There remains to-day nothing to remind
us of the Villa of Flowers but the gardens
and a fountain for horses near the canal,
where a terrace planted with beautiful trees
overlooks it. Here Louis XIV often came
in a gondola on summer evenings, when the
Marble Trianon had replaced the Trianon
of Porcelain. The latter's demolition was
inspired, no doubt, by the urging of the new
favorite, Madame de Maintenon, who found
distasteful this reminder of another's
supremacy in the King's affections.

Moreover, this site continued to please
the King for he recognized its convenience
to the palace, and its accessibility by barge
or carriage. He determined to build in the
midst of these enchanting woods and blooms
a dwelling less formal than the one at
Versailles, smaller even than the one at Marly,
but more habitable than the porcelain
_maisonette_--a retreat, in short, where, without
wearisome ceremony, he could retire with
certain favored ones of his Court and while
the summer hours away.

The accounts of the King's treasurer
show that the building of the edifice and the
gardens proceeded rapidly during the year