He led them first to a little pavilion of feudal aspect, where his former
studio was. Then they crossed a parlor, a dining-room, a vestibule full
of beautiful works of art, of beautiful Beauvais, Gobelin and Flanders
tapestries. But the strange external luxury of ornamentation became,
inside, a revel of immense stairways. A magnificent grand stairway, a
secret stairway in one tower, a servants' stairway in another, stairways
everywhere! Patissot, by chance, opened a door and stepped back
astonished. It was a veritable temple, this place of which respectable
people only mention the name in English, an original and charming
sanctuary in exquisite taste, fitted up like a pagoda, and the decoration
of which must certainly have caused a great effort.

They next visited the park, which was complex, varied, with winding paths
and full of old trees. But the journalist insisted on leaving; and, with
many thanks, he took leave of the master: As they left they met a
gardener; Patissot asked him: "Has Monsieur Meissonier owned this place
for a long time?" The man answered: "Oh, monsieur! that needs explaining.
I guess he bought the grounds in 1846. But, as for the house! he has
already torn down and rebuilt that five or six times. It must have cost
him at least two millions!" As Patissot left he was seized with an
immense respect for this man, not on account of his success, glory or
talent, but for putting so much money into a whim, because the bourgeois
deprive themselves of all pleasure in order to hoard money.

After crossing Poissy, they struck out on foot along the road to Medan.
The road first followed the Seine, which is dotted with charming islands
at this place. Then they went up a hill and crossed the pretty village of
Villaines, went down a little; and finally reached the neighborhood
inhabited by the author of the Rougon-Macquart series.