waterfall was later installed. A
long promenade, now called the Allee Royale, extended to a vast basin
named the Lake of Apollo. Streamlets were diverted to feed fountains.
Twelve hundred and fifty orange trees were transported from the fallen
estate of Vaux to fill the long arcades of the orangery.

In the midst of the activities of masons, carpenters, gardeners, the King
was dominant, directing minute details--the laying of floors, the hanging
of draperies, the installation of art works in the chapel. The restive
master of the estate was impatient to enjoy his creation, and to invite
his Court there to celebrate its completion with fetes both brilliant and
costly. Colbert wrote in a letter dated September, 1663, of the beauty
of the chateau's adornments--its Chinese filigree of gold and silver.

"Never," he swore, "had China itself seen so many examples of this work
together--nor had all Italy seen so many flowers." Colbert suffered, but
the King found royal satisfaction. The splendid scene of the Sun King
must be set--the people had to pay. It was Colbert's affair to finance
it.

The King commanded a series of fetes to be arranged. For eight days
every diversion appropriate to the autumn season was enjoyed by the royal
family and all the Court. Every day there were balls, ballets, comedies,
concerts, promenades, hunts. Moliere and his troupe were commanded to
appear in a new piece called "_Impromptu de Versailles_."

Colbert regretted the absorption of his sovereign in Versailles, "to the
neglect of the Louvre--assuredly the most superb palace in the world."
Louis tolerantly gave ear and inspected the Louvre, but to the building
of Versailles he devoted all his enthusiasm.

The appearance of the villa erected by Louis XIII had been vastly altered
as to its roofs, chimneys, facades. In 1665 the court was ornamented by
the placing of the pedestals and busts that still surround it. In
addition to the main edifice, the King gave orders for the building of
small dwellings to be occupied by favorites of his entourage, and by
musicians, actors and cooks. Three broad tree-lined avenues were laid
out and the highway to Paris--the Cours-la-Reine--commenced. Already
Versailles took on a more imposing aspect than ancient Fontainebleau.
Workmen were constantly busy with the building of reservoirs, the laying
of sod, the planting of labyrinths, hedges, secret paths and bosky
retreats, with the setting out of hund