Henry’s chief exploit was the capture of Calais which had been in the hands of the English ever since the Hundred Years’ War, and whose loss meant so much to Queen Mary of England that she is said to have declared that when she died “Calais” would be found written on her heart. The celebration in Paris of the capture of the long-lost city was one of the greatest possible failures. The main festivity was to be in the evening at the Maison aux Piliers. It poured in torrents sufficient to put a literal as well as a figurative damper on any pleasure-making. When Henry arrived at the Place de Grève the salutes of artillery frightened his horses and he was almost thrown down as he alighted from his carriage. At supper the crowd was so great that it was almost impossible to get anything to eat. The main part of the program within the hall was a play by the poet Jodelle who has left an amusing account of the evening of “My Disaster.” There were twelve actors in his musical sketch, he says. Of these six were so hoarse that they could not be heard, and the remaining six did not know their parts. One of the characters, Orpheus, was to sing a song in the king’s praise so literally moving that the very stones followed the singer about the stage. But, alas, the property man had misunderstood his orders and instead of preparing two rocks (_rochers_) he had arranged two steeples (_clochers_). When the unfortunate author, who had a part himself, saw these unexpected constructions coming across the stage he forgot his own lines, so utter was his amazement and misery. Henry’s restless reign left him little time to spend in Paris or to devote to its beautifying. Whenever he came to the city festivities of all sorts ran high and the citizens paid for it all, though their temper grew sullen as the demands and the power of the crown increased. Henry expected the city fathers to meet expenses which they, quite reasonably, classed as personal matters; for instance, a charge for the food and shelter and care of a lion, a dromedary and a jaguar, which had been sent to the king from Africa. Beyond the strengthening of the right bank fortifications, some addition to the palace of the Cité, and the continuation of the new Hôtel de Ville and of Francis I’s Louvre Henry did practically no building. His “H,” sometimes interlaced with his wife’s “C” and sometimes with Diane de Poitiers’ initial topped by her crescent, is by no means so frequent in Paris as, for example, in Fontainebleau, and other suburbs. In the courtyard of the Palais des Beaux-Arts is the façade of the château d’Anet which shows the monogram, and is a beautiful example of renaissance architecture.