•66 TIIH PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chai-. IV. 



CHAPTEK IV. 



The PARC DES BUTTES Chaumont. 



This is, as regards garden-design, the most distinct and interest- 

 ing garden in Paris. After Versailles and the Garden of Plants 

 and the Champs Elysees, and even the varied beauty of the Pare 

 Moncean, no one is prepared for the striking difterence shown by 

 this garden. There are beautiful open lawns with tasteful fringes 

 of shrubs and groups of trees ; and in many parts an airiness and 

 breadth which are admirable. It is the boldest attempt at what 

 is called the picturesque style that has been made in any Paris 

 or London gardens. It is hardly wise to attempt expensive and 

 extraordinary works in places of this sort, but in this instance an 

 unusual effort was to some extent invited by the peculiar 

 nature of the ground. The whole park may be described as a 

 diversified Primrose Hill with two or three " peaks and valleys," 

 and immense masses of rock. 



Old quarries, enormous in size, and surrounded by acres of 

 rubbish, once occupied this spot. It was by cutting away the 

 ground around three sides of these, and leaving the highest 

 and most picturesque side intact, that the present results were 

 brought about. A very extensive and imposing cliff rises to a 

 height of over one hundred and sixty feet, half surrounded 

 by an artificial lake. Hard by, enormous stalactite caves, 



