Parc de Saint-Cloud

St Cloud is one of the most famous French estates. Though it has lost its chateau (burnt down in 1870) and other important features, enough survives to display the character of the great gardens. They were built across a steep escarpment overlooking the River Seine and Paris. A great baroque cascade, rather heavily detailed, descends the slope. Louis XIV's younger brother acquired the estate in 1658 and Andre le Notre re-designed the older terraced garden. John Evelyn visited the gardens and 1644 and recorded a description in his diaries.