 Called in its day "la maison du théâtre" (the theater house), a succession of terraces and stairs gave access to the "baignerie" (from French "baigner", "to bathe") on the Seine.From the beginning of his reign in 1593, King Henry IV would come to Saint-Germain because he took pleasure in the view the château and its terraces offered of the valley of the Seine, a view like that of his birthplace, the Château de Pau.He ordered from Baptiste Androuet du Cerceau an expansion of the terraces by the Seine.