146 



GARDEN CRAFT IN EUROPE 



known as Renard's garden, retaining the main division of the old . garden ; 

 he enlarged the parterres in order to provide a greater space in front of 

 the palace, at the same time doing away with the grotto, maze and other 

 toys then out of fashion. The remainder of the garden he divided into 

 quinciinxes and bosquets, in the midst of which was an open air theatre. Le 

 Notre made the terrace of the Cours la Reine overlooking the Seine, and 



planted the great central 

 avenue which was later con- 

 tinued into the present 

 Champs Elysees, and put in 

 the two central fountains 

 with their high single jets of 

 water, which are still the 

 delight of small children who 

 sail boats in their large basins. 

 Louis XIV made little use of 

 the palace, preferring the life 

 at Versailles, and after 1722 

 royal visits were restricted 

 to rare ceremonial occasions. 

 Saint Cloud has suffered 

 much ; the palace was burnt 

 down in 1 870 and very little 

 remains of its elaborate gar- 

 dens and waterworks, while 

 the park, with its straight 

 avenues, is a desolate place 

 save on fine Sundays, when 

 it is generally gay with the 

 population of Paris. It was bought by Louis XIV in 1658 and was 

 rebuilt from Mansart's designs ; the gardens were at once taken in hand 

 and Le Notre worked in conjunction with Mansart. Being upon a 

 hillside it was possible to make terraces without accumulating vast quan- 

 tities of earth. The great farterre de Trianon is shown in Fragonard's 

 delightful picture, " Fete at St. Cloud," and has been often engraved. 

 In the midst was the fontaine de Venus surrounded by com-partiments de- 



DETAIL OF THE CASCADE AT ST, CLOUD. 

 {For a general view see page 122.) 



