The Grand Trianon, a mile and a half from the vast palace of Versailles, was built as a royal hideaway. Ordered by the Sun King, Louis XIV, in 1687, it was a delight in pink and green Languedoc marble and, for all its 70 rooms, was considered intimate by a King's standards at that time. Even royal princes had to ask permission to visit. "Delicious gardens!" exclaimed that great collector of court gossip, the Duc de Saint-Simon. And in Louis XIV's day, the gardens did not stop at the doors; his mistress, Madame...
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