“To Jean Baril, for having made a heap of earth (mound) with a summer-house of trellised wood on the top, with the arms of the King, Queen and _nos seigneurs_ de France upon it, and having made a drawbridge to it in the month of March, 1362, for wood, osier, and trouble.”
“To Jean Caillon and Geffroy de Febon, gardeners, for their trouble in having planted sage, hyssop, lavender, strawberries, and several other herbs in the gardens of the said Louvre, for having dug the garden all round, put in herbs and seeds, renewed all the paths and grass plots (_préaux_) and taken away the weeds and rubbish.”
“To Jean Dudoy, gardener, for having ... taken away all the weeds, stones, and rubbish, and made several beds of sage, hyssop, lavender, balsam, strawberries, and violets, and planted bulbs of lilies, double red rose trees, and many other good herbs which he got.”
“To Sevestre Vallerin, the work of his arm (_la peine de bras_) for his trouble in having weeded the paths which go among the _préaux_ (courts or grass plots), and the beds in which are the rose trees, strawberries, violets, sage, hyssop, lavender, balsam, parsley, and other good herbs: and also for having watered four summer-houses and a great square room to make the plants grow (_pour faire venir les herbes_).”
“To Etienne de la Groye, gardener, for having made in the said gardens certain trellises, arbours, and hedges all along the walls, inside.”[59]
We hear of some one being paid also for planting a pear tree, and lettuce is mentioned amongst the vegetables that mingled with the flowers growing in the quaint old garden. It must have been a strange place, with its stiff beds of roses, lavender, and sweet herbs, its formal paths and summer-houses, its long trellised walks under the huge, ancient walls, shadowed by a forest of frowning towers.
As the Queen’s apartments in the south wing of the château would not contain all the rooms required, some more were allotted to her looking west; and some to the King, who, out of consideration for the Queen, had given her the first floor and taken the second for himself. One of these was the bedroom of the King, and containing amongst other furniture one of two great beds, “_pour le corps du Roy_,” furnished by the _courtepointier_, Richard des Ourmes, at the price of twenty francs of gold each.
