terrace, the view from which in all directions is magnificent. Fronting
you, as you sit, is the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, erected under
Napoleon I., by Percier and Fontaine, in imitation of the Arch of
Septimius Severus at Rome, and once crowned by the famous bronze Roman
horses from St. Mark's at Venice. The arch, designed as an approach to the
Tuileries during the period of the classical mania, is too small for its
present surroundings, since the removal of the Palace. The north wing,
visible to your right, is purely modern, of the age of the First and
Second Empire and the Third Republic. The meretricious character of the
reliefs in its extreme west portion, erected under the Emperor Napoleon
III., and restored after the Commune, is redolent of the spirit of that
gaudy period. The south wing, to your left, forms part of the connecting
gallery erected by Henri IV., but its architecture is largely obscured by
considerable alterations under Napoleon III. Its west pavilion-known as
the Pavilion de Flore--is well worth notice.

Having thus gained a first idea of the courtyard fronts of the building,
continue your walk, still westward, along the south wing as far as the
Pavilion de Flore, a remaining portion of the corner edifice which ran
into one line with the Palace of the Tuileries. Turn round the corner of
the Pavilion to examine the south or river front of the connecting
gallery--one of the finest parts of the whole building, but far less known
to ordinary visitors than the cold and uninteresting northern line along
the Rue de Rivoli. The first portion, as far as the gateways, belongs
originally to the age of Henry IV., but it was entirely reconstructed
under Napoleon III., whose obtrusive N appears in many places on the
gateways and elsewhere.

Nevertheless, it still preserves, on the whole, some reminiscence of its
graceful Renaissance architecture. Beyond the main gateway (with modern