LETTER XXIV.
Versailles.—St. Cloud.—Sèvre.—Petit Trianon.—Specimen of an extravagant bill.—Curious trial.—St. Germain.—Malmaison.—Waterworks of Marly.
Paris, april 13th, 1802 (24 germinal).
MY DEAR SIR,
I went yesterday, with a small party of english friends, to Versailles, and am just returned. I sit down now to give you the details of our little excursion.
We stopped at St. Cloud, which is situate about half way, to view that favourite palace of the unfortunate Lewis XVI, which will long be celebrated in history, on account of the extraordinary meeting held there by the council of five hundred, in the orangerie, or green house, which ended in the establishment of the present consular government.
St. Cloud is undergoing a thorough repair, previously to its being inhabited by Bonaparte. It is difficult, therefore, to form a proper estimate, either of what it formerly was, or of what it may become. I do not suppose it ever could have been on a very large scale. The gallery, which still remains, is a fine room, and the view is extensive from the large window, by which it is terminated. The walls are ornamented with some excellent paintings (I believe) by “le Brun.” The chapel is now in a state of disorder, and I did not examine the pictures which it contains. The garden has been neglected, and can never have been either very extensive, or very beautiful. Formal walks, and regular rows of trees, constitute all its merit. As to the famous jets d’eau, or cascades, they are still in high preservation; and the Parisians, on a particular day in every year, come here, in splendid procession, to enjoy this favourite sight. I only saw unmoved stone dragons, Neptunes, frogs, swans, and griffons, from whose mouths these artificial waterfalls are vomited. In this state, at least, a jet d’eau forms but a disagreeable ornament in a garden, which ought to unite every beauty of nature, and to disdain every other.
The next object to St. Cloud, which attracted our attention, was the famous manufactory of Sèvre. The beautiful porcelain, which bears the name of this town, continues to be made here, under the immediate protection of the government. We visited the shop, or magazin, and were shown the several rooms of which it consists. In all of these were tables, covered with specimens of china made here, but I cannot say that they answered my expectation. They were neither as various, nor as splendid, as one should suppose they would be, at the principal dépôt of so renowned a manufactory. Probably, the situation in which France has been during the revolution, did not afford a sufficient number of purchasers, to induce the managers to keep by them any considerable quantity of expensive articles. There were several busts of Bonaparte in different sizes, all of which were strikingly resembling. There were also great and small busts of Voltaire, Franklin, and Rousseau.
Going thence to Versailles, we drove to Rambrand’s, which is esteemed the principal hotel; but finding, on our arrival, that the best rooms were engaged, we changed our plan, and proceeded to le Petit Trianon in the park, which, formerly the much loved retreat of Marie Antoinette, has, in the strange metamorphosis things as well as men have experienced in France, become a common inn.