 The château was approached by a long double avenue of trees forming one of three avenues that met at a "patte d'oie" before the outer gates, which curved inwards to form half of a circle on the ground that was completed by the pattern formed by the three approaching approaches through the town; this nodal feature, with its flanking pavilions, survives, in the town's Place du Cardinal.In the two spandrel shapes enclosed behind the outer walling were matching enclosed outer service courts.Through the arched central gateway the visitor entered the vast "basse cour", with common stabling for a hundred horses in a flanking courtyard to the left, with barns and lodgings for gardeners and estate workers, and to the right, an identical courtyard with elite stabling, bakehouse and other offices.