le-Debonnaire.
Charles-le-Chauve received Pope Jean VIII
in great pomp in the palace at Compiegne, and
it was this Pope who gave absolution to Louis-
le-Begue, who died here but a year after, 879.
The last of the Carlovingians, Louis V (le-Faine-
ant), died also at Compiegne in 987.
The city is thus shown to have been a favourite
place of sojourn for the kings of the Franks,
and those of the first and second races. As
was but obvious many churchly councils were
held here, fourteen were recorded in five cen-
turies, but none of great ecclesiastical or civil
purport.
The city first got its charter in 1153, but the
Merovingian city having fallen into a sort of gal-
loping decay Saint Louis gave it to the Domini-
cans in 1260, who here founded, by the orders
of the king, a Hotel Dieu which, in part, is the
same edifice which performs its original func-
tions to-day.
The first great love of Compiegne was ex
pressed by Charles V, who rebuilt the palace of
Charles-le-Chauve in a manner which was far
from making it a monumental or artistically
disposed edifice. It was originally called the
Compiegne and Its Forest 345
Louvre, from the Latin word opus (I'ceuvre),
a word which was applied to all the chateaux-
forts of these parts. The same monarch did
better with the country-houses which he after-
wards built at Saint Germain and Vincennes;
perhaps by this time he had grown wise in his
dealings with architects.
Like all the little towns of the Valois, Com-
piegne abounds in souvenirs of the Guerre de
Cent Ans, Jeanne d'Arc, Louis XIV, Louis XV,
Napoleon I and Napoleon III, and as its monu-
ments attest this glory, so its forest, one of the
finest in France, awakens almost as many his-
torical memories.
Wars and rumors of war kept Compiegne in
a turmoil for centuries, but the most theatrical
episode was the famous "sortie" made by Jeanne
d'Arc when she was attempting to defend the
city against the combined English and Bur-
gundian troops. It was an episode in which
faint heart, perhaps treason, played an unwel-
come part, for while the gallant maid was tak-
ing all manner of chances outside the gates the
military governor, Guillaume de Flavy, ordered
the barriers of the great portal closed behind
her and her men.
Near the end of the Pont de Saint Louis Jeanne
d'Arc fell into the hands of the besiegers. An
346 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
archer from Picardy captured her single handed,
and, for a round sum in silver or in kind, turned
her over to her torturer, Jean de Luxembourg.
A statue of the maid is found on the public " Place, "
and the Tour Jeanne d'Arc, a great circular
donjon of the thirteenth century, is near by.
Another souvenir is to be found in the ancient
Hotel de Bceuf, at No. 9 Rue de Paris, where the
maid lodged from the eighteenth to the twenty-
third of August, 1429, awaiting the entry of
Charles VII.
With the era of Francis I that gallant and
fastidious monarch came to take up his residence
at Compiegne. He here received his "friend
and enemy," Charles V, but strangely enough
there is no monument in Compiegne to-day
which is intimately associated with the stay
here of the art-loving Francis. He preferred,
after all, his royal manor at Villers-Cotterets
near by. There was more privacy there, and it
formed an admirable retreat for such moments
when the king did not wish to bask in publicity,
and these moments were many, though one
might not at first think so when reading of his
affairs of state. There were also affairs of the
heart which, to him, in many instances, were
quite as important. This should not be for-
gotten.
Compiegne and Its Forest 347
In 1624 a treaty was signed at Compiegne
which assured the alliance of Louis XIII with
the United Provinces, and during this reign the
court was frequently in residence here. In 1631
Marie de Medici, then a prisoner in the palace,
made a notable escape and fled, doomed ever
afterwards to a vagabond existence, a terrible
fall for her once proud glory, to her death in a
Cologne garret ten years later.
In 1635 the Grand Chancellor of Sweden
signed a treaty here which enabled France to
mingle in the affairs of the Thirty Years' War.
During the Fronde, that "Woman's War,"
which was so entirely unnecessary, Anne d'Aut-
riche held her court in the Palace of Compiegne
and received Christine de Suede on certain oc-
casions when that royal lady's costume was of
such a grotesque nature, and her speech so che-
valeresque, that she caused even a scandal in a
profligate court. Anne d'Autriche, too, left Com-
piegne practically a prisoner; another menage
a trois had been broken up.
The most imposing event in the history of
Compiegne of which the chronicles tell was the
assembling of sixty thousand men beneath the
walls by Louis XIV, in order to give Madame
de Maintenon a realistic exhibition of "playing
soldiers." At all events the demonstration was
348 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
a bloodless one, and an immortal page in Saint-
Simon's "Memoires" consecrates this gallantry
of a king in a most subtle manner.
Another fair lady, a royal favourite, too, came
on the scene at Compiegne in 1769 when Madame
du Barry was the principal artiste in the great
fete given in her honour by Louis XV. She was
lodged in a tiny chateau (built originally for
Madame de Pompadour) a short way out of
town on the Soissons road.
Du Barry must have been a good fairy to Com-
piegne for Louis XV lavished an abounding
care on the chateau and, rather than allow the
architect, Jacques Ange Gabriel, have the free
hand that his counsellors advised, sought to
have the ancient outlines of the former struc-
ture on the site preserved and thus present
to posterity through the newer work the two
monumental facades which are to be seen to-day.
The effort was not wholly successful, for the
architect actually did carry out his fancy with
respect to the decoration in the same manner
in which he had designed the Ecole Militaire
at Paris and the two colonnaded edifices facing
upon the Place de la Concorde.
This work was entirely achieved when Louis
XVI took possession. This monarch, in 1780,
caused to be fitted up a most elaborate apartment
Compiegne and Its Forests 349
for the queen (his marriage with Marie An-
toinette was consecrated here), but that indeed
was all the hand he had in the work of building
at Compiegne, which has practically endured
as his predecessor left it. The Revolution and
Consulate used the chateau as their fancy willed,
and rather harshly, but in 1806 its restoration
was begun and Charles IV of Spain, upon his
dethronement by Napoleon, was installed therein
a couple of years later.
The palace, the park and the forest now became
a sort of royal appanage of this Spanish monarch,
which Napoleon, in a generous spirit, could well
afford to will him. He lived here some months
and then left precipitately for Marseilles.
Napoleon affected a certain regard for this
palatial property, though only occupying it at
odd moments. He embellished its surroundings,
above all its gardens, in a most lavish manner.
Virtually, all things considered, Compiegne is
a Palais Napoleonien, and if one would study
the style of the Empire at its best the thing may
be done at Compiegne.
On July 30, 1814, Louis XVIII and Alexander
of Russia met at Compiegne amid a throng of
Paris notabilities who had come thither for the
occasion.
Charles X loved to hunt in the forest of Com-
350 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
piegne. In 1832, one of the daughters of Louis-
Philippe, the Princesse Louise, was married to
the King of the Belgians in this palace.
From 1852 to 1870 the palace and its grounds
were the scenes of many imperial fetes.
Napoleon III had for Compiegne a particular
predilection. The prince-president, in 1852, in-
stalled himself here for the autumn season, and
among his guests was that exquisite blond beauty,
Eugenie Montijo, who, the year after, was to
become the empress of the French. Faithful
to the memory of his uncle, by reason of a ro-
mantic sentiment, the Third Napoleon came
frequently to Compiegne; or perhaps it was be-
cause of the near-by hunt, for he was a passionate
disciple of Saint Hubert. It was his Versailles!
The palace of Compiegne as seen to-day pre-
sents all the classic coldness of construction of
the reign of Louis XV. Its lines were severe and
that the building was inspired by a genius is
hard to believe, though in general it is undeniably
impressive. Frankly, it is a mocking, decadent
eighteenth century architecture that presents itself,
but of such vast proportions that one sets it down
as something grand if not actually of surpassing
good taste.
In general the architecture of the palace pre-
sents at first glance a coherent unit, though in
Compiegne and Its Forest 351
reality it is of several epochs. Its furnishings
within are of different styles and periods, not
all of them of the best. Slender gold chairs,
false reproductions of those of the time of Louis
XV, and some deplorable tapestries huddle close
upon elegant "bergeres" of Louis XVI, and sofas,
tables and bronzes of master artists and crafts-
men are mingled with cheap castings unworthy
of a stage setting in a music hall. A process of
adroit eviction will some day be necessary to
bring these furnishings up to a consistent plane
of excellence.
One of the facades is nearly six hundred feet
in length, with forty-nine windows stretching
out in a single range. It might be the front of
an automobile factory if it were less ornate, or
that of an exposition building were it more beauti-
ful. In some respects it is reminiscent of the
Palais Royal at Paris, particularly as to the
entrance colonnade and gallery facing the Louvre.
The chief beauty within is undoubtedly the
magnificent stairway, with its balustrade of
wrought iron of the period of Louis XVI. The
Salle de Spectacle is of a certain Third Empire-
Louis Napoleon distinction, which is saying that
it is neither very lovely nor particularly plain,
simply ordinary, or, to give it a French turn
of phrase, vulgar.
352 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
One of the most remarkable apartments is
the Salle des Cartes, the old salon of the Aides
de Camp, whose walls are ornamented with
three great plans showing the roads and by-
paths of the forest, and other decorative panels
representing the hunt of the time of Louis XV.
The Chambre a Coucher of the great Napoleon
is perhaps the most interesting of all the smaller
apartments, with its strange bed, which in form
more nearly resembles an oriental divan than
anything European. Doubtless it is not un-
comfortable as a bed, but it looks more like a
tent, or camp, in the open, than anything es-
sentially intended for domestic use within doors.
After the great Napoleon, his nephew Napoleon
III was its most notable occupant, though it
was last slept in by the Tzar Nicholas II, when
he visited France in 1901.
The sleeping-room of the Empress Eugenie
is fitted up after the style of the early Empire
with certain interpolations of the mid-nineteenth
century. The most distinct feature here is the
battery of linen coffers which Marie Louise
had had especially designed and built. The
Salon des Dames d'Honneur, with its double
rank of nine "scissors chairs," the famous tab-
ourets de cour> lined up rigidly before the canape
on which the empress rested, is certainly a re-
Napoleon s Bedchamber, Compiegne
Compiegne and Its Forest 353
markable apartment. This was the decor of
convention that Madame Sans Gene rendered
classic.
Like all the French national palaces Com-
piegne has a too abundant collection of Sevres
vases set about in awkward corners which could
not otherwise be filled, and, beginning with the
vestibule, this thing is painfully apparent.
The apartments showing best the Napoleonic
style in decorations and furnishings are the
Salon des Huissiers, the Salle des Gardes, the
Escalier d'Apollon, the Salle de Don Quichotte
which contains a series of designs destined
to have served for a series of tapestries intended
to depict scenes in the life of the windmill knight
the Galerie des Fetes, the Galerie des Cerfs,
the Salle Coypel, the Salle des Stucs and the
Salon des Fleurs, through which latter one ap-
proaches the royal apartments.
In the sixteenth century, or, more exactly,
between 1502 and 1510, was constructed Com-
piegne's handsome Hotel de Ville, one of the
most delightful architectural mixtures of Gothic
and Renaissance extant. It is an architectural
monument of the same class as the Palais de
Justice at Rouen or the Hotel Cluny at Paris.
Its frontispiece is marvellous, the rez-de-chaussee
less gracious than the rest perhaps, but with the
354 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
first story blooming forth as a gem of magnif-
icent proportions and setting. Between the four
windows of this first story are posed statuesque
effigies of Charles VII, Jeanne d'Arc, Saint
Remy and Louis IX. In the centre, in a niche,
is an equestrian statue of Louis XII, who reigned
when this monument was being built. A balus-
trade a jour finishes off this story, which, in turn,
is overhung with a high, peaked gable, and above
rise the belfry and its spire, of which the great
clock dates from 1303, though only put into
place in 1536. The only false note is sounded
by the two insignificant, cold and unlovely wings
which flank the main structure on either side.
It is a sixteenth century construction unrivalled
of its kind in all France, more like a Belgian
town-hall belfry than anything elsewhere to
be seen outside Flanders, but it is not of the
low Spanish-Renaissance order as are so many
of the imposing edifices of occidental and orien-
tal Flanders. It is a blend of Gothic and Renais-
sance, and, what is still more rare, the best of
Gothic and the best of Renaissance. Above
its facade is a civic belfry, flanked by two slender
towers. Within the portal-vestibule rises a monu-
mental stairway which must have been the in-
spiration of many a builder of modern opera-
houses.
Compiegne and Its Forest 355
Opposite the Hotel Dieu is the poor, rent
relic of the Tour de Jeanne d'Arc, originally
a cylindrical donjon of the twelfth century,
wherein "La Pucelle" was imprisoned in 1430.
Between the palace and the river are to be
seen many vestiges of the mediaeval ramparts
of the town, and here and there a well-defined
base of a gateway or tower. Medievalism is
rampant throughout Compiegne.
The park surrounding the palace is quite
distinct from the wider radius of the Foret de
Compiegne. It is of the secular, conventional
order, and its perspectives, looking towards
the forest from the terrace and vice versa, are
in all ways satisfying to the eye.
One of the most striking of these alleyed vistas
was laid out under the orders of the first Na-
poleon in 1 8 10. It loses itself in infinity, almost,
its horizon blending with that of the far distant
Beaux Monts in the heart of the forest.
In the immediate neighbourhood of the palace
are innumerable statues, none of great beauty,
value or distinction. On the south side runs
a Cours, or Prado, as it would be called in Cata-
lonia. The word Cours is of Provencal origin,
and how it ever came to be transplanted here is
a mystery. Still here it is, a great tree-shaded
promenade running to the river. The climate
356 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
of Compiegne is never so blazing hot as to make
this Cours so highly appreciated as its name-
sakes in the Midi, but as an exotic accessory to
the park it is quite a unique delight.
Within the park may still be traced the out-
lines of the moat which surrounded the palace
of Charles V, as well as some scanty remains
of the same period.
Another distinctive feature is the famous Ber-
ceau en Fer, an iron trellis several thousands of
feet in length, which was built by Napoleon I
as a reminder to Marie Louise of a similar, but
smaller, garden accessory which she had known
at Schoenbrunn. It was a caprice, if you like,
and rather a futile one since it was before the
time when artistically worthless things were the
rage just because of their gigantic proportions.
Napoleon III cut it down in part, and pruned
it to more esthetic proportions, and what there
is left, vine and flower grown, is really charming.
The Foret de Compiegne as a historic wild-
wood goes back to the Druids who practiced
their mysterious rites under its antique shade
centuries before the coming of the kings, who
later called it their own special hunting pre-
serve. Stone hatchets, not unlike the toma-
hawks of the red man, have been found and
traced back well, definitely to the Stone Age,
Compiegne and Its Forest 357
and supposedly to the time when they served
the Druids for their sacrifices.
The soldiers of Caesar came later and their
axes were of iron or copper, and though on the
warpath, too, their way was one which was
supposed to lead civilization into the wilder-
ness. Innumerable traces of the Roman oc-
cupation are to be found in the forest by those
who know how to read the signs; twenty-five
different localities have been marked down by
the archeologists as having been stations on the
path blazed by the Legions of Rome.
After the Romans came the first of the kings
as proprietors of the forest, and in the moyen-
age the monks, the barons and the crown itself
shared equally the rights of the forest.
Legends of most weird purport are connected
with various points scattered here and there
throughout the forest, as at the Fosse Dupuis
and the Table Ronde, where a sort of " trial
by fire" was held by the barons whenever a
seigneur among them had conspired against another.
Ariosto, gathering many of his legends from the
works of the old French chroniclers, did not
disdain to make use of the Foret de Compiegne
as a stage setting.
During the reign of Clothaire the forest was
known as the Fort de Cuise, because of a royal
358 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
palace hidden away among the Druid oaks
which bore the name of Cotia, or Cusia. Until
1346 the palace existed in some form or other,
though shorn of royal dignities. It was at this
period that Philippe VI divided the forests of
the Valois into three distinct parts in order to
better regulate their exploitation.
The Frankish kings being, it would seem,
inordinately fond of la chasse the Foret de Com-
piegne, in the spring and autumn, became their
favorite rendezvous. Alcuin, the historian, noted
this fact in the eighth century, and described
this earliest of royal hunts in some detail. In
715 the forest was the witness of a great battle
between the Austrasians and the Neustrians.
Before Francis I with his habitual initiative
had pierced the eight great forest roads which
come together at the octagon called the Puits
du Roi, the forest was not crossed by any thor-
oughfare; the nearest thing thereto was the
Chaussee de Brunhaut, a Roman way which
bounded it on the south and east.
Louis XIV and Louis XV, in turn, cut numer-
ous roads and paths, and to the latter were due
the crossroads known as the Grand Octagone
and the Petit Octagone.
It was over one of these great forest roads,
that leading to Soissons, that Marie Louise,
Compiegne and Its Forest 359
accompanied by a cortege of three hundred
persons, eighty conveyances and four hundred
and fifty horses, journeyed in a torrential rain,
in March 1807, when she came to France to
found a dynasty.
A marriage had been consummated by proc-
uration at Vienna, and she set out to actually
meet her future spouse for the first time at Sois-
sons. At the little village of Courcelles, on the
edge of the forest between Soissons and Com-
piegne, two men enveloped in great protecting
cloaks had arrived post-haste from Compiegne.
At the parish church they stopped a moment
and took shelter under the porch, impatiently
scanning the horizon. Finally a lumbering ber-
lin de voyage lurched into view, drawn by eight
white horses. In its depths were ensconced
two women richly dressed, one a beautiful woman
of mature years, the other a young girl scarce
eighteen years.
The most agitated of the men, he who was
clad in a gray redingote, sprang hastily to the
carriage door. He was introduced by the older
woman as "Sa Majeste VEmpereur des Franfaises,
mon frere." The speaker was one of the sisters
of Napoleon, Caroline, Queen of Naples; the
other was the Archduchess Marie Louise, daugh-
ter of Franz II, Emperor of Austria.
360 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
An imposing ceremonial had been planned
for Soissons and the court had been ordered to
set out from Compiegne with the emperor, in
order to arrive at Soissons in due time. When
the actual signal for the departure was given the
emperor was nowhere to be found. As usual
he had anticipated things.
For weeks before the arrival of the empress
to be Napoleon had passed the majority of his
waking hours at Paris in the apartments which
he had caused to be prepared for Marie Louise.
He selected the colour of the furnishings, and
superintended the very placing of the furniture.
Among other things he had planned a boudoir
which alone represented an expenditure of nearly
half a million francs.
Lejeune, who had accompanied Marechal Ber-
thier to Vienna to arrange the marriage, had
returned and given his imperial master a glow-
ing description of the charms of the young arch-
duchess who was to be his bride. The emperor
compared his ideal with her effigy on medals
and miniatures and then worked even more
ardently than before that her apartments should
be worthy of her when she arrived.
It was just following upon this fever of excite-
ment that Napoleon and the court had repaired
to Compiegne. So restless was the emperor that
Compiegne and Its Forest 361
he could hardly bide the time when the arch-
duchess should arrive, and it was thus that he set
out with Murat to meet the approaching cortege.
The pavilion which had been erected for the
meeting was left to the citizens of the neighbour-
hood, and the marvellous banquet which had
been prepared by Bausset was likewise abandoned.
Napoleon had no time to think of dining.
All the roadside villages between Soissons
and Compiegne were hung with banners, and
the populace appeared to be as highly excited
as the contracting parties. It still rained a deluge,
but this made no difference. Two couriers
at full gallop came first to Compiegne, crying:
"Place": "Place": The eight white horses and
the berlin de voyage followed. Before one had
hardly time to realize what was passing, Napoleon
and his bride whisked by in a twinkling.
At nine o'clock an outpost in the park at Com-
piegne announced the arrival of the emperor
and his train. At ten o'clock a cannon shot
rang out over the park and the emperor and
empress passed into the chateau to proceed with
certain indispensable presentations ; then to souper,
a petite souper intime, we are assured.
On the morrow all the world of the assembled
court met the empress and avowed that she had
that specious beaute du diable which has ever
362 Royal Palaces and Parks of France
pleased the French connoisseur of beautiful
women. They went further, however, and stated
that in spite of this ravishing beauty she lacked
the elegance which should be the possession of
an empress of the French. The faithful Ber-
thier silenced them with the obvious statement
that since she pleased the emperor there was
nothing more to be said, or thought.
Flying northward on the great highroad lead-
ing out from Paris to Chantilly and Compiegne
gadabout travellers have never a thought that
just beyond Pont Saint Maxence, almost in plain
view from the doorway of the Inn of the Lion
d'Argent of that sleepy little town, is a gabled
wall which represents all that remains of the
"Maison de Philippe de Beaumanoir," called
the Cour Basse.
THE END
INDEX
Aiguillon, Duchesse d', 217
Alcuin, 358
Alexander, Emperor, 221,
330, 349
Alphonse XIII of Spain, 7
Amboise, 26, 28, 86
Amboise, Bussy d', 72
Ancre, Marechal d', 67
Andelot, Coligny d', 72-73
Andilly, Arnauld d', 267
Anet, Chateau d', 29, in
Angennes, Jacques d', 44, 299,
3ii
Angers, Chateau d', 22
Anglas, Boissy d', 114
Angouleme, Duchesse d', 321
Anjou, Dues d', 22, 136, 212
Anne of Austria, 96-97, 136-
137, 284-287, 289, 347
Arc, Jeanne d', 345-346, 354
Ardennes, 54
Arlors, 25
Artois, Comtesse d', 176
Aubert, Jean, 333
Aubigne, D', 299
Aumale, Due d', 29, 327, 331-
332, 335, 338, 339
Auvergne, Louis d', 162-163
Ayen, Due d', 299
Bagatelle, Chateau de, 163,
203-206
Bailly, Sylvain, 104
Barbes, 173
Barbison, 200-201
Baril, Jean, 25
Barry, Mme. du, 211, 242-243,
245, 250, 275, 329, 348
Bassompierre, 195, 262
Bastille, 71, 145, 173
Bausset, 361
Baviere, Isabeau de, 69, 151,
182
BeauharnaiSy Eugene, 220,
222
Beauharnais, H or tense, 215,
220, 221
Beaujon, 164
Beaumont, Cardinal de, 179
Beauvais, Hotel de, n
Becker, General, 221
Becket, Thomas a, 182
Bedford, Duke of, 69
Belleveu, 241-242
Berquin, Louis de, 67
5?rry, DMC cte, 165 ,
5m-;y, Duchesse de, 50, 321
Berthier, Marechal (see
Wagram, Prince de)
Blanchard, 130
Blanqui, 173
Blois, 21, 26, 305
Blondel, 37
Blucher, 173, 209
Boileau, 328
Boissy, Forest of, 49
Bonaparte, Caroline, 359
Bonaparte, Jerome, 147
Bonaparte, Louis, 235
Bonaparte, Lucien, 145
Bonheur, Rosa, 202
Bordeaux, Due de, 166
Borghese, Princesse, 208
Bossuet, 328
Boulanger, 200
Boullee, 164
'Boulogne, Bois de, 168, 174,
175, 203, 206, 209
Bourbon Family, 164-165,
329, 331, 341
363
364
Index
Bourbon, Palais, 120, 159-161
Bourdaloue, 328
Bourg-la-Reine, 3
Boyceau, 30, 262, 270
Breton, Mme. de, 121-122
Brunei, 223
Brunswick, Duchesse de, 154
Bullant, Jean, 109, 327, 336
Cadoudal, 173
Cambaceres, Consul, 115-116
Cardinal, Palais (see Royal,
Palais)
Carpeaux, 118
Carrier-Belleuse, 202
Cartouche, 67
Cellini, 182, 192
Chabanne, Comte de, 73
Chabrol, 147
Chalgrin, 154
Chambiges, Pierre, 91, 281-
282
Chamblay, 54-56
Chambord, 71, 86, 310
Chamillard, Michael, 252-253
Champaigne, Philippe de, 135
ChampoUion-Figeac, 184
Chantilly, Chateau and For-
est of, 324-340, 362
Chap pell, Comte des, 72
Charenton, 152
Charlemagne, 18, 116, 281
Charles II, 344
Charles V, 22, 23, 25, 62-63,
66, 68, 77, 82-84, 170, 190,
247, 281, 327, 344, 356
Charles VI, 63, 66, 69, 176-
177, 229
Charles VII, 69, 182, 190, 346,
354
Charles VIII, 21, 299
Charles IX, 89, 91-94, 106,
108-110, 171, 209, 291, 312,
327
Charles X, 57, 108, 118, 146,
173, 192, 204, 212, 237-238,
^303, 317, 319-320, 349
Charles IV, Emperor, 63
Charles V, Emperor, 85, 88,
346
Charles 7, of England, 104,
137, 289
Charles the Bold of Bur-
gundy (see Charolais,
Comte de}
Charolais, Comte de, 177-178
Chartres, Dues de (see Or-
leans, Dues de)
Chateauroux, Mme. de, 250
Chatou, 210
Chenonceaux, 26, 32, 71
Chevalier, Etienne, 339
Childerbert I, 216
Christina, Queen, 222
Cinq-Mars, 73, 134
Clagny, Chateau de, 228, 277
Clement, Jacques, 93, 230-232
Clothaire, 357
Clotilde, 6 1
Clovis, 61, 76, 216
Coictier, Jacques, 66, 152
Colbert, 3, 87, 98," 100, 269
Coligny, Admiral, 93
Collo, Jean, 27
Commynes, 177
Compiegne, Palace and For-
est of, 52-53, 165, 232, 335,
342-362
Conciergerie, 61, 65-68
Conde Family, 73, 269, 324,
327-331, 333, 337, 339
Conflans, Chateau de, 2, 175-
179
Constanhne, Emperor, 344
Consulat, Palais du (see
Luxembourg, Palais du)
Conti Family, 211, 242, 327
Corneille, 73, 133, 151
Corot, 200
Cottereau, Jean, 299, 300-305,
307
Courcelles, 359
Cousin, Jean, 170
Coypel, 137
Cromwell, 137
Crozat, 162
Index
365
Dagobert, 54
Damiens, 67, 263-264
Dante, 24
Dardelle, 123
Daru, 100
Daubigny, 200
Daumesnil, Baron, 173
Daumet, Henri, 332
Debanes, 22
Debrosse, Jacques, 64, 154,
158
Decamps, 202, 338
Delille, Abbe, 143
Delorme, Marion, 73
Delorme, Philibert, 34, 108-
in, 189
Denecourt, 198-199, 201
Deputes, Chambre des (setf
Bourbon, Palais)
Desmoulins, Camille, 145
Diaz, 200
Directoire, Palais du (see
Luxembourg, Palais du)
Donon, 100
Dorbay, no
Drouais, 211
Ducamp, Maxine, 126
Ducerceau, 92, 94, no, 112
Ducrot, General, 2.2.2
Dugasts, 232
Dupaira, 95
Duperac, no
Dupre, 200
Durfort, Madame, 49
Egalite, Palais (^e Royal,
Palais)
Enghien, Chateau d', 340
Enghien, Due d', 169, 172-
174, 331
Epernon, Dues d , 103, 232
Erard, Sebastian, 210
E.yfe, Maria d', 290
Estival, Convent of, 49
Estrees, Gabrielle d', 102, 210
Etampes, Duchesse d', 86,
185, 192, 294
Btoiles, Normand d', 204
Eugenie, Empress, 120-122,
125-126, 238, 350, 352
Evans, Dr., 122
Fallieres, President, 166-167
Famin, 314-315
Four*, F*/t>, 56, 58-59
Feraud, 114
Ferrare, Due de, 70
Flandre, Comte de, 82
Flavy, Guillaume de, 345
Fleury, Chateau de, 195
Fontaine, 99, 127
Fontainebleau, Forest of, 6,
50, 52, 181, 183, 196-202,
279, 294
Fontainebleau, Palais de, 2,
26, 28, 33, 34, 87, 91, III,
180-196, 329, 335, 336
Fouche, 221
Fould, 53
Fouquet, Jean, 339
Fouquet, Nicolas, 269
Fragcnard, 211
Francine, Thomas and Alex-
andre, 196
Francis I, 8, 10, 12, 16, 21, 32,
44-45, 62, 64, 67, 77, 79, 81,
84-89, 108, no, 170, 181,
183-187, 189-191, 194, 209,
229, 281-282, 200, 292, 299,
306, 310-311, 32i, 326, 346,
358
Franz II, 359
Gabriel, 276, 348
Gaillon, Chateau de, 33
Ganne, Pere, 200
Girardini, 160
Gisors, Castle of, 82
Gondi, 230, 232
Goujon, Jean, 89, 90
Grand Trianon, 39, 248,
259, 260, 263, 264, 274-276
Gregory of Tours, 215
Grevy, Jules, 58
366
Index
Gros, Baron, 338
Grosbois, Chateau de, 51
Guilbert, Abbe, 184
Guillain, Guillaume, 282
Guise, Dues de, 70, 72-73, 103
Ham on, 200
Harlay - Crauvallon, Arch-
bishop De, 178-179
Haussmann, Baron, 3, 13, 152
Hebert, 201
Hennequin, Dame Gillette,
178
Henri II, 26, 32, 44, 69-70, 78,
85, 87, 89, 90, 91, 108, no,
170, 193, 229, 230, 282, 294-
295, 3H, 327
Henri HI, 29, 92-93, 101, 109,
230-232, 312
Henri IV, 16, 26, 27, 29, 45-
46, 71-72, 87, 89, 92, 94-95,
102-103, ni-112, 118, 172,
186, 190, 191, 194-197, 206,
209, 210, 231, 232, 238, 282-
283, 306, 327
Henrietta of England, 233,
289
Henriette de France, 104, 137
Henry V of England, 63, 326
Henry VI of England, 63, 69
Henry VIII of England, 311
Herivaux, Bois de, 340
Hohenzollern, Prince de, 53
H or tense. Queen, 330
Hugo, Victor, 73
Hugues Capet, 62
Institut, Palais de T, 159-160
Isabey (Pere), 40
Jacob of Cologne, 87
Jacque, 200
James II of England, 290
Jarnac, GUI Chabot de, 294
Joachim, Prince, 52, 56
John II of France, 83, 170
John VIII, Pope, 344
Joinville, Forest of, 169
Josephine, Empress, 174, 215,
217-222, 323
Justice, Palais de {see La
Cite, Palais de)
Karr, Alphonse, 149
La Barauderie, De, 30
Labaudy, 50
La Brosse, 102
La Cite, Palais de, 12, 61-68,
75, 81, 82, 93, 152, 153, 170
La Chdtaigneraie, 294
Laffitte, Pierre, 212, 213, 243
Lambesc, Prince de, 144
La Muette, Chateau de, in,
203, 209-210
Lancret, 338
Langeais, 33
Lannes, Marechal, 213
Laporte, 284
La Quintinye, 267-269
La Reine Blanche, Chateau
de, 341
Las chant, 232
Latini, Brunetto, 24
Lauzan, 178, 289
La Valliere, Louise de, 289
Lebrun, Charles, 97, 255, 256
Lebrun, Consul, 115
Le Calabrese, Henri, 27
Lecouteux de Canteleu, 217,
222
Ledoux, 211, 243
Lefuel, 100
Lejeune, 360
Leloir, 239
L'Elysee, Palais de, 153, 162-
167
Lemercier, Jacques, 96, 100,
135, 262
LeMoyne, 239
Le Notre, 16, 22, 25, 26, 28,
30, 31, 35, 39, 40, 104, 128,
129-130, 179, 233, 248, 264-
266, 270, 277, 288, 292, 307-
308, 327, 330
Lepaute, 240
Le Roy, 262
Index
367
Les Bruyeres, 222
Lescot, Pierre, 88-90, 109
Lesdiguieres, Duchesse de,
179
Levau, 97-98, 110, 247, 249
Lomenci, Martial de, 247
Longueil, Rene de, 212
Longueville, Mme. de, 73, 327
Loret, ii
Lorraine, Cardinal de, in
Lorraine, Chevalier de, 233
Louis I, 344
Louis V, 344
Louis VI, 281
Louis VII, 169, 181, 182
Louis IX, 23, 62, 77, 169, 176,
182, 190, 281, 295, 341, 344,
354
Louis XI, 21, 66, 69, 152, 172,
177-178, 299, 326
Louis XII, 2,6, 69, 299, 305,
306, 326, 354
'Louis XIII, 16, 48, 87, 96,
112, 132, 134, 136, 171, 189,
190, 194, 209, 247, 249, 262,
266, 283-284, 306, 347
Louis XIV, n, 12, 14, 16, 17,
29, 33, 38, 39, 46, 48, 49, 50,
85, 87, 97-99, 104, 112, 118,
127, 136-137, 152, 158, 170,
178, 186, 189, 190, 206, 217,
223-224, 226, 233, 240, 245,
247, 249, 251-253, 255-257,
261, 264, 268, 270, 273, 274,
277, 283, 284, 288-290, 291,
293, 296, 297, 299, 303-307,
312, 328, 345, 347, 358
'Louis XV, 4, 14, 16, 17, 38,
48, 112, 152, 162, 163, 174,
185, 186, 189, 190, 192, 205,
207, 209, 211, 227, 241, 243,
246, 250, 253, 263-264, 275-
276, 284, 290, 312, 320, 323,
329, 345, 348, 350-352, 358
Louis XVI, 37, 39, 41, 43, 57,
108, 113, 118, 143, 144, 152,
154, 210, 213, 227, 250, 261,
235-236, 352, 356, 358-362
290, 312-313, 3i6, 320, 322,
348, 35i
Louis XVIII, 118, 161, 174,
237, 250, 316, 349
Louis Philippe, 105, 108, 117-
118, 146, 149, 154, 162, 1 66,
186, 194, 199, 207, 238, 254-
255, 350 {see also Orleans
Family)
Louveciennes, Chateau de,
210-212, 242, 288
Louvre, 4, 12, 13, 22, 25, 32,
44, 62, 68, 75-105, 108, 109,
no, in, 112, 118, 124, 131,
132, 152, 233, 35i
Lude, Comtesse de, 49
Luxembourg, Jean de, 346
Luxembourg, Palais de, 28,
40, 115, 136, 144, 153-158
Machine de Marly, 223-224
Madrid, Chateau de, HI
Magnan, Marechal, 242
Maine, Due de, 159
Maintenon, Chateau de, 242,
296-308, 312
Maintenon, Mme. de, 158-159,
194, 227, 249, 274, 296-299,
302-303, 305-308, 312, 347,
Maisons-Laffitte, Chateau de,
203, 212-214, 288
Malmaison, Chateau de, 215-
223, 323
Mandrin, 67
Mansart, Frangois, 212-213
Mansart, Jules Hardouin, 35,
137, 179, 226, 233, 241, 249,
274, 276, 291, 327, 333
Mantes, 55
Mantes, Mile, de, 159
Marat, 116
Marceliano, Pucello and
Edme, 26
Marie .Antoinette, 49, 115,
194, 204, 210, 237, 245, 256,
276-277, 320, 322, 349
Marie Louise, 6, 117, 208,
Marie Sophie, 320
368
Index
Marie Therese, n
Marigny, Enguerrand de, 62,
172
Marigny, Marquis de, 99
Marlotte, 201
Marly-le-Roi (or -le-^Bourg
or -le-Chatel), 2, 224-228,
283, 288
Mary Tudor, of England, 69
Marseilles, 91
Massena, Due de, 217
Masson, Frederic, 236
Matignon, Marechal de, 7
Mayenne, Due de, 101
Masarin, Cardinal, 87, 104,
136, 159, 169, 283-285
Mazarin, Palais (see Institut,
Palais de 1')
Medici, Catherine de, 26, 31,
33, 44, 48, 68, 69-71, 90-91,
93-94, 97, 107, I0 8, no, in,
171, 195, 230, 247, 311
Medici, Marie de, 72, 103,
154, 155, 158, 206, 347
Menars et de Marigny, Mar-
quis de, 163
Menours, Jacques de, 30, 262-
263
Mercogliano, 18
Messonier, 338
Mttezeau, Thibaut, 92, 94
Metternich, Prince de, 121
Meudon, Bois de, 240
Meudon, Chateau de, 34, in
Michelet, 192
Mignard, 233, 239, 306
Millet, Eugene, 290, 291
Millet, Jean Frangois, 200,
20 1
Mirabeau, 172
Moliere, 73, 104, 178, 249
Molineaux, Chateau de, 278
Mollet, Claude, 29, 30
Mollien, ipo
Monconseil, Marquise de, 204
Mongomere, Comte de, 67
Montansier, Due de, 269
Montargis, 28
Montebello, Marechal de, 213
Montespan, Marquise de, 159,
249, 275, 312
Montesson, Marquise de, 234
Montgaillard, 50
Montgolfier, 130
Montgomery, Sieur de, 70
Montmartre, 288
Montmorency Family, 178,
324, 326-327, 339
Montmorency, Forest of, 49,
288
Montpensier, Mile, de, 136
Moreau, Architect, 138
Moreau, Hegesippe, 123-124
Moskowa, Prince de la, 53
Muette, Chateau de la, in
Murat, Princes de, 52-56, 165,
235, 361
Murillo, 164
Musee de Cluny, 12
M 'us set, De, 274
Nacret, 239
Nanterre, 281
Nanteuil, Celestin, 200
Napoleon I, 6, 13, 40, 51-52,
57, 79, 88, 100, 108, 115-118,
127, 129, 145, 154, 155, 160,
165, 171, 173-174, 180, 186,
187-188, 190, 194, 208, 213,
217-222, 235-237, 250, 254,
274, 296, 298, 313-316, 320,
321, 322, 345, 349, 352, 355-
356, 359-362
Napoleon III, 13, 58, 92, 100,
105, 118-122, 147, 152, 166,
195, 197, 222, 238, 290, 313,
3i8, 323, 345, 350-352, 356"
Nattier, 338
Neckar, 144
Nemours, Due de, 70
Neufforge, De, 37
Neuilly and its Chateau- 206*^
209, 238
Nicholas II, 352
Nicolo dell' abbate, 193
Nigra, Chevalief t 121
Index
369
Noailles, Dues de, 298-300,
396
Noisy, Chateau de, 278
Nolhac, M. de, 274
Olivier, Emile, 125
Oppenard, 137
Orgemont, Marguerite d\ 326
Orleans, Dues d', 137-140,
143, 144-149, 161, 209, 233,
234, 286-287, 337
Orleans, Palais d' (see
Royal, Palais)
Ormesson, D', 73
Osman, 230-231
Oursins, Juvenal des, 66
Palatine, Princesse, 233
Palissy, Bernard, 31-32
Panseron, 37
Pare, Ambroise, 171
Paul, Saint Vincent de, 73
Penthievre, Due de, 306, 312,
322
Pepin-le-Bref, 343
Percier, 100, 127
Perrault, Charles, 98-99
Petit Luxembourg, Palais du,
155, 157
Petit Trianon, 39, 260, 264,
274, 276-277, 329
Pfnor, 184
Philippe Auguste, 12, 62, 77,
80-82, 169, 182, 190
Philippe III, 62, 177
Philippe IV, 62, 170, 176, 182,
190, 295
Philippe VI, 170, 358
Philippe II, of Spain, 69
Philippe-Egalite, 138-139
Picard, Achille, 125
Pichegreu, 173
Pierrefonds, 290, 335
Pisan, Christine de, 23
Pius VII, 6, 115, 194, 235
Poirson, 184
Poissin, 164
Poissy, 23, 232, 292, 293
Poitiers, Diane de, 29, 44, 70-
7i, 193
Pompadour, Mme. de, 163,
204-205, 241-242, 246, 250,
275, 348
Potter, Paul, 164
Poussin, 338
Prieur, Barthelemy, 196
Primaticcio, 87, 188, 192, 193
Provence, Comte de, 154
Quatre Nations, Palais des
(see Institut, Palais de 1')
Rabelais, 322
Racine, 297, 303, 308, 328
Rambouillet, Chateau and
Forest of, 44-45, 50, 55-59,
242, 296, 298, 309-323, 328,
335, 33.6
Rambouillet, Seigneur de, 299
Raphael, 87, 170
Rasp ail, 173
Ravaillac, 67, 102
Redon, 128
Regnier, Henri de, 244
Remusat, Mme. de, 174, 219
Rets, Marechal de, 247
Revolution, Palais de la (see
Royal, Palais)
Richelieu, Cardinal, 72, 73,
95, 100, 131-139, 151, 178,
179, 216-217
Rigaud, 307
Rigby, 334
Robert II, 62, 190, 281
Rochefort, Henri, 120-121
Romain, Mme., 141
Ronsard, 34, 90, 109, in
Roosevelt, Theodore, 166-167
Rosier, De, 210
Rosny, 55
Rosso, 182, 192
Rousseau, Theodore, 200, 201
Rousselle, 123
Rouvray, Forest of, 229
Rovigo, Due de, 221
370
Index
Royal, Palais, 131-150, 284,
351
Royale, Place (see Vosges,
Place des)
Rubens, 164
Rueil (see Malmaison)
Sadi-Carnot, 58
Saint Cloud, Palais de, 13,
93, 228, 229-243
Saint Cyr, 296-298, 303
Saint Germain-en-Laye, 28,
91, in, 136, 203, 206, 223,
232, 242, 256, 279-295, 3H,
324, 336, 345
Saint Germain, Forest of,
212, 292-295
Saint James, Baudart de, 208
Saint Louis (see Louis IX)
Saint Maur, Chateau de, in
Saint Ouen, 54
Saint-Simon, 179, 262, 348
Sarto, Del, 192
Savoie, Louise de, 108
Savoie, Philippe de, 66
Scarron, Mme. (see Mainte-
non, Mme. de)
Schickler, Baron, 318
Schopin, 195
Senat, Palais du (see Luxem-
bourg, Palais du)
Senlis, 6
Senlis, Foret de, 340
Senlis, Seigneurs de, 324
Seran, Comtesse de, 275
Serlio, 88, 185
Serres, Olivier de, 33
Servandoni, 112
Sevigne, Mme. de, 179, 277,
328
Soissons, 359-36i
Soyecourt, Marquis de, 212
Sualem, Rennequin, 223
Sully, Due de, 102, 103
Talmon, Prince de, 73
Tesse, Marquis de, 73
Thermes, Palais des, 12, 62,
. J 53
Thierry III, 224
Thiers, President, 122-123
Thomery, 202
Thou, De, 73
Temple, The, 144
Tiercelin, Jean, 108
Tillet, Maison du, 232
Toulouse, Comte de, 321
Toulouse, Comtesse de, 312,
320
Tournelles, Palais des, 66, 68-
71, 81, 152
Trepsat, 313-314
Trianon (see Grand Tria-
non)
Triboulet, 186
Tribunat, Palais du (see
Royal, Palais)
Trochu, General, 120
Tuileries, Palace and Gar-
dens of the, 3, 13, 31, 33-34,
40, 76, 78, 82, 91, 92, 94,
106-130, 131, 155, 157, 166,
218, 227, 317
Turenne, 73
Turgot, loo
Valerian, Mont, 288
Vallet, Pierre, 27
Valois, Charles, Comte de,
170
Valois, Elisabeth de, 69
Valois, Marguerite de (1492-
1549), 8, 10
Valois, Marguerite de (1553-
1615), 10, 69, ill, 209
Van Loo, 164
Vasari, 181
Vauban, 252
Vaux-le-Vicomte, 36, 42
Vendome, Due de, 102, 206
Vernet, Joseph, 164, 239
Verneuil, Marquis de, 207
Veronese, 338
Versailles, 2, 36, 42, 85, 88,
99, 112, 118, 145, 163, 180,
Index
371
196, 205, 215, 223-224, 226,
228, 239, 240, 242, 244-278,
279, 283, 296, 305, 324, 334,
335, 336, 350
Vesinet, Bois de, 288
Vexin, Comte de, 159,
Vignole, 188
Vignon, 113
Villa Normande, 54
Villeray, Marquis de, 299
Villeroy, Marquis Neuville
de, 108
V iller oy, Marechal de, 178
Villers-Cotterets, 28, 165, 346
Vincennes, Chateau de, 168-
175, 33i, 345
Vincennes, Bois de, 168, 174-
175, 177
Vinci, Leonardo da, 87, 192
Visconti, 100
Vivonne, Frangois de, 294
Voltaire, 263
Von Ostade, 164
Vosges, Place des, 71-74, 152.
Wagram, Prince de, 51, 52,
360, 362
Wallace, Sir Richard, 205
Wellington, 208-209
William I, Emperor, 255
Wolsey, 132
^ffei>
DC 20 ,M3 1910 SMC
lansfield, Milburg Francisco
.oyal palaces and parks of
France
