triumphal column at Neuilly; with a fountain on the Place Louis XV.; with
tearing down the Hotel-Dieu to enlarge and beautify the Cathedral
quarter; and with the construction of four hospitals at Mont-Parnasse, at
Chaillot, at Montmartre, and in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, etc. All
these plans were very grand; and there is no doubt that he who had
conceived them would have executed them; and it has often been said that
had he lived, Paris would have had no rival in any department in the
world.

At the same time his Majesty decided definitely on the form of the arch
of triumph de l'Etoile, which had been long debated, and for which all
the architects of the crown had submitted plans. It was M. Fontaine
whose opinion prevailed; since among all the plans presented his was the
simplest, and at the same time the most imposing.

The Emperor was also much interested in the restoration of the palace of
Versailles. M. Fontaine had submitted to his Majesty a plan for the
first repairs, by the terms of which, for the sum of six millions, the
Emperor and Empress would have had a comfortable dwelling. His Majesty,
who liked everything grand, handsome, superb, but at the same time
economical, wrote at the bottom of this estimate the following note,
which M. de Bausset reports thus in his Memoirs:--

"The plans in regard to Versailles must be carefully considered.
Those which M. Fontaine submits are very reasonable, the estimate
being six millions; but this includes dwellings, with the
restoration of the chapel and that of the theater, only sufficiently
comfortable for present use, not such as they should be one day.

"By this plan, the Emperor and Empress would have their apartments;