(...) The winter garden fashion was well in agreement with the taste of that time. They were numerous enclosures, offering a dazzling show of a multitude of exotic, acclimated plants, where Louis XV style or iron furniture mingled with Chinese pots, white marble statues and a crystal chandelier from Venice: "Le monde entier, nature et cultures confondues, est ici réuni". In the words of contemporaries: "The monotony of the rooms is broken, and in the peaceful evening hours it is as if we were in a miniature garden. (...)