1936 On the Continent

where every seven years the two French Chambers meet to elect the President of the Republic.
    The Park of Versailles is quite as famous as the palace itself. It is undoubtedly the most perfect masterpiece of a “French garden,” and was designed by the architect Le Nôtre for Louis XIV. On great festivals, as well as on every first Sunday of the autumn months, the “Grandes Eaux” present one of the most enchanting spectacles in the world. You will roam for hours round the fountain pools and statues of this truly royal park, and you will always come upon spots you have not yet discovered or upon avenues that you have missed so far.
    Close to the Palace of Versailles you will find the two Trianons, which are a kind of annexe to Versailles. The Grand Trianon was also built by Mansart at the order of Louis XV, who went there to rest from the tedium of the court. It was here, in the Great Hall, that in June 1920 the Peace Treaty between Hungary and the Allies was signed. The Petit Trianon, built during the reign ofLouis XV, was a favourite retreat of Marie Antoinette. Its gardens are famous for its charming little Temple of Love, which alone has more visitors each year than the whole of Versailles.
Saint Germain
    Less famous than Versailles, but better situated from the panoramic point of view, the Palace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, about 13 miles from Paris, with its museum, its terrace, and its wood, is a first attraction for tourists.
    Before you reach the palace itself you will come upon an association with your own country—the church of Saint-Germain contains the tomb of the Stuart king James II, who died in Saint-Germain in 1701, where he fled after the revolution of 1688.
    Saint-Germain, too, was the scene of the signing of a Peace Treaty, that with Austria.
    What will delight you at Saint-Germain will be not the palace itself but the terrace, which is more than 7,000 feet long and 90 feet wide. It is supported by a high wall and extends from the Henri IV Pavilion to a wide bastion upon which the gate leading to the wood opens.
    The wood is one of the finest in the environs of Paris.
Malmaison
    A few minutes’ journey from Saint-Germain is the Palace of Malmaison, which is one of the most strikingly historic, and at the same time artistic, relics of the Napoleonic era.
    It was built by Napoleon’s first wife, the Creole woman Josephine, and was for a long time, particularly during Napoleon’s long absences, the scene of social and artistic events that gave ample food for scandal. It was the witty Saint-Beuve who said: “Napoleon the soldier was conquered at Waterloo, but Napoleon the husband was defeated at Malmaison.”
    It was here that Josephine lived in retirement after her divorce, and that she died in 1814.
    In the Emperor’s bedroom you will see the iron bedstead in which Napoleon slept on St. Helena, as well as his death mask. The ladies like to pause for a long time in thebathroom on the first floor, which contains Josephine’s dressing-table, a masterpiece of its kind of the period.
Rambouillet
    Rambouillet, 10 miles from Paris, is older than Versailles and was already famous in the sixteenth century. It was here that Francis I died in 1547 and Charles V abdicated after the revolution of 1830.
    To-day Rambouillet is the summer residence of the President of the Republic, and the great presidential hunts in the vast Forest of Rambouillet are world famous.
    The palace itself contains a few historic rooms, such as the bedroom where Napoleon spent the last night before going into exile on June 25th 1814, Marie Antoinette’s boudoir, and the Emperor’s bathroom.
Fontainebleau
    Fontainebleau is some 40 miles from Paris and, like Versailles, has little of interest to offer to the tourist, its fame lying in its palace and forest. The former is one of the oldest of the great palaces in France and already existed in the twelfth century. It was a favourite retreat of Catherine de Medicis, and it was here that Pope Pius VII stayed when he came to Paris especially to crown Napoleon. Napoleon spent more than 12 million francs on redecorating the palace, and by an irony of fate it was here that, on April 5th 1814, he abdicated.
    The different wings of the palace include the apartments of Napoleon, Marie Antoinette, the Pope and Madame de Maintenon respectively, and rival even Versailles in point of luxury. As to the forest, it is the largest in the environs of Paris and would take several days to explore