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At the western edge of the garden, Napoleon III erected a hothouse, the Orangerie, and a court for real (or royal or court) tennis, the Jeu de Paume. The former is used for temporary art shows, the latter houses the Louvre collection of paintings by the Impressionists and their forerunners. Among the artists represented are: Cézanne, Degas, Gauguin, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Rousseau (le douanier), Toulouse-Lautrec, van Gogh. From the terraces on which these museums stand there are splendid views of the olympian traffic jams of the Place de la Concorde. The formal exit gate from the Tuileries is flanked by two winged horses (17th century), and the entrance to the Champs-Elysées across the square is similarly garnished (horses, earthbound, 18th century), both pairs having been removed in turn from the water trough at Chateau de Marly. |