XIV. Immediately before one is the principal facade, with its towers of
brick and its slender little turrets framing in so admirably the
entrance door. This facade is of the fifteenth century and on the tympan
of the dormer windows one may still see the monogram of its builder,
Cottereau. The drawbridge has been made way with, and the turrets over
the portal have been bound together by a diminutive balcony of stone,
which, while a manifest superfluity, is in no way objectionable.

Under the entrance vault are doors on either side giving access to the
living apartments of the _rez-de-chaussee_. In the inner courtyard is to
be found the most exquisite architectural detail of the whole fabric,
the tower which encloses the monumental stairway, to which entrance is
had by a portal which is a veritable Gothic jewel. In the tympan of this
portal, as in the dormer windows, is the device of Jean Cottereau,
except in this case it is much more elaborate--a Saint Michel and the
dragon, surrounded by a "_semis de coquilles_" bearing the escutcheons
of the chatelain--_d'argent a lezards de sable_.

At the left of this stairway tower is the principal courtyard facade,
supported by four arcades, pierced with great windows and surmounted by
two fine dormer windows, all in the style of Louis XII, of which the
same effects to be observed at Blois and in the Hotel d'Alluye are
contemporary.

At the left of the inner court is the wing built by Cottereau which
terminates in a great round tower, while to the right is that erected by
Madame de Maintenon ending at the donjon. Directly opposite is a
magnificent vista over the canal of ornamental water framed on either
side by patriarchal trees and having as a background the silhouette of
the arches of the famous aqueduct which was to lead the waters of the
Eure to Versailles.

The interior of the chateau is not less remarkable than the exterior.
Entering by the tower portal one comes at once to that magnificent
_grand escalier_ which is accounted one of the wonders of the French
Renaissance.

The Salle a Manger of to-day was the old-time Salle des Gardes. It is
garnished with a fine wainscoting and panels of Cordovan leather. The
Chambre a Coucher of Louis XIV, to the left, is to-day the Salon, and
here are to be seen portraits of Louis XIV, Louis XII, Francis I, Henri
IV, and Louis XIII.

A tiny rotunda contains a statue of Henri IV as a child, and portraits
of Madame de Maintenon and