Although Louis XV often came to Compiègne to hunt, he truly had not spent a single day living in the new palace he had planned, even though he shared his grandfather's love of building gardens.
There was a Fountain of the Seas at the Palace of Versailles. Construction had begun during Louis XIV's reign, but he died before seeing it completed. Louis XV continued the work, and it ultimately became one of his signature projects.
Louis XV observed the solemn tone and daily etiquette left behind by his grandfather, but not everyone could, like Louis XIV, lay their private lives completely open and live beneath the public gaze.
A French king could have anything he wanted except a private life. Louis XIV turned the most mundane details of his personal life into eye-catching state ceremonies, blurring the boundary between public and private life. Courtiers, too, had to follow his schedule, observing the omnipresent tedious formalities under orders and supervision.
There was no private space in the Palace of Versailles. Whenever "outsiders" visited Versailles, they were always astonished by the palace's brilliance in art and architecture. The king's private life was always subsumed into his public role. After ascending the throne, Louis XV devoted himself to creating a private space for himself, where he "didn't have to play king at every moment," yet he stubbornly maintained the court traditions established by Louis XIV.
Thus, private and public life formed a contradiction at Versailles. Louis XV's renovation of Compiègne Palace was somewhat like Louis XIV's transformation of Versailles—it was entirely born of his own will.
Other than Madame de Pompadour, the king's mistresses did not live in the palace when meeting him in secret. They were not even at the Palace of Versailles during their trysts, which was completely different from Louis