68 Travels in France 



gave me still greater pleasure to find that Denainvilliers is not 

 an inconsiderable estate. The lands extensive; the chateau 

 respectable; with offices, gardens, etc., that prove it the resi- 

 dence of a man of fortune; from which it appears that this in- 

 defatigable author, however he might have failed in some of his 

 pursuits, met with that reward from his court which did it credit 

 to bestow ; and that he was not like others left in obscurity to the 

 simple rewards which ingenuity can confer on itself. Four miles 

 before Malsherbs a fine plantation of a row of trees on each side 

 the road begins, formed by Monsieur de Malsherbs, and is a 

 striking instance of attention to decorating an open country. 

 More than two miles of them are mulberries. They join his 

 other noble plantations at Malsherbs, which contain a great 

 variety of the most curious trees that have been introduced in 

 France. — 36 miles. 



14//?. After passing three miles through the forest of Foun- 

 tainbleau, arrive at that town and view the royal palace, which 

 has been so repeatedly added to by several kings that the share 

 of Francis I., its original founder, is not easily ascertained. He 

 does not appear to such advantage as at Chambord. This has 

 been a favourite with the Bourbons, from there having been so 

 many Nimrods of that family. Of the apartments which are 

 shown here, the king's, the queen's, monsieur's, and madame's 

 are the chief. Gilding seems the prevalent decoration; but in 

 the queen's cabinet it is well and elegantly employed. The 

 painting of that delicious little room is exquisite, and nothing 

 can exceed the extremity of ornament that is here with taste 

 bestowed. The tapestries of Beauvais and the Gobelins are 

 seen in this palace to great advantage. I liked to see the gallery 

 of Francis I. preserved in its ancient state, even to the andirons 

 in the chimney, which are those that served that monarch. 

 The gardens are nothing; and the grand canal, as it is called, 

 not to be compared with that at Chantilly. In the pond that 

 joins the palace are carp as large and as tame as the Prince of 

 Conde's. The landlord of the inn at Fountainbleau thinks that 

 royal palaces should not be seen for nothing; he made me pay 

 10 livres for a dinner which would have cost me not more than 

 half the money at the Star and Garter at Richmond. Reach 

 Meulan. — 34 miles. 



iSth. Cross, for a considerable distance, the royal oak forest 

 of Senar. — About Montgeron, all open fields, which produce 

 com and partridges to eat it, for the number is enormous. There 

 is on an average a covey of birds on every two acres, besides 



