210 



THE I'ARKS AND (lAHDENS OF I'AKIS. [Chap. XIV 



little building overgrown with Ivy and deeply embosomed among 

 noble trees — which is so picturesque that it matters little 

 whether it bo a reality or a sham, for it is undoubtedly a charming 

 object; so much so, that few will care to be told that it was originally 

 built as a real dairy. One cannot wonder that Charles X., when 

 driven from his throne by the revolution of a single day, lingered 

 a tV'W hours in the gardens of the Little Trianon, recalling sweet 

 and bitter memories, before hastening to the frontier and quitting 

 France for ever. 



The young trees planted by Marie Antoinette, and those 

 previously established during the reign of Louis XV., are now 



renerable with age, and, during the summer and autumn, throw 

 the greater part of this pleasure-garden into a soft and pleasing 

 half-light, which greatly adds to its charm. Jussieu has left his 

 landmarks in the garden of the Little Trianon, in the rare and 

 beautiful trees that still flourish there, most of them (planted in 

 1704) being now in their prime, and some of them the finest 

 specimens known of their kind. The Weymouth Pine, for 

 instance, and a great variety of American Oaks arc very 

 renuirkable, while a AVillow-leaved Oak (Quercus salicifolia) lias 

 attained a height of above ninety feet. There is also a superb 

 Plauera, besides many other fine trees. 



