After his arrival in Paris, he became a student of Richard Mique, and was employed by him for work at the Petit Trianon.

He also participated in the restoration of the Palais des Tuileries; notably, the decorations for the chapel and the theatre, under the direction of Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine.

He was a member of the jury at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, and was entrusted with the general inspection of civic buildings.

In 1819, he was admitted to the Institut de France, and took Seat #1 for architecture, succeeding Jacques Gondouin.

Shortly after, Louis XVIII commissioned him to create a garden there, for Louise d'Artois and her newborn brother, Henri, duc de Bordeaux.