Paris and northern France :: :: University of Virginia Library

In the year 1636 Cardinal Richelieu erected a palace for
himself, opposite to the Louvre, and termed it the Palais Cardinal.
After his death it was tenanted by Anne of Austria, widow
of Louis XIII., with her two sons Louis XIV. and Philip of Orleans,
then both in their minority. Thenceforward the building
was called the Palais Royal.

It was afterwards presented by Louis XIV. to his brother the
Duke of Orleans, by whose son the Regent Duke of Orleans it
was subsequently occupied. The disgraceful orgies which here
took place during the regentship of the latter are too well known
to require description. St. Simon, an eyewitness of these scenes,
thus alludes to them:

"Les soupers du régent étaient toujours avec des compagnies fort
étrangers, avec ses maîtresses, quelquefois des filles de l'Opéra, souvent
avec la duchesse de Berry (sa fille), quelques dames de moyenne vertu et
quelques gens sans nom, mais brillants par leur esprit et leur débauche.
On buvait beaucoup et du meilleur vin, on s'échauffait, on disait des ordures
à gorge déployée, des impiétés à qui mieux mieux, et quand on
avait fait du bruit et qu'on était bien ivre, on allait se coucher."

The Palais Royal now continued to be the property of the
house of Orleans. Philippe Egalité (p. 80), who was beheaded
in 1793, grandson of the regent, led a scarcely less riotous and
extravagant life than his grandfather. In order to replenish his
exhausted coffers, he caused the entire garden to be surrounded

with rows of houses which he let to merchants and others, and
thus materially improved his revenues.

The upper apartments of these buildings were formerly devoted
to play, whilst in the lower rooms, generally used as cafés,
democrats and malcontents where in the habit of assembling to
discuss their plans. Here Camille Desmoulins, one of the most
conspicuous republican ringleaders, called the populace to arms,
July 12th, 1789, and on the following day led the way to the
Bastille (p. 34) which fell on the 14th.

The appellation of Palais Egalité was then given to the Palais
Royal, and subsequently that of Palais du Tribunat, during the
years 1801—1807 when Napoleon assembled the Tribunate there.
From 1807 to 1814 the palace itself was unoccupied; in 1815,
during the hundred days, it was the residence of Lucian Bonaparte.

On the Restoration of the Bourbons in 1815 the Orleans
family again came into possession of the Palais Royal, and it was
occupied by Louis Philippe until 1830, when he ascended the throne.

Shortly before the outbreak of the revolution of July, he
here gave a sumptuous ball in honour of the Neapolitan notabilities
then visiting Paris, which gave rise to Salvandy's witticism:
"Nous dansons sur un volcan."

On the 24th of February, 1848, the mob destroyed the royal
apartments in the most ruthless manner. Notwithstanding the
request: "Respectez les tableaux," which some well-meaning hand
had written on the walls, the pictures generally shared the same
fate as the other objects of value. The fact, that 50,000 lbs. of
glass and china alone were broken in the palace, may serve to
convey a faint idea of the extent of the devastation. After this
the palace was termed the Palais National. Under the present
regime it has resumed its original name.

The apartments in the S. wing of the Palais Royal, opposite
to the new Louvre buildings, are now tenanted by Prince Napoleon,
cousin of the emperor and son of Jerome, formerly king
of Westphalia.

Beyond its historical associations, the Palais Royal possesses
little that is worthy of note. The garden contains bronze copies
of the Apollo Belvedere and Diana of Versailles and several modern
works: A youth preparing to bathe, by Espercieux; Boy
struggling with a goat, by Lemoine; Ulysses on the sea-shore, by
Bra; Eurydice bitten by the snake, by Nanteuil.

The Palais Royal is, however, the great point of attraction
for the stranger, when considered as the nucleus of the commercial
life of Paris. It is situated almost in the heart of the city and
has not inaptly been termed "la Capitale de Paris". The majority
of foot-passengers proceeding from the Louvre and the adjoining
quarters of the town on the l. bank of the Seine to the
western boulevards usually traverse the arcades of the Palais

Royal, so that, especially on the W. side, it presents a most
animated scene from noon to midnight.

The lower stories of the houses are almost exclusively occupied
by shops which exhibit a tempting display of "objects de luxe".
These, though inferior to the similar establishments in the Boulevard
des Italiens, are among the best of the kind in Paris. The
rent of these shops is high, the smallest realizing 120—150 l.

The most brilliant portion of the Palais Royal is the Galerie
d'Orléans (S. side), an arcade 300 ft. in length and 40 ft. in
width, covered in with glass and paved with slabs of marble. It
was constructed in 1830 and occupies the site of the disreputable
stalls which formerly stood here.

The first floors of most of the houses are employed as cafés
and restaurants. The best of these, however, the Trois Frères
Provençaux, Véfour, and Café de la Rotonde are on the ground-floor.
The last-named enjoys the sole privilege of placing chairs
in the garden for the convenience of its guests, a monopoly
purchased for an annual sum of 40,000 fr. (1600 L.) from the
former Café de Foy. In the N.E. corner is the Café des Aveugles,
in the N.W. the entrance to the Théâtre du Palais Royal; in
the S.W. portion of the palace itself is the Théâtre Français.
The E. side is termed Galerie Valois, the W. side Galerie Montpensier,
the N. side Galerie Beaujolais.

The Garden, to which allusion has already been made, is
about 310 yds. in length and 130 yds. in breadth. It is somewhat
scantily shaded by a quadruple row of elms. In the centre
is a round basin of water, near which a military band generally
plays on summer afternoons. On each side are long, enclosed
flower-beds.

The small cannon on the grass at the S. extremity of the
flower-garden is fired by means of a burning-glass when the sun
is at the meridian.

On the N. and S. sides are small kiosks or stands where
newspapers are lent out at 5 c. each. The chairs under the elms
are let at 10 c. each.

The garden presents a most brilliant aspect in the evening,
when, in addition to the 200 lamps of the arcades, each shop
contributes its utmost to turn night into day. All the entrances
to the garden are closed at midnight; the gallery, being a thoroughfare,
alone remains open.

The long street on the N. side of the Palais Royal is the
Rue Neuve des Petits Champs, which is terminated to the E. by
the small, circular Place des Victoires, with an equestrian statue
of Louis XIV. In 1686 an equestrian statue of that monarch
was here erected, and the Place called after him. The monument
was destroyed in 1792 and superseded by a pyramid inscribed
with a list of victorious battles fought by the republican army,

whence the Place derives its present appellation. This pyramid
was in its turn replaced by a statue of General Desaix (p. 97)
in 1806, which was in 1814 melted down to aid in the construction
of the monument of Henry IV. on the Pont Neuf (p. 98).
The present monument was erected in 1822 from a design by
Bosio. The figure of the horse, in a rearing attitude, rests on
the hind-legs and tail; the rider is garbed as a Roman general.
The long inscriptions record that the statue was erected to replace
the original one, destroyed "per infanda tempora". The
reliefs at the sides represent the king's passage of the Rhine
and the distribution of military honours.