Simon....
The great pavilion itself only contained, as we have seen, a very small
number of chambers. The querulous Smollett, who visited Marly in 1763,
speaks of it as "No more than a pigeon-house in respect to a palace." But
it was only intended as the residence of the king.
During the repairs necessary in the reign of Louis XV., who built Choisy
and never lived at Marly, the cascade which fell behind the great pavilion
was removed. Mme. Campan describes the later Marly of Louis XVI., under
whom the "Marly journey" had become one of the great burdens and expenses
of royal life. The Court of Louis XVI. was here for the last time on June
11, 1789, but in the latter years of Louis XVI., M. de Noailles, governor
of St. Germain, was permitted to lend the smaller pavilions furnished to
his friends for the summer months. Marly perished with the monarchy, and
was sold at the Revolution, when the statues of its gardens were removed
to the Tuileries. A cotton mill was for a time established in the royal
pavilion; then all the buildings were pulled down and the gardens sold in
lots!
Still the site is worth visiting.
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