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About Google Book Search Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through I lie lull lexl of 1 1 us book on I lie web al|_-.:. :.-.-:: / / books . qooqle . com/| -1 » i *. ».' r \ p ^'\> I -— ' - .) i i ' \ I i I Ir A HANDBOOK FOR fRAVELLERS IN FRANCE. Attention Patro: This volume is t( Please handle wit university of michic a* NOTICE TO THIS EDITION. The Editor of the • Handbook for Travellers in France ' requests that tra- vellers who may, in the use of the Work, detect any faults or omissions which they can correct from personal knowledge, will have the kindness to mark them down on the spot and communicate to him a notice of the same, favouring him at the same time with their names — addressed to the care of Mr. Murray, Albemarle Street. They may be reminded that by such com- munications they are not merely furnishing the means of improving the Handbook, but are contributing to the benefit, information, and comfort of future travellers in general, %• No attention can be paid to letters from innkeepers in praise of their own houses ; and the postage of them is so onerous that they cannot be received. Caution to Tbaveluers. — By a recent Act of Parliament the introduc- tion into England of foreign pirated Edition* of the works of British authors, in which the copyright subsists, is totally prohibited. Travellers will there- fore bear in mind that even a single copy is contraband, and is liable to seizure at the English Custom-house. Caution to Innkeepers and othebs. — The Editor of the Handbooks has learned from various quarters that a person or persons have of late been extorting money from innkeepers, tradespeople, artists, and others, on the Continent, under pretext of procuring recommendations and favourable notices of them and their establishments in the Handbooks for Travellers. The Editor, therefore, thinks proper to warn all whom it may concern, that recommendations in the Handbooks are not to be obtained by purchase, and that the persons alluded to are not only unauthorized by him, but are totally unknown to him. All those, therefore, who put confidence in such promises may rest assured that they will be defrauded of their money without attaining their object. English travellers are requested to explain this to innkeepers in remote situations, who are liable to become victims to such impositions. Notices to this effect have been inserted by the Editor in the principal English and foreign newspapers.— -1847. >n I A HANDBOOK FOR TRAVELLERS \ IN \ FRANCE: BEING A. GUIDE TO NORMANDY, BRITTANY ; THE RIVERS SEINE, LOIRE, RHONE, AND GARONNE ; THE FRENCH ALPS, DAUPHINE, PROVENCE, AND THE PYRENEES ; THEIR RAILWAYS AND ROADS. SSI it) Jttay*. SIXTH EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED. WITH AH ACCOUNT OP THB ISLAND OF CORSICA. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. PARIS : A. & W. GALIGNANI AND CO. ; STASSIN AND XAVIER. 1858. \ iPk* W«W /%/ fran*bt±ian. it reutrved* THE ENGLISH EDITION'S OP MURRAY'S HANDBOOK* MAT BE OBTAINED OF THE FOLLOWING AGENT8 : — Germany, Holland, and Belgium. aix-la- i CHAPELLEf AMSTERDAM ANTWERP BADEN-BADEN BERLIN . BRUSSELS CARLSRUHB . COBLENTZ COLOGNE . DRESDEN . FRANKFURT . GRATZ THE HAGUE . HAMBURG I.A.MAYER. J. MULLER. — W. KTR- BERGEH.-,VAN BAR- KEN ESS. MAX. KORNIOKBR.T D. R. MARX. A. DUNCKER. MUQUARDT. — KIESSLING ft CO.— FROMENT. A. BIELEFELD. BAEDEKER. A. BAEDEKER.-EISEN. ARNOLD. C. JUGEL. „ . DAMIAN A SORGE. VAN STOCKUM. PERTHES, BESSER A MAUKE. HEIDELBERG . MOHR. KISSINGEN LEIPZIG . LUXEMBOURG MANNHEIM . MAYENCE MUNICH . NUERNBERG . PEST PRAGUE . " ROTTERDAM . I STUTTGART . i TRIESTE . ' VIENNA . WIESBADEN . C. JUG EI.. F. FLEISCHER.— WEIGEL. BUCK. ART ARIA ft FONTAINE. VON ZABERN. LITERARISCH - ARTISTI- SCHE ANSTALT — I. PALM. SCHRAG. HARTLEREN.— G. HECKENAST. CALVE. PETRI.— KRAMERS. P. NEFF. MONSTER. C. G1ROLD — BRAUMULLER.— STERNICKEL. C. JUGEL C.W.KREIDEL. Switzerland. BASLE BERN COIRE CONSTANCE ST. GALLEN OENEVA . BOLOGNA FLORENCE GENOA LEGHORN LUCCA MANTUA . MILAN MODENA . NAPLES . NICE . PALERMO . AMIENS . ANGERS . AV RANCHES . BAYONNE . , BORDEAUX , BOULOGNE BREST CAEN . CALAIS DIEPPE . DIN ANT . DOUAI DUNKERQUE . GRENOBLE HAVRE LILLE LYONS MARSEILLES . METZ . MONTPELLIER MADRID ST. PETERS- BURGH Malta. MUIR. SCHWEIGHAUSER. — NEU- KIRCH. DA LP, HUBER, ft CO. GRUBENMANN. MECK. HUBER. KESSMANN.— MONROE — DESROG1S. — CHERBU- LIEZ.-GKX.J LAUSANNE LUCERNE SCHAFFHAUSEN HURTER. HIGNOU ft CO.— WEBER. F. KAISER. SOLEURE ZURICH Italy. M. RU8CONI. GOODBAN. ANTOINE BEUF. MAZZAJOLI. F. BARON. NEGRETTr. ARTARIA ft SON.— DUMOLARD FRERES.— MOLINART SANGNER.- P.&J.VALLARDI. VINCENZI ft ROSSI. DETKEN. VISCONTT.— GIRAUD. CHARLES BEUF. PARMA PISA . PERUGIA ROME SIENA TRIESTE TURIN VENICE . VERONA . France. CARON. BARAS«E'. ANFRAY. JAYMEBON. CHAUMAS. WATEL.— MERRIDEW. HEBERT. VILLENEUVE. RIGAUXCAUX. MARAIS. COSTF J ACQUA RT.— LEMA LE. LEYSCHOCHART. VELLOT ET COMP. COCHARD.-POURDIGNON. — FOUCHER. VANACKERE.— BF/GHIN. GIBERTON ft BRUN.— AYNE' FILS. MADAME CAMOIN. WARION. LEVALLE. NANCY NANTES . ORLEANS . PARIS PAU . PERPTGNAN REIMS ROCHEFORT ROUEN ST.ETIENNE ST. MALO . ST. QUENTIN STRASBOURG TOULON . TOULOUSE TOURS TROYES . MONIER. Spain. f GIBRALTAR Russia. ISSAKOFF— N. ISSAKOFP.— BELLIZARD. MOSCOW ODESSA JENT. H. FUSS LI A CO.-MEYER ft ZELLER. H. F. LEUTHOLD, POST- STRASSE. S. KANGHIERI. NISTRI.-JOS. VANNUCCHI. VINCENZ. BARTELLT. GALLARINI.-SPITHOVER. —PI A LE— CUCCIONI. ONORATO TORRI. HERMAN F. MUNSTER.— GIANNINI ft FIORE.— MAGGI— MARIETTI. — BOCCA FRERES. HERMAN F. MUNSTER. H. F. MUNSTER. GONET. GUE'RAUD— FOREST AWE'. GATINEAII.— PESTY. GALIGNANT.— STASSIN ET XAVTER. AUG. BASSY.— LAFON. JULIA FRERES. BRTSSART BINET. BOUCARD. LEBRUMENT. DELARUE. HUE. DOLOY. TREUTTEL ET WtJRTZ GRUCKER. MONGE ET VILLA MUS. H. LEBON.— GIMET. COUSTURIER. LA LOY. ROWSWELL. W. GAITTIER. VILLIETTY. Ionian Islands. Constantinople. Greece. CORFU. .J.W.TAYLOR. WICK. ATHENS. A.N AST. *: PREFACE. ^ ====== r\ ^ The Handbook for France is the result of four or five journeys undertaken at different times between 1830 and 1841 ; and the Editor has covered the ground with a network of routes, de- scribed from personal observation, extending from Dunkirk to St. Jean de Luz ; from Toulon and Hyeres to Brest ; from Grenoble and the Grande Chartreuse through Aubenas and Aurillac to the Porte de Yenasque; and from Cherbourg and Mont St. Michel to Briancon and Embrun, and including the almost entire circuit of France. But in so vast a field many insterstices have been left to be filled up by the best printed information ; and that so meagre in some respects, so abundant and scattered in others, that the collecting and arranging of the materials has been a work of very serious labour. The materials, indeed, for describing a large part of France are far more scanty than those which present themselves for Germany and Switzer- land ; and the writer may fairly say that he has, in the following /q pages, laid down routes of which no account is to be found in French Guides. It would be unjust to omit to mention the Jj admirable Guides of Vaysse de Villiers, from which he has j[ derived essential information ; but though they extend to nearly c * twenty volumes, they comprise only a small part of France, and ^ only portions of their contents are calculated to interest English "T travellers. For their use this volume is compiled ; and if any „j French readers think fit to take it up, they must not be surprised to find many details well known to them, and doubtless many errors,' not a few of which will be equally discernible by the Editor's own countrymen. He trusts that in the statement of vi PREFACE. facts he has avoided invidious comparisons — that he has set down nought in such a light as to cause prejudice against the French, or to encourage or perpetuate estrangement between the two nations. The chapters into which the book is divided are arranged according to the ancient Provinces, as being less minute, more historical, and better understood by English than the more intricate subdivisions of Departments. Though the latter are universally used by the French themselves, some centuries must elapse before Champagne and Burgundy cease to be remem- bered for their wines, Perigord for its pies, and Provence for its oil ; nor will it be easy to obliterate the recollection of Wil- liam of Normandy, Margaret of Anjou, and Henri of Navarre. This volume contains no description of Paris, because to have included the capital would have extended this book to nearly double its present size, and because the ' Paris Guide ' of Ga- lignani is a very good one, and renders the preparation of another, for the present at least, unnecessary. CONTENTS. Pao« Introductory Information • i* Section I. PICARDY.— FRENCH FLANDERS.— ILE DE FRANCE.— NORMANDY. Introductory Information . 1 Routes 3 Section II. BRITTANY. introductory Information 103 Routes 109 Section III. OKL&ANOIS.— TOURAINE.— RIVER LOIRE.— LA VENDUE.— POITOU.— SAINTONGE. Introductory Sketch of the Country 166 Routes 168 Section IV. LIMOUSIN.— GASCONY.— GUIENNE.-THE PYRENEES.— NAVARRE.— B&ARN.— LANGUEDOC.— ROUSSILLON. Preliminary Information . . . ._ 224 Routes 235 Section V. CENTRAL FRANCE.— BERRI.— AUVERGNE.— VIVARAIS— ARDECHE.— CANTAL,— BOURBONNAIS.-LYONNAIS— THE CAYENNES. General View of the Country 335 Routes %. . . 339 Viii CONTENTS. Suction VI. PROVENCE AND LANGUEDOC. Paoh Preliminary Information 422 Routes ♦ 425 Section VII. DAUPHIN*. Introduction — Sketch of the Country 484 Routes « 485 Section VIII. BURGUNDY.— FRANCHE COMT& Routes 505 Section IX. CHAMPAGNE.— LORRAINE.— ALSACE.— THE VOSGES MOUNTAINS. Routes 518 Section X. ILE DE FRANCE.— FLANDRES.— ARTOIS. Routes 555 Section XI. THE ISLAND OF CORSICA. Preliminary Information . \ ' 566 Routes 570 • Index 587 1 HANDBOOK FOR TRAVELLERS IN FRANCE. ** .1 nit INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION. CONTENTS. PAGfc a. Monet — Table of French Francs reduced to £. s. d. x „ English Monet reduced into French xi b. Tables of Weights and Measures . . . xii „ French Feet reduced to English Feet . xiii „ Metres — Do. . . xiv „ Kilometres 1 (English Miles 1 „ Mtriametres j (and Furlongs j „ Lteues de Poste — Miles and Yards, zv „ Kilogrammes — English Pounds . xv „ Hectares — English Acres . xvi „ Metres — English Yards . xvi „ English Yards — Metres . . xvi c. Passports and Police. . . . . .xvi d. Routes across France — London to Paris, Strasburg, Marseilles, &c. 4 ♦ xix Modes of Travelling — e. Posting and Private Carriage . * xxi /. Mallesfostes ..... xxv g. Diligences ..... xxvi h. Railroads ..... xxvii t. Steamboats ..... xxx k. Inns — Tables-d'Hote, etc. . . . . xxx I. Cafes . . .... . xxxii m. A Traveller's General View of France— Points of Interest — Soenert— Architecture . . xxxiii n. List of the 86 Departments into which France is divided, and of the 33 Ancient Provinces com- posing them ...... xxxvii o. The English abroad ..... xxsix p. Skeleton Tour through France • . *1 a 3 a. MONET TABLE8. a. MONET. In France, accounts are kept in francs and centimes (or hundred parts), the coinage being arranged on the decimal system. 1 franc contains 10 decimes (or double sous), and each decime 10 centimes. FRENCH MONET. Silver Coins : — £ *. d. Piece of 1 franc «~ 100 Centura* =» 20 sous «0 0 9) English. „ \ franc a 20 centime* = 4 sous ■» 0 0 2 „ | franc = 2ft centimes = 5 sous =0 0 24 „ $ franc =» 50 centimes = 10 sous —004} „ 2 franca= 200 centimes *» 40 sous •» 0 1 7 „ 5 francBaa 900 centimes =100 sous = 0 3 11$ Gold Coins .— £ *. d. Napoleon, or 20 franc piece . «= 0 15 10 Half Napoleon, or 10 franc piece • «■» 0 7 11 Double Napoleon, or 40 franc piece «=» 1 11 8 Copper Coins :— Decime, or 2-soua piece . . «= 0 0 1 5 centimes = 1 sous . . =0 0 0} 1 centime . . . ■*« 0 0 0^V N.B. To find the value of centimes, remember that the Tens are all pennies, and the Fives halfpennies : thus 75c =7W.— 25c. 2}c?. — 15c. = l%d. within a fraction, but near enough for all practical purposes. To reduce French francs to English money for common purposes, where minute exactness is not required, it is only necessary to divide the amount of francs by 25, or to substitute 4 for 100, thus : — Francs, £ 100 = 4 1,000 = 40 10,000 = 400 . lbO.000 = 4,000 1,000,000 = 40,000 The Bank1 of France issues notes for 1000, 500, 200, and 100 francs, but they are difficult to change in out-of-the-way places, and the traveller will do tetter to carry gold. FOREIGN COINS REDUCED TO THEIR VALUE IN FRENCH CURRENCY AT THE PAR OF EXCHANGE. fr. c. English sovereign . = 25 21 crown . . . s 6 301 shilling = 1 26 Dutch Willem = 10 guilders ss 21 30 guilder as 2 15 Prussian dollar . . ss 3 75 Frederick dror — 21 0 Bavarian florin ^ 20 pence English 2S 2 15 Eron thaler ^^ 5 81 Austrian florin = 2 shillings English SE 2 57 a. MONET TABUS. XI FRENCH FRANCS AND CENTIMES REDUCED TO THEIR VALUE IN ENOUSH FOUNDS, SHILLINGS, AND PENCE. £ s. d. £ 9. d. 5 cents. 0 0 oi* 10 francs 0 7 11 10 0 o oift ll 0 8 H 15 0 ° i** 12 0 9 6 20 0 0 It* 13 0 10 8* 25 0 0 2t* 14 0 11 li 30 0 15 0 11 10S 35 0 0 3|A 16 0 12 V 40 0 0 3fi 17 0 13 V 45 0 0 4Ia 18 0 14 3; 50 i0 0 4$ 19 0 15 0: 55 0 0 5* 20 0 15 10: 60 0 o 54I 30 1 3 9i 65 0 0 6-2 40 1 11 $ 70 0 0 64 ft 50 1 19 8 7a 0 0 7- A 60 2 7 7 80 0 0 7*,t 70 2 15 6i 85 0 0 87 A 80 3 3 54 90 0 0 9-A 90 3 11 4f 95 0 100 3 19 4 1 fame 0 0 94 200 7 18 8 2 0 1 7 300 11 18 0 3 0 2 44 400 15 17 4 4 0 3 2 500 19 16 8 5 0 8 114 750 29 15 0 6 0 4 9 1,000 39 IS 4 7 0 5 64 5,000 198 6 8 8 0 6 4 10,000 396 13 4 9 0 7 14 KNGL1SH MONEY REDUCED TO ITS VALUE IN FRENCH FRANCS AND CENTIMES. Fr. Cts. Fr. Cts. Fr. Cts 1] penny 0 104 12 shillings 15 12 15£sterL 378 15 2 0 21 13 16 38 16 * 403 36 3 0 31* 14 17 64 17 428 57 4 0 42 15 18 90 18 453 78 5 0 524 16 20 16 ■ 19 478 99 6 0 63 17 21 42 20 504 20 7 0 734 18 22 68 30 756 0 8 0 84 19 23 94 40 1008 0 9 0 944 1 £sterL 25 0 50 1260 0 10 1 5 2 no 0 60 1512 0 11 1 15 3 75 0 70 1764 0 1 I shilling i 26 4 100 0 80 2016 0 2 2 52 5 126 0 90 2268 0 3 3 78 6 151 0 100 2520 0 4 5 4 7 176 0 200 5040 0 5 6 30 8 201 0 300 7560 0 6 7 56 9 226 0' 400 10,080 0 7 8 82 10 252 0 500 12,600 0 8 10 8 11 277 0 1000 25,200 0 9 11 34 12 302 0 5000 126,000 0 10 12 61 13 327 0 10,000 252,000 0 11 13 86 14 3i S2 0 Xll 6. WEIGHTS AMD MEA8UBES. b. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. A uniform decimal system of coins, weights, and measures was intro- duced into France in 1790, and since 1840 takes the place of all others. In this new system all the measures of length, superficies, and solidity, the unit of weight, and the unit of money, are connected together, and are derived from one fundamental measure of length, deduced from the dimensions of the earth, and each is capable of being verified at all times and in all places. This fundamental unit is called Metre, and is equal to the ten-millionth part (0*0000001) of the distance from the pole to the equator. The prefixes which express multiples are Greek :— represented by the capital letters expressing the numbers Mtbia Kilo Hecto Deca, M K H D, 10,000 1,000 100 10 The prefixes which express sub-multiples are Latin : — Deci Centi Milli Deci-milli Cent-milli represented by d c m d-m c-m, expressing the fractions 0*1 0-01 0*001 0*0001 0*00001 By means of this system, with a small number of words, the divi- sion can be carried almost ad mfinitwn. The measures of length are all either decimal multiples, or sub- multiples to the mitre, thus ; — M.-m. : K.-m. : H.-m. = 100 D.m. = 10 m. = 1 Bed- — d.-m. = 0*1 Centi- — c.-m. = 0*01 Milli- — m.-m. = 0*001 Myria- Eilo- Hecto- Deca- 10,000 Metres. 1,000 2 it it Metre. a it a French. The Metre is Toise • Pied (or foot) nearly Inch • • Aune • Linear Measure. n =2 metres, = i = H li ll II English. about 3 feet 3 inches, or .. 6 „ 6 1 „ 1 0 ,. 14 a it 3 „11 a it a The Gramme Decagramme Hectogramme Kilogramme Myriagramme a it it it Weights. \o 100 1,000 10,000 15*4340 grains 5*64 drams, avoird. 3*527 ounces, avoird. 2 lbs. 3 oz. 4} drams, avoird. 22-0485 lbs. avoird. Capacity. A Litre is 1000 grammes of distilled water; 15406*312 grains; or 2*1135 wine pints. 6. TABLES OF FRENCH MEASURES AND WEIGHTS. X111 TABLES OF FRENCH MEASURES AND WEIGHTS. Table A.— French Feet reduced to English Feet.* French English Feet and French English Feet and French English Feet and Feet. Decimal Parts. Feet. Decimal Parts. Feet. Decimal Parts. 1 1*066 40 42*631 79 84*195 2 2*132 41 43-696 80 85*261 3 3*197 42 44*762 81 86*327 4 4-263 43 45*828 82 87*393 5 5*329 44 46-894 83 88*459 6 6*395 45 47*959 84 89*524 7 7*460 46 49*025 85 90*590 8 8*526 47 50*091 86 91*656 9 9*592 48 51-157 87 92*722 10 10' 658 49 52*222 88 93-787 11 11*723 50 53*288 89 94*853 12 12*789 51 54-354 90 95*919 13 13*855 52 55*420 91 96*985 14 14*921 53 56*486 92 98-050 15 15*986 54 57*551 93 99*116 • 16 17*052 55 58*617 94 100*182 17 18*118 56 59*683 95 101*248 18 19*184 57 60-749 96 102*313 19 20*250 58 61*814 97 103*879 20 21*315 59 62*880 98 104*445 21 22-381 60 63*946 99 105*511 22 23*447 61 65*012 100 106-577 23 24*513 62 66*077 150 159*865 24 25*578 63 67*143 200 213*153 25 26*644 64 68*209 250 266*441 26 27-710 65 69*275 300 319*730 27 28*776 66 70*341 350 373*018 28 29*841 67 71*406 400 426*306 29 30*907 68 72*472 450 479*594 30 31*973 69 73-538 500 532*883 31 33*039 70 74-604 550 586*171 32 34*104 71 75*669 600 639*460 33 35*170 72 76*735 650 692*747 34 36*236 73 77*801 700 746*036 35 37*302 74 78 • 867 750 799 '324 36 38*368 75 79*932 800 852*612 37 ' 39*433 76 80*998 850 905-901 38 40*499 77 82-064 900 959*189 39 41*565 78 83*130 1000 1065*765 1 French Foot = 1-06576543 English Foot. 1 English Foot =* 0*93829277 French Foot. • Tables A and B are abridged from Capt. Becher'a accurate work on Foreign Linear XIV b. TABLES OF FRENCH MEASURES AND WEIGHTS. Table B. — French Metres reduced to English Feet. Metres. English Feet and MftfM. English Feet and Metres. English Feet sod Decimal Vmtt*. UCIltw Decimal Farts. Decimal Parts. 1 3*281 I i 38 124*674 75 246-067 2 6*562 39 127*955 76 249*348 3 9 843 1 40 131*236 77 252*629 4 13*123 41 134*517 78 255*910 5 16*404 42 137*798 79 259*191 6 19-685 43 141*079 80 262*472 7 22*966 44 144*359 81 265 753 8 26*247 45 147*640 82 269*034 9 29 528 46 150-921 83 272*315 10 32*809 47 154*202 84 275*595 11 36 090 48 157-483 85 278-876 12 39*371 49 160-764 86 282*157 13 42*652 ! 50 164-045 87 285*438 14 45-932 51 167*326 88 288*719 15 49*213 52 170*607 89 292-000 16 52*494 53 173*888 90 295*281 17 55*775 54 177*168 91 298- 562 18 59*056 55 180*449 92 301-843 19 62*337 56 183*730 93 305-124 20 65*618 57 187*011 94 308-404 21 68*899 58 190-292 95 311*685 22 72*180 59 193*573 96 314-966 23 75*461 60 196*854 97 318-247 24 78*741 61 200*135 98 321-528 25 82*022 62 203*416 99 324-809 26 85*303 63 206-697 100 328-090 27 88*584 64 209*977 200 656-180 28 91*865 65 213*258 300 984-270 29 95*146 66 216*539 400 1312-360 30 98*427 67 219-820 500 1640-450 31 101*708 68 223*101 600 1968-539 32 104*989 69 226*382 700 2296-629 33 108*270 70 229-663 800 2624-719 34 111*550 71 232*944 900 2952-809 35 114*831 72 236*225 1000 3280-899 36 118*112 73 239*506 37 121*393 74 242*786 French metre = 3-2808992 English feet 39 fa inches. b. TABLES OF KILOMETRES AND L1EOES DE POSTE. XV Table C. — French Kilometres and Myriamrtreb reduced into ENGLISH MILES, etc. Eng. Pur- Ens;. Fur- KILOM. Miles. longs. Yds. Ft. In. KILOM. Miles. longs. Yds. Ft. In. 1 = 0 4 213 1 11 8 =4 7 169 0 4 2=1 1 207 0 10 9 =5 4 162 2 3 3 = I 6 200 2 9 lmyria.= 6 1 156 1 2 4=2 3 194 1 8 2 =12 3 92 2 4 5=3 0 188 0 7 3 =18 5 29 0 6 6=3 5 181 2 6 4 =24 6 185 1 8 7=4 2 175 1 5 5 =31 0 121 2 10 1 Kilometre =■ 0*624 English mile. Table D. — French Lietjes de Pqste into English Miles and Yards. L. Mis. Yds. L. Mis. Yds L. Mis. Yds. L. Mis. Yds. 1 2 743*061 11 26 1,133-671 30 72 1,171-832 '400 968 1,544*428 2 4 1,486-122 12 29 116*732 40 96 1,562*443 500 1,211 170*535 3 7 469*183 13 31 859*794 50 121 198*053 600 1,453 556*642 4 9 1,212*244 14 33 1,602*855 60 145 583*664 700 1,696 942*749 5 12 195-305 15 36 585*916 70 169 974*275 800 1,937 1,328-836 6 14 938-366 16 38 1,328*977 80 193 1.364*886 900 2.175 1,714 968 7 16 1,681*427 17 41 312-038 90 217 1,755*496 1,000 2,422 341*070 8 19 664*488 18 43 1,055*099 100 242 386*107 2,000 4,844 682*140 9 21 1 ,407-549 19 46 88*160 200 484 772-214 3,000 7,266 1.023*210 10 24 390*610 20 48 181 -221 300 726 1,158*321 5,000 12,110 1,705*350 Table E. — French Kilogrammes into English Pounds (Avoirdupois). Kil. E. Pds. Kil. E. Pds. Kil. E. Pds. Kil. E. Pds. Kil. E. Pds. 1 2*206 14 30*880 27 59-554 40 88-228 300 761-714 2 4*411 15 33*086 28 61*760 41 90-434 400 882-286 3 6*617 16 35*291 29 63*996 42 92*640 500 1,102*857 4 8-823 17 37-497 30 66171 43 94*846 1,000 2,205*714 5 11028 18 39-703 31 68*377 44 97-051 2,000 4,411*429 6 13 234 19 41*908 32 70*583 45 99*857 3,000 6,617*143 7 15*440 20 44*114 33 72*788 46 101*463 4,000 8,822*857 8 17-646 21 46*320 34 74-994 47 103*668 5,000 11,028*471 9 19*851 22 48*526 35 77*200 48 105*874 10,000 22,057*143 10 22*057 23 50*731 36 79*405 49 108-080 20,000 44,114*286 11 24-263 24 52*937 37 81*611 50 110-2*6 30,000 66,171*429 12 26*468 25 55*143 38 83-817 100 220-571 40,000 88,228*572 13 28*674 26 57*348 89 86*023 200 441*143 50,000 110,285*715 XVI C. PASSPORTS AND POLICE. Table F. — French Hectares into English Acres. Hect. Acres. Hect. Acres. Hect. Acres. Hect. Acres. Hect. Acres. 1 2'4?1 8 19*769 15 37-067 40 98*846 200 494 229 S 4*942 9 22*240 16 39-538 50 123-557 300 741-343 3 7*413 10 24*711 17 42 009 60 148*268 400 988*457 4 9*884 11 27*182 18 44*480 70 172-980 50D 1.235*571 5 12-356 12 29*634 19 46-952 80 197*691 1,000 2,471*143 6 14-827 13 32*125 20 49*423 90 222*403 2,000 4,942*286 7 17-298 14 34*596 30 74 134 100 247*114 5,000 12,355*751 Table G . — French Metres into English Yards. 1 metre equal to 1*09 yards. 20 metres equal to 21*86 yards. 2 ,, »> 2-16 „ 30 it it 32-79 „ 3 „ a 3-27 „ 40 tt tt 43*72 „ 4 „ tt 4'36 „ 50 ti it 54-75 „ 5 ,, tt 9*45 „ 60 it it 65*58 „ 6 ,, • • 6*54 „ 70 it it 76-51 „ 7 ,, »• 7*63 „ 80 it it 87*44 „ 8 „ tt 8-72 „ 90 it it 98*27 „ 9 ,, tt 9-81 „ 100 It l» 109*36 „ 10 „ a 10*93 „ Table H.~ -English Yards into METRE8. 1 yard equal to 0*914 metres. 20 yards equal to 18*288 metres. 2 ,, »i 1-829 »» 30 >» it 27-432 „ 3 „ a 2*742 tt 40 it it 36*576 „ 4 „ it 3-658 it 50 it ti 45-720 „ 5 ,, 19 4*572 >» 60 ti tt 54*884 „ 6 „ It 5*488 a 70 tt it 64-000 „ 7 „ It 6*400 ti 80 tt tt 73-150 „ 8 „ It 7-315 it 90 »» ii 82*292 „ 9 „ 1* 8-229 •» 100 tt it 91-440 „ 10 „ tt 9-144 a C. PASSPORTS AND POLICE. A passport is indispensable to enable a stranger to travel in France. However much the new Passport Kegulations in France may tend to incommode ruffians and conspirators, yet orderly and respectable English travellers need fear no annoyance from them. The chief changes are, — 1st, That no one can now land in France without a passport, which was formerly not required of persons visiting Boulogne or any other French seaport, and not proceeding inland. 2ndly, That the French Ambassador and Consuls are now prohibited furnishing any but Frenchmen with passports. Well* conducted English travellers of whatever class, provided with a proper British passport, will find in the interior of France no more trouble now from this source than under the previous French governments. N.B. — A French visa is indispensable on a Foreign-office passport to C. PASSPORTS AND POLICE. XVli enable an Englishman to enter France. It may be obtained in London at the French. Consul's, 36, King William Street, City, for a fee of 5 frs. It must be repeated every journey, English Passports. Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs -will grant passports to British-born subjects, or to fonians, or to such foreigners as have become naturalized, provided they are either known to the Secretary of State for Foreign Aflairs, or recom- mended to him by some person known to him, or upon the applica- tion of any banking firm established in London or in any other part of the United Kingdom, or on the recommendation of the mayor or chief magistrate of any corporate town in the United Kingdom, or of any magistrate or justice of the peace, physician, surgeon, solicitor, notary, or minister of religion, who shall certify, in writing produced by the applicant, that he is really the person he professes to be. Such recommendation must be addressed, upon the cover, to " Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Passport- office, Downing-street, London," and forwarded by post from the country ; and should be made in the following form, signed and sealed by the person giving the recommendation :— " (Date of place and day of the month.) " The undersigned, Mayor of Chief Magistrate of Magistrate for Justice of Peace for , recommends A.B. (Christian and surname to be written at length,^ ^^iSedidbjeot} for a passport to enable him|£ g^S the Continent}' «»»*«**> as the case may be, by his wife and children, with their tutor, named C. D. {a British subject \ a naturalized Britishi subject ) and governess, and maidservant (or servants) and man-servant (or «a«m«*a *,«*»-/7 w w i a British subject (or subjects), servants) named E. F. \ fl naiwnMud Br>ti6h Subj-J(ar subjects). "Signature (Christian and surname to be written at length). "(Seal)." If any person so recommended be a naturalized British subject, his certificate of naturalization, with his signature subscribed to the oath printed on the third page of his certificate, must be forwarded with the application for his passport. The passport so applied for will be transmitted by return of post, if possible, to the mayor, chief magistrate, magistrate*, or justice of the peace, or other person, who may have given the recommendation, to be delivered by him to the person requiring it. The charge on the issue 01 each passport, whatever number of persons may be named in it, is 2s. ; and that sum must be forwarded with the application for the passport ; and if the remittance be by XVlii C. PASSPORTS AND POLICE. Post-office order, such order is to be made payable to the " Chief Clerk of the Foreign-office," at the Post-office, Charing-cross.* If, however, a person recommended from the country for a pass* port prefers it, he may obtain his passport at the Foreign-office on the day following the receipt of the application, and pay the charge on the passport being delivered to him ; but in this case the words " Passport will be applied for at the Foreign-office" must be added to the letter of recommendation. The form of application heretofore adopted by banking firms will continue to be used by them. It is requisite that the bearer of every passport granted by the Foreign-office should sign his passport before he sends it to be vised at any foreign Mission or Consulate in England : without such signature either the visa may be refused or the validity of the passport questioned abroad. Travellers who may have any inten- tion of visiting the Austrian States at any time in the course of their travels on the continent are particularly and earnestly advised not to quit England without having their passports vised at the Austrian Mission in London: but there is no necessity for the visa to a Foreign-office passport of either the Prussian or Sardinian autho- rities in the United Kingdom. List of the principal Foreign Passport-offices in London where Foreign- office Passports are to be vised. Austrian Legation. — Chandos-house, Cavendish-square. Bavarian Legation. — 3, Hill-street, Berkeley-square. Belgian Consulate. — 53, Gracechurch -street. French Consulate. — 36, King William-street, City. Netherlands Consulate. — 20J, Great St. Helen's. Portuguese Consulate. — 5, Jeffireyis-square. Bussian Consulate. — Z% Great Winchester-street. Sicilian Consulate.— 15, Cambridge-street, Edgware-road. Spanish Legation.— 17, Hereford-street, Park-lane. Turkish Embassy.— 1, Bryanston-square. Agents appointed to issue Foreign-office Passports at the English Seaports. At Dover, Mr. Latham ; at Folkestone, Mr. Faulkner ; at Southampton), Mr. Le Feuvre ; and at Liverpool, Mr. Litherland. The description of the bearer's person, or signalement, should not be omitted in any passport for France : the want of it may lead, in remote parts of the country, to the bearer's detention or arrest ; and it is the more necessary to dwell on this point, because in the passports issued by the Foreign Office and by English ministers abroad it is omitted. Rentier, or Propri4taiere% i.e. man of inde- pendent means, is a convenient designation for those who travel for recreation. A peaceably disposed person may sojourn months in the country and traverse it in many directions without its being even asked * Any Information or farther explanations will be given by Messrs. Lee and Carter, Passport Agents and Booksellers, West Strand, who will mount the passport on linen, and insert it in a pocket-book, at a moderate charge. d. ROUTES TO PARIS AND ACROSS FRANCE. XJX for. Still he is never safe without it. The Gendarmes we autho- rized to call for it not only in frontier and fortified towns, but in remote villages : they may stop you on the highway, or waylay you as you descend from the diligence — may force themselves into the satie-a-manger, or enter your bed-room, to demand a sight of this precious document. It is needless to expatiate on this restraint, so inconsistent with the freedom which an Englishman enjoys at home ; it is the custom of the country, and the stranger must conform, or has no business to set his foot in it. It must be allowed that the police perform their duty with civility, so as to render it as little vexatious as possible. They cannot enter a private house without a warrant. Those who lose their passports, leave them behind, or do not take care to have them "en rdgle," are liable to be marched off to the juge de paix or preiet, often a distance of 10, 15, or 20 miles, on foot, unless they choose to pay for a carriage for their escort as well as themselves ; and if no satisfactory explanation can be given, may at last be deposited in prison. Before leaving Paris the passport must be vise' by the police authorities, and before embarking at a French part the traveller must be furnished with a separate permit (Tembarquement, which is given gratis immediately before the sailing of the vessel. In ail the respectable Paris hotels a commissionaire is appointed to attend to the passports, for which a fixed charge (3 francs) is made, and this saves the traveller a couple of days' running about from office to office. The signature of the Papal Nuncio for travellers going to Home can be obtained at Paris, but is not necessary, as that of the Minister at Florence, or of the Consular Agent at Mar- seilles or Leghorn, is sufficient. The duties of rural police are performed by Gendarmes, a fine body of men, chosen from the line, handsomely dressed, better mounted than any other French cavalry corps. Being settled in their native country, and not moved from place to place, they know everybody and all the localities. Their salary amounts to 80J. a-year, out of which they have to provide their horse and uniform. dn routes across francs — london to paris, strasburg, marseilles, &c. London to Paris by Rail and Steamer. a. By Folkestone (Rail — express 2i hours), Boulogne (2£ hours, steam), Paris (rail 6 hours). Total, say 11 hours on the road. By crossing from Dover or Folkestone to Boulogne, instead of Calais, several miles of land journey are saved. At Folkestone the Hotel is comfortable, and by staying there during bad weather you may choose a calm day and an uncrowded steamer for crossing. b. By Lover, Calais, Lille, 12$ hours by the evening mail at 8*3 from London (Lord Warden Hotel, Dover, good). N.B. Owing to the smallness of the steamboats which cross the Channel between France and England they are often crowded to inconvenience, and in rough weather passengers are very liable to XX . d. ROUTES TO PARIS AND ACROSS FRANCE, be wetted by the rain or spray. The passengers, especially ladies, should therefore take with them a small change of raiment in a. hand bag, which must not be labelled at London Bridge. c. By Newhaven near Brighton, Dieppe, and Rouen, 11 to 16 hours. This is both the most economical and perhaps the shortest route, as far as actual distance is concerned, but it involves a sea passage varying from 6 to 8 hours, and is therefore not to be chosen by those who suffer from sea-sickness. In spring and summer the voyage is generally performed in 6 hours. The land journey is agreeable, and Rouen well repays a halt of a day* The expense is not much more than half of that by Calais or Boulogne. Passengers taking through tickets, which cost 28s. and 20s., are allowed to remain 4 days on the road, which allows of their visiting Dieppe and Rouen comfortably. The steamboats on this line are excellent, and amongst the quickest in the Channel. d. By Southampton and Havre, 18 to 22 hours. Steamers in connexion with the S.W. Railway (trains from London, 7.30 p.m., daily) leave the Open Dock, Southampton, every second night but Sunday. London to Heidelberg, by Paris, 11 hours, Metz, Forbach, Mannheim, 18 hours. London to Bale, in Switzerland, by Paris (12 hours), Stras- burg (rail, 12 hours), Bale (4 hours). (In 1857 by Railway direct from Paris to Bale in 11 hours.) London to Geneva, by Paris, Tonnerre, Dijon, and Dole (20 to 24 hours by railway and mail). London to Marseilles in 34 hours — by Paris (railway), Lyons, and Chalons-sur-Soane, 10J hours (railway express) ; Lyons to Mar- seilles, 8 hours (rly.). The traveller bound for Marseilles should have his passport vise for that place direct on landing in France, which will enable him to retain his passport as far as Marseilles, and will save delay at Paris. An English contract steamer, belonging to the Peninsular and Oriental Company, plies twice a-month between Marseilles and Malta, leaving the former port on the 12th and 28th of each month, where it meets the steamer which left Southampton on the 4th and 20th. The fare is 9Z., including board, for a 1st class passenger ; that of the 2nd class being 5L It leaves Marseilles on the 12th of every month, arriving at Malta early on the third day, or the 15th ; and brings with it the mail for India, which is made up in London on the 8th, unless it should happen to fall on a Sunday, when it is de- ferred till the following day. By this junction steamer letters can be despatched from London three or four days later than by the packet that goes round by Gibraltar to Malta. You ought to reach Marseilles on the 11th and 27th of the month, as the steamer often sails at an early hour, in order to go through the necessary passport formalities, and to embark comfortably. The arrangements of the Mediterranean steamers are frequently changing ; and it is therefore advisable to refer to the tariffs issued annually by the different companies. At Marseilles it is necessary to get the passport vis6 by the British e, POSTING. XXI ) consul and the local police ; also a bill of health, and a permis d'em* barquement. The people of the Packet-office will do this for a small fixed fee. French Government contract steamers of the Messageries Im- periales leave Marseilles for Alexandria, Constantinople, and the Levant, touching at Malta, every Thursday at 10 a.m. Other Govern- ment contract steamers run from Marseilles to Malta, touching on the way at Leghorn, Civita Vecchia, and Naples, every Monday in the forenoon ; and for Civita Vecchia and Naples every Tuesday at day- break, and every Thursday at 10 p.m., performing the respective voyages in 30 and 48 hours. London to Bordeaux and Bayonne, by Orleans, Tours, Poitiers, Liboume and Dax. Railway open all the way. Trains in about 21 hours. Pau may thus be reached in 28 hours from Paris. London to Dunkbrque (screw steamer, 3 times a week) in 12 hours. London to Boulogne and Calais (steamers, 9 to 12 hours, 5 hours of open sea). This is an economical route, and not fatiguing for those who can stand the sea. Owing to the prevalence of westerly winds and currents, the shortest passages are from Dover to Calais (1 h. 45 m.), and from Boulogne to Folkestone (2 hours.)* e. POSTING. — PRIVATE CARRIAGE. The French Post Book (Livre de Poste), published under the au- thority of the Government, is indispensable for persons travelling post, as it contains the exact distances from post to post, and the extra dues on entering and quitting towns (postes de faveur), which are constantly changing, likewise the legal distances from the chief stations of the chemins de fer to places in their vicinity. It may be had in all towns, and even at the post-houses. By a law enforced throughout France since the 1st Jan. 1840, distances are no longer calculated by " postes,"t but by kilometres and myriamdtres. 1 kilometre (i.e. 1000 metres) = nearly 5 furlongs, or $ths of an English mile ; 1 myrjamdtre = 10 kilom. = nearly 6£ Eng. m. (or 6 m. 1 fur. 156 yds.). See table, p. xv. The postmaster's authorised charge is, for each horse, 2 francs or 40 sous per myriametre, or 20 centimes per kilom. The Postilion is entitled by the tariff to demand only 1 franc per * Persons proceeding to Paris by the tidal trains via Folkstone and Boulogne, by the mail trains by Calais, and by the trains and boats of the Newnaven and Dieppe line, can register their luggage at the London Bridge Station direct for Paris, by which all worry of put- ting it on board and landing it from the steamer is avoided, the parcels remaining in charge of the company until their arrival in Paris, where only they are examined by the Customs officers. By this means travellers provided with a light car- pet bag, which they can carry in the hand and place under the seat of the railway carriage, can stop on the way, and will always be sure to find their luggage, by whatever train they may reach Paris. f The old poste = 8 kilometres. xxii e. posting. myriamdtre or 10 centimes per kik>m. ; but it is customary to pay him 2 francs per myriam., or at the rate of a horse, unless he nas misconducted himself when he may be punished by limiting his pay to the tariff. He is bound to drive the myriamdtre within 46 and 68 minutes. The English, who generally want to go faster, are too often in the habit of giving him 50 sous per myriam., or 6 per kilooL, which is at the rate of nearly 4d. an English mile, ue. more than a postboy in England gets. In fact, French postboys are not satisfied with 4 sous, but well contented with 5. This extravagant remuneration is contrary to the express injunc- tion of the French ' Livre de Poste,* which says, p. 42, " Les voya- geurs conservent done la faculty de restreindre le prix des guides a 1 franc, a titre de punition ; et ils seront invites par les maitres de Soste, et dans l'interSt du service, & ne jamais depasser la retribution e 2 fr. par myriamdtre." The cost of posting with 3 persons in a caldche, through France, may be calculated at 8 francs par myriamdtre, or 80 centimes par kilo- mdtre. For 2 persons, with 2 horses and postboy, the rate is about 6 francs, or nearly 9d. per English mile. The average speed of posting does not much exceed a myriamdtre per hour, including stoppages. In fixing the number of horses to be attached, the postmaster takes into account the nature, size, and weight of the carriage, and the quantity of luggage : a landau or berhn always requires 3 horses at least, generally 4 ; a chariot will require 3 ; while a britzka, holding the same number of persons, will need only 2. To facilitate this, carriages are divided into 3 classes : — 1. Cabriolets and light caldches without a front seat, or having one narrower than the back seat, must have 2 horses. 2. Limonidres, heavier carriages, chariots (coupees) ; to these the postmaster may attach 3 horses, even when they contain only 2 persons. 3. The heaviest kind of carriages, berlines, landaus, barouches, whether closed or not, but having a front seat as wide as the back, 4 horses. The posting regulations allot one horse to each person in a car- riage ; but allow tne traveller, at his option, and provided the post- master agrees, either to take the full complement of horses, at the rate of 40 sous each, or to take 2 or 3 at 40 sous, and to pay for the rest at 30 sous without taking them. Thus a party of 4 persons in a light britzka may be drawn by 2 horses, paying 30 sous each for a third and fourth horse, which Jiey are liable to take, or 3 francs extra for the 2 persons above tbb * -umber of horses, thus compound- ing with the postmasters along the whole line of road. Where the carriage is so light as not t0 require as many horses as there are passengers, it is, of course, a saving of 10 sous a myriam. for each horse to dispense with them. Postmasters in France are too apt to withhold the third horse, even in cases where the weight of the car- riage and the state of the roads require it to be put to. No one ought to submit to this when first attempted ; it will cause much loss of time on hilly roads. % The limitation of the number of horses on first setting out on a lourney is of importance, because you are obliged to take on from «• POSTING. xjuu Table op Posting Charges in France. Three Hones,and Two Kilometres. «• Petite Chevaux" paid for b»t not Med. One Postboy. Total. /r. C. fr. c. A. 0. 1 0 90 0 20 i 10 2 1 80 0 40 2 20 3 2 70 0 60 3 30 4 3 60 0 80 4 40 5 4 50 1 0 5 50 6 5 40 I 20 6 60 7 6 30 I 40 7 70 8 7 20 I 60 8 80 9 8 10 1 80 9 90 10 9 0 2 0 11 0 11 9 90 2 20 12 10 12 10 80 2 40 13 20 13 11 70 2 60 14 30 14 12 60 2 80 15 40 15 13 30 3 0 16 50 16 14 40 3 20 17 60 17 15 30 3 40 18 70 18 16 20 3 ' 60 19 80 19 17 10 3 80 20 90 20 18 0 4 0 22 0 every post station (except in the case of supplemental horses) the same number of horses that brought you to the relay. One postilion may drive 4 horses, " aux grandes guides ;" where 3 horses are required, they may be harnessed one in front of the others, or a l'arbaldte." Formerly, in France, 3 horses required to be yoked abreast ; and for this purpose shafts must be put to the carriage ; but this rule is not now enforced, and there yis no difficulty iu travelling with 3 horses and a pole, as in Belgium and Ger- many. On certain hilly stages one or more extra horses (chevaux de sup- plement) are required to be attached to carriages ; and at the entry into and departure from certain large t^owns the postmaster is allowed to charge for a number of kilometre jexceeding the real distance of the stage, called u distances suppK jntaires," ae faveur, or formerly " postes royales" For example, t> kilometres beyond the real dis- tance are charged on entering and quitting Paris. These privileges are denned by the * Livre de roste.' Those who merely pass through towns, changing horses but not stopping, are exempted from this extra charge. The furnishing of post-horses does not, as in England, include a pott-chaise, and those who mean to post in France must have a car- riage of their own. It is true the French postmasters are obliged to keep a cabriolet or small caldche for hire, but it is usually a rickety vehicle holding only 2 persons, with no room for baggage beyond a XS1V e. CARRIAGES. sac de nuit, and is therefore seldom resorted to. The charge for it is the same as for a single horse, i. e. 40 sous per myriam. Postilions are not allowed to pass another carriage on the road, unless the one in advance be drawn by fewer horses, or has been stopped by some accident. Travellers are supplied with horses in the order in which they and their couriers arrive ; the malles- postes and Government estafettes alone having a right of prece- dence. A register is kept at every posthouse, in which the traveller may enter complaints against tne postmaster or his servants in that or the neighbouring relays. These registers are inspected at stated times by proper authorities, and the charges are investigated. Tariff charge of post-horses for conveying a carriage from the rail- way termini in Paris — for 2 horses and 1 postilion, 6 francs ; 3 horses and 1 postilion, 8 francs 30 centimes ; 4 horses and 2 postilions, 12 francs. Carriages. Duty on English Carriages. — English travellers, on entering France with a carriage not of French make, are called upon to deposit one- third of an ad valorem duty for it ; a barouche or chariot is usually rated at 1000 frs. (sometimes you can get off for 600), and a landau or coach at 1500 frs. Travellers should be aware of this, in order that they may take with them ready money to meet this charge. A receipt, with an order upon the Bureau des Douanes, is given to the owner, entitling him to receive back Jths of this one-third, if the same carriage oe taken out of France within 3 years. This order describes very particularly the carriage, and, on presenting it at the frontier, the money deposited is repaid, except Jth (i. e. iith of the value of the carriage), which is all the duty paid. Carriages landed in France, and taken out of the country within six days, are exempted from the duty of a third of their value, formerly levied on all carriages without exception.* This remission of duty, however, can only be obtained on condition that some respectable French householder will guarantee that the carriage shall quit France within the six days specified. The landlord of the inn at which the traveller puts up in Calais will effect this arrangement : but as he subjects himself to a penalty of a very large amount in case the above condition is not complied with, he requires the traveller to sign an undertaking to indemnify and hold him harmless in case of failure. An order to procure this remission of duty, issued by the French custom-house, and called " acquit d caution,9 costs 5 francs, and must be delivered up on passing the French frontier. Owing to the inferiority of the post-chaises in France (alluded to above), those who intend to travel post, and are not furnished with a carriage of their own, must buy or hire one. * It is said that no duty is levied on carriages entering by land. /. MALLESPOSTES. XXV Hired Carriages — Voitures a vdonte*. It is difficult to fix a fair scale of prices to pay for the hire of a carriage and horses in different parts of France ; the best guide is to calculate it at one-half or two-thirds of posting price for the same distance, exclusive of the carriage. The carriage usually to be met with for hire is the cabriolet — a heavy, lumbering, said jolting vehicle : the charge for it is commonly 8 or 9 fr. a-day, exclusive of a pourboire of 2 or 3 fr. to the driver. It has neither the neatness nor the lightness of the gigs furnished at a country inn in England, but is necessarily clumsily built to stand the terrible cross-roads of France. In out-of-the-way places often no other vehicle is to be found than &patac?ie — a rustic cao, verging towards the covered cart, without its easy motion. He who rides in a patache must prepare to be jolted to pieces. /. MALLESPOSTES, equivalent to the English mail-coaches, and kept up at the expense of Government, still travel along a few great roads of France to carry the mail, and are allowed to take 2 or 3 passengers, but they are fast disappearing from service as the railways are completed. The various railways ramifying from Paris have superseded the malles which used previously to start from the capital ; indeed they are almost entirely superseded, the mail being carried from the railway stations by contract coaches or the diligence companies. 1. Laval to Brest. 2. Caen to Cherbourg. 3. Dole to Geneva, 10 hours. 4. Lyons to Mulhausen, 24 hours. 5. Limoges to Toulouse, by Cahors and Montauban. 6. Limoges to Toulouse, by Pengueux, and Agen. 7. Toulouse to Bayonne, by Auch, Tarbes, and Pau. f*J The French mails are on the whole very comfortable, though the in- side passengers have not very much room, and he that sits by the side of the conductor in the cabriolet is liable to be annoyed at every post- town by his companion's horn in his efforts to rouse the postmasters, and by his bustle in the delivery and receipt of the letter-bags. The mails consist of a stoutly-built barouche which holds comfort- ably inside 2 or 3 passengers ; painted of a light red colour, drawn by 4 horses with tolerable harness, with a seat in front for the postilion, and one behind for the conductor. Their rate of travelling exceeds that of the diligence on almost all the roads, equalling at least 9 or 10 Eng. m. an hour. The price of places is nearly double that of the diligence, being 1 fr. 75 cent, per myriam. = to nearly 3d. a mile, the outside fare on an English mail. As the mallespostes take few passengers, it is generally necessary to secure a place some days beforehand. Places are taken at the post-offices in the towns whence or through which the malleposte France. & XXVI g. DILIGENCES. E asses. The passport must be shown if required before the name can e entered, and half the fare must be paid at once, the remainder before starting. Baggage of passengers is restricted in weight to 25 kilogram, or 55 lbs. ; all above that weight must be paid for. No portmanteau, or sac de nuit, of dimensions exceeding the following measurement, can be admitted into a malleposte : — In length . . 0™, 70 decim.= 26 pouces = 27 English inches, breadth . . 0m, 40 — 14 = 15 height . . 0m, 35 =13 = 13 These regulations are strictly enforced, so that it is vain for those who travel with much baggage to think of availing themselves of the malleposte. There is room, however, for a writing-case or hat-box inside. The fare includes all charges ; nothing is to be given to the posti- lions ; the conductor generally receives a small douceur, varying from 5 to 10 fr. according to the length of the journey, at the good will of the passenger. Places cannot be secured except for three-fourths of the entire distance which the mail travels ; nor are passengers taken for short distances unless they are without baggage. g. DILIGENCES. The French stage-coach or diligence is a huge, heavy, lofty, lumber- ing machine, something between an English stage and a broad- wheeled waggon. It is composed of three parts or bodies joined to- gether : 1 . the front division called Coupe', shaped like a chariot or post- chaise, holding 3 persons, quite distinct from the rest of tho passengers, so that ladies may resort to it without inconvenience, and, by securing all 3 places to themselves, travel nearly as comfortably as in a private carriage. The fare is more expensive than in the other parts of the vehicle. 2. Next to it comes the Interieur, or inside, holding 6 persons, and oppressively warm in summer. 3. Behind this is attached the Botonde, " the receptacle of dust, dirt, and bad company," the least desirable part of the diligence, ana the cheapest except The BanquetteyOT Imperiale,an outside seat on the roof of the coup6, tolerably well protected from rain and cold by a hood or head, and lea- ther apron, but somewhat difficult of access until you are accustomed to climb up into- it. It affords a comfortable and roomy seat by the side of the conductor, with the advantages of fresh air and the best view of the country from its great elevation, and greater freedom from the dust than those enjoy who sit below. It is true you may sometimes meet rough and low-bred companions, for the French do not like to travel outside ; and fewpersons of the better class resort to it, except English, and they for the most part prefer it to all others. It is not suited to females, owing to the difficulty of clambering up to it. The diligence is more roomy and easy, and therefore less fatiguing, than an English stage : but the pace is slow, rarely exceeding 6 or 7 m. an hour, and in bad weather, when roads are heavy, falling below that. g. DILIGENCES, Xxvii Nevertheless, the diligences have undergone considerable improve- ment within the last 15 or 20 years ; the horses are changed more rapidly ; strips of hide have taken the place of rope harness ; and, on one or two lines of road, the rate of travelling is accelerated to 8 m. an hour. The coach and its contents are placed in charge of the Cvnducteur, a sort of guard, who takes care of the passengers, the luggage, the way-bill, and the mScanique, that is, the break or leverage, by which the wheel is locked. He is paid by the administration, and expects nothing from the passengers, unless he obliges them by some extra service. He is generally an intelligent person, often an old soldier, and the traveller may pick up some information from him. The large 1st class three-bodied diligences carry 15 passengers inside, ana 4 out, including the conductor, and weigh when loaded 11,000 lbs., or about 5 tons. They are drawn by 5 or 6 horses, driven by a postboy, from the box, instead of the saddle, as was formerly the case. Besides passengers, the diligence carries a great deal of heavy merchandise, such as in England would be sent by rail or canal-boat. The places in the diligence are all numbered, and are given out to pas- sengers in the order in which they book themselves, the corner seats first ; and it comports very much with the traveller's comfort to secure one of them, especially in long journeys. Before starting, the passen- gers9 names are called over, and to each is assigned his proper place. The average rate of the fares may be calculated at 45 or 50 centimes for 2 leagues, equivalent to l£d. a mile English, except for the coup6, which is somewhat higher. Never omit to ask for the receipt or bulletin for the fare paid, which constitutes your legal title to the place. Two great companies, whose head-quarters are at Paris, the Messageries Impenales and Messageries Generates (Laffitte, Cail- lard, et Comp^.), furnish diligences on the great roads of France, and correspond with provincial companies who " coach" the more distant and cross roads, so that there is no want of means of con- veyance in any part of France between places of moderate conse- quence. In many cases, however, the " turn-out" from provincial towns is of the worst kind, and the organisation is throughout in- ferior to the stage-coaching of England. The two chief Messageries are equally good, and, generally speaking, superior to any of the minor companies ; indeed, they manage to keep down their rivals, by a mutual understanding with each other. N.B. On some of the routes upon which railways have been begun, the diligence pursues the line of the rail ; the body of the vehicle being taken off from its wheels by a crane, and deposited, luggage, passen- gers and all, upon a truck attached to the train. On arriving at its destination it is taken off and placed upon a different set of wheels, and is instantly driven off. h. RAILROADS. By a law passed in 1842, a system of railways was laid down for France, which, with slight modifications, is now being carried into o & XXViii A. RAILROADS. effect. By this plan seven great arteries of railway communication were projected. 1. The Great Northern of France issues from Paris to Amiens, following the valleys of the Oise, Brfcche, Arc, and Somme. From Amiens it is carried to Douay, where it forks, one branch running by Valenciennes to the Belgian frontier, the other by Lille to Calais and Dunkerque. Connected with this line are 2 great branches, from Amiens to Boulogne, and from Creil to ErqueUnes by St. Quentin, to Charleroi and Namur. This line forms now the most direct communication with Belgium, N.W. Germany by Cologne, &c. &c. 2. N.W. line, from Paris to Rouen and Havre, and to Fe*camp, with branches from Mantes to Evreux and to Caen in progress ; to Cherbourg ; from Rouen to Dieppe. 3. Western Line, from Paris to the coast of the Bay of Biscay, has been completed to Chartres, Le Mans, and Rennes. It is in pro- gress to Brest. 4. S.W. line, from Paris by Orleans to Tours and Bordeaux, and thence to the Pyrenees, is in operation as far as Bayonne. This line throws off an important branch from Tours to Angers and Nantes, and another from Poitiers to La Rochelle, in progress. 5. An artery {Grand Central), branching from No. 4 line at Orleans, intended to proceed a. to Toulouse and the Pyrenees, is open as far as Limoges, and in progress to Montauban. Another branch of this line runs from Vierzon, by Bourges, Nevers, and Moulins, to Vichy, Clermont, and Le Puy, and will soon com- municate with that from Roanne to Lyons. 6. The railway from Paris to Lyons (Chemins de Lyon and de la Mediterranet), Marseilles, and the Mediterranean, by Dijon and Cha- lons, sends out branches from Montereau to Troyes ; from Dijon to Dole and Besanpon ; from St. Eambert to Grenoble ; from Tarascon to Nismes, Montpellier, and Cette ; from Marseilles to Toulon (begun). 7. The eastern line, proceeding from Paris to the Rhine at Stras- burg, is open. Branches extend from Epernay to Reims — from Nancv, byMetz, to Forbach and Mayence — Metz to ThionviUe — Strasburg to Bale. 8. The direct line from Paris to Mufdhausen and Bale, passing by Provins, Nogent-sur-Seine, Troyes, Chaumont, Vesoul, and Befiort, is in active progress (opened to Chaumont, 1857), and will form the most direct communication between the capital and N.W. Swit- zerland. 9. The Chemins de Fer du Midi embrace the lines from Tarascon on the Lyons and Avignon Rly. to Montpellier, Nismes, and Cette, already finished ; from Cette by Be'ziers and Narbonne to Carcas- sonne and Toulouse ; from Toulouse to Agen and Bordeaux, con- necting the Mediterranean with the Atlantic ; and from Toulouse to Perigueux. 10. A new network of Railways has been decreed, to connect the different towns bordering on the Pyrenees with Toulouse, Bayonne, and Bordeaux. Besides the above principal lines, a great variety of smaller ones h, RAILROADS. XXIX are in progress, for instance — from Lyons to Geneva; Lyons to Chambery ; Besancon to Neuchatel ; Lyons to Grenoble ; Mar- seilles to Toulon ; Niort to Rochelle and Rochefort ; Perigueux to Figeac and Rhodez ; Beauvais to Oreil ; Le Mans to Angers, &c. The Livret or Guide Chaix, published monthly, or the Jndicateur des Chemins de Fer, weekly, contains the time-tables, fares, &c., of all the French railways : it is the "Bradshaw" of France, and will be a useful companion to travellers in that country. Railway passengers are compelled to deliver up their luggage blindly into the hands of the officials, by whom it is booked {enregistre\ for which a fee of 2 sous must be paid, and a ticket is given, on delivery of which at the journey's end the baggage is restored to the holder. This gives rise to frequent inconvenience and inevit- able delay. The best way to obviate the nuisance is to take as little as possible, and to place it in one or more carpet bags, whicb will* he under the seat in the carriage.* 30 kilos (= more than 60 lbs. English) of luggage are allowed to every passenger free of charge. Provision is made for the personal comforts of railway travellers at the stations ; and refreshment-rooms, very superior to our Eng- glish ones, called buffets, are provided on all the lines at certain intervals, where halts are made of 10, 20, or 30 minutes, according to the distance travelled. * Travellers arriving in Paris are exposed to a very annoying delay of seldom less than half an hour at the railway stations, arising out of the examination and slow delivery of their luggage. They are obliged to wait until the whole of the luggage arriving by the train is laid out along tables, where it is examined by the Oc- troi and Custom-house authorities. Families can avoid this annoying ordeal, by leaving it to be performed by their servants. The examination of baggage, when it takes place, is rapid and superficial, except in cases when the traveller arriving from a foreign country has not had it examined on the frontier, as when arriving by the direct express trains from Lon- don. The traveller who takes the om- nibus must wait until the last per- son arriving by the train has left the station, t. e. as long as a chance remains of their picking up a new fare; and when the omnibus does start, it follows a circuitous course, dropping its passengers on the way at the different hotels. To avoid this the traveller should insist on his luggage being taken to a carriage, of which there are now plenty in attendance at every rail- way station, which will convey him immediately to his hotel, and at a charge of a few sols more than he would have to pay to the omnibus. The fare by the ordinary fiacre, with one horse, 1 fr. 50 c. ; by the pe- tites voitures, 2 fr,, .and 5 to 10 sols to the driver. Where the travelling party is numerous and the luggage abun- dant, the best and cheapest plan is to hire an omnibus to yourselves. Travellers arriving in Paris would do well to desire beforehand the own- ers of the hotels they intend stopping at to send a carriage with a laquais de place to meet them. The latter can remain with their servants to see their luggage examined, and to take it to the hotel. By doing this, a delay very annoying to ladies, es- pecially when arriving in Paris by the night trains, may be avoided. b 3 XXX h. RAILROADS. — U STEAMBOATS — k. INNS. Luggage Ticket— On arriving at your destination, instead of waiting for your things, you may give the ticket to the commis- sionnaire of the hotel to clear them for you. RAILWAY STATIONS IN PARIS. t TO/vtilnsmn Paris to Boulogne, Calais. ) Clos St. Lazare, 24, Place Rou- Amiens. Dunkirk. J baix, Faub. St. Denis. Rouen, Havre, and \ Rue d' Amsterdam, and Place du Dieppe. / Havre. {Orleans, Tours, Nantes, \ Boulevard de l'Hopital, near the and Bordeaux. ' J Jardin des Plantes. LyoM, ChMons.ManHnlW B2jj£"[d Maza8' near * B>" > Strasburg, Metz, Bale. Rue et Place de Strasbourg. / Versailles, right bank, and \ p, , _ \ St. Germain. |flace au Havre. {VeSTes!eftbMlk,aild} B0111^^ Mont Paniasse. i, STEAMBOATS. The use of steam is very general on all the great rivers of France, but for purposes of travelling steamers have been much superseded by railways. Inland Steam Navigation. The Seme, from Rouen to Paris, from Paris to Montereau for goods. The Oise, to Compidgne as steamtugs. The Loire, from Nantes to Angers ; — Orleans to Gien, Nevers, and Digoin for merchandize. The Avlne, Brest to Ch&teaulin. 2 he OJiarente, Rochefort to Saintes and Angouldme. The Garonne, Bordeaux to Agen. The Oironde, Bordeaux to the sea. The Bhdne, from Aries to Lvons, and Lyons to Aix les Bains. The Sadne, from Lyons to Chalons. The Moselle, from Treves to Thionville. Strasburg to Manheim and Basle. The rivers of France are more liable than those of Britain to rise and fall, and a sudden elevation caused by rains, or a want of water owing to drought, has equally the effect of arresting the navigation ; the last by withdrawing the necessary depth of water, the first by filling the arches of the bridges so as to leave no room for the steamers to pass under them. There are also a number of coasting steamers; but the traveller should be cautious in trusting himself to them, unless the character of the captains and engineers be well ascertained to be of tried ex- perience, as accidents not unfrequently happen, and even the French themselves do not place unlimited confidence in coasting steamers, k. INNS, TABLES-D'HdTE, ETC. On the whole, the inns in the provincial towns of France are in- ferior to those of Germany and especially of Switzerland, in the want of general comfort, and above all of cleanliness — their greatest draw- k. mate, tables-d'h6te, ETC. xxxi back. There is an exception to this, however, in the bed and table linen. Even the filthy cabaret, whose kitchen and salon are scarcely endurable to look at, commonly affords napkins and table-oloths clean, though coarse and rough, and beds with unsullied sheets and white draperies, together with well-stuffed mattresses and pillows, which put German cribs and feather-beds to shame. Many of the most important essentials, on the other hand, are utterly disregarded, and evince a state of backwardness hardly to be expected in a civilised country ; the provisions for personal ablution are defective. Fail not to take soap with you, a thing seldom to be found in foreign bedrooms ; indeed, the washing of floors, whether of timber or tile, seems unknown. In the better hotels, indeed, the floors are polished as tables are in England, with brushes attached to the feet instead of hands; but in other cases they are black with the accumulated filth of years, a little water being sprinkled on them from time to time to lay the dust and increase the dark crust of dirt. French inns may be divided into two classes : — a. Those which make some pretensions to study English tastes and habits (and a few of them have some claim to be considered comfortable), and, being frequented by Englishmen, are very exorbitant in their charges. Such are met witb along the great roads to Paris, and thence to Geneva, Lyons, and Marseilles, b. Those in remote situations, not yet corrupted to exorbitance by the English and their couriers ; where the traveller who can conform with the customs of the country is treated fairly, and charged no higher than a Frenchman. The expense of living in these country inns is moderate, — 6 francs a-day board and lodging, and 10 sous to the servants. In one respect the inns of France are more accommodating than those of Germany, that they will furnish at almost any hour of the day, at 10 minutes or £ hour's notice, a well-dressed dinner of 8 or 10 dishes, aft a cost not greatly exceeding that of the table-d'hdte. When ordering dinner in private, the traveller should specify the price at which he chooses to be served, fixing the sum at 3, 5, or more francs, as he may please. In remote places and small inns, never order dinner at a higher price than 3 francs : the people have ouly the same food to present, even if they charged 10 francs. A capital dinner is usually furnished at 4 fr. a-head ; but the traveller who goes post in his own carriage will probably be charged 6, unless he specifies the price beforehand. Travellers not dining at the table- d'hdte should bargain beforehand for their meals at so much per head (combien partite), otherwise they will be charged for each dish a la carte, a recent innovation, and a method of fleecing the stranger which ought to be resisted. The usual charge for a table- d'hdte din- ner is 3 fr. (including wine in a wine country, but not in the north), and ought never to exceed that except in large towns and first-rate inns. Bargaining for rooms before you enter an inn, though usual, some- times leads the landlord to suppose that you are going to beat him down (marchander), and he may therefore name a higher price than he is willing to take, and thus you may cause the exorbitance which you intend to prevent. In French inns it is the universal custom to lock the door of your room when you go out of the house, and to leave the key with the porter : it is expected, and is indeed r cessary for safety. XXXU k INKS, TABLES-D'HdTE, ETC. — I. CAPES. Tables-d'hote, though very general throughout France, are not so much resorted to by the most respectable townspeople, or by ladies, as in Germany. The majority of the company frequently consist of "commis-voyageurs," Anglice, bagmen, who swarm in all the inns, and are consequently the most important personages. English ladies will be cautious of presenting themselves at a French table-d'hdte, except in first-rate hotels, where English guests form a considerable part of the company, and at the well-frequented watering-places. Even at Bagneres de Bigorre, Lady Chatterton relates, "We laughed a good deal at a scene we witnessed at the table-d'hdte yesterday, where a Frenchman, after helping himself to all the best pieces of the roast fowl, turned to the lady next him, and said, with a most insinuating smile, ' Madame ne mange pas de volatile.'" There are no established fees for the servants at inns ; \ a franc a-day " pour le service/' and something extra (5 or 6 sous) for Boots, " le d6crotteur," is enough. In the principal hotels in Paris the charge for servants is only 1 franc a-day, and that sum is ample in any part of France. It is usual, besides, to give a trifle to the por- ter who carries down the luggage on arriving and leaving. Average Charges at French Provincial Hotels, Bedroom, 1 fr. 50 c. to 2 fr. 50 c. Salon, 3 fr. and upwards. Breakfast, tea and coffee, with bread and butter, 1 fr. 50 c. ; with eggs or meat, 2 fr. Dinner, table-d'hdte, 3 fr. — Apart 4 fr. to 5 fr. or upwards. Bottle of vin ordinaire, 1 fr. — N.B. Included in the charge for din- ner in wine-growing countries. The better wines are sold in demi-bouteilles. When only a part of the bottle is consumed, the waiter puts it aside for the owner until another time. Coffee, 1 fr. It is better to take it at a cafe', where it is always better, and costs only 8, and with a glass of brandy 12 sous. Bougies (wax lights), 1 fr. Where this charge is made, that for the bedroom ought not to exceed 2 fr. I. -cafes. We have no equivalent in England for the Cafes in France, and the number and splendour of some of these establishments, every- where seemingly out of proportion to the population and to other shops not only in Paris, but in every provincial town, may well excite surprise. They are adapted to all classes of society, from the mag- nificent salon, resplendent with looking-glass, and glittering with gilding, down to the low and confined estaminets, resorted to by carters, porters, and labourers, which abound in the back streets of every town, and in every village, however small and remote. The latter sort occupy the place of the beer-shops of England, furnish beer and brandy, as well as coffee, and, though not so injurious to health and morals as the gin-palaces of London, are even more de- structive of time : indeed, the dissipation of precious hours by almost all classes in France produces as bad an effect on the habits of the people. m. A traveller's general VIEW OF FRANCE. xxxiii It is only to the superior class of cafes that an English traveller is likely to resort, and they furnish some agreeable resources to a stranger in a strange place. In the morning ladies as well as gen- tlemen may there obtain a breakfast of coffee or tea, better and cheaper than in an hotel, and far better than they can procure it in England ; in the afternoon, a demi-tasse of coffee well prepared, and a petit verre of liqueur ; and in the evening, in summer, excellent ices, sorbettes, orgeats, limonade, and other cool drinks ; and in winter a very tolerable potation called " punch," but differing from its English prototype. They are always supplied with the journals of Paris and the provinces, including, in the principal cities, * Galig- nani's Messenger,' and have billiard-tables attached to them. Some of the best of these places in Paris and the large towns have a Salon where smoking is not allowed. In the evening they are most crowded, and even in the most re- spectable (except the first-rate Parisian caf6s) the company is very mixed. Clerks, tradesmen, commis-voyageurs, soldiers — officers as well as privates — and men in blouzes, crowded about a multitude of little marble tables, wrangle over provincial or national politics, or over games of cards or dominoes, while others, perspiring in their shirt-sleeves, surround the billiard- table. The rattling of balls, the cries of waiters hurrying to and fro, the gingling of dominoes, and the tinkling bell of the mistress who presides at the bar, alone prevail over the harsh din of many voices, while the splendour of mirrored walls and velvet seats is eclipsed behind a cloud of unfra- grant tobacco-smoke. Such is the picture of a French cafe ! A large cup of coffee (cafe* au lait), with bread and butter, and an egg for breakfast, costs about 25 sous. A demi-tasse, or small cup, in the afternoon, 8 sous ; a petit verre de cognac, 4 to 6 sous. The waiter usually receives 2 sous. m. A TRAVELLER'S GENERAL VIEW OF FRANCE. It has been the custom of the English, who traverse France on their way to Italy or Switzerland, to complain of the tiresome and monotonous features of the country, and to ridicule the epithet u La Belle France," which the French, who, it must be confessed, have in general no true feeling for the beauties of nature, are wont to apply to it. By a " beautiful " country, a Frenchman generally un- derstands one richly fertile and fully cultivated ; and in this point of view the epithet is justly applied to France. It is also most fortunate in its climate. Many of its vineyards, the most valuable spots in the country, occupy tracts of poor, barren, and waste land, which in our climate would be absolutely unprofitable. But in truth our country- men are unjust in forming their opinion from the routes between Calais and Paris, and thence to Lyons, Strasburg, and Dijon, perhaps the least varied part of the kingdom, and at least no fair sample of its beauties. To this district, and to a large part of the province of Champagne, the descriptions of " wearisome expanse of tillage, un- varied by hill or dale, and extent of corn-land or pasture, without enclosures, supremely tiresome," are almost exclusively applicable. XXxiv m. GENERAL VIEW OF FRANCE; SCENERY. Throughout nearly one half of France, especially in Lower Normandy, Brittany, a great part of the country S. of the Loire, the vicinity of the Pyrenees, Limousin, Auvergne, and Dauphin6, enclosures and hedge-rows are almost as common as in England, and the variety of surface in some of these districts is far greater. Our own island, indeed, presents as it were a miniature of other lands — a concentra- tion, within a small area, of scenery varying from flat fen and rolling down to mountains and precipices. In France, the features of nature are broad and expanded, and you must often traverse 50 or 100 miles to encounter those pleasing changes which, in Britain, succeed one another almost every 10 miles. If the English had confined themselves less to the beaten track in their way from the Channel to the Mediterranean, they would have verified the truth of this assertion. More than 50 years ago, Arthur Young advised those " who know no more of France than just once passing through it to Italy, that, if they would see some of the finest parts of the kingdom, they should land at Havre, follow the Seine up to Paris, then take the great road to Moulins, and there quit it for Auvergne, and so to the Rhdne at Valence or Viviers : such a variation from the common road, though it demand more time, would repay them by the sight of a much finer and more singular country than the road by Dijon." The tra- veller may at present farther vary his route by going from Paris by railway to Orleans, and thence by Bourges either to Clermont in Auvergne, or to Nevers and Moulins on the high road from Paris to Lyons. The districts of France which chiefly recommend themselves by their beauty and variety of scenery are, in the north, Normandy, the banks of the Seine (the finest of the great rivers of France), the valleys round Vire, Mortain, and Avranches, the wild coast scenery of Brittany, and the course of the Ranee, and of other streams near Quimper ; — in the centre, the Loire below Tours, and parts of Li- mousin, Auvergne, the Cantal and Arddche, the Rhdne — by some preferred to the Rhine, on account of its more extended prospects ; — in the east, the hills of the Jura, the mountains and valleys of Dauphine, especially the vale of the Gresivaudan, the gorge of the Grande Chartreuse, and the savage magnificence of peak and glacier around Mont Pelvoux, a region which may be styled the Chamouny or Grindelwald of France ; among the V osges and Ardennes are many soberly romantic scenes which have as yet attracted but little notice from travellers ; — in the south, Provence, with its sunny sky, is too arid to deserve general praise, excepting that favoured terrace at the foot of the Alps along the shore of the Mediterranean, inter- vening between Toulon and Nice. The Pyrenees, however, without doubt, include the finest scenery in France, and, except in the want of lakes, are scarcely inferior to the Alps of Switzerland and Savoy. This slight enumeration of the chief points of interest is filled up in ampler details in the introductions to the different sections into which this Handbook is divided, with a view of enabling the tra- veller to lay down for himself the plan of a tour, embracing as many of these points as his time or inclmation will permit. m. GENERAL VIEW OF FRANCE ; ARCHITECTURE, XXXV " Bretagne, Maine, and Anjou, have the appearance of deserts. The fertile territories of Flanders, Artois, and Alsace are distinguished by their utility. Picardy is uninteresting. Champagne, in general, where I saw it, ugly, almost as much so as Poitou. Lorraine, Franche Comt& and Bourgogne are sombre in the wooded districts, and want cheerfulness in the open ones. Berri and La Manche may be ranked in the same class." — Arthur Young. On the other hand, these districts, which are not interesting in point of scenery, have a compensating recommendation in their ar- chitectural remains and relics of antiquity. The heaths of Brittany are studded with extraordinary Celtic remains, and abound in most beautiful churches. Out of the midst of the monotonous plain of La Beauce rises the wondrous fabric of Chartres cathedral ; that of Bourges (colossal pile) overlooks the dull plain of Berri, as the spire of Strasburg surmounts the flat valley of the Rhine. Reims, xroyes, Laon, &c, give an interest to the otherwise tiresome journey through Champagne ; the sight of Amiens, Beauvais, and Abbeville makes one forget the length of the way through Picardy and Artois ; and the Roman remains of Nismes, Aries, St. Remy, Orange, and Antibes, equal to almost any in Italy, would alone compensate for a journey to Provence, even had it no other claims to interest.* France, however, is particularly rich in architectural remains, especially in Gothic architecture, of which it possesses some of the noblest spe- cimens existing, viz. the cathedrals above enumerated ; to which must be added those of Metz, and 3 churches at Rouen. These glorious monuments of architectural skill and lavish devo- tion are far more stupendous in their proportions than the cathe- drals of England, but have this peculiarity, that scarcely one of them is finished : thus, Beauvais has no nave, Amiens is incomplete in its towers, Abbeville has no choir, Bourges no spire. It has been said that a perfect cathedral might be made of the portal of Reims, the nave of Amiens, the choir of Beauvais, and the tower of Chartres. The rose or wheel windows are both more frequent and of larger' dimensions than in English cathedrals, and contribute greatly to the beauty of those of France, where it is not uncommon to find three in one church* The quantity, variety, and richness of the painted glass which the ecclesiastical edifices still retain, in spite of Huguenot iconoclasts and revolutionary destructives, is quite marvellous : we have nothing to compare with it in England. The churches in the N. of France are closed from 12 to 6, except the cathedrals, which re-open at 4. In the S. they remain open all day. The choir, its aisles and side chapels, are usually closed by an iron grating, and to obtain admittance one must apply to the suisse, or beadle, who struts about in cocked hat, sword, and laced livery. * Fergusson's 'Illustrated Handbook of Architecture,' 800 woodcuts, 1855, and Mr. Petit's 'Architectural Studies hi France/ 1854, should be perused and digested by every student of Gothic before he visits France. They are books full of instruction and suggestion, and the illustrations are valuable memorials to refer to on returning from one's travels. Fergusson's work, pre- pared especially as a companion to the Tra- vellers' Handbooks of Europe, is the only one presenting a continuous view of all the French styles, arranged under the various provinces. XXXVi m. GENERAL VIEW OF FRANCE; TOWNS. The finest provincial cities are Lyons, Rouen, Bordeaux, Mar- seilles, and Nantes, all more or less distinguished for commerce, manufactures, and fine edifices. The minor provincial towns have a certain number of features in common which will not fail to draw the traveller's observation : such are the formal walk near the en- trance or on the outskirts, often a mere platform, planted with rows of stunted trees, and the resort of nursery-maids, washerwomen, and recruits undergoing drill, except on Sundays or fdte-days, when the dusty and gritty platform is crowded with a gay throng, to whom the sight of bright ribbons, shawls, and new bonnets, compen- sates for the want of other prospect. A walk into the country and across the fields is never thought of by the French artizan or shop- keeper, nor indeed are there any field paths, green shady lanes, or pretty villas, or neat cottages with gardens, on the outskirts of the towns, to invite him to sally forth. The high roads in France have been greatly improved since 1844 ; many are now macadamized : indeed, in spite of the desolating anarchy of 1848-50, the whole country shows unequivocal signs of great and increasing pros- perity. Every town of a certain size is surrounded with a wall or barrier for the purpose of levying the octroi or town duties on all articles for eating and drinking brought into it, and which go to the municipal caisse or corporation funds. All carts and carriages, public and private, are stopped at the gates in consequence, by officers, who search them, and the baggage contained in them, to ascertain that no "comestibles" are concealed in order to evade this tax. The space outside the gates usually swarms with low cabarets, guinguettes, &c, where the poor man may eat and drink at a cheaper rate than within the walls. Arrived within the town, the traveller will commonly find narrow streets, with no pavement at the sides, but a huge gutter in the centre, neither clean nor sweet, lighted at night by lamDS (reverbe>es), swing- ing from ropes attached to the houses on either side. After passing one or more barracks, the number of which and of soldiers is striking everywhere, the barrack being often a sequestrated convent or church, he will reach the Grande Place or square. On one side of it, or in some other conspicuous situation, appears a large whitewashed build- ing, graced probably with a portico in front, guarded by a sentinel, surmounted by a tricolor flag, and fenced round by a tall iron railing tipped with gilt spearheads. This is the prefecture or sous-pr6fecture. There are many institutions and establishments in French towns deserving high commendation and general imitation in England : such are the Abattoirs, or slaughterhouses, always in the outskirts ; the public Cemeteries, always beyond the walls ; even the Public Walks to be found in every French town, though not suited altogether to English ideas of recreation, yet show an attention to the health and enjoyment of the people which is worthy of imitation north of the Channel. In all the larger towns there is a museum of natural history, and generally of paintings, which, although for the most part of inferior merit, are commendable as institutions for public recreation. n. PROVINCES AND DEPARTMENTS OF FRANCE. XXXV11 Still more commendable are the public libraries and reading-rooms arranged in convenient apartments, with salaried librarians, common in all French provincial towns. An amiable traveller observes, " I could not visit these libraries without wishing that similar institu- tions could be introduced into England, where the easy access to books in every part of the kingdom could not but prove at once agreeable and beneficial. The encouragement of such an object would be a wise application of the public money." — Knight's Tour in Normandy, There are three authors whose works should be perused before entering France : Caesar for its ancient history ; Froissart for its feudal history ; and Arthur Young, for the picture of France before the Revolution : his vivid local descriptions hold good to the present day. tl. LIST OF THE 86 DEPARTMENTS INTO WHICH FRANCE IS DIVIDED, AND OF THE 33 ANCIENT PROVINCES COMPOSING THEM. Provinces and date of union with France. Ile de France, with La Brie, &c. Always attached to the Crown. Picardie. Louis XIV. 1667. Artois and Boulonnais. 1640. Flandre and Hainault Fran- cais. Louis XIV. 1667-1669. Normandie. Philippe-Auguste, 1204. Bretagne. Francois 1. 1532. Orleanais. Louis XII. 1498. Beauce and Pats Ohartrain. Maine, Louis XI. 1481. Anjou. Louis XI. 1481. Toobaine. Henri III. 1584. Poitoc. Charles VI. 1416. Berri. Philippe I. 1100. Marche. Francois I. 1531. Limousin. Charles V. 1370. Axgoumois. Charles V. 1370. France* Departemens. Chefs-Lieux. /Seine. Paris. ISeine-et-Oise. Versailles. 1 Seine-et-Marne. Melun. jOise. Beauvais. vAisne. Laon. Somme. Amiens. Pas-de-Calais. Arras. JNord. /Seine-Inferieure . Lille. Rouen. lEure. Evreux. < Calvados. Caen. (Orne. Alencon. vManche. Saint-Ld. /Ille-et-Vilaine. Rennes. JCdtes-du-Nord. Saint-Brieux. the name of a village 12 m. from Abbeville; obscure in itself, but renowned for a victory gained in its precincts, Aug. 26th, 1346, by Edward III. and his 40,000 men over the French army of Philip of Valois 100,000 strong, commanded by the Count d'Alencon, which still, after the lapse of ages, remains one of the most brilliant in English annals. Here, upon that memorable day, to the win- ning of which the cannon, used, accord- ing to some, for the first time, con- tributed less than the clothyard shafts of the English yeomen, there fell, on the side of the French, the Kings of Bohemia and Majorca, the Duke of Lorraine, the Count d'Alencon (the king's brother), with 1200 knights, 1500 gentlemen, 5000 men at arms, and 30,000 infantry. Here it was that the Black Prince gained his spurs, and the feathers which the princes of Wales bear to this day. (See p. 16.) 7 Nbuvion. An extensive manu- factory of beet-root sugar is seen on the 1., 2 m. before reaching Abbeville. The most pleasing view on the whole road is that of Abbeville, and of the fertile vale of the Somme, in which it is situated, from the summit of the long and steep descent which leads down to it. 13 Abbeville. See Rte. 3. A Stat, on the Rly. to Paris. [About 6 m. E. of Abbeville is the Axney Ch. of St. Biquier, a very splen- did and interesting Gothic edifice, well preserved, having a beautiful flamboy- ant W. front, in the centre of which rises an elegant tower ; while beneath it opens the main portal, having statues in its top and sides. " The details of the front are exquisite, well arranged, and well executed/' The interior is also^ very fine ; the nave flamboyant, the choir apparently earlier. On the walls of the treasury are curious and ancient frescoes ; one in the style of the u Dance of Death." It is well worth a visit. Cardinal Richelieu was abbe* of St. Riquier ; in his time Abbeville was a small parish belonging to the abbey.] The post-road crosses the Somme by two bridges on quitting Abbeville. 19 Airaines. 10 Camps. 13 Poix(Amiennois), which gives the title to the chief of the Noailles family . The road from Amiens to Rouen passes through this place. 14 Grandvilliers. H. d'Angleterre. 10 Marseille (Oise). Dunng this stage the scenery is rather more in- teresting. Vineyards first appear a little to the N. of 19 Beauvais. — Inns; Hotel du Cygne ; — d'Angleterre. This is the chief town of the Dept. de rOise : it has 13,082 Inhab. The central portion (la Cit6) is very an- cient, still in part enclosed by its old walls, which on the E. side have given place to airy boulevards planted with trees ; many of the houses are of wood. The most conspicuous edifice, and the principal object of curiosity here, is the Cathedral. At a distance it appears a heavy and uncouth mass, overtopping the rest of the town with its prominent roof, which is sup- ported by 3 rows of flying buttresses, surmounted by double ranges of pinnacles rising from broad buttress walls. It was commenced 1225, and the design of its founders and archi- tects, excited to emulation by the splendour of Amiens, which haa been begun 5 years earlier, seems to have been to surpass in vastness and mag- nificence all other Gothic edifices. They miscalculated, however, the re- sources both of their art and their treasury, and the result was repeated failure and final defeat; for the pro- gress of the edifice was arrested when it was only half finished, and it re- mains a mere gigantic choir with transepts. As it is, however, this choir is the loftiest in the world, the eleva- tion of the roof above the pavement mm 24 Route 4. — Beauvais. o€Ct. X» being 153 ft.— 13 ft. higher than that of Amiens ; but though more extraor- dinary, it is less pleasing than it. " The extension of its dimensions up- ward is carried to a degree which strikes the spectator as exaggeration. Amiens is a giant in repose ; Beauvais a colos- sus on tiptoe." — W. To increase the wonder of the building, the architect designed to support it on half the num- ber of piers employed at present ; but in spite of the iron braces used to hold the piers in their places, the walls bulged out, and the roof fell twice. The only means, then, of maintaining it was by inserting intermediate piers in the wide spaces left between the original ones. The transepts, begun 1500, under the Bishop Villiers de rile Adam (who, as well as his brother the Grand Master of St. John of Jeru- salem, was a Beauvoisin), by the archi- tects Jean Waast and Martin Cam* biches, and finished 1555, are a fine example of the flamboyant style. One compartment of the nave was actually be^un when the architects (moved, it is said, by a vain ambition to rival the height of St, Peter's dome, and M. Angelo's masterpiece) aban- doned it to raise a tower 455 ft. high, which lasted only 5 years, having tumbled down 1573. The choir, "though raised to a loftiness that strikes the beholder with awe and astonishment, displays the space be- tween the tall and slender pillars so entirely filled with glass that the whole range of windows only appears like a single zone of light supported and separated by nothing but narrow mullions situated at wide intervals." — Hope. In the interior the effect of the admirable painted glass, executed in the best period of the art, is very rich. That in the N. and S. rose windows is attributed to Nicholas Lepot, and that in some of the side chapels to Augrand Leprince, both celebrated as artists in this line in the 16th cent. In the choir are hung 8 of the tapes- tries for the manufacture of which Beauvais was celebrated, and which preceded by 3 years that of Gobelins. The monument in the N. aisle of the choir of Cardinal, Forbin de Janson, surmounted by his kneeling effigy, is by Nicholas Coustou, and of good workmanship. The entrances to the Cathedral are by the transepts: the portal at the extremity of the S. transept is loaded with flamboyant decorations, though, from the fury of iconoclasts, it has lost the statues which filled the niches. It is surmounted by a noble rose win- dow, of very rich tracery. The facade of the N. transept has very much the character of English perpendicular Gothic; its portal, deeply recessed, with feathered mouldings to the arches, retains its original carved doors, which are surmounted by a bas-relief, in the tympanum, of a genealogical tree ; the escutcheons suspended from the branches. A ruinous building called the Basse GEuvre, on the W. of the cathedral, occupying part of the space which the nave, if carried out, would have covered, is curious as one of the most ancient buildings in France (8th or 9th cent.). The lower part of the outer walls displays masonry with bonds of tiles, and tiled arches in the manner of Roman edifices. The superstructure served as a church in the 10th cent. ; in its interior square piers support plain round arches. It seems never to have had a stone roof. St, Stephen's Church. The nave ex- hibits the transition from Romanesque to Gothic ; it is very plain, with round pier arches, and round-headed cleres- tory windows. The W. front resembles a plain early English front of our own country. The painted glass is very excellent. The Bishop's Palace, re- built in the 15th cent., has externally the aspect of a castle surrounded by walls, and its entrance flanked by 2 large round towers. Caesar thus mentions the Bellovaci, the ancient inhabitants of the Beau- vaisis : " Plurimum inter Belgas Bel- lovacos et virtute et auctoritate, et hominum numero valere." The most remarkable event; in the annals of Beauvais is its Siege by Charles the Bold in 1472, when, being destitute of garrison, it might have PlCABDr. Route 4. — Calais to Paris. 25 fallen by a coup de main, had not its citizens boldly closed their gates in the face of an army of 80,000 Bur- gundians, and maintained an obstinate resistance until succour arrived from Paris. The peculiar feature in this defence was the part which the wives and daughters of the townsfolk took in it, guarding the walls, and sharing in all the perils of the men. The chief heroine, Jeanne Hachette, ap- peared upon the breach at the moment of the fiercest assaults, seized a Bur- gundian standard which a soldier -was endeavouring to plant on the walls, and, hurling the bearer to the bottom, bore it off in triumph into the town. Louis XI. rewarded the valour of the citizens by releasing them from taxes, and complimented the ladies by an ordonnance authorising them to take precedence of the men in the procession of St. Angadreme, instituted to com- morate the raising of the siege. This procession is still kept up, on the Sun- day nearest the 14th Oct. ; the females lead the way, carrying the banner so valorously acquirea by Jeanne Ha- chette, which is preserved in the H. de Ville. A statue of her, erected 1850, adorns the " Place." At an earlier period (1357) Beau- vais* was the centre of the revolt of the serfs against their tyrannic lords, called Jacquerie, from Jacques Bon- homme (Goodman James), the familiar sobriquet of the peasantry. It ex- tended over several provinces before it was put down by the armed force of the seigneurs banded together, and with fearful cruelty. Froissart thus describes an instance of wholesale ven- geance performed upon the rebellious peasants by the Duke of Orleans, the Count of Foix, and the Captal de Buch : "They set fire to the town and burned it clean, and all the villagers of the town that they could close therein." Diligence to Breteuil Stat. (Rte. 3.) Railway — a branch to Creil Stat, passing by the valley of Therein, 85 kilo., is in progress. 15 Noailles. 13 Puiseux. 10 Beaumont -sur-Oise (H6tel du Paon), prettily situated on the K bank France. of the Oise. Here vineyards first appear. Rly. Stat. Before reaching Moisselles, a paved road, bordered with trees, strikes off to Viarmes, the Abbey of Royaumont, and Chantilly. (See p. 9.) 12 Moisselles. rt. lie the forest of Montmorency, and that of Ecouen, with its immense chateau. (See p. 11.) The road is carried through one of the Farts forming part of the out- works of the new Fortifications of Paris, before entering 13 St. Denis. (See Rte. 3.) Travellers bound for the W. end of Paris turn to the rt. on quitting St. Denis, pass one of the new barracks for the garrison attached to the fortifi- cations, and, leaving Montmartre on the 1., traverse the Faubourg des Batig- nolles, up to the Barriere de Clichv. The post-road is drawn in a perfectly straight line from St. Denis to the Barriere St. Denis, keeping the heights of Montmartre on the rt. It crosses the canal which unites the Seine at St. Denis with the Canal de l'Ourcq, and cuts off a bend of the Seine. Fur- ther to the rt., and near the Seine, is the villa where Louis XVIII. signed the Charter in 1814. 9 PARIS. Inns: -Hotel Bristol, Place Ven- dome, is the Mivart's or Clarendon of Paris; perfectly comfortable, capital cuisine. H. Wagram, Rue Rivoli, ex- cellent. H. du Rhin, Place Venddme. H. du Lodvre, a colossal establish- ment, at the corner of the Place du P. Royal and Rue Rivoli ; clean, and not exorbitant ; the chief complaint ia want of attendance. Table-d'hdte of 200 and 300 persons. H. de Londres, Rue Castiglione, good. N.B. In first-* rate hotels dinners served in private are now charged as in London, a la carte, each dish separately, which renders the prioe per head very high. H. Brighton, Rue Kivoli, clean, charges moderate— ~ a fine view over the Tuileries garden * the hotels in the Rue de Rivoli have the great advantage of sun in winter, and a covered walk under its arcades in wet weather. H. Mirabeau, Rue de la Paix; quiet and good. H. des Princes, Rue de Richelieu ; expensive, C 26 Route 5. — Dieppe. Sect. I. Hdtel Meurice, Rue Rivoli; a com- fortable and well-managed house, al- most exclusively frequented by Eng- lish and Americans : bed 3 fr. per day ; breakfast, tea and coffee, with eggs, 2 fr. ; dinner at table-d'hote, without wine, 5 fr. ; lacquais-de-place 5 fr. ; carriage 25 fr. ; servants all round 1 fr. a-day , but less in proportion for family. H. Windsor, Rue de Rivoli; on the same plan as the H. Meurice, moderate in charges. H. Victoria, Rue Chauveau la Garde, near the Madeleine. H. de la Terrasse, Rue Rivoli, quiet ; no table- d'hote. Hdtel de Lisle and Albion, for- merly Lawson's, in the Rue St. Honore. Boarding House, Madame Guilhom's Pension, 5, Rue des Champs Ely sees; a very respectable establishment The best. Restaurant* are Cafe de Paris, on the Boulevard des Italiens; Veron's, Very's, Vefour's, and the Trois Freres Provenceaux, Palais Royal; Philippe, Rue Montorgeuil, is good and very mo- derate in prices. Galignani's Reading Room, in the Rue de Rivoli, No. 224, formerly 18, Rue Vivienne, is a great resource to the Englishman in Paris: here he will find all the best newspapers of all the world ; here he will meet with his friends, a list of his countrymen visit- ing or residing in Paris being kept here, and may supply himself with books, or subscribe to the circulating library. GcdignanVs Messenger is a capital paper, condensing all the news of the English papers without reference to politics. It is a comfort to have it sent after the traveller from place to place as he moves about France, which MM. G. will undertake to do. Messrs. Stassin and Xavier, Rue de la Banque, near the Bourse, keep a very, extensive assortment of English and foreign books. Public and private carriages are stopped at the outer gate or barrier of Paris by the officers of the Octroit whose duty it is to levy a tax upon all provisions, wines, &c. Railway baggage is also searched by them. ROUTE 5. DIEPPE TO PARIS, BY GISORS. 168 kilom. = 104 Eng. m. Steamboats in spring and summer from Newhaven, near Brighton, daily, and. several times a week in winter ; sea passage 5 to 9 hours. This is the quickest and cheapest route to Paris; agreeable for those who can stand the sea. Fares, London to Paris, 28s. and 20*. See " Hints on Landing in France." (§ c. Introduction.) Dieppe. — Inns: H. Royal near the Quai — very good ; H. du Nord et Vic- toria, also good ; Grand Hotel des Bains (Morgan's), facing the sea, near the Baths; H. des Bains, next the Custom- house, on the Quai; H. de la Plage, clean and good, landlady English ; Taylor's Hotel. The seaport town of Dieppe (17,000 Inhab.) is situated in a depression be- tween two high ranges of the chalk clifls which here line the coast, as white and nearly as tall as those of England. Through this gap the small river Arques flows into the sea, making an abrupt bend round the tongue of flat land upon which a part of the town is built, and forming a tolerable tide har- bour fit for vessels of 500 tons, which is lined with quays, and cleared from mud by sluices. Dieppe is one of the chief fishing-ports in France, equipping an- nually 60 vessels of 9000 tons for the cod fishery, and many more for that of the herring. It is much frequented as a sea-bathing place in summer, and in July and Aug. becomes the resort of the fashionable people of Paris. The streets of Dieppe are regular, and display few specimens of antiquity, in consequence of the bombardment of the town by the English, who, return- ing from an unsuccessful attack on Brest, 1694, revenged themselves by laying this town in ruins, — a reckless and inglorious exploit. The principal street runs parallel with the sea from the harbour to the castle, and contains some tolerable shops. The market- place, especially on market-day, will display samples of the picturesque FlCARDY. Route 5. — Dieppe, 27 dresses and strange high caps of Nor- mandy ; perhaps one of those towering, helmet-like head-dresses, once the com- mon head-gear of the women of the Pays de Caux (cauchoise), may present itself. The Faubourg de Pollett how- ever, on the W., inhabited almost ex- clusively by fishermen, is that in which the most character and peculiarity of costume is observable ; and it includes a few old houses. This quarter can be reached now only by making the circuit of the harbour, the old bridge across it having been pulled down in order not to check the force of the waters discharged from the bassin de retenue behind. The town itself is quiet and pic- turesque. The *Ch. of St, Jacques stands in the square a little to the W. of the harbour. The body of the build- ing is much hidden behind the flying buttresses, some of them consisting of open screen-work tracery with 8 mul- lions. The anti-Gothic slated cupola, however, above the cross, does not add to its beauty. The interior also is dis- figured by yellow wash and wooden screens. The transepts are the oldest part, built in the 13th cent., as well as perhaps the arches of the choir: the nave is a little later, and the roof and many of the side chapels are not older than the 15th. The screens and curi- ous carvings in the side aisles, especi- ally that before the sacristy or tresor — a confusion of the Gothic and Italian styles — and that in the chapel of St. Tves, deserve notice as examples of French florid Gothic of the 15th and 16th cents. " The Lady Chapel is a late specimen of Gothic art. The bosses of the groined roof are of deli- cate filagree work, and the vaulting is ornamented with knots pendent from the ribs." Here is one of those strange representations of the Holy Sepulchre surrounded by figures of the 3 Maries and other holy personages, so common in Romish churches abroad, executed in a very inferior style. Near the Ch. is a fine Gothic Cross, The Castle, rising on the tall cliff at the W. end of the town, built in the 15th cent., is now a barrack, and modernised. It contains nothing re* markable. It is, however, a pictu- resque object, with its group of quaint cone-headed towers, its high bridge and drawbridge spanning a chasm which runs down to the sea ; it com- mands a fine view, and it possesses his- torical associations of great interest. Within these walls Henri IV., retreat- ing before the army of the League, found shelter among his " bons Diep- pois," as he called them, who had been the first to acknowledge his right to the throne, before the battle of Arques. He made choice of Dieppe from the attachment of its inhabitants, the fide- lity of its governor, and the advantage of an open communication by sea with England. While here he received from Queen Elizabeth a reinforcement of 1000 Scotch and 4500 English soldiers. In 1650 the famous Duchesse de Longueville, so prominent among the leaders of the party of the Fronde, de- fying the royal authority, was com- pelled to take refuge in the castle ; but being pursued even hither by the ven- geance of Mazarin and Anne of Austria, she with difficulty at length escaped hence by night, and, making her way amidst storm and tempest, after innu- merable escapes and adventures, em- barked alone from the coast in an Eng- lish vessel, dressed as a man, and at length succeeded in reaching Rotterdam . Dieppe at present gives little token of its former celebrity and prosperity ; yet 3 centuries ago it was the most nourishing seaport of France, and one of the first in Europe. The fleets of its adventurous merchants tra- versed every sea : one of them, indeed (Ango), riding in the Tagus with his merchant squadron, bearded the King of Portugal in his own capital ; another captured the Canaries. Its skilful and hardy sailors distinguished themselves by their geographical discoveries and early settlements in the 15th and 16th cents. Claims are put forth for their having found out the passage round the Cape of Good Hope before the Por- tuguese. If it were so, they certainly kept the secret so close that they have lost the credit of it. They were among the first visitors of the New World, ex- plored Florida, opening the fur trade in Canada, and establishing the earliest European colony in Senegal ; whence. c2 28 Route 5. — Dieppe — Arques. Sect. I. as well as from the East Indies, they drew the costliest gums, gems, precious stones, metals, and tissues, with which they for a long time exclusively sup- plied their luxurious countrymen. The importation of elephants' teeth from Africa is said to have given rise to the pretty manufacture of carved ivory, which still exists here, and is almost peculiar to Dieppe. The rivalry of the Port of Havre, and its superior advantages in internal communication up the Seine, were the ruin of Dieppe. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and the English bombardment, in- flicted severe blows in addition; and although the extensive equipment of vessels for the fisheries of cod in New- foundland, and of the herring, has long contributed largely to the support of the town, yet they are much fallen off at present. Dieppe, however, is much frequented as a watering-place in summer. The Etablissement des Bains is situated on the beach, nearly under the castle. There are bathing-machines; and a pretty structure of wood has been erected as a Bath-house and News- rooms. A serifs of little huts are erected at the sea-side, from which ladies issue in robes resembling those of nuns, and gentlemen in wide trou- sers, and thus bathe in public. Ladies are assisted by male dippers appointed for this service, if they require their aid. There are also hot baths near the beach. The ground bordering on the sea has been laid out in pretty gardens, walks, and drives, resorted to in the season by a gay throng. English Ch. service, Sunday at 1 p.m., in the old Carmelite convent chapel. Diligences to Fecamp, thence by rail to Havre and to Abbeville (Rte. 18). Railway to Rouen and Paris (Rte. 6). The Environs of Dieppe present se- veral interesting excursions. About 2 m. to the E., on the cliffs above the sea, is a camp capable of holding many thousand men, once attributed to Caesar, but now supposed to be Gallic, and called la Cite' des Limes. It is trian- gular in form, defended on the land- side by a rampart in places more than 50 ft. high. It is near the road to Eu 'Rte. 18), 18} m. distant, where the Chateau of Louis - Philippe and the Church deserve a visit. The most delightful walk, however, in the neighbourhood of Dieppe is to the ruins of the * Castle of Arques,v?hich are far more interesting than the Cite des Limes. They are situated in the valley of the Bethune, at its junction with the Arques, less than 4 m. S.E. of Dieppe, and are celebrated for the mo- mentous victory gained beneath the walls by Henri IV. and his devoted band of 4000 Protestants over the army of the League, 30,000 strong, under the Due de Mayenne, which decided the fate of the Bearnais prince. The ar- tillery from its walls contributed not a little to the result of that day. " II en fut tiree," says Sully in his Memoirs, " une volee de quatre pieces, qui fit quatre belles rues dans leurs escadrons et bataillons." Three or four more discharges not only checked their ad- vance, but drove them behind a bend of the valley to shelter themselves from the cannonade, and from this check they never recovered. The king, ex- pecting the Leaguers to debouche down the valley to attack him, had disposed and intrenched his little band accord- ingly, when he suddenly found the ad- vanced guard of the Due de Mayenne in his rear, pushing forward to cut him off from his stronghold, Dieppe. Henri, with great quickness and dexterity, changed his front, threw up fresh ram- parts to protect his flanks, and managed still to keep up his communication with Dieppe. Among the heroic traits of Henri on that anxious and hard-fought day, are his words to M. de Belin, an officer of the League, who scornfully inquired where Henri's forces were, to oppose so large an army : " Vousne les voyez pas toutes, car vous ne comptez pas Dieu et le bon droit, qui m'as- sistent." A rude obelisk, raised on the brow of the hill, marks the spot where the deadliest struggle occurred. The * Castle, a fine object at a dis- tance, occupies a commanding position on a tongue of high land between two valleys, and covers a large area with its ruins; but its shattered condition, arising less from the hazards of war and the effects of time than the dilapi- dations of man, has robbed it of much PlCARDY. Route 5. — Dieppe to Paris — Gisors. 29 of its picturesqueness. For a series of years, down to the end of the last cent., the government allowed it to be pulled to pieces as a mere quarry of building materials. It is difficult to fix the age of its shapeless walls, deprived of their casing of masonry ; but it is probable that the oldest parts, viz. the Donjon and its enclosure, date from the time of our Henry II., who rebuilt the castle at the end of the 12th cent. ; other por- tions are not older than the 16th cent. The English, under Talbot and War- wick, again obtained possession of it in 1419, and kept it for 30 years, down to the capitulation of Rouen, by which it was yielded to Charles VII. The main entrance remains flanked by 2 massive towers of immense size ; and portions of the piers of the draw- bridge which led to it are still standing, but the 3 successive arches of the gate- way are torn into nearly shapeless rents. Within a pleasant walk from Dieppe, at the pretty but scattered village of Varengeville, stands le Manoir d'Ango, the chateau of the celebrated Dieppois merchant Ango, — the host and friend of Francis I. Though now converted into a farm-house, so little of its exter- nal form is defaced that the eye can readily trace all the richness of decora- tion which distinguished the style of the Renaissance when it was built. " The walls are principally con- structed of black hewn flint, which, alternating with a white stone, produce a very beautiful mosaic. They retain all the sharpness of their original con- struction ; and the sculptures with which they are enriched are of the most classical and graceful form. A number of large medallions above the grand entrance, and along the facade of the principal corps de b&timent, are remarkable : among them the portraits of Francis I. and Diane de Poitiers. In the interior are some finely sculp- tured fireplaces and the remains of a large fresco ; but they are only to be discovered by groping amongst the greniers, into which the apartments once so splendid have been changed." — Miss Uostello. The following direct road from Dieppe to Paris by Gisors leaves Rouen altogether on one side, and is shorter by 8 or 10 miles, but few would omit visit- ing that highly interesting city. (Rtes. 6 and 9.) Besides, the raily. now renders the route by Rouen the quicker of the two. Diligences have in consequence ceased to run this way. The Gisors road strikes off to the 1., 3 m. beyond Dieppe. 12 Bois Robert 17 PommereVal. 4 or 5 m. on the 1. of our road lies Neufchatel, famed for its excellent cy- lindrical cream-cheeses, called Bondes. 24 Forges les Eaux. A village and watering-place, possessing chalybeate springs once of some repute, but ne- glected at present. They are three in number — La Reinette, La Roy ale, and Cardinale; the two last named from Louis XIII. and Cardinal Richelieu, who visited Forges to drink the waters in 1632, the period of their highest celebrity, in consequence of Anne of Austria, after living childless for 18 years, here becoming enceinte with Louis XIV. ; — an event which was at- tributed to a course of these waters. 21 Gournay, famed for its butter, is situated in the district anciently called ays de Bray. The Church of St. Hildebert was begun in the 11th cent., but not finished until the 13th, and its W. front, with pointed arches, is perhaps of the latter date. In the interior, very massive round piers support semicircular arches inclining to the horseshoe form. The sculptured ornaments of the capitals are very remarkable for variety of pattern. Herring-bone masonry occurs in the E. end. About 5 m. from Gournay is the Abbey ChurchofSt. Germes9a.s grand and large as a cathedral, of the 13th cent. 12 Talmoutiers. 14 Gisors. — Ton: H. de FEcu. An ancient town of 3500 Inhab., prettily situated on the Epte. Its venerable ramparts are converted into agreeable promenades, whose plantations encircle the ruins of its commanding Castle, once the bulwark of Normandy on the side of France, and still retaining many interesting characteristics of a feudal fortress of the middle ages. The octa- gonal Donjon especially, and its enclo- sure, crowning the top of a high arti- ficial conical mound, are of the most solid construction, and are works of the 30 Route 6. — Dieppe to Rouen by Railway. Sect. J. 12th cent., built by our Henry II. The walls of a dungeon under one of the towers have been curiously carved with a nail by some unfortunate prisoner. At an interview which took place here between Henry and Louis VII., the two monarchs agreed to assume the cross for the recovery of Jerusalem. The Ch. of SS. Gervais and Protais presents a singular combination of styles, and an abundance of uncouth sculptures : it has a choir built in the 13th cent, by Blanche of Castille (it is said) ; the nave and remainder of the ch. are of a later period. The sculpture of the portal, richly carved, is of the latest style of French florid Gothic, and much overladen with ornament. The organ-loft, and an emaciated monu- mental effigy, both attributed to Jean Goujon, merit notice, and there is some fine painted glass in the windows. In the S. aisle is a singular twisted column, surrounded by spiral bands of tracery. Gisors is on the high road from Paris to Rouen (Rte. 10). 19 Chars. 18 Pontoise (in Rte. 3). 10 Herblay. Here the road divides : the l.-hand branch leads to Paris by St. Denis (see Rte. 3) ; that on the rt. proceeds by Besons, where it crosses the Seine, and by 12 Courbevoie, to the Barriere de Neuilly, entering 9 Paris by the Arc de l'Etoile. See Galignani's Guide, and p. 25. ROUTE 6. DIEPPE TO ROUEN — RAILWAY. 61 kilom. = 37J Eng. m. This Railway was opened 1848. 4 trains daily : time l£ to 2 hrs. Terminus near the wet-dock (bassin- a-flot) at Dieppe. A tunnel at Appeville, rather more than 1 m. long, carries the rly. into the valley of the Scie, up which it runs for more than IS m., crossing it 22 times. It is enlivened by several mills in the midst of meadows and orchards. In the outskirts of Dieppe we cross the road to Havre. The high road to Rouen is passed on a level. 1. Beyond ^anqueville are the ruins of the Castle of Charlesmesnil. The way is varied here and there at long intervals by villas or chateaux, without any claim to beauty. The numerous orchards are one of the characteristic featuresFo± Normandy, which is a cider, not wine- drinking, province. 17 Longueville Stat, stands on the domain of an abbey, the chief conven- tual building of which is now a cotton- mill. Upon the hill over the village, on 1., may be perceived the ruins of the Castle of Longueville, celebrated during the wars of the Fronde, and for the courage and adventures of the Duchesse, sister of the Great Conde*. 9 Auffay Stat. A considerable vil- lage, with several cotton-mills, a large sugar refinery, and tanneries, and a pretty Gothic ch., 16th cent. 4 St. Victor Stat. William the. Con- queror was the founder of the abbey, and his statue occupies a niche outside of the ch. The Scie rises about 100 yards to the 1. This is the nearest Stat, to Neufchatel (p. 29): coaches thither. rt. About 24 m. is Tdtes. (Cygne, a small but clean country Inn.) The spinning and weaving of cotton nirnish employment to the inhabitants. Mills and factories increase in number as we approach Rouen, the great centre of the cotton manufacture in France. The summit level of the line is at- tained through the long and deep cut- ting of Frithemesnil, leading into the Valley de Cleres, a little beyond which is the 10 Cleres Stat. Here is an old castle in which is shown the bed of Henri IV. 6 Monville Stat. The line of houses, factories, and chimneys, interspersed with villas, or- chards, and gardens, almost uninter- rupted, from Malaunay to Rouen, may remind an Englishman of the clothing district of the W. of England. In 1 845 (Aug. 19) a terrific whirlwind swept down part of this valley, and in the course of 1 J minute demolished 3 fac- tories, crumbling them like houses of cards, and all within them, people and machinery. 60 lives were lost, 100 were wounded, many were buried in the ruins. The Dieppe Rly. falls into the line from Rouen to Havre near n r a ihe of jier de by aas lse. Ate) inch en- ind •eat she the ber i on ient * at lile. ;on- rsed I like the ilia. uise I • Dod. * the ! Itte, J PPe> * ! 658, lene' ifice rote at- arly tion and a to :>een leal, .cess idge The 2m ting until >eine \, °1T Normandy. Haute 8. — Paris to Rouen by Railway. 31 6 Malaunay Stat, and the Viaduct of 8 arches. (Rte. 14.) 3 Maromme Stat. Before entering Eouen a pretty view is obtained of the blue hills which bor- der the Seine ; nor is the atmosphere thickened with so dense an envelope of smoke as hovers over the great manu- facturing centres of England. A great part of the coal here used comes from England ; the Dept. du Nord furnishes also its supplies. 6 Rouen Stat, (in Rte. 8). ROUTE 8. PARIS TO ROUEN — RAILROAD. 140 kilom. = 87 Eng. m. Trains 7 times a day, in about 4 hrs. ; Express in 2\ hrs. Terminus in Paris, Rue d' Amsterdam. Fares, 17, 14, and 10 frs. This railroad was commenced in 1 84 1 , and opened May 1843. Its engineer is Mr. Locke, who executed the London and Southampton Railway ; many of the shareholders are English capitalists of Lancashire ; and even most of the work- men were English. A considerable number of experienced "navigators," having been transported across the Channel, worked on it harmoniously with their French brethren, showing them the mode of operation. The rails are of French iron, which is much dearer than English ; but the locomo- tives, though made in France (at Rouen), are executed by an English company, established there expressly to supply this railroad. The minute subdivision of property in France, and the great number of landholders with whom the company had to deal, occasioned some difficulty in obtaining the land over which the rly. passes, and caused the number of contracts to be multiplied enormously ; but the demands or the proprietors were by no means so exor- bitant as in England. The first part of the line is the same as that to St. Germain (Rte. 9). The rly., after passing on a bridge over the Rue de Stockholm, and through 2 tun- nels under the Place d'Europe and other streets, quits Paris by Les Batignolles. The village of Clichy is passed on the rt. hand, and the Seine is crossed by a bridge of 5 arches before reaching the village. 4£ Asnieres Stat., on the 1. bank of the Seine, here crossed by another bridge, below that of the Chemin de Fer. The rly. bridge was burned by the Republican mob of 1848, and has since been rebuilt at great expense. The Versailles Railroad (rive droite) and the St. Germain Railroad branch off to the 1. a little beyond this. rt. Branch Railway to Argenteuil. At Colombes, a small village, Hen- rietta Maria, widow of Charles I. and daughter of Henri IV., died in great poverty, 1669. The chateau which she inhabited no longer exists. At Bezons the railway crosses the Seine by a bridge of 9 fiat timber arches, each 100 ft. span, supported on stone piers. From this an embankment extends nearly a mile to a cutting at Houille which is also about a mile. Beyond this the embankment con- tinues to the Seine, which is traversed for the second time by a bridge like the former, conducting to 17 Maisons Stat., at the end of the avenue leading to M. Lafitte's villa. (Inns : Hotel Talma, so called because once the residence of the actor ; good. Le Petit Havre.) The Chateau was the property of the late M. Jacques Lafitte, banker and minister of Louis Philippe, • was built by Francois Mansard, 1658, for the Surintendant des Finances Rene' de Longeuil, and is a handsome edifice of Italian architecture. Voltaire wrote ' Zaire ' here ; and he was here at- tacked with small-pox, which nearly carried him off. Before the Revolution it belonged to the Comte d'Artois, and was afterwards given by Napoleon to Marshal Lannes. The park has been cut into building lots, sold piecemeal, and studded over with villas. Access is given to the new colony by a bridge of wood resting on stone piers. The distance hence to Paris is only. 12 m by land. The rly. proceeds hence in a cutting across the forest of St. Germain, until it again reaches the 1. bank of the Seine a little before 9 Poissy Stat. (H. de Rouen\ small town on the 1. bank of the Seir 32 Route 8. — Paris to Roueny Rail — Mantes — Rosny. Sect. I. the birthplace of St. Louis (1215), who was 'wont to sign himself by the modest style of Louis of Poissy. The font at which he was baptized is still shown in the Parish Ch., a picturesque building, late Romanesque, with flamboyant ad- ditions, surmounted by 2 octagon towers and spires. The Conference of Poissy was held 1561, with the hope of adjusting dif- ferences between the Popish andCal- vinistic churches; Beza, with a train of doctors, appearing for the one party, and the papal legate, Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, for the other; and Charles IX. attended the first meeting with his mother, Catherine de Medicis. But the controversialists soon separated, with- out having approached to a reconcilia- tion, each side believing it had the best of the argument. A dirty and inconveniently narrow street leads to the long bridge of Poissy over the Seine, of 37 arches of different sizes, including the approaches, built, it is said, by St. Louis. The 3 central arches, now supplied by timber, were blown up in 1815 to prevent the -pas- sage of the allies ; or, as some say, so long ago as in 1589, by Mayenne, the general of the League, to secure a safe retreat for his army from the pursuit of Mare'chal de Biron, who had sacked Poissy because it refused to deliver its keys to the kings Henri III. and IV. The greatest cattle-market in France is held here every Thursday for the supply of Paris with meat. 8 Triel Stat. In the ch. is an Adora- tion of the Shepherds, said to be an original, by Poussin, and some good painted glass. Here and at Vaux are extensive plaster quarries. 6 Meulan Stat. This town, on the rt. bank of the Seine, is partly built on the slope of the hill, partly on an island in the middle of the river joined to the banks by an old stone bridge in two divisions. 8 EponeStat. Here is afineCA., 12th century. The scenery of the valley is very pleasing, though the chalky white of the rocks is an eyesore. The banks of the river are enlivened with country houses. The post-road runs at some distance from the river until it reaches Limay, the faubourg of Mantes, where it crosses from the rt. to the 1. bank by the bridge. The rly. runs in a cutting to the W. of the town of 7 Mantes Junction Stat, The Rly. to Caen and Cherbourg (Rte. 25) branches off 1. Buffet, where trains stop 10 minutes. Inn: Grand Cerf — tolerable. This town is prettily situated on the margin of the Seine, whence it has gained the epithet La Jolie. The chief building is the Church of Notre Dame, standing a little way above the bridge. It is a fine Gothic build- ing ; the body supported by flying but- tresses, the roof covered with coloured tiles. The portals are pointed; the sculpture which adorns them is sadly mutilated. The interior, in the early pointed style, is very pleasing ; its most remarkable feature being the height of the triforium gallery formed of triple arches, which, being carried quite round the E. end, and lighted by windows be- hind, gives a cheerful character to the ch. The tower at the W. end (a second or twin tower has been taken down) opens into the nave. It was built for Blanche of Castille and her son St. Louis by the architect Eudes de Mon- treuil. The solitary Tower of St. Maclou is the sole remnant of another ch., built in 1344 with the toll dues exacted for leave to tow barges through the bridge on Sundays and holydays. It is de- servedly preserved as a fine light Gothic structure. It was among the glowing embers of the houses and monasteries of Mantes, which he had remorselessly caused to be burnt, that William the Conqueror received the injury in his corpulent person, caused by his horse starting, which proved mortal a few days after at Rouen. The castle of the French kings, where Henri IV. held the con- ferences with the Romish clergy which preceded his abjurance of the Protestant faith, was destroyed by the Regent Duke of Orleans. rt. About half way between Mantes and Bonnieres we pass 6 Rosny Stat., a dirty little village, contiguous to which, between it and the Seine, stand the Chateau, the birthplace of Sully , where he was frequently visited Normandy. Route 8. — Paris to Rouen — Gaillon. 33 by his friend and master Henri IV., who slept here the night after his victory at Ivry. The king, having overtaken Sully on the road desperately wounded, carried on a litter, accompanied by his squires in a like plight, fell on his -neck and affectionately embraced him. The chateau is a plain solid building of red brick, with stone quoins and a high tent roof, surrounded by a deep ditch ; it was rebuilt by Sully at the beginning of the 17th cent. It is destitute of architectural beauty externally, and within has been modernised, although one room is still called Chambre de Sully. From 1818 down to the Revo- lution of 1830, Rosny was the favourite residence of the Duchesse de Berri, who erected here a chapel to contain the heart of her husband. The chateau has since changed hands repeatedly, and its present proprietor has pulled down the wings, which were modern, and added by the duchess. The grounds extend for some distance along the margin of the river, to which they owe their sole charm, the ground being per- fectly flat, and traversed by long formal avenues. In skirting the forest of Rosny, con- tiguous to the village, we are reminded of the sacrifice made by Sully, in fell- ing in it at one time timber to the amount of 100,000 francs to pay his master's debts. A great projecting buttress of chalk now intervenes, over which the high road is carried by a steep ascent and descent, and round which the Seine winds in a widely circuitous curve. The rly. pierces this by a Tunnel about 2480 yards long — driven through the chalk and a flinty conglomerate very hard to penetrate, commencing at Rolle- boise, about 5 miles from Mantes, and terminating on the W. at a short dis- tance from 6 Bonnieres Stat., the rly. having been previously carried over the high- road by a bridge. Hence the railroad runs under the high ground close to the river as far as 11 Vernon Stat. Inn: Grand Cerf. This town (pop. 5300), which, like many others in Normandy, gives a name to a noble English family, is prettily situated, and its interior re- tains a venerable air of antiquity in its timber-framed houses ; but its narrow streets, however picturesque, are by no means convenient on a great highway of traffic. There is preserved an an- cient tower, tall and massive; and a Gothic CA., the choir of the 13th, the nave of the 16th cent., in which one monument only among many escaped the Revolution, — that of a lady of the family Maignard, — consisting of a kneeling effigy in marble (date 1610). At the foot of the bridge is a curious antique building, now a mill. Vernon possesses a hospi tal founded by St. Louis, very extensive cavalry barracks, and vast quarries of building-stone on the opposite side of the Seine. The Chateau de Bizy, one of the finest seats in Normandy, the property of the Counts of Eu, and afterwards of the Due de Penthievre, was destroyed at the Revolution, and is now replaced by a plain country house belonging to the Orleans family. It is small and mean, but the grounds are beautiful and the walks through them agreeable. They are approached by a fine avenue on the outskirts of the town. Coaches to Evreux, Dreux, and Chartres. 13 Gaillon Stat., about a mile from the village, where there is a huge penitentiary, or Maison Centrale de De- tention, occupying the place, and in part the remains, of the Chateau of the arch- bishops of Rouen. It was built 1515 for the Cardinal d'Amboise, out of the tribute levied on the Genoese, conceded to him by Jjouis XII., by the architects Jean Joconde and Androuet du Cerceau, and was adorned by the pculptor Jean- Juste de Tours. It was demolished at the Revolution, except the entrance portal flanked by 4 turrets, and covered with inscriptions and bas-reliefs, the clock tower, and the chapel tower. The gateway between the 1 st and 2nd courts, a splendid example of the style of the Renaissance, was rescued by M. Lenoir and transported to Paris, where it has been reconstructed in the court of the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Its architect was Pierre Fain, date 1509. In the distance is seen the imposing C 3 34 Route 8* — Paris to Rouen — Rouen. Sect. I. ruin of Chateau Gaillard, the pet castle of Richard Cceur de Lion (Rte. 11), rising on a lofty rock washed by the Seine, but 5 or 6 miles N. of our road ; so great is the circuit which the river Here again makes. Gaifion is the station nearest to Au- teuil and the town of Andelys (omnibus runs thither), and hence an excursion may be made to the interesting castle of Chateau Gaillard (p. 50). Near le Grand Villers, two Tunnels are driven through the mass of a projecting pro- montory of chalk hill. The first or easternmost, of Le Rule, is a mile lone, and the second, of Venables, 470 yards long. 14 St. Pierre de Vauvray Stat. The manufacturing town of Louviers is about 5 miles or 8 kilom. W. of this stat. (p. 46). Omnibus every train. A Jilt/, is projected. The Seine is traversed obliquely for the 3rd time by a bridge at Le Manoir just above the confluence of the Eure, and the rly. proceeds along the rt. bank of the Seine for a short distance to 12 Pont de TArche Stat, at the ex- tremity of the bridge leading to that town. Pont de l'Arche is a small town whose main street is a narrow and in- convenient lane leading to the bridge of 22 arches, by which the Seine is crossed by the post-road, a little below the junction of the Eure. The view from it is pretty ; on the rt. is seen the Cdte des Deux Amants (see Rte. 1 1). The tide ascends to this point. The Gothic Ch. contains some curi- ous painted windows : in one of them the inhabitants of the town, male and female, in the costume of the 16th cent., are seen towing barges through the central arch of the bridge. The rly. next passes through the hill of Tourville by a short Tunnel of about 500 yards, and crosses the Seine, here divided into two arms, for the 4th time, by a bridge resting on the He des Boeufs, to 5 Tourville, Station for the populous and industrious town of Ellxeuf (lite. 1 2). Hence it proceeds onwards along the 1. bank of the Seine through St. Eti- enne de Louvray and Sottevule (where the line to Havre (iiverges rt. and crosses the Seine) to its termination near the Rue Verte and Boulevards of the great city of 12 Rouen: Terminus, Cours laReine. Postmasters charge I fr. 50 c. for each horse and each postilion in conveying a carriage from the rly. to any part of Rouen. Omnibus to all parts of the city. Rouen. — Inns: H. d' Albion, on the Quai, clean and good ; — H. d'Angleterre, also good; excellent table-d'hdte ; — H. de Normandie ; — Hdtel Vatel, Rue des Cannes, second-rate. Rouen, anciently Rotng Epee: but the figures are not older probably than the 13th cent. The choir, separated from the nave by a modern Grecian screen, was built between 1280 and 1300. The carving of the stalls, executed 1467, is ex- tremely curious. The finest and oldest painted glass is to be found in the chapels of the choir aisles ; it is of the 1 3th cent. Small lozenge-shaped tablets of marble, let into the pavement of the choir, mark the spots where the heart of Richard Coeur de Lion, and the bodies of his brother Henry (died 1 183), of William son of Geoffroy Plantagenet their uncle, and of John Duke of Bed- ford, regent (prorex Normannise) under Henry VI. (1435), were interred. Their monuments, much injured by the out- rage of the Huguenots in 1663, when all parts of the church suffered more or less, were removed, and lost until 1838, when the effigy of Richard /., a rude statue 6£ ft. long, was dug up from under the pavement on the 1. of the high altar. His " lion heart " was also found still perfect, but shrunk in size, enveloped in a sort of greenish taffeta enclosed in a case of lead, and is now deposited in the Museum. His body was interred at Fontevrault ; but he bequeathed his heart to Rouen, on account of the great affection which he bore to the Normans. The effigy of limestone, much muti- lated, represents him crowned, and in the royal robes, and is now placed in the Lady Chapel behind the high altar, which contains two other splendid and highly interesting monuments. On the rt. hand is that of Cardinal George d'Amboise, Archbishop of Rouen and minister of Louis XII., and his brother, a magnificent structure of marble, in the style of the Renaissance, executed in 1525. The marble sta- tues of the two cardinals, uncle and nephew, kneel below a covered canopy richly ornamented and gilt ; behind is a bas-relief of St. George and the Dragon; above, in niches arranged two by two, are statues of the 12 Apostles ; below are the Cardinal Vir- tues. The pilasters and intervening spaces are adorned with rich and fanci- ful arabesques. The bodies of the Cardinals d'Amboise were torn from the grave by the Revolutionists of 1793, the lead of the coffins melted, and the contents scattered. On the 1. side of the chapel is. the monument, in white and black marble, of the Due de Breze\ grand seneschal of Normandy; but more remarkable as husband of Diana of Poitiers, mistress of Henry II., by whom it was erected. The effigy of the dis- tressed widow kneels at the head of an emaciated corpse representing her hus- band after death, stretched on a sarco- Normandy. Route 8. — Rouen — St Ouen. 37 phagus of black marble. She is in a mourning attitude corresponding with the words of the epitaph which she caused to be engraved on the tomb : — M Indivulsa tibi quondam, et fidi»ima conjux, Ut fait in thalamo sic erit in tamulo." A sentiment, however, which must be taken in an ironical sense ; it is quite certain that she was not buried with him, but at her chateau of Anet, and it is probable that she was as true to her word in one respect as in the other. Above, in an arched recess, is the statue of the duke in full armour on horseback. This tomb is a splendid work of the age of Francis I. ; and is attributed to Jean Goujon, or Jean Cousin. A rich florid Gothic niche at the side, surmounted by a stone canopy of open work and intervening stems, was erected at an earlier period (1465) to Pierre de Brez£, grandfather of the preceding. Neither statue nor inscrip- tion remains. The elaborately carved screen in front of the sacristy, executed in the latter part of the 15th cent., and its wrought-iron door, must not be passed without notice. Passing the Archevechf, contiguous to the cathedral on its N. and £. side, we come to the * Church of St. Maclouj which ranks third among the churches of Rouen in beauty. Its grandest feature is its triple porch ; it is a fine specimen of the florid architecture of the 15th cent., and the sculpture adorning it is of exquisite taste and beauty of execution. The traveller should pay attention to the wooden doors (including that on the N. side), beautifully carved with Scripture subjects, in bas-relief, by Jean Goujon, it is said, and to the elaborate winding stair of stone near the W. entrance, leading to the organ-loft. There is much painted glass in the windows. The new and wide street, the Rue ImpeYiale, leading from the Suspension Bridge to the Boulevard, brings you to the *Ch. of St. Ouen, which sur- passes the cathedral in size, purity of style, masterly execution, and splendid but judicious decoration, and is inferior only as regards historic monuments. It is beyond doubt one of the noblest and most perfect Gothic edifices in the world. Although it suffered con- siderably from the Huguenots (1562), who made 3 bonfires within the build- ing to burn the stalls, pulpit, organ, and priests' robes; and from the re- publicans, who turned it into an ar- mourer's shop, and raised a smith's forge in its interior, by the smoke of which the windows were blackened until they ceased to be transparent, it has escaped in a remarkable degree ; and recent judicious restorations leave little to desire touching its state of repair. The first stone of the existing edifice (for 4 other churches had preceded it) was laid 1318 by Abbot Jean Roussel; the choir, the chapels, and nearly all the transept were completed in 21 years, and the nave and tower finished by the end of the 15th cent. Thus, one plan being followed to the termina- tion, the most perfect harmony of style prevailed throughout. The W. front, long unfinished, has been completed by the addition of 2 flanking steeples, surmounting 3 deep-set portals. Al- though it may be regretted that the original design (still preserved in the library) has not been more strictly followed, the modern front and towers are very fine. The architect is M. Gre*goire. Above the cross rises the central tower, 260 ft. high, which, whether examined close at hand (as it ought to be) or seen at a distance rising above the town, is a model of grace and delicacy. It is an octagon com- posed of open arches and tracery, throw- ing out flying buttresses to the turrets in the angles, and terminates with a crown of fleurs-de-lis, which ancient royal symbol is also discovered in the pat- tern of the tracery of the windows, and in the painted glass. The S. portal, called des Marmouzets from figures of the animals carved on it, deserves attentive examination, as a gem of Gothic work scarcely to be surpassed. It is surrounded by a fringe of open trefoil arches ; while 2 groined pendants, 6 ft. long, drop from its vault. The bas-relief over the door 38 Route 8. — Rouen — Muste des Antiquites, Sect. I. represents the Death and Assumption of the Virgin, with the statue of St. Ouen beneath: the whole has been well restored. The interior (443 ft. long, and 106} ft. high), notwithstanding its size, is peculiarly light and graceful ; the front pillars of its richly moulded piers run up uninterruptedly to the roof as ribs, the side ones bend under the arches. The clerestory being very large increases the effect of lightness ; " the windows seem to have absorbed all the solid wall," and the roof is maintained in its place by the support of pillars and buttresses alone. All the glass is painted, and there are 2 noble rose windows filled with it. The stranger should look into the holy-water basin (be'nitier) close to the W. door ; he will find the beauties of the interior all mirrored on the surface of the water. The slab tomb of the master mason under and by whom this noble ch. was reared is in St. Agnes' chapel, the 2nd on the I. in the N. choir aisle. His name was Alexander Berneval ; and, according to tradition, he murdered his apprentice through envy, because the youth had surpassed, in the execution of the rose window in the N. transept, into the tracery of which the pentalpha is introduced, that which his master had constructed in the S. transept. Though the mason paid the penalty of his crime, the monks, out of gratitude for his skill, interred his body within the church which he had contributed so much to ornament. The whole of the transept, choir, and lower part of the tower, are decorated in character, passing into the flam' boyant in the upper story of the tower and in the nave. The material used in the structure of St. Ouen is an indurated grey chalk, containing flints, which have been often patiently cut through in the delicate carving and tracery. But the details of the building should be studied on the roof, upon the tower, and in the internal galleries. It will well repay the trouble of the ascent. A very pretty Public Garden, whose great ornament, however, is the adja- cent church, extends along the N. side of St. Ouen, behind the Hotel de Ville ; it was originally the convent garden. Within it, attached to the church, stands a very perfect Norman tower, with round-headed windows, in the style of the 11th cent.; it probably formed part of a previously existing church. It is called " La Chambre aux Clercs." St. Ouen was archbishop of Rouen, and died 678. The *H6tel de Ville, a handsome building of Italian architecture, at- tached to the N. transept of the church, formed part of the monastery of St. Ouen, to which a modern front, with Corinthian colonnade, has been added, so as to give the building an official, civic air. Besides the public offices, it contains the Public Library, and Le Muee'e dee Tableaux, a collection in which the good paintings bear a very small proportion to the bad. There is an ancient and curious picture, attri- buted to Van Eyck, of the Virgin and Child amidst Angels and Saints, " a delicious painting, and pronounced on good authority to be original " — (E. o. S.) ; the predella of an altar- piece, by Perugino, brought from Pe- rugia; a copy of Raphael's Madonna di San Sisto; St. Francis in ecstasy, by Ann. Caracci; the Plague at Mi- lan, by Lemonniere of Rouen ; and an Ecce Homo, by Mignard. The Bibliolheque Publique is a valu- able collection of 33,000 vols., very accessible, being open every day from 11 to 4, and from 6 to 9, except Sun- day and Thursday. Among the 1200 MSS., many richly ornamented with paintings, are the History of the Nor- mans, by William of Jumieges, 11th cent. ; a Benedictionary, which be- longed to an archbishop of Canter- bury; and a missal book of the 12th cent. The Gradual of Daniel d'Au- bonne, 17th cent., containing about 200 vignettes and initials, is very beautiful. *Le Mueee des Antiquite'x, in the sup- pressed convent de Ste. Marie, Rue Beauvoisine, the continuation of Rue des Cannes and Rue Grand Port, consequently near to the Rly. Stat., from the number and rarity of the curiosities deposited in it, consisting for the most part of voluntary dona- tions, is one of the most interesting sights in the town, and highly ere- Normandy. Route 8. — Rouen— Church of St. Gervais. 39 ditable to the administration of the department, by whom it was founded, 1833-4; no stranger should omit to visit it. The following enumeration will give an idea of the nature of the objects preserved here : — The door of the house in which Corneille was born ; many Eoman and Gallic tomb- stones, coffins, &c, dug up at Rouen and other places in the Dept. de la Seine Inferieure; many fragments of Roman sculpture; specimens of pot* tery, glass, mosaics ; inscriptions ; toge- ther with a draped female statue of good work, but wanting the head, from the Roman theatre, Lillebonne. It is chiefly, however, for works of art and antiquities of the Middle Ages, and the following period down to the 17th cent., that this museum is entitled to attention. The windows, 15 in number, by which the gallery is lighted, are all filled with painted glass derived from suppressed convents, churches, &c., forming a chronological series from the 13th to the 17th cent. ; very valu- able and interesting, as showing the progress of the art. The most remark- able are those from the Church of St. Eloi, Rouen, 16th cent. ; the miracle of St. Nicholas, from St. Godard (first half of 16th cent.), very fine. There is no collection of glass painting equal to this in France or England. In glazed frames against the wall are hung charters and other ancient MSS., containing autographs of re- markable persons — among them, Wm. the Conqueror's mark, a cross (he could not write); and the signatures of our other Norman dukes and kings, among which those of Henry I. and Richard Cceur de Lion may be observed. Here also is now deposited the heart of the Lion-hearted King (see p. 36). The shrine of St. Sever, which once contained the relics of that saint, for- merly placed in the cathedral, is in the shape of a Gothic chapel, with silver statues of saints in niches round its sides. It is of oak, covered with copper plates pit and silvered, and is an ele- gant piece of workmanship of the end of the 12th cent. : it has been restored. A crucifix, carved in stone, 16th cent. : at the foot of .the cross the holy women ; on the opposite side the Vir- gin and Child. Many other specimens of sculpture, of the 15th, 16th, and 17th cent., in stone and wood, from religious edifices : 5 bas-reliefs of the Last Judgment, in marble, from the Church of St. Denis-sur-Scie ; in one, Christ is rescuing souls from the jaws (literally) of hell. Many capitals of Gothic columns richly sculptured. An extensive collection of coins and medals; Roman, Gallo-Roman, French Norman, &c. Casts from the bas-reliefs of the Hotel de Bourgtheroude (p. 41), repre- senting the interview of the Field of the Cloth of Gold between Henry VIII. and Francis I. A small collection of arms and armour; among them will be found the coat of mail of Enguerrand de Marigny , from the Church of Ecouis : also several early cannon and wall pieces, ancient furniture, cabinets. A fragment of the famous bell George d'Amboise (see p. 35), which was melted into cannons and sous- pieces at the Revolution. This Museum is open Sunday and fete-days from 11 to 4, and Thursday from 12 to 3; but it is generally ac- cessible to strangers. In an adjoining building is a very respectable Museum of Natural History . The amateur of stained glass should not omit to visit the churches of St. Godard, containing two windows 32 ft. high and 12 wide, and St. Patrice, where there are many more of still greater beauty, executed in the 16th cent. The architecture of these two churches is not remarkable ; they are very late in the Gothic style. The Church of St. Vvicent has an exquisite Gothic porch, and very fine painted glass likewise. Another church, St. Gervais, situ- ated in the very remote faubourg Cauchois, near the Havre Railway ter- minus, is reputed the oldest structure in Rouen, and one of the earliest Chris- tian monuments in France. The church itself is low, humble, and not remarkable ; but below it is a crypt even more simple and unadorned, but exhibiting to the eye of the antiquary marks of construction as old probably as the 4th cent., in the courses of Ro- 40 Route 8. — Rouen — Palais de Justice. Sect. I. man tiles between the layers of rough masonry. It has an apsidal termina- tion: in the side walls are holes for the cancelli or rails, to which the cur- tain was hung to separate the chancel from the rest of the church : the altar- slab is marked with 5 + + . The two low arched recesses in the walls are said to have been the graves of St. Mello and St. Avitien, the first arch- bishop of Rouen. The circular E. end of the church itself, which rests upon this crypt, is in the earliest Norman style : and some of the pillars let into the wall, but too short to support the roof, have classic capitals. The Roman road to Lille- bonne passed close to St. Gervais. William the Conqueror, tortured by the wound he had received at the cruel sack and burning of Mantes (p. 32), repaired to the retired monastery of St. Gervais to die. His death-bed ex- hibited a melancholy example of the vanity of earthly grandeur. Deserted by his own sons when the breath was scarce out of his body, forsaken by friends and courtiers, and plundered by his servants, his body remained stripped and deserted, until the pity and charity of an unknown knight in the neighbourhood provided the funds necessary for the funeral ; and he him- self escorted the body to its last resting- place at Caen. There are perhaps a dozen suppressed churches in Rouen, most of them converted into ware- houses. The * Palais de Justice is a very in- teresting specimen of civic Gothic ar- chitecture, which may vie with some of the town-halls of the Low Countries. Reared at a time when the style had become fantastic in its forms and exu- berant in its adornments, it yet dis- plays so much originality of invention, beauty, and gorgeous magnificence, that it is hard to condemn it for a want of taste and purity. It is under- going a complete and judicious resto- ration. It lines 3 sides of a square; the wing on the 1. is the Salle des Procu- reurs, built 1493, as a sort of exchange for merchants, native and foreign, to meet in. It is a large and handsome *»^11, with an open roof, like a ship's hull reversed, I GO ft. long and 50 ft. high — a sort of Westminster Hall in miniature, and now serving the same purposes. The body of the building in the centre was raised 6 years later by Louis XII. for the Cour d*Echiquier of Normandy, the ancient supreme tri- bunal of the duchy, at least as old as the time of William the Conqueror, for which the name of parliament was substituted in 1515 by Francis I. This facade is decorated with all the orna- ment which the fertile resources of the architect afforded; the square-headed windows are set within the most deli- cate garlands of stone ; the buttresses are studded with niches and crowned by pinnacles; and the lofty dormer windows, rising against the high- pitched roof, are surmounted by cano- pies of the most delicate open work, with pinnacles and statues, many of them executed by first-rate artists at Paris, and are connected by a pierced battlement of arches and tracery. For many years past this front has been undergoing a careful restoration; it is only a pity that it makes so slow a progress. The chamber in which the parlia- ment of Normandy met is now the Salle d' Assises. It has a fine roof of black oak, set off with gold ; but the elegant pendants which hung from it have been removed, and the wainscot- ing, painted over with arabesques and old mottoes reminding judges of their duties, has been taken down or effaced by whitewash. The large building behind the Palais, once the residence of the president of the parliament, is now the Cour Roy ale. La *Bue de la Grosse Horloge, not far from the Palais, one of the nar- rowest and most picturesque in Rouen, is so called from the antique clock gate-house, built 1527, by which it is spanned, adjoining the tower of the Beffroi, whence the curfew is still tolled every evening. In this street are several ancient houses. Nos. 115 and 129 deserve notice. The Place de la Pucelley known also by the vulgar name Marche* aux Veaux, serves to record the fate of the heroic and unfortunate Jeanne d'Arc, the de- liverer of her country, and the terror ISormandy. Route 8. — Rouen — Place de la Pucelle. 41 of the English, who was burned alive here as a sorceress 1431, on the spot marked by the contemptible modern statue placed upon a pump, which bears her name, but the outward aspect of Bellona! Her ashes were collected by the hangman, and cast into the Seine, by order of the Cardinal of Winchester. He and other prelates were spectators of her execution ; and some of them, unmoved by her suffer- ings, even interrupted the priest who was confessing her, by their impatience, exclaiming, " Now, priest, do you mean to make us dine here ? " After she was bound to the stake, and while the flames were rising around her, she begged her confessor to hold aloft the cross, that she might still behold the sacred emblem above the smoke; and she died expressing her conviction of the truth of her mission, and calling on the name of Jesus. The cruelty exercised upon this simple and gentle maiden (for in all her battles she never killed an enemy, and was always intent on preventing the effusion of blood) is a disgrace to the annals of England. In prison she was subjected to insult, insidious treachery, and even outrage ; at her trial, in the chapel of the castle, she stood alone without counsel or ad- viser, browbeaten by her inhuman and bloodthirsty judges, yet baffling their cunning and sophistry by her plain straightforward answers. But one of the saddest circumstances connected with the death of the forlorn maiden of Domremy was, that her most active enemies and eventual be- trayers were her own countrymen : the Bishop of Beauvais, her unjust judge, her accuser, and the false priest who was introduced into her cell on the pretence of friendship as a spy to be- tray her secrets, were all Frenchmen. Her own countrymen allowed her to be made prisoner at Compiegne with- out an attempt to defend or rescue her ; it was they who sold her to the English ; and Charles VII., her king, who owed his country and throne to her enthusiasm, appears neither to have cared for nor remembered the heroine of Orleans, from . the hour when she fell into the hands of the English. He certainly neither at- tempted to ransom her, nor did he pro- test against her trial.* It was not until 24 years from her death that a papal bull proclaimed her innocence ; and a cross was raised by her own countrymen, once more be- come masters of Rouen, on the spot where she had been bound to the stake. The great tower of the old castle in which she was imprisoned was demo- lished 1780. She was shut up in a cage of iron, and her feet were fettered, yet her spirit remained unbroken ; and when some English nobles came to in- sult her, she answered, " Je sais bien que les Anglais me feront mourir, croyant apres ma mort gagner le roy- aume de France ; mais fussent-ils cent mille Goddams de plus qu'a present, ils n'auront pas ce royaume." On one side of the market-place, within a short distance of the statue, is an ancient mansion, which the common people call Maison de la Pucelle, but properly *VH6tel de Bourgtkeroude, con- structed at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th cent., by Wil- liam le Roux, seigneur of Bourgthe- roude, nearly at the same period as the Palais de Justice. It is built round a courtyard, and its inner wall is orna- mented with a series of bas-reliefs on tablets of marble, representing the in- terview of the Cloth of Gold, and the procession of the two kings Henry VIII. and Francis I., attended by their suite, among whom Cardinal Wolsey is conspicuous. Above these are other sculptures of allegorical figures, and the elegant hexagonal tower is deco- rated with pastoral subjects. The Convent of St. Amand, recently pulled down, was a building of the same age: a few curious fragments alone remain in the Rue St. Amand. There are several Gothic fountains in various parts of the city ; the most curious are those of La Croix de Pierre, resembling in form Waltham Cross, but erected, 1 500, by the Cardinal d* Amboise ; it stands in ,the Carrefour St. Vivien. La Fontaine de la Crosse is a low Gothic structure of the 15th cent., elegantly adorned with tracery. • From a masterly and most, interesting me- moir of Jeanne dArc in the Quarterly Review, vol. 7&. 42 Route 8. — Rouen — Bridges, Sect. I. The house in which " Le grand Cor- neille " (Pierre) was born, the most illus- trious of the natives of Rouen, exists in Rue de la Pie, No. 4; a statue of him has been erected by his fellow- citizens on the stone bridge. Fonte nelle, his nephew, author of the ' Plu rality of Worlds,' resided in the Rue des Bons Enfans, No. 132-134. The composer Boieldieu was also born here, and the town has raised a statue to him on the quay facing the Bourse. The great Lord Chancellor Clarendon died here, in banishment, 1674. The Creches -an asylum for infant children while their parents are at work — may be seen here in full opera- tion, and deserves a visit The edifice called Les Halles, situ- ated between the cathedral and the stone bridge, appropriated to the pur- pose of a cloth-hall for the sale of the manufactures of Rouen, occupies the site of the ancient palace and Vieille Tour, in which King John Lackland is said to have imprisoned and finally murdered his nephew Prince Arthur. The structure called Monument de St. Romain, opposite the cloth-hall (date 1542), was the spot where, by virtue of an ancient privilege conceded by King Dagobert, the chapter of the cathedral were entitled to claim, on Ascension-day, the release of a con- demned criminal, how great soever his crime. This custom was intended to commemorate the circumstance of a sentenced malefactor having been the only person willing to accompany St. Remain in his dangerous encounter with the dragon (gargouille) which in- fested the neighbourhood of Rouen. The monster, as it turned out, did not give much trouble; it was rendered powerless by the simple act of the saint making the sign of the cross over it, and, with his stole tied round its neck, allowed itself to be led quietly into the town. The privilege was maintained down to the time of the Revolution, though latterly under con- siderable modifications. In the front of the house at the corner of the Rue St. Romain and Rue la Croix de Fer, a curious bas-relief of the 16th cent., re- presenting a school, is inserted. Bridges. — The first bridge over the Seine here was built (1167) by Queen Matilda, daughter of Henry I. ; it lasted till the middle of the 15th cent., when it was destroyed, and a bridge of boats substituted for it. In 1829 the upper bridge of stone was completed, and in 1836 the boats were finally re- placed by the existing suspension bridge. An opening is left in the centre of this, between the supporting piers, under a lofty cast-iron arch rising 82 ft. above the river, to allow masted vessels to pass. The cotton manufactures of Rouen are of such extent and importance as to render it the Manchester of France ; they are greatly promoted by 3 small streams — the Robec, the Aubitte, and the Reuelle. A particular kind of striped and chequed stuff is called Ronennerie (toiles peintes, rayees, et & carreaux), because originally and more especially fabricated here. Spinning and weaving mills, dye-works, espe- cially of Turkey red, printing and bleaching works, are most plentifully distributed, not only through town and suburbs, but over the adjacent country in a circuit of many miles, employing, on a moderate computation, 50,000 persons. The English Church service -was given up 1849. There are 800 English resi- dents here. At the shop of Lebrument, bookseller , Quai de Paris, the traveller may pro- vide himself with many interesting works relating to the antiquities of Normandy, with views and maps. The Posts oux Lettres is on the Quai du Havre, near the Custom - house ; open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. British Vice-Consul* s address, Rue d'Orleans, 34. English Physician, Dr. Murphy, 10, Quais de la Bourse. Railroads— To Paris (Rte. 8.)— To Havre, Dieppe, and Fecamp — Ter- minus in the Rue Verte, on the rt. bank of the Seine, but some distance from the river. (Rte. 14.) Diligences to Caen daily, morning and evening; to Gournay and Beau- vais daily ; to Elboeuf and Lisieux ; to Evreux and Orleans ; to Pont Audemer and Honfleur ; to Angers and Nantes. Steamboats to Paris in 15 hrs., return- ing in 8, affording the best insight into Norm an dt. Route 9, — Paris to Rouen {Lower Road). 43 the beauties of the banks of the Seine ; to La Bouille, on the Lower Seine, daily ; steamers to Havre have ceased for some years. Walks and Excursions. The *Mont St. Catherine, the es- carped chalk hill on the £. of the city, rising above the Seine and the road to Paris, affords the best distant and pa- noramic view of Rouen, and will well repay the labour to those who are not afraid to face a steep ascent, 380 ft. high, which may be mastered in half an hour, starting from the extremity of the Cours Dauphin. The entire mass of the town is spread out below you, surmounted by engine chimneys mixed with spires, sending out its long lines of houses and factories up the hill sides and into the neighbouring industrious valleys, uniting it with dis- tant villages ; the noble spires of the cathedral and of St. Ouen rising out of the midst, the winding and sparkling river Seine, spanned by its 2 bridges and crowded with shipping, the Rail- way also crossing the river, and then pursuing its mole-like course, half above, half under ground, give a pleas- ing variety to the landscape. The marks of active industry are every- where apparent, the bleach-fields strewn with white webs, the stream - courses marked* by tows of factories and tall chimneys, the nooks in the hill sides choked with villages. All along the top of the mount are traces of ditches and foundations of bastions, part of the strong Fort oc- cupied by the Marquis Villars and the soldiers of the League during the siege of 1591, which were captured by Henri IV., and dismantled by him in compliance with the request of the citizens, with the memorable words, that " he desired no fortress but the hearts of his subjects." This post was taken by assault, chiefly through the bravery of Henri's English allies under the Earl of Essex, who challenged Vil- lars to maintain, in single combat, on horse or foot, in armour or doublet, that his cause was the better and his mistress the fairer. Not far from St. Catherine's is Blosseville Bonsecours, whose modern Gothic Ch., with painted windows, was built 1846, to contain a figure of the Virgin, much resorted to by pilgrims. It has 3 portals in the W. front : it is stone vaulted, and it cost 40,000/. ! It is worth while to drive out to the chateau of Canteleu, on the road to Cau- debec (Rte. 13), on account of its beau- tiful view, even if you go no farther. A more distant excursion, which will occupy 1 day very agreeably, is to Chateau Gaillard, near Andelys (Rte. 11), where the Steamer stops. The Paris Rly. passes within 3 m. of An- delys, and is the quickest way. There are many interesting monu- ments of architecture in the vicinity of Rouen, among them the Chapelle de St, Julien, 3 or 4 m. S.W. of Rouen, on the 1. bank of the Seine (Rte. 12) ; St. George Boscherville, 9 m. off, on the road to Havre (Rte. 13). ROUTE 9. PARIS TO ROUEN (LOWER ROAD), BY ST. GERMAIN AND LOUVIERS. 137 kilom. = 85 Eng. m. Only one Diligence, in 10 or 12 hrs. ; the rest are superseded by the rly. (Rte. 8). This road to Rouen is far more gene- rally interesting and more picturesque in scenery than the upper one, through Gisors, but is nearly 7 m. longer than it. It is carried down the valley of the Seine, quitting the bank of the river only to avoid its excessive windings. The high road from Paris to St. Ger- main commences at the " star," or ra- diation of routes which gives a name to the Arc de Triomphe de VEtoile, the largest triumphal arch in the world, and the finest entrance into the French capital. Yet the eye scarcely appre- ciates its vastness : few would suspect that it is nearly as wide and lofty as the facade of Notre Dame, or that the aperture of the arch equalled that of its nave. The road skirts on the 1. the Bois de Boulogne, famous for pro- menades, duels, and suicides — now shorn of its proportions to form a glacis for the new fortifications. A cross road, called Chemin de la Revolte, leading from Neuilly to Sf 44 Route 9. — Paris to Rouen {Lower Road). Sect. I. Denis, branches off on the rt. : near the entrance of it occurred the melan- choly death of the Due d'OrlSans, who was killed in jumping out of his car- riage, of which the horses had run away. An elegant Byzantine Chapel has been built on the site of the house in which he breathed his last: it is dedicated to St. Ferdinand, and is in the form of a Greek cross. It contains a monumental cenotaph, the effigy of the prince in his uniform reclining on a bed, by M. Triquety. On a pedestal to the rt. is an angel kneeling in prayer, one of the last works of his sister the Princess Marie. The painted windows were executed at Sevres, from Ingre's designs. The road next passes on the rt. the ruins of the Chateau de Neuilly, the most frequented residence of King Louis-Philippe, and beyond that Til- lage crosses the Seine by the celebrated bridge of 5 arches, each of 120 ft. span, the masterpiece of the architect Per- ronet, built 1772. Henri IV. and his queen were dragged into the water here in their cumbrous state coach, and narrowly escaped drowning: an accident which caused the ferry to be superseded by a bridge of wood. The park of Neuilly extends for some dis- tance down the rt. bank of the Seine, and into the islands which here divide its stream. On the 1. bank is seen the village and large barrack of 9 Courbevoie. A little beyond the posthouse, our road, a perfectly straight line hitherto, separating from the Route d'en haut (Rte. 10), bends to the 1. and passes the Versailles Rail, (rive droite). Mont Valerien, on the 1., converted into the citadel of the fortifications of Paris, is not more than 1J m. distant from the chateau of Neuilly. The Church on this height, founded on the debris of one destroyed by Napo- leon, contains numerous relics : among them a fragment of the true Cross (!) and the Calvary attached to it has attracted pious pilgrims for several centuries. Madame de Genlis, the preceptress of Louis Philippe, was buried in the cemetery. The aqueduct of Marly and chateau of St. Germain are now seen in the distance. At Ruel the Cardinal Richelieu had a magnificent residence. The large barrack on the 1. of the road was occu- pied in the time of the elder Bourbons by the Swiss guard. In the little church of the village, built 1584, and decorated with a portico at the cost of Cardinal Richelieu, from the designs of Lemer- cier, is buried the Empress Josephine. A simple monument bearing her statue kneeling, by Cartallier, has been erected by her children, Prince Eugene (Due of Leuchtenberg), and Hortense Beau- harnois (ex-Queen of Holland), mother of the Emp. Louis Napoleon, who has since been buried here herself. Jose- phine died, May 1814, at her favourite villa, hard by Kuel, Malmaison. Her pleasure-grounds have been cut up to be sold in lots ; her conservatory and mena- geries, in which she took much delight, and the Swiss dairy and Merino farm, are swept away. The spot seems to have owed its charms chiefly to art; the soil is very sterile. Buonaparte spent 5 days here in June 1815, between his second abdication and his final depar- ture for Rochefort, having been sent out of Paris by Fouche and the provi- sional government. The road skirts the enclosing wall of Malmaison for some distance, and, soon after reaching the 1. bank of the Seine, passes La Chauss6e, where La Belle Gabrielle had a house, and Marly la Machine, so called from the cumbrous pile of wooden scaffolding and wheels constructed to raise the water of the Seine S00 ft. to supply Versailles, but now partly replaced by a steam engine. The Aqueduct of 36 arches, the loftiest 70 ft. high, by which the water is con- veyed, is a conspicuous and fine object rising against the hill. The Chateau de marly, built by Mansard for Louis XIV., was destroyed at the Revolution, having been purchased by speculators who pulled it down to sell the materials, and nothing now remains to mark that scene of a monarch's extravagance and magnificence. St. Simon, describing its construction, relates that whole forests of full-grown trees were brought from Compiegne, fths of which died and were replaced by others; large tracts of wood were suddenly converted into sheets of water, and back again to shady groves ; and all to adorn a small villa Normandy. Route 9. — Paris to Rouen — St. Germain. 45 in a contracted valley "without view, in which Louis might pass 3 or 4 nights in the course of the year. The pavilion of Luciennes, on the brow of the hill above Marly, was the last residence of the notorious Madame du Barry, mistress of Louis XV. Le Pecq is a suburb of St. Germain, stretching down the hill, on whose sum- mit that town is built, to the margin of the Seine. 14 St. Germain-en-Laye (see below). Raiuroad — Paris to St. Germain, 19 kilom. == 12 Eng. m. The distance is performed in less than 30 min. Trains go every hour : but see the printed bills. The Terminus (Embarcadere) in Paris is in Rue St. Lazare. This rly. received injuries from the Republican mob of Feb. 1848, to the extent of 1,700,000 frs. The first part of this line as far as 4( Asnieres Stat, is the same as the Rouen Rly. (Rte. 8). Colombes Stat. (Rte. 8). The high road from Paris to Rouen is crossed within a short distance of 7 Nan terre Stat., a village celebrated as the birthplace of St. Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris, who preserved it by her prayers, according to the legend, from the invasion of Attila. The chapel of the saint, at which Anne of Austria came to pray for an heir, 1636, who was born 2 years after, no longer exists. Nanterre is famed for cakes. Ruel Stat. (p. 44). The Seine is crossed for the second time shortly before arriving at 3} Chatou Stat., by 2 bridges resting on an island which here divides the river. The village of Chatou lies on the rt. hand of the rly. and rt. bank of the Seine. An atmospheric branch rly. has been constructed hence to St. Ger- main. 3£ Le Pecq Stat., opposite the vil- lage of Le Pecq, which is a suburb of St. Germain, and is connected with it by a bridge of stone, erected 1835, in the place of one of wood, by which, in 1815, the Prussian army under Bliicher crossed the river on its march upon Paris. The Rly. is carried (on the atmos- pheric principle) across the Seine and up the slope to the centre of the Ter- race de St. Germain, £ m. The steep ascent, from the bridge up to the town, is surmounted also by a broad road in zigzag, while a flight of stone steps affords access for the pedestrian to the Terrace which runs along the brow of the hill. St. Germain-en-Laye Stat. — Inns: H. du Prince de Galles, fair, near the Rly. Stat. ; de la Chasse Royale. There is a Restaurant on the slope of the hill, au Pavilion de Henri IV.; the best, but all dear. This deserted re- sidence of kings is interesting from historical recollections, and pleasing from the grandeur of its site; but although it contains 12,000 Inhab., it has a melancholy air of abandon- ment in its crass-grown streets and straggling edifices. The huge gloomy pile of the Royal Chateau itself, the favourite residence of Marguerite de Valois, Henri II., Henri IV., Francis I., and the birthplace of Charles IX. and of Louis XIV., having been gutted at the Revolution, has nothing but its souvenirs to recommend it. It looks like a prison, and is actually converted into a military penitentiary, and sur- rounded by a wall for security. Those who will take the trouble to seek an order of admission from the command- ant (which is not readily granted) may see the chapel, the eldest part and the least impaired, the hall of Francis I., the bed-chamber of Madame de la Val- liere, and the trap-door by which the youthful Louis gained entrance into it after his mother had caused the door of the backstair to be walled up ; also the Oratory of James II., and the chamber in which he died, 1701. This palace was assigned to him as a re sidence by his host Louis XIV., who was tired of the place himself, having taken an aversion to it because it com- manded a view of his destined resting- place St. Denis. James resided here 12 years, holding the semblance of a court. Part of his body, " une portion de la chair et des parties nobles du corps," was buried in the parish church, recently rebuilt and faced with a Doric 46 Route 9. — Paris to Rouen— Louviers. Sect. I. portico, where a monument was erected to his memory by George IV. % The only real attraction in St. Ger- main at present is its beautiful Terrace, stretching along the brow of the hill for 2400 metres = l£ m., and com- manding a delightful prospect over the valley of the Seine and its windings, with the aqueduct of Marly on the rt., Chateau of Maisons on the 1., the rlys. and the Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile, with the spires of St. Denis rising against the horizon, in front. The Forest of St. Germain, one of the largest in France, haying a circuit of 21 m., occupies a promontory formed by a sweeping bend of the river Seine. It is intersected by roads offering agreeable rides and walks in all direc- tions. In the midst of it is the Pavil- ion de la Meute (Dog-kennel), begun by Francis I. Deer and roes are found in the remote parts. The name of St. Germain-en-Laye comes from a chapel and monastery of St. Germanus, built in the reign of King Robert, in the midst of the forest then called Silva Ledia. Many English reside here, on ac- count of the cheapness of living and the pure air. The Church service is performed on Sundays in a private room. There are 2 roads from St. Germain to Mantes; the one called Chemin de Quarante Sous, keeping on the S. side of the Seine, is the shorter by about 5 m., but more hilly ; the other, the post- road, cuts across the S. extremity of the forest to Poissy. (See Kte. 8.) The road descends the rt. bank of the river henceforth as far as Mantes, through 11 Triel (Rte. 8). 8 Meulan (Rte. 8). The railroad is carried along the 1. bank of the Seine, and passes in the rear of Mantes, where is a station. 15 Mantes. About half-way between Mantes and Bonnieres we pass Rosny. The rly. is carried on a terrace side by Bide with the high road as far as Rolleboise, where it penetrates in a tunnel through a hill which the road j. surmounts by a steep ascent. An abrupt curve of the river, here sweep- ing round by the town and chateau La Roche Guy on (Rte. 1 1), is thus avoided. The farther extremity of the tunnel opens out close to 13 Bonnieres (Rte. 8). About l£ m. beyond this the road to Caen and Cherbourg by Evreux (Rte. 25) separates on the 1. from that to Rouen, which skirts the margin of the Seine under a shady avenue of walnut and ash trees. A small rivulet flowing into it from the S., crossed by our road, was the boundary of the ancient pro- vince of Normandy, as it now is of the department of the Eure; and 2 m. farther on we reach 11 Vernon (Rte. 8). There is another post-road from Ver- non along the rt. bank of the Seine, by Andelys (22 kilom.), and Chateau Gaillard (Rte. 11), Pont St. Pierre (19 kilom.), Le Forge Fe'ret (10 kilom.), to Rouen (11 kilom.), but it is longer by 3| m. than the following : 14 Gaillon. The isthmus of the peninsula formed by this curve is traversed by the rly. in the tunnel of Venables (Rte. 8). The post-road quite the borders of the Seine before reaching St. Pierre, and does not rejoin it until Pont de l'Arche is reached. Near the village Heudebouville the road to Andelys and Chateau Gaillard (6 m. distant) strikes off to the rt. Here also the road to Rouen divides into 2 branches; the rt.-hand one, by Vau- dreuil, though shorter, is more hilly, and takes the same time to travel, so that by Louviers is preferable. Tall chimneys and numerous huge red-brick buildings with many windows proclaim the manufacturing town of 14 Louviers {Inns : H. de Rouen, dear; du Mouton, good), advantage- ously situated on the numerous branches of the Eure ; it is one of the 3 prin- cipal clothing towns of France, the other 2 being Elboeuf and Sedan. It contains 30 cloth manufactories, and 19 spinning-mills of woollen yarn, which employ from 7000 to 8000 per- sons in and around the town, though the number of Inhab. does not exceed Normandy. Route 10. — Paris to Rouen ( Upper Road). 47 9927. The cloth of Louvierg is re- markable for its fine quality ; yet the town is not prosperous, being out- stripped by its rival Elbouf. Its ancient features are fast being swept away. The Ch. of Notre Dame, shrouded be- hind the number of its flying buttresses, presents a mass of incongruities and sad mutilations, yet is well worth ex- amination. Its S. portal, projecting forwards on fringed arches, with a pendant hanging from the centre, is decked out with an exuberance of florid ornament. It was built in 1496 The W. end has 3 portals, the centre sup- ported by a Corinthian pillar. In the inside the nave and choir date from 1218, and exhibit the transition from the round to the pointed style ; low and thick columnar piers support pointed arches, on which rests a glazed tri- forium of round-headed trefoil arches, with lancet windows under trefoil arches in the clerestory ; the aisles are more modern. The bas-reliefs, carved in wood, of sacred subjects from the life of our Saviour, and the painted glass, merit notice, as well as the open gallery of filagree stone-work under the central tower, S. side. The Gothic house with pointed win- dows, called Maison des Templiers, is probably as old as the 13th or beginning of the 14th cent. Coaches — to St. Pierre de Vauvray station of the Rouen and Paris Rly. A road branches off hence to Elbceuf (Rte. 11); coaches thither daily. At Vaudreuil, 3 or 4 m. to the rt. of the road to Rouen, is a modern chateau, surrounded by the waters of the Eure, and a fine church (12th cent.), with a beautiful W. window. A considerable tract of forest is passed between Louviers and Pont de l'Arche (Rte. 8). To avoid a long bend of the river the road is carried over a high hill, whose top commands a charming view, but on the opposite descent regains the margin of the river before 17 Port St. Ouen, and thence runs beside it, skirting the foot of the chalk hills through a series of villages and hamlets to the extensive suburb of Eauplet, which extends up to the gate of Rouen. The entrance into the town on this side is by the Cours Dauphin, a raised causeway planted with an avenue of trees, having the Seine on the 1. and the Champ de Mars on the rt. hand. 1 1 Rouen (see Rte. 8). ROUTE 10. PARIS TO ROUEN (THE UPPER ROAD), BY GISORS OR BY HAGNY. By Magny, 119 kilom. = 73 Eng. m. i.e. 6f m. shorter than the lower rd. (Rte. 9), but much less interesting. By Gisors, 126 kilom. = 77± Eng. m. 9 Courbevoie, 14 Herblay, 9 Pontoise, V in Rte. 5. 18 Chars, 18 Gisors, From Paris to Pontoise by St. Denis (Rte. 2) is 3 kilom. = 1 j Eng. m. longer, but there is a Rly. to Pontoise. At Herblay the road by St. Denis joins that by Courbevoie. It is a tire- some road from Pontoise to 14 Bord'haut, a hamlet dependent on the village of de Vigny, whose fine old Castle, flanked by round towers, topped with extinguisher roofs, and surrounded by a moat, stands on the 1. of the road. It was built by the Cardinal d'Amboise, minister of Louis XII., and is a picturesque and interest- ing specimen of domestic architecture in the beginning of the 16th cent. 13 Magny. — Inn: Grand Cerf. In the pretty Church, in the latest Gothic, passing into the Italian style, is a monument, consisting of 3 marble statues kneeling, to the memory of the family of Villerond (date 1617); another in bas-relief recording the virtues of M. Dubuisson, pastor of the parish, and a richly ornamented canopy, carved, and bearing statues, which covers the baptismal font. We now enter the district anciently called le Vexin. The little river Epte divided the French from the Norman Vexin, and formed the boundary of Normandy. It is crossed at St. Clair- sur-Epte, whose ruined Castle, a mix- ture of late Norman and early pointed, is reputed the scene of the interview 48 Route 10. — Paris to Rouen (Upper Road). Sect. I. between Charles the Simple and the pirate Rollo ; when the barbarian con- queror, called upon to do homage for the fertile province of Normandy, which he had in fact wrung from the weakness of the Frankish king, instead of kneeling to kiss the king's foot, seized the royal leg, and without bend- ing carried it to his mouth, so as to upset the monarch from his seat, amidst the laughter of the rude warriors of the north. The Epte is crossed on quitting St. Clair. 17 Thilliers-en-Vexin, in the midst of a monotonous plain of rich corn-land. Near the middle of this stage the road passes, at some distance on the rt., a vil- lage called Hacqueville, insignificant in itself, butdeservingmentionas the birth- place of the late Mark Isambart Brunei, the engineer of the Thames Tunnel, whom England is proud to own as her son by adoption, although France claims him by birth. He was educated in the college of Gisors, and when the vacations called him home his favourite resort was the shop of the village carpenter, whose tools and instruments had greater at- tractions for the youthful engineer than Latin and Greek, and his allotted holi- day task (devoirs). The writer of this has frequently heard him describe the wonder and delight with which he for the first time beheld (1784), on the quay of Rouen, the component parts of a huge steam-engine, just landed from England : " When I am a man," he said to himself, " I will repair to the country where such machinery is made." 15 Ecouis contains a fine Gothic Church, on the unusual plan of a Greek cross, founded by Enguerrand de Marigny, the unfortunate minister and high treasurer of Philippe le Bel, unjustly condemned to death without trial at the instigation of the succeed- ing king's uncle, Charles of Valois, and hung on the robbers' gibbet of Montfaucon. His monument, set up in this church at a time when his in- nocence and worth were acknowledged, was destroyed at the Revolution. That of his brother, Archbishop of Rouen, is still surmounted by his effigy in white marble. He went as ambassador to Edward III. in 1342, "and appeared at court in the guise of a warrior, not of a minister of peace." There are several other tombstones in the choir. A rapid ascent and descent carries the road across the industrious and pic- turesque vale of the Andelle, in the midst of which is 9 Fleury-sur-Andelle. About 10 m. N.E. of this, and 2 from Lions la Foret, are the ruins of the Abbey of Mortemer, begun 1154 by Henry II. of England. The church is pulled down; but some of the conventual buildings in the style of transition from round to pointed — including a fine chapter-house (date 1174)— remain. It was at Bourg-boudouin that Roland, the ex-minister and Girondist, com- mitted suicide, 1793. As soon as he heard of his wife's death by the guillo- tine, he resolved not to survive her ; but unwilling to endanger the generous friends who had sheltered him in their house at Rouen, he took leave of them, and, carrying a sword-stick in his hand, set out on the road to Paris. When he had got thus far, he sat down under a tree and stabbed himself, leaving about his person a note, written by his own hand, to this effect ; " Whoever you may be who find me lying here, treat my remains with respect. They are those of one who devoted his whole life to be useful, and who died as he lived, virtuous and unsullied. May my fel- low-citizens embrace more humane sen- timents ! When I heard of the death of my wife, I loathed a world stained with so many crimes." He perished an instance of the miserable fate which unerringly awaits those who, either from good or evil motives, are the first to plunge a country into revolution. 12 La Forge Feret. From the brow of the steep hill lead- ing down through deep cuttings into Rouen, a fine view is obtained of that city and the Seine. The upper and lower roads from Paris unite in the suburb Eauplet. 11 Rouen (Rte. 8). Nokmandt. Route II. — The Seine, A. — La Roche Guyon. 49 ROUTE 11. THE SEINE, A. — ST. GERMAIN TO ROUEN. The figures mark distances from place to place in French lieues = 2£ Eng. m. From St. Germain to Rouen is 56 leagues, about 140 Eng. m. Steamers daily except Friday. From Paris (Port St. Nicholas), at 7 a.m., in 12 hrs. ; from Rouen, at 4 a.m., in 16 hrs. They are less used since the com- pletion of the Railway (Rte. 8). The scenery of the Seine (Sequanay — from the Celtic seach, devious, and an, water) is "very pleasing, almost meriting the epithet "beautiful;" its banks are abundantly studded with towns, villages, and chateaux, and are alternately wooded, or rise in round bare hills, sometimes presenting escarp- ments to the river, which, from the white colour of the chalk, are not alto- gether picturesque. There are not many old castles — Chateau Gaillard, however, is an imposing and interesting ruin, and perhaps, taken as a whole, the finest feature in the voyage. The number of islands in the river between Paris and Rouen is said to be 300. The circuitous windings of the river prolong the distance from Pecq to Rouen to 141 m., while by land it is only 71m. Between St. Germain (or Pecq) and Poissy the river makes a bend of 21 m., enclosing as it were in a loop the forest of St. Germain (p. 46); by land the distance is 4£ m. 1. The river skirts the forest of St. Germain, passing Mesnil at the extre- mity of the terrace of St. Germain and the village. The Seine has been bridged to allow the rly. to pass at 1. Maisons (1). Rte. 8. rt. Conflans (2£), a village having a suspension-bridge over the Seine, by which the road from Pontoise to Ver- sailles crosses the river, is situated a little below the confluence of the Oise with the Seine, whence comes its name. rt. Andresis is situated below the mouth of the Oise ; it has a fine Gothic church. 1. Poissy (1 J) ; see Rte. 8. Poissy is not more than 5 m. by land from St. Germain, whereas by the windings of the river the voyage takes l£ or 2 hrs. France, The most interesting objects on the river as far as Rosny and Rolleboise are described Rte. 8." rt. Triel (2j). L Verneuil. rt. Meulan (2). The island lie Belle, opposite Meulan, is reputed the prettiest in the whole course of the river ; but it is feared its shrubberies, and thickets, and planta- tions have been cut down. 1. Mantes (4|), and rt. Limay, united by a bridge. 1. The Chateau of Rosny (£), a red brick building, with terraces on which Sully may have walked, clipped ave- nues, &c. 1. Rolleboise (J) ; between this place and Bonnieres the curve made by the Seine measures 12 m., the direct dis- tance is 3 m. rt. La Roche Guyon (3£), one of the largest chateaux on the Seine, and one of the most striking objects, is a structure of different ages, part modern, part Gothic, situated at the base of a rock of chalk, which has been escarped artificially to make room for it. The kitchen, vaults, cellars, &c, are exca- vated in the rock, with merely fronts of brick. The oldest part is the tower on the eminence above, commanding the country far and near, and communi- cating with the chateau by steps cut in the hill side. On the summit of the hill is a large reservoir for water, ex- cavated out of the rock. The chateau, long the property of the La Roche- foucauld's, now belongs to the family of Rohan. Francois de Bourbon, Comte d'Enghien, who piined the battle of Consoles, was killed here by a box thrown out of the castle window upon his head. The chamber and bed occu- pied by Henri IV. on his frequent visits to the castle are kept in their original condition. The attraction which drew him hither was the charms of the lady of the castle, the Marquise de Guerche- ville, whose high-minded reply to his assiduities deserves recording : " Je ne suis pas d'assez bonne maison pour etre votre femme, mais je suis de trop bonne maison pour etre votre maitresse." The bourg adjoining the castle has a hand- some Gothic church. " The houses of 50 Route 11. — The Seine y A. — Chateau Gaillard. Sect, L the poor people here, as on the Loire in Touraine, are burrowed into the chalk, and have a singular appearance ; here are 2streets of them, one aboveanother." — A. Young. A Suspension Bridge, of 656 ft. opening between the piers, has been thrown across the Seine here. 1. Bonnieres (1 J). rt. Limetz, a village at a little dis- tance from the river, nearly marks the situation of the embouchure of the Epte, a small stream, which once formed the boundary or limit of Normandy. Charles the Simple, in 911, was fain to offer to the Norman Rollo all the territory ex- tending from this streamlet to the sea, and with it his fair daughter Gisela, to arrest the exterminating inroads of the warriors of the North. The offer was accepted; and Neustria, receiving the name of its conquerors, became Nor- mandy* 1. Vernon (2£), Kte. 8. rt. The hills which border the river, with nearly precipitous cliffs, have a singularly wavy outline, their curved tops being saddled, as it were, with green turf, while between them dry valleys or coombes open out. They rise in the form of an amphitheatre, encircling an extensive plain. Nearly at the centre of the curve whieh the Seine here describes, on the summit of a commanding chalk cliff, rises rt. Chateau Gaillard (6), the most picturesque ruin and interesting object, both from its situation and associations, in the lower course of the Seine. Im- mediately below its frowning antique towers and crumbling orags, a light and convenient wire suspension bridge has been thrown over the river. The castle was begun and finished in one year by King Riohard Coeur de Lion, in defiance of his rival Philippe Augustus, and in the face of the treaty of Louviers, by whioh he had bound himself not to fortify Andelys, the little town on the strand at the river side. He thus broke it in substance, while he kept to the letter. Exulting in his stronghold, as he first looked down from its commanding battlements on the defenceless town and exposed river below him, he named it, in the pride of his heart, his " Saucy Castle." Even now that it is reduced to a mouldering ruin, one cannot gaze up to its tower- ing battlements, or down from them upon the sunny landscape below — the glassy Seine flowing close at the foot of the castle rocks, then girdling the peninsula in front, and reflecting vine and corn clad slopes, trees, spires, and cottages in its surface — without shar- ing in this feeling of exultation of the fierce soldier king, in the possession of a stronghold which enabled him to intercept the navigation of the Seine between Pan and the capital of Nor- mandy, to defy his enemies, and overawe the country around with the terror of his armed bands and unerring archers. The eminence on which it stands projects forward, isolated from the neighbouring hills on all sides but one, where it is connected by a narrow tongue. This was cut through by a deep fosse skirting the outer line of wall. On all the other sides steep escarpments rendered the height in- accessible; towards the river, indeed, it presents a vertical precipice. Yet even along the edge of the cliff tall flanking towers were raised, some of which have long since toppled over, while others are tottering to their fall. But these were only the outworks ; within them rose a citadel of singular form and strength, — a huge irregular circle or drum tower, having a wavy surface alternately projecting and reced- ing, like a frustum of a fluted column. The circle is broken by the insertion of a round tower shaped externally like a dice-box on the side overhanging the Seine. This was the Donjon, and con- tained the royal apartments ; its walls are 14 or 15 ft. thick. A second deep fosse surrounds this citadel, cut in the chalk rock, here interspersed with flints which were used in the building, and thus it served at once as quarry and defence. Extensive caverns, supported by piers of the rock left standing, branch off from one side of this fosse ; they probably were used as stables. The original gateway into the citadel is no longer accessible, but entrance may be gained by clambering through a small sallyport in the corner. It is to be feared that only a small part of Norm andt. JSoule 1 1 . — The Seine, A . — Andelys* 51 the existing nuns belonged to the eastle of King ,Richard. At his death Philippe Augustus, waging war as the champion of Prince Arthur with John, laid siege to this castle. It was bravely defended by Roger de Lacy for 6 months, when he was finally starved into surrender. He had previously expelled from its walls the useless mouths, the old men, women, and children, to the number of 400 or 500 ; but the French king, wish- ing to distress the garrison, drove them back and refused them passage, so that the poor wretches, denied admittance into the castle, perished of famine in the ditches between the two armies. Chateau Gaillard continued to be the chief bulwark of Normandy down to 1606, when Henri IV. demolished it along with other castles as dangerous to the Royal authority. In 1314 two frail queens were immured within its -walls, and one of them, Marguerite, wife of Louis X., was strangled here hy order of her husband. David Bruce found an asylum here 1334, when an exile from Scotland, the castle having been ceded to him by Philippe of Valois. With a small garrison of 120 men it resisted for 16 months the forces of Henry V., and yielded at length because cut off from a supply of water by the wearing out of the ropes by which the buckets were let down into the well ! Against the face of the cliff above the Seine rises a curious pigeon-house tower, lined with cells for the pigeons, a common appendage to ancient for- tresses, being a sort of natural larder. A chapel of recent date has been ex- cavated in the rock near it. The suspension bridge over the Seine beneath the castle opens a communica- tion with Louviers (12 m.), rt. Below the castle rock crouches the town of Petit Andelys (no Inn) ; the large and conspicuous red building, surmounted by a dome at the lower end of it, is an Hospital founded by the Due de Pen- thievre. Grand Andelys {Inn, Cerf, dear ; the house is a curious and picturesque spe- cimen of domestic Gothic architecture within and without; it was the resi- dence of the Archbishop of Rouen, Pierre Harley, temp. Henri IV.). This town of 5000 Inhab. lies about 1 m. inland away from the Seine. The Gothicch., somewhat in decay, curiously Italianized on its N. side, contains some painted glass, and a rude representation of the neighbouring Chateau Gaillard carved in stone. It has many rich de- tails, including a fine oriel. Turnebus, the Greek commentator, was a native of Andelys. The hamlet Villers, 3£ m. from this, was the birth-place (1594) of Nicolas Poussin, the painter; but the humble cottage of his parents is pulled down. A monument was set up to his memory (1851) in the market- place of Great Andelys. In the Mairie is a picture by him — Coriolanus among the Volsci, receiving his mother and wife. La Fontaine de Ste. Clothilde alone recalls to mind the monastery founded here by the first Christian queen of France. It is swept away, but the water of the well is believed by the peasantry still to retain the virtues im- parted to it by the royal saint, and to cure their children of stomachaches. Andelys is about 4 m. distant from the railroad (Rte. 8). There is a direct post-road to Rouen by Pont St. Pierre ; it is traversed daily by a diligence. The Seine, leaving behind the white crags and towering ruins of Chateau Gaillard, makes a wide sweep along the base of a series of semicircular chalk cliffs. This curve of the river is 18 m. long, while the direct distance from (rt.) Thuit to the mouth of the Andelle is only 8 m. There is no place worth notice on the Seine between these two points. The railway emerges from a tunnel near (rt.) Venables, and skirts the river. rt. (5f ). The pretty and industrious valley of the Andelle opens out into the Seine at the foot of a green hill, " the last of a long promontory," bearing the name of C6te des Deux Amans. It is the scene of the old romantic Lai of Mary of France — of the young lover who was to marry the mistress of his heart, a king's daughter, provided he could carry her to the top of the hill without stopping to rest. He fell dead under his precious burthen, exhausted with the exertion, just as he reac1^ D 2 52 Route 11. — The Seine, A.— 'Elbceuf. Sect. I. the summit ; at which the king's daughter died of a broken heart, and was buried in the same grave with him. The hardhearted father, who had caused this catastrophe by imposing such cruel conditions, struck with remorse, founded on the spot where it occurred a convent whose existence is traced to an early period, but the building now standing on the top of the hill is not older than 1685. At Romilly, 8 m. up the valley of the Andelle, are the most extensive copper- works in France, consisting of a foundry with rolling-mills. The banks of the Andelle are studded with fulling-mills. A bridge has been thrown across for the rly. a little above the influx of 1. The Eure, from which the Dept. is named, a considerable and useful river, on which stands Louviers, famed for its cloth manufacture (Rte. 9). The Eure falls into the Seine 2& m. above 1. 3J Pont de l'Arche (Rte. 8). This town is only 12 m. from Rouen ; whilst, in consequence of several serpentine bends, the distance by water is 33. The Seine abounds in islands in this part of its course, which increase the intricacies of the navigation. 1. A little below the bridge stand the remains of the Abbey of Bon Portf consisting of the refectory, and another monastic edifice, the ch. being quite destroyed. It was founded 1119 by Richard CoBur de Lion, in gratitude for his escape from drowning in the waters of the Seine, into which he had plunged in the heat of the chace while pursuing a stag. On reaching the bank , after a severe struggle with the current, he ealled the spot "bon port," and vowed to build a ch. The approach to the town of Elbceuf is marked by the number of tall chimneys, and the many floating arks moored in the midst of the river, used for washing wool. 1. Elbceuf, 3. Elbceuf is exclusively a manufactur- ing town, and, if Rouen has any claim to be compared to Manchester, it may be called a French Leeds, as one of the principal seats of the manufacture of cloth; more than half of its 15,000 In- hab. and about 20,000 persons in the adjoining communes being weavers, or occupied in other departments of this branch of industry. Its situation on the 1. bank of the Seine is advantageous to its prosperity. The wise enactments of the sage Colbert (1669) promoted greatly its already thriving commerce ; but the revocation of the Edict of Nantes annulled their good effect, dis- persing its industrious artisans, who settled in Leyden, Norwich, and Lei- cester. The manufactures of Elbceuf did not recover from this check until the events of 1815, relieving France from the competition of Belgium, gave them so decided an impulse that their produce is now threefold greater than it was then. The value of the cloth made here in one year is estimated at more than a million sterling. The two Gothic churches of St. Etienne and St. Jean contain curious painted glass; in the latter is a window pre- sented by the clothworkers* guild some- where about 1466, in which various implements of the craft, such as shears and teasels, are introduced. The working classes are generally industrious and economical, and are consequently far better off than those of Rouen. Steamers 3 times a-day to Rouen. 1. The Rocks of Orival, a range of chalk cliffs beginning at Elbceuf, con- sisting of detached pinnacles and pro- jecting shelves, formed by the hard flint layers enclosed in the rock, pre- sent a singular outline of fantastic forms. On a platform half way up their face a small chapel has found a niche; it is partly excavated in the rock, so are likewise many small dwellings around it. One of these needles of chalk, called Roche de Pignon. rises 200 ft. above the river. The Rouen Rly. crosses the river and an island in the midst of it at an oblique angle near Oissel. rt. From Oissel (2j), marked by its spire, to Rouen the river is thickly set with islands bearing long rows of tall poplars. Beyond (rt.) Authieux the rt. bank rises in tall chalk cliffs, at the base of which, between them and the Seine, runs the road to Paris (Rte. 9), passing a series of villages and manufactories. Normandy. Route 12. — The Seine, B. — Moulineaux. 53 1. 'St. Etienne de Rouvray, l£. Wm, the Conqueror was hunting in the forest of Rouvray, which still exists behind this village, when the news was brought him of the death of Edward the Confessor, and of the usurpation of his throne by Harold, his brother-in-law. rt. The high hill of St. Catherine (p. 43) and the spire of the Cathedral are conspicuous long before reaching 2 rt. Rouen (Rte. 8). ROUTE 12, &HE SEINE, B. — ROUEN TO HAVRE AND HONFLEUR. 34 leagues =8 5^ Eng. m. The dis- tance to Havre by land is 53 m. Steamers no longer run. The opening of the Rty* to Havre (Rte. 14) has for a time put a stop to the steamers. The scenery is so pleasing, that, not- withstanding the windings of the river, the voyage in fine weather is very agreeable. ■ The placet where the steamers stop for passengers are marked by Italics. The hour of starting varies so as to enable the vessels to meet the flood tide off Quillebceuf, and by the aid of it to pass the shifting sands there. The boats start from the Quai du Havre close to the Hdtel de Rouen. Fare 10 fr., carriages 30 fr. For some distance below Rouen the river is intersected by numerous islands, long narrow strips of earth planted with willows and poplars: a scene of rich verdure, but somewhatmonotonous. The hills near Rouen are dotted with white country houses of its citizens and manufacturers. rt. The vale of Bapaume, beset with cotton factories, opens out. 1. Petit Quevilly (3 m. from Rouen). Here is an ancient little chapel of St. Julien in the Romanesque style, ter- minating in an apse having the windows and doors roundheaded, built soon after 1162 by our Henry II., who had a hunting-seat in the adjoining forest. Though now degraded into a barn, it is an edifice possessing an interest for the antiquary. rt. Canteleu, a chateau of the time of Louis XIV. ; its terraces and gar- dens were laid out by Le Ndtre, but have been modernised. rt. Dieppedale, a long row of houses bordering the river. 1. Grand Quevilly once contained a Protestant ch. (temple) capable of hold- ing 10,500 persons; but in 1685, through the machinations of the Jesuits, it was closed, and a few months after razed to the ground. This act of intolerance was committed shortly before the revocation of the Edict of Nantes entailed persecution and exile on the large and industrious Reformed community which then occupied this district. 1. Moulineaux (4), a prettily situated but poor village^ on the high road to Honfleur (Rte. 23), has a ruinous but interesting ch. in the earliest pointed style; date the beginning of the 13th cent. On the hill above it are some heaps of stone, the very scanty traces of the walls of a castle destroyed by King John, which, ac~ cording to the tradition, once belonged to Robert the Devil, a fabulous per- sonage, a sort of Norman Blue Beard, who murdered his friends and mis- tresses, and in the end sold himself to the evil one. Some suppose him to have been Duke Robert, the father of William the Conqueror. 1. Near La Bouille and Caumont are extensive quarries of building-stone. Bare yellow cliffs line the river for some distance. rt. St. George de Boscherville. This famous abbey stands at some distance from the Seme, near the Havre road (Rte. 13), and is only just visible from the river. The Seine makes a bend 18 m. long between Rouen and this point; in a direct line they are not more than 10 m. apart. rt. Duclair (5J), a pretty village traversed by the road to Havre (Rte. 13), squeezed in between the river and the rocks, one of which, an elevated 54 Route 12. — The Seine, B. — Quillehceuf. Sect* T. crag, goes by the name of la Chaire de Gargantua. The it. bank again sweeps round to the S., its elevated slopes covered with hanging woods. rt. It is recorded that at the little hamlet of Mesnil, Agnes Sorely mis- tress of Charles VII., breathed her last, in the arms of the king. An old building is still pointed out as her abode ; it retains its chimneys of the 15th cent. It was called Mesnil la Belle ; it is now a labourer's cottage. The 1. bank below Mesnil has risen into round hills of considerable height, part bare, part wooded; houses few, and scenery solitary. To this succeeds on the rt. a plain, verdant and bosky, formed into a peninsula by the winding river, out of the midst of which rise the now spireless twin towers of Ju- mieges Abbey (p. 56). I 1. The Chateau de Mailleraye (7}), situated at the water's edge, below die village of Guerbaville, where there is a large shipbuilder's yard, belongs to the Due de Mortemart. It is an edifice of the 1 7th cent., in a park surrounded by green walls of straight clipped trees, and is a conspicuous object from the river, but not other- wise worth notice. Below Mailleraye the river expands considerably, and its ehannel begins to be beset with the sand-banks which render its navigation so difficult, leaving only a narrow passage in the middle free. rt. Caudebec (2j), the most consi- derable and prettily situated town on the banks or the Lower Seine; its long terrace of houses, screened by an avenue of green trees, and surmounted by its elegant church spire, was a favourite subject of the landscape pain- ter Vernet. It is described at p. 58. it. An humble structure at the foot of the steep wooded heights below Caudebec is the chapel of Notre Dame de Barre-y-va, much resorted to by sailors, who have covered its walls with ex-votos, paintings, models of ships, &c. The name probably comes from the circumstance of the much-dreaded Barre, or Bore, at the mouth of the Seine, ascending at times thus for. rt. Villiquier, prettily placed, and forming an agreeable intermixture of trees and houses surmounted by a Gothic spire, is a fishing village and station of the pilots whose duty it is to carry vessels between this point and Mailleraye. 1. Vatteville la Rue. The Seine, which has ran nearly due S. from Caudebec, resumes its proper direction from E. to W. below Vieux Port, and preserves the same as far as its mouth. Its banks, retir- ing to a considerable distance from each other, allow it to expand into a wide but shallow estuary, frequently en- livened by large shipping, tug steamers (remorqueurs), &c. 1. Quillebcevf (no good Inn), an im- etrtant town and small seaport which enri IV. wanted to convert into a fortress, but which his widow Marie de Medicis dismantled, is built on a pro- jecting promontory, at the extremity of which stands its massive church- tower and lighthouse. The Ch. is Norman (11th cent) and has some points of interest. This is the station of the pilots to the number of 110, with 28 apprentices (aspirants), whose duty it is to carry vessels through the in- tricate navigation of the mouth of the Seine, from Havre and Honfieur up to Villiquier. This is the most difficult and dan- gerous portion of the whole river for vessels, on account of the sunk rocks and shifting sands, only to be passed during high tide. Shipwrecks oc- curred here almost every year before the introduction of steam towage, which, by enabling vessels to pass up, even when the wind is unfavourable, has diminished the delay and risk. So variable are the sand-banks off Quilleboeuf that they have been known to change their position more than a league in the course of twelve months : this indeed occurred in 1840. The cause of this must be looked for in the sudden contraction of the river at this point to about f m., while a little below it is 3 m. wide. The consequence is that the vast mass of water poured into the Seine by the rising tide forms capricious and powerful currents, and very com- monly enters the river in the form of a Nobmawdy. Route 12. — The Seine, B. — Tancarville Castle. 55 lofty wave or wall of water, 8 to 6 ft. high, here called the Barre, and similar to the Sorest the month of the Severn. It stretches across from one bank. to the other, marked by a line of white foam, sweeping all before it with a roar like thunder, heard forty minutes before it arrives. It seems to acquire the greatest force abreast of Quilleboeuf, where it dashes over the quays, hurling vessels against them, and sometimes injuring the buildings, but it is per- ceived as high as Caudebec. The still water produced at the point where the rising tide encounters the descending current allows the sand and mud, carried along by the river when in rapid motion, to fall to the bottom, and accumulate into shift- ing deposits of sand. Among these sand-banks the " Telemaque," a vessel said to have been laden with property belonging to emigres, and with jewels of the Bourbon princes, was lost at the time of the Revolution. A recent attempt to raise the hull failed. rt. Through the vista of the valley of the Bolbec, which opens out opposite Quilleboeuf, a glimpse is obtained of the castle towers of Zillebonne, cele- brated for its remains of a Roman theatre (p. 58). rt. The opening of another small valley is marked on one side by a conspicuous conical white rock called Pierre Gante (? Geante), overhanging the Seine at a height of 200 ft., and on the other by the Castle of Tancar- ville, the venerable stronghold of the chamberlains of the Dukes of Nor- mandy, planted on a pedestal of high cliff forming part or the headland called Nez de Tancarville. To the water-side it presents an open terrace, on which stands a modern mansion, with sash windows, and a tall watch- tower, round on one side, and an- gular like a bastion on the other. Behind stretch two long lines of varied and stately towers connected by curtains forming a large triangu- lar enclosure, once the castle courts, now grass-grown and encumbered with ruins. The country behind it is one dense forest, over which these ancient battlements peer majestically. The best-preserved portions are the gate* house with caged windows, and grooves for double portcullis, and the contiguous tower dating from the latter half of the 15th cent. Here, within walls 9 ft. thick, may be seen the "cachots" — and the "chambre-de question" which is frequently mentioned in the old archives. In the corner tower (l'Aigle), on the brow of the cliff overhang- ing the Seine, one or two old wall- pieces, so constructed as to be loaded from the breech, are preserved. In this part only of the old castle do roofs and floors remain. All the rest is mere shattered walls, gutted towers, enclosures dark and overgrown with nettles and hemlock, which now luxu- riate on the hearths of the Tancarville, Montmorencys, Harcourts, and La Tours d'Auvergne, its ancient owners. The chapel and the Salle des Cheva- liers, with 3 fireplaces, are pointed out to strangers. The loftiness of some of the towers, and their singular form, deserve notice: the Tour de Lion is the segment of a circle; the Tour Coquisart, 60 ft. high, of 5 stories piled one over the other, and still sur- mounted by the stone-groined ribs of its roof, while all the rest is fallen, is in the shape of a triangle with curved sides. It communicates behind with the Donjon, which was detached from the body of the place and entered only by a drawbridge. It contains a well 300 ft. deep. The date of its con- struction is the early part of the 15th cent., and scarcely any portion of the castle seems older. The English under Henry V. burned down the preceding one 1487. The modern mansion is tumbling to pieces as fast as possible. From the noble owners whose names are mentioned above, Tancarville fell into the hands of Law of Lauriston, the South Sea schemer. It was plundered and de- molished at the Revolution as the property of aristocrats and emigre's (the Montmorencys); but after having been for 20 years attached to a hos- pital at Havre, it has once more re- verted to that family. The poor small hamlet of fishers' huts beneath the I castle affords no tolerable accommo- 56 Route 13. — Rotten to Havre — Jumieges. Sect. I. dation for travellers. The distance from LiUebonne is 6 m., and from St. Komain on the road to Havre (Rte. 14) about 12 m. Below this the banks of the Seine are too distant and destitute of objects of interest to need further notice, excepting the towns and ports of rt. Rarfleur, in Rte. 14. 1. Honfleur, described in Rte. 23. Passengers can be put ashore here, where they can take the diligence to Caen. It is about 7 m. across to rt. Havre, in Rte. 14. KOUTE 13. ROUEN TO HAVRE— LOWER ROAD, BY ST. GEORGE BOSCHERVHXE, JUMIEGES, CAUDEBEC, AND LILLEBONNE. 86 kilom=53£ Eng. m. Although the Railroad from Rouen to Havre (Rte. 14) is the quickest way, yet the following rte. is one of the most agreeable in Normandy, both for the pleasing view of the Seine which it commands, and for the suc- cession of ancient ecclesiastical re- mains in the vicinity of which it passes. It is, however, hilly. A little way beyond the industrious cotton-spinning village of Bapaume, it surmounts the long and steep hill of Canteleu, from whose top Rouen is seen to very great advantage, and the Seine winding away S. to double the ridge of which the hill of Canieleu forms a part. On the 1. is the Chateau of Canteleu, belonging to M. Elie Lefebure, which commands the view in perfection, and about 2 m. beyond it a road turning off to the 1. leads to the Abbey of St. George de Boschermlle, whose Church is one of the most ancient and unaltered monuments in Normandy. It was founded by Raoul de Tancarville, chamberlain of the Conqueror, previous to the Con- quest, and consecrated in the founder's presence. From the precision with which its age is fixed, it has been termed " a landmark of Norman archi- tecture ;" as usual, it was destroyed at the Revolution, but the church was preserved for the use of the parish. It has the usual characteristics — vast pro- portions, simplicity, and austere grand- eur. Its W. end has a round door ornamented with 5 mouldings, and 2 side towers, in whose upper story the pointed arch of a very early date ap- pears. This may have been the part of the church last finished. The vault- ing of the nave and transepts is also pointed, all the rest is Norman; the arches are carried round the ends of the transepts, forming 2 lofts or tri- bunes supported on a column, and there is an apse at the E. end of each, as in Winchester Cathedral, the older part of which is very like this church. The Chapter-house adjoining is of later date, 1157, and of mixed architecture, both round and pointed arches occurring in it. The capitals of its columns, sculptured with subjects in relief, such as the Passage of the Jordan and the Sacrifice of Isaac, merit notice. Returning to the high road, you de* scend to the borders of the Seine, on which is situated the village and post- station. 20 Duclair (6 m. from St. George's), a row of houses between the river and the cliffs, one of which, from a sup- posed resemblance to a pulpit, is called Chaire de Gargantua. The Seine once more takes a widely curving sweep, while the high road cuts across the neck of the peninsula. In the midst of this the twin towers of the Abbey of Jumieges are conspicuous. A cross road turns off to it near Yain-» ville, whence it is about 2 m. distant. It was the most important monastic institution on the banks of the Lower Seine for its extent, the number of its inmates, and its share in promoting learning during the dark ages, and it now towers venerable and majestic above the humble timber-framed and chalk-walled cottages of the village. It has been compared with some of the Romanesque churches of the Rhine in its plain but stately W. facade, sur- mounted by octagonal towers which have only recently lost their spires, but between them the porch projects in an unusual manner. This and the entire nave as far as the cross, sur* Normandy. Route 13. — Su Wandrille* 57 mounted by a more massive central tower, one side of which only remains standing, is of unchanged early Nor- man (date 1067). The round arches are supported alternately on square piers and circular columns ; their capi- tals, destitute of any sculpture, were ornamented with painted foliage, some traces of which still remain. The in- terior is in a state of ruin, entirely roofless, save a small fragment of vaulting in the aisles, and open to the rains of heaven ; greensward supplies the place of pavement ; the £. end, which was in the pointed style of the 13th cent, has been razed to its found- ations. For the origin of this dilapi- dation the Revolution has to answer, but its consummation is of very recent date, this ancient and interesting fabric having been absolutely quarried and carted away to build barns with .its masonry. The stone employed is a hard chalk enclosing flints, which are frequently exposed in the courses of the piers. The present owner fortu^ nately has respect for the ruins, and watches over their preservation, having fitted up the old gatehouse for his resi- dence. A number of curiously and rudely sculptured fragments, keystones, bas-reliefs, &c., have been discovered by him, and merit notice. Beneath a plain black marble slab, fractured into several pieces, and lying in a corner, was once deposited the heart of " Agnes Senrelle (Sorel), Dame de Breaute*." She died near this, at Mesnil, and Charles VII., her royal lover, had apartments fitted up in the abbey in order to be near her. She was a bene- factress to Jumieges, and the monks retained her heart, though her body was interred at Loches in Touraine. Breaute was the name of one of her domains ; some have read the inscrip- tion erroneously " Dame de BeauU" Here also another mutilated monument has been brought to light. It consists of mutilated effigies of youths in royal garbs, with circlets on their heads, known by the name of " lea Enervea " (i. e, the hamstrung), from a tradition that they represent the two sons of Clovis II., who, having rebelled and waged, war against their father, suf- fered the cruel punishment of having the sinews of their arms and legs cut. They were then bound and set adrift in an open boat on the Seine, whose current wafted them down as far as Jumieges, where they were kindly received by the monks, and ended their days. On the S. side of the ch. are remains of the chapel of St, Pierre, a pointed work of the 14th cent, ; and of a large vaulted apartment called " Salle des Gardes de Charles VII.," parallel with which runs a very extensive range of subterranean vaults, probably cellars, and the gatehouse. The high road beyond Yainville and Le Trait is carried on a lofty terrace- along the shoulders of the hills, com- manding a most pleasing view of the windings of the Seine both upwards and down. Nearly in front the inter- vening slopes are covered with orchards and gardens, and on the opposite bank stands the Chateau of Mailleraye, a conspicuous and large edifice (Kte, 12). At the little village Caudebec- quet, about 3 m. before reaching Cau* debec, a road turning to the rt. leads in 1£ m. to another monastic ruin, of inferior interest to the other two, but of great antiquity, St. Wandrille, founded by the saint of that name in the 7th cent., and at first called Fon- tanelle. Here may be seen some ele* gant pointed arches, sole relics of a church sold and pulled down at the Revolution for building- materials. The conventual buildings, a palace in ex- tent, are in the modern Italian archi- tecture of the 16th or 17th cent,, and have been converted partly into a ma- nufactory of Jacquerie, partly into a bark warehouse and mill. The Cloisters behind them contain several arches, rich morceaux of flamboyant Gothic, and a Lavatory, with a few relics of sculpture, becoming fewer every day- through wanton mutilation. Part of the Refectory is Norman, and lined with a circular arcade. The good judgment of the monks is very conspicuous in the choice of the site for this convent, a nook shut out from the world in a side valley of the Seine, fertile, well watered, and D 9 58 Route 13. — Rouen to Havre — Caudebec — Lillebonne. Sect. L wooded. St. Wandrille now stands a monument of the fall of ecclesiastic pomp and wealth. The hill side to the N. was terraced to form gardens and shady walks, now grown wild. On the top of the height above them is a little chapel of St. Saturnin, an early Norman structure Tilth cent.), with 3 apses and windows like loopholes and walls of herring-bone masonry, many centuries older than any part of the convent below. St. Wandrille is about 4 m. from 16 Caudebec. — Inn: Poste, extor- tionate. This is one of the prettiest little antiquated towns on the Seine, with its quay and terrace along the waterside, shaded by trimmed elms, forming a screen before the row of houses which face the river. The old wooden buildings in the heart of it have been scarcely at all modernized, and are highly picturesque. In its outskirts the hills are dotted with neat villas and country seats. Its only remarkable edifice is its Churchy a beautiful Gothic building in the florid style of the 15th cent., in the form of a parallelogram without transepts. It is surmounted by a tower having a short steeple of open 6tonework, the flamboyant tracery in it taking the form of fleurs-de-lis. Its flying but- tresses and variously patterned para- pets are very elegant. It was begun 1426, and stands at the side of the church. In the W. end, the gorgeous triple portal, with side porches bent back, all exuberantly ornamented with carved foliage, statues, and niches, and the rose window above, merit notice. Also the N. porch. Within, there is much fine painted glass of the 16th cent., and a wooden cover to the font, well carved in relief with subjects from the life of Christ. The spaces between the buttresses are occupied by small chapels ; those at the E. end expand, and the central one, the Lady Chapel, behind the high altar, is distinguished by a finely groined roof, the ribs of "which de- scend in the centre to form a pendant of stone, 14 ft. long, ending in a carved boss, or cul de lampe. In the next chapel of St. Sepulchre is a group of 8 figures, as large as life, representing the holy personages at the tomb of our Lord, under a florid Gothic ca- nopy. The master mason of the church, William Le Tellier, is buried in the Lady Chapel : he was employed on it 30 years, down to his death, 1484, and in that time completed the upper part of the nave, the choir and chapels around it, including the Lady Chapel and its pendant. The artist will find, in penetrating the dirty streets of the town, some picturesque bits among its timber- framed houses* Caudebec was anciently a strong fortress; it was taken 1419 by the English, under Talbot and Warwick ; and, during the wars of religion, Alex- ander Farnese, Duke of Parma, com- mander of a Spanish force sent in aid of .the League, lost his arm in recon- noitring the ramparts, 1 592. His army, having been hemmed in by that of Henri IV., escaped by crossing the Seine here. About \\ m. up the valley, near the road which goes to Yvetot (Rte. 14), stands the Church of St. Gertrude, re- paired 1841: it merits notice for its architecture, Gothic of the 16th cent., its stone tabernacle, and painted glass. The Havre road beyond Caudebec quits the borders of the Seine, not to rejoin it until Harfleur is passed. It mounts a steep ascent and traverses a part of the table-land of the Pays de Caux. There is nothing of interest until you descend into the valley where lies the town of 16 Lillebonne (Inn • H. du Com- merce), numbering 3500 Inhab., pret- tily situated on the stream of the Bol- bec, and interesting on account of its Roman theatre — a relic of the ancient Julia Bona of the itineraries of Anto- nine and Ptolemy, capital of the Ca- letes (inhabitants of the Pays de Caux), of which the present town occupies the Bite, and retains (with a slight change) the name. The road, on en- tering the town, passes under the old Castle on the rt., and nearly over the space which must have anciently been the stage of the Theatre. On the 1, hand is seen the semicircular portion Nobmandy. Route 13. — Rouen to Havre — Lillebonne. 59 allotted to the spectators, for the most part eut out of the hill, which, form* ing a gradual slope for the rows of seats to rest on, saved the cost of vast substructions — an advantage of which the Romans and Greeks usually availed themselves in their theatres. The re- mains consist chiefly of foundations, and have been laid open since 1812. The fragments of walls in the centre belonged probably to the orchestra, those on the slope of the side to the dressing-rooms. On the hill, among fragments of masonry, are several semicircular terraces, one above the other, with traces of the vomitories, or entrances; and round the whole runs a corridor or vaulted passage, gradually rising from the side to the centre, by which entrance was ob- tained to the highest seats. The walls and part of the vaults here remain tolerably perfect; they are supported by many spurs or buttresses. The walls are faced with ashlar masonry, or with small stones about the size of bricks neatly jointed, the centre filled in with rubble of flint strongly ce- mented with grouting, the whole banded together at irregular intervals by horizontal courses of red tiles. The stone employed is a porous but coherent calcareous tufa, or travertine, which is to this day deposited by the water of a neighbouring brook. This is the best preserved, and in- deed almost the only example of an ancient theatre in the N. of France, or of Europe. It measured across the chord of the arc 300 ft., and the di- mensions of the circular corridor were 625 ft. The ground in and about the town can scarcely be turned up with- out disclosing ancient remains of one sort or another. In 1823 a fine bronze male statue (now in the British Mu- seum) was discovered ; and the Mu- seum at Rouen has been greatly en- riched from this mine of antiquities. On the opposite side of the high road, looking down upon the theatre, is the Castle, a picturesque ruin, histo- rically interesting as the residence of Wm. the Conqueror, who here called together his barons to unfold the mo- mentous scheme of the invasion of England: The massive outer walls now serve to enclose a garden and modern house ; close beside it is a tall round tower of beautifully even ma- sonry, having walls 13 ft. thick, and some finely ribbed vaults ; isolated by a deep fosse, crossed by a drawbridge. It is a construction of the 15th cent., built probably by the Harcourts, who owned the castle down to the Revolu- tion. Not far off is a mutilated an- gular tower of the 13th or 14th cent, The great Norman hall, in which, ac- cording to the tradition, William met his barons in council, has been entirely swept away by the present proprietor, a cotton-spinner. The commanding elevation of these ruins gives them a magnificent view over the adjacent valley, with a peep, through a gap at its extremity, of the broad estuary of the Seine 3 m. below the town. The Parish Church has a fine tower and spire, similar to that of Harfleur, but inferior, and a rich portal. Owing to the abundant supply of water from the neighbouring hills, Lillebonne has become a manufactur- ing town, and cotton-mills have multi- plied considerably about it, especially up the valley towards Bolbec: calicos and indiennes are principally made here. The Castle of Tancarville (Rte. 12) is 6 m. distant from Lillebonne, by cross-roads, the latter part so narrow and steep as to be practicable only for a light carriage. A cabriolet may be hired for 12 fr. to go thither, and on to St. Romain on the Havre road (p. 56), waiting to allow the traveller to see the castle. The direct road from Lillebonne to Havre passes within 3 m. of the castle : the diligences go round by Bolbec. (Rte. 14.) Both roads meet at 18 La Botte. In descending from the Plain de Caux towards Harfleur, a fine view is obtained of that town, its noble spire, and the Seine beyond. The road hence to 17 Havre is described in Rte. 14. 60 Route 14. — Rouen to Havre — Yvetot. Sect. I. KOUTE 14. ROUEN TO HAVRE — RAILROAD. 95 ki lorn. = 59 Eng. m. 4 or 5 trains daily, in 2£ and 3 hrs. This line was opened 1847. Its en- gineer is Mr. Jos. Locke, and its con- struction is almost entirely due to English skill, enterprise, and capital. It is carried, for the most part of the way, over the high and fertile table- land of the Pays de Caux. It quits the line from Paris to Rouen (lUe. 8) at Sotteville, and, a little above the town of Rouen, crosses the Seine by a timber bridge of 8 arches, each 131 ft. span, its centre resting on an island ; rebuilt since its destruction by fire by the mob of 1848. (N.B. Beautiful view of Rouen from the bridge.) This leads direct into the first tunnel, carried under part of St. Catherine's Hill (p. 43), 1133 yds. long. It describes a radius of about half a mile ; the works were very difficult, owing; to the rash of waters from springs in the chalk. The rail- way issues from it into the valley of Darnel at, filled with dye-works and cotton-mills, and crossed together with the 2 small streams which traverse it, the Robee and Aubette, by a rly. viaduct. The line speedily re-enters the chalk hills, and in 2 succeeding tunnels (one of them 1530 yds. long) sweeps round the town of Rouen, penetrating beneath the Boulevards St. Hilaire and Beauvoisine in a series of cuttings and tunnels, works of ardu- ous execution and great engineering merit, made at great cost. It emreges at the Rouen Stat., in the Rue Verte (built by Tite, architect of the Royal Ex- change), situated in a hole cut in the chalk, shut in by escarpment, exclud- ing all view, and between 2 tunnels, and a long way from the heart of Rouen and the quays. On quitting the station you pass through the tun- nel Cauchois, under the suburb of Bouvreuil and the cemetery of St. Gervais. A fifth tunnel succeeds, which ends near the village of Deville. 6 Maromme Stat. Even after Rouen is a long way left behind, the country traversed by the road exhibits the vivifying effects of the cotton industry, in mills or fac- tories, conntry-houses, villages, &c. The chief of these is Deville, situated in a pretty valley which bears its name. 3 Malaunay Stat. Here is a Viaduct of 8 arches, and an embankment, over the Dieppe road. Near this the branch Railway to Dieppe (Rte. 6) diverges. A 6th tunnel, nearly 1 m. and 3 fur. long, pierces the heights of Piccy- Poville, and the railroad crossing the* high grounds is carried across the val- ley of 8 Barentm — Stat. The curved Viaduct of Barmtm, of 27 arches, each 60 ft. span, the central arch 108 ft. high, 765 yds. long, was constructed by Messrs. Mackenzie and Brassey. It gave way in the early part of 1846. It was reconstructed in the short space of 6 months, at great cost, with the utmost care and solidity. Barentin is a town of 2500 Inhab., in a small valley on the stream of the Austreberthe, which sets in movement many cotton-mills ; the railway leaves it on the 1. The railway has now emerged by gradual ascents out of the basin in which Rouen lies, to the table- land of the Pays de Caux, an elevation of about 400 feet. 2 Pavilly Stat. 11 Motteville Stat. 8 Yvetot Stat. (Inn, a cabaret) is an industrious little town of 9032 Inhab., with houses of timber, containing some manufactures of cotton, but destitute of objects of interest. The title of " Roi d' Yvetot" has given a wide cele- brity to its name, and has greatly puzzled antiquaries and local historians, who have failed in proving the exist- ence of any sovereign authority, or in discovering the origin of the title. There is a tradition that one Gaul- thier, Lord of Yvetot, having offended KingClothair, son of Clovis, and having been banished his presence, ventured to throw himself at the feet of the king while he was kneeling in prayer before the high altar at Soissons on Good Friday, thinking that the holi- Normandy. A 14. — Railway — Rouen to Havre-^Sarfleur. 61 ness of the place, and of the day of pardon for the sins of mankind, might obtain forgiveness for him also. Clo- thair, however, no sooner saw him than he drew his sword and slew him, bat, repenting afterwards of his crime, and desiring to make atonement to Gaulthier, created his heirs kings of Yvetot. But this story has no good foundation. Be*ranger describes the king of Yvetot : — * II etait un roi d' Yvetot, Pea conna dans l'histoire, Be levant tard, se couchant tot, 'Dormant fort bien sans gloire, Et couronne par Jeanneton D'un simple bonnet de coton." Diligence to Caudebec. Rte. 13. Here, in the very heart of the Pays de Caux, the traveller will now in vain look for the Cauchoise head-dress, once commonly worn by the women. It was a huge structure of cambric and lace, something between a cap and a helmet, and appears to have been the fashion even in England during the 15th and 16th centuries. The modern modes of Paris have driven it out of the field, even in remote Norman vil- lages, and it is now rarely seen. The Pays de Caux, through the centre of which the railroad runs, retains the name, slightly altered, of its ancient inhabitants in Caesar's time, the Ca- letes (? Celts). It is a high table-land, only here and there intersected by river- courses, exceedingly fertile, though somewhat arid. Trees are rare on the high ground, except the usual avenues of fruit-trees on the road-side, and around villages and farm-houses, whose existence and position are invariably denoted by a sort of verdant rampart of stiff elms, planted in straight lines and double rows, on or near a high bank of earth ; you may be sure that a farm or chateau is hid behind such an enclosure. 11 Alvimare Stat. 8 Nointot Stat. Omnibus to Bol- bec and Lillebonne* [4 m. S. is Bol- bec, a fresh-looking town of staring brick houses, which replace those of wood destroyed by a great fire in the last century: situated in one of the pleasant little valleys which in- tersect the Pays de Caux. It con- tains a vast number of cotton-mills, manufactories of calicos, printed stuffs, and handkerchiefs ; printworks, bleach- ing-grounds, &c. ; in short, it is one of the most industrious places in the Dept. of the Seine Inferieure, 9630 Inhab. The abundant stream which runs through it, and is a main cause of this acitivity, turns no less than 113 usines before it joins the Seine below Lillebonne. That ancient town (see Rte. 13) is only 5 m. distant; its Roman Theatre merits notice.] Bolbec lying in a depression of the table-land, high embankments and a viaduct were required to carry the railway across it. At Mirville is a brick viaduct of 48 brick arches, the highest 106 ft. above the ground. Hence there is a steep incline (requiring an extra engine to surmount in coming from Havre) by which the railway descends nearly to a level with the Seine at 6 Beuzeville Junct. Stat. Rail, to Fecamp (Rte. 18). S St. Romain Stat. Harfleur Stat, is situated on the Le*zarde, a small stream now barely navigable for barges, and 2 m. distant from the Seine, yet Monstrelet calls it " le souverain port de la Normandie." The deposits brought down by the Lezarde have contracted its bed, and formed a fringe of land along the shore of the Seine, which has greatly in- creased the distance between the town and the estuary. Before the rise of Havre, Harfleur was the chief port of the mouth of the Seine, at which the wool of Spain and Portugal was im- ported and sent up to Montevilliers to be wrought, while by reason of its for- tifications it was the key to the entranced of the Seine. In 1415 it resisted for 40 days the besieging army of Henry V., who, as soon as it had yielded, uncovered his feet and legs and walked barefoot to church to say his prayers, after which he collected the inhabit- ants to the number of 8000, and, turn- ing them out of their houses with only the clothes on their backs, ba- nished them and confiscated their [property, substituting English 62 Route 14. — Rouen to Havre— Havre. ckjci. j.« nists in their place. In 20 years, how- ever, the town was surprised by a band of peasants, aided by a number of the former inhabitants, and the English were expelled. The tower, spire, and N. aisle of its Church, built in the 1 5th cent., it is said, by Henry V., and its fringed S. portal, are deserv- edly praised as masterpieces of Gothic. The E. end dates from the 13 th centy. There is a fine timber-house (15th centy.) near the Ch. The Terrace of the Chateau of Orcher, running along the heights above the town, commands a remarkably fine view of the river. From Harfieur to Havre the rail- road is carried along the side of a hill, sloping gently down to the Seine, whose embouchure is seen at intervals between the trees and houses. On the rt. a little above the road stands Graville. Its small church, prettily situated on a wooded bank, is Norman of the end of the 11th century. Its transepts are decorated externally with round intersecting arches, surmounted by figures of animals. The capitals of the pillars in the nave are sculptured with monsters. In the courtyard be- hind the Hotel de Ville are caves in the rock, once the monks' cellars. The church was built in honour of St. Honoria. Her relics were removed for safety, at the Norman invasion, to Connans, and confided to the custody of the monks, who, when the danger was overpast, refused to restore them. Notwithstanding this loss, the place where they had been retained its sanc- tity, 60 that more pilgrims and wor- shippers repaired hither than to the church at Connans which actually held them ! Remains of the masonry of a. quay, with rings to attach vessels, are said to have been found under Gra- ville. (?) Passing numerous gardens and coun- try houses, intermixed with inns, ta- verns, and guinguettes, composing the towns of Graville and Ingouville, so numerous as to form an uninterrupted street, we reach 7 Havre Terminus, close to the Cours Napoleon, and not far from Bassin Vauban. It covers 36 acres. Havre. — Inns: H. Frascati, excel- lent, outside the walls, on the seashore, far from the Rly., with a good table- d'hote, reading-room, and neat and cheap warm-baths. H. de I' Europe, Rue de Paris, good. Wheeler's, on the Quai Notre Dame, near the steamers. Havre, originally Havre de Grace, from a small chapel of Notre Dame de Grace which stood on its site, the port of the Seine and of Paris, one of the most thriving maritime towns of France, is situated on the N. side of the estuary of the Seine, and contains 26,410 In- hab. It is quite a modern town, owing its foundation to Francis I. (1516), and its prosperity to the judicious enact- ments of Louis XVI., though it has re- ceived its great impulse since the war, and has been rapidly gaining upon its elder rivals, Bordeaux and Nantes. It has no fine buildings nor historical monuments; its streets are laid down chiefly in straight lines, and at right angles with one another, and they are grouped round the basins, or docks, which communicate from one to the other by lock-gates, and are placed so as to form a triangle entered from the outer (avant) port. The quays border- ing on the basins, lined with vessels, and choked up with cotton-bales, sugar- casks, &c, are the chief scenes of life. The strange cries and glittering plum- age of parrots and macaws will remind the stranger of the connexion of the port with tropical countries. Its prin- cipal street (and it is a handsome one) is the Rue de Paris, extending through the Place du Spectacle from the Porte d* Ingouville to the round tower of Fran* cois Premier, at the entrance of the port, the only relic of the fortifications constructed by that monarch. Improvements have been made here. The old ramparts are removed, and Havre, Ingouville, and Graville, con- taining a population of near 70,000, are united into one, and to be sur- rounded by new and more extensive fortifications. The Citadel, built by Richelieu, in which Cardinal Mazarin shut up, in 1650, the leaders of the Fronde, the Princes of Conde', Conti, and Longueville, "the lion, the ape, and the fox, caught in one trap." to Normandy. Route 14. — Havre* 63 use the expression of Gaston of Orleans, has been dismantled. The release of these distinguished captives was at length effected (Feb. 1651) by one of those sudden popular risings so common in the history of the Fronde. Mazarin, prostrated from the height of power by this revolution, bethought himself how he might make friends of his former victims, and, disguised as a courier, posted off instantly from Paris, in order to be the first to tell the joyous news, and unlock the prison gates. Assuming an air of the most obsequious servility, he assured them he had no hand in their imprisonment, and stooped to kiss the boot of Condi, as the hero mounted his carriage, amidst salvos of artillery, on his way to Paris. It is only by aid of a reservoir of water (Hetemie de la Floride), regulated by sluices, that the mouth of the harbour, formed in the fiat alluvium of the Seine, can be kept clear from the deposits of the river still in pro- gress. The port is accessible for ves- sels during only four hours each tide ; at low-water the Port and Avant-Port are left dry. The three old docks are capable of containing 250 or 300 vessels, or more with inconvenience; the fourth dock, the Bassin de Vauban, the largest of all, situated outside the walls, and finished 1842, is a magnificent work, with a fine masting-machine and ware- houses. A 5th dock, destined for steamers, has been constructed at the extremity of the Retenue de la Floride. The saying of Napoleon, that " Paris, Rouen, and Havre formed only one city, of which the Seine was the high- way," explains the cause of the pros- perity of Havre. It is the place of import of all the foreign articles needed for the supply of the French metro- polis : like Liverpool with us, it is the chief cotton port of France, furnishing this commodity to the manufacturer of Rouen, Lille, St. Quentin, and. even as far as Alsace, and from these cities it again receives the manufactured goods for exportation. It is also the point of communication between the Continent of Europe and America ; a great trade is carried on with the United States. The Decla- ration of Independence formed the groundwork of the present good for- tunes of Havre. A line of Ameri- can steamers runs twice a month to New York. Here also a great num- ber of emigrants, many from Ger- many, annually embark for the New World. The imports of Havre, though only one-half in quantity and weight of those of Marseilles (the chief seaport in France), are said nearly to equal them in value. The number of vessels belonging to the port is considerable. More than a*miIlion tons of shipping enter in and out yearly. Some of tbe principal mercantile houses here are English and American. The shipbuilders of Havre enjoy a high reputation for the skill and science which they display in the construction of their vessels, which are capital sea- boats, yet their shipyards are nothing more than an open space on the sea- beach, outside the fortifications, fenced in with a wooden paling. The annals of Havre are connected with the history of England at several points. Henry of Richmond embarked here, 1485, for Milford Haven and Bosworth Field, backed by 4000 men, furnished by Charles VIII. to aid his enterprise. The town was delivered over to the keeping of Queen Elizabeth by the Prince de Conde*, leader of the Huguenots, 1562, and the command of it was intrusted to Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick; but the English were ejected within a year, after a most obstinate siege, whose progress was pressed forward by Charles IX., and his mother, Catherine de Medicis, in person, sensible that the possession of Havre by the English would be a thorn in tbe side of France. Hatred of the English, indeed, had united all parties in France against them. The Protestant Conde* served in the besieg- ing army, which was commanded by the Constable Montmorency, previously the ally of the English. Warwick held out against vastly superior numbers, until his force was reduced by slaughter and the plague from nearly 6000 to 1500; he was himself shot in de*- J 64 Route 14. — Havre. Sect. I. ing a breach, after which the place sur- rendered. The fleet of William III., which had failed before Brest, made an ineffectual attempt in 1694 to bombard the town, as it had before done in the case of Dieppe with success. In 1796 Sir Sidney Smith, while cruising in the Channel, endeavoured to cut out a French ship of war from under the batteries, but became entangled in the currents and sandbanks of the Seine, and his vessel, having been perceived next morning lying high and dry, was captured by some gunboats, and he was sent a prisoner to the Temple in Paris. Bernardin de St. Pierre, author of ' Paul and Virginia,' was born here in a house No. 47, Rue de la Corderie. Havre is also the birthplace of Made- moiselle Scuder y, 1697, and of Casimir Delavigne. There is an English Chapel in the Rue d'Orle'ans; service at 12 and 3 4 on Sundays. A handsome Grecian edifice, destined to contain a Museum and Public Library, has been raised on the site of the old H. de Vijle. The Cercle du Commerce is a large commercial club-house, furnished with almost all the European newspapers and many American : strangers can be introduced to it by members. The Theatre in the Place Louis XVI., or du Spectacle, at the extremity of the Bassin du Commerce, is one of the most striking buildings in the town. Baths. — Frascati, on the sea-shore, not far from the pier, contains good hot and cold sea- water baths. In sum- mer, bathing is carried on in the open sea. Cabinets are provided for dress- ing and undressing, and men and women bathe together, but covered up in bathing dresses. There are no bath- ing-machines ; ladies are led out to a sufficient depth of water by the guide, who then seizes them by the shoulders, lays them on the surface of the water, and dips them by sousing their heads under water. N.B. The draught of the tide is so strong as sometimes to overpower even skilful swimmers. The bathers lay vold of ropes attached to posts, to pre- vent their being swept away in stormy weather. British travellers to Havre need not procure Passports in England, as they are permitted to land without them. They are to be obtained immediately on landing from Her Majesty's Consul [5 frs.], who has made arrangements for their delivery in time for the first train after the arrival of the steamers. These passports arecountersigned at the Bureau de Police, Hdtel de Ville, at the corner of the Place Francois I., not far from the old round tower. The office is open at 8 o'clock a.m. Passengers going to England require to have their passports vised — the police office is open for that purpose an hour before the sailing of the steamer. The Custom-house, corner of Quai Notre Dame and Grand Quai (entrance in Rue de la Gaffe), opens at 8 — 12, and 2 p.m. — 5, After the baggage has been examined (see Introduction), the dues for the harbour on the land- ing, and for porterage, are fixed by and paid to an Englishwoman, who ma- nages this department of the establish- ment, Poste aux Lettres, Place Louis Seize. Consuls reside here from Great Britain and from other maritime states of Eu- rope, and from the U. S. and other Governments of America. Railway to Paris (Rte. 14).— To Dieppe by Fecamp daily (Rte. 18). DUigences (offices, Rue de Paris, 49 and 101). — To Caen (starting from Honfleur on the opposite side of the Seine) daily (Rte. 23). Steamers to Caen daily in 3 or 4 hours (Rte. 24) ; to Honfleur twice a day in f hr. (Rte. 23) ; to Cherbourg twice a week ; to Morlaix in Brittany in 18 hours, every Wed. and Sat. ; to London twice a week; to Southampton daily, except Sunday (in summer), twice a week in winter ; to Dunkirk, Rotter- dam, and Hamburg twice a week ; to Amsterdam; to St. Petersburg and Copenhagen twice a month. More than 40 steam-vessels, including tug-boats, belong to the Port du Havre. The antiquarian and architect may visit the Norman Church of Graville, 2 m. on the Rouen road (p. 62). Xoemandy. Route 18. — Havre to Dieppe — Fecamp. 65 Those who have an hour or two to spare at Havre cannot better employ it than in ascending the hill of Ingou- vMe, a town of 12,000 Inhab., sepa- rated from Havre only by the gate, consisting chiefly of neat country- houses with gardens. The view from the top over the town of Havre — its forest of masts rising from amidst its buildings over the embouchure of the Seine, the distant hills of Calvados ap- pearing on the horizon like an island, and over the heights of La Heve to the rt. (N.), crowned by its twin lighthouses — is very striking and pleasing. The chalk cliffs under the lofty head- land of Cap la Heve, on which the lighthouses are erected at a height of 300 ft., offer some fine rock scenery ; but, except when the tide is low, the shingly beach is not favourable for walking. These rocks were the fa- vourite haunt of the author of ' Paul and Virginia/ ROUTE 18. HAVRE TO DIEPPE AND ABBEVILLE, BT FECAMP (BAIL.) AND E<7. 171 kilom. = 106 Eng. m. Diligence daily from Fecamp Stat. The Railway from Havre is de- scribed in Rte. 14, as far as Harfleur (p. 61) and Beuzeville Junct. Stat. Here a line of 18 kilom. branches N. from that to Rouen and Paris (3 or 4 trains daily), and ascends the pretty green valley of the Lezarde to Montivuliers, agree- ably situated with many trees about it, and containing some picturesque. wooden houses. Its Church belonged to a once famous abbey of Benedic- tine nuns founded in the 7th cent. It is in the Romanesque style of the 11th cent, except the N. aisle, which is florid, and the Lady Chapel, early pointed. Notice should be taken of its elegant Norman tower, surmounted by a light spire, with a florid portal on one side of it, and a round doorway, ornamented with the embattled fret, on the other, and within, of the carved capitals of the columns, and a gallery of stone fret-work near the W. end. Near Epouville we reach the high ground of the Pays de Caux (p. 60), but traverse a number of valleys or gullies intersecting it, running down to the sea, in every one of which a village or small town nestles ; this renders the road a succession of ups and downs. When the harvest is cleared from the ground and sheep are feeding among the stubble, a long narrow cart, covered either with a coved wooden roof or thatched with straw — a sort of horizontal sentry-box on wheels — may be seen drawn up by the road-side or in the fields ; it is the moveable bed of the shepherd, in which he shelters himself at night or in bad weather. Grainville. Godeville Stat. 43 Fecamp Stat, (Inns : Poste, extor- tionate ; H. du Commerce), a town of 10,000 Inhab., nearly fills the bottom and sides of a narrow valley opening out towards the sea between 2 high falaises or cliffs, on one of which stands a lighthouse. It has the advantage of being at once a seaport and a ma- nufacturing town, owing to the abund- ant stream which, as it descends the valley, turns numerous cotton and other mills, besides which there are 3 steam saw-mills. The harbour is small and much sanded up, but is resorted to by colliers from Newcastle and Sunder- land, and Baltic timber-ships, besides fishing vessels. In the centre of the town stands the Ch. of the Abbey of Notre Dame, a large and fine edifice in the early pointed style, with some Norman features, built in the beginning of the 13th cent., except the 2 round-arched apsidal 66 Route 18. — Havre to Dieppe. — Eu. idGCi* X* chapels, behind the E. end, which are older, and the S. side of the choir, which is more modern and florid. The Lady Chapel, with its carved wood- work of the 16th cent, and the monu- ments in the side chapels of abbots Richard 0223), William (1297), and Robert (1326), consisting of altar tombs enriched with crocketed niches, bear- ing their effigies reclining under florid canopies, merit notice. Also some curious carvings of Scriptural subjects in the N. transept. Fiquainville, near Fecamp, was the retreat of Cuvier during the storm of the Revolution. He pursued his studies in the natural history of marine animals here on the sea-beach. On the top of the cliff behind the town, near the new lighthouse, 328 ft. above the sea-level, is the Gothic Chapelle de N. Dame de Salut, built by Henry I. of England, much resorted to as a place of pilgrimage by sailors and fishers. The fishwives sometimes mount up to it on their knees as a penance. About 10 m. S.W. of Fecamp, on the coast, is the fishing village of Etretat, situated amidst rocks which have been excavated by the sea into arches, aiguilles, and other fantastic shapes. It is resorted to by French artists and bathers, and there is a tolerable and cheap little inn (Au Rendezvous des Artistes). A hill, steeper than that which leads into Fecamp from the W., carries the road out of it on the side of Dieppe. 19 Cany, in its pretty green and wooded valley, is an agreeable contrast to the bare open land which precedes and follows. The Ghdteau belongs to the Due de Luxembourg. The road again approaches the sea at 12 St. Vallery en Caux, a fishing town of 5328 Inhab., with a port formed by locking the stream, which here descends to the sea. 14 Bourg Dun. 18 Dieppe, in Rte. 5. Omnibus runs daily between Dieppe and Eu. Diligence twice a day to Abbe- ville. The road, as before, is carried over the high ground at some distance from the sea, and traverses in succes- sion several valleys. 19 Tocqueville, a small hamlet Be- yond it a considerably larger village, Creil, with a massive church, is passed. 11 Eu. — Inns: Poste or Cygne; H. de T Union, neither good nor cheap. Eu is a somewhat lifeless town of 3730 Inhab., on the Bresle, a small stream which formed the boundary of Nor- mandy, and which falls into the Channel 2 m. lower down at Treport. In the centre of the town is an irregular mar- ket-place, no two sides of which are parallel, overlooked by the E. end of the Parish Church, a heavy building and injured by modern reparations, exter- nally propped up by huge flying but- tresses. It is in the early pointed style; the triforium arches open into the aisles ; the E. end is angular, but several of the side chapels are of late florid Gothic. Attention should be directed to the screen before that of St. Laurent, an Irish archbishop ; to the Entombment in another chapel com* posed of statues as large as life ; and to the fantastic, spirally banded column in the S. transept The church was restored by Louis Philippe, who gave several painted windows from the ma- nufactory at Sevres. In the crypt (caveau) below the church are deposited a series of monu- mental effigies which were mutilated by the revolutionists 1793, and thrown into a vault filled with rubbish, but have been restored by the late king. The oldest is of St. Laurent, Archbishop of Dublin, who died at Eu (1181), whither he had* repaired on a mission of peace, to reconcile Henry II. and the King of Ireland. The rest are of the counts of Eu, of the family of Artois; viz. Charles d' Artois, 1471— the head and hands are of marble ; of his father, Philip d* Artois, made prisoner at Nico- polis by the Turks, d. 1397 in Anatolia: Jean d Artois, 1386, his surcoat studded with fleurs-de-lis of copper — he was taken prisoner at Cressy along with the French king; Isabella de Melun, his wife, in an elaborately carved dress, with dogs at her feet ; Jeanne de Sa- veuse, wife of Charles a Artois, a pleas- ing countenance and curious costume ; Helene de Melun, his 2nd wife; Isabelle 1 d' Artois, who died unmarried, 1397, NOBMANDY. Route 18. — Palace of Eu. 67 Eu is chiefly remarkable, however, on account of its Chdteau, which belonged to King Louis-Philippe, who inherited it, with the Comte d'Eu, from his mother, daughter and heiress of the Due de Penthievre. His Majesty here received H. M. Queen Victoria in 1843. The chateau is a low building of red brick surmounted by high tent-shaped roofs of slate, like the pavilions of the Tuileries, and is without architectural beauty. It was built 1578 by Henry of Lorraine, le Balafre Due de Guise, on the site of a castle which had be- longed in turn to the Lusignans, the Briennes, the Artois, the Cleves, and the Saint Pols, and which was burnt down by Louis XI. (1475), to punish the treachery of the Comte de St. Pol. It was much augmented by the late king, and splendidly fitted up, the walls being clothed with a collec- tion of historical and family portraits, including those of the royal family and the various lines of the counts of Eu, to the number of 1100. The collection was highly interesting, and the forma- tion of it seems to have given rise to the grander gallery of Versailles, which this resembled on a miniature scale. In consequence of the confiscation decree of 1852, all the pictures and furniture of the palace were moved to England ; the names under the vacant spaces now alone indicating the treasures which once covered the walls. The small Chapelle, a mixture of Gothic and Italian in its decorations, has some modern painted glass win- dows from Sevres ; one is a portrait of St. Amelie, after the picture by Paul Delaroche. The Pare or grounds are less at- tractive than the palace ; being a wil- derness of trees, mostly woody elms, planted in rows with angular terraces ; a gloomy canal, and muddy circular ponds beset with willows. On the 1. of the castle a few beeches preserve the remembrance of their prede- cessors, beneath whose branches the Balafre' Due de Guise heard the suits of his vassals, and concerted plots against his sovereign. Here a small space was railed in by Louis-Philippe, who affixed this inscription; — "Ici les Guises tenaient conseil au XVIe siecle." At the extremity of the grounds is a terrace overlooking the gap through which the Bresle, quitting the bare and dull valley, enters the sea, and the little village Treport is per- ceived at its mouth. On this terrace is a brick Pavilion, fitted up by poor Mademoiselle, during the time she was banished to her estate at Eu by Louis XIV. for refusing to marry the para- lytic and imbecile King of Portugal. The effigies of the Due Henri de Guise (le Balafr6), murdered at Blois, and of his wife Catherine de Cleves, are in the Eglise du College, originally of the Jesuits, who were established at Eu by le Balafre. The church, built out of the ruins of the old castle, as well as the monuments, were raised at ber expense ; they are rich in marble, but of no value as works of art. He is represented in armour, she in ruff and farthingale ; there are duplicate effigies of both, attended by figures of Prudence, Strength, Faith, and Cha- rity ; Gillot was the sculptor. From the pulpit of this ch. Bourdaloue preached his first sermon. On the Bresle, close to the palace, is a mill for making sea biscuits, sawing timber, &c., established by an English- man. Treport, the port of Eu, 3 m. dis- tant, is a fishing village of 2265 In- hab., having an old Church seated on a height, approached by a flight of steps, remarkable for hs elaborate W. porch, and for the roof of its nave dis- tinguished by pendants of stone hang- ing from it, of the 14th century. Tre- port is supposed to be the Ulterior Portus of Julius Ceesar. 16 Valines. 18 Abbeville (Rte. 3). 68 Routes 21, 23. — Rouen to Alengon and Caen* Sect. I. ROUTE 21. ROUEN TO ALENCON, BY BEBNAY, BROG- LIE, AND 8EEZ. 143 kilom. = 89 Eng. m. The Rly. by Mezidon to Alencon and le Mans (Rte. 29) will soon be preferred to this road. 42 Brionne (Rte. 23). 15 Bernay (Inn: La Poste, Lion d'Or), a manufacturing town of 7244 Inhab. It once possessed an import- ant abbey, founded by Judith, wife of Richard II. Duke of Normandy ; the Ck. of which, now converted into ware- houses, is one of the oldest Norman (Romanesque) buildings existing in Normandy, having been begun in the early part of the 1 1th century. It is large in its dimensions and perfectly simple in its style : plain square piers support equally plain circular arches. The columns attached to the piers are carved, and one is inscribed " Isam- bardus me fecit." The choir ends in an apse, and there is one in each tran- sept. "The dome vaulting in circular courses over the aisles is exceedingly curious/' In St. Croix are some painted windows, and the high altar was brought from Bee. iV. Dame de la Couture is a Gothic ch. of the 15th cent. The houses in the Grande Rue retain curious porches and bits of Gothic 10 Broglie, a town of 1052 Inhab. The Church is an ancient and singular building; along its W. front runs a row of interlacing circular arches ; one side of the nave rests on very massive piers ; the other is modernised, the piers pared down, and pointed arches substituted for round ones. The large and plain Chdteau on a height sur- rounded by wood near this is the family residence of the Due de Broglie, ex-minister, and one of the most vir- tuous, enlightened, and eminent states- men in France. 16 Monnai. 14 Gace* has a ruined castle, 12 Nonant. 12 S&z (Inn: La Corne), a poor little city with a population of only 5500, owing that title to the possession of a Cathedral, a fine edifice, the re- markable features of which are, the porch, 47 feet deep, under the W. front, flanked by 2 spires ; the nave, 80 ft, high, of pure early pointed Gothic of the 13th cent. ; the windows are double lancet and very elegant. The choir and transepts are in the decorated style of the end of the 14th cent. A cathedral was built here in 1055, but no part of it exists in the present one, judging from the style. The town was burnt down in 1150 and 1353, and probably the cathedral also. 21 Alencon Stat (Rte. 35). ROUTE 23. ROUEN TO CAEN, BY BRIONNE, OR BY HONFLEUB. a. By Brionne 128 kilom.=79* m. The road after issuing out of Rouen crosses the Seine, and runs within a short distance of the 1. bank, here bor- dered by chalk cliffs (Rte. 12), skirting on the 1. the forest of Rouvray, to 12 Grande Couronne; thence by Mou- lineaux (Rte. 12) and near the castle of Robert le Diable to Bouille, where it quits the Seine, separating -from the branch to Honfleur, which turns to the rt. (see below). 13 Bourgtheroude. About 2 m. N. of the road, and the Normandy. Route 23. — Rouen to Caen — Honfleur. 69 same from Brionne, are the ruins of the Abbey of Bee Hellouin, now of little im- portance or interest, but famous for having given two successive archbishops to the See of Canterbury, Lanfranc and Anselm. It has been demolished, ex- cept a tower of the 15th cent., and the vast conventual building erected in the 17th cent, is converted into a military stud-house. 17 Brionne. — Inn: La Poste, once the ch&teau of the seigneur of the place. Brionne is a small town on the Risle. The religious council which con- demned the doctrines of Berengarius was held in the presence of William the Conqueror in the Ch. of St. Denis. There are some fragments of the walls of the keep of the castle in the middle oftheRisle. 11 Marche* Neuf. 14 L'Hdtellerie. 13 Lisieuxy in Rte. 25. 17 Estre*es. 13 Moult. 17 Caen (Rte. 25). Before reaching this the road falls into the great Route 25, from Paris to Cherbourg, and is fully described under that head. b. By Honfleur 136 kilom. =84$ m. To Caen by Pont Audemer and Hon- fleur, a diligence runs daily. 12 Grand Couronne. 13 Bourgachard. At 5 min. past 1 on Sat. 19th Sept. 1829, the tower of the parish ch. sank down in a heap, crushing the nave and covering part of the churchyard. Had the accident occurred the following day, it being the hour of mass, the whole congregation must have been annihi- lated. There was a curious leaden font in this ch. A dreary district ex- tends from this place as far as the pleasant valley of the Risle, one of the loveliest streams in Normandy, in which lies 23 Pont Audemer.— Inn : Pot d'E- tain : the samlets (saumoneaux of the Risle) are excellent. This is a prettily situated town of 5400 Inhab., famed for its Tanneries, of which it contains 40 ; besides which some cotton is woven here, its industry being greatly pro- moted by the Risle, which passes through it in small streams. It once had a castle, in besieging which, in the early part of the 14th cent., cannon were first used in France : it was razed by Du Guesclin. The Churches of Notre Dame des Pre*s, now a tanhouse, and of St. Germain, in the suburb, may furnish some points of interest to the anti- quarian architect. The Churches of St. Ouen and of St. Sepulchre are said to be worth notice. The Terrace of the ch&teau de Bon- nebon presents a pleasant view. Eng- lish Ch. service on Sundays, 45, Rue de Bernay. It is a pleasant walk to ascend the lovely banks of the Risle as far as the Castle of Montfort. A direct road from Pont Audemer to Pont FEv§que, avoiding the detour by Honfleur, is completed — by Beuze- ville 14 kilom., to Pont 1'Eveque 13 kilom. At Fiquefleur we obtain a fine view over the embouchure of the Seine. 23 Honfleur. {Inn: Cheval Blanc, opposite the landing-place of the steamers. — Honfleur is famed for me- lons.) It is a seaport town of 10,000 Inhab. at the mouth of of the Seine, here 7 m. broad, on its S. bank, op- posite to Havre, and communicating with that port daily by steamboats. The town is dull and utterly without interest to the traveller, and moreover very dirty, but its situation, backed by wooded heights, is very pleasing. Its commerce, once considerable, has been absorbed by Havre. Its harbour, protected by a stone pier not yet finished, is accessible only at high water, and is principally resorted to by fishing vessels, though some timber- ships unload here. 7000 dozens of eggs are exported weekly to England, besides butter and fruit. The chapel of Notre Dame de Grace t on the hill above the town to the W., much re- sorted to by sailors and filled with their ex-votos, is in a charming situa- tion for the view over the Seine. It was formerly not uncommon for the crews of vessels which had escaped imminent danger at sea to make a pil- grimage hither in their shirts, bare- footed and bareheaded. Steamers, twice a-day to Havre, 7 m. 70 Route 24. — Havre to Caen. ©CCv. JL» and back, start according to the tide : the passage takes up f of an hour. Diligences daily to Caen. After the long and stately avenue of trees leading out of Honfleur, the way to Caen possesses no great interest : vet orchards and hedges give an Eng- lish cast to the scenerv. The head- dress of the women, a nightcap twisted like a Phrygian bonnet, is by no means elegant. 17 Pont l'Eveque, a town on the Touques. [Trouville, on the sea, at the mouth of the Touques {Inns : H. de la Plage; — de Paris;— de Bellevue), is a rapidly increasing bathing-place, much frequented from July to Sept. for sea-bathing: the sea is not so rough as at Havre, and the water is more salt. Steamers several times a-day to Havre.] Here the road to Lisieux (Rte. 25) and Falaise branches S. £ m. N. of our road, and 2} m. from P. l'E. ; in the midst of the Pays d'Auge is Beau- mont, a small bourg with an abbey, in which Laplace, the mathematician and author of the ' M£canique Celeste/ was born. 18 Dozulle. We here cross the Dives, from whose mouth the Con- queror set sail for England. 12 Troarn. 14 Caen, in Rte. 25. ROUTE 24. HAVBE TO CAEN. Steamboats pass daily to and fro, starting as soon as the height of the tide allows them. The voyage, which takes up about 4 hrs., 2l of them on the open sea, is pleasant m fine weather. The steamer skirts the coast of the dept. Calvados, in sight of the bathing-place Trouville (see above), and of the mouth of the Dives, where William the Conqueror tarried for a month to collect his fleet of 3000 ships and his army of 50,000 men. The mouth of the Orne is en- tered with difficulty on account of the sands and rocks, and we then thread its sinuous channel between low banks, but the landscape is enlivened by several ancient churches. A canal was com- pleted in 1857, by which some of the windings of the Orne are avoided, and the distance from the sea to Caen, 10 m., abridged. If the vessel, owing to tempestuous weather, should miss the tide to cross the bar, it must wait outside, and lie off the mouth for 10 or 12 hrs. for the next tide; but this rarely happens. "At length the city of Caen ex- tends itself, terminated at each ex- tremity by the venerable abbeys of William the Conqueror, and Mathilda his queen; the latter, surmounted by 3 towers, is nearest at hand, There are no traces of workshops and manu- factories, or of their pollution ; but the churches, with their towers and spires, rise above the houses in bold architectural masses, and the city as- sumes a character of quiet monastic opulence, comforting the eye and the mind." — Palgrave. ^ Abreast of the town the river is lined with sumptuous quays of solid masonry, alongside of which the vessel is moored. Caen. Rte. 25. Normandy. Route 25. — Paris to Caen — JEvrenx. 71 ROUTE 25. PARIS TO CAEN AND CHERBOURG, BY EVREUX AND LISIEUX (BAH,). Railway (opened 1856), four trains daily, 7i to 8 hi*. — To Caen 239 kilom. = 148 Eng. m. Caen to Cherbourg 118 kilom. = 74 Eng. m. — Rly. in progress. From Paris to Mantes June Stat. is described in Rte. 8. A little beyond this we quit the route to Rouen, turn- ing to the 1. out of the valley of the Seine, up a fertile but monotonous country. 14 Breval Stat. 10 Bueil Stat. Diligence to Anet and to Dreux. (Rte. 35). 11 Boisset-Pacy Stat. lOm.S.ofthis is Ivry, where Henri IV. gained a momentous victory over the Due de Mayenne and the army of the League 1590. At Cocherel, on the rt. bank of the Eure, 4 m. below (N. of) Pacy, Du Guesclin, in 1364, defeated the forces of the King of Navarre, Charles le Mauvais. 16 Evreux Stat. (Inns: H. du Grand Cerf, very good — de France, opposite the Cathedral), chef-lieu of the IMpt. de l'Eure, has 10,287 lnhab., and is pret- tily situated in a bowl-shaped valley shut in on N. and S. by hills, and watered by the Iton, an affluent of the Eure, divided into several branches. It has a considerable share in the cot- ton manufacture (ticking and stock- ings), here carried on by the hand- loom more than by the steam-engine. Its chief edifice is *La Cathedrale, presenting to the W. an incongruous front of Italian archi- tecture, flanked by two towers, and surmounted in the centre of the cross by a loftier tower and florid spire, erected by the Cardinal de la Balue, favourite of Louis XI. The nave is in the Norman style, probably of our Henry I.'s time, since he burnt the town, with the permission of the bishop, on condition of rebuilding the churches. The upper part of the nave, and the rest of the ch., are pointed, and for the mo6t part more modern than the reigu of Philippe- Auguste, who again burnt the town to revenge himself on the treachery of Jean Sans Terre, in making it over to him during King Richard's captivity, but on Richard's unexpected return not only withholding it, but murdering the French garrison placed in the castle. The choir, supported on clustered columns with glazed trifo- rium (1330-60), is very lofty and light. The Lady Chapel and the N. transept are still more recent (1465-75), and the Portal leading into it, in the flam- boyant Gothic, elaborately ornamented, is deservedly admired, in spite of the injuries and loss of its statues inflicted by the Revolutionists. It dates from the beginning of the 17th centy. The beautiful rose window in the S. tran- sept, and the wooden screens to the side chapels round the choir, showing the flamboyant Gothic style modified by the reviving Italian, also merit notice. The Lady Chapel, of elegant architecture (temp. Louis XI.), con- tains painted glass equally remarkable for its fine execution and perfect pre- servation. The woodwork enclosing the chapels round the choir, of mixed Gothic and Renaissance, merits notice. The Bishop's Palace, built 1484, pre- sents some curious details. At the opposite end of the town is the Ch. of St. Taurin, attached to the se*minaire: it is small, and resembles the cathedral in the various styles it displays, having shared like it tne for- tune of war and conflagration. The outer wall of the S. transept is orna- mented with an arcade of semicircular arches, the pannels of which are prettily diapered with a pattern formed of red tiles let into the masonry. This is supposed to be a relic of the ch. built 1026 by Richard II. Duke of Nor- mandy. The cloister is curious. The Chasse or Shrine of St. Taurin, which once contained his relics, is pre- served in the sacristy. It is a wooden box, shaped like a Gothic chapel, co- vered with plates of copper or silver gilt, enchased with a diapered pattern, and set round with bas-reliefs and small 72 Route 25. — Paris to Caen — Lisieux — Caen, Sect. I. statuettes of bishops and saints ; it is a work of the 13th cent. The archi- tectural decorations are rich and in good taste : such shrines are now very rare. The precious stones which once , ornamented it have been stolen or lost. The streets of Evreux preserve many antique timber-framed houses, and on the Boulevards are traces of the walls which once defended it. It possesses a Beffroi called Tour de VHorloge, built in the 15th cent. Excavations made at Vieil Evreux (Mediolanum Aulercarum) have led to the discovery of a theatre, baths, &c, and of various relics now deposited in the Muse*e d'Antiquit£s. The name of the premier English Viscount, Devereux Visct. Hereford, is derived from this town : the family traces its descent from Normandy. Coaches go hence to Chartres and to Cherbourg until the Rly. is completed. 9 La Bonneville Stat. 9 Couches Stat. Here the line turns N.W. 7 RomillyStat. [Harcourt is cradle of one of the noble houses of England, who trace their descent from a baron of the name who fell beside William the Norman at Hastings. There are scanty remains of a castle.] Beaumont le Roi Stat. Serquigny Stat. Bernay Stat. (See Rte. 21.) 14 St. Mards-Orbee Stat. 1 7 Lisieux Stat. (Inns : H. de France ; H. d'Espagne), a thriving manufac- turing town (11,473 Inhab.), prettily situated at the confluence of the Touques with the Orbec. About 3500 persons are employed in and around the town in weaving coarse woollens, flannels, horse-cloths, &c. Its main street ex- hibits specimens of ancient domestic architecture, timber-framed houses and pointed gables, well suited to the artist's pencil. The * Church of St Pierre (formerly cathedral) faces an open square, with its W. front surmounted bv a spire; one of its towers is rebuilding. It is in the early pointed style of the 13th cent., with lancet windows, holding a place between the Norman and the lancet Gothic of England. A preceding edifice, built 1143-82 (when the pointed style had scarcely begun to appear in this part of France) was burnt down 1226. Norman arches occur in the S. W. tower only ; the outside of the S. transept is a fine example of the pointed style. The Lady Chapel was founded, in the 15th cent., by Pierre Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, and pre- sident of the unjust tribunal which condemned Joan of Arc, in expiation of "his false judgment of an innocent woman," as he expressly states in the deed of endowment. Henry II. was married to Eleanor of Guienne, the divorced wife of Louis le Jeune, 1152, in this cathedral. There is a very singular old wooden house in the Rue aux Fees. Lisieux was the capital of the Lexovii, a Gallic tribe mentioned by Caesar, and ruins of the ancient town (Noviomagus, 1.) have been discovered at a short dis- tance from the present one. Thomas a Becket retired hither 1169, during his exile from England. Le Vat Richer, a small country house near Lisieux, is the summer-retreat of M. Guizot. Di- ligences to Trouville (sea-bathing place). 20 Mesnil-Mauger Stat. 6 Mezidon June. Stat. Here a Rly. to Le Mans, by Falaise, Argentan, and Alen$on, branches S. (Hte. 29.) 9 Moult- Argences Stat. 17 Caen Stat. Inns: H. d'Angle- terre ; bed, 2 fr. ; servants, 1 fr. 10 sous per diem ; — H. de Victoire, clean, and good cuisine, but small ; — H. de la Place Royale ; not very clean, but moderate. Caen, chief town of the D£pt. du Calvados (so named from a long reef of rocks on its coast, on which a Spanish vessel, the Calvados, was wrecked in the reign of Philippe II.), is situated on the Orne, 10 m. from its mouth, and has 43,079 Inhab. A smaller stream, the Odon, passes through the town and around the line of its old ramparts, to which it served as a fosse, before it joins the Orne, turning on its way several mills. Notwithstanding the antiquity of Caen, its wider streets, its large central square, in which stands Noemandt. Route 25. — Caen—Abbaye aux Hommes. 73 the statue of Louis XIV., and its houses of white stone, give it a more cheerful air than Rouen, though less enlivened by passing crowds. The tall white Norman head-dress of the women, ornamented with lappets behind and sometimes with lace, is striking and quaint to a stranger's eye. To the traveller Caen recommends itself by its numerous specimens of ancient architecture, to the permanent resident by the salubrity of its site and the cheapness of house-rent and provisions, which had caused our coun- trymen to settle themselves down here in a colony, until the troubles of 1848 put them to flight, and reduced their number from 4000 to less than 200. Near the centre of the town, on one side of a small market-place full of bustle and quaint costumes in the early part of the day, rises the Church of St. Pierre, surmounted by one of the most graceful towers and spires, in the com- plete Gothic style, which Normandy can produce ; the middle story, formed of tall lancet windows framed within reeded mouldings, is a model of strength and lightness. Its spire of stone, partly pierced a- jour, was built 1308, and is 242 ft. high. The nave was constructed probably about the same time, the choir, more richly orna- mented, rather later, while its roof and the chapels round the choir were added in 1 521. The rich groining of the roof of the choir is surpassed in the chapels, where it assumes the form of pendent fringes, giving the roof a cellular character. The side walls of these chapels are pierced with arches and set with statues. Some of the capitals of the columns in the nave exhibit ludicrous carvings, such as Aristotle bridled and ridden by the mistress of Alexander, and Lancelot crossing the sea on his sword, from the old romances. The exterior of the E. end, well seen from the banks of the river, is as much Italian as Gothic, so entirely are forms and styles jumbled together. Caen possesses two very remarkable monuments of the piety of William the Conqueror and his queen — or rather of their desire to appease the Pope for France. contracting a marriage within the pro- hibited degrees — in the churches of the Abbayes, Aux Hommes and Aux Dames : both founded 1066, and valu- able in an architectural point of view, because their date is undoubted. The * Church of St. Etienne, or of the Abbaye aux Hommes, destined by the Conqueror as a resting-place for his own remains, was finished and dedi- cated by him in his lifetime, 1077, un- der Archbishop Lanfranc, who was the first abbot. The W. front is so per- fectly and severely plain that it will probably disappoint expectations ; it is surmounted by 2 stately towers and spires of later date (1200), which, with the choir, were rebuilt, or added to the original edifice, long after the time of William, The interior of the nave, however, exhibits the rigid severity and massy strength, with the grandeur of proportion, of the Norman Roman- esque style. The ch. is 371 ft. long and 98 ft. high. The lower row of arches supports a gallery, having arches of nearly equal span and § of the height of those below, an arrangement resem- bling the arcades of the Roman Coli- seum. These upper arches originally opened into the aisles, the vaulting below them being of posterior date. The clerestory windows consist of a tall and short arch placed alternately on one side or the other to meet the curve of the vault. The choir, ending in an apse, and surrounded by apsidal chapels, is in the pointed Gothic style, answering to the early English of the 12th cent, (some say 1316-44). A plain grey marble slab in the pavement before the high altar marks the grave of William the Conqueror, the founder of the ch., but it has been long since empty : it was broken open, the costly monument erected over it by William Rufus destroyed, and the bones scat' tered, by the Huguenots, 156?, and lost without record, except one thigh-bone, which was re4nterred. The Revolu- tionists of 1 793 again violated the grave, and this also disappeared. The funeral of the Conqueror, un- dertaken by the charity of a simple knight, as already detailed (p. 40), was singularly interrupted, even within the E 74 Route 25, — Caen — Abbaye aux Dames, Sect. I. precincts of the ch., and before the service for the dead was concluded, by a cry from one of the bystanders, a man of low degree, who claimed the site of the grave, saying that it occu- pied the place of his father's house, that he had been illegally ejected from it in order to build the ch., and he de- manded the restitution of his property. This claim, thus boldly made, in the presence of the dead monarch's son Henry, the chief mourner, being backed by the assent of the townspeople, who stood by, was not to be denied or re- jected, and the bishop was obliged to pay down on the spot 60 sous for a place of sepulchre for the royal corpse. Even then it is related that, as the coffin was being lowered into the grave, it struck against 6ome obstacle, fell, and was broken into pieces, so that the corpse, ejected from its tenement, dif- fused so horrid a stench through the ch., that the rites were hurried to a close, and the assembled priests and laity dispersed. The exterior of this ch. surmounted by its 2 W. towers, its central octagonal tower, and 4 turrets on the £., has a peculiarly striking effect from a dis- tance, and reminds one of the arrange- ments of some of those on the Rhine. The adjoining conventual buildings (date 1726) have been converted, since 1800, into a College numbering not quite 300 students. On the W. side of the court adjoining is a handsome Gothic building (14th cent); lately restored as a school, which occupies the site of the old Norman Palace, called Grand Palais. The ancient hall called Salle des Gardes, of the 13 th or 14th century, still exists. At the opposite end of the town, on the heights of St. Gilles, is the * Abbaye aux Dames, and ch. of la Ste. Trinity founded and consecrated 1066, though probably unfinished, by the Conqueror's Siueen, Mathilda, and destined by her or a nunnery of noble ladies. The conventual buildings attached to the ch. are quite modern (1726), and are converted into ah Hospital {Hotel Dieu\ in which 40 sisters of the order of St. Augustine perform the duties of nurses of the sick : the choir of the ch. is railed off for their use. The ch., in the lighter and more ornate character of its archi- tecture, displays so broad a contrast to the masculine plainness of St Etienne, that it would scarcely be supposed that they had been both in progress at the same time. With the exception of the upper part of the W. towers, however, this edifice is a perfect and unaltered specimen of pure Norman Romanesque ; the choir ending in an apsis, being of the same age and style as the nave. The piers are lighter, the engaged pillars project more, than in St. Etienne, the embattled fret here runs round the main arches, and instead of a lofty triforium the walls above them are threaded by a gallery supported by misproportioned pillars, exhibiting gro- tesque figures among the foliage of their capitals. The arches under the central tower are remarkably bold, and their archivolts are chased with the Norman lozenge. The one opening into the nave is obtusely pointed, but apparently of the 6ame date. The choir, ending in a semicircle of double arches, one tier over the'other, encloses in the centre the fragments of the black marble grave-stone of the foundress, broken in pieces by the Calvinists, who dispersed her remains, which, however, were collected some years after. Underneath is a crypt resting on 34 closely set pillars. For the student of ancient architec- ture the following churches remain also to be visited. Not far from St. Etienne is St. Nicholas, another Norman ch., coeval with the two abbeys, having been built, except the tower and the pointed vaulting of the nave, between 1066 and 1083 ; it is now a hay-store, belonging to the Remonte de Cavalerie. It is unaltered, very plain in style, and ends in an apse. St. Etienne le Views, though desecrated and in ruins, is a fine specimen of point- ed Gothic : on the wall of the choir is a mutilated equestrian statue, said to be William I. St. Jean has two unequal and un- finished towers, in the style of that of St. Pierre, but inferior to it in late pointed style. St, Michel, in the suburb of Vaucelles, Nobmandy. Route 25. — Caen — Hotel de Ville. 75 displays some curious architectural fea- tures ; in the Norman tower the very long but narrow and round-headed windows deserve notice. The fringed portal is surmounted by a gable filled with elegant flamboyant tracery, in the style of the 15th or 16th cent. There are many old houses, with curiously ornamented fronts of the 15th and 16th centies., in the Rue St. Pierre (Nos. 52, 18, 20, 54, 24, &c.), but they are fast disappearing. The Hdtel de Valois, Place St. Pierre, now the Bourse, is of Italian architecture. The Castle, surmounting the height to the W. of St. Pierre, built by Wil- liam the Conqueror and his son Henry — held for a long period by the Eng- lish, but finally taken from them by the brave Dunois,who compelled the Duke of Somerset with a garrison of 4000 men to surrender, 1459 — has now the aspect of a modern fortress bastioned and counterscarped ; but having been dismantled by a decree of the Conven- tion, it is at present reduced to a bar- rack. The only Norman portions sub- sisting are the small Chapel of St. George, whose nave is probably of the 11th centy., though the earliest mention of it is in 1 18 1 ; while the chancel, separated from it by a bold arch, is of the 15th centy. : another very interesting Nor- man hall has been ascertained to have been the original Hall of the Exchequer of Normandy ,of the time of William the Conqueror. Both these buildings are now used as storehouses. From the ram- parts there is a good view of the town. In the Hotel de Ville, which occupies with its Grecian portico one side of the Place Royale, is aCollectionof Paintings. The only ones worth notice are a genuine *Pebugino, Marriage' of the Virgin, imitated by Raphael in the famous Sposalizio at Milan ; — the Pas- sage of the Rhine, by Van der Meulen ; — Melchizedec offering bread and wine to Abraham, Rubens ; — the Virgin with 3 Saints, by some old master, called Albert Durer. Here is also the Li- brary of 40,000 vols. In the Cabinet oVHistoire Natttrelle in the Palais de l'Universite, Rue de la Chain, is a collection of the fossils of Normandy, including Ichthyosaurus, Plesiosaurus, and a very perfect croco- dile from the neighbouring quarries of l'Allemagne. The collections made in the South Sea by Admiral Dumont d'Urville have been deposited here. The Lyceei or Public School, fur- nishes a first-rate education to boys for 251. to 30/. per annum. The English Church Service is per- formed on Sundays at 1, in the French Protestant Temple, Rue de la Geole. The Poste aux Lettres is in the Rue de l'Hdtel de Ville. Caen is well provided with prome- nades, formal avenues of trees; — the chief are called Grand Cours, and Cours Cafarelli, by the side of the Orne. The handsome quais bordering the Orne and the Odon near their junction form pleasant walks. The women of the lower and middle classes in Caen, and throughout a large part of La Basse Normandie, are finely formed, fully grown, and handsomer than in most other parts of France. The principal street, in which are the best shops, is the Rue St. Jean. Froissart narrates the story of the capture of Caen in 1346, a short while before the battle of Crecy, by Edward III. and the Black Prince, who, being irritated by the resistance of the citi- zens, gave it up to plunder. It was then " large, strong, and full of dra- pery and all sorts of merchandise, rich citizens, noble dames, damsels, and fine churches/' The English fleet returned home laden with its spoils. Several of the leaders of the party of the Girondins, proscribed by the Jaco- bins of the revolutionary tribunal, and driven from Paris by tne insurrection of May 31, 1793, retired to Caen to organise a revolt against the tyranny of the Mountain, but were entirely defeated and put down in a battle at Vernon.. It was shortly after this event that Charlotte Corday (a native of St. Saturnin, near Seez), actuated by the spirit of resistance against the tyranny of the Terrorists, which prevailed strongly at Caen, set out hence to Paris to assassinate Marat. The Girondins used to meet in the Hotel, No. 44, Rue des Cannes. E 2 76 Route 25. — Caen — Environs. Sect. I. Among the illustrious natives of Caen, the learned Huet Bishop of Avranches, born 1613, may be singled out ; also the poets Clement Marot, Malherbe, Malfilatre, and Segrais ; and the Oriental traveller and scholar Bo- chart. Brummel, the Beau par excellence of the court of George IV. when regent, lived many years at Caen, and ended his days miserably here in a madhouse, V Hospice du Bon Sauveur^ and Bouri- enne, Secretary and early friend of Napoleon, died in the same asylum. Malleposte daily to Paris (St. Pierre de Vauvray Stat) and Cherbourg. Diligences; to Lisieux and Evreux (pp. 71,72), and to the Stat. St. Pierre de Vauvray on the Paris and Rouen Rail- way (Rte. 8), in 14 hrs. ; daily to Cher- bourg (Rte. 26); to Vire, Dol, and St. Malo (Rte. 27) ; to St. Lo, Cou- tances, and Granville (Rtes. 27 and 32) ; to Kennes and Nantes (Rte. 34) ; to Havre by Harfleur and Rouen (Rte. 23) ; to Tours by Falaise and Alencon. Steamer to Havre. The making of lace is said to occupy 20,000 women and children in and about Caen. The streets of the suburbs are lined with family parties seated round their cottage doors merrily twirling their bobbins. They make tulles, brodees, and blondes. With this exception Caen has no claim to be a manufacturing town ; though it was so in an eminent degree until the revocation of the Edict of Nantes banished all its most indus- trious artisans. Environs. A cabriolet or other one- horse carriage may be hired for 8 or 10 francs the day. The student of ancient architecture might spend many days profitably and agreeably in visiting the ecclesiastical and civil monuments which abound in the neighbourhood of Caen. The Dept. du Calvados is particularly rich in monuments of architecture ; the dis- tinguished archaeologist of Caen, M. de Caumont, enumerates nearly 70 speci- mens of the Norman architecture of the 11th and 12th centuries existing in it. a. On the outskirts of Caen, to the E., at the extremity of the Rue Basse St. Gilles, is a singular castellated mansion called Les Gens d'Armes, from 2 stone figures of armed men on the top. Though surrounded by battlemented walls and furnished with towers, it was not built as a place of defence, but as a maison de plaisance for one Gerard de Nollent, in the beginning of the 16th cent. Its walls are fantastically ornamented externally with medallion heads of emperors, &c. b. 2 m. from Caen, rt. of the road to Bayeux, there is a very beautiful and remarkable ruin, first described by Prof. Whewell, the Abbaye oVArdenne, now a farm-yard. It has a fine gate- tower with a round-headed gate and pointed wicket, large stables, " a but- tressed barn which puts to utter shame the largest of our edifices of this kind," and a beautiful Ch., closely resembling in style the early English of our ab- beys of Bolton and Newstead, now a barn or hay-magazine. Its W. front is especially noticeable ; it has a rose within a pointed window, and a rich porch supported " on detached shafts." c. Thann, Fontaine-Henri, La Delve- rande, Luc-sur-Mer. A capital macadamised . road, tra- versed by a diligence, leads N. of Caen, to Luc, a bathing-place on the sea, about 12 m. It passes several objects of architectural and antiqua- rian interest, to which I a day may be devoted with advantage, as follows. (N.B. This excursion may be made in a gig, costing 12 frs., in 5 or 6 hrs., including stoppages.) From Caen a range of high table- land is ascended, on the summit of which is a calvaire, or crucifix. " The traveller will not fail to linger on the little hill just beyond the first crucifix. Here he enjoys a lovely prospect. The horizon is bounded by long lines of grey and purple hills: nearer are fields and pastures, whilst the river glitters and winds amidst their vivid tints; nearer still the city of Caen extends itself." It is worth while to walk thus far (2 m. from Caen), for the sake of the view. 7£ m. Thann. Here is a true Nor- man church, scarcely altered since the Noumaxdt. Rattle 25. — Caen — Luc — Caen Stone. 77 days of Henry I., when it was built, excepting the loss of its S. able. It is a good deal ornamented. The tower is capped with a hollow pyramid of stone, the oldest example of die nascent spire known. It is now deserted. 1 1 m. farther to the N. is the in- teresting Chdteau of Fontaine- Henri, a seat of the family d'Harcourt, built in the first 30 years of the 16th cent., partly in the bastard Gothic, corre- sponding more with the late Eliza- bethan of England, partly in the Ita- lian style, resembling the revived classic architecture of Audley End and Longleat. It is a mansion of no great size, but is distinguished by a prepos- terously lofty and steeply pitched roof, surmounting one wing, flanked by an equally lofty chimney. The most profuse decoration of sculpture is lavished on its singularly irregular facade. The ornaments of the win- dows, the panelling, balustrades, &c, are not inferior to those of the Palais de Justice at Rouen, which they much resemble. The Church of the village is Norman. A second steep ascent, surmounted by another cafvaire, commands a pleasing view over the sea, including 6 or 8 village spires, all having a strong family likeness to that of St. Pierre at Caen. A steep descent of about a mile brings you to the pil- grimage chapel of La Delivrande, to which the Norman sailors and peasants have resorted for the last 800 years. It is a small Norman edifice. The statue of the Virgin, which now com- mands the veneration of the faithful, was resuscitated in the reign of Henry I. from the ruins of a previous chapel destroyed by the Northmen, through the agency of a lamb constantly grub- bing up the earth over the spot where it lay. Such is the tenor of the legend. The reputation of the image for per- forming miracles, especially in behalf of sailors, has been maintained from that time to the present, although it suffered much at the Revolution, when pilgrimages were forbidden. It was visited by Louis XI. in 1471. It is a drive of dm. from this chapel to Zw-wr- Mer(Inns : H. de la Belle Plage; H. de Londres), a watering-place, with facilities for excellent sea-bathing. 12 m. from Caen, on the sea, is Cor- seulles, a small fishing port facing the terrible rocks of Calvados, which, however, are never visible except at the lowest ebb of spring tides. It is filmed for its oysters. Paris receives from the " pares aux huitres" here -fo of all that it consumes, amounting to 5 j million dozen annually. They are transported by light and fast carriages. d. The Church of Ifs, about 3 m. S. of Caen, has a curious early-pointed steeple; but a still more remarkable tower and spire exist at Norrey, on the way to Bayeux (Rte. 26). e. It is worth while to descend one of the quarries of Caen stone, so abund- antly used in England during the middle ages, and of which the White Tower, old London Bridge, Henry VI I. 's Chapel, Winchester and Can- terbury cathedrals, besides many of our country churches, were built : they are situated within the circuit of lj m. to the W. and S. of Caen, near Mala- drerie, on the road to Bayeux, and at Haute Allemagne. The rock is an oolite, equivalent to our Stonesfield slate, but without its slaty structure ; it is extracted from subterraneous quarries through vertical shafts, in blocks 8 or 9 ft. long and 2 ft. thick. It is still employed in Eugland; the new tower at the W. end of Canterbury Cathedral is built of this stone. A visit to Falaise Castle, the birth- place of the Conqueror, will occupy a day ; a diligence runs thither and back daily (see Rte. 29). Rly. in progress. Another antiquarian and architec- tural excursion may be made on the way to Bayeux, to Fresne-Camilly, Creuilly, and St. Gabriel (Rte. 26). 78 Route 26. — Caen to Cherbourg— Bayeux. Sect. I. ROUTE 26. CAEN TO CHERBOURG, BY BAYEUX. 121 kilom. = 74 Eng. m. Malleposte daily in 8£ hrs. Diligences daily, meeting the Gran* ville diligence at Carentan (Rte. 32.) v A Railway is to be open by 1857. 2 in. beyond Caen is la Maladrerie, 6o called from a lazar-house founded by our Henry II. for lepers of the town of Caen, now replaced by a huge penitentiary (Maison Central e de De- tention). Near this may be perceived the whims or wheels by which the Caen stone (see above) is raised out of the quarries. At St. Germain le Blancherbe the direct but not post road to St. Lo (Rte. 32) branches off to the 1. The first relay on the way to Bayeux, 12 Bretteville, is called l'Orgueil- leuse, though of what it has to be proud is not evident, except its hand- some steeple. This, however, is en- tirely eclipsed by the very fine open belfry and spire of Norr&y, seen on the 1. about 1 m. off the road. This beautiful Church, which has been termed a miniature cathedral, is in the pure and simple Gothic style of our early English, and of the most elegant proportions, with an enriched choir, circular apse, and N. porch. "Air the mouldings are deep, free, and repeated so as to give the greatest strength of line to all its parts." The tower owes its character of unequalled beauty to the 4 narrow and tall lancet arches which occupy the N. face of its belfry-story; the two central ones open so as to let daylight through. In going from Caen to Bayeux a de*tour may be made to visit Fresne Camilly, a church in the transition style, round arches prevailing in the body of the building, with indications of pointed arches in a panelled arcade on the exterior of the N. wall. At Creuilly the Castle, a construction of different ages, retains, among more modern additions, 2 round towers. It belonged to Robert of Gloucester, natural son of Henry I., and is now converted into a dwelling-house. The church is genuine Norman. A little farther is St. Gabriel, a ruined priory, founded by Robert of Gloucester, 1128: the choir of the church alone remains, and is a very remarkable ex- ample of florid Norman. This is a d&our which will repay those of anti- quarian taste. There is another road from Brette- ville to Creuilly, passing by Sacque- ville en Bessin, whose church is curious, partly pointed, partly round. On the direct road from Caen to Bayeux the country is not very in- teresting ; orchards abound, or rather the corn-fields are planted with rows of apple-trees, under which the grain- crop ripens. 16 Bayeux (Inns: H. du Luxem- bourg; good; — Grand Hotel; small, but clean), a quiet and dull ecclesias- tical city, with much the air of some cathedral towns in England, was an- ciently capital of the Bessin, and con- tains 10,303 Inhab. It is washed by a small stream, the Aure, which enters the sea at 5 m. distance. It consists of two main streets, including some ancient specimens of domestic archi- tecture, running up a hill to a large open Place, lined with trees. Its only curiosities are its Tapestry and its * Cathedral, its chief ornament, though disfigured by a central cupola in a semi-Grecian style. The W. front is a fine elevation, in the pointed Gothic, surmounted by 2 steeples of the t 12th cent., in the towers of which pointed arches alternate with round. The 3 porches, which, as well as that on the S. side, deserve attention for their bas-reliefs and ornamental foliage, are later in date and florid in style. Nobmandy. Route 26. — Bayeux — Tapisserie, The interior is 315 ft. long and 81 high. The W. end of the nave consists of florid Norman arches and piers, whose natural heaviness is relieved by the beautifully-diapered patterns "wrought upon the wall, probably built by Henry I., who destroyed the pre* viously-existing church by fire, 1106. Above this runs a blank trefbiled arcade in the place of a triforium, sur- mounted by a clerestory of early- pointed windows jvery lofty and nar- row. The arches of the nave, nearest the cross and the choir, ending in a semi- circle, exhibit a more advanced state of the pointed style, and are distin- guished by the remarkable elegance of their graceful clustered pillars. They were built by Bishop Henry de Beau- mont, an Englishman, 1205. ' The cir- cular ornaments in the spandrils of the arches are very pleasing and of fanciful variety. The stalls are of oak, well carved. The chapels in the side-aisles, and the exterior of the E. end, should not pass unnoticed. Under the choir is a crypt, probably the only part remain- ing of the original church, built, in 1077, by Odo, half-brother of the Con- ?ueror, and fifty years bishop of Bayeux. t is supported on 12 pillars with rude capitals, and contains some episcopal tombs. In the Tresor is preserved the chasuble of St. Regnobert, in a casket of ivory, with enamelled ornaments, both apparently of Arab workmanship, said to be gifts of St. Louis. The student of architecture may visit with profit the Chapel of the Se'mi- naire, adjoining the Hotel Dieu, a simple oblong plain groined hall, lighted by double lancet windows, and not unlike the E. end of the Temple Church in London : its date is 1206. Behind the altar is a singular recess, beautifully groined. The little Norman Church of St. Loup, in the outskirts of the town, on the way to St. Lo, also deserves notice. The * Tapisserie de Bayeux has been removed from the Hdtel de Ville — where it used to be unwound by the yard from a roller like a piece of hal>erdashery, and subjected to the fingers as well as eyes of the curious — to a new room in the Public Library (open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), where it is more carefully preserved, and quite as conveniently exhibited, under a glass- case. Many persons will look upon it merely as a long strip of coarse linen cloth, 20 inches wide and 214 ft. long, rudely worked with figures worthy of a girl's sampler. It is, however, a curious historical record of peculiar interest to an Englishman ; and, al- though it presents such anomalies as horses coloured alternately blue and red, there is much spirit in the draw- ing. It is ascribed, with much pro- bability, to the needle of Matilda, Queen of the Conqueror, and repre- sents the Conquest of England, and the events which led to it. It was preserved in the cathedral until the Revolution, being hung Tound the nave on certain days. The earliest record of it is in an inventory of the effects of the church, taken 1476. Its series of rude worsted pictures repre- sents such events as Edward the Con- fessor designating William as his heir : the treachery of Harold ; the shipment and landing of the Norman army and battle of Hastings : in many of these scenes, Odo Bishop of Bayeux, the Conqueror's half-brother, is a promi- nent figure. The design has evidently been to represent Harold as a usurper, and William as the rightful heir to the crown, having other claims besides that of conquest. The Normans are drawn with shaven heads and chins, in armour of scales, helmets protected by nose-pieces in front, and shields shaped like boys' kites, sometimes bearing devices of crests (supposed to be of later invention) suspended by a belt round the neck. All the build- ings have round arches. At the bottom runs a curious border of animals, in- cluding camels and elephants, said to represent fables from jEsop. (?) The tapestry has been excellently engraved for the London Society of Antiquaries by the late Charles Sto- thard. When Napoleon was medi- tating the invasion of England, he caused this tapestry to be transported from town to town, and exhibited on ! the stage of the playhouses be**,ro'>T1 80 Route 26. — Formigny — Carentan. Sect. I. the acts, to stimulate the spectators to a second conquest t Wace, the author of the Roman de Bou, was a canon of the cathedral. According to it Harold actually did homage to William of Normandy, as heir of Edward the Confessor, for the throne of England. Many of the women about Bayeux still wear the Bourgogne or Bavolette, a rich and high head-dress, resembling that worn at the courts of the Dukes of Bur- gundy. There are good Baths at the side of the river, and near them a pretty Nur- sery Garden, Diligences daily to Caen (4), to Cher- bourg and St. Lo, Granville and St. Malo. In going from Bayeux to Cherbourg the diligences make a de*tour of 9 eagues by passing through St. Lo (Rte. 32) ; the malleposte takes the direct line, as follows, passing La Tour en Bessiriy whose little church has a chancel in a style resembling the best English decorated ; the nave is Nor- man, the tower and spire earlier than the chancel. 16 Formigny. Here the English were defeated (1450) in an engagement so decisive, that it occasioned them the loss of Normandv, which has never since been separated from the French crown. A monument on the rt. of the road marks the battle-field, and commemorates the victory. It must be borne in mind that Sir Thomas Kyriel, who commanded the English, an old soldier of Agincourt, who took little account of superior numbers on the side of the French, attacked, with a vastly inferior force, the army of the Comte de Clermont, and while thus engaged was assaulted in the rear by a second army, under the Constable de Richemont. 16 Isigny-on-tbe-Aure is accessible for vessels of considerable size, with the tide. Much butter is exported hence to England and elsewhere. The river Vire, forming the boundary between the departments of Calvados and La Manche, is crossed about one- third of the distance. 11 Carentan (fnn: H. de la Place, good), a town of 3193 Inhab., in a low marshy situation, surrounded by forti- fications no longer kept up, possessing an old Castle, which belonged to the Kings of France, and was besieged by Edward III., 1346, and a handsome Church, surmounted by a spire; it is Norman, with pointed additions, the E. end in the style of the 14th cent. There is some painted glass, but de- fective. At Carentan we enter the peninsula of the Cotentin, so called from the "cotes" — coast's, which border it on 3 sides. It is a fertile and pleasing district, celebrated for its pastures, on which large herds are fed, everywhere enclosed within hedges, and abounding in old ruined castles and ancient churches. It is particularly interest- ing to Englishmen, as the cradle of some of the oldest and most noble English families. At every step the traveller will encounter obscure vil- lages and hamlets, whose names are familiar to him as household words, as patronymics of great houses distin- guished in French and English annals, most of whose founders left their country in the train of William the Norman. Such are Beaumont, Gre- ville, Carteret, Bruce, Neville, Bohon, Perci, Pierpont; but these are only a few examples among many. 13 Saint Mere l'Eglise has a similar church to that of Carentan. The ruin's of the Abbey of Monte- burg have been swept away to the foundation since 1817, having been sold in lots, and pulled down for the materials. At Quineville, 6 m. N.E. of this, on the coast, is an ancient monument of masonry, 27 ft. high, and 30 in cir- cumference at the base, which is square, and surmounted by a hollow cylinder garnished round with 2 rows of pillars. It is called la Grande Che- minee ; and though some writers have made it a Roman monument, it may be more safely pronounced a structure of the end of the 12th cent., and no- thing more nor less than a chimney. From the heights of Quineville King James II. beheld the sea-fight of La I/ougue, which destroyed all his hopes Normandy. Route 26. — Valognes — La Hovgue. 81 of regaining his throne. It is said that, in the heat of the battle, on seeing the French ships boarded and carried in succession, his English feelings so far prevailed, that he exultingly exclaimed to the French officers about him, " Look at my brave English sailors." (See p. 82.) Through a pleasing country, to which the hedges and woodlands give a per- fectly English character, not unlike parts of Sussex, to 17*Valognes (Inns: H. du Louvre; Grand Turc, tolerable), a pleasant town of 6940 Inhab., containing some large and handsome mansions, the resi- dence of numerous genteel families. The castle of William the Conqueror is demolished; it was here that he was warned by his fool, in the middle of the night, of the conspiracy of the Seigneurs of the Bessin and Cotentin to surprise and assassinate him. He in- stantly mounted his horse, and escaped with difficulty to Falaise. M. de Gerville, a distinguished anti- quary and geologist, resides here. Although Valognes possesses nothing in itself to detain the traveller, in its vicinity are several objects of high in- terest. St. Sauveur le Vioomte (10 m. S.) has a picturesque ruined castle and abbey (Rte. 27). At Bricquebec (9 m. S.W.) is a convent of Trappists. The geology of the Cotentin is very interest- ing ; its tertiary beds, in which more than 300 species of fossil shells, iden- tical with those of the Paris Basin, have been found, and its Baculite limestone, may be well studied in the quarries near Valognes. At Alleaume, the Roman Alauna, a village contiguous to Valognes, are very scanty remains of a bath. A Roman theatre, described by Montfaucon, has been totally demolished. An excursion may be made hence to La Hougue and Barfieur by Tamarville, (2£ m.), where the Norman Church has an elegant octagonal tower (a rare form) composed of 3 stories of narrow round-headed arcades and windows. St. Vaast la Hougue, 10 m. from Va- lognes, is a seaport town of 3500 Inhab., situated in a fine bay, with the fortified island and lazaret of Tatihou in front, provided with a pier 984 ft. long Previous to the rise of Cherbourg it was the chief port of the Cotentin. Vauban proposed to make it what Cherbourg is, the chief arsenal of France in the Channel, but the project was stopped, owing to the difficulty of quitting its port with a N. wind. The English frequently effected hostile landings here, to lay desolate the fair fields of France. King Stephen, in 1137, landed here, and the army which conquered at Crecy under Edward III. in 1346. Other armaments disembarked here in the reigns of Henry IV. and V. ; and in 1574 a force of 5000 French and English Protestants, despatched by Queen Elizabeth under the Comte de Montgomery, to aid the cause of the Huguenots, made a descent upon Nor- mandy at this point. La Hougue is chiefly known in English history, however, on account of the sea-fight of Cap la Hougue in 1 692, when the united English and Dutch ships, under Ad- mirals Russel and Rooke, annihilated the expedition prepared by Louis XIV. for a descent upon England, with the design of restoring James II. to the throne. The action commenced at some distance from the coast between Cape Barfieur and the Isle of Wight. The French admiral, Tourville, a man of great bravery, having orders from his master to engage at all odds, ven- tured to measure his strength with a fleet of 80 vessels, the largest which had entered the Channel since the Armada, while his own force did not exceed 44. It is supposed that he was ignorant of the junction of the Dutch, and that he counted on the desertion of Admiral Russell, who, it is well known, was in secret corre- spondence with James. However, nothing of this sort occurred; and; after a running fight, the French, in 3 divisions, retired to their own coast, pursued by the English. 3 of the largest ships, including the admiral's, le Soleil Royal, sought refuge in Cner- bourg, where they were blown up by the English admiral Delaval. Tour- ville, hoisting his flag on board an- other vessel, conducted 12 into the S3 82 Route 26. — Barfleur, Sect. I. bay of La Hougue, where he had time, before the arrival of Russell the day after, to prepare means for a stout de- fence, running them aground on the shallows with their broadside to the enemy. The French army, united with a body of Irish and English re- fugees, was drawn up on the heights above ; while the artillery was em- barked on floating batteries, a fleur d'eau, to assist in repelling any attack on the ships. James II. , attended by Marshals Berwick and Bellefonde, who commanded his forces, was a spectator of the action which ensued. The only really brilliant part of the battle was the attack and capture of this arma- ment by the boats of the English squadron under Sir George Rooke; these, and a few light frigates, only being able to approach near enough to take a part in the action on account of the shallows. In the teeth of a tre- mendous fire of musketry and artillery from shore and ships, the English sailors pulled up to the stranded ves- sels, boarded them all, one after the other, with loud huzzas, and pointed their guns against the French on the shore. All the 12 ships of war were burnt, together with a number of transports, 300 of which had been col- lected in this and the neighbouring ports to convey the army across to England. A magnificent view of the coast may be obtained from the churchyard of la Pernelle. About 7 m. N. of St. Vaast is Barfleur, an ancient and now nearly deserted town, built of granite. Down to the end of the 12th centy. it was the most frequented port by which the communication between Nor- mandy and England was maintained, in spite of the dangerous rocks around. Upon them perished the "Blanche Nef," — the ship which conveyed Wil- liam the only son of Henry I., with 140 young noblemen — through the fault of the intoxicated pilot and crew. The prince himself might have escaped had not an affectionate desire to save his natural sister, the Countess of Mor- tagne, caused him to turn back towards the foundering vessel. The boat which was bearing him to the shore was in- stantly filled by a crowd of despairing wretches, and all sank to the bottom together. On the extreme point of the Cap de GatteviUe, the W. horn of the great bay into which the Seine discharges itself, the E. headland being near Fecamp, about 1 m. N. of Barfleur, a magnificent Lighthouse was completed in 1835. It is 271 ft. high above the sea, and is constructed entirely of granite. The light is seen at a^ dis- tance of 27 m. out at sea. There is a fine view from the top. Barfleur is 1 5 m. E. of Cherbourg : a good road leads thither. Near to it, about 2 m. E. of St. Pierre l'Eglise, lies the Chateau de Tocqueville, seat of the family " of that ilk,'1 now belonging to the eminent author of * Democracy in America,' * The French Revolution/ &c, M. Alexis de T. ; and on the other side of the village, the Chateau St. Pierre, a building of the 18th cent., seat "of the Count de Blangy. At the distance of about 7 m. from Valognes the direct post-road from Valognes to Cherbourg passes, 2£ m. on the 1., the small town of Brix, a memorable name, since it is the same as Bruis or Bruce in its primitive spelling. The noble family of that name was allied to the Dukes of Nor- mandy, and from it sprang Robert Bruce the King of Scotland. The castle of the Seigneur de Brix, built in the 1 2th centy., is now reduced to a few ruined vaults and foundation walls. It was called Chateau d'Adam. About 2 m. S.E. of Cherbourg, not far off the road, is the castle of Tourla- ville, the magnificent seat of the family of Ravalez, now a farmhouse, belonging to the de Tocquevilles. Its position is beautiful and its architecture of high interest; part of it dates from the 15th centy., part was added in the reign of Henry II., and the Tour des 4 Vents (fine view from its top) has the charac- ter of Heidelberg Castle. " The bleed- ing heart and motto of the Ravalez family, * Un seul me suflSt/ are every- where visible among the faded frescoes and gilding of its walls and ceilings" — HM. There is nothing more to notice Normandy. Route 26. — Cherbourg. 83 on the road, until from the top of the last hill a fine view of the sea is pre* seated through the gap of the valley, with Cherbourg at its mouth. A wind- ing descent through a picturesque gully, displaying here and there bare cliffs, terminates in a long avenue of trees, which forms the approach to Cher- bourg. On the 1. rises the eminence La Fauconniere, crowned by the tele- graph ; on the rt. the cliff of Roule ex- poses a precipitous escarpment, 350 ft. above the sea. 20 Cherbourg. — Inns: H. de l'Eu- rope, on the Quai Ouest du Bassin, good ; H. de Londres, good restaurant ; H. de Commerce. Cherbourg, one of the principal naval ports and dockyards of France, is situ- ated at the N. extremity of the penin- sula of the Cotentin in the Dept. de la Manche, in the centre of a bay, the extremities of which are formed by Cap Levy on the E. and Point Omanville on the W. Its docks have been gained out of the rock, and its harbour won from the winds; for no pains nor cost have been spared to secure for France on this point, so advantageously projecting into the Channel, a naval arsenal and port, whence she may be ready to watch or annoy her rival on the opposite coast. The town lies in the hollow of the valley of the Divette, which opens out to the sea under the lofty falaise of the quartz hill of Roule, crowned by a fort. More than a dozen detached forts and redoubts have been erected on the hills behind the town, at dis- tances varying from b m. to lj m. from the sea. Apart from its conside- ration as a naval station Cherbourg is insignificant; with dirty streets, re- minding one of Portsmouth Point. Its commercial relations are very limited ; but its extensive naval works employ about 10,000 out of its 25,000 Inhab., and upon them depends its prosperity. Among its few articles of export are eggs to the value of one million francs yearly sent to England. Cherbourg has a Bassin de Commerce, a commercial harbour, formed at the mouth of the Divette, never very full of shipping, but often visited by vessels of the Eng- lish Yacht Clvb, who come over to lay in provisions and champagne. It is lined with quays, and the entrance to it is protected by stone piers, with a lighthouse at its extremity. The com- mercial port is quite distinct from The Dockyard (Grand Port), situated on the N.W. of the town. Travellers desirous of seeing the dockyard must apply to the Major de la Marine, at the Vieux Port, on the E. of the commer- cial harbour, showing their passports, in order to procure a ticket of admission. He will appoint a gendarme to accom- pany them, to whom a couple of francs may be • given for his trouble. The Grand Port occupies a nearly triangular space of ground, one side resting on the sea, and is surrounded by fortifications, surrounded by fosses cut in the rock, faced with granite masonry, and adding greatly to the strength of the place. The Port Militaire, and Arsenal de la Marine, designed, as well as the Digue, by Marshal Vauban, whose plan, drawn by his own hand and signed, is pre- served in the H. de Ville, were only partly begun by Louis XVI. They have been more than 50 years in pro- gress ; and the new works commenced since 1831 will take as many more, probably, to complete. The docks, floating basins (bassins a flot), &c, have been created by excavation by the aid of gunpowder out of the solid slate rock, which forms the foundation of the entire yard. From the stairs on the W. quai of the avant port, Charles X. and his family embarked in 1830. The 4 slips (Cales de Construction) are of very solid masonry ; the lofty roofs rest on arches supported by piers of granite and slate; the arches are partly closed by wooden blinds. Ad- joining them is a dry dock {Forme de Radoub), and beyond them are the Ateliers des Forges (smithy), des Ma- chines (workshops filled with ma- chinery for planing, turning, scooping, and cutting rods, beams, screws, &c, of iron) ; the Atelier de la Fonderie, roofed with zinc, furnished with 2 large and 6 smaller furnaces, and with iron cranes, &c. On the W. of the docks the Magasins GenSraux, the Pare et Caserne cFArtillerie, and the 0aaMun" 84 Route 26. — Cherbourg — La Digue. Sect. I. de Marine, magnificent buildings, are nearly completed. The Timber Shed (Hangar an Bois) is 958 ft. long, and supported on 130 stone pillars. The yard is supplied with water from the foivette by a long and expensive conduit. Convicts are not employed at Cher- bourg. *La Digue. The roads of Cherbourg, though protected on three sides by the land, are naturally open and exposed to the N. wind. To remedy this de- fect, the project of throwing a Break- water across the bay's mouth, in the deep sea, has been favoured by everv French government since that of Louis XVI. The old Bourbons, the Republic, the Empire, the Restoration, and Louis Philippe, have all desired to advance a scheme which should contribute to secure for France a safe and strong harbour on this part of her coast, exactly opposite Portsmouth, which would be an eye to watch and an arm to strike the English on the opposite side of the Channel. Hitherto the French have possessed no port for ships of war between Dunkirk (and that is fit only for frigates) and Brest. Now that the works have been carried on nearly 50 years, and more than 2j millions sterling, together with about 4,000,000 cubic metres of stone, sunk in the operation, the Digue at length ap- proaches to completion, since $ of it are now terminated, and its perma- nent duration seems probable, since for several years past no perceptible alteration has been produced by the action of the waves in the structure or profile of the base. For a long time the undertaking could be regarded only as a series of experiments and failures. The plan first adopted under Louis XVI. (1784) was that of forming trun- cated cones of timber, or huge broad- bottomed tubs, floating them on empty casks to the proper place, sinking them, and filling them with stones, and heap- ing up others round about them. But a very brief exposure to a few storms overset some of the caissons, shattered the framework of others to pieces, and spread the stone and wood over the >horage, so as to injure it. After a considerable interruption from the Re- volution, another scheme was resorted to of sinking stones at random (a pierre perdue), so as to be swept by the waves into a long and gradual slope to sea- ward: this was continued down to the time of Napoleon, who, as was his custom, looked at the project in a military point of view, and at once directed the formation of a fort in the centre of the Digue. .All exertions were thenceforth concentrated on this object; a mole was formed, a battery raised on it mounting 20 guns, a garrison of 90 men was established on it, and lodged in barracks erected for the purpose. In 1808, however, a storm of extraordinary violence burst upon the roads; the waves, carried to an unusual height, soon submerged all the buildings raised upon the Digue, and, by the impetuosity of their shocks, swept them all off, save the cabin of the commandant of the prison, and, forming a wide breach in the masonry, poured over and through it with tre- mendous violence. There were at the time upon the dyke 263 soldiers and workmen, of whom 194 were drowned, 69 were saved by finding shelter in hollows among the stones, and 38 got off in a boat which they managed to reach during a short lull, with great difficulty, since the vessels in the roads within the Digue were all driven from their moorings. By this disaster the operations of 16 years in sinking large blocks were nearly annihilated, and the whole mass of stone was re- duced to the condition of a rubble bed, rendering it doubtful whether the plan of even protecting the roads at all was practicable. Nevertheless, Napoleon did not abandon it, nor did his suc- cessors lose sight of it. A survey made by order of the government in 1828 showed, however, that the foundations had shifted in the course of 40 years from the position in which they had been first placed to a considerable dis- tance. Under the vigorous superin- tendence of Louis Philippe a new mode of proceeding was adopted in 1832. As the result of the schemes previously pursued had shown thatthe mere weight and volume of the stones thrown into Normandy. Route 26. — Cherbourg — La Digue. 85 the sea was insufficient to secure their fixity, a layer of beton, a species of concrete, composed of 1 part of small stones and pounded brick and 2 of lime, is now deposited on the loose stone heap, sloping on either side, and upon it a vertical wall of well-jointed and solid masonry, faced with granite, is raised. Even this, however, was destined to be the sport of the waves daring a storm which occurred in 1836, the most terrible since that of 1808 : the coat of concrete was broken and turned over in places ; blocks of stone, weighing 3 tons, were raised 22 ft. high in the air, and carried over the wall to the inside of the Digue. At the end of 3 days 300 of them had found their way across, hurled with appalling violence and noise against the granite masonry, and acting upon it like battering rams, so that serious breaches and wide gaps were formed in the body of the breakwater. This is more or less the effect of every serious tempest. The Digue de Cherbourg extends be- tween the He Pelee and the Pointe de Querqueville, in length 4111 yards, or more than 2 m., leaving openings for the entrance and exit of vessels on the E. of 1257 yards, and at the W. of about 1 J m. The width at the base is 310 ft. The depth of the sea about the Digue varies from 36 to 45 ft. at low water. There are at each end lighthouses and forts, crossing their fire with those on shore, and guns may be mounted at intervals all along the Digue. The stone employed is partly from the quarries at the base of the Montagne de Roule, conveyed to the harbour along a tramway ; the slate comes from the excavations made in forming the docks, and the jrranite from Fermanville and Flamanviile. Persons desirous of seeing the Digue are required to have a permission from the authorities. Failing this, the best way is to hire a boat m the harbour and row off to it, the distance being about 2 m. The following statement of compara- tive measurements in yards will show how much more serious an under- taking the Cherbourg Digue is than the Plymouth Breakwater : — Digue, Break-) water, J Length. 4111 1760 { Breadth. Height. '103-310 120 at base, 16 at top, XlfUgUW 22) M. ase, >•? The lapse of years however will alone decide whether the Digue will be com- pleted successfully. Commodore Sir Charles Napier, who visited Cherbourg during the Naval .Review, Oct. 1850, thus described it: — " We have seen, almost within sight of our own shores, a splendid Breakwater of nearly 3 m. long rise from the bottom of the sea, 60 ft. deep, under which can lie at moorings 50 sail of the line with perfect safety, almost frowning on Eng- land. That breakwater, ere long, will be defended by 3 tremendous fortifica- tions, independent of movable guns without number, to protect either entrance that may be" attacked. On the Isle of Pelee opposite the break- water, on the E. entrance, is Fort Imperial (or National), mounting 90 guns casemated, and guns pointing out of ports like a ship. Opposite this, on the main land, is Fort des Fla- mands, mounting many heavy guns; in its rear is the redoubt of Tourla- ville. "Opposite the breakwater, to the W., are the Forts of Querqueville, St. Anne, and Hornet, and one intended to be built on a rock between the W. end of the breakwater and Querqueville. These forts will mount upwards of 1 50 guns. There are also strong bat- teries to the left of the basin, bearing on the roads. Within the breakwater, excavated out of rock and faced with stone, is the avant port, capable of con- taining 10 sail of the line alongside the quay, 30 ft. deep at low water spring- tides. In this port are a dock and 4 slips; in a line with this, and com- municating with it, is an inner basin in which 10 sail of the line can also lie alongftde the quay. On two sides of this basin are magazines ; and here also lies the sheer hulk. In the rear of Fort Hornet there is another small basin, and two building-slips. This serves as a ditch to the fort, which is cut off from the mainland and island by a drawbridge ; from the lower tier 86 Route 26. — Cherbourg — Notre Dame de Vceu> Sect. T. of guns another bridge conducts you oyer a ditch to a large barrack-yard, casemated ; and two small stairs lead up to a second tier of guns. " In the rear of the atxmb port and the inner basin inland, there is another basin in construction, which commu- nicates with both. This basin when finished can accommodate 20 sail of the line alongside the quay. Here are 4 docks and 5 slips. To the 1. of the great avant port there is another avant port, which leads to the steam basin, where there are 3 slips. The store- houses are large, well arranged, and close to the basins. There is also a port of refuge, leading to another steam basin, where, as in the other basins, the steamers can coal alongside the wharf. " The splendid dockyard is sur- rounded by a high wall, and the wall is again surrounded by regular fortifi- cations, with a wet ditch : and to pro- tect the works, the heights in the rear, and, indeed, all round from Tourlaville, there is a double chain of strong re- doubts. Independent of all these there is a commercial basin, with gates, in which merchant vessels lie afloat. Two piers project a considerable distance beyond the gates. Both the town and basin are outside the fortification." These works would render Cher- bourg, if not impregnable from the sea, at least very difficult to attack. On the land side it has hitherto been almost open, but the fortifications now in progress are intended to strengthen it there. The expenditure of money on the works here, including the Digue, considerably exceeds 400 millions of francs. In 1758 the English, under General Bligh, effected a descent on the coast, to the number of 7000, in the face of 16,000 French troops, who offered no effective opposition. The English forces kept possession of Cherbourg forthree days, in which time they destroyed all the naval and military works, docks, arsenals, &c., blowing them up with the powder which the French had left be- hind, burning the lock gates of the harbour and all the vessels of war and commerce. They levied a contri- bution of 44,000 livres on the town, but no injuries nor pillage of the in- habitants or their dwellings were per- mitted. To this the French themselves bear honourable testimony, acknow- ledging that the protection of the British officers prevented any outrage. All the cannon were carried off, but the bells of the ch. were conceded to the entreaties of the cure\ and allowed to remain. Cherbourg has no antiquities to show, except the Vieille Tow, which formed part of the ancient fortifica- tions, washed by the sea, and the Ch., not far from it ; both built about 1450, and neither possessing any in- terest. The Chapelle de Notre Dame du Vau, outside the town near the dockyard, owes its existence and its name to a vow made by the Empress Maude when caught in a fierce tempest, which threatened to overwhelm the vessel in which she was attempting to gain the port of Cherbourg, on her flight from the usurper Stephen, by whom she had been driven out of England. While still at her prayers, and in the agony of anticipated death among the waves, "Chante, Reine," exclaimed a sailor, " behold the land ; your prayers are heard:" and from this circumstance, it is said, the spot where the queen landed, and near to which she built the chapel, now enclosed within the dockyard, *was called Chantereine, — a name which it still retains. The pre- sent Chapel of the Vow is however modern, and stands on a different spot. Mathilda is not the only refugee sove- reign whom Cherbourg has seen within its walls at various periods.: besides Charles X., who here took a last fare- well of his country, after abdicating the throne at Rambouillet, 1830, Don Pedro, ex-Emperor of Brazil, arrived here, 1831, when driven from his states, and James II. repaired hither after the battle of La Hougue. The Hotel de Ville contains a Collec- tion of 164 Pictures, formed and be- queathed to the town by a native, Thomas Henry, himself an artist. * The best are (33) David, by Hen-era el Viejo ; (34) Christ bearing the Cross , Normandy. Route 27. — Cherbourg to St. Malo. 87 by Alonso Cano (called Murillo) ; — the majority are of the French school." — R. F. In the court-yard is a very curious chimney-piece, of the age of Louis XI., rescued from a demolished convent. Consuls reside here from Great Bri- tain and the maritime states of Europe and the United States of America. There is a Bathing Establishment on the sands, to the E. of the old Arsenal and Jetee, but it is not well appointed. The Foste cmx Lettres is on the Quai dn Port. Malleposte daily to the Paris and Rouen Rly. Diligences daily to Caen ; to St. Lo, Coutances, and St. Malo. Inferior coaches daily to Valognes ; to Barnenr; to St Vaast ; to Bricquebec. Steamers to Havre twice a week ; to Weymouth once or twice in the sum- mer. Excursions may be made to the Phare deGatteville ; Barneur,and La Hougue; to the interesting Chateaux of Martin- vaast (p. 88), belonging to the Comte Dumoncel ; of Flamanville, a splendid mansion ; of Tourlaville ; of Blangy (p. 82). Querqueville 5 m.W. of Cherbourg, is a hamlet whose name is variously derived from the oak, guercus, which once surrounded it, or, with more pro- bability, from its small Church (kerk) of St. Germain standing by the side of the parish ch. This is one of the oldest monuments of Christianity in Normandy. It is in the form of a cross ; its chancel and transepts, lighted by loophole windows, all end in apses, and all this part is of herring-bone masonry; the nave and tower were added at a subsequent period. The ornaments of the towers, stripes of stone projecting from the wall, sur- mounted by the round arch, resemble those of Barton on the Humber, Bar- nack, and others in England. The fort of Querqueville is one of the defences of the roads of Cherbourg, and its lighthouse points out the en- trance to them. 13 m. farther to the W., beyond Beaumont, the Cap la Hague (often confounded on the maps with La Hougue) stretches out towards Al- derney (called by the French Aurigny), from which island it is only 9 m. dis- tant. Both the cape and the island, as well as the Cape Flamanville, are of granite, the fundamental rock of the Cotentin, supporting the grauwacke and clay slates, which for the most part appear on the surface of that dis- trict. Opposite Cap la Hague, on a rock called le Gros du Kaz, about a mile out at sea, stands a lighthouse. The Trappist Convent at Bricquebec, and the Castle and Abbey of St. Sau- veur le Vicomte, are described in Rte. 27. ROUTE 27. CHERBOURG TO ST. MALO, BY ST. SAUVEUR, COUTANCES, GRANVILLE, AVRANCHES, MONT ST. MICHEL, AND DOL. 205 kilom.'= 127 Eng. m. Diligences daily from Cherbourg by Carentan and Coutances to St. Malo. Persons travelling in their own car- riage may vary the road back to 20 Valognes, the first post-station (p. 81), by going round by Octeville (1 m.), where is a Norman church with an octagonal tower and curious carv- ings (a Last Supper, &c, in bas-relief) older than the reign of Henry II. ; and Martinvaast (2j m.), where is a still older ch. in the same style, and un- altered, with slender half-pillars, sup- porting Ionic capitals, outside its semi- 88 Route 27. — Cherbourg to St. Mato — St. Sauveur. Sect. I. circular E. end, and a cornice of gro- tesque heads under its eaves : its lofty stone vaulted roof is supported on horse-shoe arches. It stands in a se- questered spot, with a fine old yew beside it. There is a fine Castle, still inhabited, hard by. Bricquebec (9 m. from Valognes), a village, including an ancient Castle, whose lofty donjon keep, 100 ft. high, in shape a decagon, seated on a high mound, remains tolerably perfect (date 1 4th cent.), as well as the walls of the outer enclosure. Other portions are as late as the 16th, and some as early as the 11th* cent. It belonged in turn to the families of Bertram, Paisnel (Paganel) and Es- touteville. It was taken from the last by Henry V. after the battle of Agin- court, and bestowed on his favourite William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, who parted with it to ransom himself from the hands of the French. In the adjoining forest, on the hill des Grosses Roches, are three Druidical monuments of the kind called " Gale- ries Couvertes." A little more than a m. N. E. of Bricquebec is the Trappist Convent, founded 1823 by M. Onfray, on a spot of ground just cleared from the forest. Its inmates, 32 in number, of whom 12 are priests, are bound by strict vows to silence, communicating by established signs on indispensable matters, living on coarse dry bread, a few vegetables, a salad with a spoon- ful of oil, a little milk, and a bit of cheese, and one plateful of a meagre potage, which on fast-days is reduced to 6 oz. of bread in the morning and 2 or 3 at night, with a fixed allowance of herbs and roots. They are pro- hibited from wearing linen even when ill, and sleep with their clothes on, upon a straw mattress piquee, 2 inches thick. They are allowed one sort of meat when sick, but fish is forbidden. They rise daily at 2 a. m. ; and on flSte- days at 12 or 1, and spend their time in prayer, reading, and work. There is a cross-road from Bricque- bec to St. Sauveur. On quitting Va- lognes our route separates from Rte. 26, and turning to the 1. passes by Columby (a church with pointed lancet win- dows) to j 15 St. Sauveur le Vicomte, where there is a picturesque and imposing Castle of the Tessons and Harcourts, but given by Edward III. after the treaty of Bretigny to John Chandos, one of the most famous captains of the wars of Edward III. and the Black Prince. He built the square and lofty keep-tower, one of the gateways, and other portions. In the 17th century it became a hospital, and continued such down to the Revolution. Al- though falling to ruin at present, it is the best preserved feudal fortress on the Cdtentin. Here are also ruins of an Abbey, which in 1831 were being pulled down for the sake of the materials. The church was beautiful, the groundwork Norman (1067-1160), with additions, in the pointed style, of the 13th cen- tury. Between St. Sauveur and Beriers the post-road passes near the Abbey of Blanchehmde, founded by Richard die la Haye,a favourite of Henry II. (1115- 85) who had been captured by cor- sairs, and passed many years in slavery. It is beautifully situated, and consists of the abbot's house, still perfect and inhabited by a farmer, and part of the Church, in which late insertions have been added to an original Norman structure. 10 La Haye du Puits. The castle, dating from the 11th cent., the only thing of interest in this obscure little town, has been pulled down within the last 15 years to mend the roads I The last remains, a fine old machi- colated tower, have probably by this time disappeared. At Lessay is another abbey and church in the Norman style, begun in the 11th cent., but not consecrated till_ 1178. " It is of one character, plain, but grand throughout ; and pos- sesses a noble central tower. The W. portal is more ornamented than the other parts, and exhibits the dog-tooth moulding, which does not appear in England till nearly the end of the 12th century." — Knight. 18 Periers. 16 Coutances. (Inns : H. de France, dear; H. d'Angleterre, tolerable.) Normandy. Route 27. — Coutances — Cathedral. 89 Coutances, at present a somewhat lifeless town of 8957 Inhab., is built upon a nearly conical hill, the summit of which is occupied by the Cathedral, proudly predominating over other buildings, with its 3 towers. The high road, carried in a broad winding terrace along the flank of the hill, round the outskirts of the town, forms an agreeable walk, while on the oppo- site or £. side are more formal and gloomy promenades closely planted with avenues of trees. The * Cathedral is one of the finest churches of Normandy, in the early pointed style, free from exuberant ornament, but captivating the eye by the elegance of proportion and arrange- ment. " The whole is of a piece, com- plete in conception and execution. The lofty towers terminating in spires, both finished and alike, iiank its W. front." " Its interior is very lofty, more than 100 ft. from the floor to the keystone of the vault. Cluster piers divide the nave from the aisles : cou- pled pillars surround the choir (which ends in a hexagon). Most of the windows are of later date than the body of the building.,,— Knight. " The peculiarities of this cathedral are, the side porches close behind the towers ; the open screens of mollioned tracery, corresponding with the windows, which divide the side chapels ; and the exces- sive height of the choir, which has no triforium, only .a balustrade just before the clerestory windows. *The central tower is wonderfully fine in the exte- rior ; it is apparently an expansion of the plain Norman lantern as at Caen. Some of the painted glass is in the oldest style: diapered patterns in a black outline, on a grey ground." — Palgrave. A magnificent cathedral was built at Coutances in the 11th cent, with contributions partly furnished by Tan- cred de Hauteville and his 6 sons, the conquerors of Sicily and Apulia, who were natives of the diocese of Cou- tances; "it was consecrated 1056 in the presence of William Duke of Nor- mandy, 9 years before he conquered England." Some of the antiquaries of Normandy have maintained that the existing edi- fice is the one completed at that time, and have claimed in consequence foi their country the invention of the pointed style in the 11th centy. ; but as no buildings either in W. France or in England were constructed in that style until 130 years after, and as, on the contrary, all the buildings erected during that period are in the round style — for instance, the church of Lessay, only 9 m. off, consecrated 1178 — there is no reason to concede their claim. The evidence upon which they found it is, that the Livre Noir, (a mere account of the advowsons of the diocese, compiled 1250) makes no mention of the rebuilding of the church after the 11th cent There exists, however, proof, from inscrip- tions on the walls of the side chapels, that several of them were dedicated, and therefore probably built, in the latter half of the 13th cent. (1274), and it is also known that the church was nearly ruined in 1356 by the army of Geoffrey d'Harcourt, so that it must have needed serious repairs, though the record of them is lost, executed probably about the end of the 14th cent. {See Knight* s Normandy.} From the top of the fine lantern tower a view may be obtained of the sea, with the distant island of Jersey on the W., and of the rock of Gran- ville. The Ch. of St. Pierre is in the florid Gothic style of the 15th cent. The steep and narrow valley which bounds the town on the W. and is traversed by the terraced road leading to Granville, before mentioned, is crossed by the remains of an ancient Aqueduct, consisting of 5 perfect arches, and 15 piers supported by buttresses, called Les Piliera, which is also the name given to the village or suburb in which it is situated, £ m. out of Coutances. In most guide-books and descriptions of the town it is called a Roman aqueduct, but its pointed arches, its buttresses with offsets, and coarse irregular masonry, prove clearly that it is not so, but a work of the middle ages, probably monkish. It is supposed to have been erected in the 13th cent. 90 Route 27. — Hambye — Granville. Sect. T. by one of the noble family De Paisnel (Paganel.) Coaches to St. Lo (Rte. 32) daily ; to Granville 3 times a day. Those who love old Gothic ruins, either for their picturesqueness or architecture, will be repaid oy an excursion hence to the Abbey of Hambye, about 13 m. to the S.E. It may be taken on the way to Granville, making a detour of 6 or 7 m. A good road leads through a pleasing but hilly country by Mesnil l'Aubert and St. Denis le Guest, leaving Hambye VEglise J m. to the rt., to Bourg d'Hambye, a scattered village, with a small but clean cabaret, furnishing only homely fare, — coffee, milk, cheese, and cider. The old Castle of Hambye, whose keep, 100 ft. high, stood on an eminence over the Bourg, is swept away to mend the roads. Happily a better spirit is now abroad in France, and the government holds out an example to England of zeal for the preservation of the many noble or cu- rious edifices dispersed over the country. It is a pleasant walk of 1} m. from the Bourg to the Abbey, but the road thither, through narrow lanes, is prac- ticable only for light cars. The little Abbey of Hambye nestles in a retired valley, sheltered under picturesque cliffs by the side of a trout-stream (the Sienne) the beau ide*al of a monastic site. The roof and W. end are gone, the ivy begins to creep up the mouldering walls, and destruction is advancing apace, yet there is much beauty in the narrow arches which enclosed the choir, rest- ing on columnar piers, in the style of the 1 5th centy. Behind them are side chapels much older, having round and pointed arches in combination, which marks the period of transition. The tower in the centre of the cross rests on square piers which become octa- gonal below by chamfering. The con- vent buildings are now occupied by a farmer. The Chapterhouse, a double pointed vault elegantly groined, rest- ing on angular pillars and entered by a^ fine doorway deep sunk in its early English mouldings, is now turned into a woodhouse: it should be seen. 'This "bbey was founded by William de Pagnel 1145, but renovated, or pro- bably rebuilt, in the 15th cent, by Joanne de Pagnel, the last of her family, who was buried in the church with her husband Louis d'Estouteville, the defender of Mont St. Michel against the English (p. 93). Their tombs were destroyed at the Revolution. About 5 m. from Hambye is Perci, cradle of the Earls of Northumberland. The high road to Granville may be regained at Bre*hal. The direct road from Coutances to Granville has no interest. 19 Brelial. Trees diminish in size and number on approaching the sea, glimpses of which and the island of Chaussey are seen at intervals. The entrance to Granville is by a steep descent, excavated partly through a deep hollow way ; on the rt. a natural wall of rock separates the road from the sea-shore, and through a gap cut in it access is afforded to the baths and sea-beach. In front rises a high hill, its slope cut away evenly and levelled, until it is as steep and smooth as the roof of a house, in order to form a glacis for the fort on its top. A bend in the road presently discloses to view the lower town and harbour. 10 Qranvxlle. — Inn : H. du Nord, improved and good. This is a small but tolerably prosperous seaport (7600 Inhab.)* chiefly resorted to by fishing vessels, but driving some commerce along the coast and with Jersey (33 m. distant) and Guernsey. Its situation is singular, built in steps or terraces under a rocky pro- montory projecting into the sea, sur- mounted by the fort, whose presence restricts many of the buildings from rising above one story in height. Under the shelter of this eminence lies the little port, screened by it from the N. winds. A new town is gra- dually spreading itself along the low margin of this harbour, and up the banks of a stream so small that it is generally swallowed up in soapsuds, and contributes, with the filthy abomi- nations of the town itself, especially at low water, when the harbour is drained to the lees of mud, to produce a state of atmosphere barely tolerable. The Normandy. Route 27. — Granville — Avranches. 91 sombre hue of the buildings, whose walls are dark granite and their roofs black slate, renders Granville on a near examination as unattractive to the sight as to the smell, and moreover it contains no objects of interest. The stranger desirous to rescue him- self from ennui must repair to the noble JPier, begun 1828 and still unfinished, enclosing an older one in its much wider circuit. It is very strongly built, so that guns can be mounted on it. The tide rises and falls here at times from 40 to 44 feet. Steamers go hence to Jersey (in 3 hours) and to St. Malo once a week. The Church at the W. end of the town is a low gloomy building, chiefly in the late flamboyant style, though it has some round arches. It is of grey granite, even the capitals of its columns being worked in that hard stone. In order to ascend the hill above the old town it is advisable not to thread the labyrinth of filthy alleys, steep slopes, and stone steps which compose it, but to issue out by the road to Coutances, and then scale the steep slope no farther than the walls of the fort, a point which commands a good sea view. Close under the cliffs lie the baths (Salon des Bains) and reading-room, which can be ap- proached only through the breach m the rock before alluded to, leading also down to the sands, a fine smooth and broad expanse, quite shut out from the town. There are no machines ; instead of them bathers are enclosed in cases of canvas carried in the fashion of sedan-chairs, and they must walk into the water thick-clad : the ladies led by the women : the men are banished to the distance of £ m. to the N.— British Consul here. Though Granville is not a particu- larly strong place, it resisted effect- ually the attack of the peasant army of Verufeans, 30,000 strong, on their ill-fated march, N. from the Loire, in 1793, led on by the gallant Laroche- jacquelin. The inducements of the royalists to make this attempt were the hope of opening a communication by the sea with England, whose go- vernment had promisee! to send them succour ; and to secure a fortified place where they could deposit in safety the women and children, the sick and the priests, who embarrassed the opera- tions of the army. The Vendeans, being destitute of artillery to breach the ramparts, were unable to resort to a regular siege. The attempt to storm the place, though conducted with the most dashing courage, was foiled. More than once these brave soldiers gained the ramparts, sometimes sup- plying the want of scaling ladders by sticking their bayonets into the chinks of the masonry, but as often they were swept off by grape and mus- ketry from the walls and gunboats in the harbour, until at length they were forced to retire with a loss of 1800 killed. Their army never advanced farther N. ; this was the culminating point of their success, and from hence- forth they were compelled to retreat. During this attack the suburbs of the town were set on fire by the repub- lican commander of the fortress and burnt down. It is a very pretty ride from Gran- ville to Avranches ; the view obtained from the height, after crossing the wooded dell of Sartilly, of the peaked rock of Mont St. Michel, is especially striking. f About 4 m. N.E. of Sartilly is the ruined abbey of Luzerne. The granite church, in the transition style, is tole- rably perfect : it was completed 1178, except the nave, which is later. The conventual buildings, turned into a cotton-mill at the Revolution, are fast going to decay. The situation in a wooded valley is very beautiful. The road from Sartilly is wretchedly bad.] 26 Avranches. — (Inns: H. de Lon- dres ; very good, clean, and moderate : table-d'hdte 1J or 2 fr., breakfast 1 J fr. ; garden behind. This house would prove a cheap and pleasant residence for a few weeks. H. de France ; H. de Bretagne; both tolerable. H. d'An- gleterre.) Avranches (Abrancse), a town of 7269 Inhab., is now chiefly remarkable for its very beautiful situa- tion on the sides and summit of a high hill, the last of a widely extending ridge, rendered accessible for the high 92 Route 27. — Avranches. Sect. I. road by broad terraces carried up its steep slope in zigzags. *The view which you obtain in ascending, and especially that from the little mound on the 1. of the road before you enter the town, in front of the Sous-Pre'fecture, is one of the most beautiful in the N. of France. The landscape abounds in wood, with partial clearances of well-cultivated corn-land, through the midst of which winds the river, flashing in glittering pools until expanding into a broad estuary it meets the sea, which borders the horizon. But the prominent fea- ture of the view is the peaked rock of Mont St. Michel, and the twin islet of Tombeleine rising grandly from the hem of the waters. Under this mound is a Public Walk planted with trees, formerly the garden of the Archeveche, in the midst of which a statue of General Valhubert, a native of Avranches, who fell at Austerlitz, is set up. The cathedral of Avranches, one of the noblest in Normandy, and the chief ornament of the town, was pulled down to prevent its falling 1799: its site remains an open platform, com- manding an extensive view, and now named Place Huet, from the celebrated Bishop of Avranches. All traces of the church are swept away, save a sin- gle stone, la Pierre de Henri II, said to be that on which the king kneeled, a humble penitent, before the Papal Le- gates, to make atonement for the mur- der of Becket, "which had affected him more than the death of his own father or mother." After swearing on the Gospels that he had neither ordered nor desired it, he here received the Papal absolution, 1172. The stone stands at what formed part of the door of the N. transept, and is surrounded by a chain. There are some portions remaining of the old ramparts of the town with herringbone and other masonry. Another point of view, preferable perhaps, in some respects, even to that above described, is obtained from the Jardin des Plantes. There is an extensive Public Library here, containing 10,000 volumes and some old MSS., among which was dis- covered a copy of Abelard's treatise called 'Sic et Non,' published 1836 by M. Cousin. A Museum of Antiquities and a Picture Gallery have been added. The beauty of the situation, the salubrity of the air, and the cheapness of living, have rendered Avranches a favourite residence of the English, who form a considerable colony here. The English Ch. Service is performed in a room once a barrack, in the Bou- levard de l'Ouest, where it joins the Rue Sanguiere. The Post Office is in Rue St. Gervais. The interesting Excursion to Mont St, Michel may be made from Avranches in 8 or 9 hrs. Provide yourself before starting with an order from the Sous- Pre*fet "pour visiter les objects les plus curieux." A one-horse chaise costs 10 frs. In going to Pont Orson and Dol you quit Avranches by another series of zigzags overlooking the bay of Can- cale with Mont St. Michel in the midst, rising above a beautiful foreground of trees, and at Pont au Baud, at the bottom of the hill, you cross the little river Selune. At Louis, 3 m. short of Pont Orson, a cross-road turns off on the rt. to the Mont St Michel, crossing the sands, which are never covered by the sea ex- cept at spring-tides. 22 Pont Orson. Inn : Croix Verte ; tolerable ; it will furnish a horse and car for 5 or 6 fr. to go to Mont St. Michel, and this is the best point to start from. The Castle, now entirely swept away, was intrusted by Charles the Wise, 1361, to Du Guesclin, to hold as a frontier post against the English. During his absence on a foraging ex- pedition, however, it was ver^r nearly lost, through an understanding be- tween an English prisoner, Felton, and the waiting-maids of Du Guesclin's lady. The attempt was discovered, as the enemy were scaling the walls, by his sister, a stout Amazon, who overthrew the ladders into the ditch, and the treacherous waiting-maids were sewed up in sacks and drowned in the river. The interesting granite C%wrcA,partly NOBMANDY. Route 27.— Mont St. Michel. 93 Norman, with a transition W. end and pointed choir, contains, in the N. aisle, a singular series of carvings in stone, representing the Passion — but so muti- lated as to lose much of their value ; also a very old stone altar-table, with sculpture mutilated, in the N. aisle. The Maire of Pont Orson can give an order of admission to see the inte- rior of Mont St. Michel. A good macadamised road, leading from Pont Orson to *Mont St. Michel, 5 m., renders this by far the best approach to the Mount. It passes near Beauvoir and Ardevon, where are the remains of conventual farm- buildings, anciently belonging to the monks of the mount. The road ter- minates on the margin of " la Greve," i.e. the sands, extending for many square leagues all round the mount, and left bare for 4 or 5 hours by the sea, which interrupts the passage to it between 1 and 2 hours near high water. "At neap-tides (aux eaux mortes) the rock is not surrounded by water at all at any part of the day. At spring-tides (aux eaux vives) it is surrounded twice each day, and then the sea sometimes breaks into the sol- diers' mess-room." — G.B.A. The distance across the Greve to the mount is about a mile ; the driest track is firm and perfectly safe for horses or carriages, but on either side are quicksands, which render it dan- gerous to diverge. There always remain behind a few pools which would reach above the ankles of a pedestrian. There is something mys- terious and almost awful in the aspect of this solitary cone of granite, rising alone out of the wide, level expanse of sand. One might imagine it the peak of some colossal mountain just piercing through the crust of the earth, but deprived, at the moment of its appear- ance, of the geological force necessary to rear it aloft Slight as. is its eleva- tion, its isolated position in .the midst of the sea, and its heaven-pointed top, render it the prominent object of every view from the surrounding coast, and from a long distance give it the appearance of being much nearer at hand than it really is. On approach- ing it, it is found to be girt round at its base by a circlet of feudal walls and towers, washed by the sea ; above these rise the quaint irregular houses of the little town, plastered as it were against the rock, and piled one over another. Above them project the bare beds of rock, serving as a pedestal from which the lofty walls, high tur- rets, and prolonged buttresses of the conventual buildings are reared aloft, surmounted in their turn by the pin- nacles and tower of the church (now bearing a telegraph), which crowns the whole, and forms the apex of. the pyramid. Not inferior in interest to its out- ward aspect are the historical asso- ciations connected with this shrine of the Archangel Michael— the successor of Bel and the Dragon — the saint of high places. Holy hermits suc- ceeded to Pagan priests in the posses- sion of this natural temple, which Norman dukes and kings further ho- noured by building a church, and converted into a fortress almost im- pregnable in ancient times. Henry I. here effectually resisted his two elder brothers. Here Henry IT., in 1166, kept his court and received the homage of the turbulent Bretons, whom he had subdued with a strong arm. This was the only fortress which held out for the French king when all Nor- mandy was overrun by the armies, of the conqueror of Azincour ; success- fully withstanding 2 sieges, in 1417 and 1423, under the brave Louis d'Estouteville. The shrine of St. Michel was for ages visited yearly by thousands of devotees from far and near, and the records of the convent preserve the names of more than a dozen royal pilgrims who have re- paired hither to prostrate themselves as penitents before it, and to load it with their bounty. The Revolution dispersed the monks, interrupted the pilgrimage, and changed the desti- nation of the building to a Prison, in which 300 aged priests were immured until death should release them. Its prisons and oubliettes, however, are of far greater antiquity. Who has not heard of the iron cage of St. Michel, 94 Route 27. — Mont St. Mickeh Sect. I. which, though originally of metal bars, was afterwards changed to one of thick beams of wood placed 3 inches apart ? Its last occupant was an un- fortunate Dutch journalist, who was seized most unjustifiably, beyond the territory of France, for having abused the unscrupulous tyrant Louis XIV., who treated the Dutchman as he did the Italian prisoner of the iron mask. St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall, which bears so remarkable a resemblance to this, though on a smaller scale, was one of the foreign dependencies of the abbey. The entrance to Mont St. Michel is by 3 gates, one within the other, the second flanked by 2 of the cannon with which the English forces of Henry V. ineffectually bombarded the mount in 1424, firing from them stone balls 1 ft in diameter. Near this the arms of the knights of St. Michel, with a lion for supporter, are seen carved in the wall: the third gate is provided with a portcullis ; outside of it is the little Inn (tolerably clean, decent cook- ery ; crabs, shrimps, and other fish may be got here). The town (so to call it) consists of one narrow, steep, and very foul-smelling lane. The best way of ascending is by the ramparts, turning to the rt. after passing the gate, up a succession of grass-grown flights of stairs "hanging to the side of the rock," provided with machicoulis at the side to annoy an enemy below. The uppermost gateway, leading into the castle convent, stands midway across a flight of steps, and is flanked by 2 bartizans or turrets ; it " is very scenic and baronial," built probably 1*257 ; but the chamber of knights and princes now re-echoes to the clank of chains and the rattle of the shuttle and beam. The present destination of the building is a prison. The formality of delivering the order for admission having been gone through at this gate, the stranger is conducted by dark mys- terious vaults and passages, up and down gloomy stairs. The convent- building, called " the Marvel," consists of 3 stories, the lower one a series of vaulted crypts, once used for stables; above this 2 noble halls, probably erect- ed by Philip Augustus, who was a great benefactor; and above all the cloister and dormitory. The * Cloisters, the most beautiful part of the building, and a gem of Gothic architecture, unique of its kind, were built between 1220 and 1228. Towards the court they are supported by a double row of pointed arches resting on thin granite pillars, leaving an ex- quisitely groined narrow vault between the rows. The pillar of one arch alter- nates with the point of the next, so as to allow a most graceful carved volute or sprig, issuing from the capital of every alternate pillar, to be seen. The spandrils of the arches are filled up with a vegetative creation of foliage, sprigs, flowers, garlands, such as is scarcely to be equalled anywhere for fanciful variety, and sharpness and excellence of execution ; the whole is surmounted by a cornice of flowers, and is in good preservation. It highly merits to be drawn in detail. The arches and carvings are of soft lime- stone brought from a distance ; all the rest of the buildings are of granite, and the rock of St. Michel itself is of that stone. The Chambre des Chevaliers, below the cloisters, is a noble hall or nave, of 4 finely-vaulted aisles, supported on 3 rows of pillars, and measures 98 ft. by 68. The chapters of the knights of the order of St. Michel, founded 1496 by the bigot Louis XI., who twice re- paired hither as a pilgrim, were held in it. This is now filled with the looms at which the prisoners are com- pelled to work, and is shown to strangers provided with a special order. La Salle de Montgomery, or monks' Re- fectory, is also a fine Gothic apart- ment. The Church of the convent consists of 2 parts, of different ages and styles. The Romanesque nave, in the massive style of the 12th cent, (about 1140), with slightly ornamented capitals and a wooden roof, is now used as a chapel for the convicts. The pointed Gothic choir is of the 15th cent. (1452-1521): — the mouldings of die arches are car- ried down into the reeding of the piers Normandy. 4 te 27.— Mont St. Michel— Dol 95 without any interruption of capitals. The arches are closed up with walls, into which curious Scriptural bas-re- liefs, such as Adam and Eve driven from Paradise, Noah's ark, &c, St. Michael killing the dragon, very gro- tesquely treated, are let in. The piers supporting the central towers having given way, owing to the injury they received from a fire, the last of the 8 or 10 conflagrations, several of them caused by lightning, which at different times have consumed the abbey, the arches of the transept are staved up by a complicated framework of timber to prevent the roof falling. Beneath the choir of the church a circle of drum-like pillars, set very close together, with one in the centre, sup- ports the superincumbent weight, and forms a curious crypt. The view from the top of the church, elevated 400 ft. above the sands, from amidst its florid buttresses and pin- nacles, now much mutilated, is curious. The Rochers du Cancale, on the coast of Brittany, the town of Avranches, and the neighbouring rock of Tombeleine, are the most conspicuous objects ; all around is, as the tide ebbs or flows, either a waste of sand, interspersed with pools and channels of rivers, or a wild expanse of tossing waves. " The sea has receded from this coast of late years, so that it barely reaches the Mount except at spring-tides, and it then rises with such rapidity as to be extremely dangerous, especially as it renders the sand quick for some dis- tance in advance of it." — J.H. P. For- merly, owing to the short stay the sea made round the walls at every tide, the castle was hardly accessible by a boat, and from this circumstance, and its amphibious position, changing twice a- dav from land to water, its strength as a fortress arose. The river Couesnon, crossed by a bridge on quitting Pont Orson for Dol, forms the boundary between Normandy and Brittany. A fertile and very pictu- resque country succeeds, well wooded ; in fact, one entire orchard, the corn- fields being invariably planted with rows of fruit-trees. A last view is ob- tained of Mt. St. Michel from a lofty hill over which the road is carried. The caps worn by the women here- abouts consist of a piece of white linen, bent like a roof, laid on the top of the head, the front, or gable, turned up in a sort of scroll, exactly corresponding with that seen on monumental effigies in English churches, of ladies of the 15th and 16th cent. 19 Dol. — Inns: La Grande Maison, not very good ; homely, but not dear ; Hdtel de Notre Dame. Dol is a remarkable town, as bearing thoroughly the aspect of ancient days : the black hue of the granite of which its houses are built, contrasting some- times with splashes of whitewash dashed over them, the heavy projecting gables, the arcades of various heights and pat- terns running under the houses, the quaintly carved granite pillars on which they rest, all give a peculiar character to the place, and offer some good bits for the artist's pencil, while he may fill a sketch-book with costumes in its market-place. It has 3990 Inhab. and a considerable corn-market held in a desecrated church (des Cannes) distin- guished by fine flamboyant W. window and a Norman nave. The chief building is the * Cathedral (before the Revolution an episcopal see), build of sombre grey granite, uniformly in the early pointed style, except the porches ; that on the S. leading into the nave being florid, and having carvings in white stone like those in the cloister of Mont St. Michel. The arches of the nave have deep mouldings, and rest ou circular piers, composed of a group of 4 columns, the inner one towards the nave being detached half-way up to the roof, where it becomes engaged like the rest. The choir, more ornamented than the nave, but in the same style, has a square E. end, like the English churches, but behind the high altar is an open arch of two divisions separated by a slender pillar admitting a view into a small Lady Chapel behind. The space above this arch is occupied by a large E. window filled with old and 96 Route 27. — Dol — Cancale — St. Malo. Sect. I. good painted glass. These are the most striking points in this fine edifice, which is worthy of attention for its similarity to the Gothic of England; indeed many of the churches of Brit- tany are said to be the work of English architects. There is an antique building called le Palais or Maison des Plaids, appa- rently Romanesque. The old *uoalls of Dol remain toler- ably perfect, wanting the gates ; many of their flanking towers and bastions are surmounted with deep machicoulis, and the whole is surrounded by a fosse. A high Terrace walk has been formed on the outside of this, and planted with trees. On the side of the town next the cathedral a view is obtained from this walk of the solitary eminence of Mont Dol, a granite rock something like Mont St. Michel, only rising out of the dry land. (See below.) These antiquated fortifications of the 15th and 16 th cent, were defended by the Vend£ans after their retreat from Granville against the Republican army, which was beat off after a bloody com- bat of 15 hours' duration, and com- pelled to retreat. The tract of land between Dol and the sea, a distance of 3 m., is chiefly marsh gained from the waters by em- bankments ; very fertile, but teeming with miasma, which, however, has di- minished of late from improved drain- age. A tremendous irruption of the sea, reclaiming its own, in the beginning of the 17th cent., overwhelmed this dis- trict. About a mile outside of Dol, and £ m. to the 1. of the Rennes road, is one of those Druidical stones, so common in Brittany, called Menhirs (see p. 105). It is known as la Pierre du Champ Dolenty a name which probably marks it as a funereal monument, perhaps on some field of blood or battle. It is a rude, skittle-shaped obelisk of grauite, a single block, 30 ft high above ground, and 8 or 10, it is said, below, rising in the midst of a cornfield, and sur- mounted by a wooden cross. On the way to St. Malo you pass on the rt. the Mont Dol, a granite rock surmounted by a telegraph, rising out of the fiat land, and most probably once an island in the bay of Mont St Michel, for the sea no doubt once extended thus far. Where the road reaches the present margin of the bay the shore is lined by a long scattered village, composed of nearly as many windmills as cottages. Not a boat can approach them, owing to the shallow- ness of the water, although the tide comes up to their doors twice a day. On the W. shore of the bay, however, is the small port of Cancale— 4880 In- hab. — visible on the rt., backed by high cliffs, famed for the oyster-beds on the Rochers de Cancale below them, whence Paris and a large part of France are supplied. In 1758 an army of 14,000 Eng- lish, under the Duke of Marlborough, landed here, but after fruitlessly sum- moning St. Malo, which was found too strong to be taken by assault, they re- embarked, having burned a few small vessels; and, as H.Walpole said, "The French learned that they were not to be conquered by every Duke of Marl- borough." 28 St. Malo. — Inns : H. de France ; rooms at 1, 2, and 3 frs. per bed ; table- d'hdte at 5, 3 frs.; dejeuner a la four- chette, 2 frs. 50 c. ; in this house Cha- teaubriand was born ;— H. de la Pais, food ; in high repute for its cuisine, 'his fortified seaport town (pop. 10,100) may be styled a little French Cadiz from its position on a rocky island (l'lle d'Aron) communicating with the mainland by a long causeway called Le Sillon : the mouth of the river Ranee, which forms the port, being separated from the open sea by the island and this causeway. The town fills the island completely, so that its picturesque walls and flanking towers, surmounted by a deep cornice of machicoulis, rise at once from the water's edge, washed by the waves ; and the houses and build- ings squeezed closely together, having no room for lateral extension, rise to the height of 5 or 6 stories above its narrow and filthy lanes. The tides rise here higher than at any other point in the Channel, viz. to an elevation of 45 to 50 ft. above low- water mark, and the harbour, which is NOBMANDY. Route 2T.—St. Malo. 97 protected by a stout pier, is drained perfectly dry at ebb, so that carriages and foot passengers cross it to go to the populous suburb St. Servan (9984 Inhab.), in places covered an hour or two before with 4 fathoms of water. But a solid wall of granite, designed to be carried across from St. Servan, with lock-gates in the centre wide enough to admit steamers and frigates, so as to retain the tide, and form a floating dock (bassin a flot) of very large dimensions, has been begun. This if finished would open a second approach from the Bennes road to St. Malo, across a bridge to be thrown over the lock-gates. These works, unfortunately, are making very little progress (1851). After an expenditure of more, than 6 millions of francs symptoms of failure have shown them- selves in the pier and quays, and it seems likely that this vast undertaking will be abandoned. The harbour is lined with a broad quay running just under the town walls, and here the steamers moor when the tide permits them to enter. The Town walls afford an almost unin- terrupted walk around the island, and the circuit may be made in J of an hour. The view out to sea is varied by the little archipelago of islands; — white, angular, bare rocks which raise their bristling heads around the roads : the larger ones crowned with forts and batteries. That called La Conchee is occupied by a strong citadel built by Vauban; and Cisambre, 6 m. off, is also strongly fortified. The smaller isles and the sunken rocks attached to them render the access to the port difficult* ' The public buildings are of no in- terest : on the side of the town nearest the Sillon, and separated from it by a bridge, is the old Castle, which, together with a large part of the fortifications, may have been constructed in the 16th cent, by Anne of Brittany, who placed over one of the towers this inscription — "Qui qu'en grogne, ainsi sera, c'est mon plaisir." The Cathedral, very ca- pacious and much modernised, has a choir something like that of Dol, and a new gaudy Gothio altar from Paris, with several marble statues worth notice. France. The sabbath is more strictly ob- served by the Malouins, and indeed in Brittany generally, than in most other parts of France. English service is performed in a small old chapel, in the suburb of St. Servan, on Sunday. The statue opposite the Hdtel de Ville is that of Duguy Trouin, a native of St. Malo (born 1673), and a naval hero of whom the French are very proud, " parcequ'il a chasse* les Anglais sur toutes les mere." The illustrious Chateaubriand first drew breath in the Rue des Juifs, No. 15, in the house which is now the H. de France, in the room marked No. 5, from the window of which the sea and his tomb are visible. The Abbe' de la Mennais, author of Paroles d'un Croyant, and Mane* de la Bourdonnais, governor of the French East Indies, who took Madras from the English, 1746, were also Malouins. On the sea-shore, by the side of the Sillon, just beyond the castle, on the rt. of the road from Dol, are Sea-baths and a Subscription Heading-room. There is a large expanse of sand extending at low water a&kfar as a little rocky island in front, well adapted for bathing, but unprovided with machines. St. Malo was bombarded by an Eng- lish fleet in 1692, and by another under Admiral Berkeley, 1695 — both times with slight result. In June, 1758, an army under the 2nd Duke of Marlborough, having landed in the Bay of Cancale, burned 80 vessels lying in the harbour of St. Malo. St. Malo flourished during the last war, when it was styled the "Ville de Corsaires," fitting out privateers to prey on the commercial ships of England ; many large fortunes were then made. The best view to be obtained of St. Malo is from the half-ruined Fort de la Cite", situated on the promontory a little to the W. of St. Servan, reached by the first turning on the rt. after you enter that suburb from St. Malo. Hence from a considerable elevation you look down upon the town, upon the singular inlets of the sea branching out into the land which form the har* hour, and on the archipelago of little I 98 Saute 29. — Caen to Tours — Falaise. Sect. I. islands grouped around its entrance. Among them the islet of Grand Bey, situated to the 3. W. of the town, chosen by Chftteaubriand for his last resting- place, and bestowed upon him by the municipality of his native town, is con- spicuous. His fellow-citizens erected a tomb on it to contain his remains. Immediately beneath the spectator on his 1. rises the triangular tower of the Solidor, a feudal fort 60 ft. high, with flanking towers at its angles, ap- proached by a drawbridge. It is now a prison. At St. Servan the Union Boarding- house is recommended; charges 5 fr. a day, or 100 fr. a month, exclusive of wine. Diligences daily to Rennes (Rte. 41) and Paris (Rte. 35), to Brest (Rte. 36), to Dinan (Rte. 41), to Dol and Caen (Rtes. 27 and 31). Steamer*, It is a pleasant excursion up the river Ranee from St. Malo to Xtinant. A small steamer ascends and returns with the ebb, when the state of the tide permits. (Rte. 41.) Steamers once or twice a week to and from Jersey, where they corre- spond with the boats to Southampton. ROUTE 29. CAEN TO TOUR8, BT FALAISE, ALENCON, AND LE MANS — RAIL. 232 kilom. = 143£ Eng. m. Diligence daily from Caen to Falaise. "Railway in progress. It branches out of the line from Paris and Rouen to Caen and Cherbourg (Rte. 25) at Mezidon, It is open from Alencon to Le Mans. St. Pierre-sur- Dives. Here is a very fine Ch. to which was formerly attached a large monastery, suppressed at the Re- volution. The towers of the W. front are fine ; one, the S., Norman, the N. in the pointed style with deeply moulded lancet windows. Some of the painted glass is apparently very old. But a much more interesting object to the student of ecclesiastical architecture is to be found at about a league hence, viz. the ch. of Viel Pont-en-Auge which belongs to the 5th to the 10th centy., and presents fine specimens of the pe- culiar masonry ("petit appareir') of that time. About 7 m. from Caen, and 2 or 3 to the rt. of the post road, lies Fontenay le Marmion, cradle of the family of Marmion. 20 Langannerie. The country for the first 2 stages is bare, open, and monotonous, until the castle of Falaise is perceived on the rt. rising out of a picturesque valley. 6 m. short of Falaise, and nearly 2 to the 1. of the road, lie the rocks of St. Quentm, sometimes called Brtche du D table, a rocky gorge bounded by pre- cipices, pinnacles, &c. It has been compared with Cheddar Clif&, only on a much smaller scale. 15 Falaise. Inns: H. du Grand Cerf ; H. de France, good. This an- cient and not very prospering town of 9580 Inhab. occupies the summit of a lofty platform, bordering on a rocky precipice, or Falaise, whence its name. One very populous suburb has ex- tended into the narrow ravine below this precipice; and another, situated at the distance of 1 m. to theE., called Guibray, now rivals the town itself in Bize and population, and is distin- guished for its Fairs established by William the Conqueror, held in August, celebrated for the horses then brought to market. Falaise is a dull lifeless town at present, having only one ob- ject of interest to the passing traveller — the Castle, one of the few real Nor- man fortresses remaining in France, the ancient seat of the Dukes of Nor- mandy, and the birthplace of William the Conqueror. It is a grand and pic- turesque ruin, occupying a command- ing position at the extremity of the town, where the platform is cut into a narrow promontory by gullies which isolate it on 3 sides, rendering it a place of great strength, until the in- vention of gunpowder. To this it was indebted for the 9 sieges which it had to endure. The approach to it is be- hind the modern Hotel de Tille. A college or grammar school has been planted within the exterior court. A grassy terrace walk along the ramparts, shaded with trees, leads to the Norman Donjon Keep, an oblong square, whose walls, supported by high and massy buttresses, rise abruptly from the edge of the precipitous rocks de Norrou* It Normandy. R. 29. — Falaise. 31. — Caen to Rennes. 99 1b now a mere shale, partly filled with rubbish ; its walls show traces of herringbone masonry, and retain se- veral round-headed windows, of 2 lights supported on short pillars, and having capitals carved with Runic knots. In one corner a cell is shown in which, according to the tradition, the Conqueror was born. From those windows and ruined walls you look down into the Val d'Ante, so called from the small stream which runs through it, crowded with mills and tanneries. It was while gazing upon this seene, according to the tradition, that Duke Robert, the father of the Conqueror (like David of old), first espied Arlotte, the tanner's fair daugh- ter, and became at once so smitten with her charms, that he made her his mistress, and continued faithful to her until death. The keep is surpassed in elevation by Tatbotfs tower, a cylinder of beau- tifully smooth and perfeet masonry, rising beside it to a height of more than 100 ft., crowned with a rim of broken machicoulis. Its walls, 15 ft. thick, enclose a winding stair leading to the top, and a well opening into each of the 5 vaulted stories. The chapel is converted into a powder magazine. This tower is supposed to have been built by "Valiant Talbot," who was lord warden of the "Marche Normande," after the capture of Falaise by Henry V., between 1418 and 1450. Henry assaulted the castle from the top of the still loftier cliff Mont Mirat, on the opposite side of the ravine, where traces of his intrenchments still remain: the siege lasted more than 4 months. On the other side of the castle is a relic of another siege, viz. the breach in the wall by which Henri IV. carried the fortress by assault, after 7 days of cannonade, in 1589. A bronze equestrian statue of Wm. the Conqueror was set up by his fellow townsmen in 1851, in Trinity-square, lit the foot of the Castle. He is repre- sented in the attitude of leading on his followers to invade England! The churches are not remarkable. A considerable portion of the old town walls remain, running round the edge of the ravines, through which the stranger may ramble agreeably, either upwards into the suburb of Val d'Ante, the birthplace of the Conqueror's mo- ther, below the castle keep, or, issuing out of the picturesque " Porte des Cor- deliers," the only gate remaining per- fect, he may follow the direction of the Ante downwards through shady lanes, and re-enter the town by the dismantled Porte St. Laurent. There are some old houses and picturesque huts in the suburb Guibray. The Saturday market exhibits a larger collection and greater variety of quaint old Norman female headdresses than any other in Normandy perhaps. There are several cotton-mills in the vicinity, and the weaving of nightcaps occupiesa considerable number of hands. Railway in progress to 22 Argentan. — Inn: Trois Maures (?). A town of 6147 Inhab., on the Orne, surrounded by ramparts. Rail, opened 1857 to 23 S&z (in Rte. 21). 21 Alencon Stat (in Rte. 35). The rly. was opened hence to Le Mans, 1856, 56 kit. = 34 m.; 4 trains daily in about 1} hrs. It has 5 bridges over the Sarthe. 10 Bourg-le-Roi Stat. 6 La Hutte Stat. 6 Fresnay. 6 Vivoin Stat. 10 Mont Bizot Stat. 17 Neuville Stat. 9 Le Mans Stat, (in Rte. 46). Rly. to Tours to be open in 1857. 21 Ecommoy. — Jim: Poste. 20 Chateau du Loir. — Inn: Poste. The Castle, after which this village is named, is gone; it was built 1080 by Robert JEveille-chien, Due d' Anjou. The cliffs near this are hollowed into caves, serving partly for houses to more than 100 poor families, partly as cellars for the richer. 20 La Roue in Touraine. 20 TotJRS (in Rte. 53). ROUTE 31. CAEN TO EENNES, BY VIBE, MOBTAIN, AND FOUGERES. 171 kilom. = 106 Eng. m. 2 Diligences daily. r 2 100 Route 81. — Caen to Rennet — Vire — Mortaht. Sect. T: The road conducts through some of the most pleasing scenery in Nor- mandy; at first it ascends the valley of the Odon, in which lies 13 Mondrainville. We now enter the Bocage of Normandy, a pretty wooded district, situated about the source of the Orne, Odon, and Vire. 12 Villars Bocage; here is an hos- pice, founded 1366 by Jeanne Bacon, of Mollay. 15 MenilauZouf. 12 Vire (Inns: H. St. Pierre, clean and moderate, fine view ; Cheval Blanc, not good), a picturesque an- tique town (pop. 8000), the capital of the Bocage, situated on a lofty emi- nence, bordered by ravines. A Norman Castle occupies the extreme point of the promontory, naturally inaccessible on 3 sides, owing to the precipices which surround it; and on the 4th originally separated from the town by a deep ditch. It is now reduced to the fragment of the tall keep, a con- struction of the 11th cent., having been dismantled 1630, by order of Richelieu, but its ruins are preserved, and surrounded by a sort of dusty pleasure-ground or plantation belong- ing to a private individual. It com- mands a view of the country around, streaked with long lines of " tenters " upon which cloth is hung, and especi- ally of the 2 valleys beneath it, called, par excellence, Les Vaux de Vire, whence comes the word Vaudeville, originally applied to the merry and humorous drinking songs composed among these valleys by one Oliver Basselin. He was a native of Vire, and owner of a fulling-mttf, which still remains at no great distance from the town. He flourished in the 15th centy., and is reported to have been present at the battle of Formigny. His chansons, chiefly in praise of good wine and his native province, soon became so popular over France, that their name was transferred to those truly national dramas peculiar to the French stage, in which the plot or story is carried through chiefly by songs. In the narrow and steep streets of Vire may be found many specimens of ancient domestic architecture, well adapted for the artist's sketch-book. The Ch. of Notre Dame is a fine build' ing; but the chief boast of Vire are the walks in and about it. Terraced paths are carried up the hill side amidst thickets and plantations, commanding at intervals very pleasing views. The valleys in the neighbourhood, generally shut in by craggy heights and copse-covered slopes, abound in mills of paper and cloth, in which the clothing for the French army is made. This gives employment to half the inhabitants of Vire. On the 10th of August the "F6te des Drapiers" is celebrated here, and more than 10,000 persons assemble under the apple trees, which are illuminated at night for the occasion. Vire has a gastronomic celebrity for chitterlings (andouilles)and for pastry* Diligences, several daily, to Av- ranches through a beautiful country, "rich swelling hills, green meadows, and vast seas of waving wood. The first view of Avranches, about 8 m. before you get there, with the rich foreground, the spire of the town crowning the height, . and the sea be- yond, with Mont St. Michel rising out of it, is truly striking." — W. J. [10 m. S.E. of Vire is Tinchebray, where Robert of Normandy succumbed in battle to his younger brother Henry, 1106. This victory secured a throne to the one prince, and a prison for life to the other.] 13 Sourdeval. 10 Mortain. (Inn: La Poste, opposite the Ch. ; not bad, but not clean.) Mor- tain, a decayed and lifeless town, occu- pies a position nearly resembling that of Vire, and at least equally romantic. "The valleys are narrower, the steeps more rocky and better wooded; the river at the bottom is more consider- able, and a wide extent of distant Cam- pagna is seen through the jaws of the ravine. The whole scene put me in mind of Italy and of Tivoli, and the cascades which we heard from above and visited afterwards helped to keep up the resemblance." — G. Knight. " You descend to the side of the old Castle, but .when you arrive there you find it a most suitable spot for an eagle's nest. A jutting cliff, only con- nected to the height by a narrow ledge Normandy. Haute 32. — Bayeux to Avranches — St. Lo. 101 of rock, afforded just space enough for a feudal fortress. The strength of this fortress made it once a place of im- portance. Here dwelt the brothers and the sons of kings of England." The whole of this venerable structure has been levelled with the dust, and in its place now rises the staring modern Sous-Prefecture. The Collegiate Ch. has been ground- lessly pronounced to be a work of the year 1082, when a church is known to have been founded here. But the only fragment remaining of that epoch is a circular doorway leading into the nave on the S. side, ornamented with zigzags and saw-tooth ornaments ; the rest is of the pure and unmixed early pointed style of the 13th cent., and the clumsy junction of the new wall around the old circular portal is very apparent. The arches of the nave rest on thick short pillars; those of the choir are narrower. About a mile out of the town, seated j in a secluded valley, is the Abbaye Blanche, founded 1105. The Church, restored with care 1850, is in the Transition style, round-headed win- dows alternating with pointed. An early pointed cloister also remains tolerably perfect. The abbey is now a Seminaire for the education of priests. The Cascades of Mortain are the finest, and indeed almost the only ones, in Normandy. About 8 m. from Mortain are the ruins of the Abbey of Savigny, b. 1 173, in the Transition style, but partaking more of the round than pointed cha- racter. 15 St. Hilaire du Harcouet is the entrepot for the agricultural and ma- nufacturing produce of a large part of Brittany: — its markets are greatly fre- quented. The frontier of Brittany is crossed about 4 m. to the N. of 11 Louvigne\ At the door of the present posthouse M. de Lescure, the Vendean chief,, died of his wounds, and was buried at the road-side — site un- known. 16 Fougeres. — Inn: H St. Jacques. This town (4635 Inhab.), once a fron- tier fortress, the key of Brittany on the side of Normandy, "is full of pictu- resque interest. The old town, built on a steep acclivity, shows traces of the Middle Ages; the ancient arcades still obtrude in places upon the streets. It is still surrounded by antique ram- parts. There is a Church of some archi- tectural interest, and a charming promenade, on a high eminence com- manding romantic prospects." — G. Attached to the town walls, at the lower end, is the huge and picturesque ruined Castle t of which the Donjon, built by Olivier de Clisson, and la Tour de Melusine, so named by the former owners, the Lusignans, from the Fair M„ from whom they claimed descent, are the oldest parts of the castle ; the rest of the 14th and 16th cent. ; and the outer towers and cur- tains are still later. Its approaches and defences are very curious. In 1794 Fougeres was seized by the Vendeana. 20 St. Aubin du Cormier. Near this La Tr&nouille gained a decisive vic- tory, in 1488, over Francis II. Duke of Brittany, the Duke of Orleans, after- wards Louis XII., and others, who had leagued against the Crown, 10 Liffre*. 18 Rennes (in Rte. 35). ROUTE 32. BAYEUX TO ST. LO AND AVRANCHES. 90 kilom. = 55} Eng. m. Diligences daily. 13 Vaubadon. The road traverses a portion of the extensive forest of Cerisy. The Abbey of Cerisy, one of the most considerable in Normandy in olden time, lies on the rt. of the road. The church still exists, an early Norman building of the same plain character as St. Stephen's at Caen (p. 73). It was founded 1030, by Robert Duke of Normandy, and com- pleted by his son William the Con- queror. 21 St. Lo (Inns : Soleil Levant ; named from St. Lo, or Laudus, who lived in the 6th centy., and came from this part of Normandy, is pic- turesquely situated, and its Cathedral, standing prominently on the brow of the hill, has an imposing appearance, with its double towers and spires, but as a building it is not of much inter- est. The W. end is florid, of the 15th 102 Route 33. — fougeres to Dinan. Sect. I; centy. ; it has three fine porches, but the upper part is defective and irregu- lar; and, as well as the choir, exhibits marks of slovenliness in its builder. The nave is better, in the pointed style of the 12th centy. Outside the Church, in the N.E. angle, is a fine stone pulpit, with a pyramidal canopy over it. Charlemagne founded here, in the 9th centy., the once celebrated Abbey of St. Croix ; but this building was swept away at the invasion of the Northmen, and the present Eglise de St. Croix, a very curious edifice in the early Norman style, does not appear older than the 11th centy. The nave arches rest on pillars, and the S. side is plainer, and apparently older than the N. Over the round-headed door- way at the W. end is a bas-relief repre- senting St. Lo restoring sight to a blind woman. The adjoining conventual buildings are of late dates. St. Lo is chef -lieu of the Dept. de la Manche, and numbers 8941 Inhab. ; it has a manufacture of fine cloth, but possesses no great attraction to the stranger. There is a small terraced platform to the W. of the cathedral, called Petite Place, which commands a view of the vale of the Vire. The mo- dern H. de Ville is built with consi- derable taste in the style of the Renais- ance. The Haras, Government Stud for improving the breed of horses,! de- serves notice. There are 100 stallions here. Diligences twice a day. to Coutances (Rte. 27 ), passing within a short dis- tance of flauteville, the humble village which sent forth the bold Baron Tail- ored and his six sons to conquer Sicily and Apulia. On the way from St. Lo to Vire (Rte. 31) lies the town of Torigni. The building now used as an Hotel de Ville is one wing of the Cha- teau of the family of Matignon, Counts of Torigni, one of whom, by marriage with Louisa Grimaldi, became Prince of Monaco. In 1793 the building was turned into a prison, and the park, ter- races, and gardens sold piecemeal. The Ch. of St. Laurent is early Nor- man, and that of Notre Dame retains traces of the same style. The road from St. Lo to Avranches lies through 19 Villebaudon. The little humble village Perci was the cradle of the ancestors of the house of Northum- berland. 15 Villedieu les Poelee derives the adjunct to its name from the number of coppersmiths, who drive a thriving trade in pots, pans, and other articles, which the French call dinanderies and quincailleries. These artificers were originally settled here by the Knights Templars, who employed them in making decorations for churches. Here are many furnaces for melting the copper, and mills for rolling it into sheets. 22 Avranches (Rte. 27). ROUTE 33. FOUGERES TO DINAN. 80 kilom. A fine view of Mount St. Michel be- fore reaching Autrain, on the road between Avran- chances and Rennes. Bazouges la Perouse. In the Church is a fine painted window of the life of Christ, preserved from destruction 1591 (as appears by the parish register) by a ransom of 180 livres, paid to an English leader of marauders. On the way to Combourg, at the roadside, stands a Menhir, La Pierre Longue. Combourg, a poor small town, famed for its sausages and horse-fair, 18m. from St. Malo. The Castle has belong- ed to the Chateaubriands for 150 years, and before them to the Durases. Cha- teaubriand, the author and minister of Louis XVIII., spent part of his boy- hood here, and his chamber and study remain unaltered. It is a square build- ing with towers in the 4 corners, en- closing a small court: it is in perfect preservation, with its wall-galleries, and loopholes. The present entrance, by a long flight of steps, is modern. 4 m. from Dinan, in the midst of a thick wood (rt.), are the ruins of the Castle of the ancient family of the Coetgvens, the last of whom was the Duchesse de Duras. Beneath are large subterranean dungeons. Lanvanay. The viaduct is crossed to reach Dinan. (Route 41.) ( lO* ) SECTION IL BRITTANY. INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION. 1. Character of the Country. 2. People. 3. Language. 4. Celtic Remains classified. 5. Superstition. 6. Churches, Carvings, Flamboyant Gothic, Bone-houses, Kersanton Stone. 7. Connection with England. 8. Chouannerie. 9. Books to con- sult. 10. Tow of Brittany. 11. Accommodation for Travellers. PAGE 109 120 ROUTE 34 Paris to Rennes, by Versailles, Rambomllet, Chartres, Le Mans, and Laval (Railway) . . . 35 Paris to Remiss, by Versailles, Dreux, Verneuil, Alencon, and Laval (Railroads to Ver- sailles) 36 Rennes to Brest, by St. Brieuc and Morlaix 124 St. Brieuc to Brest, by Paim- pol, Lannion, Morlaix, St. Pol de L$on, and Folgoat . . . St. Malo to Nantes, by Dinan, Rennes, and Chdteaubriant. — Ascent of the Ranee . * . 38 41 132 137 ROUTE 42 Morlaix to Nantes, by Huel- goat, Carhaix, Pontivy, Jos- selin, and Ploermel .... 44 Brest to Nantes, by Quimper, Xorient, Auray, the Druidical remains of Carnac and Locma- riaker, Vannes, and Roche Ber- Ttarw • • i . . . . . . •45 Rennes to Vannes, by Ploer- mel.— Excursion to Carnac . 46 Le Mans to Mantes, by Angers 47 Dreux to Argentan, by l'Aigle PAGE 141 144 15 153 165 1. There can scarcely be a more abrupt contrast to the smiling land of Normandy than that presented by the neighbouring province of sombre, poverty-stricken Brittany. Here we find an atmosphere of mist and moisture ; and a soil based on hard granite, best fitted for heath, furze, and broom, the very broom ( genet) which supplied our first Plantagenet with his crest and name. In many points the country bears a strong resemblance to Scotland; the same wide, barren moors, the same deep and picturesque wooded dells and storm-beaten coasts. Here, however, are no grand lofty mountain chains like the Grampians : the highest ridges of the Menez- Aires hills, the back-bone of the peninsula of Brittany, rarely surpass 1200 ft. above the sea-level. 2. In civilization it is behind almost every other part of France: its inhabitants are of Celtic origin, speaking a language of their own, allied to, and, indeed, essentially the same as, the Welsh and Cornish, so that Breton sailors landing on our coasts can make themselves understood by the Welsh there. It is exclusively spoken to the W. of a line drawn from the point of Finisterre through Chatelaudran and Pontivy; the "Vrai Bretagne Brettonnante," as Froissart calls it, to distinguish it from "La Bretagne Douce," where French is spoken. One of the principal objects of interest and study for the stranger in Brittany is its inhabitants, who have been kept distinct from the rest of France by position as well as difference of language. The peasantry are almost as wild as their country, excessively quaint in their costume, wearing broad-brimmed hats and flowing hair, and in some districts trunk hose (bragous bras = breeks) of the 16th cent. ; in others wrapped up in goat-skins, like Robinson Crusoe, a costume which they retain as it was handed 104 § 2. — Brittany — Character of Country and People. Sect. II. down from their ancestors. They are usually mean and small in their persons ; coarse-featured in face; squalidly filthy in their habitations; rude and unskilful in their agriculture. They are almost unchanged in their manners, customs, and habits : modern innovation has not entirely rubbed off the rust of long- continued habit; old legends and superstitions still retain their hold on the popular mind. They present a curious picture of a primitive state of society; and if a century behind their neighbours in what is called improvements, they are at least not corrupted by revolutions and commotions. In no part of France are the people, both of upper and lower orders, more observant of their religious duties, of festivals, fasts, &c. ; nowhere are the churches so thronged. " There is much picturesque beauty in Brittany, though of a character not so imposing at first sight as that of countries moulded on a grander scale. Scenery of great and winning loveliness is to be found on the banks of the Trieux, the Lannion, the Chateaulin, and the Ranee, and in many other secluded and scarcely accessible valleys, where the 'broomie knowe/ the wooded dell, and the rocky cliff alternately border the brawling mountain torrent, as it flashes along its stony bed, or is pent up in the still pool of an old water-mill, which looks as if it had stood untouched (as it has perhaps) from the time of the ' good Duchess Anne.' The quaint ana1 antique aspect of the buildings adds much to the picturesque character of the country! Some, as in Dinan, Morlaix, Quimper, &c., are framed of timber, with projecting stories resting on gro- tesquely carved brackets ; but generally the houses both in the towns and vil- lages are of grey granite, with massive round or ogee arched imposts to the doors, and windows,, often enriched with Gothic mouldings; and presenting, from the peculiar colour and grain of the stone, an appearance of antiquity even in buildings recently erected. The churches again are features of great interest and beauty scattered profusely over the country, and many a ruined castle or tower, or dilapidated, ' manoir ' with its old avenue, huge granite portals, round turrets, and 'extinguisher' roofs, recalls the days of the Breton chivalry. Add to these characteristic features, that the country is usually very intricate and thickly wooded, the enclosures being small and surrounded by high earthen banks, upon which, from six to ten feet above the level of the road or field, grows a close phalanx of timber-trees, oak, elm, or ash, gnarled and pollarded into grotesque forms, and intercepting all view, so as to give rise to constant excitement, as the scene changes almost at every step that the traveller advances." — G. P. 8. "The Bretons are impetuous and violent in their temper, and give way to furious bursts of passion when angry. Their way of living is homely and frugal to a degree, even when in circumstances to afford better fare. Of drink they unquestionably are fond, but it is not a regular habit with them to indulge in strong potations — water is usually drunk at meals, and cider in small quan- tities on Sundays and feasts. Wine is hardly ever tasted in the province, but brandy is cheap and good, as in other parts of France. They live much upon buckwheat, made into cakes, and mix rye with their wheat into a coarse meal, which forms a dark-coloured bread; these, with savoury esculents, and at times salt-fish and meat, constitute the staple of their subsistence. With a climate unfavourable to production, or rather to the maturity of their produce (for the sun is even more coy in Brittany than in the British Isles), and a soil generally of a cold wet character, the Bretons labour under far greater difficulties than their Norman neighbours as to tillage. Yet if they would be guided by wise advice, much progress might be imparted to their well-doing. Even now some improvements have obtained, especially since 1834, and capital is finding its way to the land, although most commonly in the shape of a loan to the occupant, who pledges his land for the amount. When a Breton saves a little money, he buyB more land, if he can; he never seeks to apply more money to the land he has already under culture. The most perceptible feature of difference, perhaps, Brittany. § 4. — Brittany — Celtic Remains. 105 between Normandy and Brittany, is that, in the former, large and commodious farm-buildings are observed around the farmer'* dwelling, whilst in Brittany it is rare to see a barn, or granary, or any roomy out-house — in short, the Bretons pursue the wasteful habit of threshing out their corn in August, and housing it in the grain; paying enormously for such labour (to an ambulant class called "les batteurs"), and losing the otherwise valuable season of warmth and day- light for cleaning and working the soil against seed-time. But having no barns, they must do this. Stacking is unknown, and besides, there is no sheltered floor for threshing on in winter; the threshing grounds, as in Italy (here termed "aires"), are in the open space adjoining the cultivator's dwelling, and are composed of bare earth, swept clean. It is a pretty incident in rural life when you behold all the family at this work, in fine weather, singing as the flail twirls to enliven their toil ; but the inconceivable drawback which it forms to profit- able farming obtrudes itself upon the mind of the traveller and impairs his pleasure at this primitive pastoral picture." "The indescribable forms of many of the caps worn by the Bretonnes are worth remarking. Both Norman and Breton caps are pleasing auxiliaries to the scenery, which they enliven by their snowy whiteness. Old point lace is not unfrequently discerned on peasant heads, and these curious and costly 'coiffures' sometimes adorn the brows of more than one generation in turn. When caught in the rain the women instantly cover their fine caps over with a coloured handkerchief. It is the Bretons who chiefly man the navy of France : their qualities are eminently suited to the seafaring life, and the perseverance and patient courage they display stand out in contrast with the natives of other provinces of France, and denote a totally different origin." — G. 4. Of Ancient Monuments of different ages there is no lack in Brittany, and, above all, of Celtic Remains ; those extraordinary masses of rude unhewn stones whose objects, age, and uses have never been satisfactorily accounted for, but which are supposed to have been in some way connected with the religion of the Druids, and their number would prove this country to have been the chief seat of that mysterious worship. In Great Britain we possess a few, and, above all, we have in Stonehenge a more stupendous monument than any elsewhere; but in Brittany the number is enormous ; almost every wild heath possesses one or more. They are most numerous, however, on the storm-beaten promontories and islands of the W. coast ; especially in the Morbihan, which includes the wondrous stony array of Carnac and the monstrous granitic obelisks of Lok* mariaker, larger than any single blocks at Stonehenge, but now fractured. These rude Remains are of several different kinds, distinguished by the fol- lowing names : — a. Menhir (literally long stone : Ir-min-Sul; long stone of the sun) is a mono- lith in the form of a rude obelisk set upright on one end, whose height much exceeds its breadth. There is a menhir near Dol which rises 30 ft. above the ground, but the largest specimen of this class known is at Plouarzel, near Brest; it exceeds 42 ft. in height. Those at Lokmariaker, now laid prostrate and broken by violence, were more than 60 ft. high, and were thick in proportion. b. Peulven (pillar of stone), an upright stone of inferior height to the menhir; the single stones at Carnac are generally of this class. c. Dolmen (from "taal," table, and "maen," or men, stone), in England commonly called Cromlech, is an arrangement of rude blocks, by which one or more upright stones are made to support a horizontal block or slab. Some- times they nearly resemble a table; the upright stones serving merely as props or legs, and are called in French pierres levies, or pierres couvertes; at others the supporting stones are wide slabs, so arranged as to fit close to one another, and so lofty as to allow a man to walk upright beneath the horizontal roof -stone which they support. Kits Coity House in Kent is an instance of this kind, and there are others in Cornwall, but they are far inferior in size to those of Brittany, |3 106 § 5. — Brittany — Celtic Remains, Sect. 31. which are often 60 or 80 ft. long. The French sometimes call them " aUees couvertes." # d. Kistvaen is similar to the Dolmen, inasmuch as it consists of two rows of upright stones supporting fiat blocks; but the stones are smaller, and the whole structure lower and longer; it appears to correspond with the " Hunnengraber " of North Germany. The most remarkable example is on the island Gavre Innis near Lokmariaker. e. Oalgal is a tumulus, barrow, or cairn ; the largest known is the Butte de Tumiac on the shore of the Sea of Morbihan. The Celtio remains are not confined to Brittany, though most numerous there ; they occur almost invariably on some flat open plain at a distance from the hills, in situations corresponding with Salisbury Plain and Dartmoor in England. Brittany appears, like our Mona, to have been the sacred land of the Gauls, the centre of their worship, to" which probably the various nations and tribes repaired on pilgrimage at stated times to pay their devotions. Of the particular destination or object of these rude elevations in general, or of the individual uses of the different classes enumerated above, no satisfactory explanation has been offered. The accumulated ranges, the long avenues of stones of Carnac and Erdevan, amounting to thousands in number, may have stood in the place of temples where rites of initiation and purification similar to the Grecian mysteries may have been performed. The upright solitary menhir may have been a symbol of some individual deity, as the sun ; the dol- men may have served as an altar or shrine, and the galgal and kistvaen were probably monumental. Equally unexplained are the mechanical means by which a rude people contrived to transport, and to elevate one above another, such huge masses. 5. Their mysterious influence is not yet, by any means, effaced from the mind of the lower orders in Brittany. The first teachers of Christianity in this region found this attachment to superstition so strong, that, after in vain attempting to eradicate it by overthrowing and destroying these rude stones, they altered their plan to that of engrafting, to a certain extent, their own faith upon the old idolatrous worship of stones and fountains, converting the dolmen into a chapel, and making the menhir serve as a pedestal to a crucifix, which it commonly does even to the present day. The influence of paganism lingered long in these remote wilds, attached as it was to visible objects : indeed, the inhabitants of Ouessant are said to have been idolaters until within 150 years. Hence has arisen a strange jumble of Paganism and Romanism; thus pilgrim- ages are made to fountains by those who desire to be relieved from some malady, by pouring its holy water over the affected part : and visits are paid in the depth of night to some solitary menhir by the barren woman, who hopes to become fruitful by rubbing her bosom against the hard stone. Some of these inanimate objects also are supposed to possess virtue to cure the diseases of cattle. Heathen divinities were replaced by saints, of which the number in Brittany exceeds that of any other part of Romanist Europe; most of them are peculiar to the country, their names being unknown elsewhere, and their canonization conferred rather by the popular voice than with the authority of the Pope. Almost every church has its own strange legend, and on its saint's day a pilgrimage or Pardon is celebrated, when indulgence for past sins is obtained, and the penitent pilgrims are no sooner shrived than they begin to run up a fresh score, at the riotous festivities which follow these assemblies. These pardons, or village festivals, which are nearly equivalent to the German kirchweih, the Flemish kermes, and the English wake, deserve the attention of strangers, from the illustrations they afford of Breton life, manners, and costume. 6, In Ecclesiastical Monuments Brittany is not so well furnished as Normandy, Brittany. § 6. — Brittany — Gothic Architecture. 107 but the architecture is of a different style, chiefly the florid or flamboyant Gothic, and of a much later period : indeed, even in architecture, Brittany seems to have been behind the rest of the world, and the fashions of building only reached it when superseded in other parts. The following excellent remarks apply generally to all parts of France, yet will not be out of place here. " The most obvious characteristics of the Flamboyant style are the flat 3-oentred arches of doorways, the entire independence of different pilasters upon the same pier as regards the vertical height of their base mouldings, the scrupulous interpenetration of different mouldings, and the absence of capitals if the arch mouldings are continued on the pier, or their' dying gradually into the pier by penetration if they are not continued on it." — G. B. A. There are some peculiarities in "the Breton style," which render it well worthy the attention of architects. In elaborateness and profuseness of ornament, in the minuteness and delicacy of carving, especially of the foliage (for the figures are inferior), there are some churches in Brittany which yield to few in any part of Europe. As instances may be mentioned those of Folgoat near Brest, St. Pol de Leon, which is remarkable for its exquisite spire, The'ogoneo near Morlaix, St. Herbot near Poulahouan, and the cathedral of Nantes, The Department of Finisterre is the quarter in which churches more espe- cially abound, and it is quite as profusely supplied as Lincolnshire, and many of the village churches are of unusual size and richness. "In the churches near Brest, instead of building a tower with 4 walls, containing windows or panel work, the practice seems to have been to raise stages or floors, one upon another on open arches, so as to make a kind of square pagoda, not contracting in dimensions, through which in certain directions the light is seen and the arch piers look comparatively small. This peculiarity deserves attention from architects." — G, B. A. Several of the churches, even in remote situations, as at St. Herbot, are decorated internally with carvings »» wood and stone ; roodlofts still exist at Folgoat, St. Fiarre le Fahouet (of oak painted and sculptured), Lambader, &c, though scarcely found elsewhere on the continent : painted glass is also by no means uncommon. These very gorgeous churches of Brittany were erected principally from the end of the 14th to the beginning of the 16th cent. Formerly the churchyards and even roadsides were adorned with Crucifixes of most elaborate execution, and comprising a multitude of figures ; "most of them suffered by the Revolution, but many exquisite examples remain almost as perfect as those of Plougastel near Brest, St. Theogonec, &c, and hardly a single point of intersection of two roads can be passed which is not marked by a more or less mutilated cross, oftentimes restored by the piety of the present generation." — G. P, S. The Bone-house or Reliquaxre will be constantly found in the Breton church- yards, and illustrates a curious custom. To allow "the rude forefathers of the hamlet " to repose quietly in the grave is opposed to the ideas of piety and affection in these rude people : after a certain number of years the survivors are required to show their remembrance and respect for their parents and relations by removing the skulls and bones from the coffin and placing them in the Ossuary, — where the former are arranged on shelves, open to the view of all, each with the name or initials in black paint written across the fleshless brow. There is a curious Reliquaire in St. Herbot. One cause of the profuse decoration of these churches, and of their excellent preservation, may be referred to the materials employed— *a greenstone, peculiar to Brittany, called Kersanton (St. Anthony's house), remarkable for the facility with which it is worked, and its tenacity in withstanding the weather. It is believed to be a hornblende rock, with a mixture of oxide of iron, in particles minutely disseminated. It is found only in two localities, on the W. of the harbour of Brest, near the escarped rocks of Quelern, between the river of 108 § 10.— Skeleton Tour of Brittany. Sect. IT. Faou and that of Landerneau. It is regarded as volcanic, both from its com- position and because the rocks adjacent to it show marks of dislocation, caused apparently by its intrusion. The weather has scarce any destructive effect on it, even after the lapse of ages; and its peculiarly bright green colour gives to a portal carved out of it the appearance of being cast in bronze. Of churches in the Romanesque or Norman style the examples are few; among them are the church of Dinan and the chapel of Lanleff, which, after all the dis- putes of learned antiquaries respecting its origin and great age, is probably merely an equivalent to the round churches of England. The cathedral of Dol nearly corresponds in style to the Early English ; and the tradition of the country attributes it and some of the later churches to English architects. This is not surprising, considering the long and early connection between Great Britain and Little Britain to the S. of the Channel — Armorica, as it was styled, which the careful researches of historians and philo- logists have proved to have been colonised by natives of Britain after the 6th century, partly during the Roman dominion, partly after the invasion of the Saxons. From Brittany, -if we believe the native traditions, we derive our most popular romances, our nursery and fairy tales. Arthur here held his court with the Knights of the Round Table ; and the cradle of Merlin was on the lie de Sein, a low sand-bank in that stormy sea La Baie de Trepasses. 7. Many of the names of places closely resemble those of Wales and Cornwall. Brittany also has its Coumouaille, equally celebrated with our own for wrestling matches, still held annually, at which the true Cornish hug is said to be given; and for wreckers, whose infamous trade is promoted by the ever-raging sea and iron-bound coast. The Droit de Bris, right of "jetsam and flotsam/' is, how- ever, nearly abolished in France as in England : and the time is past when a race or whirlpool was as productive to a landlord as a mine or fishery. English armies have fought and bled on this soil of Brittany; and the chivalric heroes of our history, Edward III., Chandos, Sir Walter Manny, were opposed to no unworthy antagonists in the Du Guesclins and Clissons. In the castle of Elven, Henry of Richmond passed 15 years of his youth, though a prisoner, yet protected from the vengeance of the Yorkists. A perusal of Froissart will be a good preparation for a visit to Brittany. 8. Brittany, old-fashioned in all things, is still the stronghold of that old- fashioned virtue, loyalty to its sovereign ; and, besides sharing in the horrors and glory of the war in support of the legitimate monarch, which had its rise in La Vendee, was the seat of a hard-fought contest of its own, called La Chouannerie, from the cry, "chou, chou," in imitation of the night-owl, the signal for onset among the Breton peasantry, originally employed as a sign by smugglers in their nocturnal expeditions. Memorials or recollections of these struggles will be encountered by the traveller at every step. 9. Those who desire full information respecting the antiquities, customs, legends, and poetry of the Bretons should read Souvestre's excellent work, ' Les Derniers Bretons,' and Freminville's * Finisterre and Morbihan/ For its churches and Druidic remains consult Merim&e, 'Sur les Monumens de l'Ouest de la France ;' for its history, Daru : — and Mrs. Stotharcfs ' Tour in Brittany/ and Villema.rque'* s ' Chansons Populaires de la Bretagne/ will repay the perusal. The latest English work is Mr. Weld's ' Summer in Brittany/ 1856. 10. Skeleton Tow of Brittany. Brittany is accessible to travellers from England, by steamers either direct from Southampton to St. Malo, a very good starting-point, or from South- ampton to Havre, and thence by land through Normandy, or by steamer to Morlaix. , The traveller coming from Paris, may commence his tour at Rennes, but the Brittany. Route 34 — Paris to Rennes by Versailles. 109 capital of la Bretagne does not possess province. Dol. St. Malo. Dinan. St. Brieuc. {Lanleff. Paimpol. Treguier. Morlaix. St. Pol de Leon. Folgoat. Brest — dockyard. Pointe St. Mattliieu. Chateaulin (by water). . 11. Accommodation for travellers, even in the large towns, is inferior to that of the rest of France ; while in spots at all remote from the high road the filth is most disgusting, the fare miserable. any of the characteristic features of the Carhaix. Folgoat. St. Herbot. Chateaulin. Quimper. Quimperle*. Auray. Carnac and Lokmariaker. [Peninsula of Rhuys.] Valines. Roche Bernard. Nantes. ROUTE 34. PARIS TO RENNES, BY VERSAILLES, RAMBOUILLET, CHARTRES, LE MANS, AND LAVAL (GREAT WESTERN RAIL- WAT OF FRANCE : LAVAL TO RENNES OPENED 1857). To Laval 301 kilom. = 187 Eng. m. 5 Trains daily— Time hrs. ToAlen- con 267 kilom. 4 trains daily. Ter- minus, Boulevard Mt. Parnasse. From Paris to Versailles there are 2 railroads, one on the 1., the other on the rt. bank of the Seine. The 1. bank railway is continued from Versailles to Chartres and Le Mans. a. Chemin de Fer, Rive Gauche, 16| kilom. = ll£ Eng. m. Terminus, Boulevard Mont Parnasse, 44. Trains go every £ hr. Those starting at the hour are stopping trains, those at the J hour quick or direct. Time em- ployed 20 to 25 minutes, with stopping train 35 minutes. Before issuing beyond the line of the new fortifications you see on the rt. Grenelle and Vaugirard, now forming a town of about 6000 Inhab., most of the houses being cabarets, the resort of the working classes on Sundays and fete-days ; and on the 1. Montrouge, where are numerous quarries of build- ing stone. Beyond the Lines the railway passes between the detached forts of Vanvres and Issy, a village whose name is fanci- fully derived from a temple of Isis I In the Se'minaire, which still exists as a sort of country-seat dependent on that of St. Sulpice, Fen&on was in- terrogated by a conclave of bishops, styled the Conference of Issy, on cer- tain points of doctrine, and here the Cardinal Fie ury died, 1745. rt. Vanvres. The Chateau, formerly the property of the Condes, built here by Mansard for the Due de Bourbon, now belongs to the College Louis le Grand. 5 Clamart Stat. The village, ' half hid among the trees, on the 1., was the retreat of La Fontaine, of the Abbe' Delille, who wrote here his poem ' L' Imagination,' and of Condorcet. Emerging from a deep cutting we traverse on a lofty viaduct (Pont du Val) of 2 rows of arches, one above the other, 108 ft. high and 145 ft. long, the bosky dell of Val Fleury, com- manding a pretty view, of the chateau 110 Route 34. — Railways to VersaUles. Sect. II. of Meudon on the L, while the Seine is perceived on the rt. 2 Meudon Stat. A little on the 1. lies the bourg of 3000 Inhab. Rabelais was cure1 of Meudon, 1550. The Chateau, belonging to the crown, approached by a fine avenue of 4 rows of lime-trees, was built by the Grand Dauphin, son of Louis XIV., who died in it, from designs of Mansard, 1699, by the side of an older chateau now destroyed, the work of Phili- bert Delorme, which the widow of the minister Louvois sold to Louis XIV. During the Revolution the Comite* du Salut Public converted it into a factory for inventing and perfecting warlike engines, and surrounded it with a per- manent camp to keep out spies. The existing chateau was fitted up for Marie Louise by Napoleon, 1812. The best things about it are its situation, its gardens laid out by Le Ndtre, but lately re-arranged on a more modern plan, and its terrace. The view from the terrace is very fine. The Foret de Meudon is a favourite holiday resort of the Parisians. Near this the fatal accident occurred on this railway, May 1842, when, by the frac- ture of the axle of a locomotive, several of the foremost carriages of a long train were crushed, thrown upon the engine- furnace, and set on fire, and more than 100 persons were burnt alive, together with the railway-carriages in which they were locked up, in the space of about J hour. An expiatory chapel, dedicated to Notre Dame des Flammes, has been erected on the spot where this catastrophe occurred. Another cutting succeeds, and the railway passes under the Meudon avenue. 1 Bellevue Stat, was named from a villa .built in a few months to please Madame de Pompadour, but pulled to pieces during the Revolution. rt. Sevres Stat., contiguous to Belle- vue, is described farther on (p. 120). The high road, and the chemin de fer, rive droite, now run parallel and with- in a musket-shot of our line. A deep cutting through part of the crown forests leads to 4 Chaville Stat., so called from a 'Uage on the 1. 1 Viroflay Stat. 1. Railway to Char- tres diverges. 4 Versailles Station (in the Avenue de la Mairie). b. Chemin de Fer, Rive Droite. Ter- minus in Paris, Rue St. Lazare, 120, the same as the St. Germain and Rouen railways, and the 3 railways use the same line of rails as far as Clichy. Trains every £ hour (stopping), and every hour direct, from 7£ a.m. to 10 p.m., 2 2 -J kilom = 14 Eng. m.; time in going 30 to 35 minutes. After crossing the Seine by the Pont d'Asnieres Stat, beyond Clichy, this railway turns to the 1. out of the St. Germain line (See Rte. 8) to Courbevoie Stat., whose large bar- rack, built by Louis XV., is seen on the 1., and beyond it the Arc de l'Etoile The avenue leading from it, after pass- ing the Seine by the Pont de Neuilly, branches out into two roads leading to Rouen, the upper and the lower, both of which are crossed by the railway before reaching Puteaux Stat. A fine view is ob- tained of Paris and the Seine from this part of the line, while skirting on the rt. the flanks of Mont Valenen, now con- verted into one of the citadels of Paris. Suresnes Stat. St. Cloud Stat. The Imperial Chateau, built or altered by Mansard for the Due d' Orleans, brother of Louis XIV., has been the scene of great events. Here the fatal Ordonnances of July 1830 were signed, which lost Charles X. the throne ; here Napoleon, like Cromwell before him, laid the foundation of his power on the memorable 19Brumaire(Nov. 1 1, 1799), by expelling with his armed grenadiers the Council of Five Hundred from the Orangerie, in which they held their sittings ; — two of the most momentous of the Revolutions of France. It was a favourite residence of Marie Antoi- nette and of Bonaparte, and is now occupied by the President. The interior is handsomely furnished, and contains some paintings chiefly of the modern French school, Gobelin tapestry, Sevres vases, &c. The finest apartment is the Salon de Mars ; the Brittany. Route 84. — St. Cloud — Port Royal. Ill most interesting for its associations, the Orangerie already mentioned. Even more remarkable than the Chateau is the Pare de St. Cloud, laid out by Le Ndtre, always open to the public, and well worthy of a visit on account of the beautiful view which it commands over the winding Seine and the country around Paris, for its artificial cascades, and its waterworks, which play the 1st and 3rd Sunday of every month. The Grand Jet d'Eau rises from the centre of a circular basin, at the extremity of a long avenue, to a height of 137 feet, and discharges 5000 gallons per minute. The copy of the beautiful circular temple at Athens, called the LanternedeDemos- thene, will not be passed unobserved, being made conspicuous by a very in- congruous basement. In this part a fair is held on the 7th September, and lasts 3 weeks, one of the most cele- brated and frequented of all the fdtes near Paris. The name of St. Cloud is a contrac- tion of St. Clodoald, grandson of Clovis, who escaped alive when his brothers were murdered by their uncle Clothaire, by hiding himself in a wood here, and living as a hermit. Here, in the Maison de Gondi, Henri III. was assassinated by Jacques Clement, 1 589, while his army, united with that of Henri of Navarre, was encamped on these heights preparing to attack Paris. The father of Louis-Philippe was born here. The railway is carried under a part of the park of St. Cloud in a Tunnel more than 1650 ft. long. Sevres Stat. Both railways have stations here, but at some distance from the village, as well as at Viroflay Stat. 1. The railway to Chartres diverges about 1 m. beyond Viroflay. rt. The small village of Montreuil is the birthplace of General Hoche, who commenced life as an under groom in the royal stables, and rose to be commander of the army of the Mpselle. Versailles Station, Rue Duplessis, Boulevard de la Heine. Inn: H. du Reservoir. A very grand view of the Palace is obtained on quitting Ver- sailles Stat, 5 St. Cyr Stat. Here is the Military Academy (Rte. 35). 5 Trappes Stat. (Rte. 35). Omni- bus to Pontchartrain. [Near Magny — Lea Hameux are the scanty remains of the once celebrated abbey of Port Royal des Champs, de- stroyed by royal decree 1709, at the instigation of the Jesuits, as the head- quarters of Jansenism, after the nuns, its tenants, had been subjected to the most cruel persecutions in order to compel them to subscribe to the bull of Alexander VII. against the doctrines of Jansen. In 1644 a number of learned men and profound divines, professing the same doctrines, settled in a farmhouse near the convent, called Les Granges, repairing hither for study ; and here composed those works which, as "they were published anony- mously, are known by the name of their place of residence. Arnauld, Nicole, are among the Messieurs de Port-Royal,< — an appellation so glorious in the 17th cent." — ffallam. Boileau and Pascal were their friends, and Racine, who wrote their history, their pupil. "He whose journey lies from Ver- sailles to Chevreuse will soon find him- self at the brow of a steep cleft or hollow, intersecting the monotonous plain across which he has been passing. The brook which winds through the verdant meadows beneath him stag- nates into a large pool, reflecting the solitary Gothic arch, the water-mill, and the dovecot, which rise from its banks, with the farmhouse, the decayed towers, the forest-trees, and innumer- able shrubs and creepers which clothe the slopes of the valley. France has many a lovelier prospect, though this is not without its beauty, and many a field of more heart-stirring interest, though this, too, has been ennobled by heroic daring; but through the length and breadth of that land of chivalry and of song, the traveller will in vain seek a spot so sacred to genius, to piety, and to virtue. That arch is all which remains of the once crowded monastery of Port-Royal. In those woods Racine first learned the lan- guage— the universal language — nf 112 Route 34. — Port Royal — Rambouillet. Sect. IT. poetry. Under the roof of that humble farmhouse, Pascal, Arnauld, Nicole, De Sace, and Tillemont me- ditated those works which, as long as civilization and Christianity sur- vive, will retain their hold on the gratitude and reverence of mankind. There were given innumerable proofs of the graceful good humour of Henri IV. To this seclusion retired the heroine of the Fronde, Ann Gene- vieve, Duchess of Longueville, to seek the peace the world could not give. Madame de Sevigne* discovered here a place ' tout propre & inspirer le de*sir de faire son salut.' From Versailles there came hither to worship God many a courtier and many a beauty, heartbroken or jaded with the very vanity of vanities — the idolatry of their fellow-mortals. Survey French society in the 1 7th cent, from what aspect you will, it matters not, at Port-Royal will be found the most illustrious examples of whatever imparted to that motley assemblage any real dignity or per- manent regard. Even to the mere antiquarian it was not without a lively interest." — Stephen, The ruins of the Ch, have been cleared out by the Due de Luynes.] 6 La Verriere Stat. The magnificent ChdteaudeDampierre, in the vale of Chevreuse, has lately been restored by its owner, the Due de Luynes, one of the richest nobles in France. It has been adorned with paintings by Ingres, and with sculp- tures by Simart. The park has an area of 2000 acres. The valley is one of the prettiest and least visited spots in the vicinity of Paris. The Chateau is curious. 7 Lartoire Stat. 8 Rambouillet Stat., a dull town of 3000 Inhab., remarkable only for its Chateau, long the residence of. the kings of France, down to the time of Charles X., who, after the July revolution, here signed, in conjunc- tion with the Due d'Angoul&ne, his abdication of the French throne, Aug. 2, 1830, under pressure of the news that the mob of Paris, armed, was on its march hither, seeming to threaten results not unlike those which befel Louis XVI. at Versailles, Oct. 1789. It is a gloomy and ugly pile of red brick, with 5 flanking towers of stone, destitute of interest beyond what it may derive from its history. A cham- ber is shown in the great round tower where Francis I. died, 1547, aged 52. The dreary park and extensive forest adjoining were the favourite sporting- ground of Charles X. The chateau was converted by Louis Napoleon into a Seminary for officers' daughters, 1852. Beyond this the road becomes more hilly and varied. The rly. descends the valley of the Guesle, -following its sinuosities, as far as 1 1 Epernon Stat., no tolerable Inn. The name of this town of 1600 Inhab. was changed from Autrist to Epernon by Henry III., who created it and the district around a duchy for his favourite Nogaret. It retains por- tions of its old walls and towers, and is prettily situated on the banks of the Guesle, under a commanding rock of limestone. Maintenon Stat, is situated between the ruined aqueduct of Louis XIV- (see below) and the imposing modern rly. viaduct of 32 arches, 65 ft. high, raised on light piers. The Chateau. attached to this little town was given by Louis XIV., with the. estate and title of Marquise de Maintenon, to Francoise d'Aubigne", widow of Scarron, at the time when the king made her his wife. Their marriage is said to have been celebrated in the chapel of the castle by the Pere la Chaise in the presence of Harlay and Louvois, 1685, she being 50 years old and Louis 47. The Castle stands on the margin of the Eure, and now belongs to the Due de Noailles, by whom it has been well restored. The round towers and cha- pel are parts of the original structure raised by Cocquereau, treasurer of finance to Louis XI. and Charles VIII. The bedroom of Mad. de Maintenon, and her portrait in robes trimmed with ermine and fleurs-de-lis, are shown. The valley of the Eure is here crossed by the imposing ruins of the Aqueduct, constructed 1684-88, at the mandate of Louis XIV., to convey the waters of the Eure from Pont Gouin Bb ittah y. Route 34. — Maintenon— Chart res. 113 to Versailles, but afterwards abandoned for the machine at Marly. " As Louis had committed the blun- der of building in a place without water, he proposed to remedy his mistake by conveying the river eight leagues, by a new channel, to adorn his park. To accomplish this it was necessary to join two mountains at Maintenon, and form an aqueduct: 40,000 troops were employed in this great work, and a camp formed ex- pressly for the purpose. From the unhealthiness of the work or of the air, a great mortality ensued; the dead were carried away in the night- time, that their companions might not be discouraged; but the loss of many thousand lives to please the wanton caprice of a despot excited no sympathy and created no surprise. The war of 1688, however, interrupted the labour, and it was never afterwards resumed." — Lord John Russell. It was partly pulled down, after a lapse of 65 years, to build the villa of Crecy for Mad. de Pompadour. The remains consist of 47 arches, 42 ft. span and 83 high. The total length of the canal, of which this was to form a part, would have exceeded 33 m. if completed. After leaving Maintenon across the viaduct of 32 . arches we enter the fertile plain called La Beauce, com- prising some of the finest corn-land in France. In the early summer it is an uninterrupted ocean of waving corn as far as the eye can reach — with- out hedges, little varied by trees or houses. "In crossing this monoto- nous plain I was much struck with the number of churches. I counted at one time about 13, yet the villages are neither numerous nor large." — P. H. 78 Jouy Stat. Rather more than 1 m. from Chartres the river Eure is crossed on a viaduct of 11 arches. The twin steeples of Char- tres are conspicuous a long way off. 88 Chartres Station. — Inns (none good): Post, or Grand Monarque; Hdtel Due de Chartres; H. de France, in- different. Chartres, a city of 18,234 Inhab., once capital of the fertile Beauce, and now of the Dipt. d'Eure et Loire, is situated on a slope, at the bottom of which runs the Eure, washing the only remaining portion of the old forti- fications and one of the city gates. The Porte Guillaume is picturesque ; the rest have been pulled down, the ramparts levelled into walks, and the town thrown open. Chartres is remarkable in a commercial point of view for one of the largest corn-markets in France, held every Saturday, where the" produce of the Beauce is disposed of; and in point of architecture f for its ** Cathedral, one of the most mag- nificent in Europe, conspicuous far and near, with its two tall but unequal spires surmounting the hill on which the city stands. Its most striking and interesting features, after its vast di- mensions and elegant proportions, are its 2 rich and singular lateral portals, its painted glass, scarcely equalled in France, and its 3 rose windows. There is much perplexity in the dates assigned to different parts of the building, but, with the evidence of style, we may pronounce the Crypt, running under the whole extent of the choir aisles, to be the only part remain- ing which was built by Bishop Fulbert, 1 029. He was aided in his pious foun- dation by gifts from the kings of Eng- land, France, and Denmark, and a great body of people came over from Rouen to work at it, encamping in tents around while it was in progress. The ch., as it exists, was not dedicated until 1260, and the greater portion of it may safely be referred to the 13th centy. ; but the W. front was completed in 1145, except the elegant crocketed N. spire raised in 1 514, partly at the charge of Louis XII., by Jean Texier, an archi- tect of the Beauce : it is 304 ft. high, and the upper part of beautifully light and delicately executed work. It is well worth ascending for the view, not only of the surrounding country, but of the Cathedral itself. In the W. front, which is simple in its style, we have to remark the triple portal of pointed arches ; that in the centre, called Porte Hoy ale, supported and flanked by statues of royal saints. These are attenuated figures with formal plaited drapery, characteristic of the Byzantine sculp- ture of the 12th centy. Above the door is the image of Christ in an oval. 114 Routt 34. — Chartres — Cathedral. Sect. II. with the symbols of the 4 Evangelists, as designated in the vision of Ezekiel, around him. Below these are the 14 Prophets in a row, and in the arches above the 24 Elders of the Apocalypse, playing on musical instruments of the middle ages. The sculpture of the right-hand portal relates to the life of the Virgin, and in that of the 1. is seen Christ, again surrounded by angels, with the signs of the zodiac, and the agri- cultural labours of the twelve months. Far finer are the two entrances on the N. and S. sides, consisting of triple projecting Gothic porticoes (something like the W. end of Peterborough), resting on piers, or bundles of pillars, with side openings between them. The stately statues which line the sides and vaults are of a superior style of art, and of a later date (14th cent.) than those of the W. front. The interior is of such consistent vastness in all its parts, that its dimen- sions do not perhaps strike the specta- tor, at first sight, to their fullest extent, but its length is 422 ft., and the height to the apex of its roof 112 ft. The style throughout nave and choir is the vigorous early Gothic. In the centre of the nave a maze or labyrinth, of in- tricate circles, called La Lieue, from its supposed length, is marked out on the pavement in coloured stone : to follow it through its windings (967 ft. long), saying prayers at certain stations, was probably at one time a penitential exer- cise. The ch. possesses a perfect trea- sure of Painted Glass, more than 130 windows being completely filled, and few being quite destitute of this splen- did ornament. They date, for the most part, from the 13th centy. Some of the glass is £ inch thick. The 3 rose windows at the end of the nave and transepts are remarkable for their size, 30 or 40 ft. diameter, and their com- plicated tracery, but it is somewhat clumsy. The windows, both in nave and choir, illustrate subjects from the Bible, or legends of saints; in the lower compartments are frequently seen re- presentations of various trades — shoe- makers, basket-makers, &c. — showing that their guilds or corporations were the donors. Attached to the E. end is a chapel dedicated to St. Piat, in the form of an oblong ; it was founded in 1 349, and is flanked by 2 round towers externally. The choir has double aisles and a semicircular E. end ; in the inside 8 marble bas-reliefs, of Scriptural sub- jects, mediocre in design and execution, are inserted, and behind the high altar is a huge marble piece of sculpture, in the taste of the time of Louis XIII., not consistent with the character of the building. The outside of the screen, which separates the choir from its aisles, is ornamented with a series of very remarkable Gothic sculptures, each representing an event in the life of Christ or the Virgin Mary, in 45 compartments surrounded with the most elaborate tracery and tabernacle work ; they were begun 1514, and con- tinued down to the middle of the 17th century, and are interesting as some of the final efforts of Gothic art. The execution has been compared to "point lace in stone, and some of the sculp* tured threads are not thicker than the blade of a penknife." In the choir of Chartres cathedral Henri IV. was crowned, 1594; Bheims, the ancient scene of the royal corona- tion, being at the time in the hands of the Leaguers. The ceremony was performed by the bishop of the dio- cese, and, as the "Sainte Ampoulle" was not to be got at, a vial of holy oil, said to have been given by an angel to St. Martin of Tours, to cure a bruise, was brought in procession from the Abbey of Marmoutiers, and with this the king was anointed. This cathedral narrowly escaped destruction by fire in 1836 : fortunately the roof and interior of the towers were alone consumed. " The origin and splendour of this cathedral are owing to the circum- stance that it was the earliest and chief church in France dedicated to the Virgin, and thus the object of vast pilgrimages. The sacred image, sup- posed to date from the time when this place was the centre of the Druidic worship, as described by Caesar, stood in the crypt. It was burned and the crypt sacked in 1 793. The church Btill contains the relic of the Sacra Carmsia, given by Charles le Chauve; and there is a black image of the 12th centy. in Brittany, Route M.—Chartres — Bretigny. 115 the N. aisle, which attracts mueb de- votion. It is worth while to ascend the tower — not for the panorama, which is only oyer a vast plain, but in order to have a near view of the painted glass inside the cathedral. A full account of every window will be found in the ela- borate History of the Cathedral by the Abbe* Bulteau, price 4£ francs," — A. JP. S. After exploring this noble and sur- passing edifice, the traveller will pro- bably have little desire to look at inferior churches, yet the only other curiosities here are The Ck. of St Pierre (St. Pere), in the lower town contiguous to a huge ca- serne, once a convent, and not far from the river; — although very inferior to the cathedral, it presents a remakable lantern-like E. end, filled with rich painted glass. The lantern character is increased by the triforium, running all round the choir, being open and glazed. The choir, though pointed, must be very early in the style, the piers having a Romanesque character; the nave slightly different, and apparently later, yet retains the transition appear- ance in its columns. Its triforium is a row of trefoil-headed arches, sup- ported on pilasters. In the chapel of the apse are 12 panels of the finest Limoges enamel, brought from Cha- teau d'Anet. Si. Andre, also near the river, and now a magasin de fburrage, filled with straw and hay, is yet interesting to the student of architecture as an early, plain, and severe example of the pointed style. In the W. facade a cir- cular-headed doorway is surmounted by a triplet of lancet windows, and these by a bold rose window. The piers supporting the nave arches are cylindrical, marking the transition from Romanesque to Gothic. The choir, which was carried across the Eure, is destroyed. A curious crypt extends from the south aisle down to the river, and below its level. St. Andre* is supposed to have been founded 1108. An Obelisk has been set up in the Marche aux Herbes, now called Place Marceau to record the fact that Mar- ceau was a native of Chartres, — " Sol- dat a 16 ans, General a 23 ; il mourut a 27." The original inscription men* tioned his exploits in destroying the rebel Vendeans at Le Mans and Laval. A statue has been erected to him near the Porto d'Epais. The revolutionary hero Petion was born here. The Corn Market is exceedingly well regulated ; business is transacted for ready money, and is usually over in j hour. The measuring and selling of the grain, and receiving payment for it, are managed by a corporation of women, of long standing, remarkable for their integrity, and implicitly trusted by the owners. There are a public Library of 30,000 volumes and a Museum in the town. Diligences daily to Orleans and Rouen by Evreux (Rte. 50). To Tours by Venddme (Rte. 54). To Nantes. Railway to Paris by Versailles: — to Le Mans, Alengon and Laval : — in pro- gress to Rennes and Brest. The little village Bretigny, 6 m. from Chartres, gives its name to the treaty of peace, signed 1360, be- tween France and England, by which Edward III. renounced his claim to the throne of France, and released the French king, John, taken prisoner at Poitiers, upon payment of a vast ran- som, and delivery of numerous host- ages. A violent storm which fell upon Edward and his army near Chartres, and "reminded him of the day of judgment," caused him to make a vow (looking towards the towers of the cathedral) that he would give peace to France, and led to this important treaty. The journey from Chartres is con- tinued through the monotonous but fertile, and well-cultivated corn-plain of La Beauce. 18 Courville Stat. [5 m. S. of this is the Chateau de Villebon, where the illustrious Sully died. It is a square building of brick, with towers at the angles, and not many years ago retained its ancient furniture, even to the bed on which the great minister expired. The Eure rises about 15 m. to the N. of Courville.] At Montlandon the fertile Beauce termi- nates, and the country becomes hilly. 8 Pontgouin Stat, La Loupe Stat. 11 Bretoncelles Stat. 5 Conde sur Huisne Stat. 116 Route 34. — Paris to Rennes — Le Mam* . Sect, II. 8 Nogent-le-Rotrou Stat., a town of 7070 Inhab., contains a ruined Castle of the Comtes du Perche, once the residence of Sully, and his Monu- ment in the chapel of the HStel Dieu founded by him. It bears the marble statues of himself and his wife by Boudin, 1642, and a long inscription at the back ; it escaped the fury of the Revolution, but the grave itself was violated, and the bones disinterred and scattered. The word Nogent is an abbreviation of the Latin Novigen- tium ; Rotrou was the name of a count of Perche, in which district it is situ- ated. The river produces crawfish in great abundance. (Inn: St. Jacques.) The railroad follows the direction of the Huisne river from Nogent nearly to Le Mans. 10 Le Theil Stat. 10 Ferte-Bernard Stat, is a prettily situated town in the Dept. de laSarthe. Within it the Parish Ch., N. D. des Ma- rats, is an interesting Gothic building, end of 16th centy., having a richly sculptured external gallery, with the words " Salve Regina " cut in stone, and 3 chapels, from the vaulted roofs of which hang stone pendants. One of the town gates is converted into an Hdtel de VUle. 10 Sceaux Stat. Near 8 Clonnerre Stat, is a large Dolmen or Druidic monument of rude stone slabs, like Kits Coity House in Kent. (§ 4.) 6 Pont de Qennes Stat. 6 St. Mars- la- Bray ere indicates by its name the desolate sandy heaths in the midst of which it is situated. 10 Yvre l'Eveque Stat. 9 Le Mans Stat. (Inn : Le Dauphin), once capital of the province of Le Haut Maine, now chef-lieu of the Dept. de la Sarthe, is situated on the 1. bank of the river Sarthe, a little above the junction of the Huisne, and has 20,000 Inhab. The principal edifice is the Cathe- dral of St. Julien, which is well de- serving of attention. It is in two styles ; the nave, Romanesque, though with pointed arches, dates probably from the 12 cent., but its side aisles and walls, and the plain W. front, are not later than the 11th, perhaps much irlier. Indeed, the external masonry of the side walls, resembling Roman construction, is probably part of the original church, founded in the 8th or 9th cent. Above the W. door are portions of reticulated masonry, and an ancient bust of a king or bishop ; on each side are figures supposed to represent the 2 signs of the zodiac, Capricorn and Sagittarius. On the S. side is a very richly- carved Romanesque doorway — a round arch preceded by a pointed porch, flanked by statues of kings and saints, resembling the W. door at Chartres, and with angels in .the vault. It is much mutilated, unfortunately. The Choir is a beautiful production of the 13th centy., the period of per- fection in pointed Gothic architecture. It is surrounded by 11 chapels, and its windows are filled with beautiful painted glass, little inferior to that of Chartres, except in preservation. In the transept is a fine rose window, together with much stained glass of the 14th or 15th cent., a date rather more modern than that of the choir. This church contains the monu- ments of Berengaria of Sicily, queen of Richard Coeur de Lion, brought from the abbey of Epau, and much de- faced; of Charles of Anjou, 1474; and of Langey du Bellay, distinguished as a soldier and as a writer in the reigns of Francis I. and Henri II. The last is attributed to Germain Pilon ; its ara- besques and bas-reliefs in marble are well worthy attention. An undressed block of silicious sand- stone, standing on one end, has been incorporated into the wall of the church on the outside ; it is supposed to be a Druidic stone. The Church of Notre Dame du Pre' is probably of the 11th cent. Notre Dame de la Couture (de cultura Dei) has a very old choir, supposed to have been begun 990 ; both arches and vaulting are round and of rude construction ; it has a very elegant portal, adorned with sculpture of con- siderably merit (Last Judgment). The conventual buildings to which it was originally attached are now the Pre- fecture, but contain besides the Library and a Museum, partly devoted to na- tural history, partly to paintings of a Brittany. Route 34* — Le Mans—LavaL m very inferior order, but possessing one curiosity at least, viz. a full-length por- trait of Geoffroi Plantagenet, Comte du Maine, enamelled on copper, 25 in. by 13, 12th centy., a yery early speci- men of that class of art : it was an- ciently placed in the cathedral where he was buried. There arelalso many objects of Roman antiquity found in Le Mans and the neighbourhood, at Alonnes pottery, &c. St. Pierre is supposed to be the oldest church here, that is to say, the lower part of its walls. The Sefntnaire, originally the Ab~ baye de St. Vincent, has a noble fa- cade and a fine staircase. There is a handsome theatre. Many specimens of ancient domes- tic architecture remained here until lately, but are fast disappearing, and the town is becoming modern and commonplace. There used to be some old houses in the Grande Rue. Nos. 7, 10, and 12 deserve attention ; the last is known as the house of Queen Berengaria, but appears not to be older than the 15th century. It contains a chimney-piece adorned with bas-reliefs. The house of Scarron (husband of Madame de Maintenon) is pointed out near the cathedral. The vestiges of the Roman rule at Le Mans are not considerable : the chief are the re- mains of 3 subterranean aqueducts, by which the city was supplied with water from a distance. A portion of them may be seen in a cellar of the Rue Qourdaine. Fragments of the Ro- man town walls still exist ; but all traces of an amphitheatre, discovered in the last century, have been swept away. Le Mans was the birthplace of Henry (II.) Fitz-Empress, the first of the Plantagenet kings of England: a name derived from the plant or sprig of broom (genet), the abundant produc- tion of his native province Anjou and Ifaine, which his father, Geoffroi, used to wear in his cap. A great trade is carried on here in clover-seed, which is sent over in large quantities to England. The chief ar- ticle of manufacture is wax candles. Le Mans is also famed for poultry ; its poulards and chapons supply the markets of Pans. Le Mans witnessed the ruin and final dispersion of the Vendean army in 1793. Worn out by the disastrous fatigues of a six months' campaign, they were here assaulted by the Re- publican forces under Marceau's com* mand. Very obstinate was the resist- ance made by the Royalists in the streets and great square of the town before they were finally expelled, with their leader, Larochejacquelin, who was wounded in the action. Then en* sued a fearful carnage, not only of the Vendean soldiery, but of their miserable wives and children, who accompanied them. By the joint exercise of cannonades of grape and platoons of musketry, discharged upon the defenceless crowd, under the order of the commissioners of the Convention, upwards of 10, 000 persons were slaughtered on that occasion. Conveyances daily to Tours. Branch Railway from Le Mans to Alencon (Rte. 29), in progress to Ar- gentan. From Le Mans to Laval the Railway stations are 7 St. Saturnin Stat* 14 Domfront Stat. 3 CoulieStat. 12 Sille Le Guillau Stat. 6 Rousse-Vasse* Stat. 7 Voutr^ Stat. 10 Evron Stat. 0 Neau Stat. 6 Montsurs Stat. 13 Lou- vern Stat. 6 Laval Stat. (Inns : H. de Paris, very good ; Tete Noire; Cour Royale), a curious ancient town, chef -lieu of the De*pt. de laMayenne, on the river May- enne, has 16,500 Inhab. The oldest part consists of black timber houses, each story projecting beyond that below it, until the gable overhangs the street ; but a new quarter has risen on the W., where the streets are wide and regular. On the rt. bank of the river, close to the old bridge, the Castle of the seigneurs of La Tremouille rises from a basement of rock, on which its lofty wall is raised, flanked at one end by a machicolated round tower. It was built in the 12th centy., and its Chapel on round arches is perhaps of life Route 34. — Paris to Beanes— Laval* Sect. II. that date, but there are many later additions, and the jambs of some of the windows facing the inner court retain some rich ornaments in the style of the Renaissance (15th or 16th centy.). It is now a prison. The Cathedral is a cruciform edifice, the choir alone having aisles: the nave a fine work of the same type as the churches of Angers and Poitier. The nave and choir (except the aisles and side ohapels, additions of the 15th and 16th centuries, in the flamboyant style) are not older than the 12th centy. The E. end is square ; the porch is a wretched addition of recent times. Under the ch. are very extensive substructions and crypts, thrown up in consequence of the slope of the ground to form a platform of pedestal for the building. St. Ven&and, a ch. of the 15th or 16th centy., has a little painted glass. The church in the village of Avenieres, adjoining the town, built 1040, well de- serves the notice of the architect. The fabric generally has all the character- istics of early Romanesque, yet the principal arches are all pointed, and are perhaps the earliest examples in this part of France. Its choir is sur- rounded by 5 apsidal chapels, and 2 others open into the transepts. Above the cross rises an elegant stone spire of very late flamboyant. The church contains a miracle-working image of the Virgin. The architect and antiquary ought not to leave unseen the little ruined Ch. of Grenoux, 2 m. from Laval. It is destitute of all ornament. The structure of its masonry, small square stones with intervening bonds of tiles, marks the style of a period not later than the 9th cent. Within it is a monument of a knight and his lady. Laval is essentially a manufacturing town, occupied in the production of linens and cottons (toiles, coutils, sia- moises), and of linen thread, large quantities of which are spun here. A market for the sale of these produc- tions is held every week in the Halle aux Toiles. Laval was the centre from which arose the Royalist insurrection of 1792, called Chouatmerie, either from 4 bro- thers named Chouan, its first leaders, of the village St. Ouen des Toits, or from the cry of the owl, imitated by the salt-smugglers of this district as a signal to their confederates, and after- wards adopted during the struggle, by the peasant guerrillas, to announce the enemy's approach. One of the most glorious victories of the Vendeans was gained in Oct. 1793, a little to the S. of the town. Defeated in several previous combats, and driven across the Loire, with a large Republican army in pursuit of them, their enemies believed the war extinguished. Barrere announced this intelligence to the Convention in Paris : "La Vendee is no more, the brigands are exterminated, a profound solitude reigns in the Bocage, covered with cinders and watered with tears:" — but at the very time that these words were being uttered, Larochejacquelin had carried Laval at the point of the bayonet; then, turning round on his pursuers, he exhorted his brave bands to efface the memory of their former defeats, and to fight for the preserva- tion of their wives and children who accompanied them, now far from their homes. Lescure insisted on being car- ried through the ranks on his death- litter, mortally wounded as he was, to encourage the Royalists by his pre- sence, and to share their peril and toil. The Vendeans, obeying the ap- peal, on this occasion rushed upon the enemy in close column, routed them entirely, and pursued them beyond Chateau Gonthier, with a loss to the Republicans of 12,000 men, among whom were the redoubted garrison of Mayence, who were mostly cut to pieces, and of 19 cannon. The conflict began at lea Croix de Bataille, 2 m. S. of Laval. So precipitate and complete was the rout, that the remains of the Republican army, reduced to 12,000 men, were not collected and reorganised until 12 days had elapsed, and not be- fore they had left the town of Angers in their rear. The RJy. Stations are Le Gerlest — Port Brille. St. Pierre la Cour Stat. There are large coal-works near this. 14 Vitro* Stat. {Inn: La Poste) is in appearance a town of the middle ages, Bhittany. Saute 34*— Viirl — Rensies. 119 Gothic and irregular, retaining the greater portion of its feudal fortifi- cation*, high and thick walls flanked by towers, surmounted by machicola- tions, and surrounded by a deep ditch. They appear not later in date than the 15th cent. On one side of them, but detached from them by a ditch, stands a venerable and picturesque Castle of the Seigneurs de la Tremouille, now converted into a prison and falling to decay. In the court is an elegantly ornamented structure, half Gothic, half Italian, supposed to have been a pulpit. At the time of its construction the lords of the castle were adherents of the reformed faith, and the inscription, which may still be read around the console, " post tenebras spero lucem," probably alludes to the persecutions they suffered. The Ch. of Notre Dame is in a style indicating the decline of Gothic art; attached to it, on the outside, is a Btone pulpit, and within one of the chapels hangs a frame containing 32 small enamels, probably from Limoges. The peasants of this part of Brittany wear a dress of goatskins with the hair turned outwards, which gives them a somewhat savage aspect, and reminds one of Robinson Crusoe. About 3 m. S. of Vitro" is the CM- teau des Rockers, long time the residence of Madame de Se'vigne' ; her bedroom and the eabinet where she wrote many of her charming letters are pointed out, and there is a fine portrait of her by Mignard, but the furniture, &c, of the interior has been altered. [Near Ess£, 7 lieues S. W. of Vitrei is a very fine Druidical monument called "la Roche aux Fees," consisting of 43 large rough blocks of stone — 34 up- right, supporting 8 others which form a roof.] The Vilaine river, after which the department is named, rises near Vitr6; our road runs parallel with its course as far as Bennes, crossing it by a stone bridge at 16 Chateaubourg Stat. 2 m. beyond this the road passes close to a large slate-quarry excavated to a depth of more than 100 ft. 19 Noyal Stat. The country pos- ■66868 little interest. 13 Rennes Junction Stat. Here the lines from Brest, Redan, and St. Malo will meet. — Inns: H. de la Come de Cerf, well situated and moderate charges-; — H. de France; — H. Jullien This town, once capital of Brittany, now chef-lieu of the Dept. Ille et Vilaine, is situated at the confluence of these two streams, and contains' 37,900 Inhab. Here are few antiquities; the town has an entirely modern aspect, arising from a dreadful fire which in 1720 reduced nearly the whole to ashes. It lasted 7 days, and consumed 850 houses, be- sides nearly all the public buildings ; the ancient and solidly built clock tower crumbled to pieces on the third day, calcined by the flames. The pub- lie buildings, of a date subsequent to this catastrophe, display for the most part the bad taste of the 18th centy. The streets are uniform ; and, "not- withstanding the sober and gloomy hue of which the houses are chiefly built, Rennes is rather a handsome city," but dull. Considerable improvements have taken place, many narrow streets have been removed, and a new bridge has been thrown over the Vilaine. The stately Palais de Justice, in the handsome Place du Palais, was the parliament house of the States of Brit- tany, and is the most remarkable building here. It contains one fine large Salle, des Pas Perdus, and several apartments rich in gilded ceilings and stucco ornaments, Cupids bearing fes- toons, &c., with roofs and panels painted by Jouvenet. Its date is 1670. The interior of the modern Cathedral "is a very spacious, lofty, and im- posing Hall of Grecian architecture; the principal aisle having a richly de- corated vaulted roof, supported by massive and well-proportioned fluted Corinthian columns. On the whole the effect is striking, but not all eccle- siastical." M. A, S. — St. Melaine retains a Romanesque porch supported on engaged pillars with curiously carved capitals, probably of the 12th century. The telegraph on the top of the cathe- dral is one of the chain communicating between Paris and Brest. There is a very handsome modern Theatre, situated in another respectable 120 Route 35. — Paris to Rennes — Sevres. Sect, ii; square, with covered arcades around it, lined with shops. In the modern Hotel de Ville facing the theatre is a collection of pictures removed from the damp Musee in which they were before deposited : the greater part are of little worth. As a curiosity may be cited a Judgment of Solomon painted by King Rent of Anjou, but much injured, faded and dingy in hue. There is a Lion Hunt, said to be by Rubens (?) Here is also the Public Library, con- taining 30,000 volumes, and many rare MSS., among them a charter of Don Henry of Trastamare, granting lands in Spain to Du Guesclin. The chief attraction of Rennes, how- ever, is its Public Walks, especially that called le Mont Thabor, planted with fine trees and commanding a pleasing view over the town, and valley of the Vilaine. A miserable statue of Du Guesclin has been set up in it. The other walks are le Mail, extending down to the junction of the Hie and Vilaine, le Mont de Madame, and le Champ de Mars. One of the old town gates, la Porte Mordelaise, is preserved opposite the new cathedral; the entrance is by a pointed arch, and the masonry includes a stone bearing a Roman inscription, dedicated by the town of Rennes (Re- douts) to the Emperor Gordian; it is no longer legible. Through this gate the ancient Dukes of Brittany made their solemn entry into Rennes on their accession, but before passing it they swore to preserve the Catholic faith and the ch. of Brittany, to govern wisely, and to execute justice ; they were then conducted into the ch., where, after 2 days spent in prayer, they were crowned with the golden circlet, and girt with the ducal sword. The manufactures of Rennes are sail-cloth, which it supplies to the French navy, and some table linen. The butter (beurre sale') is excellent, especially that of Prevalaye, large quan- tities of which are sent to other parts of France. Rennes has a communication by Canal with St. Malo and the Channel on the one hand, and with Nantes and Brest on the other. Diligences daily to Le Mans Rly . Stat, for Paris, and to Brest (Rte. 36) ; to Dinan and St. Malo (Rte. 41) ; to Caen (Rte. 31); to Nantes (Rte. 41). ROUTE 35. PARIS TO RENNES, BY DREUX, VER- NEUIL, ALENOON, AND LAVAL. 355 kilom. = 220 Eng. m. N.B. The quickest way to Alencon is by rail from Le Mans (Rtes. 34 and 29). c. The Sigh Road, now deserted for the railway (Rte. 34), quits Paris by the Barriere de Passy. The vil- lage of Passy was the residence of Benjamin Franklin, 1788. He occu- pied the house No. 40, Rue Basse, previously Hdtel de Valentinois. The Abbe" Raynal died here, 1796, and Bellini, the composer, 1834. Beranger has long lived in a very modest house here. The road runs along the rt. bank of the Seine through Auteuil, 2 m. farther on, which was also the resi- dence of many eminent men. The wise and good Chancellor d' Aguesseau lived and died here ; an obelisk in the church- yard marks his grave. Boileau's house is still pointed out, Rue de Boileau 18, and Moliere composed here a great part of his works. Condorcet and Madame Helvetius had also houses here. The park and chateau de St. Cloud are conspicuous on the hill to the rt. The river Seine is crossed by the Pont de Sevres, a short way before entering le Bourg de 12 Sevres (Top. 4000), situated on the 1. bank of the, river, 6 m. distant Bbittany. Route Zo.—^Paris to Rennes — Dreux. 121 from Paris, between 2 hills, the hill of Meudon on the 1. and that of St. Cloud on the rt., along whose slopes the 2 railways to Versailles are carried. Sevres, like Faenza and Delft, gives its name to the china made in it, and for which it is principally known. The manufactory is in the large building on the 1. of the road, erected 1755, when the works were transferred from Vin- cennes, and purchased by Louis XV. It is now the property of the nation, and employs 150 persons. Admission to see it is given by the directeur, M. Brongniart, a distinguished mineralo- gist and geologist, to whose scientific researches the manufacture owes much of its present perfection. Besides the show-rooms filled with objects for sale, there is a very complete and curious Porcelain Museum here, consisting of clay, earthenware, and china of all countries and periods, from the oldest Greek and Etruscan vases down to the most recent productions of the nations of Europe and Asia, China, Japan, and the East Indies, and of many of the rude tribes of America, Here is a Beries of all the objects made in the establishment since its commencement, marking the change of fashion and forms : also the various materials, earths, calces, colouring matters used in the manufacture. The Kaolin, or white clay, comes from St. Yreix near Limoges. The paintings are very re- markable from the talents of the art- ists employed, (among whom Madame Jacotot and M. Constantin rank high- est,) and the skill displayed in the burning of the colours gives an equal pre-eminence to Sevres ware. Several pictures by ancient and modern masters have been copied in the size of the originals; some were painted on the china tablet in Italy and sent over to Sevres to be .burnt, and again sent abroad to be retouched. The Sevres manufacture is celebrated for its white unglazed ware, biscuit de Sevres, the white glazed ware, the elegance of the shape, and the beauty of the painting. The manufacture of painted glass, erroneously supposed to be lost, has been revived and brought to con- France. siderable perfection within a few year a; also the imitation of precious stones. . The park of St. Cloud (p. Ill) reaches as far as Sevres ; there are 2 entrances to it from the town. The road continues between the 2 railways as far as Versailles, and enters that town by the Grande Avenue de Paris. 7 Versailles. — Inns: H. du Re- servoir, and H, de France. Railroad to Chartres. (Rte. 34.) The road to Bennes and Brest, in quitting Versailles, passes between the park wall and a large sheet of water called Pi&ce des Suisses. A little way on {he rt. lies St, Cyr (Stat.), converted by Napoleon into an Eoole Militaire, 1806, for 300 pupils— a destination which it still preserves ; but it was originally founded py Lou is XIV., at the suggestion of Madame de Main- tenon, as a school for 250 young ladies of noble birth, and Mansard furnished the designs for it, 1686. Racine's tra- gedies of Esther and Athalie, written for the pupils of the establishment, were here first' brought out, in the presence of the King and Madame de Maintenon, She retired hither after Louis's death, and dying here, 1719, was buried in the church, At the village of Trappes (Stat.) the road, leav- ing on the 1. the route to Nantes (Rte. 46), passes through a dull country to 19 Pontchartrain, near which is the Chateau built by Mansard. 11 La Queue, 13 Houdan. — Inns: 1'Ecu; le Cygne. There are a handsome Gothic Church and an old Tower, part of the ancient forti- fications, in this town of 2000 Inhab. 7 Maroles. The river Eure is crossed at Cherisy. 12 Dreux — (Inn: H. du Paradjs) (Durocassis), a town of 6400 Inhab., on the Blaise, a tributary of the Eure. It was on the plain between the two rivers that the battle, known as la Journee de Dreux, one of the bloodiest in the French religious wars, was fought between the Roman Catholics, under the Due de Guise, who was victorious, and the Huguenots, under the Prince de Condi, who was made prisoner, o 122 Route 35. — Paris to Rennes—Ivty. Sect. II. 1563. The Due de Guise shared his couch the "night after with his mor- tal enemy, and slept soundly by his side. The hill which rises above the town is crowned by the ruins of the Castle of the Comtes de. Dreux, which was cap- tured with the town from the Due de Guise by Henri IV. : the- remains of the very old Donjon or keep tower of brick, of a handsome Norman gateway, and of a Gothic Chapel, built 1142, still exist. The space enclosed by the walls is planted and converted into a garden, in the midst of which rises a modern Chapel, in the form of a Greek temple surmounted by * cupola, erected by the late Louis Philippe, when Due d" Orleans, to replace* one destroyed at the Revolution, which was the burial- place of his maternal ancestors. Be- neath it are interred the Duchesse de Penthievre, the remains of the Prin- Cesse de Lamballe, who was massacred at the Revolution, the Princesse Marie of Wiirtemberg, the accomplished daughter of the King, and the Duke of Orleans. Louis Philippe expended vast sums in adorning the edifice with the best productions of modern French Art. The entrances to the Chapel are Gothic : the dome is painted in fresco with the 12 Apostles. Some of the painted glass is very fine, and the sculpture on some of the tombs is exquisite, the finest of all being an Angel, in a bend- ing attitude, the chef d'oeuvre of the late King's daughter — finer even than her well-known Jeanne d'Arc. The Chapel of the Virgin is enriched with carving, with pendants from the roof, and with painted windows of modern glass, representing religious subjects. The King built a long low range of apartments for the residence of him- self and his family when he visited the spot — and they are left just in the state in which he quitted them. The sum laid out here by Louis Philippe exceeded 4, 000, 000 francs . Around the hill are carried agreeable walks. Its top is sur- mounted by a telegraph-tower, and the view from it is very extensive. The Gothic Parish Church, its lower portions in the style of the 13th cent., - the upper part and' tower in that of the 16th, contains the graves of Rotrou, a dramatist of the 13th cent., and of Philidor the chess-player, 'both natives of Dreux. The HMelde Ville, part Gothic, part the revival style of the 19th cent., now turned into a museum, contains a curious chimney-piece, and a bell, cast in the reign of Charles IX., bearing a representation, in relief, of the pro- cession of the Fhunbards. There, are numerous manufactures of coarse cloths, serges, &c., in the arron- dissement of Dreux. Diligences to Bueil Stat, on the rail- way to Paris r^to Chartres daily. [11 m. N.E. of Dreux are the scanty remains of the Chateau d'Anet, built by the architect Philibert Delorme for Diana of Poitiers Out of the funds furnished by the liberality of her royal lover Henri II., 1552, on the site of a castle which belonged to her husband Louis de Bre*ze", to which she retired . to pass her widowhood. When she first became acquainted with the king she was 31, and he a youth of 13, yet she maintained her influence over Mm to the day of her death, in spite of the Queen, Catherine de Medicis, and he wore her colours — the widow's weeds, black and white — to the last, : and her symbol, the crescent of Diana, is con- spicuous in all his palaces. She was buried in the Chapel, which still re- mains, surmounted by a cupola, but her monument was removed to Palis, 1793, when her body was torn from the grave and lost. The chateau was almost entirely pulled down at the Revolution; part of the facade Was transported to Paris, where it has been re-erected at the Ecole des Beaux Arte. The ruins are pleasantly situated on the banks of the Eure. That stream traverses, a little lower down, the Plain of Ivry, the scene of one of the most decisive victories gained by Henry IV. over the armies of the Ligue, 1590, composed of French and Spaniards under Mayenne. Henri's words to his -soldiers before the battle were — " Je veux vaincre ou mourir avec voits. Gardez bien vos range; ne perdez point de vue m6n panache blanc, vous'le trouverejz toujours au chemin ^de Bhutan y. Route 35. — Paris to Bennes—Atenpm. 123 Thonneur." The monumental obelisk erected on the spot to commemorate - the battle was thrown down 1793, but - restored by Napoleon.] The Ch. of St. Berne" near JDreux is >a fine .example of the flamboyant style. On theAvre, a tributary of the Eur*, are several manufactoriea: the paper- . mills .of the very .eminent stationer and publisher Didot, 2 or 3 cotton- mills . belonging* to Mr. Waddington, and the woollen yarn mill of Mr. Vulliamy— the 2 last Englishmen, who employ a great number of persons. The me- chanical power is water only. 14 rNonanoourt. The .site of the house in the market- place, near the church, in which Henri IV. slept the night before the battle .of Ivry, is pointed out. 11 TUlieres sur-Avre. 10 Verneuil. — Inns: Paste; Cheval Blanc. This interesting old town, of 4000 Inhab., contains several remark- able specimens of Gothic architecture — the finest being the Tour de la Made- leine, a magnificent work in the most gorgeous late Gothic style, surmounted by a stunted spire. Verneuil was once a .place of strength ;— under its wails, which partly remain, a fine specimen of fortification of the 12th cent., was fought a bloody battle, August 17, 1424, between the French and English, which, after two days of hard and uncertain contest, terminated in favour of the Begent Duke of Bedford, and was the last great victory obtained by him. The bravest leaders and most efficient troops who fought on the side of : the French were the Scotch. Their com- manders, the Earl of Douglas, who had been created Duke of Touraine, his son, the Earl of Buchan, and many other knights were slain. The English army was inferior in numbers to the enemy, yet it left 1600 dead on the field, while on the side of the French there fell 4000, including Scotch and Italian allies. As usual, the English archers contributed mainly to the victory. Attached to the portion of the fortifica- tions not yet removed, is a toll tower, 60 ft. high, on the margin of the Avre, called la Tour Qrise. Diligences to Laloupe Stat, on the Paris and Le Mans rly., and to Couches Stat, on the Park and Caen rly. (The road by .Ar gen tan and Falaise branches, ofi! here (Rte. 29). 16 St. Maurice. 22 Mortagne. — Inn: H. de France. .An old town (5158 Inhab.) which claimed to be capital of la Perche. It is situated in a commanding position on a hill, surmounted by the high road .in a series of aigaags,.in order to. reach the principal square. .It .was a place of strength, often besieged, and suf- fered much from the horrors of war. ;During the contests of the League it was taken and pillaged by the two par- ties 22 times, in 3£ years. Parts of its ramparts . remain. Ite only supply of water is obtained by meana of a steam- engine pump, from springs at the bot- tom of the hill. The Church is remark- able for the. pendants in the roof of its nave. Canvas used for pictures is made at Mortagne, besides coarse linens and some porcelain. Omnibus meets all the trains at Coudes Stat, on the Paris and Caen Railway. [7 m. N. of Mortagne, at Soligny, is the convent of La Trappe, founded in the 12th cent., but owing its celebrity to the severe rule of the order enforced, 1666, by the Abbe* la Rano£, who is said to have always lived strictly and ascetically. The well-known story of his conversion is a pure fable. The convent was suppressed 1790, by a deeree of the Assembler Nationale, and its church destroyed with the tomb of La Ranc£, but the monks were restored in 1814 by the exertions of M. Le- strange. They are interdicted from all intellectual labour, and only allowed to work in the fields.] 16 Mesle-sur-Sarthe. The Sarthe, a tributary of the Loire, is crossed here. 10 Meml Broust. 13 Alenpm (Stat.) (Inns: Grand Cerf, good; Poste; H. d'Angleterre), chief town of the Dept. de l'Orne, has a population of 14,500, and is a thriving place, situated on the Sarthe, near the junction of the Briante, in an open plain. Its manu- factures consist chiefly of cotton .and o 2 124 Route 36.—~Renne8 to Brest — Lamballe. Sect. II. woollen, hempen and linen cloths, called " Toilet dt Alenpm." The making of point lace, " Point d'Alencon," established here by 'Col- bert, for which the town was long cele- brated, has now nearly disappeared. Cider and perry (poir6), the common drink of the country, are sold to a con- siderable extent, in casks called pipes. The public buildings are not very- remarkable. The Cathedral consists of a Gothic nave, built in the 16th cent., having some painted glass, injured by a storm, 1821, and a pulpit approached by a staircase cut in the pier, attached to a plain modern choir. The crypt be- neath the church contains the remains of the Dues d' Alencon — lately opened. Three battlemented towers of the old Castle, built by Wm. de Bellesme 1026, are converted into a prison, and the Prefecture is a brick building, which once belonged to the Duchesse de Guise. One of the most atrocious of the Revolutionary leaders, Hubert the anarchist, editor of the infamous journal Pore Duehesne, was a native of Alencon. He was led trembling and weeping to the scaffold, to which he had condemned so many thousand innocent persons, in 1793, exhibiting in his last moments the most abject cowardice. The name Diamante d'Alencon is given to the crystals of smoky quartz (rock crystal) found in the neighbour- ing granite-quarries ; where the beryl also occurs. Alencon is built of gra- nite, which becomes the predominant rock of the country further W. The cultivation of wheat becomes rarer, buckwheat takes its place; broom and rushes abound. Diligences to Tours. Railway to Le Mans, — in progress to Mezedon. (Rte. 29.) 11 St. Denis. The river Mayenne rises near this, and is crossed about balf way to 13 Prez en Pail, in the Dept. de la Mayenne; the portion of it traversed by the road is a dreary country, un- enclosed and covered with heath. 18 Le Ribay. The high road to Brest merely skirts a suburb of Mayenne, leaving the town itself on the rt. 18 Mayenne. — Inns: Belle Etoile ; — Tdte Noire. A town of 10,000 In- hab., situated f on the rt. bank and- J on the 1. of the Mayenne. Its manu- factures of calicoes, linen cloth, and tickens employ 8000 persons in and around the town. The Castle, now in ruins, is a picturesque object, on the rt. bank of the river, near the bridge. It belonged to the seigneurs of May- enne, and was taken after a 3 months' siege, by the English, under the Earl of Salisbury, 1424. Many of the streets are very narrow, and so steep that it requires 8 or 10 oxen to draw a cart up them. The road descends the valley of the Mayenne, having the river on the rt. but out of sight, to 13 Martigne*. RL^M^Rte-34-) ROUTE 36. BENNES TO BREST. 240 kilom.=149 Eng. m. Malleposte daily in 18 hours. Diligences daily. Railway in progress by St. Brieuc and Morlaix. 10 Pace*. 13 Dede'e. 14 La Barette. 16 Broons is remarkable only as the birthplace of Bertrand Du Guesclin, the great captain of France in the 15th century. He was 10th child of Robert Du Guesclin, and remarkably ill-fa- voured to look upon. He first saw the light in the castle of La Motte Broons, of which no vestiges remain, but the place where it stood is marked by an avenue of trees, and a Monument* erected at the cost of the department, by the side of the road to Brest, about 1 m. out of the town. 12 Langouedre. 15 Lamballe (4400 Inhab.) was the chief place of the Comte* of Penthievre; the castle of the counts was reduced and dismantled by Cardinal Richelieu, 1626, to punish a rebellious seigneur. The Ch. of Notre Dame, on the top of the hill whose, slope is occupied by Brittany. Route Z6.—Bennes to Brest— Morlaix* 125 the town, was originally the castle chapel, and is a fine Gothic building. Thick cylindrical piers, surmounted by capitals in bands, support the lancet arches of the nave, whilst the choir rests on clustered pillars, the arches being surmounted by a double tri- forium gallery. It has a wooden roof. In a side aisle is some good carved woodwork, with decorated and flam- boyant tracery, perhaps the remains of a roodloft. Part of the church was built 1545. The road to St. Malo (Rte. 41) diverges from this. Glimpses of the sea are obtained on the rt. before reaching 20 St. Brieuc. — Inns : Croix Blanche, clean and good: H. Tassin, middling but moderate. There is nothing worth notice in this town of 14,053 Inhab. ; it is situated on the Gouet, and has a port called Le*gu£, 2 m. lower down the stream, provided with a long quai, accessible for vessels of 400 or 500 tons to un- load at. On the top of a hilly pro- montory, commanding the bouchure of the river, stands the ruined Tour de Cesaon, built 1395, to defend its en- trance, but blown up 1598, after the war of the League, by order of Henri IV. Such, however, was the thickness of the wall, and the coherence of the mortar, that one half of the cylinder re- mains standing, braving the tempests, while the other lies shattered into a few large masses at its base, as it fell. There is a pretty walk from St. Brieuc to Legue*, through a narrow ravine, traversed by a small tributary of the Gouet. St. Brieuc was taken by the Chouans in the Vend^an war, 1799. An interesting antiquarian and archi- tectural excursion to Lanleff, Paimpol, &c., may be made from this (Rte. 38). 17 Chatelaudren, a small town on theLeff. 14 Guingamp (Hdtel des Voyageurs) is a very picturesque town, situated in the vale of the Trieux, which abounds in pleasing scenery (7200 Inhab.). It formed part of the vast possessions of the Dues de Penthievre, and de- scended from them to Louis-Philippe. The site of their castle, razed to the earth, is occupied by a grove of trees, and serves as a promenade ; but frag- ments of the town walls remain. Its Church, surmounting the other build- ings, part Gothic, parff in the style of the revival, has some peculiarities, viz. grotesque heads projecting from the shafts of its piers. The Fontaine de Plomb, in the middle of the Place, is rather an elegant work of Italian artists in the 15th cent., it is supposed. The Chapel of Notre Dame de Grace, . 3 m. out of the town, is well deserving a visit, although its rich decorations in sculptured tracery and figures have been much mutilated. " Its elegant spire, finely proportioned pillars, and light arches, are still worthy of ad- miration ; and much of the grotesque carving which formed the cornices of the nave and aisles may still be seen." — Trollope. It was erected in the 14th cent, by Charles of Blois. 19 Belle-Ile-en-Terre. The Dept. of Finisterre, embracing the larger portion of la Basse Bretagne, the ancient Armorica, is entered before reaching 19 Ponthou. 15 Morlaix (Inns : H. de Provence ; good and moderate; — H. de Paris) is a flourishing little port and town of 10,500 Inhab., picturesquely seated in a valley wide enough only for the tidal river or creek which runs up it, lined with 2 quays and 2 rows of houses, " behind which the hills rise steep and woody on one side, on the other gardens and rocks and wood ; the effect romantic and beautiful." — A. Young. The rock rises so close behind the houses as to give rise to a proverb, "From the garret to the garden, as they say at Morlaix." It is only 6j m. from the sea, and is reached by vessels of considerable ton- nage. To the stranger its chief attrac- tion is the unaltered air of antiquity which it retains in its older quarters, such as the Bues des Nobles and du Pav6, and the thoroughly Breton cha- racter of its street architecture and houses overhanging the footway, each- story, fronted with an apron of slates, more nearly approaching its neighbour on the opposite side of the way, until 126 Route 36. — Rennet to Brest — Landivisiau* Sect II. the inmates of the garrets may shake hands. The grotesquely carved corner posts, ornamented with figures of kings, priests, saints, monsters, and bagpipers, the Gfbthic doorways; the sculptured cornices, would, enrich an artisVs sketch-book, and furnish em- ployment for many days; The cos- tame of the people also is thoroughly in keeping with' the buildings ; their pent-house brimmed hate, their loose trunk hose, their shaggy locks hang- ing like manes down their backs, are all thoroughly characteristic of la Bre- tagne Bretonnante (§ 2). Sad havoc, however, has* been made in this antique town- by modern im- provements ; and the opening formed for the new Rue Nation - Boyale, by which the road to Brest issues out on the W., has swept away a crowd of crazy but picturesque constructions, whose loss would have made poor Prout sigh. Two small streams, descending from separate ravines; but uniting above the town, are arched over to furnish space for the market-place and modern Hotel de Ville ; below which, expanding na- turally, and partly by their bed being artificially excavated, they form' a port, lined with quays and lofty picturesque houses, resting on covered galleries or arcades called Lance*. One of the houses on this quai is particularly re- markable for its carved staircase. Be- side these quays several merchant ves- sels may usually be seen lying, together with a variety of small craft. The churches are' not remarkable : St. Mathieu is Gothic ; in St. Metaine is some good carved screen-work. Many of the houses in the Rue du Pave" and Rue des Nobles (especially the staircase of one high up on the right hand) deserve notice ; they are richly ornamented in the flamboyant style. The Gothic fountain of the Carmel- ites, and the Chapel of the Convent of St. Francois, may be visited by those who' have time. The Manufacture Rationale de Tabac, ft large building on the W. quay, is said to produce the worst tobacco in Europe. In 1522 the fleet of Henry VIII., who was at that time incensed with Francis I. for seizing the ships and goods of English merchants in French ports, on its return from escorting the Empr. Charles V. to Spain, under the command of Henry Earl of Surrey, entered the river, m number 50 ves- sels, and, effecting a descent in the neighbouring bay of Dourdu, surprised Morlaix. The English set fire to it in 4 different places; pillaged it, mas- sacred the inhabitants, and burnt* to the ground great part of it, " together with some right fair castles; goodly houses, and proper piles." — State Papers. They retired to their vessels loaded with; booty ; but 600 of the hindmost were intercepted by the in- furiated inhabitants, and cut off with great slaughter near a spring, still called Fontaine des Anglais, or, as the Bretons, like their Welsh, kinsmen, style them, the Saxons. Near the said fountain begins a very pleasant promenade, planted with trees, called Cows Beaumont, which extends nearly 1J m. down the 1. bank of the river. The views from it of the river and the wooded valley are very pleasing. The site of the old castle, planted with trees, also commands a fine view of the town* Morlaix is the native place of Gene- ral Moreau. Diligences daily to Brest ; to St. Malo ; to Rennes ; to Lorient. A well-appointed Steamer runs from Morlaix to Havre, 70 leagues; in 20 hrs., once a week; fare 30 fr. The churches of Ereisker, at St. Pol de Leon, and of Folgoat, may be visited by making a detour on the way to, Brest (Rte, 38). Another interesting excursion is to the mining district of* Huelgoat and Poulahouen (Rte. 42). Rather more than half way (£ m.)1 between Morlaix and the next relay the village- of? Theogonec is passed,, re- markable for its fine Church, in the. style of the Renaissance ; a vast edi- fice, richly decorated with, sculptures in the dark Kersanton stone. Its deli- cately carved pulpit, its reliquary, aud- its Calvary, deserve notice. . 21 Landivisiau has a Church also, with a very fine S. portal filled with statues of the 12 Apostles ; and at tha Bbittany. Route 36. — Brest. 127 W. end almost elegant, tower and spire, ' well worth studying. . [The C&urch of Lanbader, 5.m. N". of tips, on the road to St.. Pol, sur- mounted by an, elegant tower, and spire, was originally attached- to a.1 commandery of Templars, ruins of., which exist near the. tower. Within is a. beautifully pierced and carved roodloft and screen of wood, composed of exquisite flamboyant tracery; also a ( staircase in the same s,tyle. The \ chains of some knight, liberated from slavery among the followers, of Ma- hoiin, still Aang in the choir.] .' 3 m. sh«R of Landerneau, on a hill above the village £a, Uoche Maurice, stand the ruins of its, castle, reduced tp 3. shattered towers, but very pic- turesque in its outline and position. In the churchyard is an Ossuary t filled with skulls and dry bones, orna- mented in front with a sculptured frieze, representing the Dance of Death, executed 1.639. The Church is Gothic, and built 1559, and contains some £ood painted glass. The carved portal in. Kersanton stone, and the sculp- tured roodloft of wood within, are worth notice. 16 Landerneau (//to; Hdtel de TUnivers), a pretty town,, seated in. tjie hollow of a valley on the Elorn, whose mouth forms, one branch of the roadstead of Brest. There are some picturesque Gothic bits among its old houses. 4963 Inhab. The roads to Brest from Morlaix, from Carhaix (Eta. 42),. and from. Quimper (Rte. 44), all converge at this point. A little beyond Landerneau, on the 1. of the road, between, it. and the river Elorn, a ruined gateway, draped with ivy, is the sole subsisting relic of the, Castle of the joyeuse Garde, now known as Chateau le Forefc, the cradle of chivalry, the seat of Arthur, Lancelot du Lac, and the Knights of the Round Table. Of course there- is no preten- sion that the existing remains are of their time. No satisfactory explana- tion is given of the. origin of the name joyeuse Garde, but it is. supposed to be a perversion of a Breton term. 20 Brest. — Lnns: H, du Grand Mo- narque, good and moderate ; — H. de Provence. N.B. The gates of Brest are closed at 10 p.m. in summer, and 9 in winter ; no entrance after. Foreign- ers must give up passports at the gates. Brest, the chief naval arsenal of France, a Dockyard, and fortress of the first class, is very, advantageously situated near the W. extremity of the Dept. Finisterre (the Land's End of France), on that portion of her territory which projects most to the W. between the. Channel and the Gulf of Gascony. It stands on the N. side of one of the finest harbours in the world, nearly land-locked, accessible only through a narrow and well-fortified throat, Le Goulet, and extending far inland in 2 branches, one running up to Lander- neau, the other towards Chateaulin. The town is built on the summit and sides of a kind of projecting ridge, and some of its streets are too steep to be passable except on foot. A narrow but deep creek, which is in fact formed by the mouth of the small stream the Penfeld, running up from the harbour behind this ridge, serves as the basin to the dockyard, and divides the town on its 1. bank from the suburb La Re- couvrance on its rt. The communica- tion between the town and suburb is kept up by numerous ferry-boats. Qlose above the mouth of this creek, which is not more than a musket-shot across, and is defended by several tiers of batteries on either hand, rise the feudal round towers and colossal cur- tains, not less than 100 ft. high, of the picturesque old Castle, which be- longed to the Dues de Bretagne. It was besieged in vain by Du Guesclin and Clisson, was long held by the English, having for governor, 1373, the brave warrior Robert Knolles. It. was yielded up by Richard II. 1395, in consideration of 12,000 orowns, and was finally modernised by Vauban, 1688, who formed casemates in the interior of its massive towers, and platforms, with embrasures for cannon on their tops. From its walls there is a good view of the port and dockyard, but the Fort de I'Ecble, on the opposite side of the water, commands one. still 128 Route 36. — Brest — Dockyard. Sect. IT. finer, including the roadstead also. There are numerous dungeons beneath the castle, and extensive vaults. The inner port of Brest, or creek above mentioned, is so narrow, that if the town had any commerce it would not be large enough to hold the mer- chant vessels ; but there is no defici- ency of depth (25 ft. at low water), and 30 or 40 ships of war might lie within it in single file. Above the castle the shores of both Bides of this creek are enclosed by a high wall, separating the dockyard within it from the town. The mouth of the creek is closed by a boom. The population of Brest is said to exceed 32,000, though, to avoid the additional contributions on large towns, it is put down in the census at 29,860. There is accommo- dation in the numerous barracks for a garrison of nearly 10,000 men. Although Brest is enclosed within ramparts, there are several fine open spaces within its walis ; such are the square called Champ de Bataille, inno- cent of any other combat than a sham fight, and the Cours cFAjot (so named from an officer of engineers who laid it out), a promenade agreeable on account of the fine trees which shade it, and the beautiful view of the roads, ap- pealing like a vast lake, which its ter- race commands, but infested all the morning by parties of recruits under- going drill. More rain, it is said, falls in Brest than in any other town of France, and the whole department of Finisterre is peculiarly exposed to storms, winds, mists, and fogs. In 1548 Mary Queen of Scots, then a child 5 years old, landed at Brest, and a few days after was affianced to the Dauphin Francis at St. Ger- main. The Dockyard, or Port Militaire* — The authorities connected with the dockyard (major de la marine, &c.) will not admit foreigners to see it without an order from the Ministre de la Marine at Paris. The Bagnes and H6pital de la Marine, the most inter- esting objects here, can be seen on presenting the passport. The dock* yard of Brest is situated on the 2 Bides of a narrow but deep creek or arm of the sea, running up in a wind* ing direction between high and steep rocks, which intrude so near upon the water that it is only by paring them down that space is formed for the buildings, and for the quays and yards required in front of them. The first view, looking down from above into this narrow ravine, lined with long and massive ranges of buildings rising tier over tier in the form of an amphi- theatre, is exceedingly striking. On one Bide is the VoSerie (dtil-house), Magasin General (stores), am Corderie (rope-walk), of 3 stories, surmounted by the Bagne, and above it rises the New Hospital. On the opposite side are various ateliers, forgeries, Atflier oVArtillerie de Marine (burnt in 1833). The Foundry (for casting cannon), and the Quartier des Matins, or sailors' bar- racks, where they are lodged when in port in the same manner as soldiers — an admirable establishment, which might be advantageously copied by the English Admiralty — fill up the opposite side. The level space at the water's edge is occupied by slips (cales de construction), only 2 of which are . covered, about 8 being uncovered, dry docks (formes), at times converted to the purpose of building ships. It is surprising that the first dockyard of France should possess so few covered slips. There are, besides, timber- yards, boat-sheds, water-cisterns sup- plied by a steam-engine where vessels fill their tanks, sheds for containing the new tanks, and government cellars, while a very large space near the sea entrance of the dockyard is covered with dismounted cannon. Here also is placed a trophy from Algiers, a brass gun 20 ft. long, which forms an excellent column reared on its breech « The precautions against fire and theft are very rigid ; a vigilant guardian watches in every apartment, a door* keeper at every door ; cisterns are placed at short distances, with tubs full of water every 8 or 10 yards. The ground occupied by most of these buildings hat been gained, as BktTTANY. Route 36. — Brest — Bagnes* 129 before observed, by excavations out of the hill-side. Greatly as the space on either side of the water has been widened by artificial means, the cliffs even now approach too near the slips and timber-sheds, preventing a free circulation of air, causing dampness, and consequently dry rot. Near the timber-sheds is the Mtisee Maritime, filled with models, ships' heads, &c, but containing nothing very remark- able. On both sides of the port, roads are carried up the steep sides of the con- fining heights in zigzag terraces, so that they may easily be surmounted by heavy carriages. The Victualling Office (Direction des Subsistences et Pare aux Vivres) is near the mouth of the port, on the rt. bank, and includes the bakehouse, containing 24 ovens, the slaughterhouse, kitchens, &c. In 1802-3, when the combined Spanish and French fleets lay in the roads, 50,000 rations were supplied hence daily. The Bagnes (from bagno, Ital., bath; the Christian slaves in Turkey and Barbary were employed in heating the baths of the sultans, pachas, deys, &c.) contain about 3000 convicts (forcats), condemned to forced labour for a cer- tain term of years or for life. Their dress is a jacket of dirty red serge, fitting no better than a sack, yellow trowsers, and a green, red, or yellow cap: the green cap denotes one con- demned for life ; the yellow sleeve one twice sentenced. The worst offenders are heavily loaded with shackles fastened to a ring riveted fast round the leg. The chain and shackle together weigh more than 7 lbs., and usually cause a wound on the leg at first. It is not, however, the hideous dress nor the clanking chains which renderthe forcats repulsive; it is the countenance marked with bad passions and villany, which indicate the degradation of human na- ture. The worst offenders are coupled two together to the same chain. They work in gangs, each gang accompanied by a plante or garde chourme, a fierce- looking moustache, with a tranchant sabre, accompanied by a soldier with a loaded musket. The Prison of the Bagnes has a long facade, with more of archi- tectural ornament and style in its pediment than usually marks a prison destined for doubly and trebly dyed criminals. It contains 4 salles, lofty, wide, and airy, filled with large wooden platforms, having sloping tops like desks ; these are the bedsteads of the forcats, who recline on them upon a small mattress provided with a coarse quilt of sackcloth, the chain of each being passed over a bar of iron running along the foot of the bed, but allowing tether enough to move a distance of 5 or 6 ft. Only the better class of con- victs are allowed a thin mattress. As soon as their allotted task for the day is done out of doors, they are allowed to repair hither ; some have writing-desks, others employ them- selves in handicrafts, many in making toys out of cocoa-nuts, horsehair, &c., by which they may earn a little money. At gunfire the names are called over, and in an hour profound silence is re- quired; the night, passed on a hard board, is a time of suffering, especially in winter, from the cold. Their daily allowance of food includes a pint of wine, a measure of biscuit, or £ a loaf of brown bread. The 4 salles are closed by strong iron gates at night, but stand open during the day ; there are, however, plenty of guards at hand, and imme- diately behind the Bagnes rises the Caserne de la Marine Alt lit aire, which could pour in some hundred men in a few minutes in case of revolt. The forcat, degraded as he is, is not allowed to be struck by his guards or keepers ; his punishment, if he does wrong, is either solitary confinement in the black hole, a series of cells in the court be- hind the building, or deprivation of his wine, &c, coupling to another prisoner, or flogging with the rope's end. As a further preventive of tumult or rebellion, the walls of each salle are pierced with embrasures through which 2 cannon show their mouths ; they are loaded with grape, and would enfilade the chamber, and sweep it from end to end. Outside the dockyard, a little higher up the hill than the prison, rises +1 Q 3 ISO Route 36. — Roadstead of Brest. Sect. H. BdpiM tie la Marine, an edifice of great extent, though of unpretending* archi- tecture, of which Brest may well be proud. It was begun 1324. It con- tains 2& salles, each- with 58 beds ; and is attended by between 30 and 40 Re- ligieuses, Soeuts Fiddles de la Sagesse- as they call themselves-, who are also- lodged within the building, So far from being revolting-, aa is the case in many hospitals, it is a pleasing sight to enter one of the salles ; its cleanliness puts to shame the confined frowsy wards of Greenwich Hospital. Here are wide, airy apartments, the roofs without speck, the floors, though- of tile, sedulously polished and provided with pieces of carpeting, each window hung with white curtains, each bed of metal, also with white curtains and furniture. The salle des officiers- is superior to the- common rooms, even elegant. The kitehens, laboratories, linen-Closet, &c., are in the same style, Even the convicts, when siek, are re- ceived and nursed in this establishment. A British Consul resides here. At Hubert's library and reading* room, Hue d'Aiguillon, the papers may be seen, and many interring works on Brittany, especially those- of MM. Souvestre and I'Vemmville, obtained. Maileposte daily to Laval Stat. (Rfte. 84) : diligences daily to- Rennes ; to St, Malo ; to Lorient, Auray, and Nantes. A railroad to Paris by Rennes and Char- tres is in progress. Steamer every day traverses the Road- stead. The excursion through them, and to the head of the harbour, is very fine and interesting. The Roadstead of Brest lies between the great promontory of Finisterre on the N. and the smaller peninsula of QueTern on the S., which approach so near as to leave a passage only 1749 yards broad between them, called the Goulet. The Mingan rocks, rising in the midst of this channel, contract the entrance still more, and compel vessels to pass close under the guns of bat- teries which line it on either side, and command it by a cross fire. The road consists of numerous bays, into which several risers empty themselves, the rincipal being the Elorn from Lander- neau, and the Chateanlifi, which h navigated by a steamboat. In some places tile harbour is 3 m. broad, and the area of its surface is estimated at' 15 square league*. All the fleets' of France might lie- snugly within it, and a hostile ship dare not venture within its entrance without the risk of being battered to pieces. Not only are the jaws- of the harbour bristling with for- tifications "a flour d'eau," but the works are carried inwards so as to command the anchorage, and the bat- teries spread outside to- the rt. and 1. of the entrance, while every eminence iff crowned with- other forts command- ing those below. The number of can- non and large mortars which could' be brought to bear on an enemy from the batteries of the Goulet, and of the coast ouside of it, is not less than 400, while 60 piece* sweep the anchorage from the forts within the Goulet, On the N. of the Goulet, in the midst of the bay of Bertheaume, are 2 island forts, united together by a rope bridge, and by one of wood with the shore. The extreme fort on this side is the batterie de St. Mathieu, under the ruined abbey (p. 131), and close to the new lighthouse. On the S. of the Goulet lies the Bay de Camaret, one of whose numerous and formidable bat- teries goes by the name of Mort Anglaise, commemorating the miserable defeat of the expedition which landed here 1694 from a British fleet commanded by Admiral Berkeley. On approaching the shore, the English found it bristling with armaments : batteries were thrown up on all sides, gunners at their posts, troops of horse and foot drawn up behind the guns, and, as soon as the English began to disembark, 3 masked batteries opened on the ships a destructive fire. 900 men under the command of General Tollemache, who persisted in landing in the face even of such formidable preparations, reached the shore, and were almost immediately cut to pieces, the ebbing of the tide having left their boats dry, and cut off their retreat. And thus the expedi- tion failed miserably. What wonder? The news of the intended descent had been betrayed to Louis XIV. and James Brittany. Route 36.— Roadstead of Brest — Excursions. 131 II. move than a month before by the Duke of Marlborough, the hero of Blenheim! These are the words in which he communicated the intelli- gence to his old master James: — " The capture of Brest would be a great ad- vantage to England, but no advantage can prevent or ever shall prevent me from, informing- you of all that I be* lieve to be lor your service ; therefore you may make your own use of this intelligence." — Macpher son's State Pa- pers. In the interval between the re- ceipt of this letter and the sailing of the armament, the skill and activity of Vauban- had put the intended landing- place in such a state of defence, by throwing up batteries, disposing can- non, and collecting troops, as to render success hopeless, defeat inevitable. The Potnte dee. Espagnols owes its name to a body of Spaniards, about 600 strong, who occupied it for several weeks, 1594, and threw up an earthen redoubt, which was captured by assault. The peninsula of Quelern is defended by lines, drawn across the isthmus winch connects it with the mainland, nearly a mile long, consisting of bas- tions faced with masonry, constructed by Vauban, mounting 60 pieces of can- non. From a point near these lines, just above the Bay of Camaret, the finest view is obtained of the roads of Brest and their defences, with the point of St. Mathieu and the archi- pelago of Ouessant on the N., and on the S. the Bay of Dournenez and the Pointe du Raz. The defences above enumerated do not include those of Brest itself, amounting altogether to 400 pieces of cannon, nor of the intrenched camp behind it, numbering 60 more cannon and mortars. Excursions. — The country about Brest is far from picturesque, but it contains many objects of interest. The Menhir of PUmarzel (§ 4), about 10 m. N. W. of Brest and 3 beyond the village of St. Benan, is the loftiest of those singular Celtic monuments now remaining in Finisterre. It measures 35 ft. in height, and stands on an eminence in the midst of a wild heath. Whatever its original destination, it is still looked on with awe by the pea- santry, and singular superstitions are associated with it. Often in the dead of night the barren woman repairs hither, hoping to procure the boon of fruitfulness by rubbing her naked breast against the hard granite. Near the mouth of the pretty river Aber Ildut, which flows past St. Renan, are the quarries of granite which fur- nished the pedestal for the obelisk of Luxor, erected in the Place Louis XV:, at Paris. 3 m. N. of St. Renan, at Lanriouare*, is the graveyard of the 7777 saints, a walled enclosure, never trod by the peasants except with bare feet and head uncovered ; it is paved with slabs, and marked by a cross. The ruined Abbey of St. Matthew, situated on the extreme W. cape of Finisterre) K. of the Bade de Brest, is about 15 m. W. from Brest and 10 from St. Renan. The roads from both places converge at the little town of Le Conquet, where La Grace de Dieu is a decent cabaret. Conquet suffered from an English fleet sent forth by Queen Mary, 155ft, to ravage the French coast, and to surprise Brest, "because it was known not to be well garrisoned, and was thought the best mark to be shot at for the time." But the English commander contented himself with a far more inglorious enterprise. Land- ing at Conquet, "he put it to the saccage, with a great abbey, and many ' pretty towns and villages, where our men found good booties and great store of pillage."— i/o/mstecf. Thence it is a walk of 3 m. along the tops of the granite cliffs (which abound in red feldspar, quarried at Le Conquest), battered below by the waves, to the storm-fretted ruins of St. Matthew's Abbey, which stand on the bleak exposed promontory aoove the sea — the most W. spot of France, and, with the ex- ception of Cape Finisterre in Spain, of the European continent. It occupies a position similar to St. Mary's Abbey, Whitby, so as to be the first and the last object seen by the mariner quitting or entering the Bay of Brest. What- ever wind may blow, it is rare but it rages a hurricane around these moulds- 132 Route 38. — St. Brieuc to Brest. Sect. II. ing arches and piers, which yet have braved for 5 centuries the pelting storm and whistling wind. The architecture is pointed in the greater part of the building, with some Romanesque por- tions and round arches. It is of solid granite, simple in style, and without ornament. Close beside the ruins a Lighthouse has been erected. There is much savage grandeur in the scene around, viewed from this point, in- creased by the sullen roar of the mighty Atlantic chafing in the eaves and fissures of the rocks below* In clear weather the eye ranges over the dangerous strait called Passage du Four, beset with rooks, between the mainland and the granitic islands Molene, Beniguet, and Oueasant. The last is supposed by some to be the Ultima Thule of the ancients : its in- habitants remained idolaters down to the 1 7th century. The indecisive naval action of Ushant (as we oall it) was fought off this island, 1778, between the French Fleet under D'Orvilliers, and the English under Keppel and Palliser. On the S. the roads of Brest and the peninsula of Qu&ern lie open, and on the horizon appears the Pointe du Raz. On the E. aide of the roadstead, and on the shore of the estuary of the Landerneau river, opposite to Brest, lies Plougastel, remarkable for a Calvary attached to its cimetiere, one of the most remarkable of the Gothic monu- ments of Finisterre. The 3 customary crosses, carved in Kersanton stone (§ 6) are surrounded by an army of stone saints on foot, raised on a platform with bas-reliefs running round it. A mul- titude of sculptures, rudely but forcibly executed, representing scenes of the Life and Passion of Christ. Some of the subjects, such as the entry of our Saviour into Jerusalem to the music of the bigniou (bagpipe), the Temptation, and Hell, are treated in a homely manner, approaching the grotesque, marking the hand of a rustic artist. ' ' Notwithstanding its Gothic character, it appears by an inscription upon it to have been executed in 1602 : but we must remember that the middle ages lasted longer in Brittany than else- where."— Souvestre. The costume of the women of Plougastel is remarkable for its ele- gance. Ferry and market boats ply between Brest and the point of Plougastel. The fine Gothic Ch.of Folgoat(Rte. 38) would form an agreeable day's excur- sion for any one who interests himself in architecture. He might take the patache which runs daily from Brest to Lesneven and back. ROUTE 38. ST. BBTECC TO BREST. — COAST ROAD BY PAIMrOL, LANNION, MORLAIX, ST. POL DE LEON, and FOLOOAT. The distances are marked in lieues communes of 3 Eng. m., measured from place to place. This rte. properly consists of two excursions from the high road from Rennes to Brest : it carries the traveller to a succession of interesting churches and ecclesiastical remains well worth visiting, though much of it lies over cross roads ; no posting. St. Brieuc (Rte. 3d). A wretched patache runs between this place and Paimpol, passing near the little port of Binic, through Plouha. Thus far there is nothing remarkable, unless the traveller diverge about 1 m. to the 1. of the road beyond Binic, to visit the beautiful Gothic chapel of Lantec, which has been compared with the Ste. Chapelle at Paris, but is far inferior to it. From Plouha the antiquarian tra- veller should diverge to the 1., to visit a ruined building, known as the 7$ Temple de Lanleff, about 8 m. from Plouha. A carriage cannot easily get within a mile of it, owing to the bad- ness of the roads. It has been the,, subject of much controversy, some* writers calling it a Pagan Temple: but in truth it is nothing more than an early Christian church, probably of the 10th or 11th cent., in the form of a rotunda, like the English churches of the Temple, St. Sepulchre, Cam- bridge, little Maplestead, &c. But the building which it perhaps most Bbittaht. Route 38.— Paimpol. — Treguier* 133 nearly resembles is the round church at Nymegen, in Holland, attributed to Charlemagne, but now in ruins. It consists of 2 concentric walls, the inner one a cylinder, 30 ft. high, resting on 12 circular arches, supported on square piers, with engaged columns on each side, of granite, having rudely carved capitals of monsters, human faces, rams' heads. Outside of this runs a lower concentric wall, destroyed for a con- siderable part of its circuit, but which once extended quite round the inner wall, and thus formed the aisles of the church. It is pierced with narrow loopholed windows, which widen in- wards, the early form common in churches built before glass came into use. The edges of the vaulted roof which covered this aisle may still be traced, and a small portion of the aisle is included in the modern church; but whether the vaulting of it be as old as the walls on which it rests cannot be distinctly affirmed. This ruin now forms a vestibule to a little village church. As a ruin, it is too rude in its architecture to be pleasing, but in the midst of it rises a noble yew-tree, tall and straight, surmounting the old wall with its dark canopy of foliage. The tradition of the country is, that it was built by the Templars, the " Moines Rouges" as they are called. It is just possible that Gothic archi- tecture in Brittany was not more ad- vanced in the 12th cent, than this building indicates. Lanleff is about 24 m. from St. Brieuc and 7£ from 2§ Paimpol (Inn: H. du Commerce, formerly Pelican), a town of 2112 Inhab. On the sea-shore, 2 m. to the E. of Paimpol, are the ruins of the Abbey of Beauyort. It is beautifully situated on the shore of a retired bay. The remains consist of a Church, now roof- less and deprived of the choir, in the pointed style, built 1202, with a W. front showing an early English charac- ter, together with several conventual buildings at the E. end. An elegant small chapterhouse, its vaulted roof supported on a row of circular pillars, is so perfect that it is now used as a school. On the N. side are an exten- sive vaulted cellar, and an apartment of a superior character, also vaulted, which was the grand refectory. These serve the purpose of farm-buildings at present, being divided between 2 tenants. From Paimpol to Treguier is about 9 m., passing through Lezardrieux, where the river Trieux, descending' from Guingamp, is crossed by a fine wire suspension-bridge resting on lofty piers. The castle of La Roche Jagu, 9 m. from this, is an interesting specimen of domestic architecture, finely situated on the Trieux above Lezardrieux. It is a semi-castellated mansion, entered by a low doorway closed by an oaken door and a heavy iron gate of cross- bars. Although dismantled, it is in- habited by a peasant. There is a fine view from its roof. Another still larger and loftier sus- pension-bridge thrown over the Jaudy leads into 3 Treguier (Inn: Hotel de France, tolerable), a town of 3178 Inhab., oc- cupying the summit and slope of a hill. The Church in the market-place, for- merly the cathedral, has a fine S. porch, • the vaulted roof panelled, and the divisions filled with quatrefoils, and a. doorway ornamented with statues in niches, of good workmanship. The piers of the nave are irregular in form, and its arches vary in width. The N. transept is Romanesque, with circular arches and well-wrought capitals to its pillars. Contiguous to it is a tower in the same style, and probably of the 11th cent., though named Tour de Hastings, after the Danish pirate of a much earlier period. This tower is best seen from the cloisters, where some mutilated effigies of ecclesiastics and knights are deposited. In a farmhouse a little way out of the town, called Kermartin, is pre- served the bed of St. Yves, a favourite Breton saint. It is a cupboard bed- stead, the front of dark wood finely carved. 4 Lannion {Inn : H. de France), on the Guier, possesses a market-place 184; Haute 38. — Lamtioh^St. Pol de Leon. . Sect. II. filled with odd old houses, several: of a very peculiar style of architecture, and nothing else- worthy of remark but. narrow and dirty streets. A diligence runs daily to Morlaix. There is a post- road hence, t*> Guingamp, 32 kilom., and another by Plesten, 18 kilom., to Morlaix, 19 kilom. The district extending- N. from Lan- nion to the sea, between the rivers Guier and Jaudy, is the very cradle of romance. Kiag Arthur held his court at Kerdluel, graced by the presence, of the Paladins, Lancelot, Tristan, and Caradoc; and a short distance off the coast i& an islet called Agalon or Avalon, which the Bretons maintain to be King Arthur's burial-place, thus depriving Glastonbury of that honour. ■ About 6 m. Si of Lannion, on the K bank of the Guier, between it and. the road to Guingamp, is the Castlh Ton- quedec, one of the largest and best pre- served in Brittany. It was built in the 13th centM and dismantled by order of Richelieu, after having served during the wars of the Ligue as a royal fortress. It consisted of 3 courts: de- fended by moats, drawbridges, and portcullises. In the inner court is the keep, a tall round tower, " accessible only by an opening in its 2nd story, approached by 2 drawbridges, sup- ported midway upon an isolated square pier." The staircase was: formed in the thickness of the wall. " In many respects these ruins are well worth coming some distance to visit. To the antiquary they are precious as a speci- men of the finest military architecture of the 13th cent. For the sketcher they combine the requisites to form a lovely landscape." — Tmltope. The direct road from Lannion to Morlaix (about 23 m.) passes St. Michel- sur-Greve, a spot where the sea en- croaches on the shore, and a little farther we enter the department Finis- terre. On the sands near this, accord- ing to the legend, King Arthur fought the dragon. The crypt under the church of Lan- meur is of great antiquity, and encloses the holy fountain which caused its foundation, and is still held in repute by the common people. The piers which support the crypt have serpents- carved on them* About 3 m. N. of Lanmeur, close upon the coast, lies the village of St. Jean: da Doigt, whose church, contain* ing the precious finger of St. John, front which it. is named, is a fayourite place of pilgrimage with the peasantry, who repair hither to the number of 12,000 on the eve of St. John. The church has a. wooden roof elegantly carved and painted, and surmounted by a spire of lead; it also possesses a> ciborium bearing enamelled medallions on the 12 Apostles, abeantiful crucifix of the 16th cent., a chalice and a patina presented by Anne of Brittany, * who was a patroness of St. John's*, finger. She built the hospice by the side of the church to receive pilgrims. Souvestre mention* a singular little chapel called the Oratoire, between this and Plougasnon, in which the young girls who are about to marry in the course of the year hang up their hair as- an offering to the Virgin; this ancient Gaulish custom, however, is diminishing every year. 7* Morluix (Bte. 36). There is nothing very interesting beyond Morlaix until the towers and spires appear of 5 St. Pol de L&m.— 7«n ; Hotel du Commerce, tolerable. This ancient and almost deserted ecclesiastical city reminds one of St. Andrew's in Scotland, and St. David'* in Wales, in its remote position near the sea-shore, in its decayed state, and in its ancient edifices. It possesses 6700 Inhab. and 2 very fine churches. The mCathedral, dedicated to St. Pof, is flanked at the W. end with 2 fine towers, whose central stories, pierced with long and elegant lancet windows (like St. Pierre at Caen), are sur- mounted by spires, also pierced through to the sky. They open to the choir beneath, so as to form a sort of vesti- bule as at Peterborough. The nave is in the early pointed style, probably of the 13th cent.; the transepts display Romanesque features; in the S. tran- sept is a fine circular window, ita tra- cery cut in granite. The trough-shaped bemtier near the W. end was probably BklTTANT. JRbute 38~— Lesneven.— Folgoat. 135 a tomb-, and' from its. rude, sculpture is certainly very old. The ehoit,. longer, more ornamented, and of later date than the nave, is surrounded by doable aisles, and ends in a Lady Chapel ; it contains some goad carved wood-work of the 16th cent. The S. porelv a rich florid work with foliage delicately cat in Kersanton stone, merits exami- nation. The boast of St. Pol is the spire: of the mChurch of Crmzker (the word means centre ot the town), 393> fib., high; a structure of open work of great light- ness and grace, though constructed entirely of granite. The' richly orna- mented, square tower is surmounted by a very boldly-projecting cornice, above which rises the spire, its masonry cut to imitate overlapping tiles. The whole rest* on 4 pillars, not particularly thick, but the arches of the aisles act as buttresses to support it. This spire was built at the latter end of the 14th cent, by John IV., Duke of Brittany; according to tradition the architect was English. The N. portal, florid and fringed, is very rich and in good taste, though much injured; the rest of the church is not remarkable. These are the curiosities of this dull town, and after exploring them one is happy to leave behind its grass-grown streets, and the melancholy which they in- spire. 3 m. to the N. lies the little port of Boscoff. Half-way, near Chapel Pol, are some Celtic remains, several dol- mens, and a menhir (§ 4). Boscoff is filled with, sailors and smugglers, and contains a vegetable prodigy, a jig - tree, in the garden of the Capucin convent, whose branches, supported by scaffolding, would shelter beneath them 200 persons. The church, though of the time of Louis XIV., has a Gothic character, while its details are Italian; below it are 7 very curious bas-reliefs in alabaster: Opposite Boscoff lies the little island of Bate, separated from the mainland by a strait which may be crossed in 10 min. In the cemetery there is a monu- ment of granite to the memory of a lady who succoured the proscribed and fugitive priests during the Bevolution. The young Pretender landed here after his- hazardous escape from Scotland* subsequent to the battle of Culloden. The road from St. Pol to Brest lies through 7 Lesneven. — firn: Grande Maison; tolerable. Some Roman remains* urns,, &c, found a few- miles S.E. of this dull little town on the way to Lan- divisiau, have been supposed to mark the site of the long-lost Breton town Occismor. Pursuing the road to Brest, 1 m. beyond Lesneven, on a dreary, bleak, unsheltered spot, we reach the village of*Folgoat, marked in the distance by its tail spire, little inferior to the Creizker, of unusual splendour for a village,, attached to the Church of Notre Dame,, one of the most remarkable Gothic buildings of Brittany. It owes its origin to the following circumstance : —This spot was once haunted by an idiot-boy, who was in the habit of begging alms of those who passed, using at the same time this one un- varied exclamation, " Oh! Lady Virgin Mary!" so that the place became known as " ar fol coat," the fool of the wood. The fool died, and in a short time there sprang up from his grave,, even out of his mouth, according; to the legend, a beautiful lily, whose leaves bore inscribed upon them the name of Mary. This miracle was noised abroad, and, coming to the ears ' of John do Montfort, then warring, with Charles de Blois for the dukedom ; of Brittany, he vowed to build a church on the spot if he triumphed over his rival. In consequence, after the vic- tory of Auray, he laid the first stone on the spot where the lily had sprouted forth, but the church was not finished until 1423, by his son John V., who, in an inscription legible on the 1. of the W. portal, claims to be its founder. It is built of the very dark green- stone called Kersanton (§ 6), which gives the edifice on the whole a gloomy appearance, but it is well adapted for delicate sculpture, and by the sharp- ness with which it has retained the delicate touches of the artist's chisel, shows how great judgment he exer- cised in selecting it. Almost every 136 Route 38. — St. Brieuc to Brest— Fblgoat. . Sect. II. pari of the church, inside and out, deserves minute inspection; the fertile invention, laborious pains, and dexter- ous skill of the sculptor are visible in almost every part, though the edifice has been sadly injured through neglect. This is more especially conspicuous externally in the W. portal, the canopy of which fell down 1824; but round the portal runs so delicate a wreath of thistles and vine-leaves, perfect in their prickly flowers and stems, and even in the very fibres of the leaves and the curves of the stalks and tendrils, as cannot be seen without wonder. Birds also (chardonneret) and serpents are interspersed among the leaves. Above the door is a bas-relief of the Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi on one side (St. Joseph with wooden shoes has all the character of a Breton pea- sant), and of the Shepherds on the other. Below, the centre pier is formed into an elegant niche enclosing the benitier under a graceful canopy, and supporting it on a bracket. Among the foliage here and in other parts may be seen the ermine, the armorial de- vice of the dukes of Brittany, bearing their motto, " Melius mori quam fos- dari." The thistle (chardon) and the goldfinch (chardonneret) also recur re- peatedly in the ornaments of various parts of the church. A far more beautiful porch is at- tached to the S. transept. Here 12 very exquisite niches line the vault leading to the door, in the mouldings around which similar leaves and, wreaths are reproduced with far greater truth and delicacy. The stone from its pecu- liar colour has all the effect of bronze. This portal is believed to have been built by Anne of Brittany, as the arms of France united to those of Brittany are visible on it. The sloping, open parapets which decorate the gables of the transept, the tracery of the E. windows, espe- cially the central one surmounted by a rose, and the elegant arched niche at the £. end below it, on the outside of the church, constructed to receive the waters of the miraculous fount, which burst forth from beneath the *h altar itself, are not to be passed unnoticed. The water of this spring is held in great repute by pilgrims, who, regardless of bystanders, strip themselves to apply it to all parts of their persons. Within the church on the rt. as you enter is the FooVs Chapel, covered with frescoes nearly destroyed by the damp. Every capital, cornice, and border merits attention for the minute carv- ing; but the chief object of interest is the jvb£oT roodloft between the choir and nave: it consists of 3 round arches most elegantly fringed, surmounted by canopies resting on panelled pillars, . and supporting a gallery, of rich open work, pierced with quatrefoils. The foliage composing the crockets is an elaborate yet natural imitation of the most complicated leaves, and the two angels who occupy the place of finials are well designed. The E. window, seen from within, surmounted by its rose, is admirable for its tracery : the high altar below it is a single slab of stone, 14 ft. long, sup- ported on a front of niche-work filled with statuettes. The side screens and side altars are all more or less worthy of observation. There are numerous statues of saints ourious for their cos* tume. But the ohief peculiarity of this church is the manner in which the sculptor who decorated it has rendered into stone the productions of the vege- table creation. The roof of the church does not agree with the rest in splendour, and is evidently not completed conformably - with the original plan. The Gothic College on the N. side of the church was built by Anne of Brit- tany; she, as well as Francis I., were lodged in it when they came on a pil- grimage to Folgoat. The country between St. Pol and Brest is very dreary; much heath, furze, and broom; — the cottages are poor dingy peat-covered hovels, among which a few starveling black sheep seek a scanty mouthful: few trees appear higher than brushwood. There are many beggars, some of them rivalling in their rags the mendicants of Ire- land. We fall into the great high road Bbittany. Route 41. — St. Malo to Nantes — The Ranee. 137 from Paris about a mile before enter- ing 6i Brest, in Rte. 36. ROUTE 41. ST. MALO TO NANTES, BY DINAN AND RENNEg. — ASCENT OF THE RIVER BANCE TO DINAN. To Rennes direct 71 kilom. =44$ Eng. m. ; thence to Nantes 107 kilom. =r 66f Eng. m. The detour by Dinan is 13 kilom. or 8 Eng. m. longer than the direct road. St. Malo is described in Rte. 27. A Steamer ascends the Ranee 3 or 4- times a week, when the high tide permits (N.B. not at neap tides). There ia some beauty in the scenery, but no comfort in the voyage except when the tide is up. It takes 3 hrs. There are 2 locks (barrages £cluses) to be passed midway, at Chatelier and at Ecluse, which are not pleasant: by means of these a depth of more than 6 ft. is al- ways maintained in the Ranee at Dinan. Owing to the variation of the tides on this coast, amounting to 40 ft., the current of the Ranee is desperately rapid, and the river fills and empties with remarkable celerity. The places passed in succession upon either bank are — rt. St. Servan and the Castle of So- lidor, p. 98. 1. St. Suliac, the prettiest village on the Ranee. 1. Port St. Hubert, a little watering- place in a charming situation. 1. Plouer. rt. Pleadihen. Chatelier. 1. Tadens. The river is confined between lofty precipices nearly all the way to Dinan, and may vary in breadth from f to ^ m. Sometimes expanding into wide reaches, it resembles a Scotch lake. The high road from St. Malo to Dinan runs on the E. side of the Ranee, but only now and then in' sight of it, and is devoid of interest until it comes in view of Dinan. The postmaster charges 4 kilom. extra on quitting St. Malo at high water, on account of the circuit round the port which his hones are obliged to make, instead of crossing direct to St. Servan, as is done when the tide is out. 35 Ch&teauneuf, a strong fort cover* ing the high road to Rennes; here are remains of an old castle. We here quit the direct road to Rennes by St. Pierre de Plesguin 13 kilom. ; Hide* 20 kilom. (p. 140) ; Hermes 23 kilom. = 34| Eng. m. Some of the prettiest scenery of the Ranee may be seen by those who, tra- velling by land, choose to quit the high road and their vehicle about.8 m. short of Dinan, walk over to the river at l'Ecluse, and ascend its rt. bank. Pursuing the post-road, the pictu- resque towers and spires of Dinan are seen crowning the summit of a rocky steep. A granite viaduct — a work wor- thy of the Romans — carries the car* riage-road across the valley of the Ranee nearly on a level with the town, so as to avoid the tedious and toilsome descent and ascent formerly incurred by travellers approaching from St. Malo or Paris. The arches, are 10 in number ; the principal piers, rising from the bed of the Ranee, are 130 ft. high; the whole of solid masonry* The work was begun by Louis Philippe, but lingered until 1852 for want of funds. 18 Dinan. — Inns: H. de Bretagne, outside the gate, on the road to Brest; H. du Commerce; Poste; both in the Place Du Guesclin. Mrs. Barrf, 139, far the best. The country in which Dinan is placed is perhaps the most beautiful in Brittany. The situation of the town (8044 Inhab.) is very romantic, on the crown and slopes of a hill of granite, overlooking the deep and narrow val- ley of the Ranee, flowing 250 ft. below it. The sides of the hill are exces* sively steep ; but, notwithstanding, houses and streets have been built along the face of it to the water's edge. The Rue de Jersuel, which stretches down to the old bridge, is so precipitous as to be scarcely practicable except on foot, and it is even diffioult for a pe- destrian to descend its slippery pave* 138 Route 4L — St. Mala to Nantes — Dinan. Sect. II. meat;; yet tfcfe originally formed the only approach to the town, on the side of St* Malo, through a pointed and ribbed Gothic gateway. The modern road from St. Male, afterr making a wide sweep and many turns under tfcfc old walls,, in order to master the hill, enters the town by the. Porte St. Louis, close to the old and picturesque Castle, built about 1300, and often inhabited by Anne, of Brit- tany, but now a prison. It was be- sieged by the Duke of Lancaster, 13S9, and successfully defended, by Du Gues- clin against the English. It stands oa the edge of the ravine on the- out- skirts of the town, and: isolated from it by a deep fosse. The present en- trance has been forced through a wall into the: chapel, a finely vaulted cham- ber. A recess. on one side, beside the altar, in which, the lord or lady of the castle might .hear mass without being Been, is, called the oratoire of Anne of Brittany. The. deep cornice of machi- colations which crown the Donjon, tower give it a very picturesque ap- pearance, and there is. a pleasing view from ita top.. The, P.lace Du. Gueadin, receives its name from that Breton hero, whose statue (in decayed plaster!) is placed in the midst of it ; and from the circum- stance of He having been the lists in which he fought and vanquished an English knight* "Thomas, of Cantor- bie," whom he- challenged to single combat for seizing treacherously, in time; of truce between the two nations, his brother Oliver, 1359. The Cathedral of St, Sauveur is; an interesting edifice to the antiquary, in the Romanesque style, such as is more commonly- met with in the S. of Europe than in the- N. The crum- bling nature of the granite of which it. is composed gives it the appearance of greater antiquity than it really pos- sesses. The. lower part of the- W. front and the-S. side are probably of the 12th or even; 11th oenty. : the rest is modernised.. The central, portal, a round arch deeply; recessed within mouldings and pillars (the two outer ones detached), is flanked on each side by blank arches* containing statues of the four Evangelists stand- ing on lions, &c, under curious Roman- esque canopies. From the wall above, the winged lion and ox, attributes of of St. Mark and St. Luke, project in high relief. The buttresses against the. S. wall are in. the form of round . attached pillars,, or square pilasters surmounted by capitals. Nothing within the church merits notice except a black tasteless slab in the N. tran- sept, bearing, engraved on it and gilt a double-headed eagle, whose outspread, wings are crossed by a bar, below which a quaint inscription, in gold let-, ters, informs us that the heart of Ber- trand Du Guesclin ( spelt gueaqui) reposes beneath it, while his body lies- among those of kings, at St. Denis.. Now,, at least, neither statement is any longer true. The slab was- found among the ruins of the church of the Jacobins, now razed to the ground; and all traces of the heart, and of the tomb of the Lady Tiphaine, the wife of Du Guesclin, by whose side the heart was deposited, are gone: the body shared the: fate of the royal ashes at the desecration of St. Denis, in the Revolution. The old town, wall and watch -towers still remain; the streets in the older quarters abound in picturesque bits of archi- tecture ; and no spot, in Brittany is better fitted to exercise the artist's pencil. The Museum at the Mairie is very interesting and instructive. The. admirer of ancient domestic architecture should explore the narrow streets, with overhanging houses, the basements planted on pillars, each story projecting on corbels, which form the nucleus of the town. Ar- cades resting on carved granite pillars or wooden posts are very prevalent. Besides the steep Rue de Jersuel; already mentioned, the Carrefour d'Horloge, so called from its lofty granite clock-tower, the Rue de la Vieille Poissonnerie (where is a house bearing the date 1.366),. and tha Rue de la Croix (where the house of Du, Guesclin and his lady Tiphaine i& shown near the Hotel de Ville), are the most remarkable in this respect. BltlTTANr. Route 4\.r-Dinan — Excursions. 139 The English. Battled in Dinan are reduced from 400 to 100 since 1848: they have a Chapel here, in. which the English Church Service is performed' on Sunday at TliJ> Medical men, MM. Guillard and Piedvache. Mademoiselle Roussin keens. a toler- able circulating library. Mrs. Barr's Boarding-house; Rue de St. Malo, affords English comfort and cleanliness* Families can be received for one or more days. It is kept by the widow of a oaptain of the 33rd. Charge, 35 fr. a day.. Dinners, table*d'hdte> The- Steamer from St. Malo ascends the Ranee as far as. the bridge of Dinan. (See p. 137). Diligences daily to Rennes and Le Mans, to Brest, to St. Malo, to Pol, and to St. Brieuc in 5 hrs. On the outside of the town; under the old walls, now overgrown with ivy, while the ditches are converted into gardens, run agreeable Terrace*, commanding beautiful views over the vale of the Ranee. The Mont Dol and Mont St. Michel are visible, it is said, from some points. There are manufactories of fine linen1 and of sailcloth in and about the town. Excursions almost without end,, each varying from the other, may be made on horse and foot in this- delightful neighbourhood. Donkeys maybe hired. a. At the distance of less than a mile from the Porte St. Louis, prettily situated in the bottom of a dell,, through which a streamlet falls into the Ranee,, lies the village of Lehon,. where are the ruins of a once cele- brated abbey and a castle. The abbey is entered by a fine circular archway within deep mouldings : the church, now roofless, is in the early pointed style : it is called La Chapelfe des Beaumanoir, from being the burial- plaee of the family of that name,, whose, tombs were broken, open at the Revo- lution, and the remains dispensed, while their monumental effigies, ori- ginally placed in the niches on either side of the church, have been removed to the Mairie. There are 4 figures of warriors armed, and an ecclesiastic, all in high relief; the drapery well executed, the hands folded in prayer. One of them is said to have been the leader of the Bretons, in the famous " Combat des- Trente." (See Rte. 42.} The steep wooded height above the. village is crowned by the Castle, now reduced to a square enclosure, of walla levelled* down to the surface of the. potato-field which they enclose, having1 round towers in the angles and centra of each. face. It was taken by Henry II. of England, 1168. Erom this castle-orowned height a beautiful view opens out of the village* and abbey at its feet, of the oourse of the Ranee and the romantic valley through which it flows. The navigation above this is continued by means of a canal which unites, the. Ranee with the V-ilaine.. The walk may be very pleasantly extended from this along the slopes of the hills,, by paths across, the. fields behind the Hospice des Alienes, towards the Village of St. Esprit, where there is a curious Gothic crucifix of granite, with figures of the first and second persons of the Trinity, now much mu- tilated. The. charm of this walk, how- ever, is the fine view it presents of the antique towers and spires of Dinan, on the opposite, side of the valley to the rt., and the insight it affords into the curious system of labyrinthine lanes by which a great part of Brit- tany is traversed. The country is well wooded, abounding especially in oaks, and each field is surrounded by hedges. The lanes by which it \& intersected in all directions,, owing, to the soft and- crumbling nature of the soil, differ, little from ditches worn down 8 or 10 ft. below the surface of the fields, and vary in character between a pool or slough of mud and a mound of hard bare rock.. A stranger is almost Bure to. lose his way among them, so intricate, and numerous are their crossings. The. country, seamed and grooved by these, hollow ways,, is like a rabbit warren, and this thoroughly explains how the ' Chouans and Vendeans were able, among such fastnesses,, to put to de- fiance so long the armies of the Repub- lican Government. b. On the opposite side of Dinan, about 140 Route 41. — Dinan to Henries — Chateaubriant. Sect. II, 1 m. distant, at the bottom of a really romantic little valley, is the spa or Eaux Mmerales, a source of saline sul- phureous water, good for liver com- plaints, much resorted to in summer. Alleys have been planted and a sort of pump-room built, which contribute little to the beauty of the spot, though they cannot spoil it. A walk along the paths, cut through the trees along the steep sides of the dell, is highly to be recommended. c. The Chateau de la GarayeiBA ruined mansion of the time of Francis I., exhibiting in its falling walls and towers some picturesque bits of archi- tecture, in the style of la Renaissance, intermixed with Gothic ornaments. The last owner, M. de la Garaye, quitting the gay world, converted this house into an hospital, while, with his wife, he devoted all his time and for- tune to the care of the sick. To fit themselves for this duty they both studied medicine and surgery, and the lady became an excellent oculist. The hospital was destroyed at the Revo- lution, which the benevolent founders fortunately did not live to see, having died 1755-7; but the monument over the graves even of these benefactors of the district, in the churchyard of Faden, did not escape destruction from the ruthless hands of the Repub- lican spoilers. d. e. The Castles of Montafilant and Quildo on the sea-coast near Plombalay . f. About 14 m. N.W. of Dinan is the Chateau of La Hunaudaye, an inter- esting old castle surrounded by ram- part and ditch, and tolerably perfect, in the form of a pentagon. It is sup- posed to have been built in the 13th century, by Olivier de Touraemine. It is to be reached only by a cross road, intricate to find without a guide, passing through Corseul, site of Curi- osolitum mentioned by Caesar, where Roman remains have been discovered. About 10 m. beyond the castle, on the coast, is St. Cast, where an ill-con- trived ^ expedition of the English was ignominiously defeated in attempting an inroad on Brittany in 1758, with a loss of 822 men, including 42 officers, killed and taken prisoners* From Dinan to Rennes it is worth while to take the route by Hede, for the sake of the Ruined Castle, occupying a very picturesque site and commanding a beautiful view. In the chapel of Montmuran, near . He*de*> Du Guesclin was armed a knight. On the road from Dinan to Rennes the small town of Evrau is passed; it is situated on the Canal which joins the Ranee to the Ille. The castle of the Beaumanoir here is now modern- ised. The country beyond is very tame; fields and hedgerows, and few villages. Country-houses, where they occur, lie at a distance from the road, without lodges or dressed grounds. 29 La Chapelle Chaussee. 24 Rennes, in Rte. 34. There are 2 roads from Rennes to Nantes: —a. By Derval 107 kilom. = 66± Eng. m. 16 Bout de Lande. 11 Roudun. A high hill is crossed before reaching 17 La Breheraye. 9 Derval. 12 Nozay. 14 Bout de Bois. 14 Gesvres. 14 Nantes, in Rte. 46. — b. By Chateaubriant 119 kilom. = 73 Eng. m. 18 Corps Nuds. 17 Thourie. 18 Chateaubriant (Inn: H. des Voyageurs, small, but clean), a town of 3673 Inhab., at the intersection of several roads. Its ancient walls remain nearly intact. The Castle was dismantled by Henri IV. and Louis XIII., but part of it, including a spiral stair leading to the chamber in which, according to tradition, Fran- coise de Foix was bled to death by her husband Jean de Laval (1525 or 37), are incorporated in the public offices. The Ch. of St. Jean de Bfre* is an interesting Romanesque struc- ture. 18 La Meilleraye. About 1 m. on the 1. of the road lies a Monastery of the Order of La Trappe, It was sold as national pro- perty 1793, and was repurchased IB 16- .Brittany. . Route 42. — Morlaix to Nantes — Huelgoat. 141 by a Romanist Society of Trappists, who had been settled at Lulworth in Dorsetshire, but their number has been greatly diminished (to 25) since 1830, in consequence of their having mixed themselves up with the Chouan insurrection of that period. 19 Nort is a small town on the 1. bank of the Erdre, which becomes navigable here for steamers. One plies daily between Nantes and Nort, to . and fro. The Erdre is a river of sin- gular beauty, for 12 m. below this passing a succession of rocks, castles, .chapels, villages, alternating with tracts of wood and cultivation. At one place it swells out into the form of a lake. On its rt. bank are Chapelle- Bur-Erdre, and the castle of la Gache- rie, residence of the Princess Marguerite de Navarre, sister of Francis I., and authoress of the romances known by the title Heptameron. A little farther is the castle of Blue Beard (Gilles de Retz), whose story is told in Rte. 58. 18 Oarquefou. 11 Nantes, in Rte. 46. ROUTE 42. MORLAIX TO NANTES, BT THE BONES OF HUELGOAT AND POULLAOUEN, CAR- HADC, PONTIVT, JOSSELIN, AND FLO- This is a cross-country road, not a post-road, but traversed by a Dili- gence. It is described because it includes several places of interest. There is a good view of the pic- turesque town of Morlaix (Rte. 36) from the heights crossed on quitting it. The road gradually approaches and surmounts the chain of the Menez Aire's hills, through a desolate country chiefly moorland. The summit level is reached at Croix Court, which is also the boundary of the arrondisse- ments of Morlaix and Chateaulin. About 1& m. beyond Le Mendi, a hamlet 12 m. from Morlaix, a road turns off on the rt. to Huelgoat (4 m. farther). Here is only a poor Inn (Lion d'Or), which, however, can furnish a clean bed and something to eat. Huelgoat is a town of 1200 Inhab., in a remote and thinly-peopled district celebrated for its Mines of lead containing silver mixed with it. They are situated about If m. from the town, in the midst of a picturesque valley, through which runs a rushing stream, concealed from view at one particular spot by an eboulement of co* lossal fragments of rocks. The path to the mines is carried through thick woods by the side of a narrow canal or aqueduct, conveying water to move the machinery and the hydraulic pump by which the mine is kept dry. This machine is a master- piece of mechanical skill, constructed by M. Juncker, an engineer of Alsace, and related to Cuvier. It well deserves the minute attention of all who take an interest in mining or machinery, and has been thought worthy of an eulogistic report, read to the Academy of Science by M. Arago. It has the force of 280 horses, and raises 3 cubic metres 53 centiemes per minute, a height of 754 ft., effected by a column of water equal to 21 cubic inches falling from a height of 196 ft. It has been at work for many years night and day; its movements are free from the least irregularity or the slightest noise. It is entirely under ground, at a considerable depth below the sur- face. The process of separating the silver from the ores by amalgamation with mercury is also very curious. M. Juncker, who for many years di- rected these works, introduced consi- derable ameliorations on the Saxon me- thod, by means of which large masses of very poor ores have been worked, which were formerly rejected; by this means the prosperity of the Huelgoat mines has increased much of late years. Permission to enter the mines is readily given by the resident director. The best time for visiting them is at six o'clock, when the gangs of miners are shifted, and the nightworking set relieve those who have toiled through the day. The descent is made by a bucket and rope. The vein of lead 142 Route 42. — Morlaix to Nantes — Carhaix. Sect. II. has been traced for more than £ a mile • in a clay slate of the upper Silurian 'formation. The lead-ore (galena) is sent to Poulahouan to be smelted. In the Chwrch of Huelgoat k a cu- rious reading-desk (lutrin) resting on a pedestal resembling the classic tripod, but Of wood, each of the 3 sides orna- mented with a figure in bas-relief of a classic character. On one is a man with long hair and a maee oyer his •ahoulder, with no other clothing than a short cloak ; on another a young man in classic garb, bearing a toroh in one hand and a dart in the other; on .the third: a female bearing a cup and vase, in the guise of a Bacchante. It has been well described by M. Fre- • minville ; but nothing is known of its origin or the meaning of its carv- ings. The Manage de la Vierge is a species of cave formed by fallen masses of granite rock, through which a small stream of black water and of unknown origin flows, in places out of sight. It is possible with. a sure foot and steady head to descend into the gulf. Near this is a Rocking Stone, The Cascades of St. Herbot are worth the walk to them, less on account of the waterfalls themselves than for the scenery of the little valley in which they lie, varied with dense woods and bare jutting rocks. The village Church, surmounted by a fine square tower on a height above, contains the tomb and effigy of the anchorite St. Herbot, some carved screen-work in the choir, and a roodloft of elaborate and beautiful workmanship in the style of the Re- naissance. There are 2 painted win- dows of rich colour with the date 1 556. It has a fine W. portal in the decorated style, but bearing the date 1516, an ogee arch ornamented with frizzled foliage, and a still more beautiful S. porch, but the statues are poor. Herbot is a veterinary saint, who cures the diseases of animals, provided a look of the beast's hair be laid on his altar. At Branilis in the parish of Locque- fret, about 6 m. from Huelgoat, at a distance from any village, surrounded by 3 or 4 hovels, is a fine large Church in the best style of Gothic art, sur- mounted by a spire, and internally adorned with carving m stone and wood, and with painted glass, now all going to decay. Poulahouan, on the direct road from Morlaix to Carhaix, contains other lead- mines, but inferior in extent and pro- ductiveness to those of Huelgoat. Here, however, -are the smelting -homes in which the ore from both mines is reduced. The galleries of the mine have been driven horizontally -f of a. mile and vertically more than 600 ft. in the Silurian rooks. There is a direct road (15 m.) from Huelgoat to Garhaix (La Tour d'Auvergne is n good little Inn: game very cheap-; partridges 3d. a brace), a primitive town (2000 Inhab.) among the hills, in the midst of that most unsophisti- cated district of ancient Brittany, Cornouailles. ltabounds in old houses, with projecting cornices and carved timber-work, and is inhabited by people as old-fashioned as their dwellings. Here is shown the house in which La Tour d'Auvergne (Theophile-Malo Corret) was born, in 1743; who, stern republican as well as brave warrior, steadily refused rank, but died the "premier grenadier de France," in the battle-field on the banks of the Danube. A statue of him by the sculptor Marochetti is erected in the Place. In the Chdteau de la Haye are .preserved his heart, an early portrait, his sword, and his boots. A little way out of the town on the road to Callac is an ancient structure, said to be a Roman aqueduct. There is also a Roman road which can be traced for more than a mile on the way to St. Gildas. Richard Cceur de Lion was defeated at Carhaix, 1197, by his rebellious vassals, the nobles ef Brittany. Six high roads — to Brest, Morlaix, St. Brieuc, Vannes, Chateau- lin, and Quimper — unite herd. A direct road leads from Carhaix to Lorient, by Le Faouet, and over the high range of the Montague Noire. Not far from Le Faouet is' a very hand- some Gothic ohapel. The road to Pontivy and Vannes Brittany. Route A2.-~-P Auray is a celebrated pil- grimage church 3 m. from the town, frequented usually by 6000 devotees from all parts of Brittany in the month of July, but not otherwise remark- able. It is a modern and not hand- some building. In another direction, about a mile from Auray, is the nunnery of the Chartreuse, occupied by the Scsurs de la Sagesse, who instruct a school for the deaf and dumb. Attached to their church is the Expiatory Monument, erected by the Bourbons to the me- mory of the 950 unfortunate Emigres . and Royalists who composed the ill- advised expedition to Quiberon, 1795, and who either fell there, or were shot by the Republicans on the banks of the Auray, at the spot marked by fe Grecian temple not far distant from the Chartreuse. Another monument, which has been placed in the church to record their unhappy fate, is not a work of merit, either in general design or in the execution of the bas-relief intended to adorn it. It bears the names of those who fell. The village of Brech was the birth- place of George Cadoudal, a leader of V l Brittany. Route 44. — Morbihan — Locmariaker. 149 the Cbouans. Morbihan was the centre of their insurrection. The Excursion to Carnac and Loc- mariaker may be made in one day by pursuing the following plan, and pro- vided the traveller can walk 8 m., the only mode of passing between these two places being on foot. If the wind be favourable he may hire a boat for 10 francs and descend the Auray to Locmariaker, a pleasant voyage of a little more than an hour ; if he visit Gavr Innis (N.B. in this case take candles and matches), 1 or 1 £ hr. more is required : from Locmariaker on foot to Carnac will take ^ hrs. He must, however, beforehand, hire a gig at Auray, and send it on to Carnac to wait for him. He may return to Auray in the gig in 2 J hrs. In sailing down the estuary of the Auray he will pass rt. The Chateau de Plessis Kaer, a Gothic castle, with additions of the time of Francis I., and the ruins of another, called Bosnareu. Near this the boatmen assert that ruins of the piles of a bridge, which they attribute to Caesar, may be discovered at low water in the bed of the river. rt. A perfect Chateau, called Ker- entrec. The river now widens out, and a little farther on we enter The Morbihan (Little Sea), an inland sea or archipelago from which the de- partment is named, so thickly beset with islands that the common belief assigns them a number equal to the days of the year. The shores on all sides have a most jagged outline, fringed with capes, creeks, and inlets ; they are of granite, barely covered with the scantiest vegetable soil, sup- porting a growth of barren heath ; very often the surface is mere bare rock. 2 narrow peninsulas or arms, projecting from the E. and W., sepa- rate this gulf from the sea, allowing only a narrow passage between them. This archipelago is very difficult to na- vigate— a perfect labyrinth of islands, separated by intricate passages which only the experienced navigator can thread. The land rises but little above the sea ; it is sterile in the ex- treme ; the peasantry are miserably poor, and barely win a scanty crop from a soil whoso proper productions seem heath and furze. Yet this me* lancholy and mysterious but unin- viting district seems to have been the head - quarters of the religion of the Druids — the number of barrows, cairns, dolmens, menhirs, &c, is ex- traordinary (§ 4). The island of Gavr Innis, or Gaffr' ne*, nearly opposite Locmariaker, may be visited on the way thither, diverg- ing a mile or 2 to the E. It is " an island of granite about i m. long, of granite covered with turf, in which rises a tumulus 30 ft. high and 300 in circumference. It is traversed by a subterranean passage or cromlech, con- sisting of 13 and 14 vertical props at the Bides and 20 cap-stones. Some of them are 'covered with engraved lines forming patterns somewhat resembling the tattooing of a New Zealander. — Lukis. The best way to get to these islands is to take a boat from Loc- mariaker. The Auray boatmen will go over for an extra fee. Locmariaker is a poor village, possess- ing accommodation only of the common- est kind for a traveller. It stands on a heathy promontory projecting between the ocean and the Gulf of Morbihan, but is deserted by the tide at low water, so that one must land at a sort of pier a little to the N. of the village, near the Mont Hellu, a mound of stones or galgal, about f m. N. W. of the vil- lage. There is another similar mound to the S. E. called butte de Caesar. The most interesting of the Celtic monu- ments lie to the N. of the village, between it and the Mont Hellu. Con- tiguous to the last house is a menhir 20 ft. long, overthrown like every other in this district; a little to the 1. on an eminence is a dolmen, the top stone of which is 12 to 15 ft. square, and in parts 3 ft. thick. Still farther to the N. lies prostrate and broken into 4 fragments the largest Menhir known; it measures nearly 60 ft. in length, and 5 or 6 ft. in height as it lies. It is difficult to imagine by what force so huge a mass can have been snapped short across, with such clean fractures. Some have attributed its 150 Route 44. — Locmariaker — Carnac. Sect. II. fall to lightning. Near to it is another dolmen called Dol ar Marchant, the Merchant's Table, which seems larger than any other in the neighbourhood; it consists of 2 table-stones, one of them 16 ft. by 12, supported on 3 vertical ones; it is possible to creep under it, and remark the singular figures cut on its under surface. Be- tween it and the Mont Hellu, a vast heap of cinders is said to have been found (?) There are many other similar monu- ments near Locmariaker, but these are the principal ones. Locmariaker (i. e. place of the Virgin Mary) is supposed to occupy the site of the ancient Dariorigum, the capital of the V enetes : its position agrees with Caesar's description of their "oppida in extremis unguis, promontoriisque posita," and some substructures of houses laid bare near the village are attributed to the Romans. [The peninsula of Rhuys, which, with that of Locmariaker, form, as it were, the natural piers separating the Sea of Morbihan from the Atlantic, contains the following objects of curiosity. 1. Le Qrand Mont, called also la Butte de Tumiac, situated about 4 m. from Sar- zeau, an obscure little town, but me- morable as the birthplace of the author of Gil Bias. It is the largest tumulus existing in France, 100 ft. high and 300 in circumference, and is planted near the extremity of the promontory. 2. The ruined ch. of the Abbey of St. Gildas de Rhuys, remarkable because it was the retreat of Abelard in 1 125, who narrowly escaped poisoning at the hands of the refractory and ill-con- ditioned monks, whose dissolute man- ners he wished to repress. The re- mains consist of a modern nave, and a very ancient choir in the Romanesque style, terminating at the E. end in 3 semicircular chapels. The walls of the transept are partly of herring-bone masonry. The date of the oldest part of the building is probably 1038. The tomb of the saint is pointed out; an ancient font deserves notice. St. Gildas is about 21 m. from Vannes. On the way to St. Gildas from Vannes, 3, the Castle of Succinio may be visited. | It is a fine and perfect feudal fortress, built 1260 by John the Red, Duke of Brittany. It has nearly the form of a pentagon flanked by 6 round towers. It was the birthplace of the Constable de Richemont, who defeated the Eng- lish at Formigny.] Between Carnac and Locmariaker a deep frith of the sea penetrates far inland, and is crossed half way by a ferry; the way is very intricate, from the number of paths, so as scarcely to be found without a guide, and the road is very bad. The distance, 8 m., is practicable only on foot. The Ferry of Cherispere over this inlet is prettily situated, and com- mands a view of the little port of La Trinite* in the bay of Crach. A little to the W. of the ferry, near some salt-works, at the bottom of a shallow dell, is a rude monument to mark the grave of a royalist, shot on the spot, 1801. The approach to Carnac is marked by the prominent Cairn, or Tombelle de St. Michel, so called from the chapel surmounting it. It is a cone of loose stones artificially heaped together, standing at the E. extremity of the great army of rocks of Carnac, of which it commands a view, as well as of the sea and promontory of Qui- beron. Cai-nac. Inn : H. des Voyageurs, an humble auberge. The great Celtic Monument of Carnac, the most extensive in France, is situated about } m. from this remote village, and is traversed by the road from Auray. In the midst of a wide heath, as dreary and blasted in aspect as that "near Forres," extends this brother- hood of grey stones, — rude blocks set on end, angular, showing no marks of polish, and hirsute with the long moss which has covered the hard surface of the granite, and marks the length of time they must have stood in their present position. At first sight it is difficult to distinguish any order, so many are overthrown, and the gaps left in the lines by depredations are so numerous and wide; indeed, every house and every wall in the vicinity seems to have been built out of this Brittan Y. Route 44. — Carnac — Quiberon. 151 ready quarry. The great mass of the stones extends between 2 windmills. They are arranged in 11 lines, forming 10 avenues, with a curved row of 18 stones at one end, touching at its extremities the two outside rows. The ranks are best preserved, and the stones are highest, near the farm called Menec. There are, it is said, not less than 12,000 stones, blocks of the granite which forms the basis of the country, and which is barely covered with soil, and in many places projects naked above it. None ex- ceed 18 ft. in height, and a very large proportion are cubical masses not more than 3 ft. high. They give one the idea of a regiment of soldiers, and the tradition of the country respect- ing their origin is, that St. Comely (Cornelius), hard pressed by an army of Pagans, fled to the sea-shore, but, finding no boat to further his escape, uttered a prayer, which converted his pursuers into stones. Of the numerous theories invented by learned antiqua- ries to account for the origin and object of these stones, several are not less absurd nor more probable than the legend just mentioned; none are satis- factory. The opinions perhaps least unworthy of consideration would sup- pose either that it was a burial-place on the site of some great battle-field, and that each stone marked a grave, or that it was a great temple dedicated to serpent worship. It was probably connected with some of those rites of initiation which formed part of the Druidical religion, and were derived from the same source as the Greek Mysteries. At Erdevan, about 8 m. W. of Car- nac, and again at St. Barbe, between Carnac and Erdevan, there are similar assemblages of stones, but not so nu- merous. Some have maintained that these three systems of rude pillars were once united, but there is no evi- dence of this. The piles of stones invariably follow the same direction from E. to W. One can scarcely see Carnac without comparing it with Stonehenge; and it must be admitted that, in Bpite of the vast multitude of stones, the few and gigantic masses of Salisbury Plain are far more im- pressive than the long array of the petrified army on the heath of Mor- bihan. At Carnac there are no cross- stones raised on the top of the upright slabs, as at Stonehenge. The Peninsula of Quiberon stretches 10 m. S. into the sea, a little to the W. of the village of Carnac. Its name is associated with melancholy recollec- tions of the ill-contrived and ill-exe- cuted expedition, consisting of 6000 French emigrants in the pay of Eng- land, who were landed there from a British fleet 1795, and, after a futile attempt to break through the Repub- lican armies opposed to them, were for the most part driven into the sea by General Hoche. The surprise, by Hoche, of Fort Penthievre, which guards the neck of the peninsula, and of which the e*migre*s had made them- selves masters on first landing, decided the fate of the expedition. Sombreuil, their brave leader, when expelled from it, drew up his little band on the farthest extremity of the sand, where they made the most determined resist- ance, so as to call down the admira- tion of their antagonists and fellow countrymen. Humbert, the repub- lican general, advanced with a flag of truce, and promised that their lives should be spared if they laid down their arms. A storm prevented the 152 Route 44. — Vannes — Roche Bernard. Sect. II. British fleet rendering them any assist- ance; one corvette alone for a time checked the Republicans by its de- structive fire, and a few of the fugi- tives were brought off in the boats of the squadron; but many, including women and children, perished in the waves. 950 unfortunate men, most of them persons of rank or station, who capitulated on promise of am- nesty, with their commander, Som- breuil, were, in spite of that, con- veyed to Auray as prisoners of war, and shot there (see p. 148). The descent on Quiberon was an example of the danger of disgrace and failure which England runs by "waging a little war." The road from Auray to Carnac is not good; the latter part is very bad. Diligence, Auray to Nantes, in 12 hrs. There is nothing to note between Auray and 18 Vannes, — Inn: Hdtel du Com- merce, tolerable. This town, capital of the Dept. of Morbihan (population 12,000), is built at the extremity of a narrow inlet, branching out from the Gulf of Morbihan, and about 15 m. from the open sea. It possesses in an eminent degree the character of anti- quity which distinguishes most Breton towns, in its narrow streets, overhang- ing houses, massive town walls and gates, but has no curiosities to detain the stranger. The portal of carved Kersanton stone, the towers of the Cathedral, and a tower in the centre of the town, erroneously called Tour da Con- netable, because Olivier de Clisson was said to have been confined in it 1387, are the only buildings worth mention- ing. 8 or 4 old convents, suppressed at the Revolution, now serve for barracks and similar purposes. The castle into which the Constable de Clisson was entrapped, under pre- tence of asking his opinion of the new fortifications, by John (IV.) de Montfort, who then locked the door upon him, and loaded him with chains, was the Chateau de VHermine, which was razed, to the ground in the 16th oenty. Clisson owed his life to the forbearance of the governor, Bazvalan, who (like King John's Hubert) pre- tended compliance with De Montfort' b order to murder his prisoner, but, when his master's anger cooled, in- formed him of his captive's safety. Clisson was not released, however, without paying a heavy ransom. A sailing-boat with a favourable wind will cross the Sea of Morbihan to Locmariaker, on the way to Carnac (p. 149), in about 2£ hours; but as no conveyances are to be obtained at either of these places, most persons will prefer the land journey via Auray. Excursion through the Promontory of Ehuys. The pedestrian may walk by the Castle of Succinio (p. 150) to Sarzeau (where is an humble Inn), St. Gildas Abbey, and back to Sarzeau for the night ; next day by Butte de Tumiac to Port Navalo, whence cross in a boat to Gavr Innis and Locmariaker (see p. 149). Diligences daily to Rennes (Rte. 45); to Brest; to Nantes. Through a country abounding in heath and broom, we pass through 9 Theix, and 15 Muzillac, to 16 Roche Bernard, on the 1. bank of the Vilaine, which is here crossed by a remarkably fine Suspension Bridge of iron wire, supported on 2 piers of granite masonry, each approached by 3 lofty arches of granite. The opening between the two points of suspension measures 626 ft., the elevation of the roadway above high- water mark 108 ft. In its general appearance it resembles the Menai bridge; it was constructed under the superintendence of M. Le- blanc, the engineer des Ponts et Chaus- sees. It was completed 1839, and subjected to the trial of its strength which the French law requires, by placing 2 rows of 115 carts and car- riages heavily laden on the carriage- way, and of 117 barrows filled with stones on the footpath, which it stood without the least symptom of weak- ness. The road leading to and from the bridge is well engineered, and leaves the town of Roche Bernard on one side. Inn: Hdtel Silvestre, tolerable, Brit. R. 45. — Rennes to Vannes. 46. — Le Mans to Nantes. 153 on the new road, £ m. S. of the bridge. Those who remember the tedious and dangerous ferry which this bridge re- places, and all the trouble and in- conveniences of embarking and disem- barking, will rejoice in the improve- ment. There is nothing of interest beyond this; the country is very dreary, with few hills ; the road in the Dept. of the Loire Inferieure is only beginning to be macadamized. 19 Pont Chateau. 15 Le Moere. At Savenay, on the rt. of our road, in December, 1793, the last relics of that daring army of Vendean peasants, which had crossed the Loire 6 weeks before 80,000 strong, now reduced to 8000 or 10,000, made a last stand against the Republicans, but their obstinate bravery was of little avail against over- powering numbers. They fought long after their ammunition was exhausted, even women taking part in the combat, but were at length cut to pieces or made prisoners, 3000 only escaping back into La Vendee. 11 Le Temple. Glimpses of the estuary of the Loire, running parallel with our road, are seen on the rt. Near Santron, through which the road passes, is the Chateau de Buron, one of the residences of Madame de 86- vigno\ The approach to Nantes is marked by the number of neat country houses. 23 Nantes (in Rte. 46). ROUTE 45. RENNES TO VANNES, BT PLOERMEL, AND TO CABNAC. 92 kilom. = 57 Eng. m. A diligence daily. 15 Mordelles. 20 Plelan. 24 Ploermel (/»n ; H. du Com- merce), a town of 5207 Inhab. In the Parish Ch., a low and heavy structure of the 12th centy., are the monumental effigies in armour of Dukes John II. (1305) and III. (1341) of Brittany. They were brought from the church of the Carmelites, founded by John II., who had fought in Syria against the Infidels, and had visited Mount Carmel; the sculpture is good, and they are tolerably perfect: the church was destroyed at the Revolu- tion. These statues are interesting examples of the costume and armour of the time. There is some painted glass in the ehureiu AJbout 7 m. W. of Ploermel is the Castle of Josselin (Rte. 42), 10 Roe St. Andre\ 16 Pont Guillemet. Beyond this, about 1 m. to the rt. of the road, is the ruined Castle of E ken, one of the best preserved fortresses of the middle ages in Brittany, built on the model, it is said, of some castle in Syria. It stands on a flat, surmounted by a lofty octagonal keep-tower. Ehren is interesting to an Englishman, be- cause young Henry of Richmond (after- wards Henry VII.) was shut up in it for many years, along with his uncle the Earl of Pembroke, by Franeis II., Duke of Brittany, The two English fugitives, escaping from their own country after the battle of Tewkes- bury, were- driven by a storm on the coast of Brittany, and Henry remained a prisoner nearly 15 years, until 1484. when, escaping into France, he accepted the invitation of friends in England to. supplant the tyrant Richard III. 18 Vannes. (Rte. 44: where the excursion to the Druidical Monuments of Carnac is also described.) ROUTE 46. LE HANS TO NANTES, BY ANGERS. kilom.=» Eng. m. Diligence daily to Angers. JRailtcay projected to Angers Stat, down the valley of the Sarthe. Le Mans is described in Rte. 34. The road, on quitting Le Mans, crosses the Huisne just before it falls into the Sarthe, and then runs along the 1. bank of that river as far as 16 Guecelard. On the outskirts of Le Mans, not far from the bridge over B 3 154 Route 46. — Le Mans to Nantes — Angers. Sect. II. the Huisne, the buffoon Scarron threw himself into the river, to conceal him- self from the . pursuit and taunts of the mob, whose derision he had ex- cited by parading the streets during the Carnival tarred and feathered, by way of masquerading. The result of this frolic, so little becoming his posi- tion as canon of the cathedral, was, that he caught a rheumatism in his limbs which rendered him a cripple for life. Maize begins to grow to the S. of Le Mans, but nowhere to the N. of that place. 7 Fouletourte. The road descends into the pretty valley of the Loir (N.B,t not to bo confounded with the Loire), a little be- fore it reaches 19 La Fleohe (Inn: La Poste), a town of 6500 Inhab., prettily situated in a country where vineyards begin to be cultivated with advantage. The large edifice, now the Ecole Militaire, was built by Henri IV. as a Jesuits' College, 1603, but turned into its present destination by Napoleon. The heart of Henri is still preserved in the church. The Church of St. Thomas is a heavy Romanesque edifice. [20 m. N. W. of La Fleche is Sable* (Inn : Croix Verte, comfortable and moderate), *' a beautiful little town on the Sarthe, with a chateau built by M. de Torcy, foreign minister in the reign of Louis XIV. (1696-1715), and nephew of Colbert, still in the Torcy family. Near Sable* are immense marble quarries. Anthracite coal is worked at La Ragotene." — L. About 2 m. be- yond Sable*, ^ an hour's walk by the river side, is the Abbey of Solesmes, pur- chased since 1830 and re-occupied by a society of Benedictine monks, who devote themselves to study in this picturesque retreat. The church is remarkable for 4 groups of statues, called Les Saintes de Solesmes, enclosed in niches, each surrounded by a rich framework of architecture and sculp- ture, in a style of Gothic approaching to the Renaissance. The groups of statuary represent, 1. The Entomb- ment of our Saviour ; the head of Christ and the figure of the Magdalen are particularly well executed. Above the recess rises an ogee arch decorated with the richest foliage of thistles and mallows. It bears the date 1496. 2, Christ disputing with the Doctors ; the figures, in the dress of the 15th centy., are somewhat coarse, remind- ing one of a Dutch painting. 3. On the 1. of the choir, the Communion of the Virgin. 4. Death of the Virgin, in the N. transept. These sculptures have been variously attributed to Italian artists, and to the Frenchman Germain Pilon, but without authority. An altar in the S. transept has been lately fitted up with fragments of other statuary found among the ruins of the abbey. The stalls in the choir, carved with the genealogy of Christ, are worth notice.] The road to Angers follows the valley of the Loir downwards, running at the foot of gentle hills covered with vineyards, 13 Duretal is a town of 1500 Inhab., overlooked by two picturesque em- battled towers, part of a Castle built by Foulques Nera, Oomte d'Anjou. 14 Suette. The Loir now bends away from the road to the W., and 6 m. below this falls into the Sarthe. On approaching Angers the road passes near some of the vast quarries of Blate, which forms a principal pro- duction of the district. 19 ArfGEBS. — Inns: Cheval Blanc, in the heart of the town, a large house, built 1856, best;— H. le Roy;— H. de Londres, dirty and ill-conditioned. Angers, chef-lieu of the Dept. Maine et Loire, is situated on the Maine, called Mayenne in the upper part of its course, a little below the junction of the Sarthe with it, and about 5 m. above the influx of the Maine into the Loire, It has 33,000 Inhab. Modern improvements, the formation of a broad quay along the 1. bank of the river, the substitution of tall, regular white stone houses, like those of the Rue Rivoli, for the old gable-faced cottage-built structures, have greatly innovated upon the thoroughly antique character which Angers previously bore. A broad formal boulevard, Bbittany. Route 46.— Angers— The Castle. 155 planted with young trees, replaces the old fortifications, — ** The flinty ribs of this contemptuous town ;" • . " those sleeping stones, That as a waist did girdle it about, By this time from their fixed beds of lime Have been dish&bited." King John, The "strong barred gates "are all down, and only one tower remains near the upper bridge of those "saucy walls." Black Angers, as it was called from the sombre hue of its buildings of slate, is now like an old coat with a modern trimming: but plunge into the midst of its labyrinth of buildings, scale its steep and narrow streets, many of them inaccessible to wheel carriages, and you will find traces enough of the Angers of olden time, the capital of Anjou, and residence of its dukes. In few towns of France will the antiquary, artist, or architect find a greater number of interesting antique churches and houses than here. Most of the old houses are timber- framed, their fronts gable-faced, the roofs, and often fronts, covered with scales of slate, which abounds in the neighbourhood and forms the common building-stone, and many of the door and corner posts, the joists and cor- nices, bear rich Gothic earrings. The most venerable relic of antiquity is the old Castle, at the water-side, close to the suspension bridge. Its walls were originally washed by the waters of the Maine, until its moat was partly filled to give place to the new quay. If its size and preservation be jointly con- sidered, it is perhaps the finest feudal castle in France. 17 colossal towers surround it; they are 70 to 80 ft. high, close set along the walls, shaped like dice-boxes, thick below, narrow waisted, and having bands of white stone let into the black rough slate of which they are built, so as to give them the appearance of being hooped. A broad and deep ditch isolates the castle from the rest of the town; it is entered by a massive gateway under a perfect portcullis, and within its portal is the furnace where lead and pitch were melted for the benefit of invaders. This castle was begun by Philippe- Auguste, and completed by Louis IX. It serves at present for a prison, bar- rack, and depot of powder. The part which served as a palace of the Dukes of Anjou, overlooking the river, is now in ruins, but shows the architecture of the Renaissance. It stood between the high tower called Da Moulin, because it once supported a windmill, and that called Du IHable, because close to it was the fearful Oubliette, down which criminals were cast alive. From this tower there is a capital view of the town, ite spires and other buildings, of the river and its bridges; while a slight glimpse of the Loire also, deep set in its distant valley, may be gained. There is a neat chapel, now filled with fire-arms, showing, in the delicate tracery of its windows, a good example of Gothic. Beside it is a small build- ing flanked with turrets, in which, it is said, King Bend of Provence and Anjou was born. The view from the terrace outside the castle-gate is less extensive, but nearly as good, as that from within the walls, and on the whole the castle is more imposing from without than interesting within. On one side of the open space sur- rounding the castle stands a handsome modern building, originally L' Academic e\ He was shot near the village Olivet (Rte. 70), and died a few days after in the Chateau de Caubrai. Or- leans was then justly regarded as the stronghold of the Protestant party, and continued so until the revocation of the Edict of Nantes banished those who followed the Reformed faith. Pre- vious to that event its population amounted to 54,000. Francis II., husband of Mary Queen of Scots, ended his insignificant life at Orleans, whither he had repaired to assist at the meeting of the Estates, in the building now the Maine. In his last illness, at the instigation of his mother, Cath. de Medicis, he sent a deputation of pilgrims to Notre Dame de Cle*ry, promising to purge the king- dom of heretics if he ever recovered. The vow was accomplished not by him, but by Charles IX., at the instigation of the same wicked mother, in the St. Bartholomew's night. Csesar mentions Orleans in the fol- lowing passage: " Carnutes Genabum concurrunt, civesque Romanos, qui ne- gotiandi causa ibi con&isterant, inter ficiunt." Sect. III. JR. 50. — Motten to Orleans. 51. — Paris to Sceaux. 175 Promenades are formed round the town upon the line of the former ram- parts. Post- Office in the Rue d'llliers. Alphonse G&tineau, bookseller, has a shop well provided with guides, views, maps, and plans. Railways to Paris, 7 trains daily; to Vierzon and Moulins; to Tours and Bordeaux (Rte. 53) and Nantes. Diligences: — to Gien, to Montargis and Briare, to Chateaudun. Steamboats on the Loire, (?) in sum- mer, to Gien, Nevers, up the river (Rte. 52). Environs. The objects of interest in the vicinity of Orleans are — Notre Dame de Clery, the burial- place of Louis XI. (Rte. 53.) The Chdteau de la Source, the resi- dence of Lord Bolingbroke (Rte. 70), is about 5 m. off; a cab costs 4 or 5 fir. Omnibus as far as Olivet, twice a-day. The way thither leads across the bridge over the Loire to the village of Olivet, whither omnibuses run every hour from Orleans, where the road turns to the 1. The chateau is named from the little river Loiret, which here rises at once out of the ground in full flood, from a natural basin, but injured by art, close under the walls of the cha- teau, in the micUt of the pare. After a course of only 10 m. it falls into the Loire, giving, however, its name to the department. With this exception, the grounds, laid out in the formal French style, have little interest; nor has the chateau itself any other than what it derives from having been the residence of Bolingbroke, who rented it from the proprietor during the latter years of his life when exiled from England. He was visited here by Voltaire. He wrote here his Reflections on Exile. There is a second and more copious source, produced, at the beginning of the last century, by the artificial means re- sorted to to confine the waters of the old source, which, in consequence, broke a new passage for themselves. Here Davoust signed the decree for breaking up the Army of the Loire, after the reverses of Napoleon in 1815. Not far from La Source, near the road, is another handsome Chateau — de la Fontaine. ROUTE 50. ROUEN TO ORLEANS, BY CHARTRES. 201 kilom. = 124 Eng. m. 11 Port St. Ouen, ) z^. 0v 17 Louviers, ) <±ae' *'• 23 Evreux (Rte. 25). 13 Thomer. Our route traverses the fertile but monotonous district of La Beauce (Belsia), one of the granaries of France, on a table-land extending nearly from the Seine to the Loire; of which Chartres is considered the capital. 15 Nonancourt. 14 Dreux (Rte. 35). 16 Peage. 16 Chartres Stat (Rte. 46). Diligence to Angerville Stat. (Rte. 49). It takes about 10 hrs. to travel hence to Or- leans. At the village of Bercheres are stone-quarries from which Chartres cathedral was built. The road tra- verses the fertile corn-lands of La Beauce. 26 Allonne, 19 Allaines Stat. 15 Artenay, on the Paris Railroad (Rte. 49), and in the De*pt. du Loiret. 6 Chevilly Stat. 14 Orleans (Rte. 49). ROUTE 51. PARIS TO SCEAUX — RAILWAY. Terminus in Paris, Barriere d'Enfer. The peculiarity of the line is, that, for the sake of economizing outlay, it is constructed upon steep slopes and curves of narrow radius, which are tra- versed in safety by railway trains called trains articule's, owing to the carriages being made to turn on their wheels like road carriages, the invention of M. Arnoux. Arcueil Stat. Cachan Stat. Bourg-la-Reine Stat, (see Rte. 48) is situated in the valley, at the foot of the ascent on whose summit is situated the town of Sceaux. The intervening space is traversed by means of curves 1 76 Route 52.— The Loire (-4)— Gien to Orleans. Sect. III. carried along the face of the slope in zigzags (lacets) of small radius. The town of Sceaux was once famed for its splendid Chdteau, built by the Minister Colbert (1760), afterwards enlarged by the Due de Maine, whose duchess assembled around her here a literary circle the most eminent in France. It was destroyed, except some of the offices and the menagerie, at the Revolution, and its park, laid out by Le N6tre, ploughed up. A part of it has been made a public garden, and part belongs to the. Due de Trevise (Mortier). The Terrace is a favourite walk of the Parisians. Sceaux is now celebrated for its large cattle-market, and has a considerable glass-manufac- tory. Florian, the novelist, who re- sided in the chateau and died here, is buried in its Cimetiere. ROUTE 52. THE LOIRE (A) — GIEN TO ORLEANS. 62 kilom. = 38$ Eng. m. A Diligence daily. Steamers 3 times a week. (?) The scenery of this part of the course of the Loire is not particularly inter- esting. When the height of water permitted, steamers used to ascend as high as Nevers, and sometimes even to mount the Allier by Moulins to Digoin (Rte. 105). From Gien to Nevers the course of the Loire is described in Rte. 105. Gien is a town of 5530 Inhab., on the rt. bank of the Loire, here crossed by a bridge, on the road from Orleans to Lyons. Its old church, St. Etienne, has been injured by repairs. Near it is a portion of the ancient Castle, now turned into the prefecture. It was at Gien that the Maid of Orleans crossed the Loire on her way from her native village, to announce her divine mission to " Charles the Dauphin" at Chinon. 1. A mound of earth, called Motte du Leon, is supposed to be a Celtic tumulus. About 12 m. below Gien lies 1. Sully, a town of 2145 Inhab., possessing a wire suspension bridge, and an old Castle, resting its front upon the Loire, and separated from the town by a deep ditch. It is remarkable as the residence of the minister of Henri IV., Maximilian de Bethune, first Due de Sully, who purchased it from its for- mer possessors, the family de la Tre*- mouille; and in the alterations which he made in the building everywhere effaced their arms to substitute his own, along with cannons, grenades, bullets, and similar ornaments. He passed here the latter years of his life, after his disgrace under Louis XIII., maintaining considerable state with hi* regiment of lancers, and occupying himself with the preparation of his work ' Sur les Economies Royales,9 which he printed at a press established in one of the towers. It remained in the possession of his descendants down to 1807, when the last Due de Sully died. One of them fitted up a little theatre in the chateau, and was visited by the literary men of his times, among them by Voltaire, who here commenced his Henriade. The building is now going to decay, and is no longer inhabited : in one corner a few bits of tapestry, old portraits, &c, have been brought together; also a statue of Sully. rt. The Ch. of St. BSnoit, one of the oldest and finest in the Dept., was originally attached to a monastery, de- stroyed 1792. Its tower was lowered in consequence of a revolt of the monks against the royal authority under Fran- cis I. It has a curious N. portal, some carved stalls, and one or two curiosities in the sacristy. rt. Chateauneuf. Here are remains of a fine chateau. The river is crossed by another sus- pension-bridge at 1. Jargeau, a town of 2358 Inhab., 12 m. from Orleans. It still retains a portion of its old walls, within which a few hundred English soldiers, with their commander, the Earl of Suffolk, shut themselves up, after the raising of the siege of Orleans, to resist the attacks of the French led on by Dunois and the Maid. She was struck down into the ditch by a stone while mount- ing a ladder to scale a breach made in the wall 8 by the besiegers' cannon; but, recovering herself, instantly rose, and encouraged her followers by her voice 1. Smrni anal Kngetcred'W X* (MMEr » DxnwB una. tf mgrarrd by J.* (MVSXIiiir ^s ^m ^ 17? i B vine- 1n the rJ*Jj»m — tvered inter- e was which ength ^: but :>ronze royed isting '& pre- a is in lichel £V>1%|VLoui8 bare- deof with 'image ntical ' jmany - ^«Inde- 1 pro- Bveral o^'T'V-.pture x°iaTux\t the y^idow, Mtf#. tfhich 1477. lis to V T. # Sect. III. R. 53.— The Loire (B)— Notre Dame de CUry. 17? and waving banner. The town was taken, and almost all the garrison put to the sword, in spite of the endeavours of the Maid to prevent the shedding of blood. Suffolk was made prisoner. The Ch. of St. Etienne and St. Vrain, though injured by the Huguenots 1562, is still a fine building. rt. A little below Checy, at Com- bleaux, is the opening of the Canal d'Orleans, which unites the Loire with the Seine. rt. Orleans, Rte. 49. ROUTE 53. THE LOIRE (B). — ORLEANS TO TOURS — RAILWAY BY BLOIS AND AMBOISE. — EXCURSIONS TO CHAMBORD AND CHENONCEAUX. Railroad along the rt. bank of the Loire, 114 kilom. = 70£ Eng. m. 9 trains run daily in 2J to 3J hrs. Steamers have been superseded by the railway, and no longer run. The course of the Loire from Orleans to Tours lies for the most part through a wide valley, slightly varied by hills of very moderate height: its scenery, therefore, consisting chiefly of slopes covered over with vineyards, of low banks and islands, fringed with willows and poplars, is somewhat monotonous, though of a sunny character, and re- lieved now and then by a frowning old town such as Blois or Amboise, or by a formal chateau. Lower down a yel- low streak of cliffs hollowed out into caves and subterranean dwellings fre- quently forms the bank. vThe river itself winds very much : its shallow waters occupy a bed too large for them to fill in summer, and it is obstructed by shifting sandbanks. The first thing worth noticing after quitting Orleans is, 1. The outlet into the Loire of the Loiret, a stream not 30 feet broad, which yet gives the name to a depart- ment. On the peninsula between the rivers once stood the abbey St. Mesniin, whose fertile territory was the gift of Clovis to the monks. A part of the church and traces of the gardens re- main. The road to Cle'ry crosses the Loiret by a bridge at St. Mesmin. 7 La Chapelle Stat. 7 St. Ay Stat. 1. Opposite to St. Ay,* whose vine- yards produce the best wine in the Orleanois, the spire of Notre Dame de Cle'ry may be perceived about 3 m. from the Loire, on its 1. bank. This little town, 9 m. from Orleans, con- tains a very fine Church, remarkable for the veneration in which its image of the Virgin was held by Louis XL, who was buried within its walls. Its name must be familiar to every reader of ' Quentin Durward.' Louis, passing this way in his frequent journeys into Touraine, always performed his devo- tions to our Lady of Cle'ry, whose leaden figure he carried in his cap. The existing church was almost entirely built by him, in the place of an older one ruined by the English under Salis- bury, 1428. He selected it as his burial-place in preference to St. Denis, because he believed he had recovered from a severe illness by the inter- cession of the Virgin. A grave was made for him in his lifetime, in which he used to lay himself at full length to ascertain whether it fitted him: but this, as well as the statue in bronze which adorned the tomb, was destroyed by the Huguenots 1563. The existing monument is said to resemble the pre- ceding one, except that the statue is in marble : it was executed by Michel Bourdin, an artist of Orleans, for Louis XIII. Louis is represented bare- headed, on his knees in an attitude of prayer, upon a black altar-tomb with four angels in the corners. The image of the Virgin is said to be the identical one before which Louis spent so many hours in prayer: it is black. Inde- pendently of its fine architectural pro- portions, the church possesses several objects of interest, — as the sculpture of the Sacristy, much mutilated, the carved wood-work of its stalls, the fine painted glass of the E. window, 16th cent,, and the Chapel of the family of the Counts of Dunois, in which Tanneguy du Chatel was buried, 1477. A wretched road leads from this to Meung on the Loire. The Loire is crossed by a wire sus- pension-bridge at • Post-road.^ 13 St. Ay. I 3 178 E. 53.— The Loire {B)—Beaugency— Blois. Sect. III. 5 Meiing, or Mehun Stat., a town whose name occurs in the annals of the English campaigns. It has a Roman- esque church, and a red ruined Castle close beside it, partly concealed by trees, and backed by a hill. 1. In the churchyard of Lailly, Con dillac was buried without a line to mark the spot. An irregular bridge of some 30 arches, the oldest parts of which date from the 15th or 16th cent., is thrown over the Loire at 8 Beaugency* Stat. (Inn: l'Ecu de Bretagne, good), an antique town of 4849 Inhab., prettily situated between two hills. Conspicuous above its old houses rises the square Donjon tower, of great antiquity (10th or 11th centy.) and solid construction, 115 feet high, adjoining the Castle built by le*beau Dunois. The H. de Ville, designed by the architect Viart of Orleans 1526, has an elegant front ornamented with the arms of the Card, de Longueville and of the Comte de Dunois. The clocher de St. Firmin is the only remains of the ch. of that saint, and is now attached to the Hdtel Dieu. Beau- gency gives its name to one of the best wines of the Orleanois. Some miles off, beyond the Loire, is Eugene Sue's Sybarite chateau, the effeminate and selfish splendour of which was thought so inconsistent with his Republican professions. The high road runs at the back of the town, skirting without entering it, and for the next 3 stages separates itself from the Loire, to avoid its wind- / ings, and passes the little town of 12 MerStat.t The Chdtcau de Cham- bord (see p. 180) may be reached from this by a good road, crossing the Loire by a suspension bridge. 11 Menars le Chateau J Stat., a vil- lage so called from the well-built but ill-kept chateau, which belonged to Madame de Pompadour, and under Louis XVIII. to the Due de Bellune. It is now the property of the Prince de Chimay, who has established a college here. 1. St. Di6, nearly opposite Suevres, *> V * Post-road. — 13 k. Beaugency* f 13 Mer. % io Menars. $ 8 Biota. is about 1} m. distant from the Palace of Chambord. (See p. 180.) 9 Blois§ Stat.— Inns: H. d'Angle- terre, best ; close to the bridge, com- fortable, cheerful, and reasonable ; civil landlord. H. de Blois, in the centre of the town. This ancient and picturesque town, chef-lieu of the Ddpt. Loire et Cher, containing 14,000 Inhab., is built upon a steep slope, crowned by its historic and gloomy castle at one end of the ridge, and by the cathedral at the other. The quarter which reaches down to the river consists of modern houses, forming a handsome quay lined with rows of trees, and along it, between the town and the river, the high road passes. A bridge of 11 arches, sur- mounted by an obelisk in the centre, unites Blois with its suburb Vienne on the 1. bank. Numerous streets of stairs running up the hill, and winding narrow lanes lined with picturesque old houses, form the bulk of the town, and must be threaded to reach the very in- teresting. * Castle, for ages the residence of kings and princes, and the scene of momentous events, crimes, and mur- ders. It has been degraded to a barrack, and was allowed to go to ruin until 1845, since which the government, with laudable zeal, has restored a part of it to its pristine condition, with ex- cellent taste, under the direction of M. Duban. The interior is well worth visiting, and affords an excellent idea of the decorations of houses in the 16th and 17th cent. The E. front, of red brick, facing the square, is of the time of Louis XII., who rebuilt this edifice, in which he was born. The fine Gothic portal, surmounted by a niche or oriel, is not in the centre of the facade : it leads into a court, the E. side of which is lined with a cloister, resting on pillars carved with a net- like panelling. On the rt. hand (N*. side) is the pile raised by Francis I., corresponding in style (Renaissance) with part of Chambord. That on the W. was commenced under Gaston Due d' Orleans from the designs of Mansard, but never finished; that on the 1. (S.) is the most ancient and least like a Sect. III. Route 53.— The Loire (B)-Blois— Castle. 179 palace, the work of the early Dukes of Orleans. An elegant winding staircase of stone, on whose rich roof the Sa- lamanders of Francis I. have been lately replaced, leads into the suite of rooms in which the tragedy of the Guises was consummated. Tradition, as it seems, gloating over this deed of blood and deception, has preserved the memory of the minutest particulars connected with it ; and, though the interior was stripped of almost all its decorations at the Revolution, and the walls whitewashed like those of a pri- son, points out the chamber and ora- toire of Catherine de Medicis, the contriver of the plot, — the cabinet of Henri III., where he distributed with his own hand the daggers to his 45 gentlemen in waiting, who were to rid him of his rival, the hero of the barri- cades,— the Vieux Cabinet, at the en- trance of which the victim, sent for by the W, was set upon by his assassins as he was turning aside the tapestry hung over the door, and fell pierced with more than 40 wounds, — the outer chamber where the body lay for 2 hours with a cloak and a cross of straw thrown over it, until the royal mur- derer, issuing from his den to look at the corse of the once mighty Henri le Balafre", spurned it in the face with his foot, saying, "Je ne le croyais pas aussi grand," and then ordered it to be burnt, and the ashes thrown into the river. During the progress of the murder, prayers were being offered up for its success in the adjoining chapel, distinguished by the pendants which still ornament its roof. This happened on the 23rd December, 1588: — on the following day the Cardinal de Lor- raine, brother of the Balafre^ was mur- dered in cold blood in another part of the castle. The ground floor at the N.E. angle of the building is occupied by the Sal{e des Etats de Blois, to attend the meeting of which the Guises had been enticed hither from Paris, their stronghold. It was while seated at the council board in this hall, eating prunes de Brignolles, that the duke was sum- moned by the royal page to attend the king. This hall is supposed to be as old as the 13th centy. : a row of pointed arches supports its double, barn- like roof of wood. The king's throne was placed against the wall on one side. One other memorial of that age of crime and superstition remains to be noticed, — it is a sort of pavilion raised upon an old tower, detached from the S. side of the castle, projecting over the Ch. of St. Nicholas towards the river: this was the Observatory of Ca- therine de Medicis, to which she used to retire, with her astrologer, to consult the stars. It bears the inscription " Uranias Sacrum." A stone slab, like a tombstone, in front of the pavilion, served as a support for the astrolabe. The beautiful porcelain floorings in the rooms of Catherine de Medicis deserve notice. A good general view of the gloomy chateau is gained by turning to the 1., as you issue out of the great gate, through a vaulted passage into the Place du College, above which it rears aloft its sombre mass from a basement of grass-grown buttresses. Here we may remark the window from which Queen Marie de Medicis let herself down to escape when banished to Blois by the King her son, on the murder of Mar£- chal d'Ancre. In the Eglise St. Vincent, now belong* ing to a sisterhood, facing this Place, is the tomb of Gaston d'Orleans, who passed here, in a sort of exile, the last 8 years of his insignificant life. The *Ch. of St. Nicholas is a very fine Gothic edifice, chiefly belonging to the 1 2th centy., surmounted by a central tower (pyramidal roof) and 2 W. towers (one rebuilt). The choir ends in an apse of 7 arches resting on single shafts, and there are 3 apsidal chapels behind. The manner in which the capitals are executed, the regularity of the arches, and the elegance of the circular Gothic dome which surmounts the central tower, deserve notice. This ch. has been restored. The terraced Gardens attached to the former Eveche* form a very agreeable walk, commanding a fine view of the town and river, extending to the dis- tant towers of Chambord and Chau- mont. The Cathedral, or Ch. of the Jesuits, said to have been built by Mansard, has been repaired. Not far from it a Maison des Fous, a handsor"" 180 R. 53.— Loire (B)— Railway —Blots— Ckambord. Sect. III. edifice, has been built. A vaulted Bewer, partly cut in the solid rock, by some attributed to the Romans and called an aqueduct, runs under a con- siderable part of the town. It is known to the common people as the Pont de Cesar. A new square has been erected, having on one side the Prefecture, on another the Palais de Justice, and on a third the Halle au Ble\ In the old streets of Blois may still be found some interesting specimens of domestic architecture of the 16th centy. The H. d'Alluye retains an elegant portico in its inner court, and some rooms on the ground floor, but little altered. Miss Costello mentions a curiously-carved house in the Rue Pierre de Blois, leading to the Eveche'; and there is an elaborately-sculptured staircase of wood representing St. George and the Dragon, with a central balustrade corded to the top, and com- partments filled with various composi- tions. Among the illustrious natives of Blois may be named the learned divine and chronicler, Peter of Blois, who died in England a. d. 1200; Louis XII. ; and Denys Papin, for whom the French have claimed the invention of the steam-engine. A Statue of him has been erected here. In 1814 the Empress Marie Louise, with the King of Rome, and the rem- nant of the Imperial court, govern- ment, and army, were despatched hither by Napoleon, who made his wife regent ; and the last Imperial de- crees were dated from hence. Diligence to Vierzon Stat., on the way to Bourges, by Romorantin and the Sologne to le Mans : Vendome. [The interesting excursion to the C/id- teau de Chambord may be conveniently made from Blois, whence it is about 12 m. distant, a 2 hrs.' drive. Omnibus daily to and fro; a carriage with 1 horse 8 fr., with 2 horses 15 fr. The road thither runs up the 1. bank of the Loire in sight of the Chateau of Me- nars on the opposite bank, on an em- bankment or Levee, nearly as far as St. n' j* J111*** ***** a small Inn (an ^?n^?hainbord>' H m- dktant from tie chateau. A cross road leads thence to Chambord. Inn, H. St. Michael, built by the Comte de Chambord, very good. The Forest of Chambord is badly preserved: there are more jays and magpies in it than partridges, and the deer have been kept down for the sake of the young wood. Guests at the inn readily obtain permission to fish in the streams, which abound with pike. Few fine trees remain in the forest, which displays now little sylvan beauty. Beware of ague. * Chambord, the Versailles of Touraine, until Louis XIV. deserted that beau- tiful province'to fix the royal residence in a swamp close to the metropolis. It has no beauty of site to recommend it, being placed in the midst of a sandy flat, surrounded by a park 21 m. in circumference, where the roe and deer cross the traveller's path. The chateau itself, though somewhat fantastic, is on the whole a grand edifice, sur- mounted by a vast group of turrets, minarets, and cones, which rise con- spicuous at a distance from a solid basement, the chief features of which are 6 round towers of prodigious size, 60 ft. in diameter, which seem the types of all those which characterise French chateaux. Its architecture marks the transition between the for- tified castle and the Italian palace, and is a fine specimen of the age and taste of Francis I., who built it, after his return from captivity in Spain, on the site of a favourite hunting lodge of the Co ants of Blois, engaging Prunaticcio to furnish designs for it. He laid the foundation of it 1526, and employed 1800 men constantly on its construc- tion until his death. It was afterwards continued, though with less zeal, by Henri II. and Charles IX.; and even Louis XV. added the low screen at the back, which, though from Mansard's designs, is ugly, and of course inappro- priate to the style of the original. It is at present the property of the Due de Bordeaux, having been purchased for him and presented to him by public subscription. He has been confirmed in his possession, though the Bourbons have forfeited other estates in France, by the decision of the French law courts. Its 440 chambers, though un- inhabited, are undergoing judicious re- Sect. III. R. 53.— Tlie Loire (B)-Chambord— Valengay. 181 pairs in capital style and in good taste, the rental of the estate, amounting to about 3000/. a year, being entirely spent by its present possessor on its restoration. Enclosed within the building a cen- tral tower rises above all the rest, called Donjon, or Tour de la Fleur de Lis, from the lily of France, in stone, 6 ft. high, which surmounts it. After haying escaped the hammer which defaced all its minor brethren so profusely scattered over the build- ing, at the first Revolution, this mon- ster lily was destined to fall at the second, but has since been restored. This tower is filled with a very beau- tiful double spiral staircase, an archi- tectural curiosity, so contrived that 2 parties may pass up or down at the same time without meeting, scarcely even seeing each other. It opens on each floor upon 4 corridors, branching from it like the arms of a cross, vaulted. The compartments of their roof were once filled with the Salamander and F. of Francis I. One of these corridors was converted under Louis XIV. into a theatre, for the first performance of Moliere's Bourgeois Gentilhomme, in which Moliero and his troop performed before the King, for the first time, 1670. The device of Henri II. and Diana of Poitiers, the H. and D. en- twined with the crescent, are distri- buted over the parts which he built, but left unfinished. It is worth while to mount to the terrace and top of the tower to examine the details of the building, its solid masonry inlaid with morsels of black slate cut into the shape of lozenges, crescents, &c. Its rich niches, its classic chimneys converted into orna- ments instead of being eye-sores, its balustrades and flying buttresses, are all curious specimens of the style of the Renaissance, resembling somewhat the Elizabethan architecture of Bur- leigh. The roof is like the hull of a ship, and must contain a forest of tim- ber. From the top of the tower you look down upon the wide forest and wilderness of a park with its avenues. Since the commencement of the libe- ral repairs and restorations now in pro- gress, it is once more a pleasure to traverse the labyrinth of rooms, though showing no traces of the frescoes with which they were decorated by Jean Cousin. The well-read traveller, in imagination, can repeople their halls and corridors with the brilliancy and beauty of the courts of Francis I. and Henri II., recalling the time when Charles V. was entertained here on his passage through France, 1539, by his generous rival, or that when poor Ma- demoiselle de Montpensier here lost her heart to the fickle Lauzun. Among the occupants of Chambord since it was deserted by its royal own- ers, was Marshal Saxe, — that veteran of a hundred fights, to whom it was given by Louis XV. He brought with him 6 cannon taken from the enemy, and a regiment of lancers, whom he reviewed daily from the terrace, al- though with one foot already in the grave. He died here 1750. It after- wards became the asylum of Stanislas King of Poland, and his queen Maria Leczinska. It was plundered and dis- mantled by the mob of 1 792, and sold as national property. Napoleon be- stowed it in 1809 upon Marshal Ber- thier, from whose widow it was pur- chased by a body of Loyalists, and presented to the Due de Bordeaux, as already mentioned.] [Another excursion may be made from Blois to Valencay by Selles, an old town on the Cher. The Chateau of Valencay, built by Philibert Delorme in the reign of Francis I., is interesting architecturally as a specimen of the style of the Renaissance, and historic- ally as the prison-house allotted by Napoleon to Ferdinand VII. of Spain from 1808 to 1814, and still more as the residence of the late Prince de Tal- leyrand during the latter part of his life. The larger rooms contain portraits of monarchs (Napoleon and Louis-Philippe presented by themselves) and of states- men, his contemporaries. His study and bedchamber remained in 1843 exactly as he left them : his shoes, one furnished with steel spring and ban- dages for a club foot, his walking sticks, his desk, writing materials, to- gether with his robes, stars, and orders, in a glass case, may still be seen. Talleyrand's last resting-place is in 182 2?. 53.— The Loire (#)— Railway— Amboise. Sect. III. a vault beneath the chapel of a small nunnery, in a narrow street off the Place at Valencay. It is entered through an iron trap-door in the floor, and in one corner a dark stone sar- cophagus contains all that remains of the wily minister of so many sove- reigns. By the marriage of a niece of the Duchesse de Dino, it now belongs to the family Montmorency. Returning to Selles, the traveller may proceed down the valley of the Cher by the town of Montrichard to Chenonceaux, and thence to Amboise. Between Selles and Montrichard, but on the opposite side of the Cher is St. Aignan, where there is a magnificent Chdteau of various ages, formerly be- longing to the Dues de St. A. It is inhabited and kept up with beautiful gardens and terraces, fine trees, and profusion of flowers; the gardens open to the townspeople.] Bidding adieu to Blois, its frowning castle, whose W. front looking down the Loire is imposing and more cheer- ful than the rest, with the astrological tower of Catherine de Medicis in front of it, and the pepper-box dome of the cathedral in the distance, we resume our journey between vine hills and wil- low beds. rt. Hereabouts begins the colossal dyke called La Levde, commenced in very ancient times under the Carlovin- gian monarchs, and augmented and improved by different kings of France, to restrain the furious Loire within its bed, and check its destructive, inunda- tions. It runs along the rt. bank as far as the mouth of the Mayenne, below Angers, a distance of about 100 m. It is faced with masonry kept in constant repair, and the high road is carried along its top. It is a considerable work, though vastly inferior to the dykes of Holland, and was burst through by the inundations of 1846, and 1856. There are other very ex- tensive dykes on the 1. bank in diffe- rent portions of the river's course. This high embankment conceals from the view of those who travel by water the wide and fertile plain beyond it; only now and then the tops of houses > seen rising above it. 10 Chousy Stat.* 5 Onzain Stat. The first object to be noticed below Blois is, 1. The Chateau de Chaumont, opposite to Onzain, beyond the Loire, a conspi- cuous building picturesquely situated on a height, with machicolated towers, forming 3 sides of a square. It was the residence of Cath. de Medicis, whose chamber is shown, and who here spent her time in plotting and in reading the stars until the death of her husband, Henri II., when she obliged his mis- tress, Diana of Poitiers, to exchange her bijou chateau of Chenonceaux (p. 184) for this, which, however, Diana does not appear to have inhabited. It was the birthplace of the Cardinal George d' Amboise, 1460, the wise and popular minister of France under Louis XII. The arms, still visible, cut in the masonry, are a blazing hill, — chaud- mont. 12 LimerayStat. rt.f Veuves: a little beyond this the Loire enters the province of Tou- raine, and the Dipt. Indre et Loire. The high road does not pass through Amboise, but through a suburb on the opposite bank of the river. 6 1. Amboise Stat. I — Inns: Liond'Or; cheap and homely. At the Cygne, on the rt. bank of the river, a good horse and cab costs to Chenonceaux 8 fr., or thither and to Loches 15 fir. Amboise, an old and languid town of 4600 Inhab., stands on the 1. bank of the Loire, here divided by an island, upon which the 2 bridges which cross the river rest. The principal and most conspicuous object is the Castle, long the residence of the Kings of France, and late the pro- perty of the King of the French, Louis Philippe. Its buildings, flanked by round towers roofed with cones, re- duced to a very small portion of their original extent, occupy the platform of a lofty rock, escarped in front and rear. Louis Philippe, who inherited the castle as the descendant of the Due de Penthi- evre, caused the old houses to be swept away from the base of the rock, so as to form an opening from the bridge to a tunnel which he bored through the rock * Post-road.— 10 Chousy. t Post-road.— \ 1 Veuves. J 1 2 Amboise, Sect. III. Route 53. — The Loire (B) — Amboise. 183 and under the castle. It is vaulted with masonry. Two enormous towers, 90 ft. high and 42 in diameter, spring from the ground at the base of the rock, and rise to the level of the other towers. They contain 2 winding, inclined planes of so gradual a slope that horses and even carriages can ascend them to the summit of the rock. The one in front has been closed to form a saloon, but that behind, on the 1. as you emerge from the tunnel, still gives access to the castle, and is remarkable for its elegant florid Gothic doorway and groined roof. This and most of the other existing buildings date from the time of Charles VIII., who was much attached to Amboise, having been born here, 1470 ; he also died here, 1498. During the latter part of Louis Phi- lippe's reign (1847), the castle was converted into a prison, in which the brave Arab chief Abd-el-Kader and his family were immured. He was released by Louis Napoleon, 1853. In the interior of the chateau there is nothing worth seeing. The improv- ing hand of the late possessor had pierced holes as big as the embrasures of a battery in its old and massive walls, to admit broad day into vaults once perhaps cachots or oubliettes, but now, by the aid of whitewash, ventilation, and stoves, converted into comfortable kitchens, larders, pantries, and cellars ; while the upper rooms, papered, polished, and filled with cast- off furniture from the Palais Royal, preserve no traces of antiquity. Yet in them perhaps was decided the bloody doom of those 1200 miserable and mis- led Huguenot prisoners concerned in the well-known " Conjuration d' Am- boise" which had for its object to ex- tricate the young and simple king Francis II. from the clutches and in- fluence of the Guises, 1560. The secret of the plot was betrayed to the Due de Guise by one of the conspirators, and its leader, La Renaudie, seized and hung on a gibbet in the centre of the bridge, lie remainder of the con- spirators were dispersed and every- where seized ; the castle walls were de- corated with the hanging bodies of the criminals, and the courts and streets of the town streamed with blood, until the wearied headsman, resigning his axe, consigned the remainder to other executioners, who drowned them in the Loire. Such was the extent of the carnage that the court was driven from Amboise by the stench of the dead bodies. This butchery formed the prelude to the still more horrible tra- gedy of St. Bartholomew. In 1470 the exiled Queen Margaret of Anjou and her son, through the intervention of the cunning Louis XL, were reconciled in this castle to her quondam foe, by whom her own husband had been de- throned, the Earl of Warwick, the king- maker. Hatred to Edward IV. became the bond of union, and they agreed in vowing vengeance on him. The gardens are well kept up, and the view from their terraces is as good as that from the chateau itself, which is not worth entering, as it contains no paintings or architectural decorations, and is simply furnished as a country gentleman's house. Within the gar- den, however, stands the little Chapel, one of the most exquisite morsels of profusely florid Gothic in France, re- stored by Louis Philippe in a manner creditable to French taste. It is in the form of a cross, was built for Anne of Brittany, and is dedicated to St. Hubert, whose miraculous meeting with the stag, having a cross growing between its horns, is curiously carved over the rich doorway. This and the interior are panelled throughout, or decorated with foliage of the most de- licate sculpture. The leaves, showing all their fibres, crisped and curled round the edges like kail, are cut be- hind in a style more common in ivory than stone. Interspersed among the foliage are singular and grotesque figures; along the wall runs a sort of frieze of stone-work; the roof is elabo- rately groined, and the pendants hang- ing from it carved with grotesques, the whole reminding one of the richness of Henry VII. *s chapel, without its ar- rangement. Underneath is a crypt in which was originally placed the Holy Sepulchre, now removed to the chapel of St. Florentin in the town below. It consists of a group of figures as large as life, well executed in baked clay and coloured, representing the entombment 184 R. 53. — The Loire (J5) — Railway — Chenonceaux. Sect. III. of our Lord. The figures are said to be portraits of the family of an in- tendant of the palace named Babou, the three Marys being likenesses of his daughters, who were in turn mistresses of Francis I., as the story goes ! ! Marie dc Beauvilliers and Gabrielle d'Estrees, mistresses of Henri IV., were daughters of 2 of these ladies. The Ch. of St. Denis, restored, is in- teresting to the architect and antiquary. In the cliff a little above the castle, and entered from the garden behind a private house, are very singular ca- verns called Les Greniers de C&ar. They consist of a lofty, narrow excavation running in a direct line into the rock, evidently once divided into three sto- ries, as the broken edges of the chalk vaulting which formed the roofs and floors atill remain; and by their re- moval the three are thrown into one. The walls are covered with cement. At the extremity is a round, vaulted chamber lined with masonry; at one side runs a staircase cut in the rock, descending towards the river and as- cending to a level with the roof of the high excavation, where it leads to three other similar vaulted chambers, con- structed, it is supposed, to hold corn. There is a tradition that Caesar, after conquering the Gallic confederation, reached the Loire at this spot, and formed a camp, traces of which still exist on the cliff above, together with these caves below it, to serve as store- houses. It seems likely that these caves had a much later origin, though their desti- nation was probably for granaries or cellars. Amboise is said to derive its name from its position between the two streams, " ab ambabus aquis," the Loire and the Amasse, which here falls into the Loire. [A very pleasant excursion may be made from Amboise to Chenonceaux ; 10 m. S. The road lies through the forest of Amboise (till 1 852 a domain of the Orleans family), passing on the rt. the pagoda of the park of Chanteloup, whose magnificent chateau, the retreat of the Due de Choiseul, discarded mi- nister of Louis XV., when banished from the court to his estate by way of punishment, has disappeared. After the Revolution it belonged to le Comte Chaptal, the distinguished chemist and minister of Buonaparte, who established here a refinery of sugar from beetroot, which he first brought to perfection. The chateau was pulled down and sold about 1830 by the "bande noir."] At Ble*re* (Inn: H. de la Promenade), whose church has a good central octagon tower and spire of early date, we reach the valley of the Cher ; and a road turning to the 1. up the rt. bank of the river, covered hereabouts with black vines (gros noir), leads to the village of Chenonceaux (possessing a poor auberge), which is connected by an avenue with the Chateau de Che'nonceaux. In front of the building extends a stately terrace lined with stone balus- trades set with orange-trees, approached by a flight of steps; and adjoining is a pleasure garden. Chateau Chenonceaux has nearly as many souvenirs about it as Amboise, but not of so disagreeable a kind. It was built in the more joyous days of Francis I. Its picturesque round towers, bartizans, and bridged moat, though still preserving the shape of a castle, were not meant for defence; and its front is covered over with graceful and delicate Italian ornaments, such as are seen at Longleat, at Audley End, and in works of Inigo Jones. It stands on the river Cher: literally on, for it is built partly upon a bridge, and the river passes under it. At a distance it is most picturesque, with its green court, its single advanced round tower, occupied by the Concierge, and pretty formal gardens around. Its interior is almost unaltered since the day it was built, besides, what is so rare in France, being well and carefully kept up, retaining all its old furniture, old cabinets, old china, enamels, and glass. Its vaulted hall is hung with armour, its walls are covered with stamped cloth, its doors are screened by tapestry curtains which draw aside, and the rich ceilings are of blue ground studded with stars. You are shown the very glass out of which Francis I. drank; Mary Queen of Scots' mirror, &c. But its chief interest depends on the per- Sect. III. Route 53. — The Loire (B) — Chenonceaux. 185 Bona who have lived in it. It was given by Henri II. to his mistress, Diana de Poitiers, who enlarged it by extending the bridge, previously constructed over only part of the river, quite to the , other side, and raising upon it a hand- some, but less quaint and interest- ing building, of two stories. Hither her royal lover used to repair after hunting in the neighbouring forest of Loches. Her initial D is plentifully introduced combined with his H, thus B8 . She was, however, dispossessed of her fair mansion, on the death of Henri, by the wicked and unscrupu- lous Catherine de Medicis, whose bed- room, with the original furniture, is still shown. It was afterwards for some time occupied by Louise de Lor- raine, widow of Henri III. : her chamber is still hung with black. Nor does the list of distinguished inmates cease here, for near the end of the last century all the wits of the time used to assemble here, drawn together by the owner of the mansion, Madame Dupin, a beau- tiful, amiable, and accomplished lady, who died so recently as 1799, at the age of 93. In her time, Voltaire, the exiled Bolingbroke, Rousseau, and many others, were her constant visit- ors; and in the little, dusty,- faded theatre, which occupies the end of Diana's gallery, Rousseau's opera, ' Le Devin du Village/ was performed for the first time. The collection of his- torical portraits, including all the persons who have lived here, is very curious ; among them a whole-length portrait of Diana, said to be by Fri- maticcio, in the costume of her name- sake, the goddess, with a dog in a leash, a bow at her back, and wearing a taffeta petticoat, embroidered with golden fleurs-de-lis. Here are also portraits of Henri IV., of Sully, of Rabelais, and a cast of the sweet face of Agnes Sorel from her monument at Loches. The most remarkable thing about Chenonceaux, perhaps, is that it escaped the ravages of the Revolution, owing solely to the respect which the character of Madame Dupin, its mis- tress, commanded. Strangers are obligingly admitted by the present proprietor, le Comte de Villeneuve, to see the interior. I Loches (Rte. 56) is about 18 m. S. of Chenonceaux; the road runs partly through the forest of Loches. It is a dreary ride. rt. The road to Tours, below Am- boise, is carried along the Leve*e, at no great distance from the Loire. 6 Noizay Stat. 3 Vernau Stat. 13 Vouvray Stat. Here the Rly. is carried across the Loire to its 1. bank on a fine bridge, 42 ft. above the river. 1. Mont Louis Stat. This village, com- posed partly of caves cut in the rocks, was the place of meeting of an eccle- siastical assembly, convened to witness the reconciliation of Henry II. with Thomas Becket only 3 months before his assassination. rt. Frilliere.* Near this the banks of the river rise into considerable heights; and on the top of a projecting promontory stands, conspicuous from afar, rt., the feudal beacon-tower, called Lanteme de la Roche Corbon, not unlike a great factory-chimney of modern times. It anciently communicated by telegraphic signals with the Castle of Amboise. It is about 50 ft. high, and stands on the very verge of the cliff, above the small village of Roche Cor- bon, remarkable because most of its habitations are cut out of the lime- stone (craie tuffeau). They are some- times raced with walls, at others with partitions of the living rock, and are prettily festooned with vines. One mass of rock which must have slipped from above, and now lies in a nook, is turned into 2 cottages of 2 stories. These habitations seem comfortable, and are mostly provided with little gardens in front. Some large excava- tions which belonged to the castle of Roche Corbon, with fragments of ma- sonry, remain. It is worth while to climb up to the top of the rock, beside the Lanterne, to look down upon the Loire from thence — a pleasing pros- pect. It is possible to scramble through the vineyards along the top of the cliff nearly to St. Radegonde, and bo to reach Tours (4£m.),but there is no path. rt. A row of villas with formal gar- dens, interspersed with villages, line the bank nearly all the way to Tours, • Post-road.— 12 La Frilliere. 186 R. 53.-7%* Loire (B)— Tours— Cathedral. Sect. tH. whose cathedral towers form a fine object in the distance. rt. The round tower, rising at the water-side, close to the road, together with a gate-house and a few crumbling foundations of pillars and walls, are the sole remains of the once magnifi- cent Abbey of Marmoutiers (Majus Mo- nasterium), one of the richest in France, founded by St. Martin, in which the salute ampoulle, or vessel of holy oil, given by an angel to St. Mar- tin to rub a bruise which he had re- ceived, was preserved, an object of veneration with pilgrims. It was sent to Chartres to anoint Henri IV. at his coronation. 1. Just above the city of Tours is the mouth of the canal or cut which joins the Loire to the Cher, whose course is nearly parallel with the Loire, and only 13£ m. S. of it. 10 1. Tours Terminus on the S. side of the town. It is also terminus of the lines to Bordeaux (Rte. 64) and Nantes (Rte. 58). Tours.* — Inns: H. de TUnivers, a large and handsome building, one of the best in France, fitted up with every English convenience, clean and mode- rate ; H. de Bordeaux; both these are near to the railway terminus; Faisan, good ; H. de Londres, comfortable ; La Boule d'Or, in the Rue Royale. Tours, chief town of the Dept. Indre et Loire, and once capital of Touraine, is situated in the midst of the fertile but flat valley of the Loire, on its 1. bank, and between it and the Cher, and has 28,000 Inhab. The highway from Paris to Bordeaux and Bayonne here crosses the river by its bridge of 15 arches, 1423 ft. long, and traverses the whole extent of the town through its main street, the Rue Royale, a fine avenue running in a direct line from the bridge, near which a statue of Des- cartes is erected, and containing the principal cafes, shops, and offices of the diligences. At its entrance from the bridge stands on the rt. the H. de Ville, and on the 1. the Muse'e, while in front run quays and planted platforms, serving as promenades. The town is no longer remarkable for the many • Post-road.— \2 Toon. objects of curiosity which it possessed before the sweeping convulsion of the Revolution ; and the charms of its situation, in an unvaried plain, have been greatly overrated by the French. The Loire, though a fine river at cer- tain seasons, contributes less to its beauty than might be expected, owing to a great part of its channel being left bare in summer, so that only three or four of the arches of the bridge be- stride the shrunken stream, while the rest traverse wide, ugly beds of bare gravel. Owing to the flatness of the surface and the dust there are few in- teresting walks or rides in its imme- diate vicinity. However, our descrip- tion of the town shall assume the form of a walk which may occupy a long morning or a short day. Starting from the main street, the Rue Royale, a turning on the 1. (Rue de la Scellerie) leads you past the Poste aux Lettres to the Arche- veche", approached by a handsome Italian portal, at the side of which rises the stately Cathedral of St. Gatien. The W. front, consisting of 3 lofty portals enriched with florid ornaments, niches, and foliage, surmounted by a window having a 4-pointed head, as- tonishes by its vastness : it dates from about 1510. The 2 towers which flank it are 205 ft. high; their domed tops, carved as with scales, are somewhat later than the rest, and of a debased Italian style, not conformable with the lower part. The interior, 256 ft. long and 85 ft. high, is in a mature and noble style of Gothic resembling early English, with varied capitals to the columns. The choir was begun 1170, and the nave carried on to completion in the reign of St. Louis'; but the W. end is still later, of the 15th century. In the beautiful old painted glass surround- ing the choir, and shedding a venerable gloom about the altar, may be seen the arms of St. Louis, of his mother, Blanche of Castile, and those of the town, a group of towers. The fine rose-window in the N. transept is in- jured in effect by a thick stone prop carried through the middle to support the roof. At the angle of the S. tran- sept and aisle is the marble monument Sect. III. Route 5S.— J7ie Loire (B)— Tours. 187 of the 2 only children of Charles VIII. and Anne de Bretagne, in consequence of whose early deaths the succession passed to the branch of Valois Orleans. Figures of the 2 princes, watched by angels, recline on a sarcophagus of white marble decorated with the arms of France, with dolphins, bas-reliefs, and ornaments in the style of the Re- naissance : it is the work of 2 Tourain- geaux artists named Juste, contempo- raries of Jean Goujon. It is worth while to ascend the towers on account of the view, which includes Amboise, Plessis les Tours, and the course of the Loire and Cher. The woodwork of the roof, a master- piece of carpentry, covering the stone roof, and the elegant, light, spiral staircase (Renaissance), resting on a crown of open groins or ribs, in the N. tower, should be seen at the same time. Passing from the cathedral towards the quay, a circular and machicolated tower is seen on the rt., enclosed with- in the Cavalry Barracks : it is the only remaining part of the Castle built by Henry II. of England in the 12th centy. From this tower Charles de Lorraine, the son of the Due de Guise le Balafre*, imprisoned by Henri III. after his father's murder at Blois, escaped by letting himself down by a rope. Turning to the 1. and following the line of the quay, you reach the iron wire Bridge (Pont Suspendu) erected by M. Seguin 1847, and lower down the stone Bridge (b. 1762) al- ready mentioned: several of its arches have given way at different times, owing to the river undermining its foundations. The Mitsee contains a collection of nearly 200 bad pictures, chiefly copies, and some casts ; it is open to the public only on Sundays, 12-4. A Last Judg- ment, brought from the chapel of the castle of Plessis, may be mentioned as curious. A little way up the Rue Nationals, on the 1. in going from the bridge, is the Ch. of St. Julien, until 1847 desecrated and turned into a remise and coach-house for diligences, but happily rescued by a subscription raised among a few private persons amounting to 80,000 frs. It is a fine pointed edifice, date 1224, except the lower part of the W. tower, which is founded upon circular arches, with Romanesque capitals belonging to an older church. The building is under- going repairs in order that it may be rendered fit for divine service. There are 5 or 6 desecrated churches here. The first street on the rt. is the Rue de Commerce; and No. 35 (now Hotel Gouin) is the handsomest old man- sion in the town, and a perfectly pre- served specimen of the style of the Renaissance (15th centy.) adapted to domestic architecture : its front is richly decorated with coats of arms, scroll-work, &c; its dormer windows are terminated by crocketed gables ; a turret projects in front, below which is the entrance, and round the bottom runs a light trefoil balustrade. It was built by Jean Xaincoings, Controlleur des Finances to Charles VII., 1400. Continuing our walk along the Rue de Commerce we come to the Rue des Trois Pucelles, where the house No. 18 passes for that of Tristan VHermite, the ill-omened executioner of Louis XL (see ' Quentin Durward'), though there is no authority for the designa- tion. It is a brick mansion, apparently of the 15th centy.: its front termi- nates in a gable, and is flanked by a stair turret, 70 ft. high, curiously vaulted with brick, overtopping the neighbouring houses and command- ing a view of Plessis. Its door and windows are enriched with florid canopies, that over the door supported on twisted columns; but the remark- able feature, to which alone the house owes its name, is that the string courses dividing the 3 stories are formed by ropes in relief, ending in fantastic knots so as to resemble the noose of a halter. The same ornament occurs on the tomb of Anne of Brittany, and on her chan- try at Loches, and was adopted by her as an heraldic badge of her widowhood. This house may have belonged to her or to some of her retainers. On the wall may be read the motto, " Assez aurons, et peu vivrons," and "Priez Dieu pour — ." The court-yard walls are similarly decorated, and on the ground floor is an elegant vaulted recess for 188 B. 53.— ToursSt. Martin— Plessis les Tours. Sect. III. a lavatory. In the same street, on the opposite Bide, is a house of evi- dently much greater antiquity (14th centy.), having a vaulted ground floor, and an arcade of pointed arches run- ning along its first floor. In going hence to the Vieux Marche*, a corner house, now a shop, is remark- able for the carvings on the front, re- presenting the Holy Family. In the centre of the market-place itself is a white marble fountain, La Fontaine de Baune, of considerable elegance, in the Renaissance style, ex- ecuted by the brothers Juste. Among its ornaments are the porcupine, the crest of Louis XII., and the ermine of Anne of Brittany. Turo Towers, rising on either side of the Rue St. Martin, are conspicuous objects in all views of the town: one, containing the clock, having a domed top, is called the Tour de St. Martin, or d'Horloge; the other, La Tour de Charlemagne, was so named, it is said, because his wife Luitgarde was buried below it. They deserve notice and mention as the only remaining relics of the va3t Cathedral of St. Martin of Tours. The palladium of this cele- brated building was the shrine of St. Martin, the first metropolitan of Tours (a..d. 340), which became to the bar- barians of the dark ages what Delphi was to the Greeks — the oracle which kings and chiefs came to consult in the beginning of the 7th centy. The con- course of pilgrims to this shrine occa- sioned the old Roman town Ccesarodu- num of the Turones to swell to ten times its original extent. The great eccle- siastical establishment, of which this church was the centre, spread civiliza- tion and religion through the country, and its archbishop became the patriarch of France and one of the most influ- ential persons in the state. At the head of the chapter even the kings of France were proud to enrol them- selves. Its treasures in precious metals, jewels, &c, amounted to 575 marcs of gold and 2200 marcs of silver in 1562, when it was pillaged by the Huguenots, who broke the images, melted the lamps, and burnt the relics deposited here. After flourishing for 1 2 centu- ries, the church, an enormous edifice, was utterly destroyed at the Revolu- tion, excepting two towers out of the five which adorned it. On viewing the space which now intervenes between them, some idea may be formed of its extent. One of these stood at the W. end, the other at the N.W. ; both seem from their style to date from the 12th centy. Attached to that of St. Martin may be seen Romanesque pil- lars and capitals of an earlier edifice. Louis XI., through gratitude for sup- posed benefits derived from the Saint's intercession, surrounded St. Martin's shrine with a railing of solid silver which weighed nearly 6776 marcs. His needy follower, Francis I., had it taken down and converted into good crown-pieces, which were called " tes- tons au gros bonnet." Bishop Gregory of Tours, a native of the city, was buried within the walls of this church. A florid Gothic portal, forming the front of a house in the street running from the market to the Rue St. Mar- tin, was one of the residences of the chapter. The Halle aux Pie's is another secu- larised church, dedicated to St. Cle- ment, gutted to a mere shell. It is a building of the 16th centy.; its florid N". porch, though mutilated, still re- tains portions of foliage cut with much delicacy. There is nothing to be seen within. The new Palais de Justice is a splen- did building. There are extensive Barracks at the river-side near to the suspension bridge. Plessis les Tours, the castellated den of the tyrant and bigot Louis XI., with which all the world is acquainted through the admirable descriptions of 'Quentin Durward,' is situated in the commune of La Riche, adjoining a humble hamlet of scattered cottages, on a perfectly flat plain, about a mile distant from the Halle au Bl£, on the W. of Tours, passing the Barriere des Oiseaux, and beyond the Hospice G6- ne'rale. Visitors to Plessis must not expect anything in the shape of a feudal castle, for it was built at a time Sect. III. Route 53. — Tours — Plessis, 189 when the fortress was giving place to the fortified mansion. When complete, it must have been somewhat like the older parts of Hampton Court and St. James's Palaces, which were built not many years after Plessis, with this dif- ference, that the niggardliness of Louis, and his apprehension of danger, caused it to be built in so plain a style, and with so many defensive precautions, walls of enclosure, drawbridges, bat- tlements, and wet and dry ditches, that its external appearance must have corresponded with that of a gaol much more than of a palace. The small fragment now remaining, so far from having about it the least trace or cha- racter of a castle, looks like a mean ordinary dwelling: indeed it formed part of the inner constructions, but was surrounded by three ramparts and fosses. It is of plain red brick, with quoins of stone and sash windows, surmounted by a high pitched roof, and almost all traces of the scanty ornaments have been destroyed. Be- side it is a stair turret, recently raised 16 or 20 ft., with a wooden addition at the side, to convert it into & shot-tower! Originally a cloister ran along the front. The interior is modem, except the stair, and contains nothing worth notice. All traces are gone of the pit- falls, fosses, &c, which originally sur- rounded the castle; but on the 1., as you approach the house, are seen the foundations of walls of masonry; and a door, below ground, leads into a range of vaulted chambers barely lighted by small windows, which may once have served for prisons, as they now do for cellars. It is evident that the palace was well supplied with dun- geons. At the end of the small ter- race walk in the garden is another vault, called the prison of Cardinal de la Balue, who was shut up for betray- ing his master's secrets to Charles of Burgundy: it has been repaired, but the lower steps of a stair, the lower part of the fireplace, the grated bars and shutters are old. At the back of a cottage, nearly facing the garden gates, is a small vaulted chapel, now filled with casks, said to be the Oratory of Louis XI., where he passed hours in abject prayer to the Virgin and Saints for cure of his complicated maladies. The present doorway has been broken through the wall where the altar stood ; the two small windows are nearly stopped up. Louis ended his miserable life here, 1483. Plessis was converted into a D3p6t de Mendicite* about 1778; it was sold and pulled down at the Revolution. Plessis lies on the tongue of land between the Loire and Cher, about 1 m. from the Cher, and 9 m. above their junction. Between Plessis and the Hospice is an old house, called La Babaterie, having a square turret at the back which passes for the residence of Olivier le Daim, the barber and minister of Louis. There remains little else to de- scribe at Tours. Under the mutilated church of Notre Dame la Riche (ori- ginally called La Pauvre) is a cave, vaulted, and having pillars in the corners, where it is said St. Gatien, the predecessor of St. Martin, first preached Christianity to the Gauls, a.d. 251, but it is now shut up. At the Prefecture is placed the Public Library of 40,000 volumes, including some curious MSS.; for example, a copy of the Gospels in gold letters on vellum (8th centy.), which belonged to the church of St. Martin, upon which the King of France took the oaths as premier chanoine of that church; Les Heures of Charles V. of France and of Anne de Bretagne; and numerous Mis- sals, besides early printed books. The library is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, 12-4. The most respectable Cafe" is that de la Ville de Paris, Rue Nationale. The Poste aux Lettres is in the Rue de la Scellerie, and the Theatre in the same. The number of English established in and around Tours is considerable, but has diminished since 1848: they have a subscription club. The English Church service is per- formed every Sunday at 11 J and 4J in the chapel, Rue de la Prefecture. Railways: — To Angers and Nantes; to Poitiers, Angouleme, and Bordeaux; to Paris, by Orleans; in progress to Le Mans. 190 Routt 53.— The Loire (B)— Tours— Mettray. Sect. III. Diligences daily, to Locbes, Bourges, and Chinon; to Le Mans, Venddme; to Chartres and Laval. Steamers (?) to Nantes (in 11 hrs.) Tours was long famed for its manu- facture of silk, established 1480 by LouiB XI., who brought over and set- tled here Italian weavers. This branch of industry, however, was ruined by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, by which the population was reduced from 80,000 to less than one half. This tyrannical act transferred 3000 families, with their wealth and in- dustry, from France to Holland, and the manufacture dwindled away at Tours to take root at Lyons. Tours has now no manufacture of great im- portance, but receives some life from being a place of much passage, planted on one of the great high roads of France. The pruneaux de Tours, once so celebrated, are now far less esteemed in oommerce than the dried plums of Gascony and Provence. Tours is a city of some importance in history. The Turones, its ancient inhabitants, joined the league of the 64 Gallic towns under Vercingetorix against Julius Caesar, and are mentioned by Lucan, " Instabiles Turones circum- sita castra coerunt." The Lande de Mire", about 9 m. to the S.W. on the road to Azay-le-Rideau, is supposed to be the place -where the Saracens under Abderahmen were defeated by Charles Martel, and Europe saved from the Mahomedan yoke, a.d. 732. One of the chief mints of France was established in the middle ages at Tours, whence come the livres Tournois, silver pieces (libra or as of the Romans), the equivalent of francs at present, which were coined here. The Porte Hugon, which stood at the end of a street running down to the Loire, is said to have given the name of Huguenots to the Protestant party in France, who, being very numerous in the town, but checked and watched by their enemies, used to meet beyond the walls, issuing out stealthily through this gate at nightfall. A more pro- bable derivation of Huguenot is from the Swiss Eidgenossen, i.e. Confede- rate. Another memorial of the days | of persecution of the Protestants is re- tained in the name Rue Renard, persons suspected of heresy being pursued in the streets by the Romanists about 1562, hunted down with the cry "au Reynard," and often massacred. Touraine was bestowed as an apanage on Mary Queen of Scots and her short- lived husband Francis, and she is said to have drawn revenue from it, as Duchess of Touraine, even while in captivity in England, but it was after- wards given in her lifetime to the Due d'Alencpn, brother of Henri III. It is a walk of about 4 m. along the road to Orleans up the rt. bank of the Loire to the singular village La Roche Gorbon, excavated out of the rock (p. 185). It would be better to ride thither, and thus avoid the long dusty road. The Colony of Mettray, about 4J m. from Tours, not far from the road to Le Mans, established by two philan- thropic French gentlemen, the Vicomte Bretigneres de Courteilles and le con- seiller Demetz, deserves very high praise, and will be visited by all who take an interest in the improvement of their fellow-creatures. The objects which its founders and directors have in view are, the education, reward, and restoration to society of juvenile offend- ers who while in the public prisons have distinguished themselves by good conduct and by signs of penitence. This is sought to be effected by teach- ing them the mode of gaining an honest livelihood, chiefly by agricultural la- bour. The ground on which the esta- blishment stands was given by the Vicomte; it is conducted by him and his friend in person, and is supported by voluntary donations and anym^l subscriptions. More distant and highly interesting excursions may be made to Amboise (p. 182), Chenonceaux, 24 m. off (p. 184; 4 hrs/ drive), Loches (p. 191), and to that curious and unexplained monument of antiquity La Pile de St. Mars (p. 196). M. Souille' furnishes good horses and carriages. Sect. III. R.54.—ChartrestoTours. 56. — Tours to Loches. 191 ROUTE 54. CHARTRES TO TOURS, BY VENDOME. 139 kilom. == 88 Eng. m. Diligences daily. 15 La Bourdmiere. 16 Bonneval, near the Loir. An ancient Benedictine convent here is converted into a cotton-mill. 14 Chateaudun, a town of 6500 Inhab., standing on the banks of the Loir. Its most conspicuous building is the ancient Castle of the Counts of Dunois, surmounted by a prodigious tower, 90 ft. high, built by Thibaut le Tricheur in the lOthcenty. The an- cient name of the town, whence comes the modern, was Castellodunum. During the next stage the road de- scends by the side of the Loir, passing the Gothic castle of Montigny on a height beyond the river. 12 Cloyes. 17 Pezou. 11 Venddme. — Inns: H. Gaillarde, good; Lion d'Or, not bad. A town of 9470 Inhab., on the Loir, at the foot of vine-clad slopes. Above it rise the picturesque ruins of the Castle of the Dues de Yenddme, demolished at the Revolution, when the graves of Jeanne d'Albret, mother of Henri IV., and of several Bourbon princes, were rifled, and their tombs destroyed. Near the Lion d" Or is a fine flamboyant C%., containing good painted glass, with elaborate and beautiful wood carvings in the stalls of the choir. It has an early Gothic tower and spire. Nearly opposite to it are very curious remains of a Norman Domestic edifice of un- usually early date. Several smaller churches will repay the notice of a lover of church architecture. There is a College here. We now cross the Loir for the 4th time, and quit its valley to traverse a monotonous plain to 14 Neuve St. Amand. 12 Chateau Begnault, a town of 2500 Iiihab. 15 Monnaye (Indre et Loire). 15 Tours, in Rte. 53. ROUTE 56. TOURS TO LOCHES AND CHATEAUROUX. 108 kilom. = 67 Eng. m. Diligences, daily, to Loches, in about 4±hrs. You continue along the road to Bor- deaux (Rte. 64) for about 2 m. after crossing the Cher; then turn to the 1. Several small villages are passed whose houses are caves cut in the soft rock, the fronts built up with masonry, the roofs covered with vines, from the midst of which peer the chimneys. After passing the prettily situated village of 19 Cormery (2 interesting Churches, and a detached spire of a ruined abbey) we reach the borders of the Indre, which flows through one of the richest and most fertile valleys of Touraine ; in the midst of which stands 21 Loches. Inns : H. de la Tour ; cheap, and obliging landlord : H. Grand Monarque. This is one of the most picturesque towns of Touraine, far more striking than Chinon or Am- boise; its buildings are huddled to- gether round the base of a lofty rock, from whose commanding top the ro- mantic ruins of its historic and ill- omened Castle still frown over the land- scape, forming the grand and striking feature in every view. In and around the town the number of religious houses, which clustered around the castle, is remarkable. Many of the buildings remain. The town still re- tains several of its old gates, grooved for the portcullis, and garnished with holes for stockade beams, and in its streets are some old houses. Pop. 4753. On the opposite bank of the Indre lies the suburb of Beaulieu, connected with the town by a row of bridges. The river winding through the vale over- spreads its bottom with a carpet of the richest verdure, fringed with willows and poplars, and turns the machinery of one or two mills. The Castle of loches, though long a royal palace, in which James V. of Scotland was married to Magdalen of France, and where Francis I. held his splendid court and received the Em- peror Charles V. on his way from Spain to Ghent, is better known and has a more terrible reputation as a prison of 192 Route 56, — Castle of Loches. Sect. III. state, especially during the reign of Louis XL, when "the sound of the name of Loches was yet more dreaded than Plessis itself, as a place destined to the workings of those secret acts of cruelty with which even Louis shamed to pollute the interior of his own re- sidence at Plessis. There were in this place of terror dungeons under dun- geons, some of them unknown even to the keepers themselves; living graves, to which men were consigned with little hope of further employment dur- ing the rest of their life than to breathe impure air, and feed on bread and water. At this formidable castle were also those dreadful places of confine- ment called cages, in which the wretched prisoner could neither stand upright nor stretch himself at length ; an invention, it is said, of Cardinal Balue." — Scott. Louis appointed Oli- vier le Daim, the barber, who was also his prime minister, governor of the castle and gaoler. It is composed of a pile of buildings of various ages, partly in ruins. The most conspicuous of all is the tall white Donjon tower, rising at the extremity of the platform of rock to a height of 120 ft., and over- hanging the verge of the precipice. Its walls of even and perfect masonry, supported by buttresses in the form of circular pillars, pierced by scanty round headed windows above, and by mere slits below, mark it as a work of the Norman style, probably of the 1 2th centy., though some attribute its con- struction to Foulques Nerra, Comte d' Anjou, in the 1 1th. In its size, form, and arrangement of the entrance stair, within a projecting lower tower, it is not unlike the White Tower of London, and the castles of Newcastle or Roches- ter. Its walls, 8 ft. thick, are now empty, gutted of the four stories into which they were divided. It stands within the enclosure of the town gaol, a part of the castle having been con- verted into that ignoble purpose. Be- side it rises a picturesque group of less ancient towers, in one of which, cir- cular in form, are the terrible Cachots of Lotus XL, extending downwards in four stories below one another. Two of them contained the iron cages in- vented by Cardinal Balue, who himself expiated his treasonable betrayal of his master's secrets to the Duke of Bur- gundy by a confinement of 8 years in one of them. In another, Ludovico Sforza, il Moro, Duke of Milan, the pri- soner of Louis XII. , was confined from 1500 until 1510, when death released him. Here Philip de Comines, the historian, was also shut up in 1486; the Due d'Alencon, 1456; Charles de Melun, who was beheaded, 1468; and many more victims of tyranny. These dungeons are vaulted, and dimly lighted by small windows, whose deep recesses, in walls 10 or 12 ft. thick, are crossed by double iron gratings. The cages existed down to 1789. At the other end of the castle plat- form, on the 1. as you ascend from the town through the arched gateway, is a more modern pile of building, now serving as the Sova-Pr€fecture. At one end of the terrace behind it, within a small tower, is placed the monument of Agnes Sorely mistress of Charles VII., who was born, 1400, in the neighbour- ing chateau of Fromonteau. Upon a base of black marble reclines the effigy of La Belle des Belles, well sculptured in white limestone, her hands uplifted in prayer, with two angels bending over her head and shielding her with their wings, and two lambs reclining at her feet. She is gracefully attired in long robes, and a simple circlet sur- rounds her brow; her countenance ex- hibits a refined character of beauty, modesty, sweetness, and gentleness, not unworthy of the Madonna of Ra- phael, and befitting one whose influence over a king was never exercised but for good. It has been proved, however, by an acute historian, that she could in no wise have contributed to stimu- late Charles to the assumption of his dominions and the expulsion of the English, not having been seen by him until 1431, after the death of Jeanne d' Arc. When Charles died, the ungrate • ful monks of Loches, whom the bounty of Agnes had cherished and her bequests had enriched, were desirous of eject- ing her remains and tomb from their church, on the score of some scruples as to the purity of her life; but even Louis XL, much as he hated Agnes, re- proved such ingratitude, telling them Sect. III. Route 57. — Tours to Saumur. 193 that if they abandoned her body they must also resign her legacies: so the bones remained in their place until the Revolution, when the grave was vio- lated, and the monument was preserved from destruction only by the inter- ference of the pre*fet. Between the Sous-Prefecture and the Norman keep stands the *Ch. of St. Ours, a very interesting monument of ecclesiastical architecture, meriting in a high degree the attention of every student of Gothic architecture.* In its outline it presents 4 conical roofs, 2 of them raised on towers, and 2 intermediate, covering the nave with cupolas of stone. To the W. of the belfry-tower is a low square porch, protecting a large and very perfect Romanesque W. doorway, rich in mouldings and sculptured figures. Beyond the other steeple is the £. apse : the transepts are short. A pointed arch divides the nave into 2 square compartments, each covered with an octagonal cupola of stone. According to records, the building was completed, as it stands, 1180, but the E. apse and crypt are older, probably of the 11th cent. Observe the sculpture throughout — the capitals, the corbels in tiers supporting the domed roofs of the nave, the cylindrical font. The crypt, beneath the choir, was the place of devotion of Louis XI. In the suburb Beaulieu, 1 m. E. of Loches, is a ruined Church, with a fine Romanesque tower. The view of Loches hence is very good. The Ch, of 8t. Laurent will interest the architect. The rest of the road lies up the pretty vale of the Indre to 21 Chatillon-sur-Indre, a town of 2700 Inhab., in the Dept. l'lndre, and the ancient province of Berry. 23 Buzancais, a town of 3800 Inhab., on the rt. bank of the river, whose branches are here crossed by several bridges. 23 ChAteauroux, in Rte. 65. ROUTE 57. TOUB8 TO SAUMUR, BT GHINON AND FONTEVRAULT. 76 kilom. = 47 Eng. m. * This church is perfectly delineated in Petltfe < Architectural Studies iu France.' France, The places on this route may now be most easily reached from stations on the Ely. to Nantes. Diligences daily. This route issues out of Tours lined by avenues of poplars, and crosses at the distance of l£ m. the river Cher, a little to the E. of Plessis les Tours (p. 188). The Cher runs for about 15 m. below this nearly parallel with the Loire, before uniting itself to that river. Along its N. bank runs a considerable levee or dyke constructed by Madame de Vermandois, abbess of Beaumont les Tours, to protect the land between it and the Loire from inundations. After crossing the flat land, passing numerous white hamlets and villas, the road ascends and traverses an extensive table-land before entering the valley of the Indre, on whose banks stands. 24 Azay-le-Rideau, a small town prettily situated, 15 m. from Tours. On the 1. of the road, nearly concealed by trees and surrounded by branches of the Indre, is the Chdteau, one of the best preserved specimens in France of the semi-castellated manor-house, in the style of the Renaissance. It was built by Gilles Berthelot in the reign of Francis I., and over the chief portal, enriched with sculpture and combina- tions of three classic orders,, may be discerned the emblem of that king," the Salamander, with the motto "Nutrio et extinguo," and the initials of Diana of Poitiers. The carving has been thought worthy of Jean Goujon; the entire facade and the staircase are very elegant, the wall partly panelled, and the compartments filled with diversi- fied patterns. The interior has been preserved nearly unaltered, and con- tains old furniture and a collection of portraits. A bed, supported in the 4 corners by carved figures, is of very elaborate Gothic workmanship. A neatly kept garden surrounds the house. The present owner is M. de Biancourt. A considerable tract of forest is tra- versed on the direct road from Azay, before it descends by the hollow way behind the castle of 22 Chinon. — Inns: H. de France, best, but miserable. — Ch6ne Vert, dirty. A deserted and dull town j (6700 Inhab.), which yet deserves a 194 Route 57. — Chinon — The Castle. Sect. III. visit, owing to its pleasing position on the rt. bank of the Vienne, and on account of the numerous and interest- ing historical associations attached to its utterly ruined Castle, the French Windsor of our Plantagenet kings, as it has been termed, where Henry II. breathed his last, uttering curses on his own sons, whose disobedience had hastened- his death. It was the fa- vourite residence, also, of the French monarchs, from Philippe-Augustus to Henri IV., and the scene of Joan of Arc's first public appearance. The re- mains are of vast extent, but too much demolished, and too white in colour, to be very picturesque. They occupy the summit of a lofty platform of rock, rising nearly 300 ft. above the town and river. A natural escarpment sur- rounds it on 3 aides; where the cliff was not naturally vertical, it has been cut away, and huge walls of smooth masonry have been built up from be- low to a level with the top of the cliff, so as to render it hopeless, before the days of gunpowder, to scale or batter such a fortress. Between the river and the rock crouch the buildings of the town. Behind the eastle, in a deep hollow, runs the road to Tours, ori- ginally commanded bj the castle em- brasures; and a deep gully or fosse is cut through the rock on the 4th side, to isolate the promontory from the ridge of which it forms the termination. Several of the tall flanking towers remain tolerably perfect; the rest is all crumbling wall. The 3 divisions into which the castle was separated by deep dry ditches may still be discovered. In the central division, above the en- trance to which rises the tall Donjon, the only part now inhabited, are shown the royal apartments; and among them the very one in which Joan the Maid, the simple shepherdess of Domr^my,* recognised Charles the Dauphin, though disguised in plain attire, and, singling him out from among the crowd of courtiers, led him apart to the recess of the window, where she unfolded to him "secrets known only to himself and to God." The scene of that inter- view, and of the splendours of the court of the careless and luxurious Charles, • See Lord Mahon's Life of Jeanne d'Are. whom even the loss of a kingdom could not recall from indolence and pleasure, is now a broken ruin open to the sky, with one or two transoms remaining in the windows, and a few traces of paint upon the walls. Close beside it is a very deep square tower, adjoining one of the ditches, and without openings, said to have been the Oubliettes down which prisoners were cast. Crossing a bridge into the 3rd court, we find around it the towers of la Glaciere, in which Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Templars, is said to have been confined ; the Tour du Moulin, so called because it was sur- mounted by a windmill, standing at the farthest extremity, and of very solid structure ; and the Tour cFAr- gentau, from which, as the story goes, a secret passage led beyond the wall to the Maison Robardeau, the retreat of Agnes Sorel, Charles's mistress. Among all these fragments, the only trace of the original Norman castle is to be found in the round tower du Moulin; the rest seems not older than the 15th centy. The view from the walls is very pleasing, extending for a long distance up and down the fertile valley, — " a glowing and glorious prospect; a green expanse of groves and vineyards all blending into one," — with the winding Vienne sparkling and flashing among the green meadows, or foliage of pop- lars, walnut-trees, and vines, nearly as far as its junction with the Loire, which, however, is not visible. Fon- tevrault, the last resting-place of Henry II. and his undutiful son the lion- hearted Richard, is concealed from view by intervening heights. There is nothing worth notice in the town of Chinon itself. No tra- dition is preserved of the hostelry in which the Pucelle was lodged on her arrival from her native village, and where she was kept two days before she could obtain admission to the king, until his councillors had ascertained whether she was a sorceress. Nor can the ch. be pointed out in which she spent the greater part of each day in prayer while she resided here. It was at Chinon that she first received from the king her suit of knight's armour, Sect. III. Route 58. — The Loire ( C )— Tours to Nantes. 1 95 and an escort of a squire, a confessor, and 2 pages. Here she first girt on the mysterious sword found in the ch. of St. Catherine of Fierbois, and here un- furled her white banner sprinkled with fleurs-de-lis, made expressly for her under the direction of her mysterious "voices." The rocks behind the town, under- neath the castle, have been quarried for ages to supply building materials, and these subterraneous excavations, called Les Caves Peintes, have attained a great extent. There is nothing worth seeing in them, nor is it a task of pleasure to explore them. Chinon is the country of Rabelais, who was born 1483, in the farm-house called la Deviniere, in the commune of Seuilly, a little way on the 1. of the road to Saumur, on the opposite side of the Vienne. He commenced his education in the school of the neigh- bouring abbey, whose monks he after- wards ridiculed in his writings. At Champigny, about 9 m. S. of Chinon, is a chapel containing very re- markable painted glass, representing the life of St. Louis. It is a very delightful drive from Chinon to Saumur, through a country teeming with fertility, amongst or- chards, and walnut groves, and acacia hedges, while beneath the fruit-trees springs up a crop of corn, without ex- hausting the soil. The valley of the Vienne terminates at Candes, remark- able for its fine ch. (Rte. 58), where that river falls into the Loire; and our road, emerging upon its 1. bank, is carried along it, through most pleasing scenery, to 30 Saumur, described, with the rest of the road, in p. 198. At Montsoreau, close to Candes, our road passes within 3 m. of the Abbey of Fontevrault. The excursion thither is described in p. 197. ROUTE 58. THE LOIRE (C): TOURS TO NANTES, BY SAUMUR AND ANGERS — RAILWAY. Ely.— 195kilom.= 121 Eng. m. 4 Trains daily, in 4 (fast) to 6£ hours. From Tours this rly. follows the 1. bank of the Loire as far as Cinq Mars. The prettiest part of the course of the Loire lies below Tours, in the neighbourhood of Saumur, and thence to Nantes. For some distance below Tours, however, its banks continue low, and its bed, everywhere too large for its stream, is left bare and un- sightly in summer. In winter the river sometimes rises 20 ft. above its ordinary level; and from these irregu- larities it is unfit for the permanent establishment of water-mills or manu- factories on its banks. It is confined on both sides by levies as far down as Augers. The high road continues, as before (Rte. 53), along the Leve*e, or river dyke, often on a level with the tops of the houses and cottages, which, to- gether with the fertile fields, orchards, gardens, and vineyards, it protects from the inundations of the Loire, commanding, both on the river and land side, an extensive view. rt. St. Symphorien, nearly opposite Tours, forms a sort of suburb to that city ; and not far from it is the pretty hamlet of St. Cyr, where a cottage, called La Grenadiere, is at present the retreat of the veteran poet Beranger. 13 Savonnieres Stat. On the hill beyond the Loire is seen rt. Luynes, a small town at the opening of a valley into the Loire, backed by a limestone cliff, pierced with numerous cave dwellings, on the top of which stands the old Castle, commanding the country around. It was the residence of the seigneurs of Luynes, and among them of the first duke, the favourite of Louis XIII. and Constable of France, who gave his own name to the castle and town, previously called de Maille, 1619. Not far off are the ruins of an aqueduct, said to be Roman, of which nearly 50 square pillars. and 8 arches remain. Luynes is the birthplace of Paul Louis Cour- rier, the celebrated political writer; he was found shot dead near his own residence, Veretz, on the banks of the Cher, not far from this, 1825. The Rly. crosses the Loire on a bridge of 19 arches before reaching K 2 196 J?. 58. — Tours to Nantes — Railway — Loire (C). Sect. III. rt. 7 Cinq Mars Stat., or more cor- rectly St. Mars, since the name is sup- posed to be a contraction of St. Me- dard. Near this village, whose ruined castle gave a title to another favourite of Louis XIII., who fell by the execu- tioner's axe, under the relentless rule of Cardinal Richelieu, is the curious ancient monument called La Pile de Cinq Mars, a square tower of brick, 95 ft. high and 13 ft. wide on each face, surmounted originally by 5 pinnacles 10 ft. high, one of which was thrown down by a storm 1751. The origin, use, and age of the pile are equally unknown. Some attribute it to the Romans, others to the Celts. It is des- titute of door, window, or other open- ing, and is perfectly solid. On the S. face the bricks are arranged in a pat- tern so as to form 12 compartments. It was probably a funereal monu- ment. The traveller continues to pass en- tire villages, cut in the yellow chalk rock, or tuffeau, whenever it rises into cliffs favourable for human habita- tions. 1. The Cher, after running parallel with the Loire for about 15 m., enters it a little above Cinq Mars, but sends off a branch which continues to run parallel with it until it joins the Indre, 9 m. lower down. rt. 5 Langeais Stat., another little town, has also a Castle, in tolerable pre- servation, which is remarkable because the marriage of Charles VIII. with Anne of Brittany was celebrated within its walls— an event which united that important province to France. It is well preserved and furnished in antique style. The gate-house serves as a gaol. This castle was built, in the 13th centy., by Pierre de BroBses, minister of Phi- lippe le Hardi, after having been bar- ber to his predecessor, St. Louis. He ended his career on the gibbet of Mont- faucon, being hung for high treason in poisoning his master's son, and accus- ing the queen of the crime. 9 rt. St. Patrice Stat. Near this is the Chateau of Rochecotte, where the Chouan leader of that name was born ; it belongs to the Duchesse de Dino, now Princesse de Talleyrand, who was often visited here by her uncle, M. de Talleyrand, of whom it contains some interesting memorials. rt. Trois Volets. 1. Nearly opposite this, backed by a wooded hill, is the Chateau d'Usse^ belonging to one of the family of La- rochejacquelin, but partly built by Vauban, its original owner. rt. Chouze, on the confines of Tou- raine. Near this, if anywhere, the val- ley of the Loire exhibits its garden- like character, an exuberant vegetation, with trees of large growth, capable of furnishing some shade to the road, — among them the graceful feathery aca- cia, which also forms the hedges, — vines, Indian corn, and mulberry-trees, prevail. 7 La Chapelle-sur-L'oire Stat. 47 Port Boulet Stat. Omnibus to Chinon, about 10 m. up the valley of the Vienne (Rte. 57). At Port Boulet the Loire is crossed by a wire suspension-bridge of 5 spans, leading to 1. Candes, opposite to which place we pass out of Touraine into Anjou. 1. The river Vienne here pours itself into the Loire ; and immediately below it stands the pretty white town of Can- des, where St. Martin of Tours breathed his last. It has an interesting ch., of which the apsidal choir seems to be of the 12th centy., and the nave of the 13th (1215). Its S. porch is remark- able, though much mutilated ; 14 sta- tues in trefoil -headed niches adorn the facade, with smaller niches below them filled with heads. The porch itself is a vestibule supported by a light central column, in the manner of the chapter- houses of English cathedrals. The W. end is flanked on either side by a ma- chicolated buttress, and includes a cir- cular window, now stopped up. The tomb of St. Martin is shown in this ch. The possession of his remains was warmly contested between the Poite- vins and Touraingeaux. A small brook alone separates Candes from Montsoreau, whose castle, now par- celled out among poor people, was the seat of that cruel Comte de Montsoreau who became the executioner of the Pro- testants of Anjou by carrying out the Sect. III. Route 58. — Abbey of Fontevrault. 197 infamous St. Bartholomew decrees of Charles IX. [3 m. up the little retired and wooded valley behind Montsoreau lies the Abbey of Fontevrault, one of the richest in France in ancient times, where 150 nuns and 70 monks sub- mitted to the rule of an abbess, who was always a lady of high degree. This singular establishment, which thus combined members of both sexes, was founded by a Breton monk, Robert d'Arbrissel, 1099 ; who by his power- ful preaching converted and led after him a multitude of followers of both sexes and all ages, amounting to 3000, whom he at length settled here, in a sequestered forest, on the borders of Touraine and Anjou. In spite of the scope for scandal, the convent main- tained its existence for 9 centuries, down to the Revolution. It has an in- terest to Englishmen, from having been the burial-place of several of our Plan- tagenet kings. A tolerably good road leads to the poor village of Fontevrault, where the inn (Croix Blanche) does not look promising. It is about 1J hrs. drive from Saumur Stat. The Abbey is now converted into a prison (Maison Central e de Detention) ; one of the largest in France, covering 30 or 40 acres with its courts and ranges of building, occupied by 500 women, 1200 men, and 300 boys; the entrance is in the little place close to the inn. The prison is not shown without an order from the preset ; and this is neces- sary now even to admit strangers into the ch. to see the tombs, which they can do without coming in contact with the prisoners. Above the abbey build- ing rises a singular octagon, which was in fact the Kitchen of the monastery,* called Tour oVEvravXt; it dates from the 12th cent. The church, approached by a covered way, from which you look through loopholes into the prison-yards, is an interesting building of Romanesque architecture, ending in an E. apse, with apsidal chapels. It is supposed to have been begun by Foulques, 5th Comte d' Anjou, 1125. Its nave is now par- • It is described in Turner's ' Domestic Archi- tecture.' titioned off, and, by the introduction of 2 floors, is converted into dormi- tories for the prisoners. The Royal monuments are transferred to the S. transept, enclosed by bolts and bars and grilles, in a dark corner, mutilated and broken by the Vandals of the Revolu- tion, who rifled the graves of their con- tents, and scattered the royal dust. The effigies, in spite of the injuries they received, are interesting from the evident marks they exhibit of being portraits ; they retain still a little of the colouring with which they were or- namented. They are recumbent statues of Henry II. and Richard Cosur de Lion, represented in their royal robes without armour; the drapery of com- plicated execution. Richard is remark- able for his lofty stature (6J ft.) and broad forehead; he wears moustache and a beard; his hair is cut short. The two female effigies are in better preservation; they represent Eleanor of Guienne, queen of Henry II., and Isabelle d'Angouleme, widow of King John; the last a statue of considerable beauty. It is much to be desired that these neglected effigies of our kings should be transferred from their dark prison-house to Westminster Abbey, where they would form an interesting link in the series of British historical sculpture. There can be no longer any harm in separating them from graves rifled and empty, and from an abbey now become a prison. The French go- vernment owes us some return for our ready compliance with its wishes to possess the bones of Napoleon. The body of Henry II. was brought hither from the neighbouring royal re- ' sidence of Chinon, and laid in the sanc- tuary previously to interment. When Richard, his undutiful son, approached, the dead body is said to have shuddered convulsively, and to have sweated drops of blood while he remained in its pre- sence; "the very corpse, as it were, abhorring and accusing him of his un- natural conduct." At a short distance from the abbey is a curious cemetery chapel, or Lanterne des Morts.] 1. Souze*, a little below Montsoreau, contains a castellated mansion, behind 198 Route 08. — The Loire (C) — Saumur. Sect. III. which are vast excavations in the rock, which is pierced through and through like a rabbit warren to furnish dwellings for people of the poorer sort. 1. Still lower down is Dampierre, where Margaret of Anjou ended a life of ambition and sorrow, in misery and poverty, in a house granted to her by Louis XL, who had ransomed her at the price of 50,000 crowns from the hands of Edward IV., after 5 years of imprisonment, dating from the battle of Tewkesbury. 8 Varennes Stat. 1. The approach to Saumur is marked by the number of windmills on the heights, below which stands the domed church of Notre Dame des Ardilliers. Beneath its cupola runs an inscription celebrating the suppression of heresy throughout his dominions, and the ex- pulsion of its followers, by Louis XIV. ; a subject rather of shame than of boast, on a spot which suffered in turn the massacre of St. Bartholomew, the atro- cities of the Dragonnades, and finally ruin from the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The convent attached to this ch. is now the Hospice de la Providence, at- tended by charitable sisters : a portion of the patients, including the insane, are lodged in cells and vast dormito- ries cut in the cliff behind. rt. La Croix Verte,* a suburb of Saumur, at the extremity of the bridge opposite to the town, contains the post- house. 1. 10 Saumur Stat. — Inns : Hdtel Bu- dan best; beautifully situated, fitted up with English comforts ; — one of the best in France. A very pleasant light effervescing wine grown in the vicinity may be had here. Belvedere, on the quay. H. de Londres. H, de France. This cheerful white town is one of the most picturesque on the Loire. Seen from the river or the bridge, its quaint Hotel de Ville, near the water- side, surmounted by a tent-like roof and pinnacled turrets, its church spires and towers, overhung by the castle be- hind, have a very pleasing effect. The • Poit-road. — 16 Croix Verte. 4 kilom. extra are paid by those who take the horses into or from Saumur, crossing the bridge. town itself, however, is torpid, though its population amounts to 15,000 souls, and it does not possess many curiosities. On the handsome quay which lines the river stand a modern edifice which combines theatre and market-house, and the above-mentioned antique Hotel de Ville, a square building of black and white stone, with a peaked roof as high as its walls, a cornice of trefoiled machicolations running under it, and turrets or bartizans in its corners. It was anciently included in the fortifica- tions, and joined the town walls, and, therefore, has few openings in the lower part. The front towards the court-yard has not the same castellated character, but is enriched with florid Gothic ornaments, very elegant, and recently restored. The date of the building is probably the 15th centy., about the time of Louis XI. The upper story is converted into a Museum. The best part of its limited collection are the antiquities found in the depart- ment; such as Roman vases, statues, spear-heads, axes, &c, of bronze; a complete set of Roman carpenter's tools, Roman weights, glass, cinerary urns (30 of them dug up in one spot), pottery, &c. But its chief curiosity is a Roman trumpet of bronze, 5 ft. long. Among the Celtic remains are several stone axes, dug up under one of the Dolmens in the neighbourhood, and a Druid knife of flint, from that of Bois Berard. St, Pierre, the principal Ch., in the centre of the town, is disfigured by a modern Italian facade, and its massy tower is surmounted by a recent spire. ItB interior, originally built without aisles, in the Angevine fashion, has had side chapels added. It is in the pointed style. More curious for its age and archi- tecture is the Ch. Notre Dame de Nantilly, on the outskirts of the town. The oldest parts, the N. side, the nave, and E. apse, in the Romanesque style, have been supposed to date from the 5th or 6th, but cannot be older than the 11th centy. The S. aisle is an addition of the 15th centy., nearly as wide as the nave itself, and the pil- lars between are nothing more than Sect. III. Route 58. — The Loire (C)— Saumur. 199 the old buttresses. The roof of the nave is slightly pointed, with plate- bands running across from pier to pier. In the S. aisle is the oratory of Louis XI. Against one of the piers is a bas- relief of John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness, renewed 1830. The Ch. is hung with curious antique tapestries, probably of the 16th centy., productions of the looms of Flanders, if we may judge by the style of art. In one, representing the siege of Jeru- salem, one soldier appears to be dis- charging an instrument like a match- lock, (?) but all the others are armed with bows and arrows. In this Ch. are buried Gilles Archbishop of Tyre, keeper of the seals of St. Louis, whose crozier is preserved here, and the nurse of King Rene* of Anjou. The Castle, standing conspicuously on the top of the ridge which rises like a wall above the town (Sous-le- mur is a fanciful derivation of its name), is only worth entering for the view, from its terraced bastions, over the Loire and the rich flat land on either side of it, not forgetting the pretty gardens at the base of the walls. The tall Donjon, circular below and octagonal above, and flanked by four turrets, is a magazine for powder and fire-arms, and is shut to strangers. The wise Protestant leader, Du- plessis Mornay, was appointed go- vernor by Henri IV., and under his prudent and fostering care Saumur was a stronghold of the Protestants, and a flourishing town of 25,000 Inhab. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes annihilated its prosperity, by expelling the industrious Huguenots, and reduced its population to one-fourth. One of the greatest exploits of the Yendean army was the capture of Saumur, June 10, 1793, by storming the heights, on which the Republican army, 15,000 strong, had formed an intrenched camp, defended by 100 pieces of artillery. Henri de La- rochejacquelin forced the intrench- ments of the town from the side of the meadows of Varen, exciting his followers to the capture of a redoute by throwing his hat, conspicuous for its white plume, into the midst of the enemy, crying " Qui va me le cher- cher?" — an appeal not lost upon his followers, especially when enforced by his own example in taking the lead. Foremost of his band, with only 60 of his men to back him, he burst his way into the town, clearing the streets before him as far as the bridge. Here, seizing two cannon, he turned them against the enemy, drove them quite across the river, and on the road towards Tours, thus separating them from the garrison of the castle, which surrendered the day following. The Yendeans obtained this victory with a loss of only 60 killed and 100 wounded, and with a gain of 60 pieces of cannon, 10,000 muskets, and 11,000 prisoners, who were released after having one side of their head shaved, and pro- mising not to serve againsjb La Yen* dee — humane conditions, contrasting strongly with the atrocious system of massacring their prisoners, already adopted by the Republicans at the command of the Convention. Detached from the town, to the S.W., on the rt. hand as you issue out of the main street, is the Ecole de Cavalerie, for the instruction, in all branches of information suited to their profession, of between 3000 and 4000 sous-ofnciers, who are drafted hence into different regiments to instruct their corps. There are large riding- schools, covered and open, in which the various exercises of the manege are performed with much precision. This establishment was transferred from Angers hither at the latter end of the last century. Some remains of the old fortifica- tions may be seen in the Rue du Petit Mail ; they consist of two feudal towers and a prison-house. In the quartier des Ponts, the suburb which fills the island on which the bridge rests, is a house built by King Rend of Anjou, and called Maison de la Reine Cicile (de Sicile). Its once highly ornamented front, in the latest Gothic, not unlike that of the H. de Ville in style, has been so deplorably defaced that it retains little interest, but it may still be worthy to employ the artist's pencil. 200 Route 58.— The Loire ( C)— St. Maur. Sect. III. a. Within about 1 J m. of Saumur, on the S., stands one of the largest, most perfect, and best preserved Druidical monuments in France, the Dolmen of Bagneux (§4). It is a chamber com- posed of huge blocks of unhewn stone set upright to form the walls, with others laid across them for a roof, in the manner of a house of cards. This rude cot measures more than 50 ft. in length, yet consists of only 14 stones, 4 on each of the sides and on the roof, one at the W. end, which is closed, another at the E., now thrown down, serving as a threshold over which you step to the present doorway, formed by bricking up the mouth. The largest stone measures 24 ft. by 21 ft., and 2} ft. thick. The stones are set so close, that originally a man could not force .his body between them. The blocks composing it are of the sandstone found in this district, but not near at hand, nor near the sur- face. Among the adjoining vineyards stands an upright stone, also of Celtic origin. Not J hour's drive from Sau- mur, on rt. of road to Poee in going to the larger Dolmen, you pass another pierre-couverte, formed of only 6 stones, in the manner of Kits Coity House in Kent. The road to these Druidic stones, on issuing out of Saumur, crosses the small river Thoue by a handsome new bridge of 3 segmental arches, called Pont Fouchard, thence by cross roads proceeds to the village of Bagneux, beyond which they are situated. b. The Abbey of Fontevravlt is about 1J hrs. drive. Anne Lefebre, who became Madame Dacier, the learned translator of Homer, was born at Saumur. Diligences daily to Le Mans; Chinon, and Cholet ; to Niort and Saintes ; Rochefort. 1. The Ecole de ROUTE 64. TOURS TO LIBOURNE AND BORDEAUX, BY POITIERS AND ANGOULEME — RAIL- WAY. 347 kilom. =215 Eng. m. Railway. Tours to Poitiers— 101 kilom. = 62£ Eng. m. — was opened July 1851. Poitiers to Angoullme — 113 kilom. = 70 Eng. m. — opened 1853. Angouldme to Bordeaux — 133 kilom. = 83 Eng. m. — was finished 1852. Trains daily. This railway in the first part of its course crosses 4 or 5 rivers, tributaries of the Loire, in succession, on via- ducts, and the ridges separating their respective valleys in deep cuttings. Soon after quitting Tours it passes the Cher, and the rich green pastures bor- dering on it, on an embankment and 214 Route 64. — Tours to Libourne — Chatellerault. Sect. III. a bridge of 6 arches, 590 ft. long; next it is carried over the valley of the Indre on a long viaduct of 59 arches, 30 ft. span, 65 ft. high, 2624 ft. long. 1 3 Monts Stat. 2 m. rt . is Montbazon, a small town, with a castle-keep on a rock, a fief of the house of Rohan; and not far from it is Mire*, the supposed site of the victory of Charles Martel over the Moors. 9 Villeperdue Stat. A mile or two on the 1. is the Chapel of St. Catherine de Fierbois, whither Joan of Arc sent from Chinon to fetch the sacred sword, "marked with 5 crosses, lying in a vault," which she afterwards bore in all her battles. She had previously passed through the village, however, on her journey from Lorraine to Chinon, and had doubtless then remarked the weapon ; but the vulgar belief attri- buted its discovery to divine inspira- tion. Near this is a handsome modern Gothic chateau, built, 1850, by the Marquis de Lussac. 11 Ste. Maure Stat: here roads to Chinon and Loches branch off (Rte. 58), passing He Bouchard (6} m.), whose interesting Ch. has a flamb. hexagon tower and spire, and an early pointed chancel. Here are ruins of a Castle which belonged to the family of Craon. The plain around Ste. Maure is thought to be the site of the battle be- tween Charles Martel and the Saracens under Abderahmen. The river Creuse is crossed at 12 Port-de-Piles Stat., about £ m. above its junction with the Vienne. [Higher up, on the rt. bank of the Creuse, and 3 m. to the 1. of our road, is the village of La Haye, the birthplace of Descartes. The house in which he was born (1596) is preserved.] [About 7 m. S. of La Have, also on the Creuse, is the Chateau de Guerche, built by Charles VII. for Agnes Sorel, his mistress, where she resided when the king was at Loches, and where he used to visit her on his way to and from the ohace in the neighbouring forest. It is a massy pile, rising 100 ft. above the water- side, flanked by 4 towers at the angles. It retains in its interior some traces of fresco painting, and the punning 'tials of his mistress's name, an A over L (A-Sur-Elle). In the chapel is placed a statue of Agnes.] 4 Les Ormes Stat., on the Vienne. — The chateau belongs to the family d'Argenson, and has fine gardens. The railroad runs parallel with the Vienne, through 4 Dang6, and 7 Ingrandes Stat. 7 Chatellerault Stat. (Inns: H. de l'Esperance, good; Tete Noire, fair dining-place), a smoky town of mean houses, on the rt. bank of the Vienne, is one of the chief seats of the Manu- facture of Cutlery in France, which gives employment to about 600 fami- lies, out of its 12,433 Inhab., who work for large houses. There is also a royal manufactory of swords and bayonets (armes blanches), established 1 820. The Duchy of Chatellerault was bestowed by Henri II. upon James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, Regent of Scotland, 1548, to induce him to consent to the projected match between his ward, the infant Queen Mary, and the Dauphin Francis. The duchy was forfeited to the crown, and has never been restored. The Vienne is navigable for a short distance higher up. A portion of a gateway flanked by turrets, erected by the Due de Sully, stands at the ex- tremity of the bridge over it. 8 Barres de Nintre" Stat. 6 La Tricherie Stat. 4 Clain Stat. For the last 3 stages the railroad has continued to ascend the valley of the Clain. That stream traverses a rocky and wooded ravine, of much picturesque beauty: a bridge and viaduct are crossed before arriving at 12 Poitiers Station, nearly a mile from the town by the road, but much less by the pathway. — Inns: H. de France; bed 2 fr., dinner 3 fr., tea 1 fr., coffee 15 sous; — H. de l'Europe, good; — Trois Piliers. Poitiers, the capital of ancient Poitou, an early possession of the kings of England, wno were its dukes down to the time of Charles V. (1371), stands on a rounded eminence of con- siderable height, the summit of which is occupied by the Prefecture and Palais de Justice. From this its streets sweep down in steep slopes, or Sect. III. Route 64. — Poitiers — Cathedral. 215 curve, in winding mazes, to the small river Clain, which encompasses nearly } of its circuit, while the smaller river Boivre encircles another part, so that they formed, in ancient times, a sort of natural fosse round its rampurts, now almost entirely swept away by town - council improvements. The number of inhabitants is about 28,000, but it has neither commerce nor ma- nufacture of any great importance, as might indeed be surmised from its dull and empty streets, excepting the market-place, which is a scene of much bustle and densely crowded. It has an Ecole de Droit, numbering between 200 and 300 students, but of greater celebrity in former times than at present. Lord Bacon in his youth, it is said, studied here. The town still contains more than a dozen nunneries, chiefly serving as boarding-schools for the education of young females. The curiosities of Poitiers are chiefly of an antiquarian nature. It possesses a remarkably large number of churches, all more or less interesting to the lover of architecture and antiquity, — and, as some of them date from a very early period, and others were commenced later, and continued down to compa- ratively modern times, they form a very instructive series by which to study the progress and change of style in building. Notre Dame de Poitiers, in the market-place, nearly opposite the Ecole de Droit, presents a remarkable ex- ample of the florid Romanesque style in its W. facade, which is nearly covered with sculpture from top to bottom. It rests on a triple arcade; the central arch forming the entrance being circular, the two side arches pointed, but all decorated with mould- ings and capitals of the same character of richness and singularity. The rest of the facade, on each side of a tall window, is occupied by arcades filled with statues and bas-reliofs; and the usual pointed oval frame (vesica piscis) within the gable contains 2 statues. The whole is flanked by 2 round turrets. The probable date of this facade is the middle of the 12th centy. The interior is of a more severe style, but sadly defaced by modern painting: it has an apsidal E. end, with circular arches and hooped vaulting, except the side chapels, one of which, in the S. aisle, an addition in the florid style of the 15th centy., contains a rich recess to include a somewhat grotesque group of sculpture meant to represent the Entombment. The Salle des Pas Perdus, attached to the Palais de Justice, which origin- ally formed part of the palace of the Comtes de Poitou, is a vast hall, with an open wooden roof; its walls are decorated with arcades, circular on one side and pointed on the other, yet both perhaps nearly of the same date, the 12th centy. The fireplace, richly ornamented with sculpture and arms, conceals a fine flamboyant win- dow. The front is said to have been built by Comte Jean de Berry. The Castle of the Counts, adjoining, re- cently restored, bears much old sculp- ture on its exterior. The Cathedral, dedicated to St. Peter, is said to have been founded by Henry II. of England, though the greater part, except the N. door, seems of later date. Obs. the 2 towers, similar in style, but unequal in size, and the semicircular N. doorway, in which the capitals of the pillars are human figures, stiff, but good in style. In the body of the building, round and pointed arches are intermixed, as in the Salle de Justice. The building is divided into 3 very wide aisles, the central one being much the widest : the vaulting domical. The piers, composed of 4 engaged shafts, surmounted by sharply-cut capitals, are very elegant. There are several painted windows, and a fine rose at the W. end, hid, internally, by the organ. Very solid buttresses sup- port the walls and roof. A little way behind the E. end of the cathedral stands the Ch. of St. Bade- gonde ; the lower part of whose elegant Byzantine tower, though masked by a florid porch, is probably of the 11th centy., as well as the white marble benitier, shaped like a horse-trough, within it. Above it is a curious niche, containing an antique bas-relief of our Saviour. The Romanesque choir is 216 Route 64. — Poitiers — Temple de St Jean. Sect. III. raised upon a very old crypt, perhaps older than any part of the upper struc- ture, partly cut out of the rock. In this is deposited the black marble Coffin of St. Radegonde, resorted to, in the month of August, by thousands of pil- grims, chiefly of the lower orders, who throng the low vault to kiss the worn marble Sarcophagus (on which some curious ornaments of an early age may be discerned), and to bring their sick children to be cured, studding the walls with dirty tapers. The saint's empty coffin, it appears, still retains the virtue of healing possessed by her body, before it was burnt by the ruth- less Huguenots in 1562. In the S. wall of the nave is a small chapel, fenced with iron bars, called " Le Pas de Dieu," because it contains the stone impressed by the footmark of our Saviour, who here appeared to St. Radegonde, according to the legend! It is covered over by an iron case to protect it. Part of the internal deco- rations of this ch. are, like the porch, of the 15th centy., and some of the sculpture is by no means appropriate to a church. The building called the Temple de St. Jean, now converted into a Afusee, and previously a church, is, next to the Roman Circus, the oldest edifice in Poitiers, and one of the oldest Christian monuments in France; on which account, as well as from the style of its architecture, it deserves particular attention from those who take an interest in antiquities. It is an oblong building, measuring about 40 ft. by 25, its greatest length being from E. to W., and its walls on these sides terminating in obtuse gables. The masonry is very neat; on the W. end occurs opus reticula- turn, and on 3 of the walls, inside as well as out, a sort of arcade is intro- duced, consisting of a circular arch, flanked and surmounted by small tri- angles resembling pediments. This debased style of building, not unlike our Saxon, arising from want of skill in the. architects, and of funds in the founders, followed the Roman, at the fall of the Empire, and preceded the Romanesque, and it is probable, therefore, that the Temple de St. Jean dates from the 6th or 7th centy. It appears to have been a Baptistery, judging from the well in the centre of its floor, about 8 ft. deep, having a pipe running obliquely into it. The style of construction is decidedly post- Roman. To convert it into a ch., a semi- circular apse was thrown out from the E. wall, and a sort of porch was raised before the W. The style of building in these alterations denotes a date probably not later than the 10th centy. ; and the curious frescoes, still visible on the inner walls, are perhaps nearly as old. The bull's-eye windows by which it is lighted were originally round-headed windows, the lower part of which has been bricked up. This edifice was condemned, a few years ago, by the municipal authorities, to bo pulled down, because it stood in the way of the road to Limoges. Luckily there were found in Poitiers some ad- mirers of ancient art to save it from destruction. The antiquities deposited within con- sist chiefly of broken fragments of Roman sculpture and architecture ; a mile-stone of the age of Alexander Severus, and some inscriptions; also a curious Byzantine bas-relief represent- ing St. Hilarius. The following churches deserve the notice of the antiquary and architect, in addition to those already mentioned. St. Hilaire, finished 1049, had lost a portion of its nave, which modern and judicious restoration will shortly supply. The apsidal choir rests on 7 lofty columnar piers. St. Jean de Moutiersneuf, founded 1086 by Count William VII. of Aquitaine, whose monument restored is in the S. aisle, is also Romanesque, but has been much altered and spoiled since the Revolu- tion. St. Porohaire has a Romanesque tower. In the Public Library are some fine illuminated MSS. The Romans have left traces of their settlement here, on the site of Gaulic Limonum, a city of the Pictavi, in the remains of an Amphitheatre, which is best approached through the Inn called Hdtel d'Evreux. At the back of the stable-yard is a tolerably per- Sect. III. Route 64. — Poitiers — Battle. 217 feet wedge-shaped vault, now filled with, hay; and leading to it, a part of the vaulted corridor which ran round the building on the ground-floor. The oval interior of the Circus is now con- verted into the inn garden, and some houses have been built upon the sloping constructions around it which formerly supported the rows of benches. There is no doubt that other vaults and corri- dors remain under them. The hard- ness and regularity of the masonry, in the portions of the wall exposed to view, are such as characterise all Roman constructions. The town of Poitiers is surrounded by narrow valleys or ravines on all sides but the 8.W., where a neck of land connects it with the high ridge whose extremity it occupies. In ancient times the town was defended on this side by strong walls and a deep ditch dug across the isthmus. The space immediately within these walls is now converted into a Prome- nade, called de Blossac, from an intendant of the province in the last centy . ; a very agreeable walk, for the terraces, resting on the foundations of the old walls, command a pleasing view into the deep valley of the Clain below. The Bains de Blossac, not far from this walk, are comfortable, and the charge moderate. From the heights on the rt. bank of the Clain there is a very good view of the picturesque town of Poitiers, but no path runs along them. The writer of this took an agreeable but scrambling walk, issuing out of Poi- tiers by the Paris gate, crossing the bridge over the Clain, then ascending through vineyards behind the Fau- bourg, and keeping along the edge of the cliff as far as the road to Limoges, where he recrossed the Clain by an- other bridge, at the back of St. Rade- gonde. About l£ m. out of the town, a little to the 1. of the road to Limoges, on a height, is a Dolmen, or Druidic monument, called Pierre Leve*e. It is a block of calcareous sandstone, about 13 ft. long and 3 thick^resting at one end upon upright stones. It seems perfect and well preserved. France. Rabelais attributes its erection to Pan- tagruel, "pour le divertissement des escholiers de 1' University," who re- sorted hither to carouse. At about an equal distance from the town, in another direction, a little to the 1. of the road to Angouldme, are remains of a Roman Aqueduct, which supplied water to the town and circus. 4 or 5 of its arches are still tolerably perfect, but they are neither imposing nor very ornamental. Poitiers is historically very cele- brated. The invading tide of the Saracenic hordes penetrated in the 8th centy. thus far into W. Europe, at a moment when the fate of Christi- anity seemed trembling in the scale. At that epoch, having already con- quered Spain, they poured through the denies of the Pyrenees, overspread Aquitaine, advanced up to the walls of Poitiers under their famed chief Abdelrahmen, and burned the Ch. of St. Hilaire to the ground. They were even threatening to pass the Loire, when they were met, some- where between Poitiers and Tours, by Charles Martel, in 732. This con- test between the £. and the W., be- tween the Gospel and the Koran, ended in the defeat of the Saracens, 300,000 of whom, it is said, but on the doubtful authority of a single chronicler, were left dead on the field; and the remnant retired, never more to trouble Christendom in the W. The site of the battle-field has never been exactly ascertained, and no dis- covery of bones has been made, which would surely mark the scene of so enormous a slaughter. At an earlier period (507) the plains of Poitiers had been the scene of the defeat of Alaric King of the Visigoths, by Clovis. Poitiers is distinguished in English history by the signal victory gained under its walls, in 1356, by the army of the Black Prince, consisting of English and Gascons, who early in that year had invaded the S. of France, and spread desolation through Langue- doc, Limousin, and Auvergne, as far as the gates of Bourges in Berry. The prince's whole force did not exceed 12,000 or 14,000 men, and the expedi- tion had no other design than that of L 218 Route 64. — Poitiers — Battle — Civray. Sect. IIL a foray to "harry" the fair fields of France. On his way back to Bordeaux, however, suddenly and unexpectedly, on 9th September, he encountered the army of John King of France, amount- ing to 60,000 men, of whose vicinity, and even of their march to meet him, he had been entirely ignorant. "God help us !" said the prince, "we must now consider how we can best fight them." The Pope's Legate, Cardinal Talleyrand, assuming the office of peacemaker, in vain endea- voured to prevent the impending strife and bloodshed; even Edward himself offered to acquiesce in any reasonable terms, consistent with his honour, to be permitted to go free. He offered to give up all the towns and castles he had taken, together with the prisoners, and not to bear arms against the French king for the space of 7 years. The French, however, confident in num- bers, would listen to no conditions but the surrender of the Black Prince and 100 of his principal knights. The result is well known. The English owed the success of the day, under Providence, to their well -chosen posi- tion, to the deadly and skilfully aimed arrows of their yeomen, which availed more than the lances of their knights, and to the stout hearts of their leaders, the Black Prince and Lord Chandos, and of all the English under them. On that day France beheld the flower of her chivalry laid low, while her king, John, was led into captivity. The noble dead were buried by the townsfolk in the churches of the Cordeliers and Jacobins within the town. The field of battle is fixed by Froissart near the village Maupertuis, about 5 m. N.W. of the town, near the road to La Bochelle. Railway to Niort. Diligences. — Daily to Limoges; to Rochefort (Rte. 62) ; to Nantes (Rte. 60) ; Les Sables, Chfiteauroux, Civray, La Rochelle. The railway to Angoul&me was com- pleted 1853. The country traversed possesses little interest. On quitting Poitiers, it leaves 1. the Faubourg de la Tranche^, and traverses a short tunnel. 7 Liguge Stat. The course of the Clain is followed to 13 Yivonne Stat., passing another tunnel. 14 CouhS-Verac Stat. 18 Civray Stat. The old town lies 2 m. 1. It has a Romanesque Ch. whose facade is curiously ornamented with sculptures, including signs of the zo- diac, somewhat like Notre Dame at Poitiers, but dating probably from the early part of the 12th centy. At Char- roux, 8 m. farther off, are remains of an Abbey, now reduced to a tower about 80 ft. high, rising from 2 circular arcades, one above the other, supported by piers formed of bundles of shafts. This was originally the central tower of a very curious ch., consisting of a circular choir, preceded by a rectangu- lar nave: but all the rest is destroyed. The abbey was founded by Charle- magne, but these ruins are not older than the 11th or 12th centy. A few m. N. E. of Civray is Geucay (H. du Lion d'Or), where there is a very fine and picturesque Castle of the 12th or 13th centy., the walls in good preservation. And near it is the Ch. of St. Maurice, a Romanesque structure, central tower, apsidal cha- pels, and the other usual features of a fine ch. of the 12th centy. The Railway now enters the valley of the Charente, and passes the iron- work of Taize' Am. 14 Ruffec Stat. — Inns : H. des Am- bassadeurs ; the p&t£s de perdrix aux truffes unrivalled. — Ld. B. Poste, very good. At Mansle the river Charente is crossed. 9 Moussac ) aj.»x„ 9 LuxS ; ****** The Charente is crossed. The Castles of la Terne and la Titerne are passed. The cultivation of the vine now be- comes general. The wines produced about Angouldme and along the bor- ders of the Charente are of inferior quality, but fit for converting into brandy. 15 Vars Stat. Between Pontouvre and Bourgets we cross the Touvres. [A few miles up this picturesque Sect. III. Route 64. — AngauUme — Castle — Cathedral. 219 stream is the Imperial cannon-foundry of Ruelle; charcoal is employed as the fuel for the smelting furnaces, and is abundantly supplied by the neigh- bouring forests. Farther on, in the same direction, is La Rochefoucauld, whose castle was the ancient residence of the family of that name, its most noted scion being Francois, author of the cele- brated 'Maximes.' It escaped destruc- tion at the Revolution, and still be- longs to the same family, though no longer inhabited by them. It is a huge pile, flanked by round, cone- roofed towers at the angles, forming 3 sides of a square, and, with the exception of the antique donjon, was erected, 1527, by Antoine Fontan, in the style of the Renaissance. A range of arcades serves as a passage along the inner facade, and a curious and richly ornamented spiral stone staircase leads to the upper stories. Below the castle are very extensive Caves, not now entered, which served as a refuge to the Huguenots in the wars of Religion. There are similar natural caverns all along the valley of the Tardonere, the largest of which, les Grottes de Rancogne, are about 3 m. above La Rochefoucauld. They are traversed by a streamlet, and con- tain some stalactites.] 14 Angouleme Stat. — Inns: LaPoste; — H. des Etrangers, diligence-house; — Croix d'Or, at the foot of the hill, good but dear. Angouleme, the ancient capital of the Angoumois, now of the Dept. de la Charente, occupies a situation, not unlike that of Poitiers, on the top of a high hill, terraced round with remains of the ancient ramparts above, while below it is nearly encircled by the course of the Charente, and by another small stream falling into it. The town is distinguished by far more life, in- dustry, and trade, than Poitiers, and possesses, with its suburbs, a popula- tion of 20,000. Though planted on the top of an isolated hill, more than 200 ft. above the Charente, it is most abundantly supplied with foun- tains of fresh water, pumped up by machinery recently established. Its houses, being of a very white stone, easily cut, have a cheerful appearance: it has many new streets and a few old buildings. Its most pleasing features, however, are the series of Terrace-walks running round it, in the place of the old ramparts, and commanding a charm- ing view of the industrious valley deep below, of the winding Charente fringed with verdure, of the suburbs, and the paper-mills on the river banks, which furnish the staple article of manufac- ture here. By far the finest portion of these terraces is the Promenade Beaulieu • and a series of walks and shrubberies extend down the slopes below it to- wards the bottom of the valley. In the midst of them stands a column de- dicated, by precipitate loyalty, to the Duchesse d'Angouldme in 1815, re- dedicated, since 1830, "a la LiberteV' In the irregular Place, serving for the market, in the centre of the town, stands the old Castle, distinguished by its 3 picturesque feudal towers and tall donjon, now converted into a prison. It contains a number of vaulted apart- ments, but possesses nothing of in- terest, save the recollection that it was the residence of the ancient Counts of Angouldme; that Marguerite de Valois, Queen of Navarre, was born in it, — the most accomplished princess of her day, "La Marguerite des Marguerites," as her brother Francois I. called her; and that its walls gave shelter to Marie de Medicis. She retired hither, after her husband's assassination, under the pro- tection of the Due d'Epernon, governor of the Angoumois, who has been sus- pected of being the accomplice of Ra- vaillac; while the queen-mother herself is not free from suspicion — "The death of Henry did not sufficiently surprise her." The Cathedral is rather a curious than a beautiful edifice, in the Roman- esque style, rebuilt from its founda- tions in 1120. It suffered at the Revo- lution; and till very lately bore over its frontispiece the ill-effaced inscrip- tion, "Temple de la Raison." It has been restored. It is surmounted by a fine tall tower, of 6 rows of semi- circular arcades, rising on the N. side. The W. front is in the style of the churches of N. Italy ; almost the whole space being divided by circular arcades, L 2 220 Route 64. — Angouleme — Jarnac. Sect. m. resting on elegant columns, enclosing statues much mutilated, surmounted in the pediment by a statue of the Saviour (once supposed to be Jupiter), surrounded by the attributes of the 4 Evangelists. The nave has no side aisles, and its roof is formed of 3 vaulted cupolas, a style of construction not known to the N. of the Loire. At the cross rises an octagonal tower. The choir ends in an apse. Numerous ad- ditions and repairs were made to the interior, after the barbarous devasta- tions committed by the Huguenots in 1562 and 1568. Among modern buildings, the Palais de Justice is by no means contemptible. In the attic has been placed the public Library, containing 14,000 vols., and a small collection of Natural History. Outside the town, to the N., in the escarped rock below the ramparts, is the Grotte de St. Cybard, a holy hermit, whose real name was Eparchus, who occupied it as his cell, and died here in the 6th century. By the sanctity of his life he caused the foundation of arch, and monastery, which extended from the cave to the Charente, and was once much frequented by devout pil- grims, but both are now swept away. In the grotto, which Charlemagne him- self approached on bended knees in order to perform his devotions, mass was said daily down to the time of the Revolution. This oldest Christian monument in Angouleme is respected by its present owner, but no longer serves as a church. Ausonius makes mention of this town under the name Iculisma, fanci- fully derived from "In collis summa," and gradually softened down, as some conjecture, into the modern Angou- leme. Angouleme and the surrounding pro- vince were governed, from the 8th cent, down to 1303, when they were united to France, by a long line of indepen- dent counts, 19 in number; first of the race of Taillefer, and, after 1180, of the house of Lusignan. It also be- longed to the English, and was some time the residence of the Black Prince after the battle of Poitiers, 1360. One of the town gates, not pulled down intil 1808, was named Porte de Chandos, from the brave English knight who built it, while Constable of Aquitaine for Edward III. A house in the Rue de Geneve is pointed out as that in- habited by Calvin, who sought refuge here 1533, and taught Greek to main- tain himself. The Place de Murier receives its name from a mulberry-tree which stood in the midst of it while it was the convent garden of the Jacobins. During the outrages committed by the Calvinist soldiery 1562, when they captured and sacked the town, the monk Michel Grillet was hung to its boughs, in the presence of the Ad- miral Coligny, whose death he is said to have foretold with his dying words, saying, " You shall be thrown out of the window, like Jezebel, and shall be ignominiously dragged through the streets." Among the remarkable persons na- tives of this place are Ravaillac, the assassin of Henri IV. ; Poltrot, who shot the Due de Guise le Balafre*, be- fore the walls of Orleans ; and Monta- lembert, the inventor of a system of fortification. The Naval School, established here at the suggestion of the Due d' Angou- leme 1816, was suppressed 1830, and transferred to Brest, and the building in the Faubourg l'Houmeau converted into the Rly. Stat. The manufactures of Angouleme con- sist of paper, made in numerous (36 ?) mills in the neighbouring valleys, and brandy. Capital p&tes de perdrix aux truffes are made here. Diligences to La Rochelle, St. Jean d'Angely, Rochefort, Cognac, and Sain tea. The Charente is navigable to the quay below the town. A Steamer runs to Saintes (Rte. 62) 3 times a week. [18} m. W. of Angouleme, on the way to Cognac (Rte. 62), is Jarnac, where a handful of Protestants, commanded by the Prince de Cond£, engaged the royal army commanded by the Due d'Anjou, doubling their force in num- ber, and were defeated. Conde* fell, after giving the signal for a third charge, which he led, with one arm in a sling, and his leg shattered. Young Henri, Prince of Beam, his nephew, was a Sect. III. Route 64. — Tours to Bordeaux — Cub sac. 221 spectator of the bloody affray, but was not permitted to take part in it.] A tunnel conveys the railway train entirely through the hill on which stands the town of Angouleme. Many cuttings and embankments occur before we reach 8 La Couronne Stat., near to which the ruins of the Abbey of la Couronne are seen on the 1., in the midst of a green valley abounding in paper- mills. After escaping destruction at the Revolution, it has been demolished for the sake of the material since 1808, and is now reduced to a mere fragment, including the W. front with a fine doorway, and part of a rose-window over it. The Railway leaves the old post- road on the rt. It crosses on a lofty viaduct of 12 arches the valley of the Coutabiere. The ruins of Castle La- rochaudry on the top of a rock are seen before reaching 6 Moulhiers Stat. 7 Charmant Stat. [Some miles on the rt. lies Barbezieu (inn: Boule d'Or), a town of 2500 Inhab.] The tunnel of Livernan, the longest on the line, measures 1310 metres. 13 Montmoreau Stat. Here is a fine Romanesque Ch. lately restored, and fragments of a Castle. 7 Chalais Stat. This town with its chateau (Renaissance) belongs to the family Talleyrand. 14 La Roche Chalais Stat. The town is a mile off. 18 Coutras Stat. Memorable for the battle between the Protestants under Henri of Navarre and the Roman Catholics, fought on the plain near the confluence of the Dronne and l'lsle, 1587. 8 St. Denis Stat. Dept. of the Gironde. 8 Libourne Stat. {Inns: H. de France ; des Princes), a town of 11,552 Inhab., situated on the rt. bank of the Dordogne, here a tidal river, ca- pable of receiving vessels of 300 tons burthen, and crossed by a bridge of brick, like that of Bordeaux, at the con- fluence of the Tlsle (? Dronne), which is traversed by an iron bridge. It is neat and regularly built, and is one of the " Bastides" or free towns founded by Edward L* It is said to occupy the site of the " Condatis portus" men- tioned by Ausoniu8. The Rly. quits Libourne by a bridge of 9 arches over the Dordogne, planted by the side of that which carries the road to Bordeaux. The viaduct of Arveyres over the marshes consists of 100 small arches, and is 3f m. long. The Rly., fol- lowing the Dordogne, makes a wide sweep before it arrives at 9 Vayres Stat. 5 St. Sulpice Stat., in a country of vineyards. A few miles from this, lower down the river, is [St. Andre" de Cubsac, on the rt. bank of the Dordogne, here a broad estuary, formerly crossed in ferry-boats, in which passengers and carriages were embarked. The transit occupied from J to £ an hr., and was sometimes at- tended with danger, and always formed a serious interruption to the commu- nication between Bordeaux and the French metropolis. For this disagree- able ferry an iron-wire Suspension' bridge, the longest in France, and in- deed in Europe, is substituted. It was begun 1835, and finished 183V*, at a cost of 3,000,000 fr., by the engi- neer Fortune" de Vergez. It is di- vided into 5 curves supported on tf pair of piers, consisting of hollow open columnar shafts or towers of cast iron. The roadway of the bridge is raised 95 ft. above the water, so as to allow vessels of large size to pass under it ; and the approaches to it, from either bank, are by a series of lofty stilted arches, 29 in number, on either bank, which have a striking effect. The bridge itself has much the appearance of the Brighton chain- pier, and is of slight construction, being warranted to stand no more than 40 years, it is understood. Besides the suspending wire cables, others are attached to the summits of the piers, in the manner of stays or braces, to steady them. The length of the cen- tral, or suspension-bridge, is 1788 ft., and the 29 arches, on either side, with the embankments and approaches, making a total length of 5070 ft., or very nearly a mile: it is 25^J ft. wide. • See p. 228. 222 Route 65. — Poitiers to Chdteauroux. Sect. III. f \ The Dordogne joins the Garonne 10 m. below this bridge, and their united waters form the estuary called the Gironde, after which the depart- ment is named. The tongue of land which separates the Dordogne from the Garonne, across which our road lies, is a fertile district, chiefly laid out in vineyards and corn- fields, and scattered over with country seats. It is called the " Entre Deux Mers."] 3 La Grave d'Ambares Stat. Dili- ! genoes to Cubsao. La Grave is centre of a district celebrated for its wines. 9 Lormont Stat., on the Garonne. Near this are 4 tunnels. The approach to Bordeaux is very striking; the Railroad is carried along the rt. bank of the broad Garonne, until the city of Bordeaux appears lining its opposite concave bank. 5 Bordeaux Terminus is close to the magnificent Bridge, one of the finest in Europe, consisting of 17 arches of stone, the walls and spandrels being brick, with stone quoins, 1 534 ft. long, traversing the Garonne, from the little suburb la Bastide to the city of Bordeaux. Until 1821 the Garonne was passed by a ferry ; and the want of a bridge has confined the city ex- clusively to the 1. bank of the river. A bridge of wood was begun in the time of Napoleon, but was abandoned soon after for one of stone, which was completed, 1821, by a company of shareholders, who are repaid by the tolls during 99 years for their outlay, which amounted to 260,000/. (6£ mil- lions of francs). The architects were MM. Deschamps and Bilaudel. A vaulted passage runs under the roadway, between it and the arches, for the whole length of the bridge : this gives a great height of wall between the crown of the arches and the parapet. As the French are fond of comparing this bridge with that of Waterloo, the dimensions of both are here given in English feet. ^ No. of Width Length. Width. Arches, of Arch. Bordeaux 1534 47 17 85* Waterloo 1326 40 9 118 «,* J2lily the 7 cent»l "che» have this width, 'be test are smaller. ' I The view of Bordeaux from the bridge is very striking. Opposite the bridge stands the Porte de Bourgogne, erected to commemorate the birth of the Due de B., grandson of Louis XIV. Passengers are conveyed in omni- buses from the station, over the bridge, to Bordeaux, in Rte. 73. ROUTE 65. POITIERS TO CHATEAUKOUX, BY ST. SA- VIN ; — EXCURSION TO MONTMORUXON. 119 kilom. = 73£ Eng. m. This cross-road, not much travelled, leads to some interesting antiquities. 23 Chauvigny, a town of 1000 Inhab., occupies a commanding height on the rt. bank of the Vienne. It was, in feudal times, a strong fortress, and still possesses the ruins of 3 distinct Castles built on the same plan, a square flanked by turrets. The Donjon, on the top of the hill, shows on one side a breach in its wall, made by a battery of cannon, in the 16th century, during the wars of Religion, and now filled up with bricks arranged herring-bone fashion. One of the castles, the most modern, probably of the 13th or 14th century, with pointed windows, now serves as a prison. There are many old houses in the upper town dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. The Church, also in the upper town, is a very interesting Romanesque build- ing, decorated with all the ornaments of Byzantine art externally, and also within; the capitals of its columns being carved with mermaids, monsters, &c., as well as with Scriptural subjects. 19 St. Savin has a Church decorated in its porch, nave, and crypt, under the choir, with fresco paintings, repre- senting Scriptural subjects from the Creation, the figures as large as life, and tolerably well preserved. Those in the crypt describe the legend of St. Savin and St. Cyprien, and are of smaller proportions. They are probably the work of Greek or Italian artists in the 11th, or at earliest of the 10th cen- tury, and are certainly very valuable as monuments of early art. It has been remarked, as a proof of the antiquity Sect. III. Route 66. — Poitiers to Rochefort. 223 or the Eastern origin of these frescoes, that the horsemen are represented riding without stirrups. The whole ch. was originally covered with paint- ings; those in the choir have been effaced by whitewash. The ch. itself is a very ancient specimen of Roman- esque architecture ; it is entered by steps leading down into it, and the W. end seems to have been separated from the rest, so as to form a Narthex, like the Galilee of some English churches. The choir and shallow transepts end in [At Monttnorillon, 12 m. S. of St. Savin, " in the courtyard of what was the baronial castle, and is now a col- lege, there is an ancient and very curious chapel. Originally it must have been the domestic chapel of the lords of the adjacent castle, doubtless erected by them, and for their private use. It consists of a subterraneous crypt, which probably was the family vault, and an octagonal chapel above it, with a conical roof. Part of this building is in the round style, and part in the pointed. That part which is in the round style may belong to the 11th cent. The pointed part cannot be older than the 13th. But the most remarkable feature in this building, and that to which it owes its celebrity, is a group of rudely sculptured figures which occupy a recess above the door- E Various explanations of this sin- group have been offered by the ad, but none of them are satis- factory, and the problem is more diffi- cult to Bolve, as some of the figures are taken from ordinary life, and some are allegorical. — H. G. K, The most singular and inexplicable, perhaps, are two female figures, the one corpulent, having toads or scarabs hanging from her breasts; the other meagre, en- twined by serpents, and suckling them. This Church has been repaired by the Government. Under an arch on the rt. is the tomb of Etienne de la Hire. "A few miles W. of Kontmorillon is Lussac les Chdteaux (Inn : Trois Pigeons), where there are a small Romanesque church, and the ruins of 2 castles, and of a bridge which connected them, the towers of which remain in the water, but the arches, probably of wood, have been destroyed. The scenery is very picturesque ; there is a cavern in the rock."— J. H. P.] 18 Le Blanc. The abbey of Fron- quambant is again taken possession of by the Trappists. The fine ruined Ch. of the 12th and 1 3th centuries is being restored by them. 18 Scoury. 11 St. Gaulthier. 15 Lothiers. 15 Chateauroux. (Rte. 70.) ROUTE 66. POITIERS TO ROCHEFORT, BY NIORT. (RAILWAY.) 132 kilom. = 80 Eng. m. Railway (open to Niort) will be finished to Rochelle and to Rochefort in 1857. Poitiers (in Rte. 64). St. Benoit Stat. Coulombiers Stat. 17 LusignanStat.,ontheVonne(/nns: H. Ste. Catherine ; — Lion d'Or) gave its name to the noble family which rescued Jerusalem from the Infidels and for some time occupied its throne. The castle was surprised and razed by the Catholics 1574, and a public walk occu- pies its site. The Chwch, a dilapidated building, has a curious portal, orna- mented with the signs of the zodiac. 14 Villedieu du Perron Stat. 15 St. Maixent Stat. (Inn: L'Ecu de France — extortionate), an old walled town, 5500 Inhab., on a height above the Sevre. 10 La Creche Stat. 13 Niort Stat. (Inns: H. du Raisin de Bourgogne ; H. de France — good), a modern town, chef-lieu of the Dept. of the Deux Sevres, on the Sevre Niortaise, 22,000 Inhab. The old Castle, surmounted by 2 keep- towers, each flanked by 8 turrets, re- markable as the birthplace, or at least the cradle, of Madame de Maintenon, whose profligate father, Constant d' Au- bigne*, was confined in it, is now the Maison cPArrit. 10 Frontenay. 13 Mauze\ 12 Surgeres. 10 Muron. 16 Rochefort, in Rte. 62. ( 224 ) t* SECTION IV. LIMOUSIN— GASCONY— GUIENNE— THE PYRENEES— NAVARRE— BSARN— LANGUEDOC-- ROUSSILLON. PRELIMINARY INFORMATION. § 1. Scenery of Limousin and of the Pyrenees. § 2. Objects of interest in the Pyrenees. § 3. Comparison with the Alps ; Forests, Oaves, Lakes, Ports or Passes, Valleys, Cirques or Oules. § 5. A Dash into Spain. § 6. Inhabitants. § 7. Cagots, Sporting. § 9. History, the English in the Pyrenees, Froissart, the Black Prince, Wellington. § 10. Characteristics of the chief Watering-places, the Baths. | 1 3 . Works on the Pyrenees. § 12. Directions for Travellers, Approaches and nearest Routes, Starting-points. § 13. Skeleton Tours. §14. Passports, Accom- modations, Inns, Conveyances, Guides, Horses, Chaises a Porteurs. ROUTE PAGE 70 Orleans to Toulouse, by Vier- zon, Chdteauroux, Limoges (Railway), and Montauban . 235 71 Limoges to Bordeaux, by Pe- rigueux and Libourne . . . 249 73 Toulouse to Bordeaux, by Mar- mandet Tonneins, Agen (Rail- way)—The Garonne . . . 252 74 The Gironde from Bordeaux to La Tour de Cordouan. — Wine District of Medoc. — Chateau Margaux, Lafitte, and Latour 261 76 Bordeaux to Bayonne, St. Jean de Lux, and the Spanish Frontier 266 77 Bordeaux to Bayonne (Rail- way), by La Teste, the Landes, and Dax 270 78 Bayonne to Pau, by Orihez . 276 79 Bordeaux to Auch, by Castel Jaloux and N€rac .... 281 80 Bordeaux to Pau, by Aire . . 282 82 Pau to the Spanish Frontier, by Oloron and the Val cTAspe . 282 83 Pau to Eaux-Bonnes and Eaux- Chaudes.—Pie du Midi dOs- sou, and Spanish Baths of Pan- ticosa 283 84 The Col de Torte. — Eaux- Bonnes to Cauterets or Luz . 289 85 Pau to Lourdes, Cauterets, Luz, St. Sauveur, Bareges, and Bagneres de Bigorre (the Mountain Road) ; with Excur- ROUTE sions to the Lac de Gaube, Gavarnie, Breche de Roland, Mont Perdu, Pic du Midi, $c. 86 Bagneres de Bigorre to Bag- neres de Luchon. — Mountain Road, by the Hourquette oTAspin, Arreau, Col de Pey- resourde, and Val de TArboust. — Excursion to the Lac de Seculejo 87 Pau to Bagneres de Bigorre and Bagneres de Luchon, by Tarbes. — Post Road. — Excur- sions to the Val de Lys, Port de Venasque, and Val a" Aran . 90 Toulouse to Pau, by Auch and Tarbes 91 Toulouse to Bagneres de Luchon and Bagneres de Bigorre, by St. Gaudens . . 93 Toulouse to Narbonne(RAiL.)t by Carcassonne. — CanalduMidi 94 Narbonne to Perpignan, Port Vendres, and the Spanish Fron- tier 95 St. Gaudens to Foix and Car- cassonne, by St. Girons . . 97 The E. Pyrenees. — Toulouse to Foix and Puycerda. — The Valley of the Ariege. — Vic- dessos. — Andorre 98 The E. Pyrenees. — Perpignan to Mont Louis and Puycerda, by the Valleys of the Tet and Tech. — Ascent of the Canigou PAGE 290 305 308 321 322 323 326 328 329 332 Pyrenees. The Pyrenees — Gaves. 225 § 1. The scenery of Limousin, through which province the following Routes conduct the traveller to the Pyrenees, is thus described in the excellent work of Arthur Young: — "In regard to the general beauty of a country, I prefer Limousin to every other province in France. It does not depend on any particular feature, but is the result of many. Hill, dale, wood, enclosures, streams, lakes, and scattered farms are mingled into a thousand delicious landscapes, which set off every* where this province." The length of the portion of the chain of the Pyrenees running between the Mediterranean and the Bay of Biscay, and forming the boundary line between France and Spain, is estimated at about 270 m. The highest parts of the chain are near the centre, and it descends considerably towards the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Gascony. The highest summits do not occur on the central ridge or main chain, but on the buttresses running out from it to the S., and therefore belong to Spain. Only one summit within the French frontier, the Vignemale, attains an elevation of 11,000 ft., while 3 in the Spanish portion of the chain exceed that measure. The average length of the valleys running up from the plain to the crest of the mountains is about 36 m. § 2. 'Without doubt some of the finest scenery in France is to be found among the Pyrenees, which, though inferior in height, and on the whole in grandeur of scenery, number of snowy peaks, and area of crystal glaciers, to the Alps, yet possess beauties peculiar to themselves, of which the Alps cannot boast. The sunny atmosphere, which they owe to their more southern latitude, gives a warmth or glow to the landscape which will in vain be sought farther to the N. ; and this genial climate, while it banishes perpetual snow to a height of about 9000 ft. (». e. 1300 ft. above the Alpine snow-line), also spreads a richness of sylvan decorations over these mountains unparalleled in Swiss scenery. Heights which in a more northern region would either be condemned to naked- ness, or to a scanty growth of lichens, are here clothed in verdure to the very top ; and precipitous rocks, elsewhere rejecting all vegetation, are tufted in every cranny and fissure with brushwood, especially with box, which thrives and spreads wonderfully. But the pride and boast and chief charm of the Pyrenees are their vast forests, the seas of undulating foliage which clothe their sides and tops, not merely of dark monotonous fir, but oak and beech : examples of these are pre- sented in the upper part of the Val d'Ossau, near Gabas, in parts of the Val d'Argelez and Val d'Aure. Hie meadows which carpet the lower slopes and bottom of the valleys equal if they do not surpass those of Switzerland in intense verdure produced by irri- gation and sunshine, and approximate to the even surface of an English lawn; and while the plains of Languedoc and Provence are parched into a yellow desert, here the hues of spring are prolonged into summer and autumn, and the tra- veller is constantly refreshed by vernal gales. § 3. The brawling rivers (Oaves is the local name, derived from the same Celtic root as our Avon) are remarkable, beyond those of almost any other country, for their excessive purity, and for tints resembling beryl and chryso- prase. The waterfalls are second rate, quite inferior to those of Switzerland; those above Cauterets are pretty, and perhaps the finest. That of Gavarnie, the loftiest in Europe but one (in Norway), though 1300 ft. high, is a mere thread of water. Lakes are almost entirely wanting, and here the inferiority of the Pyrenean mountains to those of Switzerland is most decided. The Lacs de Gaube, of Seculeijo (or Lac d'Oo), and the Lac Bleu, though very interesting from the adjuncts of scenery, precipices, and streamlets dashing into them, are mere mountain tarns, yet they are the finest and almost the only sheets of water. The chain of the Pyrenees has in a considerable degree the character of a l3 226 The Pyrenees— A Dash into Spain. Sect. IV. vast wall drawn from sea to sea, inasmuch as it preserves an almost unvarying ridge, notched by frequent passes or cols, rarely more than 1000 ft. lower than the summit of the crest which surmounts them. The consequence is, that the passes leading across the chain are generally higher than among the Alps, far higher in proportion to the comparative elevation of the Pyrenees, and that they are much less accessible for high roads ; indeed only two are practicable for carriages — the Pass of the Bidassoa, at the W. extremity, close to the Bay of Biscay, and that of the Col de Pertus, at the E., along the shore of the Mediter- ranean. There are however at least 50 passes known to, and used by, the shepherds and mountaineers, and most of them practicable on horseback. They are here called "Ports" a very expressive name, for in many instances they are literally doors cut in the crest of the mountains leading from. France into Spain. The most striking of these, and well worth the traveller's attention, are the "Breche de Roland," and the Port de Venasque, the passage of which reveals the grandest, and almost the only, view of the Maladetta, the monarch of the Pyrenees. The valleys of the Pyrenees run nearly at rt. angles with the great dorsal ridge, descending from the central spine into the plain in a Beries of basins and gorges : the most considerable are the valleys of the Garonne and Ariege. The most beautiful on the French side of the chain are the Val d'Argelez (which no one should omit seeing), Val d'Ossau, and valleys of the Garonne, Adour, and Lys, Val d'Aure, and Val d'Aran. The most grand gorges are those leading from Pierrefitte to Cauterets 4md Luz, and that of Mahourat leading to Pont d'Espagne, and the approach to Eaux-Chaudes. § 4. Several Pyrenean valleys have a termination quite peculiar to themselves — in a Cirque or Oule (a local word, meaning pot, Latin olla), a vast circle or semicircle, excavated in the mass of the mountain, walled round by precipices of great height, surrounding two-thirds or three-fourths of the basin, and leav- ing no opening but that by which the waters escape. The finest of these Cirques is that of Gavarnie, at the commencement of the Val de Lavedan: its walls are loftiest and most perfect; that of Troumouse at the head of the Val d'He*as is larger, but not so deep : another occurs at the bottom of the Val Estaube\ The nearest approach to this peculiar formation of the vale head in the Alps is at Leuk ; but the precipices of the Gemmi, which wall it round, want the semi- circular arrangement, as well as the waterfalls, the towers, and cylinders of rock, which give the grand character to the scenery of Gavarnie. The valleys of the Pyrenees are separated from one another by lateral ridges descending like ribs or buttresses from the great chain, over which the com- munication is maintained by numerous minor cols, called Portillons, or in some parts Hourquette8. Such are the interesting passes of the Tourmalet and of the Hourquettes d'Arreau and d'Aspin. Most visitors to the Pyrenees make a point of ascending one of the high peaks in the vicinity of the baths, either for the sake of the view, or to say they have been on such or such a peak: hence, " Avez-vous fait quelques ascensions?" is a common inquiry. The mountain which may be ascended with least trouble, and which repays well by its prospect, is the Pic de B ergons, above Luz. The Pic du Midi de Bigorre, conveniently reached from either Bareges or Bagneres de Bigorre, is loftier and more difficult. Less easy still are the Pic du Midi d'Ossau, the Canigou in the E. Pyrenees, and the Breche de Roland ; while the still more lofty Vignemale is no easy task to surmount, and the Mont Perdu is both difficult and dangerous — an exploit for a practised mountaineer ; and the Maladetta wears snow on its crest never trodden by human foot until 1842. § 5. A dash into Spain, of three or four days' duration, will add much to the variety and interest of a journey among the Pyrenees. The points whence it rnay be made with most advantage are either from Bayonne to St. Sebastian, Pyrenees. A Dash into Spain — Cagots — Sports. 227 from Eaux-Bonnes or Cauterets to the Baths of Panticosa, from Gavamie to Bujaruelo and Fanlo, or from Luchon to Venasque and the Val d'Aran. The scenery on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees is far grander and wilder than on the French. Those who attempt to explore it must be prepared to " rough it ;" they will encounter a wild people, rude villages, accommodations of the very worst kind, yet very expensive, paths scarcely passable, and cookery nauseous to those unused to it, owing to oil and garlic. The sudden transition from France to Spain, the total difference of people, language, manners, habitations, food, combined with the grander features of the mountain scenery, yield the chief zest to such a journey. An invitation to one of the Spanish Bullfights, which are held every year in all the large towns of the N. of Spain, may tempt some to penetrate farther into the country. (See for details the Handbook fob Travellers in Spain.) § 6. The inhabitants of the Pyrenees, composed of various races, interesting for their antiquity, customs, costumes, &c., are worthy of the attention of the traveller. At the W. extremity of the chain, S. of Bayonne, you have the Basques, the aborigines of W. Europe, who have seen Carthaginians, Celts, Romans, Goths, Saracens, pass before them, and still remain in possession of their mountain home, part in France, part in Spain, speaking a language, the Eusk- arian, which has nothing in common with any other of Europe. (See Rte. 76.) The peasantry of Beam, who occupy the beautiful Val d'Ossau and its tribu- taries, the land of Henri IV., in the midst of which he spent the years of child- hood, are a fine race, retaining, along with their very peculiar patois, much of their primitive simplicity of manners, along with their ancient costumes ; the men wearing the berret or cap, like the Lowland bonnet of the Scotch, and a red sash round the waist ; the women covering their heads with the red hood or capulet. In the E. Pyrenees the people of Foix and Roussillon have a consider- able resemblance, in character, dress, and language, to the Catalans of Spain. § 7. The proscribed and outcast race called Cagots exist more in tradition than in reality at present among the Pyrenees. In these mountains there may be families who have intermarried with them, or are descended from them, but the ban of caste no longer hangs over them. They are said to have been weak in body and mind, low m stature, sallow in countenance, and to have lived only in the remotest valleys, shunning their fellow-men. There are various theories to account for their origin and name, none of them satisfactory — for example, that they are the descendants of the Goths, dispossessed of Aquitaine by Clovis — "chiens de Goths," whence Cagots, by a somewhat forced derivation. 2nd. That they sprang from the Saracens who stayed behind in France after their defeat by Charles Martel. 3rd. That they were lepers, banished from human haunts for fear of infection ; or, what seems probable, fugitives tainted with heresy and driven apart from the community by the prejudices and aver- sion of the Romish priesthood. They are now nearly lost through intermixture with the mass of the population.* § 8. The Sportsman may still find some occupation among the Pyrenees in the pursuit of the bear, the ibex or bouquetin, and the chamois or izard, though these animals are growing rare. The bouquetin, especially, is almost extinct ; if anywhere, he may be found on the Maladetta. The izard is not uncommon, and the best localities for enjoying this chace are Eaux-Bonnes, where are some capital guides (see Rte. 83), the snow-fields of theVignemale, the Mont Perdu, and the Maladetta, or in the Spanish Val de Broto. The izard is hunted either by stalking, in the manner in which the red deer is stalked, though with much more difficulty and danger, amidst precipices, glaciers, and snow-fields, until, after a tedious pursuit, the huntsman may have the chance of a steady shot, or by driving the animals by guides and mountain * The best account of the Cagots is contained in the 'Histoire des Races maudttes de la France et de l'Espagne, par N. Fr. Michel/ Paris, 1847 ; an excellent work, and reliable authority. /■ r 228 Tlte Pyrenees — History. Sect. IV. shepherds towards the spot where the chasseur is posted. Success in this case entirely depends on the perfect knowledge possessed by the guides of the habits and haunts of the izard. The rivers are so much netted as greatly to interfere with the sport of angling ; a scientific fisherman, however, would doubtless find full scope for the exercise of his rod among its innumerable Oaves and mountain streams. § 9. History and Antiquities. — The passage of the Pyrenees by Hannibal, and afterwards by Caesar, with large armies, are the earliest events of importance connected with these mountains. The pass by which they crossed was that of Pertus, at the E. end of the chain. Charlemagne's advance into Spain, in 778, was through that of Boncesvaux, where he received the memorable check so celebrated in history and romance, chiefly at the hands of the hardy moun- taineers, the Basques, who fell upon his rear guard while entangled in the defiles, and killed many of his "paladins and peers," amongst them the renowned Roland, who has left his name upon the highest mountain ridge of the chain in the so-called Breche, cleft through the rock, according to the tradition, by a swashing blow of his sword Durandal. The valleys and passes of the Pyrenees, like those of all other border countries, abound in castles and watch-towers, relics of feudal times, when war and rapine was the business of a great portion of the inhabitants, especially of all who claimed to be noble or gentle. Those who would know something of the history of these ruined hill forts, and of the mode of life of those who occupied them in the 14th century, of the marauding expeditions which went out from them on border forays, to harry the cattle or fair fields of some neighbouring chief, of ambus- cades to rob the burgess of the neighbouring towns of his merchandise, or capture some wealthy ecclesiastic or seigneur of eminence, and clap him into the deep dungeon until a ransom was paid, must refer to the delightful pages of Sir John Froissartfs Chronicles, the oldest and best handbook for the Pyrenees, which he traversed and threaded in various directions, picking up anecdotes for his history. In his time many of these strongholds were held by English garrisons for the Black Prince, the province of Gascony, with Bigorre, having been ceded to the English as part of the ransom of the French king, John, captured at Azin- eour. The tradition of the country, indeed, attributes the building o*f some of the castles to the Black Prince. He led an English * army into Navarre, to * The name of Babtides (applied to the citizens' boxes in the neighbourhood of Marseilles) was the name of the Fbik Towns founded in the 13th and 14th centuries, which are very numerous in many parts of France. They are often called the English Towns, and many of them were undoubtedly founded by the kings of England, especially that wise and politic monarch Edward I. ; but many were also founded by the French kings and by the counts of Toulouse, and it is doubtful which had the priority. They are all readily distinguished by the regularity of their plan, the streets being in straight parallel lines, with narrow lanes at the back serving for mews, and usually a narrow passage between each house, so that each plot of ground was complete in itself, and each house independent of its neighbours. The cross streets are at right angles with the others. There is usually a central market-place with a covered way or piazza round it, the covered way being often high enough and wide enough for two carts to pass ; and it is usually vaulted over, the vaults often retaining their original character where all the superstructure is modern. The church generally stands in one corner of the market-place. These towns were always fortified, and in many cases the old walls with their turrets and gate- ways remain perfect. From this circumstance, and from their regular military plan, they are commonly considered as military towns only, built during the wars between the French and English. But this is only a part of the truth ; they often were so, but they also played an im- portant part in the history of civilisation. They were pre-eminently Fhek Towns; all their inhabitants were freemen, and they were endowed with liberal privileges against the oppressions or the nobles or lords of the neighbouring castles ; especially they had the important privilege of Fbb* Thadk. They often served as places of refuge for the serfs, when driven to despera- tion by the exactions of their masters. It was in defence of their privileges, much more than ror the sake of either party, that they were always ready to fight and defend their city from the *%?\Zl V,e ^J}8' MThev mav ofton *» recognized at once on the map by the names of ue- tranche or Ville-Neuve, of which there are some scores in all parts of France. Others had * specific names, as Libourne, Saint Foy, Montpazier, &c. See. Perhaps one of the most Pyrenees The Pyrenees — History. 229 reinstate Pedro the Cruel on the throne of Spain, through the pass of Ronceval, the scene of the "dolorous rout" of Charlemagne. Four centuries and a half later the Pyrenees once more became connected with English history, and in a more glorious cause. " Many of these romantic heights are endeared to an Englishman by the recollection of gallant deeds of British valour performed at the close of the Peninsular war." — 8. To visit the scenes of the masterly passage of the Bidas- soa, and of the Adour below Bayonne, the spot where the fatal sortie took place under the walls of that fortress, the heights of Orthez, and those where the hard-contested but decisive and final battle of Toulouse was fought, cannot but add to the interest of the journey. It will augment the satisfaction of an Englishman, on visiting the theatre of the war, to know that the British com- mander, so far from displaying the insolence of a oonqueror on entering the French territory, took measures to repress rigidly all acts of plunder on the part of his troops, by careful discipline. No inconsiderable difficulty was at first experienced in restraining the Spaniards, smarting under the oppression and wrongs inflicted on their own fatherland by the soldiery of the country which they then entered in triumph, and expecting to avenge upon its inhabit- ants the injuries they themselves had suffered. The firmness of the British commander, however, succeeded in alleviating, as far as possible, the horrors of war to the French ; and the two following extracts, one from a general order of the Duke issued after the passage of the Bidassoa, the other from a letter written by him to a Spanish officer, will show how great care he took to effect this. General Order. — " The Commander of the Forces is particularly desirous that the inhabitants should be well treated, and private property must be respected, as it has been hitherto. " The officers and soldiers of the army must recollect that their nations are at war with France, solely because the ruler of the French nation will not allow them to be at peace, and is desirous of forcing them to submit to his yoke ; and they must not forget that the worst of the evils suffered by the «nemy in his profligate invasion of Spain and Portugal have been occasioned by the irregularities of the soldiers, and their cruelties authorized and encou- raged by their chiefs towards the unfortunate and peaceful inhabitants of the country. " To revenge this conduct on the peaceable inhabitants of France would be unmanly and unworthy of the nations to whom the Commander of the Forces now addresses himself ; and, at all events, would be the occasion of similar and worse evils to the army at large than those which the enemy's army have suffered in the Peninsula ; and would, eventually, prove highly injurious to the public interests." * * * To General , a Spanish Officer. — " I did not lose thousands of men to bring the army under my command into the French territory, in order that important was Libourne, founded by Edward I.f at the highest point to which the River Gironde was navigable for the wine-vessels. In consequence of this favourable situation it grew rapidly in wealth and population, and in the fourteenth century it bid fair to rival Bordeaux, the jea- lousy of whose citizens led them to petition for the curtailment of the privileges of the inha- bitants of Libourne, in which they, ultimately succeeded ; but it long continued a place of importance, both in a military and a commercial point of view. A similar history would apply to many of the others, and the success of these new towns often caused the decay of the more ancient ones in the same neighbourhood, which had clustered round the walls of some castle or abbey for protection. Such was the case with St. Emilion, near Libourne, which now has a moqt desolate appearance ; scaicely a house seems to have been built since the«fifteenth century, and it is quite a storehouse for the antiquary. It may be observed that the English bastides are generally more regular and perfect in plan than the French ones, which some attribute to their being the earliest, and the French ones bad copies of them— others to their being the latest, and built when the system was brought to greater perfection. The original charters of nearly all the English bastides are still preserved among the national archives in the Tower of London. — J. H. P. 230 The Pyrenees— Watering-Plaees. Sect. IV. the soldiers might plunder and ill-treat the French peasantry, in positive dis- obedience to my orders ; and I beg that you and your officers will understand, that I prefer to have a small army that will obey my orders, and preserve dis- cipline, to a large one that is disobedient and undisciplined ; and that, if the measures which I am obliged to adopt to enforce obedience and good order occasion the loss of men and the reduction of my force, it is totally indifferent to me ; and the fault rests with those who, by the neglect of their duty, suffer their soldiers to commit disorders which must be prejudicial to their country." — Wellington Dispatches. § 10. Hot Springs — Character of the Watering-Plaoes — Baths in the Pyrenees. — The bounty with which Nature has poured forth, throughout the whole range of the Pyrenean mountains, mineral sources of healing quality, of various kinds, adapted to the various ills to which flesh is heir, is truly surprising, and an interesting natural phenomenon. It has been calculated that in the whole chain there are not less than 200 springs, many of them of a high temperature. It has been observed, that they usually issue forth to light near the junction of the primitive rocks, as granite, gneiss, or slate, with some other formation, chiefly limestone. The value of these natural medicines was not unknown to the Romans, traces of whose constructions have been discovered near more than one of the hot sources. Here follows a list and a brief character of a few of the principal watering- places, beginning from the W., with a notice of the nature of the mineral waters attached. Eaux- Bonnes. — A fashionable resort, consisting of a row of eighteen or twenty fine tall houses, chiefly modern, and Parisian in their style, and rather expen- sive, in a wild mountain nook. The water is sulphureous. This place is now much frequented by persons afflicted with complaints in the lungs. Very good accommodation. Eaux-Chaudes. — Water sulphureous, nearly like Eaux-Bonnes, from which it is only 3 m. distant ; good but limited accommodation, romantic scenery around. Caiuterets. — Sulphureous water. A neat little mountain town, in an upland valley surrounded by colossal peaks. Plenty of accommodation, and good ; also a place of fashionable resort. In autumn frequented by many Spaniards. Climate bracing, if not cold, from the elevation of its site. Excursions nu- merous. Its waters and site are considered efficacious in bronchial complaints and rheumatism. St. Sauveur. — Feebly sulphureous. An attractive watering-place of a few dozen lodging-houses. Charming walks ; fine scenery. Bareges. — A complete hospital, thronged with miserable invalids ; inferior accommodation ; a poor village in a dreary gorge, which nothing but the hope of recovering health would render endurable beyond an hour or two ; yet the efficacy of its waters is astonishing, and in a medical sense it deserves its cele- brity, more extended over Europe than that of any other Pyrenean bath. It is often quite full in the season, and lodgings dear. A sharp atmosphere, owing to its great elevation. Bagneres de Bigorre. — Saline springs ; weak ; one ferruginous spring. A considerable town, something more than a mere watering-place, seated just within the roots of the Pyrenees on the verge of the plain, and not much raised above it ; warm climate. Various amusements ; pleasant excursions. The tepid baths are efficacious only for slight complaints ; the waters are not powerful remedies. Bagneres de Luchon. — Seated in the bottom of a basin surrounded by moun- ,ains J resorted to for pleasure as well as cure. Its waters are sulphureous and efficacious in rheumatic complaints or cutaneous affections. There are ^mg excursions in its vicinity. Pyrenees. The Pyrenees— Directions for Travellers. 231 At every French watering-place is a medical inspector appointed by the government, and invalids intending to take a course of the waters had better put themselves in communication with him. He will assist them respecting lodgings, and assign to them a fixed hour for bathing, which they will retain during the whole time of their stay — a measure often indispensable during the season, owing to the number of bathers, in order to obtain access to the bath at ail. The Bath Houses (Etablissements Thermal*) of the Pyrenees are very far behind those of Germany in orderly and medical arrangement ; the waters, in many cases, losing some of their properties in their passage from the source to the baths. But their chief inferiority is in want of cleanliness. The cabinets des bains are dark hot cells ; the baths themselves, though of marble, mere troughs, calculated to inspire disgust in those who either do not need, or are not tho- roughly convinced of their sanative power. Works relating to the Pyrenees. — The best of all the descriptions of the Pyre- nees are the works of Ramond (the Saussure of these mountains), ' Observa- tions dans les Pyrenees/ and 'Voyages au Mont Perdu.' To these may be added, geological papers by Elie de Beaumont and Dufresnoy, in the Transac- tions of the French Geological Society. In English, we have Mrs. Boddington's and Mrs. Ellis's very pleasant volumes, Lady Chatterton's charming work, and the Hon. Erskine Murray's ' Summer in the Pyrenees/ which relates especially to the little- visited valleys in the E. part of the chain. The very amusing ' Letters from the Pyrenees, 1843/ of Mr. Paris, a hardy and intrepid pedestrian, have shown the way into some of the most remote valleys rarely visited and never yet described by any English writers. § 12. DIRECTIONS FOR TRAVELLERS IN THE PYRENEES. — APPROACHES AND HOST DIRECT ROUTES. 1. The extension of railways through France since 1845 has greatly facilitated access to the Pyrenees. The best and quickest route is by Paris ; Orleans ; Tours; Poitiers, by railway in about 26 hours, by express from London to Bordeaux. From Bordeaux the Rly. may be pursued to Dax, whence it is 8 or 10 hours' drive to Pau, whence well-appointed diligences run, as also from Bayonne. You can also ascend the Garonne to Langon, and thence by land to Pau. 2. From Paris to Orleans, Vierzon, Limoges (railway), Perigueux, Toulouse, Bagneres, is a long and uninteresting land journey 3. Paris to Chalons-sur-Sadne, Lyons, and Avignon by rail, or by steamer from Lyons ; to Beaucaire, Nismes, and Montpelfier by railway ; by land or canal to Toulouse ; a land journey thence of nearly 90 m. to Bagneres. The best starting points for making the tour of the Pyrenees are Pau for those coming from the W., and Toulouse for travellers approaching from the E. Those who do not intend to make a permanent stay at any of the watering- places should dismiss their heavy baggage before they plunge into the moun- tains, sending it on by roulage, from the one extreme point of their intended tour to the other, from Pau to Toulouse, or vice versa. The Brunnen of the Pyrenees, ensconced each in its own beautiful valley, form good halting-places for the passing traveller who visits these mountains merely from curiosity to explore their beauties, and he may thus terminate almost every day's journey in a comfortable hotel, or at least in tolerable quarters. Almost every valley is accessible by a good carriage road, but it stops at a certain distance, without surmounting the mountain ridge, or pene- trating into Spain, except the two extreme passes at the E. and W. ends of the chain. As there are few carriage roads over even the lateral ridges from one valley into another, those who travel only in carriages must retrace their steps 232 The Pyrenees — Directions for Travellers. Sect. IV, down the valleys. Pedestrians and equestrians (and the only way to see the Pyrenees to advantage is on foot or horseback) may pass, in most instances, by foot or bridle paths, out of one valley into another across the minor ridges which separate them, and thus enjoy some of the finest scenery without going twice over the same ground. The great chain can only be crossed in the same way, by bridle or foot paths, over some of the many Ports or Cols, more than 50 of which are enumerated between the Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean. § 13. SKELETON TOUB OF THREE OB FOUB WEEKS, TO INCLUDE THE HOST INTERESTING OBJECTS IN THE W. PYRENEES. Pau. Starting-point to — Eaux Bonnes et Chaudes. * Pic du Midi d'Ossau. * Col de Torte. * Vald'Azun. Argelez. Cauterets. * Pont d'Espagne, Lac de Qaube [or from * Eaux-Chaudes to Panticosa in Spain, by Pont d'Espagne to Cau- terets], Gorge of Pierrefitte. Luz, or St. Sauveur. Gavarnie. * Breche de Roland, back to Luz [or to Bujaruelo and Fanlo in Spain, and back]. * Vald'H&s. * Vignemale. Bareges. * Tourmalet. * Pic du Midi de Bigorre. Bagneres de Bigorre. * Lac Bleu. Hourquette d'Aspin. * Arreau. * Tramesaigues and the Yal d" Aure. * Porl^de Peyresourdes. * Lac de Seculejo. Bagneres de Luchon. Val de Lys. * Port de Venasque, Venasque, Viella. * St. Beat, in Val d'Aran. * Toulouse. N.B. This mark * denotes places which cannot be reached in carriages, but only on horseback or foot. CARRIAGE TOUR BT POST-ROADS. Pau, Eaux Bonnes et Chaudes. Louvie, Lestelle, Lourdes, Argelez, Cauterets. Pierrefitte, Luz, Bareges. Lourdes, Bagneres de Bigorre, Valley of Grip, Arreau (? no posting). Lannemezan, Cierp, Bagneres de Luchon. Cierp, St. Beat. St. Gaudens. Toulouse. N.B. Ladies may be carried up to most of the points of interest in a chaise a porteur. ITINERARY OF THE FRENCH PYRENEES FROM BORDEAUX TO PERPIGNAN. Days. Night Quarters. 2 >Bayonne. 3 ) St. Sebastian and back, 4) by Diligence. i 5 St. Jean Pied de Port.« 6 \ Honcesvalles, 15 7/ from St. Jean. m. i Objects of Interest. Citadel (Sortie). Embankments to turn the course of the Adour. — St. Pierre d'Arruby. — Biarritz. Interesting ride, through scene of the war in Spain. — Irun and Hernani, curious Spanish towns. — See Citadel of St. S. and walk to Passages. (Inn; Soleil) on the slope of a hill, crowned by the citadel. Arrange about passport and procure a guide and horse at St. Jean. It will take a day to go, and the same to return. — Apoor village. — The Abbey is tenantless; but there is an Inn. — A stone cross on the plain marks the spot where Roland fell. Pyrenees. Information for Travellers, 233 { { Days. Night Quarters. 8 Oloron. 9 Val d'Aspe. lOfEaux-Chaudes; Val 11) d'Ossau. 13 >Eaux-Bonnes. 14 Pau. 15 Cauterets. 16 Cauterets. 17 Panticosa. 18 Eaux-Bonnes. 19 Argelez. 20 Luz. 21 Luz. 22(Grip or Bagneres de I Bigorre. ^[Bagneres de Bigorre. .25 Arreau. «fi [ Aragnouet or Hospice JS.I de Coubise; miser- \ able quarters. 28 Bagneres de Luchon. 29 Bagneres de Luchon. 30 Luchon or Venasque. 31 Val d'Aran; Lez. 32 Cierp or Luchon. ISt. Bertrand de Com- minges; Inn in Haute Ville. 34 St. Gaudens. { Objects of Interest, By Mauleon (H6tel Vefour, good), a Basque town, „ and Tardetz. (Bedous, best sleeping-place, but bad. — Take pro- I visions — at least white bread. i Cross from Escot by the Col de Marie Blanche, and Plan de Benou (the bed of a former lake), to Bielle in Val d'Ossau. Ascent of Pic du Midi d'Ossau. [ By Diligence. Or, if you do not wish to visit Pau, } cross Col de Torte and descend Val d'Azun to I Argelez. By Lourdes (Argelez, ascend Val d'Azun, as far as Pouy le Hun). — St. Savin. Ascend Monn£; 10 hrs. up and down. i Visit, on the way, the Pont d'Espagne and Lac de ( Gaube. By the Case de Broussettes. By Col de Torte and the beautiful Val d'Azun, 12 hours' walk. Pic de Bergons. — St. Sauveur. [Gavarnie and Breche de Roland. If Val d'Heas } also, you must sleep at Gavarnie and scale the [ Breche next day. By Bareges, which may be seen en passant. Turn off at foot of Tourmalet, and ride up by the Lac d'Oncet to the top of the Pic du Midi. Sleep at Grip, if unable to reach Bagneres. Start x early. {See marble -works. — Baths. — Walks. — Visit Lac Bleu. — Pic de Monne. /Ascend Penne de l'Hyeris. Cross Hourquette \ d'Arreau. Ascend Val d'Aure by Vielle, beyond which it splits into several branches. That called Val * d* Aragnouet and Gorge de Couplan contains magnificent mountain scenery, forests, cascades. — Return to Arreau. By Val de Louron, Port de Peyresordes, and Lac d'Oo. If time admits, ascend by Scala to upper Lake. Val de Lys. — Go or return by Sopra Bagneres. Port de Venasque — Trou du Taureau— -returning by Port de Picade, to Luchon. N.B. This ex- cursion may be extended to Venasque, and round the Maladetta to Vitallez and Viella. By Port de Portillon to CEil de Garonne.— Castel } Leon. — Bososte. — Sleep at Baths of Lez. Below Lez the finest part of Val d'Aran.— St. Beat. J See the church and remains of Lugdunum Con- venarum below the town. — Ride up Val de Barouse to Mauleon. The mountains are pierced I with caverns. I Visit la Basse Grotte de Gargas, 5 m. from St. ) Bertrand, near Tyberan— Cross the Neste to I St. Gaudens. { 234 Information for Travellers. Sect. IV. Days, Night Quarters. 34 St. Girons; poor Inn. 35 Foix. 36 Tarascon. 87 38 } Ax or Mt. Louis. 39 Prades. 40 Prades. Objects of Interest. By Diligence to St. Martory, where hire a horse to St. Girons, on the Sallat, a bad cross road, but practicable for vehicles. By Remont and La Bastide de Seron. Visit Iron Mines of Vic de Sos. ■ Cross to Puycerda and Bourg Madame by Port de J Morens. Arrange with the Douane to take a \ horse across the frontier. Sleep at Bourg Madame ( or at Cabannes under the walls of Mt. Louis, Bide by Olette down Vale of Tet. Ascend Canigou: must start early. Next day to Perpignan and Narbonne. § 14. PAS8PORT8— CONVEYANCES — ACCOMMODATION FOR TRAVELLERS. Passports. — Those who mean to enter Spain should obtain a Spanish Consul's vise* at Bordeaux or Bayonne, to prevent their being mistaken for refugees or smugglers; — they should also provide themselves with the Spanish Handbook. Mallepostes from Toulouse and Bayonne to Tarbes, and from Dax to Pau. Dili- gences run regularly from Dax and Bayonne to Pau and Tarbes, from Toulouse to Bagneres and Tarbes, which is the point of concentration for conveyances from all directions; and in summer a constant communication is kept up between all the watering-places. The diligences, however, are ill appointed and very slow, and the routes they follow exceedingly circuitous. They are of use to the pedestrian in conveying his luggage from place to place. Inns are inferior to those in the German watering-places : the best are at Pau, Eaux-Bonnes, Cauterets, Luz, and Bagneres de Bigorre (by far the best) ; many of them have the fault of filth. Those at Bareges are inferior. The charges vary much, especially for rooms, according to the season, rising exorbitantly when the places are full. Provisions are cheap. — Bed, 1 f. 50 c. to 2 f. ; dinner (table-d'hdte), 3 f. ; breakfast a la fourchette, 2 f. ; tea or coffee, 1 f. 50 c. On ordinary occasions the traveller's expenses ought not to exceed 8 f. per diem; and if he stop a week or longer in an hotel, he may easily bar- gain for 6 f. The chance-traveller is often asked 3, 4, or 5 f. for the worst bed- room for a single night during the season. Expenses at Bagneres de Bigorre. Pr. cent. 5— 6 0 16—18 0 3— 4 0 60—80 0 . 1 f. 50 c. to2f. 1 0 0 10 0 40 Board and lodging at an hotel for a month or 6 weeks, per diem Caleche and 2 horses A horse, exclusive of feed , , , , for a month A room in the town • Bath at a fixed hour Warm linen . . • Chairmen (porteurs) • Izard venison, game, ortolans, truffles, mountain-trout, green figs, and straw- berries, are among the delicacies which await the traveller in the Pyrenees. The remote valleys — Val d'Aran, Val d'Aure, and all those on the Spanish side — are miserably off for inns ; travellers should always take provisions thither, or at least white bread, as the rye-bread, which can alone be procured, is apt to disagree with strangers. Riding horses, or rather ponies, very unprepossessing to look at for the most part, yet hardy and capable of work, and well used to the mountains, are kept at all the watering-places. The charges for them used to be moderate, viz. 5f. a day, including the feed, or 3 f. paying the forage, which it is not advisable to do; but they have risen of late. It is the custom of the French visitors at Pyrenees. Route 70. — Orleans to Toulouse. 235 the baths to unite in large parties, and invade some quiet valley, or interesting point of view, in troops of cavalry 50 or 60 strong, and to establish there a picnic. Very little regard is paid by these riotous assemblages to the beauties of nature. Awakening the echoes with the loud cracks of the whip with which they urge on their jaded hacks, they scour along the rough roads, up hill and down dale, attired in the most fantastic costume — men and women wearing the red sashes of the peasantry, and broad-brimmed felt hats; while even the ladies assume neat white pantaloons, sometimes set off with boots and spurs. (Twiidss.— There are very excellent and trustworthy professional guides, well acquainted with the mountains, and many of them capital mountaineers and Bkilful sportsmen; though not, perhaps, so good as the guides of Switzerland or Savoy. The best are met with at Eaux-Bonnes, Cauterets, Luz, Bagneres de Bigorre and Luchon. A guide receives 5 f . a day, feeding and lodging himself. A horse must be provided for him, unless the traveller is willing to be retarded by his following on foot. For return-money, 4 f. a day each for horse and man, until the guide can reach his home from the place where he is dismissed, is the fair allowance; but 5 f. are generally asked. Chaises a Porteur. — There is scarcely an excursion off the high-road, however distant, or a mountain-top, or other spot, however difficult of access, which ladies may not reach by the aid of a chair on poles. Each lady will require from 4 to 6 chairmen; the cost is 15 f. a day, and 3 or 4 f . pour boire. This conveyance has been pronounced by a lady traveller " at once the gentlest, safest, and most agreeable mode of conveyance imaginable. The chairmen will go anywhere and everywhere; and instead of being rocked and jolted in a dislocating machine, those who cannot walk, and fear to ride, are carried about like petted children, without the risk of fatigue or the probability of danger." — Mrs. Boddington. ROUTE 70. ORLEANS TO TOULOUSE, BY CHATEAU- BOUX AMD LIMOGES, RAILWAY, [CHE- MIN DE FEB DU CENTRE], AND MON- TAUBAN. 588 kilom. = 365 Eng. m. Railway — Orleans to Chateauroux 1854, to Argenton and Limoges 1856. A Malleposte — Limoges to Toulouse in 23 hrs. Diligences daily. A bridge carries the line across the Loire. It nearly follows the line of the post- road. An avenue of trees leads from the bridge of Orleans to the suburb St. Mar- ceaux, abounding in country houses; and a little farther on is the indus- trious village of Olivet (3250 Inhab.); Here the river Loiret is crossed by a bridge, about 2 m. below its source, and 5 or 6 above its termination in the Loire. The Chateau of La Source, the residence of the banished Lord Boling- broke, near this, is described in Rte. 48. Below the bridge, between it and the Chateau de Ponty, on the 1. bank, it is pretended that the assassination of the Due de Guise by Poltrot took place: he was conveyed to Caubray, where he breathed his last. The Railroad, as far as Vierzon, tra- verses the district of la triste Sologne, noted for its barrenness ; a large part of it being waste land, heath, and com- mon ; a dead flat of hungry sandy gravel, the surface slightly varied, and tiie scenery monotonous. The name Sologne (Segalonia) has been derived from "segale," seigle, barley, the crop chiefly produced on its unprofitable soil. (?) 23 La Ferte* St. Aubin Stat. At the entrance of this village, on the 1., stands the Chateau of Lowendahl, named after a Danish general who served in the armies of France along with his friend Marshal Saxe, and was made Marechal de France for his share in the capture of Bergen-op-Zoom. It 236 Route 70. — Vierzon — Chdleauroux. Sect. IV. now belongs to the Prince d'Essling, son of Marshal Massena. It is a low building, surrounded by water. The name Fert€, an old form of fortifie*, denotes the existence, in ancient times, of a castle, embattled and fortified by royal permission, granted to the seig- neur. 16 Lamotte Stat., Dept. Loire et Cher. 6 Nouan le Fuzelier Stat. 12 Salbris Stat. 13 Theillay Stat. The My. now enters a deep cutting, followed by the tunnel of 1/ Allouette, 1350 yds. long, to emerge into the valley of the Cher. After which, through a pretty country, we reach 10 Vierzon Junction Stat. — The rail- way to Bourges, Nevere, Moulins, and Vichy (Rte. 103), here branches 1. from the line to Limoges. (Inns: Croix Blanche; H. desMessageries.) Vierzon, a town of the Dept. Cher, and of the ancient province of Berry, enlivened by the Canal de Berry, which passes through it, running side by side with the river Cher. By means of it the iron of Berry, manufactured in furnaces not far distant from the town, is ex- ported; and coal is brought hither to smelt it. Pop. 6700. At Vierzon the valley of the Cher is rather cheerful, and on its borders are some vineyards. The E vre, the canal of the Loire, and the Cher are crossed on quitting Vierzon. 15 Chery Stat. 4 Reuilly Stat. 1 Rich wine 10 St. Lizaigne Stat, j district. 7 Issoudun Stat. A town of 13,215 Inhab., in the centre of an agricultural district. It retains the ruins of a Castle, inhabited by Charles VII. 12 Neuvy Pailloux Stat. 15 Chateauroux Stat. — Inns: La Poste (Ste. Catherine) ; H. de France. This town, chef-lieu of the Dept. Indre (Pop. 14,276), is of little interest to the traveller, but of considerable in- dustrial importance, owing to its ex- tensive cloth manufactures, the Bale of which is estimated at 4 millions of francs yearly. The wools of Berry are almost exclusively used in their fabrication. Some trade is also carried on in iron, there being more than 40 iron furnaces in the department. The Mitle, on an eminence above the Indre, close beside the modern Prefecture, is a gloomy building, flanked by turrets, probably of the 16th centy. It was the prison, for 23 years, of the un- fortunate Cle*mence de Mailll, Prin- cesBe de Condi and niece of Richelieu, who here ended a life of suffering, 1 694. The Grand Condi, her husband, repaid her devotion to him, and ill- requited affection, by procuring from Louis XIV. an order for her imprison- ment ; and his last dying request to the king was, that she should never be set free. Her grave in the ch. of St. Martin was violated 1793. The town owes its name to an older chdteau, built in the 10th century by one Raoul de De*ols. One of the old town gates, a venerable structure, still remains. General Bertrand, who accompanied Napoleon to St. Helena, was a native of Chateauroux. At Bourg Dieu, or Deols, situated within 1 J m. of Chateauroux, are the ruins of an ancient monastery, and a ch. containing, in a crypt under the altar, a curiously carved marble sarcophagus. Diligences to Tours by Loches. (Rte. 56.) Railway to Limoges (117 kilom. = 72£ Eng. m.) opened 1856. 1 5 LothiersStat. A dreary country of heath to 14 Argenton Stat., a town of 4000 Inhab., on the Creuse: it had once a large castle flanked by 10 high towers, dismantled by Louis XIV., and farther reduced to ruin in recent times. The Cher is crossed on a handsome bridge of 3 arches, each 60 ft. span. 10 Colon Stat. 11 Eguzon Stat. 7 St. Sebastian Stat. 12 La Souterraine Stat. 1 kilom. beyond this is the tunnel of Serephie, 1100 yds. long. 19 FromentalStat. The great Viaduct of Gartempe, one of the largest constructed in France, consists of a double tier of arches, 4 below, 8 above, each nearly 50 ft. span, of granite. The roadway is 220 yds. I ong. It cost one million francs. 11 Bersac Stat. A tunnel, 865 yds. long, pierces through the granite of the central chain of the Limousin, which divides the waters running into the Loire from those which belong to the Pyrenees. Route 70. — Limoges — St. Michel-aux- Lions. 237 Garonne. Here is the summit-level of the line. 9 Lauriere Stat. 6 La Jouchere Stat. 8 Amberzac Stat. The long cutting of Nouelle is 60 ft. deep. The fine Viaduct of Le Palais, over the valley, is 150 yds. long and 44 high. 8 Limoges Stat. (Inns : Boule d'Or, dirty; H. Richelieu, not much better; H. de Perigord), the capital of the an- cient province of Limousin, at present chef -lieu of the Dept. Haute Vienne, is a commercial and manufacturing town, situated on the rt. bank of the Vienne. Pop. 37,010. It is very picturesque in its ancient street architecture, but has few curi- osities to show to the passing stranger. The Revolution swept away the greater number of its churches, many of which were curious from their antiquity. Those which remain are distinguished by peculiarities which would go to prove the existence of a local school of archi- tecture: such is the peculiar construc- tion of the 3 towers, a tall octagon, set anglewise on a square base, with 4 round turrets on the alternate angles. The most interesting are The Cathedral of St. Etienne, begun in the 13th centy., and slowly con- tinued down- to the 16th, when the work came to a stand; and the build- ing has since remained a mere frag- ment, consisting of the Choir, the N. transept, and two compartments of the nave, now blocked up by a common partition wall, while at the spot to which it ought to have extended rises an isolated belfry, now in a very in- secure condition, separated by a wide gap from the rest of the edifice. Under this tower is a Romanesque porch be- longing to an older cathedral. The ch. is built of granite, and terminates in an apse. The interior is not re- markable in itself, but contains a Jvh€y or roodloffc, removed without reason, 1789, from its proper place between the choir and nave, to one side of the nave. It is a curious jumble of flam- boyant Gothic ornaments and tracery, with sculpture in the style of the Re- naissance (date 1543). It has been seriously mutilated, and its niches robbed of their statues, but contains curious bas-reliefs, among which are represented the Labours of Hercules. Its construction is attributed to Bishop Langeac, whose Tomb is remarkable for the richness and elegance of its decora- tions, far superior to those of the Jube\ It was prepared for him before his death, 1541, and includes some admirable bas-reliefs, well worth ex- amination in spite of their mutilations ; among them one, representing "Death on the White Horse," is much praised. Two other monuments, that of Bishop Regnault de la Porte, of the 14th cent., and of Bernard Brun his nephew, de- serve notice. St. Michel-aux-Lions is the most con- spicuous object in the town, owing to its tall and graceful tower and spire, planted on the highest ground, sur- mounting the other buildings. This ch., erected 1364, is named from the rudely sculptured figures of lions which ornament its porch; the lightness and height of the 8 lofty pillars supporting the roof are alone remarkable in the interior. In St. Pierre is a very fine stained glass window, of the Death and Coro- nation of the Virgin, good in composi- tion and arrangement of colours — per- haps the work of some local artist, an enameller of the 1 5th centy. An old Cross of granite, in front of the ch. of St. AureUan, deserves men- tion for the elaborate workmanship be- stowed on it, which has recently been concealed under a coat of oil paint. The Episcopal Palace is a handsome building of granite, with a fine Garden attached to it. Although Limoges was an important place in Roman times, under the names Lemovices and Augusioritum, there are no remains of Roman buildings. The only trace of the amphitheatre, to which Moliere alludes in M. de Pour- ceaugnac, Act I., Scene 6, is the name Les Arenes given to a burial-ground. Its site is nearly covered by the Place d*0rsay, on one side of which runs a terrace, whence there is a view over the valley of the Vienne. A Latin name, "Aqua lenis" is said to be re- tained in the Fontaine Aigoulene, and its water is supplied through a Roman conduit. 238 Route 70. — Limoges to Toulouse. Sect. IV. The ancient fortifications of Limoges have been thrown down, planted, and converted into boulevards and public walks; nothing therefore remains as a relic of that terrible siege (1370) and capture by assault of the place by the Black Prince, who, irritated at its re- volting from him, through the treachery of its bishop, swore by the soul of his father that he would have it back again. Too ill to ride on horseback, he directed the operations from a litter, and, having forced a breach by blowing up a tower, entered through it, and, denying quarter to its wretched inha- bitants, allowed 3000 men, women, and children, to be massacred — a blot on the fair fame of his heroic career, the verge of which he had already reached, for the hand of death was upon him, and he breathed his laat six years after. Limoges is distinguished by having been the birthplace of the upright chancellor d'Aguesseau, born 1688. Yergniaud, the Republican orator, the leader of the Girondins, beheaded by Robespierre 1793, Marshal Jourdan, the conqueror at Fleurus, Marshal Bugeaud, and Dupuytren the surgeon, were also natives. Limoges likewise produced in the 15th and 16th cen- turies a series of artists, among whom the names of Laudin, Noel, Leonard, Courtois, Rexmore, are conspicuous, eminent for the beautiful paintings in enamel which they produced, still so highly esteemed all over Europe. Nayllier, the last master in this genre of art, died 1765, and the art died with him. It appears to have originated as early as the 1 2th centy ., and was brought hither by Greeks from Byzantium, but was at its acme* in the time of Francis I. The private cabinets of M. Germeau and M. Maurice Ardent, of Limoges, contain some very remarkable speci- mens of enamels. The Manufacture at present most prevalent here is that of porcelain, due to the discovery, in 1768, in this neigh- bourhood (at St. Yrieix), of the kaolin, or pure white, porcelain earth, consist- ing of the decomposed felspar of the granitic rocks and the pure white un- deoomposed felspar, or Petunze, em- ved in the white transparent porce- lain, which furnish fit materials for the manufacture. Sevres is supplied hence with these substances, and nearly 2000 persons are employed in and about Li- moges in making china. There are also some cotton and woollen mills. The Limousin horses are a celebrated breed, in much request for the French cavalry; they are reared in the prairies bordering on the Vienne. Mallepostes to Toulouse, passing by Perigueux and Auch, and most of the towns of S.W. France. Diligences to Toulouse, Bordeaux, Poitiers, Angouldme, Clermont. A Railway is in progress from Limoges to Perigueux ; from the latter place others to Bordeaux, Agen, Montauban, and Toulouse ; to Figeac and Rhodez. The road from Limoges to Bordeaux, by Perigueux, is described in Rte. 71. [At the town St. Junien, 18 m. from Limoges on the way to Angouldme, is a very curious ck. of the 11th centy., containing at the back of the high altar a curious sarcophagus of white marble, adorned with reliefs in the Byzantine style of art. It contains the relics of the saint, much visited by devout pilgrims. In the lower part of the town near the bridge is a chapel of the 15th centy., of Notre Dame ; and 1 m. out of the town, on the borders of the Vienne, are the ruins of St. Amand. M. Merimee ob- served in its transept a basin hollowed out of the rock, supplied by a spring of running water, into which little pieces of bread had been cast by the peasants, as offerings to St. Amand, who is be- lieved still to work miracles, though his shrine has been destroyed for ages.] At Boisseuil, 7 m. from Limoges, we leave about 1 m. to the rt. the ruined Castle of Chalusset, a curious example of the art of fortification in the middle ages, situated on an iso- lated rock at the junction of two streams. It must have been very strong both by its natural position and its outworks. It has been re- ferred to the 12th centy. 20 Pierre Bufnere. Arthur Young praises much the beauty and variety of the country to Brives, hill and val- ley, a quick succession of landscapes. 21 Beausoleil. Pyrenees. Route 70. — Orleans to Toulouse— Turenne. 239 18 Uzerche, a picturesque little town on a conical hill, converted into a penin- sula by the bend which the Vezere makes round it. It has a curious Ro- manesque ch. on the crest of the hill, surrounded at the E. end by 5 apsidal chapels, partly destroyed. Under it is a crypt, containing the tomb of St. Coronat, in a niche, closed in front by a wooden railing. Insane persons are shut up within it for a night, in the belief that they will thereby recover their reason ! The road to Tulle here turns off 1. [Tulle (Inn: H. de Lyon), a town of 10,748 Inhab., singularly placed in the fork of a deep narrow valley of the Correze, a fresh bubbling stream, which runs through it, bordered for a considerable distance with houses, many of them ancient and picturesque. The Cathedral had a slice cut from it, in Revolutionary times, to make way for a public walk. The nave only remains, of granite, in a severe and early style of Gothic. The town has an important manu- factory of fire-arms. Diligence to Clermont by Ussel, and to Mont Dore les Bains.] About 10 m. W. of Uzerche is the Chateau de Pompadour, anciently the residence of a noble family, several of whom were governors of the province of Limousin, whose name was never sullied, until, after the extinction of their line (1722), it was bestowed upon the mistress of Louis XV., the daughter of the bankrupt butcher Poisson. 25 Donzenac. Picturesque varied country; groves and forests of chestnut. 10 Brives (Inn: H. de Bordeaux, clean, comfortable, and a good cook, who makes capital pates) enjoys a fine situation in the valley of the Correze; but its favourable appearance at a dis- tance is not realised in its interior, which contains nothing remarkable but an ancient Gothic home attributed to the English: it is said to have been the residence of the governor. Brives is birthplace of Card. Dubois, son of an apothecary, who became tutor and afterwards minister to the Regent Duke of Orleans; and of Marshal Brune, one of the generals of the Republic, assas- sinated at Avignon 1815. Pop. 8413. The culture of the vine and of maize flourishes near this. The road has now reached a hilly country: it passes within a short dis- tance of the castle de Noailles, cradle of the noble family who derive their ducal title from it, now in ruins; a modern chateau has been built not far off. The old feudal Castle of Turenne, situated about 2 m. to the E. of the road, on the Tourmente, a tributary of the Dordogne, gave a name to another great family, illus- trious by deeds as well as by descent: the Dues de Bouillon obtained the domain and viscounty of Turenne by alliance. Within its walls the wife of the Great Conde*, a fugitive with her son from the pursuit of Mazarin, was received amidst a crowd of en- thusiastic partisans of the Fronde, in 1650, and sumptuously entertained for 8 days; during which, taking counsel with the Dues de Bouillon and de La Rochefoucauld, she planned the me- morable rising in the South which was called the civil war of Guienne. She here summoned her vassals and re- tainers to mount the fawn-coloured scarf, and to rally round her for the rescue of her husband from prison. At the order of the Due de Bouillon the tocsin was sounded in the 400 villages of his vicomte" of Turenne, and the peasants at once flew to arms and flocked round his standard. 20 Cressensac (De*pt. Lot). Truffles flourish in the uncultivated ground around this village. 16 Souillac, a miserable little town in the deep valley of the Dordogne, on its rt. bank. It has a very interest- ing mosque-like vaultedCAwrcA, pointed, yet probably of 11th centy. (See Fer- gusson's Handbook.') After crossing the river, a steep hill, nearly 3 m. long, requires to be surmounted, in effecting which the postmaster is authorised to attach a pair of oxen to all four-wheeled car- riages. 2 m. on the 1. is the village and chateau of La Mothe Fenelon, not the birthplace, as some have stated, of the author of Te*le*maque, but a property belonging to his family. A hilly country, arTd, barren, and un- interesting, all the way to Cahors. 240 Route 70. — Orleans to Toulouse — Cahors. Sect. IV. 16 Peyrac. 18 Pont de Rodes. 17 Pelacoy. Near this is Murat, and a little beyond it La Bastide, the birthplace of Joachim Murat, general of cavalry, and King of Naples. He was son of an aubergiste who was steward in the family of the Talleyrands. A long but gradual descent of nearly 5 m. leads into the valley of the Lot. The very distant outline of the Pyrenees, 150 m. off, may be distin- guished in clear weather near 16 Cahors. (Inns: H. des Ambas- sadeurs, not very clean, but excellent cook; Trois Rois; de l'Europe, good.) Cahors, the chef-lieu of the D£pt. le Lot (Pop. 12,050), is situated on the top and round the base of an escarped rock, on a wide sweeping bend of the river Lot. It is a very ancient town of narrow streets, full of antique edi- fices, to which a new quarter has been added. The name comes from its ancient appellation, Divona Cadurcorum, and there still exist the scanty remains of a Roman amphitheatre, and of a conduit, which conveyed water to it from the village St. Martin de Vera, through La Roque, where are vestiges of the arches of an aqueduct. The Cathedral, a truly fine edifice, consists of a large nave, surmounted by two hemispherical cupolas, in the Byzantine style ; a portal and the choir are Gothic. The Bishop's Palace is now the Prefecture. The bishop originally bore the title of count, and enjoyed the privilege of wearing a swora and gauntlets, which he depo- sited on the altar when he said mass. When he took possession of his diocese, he was received at the gate of the town by his vassal, le Yicomte de Sessac, bareheaded, without cloak, with one leg bare, and the foot in a slipper, and was conducted by the count in that guise to his palace, and waited on by him there at table. This curious tenure had fallen out of use before the Revolution. The surprise and capture of Cahors in 1580 was one of the most brilliant exploits of Henri IV. (when King of Navarre). He reached the town by a forced march of 30 m. under a burning sun, and, posting his men in ambus- cade among the walnut-trees, awaited the nightfall ; when, silently approach- ing the gate, he blew it up with .a petard, and entered himself the seventh, followed by 700 men, and leaving 700 outside to check the arrival of reinforcements to the gar- rison. The bursting of the gate had alarmed the town, which was strongly guarded, and a shower of stones and tiles from every housetop assailed the Navarrese troops and their general. The combat was carried on throughout the night, and yet, when dawn ap- peared, the assailants had gained but a very small footing. Henri was strongly advised to retire, especially when intelligence was brought of the arrival of succour to the town ; but the king, setting his back against a shop, persisted in fighting on, ex- claiming, "Ma retraite hors de cette ville sera celle de mon ame hors de mon corps." The reinforcements were driven back, but Henri still had to struggle step by step, to lay siege to every street, and almost to every house. Ifc was not until the fifth night that Ca- hors submitted. Henri's soldiers, irri- tated by the resistance made by the gar- rison, put a great many to the sword. On the open promenade de Fosse*, in front of the college, is placed a statue of Fenelon, who was a student here. One of the bridges over the Lot, built in the 14th and 15th cents., is curious, being surmounted by 3 gate-towers, to defend the approach to the town. Cahors is the native place of Pope Jean XXII., whose name was Jacques d'Euze ; his Castle is pointed out near the entrance to the town, on the side of Paris ; also of Clement Marot, the poet, author of sonnets, ballads, Sec. (1495), and page to Marguerite, sister of Francis I. The country around produces a good deal of wine, which is not much known, but is not bad, and truffles in abundance. 21 La Magdeleine. 17 Caussade stands on the fertile plain watered by the Loire ; it is a town of 5000 Inhab., famed for turkeys stuffed with truffles. In the next stage the river Aveyron is crossed, and we enter the wide and Pyrenees. Route 70. — Orleans to Toulouse — Montauban. 241 fertile plain of Languedoc, which ex- tends to the foot of the Pyrenees with little interruption. At Castel-Sarrazin the Railway from Bordeaux to Cette (Rte. 126) is entered on. 23 Montauban Stat, (/was: H. de France ; de l'Europe ; clean and com- fortable), chef-lieu of the Dept. Tarn et Garonne, is a good-looking little town, with clean and wide streets, on the rt. bank of the Tarn, here lined by a fine quay, and crossed by a brick bridge of the 13th cent., but modernized, at the end of which Btands the Prefecture, a square building with 4 turrets at its angles. There is not much to be seen in the town. The Cathedral is a large modern building of Italian architecture, with a frontispiece at the W. end. " The Promenade of Les Terrasses on the borders of the Trescon, and on the highest part of the ramparts, com- mands that noble plain, one of the richest in Europe, which extends on one side to the sea, and in front to the Pyrenees, whose towering masses, heaped one upon another in a stu- pendous manner, and covered with snow, offer a variety of lights and shades from their indented forms and the immensity of their projections. This prospect has a sort of oceanic vastness, in which the eye loses itself ; an almost boundless scene of cultiva- tion ; an animated but confused mass of infinitely varied parts, melting gra- dually into the distant obscure, from which arises the amazing frame of the Pyrenees, rearing their silvered heads far above the clouds." — J.. Young. Montauban is a flourishing manu- facturing town, producing various kinds of woollen cloths, hair stuffs (cadis, molletons), which are exported to the colonies. It has 24,660 Inhab., nearly one-half of them being Protest- ants, and there is a Protestant College here for the instruction of pastors. In the 16th and 17th cents. Mont- auban was a stronghold of Protest- antism, its inhabitants having early embraced the Reformed doctrines, and being prepared to defend them. It endured in consequence a very me- morable siege in 1621, from the royal France, army led on by the favourite Luynes, who brought hither his master Louis XIII. ; but, instead of witnessing its fall, after nearly 3 months of fruitless assault, Louis and his minister were forced to withdraw, such was the ob- stinate bravery of the inhabitants and the skill of their governors. Under the reign of Louis XIV., and the influ- ence of Madame de Maintenon, the Protestants of Montauban were singled out to suffer the direst persecutions, inflicted by the so-called Dragonnades, or quartering of regiments of soldiers on them, who exercised every species of licence, inquisitorial tyranny, and cruelty, with the design of forcing them to become Roman Catholics. At the farther extremity of the bridge over the Tarn we pass under an arch of brick into the extensive suburb of Ville Bourdon, founded by the Protestants expelled from Tou- louse in 1562. We enter the grand route from Bordeaux to Toulouse (Rte. 73) a little short of 22 Grisolles. The Garonne runs parallel with our road, at a little dis- tance on the rt., through a plain of unequalled fertility. The British army, under the Duke of Wellington, passed the river, before the battle of Tou- louse, by 2 pontoon bridges above the small town of Grenade on the 1. bank nearly opposite Castelnau, 15 m. below Toulouse. The road crosses the river Lers a little farther on. The capture of the bridge over it at Croix Daurade, by a gallant charge of the 18th hussars, on the day before the battle, secured a communication between the columns of the allied army, part of which marched up the rt. and part up the 1. bank of the Lers, to attack the strong position of Marshal Soult. 12 St. Jory. The approach to Toulouse lies over a bridge, flanked by 2 columns, thrown across the Canal du Midi, which, half encircling the town on the N. and E., joins the Garonne about a mile to the rt. of this bridge in the Faubourg d'Arnaud Bernard. The Obelisk on the height to the 1. marks the centre of Marshal Soult's 242 Saute 70. — Toulouse — Capitole. Sect. IV. position at the battle of Toulouse, which, though strongly fortified by redoubts and cannon, was carried by the Allies (see p. 248). 17 Toulouse. — Inns: H.deTEurope, kept by Bibent, Place Lafayette, good in situation and comfortable. H. des Empereurs (Vidal), Place du Capitole. H. de France. H. Souville. H. du Midi. H. Casset. In the midst of the great plain of Gascony and Languedoc, beginning at the very foot of the Pyrenees, and stretching from them nearly 100 m. N., stands Toulouse, the ancient capi- tal of Languedoc, and now of the Dept. of Haute Garonne. It is built on both banks of the Garonne, just abore the point where the Canal du Midi, connecting the Atlantic with the Mediterranean, falls into it, after winding round the N. and E. sides of the town. The river is crossed by a briok bridge connecting the city with the suburb St. Cyprien on the 1. bank of the river. It is far from being a handsome city ; its streets are irregular and dirty, its houses and even churches of brick ; and neither public nor private buildings are distinguished by special architectural beauty ; but it ranks as the seventh city in France, from the number of its inhabitants (77,400), and the extensive trade and commerce of a provincial capital which it enjoys. It is interesting from its historical souvenirs, as the capital of the king- dom of the Visigoths from 413 to 507, when it was destroyed by Clovis on the battle-field of Vouille* near Poi- tiers ; as the place where the art of the Troubadours was encouraged at the gay court of its counts ; as the scene of the papal crusade against the Albigenses, headed by an English leader, and as the seat of the ancient Parliament of Toulouse. But the Re- volution has, as usual, done its worst to extirpate all tangible relics of by- gone days. The Place du Capitole (once Place Royale), a handsome square of regular modern buildings (one of which is an exceedingly sumptuous cafe"), is the centre of bustle and traffic ; the chief market-place, and the point of de- parture of 9 main thoroughfares. It is named from le Capitole, or Hdtel de Ville, so called either from the tradi- tion that in the time of the Romans the Capitol of the Tolosates may have stood here, or from the meetings of the civic chapter (capitolium), whose members were also called capitouls, on this spot, The building presents externally a modern front, finished 1769, with eight columns of red Pyre- nean marble in the centre, and in- cludes, besides the municipal build- ings and the archives, the Theatre in the 1. wing. The principal apartment, running along nearly the whole length of the first floor, is the Salle des iUus- tres, or hall of the worthies of Tou- louse, so called from 38 terra-cotta busts of men of note, born in and near Toulouse, or connected with it, each with a pompous Latin inscription below it, filling as many gilt niches in the walls. In real truth, a great many — as Riquet, engineer of the Canal du Midi, Pope Benedict XII., &c, have no connection of birth with the town .; and many more, though really citizens, have no claim to renown beyond its walls. Among those of most general celebrity may be mentioned Raymond St. Gilles, Count of Toulouse, one of the leaders of the first crusade ; Cujas, the lawyer (" oujus merum nomen plus laudis amplectitur quam queelibet oratio potest"), who was rejected by the university here when a candidate for the professorship of law ; and P. Fermat, the mathematician, inventor of the integral calculus, b. 1608. In this hall are held every year the meetings of the Soci€t€ des Jeux Flo- raux, deriving its origin from the an- cient troubadours, but founded, it is said, by one Clemence Isaure, a Tou- lousan lady, who revived the science of the " gai Scavoir " in the 14th centy. (1333). Her very existence, however, is not a little doubtful, as there is no mention of her in the archives of the town, though her statue is preserved in the Capitole. In spite of these doubts, the society has adopted her as its patroness ana founder, and every year at the begin- Pyrenees. Route 70. — Toulouse — Capitole — St. Sernin. 243 ning (3rd) of May, after making a pil- grimage to the church of the Daurade in which her tomb once was, it distri- butes, to various competitors, prizes consisting of golden and silver flowers, the violette, amaranthe, eglantine, souci, and lis, for the best original compositions in verse, and essays in prose, for which the directors give the subject. The society maintains about equal importance, and the prize com- positions have nearly the same literary value, as those of the bardic meetings held in Wales. Although the exist- ence of Clemence is uncertain, there is no doubt of the antiquity of the society, and it claims for itself to be the oldest literary institution in Eu- rope, dating from 1333. Indeed, it appears that in that year a number of Troubadours, or Mainteneurs du Gai Scavoir, citizens of Toulouse, met in a field near the town to distribute prizes to the composers of the best verses. In the same room with the statue of Clemence Isaure is preserved the axe with which Henri Due de Montmo- rency, the victim of the implacable Cardinal Richelieu, and one of the last of the great vassals of the crown of France, was decapitated. It is a sort of huge carving-knife, and was made in the town. The execution took place 1632, in the first court of the Capitole, at the feet of the statue of Henri IV., in whose reign that part of the building was erected. In the 2nd court on the rt., two barred win- dows mark the dungeon in which the duke was confined, and belong to the oldest portion of the building. Here also is the old Salle de Consistoire, with ornamented roof and chimney (? if still existing). The council chamber of the senators of the town, or capi- touls, equivalent to the echevins else- where, no longer exists. The antiquity of the municipal pri- vileges of Toulouse, and of the meet- ings of the magistrates, who were elected by the people themselves, and who were recognised by Raymond V. as far back as 1152, deserves notice. These rights, of 5 centuries' duration, were infringed, in spite of the remon- strances of the citizens, by Louis XIV., who caused the capitouls to be appointed at Paris by royal ordonnance. The Place du Capitole is a good starting-place from which to visit the chief curiosities of the town. *L*Fglise St. Sernin, the largest, oldest, and most perfect ecclesiastical edifice here, is a plain building of brick and stone in the Romanesque style, finished and consecrated 1090, by Pope Urban II. It is conspicuous for its lofty octagonal Tourer, formed by 5 tiers of arches, eact story less in size than that below it. The upper part is of the 14th cent., the lower corresponds in style with the church below. Of its 2 S. porches, one is distin- guished by a curious early Byzantine bas-relief over the door, and by the capitals of its columns representing the murder of the Innocents, expul- sion of Adam, &c. ; the other, a double portal leading into the S. transept, bears carved capitals of the 7 deadly sins. By the side of it, within a mo- dernised chapel, open to the air, are several tombs of early counts of Tou- louse. The interior is remarkable for its very long Nave (not unlike that of St. Albans, but flanked by double aisles). The E. end is semicircular and its arches round ; close-set columns support the vault above the high altar- painted with the colossal figure of Christ and the symbols of the 4 evan- gelists. From the aisle behind it pro- ject 5 apsidal chapels, decorated with curious carvings of saints and legends in wood. Here also is a model of the church as it stood before the Revolu- tion, showing that it formed an iso- lated fortress, apart from the town, walled in by towers and battlements. Some curious Byzantine bas-reliefs in white marble, said to have belonged to the old church of St. Sernin, built by Charlemagne in the 8th centy. (?), are let into the wall of the aisle behind the choir ; they represent our Saviour, angels, and saints. The Crypt under the choir, modernised in the 15th centy., was the place of deposit of relics in great number and esteemed of immense value. Before the Revo- lution this church indeed boasted of possessing the bodies of no less than 7 M 2 244 Route 70. — Toulouse — Cathedral — Musee. Sect. IV. of the apostles ; that of St. James was, it is true, a duplicate, another of his bodies being preserved at Compos- tella ! This motto was blazoned over the entry — " Non est in toto sanctior orbe locus." The ancient shrines in metal-work and the carved presses (whatever the authenticity of the relics they contain) at least deserve atten- tion. Among them is the coffin of St. Thomas Aquinas. The wooden stalls of the choir are well carved in the style of the 16th centy. The Church of St. Taur, situated in the street leading from the Capitole to St. Sernin, derives its name from the wild bull to whose horns the body of the martyr St. Saturnin was bound by his heathen persecutors. The struggles of the furious animal having detached it from the cords on this spot, a chwch was in consequence erected. That, at present existing has nothing remarkable but its flattened fronton belfry, surmounted by an- gular arches. The Church of the Cordeliers, a brick building of great loftiness, erected in the 14th centy., is now turned into a magasin de fourrage, and filled with hay ; that of the Jacobins, surmounted by a conspicuous brick tower, rising in arches having straight-angled heads, is of vast size, and of brick, like the other churches. It has become a barrack, and is divided by floors, the lower story serving as a stable for artillery horses. Issuing out of the Place du Capitole by the Rue de la Pomme, we come to the Cathedral, or Eglise St. Etienne, remarkable for the irregularity and want of concord in all its parts. The largo and beautiful rose window is out of the line of the centre of the main portal immediately below it ; the cen- tre of the nave is parallel with the side aisle of the choir, and its two walls do not correspond. The nave was built by Raymond yi., Comte de Toulouse, in the 13th centy., at a time when he was favouring the heretical Albigeois, and was excommunicated in consequence by the Pope. Raymond was besieged within the walls of Tou- louse by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, appointed by Innocent III. head of the crusade against the he- retics. He met his death in one of the suburbs of the town, from a stone discharged by a mangonel, whilst he was endeavouring to repel a sally of the citizens, in the 9th month of the fruitless siege, on St. John Baptist's day, 1218. Count Raymond's con- struction is the oldest part of the church, and was doubtless intended to be removed by those who raised the very elegant Flamboyant Choir. It was begun 1272, but not roofed until 1502, by the Cardinal d' Orleans, son of the brave bastard Dunois, who built also the clocher and the singular isolated column called Pilier oV Orleans, which fronts you as you enter the nave. There is some good painted glass in the choir. The tower is sin- gular from its form, having two broad sides and two narrow. In the Rue des Arts is the *Musee, formed in the desecrated church of the Augustins, one of the most interesting provincial collections in France, the worst part of which consists of a large number of bad paintings, copies, &c., filling two rooms, one of them being the old church itself, which has been re-roofed and re-floored. The best pictures are a Perugino, St. John Evangelist and St. Austin ; a Vander Meulen, Siege of Cambray ; and a cu- rious painting of the eight capitouls forming the town council of Toulouse in 1645. A good collection of casts from the antique is placed in the chapterhouse, an elegantly vaulted and groined apartment of the 14th centy., supported on light pillars. The Collection of Antiquities in this museum is the most interesting sight in Toulouse ; it is placed under the admirable direction of M. du Mege, who may be considered its founder. The locale which it partly occupies is the elegant Gothic Cloister of the old church, the traceried arches of which are supported on pillars of marble in pairs, producing an effect not unlike the Campo Santo at Pisa. In addition to a small series of Egyptian sculptures, and a few Greek Pyrenees. Route 70. — Toulouse — Museum* 245 bas-reliefs (Clarac cabinet) there are nu- merous inscriptions, Roman and Gallic, votive altars, &c,, with fragments of statues and of marbles, from various places in Languedoc and the Pyrenees, showing that the quarries of the Pyrenees were worked by the Romans. The most remarkable part of the col- lection, however, is the three following series, forming an almost uninterrupted chain in the history of art, from the Gallo-Roman period to the Renais- sance or cinque-xento through the Gothic period. 1st. A very large collection of an- tiquities dug up near the small town of Martres, on the 1. bank of the Ga- ronne, a little below St. Gaudens, and proved by M. du Mege to be the an- cient Calagorris. In consequence of the excavations undertaken at his sug- gestion, it has become a Gallic Pom- peii. The discoveries consist of a series of about 40 busts and medal- lions of Roman emperors, and of members of their families, from Au- gustus and Claudius down to Gal- lienus, forming a tolerably complete portrait gallery ; of a number of small statues of gods and goddesses, of good execution, especially in the drapery, including Isis, Venus, Diana, Jupiter, Serapis, Esculapius, Harpocrates ; a series of bas-reliefs, much mutilated, representing the Labours of Hercules ; a mosaic of the head of a river god ; a number of Corinthian capitals, friezes, and other architectural orna- ments. Among the bronzes are a pair of wheels and the pole of a Roman chariot, very rare and interesting ob- jects, dug up at Fa, near the Bains de Rennes. Two bas-reliefs, with in- scriptions relating to the two Em- perors Tetricus, have given rise to much discussion among antiquaries. They were found at Nerac. 2nd. A collection of works of art of the middle ages, consisting of bas- reliefs, statues, monuments, portals, and a long series of curiously carved capitals of columns obtained from ecclesiastic edifices and Christian monuments destroyed or desecrated at or since the Revolution, beginning with early Christian tombs, sarco- phagi, and coffins, covered with sculp- ture rude and debased in point of art, but showing Roman influence, bearing Christian symbols combined with heathen subjects, the cross, X, P, the vine-branch, &c. One of these, brought from the outer wall of the church of La Daurade, where it went by the name of Tonibeau de la Heine Pedauque (pes aucse, queen goose-leg), bears six bas-reliefs of the multiplication of loaves and fishes, the raising of La- zarus, and other Scriptural events, which were adopted as types sym- bolical of the goodness of God, and of the resurrection, by the early Christians. Another sarcophagus from St. Orens, at Auch, displays, with similar symbolical allusion, the sacri- fice of Isaac, and Lazarus deplored by Martha, with Adam and Eve. Others of these tombs come from the very ancient cemetery of St. Saturnin in Toulouse. Several bas-reliefs which ornamented a portal of that church are preserved here ; one represents 2 females seated, their legs crossed; one holds a ram, the other a lion : the names of these two signs of the zodiac being written at the side, and below one of them, "Hoc factum est in tem- pore Julii Caesaris." They are sup- posed to have formed part of a Zodiac, or Julian Calendar, attached to that church. It is not improbable that they were executed in the time of Charlemagne. From St. Sernin also comes a carving of a hawk, with a human head, treading under foot a monster, inscribed " Crocodilus :" the allegory seems derived from Egypt. A pedestal in white marble, bearing 4 figures in relief, 2 of them saints with palms (St. Justus and Rusticus), the Virgin, and a crowned king, supposed to be Charlemagne, holding a lotus- headed (?) sceptre, and wearing a cross on his breast, was brought from the Cathedral of Narbonne, of which he was the founder. The curious Portal of the old Church of La Daurade, pulled down in 1812 when the monas- tery attached to it was converted into a tobacco manufactory, has been re- erected here, as nearly as possible in its original condition. Its circular 246 Route 70. — Toulouse — Museum — Inquisition. Sect. IV. arch 10 Supported by statues, instead of pillars : attached to it are 4 figures in bas-relief, — David playing on the Harp, and the Virgin and our Saviour, with a king and queen, founders or benefactors of the church. In like manner, the Portal of the Ca- thedral Chapterhouse at Toulouse, deco- rated with figures of the Apostles in bas-relief, has been removed hither. 'Here are numerous statues, partly coloured and gilt, of Christ, the Vir- gin, Apostles, and Saints. A series of more than 60 capitals of columns, almost all differing in form and deco- ration, the greater part ornamented with subjects minutely carved from the Bible or Legends of Saints. The casts of sculptures from the church of St. Victor at Marseille, and from that of Moissac, merit attention, as well as many monumental effigies of noble knights and high-born dames, and holy ecclesiastics, mitred abbots, bishops, and several archbishops of Toulouse, here deposited. The museum also boasts of possessing the ivory horn of the renowned Roland, richly carved — formerly preserved in the treasury of the church of S. Sernin. A third division of the museum contains Monuments of the Renaissance, including casts from a portion of the carved wood screen-work in the Ca- thedral of Auch, and church of St. Bertrand de Comminges. A Pieta, in .white marble, from the Egliae des Cannes at Carcassonne, several frag- ments of statues, bas-reliefs, &c, by Bachelier, a sculptor of Toulouse, and pupil of Michael Angelo, 1485-1567. A relief, in white marble, of boys dancing, by Pierre Paul Puget, is very clever. The plastered and stuccoed church of La Daurade derives its name from the gilt mosaics of a former church, of which no traces are now left : the monastery attached to it, on the quay, a little below the bridge, is now the Manufacture Royale de Tabac. There are numerous specimens in the streets of the grand but exagger- ated architecture of the Renaissance ; one, perhaps the best, is attributed to Primaticcio's design, and is situated near the bridge over the Garonne. If the stranger will continue past the bridge, up the street, on the rt. bank of the Garonne, called Rue du Couteliers, he may view the H6tel St. Jean, of Italian architecture, that called Hdtel Daguin, or more com- monly Maisen de Pierre, a gaudy spe- cimen of the style of the Renaissance, and nearly opposite an ornamental portal, in much better taste, designed by Bachelier, already mentioned. Still farther on is the cannon foundry, occupying" the ancient nun- nery of Sainte Claire ; and a little be- yond it Le Convent de ? Inquisition, an obscure edifice retaining its old ill* omened name, but now belonging to a religious brotherhood engaged in edu- cation. It is memorable for crimes which stain the annals of Toulouse. Here alone, in France, was that ac- cursed tribunal allowed to take root. Here, as in Spain, it brought with it its usual train of tyrannous atrocities, torturing, imprisoning, roasting at the stake the living, tearing up the dead from their graves, or refusing Christ- ian burial to persons deceased. It was first established here, in the time of Count Raymond VII. (1221), by the ecclesiastical council assembled to ex- terminate the heresy of the Albigenses, which, at the beginning of the 13th centy., had overspread the entire S. of France, under the connivance or en- couragement of Raymond VI., of Toulouse, one of the wealthiest and most powerful princes of his time. St. Dominic himself, the founder of the Inquisition, visited Toulouse to water the thriving offset from his own terrible foundation ; the cell which he occupied was shown until 1772. The Place de Salin was the scene upon which the French Autos da Fe* were enacted. The house No. 50, Rue des Fila- tiers, was in 1762 occupied by a re- spectable Protestant family, named Calas. The father, Jean Calas, car- ried on the trade of a draper, and prospered, in good repute with his neighbours, and in contentment at home. The only exception to his domestic happiness was the conver- sion, by a priest named Durand, of Pyrenees. Route 70. — Toulouse — Jean Calas. 247 his third son, Jean Louis, to the Roman Catholic faith. The youth had, in consequence, been sent from home, receiving a small allowance from his father. On the night of the 13th-14th Oc- tober, 1761, cries were heard issuing from the house of Calas, and the chief of police, with an escort of soldiers, on entering it, found near the door the dead body of the eldest son of Calas, Marc Antoine by name. A proces verbal was prepared, de- claring that he died, hung by himself; which there can be no doubt is the truth, for he was of a melancholy tem- perament; but a malicious cry was raised in the crowd by a voice un- known, that he had been strangled by his father, to prevent his abjuring Calvinism as his brother had done, and the report spread, and was partly believed by the fanatic Toulousans. The elder Calas was in consequence accused of the murder of his own son, before the Parliament of Toulouse ; and that ancient and venerable as- sembly, without listening to one-tenth of the evidence which had been pre- pared, and without any proof of his guilt, sullied its reputation for justice by condemning him, at the age of 63, to be tortured and broken on the wheel, and his remains burnt and scat- tered to the wind. The act of condemnation, in virtue of which this atrocious judicial murder was committed^ runs as follows : — " La Cour le condamne a 6tre livr6 aux mains de l'executeur de la haute justice, qui, tete, pieds nus, et en chemise, la hart au col, le montera Bur le chariot a ce destine, et le con- duira devant la porte principale de l'Eglise de Toulouse ; ou, etant a genoux, tenant entre ses mains une torche de cire jaune allume'e, du poids de deux livres, il fera amende honor- able, et demandera pardon k Dieu, au Roi, et a la justice, de ses crimes et mefaits ; ce fait, le remontera sur le chariot, et le conduira a la Place St. George de cette ville, oil, sur un echaufaud, qui y sera a cet effet dresse, il lui rompra et brisera les bras, jambes, cuisses, et reins ; ensuite l'ex- | posera sur une roue qui sera dresse'e tout aupres du dit Schafaud, la face tournee vers le ciel, pour y vivre en peine et repentance de ses dits mefaits, servir d'exemple, et dormer de la ter- reur aux mechants, tout autant qu'il plaise a Dieu de lui donner la vie ; et son corps sera jete" dans nn bucher prepare a cet effet sur la dite Place, pour y e*tre consume* par les flammes, et ensuite (ses cendres) jetees au vent. PrSalablement le dit Calas sera appli- que a la question ordinaire et extraor- dinaire, sera le dit Calas pere etrangle, apres avoir reste deux heures sur la roue. Juge le 9 Mai, 1762. — Cassan, Clairac, rapporteurs." He bore the torture inflicted on him in the Hotel de Ville with the greatest firmness, answering all questions with the ut- most clearness, and giving no advan- tage to his interrogators, but persisting in maintaining his innocence. On the scaffold, after suffering with the most patient resignation the agonies of his punishment for 2 whole hours, during which he was subjected to the mental rackings of a Romish priest, being still fully alive, the signal was given to the executioner to inflict the "coup d« grace." "De faux te*moins ont e*gar& mes juges," exclaimed he, before breathing his last breath; "je meurs innocent: Je*sus Christ, qui £tait 1' innocence m6me, voulut mourir par une supplice plus cruel encore." The very Domi- nicans who attended Calas exclaimed as he expired, " II est mort un juste V With his murder an end was put to the martyrdoms and cruel persecutions of the Protestants which had disgraced the South of France for almost a cen- tury, and chiefly owing to the praise- worthy exertions of Voltaire in defend- ing Jean Calas and exposing his perse- cutors. His sentence was reversed and his innocence proclaimed by the Conseil Royal at Paris. The Palais de Justice, totally mo- dernised externally, and for the most part a new building, was the seat of the Parliament of Toulouse, where its sittings were held. The fine ceilings ornamenting its interior have been retained in two apartments : one, 24S Route 70.—- Canal du Midi— Battle of Toulouse. Sect. IV. carved with reliefs in compartments, representing the Labours of Hercules, is by no means contemptible; the other is richly gilt. At a short distance below the bridge the navigation of the Garonne is inter' rupted by a weir thrown across it to supply water to the large corn-mill of the town, called le Basacle, rebuilt 1814. Between this mill and the church of La Daurade is the mouth of the Canal de Brienne, constructed by the arch- bishop whose name it bears, to remedy the interruption in the navigation caused by the mill-weir. It runs nearly parallel with the Garonne for about f mile below the Basacle, and then falls into the Canal du Midi. A fine avenue of trees leads to this junc- tion. Here the 2 canals are crossed by small bridges, between which, on s level with the water, is stuck a large piece of sculpture, in high relief, of white marble, representing some un- meaning allegory, without allusion to the founder of the great work, Riquet, and contemptible in execution. A few hundred yards below this, the Canal du Midi, after sweeping round the E. and N. sides of the city of Toulouse, enters the Garonne through a basin provided with double locks, and guarded against ice by a sort of pier. The Garonne is at this point 144 metres, or 473 feet, above the level of the Atlantic The navigation of the Garonne, though carried on by barges, is very difficult, owing to rocks and stems of trees in its bed, from Toulouse to the junction of the Tarn. For a descrip- tion of the Canal du Midi see Rte. 93. At the battle of Toulouse the inner bank of the canal, towards the town, was lined with French troops, and every bridge over it strongly defended by tetes de pont and intrench ments. In an attack made by the British Light Division upon the bridge nearest the embouchure of the canal, designed by Wellington merely as a feint, but converted by Picton, in disobedience to orders, into a hopeless assault, the British were repulsed with a loss of 400 men. A monument has been erected, in the grounds of the Chateau Gragnague, on the N. side of the canal, to a British officer of great merit, Colonel Forbes, of the 45th regiment. Several other English monumental tablets are also placed in the Protestant Church of Toulouse. The best point of view for surveying the field of the Battle of Toulouse (April 10, 1814), as well as for viewing the town, is the Obelisk of brick, erected by the city, " Aux Braves morts pour la Patrie," occupying the site of one of Marshal Soult's redoubts, taken by the English, on the height of Calvinet., It is reached by traversing the fine oval place, and the broad Avenue Lafay- ette (originally d'Angoul&me), crossing the canal at the flying bridge, or Pont Matabiau, and ascending at the back of the Ecole V&eYinaire. The view owes its chief interest to the distant chain of the Pyrenees, occupying the horizon, whose peaks may be discerned, in fine weather, from the Canigou.on the E. to the Pic du Midi de Bigorre on the W., with the Maladetta, Cra- bioules, and Mt. Perdu in the centre. The city itself is not striking \ the country around is very flat and mono- tonous, and the Garonne runs in too deep a bed to form a feature in the landscape. The most important part of Marshal Soult's position, at the time of the battle, was along the heights called Mont Rave, composed of two plat- forms, Calvinet (on which stands the obelisk) and Sypierre, both of which had been fortified, several weeks beforehand, with 5 redoubts, and in- trenchments between them, mounted with a great many guns. The position was supported by the canal, and by the ramparts by which the town was then surrounded in the rear of the canal ; and in front the position was covered by the Ers. That stream was at the time unfordable, and all the bridges over it were blown up, or strongly guarded, except that of Croix Daurade, taken by the British Hussars the day before the battle. General Beresford's division, which achieved the victory, had to make a flank move- ment, marching for 2 m. up the rt. .Pyrenees, Route 71. — Limoges to Bordeaux. 249 bank of the Ers, under the fire from the heights, over ground naturally very difficult, marshy, and intersected by watercourses, but rendered almost impassable by artificial inundations. After passing Calvinet, the British troops formed, and, charging up the height, took first the redoubt on Sy- pierre, and afterwards those on Cal- vinet. Here, however, a terrible struggle took place : the British., "clinging to the brow of the hill," in spite of the masses opposed to them, stood fast on the ground they had gained; and though the French made desperate efforts from the canal, they never retook Calvinet. A previous attack on Calvinet, made in the early part of the day by the Spaniards, had been very different in its result ; so quickly, indeed, did they retire, that the Duke of Wellington said of them, "he never before saw 10,000 men running a race;" 1500 of them were slaughtered on the slope of this hill, chiefly in a hollow road upon its flank, raked by a battery from the Font de Matabiau on the canal, which "sent its bullets from flank to flank, hissing through the quivering mass of flesh and bones," to use the words of Colonel Napier. At 5 o'clock p.m. Soult withdrew his whole army behind the canal. The next day he remained inactive, and on the night of the 11th was "forced to abandon" Toulouse, leaving behind 1600 wounded and 3 generals, to fall prisoners into the hands of the allies. They lost in this battle 4650 men and 4 generals; the French nearly 3000, and 5 generals killed or wounded; a useless waste of human life, since Napoleon had abdicated on the 4th April, some days previously, though that event was unknown to either of the commanders. There can be no doubt that the charge brought against Marshal Soult of fighting this battle though aware of what had happened at Paris is unfounded, and the Duke of Wellington himself has nobly vin- dicated huu from it. The forces of the allies amounted to 52,000 men; but of these only 24,000, and 52 guns, were actually engaged in the battle; the French had 38,000 men, with from 80 to 90 guns. This is the estimate drawn out with the utmost fairness by Colonel Napier. The country immediately about Toulouse is generally flat and unin- teresting, and, being besides arid, and burnt up in summer, the want of shade and verdure, and the excessive dust, offer no inducements to explore. Its fertility, however, is very conspi- cuous. Toulouse is joined by a bridge of brick, pierced with round holes be- tween the spandrels of the arches, and terminating in an archway, with the suburb of St. Cyprien, which was invested by General Hill and one division of the British army at the time of the battle. The principal Cafes are in the Place du Capitole. The market held here is very abundantly supplied : fruit, vegetables, poultry, and wine are very cheap; butter and milk dear; ortolans, truffles, figs, pates de fries de canards, are the delicacies which await the gourmand here. Maliepostes daily to Auch and Pau. Diligences— daily, to Tarbes, Pau, and Bayonne; to Auch and Bagneres de Bigorre; to St. Gaudens and Bag* neres de Luchon; to Foix, Ussat, and Ax; to Villefranche (Aveyron) ; to Perpignan by Limoux; to Alby. Railways to Bordeaux by Montauban and Agen; to Limoges; to Cette, Nar» bonne, Montpellier, Nismes, and Mar* seilles. ROUTE 71. LIMOGES TO BORDEAUX, BY PERIGUEUX AND LIBOURNE. 215 kilom. = 133£ Eng. m. Malleposte as far as Perigueux. Diligences daily until the Ely. is open. Through a hilly country we reach the first relay at 12 Aixe, on the Vienne, a small town skirted by the road. M 3 250 Route 71. — Limoges to Bordeaux — Perigueux. Sect. IV. 23 Chalus. The post-house and inn is situated at some distance from this little town, which is only remark- able for its Castle of Chabrol, rising above it in picturesque ruins. Be- neath its walls Richard Cceur de Lion received his death-wound from the arrow of a youth named Bertrand de Guerdon. The tamer of the infidel, and hero of the Crusades, thus ended a chivalrous life of nearly constant warfare, before the petty fortress of a vassal, the Viscount of Limoges, which he had besieged in consequence of a quarrel about the division of a trea- sure found in the viscount's domain, of which Richard claimed the whole, or a larger share than had been con- ceded to him. The castle was soon taken, and the garrison of only 38 men were hung by the king's order, except the bold archer who had sped the shaft so fatal to him. The youth avowed, when brought before the dying monarch, that revenge for the death of his father and two brothers, slain by Richard, had prompted him to free the country of its oppressor. His life, though magnanimously spared by Richard, was taken after his death; and he is said to have been flayed alive by order of Richard's minister. The most conspicuous part of the castle yet remaining is a circular donjon, entered by a doorway high up in the wall, and no longer accessible •without a ladder. The tower is en- tirely gutted. Around it are grouped some shattered fragments of buildings, including a portion of a chapel. A little conical stone, rising out of the meadows in the front of the castle, in the valley below it, is pointed out as the spot where Richard had placed himself to reconnoitre the fort, when the arrow struck him in the 1. shoulder. The stone is called Maumont. The bridge of Firbeix, 3 m. from Chalus, crosses the boundary line of the ancient provinces of Limousin and Perigord. 13 La Coquille. 15 Thiviers. . 13 Palissou. 19 Perigueux (Inns: H. de France; good ;— H. de Perigord, famed for its Pies, turkeys stuffed with truffles, &c; — du Chene Vert), the chef-lieu of the Dept. Dordogne, contains 12,157 In- hab., and is situated on the rt. bank of the river L'Isle, which was canalised in 1837. The' town, composed of streets narrow, tortuous, and dirty within, is fringed by green alleys ex- ternally. Its * Cathedral of St. Front is a very remarkable ch., the type of the eccle- siastical architecture of the neigh- bouring provinces of France, and un- doubtedly Byzantine both in its cha- racter and origin. It consists of 5 domed compartments, the choir, nave, transepts, and crossing, each being co- vered by a separate stone cupola or dome. It is very worthy of note that St. Front is an exact copy, in plan and dimensions, of St. Mark's at Venice, with which it is nearly contempo- rary in age. At the W. end is a vesti- bule of earlier date, surmounted by a tower 1 97 ft. high, in stages, while at the E. end is an apsidal chapel of the 14th or 15th centy. The arches supporting the domes are pointed, and this is said to be the earliest instance of the use of the pointed arch in France. The domes are now hidden on the outside by walls of masonry. In a chapel is a bas-relief in wood, representing the Assumption of the Virgin, of elaborate execution. The Prefecture is & handsome modern building. The first ancient name of this city was Vesuna, retained in the Tour de Vesune, a circular tower of Roman construction, 100 ft. high, its walls 6 ft. thick, hooped with brick bands at intervals, without doors or windows. It is supposed to have been a tomb, and is situated in a suburb called La Cit£, which contains other ancient remains of a Roman amphitheatre (very picturesque) and arch. At a later period the name Vesuna was changed to Petrocorii, mentioned by Caesar, whence Perigueux. The Chateau die la Barriere is a most curious building, raised on Roman foundations, which themselves show evidence of hasty construction. Other portions date from the 10th to the 17th centy. Part is inhabited by the Comte de Beaufort, Pyrenees. Route 71. — Limoges to Bordeaux — Castillon. 251 being his paternal inheritance reco- vered after the Revolution. The streets of Perigueux contain some curiously ornamented houses of the 16th century: one at the corner of Rue l'Aiguillerie bearing the date 1518; 2 others in Rue Taillefer, Nos. 31 and 37; and a 4th at the end of the Rue de la Sagesse, ornamented with arabesques and carvings, merit notice. There are some buildings and vaults which are as old as the 12th and 13th centuries. The celebrated pdt& de Perigueux, well known to all gourmands, are made of partridges combined with truffles, and form an article of con- siderable export. Perigueux is the centre of a knot of Railways in progress, branching to Bor- deaux, Agen, Brives, Montauban, and Toulouse. . The road descends the valley of the I/Isle nearly all the way to Libourne, crossing the stream opposite Castel Fadaise. Passing under the castle of Montan- cey, we reach 18 Massoulie. 17 Mussidan. 17 Montpont. 18 St. Meclard (Dept. Gironde). A few m. to the rt. lies Coutras, where Henri IV., while still only King of Navarre, gained a bloody victory over the forces of the League under the Due de Joyeuse, who lost his life on the field, along with many other great lords, 1587. Coutras is visible from a hill overlooking the valley of the I/Isle, surmounted before reaching 20 Libourne (Rte. 64), a rly. stat. Railroad, Libourne to Angoul&me and Tours; — to Bordeaux. Diligence to Perigueux. [An interesting excursion may be made from Libourne up the valley of the Dordogne to St. EmUion, a town of 3100 Inhab. (6 m. distant), celebrated for its wines, and one of the most remarkable in France for the antiquity of its buildings. It is, as it were, a town of the middle ages preserved to our times ; with its crenellated ramparts, watch-towers, and 6 gates still perfect. There is not a house in it less than 3 centuries old. It is seated in a sort of ravine or quarry, and many of the dwellings are caves hewn in the rocks. It has a ruined Castle, le Chateau du Hoi, built by Louis VIII., surmounted by a square keep-tower, in a style resembling the Norman, most singular ; in fact unique. A very singular rock-hewn church of great age. It consists of a nave (barrel- vaulted) with aisles, and piers formed of square masses of the sandstone left standing. Over it, on the top of the rock, a lofty Gothic steeple has been erected, and a rich portal of the 14th cent, is applied to the face of the rock. A round Gothic church, called the Rotonde; the Parish or Collegiate Church, a fine building, reduced to the nave and W, portal, of the 12th centy. On the S. side is a curious Cloister, and not far off rises a graceful tower, octagonal above, square below, commanding from its top a very fine view; the ruins of several other churches and convents; and a handsome building, the Palais du Cardinal de Cantarac. The Girondins Guadet, Petion, and Barbaroux sought refuge for a time in the cave dwellings here, but were captured and slain here, 1794.] [About 12 m. S.E. of this is Castillon, under whose walls was fought, in 1453, the battle in which valiant Lord Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, " The Frenchman's only scourge, Their kingdom's terror, and black Nemesis," hemmed in by a French force greatly superior to his own, was slain, at the age of nearly 80 vears, gallantly fight- ing, along with his son, the Lord Lisle, whom his father in vain counselled to depart out of the field, seeing that all was lost, — a real incident, which has furnished Shakespeare with a fine scene. The result of Talbot's defeat and death was the capture of Bordeaux from the English, and their final expulsion from Guienne. Near Montraval, on the rt. bank of the Dordogne, a tomb was formerly pointed out under the name of Talbot's ; but it is known that his body was transported by his friends to 252 Route 73. — Toulouse to Bordeaux — Moissac. Sect. IV. England. 3 m. from Castillon, on tbe 1. of the road, but accessible only by rough cross-roads, is the Chateau of St. Michel de Montaigne, the birthplace of Montaigne, the philosopher essayist, Shakespeare's favourite author. It is a considerable building, never fortified, and remains nearly as described by him in his Essai des Trois Commerces. The room which was his library is pre- served in the gate tower, over the en- trance, and its roof is inscribed with Greek and Latin sentences ; among them 'some from Ecclesiastes also — " Homo sum : humani a me nihil alie- num puto." There is a pleasing view from the terrace. The ch. is near the house.] The great line of railway from Paris to Bordeaux passes through Libourne (see Rte. 6 4). The old road to Bordeaux, after crossing the bridge over the Dor- dogne, passes through 16 Beychac. 15 Bordeaux itself will be found in Rte. 73. ROUTE 73. TOULOUSE TO BORDEAUX, BT MARMANDE, TONNEINS, AGEN (RAILWAY) J — ' DESCENT OF THE GARONNE. 257 kilom. = 160 Eng. m. Railway open (1855) from Valence d'Agen to Bordeaux, prolonged from Agen to Toulouse 1857. Lacourtensourt Stat. St. Jory Stat. Castelnau Stat. Grisolles Stat. The Railway runs for some distance parallel with the Canal lateral de la Garonne, a costly work, executed under Louis Philippe, and already superseded by the Rly. It follows at present the direction of Rte. 70, diverging from direct line, in order to pass through Montauban Stat., but returns into the valley of the Garonne, near Castel Sarrazm Stat. The Garonne, a winding stream, much more picturesque than the Loire, runs nearly parallel with the railroad, but so far off (1$ to 2 m.) as scarcely to be seen. Moissac Stat. (Tun : Grand Soleil), a town of 10,165 Inhab., on the it. bank of the Tarn. Its Ch. of St. Pierre and St. Paul, once attached to a celebrated abbey founded by Clovis, or more probably by St. Amand of Maestricht in the 7th centy., has a very remarkable portal, which was added in the early part of the 12th centy. to the stifl older church. It is a deeply recessed porch, preceding a pointed arch, the mouldings and tym- panum of which, over the door, are enriched with the most fantastic sculp- tures, designed with the utmost bold- ness and fancy. Figures of apostles, saints, angels, bas-reliefs, fanciful pat- terns and mouldings, have been dashed off with wonderful freedom. The cen- tral pier, supporting the doorway, and the side walls, under the porch, are similarly adorned. In the interior are some very early mosaics. The cloisters, a range of pointed arches, resting on twin pillars with singular capitals, were constructed in 1 1 1 0, as is recorded on one of the pillars. An ancient fountain in the town merits notice. Castel Sarrazm Stat., a town of 7000 Inhab., carrying on some trade in the corn grown on the fertile plain around. Opinions differ as to the origin of the name ; some deriving it from the Sara- cens, who may have built 'the castle, of which scanty remains exist, to secure themselves in this part of France ; others, from Castel-sur-Azin, the name of the small stream running through it. Malause Stat., a prettily situated town, whose ancient castle has been de* stroyed since the first Revolution. The flat land ceases here, and the country around is very pleasing : the Garonne, which the road now approaches more closely, is a charming feature in the landscape. Valence d'Agen Stat. The Rly. Pyrenees. Route 73. — Toulouse to Bordeaux — Agen* 253 at this little town runs partly along a sort of terrace or quay by the side of the Garonne, through 6 La Magistere Stat. 6 St. Nicholas Stat. 6 Sauveterre Stat. About half way between Toulouse and Bordeaux lies rt. 10 Agen Stat. — Inns: H. du Petit St. Jean, comfortable ; good cuisine, famed for its Terrines de Ne*rac and pates aux truffes ; pretty garden ; — H. de France, good and cheap. Agen, chef-lieu of the De*pt. Lot et Garonne, is a very old town, chiefly of narrow streets, with 15,000 Inhab., agreeably situated on the rt. bank of the Garonne, between it and the gently sloping height, covered with trees, vine- yards, and country-houses, called Cdte de l'Ermitage. The Garonne is here crossed by a bridge of stone, and also by a Suspension-bridge, between which and the town runs a beautiful avenue of trees, forming an agreeable pro- menade called Les Qraviers. The old Ch. of St. Caprais is a fine Romanesque building, very broad, with numerous apses, and has been well restored. There are a few scanty remains of the cathedral of St. Etienne, destroyed at the Revolution, and its site is now become a beast-market. The Prefecture was originally the episcopal palace, and is a handsome edifice. The Canal is carried over the Garonne here, on a 3rd Bridge or ponderous stone Aqueduct of 23 arches, of good architecture. The town was known to the Romans tinder the name Aginum. The early Christians suffered severe persecution here from the Roman praetor ; and St. Vincent, the 2nd bishop, and many followers, underwent martyrdom, being torn to pieces on the spot now occupied by the Fontaine St. Vincent. Agen suffered much from the fortunes of war, especially in the 14 th century, when, by sieges and assaults, it passed repeatedly from the hands of the French to the English, and vice versa. Dur- ing the ware of the League it was taken by the Marechal de Matignon, with the aid of an engineer, who blew in one of the gates with a petard, 1591. Marguerite de Valois, who was in the town at the time, had great difficulty in securing a horse, with a pillion, for herself to escape, and post-horses for a portion of her maids of honour, many of whom were compelled to decamp " on foot without masks, others with- out riding-habits." Those who have time should walk to the top of the rocky height of L'Ermi- tage, on the way to Villeneuve, for the sake of the view over the beautiful valley of the Garonne and the distant Pyrenees. In a pretty gorge or recess in the slope of the hill is the curious house of the erudite Julius Scaliger, whither he retired, in the reign of Francis I., after migrating from his native city, Verona. He died here 1558, and here his no less learned son, Joseph Julius Scaliger, was born. Agen is also the birthplace of Bernard Palissy , inventor of a beautiful species of earthenware, the Wedgwood of the 16th century, and not less scientific for his age ; also of Lacepede, the naturalist. Here was born, and still dwells and sings, a rustic poet named Jasmin, a perruquier by trade, the last represen- tative of the Troubadours. His songs are very popular throughout the S. of France, in the country of the Langue d'Oc. A great number of plum orchards clothe the neighbouring slopes and fields, and produce the celebrated prunes d'Agen, which form an article of con- siderable export. Steamers navigate the Garonne as far up as Agen, when the river is of proper height : the descent hence to Bordeaux requires 8 hours, the ascent 11 or 12. Mallepostes to Auch and Pau ; to Limoges. The traveller bound to the Pyrenees may turn off here to Pau, by Lectoure. Railways to Montauban and Tou- louse; to Limoges; projected to Pau by Tarbes and Auch. 6 Colayrac Stat. 8 Tortie Stat. 11 Port St. Marie. Here is a sus- pension-bridge over the Garonne. Near the village of St. C6me, on the 254 Route 73. — Toulouse to Bordeaux — La JReole. Sect. IV. rt. of the road, the remains of a tower, called Tour de St. Cdme, constructed of small square stones, and supposed to be of Roman origin, are worthy of notice. It stands at a short distance from 8 Aiguillon Stat., a town of nearly 2000 Inhab., on the 1. bank of the Lot, about a mile above its influx into the Garonne. Its principal building is the large chateau on an eminence, left un- finished by the Due d' Aiguillon, minis- ter of Louis XV. by favour of Mad. du Barry. But it is said to include por- tions of older construction. The duchy was created by Henri IV. 1599, to bestow it upon the Due de Mayenne. The old castle, so stoutly defended by the English in 1346, when besieged for 5 months by Jean Due de Normandie, son of Philippe de Valois, with an army of 60,000 men, no longer exists. Although the prince directed against it 20 assaults in 7 days, and though he had sworn not to move until it was taken, he was compelled to retire from before its walls without having succeeded, being called off by intelligence of his father's defeat at Crecy. The Lot is crossed here by a bridge of 8 arches, built by Napoleon. 12 Tonneins Stat. (Inn: H. d' Angle- terre), a cheerful-looking town, chiefly of modern buildings, remarkable for the beauty of its situation, on the rt. bank of the Garonne, containing 6 500 Inhab., half of whom are Protestants. There are extensive manufactures of rope here, and a royal manufactory of to- bacco, large quantities of which are cul- tivated around Tonneins, and through- out the Depts. Lot and Lot et Garonne, under the inspection of the excise. There is a suspension-bridge over the Garonne here. 7 Fougerolles Stat. 10 Marmande Stat. (Inns: H. de France; — H. de la Providence; — Tdte Noire ; good, clean, and reasonable — a town of venerable aspect, many of its houses being timber-framed, but possessing no objects of interest to the traveller. Pop. 8257. . Below Marmande the navigation of the river is more sure, and steamers ply more regularly, than above. One or two vessels run daily to Bordeaux, corresponding with the diligences to Toulouse. The railroad avoids the windings made by the river below Marmande, being carried in nearly a straight line. 7 Bazeille Stat. 5 La Mothe Landeron Stat., which lies within the Dipt, of the Gironde. 1. The lofty old ruined tower of Meilhau remains long in sight of those who travel by water, owing to its posi- tion at the extremity of an acute angle or elbow made by the river. A fine suspension-bridge of a single curve, 558 ft. wide in the opening, spans the river at 9 La Reole Stat. (Cerf Volant : a mere public-house, but clean beds and good food) — a town of 4200 Inhab., re- taining the ruins of an ancient castle, which Froissart says was built by the Saracens. The vast Benedictine con- vent, rebuilt in the 17th century and suppressed at the Revolution, has been converted into a nunnery. The Gothic church attached to it has been allowed to go to decay. 5 Gironde Stat. 5 Caudrot Stat. The ancient town of St. Macaire, re- taining its feudal walls and possessing a fine Romanesque church, is passed shortly before reaching the suspension- bridge, 656 ft. long, which carries the road over the Garonne into 9 Langon Stat. (Inns : H. de France, homely but clean; Poste), a miserable town of 3745 Inhab., partly surrounded by old walls, on the 1. bank of the Garonne, which could be crossed only by a ferry-boat down to 1831, though Langon lies on the great line of traffic between Bordeaux and Toulouse. The high roads from Bayonne and Pau to Bordeaux (Rtes. 76 and 80) unite with that from Toulouse at Langon. The tide runs up as far as Langon. The road hence to Bordeaux is de- scribed in Rte. 76. The banks of the river are here clothed with vineyards, whose produce, chiefly white wines, enjoys some repu- tation and fetches a considerable price, being known by the name of Vina de PYRENEES. Route 73. — Bordeaux. 266 Grave. Sauterne and Barsac are both grown in the commune of 1. 5 Preignac Stat., not far from Langon. Bertrand de Gout, who be- came pope under the name of Clement V., was born in the very picturesque castle of Villandraut, about 8 m. S. of Preignac. 1. 3 Barsac Stat., whence comes the white wine named after it, is a town of 2896 Inhab. rt. Cardillac was the seat of the Due d'Epernon, governor of the province of Guienne in the 17th century; the first duke, who was the favourite of Henri III., but died in the prison of Loches, built the Chateau (1598), which is now converted into a female Penitentiary. His splendid monument, attributed to Girardon, erected by his son in the parish church, was destroyed at the Revolution, except one statue now in the Louvre. There is a great manu- facture of wine-casks here. 4 (1.) Cerons Stat., an old castle. 1. 2 Podensac Stat., 15 m. from Bordeaux. rt. At Langoiron, at the foot of the slope, are ruins of a castle built appa- rently in the 14th century : near this FAmi des Enfans, Berquin, was born. 1. 7 Portets Stat, is the place where the inhabitants of the Landes embark their rosin and timber, the produce of that sandy district, which stretches S. from the Garonne near this to the Adour. 7 St. M^dard d'Eyrans Stat. 5 Cadaujac Stat. 2 Villenue d'Ornon Stat. Begles Stat. On approachingBordeaux the wooded and vineclad (rt.) heights of Floirac form 'a pleasing feature in the view. The bridge is described in Rte. 64. 3 (1.) Bordeaux Station. — Inns : H. de France, Rue lf Esprit des Lois, first-rate, but dear ; — H. de la Paix, good, civil landlady, and moderate ; sitting-room, 3 frs.; — H. de Paris, frequented by English, good; — H. de Richelieu, good situation ; no table- d'hdie; — H. des Am&icains, commer- cial, good table-d'hdte. Bordeaux, the second seaport-town of France, chef-lieu of the Dept. Gi- ronde, containing 124,000 Inhab., is placed on the 1. bank of the Garonne, on a spot where its voluminous stream, deep enough for vessels of 1200 tons burthen, makes a very regular curve, which, being lined with handsome buildings of varied architecture, chiefly Italian, forms a noble crescent, lined with quays not less than 3 m. long, sur- mounted by several Gothic towers and antique spires in the background. No city in Europe can display a more splen- did quay than this. The river abreast of the town, 2000 ft. wide, and 18 to 30 ft. deep, is filled with shipping up to the magnificent Bridge, the handsomest in France. (See Rte. 64.) This noble ex- terior, equally striking to the stranger whether he approaches by water or by land from the side of Paris, is borne out by the aspect of a large part of its interior, which has a courtly rather than a commercial air. The Rues du Chapeau Rouge and de l'lntendance, running E. and W. through the heart of the town, nearly separate the old town, of narrow and insignificant though very populous streets, from the N. or more modern quarter, consisting of wide openings, broad streets, extensive places, and avenues, and gardens run- ning into one another, , which render Bordeaux a sprawling city, difficult to get over on foot, but omnibuses and neat fiacres are fortunately very abun- dant. ■The Place and Allies de Toumay are so named from an ancient intendant of the province, who in 1750 led the way in improving the city. Some of the finest streets and rows of houses, and the open Place Louis- Philippe terminating at the river side with 2 lofty rostral columns, occupy the site of a citadel called Chateau Trompette, built by Vauban for Louis XIV. to overawe the Bordelais, dis- mantled under Louis XVI., and re- moved since the Restoration. The con- struction of this new quarter has united with the town of Bordeaux the vast Quartier des Chartrons (so called from a convent of Chartreux), stretching down by the river side, and once a dis- tinct faubourg. One of the most conspicuous, and at !o6 Route 73. — Bordeaux — Cathedral — St. Michael. Sect. IV. the same time handsomest buildings, is the Theatre, of good Italian archi- tecture, faced with a Corinthian portioo of 12 arches and isolated on all sides; it is situated in a very central part of the town. It was erected 1780, under the direction of the Due de Richelieu, by the architect Louis. The Cathedral of St. Andre* is dis- tinguished by its 2 elegant spires, 150 ft. higb, at the end of the N. transept, said to have been erected by the Eng- lmh, who held possession of Bordeaux $r nearly 300 years, and flanking a pointed portal, enriched with statues and bas-reliefs, above which is a fine rose-window surmounted by a gable. The nave, partly in the round Roman- esque style, partly, towards the W. end, repaired in a bungling manner in the 15th centy., after the destruction of a part of the church by an earth- quake, is destitute of aisles, and re- markable only for its breadth — 56 ft., which, being out of all proportion with its height, deprives it of the chief merit and characteristic of Gothic archi- tecture— elevation. The choir is more elevated, and in a more truly Gothic style, with a triforium gallery and lofty clerestory windows; it is probably of the same age as the spires, and is also said to be by English architects. Our Richard II. was christened, and the marriage of Louis XIII. with the In- fanta of Spain, Anne of Austria, was Solemnized in this church, 1615. Opposite the W. end of the cathedral are the Palais and Hotel de Ville. Near the E. end of the cathedral, but quite detached from it, is the Tour de Peyberland, a noble structure 200 ft. high, square below, and supported by buttresses, but gradually diminishing from its base until it terminates in a circular top. It was originally sur- mounted by a spire, which rose to a height of 300 ft. It is named from Pierre Borland, who rose from being the son of a poor labourer in Mecioc to be bishop of Bordeaux; he caused it to be erected in 1430. During the Reign of Terror it was condemned to destruction; but the spire alone suf- fered, the rest resisting all attacks, owing to its solidity. Its handsome windows, however, were stopped, and it was converted into a shot- tower, but it has been repaired and reconsecrated as a belfry once more. L'Eglise Ste. Croix, situated quite at the S. extremity of the town, near the quay, considerably above the bridge, is supposed to be the oldest church here, though a much earlier age has been assigned to it by some than it can claim, as its oldest parts cannot date farther back than the 10th or 11th centy. Its W. front, quite without uniformity, owing to its partial de- struction and subsequent repairs, is a specimen of richly decorated Roman- esque architecture, and from its age and quaint ornaments deserves some notice. Its semicircular portal and 2 lateral closed arcades are surrounded by mouldings elaborately carved, some with singular and unexplained naked groups of figures, intermixed with cable mouldings. In the tympanum above the door are 3 rows of bas-reliefs, in a style curiously resemblingthe Egyptian. The rest of the facade, and the wall of the tower rising on the one Bide, are occupied by arcades; groups of twisted or grooved pillars flank the portal, and 3 tiers of 4 small pillars, placed side by side one above the other, serve instead of buttresses to the tower. - The interior is of later date and in- ferior interest; its clustered roof rests on clumsy drum-like piers, partly plain, partly surrounded by shafts, some of them surmounted by curious stiffly- carved capitals. It contains a handsome canopied tomb of an abbot, in decorated Gothic. In a chapel on the 1. as you enter, the panelled walls of which are decorated with tolerable paintings from the life of the Virgin by an old Italian artist, Vasetti, is an oblong baptismal font, bearing on 2 sides well-executed bas-reliefs of the Last Supper, with de- corated ornaments. In descending the quay from Ste. Croix, you pass, a little above the bridge, near the church of St. Michael, situated nearly on a line with the bridge, and distinguished by its lofty detached tower, deprived of much of its effect by being hemmed in with mean houses. Its N. front is a Pyrenees. Route 73. — Bordeaux — Palais G allien. 257 superb Gothic elevation in the florid style (15th centy.). It has an elegant rose window framed within a richly decorated arch, whose mouldings are curved back below it. Under it is a florid porch. Over the door are placed a pair of bas-reliefs representing the Sacrifice of Isa4b and the Paschal Lamb, dating from the 16th centy.; they are separated by a charming group of wonderful expression, representing Judas' s kiss. Within the church, at the back of this portal, over the door, is another group, an " Ecce Homo," of the same period, and a century earlier than the bas-reliefs on each side of it, which represent St. Michael destroying the Dragon, and Adam and Eve. The nave and choir are nearly uniform, and of noble pointed Gothic; the choir (about the 13th centy.) has a triforium and clerestory running behind the high altar, so that the E. end is like any compartment at the side, except that the space below, behind the altar, is filled with a shallow apse. There are afew good painted windows, and in the N. side of the nave a chapel furnished with an altar in the richest and most overladen Renaissance style. Within its niches are 3 graceful statues — the Virgin and Child, St. Catherine, and St. Barbara. Near the W. end stands the elegant detached hexagonal belfry, 178 ft. high, which now bears the telegraph, but was originally surmounted l)y a steeple, and rose to a height of 300 ft. It is of oc- tagonal form, supported by elegant buttresses, and was built between 1472 and 1480. In the vault beneath it are shown from 40 to 50 human bodies, in- terred in the vault below before the Revolution, and preserved by its dry and antiseptic qualities, until they are now like leather, or salt fish, — a disgusting sight. St. Seurin (St. Severin), situated be- yond the Place Dauphine, in the Allies d' Amour, is remarkable for a finely carved triple S. porch, consisting of a trefoil - headed door, enriched with statues of good workmanship, well- executed draperies, and dating from 1267. They represent the 12 Apostles and 2 more sacred personages. The W. front is modern, but is a tolerable attempt to follow the Roman- esque style. The W. porch consists of 3 detached low vaults, one within the otherj supported on pillars with curiously carved capitals. Within this church, on the rt.-hand or S. wall, is a curious bas-relief within a pointed arch above a doorway, now walled up, representing a pope saying mass (supposed to be Clement V.., Archbishop of Bordeaux), assisted by a cardinal. On the opposite wall is another bas-relief of 7 figures in niches. The Gothic woodwork of the choir is curious, but sadly bedaubed with paint. Under the seats are numerous grotesque groups. The high altar is decorated with 14 curiously carved bas-reliefs of marble, framed, representing thelegend of St. Severin, Bishop of Bordeaux in the 5th centy. On the one side of the chancel stands the Bishop's Throne, a curiously carved seat, under a canopy, all of marble, richly sculptured. This church was the cathedral before St. Andre*. Under the choir is an early crypt with 3 aisles and semicircular arches. At the W. end rises a tower surrounded by a double row of circular arcades. In the Chapelle of the College, an ordinary modern structure, is the mo- nument of Montaigne, the essayist, a native of Montaigne St. Michel in Pen- gord, who was mayor of Bordeaux in 1553. He is represented in full armour, according to the custom of the period, laid on his back, with his hands joined in prayer. At No. 17, in the Rue des Minimes, stood his modest mansion, in which he lived and died, 1592, now pulled down. These are the most remarkable ec- clesiastical edifices of Bordeaux, but it retains still a monument of the Roman city Bur dig al a, in the fragment of an amphitheatre, now called Palais Gal- lien, not quite accurately, because, though possibly built in the reign of the Emp. Gallienus, it was not a palace, but a circus, capable of containing 1500 persons. It is supposed to have been built by Tetricus, one of the so-called 30 tyrants, who assumed the purple here. It was condemned to destruc- 258 Route 73. — Bordeaux — The Bourse. Sect. IV. tion 1792, and lias been since gradually pulled down to build houses, so that it is now reduced to mere fragments, in- teresting to the antiquary alone, of an oval wall formed of small stones with layers of tiles between them, inter- rupted by the broken archways which lead into it. The interior is occupied by houses and workshops, and 2 streets cross in the centre of it : so that you may stand in the midst of its area and scarcely recognise these ancient re- mains. Bordeaux has preserved 2 of its feudal town gates: one, now called Tour de VHorloge, built 1246 by Henry III. of England, surmounted by 3 pointed turrets, formed part of the old Hdtel de Ville ; the other, Porte de Caillou, at the end of the Rue du Palais, was built 1492, to commemorate the victory of Charles VIII. at Fornova. The old Bourse, in the Place d'Aqui- taine, now an office of roulage, but built as a palace for Charles IX., and the old Eveche' in a narrow street near it, are picturesque examples of the architecture of the 16th centy. Bordeaux, like almost every other chef-lieu de De*partement in France, has a Gallery of Paintings, They are placed in the numerous saloons of the Hdtel de Ville; but, except for their number, they are in no wise remark- able, and the less said of their merits the more true the description. There are, however, some tolerable works of the French school. The Mvs€e, situated in Bue St. Do- minique, a street leading out of the Chaussee de Tourny, contains a col- lection of antique fragments, inscrip- tions, altars, &c, chiefly Roman, found in the vicinity of Bordeaux; 2 sarco- phagi, with bas-reliefs, of inferior merit and late date; also fragments of the marble bas-reliefs, representing the battle of Fontenoy, and the capture of Port Mahon from the English by the Due de Richelieu, which ornamented the pedestal of the statue of Louis XV. in the Place Royale, destroyed at the Revolution. Here are some relics of Na- poleon, including his tooth-brush ! and the star of the Legion of Honour which he wore. In the Mu$& from Bordeaux to 13 Cantons. J Bayonne. 19 Bayonne. Described in Rte. 77. The Southern Bead quits Bayonne by the Porte d'Espagne, through which Napoleon poured so many gal- lant armies in succession into the Peninsula. The road is hilly the whole way to the frontier, and from time to time affords glimpses of the season the rt. After passing a number of country-houses, amongst which, at a little distance on the 1., stands the Chateau de Marrac (p. 275), a finger- post at the end of 2 m, points the sandy way to Biaritz (Inns: H. de Monhau, now called H. de France; clean and com- fortable;— H. des Princes; — H. des Ambassadeurs ; — H. Dumont); a se- cluded watering-place, lying 3 m. on the rt. and about 5 m. from Bayonne, gradually rising in fame and fashion and increasing in size since it has been honoured as the sea-side resi- dence of the Imperial family. It con- sists of a group of whitewashed lodging- houses, cafes, inns, traiteurs, cottages, &c, scattered over rolling eminences and hollows bare of trees, on the sea- shore, here fenced with cliffs 40 or 50 feet high, excavated by the waves into numberless quiet coves and cu- rious caverns. In these the sea at times roars and chafes, perforating the rock with holes, and undermining huge masses, which are detached from time to time; and some of them, left like islands at some distance from the shore, still project above the waves. From the tops of these cliffs, especially that which bears the ruins of an old fort or lighthouse, you look over the wide expanse of the Bay of Biscay, bounded on the rt. by the French coast, on which rises the new J'hare, showing the way into the mouth of the Adour; and on the 1. by the shore of Spain beyond St. Sebastian, with peaks of distant Sierras rising behind it. The limpid purity of the «ea and the smoothness of the sand render bathing in the sheltered bayB Jnost agreeable. French ladies and •entlemen " en costume des bains*' consume hours in aquatic promenades. The ladies may be seen floating about like mermaids, being supported on bladders, corks, or gourds, attired in woollen trousers covering the feet, and overshadowed by broad-brimmed hats. The geologist will be interested to re- cognise in the rocks of Biaritz the fosr sils of the lower chalk and greensand, though the rock here assumes an ex- ternal character very different from that we are accustomed to in England. Omnibuses and coucous are constantly plying between the baths and the Porte d'Espagne of Bayonne. The ancient mode of conveyance hither, which is peculiar to the spot, but is now becoming obsolete, was to ride " en camlet" In this mode of convey- ance, the rider, seated on one side of a hack, in a wooden frame fitting to a horse's back, as a pair of spectacles does to a human nose, occupies the place of a pannier on one side of an ass's back, while hi»conductor, usually a stout and buxom lass, fills the oppo- site division, and by her weight the balance is preserved. Some little skill is required in mounting, for, unless both parties jump into their seats at the same moment, he who reaches it prematurely runs the risk of destroy- ing the equipoise and of being capsized into the dust, and the same in dis- mounting. It is chiefly peasants and market-women, now-a-days, who ride en cacolet. Near Biaritz is the Villa Eugenie, built by Louis Napoleon as a marine residence for the empress. It is constructed of English bricks, which have cost, it is said, at the rate of 6d. apiece. It is nevertheless but "a modest mansion;" small, and standing close to tfee sea. There are 3 lines of custom-houses on the road from Bayonne to the Spanish frontier. The 3rd, or inner,- most, is not more than 5 m. from Bay- onne. A large fresh-water pond within a funnel-shaped basin is passed shortly before reaching. 11 Bidart. We now enter the Pays Basques, inhabited by that peculiar race who speak a language having no relation with any other in Europe. They occupy in France only a small part of the S.W. corner of the Dept. ?Jeen. Route 76. — The Basques — Si. Jean de Luz. 269 des Basses Pyrenees, but are much more widely disseminated in Spain, where they form the mass of the popu- lation of 5 provinces. The French and Spanish Basques are distinguished by their speech, and also by their costume, consisting of the red beret, a cap resembling that of the lowland shep- herd in Scotland, a red sash round the waist, and sandals made of hemp, called Espartillas, on the feet, and a stout stick in tike hand. They are supposed to be the descendants of the " Cantabrum indoctum ferre juga nostra," who sided with Hannibal in Opposing the Romans, who contributed mainly to the defeat of Charlemagne and Roland in the pass of Roncesvaux, and whose boast is that they were never conquered. In France they are confined to portions of the arrondisse- ments of Bayonne and Mauleon, which formed part of the ancient kingdom of Navarre. 9 St. Jean de Luz. — Iims: H. de France, very good; Paste; St. Etienne. A frontier town of France, at the mouth of the Nivelle, where it falls into a small creek or bay, over which a new bridge has been thrown. The inroads of the sea for some time past nave washed away parts of the town, breaking through the dykes thrown up to protect it, and the shifting sands at the mouth of the Nivelle have almost entirely blocked up its port. The town is distinguished by its narrow street and whitewashed nouses, some of considerable antiquity. Here is the 2nd Douane. The suburb on the 1. bank of the river is called Sibourre. The marriage of Louis XIV. with Maria Theresa, Infanta of Spain, was celebrated here 1660. In Nov. 1813, the British army, under the Duke of Wellington, crossed the Nivelle close to this town, after attacking and carrying the very strong intrenched position occupied by the French army upon the heights on the 1. bank of the river. In the midst of barren, heathy, high ground stands 5 Urugne, last post-station in France. The forms of the mountains are pic- turesque, especially of that called Mon- -tagne (TArrkane, rising above Urugne, which is visible even on the other side of Bayonne. Before reaching this point the traveller finds, contrary probably to what he could have expected from books, that the mountain chain of the Pyrenees by no means terminate in France, but stretches W. in lofty ridges and bare peaks tossed about in wild confusion, traversing Spain to its farther corner, and ending in Cape Ortegal in the Asturias. Beyond Urugne, the antique Chateau of Urtubi is passed. Louis XI. came hither, 1462, to meet the King of Aragon, John II. The French frontier custom-house is placed at Behobia, a. small village (Inn : H. de la Bidassoa, kept by Fayes, good) on the rt. bank of the Bidassoa, which here separates France from Spain. The baggage of travellers entering France is strictly searched; and after it has un- dergone the process, they will do well to have it plombed, to save themselves from a repetition of the same twice between this and Bayonne. 10 sous is the charge for plombmg each package. The wild and lofty mountains around and behind Behobia, called Montagne Verte and Mendele, now so solitary, were strongly fortified by Marshal Soult in 1813, to defend the Passage of the Bidassoa, which the Duke of Wel- lington effected nevertheless, in the face and in spite of them. In the course of several months preceding, intrenchment behind intrenohment had been thrown up by the French; every weak point had been strengthened, and the whole line of slopes and precipices, from the sea to the Arrhune mountain, bristled with ramparts and batteries, de- fending the fords of the river ; the bridge of Behobia being then broken down. From the middle of the existing wooden bridge, which unites France to Spain, the stranger looking up the stream will perceive the green knoll or mamelon of St. Maroial ; on this a strong battery was planted by the Allies, which covered the passage, by the ford higher up, of one division, consisting of Spaniards, under Gen. Freire, who won from the French the heights of Mendele. The most formid- able part of the French position was the Montagne d'Arrhune, not only 270 R.76.— The Bidassoa. 77. — Bordeaux to Bay onne. Sect IV, from its deration, steepness, and tre- mendous precipices, bat from the re- doubts, intrenehments, abattis, &o., thrown up on it, wherever there ap- peared the least facility of approach, and from the strong body of troops who held every commanding point, sweeping the slopes and ravines with their cannon and musketry. The Duke of Wellington employed nearly 20,000 men in the attack of this mountain, which was gained, as it were, inch by inch, the enemy being driven from one work after another up to the very summit, where they occupied a rocky height called the Hermitage. This was nearly impregnable, and they de- fended it for some time merely by rolling down stones upon their assail- ants. The bones of many a brave man are probably even now whitening among the dells and clefts of that rugged mountain: many who were wounded were left to perish where they fell, from the difficulty of discovering them among these vast solitudes. A lower ridge, or projecting but- tress, of the Montagne d'Arrhune, is called La Bayormette, from that weapon of war, invented extemporaneously, it is said, on this spot, by a Basque regiment, who, having run short of ammunition, assaulted the Spaniards opposed to them by sticking the long knives which the Basques commonly carry into the barrels of their muskets, and thus charging the enemy. This must have occurred some time in the 1 6th or early in the 17th century. The ridge of the Bayonnette was stormed and carried by the Allies 1813, before they gained the Arrhune. Behind St. Marcial opens out the Valley of the Bastan, the cradle of the Bidassoa. Close below the bridge of Behobia is a little island, reduced by the washing of the current to a narrow strip of earth, tufted with grass and willows. This is the historically cele- brated lie des Faisam, on which the con- ferences were held between the French Minister Mazarin and the Spanish Don Louis de Haro, which led to the famous treaty of the Pyrenees, 1659, and the marriage of Louis XIV. with the daughter of Philip IV. Each party ad- vanced from its own territory, by a tem- porary bridge, to this little bit of neu- tral ground, which then reached nearly up to the bridge. The piles which sup- ported the Cardinal's pavilion were visible not many years ago. The death of Velasquez, the painter, was caused by his exertions in superintending these constructions ; duties more fitting to an upholsterer than an artist. The Bidassoa forms the line of de- marcation between the two kingdoms only for about 12 m. : it enters the sea about 5 in. below Behobia, between. Andaye on the French side, and the ancient walled town of Fuentarabia (ac- cent on the i) on the Spanish, after passing near the town of 9 Iran, first Spanish post-station. (See Handbook for Spain.) Between Irun and Fuentarabia are the 3 fords discovered by the Duke of Wellington, on the information of Spanish fishermen, by which he car- ried one division of his army across, and, gaining the first permanent footing in the French territory, turned the rt. of the French position, and the strongly defended heights near Andaye (once famed for distilling brandy). These fords were practicable only at certain states of the tide, and for 3 or 4 hours, being covered by the sea, to a depth of 14 ft., at high water. Soult was there- fore perfectly unprepared for an attempt to cross at this point, and his troops were deceived by the tents of the Bri- tish camp being left standing as though still occupied. At the close of a fierce thunder-ftorm, early on the morning of Oct. 17, the allied army, formed into 7 columns behind banks and ridges, issued forth at a given signal, and wind- ing slowly, like snakes, across the broad sands, effected the passage before the enemy became aware of their intention. ROUTE 77. BORDEAUX TO BAYONNE — RAILWAY- BIT LA TESTE, THE LANDE8, AND DAX. 198 kilom. = 123 Eng. m. This is at present the most expedi- tious route to the Pyrenees. The Raily. Company will secure places for passengers in public conveyances from Dax to Pau. A Ely. was formed to La Teste, 31 Pyrenees. Route 77. — Bordeaux to Bayonne—The Landes. 271 m., in 1841, and id partly followed in going to Bayonne. The line to Dax was opened 1854, and was completed to Bayonne 1855. Boon after quitting Bordeaux we enter on the monotonous sandy district extending S. nearly to Bayonne, and known by the name Les Grande* Landes. It is but sparsely inhabited, and its chief production consists of vast black forests of fir. Bordeaux, in Rte. 73. 6 Pessac Stat. 11 Gazinet Stat. 18 Pierroton Stat. : 23 MiosStat. 27 Marcheprime Stat. • 33 Oanauley Stat. 37 Facture Stat. 40 Lamothe Stat. Near this the Bayonne rly. diverges 6. out of the line to La Teste. 45 Le Teich Stat. - 49 Mestras Stat. 50 Gujan Stat. 53 La Hume Stat. 55 La Teste Stat. {Inn: La Provi- dence,) [2 m. beyond La Teste is Arcachon, {Inns : H. des Empereurs ; H. Gaillard), a pretty and peculiar bathing village, rapidly increasing ; consisting of a street or road channelled through the pine wood on the S. shore of the salt lake, called Bassin d' Arcachon, which is con- nected with the sea by a narrow opening on the S.W. It is lined with beautiful broad and smooth sands, admirably suited for sea-bathing, and encircled by downs (dunes) of sand covered with vast fir-woods, extending S. 40 m. nearly as far as Bayonne, which shelter it from inclement blasts. It is much resorted to by patients suffering from weak lungs. M. Emil. de Pereyra is resident physician. This was a mere group of fishing hovels down to 1856, when some merchants of Bordeaux began to build houses here, some of which are very neat, and most are let to visitors. The only old building is the Chapelk, lined with ex-votos of the fishermen. Ascend the mound called Le Buet, for the view over the Atlantic and the ocean of firs on the S. An excursion to the Lighthouse on the other side of the "Bassin" will yield a fine sea view. There are no bathing-machines, but before every house on the shore one or more sheds, like sentry-boxes, in which bathers change their attire.] On entering the singular district of the Landes, fields give place to heaths and pine-woods, interspersed with a few patches of barley and a little maize ; for these crops will grow wherever ma* nure and industry can be employed upon the soil. The surface of the ground is of a dull grey or ash-coloured sand. A few flocks of lean, tattered, ill-conditioned sheep wander over this waste, tended by shepherds renowned for walking on Btilts (echasses). By the aid of these they are not only enabled to stalk over the prickly bushes, and avoid the inconvenience of filling their shoes with sand, but they gain an elevation not afforded by the even surface of the ground, from which they can overlook their flock, and prevent their sheep straying. They carry a long pole, which, when stuck into the ground, forms a sup- port, and against it they can rest and knit stockings all the day through. A stranger, unprepared for the sight, would have some difficulty in explain- ing the nature of the extraordinary tripod thus formed; and the sheep- skins worn by the peasant would not diminish the mystery. The peasants of the Landes are all accustomed to the use of stilts, and with a very slight ex- ertion, and not a very quick movement, will clear the country at a pace which would keep a horse at a hard trot, by the aid of these wooden legs. " The in- habitants are rather diminutive in size, and not a very long-lived race. They endure severe privations — amongthem, the want of water. Even the lower ani- mals must here change their nature to accommodate themselves to the soil. I saw large flocks of ducks which, I was assured, had never seen a pond !" — F. One thing appears peculiarly at home among the Landes, and seems to rejoice in this dry sand, and to flourish in the most robust vigour — the pine (Pinus maritima). Nearly f of the Dept. des Landes is covered with dark forests of this tree. Owing to the value of the timber and of the rosin which it pro- duces, and the facility with which it is 272 Route 77. — Bordeaux to Bayonne. Sect. TV.. rwn, large districts hare been planted the goyernment. One of the chief evils is the want of good water, all the streams of the Landes being brackish. The Raily. through the Landes was made by the English engineers Conder and Goode. The workpeople during its progress were lodged in tents and in a sort of travelling village, placed on trucks pushed forward on the rails day by day as fast as the line advanced. Food and water were sent to them a distance of 40 or 50 m. 52 CaudosStat. 109 Moreens Stat. 63 Sulles Stat. 123 Rion Stat. 76 IchouxStat. 134 Laluque Stat. 89 LabouheyreS. 141 Buglose Stat. 97 Sabres Stat. Pouy, a village on the 1. of the road shortly before reaching Dax, was the birthplace of the philanthropic founder of the order of Scaurs de la Charite*, and of foundling hospitals, St. Vin- cent de Paul. When a boy he tended his father's flock in the sandy heaths near the Lazarist convent of Buglose. The Pignadas, or pine-forests of the Landes, furnish a large quantity of ro- sin and turpentine, which aie obtained by grooving the trunk, or scarifying the bark, 3 or 4 ft. above the root, and allowing the pitch to flow into a hollow below. The Raily. approaches the bank of the Adour. 148 Dax Stat. (Inns :' H. de TEurope, moderate; H. Figaro, fair; de St. Esprit), a town of 6000 Inhab., which lies on the 1. bank of the Adour, and is reached by a bridge of wood. Its name comes from its hot spring *(de aquis), which are one of the curiosities of Guienne, and doubtless induced that bath-loving people the Romans to found here their settlement Aqua Augusta Tarbellicse. They rise nearly in the centre of the town, and are received in a large square basin enclosed with porticoes, whence rise such clouds of steam as in a frosty morning to envelop all the town. The temperature is 212° Fah., a scalding heat. The water is nearly tasteless, and, though only partially used me- dicinally, is much employed by the washerwomen. The old Roman fortifi- cations existed till 1856 more complete *' *> anywhere else in Franoe, pro- bably in Europe. They enclose a nearly square area, measuring 440 yds. by 330, flanked by 40 semicircular towers, surrounded by a moat on all sides except the N.W., where flows the Adour, and where the Castle, a building of the 14th century, occupies the angle. The demolition of this curious and per- fect specimen of masonry was decreed by the barbarous townsfolk in 1856. Two of the old gates have been re- moved ; one Roman arch remains walled up. It is hoped this Vandalism may be arrested. The walls are of square stones, banded with tiles. The tertiary strata near Dax abound in fossil shells. Dax is the nearest point on the rail- way to Pau, 80 kilom. = 50 Eng m. With post-horses a journey of 7 or 8 hrs. Diligences daily ; Dax to Pau and the Pyrenees in 7 or 8 hours. Railway is projected. The road beyond Dax traverses nu- merous forests of cork-trees, which, being stripped of their flaky bark to stop bottles, have a singular effect from the dark brown colour of their naked trunks. A new skin speedily repairs the loss of the old. 158 Riviere Stat. * 163 Saubusse Stat. 167 Saint-Geours Stat. The Pyrenean range now forms a grand feature in the landscape. They are not unlike some views of the Grampians, in which sharp peaks here and there surmount intervening round-backed hills : the most conspi- cuous and picturesque peaks seen from this are the Acrhune in France, and the Quatre Couronnes in Spain. Near Cantons, a large pond or etang is passed, and a peep is obtained over the Bay of Biscay on the rt. 173 Saint Vincent Stat. 185 LaBenneStat. 195 Le Boucaut Stat. 198 Bayonne Stat. — Inns: H. St. Etienne, improved and very good: the servants are Basquaises, very civil and intelligent: orders sent through the house by tubes. H. du Commerce, fair, indifferent cuisine. H.del'Europe. The railway may cause competition. It is better to go on to Biaritz (p. 268), 5 m. The descent upon Bayonne by the led If mcloK* t440j& iriciiwfc latonl ibnilife in is Si ingulf lismns; ar Of thert f pau^ BiiW jrses* bark'* r efiW oftb* of * peik CObf yetf' [ otf I I : ti*\ [and fair, - The 50' r 1 i .Pr renees. Route 76. — Bayonne — Cathedral. 273 post-road presents that, town under a striking aspect, seated on the Adour, surrounded by fortifications. A short way before you reach the Octroi, a lane on the rt. leads down to the Ctmetiere Anglais, a simple enclosure between 4 walls, planted with poplars ; it contains the remains of many brave British sol- diers and several officers of the Cold- stream Guards, who fell in the sortie from Bayonne, April 14, 1814. Bayonne is entered by the Faubourg of St. Esprit, in which is situated the Citadel, the strongest of the military works. The town itself is reached by a new stone bridge over the Adour, and, after cross- ing the angular strip of land be- tween the rivers, by a stone and iron bridge over the Nive. Bayonne (Pop. 16,300), a strong fortress of the first class, commanding .the Passes of the W. Pyrenees, and one of the two carriage-roads leading from Spain into France, has an agreeable situ- ation at the junction of the Nive with the Adour, and is divided into 3 parts by these fine broad rivers, which are lined with quays, and always include a small quantity of shipping. The suburb St. Esprit, on the rt. bank of the Adour, lies within the J)ept. des Landes, and alone includes 5897 Inhab. (more than the chief town of the dept.), among whom are 2000 Jews, descendants of those expelled at different times from Spain. On an eminence rising above this suburb, just at the lower end of it and com- manding with its formidable batteries the town, both .the rivers, and the plain to the N., rises the Citadel, the most formidable of the works laid out by Vauban, and greatly strengthened, especially since 1814, when it formed the key to an intrenched camp of Mar- shal Soult, and was invested by a de- tachment of the army of the Duke of Wellington, but not taken, the peace having put a stop to the siege after some bloody encounters. The last of these, a dreadful and useless expendi- ture of human life, took place after peace was declared, and the British forces put off their guard in conse- quence. They were thus entirely taken by surprise by a sally of the garrison, made early on the morning of April 14th ; which, though re- pulsed, .was attended with the loss of 830 men to the British, and by the capture of their commander, Sir John Hope, whose horse was shot under him, and himself wounded. The French attack was supported by the fire of their gunboats on the river, which opened indiscriminately on friend and foe. 910 of the French were killed. Admission to the citadel is obtained by a ticket from the com- mandant i but, except to a military man, it possesses nothing of interest. Steep approaches, resembling inclined planes, lead up to it, deep fosses sur- round it, nearly vertical walls, 40 feet high, and numerous bastions flank and enfilade every access to it ; visitors are not allowed to mount the ramparts. Bayonne Proper occupies the trian- gular space between the two rivers, and stretches for a considerable dis- tance up the bank of the Nive, which is crossed by 3 bridges. Its total population, excluding St. Esprit, is 16,299 souls. Many of the streets have a half Spanish character from the piazzas running under the houses. The handsomest quarter of the town is that adjoining the theatre, newly built, consisting of fine tall houses. The only building of consequence is the Cathedral, ugly externally, but within a fine lofty church in the best pointed Gothic of the 14th centy., with choir and transepts very short. The arms of England are still visible on its roof. The cloisters behind, in the florid style, nearly the largest in France, deserve notice. From the top of its tower there is a good view of the distant Pyrenees, of the town, rivers, and citadel, and of the spot a little below it, at the extremity of the long avenue of trees, where a part of the British army under Sir John Hope crossed by a bridge of boats furnished from the fleet of Admiral Penrose, and transported with much difficulty over the bar, Feb. 23-27, 1814, in order to invest the citadel. As some unjust accusations have been spread by French writers re- specting the conduct of the Duke of Wellington's army in France, it may not be amiss to refute them by N 3 274 Route 77. — Bayonne — Passage of ike Adour. Sect. IV. the unexceptionable testimony of one of their own writers, and an eye-wit- ness, the late M. Yayse de Villiers, author of the Itme'ravre de Id France. He traversed the theatre of the war only a few months after the occupa- tion by the Duke of Wellington, and states that, so far from laying waste the country to a distance of a league around Bayonne, as a French writer had asserted, " II avait etabli une telle discipline qu'il e^tait accueilli partout comme liberateur/' — Route de Paris en Espagne, p. 91. The Duke's own immortal Dis- patches show with what severe disci- pline he prevented the troops, Spanish and English, under his command, imitating the oruel injuries which the French army had inflicted on Spain and other countries invaded by them. The construction of the bridge over the Adour below Bayonne, and the passage of the Allies across it, dis- play the genius of Wellington in con- ceiving, combining, and executing a measure deemed impossible by his opponents ; and is styled by Colonel Napier "a stupendous undertaking, which will always rank among the prodigies of war/* The impediments consisted in the breadth of the river, the rapidity of its current, the height to which the tide rises (14 feet), the difficulty of procuring and transport- ing the materials of the bridge : Bince, if sent by land, through bad and difficult roads, they must have alarmed the enemy ; if by water, the bar, passable only at high water, and surf at the river's mouth, rendered the entrance of boats next to impossible. The latter measure, however, had been decided on by the Duke ; and to effect this purpose a little flotilla of chassemarees had been prepared in the Spanish harbour of Passages. But the long prevalence of storms and con- trary winds had rendered its approach impracticable ; and the gallant Sir John Hope, to whom the execution of this measure had been intrusted by the Duke of Wellington, at last on the 23rd of February, 1814, began to push his troops across upon a raft at- tached to a hawser ; and thus, in the "3th of a strong fortress and garrison of nearly 15,000 men, 600 men of the Guards gained the opposite bank ; the French gunboats which guarded the river being silenced by rockets, three of them burnt, and a sloop of war driven up the river under the guns of Bayonne, while the same effective weapons kept the garrison at bay. Next morning, in spite of the tem- pestuous weather and the raging surf on the bar, which was so furious as to leave no strip of black water to point out the passage, without pilots, with no landmarks on the shore, the little fleet made for the mouth of the Adour. Each vessel had an engineer on board, and a supply of timber, cables, &c.> and, aided by men of war's boats from the fleet, they boldly dashed into the midst of the breakers, blindly seeking the entrance. Several of the foremost, mastered by the wind and the waves, ran aground or were dashed ashore, and their crews perished. This did not deter the others, however ; one more fortunate boat discovered the only safe channel, and the rest, follow- ing in its wake, gained smooth water within the bar — a glorious and gal- lant exploit. The 26 chassemarees thus introduced were moored head and stern by ropes stretched over the dykes which line the river at a spot where it is 800 ft. broad, at a dis- tance of about 3 m. below Bayonne. Platforms of loose planks were laid between the boats, and the ropes were left slack, so as to allow the bridge to rise and fall with the tide ; yet this seemingly frail structure was strong enough to bear the heaviest artillery, and it was finished by the 26th. This deep-laid scheme entirely foiled Mar- shal Soult, whose attention had been drawn off by the British general to an attack among the Gaves, the tributaries of the Adour high up the country, at the very moment when the passage of that river was effected close to the sea. Bayonne is a town of commerce as well as of war, though its port is of comparatively small use, on account of the shifting bar at the mouth of the Adour, which can only be passed at high water, and not without danger at some seasons, though the employ- ment of tug-steamers now diminishes PrRENEES. Route 77. — Bayonne. 275 the risk. In the 14th or 15th centy. the Adour changed its bed, owing to its mouth becoming obstructed by shift- ing sands or dunes blown up by the winds, and running N. parallel with the coast within this sand-wall, until it found an outlet either at Cape Breton or at Vieux Boucaut. This lasted down to 1579, when the engineer, Louis de Foix, restored it to its old channel, called Boucaut Neuf. In 1684, how- ever, it broke a fresh channel for itself to the 1., in the direction of the Chain - bre d" Amour, but was brought back again shortly after to the bed by which it still finds a passage to the ocean through a waste of sand-hills. The commerce of Bayonne consists chiefly in Spanish wool, which is largely imported, and in an extensive smuggling trade carried on with that country. Excellent chocolate and eau de vie are made here; but the Bayonne hams, so called because largely exported hence, are reared and cured among the Pyre- nees, near Orthez and Pau. Some ships are built here. From what has been said, it will be perceived that Bayonne has few sights to amuse the passing stranger. The well-supplied markets, abounding in fruit and vegetables, Bold at the cheap- est rates, are worth a visit; and these, or the promenades, will afford an oppor- tunity of seeing the Bayonnaise ladies, who are remarkably pretty, as well as the Basquaise peasants, who are also distinguished by pretty faces and good figures, and contrast with the inha- bitants of the Landes to the N. of Bayonne. Those who desire a pleasant shady walk and fresh air should repair to the Allies Marines, an avenue of trees more than a m. long, on the 1. bank of the Adour, below the town and oppo- site the citadel, reaching down almost to the bend of the river, near which the Duke threw his army across. A little way outside the town is the dilapidated Chateau de Marrac, de- stroyed by fire in 1825 and gutted. It belonged to Napoleon, who here re- ceived the degraded sovereigns of Spain, Charles IV. and his queen, and her minion Qodoy likewise. The Em- peror also brought hither to meet them Ferdinand Prince of Asturias, whom, by false pretences, he had entrapped from Madrid in 1808 : and in this chateau, under threat of death or im- prisonment, they resigned to him their hereditary rights to the crown of Spain. Bayonne was the capital of the ancient district, enclosed within the Adour and Bidassoa, called Pays de Labourd (from Lapurdum), by which it was known down to the 10th centy. The name Bayonne is merely the Basque Baia una, a port. Hence comes the word Bayonnette, said to have been invented in this neighbourhood (see p. 270), and first made here. The gloomy old Castle opposite the Sous-Prefecture, now a barrack, was probably the resi- dence of Catherine de Medicis when she dragged hither her weak son, Charles IX., to that secret conference with the Duke of Alva, in 1563, at which, it is now known, the massacre of the St. Bartholomew's night was suggested and decided on. Yet Bay- onne has the rare credit of refusing to execute the bloody orders of Charles IX. to slay all the Protestants in the town, owing to the firmness of the governor, Dapremont, Vicomte d' Or- thez, who told the king that the town of Bayonne included only good citizens and brave soldiers, but not a single executioner. The chief place of resort for the in- hab. of Bayonne out of the town is the little watering-place of Biaritz, de- scribed in Rte. 76. Omnibus every J hr. Cambo, in the vale of Nive, is also a pretty watering-place, with mineral baths. Inn : H. des Et rangers. A short but interesting excursion into Spain may be made by taking the dili- gence to St. Sebastian, 35 m. {Inns : Parador Real; H. Lafitte, kept by a Frenchman, is better), which starts every morning. You pass by Irun, where is the Spanish Custom-house and Passport-office, through a portion of the country which was the theatre of the Carlist war, visit the citadel of St. Sebastian and the singular land-locked harbour of Passages, eat an olla, and smoke a cigarillo, and may return to Bayonne the following afternoon. See Handbook for Spain. 276 Route 78. — Boyonne to Pan — Orthez. Sect. IV. The British Consul, residing at Bay- onne (Captain Graham), will sign his countrymen's passports for the journey, a precaution not to be omitted. In the coach-offices and inns at Bay- onne will be found hung up advertise- ments of approaching Hull Fights, to be held at Vittoria, Tolosa, Saragossa, and other places in the N. of Spain, in the vicinity of the French frontier. Conveyances : — Mallepostes daily to Toulouse in 21 hours. Railway to Bordeaux by Dax. Diligences daily to Toulouse; to Pau, by Orthez. Conveyances into Spain; to Madrid — Malleposte travels by night, and is three •nights on the journey. Diligences, belonging to different com- panies— to Madrid. Diligences every other day ? to Tolosa and St. Sebastian in 10 hours. See Handbook fob Spain. ROUTE 78. BATONNE TO PAU, BY ORTHEZ. 105 kilom.= 65j Eng. m. Malleposte to Pau, Tarbes, and Tou- louse daily. Diligences daily by Orthez and by Oloron in 8 or 10 hrs. A voiturier, with carriage and 2 horses, charges 80 to 100 frs. for this journey, and takes 8 or 10 hrs. Railway is projected. The road turns to the rt., out of that to Bordeaux (Rte. 76), on the top of the hill above St. Esprit, the suburb of Bayonne. It runs in a direction nearly parallel with the Pyrenees, through a country abounding in heath, having the Adour at some distance on the rt., until, a few miles beyond 17 Biaudos, that river is crossed: the descent upon it is fine. The Gave de Pau falls into the Adour a little below the bridge ; henceforth we as- cend the rt. bank of that stream all the way to Pau. Hereabouts the Gave divides the district called Chalosse from the Pays Basque. 20 Peyrehorade (Inn: H. de Voya- geurs; second rate), a prettily situated town, on the Gave de Pau, just below its junction with the Gave d'Oloron, under a height crowned by a ruined "tie mentioned by Froissart. About a mile out of the town a turning on the rt. carries the new road to Pau by Oloron (unfinished 1841) across the Gave de Pau, by a new wire suspension bridge. It passes through Sorde, a walled town, Sallies, so called from its strong brine spring, which furnishes the salt used in curing Bayonne hams, and Sauveterre. The road from Peyrehorade to Or- thez crosses, shortly before entering 16 Puyoo, a rivulet which anciently formed the boundary-line between the kingdoms of France and Navarre. The fertility of the plain, the abun- dant watercourses, the luxuriant fes- toons of the vines, and the magnificent views of the Pyrenean range, give great interest to this portion of the route. At Berenz, Sir Stapylton Cotton's divi- sion of cavalry, and Picton's 3rd bri- gade, crossed the Gave before the Battle of Orthez. That victory was achieved, Feb. 27, 1814, by driving the French from a very strong position on the heights above Orthez, extending from the town to the high road to Dax and the village of Boes. The retreat of the enemy ended in a flight, and they were pursued by the British, the same night, as far as Sault de Navailles. A wound received by the Duke of Wel- lington in the critical moment of pur- suit contributed to save the French from greater loss. They attribute their defeat to a superiority of force on the side of the Allies, but the impartial estimate of Col. Napier sets down the numbers of Soult's army at 40,000 (in- cluding 4000 or 5000 raw conscripts), and that of the Duke at 37,000. The British cavalry outnumbered that of the enemy by 1000. The French lost nearly 4000 men killed, wounded, and prisoners; the Allies, 2300. 12 Orthez (Inns: H. Jennes ; — H. Bergerot) is a somewhat dull town of 7000 Inhab., though situated at the junction of 6 roads, — to Spain, by St. Jean Pied de Port, to Dax, to Bordeaux, to Oloron, to Pau, and to Bayonne. It has an old Gothic bridge, which resisted the attempts of the French to mine it and blow it up, consisting of 4 arches, surmounted in the centre by a tower from which, according to tradition, the Calvinist soldiers of the army of the •Pyrenees. Route l^.-*-Artix—Pau. 277 • Comte de Montgomery, after taking the town by assault, 1 569, and putting to the sword most of its defenders, pre- cipitated into the river the Roman Ca- tholic priests who were found with arms in their hands, and who refused to abjure their religion. Jeanne d'Al- bret, Queen of Navarre, mother of Henri IV., established here a Protestant College. The little Inn La Belle H6- tesse was EVoissart's " La Lune." Orthez was once a place of greater • importance, as residence of the Princes of Beam down to the end of the 15th • centy., when they removed to Pau. The Castle de Moncada, built by Gas- ton de Foix, IV., 1240, after the pat- tern of a Spanish castle of that name, is reduced to a few ruined walls, over- topped by one stately tower, left to attest its former splendour, on a height above the town. It is mentioned by Froissart, who paid a visit to Gaston Phoebus Comte de Foix, 1388, and was received into the household, in order to obtain, from the Count's own mouth, information for his history respecting the wars in Gascony and Spain. He describes the death of Gaston de Foix, at the neighbouring village of Riou, on his return from hunting the bear, and the celebration of his funeral in the Church of the Cordeliers at Orthez, where he was buried in front of the grand altar. The Castle of Orthez was the scene of unparalleled crimes during the life of the brutal Gaston Phoebus, who filled its dungeons with the vic- tims of his unbridled passion ; among them his own kinsman, the Viscomte de Chateaubon, Pierre Arnaut, the faithful governor of Lourdes, who, be- cause he refused to betray his trust, and surrender the fortress, was stabbed by Gaston's own hand, and thrust into a dungeon to perish; and, finally, his own son and only child, whom he killed with his knife, in the dark cell into which he had caused him to be thrust. The churches of La Trinite* (1107) and of St. Pierre deserve notice. The very picturesque peak called Pic du Midi d'Ossau is visible near this. 20 Artix. About 4 m. before enter- ing Pau, the road passes, at a short distance on the 1., the curious old and decayed town Lescar, supposed by some to be the ancient Beneharnum, whence the district of which it was originally the capital was called Blarn. The town was sacked and ruined during the wars of Religion, 1569, by the troops of the Comte de Montgomery. On a detached eminence, rising above the town, stand the Castle and the Ch. of Notre Dame, a decayed edifice, 10th centy., partly in the Romanesque style, containing carved oak stalls in the choir, and a curious mosaic pavement under the flooring. The early princes of Beam, including Henri d'Albret, grandfather of Henri IV., and his wife, the Mar- guerite des Marguerites, were buried in it ; but their tombs were destroyed either by the Huguenots or the Revo- lutionists. There is a fine view of the ' mountains from the cathedral terrace. The Jesuits' College, founded here by Henri IV. after his conversion, has been turned into a manufactory. Still nearer to Pau, on the 1. of the road, is Bilhere, where Henri was nursed by a peasant, whose humble dwelling is still preserved and pointed out with some pride to strangers. The eminence rising on the opposite bank of the Gave, its slopes covered with ver- dure and vineyards, is the Cdte de Ju- rancon, which produces the best of all the Pyrenean wines. The road, before entering Pau, skirts the woody ridge which forms its beau- tiful Pare; and which, intervening be- tween the river and the road, conceals the view of the mountains. 20 Pau. — (Tnns: H. de France, at the corner of the Place Royale ; not very clean, but excellent cuisine; table- d'hdte, 3 fr. ;— H. de l'Europe, Rue de la Prefecture, improved;— La Poste, Place de Henri IV., good; beds, 3 fr. to 1 fr. 50 c. ; cafe" au lait and eggs, 1 fr. 25 c. ; table-d'hdte, 3 fr. ;— H. de Dau- rade, ditto.) Good lodgings may be had at the Bains de la Place Royale. The charges for board and lodging are higher in winter than in summer. Try here the white wine of Jurancon, which, when good, deserves commen- dation, but it is very strong. Pau, ancient capital of the little kingdom of French Navarre and Be"arn, now chef-lieu of the De*pt. des Basses Pyrenees, stands on a lofty ridge, form- 278 Route 78. — Pau — Cattle. Sect. IV. tog the rfc. bank of the river, or Gave de Pau, and has 15,171 Inhab. Its situation is perhaps scarcely sur- passed by that of any town in France, if we consider the magnificent view oyer the chain of the W. Pyrenees, which expands in front of it. The English have shown their good taste in having chosen it for their residence, especially in winter. The View, remind- ing one somewhat of that from the platform at Berne, though for inferior to it, is well seen either from the Castle and its terrace, or from the extremity of the oblong, formal, gra- velly promenade near the centre of the town, called the Place Royale, or from the Pare. This Pare is a fine natural terrace, running along the rt. bank of the Gave, thickly covered, oft its top and sides, with noble trees, affording a grateful shade in the heat of the day, and provided with seats wherever, through gaps in the foliage, the differ- ent parts of the view appear to. advan- tage. This spot formed part of the domain anciently attached to the old castle, and a communication between the castle and the Pare, through a formal square planted with rows of trees, called Ptante, has been esta- blished by a handsome bridge of two arches, thrown over the high road. The range of the Pyrenees, as seen from Pau, presents a strikingly beau- tiful and varied outline of peaks, cones, and ridges, often cut like a saw, rising against the S. horizon. Among the mass of summits, and precipices, and bold forms, are two pre-eminent from their elevation and shape — the Pic du Midi de Pau to the W., a peak with sides nearly vertical and cloven crest, rising at the extremity of the beautiful Val d'Ossau; and to the E., the Pic du Midi de Bigorre. These members of the great central range are disclosed to view through the gaps of a subordinate chain of round-backed and wooded hills forming the middle distance; while in the foreground ap- pear the venerable Castle of Pau, the torrent, or Gave, its banks beautifully fringed with trees, the picturesque bridge, and the ruins of another bridge destroyed by its inundations. Within he scope of this view appear Jurancon, a village famed for its wines, and Bil- here, where Henri IV. was nursed. It is a glorious prospect, to be dwelt upon and seen over and over again. Pau owes its chief renown to its having been the birthplace of the "Bon Roi" Henri IV., who drew his first breath (Dec. 13, 1553) in its ancient, time-honoured, historic * Castle, the most conspicuous and interest- ing building in the town. It stands statelily upon the ridge above men- tioned, overlooking the river and bridge, at the point of a sort of pro- montory formed by a small rivulet which "cute its way through the town, and behind the castle walls at the bottom of a deep ravine, to throw itself into the Gave, just below it. The Are towers of the Castle, and the outer wall which unites them, and serves to support the upper stories, are the oldest part, and supposed to date from the time of Gaston Phoebus Comte de Foix, who founded the castle about 1363. The tallest tower, or Donjon, named after Gaston, rising at the E. end to a height of 115 ft., is of brick, furnished with loopholes. The windows have been stopped up in modern times. A copy of the contract for erecting it (dated 1375) still exists, and in it the Count himself engages to furnish the bricks from the Tuileries de Pau. In the gutted and half-ruined Tour de la Monnoye, rising on the side of the castle next the river, from the bottom of the eminence on which it stands, to a level with the terrace, Margaret de Valois, it is said, gave an asylum to Calvin and other persecuted Reformers, and took great delight in listening to their discourse, although she never actually abandoned the Roman Catholic faith. This tradition, however, requires confirmation. The tower was used as a gaol until the Restoration (1814). The little oblong court-yard of the castle is destitute of architectural beauty; but the Tour de Montauzet, on one side of it, contained, according to popular belief, the oubli- ettes. It is about 80 ft. high, and its walls, to a height of 40 ft., were ori- ginally destitute of any opening, the gate at the bottom having been broken through in 1793, when the castle was Pyrenees. Route 78. — Pau — Castle. 279 Backed and despoiled by the Revolu- tionists. It stands within, and de- tached from, the outer wall of the castle, from which a small drawbridge, thrown over the gap, gave access to it through a little door. Within the thickness of its walls 7 or 8 confined dungeons exist, lighted by very small apertures, barred. The upper story only is provided with a window, look- ing into the court, and with a fire- place. Its wall, on the side of the court, is spotted with the marks of the Bhot fired by the Biscayans when they assaulted the castle during the troubles or civil wars in Beam (1569), in the absence of Jeanne de Navarre. Opposite the tower of Montauzet is the grand staircase, the vaulting of which, divided into squares, contains rich carvings, among which may be observed the letters H. M., the initials of Henri II. of Navarre and Margaret, the grand-parents of Henri IV., by whom it was built. The entire resto- ration of the interior was undertaken by Louis-Philippe, with very good taste and splendour. The King re- vived, as far as possible, the ancient decorations, injured by the Revolu- tionists, who first stripped and ruined this ancient palace, and then degraded it to a barrack, and he replaced those which they destroyed by others as far as possible in accordance with the age and style of the edifice. The walls of the chief apartments have been covered with tapestry, and the rooms filled with ancient furniture of the period, collected at vast expense. In an apartment on the first floor is preserved a very interesting relic — the *cradle in which Henri IV. was rocked, consisting of a large tortoise-shell, inverted and suspended by cords, like the scale of a balance. It is at present surmounted by a trophy of flags, em- broidered by the Duchesse d'Angou- ldme, the staves of which serve to support it. When the castle was sacked in 1793 by the Republicans, bent on destroying all traces of roy- alty, they would certainly not have spared this; but, luckily, another tor- toise-shell was substituted in its place, which was broken and burnt with every insult. The parties who pre- served the original shell were M. d'Eepalunge d'Arros, commandant of the castle, who devised the pious fraud; M. Beauregard, the possessor of a collection of natural history, who exchanged a tortoise-shell of the same size for the cradle, which he after- wards ooncealed for many years in the roof of his house; and M. Lamaignere* concierge of the castle, who, at great risk, conveyed away the true cradle* and substituted the false in its place. A contemporary statue of Henri IV.* preserved here, represents him leaning on his truncheon, after the battle of I try; it has little merit as a work of art. In front of the state apartments projects a balcony, commanding a view of the chain of the Pyrenees unsur- passed for its beauty. In the second story of the castle, in the room adjoin* ing the Tour de Mazeres in the S.W. corner, Henri IV. was born. Here his venerable grandfather, Henri d'Albret, taking in his arms the new-born infant, after his lips had been rubbed with garlic, according to the custom of Bearn, poured down his throat some drops of Jurancon wine, the best which the country affords, to give him a strong constitution! On the day of Henri's death, in 1610, there is a tra- dition that the castle was struck by lightning, which broke in pieces the royal escutcheon! Jeanne d'Albret was also born in the castle, 1528. It was alternately the prison of Reformers and Romanists during the religious wars and troubles of Beam; and was the refuge of Theodore Beza and other Protestant teachers whom Jeanne de Navarre protected from persecution. Among the costly and curious arti- cles of old- fashioned furniture collected by Louis-Philippe to decorate the castle, and restore it to its ancient splendour, may be mentioned the bed, in the chambre-a-couoher du Roi, said to be that of Henri IV. ; it is curiously carved with medallion heads of the kings of France : in an adjoining room is the bed of Jeanne d'Albret, and a state chair, richly carved, bearing her arms, presented by Marshal Soult. The chapel has been newly fitted up, and has a painted window of Sevres glass. The apartment leading '280 Route 78. — Pau — Batlis. Sect. IY. to it contains some magnificent pre- sents made by the late King of Sweden to the town of Pau, his birthplace. They consist of vases of porphyry of large size, superb tables of various kinds of porphyry, conglomerate, &c, and a chimney-piece of serpentine, all the produce of Sweden, and of great value and beauty. Bernadotte, King of Sweden, son of a poor saddler in Pau, was born in a house Rue de Tran, No. 6. He quitted his native town, 1780, as a drummer boy in the Regiment Royal de la Marine. Some of his relations still remain in very humble situations in the neighbourhood. It is a somewhat remarkable coin- cidence, that of the two most eminent men and sovereigns who first drew breath at Pau, the one abandoned the Protestant faith, the other the Roman Catholic, in order to secure a throne. The low ugly Ch. of St. Martin is only remarkable because in it Jeanne d'Albret, the most sagacious and accomplished princess of her age, after our Elizabeth, first received the com- munion according to the form of the Reformed church, on Easter-day, 1 560. Viret, the Reformer, preached from its pulpit. A Statue of Henri I V. has been set up in the Place Royale; the bas-reliefs on the pedestal represent events of his life. The College, at the E. end of the town, was originally a convent of Bar- nabites, founded by Henri IV., after he had abandoned the faith of his mother, in order to conciliate the Roman Catholics. In the Mairie there is a collection of marbles of the Pyrenees, and a picture, by Deveria, of the birth of Henri IV. The Poste aux Lettres adjoins the Prefecture, where is deposited a very curious collection of old records, deeds, &c., relating to the ancient state and history of Beam, including the Fors (fueros, privileges) of Bearn ; auto- graphs of its most illustrious Bearaois sovereigns, and a list of the contribu- tions collected in Beam towards the ransom of Francis I. from captivity. There are Hot Baths (for 75 c.) at the extremity of the Place Royale and also in the Basse Plante. V There is a Mus&e devoted chiefly to the natural history of the Pyrenees, above the new Halle, where the mar- kets are held. The town of Pau in itself is not very handsome or remarkable. Its chief street is the Rue de la Prefecture, which on market-days presents a bustling scene; here are the chief shops, such as they are. Many English, as before observed, make Pau their residence, chiefly for the winter months, when its mild and dry climate, and the stillness of atmos- phere peculiar to it, are a great recom- mendation— See Sir James Clark's ex- cellent work on Climate. Pau has been greatly resorted to of late by the wealthy Parisians also ; good houses are consequently difficult to procure, and though provisions are cheap, house-rent is enormously high; a moderately good suite of apartments costs more than a similar set at Paris. A number of new houses have been built. A Protestant Church, a very ugly building, has been built in the Rue des Cordeliers, mainly by the handsome contributions of the Duchess of Gordon. The English Church service is per- formed in it every Sunday by a resident clergyman at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Mr. Wm. Taylor acts as H.B.M.*s vice-consul and as English banker. A Circulating Library of English and French books is kept by Lafon. Bassy** shop, Rue du College, is the best for prints, views, &c. A pack of hounds is kept by an Ame- rican gentleman, who hunts twice a week in the season. Conveyances. — Malleposte to Toulouse and Bayonne. Diligences daily: to Dax Stat. ; to Bayonne, 9 hrs. ; to Bareges, Luz, and Cauterets, 12 hrs. ; to Bagneres de Bigorre, 36 m. ; to Tou- louse, by Agen and by Tarbes, in 20 hrs. ; to Oloron in 3 hrs. ; to Eaux- Bonnes in 6 hrs. Commerce. — From the swine reared near this and at Orthez are derived the so-called Jambons de Bayonne • they are said to owe their excellent flavour to the abundance of acorns in the woods where the swine are herded, and to the salt of Sallies with which they are cured. There is a consider- Pyrenees. Route 79. — Bordeaux to Auch. 281 able manufacture of chequered hand- kerchiefs here. Baggage may be transmitted from this to Toulouse, or vice versd, by the house of Turettes et Comp., commis- sionnaires, or at a somewhat higher cost by the diligence. Pau, situated at the termination of the plain, and at the roots of the Pyrenees, is excellent head-quarters for travellers intending to explore those mountains and the valleys which pene- trate into their recesses. Of these, no ' one surpasses in beauty of scenery the Vald'Ossau, which opens out to the S. immediately in front of Pau, and ter- minates in the magnificent Pic du Midi d'Ossau. A carriage and pair of horses may be hired for this journey to the Baths at the rate of 20 frs. a day. The excursions to Eaux-Chaudes and Eaux-Bonnes, about 26 m. distant, situatod at the head of the valley of Ossau, near the base of the Pic, are described in Rte. 83; that to the Val d'Aspe in Rte. 82. The Ch. of Ste. Foi, at Morlaas, 6 m. N.E., in the Romanesque style of the 11th centy.j is interesting, but much dilapidated. It has a splendid W. portal with much carving (12th cent.), and a rich chapel containing an altar- piece of the 16th cent. Morlaas was capital of Beam down to the 13th cent. ; it is now a village of hovels. Lescar, the antiquated town, 4 m., and Bilhere, 1 m., where Henri IV. was nursed, are mentioned in Rte. 78. Cauterets is about 45 m., and Bag- neres de Bigorre 36 m., from Pau (Rte. 85). ROUTE 79. BORDEAUX TO AUCH, BY CA8TEL JALOUX AND NERAC. 186 kilom. = 115 Eng. m. Take the rly. from Bordeaux to Agen or Aiguillon, Rte. 76, as far as 61 Bazas. 14 Grignols. 15 Castel Jaloux, a town of nearly 2000 Inhab., owing its name and origin to a Castle built by the Seigneurs d'Al- bret, on the 1. bank of the Avance, now in ruins. At Barbaste corks are made. Henri IV. had a flour-mill here, whence lie was sometimes called " le Meunier de Barbaste:" it still exists. > 17 Pompiey. The road passes a littler to the S. of the- castle of Xaintrailles, the birthplace of Pothon de Xaintrailles, a knight celebrated in the wars against the English in the reign of Charles VII., who took the valiant Talbot prisoner at the battle of Patay. 13 N€rac {Inn: Tertres; famous for its pates, or terrines de perdrix), a town of 7090 Inhab., pleasingly situated on the Baise, once capital of the duchy d'Al- bret. It was an ancient possession of the family d'Albret, who built and resided in the venerable Castle, which remained nearly entire down to the Revolution, but is now demolished, excepting one wing, and its fosses turned into gardens. Tet even this fragment is interesting,, because within its walls Marguerite d*Angouldme, Queen of Navarre, held her court, assembling around her the men most distinguished by learning and literary genius of the time; among others, Calvin, Beza, Clement Marot, here found an asylum from persecution down to 1534. At a later period, the "Bon Roi Henri," whose mother resided in the castle to within four months of his birth, passed here a portion of his youth. His chamber is pointed out at the W. end of the building. Here, in 1579, Catherine de Medicis held a con* ference. The tomb of Pothon de Xain^ trailles was destroyed along with the ch. of Cordeliers, at the instigation of the Calvinists. The promenade called La Garenne was once the park of the kings of Navarre, planted by Marguerite de Valois. A bronze statue of Henri IV; has been erected to his memory by a private individual, inscribed "Alumno, mox Patri Nostro Ho. IV." The Fontaine de St, Jean is over- shadowed by 2 elms, planted by Henri IV. and Marguerite de Valois. Corks are manufactured here for the wine-merchants of Bordeaux. We enter the Dept. de Gers before reaching 22 Condom (Inns: Cheval Blanc ; Lion d'Or), a town of 7144 Inhab., and of considerable trade. It has a handsome Gothic Ch. 282 R. 80, 82.— Bordeaux to Pau and Campfranc. Sect. IV, 19 Garten Verduaan. Near this village are mineral springs, one sulphureous, the other chalybeate, which are received into a Bath-house. 24 Auch, in Rte. 90. ROUTE 80. BORDEAUX TO PAU, BT AIRE. 195 kilom. = 120 Eng. m. This-route is superseded by the rly., Rte. 77) as far as Dax, whence to Pau is a drive of 8 or 10 hours, 52 m. Roquefort is a tolerable sleeping- place; bo is Mont de Marsan (p. 267), but it is 12 m. out of the way. The Bayonne road (Rte. 76) is fol- lowed as far as 108 Roquefort (Inn : H. de France), and by the diligence as far as Mont de Marsan (22 kilom.). The mountains of the Pyrenean chain are visible even to the N. of this, rising ridge over ridge abruptly from the low plain of Gascony, «o as to give the greatest effect to their elevation, with a grandeur worthy of the barrier wall between two great kingdoms. No villages of consequence, and few habitations, occur on the sandy tract between Roquefort and 16 Villeneuve de Marsan, on the Medou. Inn : H. de France, good. The district of sandy and heath-dad common, stretching from the sea-coast E. through the Landes (Rte. 77), gives place to cultivated and enclosed ground near 22 Aire (Poste, a mere auberge), a poor, old town, of 4028 Inhab., on the 1. bank of the Adour, near which a detachment of the French army, retreating from Orthez, were defeated, a few days after that battle, by Lord Hill, who also gained possession of the French magazines here, and at St. Sever, lower down the Adour. A steep ascent leads out of the valley of the Adour, and a table-land separates it from 17 Garlin. 12 Auriac. From the top of each eminence, as you surmount it, a splendid view of the Pyrenees expands before the eye. 21 Pau (Rte. 78). ROUTE 82. PAU TO CAMPFRANC IN 8PAIN, BT OLORON AND THE VAL D'ASPE. 113 kilom. = 70 Eng. m. A post-road as far as Urdos. Diligences daily to Oloron in 3 hrs. The road has been greatly improved on the side of France, with the design of making it a highway to Madrid. The road as far as Gan is the same as Rte. 83; beyond that place it crosses the hills to 17 Maison la Coste Belair. 16 Oloron. — {Inns : H. des Voya- geurs, chez Lustalot, best ; — H. Con- desse ; — Poste.) This is a large and prosperous manufacturing town of 6500 Inhab., on the Gave d' Oloron, a river formed by the junction at this spot of the Oaves d'Ossau and d'Aspe. The oldest part of the town occupies the summit of the hillr and includes the Ch. of Ste. Croix, A lofty stone bridge thrown across the stream unites Oloron with the suburb St. Marie, containing 3400 Inhab. Its Ch. of St. Marie shows the transition from Romanesque to Gothic : it has a fine Roman portal, and its sacristy contains some costly priests' vest- ments. At the side of the Gave is the new Seminaire. The objects manufactured here are the chequered handkerchiefs so much in vogue as a head-dress among the peasantry of Aragon and Gascony, and also the oerrets worn by the Bearnais. There is some trade in Spanish wool. Diligences go' in summer to Eaux Chaudes and Bonnes (Rte. 83), and to Urdos. The Vol cTAspe, at the mouth of which Oloron stands, contains scenery of great beauty, though it wants the boldness of many other valleys in the Pyrenees. A gradual ascent along a good road leads up it, following the course of the stream. At Asaspe the traveller has entered the Basque coun- try, and is already in the heart of the mountains. The Gave is crossed at Escot, near which a Latin inscription, cut in the rock by the wayside, com- Pyrenees. JR. 83. — Pau to Eaux- Bonnes and Eaux- Chaudes. 283 memorates the first mating of this road by the Romans, under one Va- lerius, and twice more before reaching 24 Bldous, last post-town in France, 1200 Inhab. ; it has a tolerable but dirty Inn. Here the vale swells out into a basin shape. In the neighbour- ing village of Osse there is an isolated Protestant community of 30 families, who have preserved their faith in the midst of Roman Catholics for ages. An Obelisk of marble has been reared near the village of Accous (Aspa Luoa) to the memory of Desporins, the poet of the Pyrenees — their Burns, who was born here. Grand defiles succeed to this basin; and in the midst the Pont d'Esquil, a bold antique arch, forms a fine object. Above Accous the new road has been blasted out of the rock. After passing the villages of Aigun and Etsaut we reach a grand rocky defile at the ruined fort Portalet, which once entirely barred the passage up and down the valley: it was destroyed by the Spa- niards. Near this Buonaparte caused a road to be formed at vast expense, partly by excavating a shelf -out of the face of the vertical precipice, partly by building up terraces of masonry for the conveyance of timber for ship- building from the neighbouring forests. 17 Urdos, a poor village of 300 Inhab., at which the carriage-road ends. Above it has been constructed a very remarkable Fortress, entirely hewn in the natural rock, within the shoulder of a hill, rising in a succession of stages to a height of 500 ft. The appearanoe of this mountain, from without, gives little indication of the long galleries and batteries excavated in its interior. A small masonry facade, battlemented and flanked with bartezan turrets at the base of the hill, and some loop- holes and embrasures for cannon pierced in the face of the cliff, explain, to those who are prepared for it, the nature of this outpost of France, which is the work of 10 years of excavating, and is capable of holding a garrison of 3000 men. 11 Paillette (no post-horses) is the last place in France. The journey into Spain as far as Jaca is a distance of 30 m*, and must be performed on mules. On the way, 10 m. short of Jaca, lies 23 Campfranc, a village about equal in population to Urdos. EOUTE 83. PAU TO EAUX -BONNES AND EAUX- CHAUDE8. — EXCURSION TO THE PIC DU MIDI d'OSSAU, AND THE SPANISH BATHS OF PANTIC06A. 41 kilom. = 26 Eng. m. to Les Eaux. Several diligences go daily from June to middle of Sept. in 6 hrs., returning in about 4 hrs. ; very slow. A voiture may be hired at Pau for the journey at the rate of 20 fr. a day : 2 days are charged to Eaux-Bonnes. The road is very good, but up hill most of the way. For those who travel only in carriages Of leads into a cul-de-sac; and to prosecute their journey to other parts of the Pyrenees they must return nearly to Pau. After crossing the bridge over the Gave du Pau, the village of Jurancon, distinguished by its groves of fine oaks, is passed on the rt. ; it is famed for its wine, perhaps the best grown in the Pyrenees. The vineyards producing it extend along the slopes from this to Gan. One of tike houses near the road was occupied for many years by the late Lord Elgin, when released from the dungeons of Lourdes by Napoleon, as prisoner on his parole. The well- wooded, verdant, shady valley, up which the road runs, is watered by the Neez, or Neiss, a clear stream rushing over the limestone rocks, whose slaty foliations, crossing the direction of its current, resemble a flight of steps. In this country the vines are either trained over trellises upon cross bare of wood, or are allowed to climb up the trees, whence their long tendrils sweep down- over the hedges : the box-tree flourishes, and would attain great size were it not constantly cropped. At the village of Gan, on the 1., also locally famous for its wines, is seen an old castellated house, in which Pierre Marca, the his- torian of Bearn and Archbishop of Paris, was born 1594. The front to- wards the court is said to possess some architectural interest. Interesting re- 284 Routt 83. — Pau to Eaux-Bonnes. — Val d'Ossau. Sect. IV." v mains of a Roman V&la, with elaborate mosaics, were found here in 1850 by an English gentleman. Here the road to Oloron (Rte. 82) turns to the rt. Above Re*benac rises its chateau on a hillock; and a little beyond, on the 1., the copious source of the Keiss bursts out of the rock. A long and toilsome ascent leads up to the village of Se*- vignac, situated on the top of the ridge separating the Neiss and other streams flowing into the Gave de Pau from the tributaries of the Gave d'Oloron, flow- ing out of the Val d'Ossau, which we now enter. It here expands into the form of a basin, round which the Gave takes a wide turn, passing by the vil- lage of Arudy. In descending the wooded slope from Sevignac, several glimpses are afforded of the Pic du Midi d'Ossau, a grand object; but near the bottom 'of the hill, and as far as the Pont de Louvie, his cleft crest and precipitous cone appear in full ma- jesty, filling up the vista at the ex- tremity of the Val d'Ossau. This is a magnificent view on a clear day, and in advancing up the valley it is soon lost. Rocks and precipices of lime- stone now line the road, which is partly cut out of them. On their smooth surface, or in their narrow chinks, the box delights to fix itself. They furnish the slabs of black and grey marble with which the door-posts and lintels of even the humblest cot- tage are here adorned. The Gave d'Ossau is crossed at the end of the village of 27 Louvie Juzon. Here the road from Oloron (Rte. 82) to Les Eaux falls in, at the H. des Pyrenees, at the end of the bridge ; also a road by Lestelle and Bruges to Lourdes and Cauterets. The great transverse Val d'Ossau, which we are now about to ascend, and in which the Eaux are situated, is one of the most interesting among the Pyre- nees, for its picturesque beauties, and for the people who inhabit it. They still retain much of their ancient customs and costumes. The women are distin- guished by the scarlet capulet, a sort of monk's hood, serving at once for bon- 5r **& shawl, descending as far as the shoulders. Whether sitting or walking, and even when carrying bur-- thens on the head, the spindle and distaff are never out of their hands. They are inferior in stature and fea- tures to the men, which may perhaps* be owing to the hard and unfeminine labours which devolve upon them; it is common to see them holding the plough, and carrying sacks of manure on their heads, or spreading it over the land. The men, however, are not idle ; they are absent on the high mountain pastures tending their flocks and herds, or following the hardy trade of wood? cutters and charcoal-burners a great part of the year. The men are chiefly distinguished by the wide cloth cap or berret, pro? perly and most commonly of brown colour, which, overhanging the brow and assuming very picturesque folds, sits very becomingly on a head of hair allowed to grow thick and of even length all round the neck, but cut short in front. They wear short jackets and knee-breeches, also brown, the colour of the undyed wool of the sheep, and round the waist a brilliant red sash of silk or woollen is tied. To defend them from rain or cold they carry the white or brown capa, which resembles a sack, unseamed, on one side, pulled over the head. An artist would find many good subjects among them, very picturesque countenances", such as are seen in pictures of Van Eyck and Albert Diirer. The mountains around the valley abound in Izards (chamois), which are sometimes met with in troops of 40 or 50. The chasse aux izards is a com- mon amusement of visitors at the baths, under the guidance of experienced huntsmen, of whom there is no lack. The haunts most frequented by the izard, in this district, are the Pics d'Arcizet, de Gazie, and de Sesque. Bears, though less common, are some- times killed. Flocks of sheep form the chief wealth of this valley; but as they are led up to the mountains in April, and do not return till the end of summer, they are seldom seen, except by those who tra- verse the high mountains. They are guarded by a remarkable breed of dogs of large size, very courageous, whose Pyrenees. Route 83. — Val (TOssau. 285 duty is less to drive the flock, as the shepherd's dog of England and Scot- land, than to protect it from the wolf and bear. The rustic fetes, dances, &c., still kept up in some parts of the Val d'Ossau, especially at Laruns (Aug. 15), are well worth seeing, as they collect some of the finest specimens of the men of the valley, and of its primitive costumes. They have a peculiar mu- sical instrument called tambourin, a lyre or zdthern of 6 strings, struck with a stick by one hand, while the other holds the rustic mountain flageo- let; it thus corresponds in simplicity and mode of playing to the old English tabour and pipe. The part of the valley which we first enter is shut in by lofty mountains of bold forms and steep sides, separated by a plain of considerable breadth, through which winds the torreut, and it is scattered over with numerous vil- lages. It is cultivated in patches to a considerable height, and covered below with large fields of maize, or with meadows deriving their bright verdure from well-managed irrigation, and pro- ducing, by means of it, three crops of hay in a year. Within a mile .of Louvie you pass, on the opposite bank of the Gave, the ruins of Castel Jaloux, or Geloz, occu- pying the top of one of two little hillocks; the other, also anciently en- closed within its ramparts, is now crowned by a small chapel. This stronghold was the key of the Val d'Ossau, and residence of its viscounts in early times, while the valley formed a separate state, independent of Bearn. In the Ch. of the village of Bielle, .the finest in the valley in the pointed style, are 4 columns of marble, which, it is said, were ho much admired by Henri IV., that he begged them of the inhabitants, but was met with this ingenious reply in the negative : " Nos behind Gedre, through which the torrent issues, is the mouth of the Val ctffeas, one of the largest and deepest valleys which penetrate the granitic region of the Pyrenees, containing fine wild scenery, and terminating in the Cirque de Troumouse, situated a little to the E. of that of Gavarnie* In coming from Luz the valley is entered by a road turning to the K, on the height which precedes the village of Gedre. It keeps up on the slope for some dis- tance, then ascends along the rt. bank of the Gave, undo* the* shade,, of fine trees, ashes and sycamores. The tor- rent descending on the 1. from the Cambiel is next crossed on a bridge ; a sombre gorge succeeds, leading to the village of Heas, remarkable for its chaos of granite blocks, about 4 m. from Gedre, which have fallen from the mountain above, across the valley, and resemble that of Peyrada, de- scribed farther on. This enormous land-slip took place in 1650, blocked up the torrent, and formed a lake behind it, which lasted until 1788, when its waters, sweeping away the dam, broke out, inundating the valley below, and thus the lake was tapped and emptied. Here is the Chapelle de la Vierge cWeas, 4910 ft. above the sea-level, resorted to yearly between the 15th of August and the 18th of September, by hosts of pilgrims from afar, who come to worship and kiss her mi- raculous image, which is dressed in gold-embroidered stuffs, and hooded with the red capulet of the country. Before the rude chapel was built by the shepherds of the valley, to shelter it, the image sought refuge upon an enormous block of granite, the largest and most elevated of the group of fallen fragments, called Le Caillou de VAraye, which is much reverenced in consequence. It is a wild and naked spot, with little cultivation. Beyond it the gorge d'Aguila opens out to the, E. About 6 m. farther on the valley ends in the Cirque de Troumouse ,. a semi- circular wall of precipitous mo^itains,. enclosing a verdant plain. It is larger than Gavarnie, but not so im^ posing, yet deserves to be seen. You may walk hence over the Coumelie mountain to Gayarnie.. $Co nrovisions to be had at He*as J The road to Gavarnie from the p»et* tily situated village, of Gedre^ skirts, the flanks of the mountain Coumelie, between hedges of box, and reaches in a little space the Chaos or Peyrada, an e"boulement or slip of masses of gneiss fallen froinv above, so extensiye that it looks as though a mountain ha$ tum- bled to pieces* It is a grand and savage scene. The path winds, in zig- ■zags, through a perfect labyrjntb of blocks, many of them as big as a house, and far larger than the Cum- berland Bowder stone, piled one above another in extreme confusion, forming mysterious cavities and sheds between them. These fragments, sweep down to the Gave, and partly conceal it; their fall must have occurred long ago, from the lichens which cover their surface, and was probably produced by the action of the atmosphere, espe- cially of frost, so powerful an agent in fracturing and disintegrating the slaty structure of the gneiss. Beyond the Chaos the road passes under the base of the Pimene], a picturesque moun- tain, rising on the'l. to a' height of 9384 ft. In passing the Pont E LUCHON AND BAGNERES DE BIGORRE, BT ST. GAUDENS. To B. de Bigorre, 144 kilom. = 90 Eng. m. ; to B. de Luchon, 135 kilom. = 84 Eng. m. Diligences daily. The first part of the road, across the great plain of Languedoc, and along the 1. bank of the Garonne, though seldom in sight of the river, is very monotonous. The Pyrenees are yet too distant to form an important feature, but the richness of the soil and abundance of the crops are very remarkable. The Duke of Wellington attempted the passage of the Garonne at Portet, a village on the 1. of the high road, 6 m. above Toulouse, but the width of the river proved too great for the pontoons provided, and the army consequently crossed lower down, below Toulouse. The confluence of the Ariege with the Garonne takes place opposite Portet. 20 Muret. The army of the Comte de Toulouse, aided by Pedro II., king of Arragon, amounting to 40,000 men, was de- feated under the walls of Muret by Simon de Montfort, who made a sortie with 14,000 men, and cut the besiegers to pieces, leaving Pedro dead on the field. 13 Noe, on the 1. bank of the Ga- ronne. At Carbonne, above this, some way to the 1. of the road, Lord Hill crossed *the Garonne with 18,000 men; but, finding the roads impassable, speedily returned to march along the 1. bank, against St. Cyprien, the faubourg of Toulouse. 27 Martres, In a field near this, interesting Roman antiquities have been discovered, consisting of an im- mense number of busts, statues, re- liefs, inscriptions, &c, now deposited in the museum of Toulouse, marking this as the site of the ancient town Calagorris Convenarum. There is a bridge over the Garonne at St. Martory. A new road has been made to skirt the town, and avoid the narrow streets of 28 St. Gaudens (Inn: H, de France; . good), an old and gloomy town of 5000 Pyrenees, Route 93. — Toulouse to Narbonne — Rail. 323 Inhab., at a little distance from the Garonne : it has a church of considerable antiquity, in the Romanesque style, with 3 apses at the E. end, and small round-headed windows. The road to Bagneres de Bigorre diverges on the rt. at St. Gaudens, up the 1. bank of the Garonne to Montrejeau, where it falls into Rte. 87. v From St. Gaudens, by St. Girons, to Foix and Carcassonne, is Rte. 95. The Garonne is crossed by the road to Luchon, a short way out of the town; and from the slope leading down to it there is a fine view of its windings and of the distant Pyrenees. At the distance of 6 or 8 m. farther the road passes abruptly from the plain into the midst of the mountains, by ascending an eminence, the extreme root or spur of the Pyrenees, to avoid a wide curve of the Garonne, but de- scends upon the river at the foot of the opposite slope. An uncommon view is here presented of the interesting town of St. Bertrand (Rte. 87), which our road leaves on the rt. "You break at once upon a vale, sunk deep enough beneath the point of view to command every hedge and tree, with St. Bertrand clustered round its large cathedral on a rising ground. If it had been built purposely to add a fea- ture to a singular prospect, it could not have been better placed. The moun- tains rise proudly around, and give their rough frame to this exquisite little picture." — A. Young. The Garonne is crossed at the Pont Labrequere to 27 Estenos, described, with the rest of the road, to 21 Bagneres de Luchon, in Rte. 87. ROUTE 93. TOULOUSE TO NARBONNE AND CETTE, BT CARCASSONNE. — RAILWAY. — CANAL DU MIDI. 220 kilom. = 137 Eng. m. Railway opened 1857. 3 trains daily in 7 hra., about. . Bateaux de Poste daily, along the Canal du Midi from Toulouse to Cette : a tedious conveyance (30 hrs.), to which, for the most part, the lower classes only resort: no restaurant, the delays from locks excessive: boats are changed at Beziers. The road, on quitting Toulouse, (Rte. 70) passes on the 1 . the Mil of Pech David — a good point of view to see the Py- renees from; and skirting, at a short distance on the 1., the Canal du Midi, continues to run nearly parallel with it for several stages. This great and useful public work, sometimes called Canal des Deux Mors, because it unites the Mediterranean with the Atlantic, was executed under Louis XIV., by the enterprising Paul Riquet, though the design is clearly sketched out in the M&noires de Sully. It was com- menced 1666 (100 years save 6 before Brindley, in England, began the Bridge- water Canal), and finished 1681, the year before Riquet's deafth. It mea- sures, from the basin where it joins the Garonne at Toulouse, to the Etang du Thau, near Agde, where it falls into the Mediterranean, 244 kilom. = 151 Eng. m.; it is 20 met. (65 ft. 7 in.) wide at the surface, and 10 met. (32 ft.) at the bottom. It cost more than 16 million livres = 33 million fr. It has 64 locks, and many other con- siderable works, reservoirs, &c, which will be enumerated as we approach them. These, though wonderful for the time when they were constructed, have been surpassed by many in Eng- land, and even in France. The articles transported along the canal consist chiefly of corn, oil, soap, wine, brandy, &c. ; it is navigated by barges of 100 tons, but the traffic is not very exten- sive, judging from the number of voy- ages yearly to and fro, which is only 960. It is closed for a month or 6 weeks once in 3 years for the "chdmage" (stand-still), in order to be cleaned. Our road lies up the vale of the Lers, and across a rich corn country, but mo- notonously flat, which before the end of summer becomes parched, dusty, and arid. Escalquens Stat. Montlour Stat. The canal, and the river Lers, running parallel with it, are crossed at Baziege Stat. Villefranche Stat., a town of 2400 Inhab., consisting of a long street traversed by the road. Beyond Avignonet Stat, we pass from the 324 Route 93. — Castelnaudary — Carcassonne. Sect, IV, De*pt. Haute Garonne into that of 1' Aude, and a little farther skirt on the rt. the Bassin de Naurouze, an artificial reservoir formed for the supply of the canal, which here attains its summit level (point de partage). The water is derived from a still higher and larger reservoir, le Bassin de St. Fe're'ol, mea- suring 5249 ft. by 2558 ft., situated on the flanks of the Montagne Noire, whence it is conducted hither in an artificial channel to be discharged into the two seas. The descent of 208J ft. between this and Toulouse is effected by 18 locks, and that of 719 ft., down to the level of the Mediterranean at Agde, by 46 locks. Riquet intended to have founded a town upon the basin of Naurouze — a design not yet accom- plished ; but an obelisk, by way of mo- nument, was erected to him by his de- scendants, on this spot, 1825. A little island has been formed in the basin opposite the mouth of the Canal by the deposits brought down by it. After crossing this main feeder of the canal, there is nothing to notice until reaching Castelnaudary Stat. (Inns: LaFleche; Notre Dame), a town of nearly 10,000 Inhab., on an eminence, skirted at its base by the Canal du Midi, which here expands into a bassin, much larger than that at Naurouze, the only thing re- markable here. There are stone-quar- ries and lime-kilns near. The name has been traced to " Cas- trum Novum Arianorum," the name given by the Visigoths to the town, which they refounded. It suffered se- verely in the crusade against the Albi- genses, having been taken both by Simon de Montfort and the Comte de Toulouse: and in 1237 the inquisitors enacted an auto-da-fe here; in which, in their desire to root out heresy, they not only burnt many persons alive, but many dead bodies, dragged ignominiously from the grave for this purpose. The most memorable event in the annals of Castelnaudary is the battle fought here on the banks of the Fresquel, 1632, between the forces of Louis XIII. and of Gaston Due d'Or- leans, at which the unfortunate Due de Montmorency was wounded and made prisoner, and soon after conveyed heuce o Toulouse to be beheaded. Pexiora Stat. Brain Stat. The rounded outline of the Black Moun- tain bounds the view on the N. 8 Alzonne Stat., a town of 2000 Inhab, 16 Carcassonne Stat. — Inns: H. Bonnet, good, baths hot and cold; St. Jean Baptists, on the Boulevard; H. de France, new town. This chef -lieu of the Dept. de l'Aude, a city of 18,483 Inhab., is traversed by the river Aude, and by the Canal du Midi, which, at first carried at a distance from its walls at the request of the inhabitants, has, in recent times, received at vast expense another direction, in order to bring it up to the town, where it now forms a large bassin. Carcassonne itself is composed o{two parts, the modern town on the plain and the old town on an eminence above it, forming a picturesque background with its venerable towers and com- manding battlements. The lower and newer town, cheerful, and industri- ous, consists chiefly of modern-built houses, in streets ranging at right an- gles with one another, surrounded by boulevards, occupying the site of its ramparts, including squares planted with trees and furnished with marble fountains, and running with fresh- ening rivulets. It contains several woollen factories, and not less than 7000 persons of the town and its vicinity are employed in the manufacture of cloth, formerly exported to the Levant, Bar- bary, and S. America, where it is es- teemed for its brilliant dyes. From this and other sources of commercial prosperity it has increased, in the course of 4 or 5 centuries, from a suburb to be the town itself, while the original city on the height has dwindled down into an insignificant faubourg. Beyond this, however, it has no claim to detain the passing traveller. Its modern ca- thedral, and ch. of St. Vincent, whose tall tower stands on the line of the meridian of Paris, are not remarkable. The avenue of trees planted along the margin of the canal, and embellished with a column of the red marble of the country to the memory of Riquet, its founder, leads to the aqueduct bridge by which the canal has been carried over the stream of the Fresnel in recent times. The old town, on the height beyond JLanguedoc. Route 93. — Carcassonne, 325 the Aude, deserves the notice all of who have artists' taste for paintable bits or take an interest .in antiqui- ties, as retaining unchanged, to a greater extent perhaps than any other in France, the aspect of a fortress of the middle ages. A traveller with such tastes must not be deterred from enter- ing by odious smells, steep, narrow, and desolate streets, with the grass grow- ing in many of them, and the houses falling to ruin, for it has been aban- doned entirely to persons of the poorer class and to artisans, pent up within its narrow enclosure. It is enclosed by • double ramparts and towers : a portion of the inner line is attributed to the Ro- mans and Visigoths with much probabi- lity ; and the rest, including the castle, with its curious postern, seems to be of the 1 1th or 12th centy., while the outer circuit has been referred to the latter end of the 13th centy. The former are therefore the same defences which withstood for a time the assault of the army of Crusaders under the fierce Simon de Montfort and the Abbot of Citeaux, who, reeking with the blood spilt at Beziers, laid siege to Carcas- sonne, 1210, where a vast number of fu- gitives, together with the Viscomte de Beziers, had taken refuge. At the in- tercession of the King of Arragon, his uncle, the papal legate promised to spare his life and those of 12 others with him; but the brave young warrior ■rejected these terms, declaring that he would sooner be flayed alive than be- tray one of those who had endangered themselves for his sake. Finding, how- ever, that, owing to the number of men, women, and children who had poured in from the surrounding country, it was impossible to hold out, he managed to let them escape by a secret passage, and surrendered under a promise of safe-conduct for himself. He was never- theless seized treacherously, and soon after died in prison, while of those who remained in the town 50 were hung and 400 burnt alive. In 1356 this fort- ress effectually resisted the Black Prince, who burnt the suburb below, and ravaged with fire and sword the whole of Languedoc. A curious sally- port, or barbacane, projects from the walls on the side nearest the modern town; and one of the towers has been split into two, but the one half, though fallen down, has not broken to pieces — such is the thickness and solidity of the masonry. The legend respecting it is, that Charlemagne, after in vain be- sieging for several years the town, which held out, though defended only by one Saracen woman named Carcas, was about to raise the siege in despair, when this tower gave way of its own accord, and opened a breach by which his army entered. The figure of this Saracen Amazon is still to be seen rudely carved over the Porte Narbonnaise, on the E. side of the town. The Ch. of St. Nazaire, formerly ca- thedral, in the middle of the old town, consists of a Romanesque nave, part of the ch. dedicated by Pope Urban II. in 1096, supported by massive piers round and square, and of a light and lofty Gothic choir and transepts added at the beginning of the 13th century (1321). In this part of the church are two fine circular windows, and some painted glass of great bril- liancy of colour, though inferior in drawing. On one side of the high-altar a slab of red marble is said to mark the grave of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, that cruel and ambitious warrior, who, steeled in the holy wars, in the school of the Templars and As- sassins, turned at the bidding of the Pope the sword whetted against the in- fidels upon the heretical Christians, the unfortunate Albigenses. The marble monument of a bishop, date 1264, is placed in a side-chapel. In one of the side-chapels of the nave is a curious bas-relief, representing an assault of a besieged town, probably of the 13th centy. This ch. has been restored. Near the centre of the town is a very wide and deep well, into which, ac- cording to tradition, the Visigoth kings threw their treasures. Carcassonne was the birthplace of the Revolutionist Fabre, who called himself cC Eglantine because he had gained the prize of the golden sweet- brier in the floral games at Toulouse : he began his career as an actor, and ended it on the guillotine in 1793. Diligences daily to Narbonne, and the Rly. Stats, of Montpellier, Nismes, 826 Route 94.— Narbonne to Perpignan. Sect. IV* and Marseilles; to Perpignan by Li- moux; to Toulouse. [At Caunes, 12 m. N.E. of Carcas- sonne, are the quarries of marble com- monly used in churches and other public buildings in the S. of France. They are associated with slates of the transition series, and furnish 4 sorts: 1, flesh-coloured, much employed by Louis XIV. and XV. ; 2, marbre oerve- las ; 3, grey marble containing encri- nites ; 4, Griotte, including nautili. One variety is called "ceil de perdrix."! On quitting Carcassonne, the road crosses and runs for some distance by the side of the Aude. The canal makes a bend to the N., its new channel being cut through deep excavations. The cultivation of the olive begins near this, though the tree can scarcely be said to flourish hereabouts. Trebes Stat. Floure Stat. Capenda Stat. Near Barbeira, a little to the N. of the canal, is the drained lake of Marseil- lette, converted from a useless pool or morass into 2900 hectares of excellent arable land by the enterprise and capi- tal of Madame Lawless, an Irish lady domiciled in France. The drainage was completed 1850, by the construction of a tunnel near a mile long, and the ground is now portioned out into 24 farms. Moux Stat. Lesignau Stat. Villedaigne Stat. The country between this and Nar- bonne contracts into a narrow gorge between white naked rocks. Marcorignan Stat. Narbonne Station \ Described in Cette Station / Rte. 126. ROUTE 94. NARBONNE TO PERPIGNAN, PORT VEN- DEES, AND THE SPANISH FRONTIER. To Perpignan is 62 kilom.= 40 Eng. m. Diligences twice a day. The road is very uninteresting, skirt- ing on the rt. the low chains of the Corbieres, consisting of bare rocks with- out trees or herbage ; only a few bristly plants, and tufts of the heath which produces the Narbonne honey; and on the 1., the salt lagoons, or shallow *s, called Etangs de Bages, de Si- gean, de la Palme, and de Leucate, which here line the shore of the Medi- terranean, bordered with mud and sand. The district is unhealthy, owing to the miasma from this marshy tract. At intervals, when the road surmounts a slight eminence, a glimpse may be obtained of the open sea beyond the etangs. 21 Sigean, situated on the margin of the lagoon of the same name, was the scene of a victory gained by Charles Martel over the Saracens, 737. The few trees near the road are all bent in one direction, to the S.E., by the violent winds from the N.W., which prevail here for 8 months out of the 12. 16 Fitou stands on the edge of the large etang, called de Leucate, from a half-deserted town on the tongue of land between it and the sea: a place of strength and importance during the period when Roussillon belonged to Spain, and Leucate stood on the fron- tier of France. The extremity of the chain of the Pyrenees, stretching into the sea, may be discerned near this. 10 Salces. The fort on the rt., before entering this village, was built by the Emperor Charles V. ; it is now a powder* magazine. The little town of Rivesaltes, famed for its wine, lies about 14 m. on the rt., upon a small stream often dried up, the Agly, which is crossed by the road half way between Salces and Perpignan. The two branches of the torrent-river Tet are crossed in order to reach Per- pignan ; between them stands the sub- urb Notre Dame ; and on the rt. bank the lofty and singular castle of Castellet, a double tower of brick, surmounted by machicolations erected by Charles V., now a military prison. 15 Perpignan. — Inns: H. des Am- bassadeurs ; — du Commerce ; — del'Eu- rope ; — Petit Paris, good ; — ~ *. vii; >i2-&re-azx5e. and some pursu:**? his studies ax tne J«*u:t*' 0. 2- >. .-:r*h*. ratlixirar th:«e of Louis XVI. irje Lere. ^ £ Xat» Act.-criette. n^nit notice. TLe t" v -v "t •»->• I^ * Riw iLe b-irsLi of Louis strvtrt •^ehrnd the H :d ie \.'_t. s.»t XI.. *z*i >f *-..**. •/ •'•>. 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IM^-i- ij^ n'. k^ ^ jc :.i -J^. az>i near it the i_ ^r--„^r-.c--fi.;^^i rT^;.-^-^ r^L* :c \^t z^i^x ^^.CL--a to»er of x--.^. :s-o5. «•; -*> A _"j* *k.— st^^xi'.-.^i-:^^ A_»*r Sci". >"~ -- "*/«.'/* .•' » 5"dBfes Sc^t. for -v^-rv^ ■ uT *!. % _i ^j^ 2C3'» — ."•'•!»■ !T-l«* £T*R2.rer number . * _ «.%. ^ >. -.^.._4 -. ^x^^a^x. -*c i .*>-.. r» ^.-»* *i? Tie i-.-^L* jr board- . -t^-- - ». •- .^s ^^ .. -^r< ;£ -j« ^,itf nic*.i.;.a«wsw , tt "lj* ±r>c -^^r* are S or ■^ .*«T -£w ^ n«:-t ^"r^l ^«»;c^.*. 3.^ae bs the ^ .^ >ku :a^u,a, ^ ^ a A~* * ->M^A.tfL li^- i-c*. for ,'-"J u,v; ^*~ ^=» ?rl -\r. a M55. . v.t ^ t ' c w* uu aj"»:» ^ -c^afcagt and »i'x v* Centkal France. Route 101. — Vichy. 343 ordinary hours for those meals from excursions in the country. Lodgings may be easily obtained in j private houses, with sitting-rooms, &c; and arrangements made with the pro- prietors for furnishing meals, or by hiring servants — a system better suited perhaps for families, especially English. Vichy is situated in the valley of the Allier, a rapid stream here crossed by a bridge £ m. long. Little eminences surmounted by round towers, of which the Vieux Vichy is one, rise along the 1. bank of the river. To this has been added a new quarter or suburb, con- sisting chiefly of hotels and lodging- houses connected with the old town by a fine promenade, shaded by avenues of plane-trees. This is the watering-place properly speaking, now one of the most frequented in France, and daily in- creasing in prosperity and reputation. The mineral springs of Vichy are acidulous and alkaline. The water has been not inappropriately compared to heated soda-water, their principal in- gredients being carbonate of soda and carbonic acid gas in excess. This acid is combined with the soda, potash, and lime ; but the im- portant ingredient is the bicarbonate of soda resulting from this combination. There are 8 principal springs, vary- ing in temperature from 56° Fahr. (Les Celestins) to 113° (Puits Carre*). The former therefore cannot be considered thermal. These sources are, with the quantity of bicarbonate of soda con- tained in an English pint of each : — Grains of bicarb, of Temp. soda in a 0 pint. Grande Grille . . 89*5 . . 44 Puits Chomel ... 104 ... 45 Puits Carre . . #113 . . .45 * VHopital . ... 113 ... 45* Lucas 82*5 . . 45j Lardy 77 ... 39 Brosson 74*5 . . 44 Celestins . • • . 56 • • • 50 Three of the springs— La Grande Grille, Le Puits Chomel, and the Puits Carre\ rise under the foundations of the Batiment Thermal ; three others, L'Hdpital, Les Sources Lucas et Lardy, in different parts of the old town j La Source des Celestins near the banks of the Allier, at an inconvenient distance : the Brosson source has been pro- cured by an Artesian boring. The Grande Grille is most used for drink- ing, from its vicinity to the Bath- house, and for exportation. The Bath- house j called the Etablisse- ment or Bdtirnent Thermal, is a very handsome building, faced by a long colonnade, containing in the- upper floor a reading and ball room ; in the lateral ranges or wings are numerous baths tolerably well appointed, and 4 douches. The water is received in stone basins, has the appearance of boiling from the quantity of carbonic acid gas which bubbles up through it. The season at Vichy commences as early as the end of May, and lasts until the end of August. The following is the routine observed by persons frequent- ing the waters for their health: — On arrival it is usual to consult one of the medical men attached to the baths, without whose certificate no one is allowed to use t/iem: the most eminent phy- sicians being Dr. Alquie, the Gov. Di- rector, and Dr. Villemain, the Under Director, a gentleman who can be most strongly recomended. Although the legal fee is only 5f., visitors generally continue to consult them during their stay, and on leaving present such an amount as they may consider fair for the advice and benefit they have de- rived. English generally give 20f. on their first visit. This being arranged, the day is generally passed thus : — As early as 6 a crowd assembles to drink the waters, which occupies, with the subsequent exercise, an hour or two. To this succeeds breakfast at 10; after- wards the bath, for those who are recommended to bathe. Tickets for the baths are obtained on presenting the physician's certificate, and cost 1£ f. each, or a small trifle less on taking a certain number (cachets). Owing to the number of applicants, persons may have sometimes a long time to wait. The table-d'hote dinner takes place at 5, and in the evening the company assemble in the salon of their hotel. Precedence at the table-d'hote is de- termined by the date of the visitor's arrival, as in the choice of bed-rooms; 342 i?. 101. — Bourges to Moulins and Vichy — Vichy. Sect V. a residence to the youthful Conde, des- tined to become Le Grand Conde, while pursuing his studies at the Jesuits' Col- lege here. The Caserne de Gendarmerie, in a street behind the Hotel de Ville, not far off from it, was the house of Cujas, professor in the University, which ex- isted here from 1465 to the Revolution. It is of brick, of very Solid construc- tion, built towards the end of the 16th centy., and displays about its doors, windows, and turrets, some fragments of elegant decoration. It will be re- membered that Bourges had great fame as a school of law, The Convent of the Sceurs Bleues, in the Rue des Yieilles Prisons, originally the mansion of the family Lallemand, and built probably about 1512-26, has [ an irregular front, flanked by tourelles, j gracefully decorated with arabesque i patterns, bas-reliefs, &c, in the style ■ of the Renaissance, which will please an architect. It contains a little family oratory, about 10 ft. by 15, surmounted by a roof of 3 stone slabs, divided into 30 compartments, each filled with some device, as a Globe oil Fire, a Hand gathering a Chesnut, or other pattern, rebus, relief, or ornament, alternating with the letters R E, often repeated, most elaborately carved, but of which the meaning is difficult to explain. These buildings and others of the same age in other parts of France in the same debased style of Gothic, have a curious resemblance to the contemporary ar- chitecture of Scotland, as shown in many castellated mansions still existing. The house, said to be that of Charles VII. (Rue de Paradis), now part of the Lycee, has a beautiful staircase turret and a fine fireplace in the old hall. Bourges was his residence and refuge at a time when three-fourths of his kingdom of France belonged to the English, when he Was little more, in fact, than " king of Bourges." Bourges has a museum, a receptacle of antiquities, of various ages, and other curiosities, without order or arrange- ment. A series of 6 weeping figures (pleureuses), in alabaster, from some monument ; a model of the Saint Cha- pelle, mentioned above, now destroyed; ebony cabinet, ornamented in the style of the Renaissance, from Agnes Sorel's castle, Bon-sire-aime, and some portraits, including those of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, merit notice. Bourges was the birthplace of Louis XL, and of Bourdaloue, one of the first pulpit orators of the French Church. The Railway is continued from. Bourges by 10 Moulins Stat. 9 Bengy Stat. 6 Savigny Stat. 6 NeVondes Stat. 5 Avor Stat. 12 La Guerche Stat., where the Allier is crossed. 9 Le Guetin Junction Stat. [Here a branch Rly. diverges 1.11 kilom. to Nevebs Stat.] (Rte. 105.) 12 Mars Stat. 7 St. Pierre le Moutier Stat. In the village is an old Ch., and near it the ruins of the massy donjon tower of Langeron. 2 St. Hubert Stat. 9 Villeneuve Stat. Allier Stat. 14 Moulins Stat, (in Rte. 105.) 9 Varennes Stat. 7 Creechy Stat. St. Germain des Fosses Stat, for Vichy, distant 9 kilom. = 5£ Eng. m. Omnibuses and carriages thither on the arrival of every train. Vichy. — Inns: The greater number of visitors live at the hotels or board- ing-houses. Of the first there are 8 or 10, the best being the Hotel Guillermen and Hotel de Paris, the two most fashion- able;—the Hotel Velay, kept by Ger- mot, excellent and moderate ; — Hotel de Corneil, civil people. In none is the accommodation first-rate, being greatly inferior to similar watering-places in Germany. There are very few sitting- rooms in any of the hotels, unless you turn a bed-room into one, for which the same price for board is ex- acted as if occupied; the principle at Vichy being that " le lit mange." The charges vary from 8 to 12f. per diem; at the Hotel Velay the price for a bed- room and board was 9f. 75c. in 1855, and 4f. 75c. for servants. It is usual for all the inmates to breakfast and dine together, but this rule is often de- parted from in the case of families who have their own servants who can wait upon them, or when returning after the Central France. Route 101. — Vichy. 343 ordinary hours for those meals from excursions in the country. Lodgings may be easily obtained in private houses, with sitting-rooms, &c.;. and arrangements made with the pro- prietors for furnishing meals, or by hiring servants — a system better suited perhaps for families, especially English. Vichy is situated in the valley of the Allier, a rapid stream here crossed by a bridge J m. long. Little eminences surmounted by round towers, of which the Vieux Vichy is one, rise along the 1. bank of the river. To this has been added a new quarter or suburb, con- sisting chiefly of hotels and lodging- houses connected with the old town by a fine promenade, shaded by avenues of plane-trees. This is the watering-place properly speaking, now one of the most frequented in France, and daily in- creasing in prosperity and reputation. The mineral springs of Vichy are acidulous and alkaline. The water has been not inappropriately compared to heated soda-water, their principal in- gredients being carbonate of soda and carbonic acid gas in excess. This acid is combined with the soda, potash, and lime ; but the im- portant ingredient is the bicarbonate of soda resulting from this combination. There are 8 principal springs, vary- ing in temperature from 56° Fahr. (Les Celestins) to 113° (Puits Carre*). The former therefore cannot be considered thermal. These sources are, with the quantity of bicarbonate of soda con- tained in an English pint of each : — Temp. , . 89*5 , . 104 . . . 113 . , . 113 . , . 82-5 , . 77 . Brosson ..... 74*5 Grande Grille Puits Chomel Puits Carre V Hopital . Lucas • . . Lardy Celestins 56 Grains of bicarb, of soda in a pint. . 44 . 45 . 45 . 45* . 45* . 39 . 44 . 50 Three of the springs— La Grande Grille, Le Puits Chomel, and the Puits Carr£, rise under the foundations of the Batiment Thermal ; three others, L'Hdpital, Les Sources Lucas et Lardy, in different parts of the old town ; La Source des Celestins near the banks of the Allier, at an inconvenient distance : the Brosson source has been pro- cured by an Artesian boring. The Grande Grille is most used for drink- ing, from its vicinity to the Bath- house, and for exportation. The Bath-house, called the Etablisse- ment or Batiment Thermal, is a very handsome building, faced by a long colonnade, containing in the- upper floor a reading and ball room ; in the lateral ranges or wings are numerous baths tolerably well appointed, and 4 douches. The water is received in stone basins, has the appearance of boiling from the quantity of carbonic acid gas which bubbles up through it. The season at Vichy commences as early as the end of May, and lasts until the end of August. The following is the routine observed by persons frequent- ing the waters for their health: — On arrival it is usual to consult one of the medical men attached to the baths, without whose certificate no one is allowed to use tJiem: the most eminent phy- sicians being Dr. Alquie, the Gov. Di- rector, and Dr. Villemain, the Under Director, a gentleman who can be most strongly recomended. Although the legal fee is only 5f., visitors generally continue to consult them during their stay, and on leaving present such an amount as they may consider fair for the advice and benefit they have de- rived. English generally give 20f. on their first visit. This being arranged, the day is generally passed thus : — As early as 6 a crowd assembles to drink the waters, which occupies, with the subsequent exercise, an hour or two. To this succeeds breakfast at 10 ; after- wards the bath, for those who are recommended to bathe. Tickets for the baths are obtained on presenting the physician's certificate, and cost 1£ f. each, or a small trifle less on taking a certain number (cachets). Owing to the number of applicants, persons may have sometimes a long time to wait. The table-d'h6te dinner takes place at 5, and in the evening the company assemble in the salon of their hotel. Precedence at the table-d'hote is de- termined by the date of the visitor's I arrival, as in the choice of bed-rooms; 342 R. 101. — Bourges to Moulins and Vichy — Vichy, Sect. V. a residence to the youthful Conde, des- tined to become Le Grand Conde, while pursuing his studies at the Jesuits' Col- lege here. The Caserne de Gendarmerie, in a street behind the Hotel de Ville, not far off from it, was the house of Cujas, professor in the University, which ex- isted here from 1465 to the Revolution. It is of brick, of very solid construc- tion, built towards the end of the 16th centy., and displays about its doors, windows, and turrets, some fragments of elegant decoration. It will be re- membered that Bourges had great fame as a school of law, The Convent of the Sumrs Bleues, in the Rue des Vieilles Prisons, originally the mansion of the family Lallemand, and built probably about 1512-26, has an irregular front, flanked by tourelles, gracefully decorated with arabesque patterns, bas-reliefs, &c, in the style of the Renaissance, which will please an architect. It contains a little family oratory, about 10 ft. by 15, surmounted by a roof of 3 stone slabs, divided into GO compartments, each filled with some device, as a Globe dii Fire, a Hand gathering a Chesnut, or other pattern, , rebus, relief, or ornament, alternating ' with the letters R E, often repeated, most elaborately carved, but of which the meaning is difficult to explain. These buildings and others of the same age in other parts of France in the same debased style of Gothic, have a curious resemblance to the contemporary ar- chitecture of Scotland, as shown in many castellated mansions still existing. The house, said to be that of Charles VII. (Rue de Paradis), now part of the Lycee, has a beautiful staircase turret and a fine fireplace in the old hall. Bourges was his residence and refuge at a time when three-fourths of his kingdom of France belonged to the English, when he Was little more, in fact, than " king of Bourges.'1 Bourges has a museum, a receptacle of antiquities, of various ages, and other curiosities, without order or arrange- ment. A series of 6 weeping figures (pleureuses), in alabaster, from some monument ; a model of the Saint Cha- pelle, mentioned above, now destroyed; ^bony cabinet, ornamented in the style of the Renaissance, from Agnes Sorel's castle, Bon-sire-aime, and some portraits, including those of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, merit notice. Bourges was the birthplace of Louis XL, and of Bourdaloiw, one of the first pulpit orators of the French Church. The Railway is continued from 9 Bengy Stat. 6 NeVondes Stat. Bourges by 10 Moulins Stat. 6 Savigny Stat. 5 Avor Stat. 12 La Guerche Stat., where the Allier is crossed. 9 Le Gue'tin Junction Stat. [Here a branch Rly. diverges 1. 11 kilom. to Nevers Stat.] (Rte. 105.) 12 Mars Stat. 7 St. Pierre le Moutier Stat. In the village is an old Ch., and near it the ruins of the massy donjon tower of Langeron. 2 St. Hubert Stat. 9 Villeneuve Stat. Allier Stat. 14 Moulins Stat, (in Rte. 105.) 9 Varennes Stat. 7 Creechy Stat. St. Germain des Fosses Stat, for Vichy, distant 9 kilom. = 5£ Eng. m. Omnibuses and carriages thither on the arrival of every train. Vichy. — Inns : The greater number of visitors live at the hotels or board- ing-houses. Of the first there are 8 or 10, the best being the Hotel Guillermen and HStel de Paris, the two most fashion- able;—the Hotel Velay, kept by Ger- mot, excellent and moderate ; — Hotel de Corneil, civil people. In none is the accommodation first-rate, being greatly inferior to similar watering-places in Germany. There are very few sitting- rooms in any of the hotels, unless you turn a bed-room into one, for which the same price for board is ex- acted as if occupied; the principle at Vichy being that " le lit mange." The charges vary from 8 to 12f. per diem; at the Hotel Velay the price for a bed- room and board was 9f. 75c. in 1855, and 4f. 75c. for servants. It is usual for all the inmates to breakfast and dine together, but this rule is often de- parted from in the case of families who have their own servants who can wait upon them, or when returning after the Central France. Route 101. — Vichy. 343 ordinary hours for those meals from excursions in the country. Lodgings may be easily obtained in private houses, with sitting-rooms, &c.;. and arrangements made with the pro- prietors for furnishing meals, or by hiring servants — a system better suited perhaps for families, especially English. Vichy is situated iu the valley of the AUier, a rapid stream here crossed by a bridge £ m. long. Little eminences surmounted by round towers, of which the Vieux Vichy is one, rise along the 1. bank of the river. To this has been added a new quarter or suburb, con- sisting chiefly of hotels and lodging- houses connected with the old town by a fine promenade, shaded by avenues of plane-trees. This is the watering-place properly speaking, now one of the most frequented in France, and daily in- creasing in prosperity and reputation. The mineral springs of Vichy are acidulous and alkaline. The water has been not inappropriately compared to heated soda-water, their principal in- gredients being carbonate of soda and carbonic acid gas in excess. This acid is combined with the soda, potash, and lime ; but the im- portant ingredient is the bicarbonate of soda resulting from this combination. There are 8 principal springs, vary- ing in temperature from 56° Fahr. (Les Celestins) to 113° (Puits Cam*). The former therefore cannot be considered thermal. These sources are, with the quantity of bicarbonate of soda con- tained in an English pint of each : — Temp. Grains of bicarb, of soda in a 0 pint. Grande Grille . . 89*5 . • 44 Puits Chomel ... 104 ... 45 Puits Carre . . .113 . . .45 L'ffipital .... 113 ... 45^ Lucas 82-5 . . 45£ Lardy ..... 77 ... 39 Brosson ..... 74*5 . . 44 Celestins .... 56 ... 50 Three of the springs— La Grande Grille, Le Puits Chomel, and the Puits Carr^, rise under the foundations of the Batiment Thermal ; three others, L'Hdpital, Les Sources Lucas et Lardy, in different parts of the old town ; La Source des Celestins near the banks of the Allier, at an inconvenient distance : the Brosson source has been pro- cured by an Artesian boring. The Grande Grille is most used for drink- ing, from its vicinity to the Bath- house, and for exportation. The Bath-house, called the Etablisse- ment or Bdtirnent Thermal, is a very handsome building, faced by a long colonnade, containing in the- upper floor a reading and ball room ; in the lateral ranges or wings are numerous baths tolerably well appointed, and 4 douches. The water is received in stone basins, has the appearance of boiling from the quantity of carbonic acid gas which bubbles up through it. The season at Vichy commences as early as the end of May, and lasts until the end of August. The following is the routine observed by persons frequent- ing the waters for their health: — On arrival it is usual to consult one of the medical men attached to the baths, without whose certificate no one is allowed to use them: the most eminent phy- sicians being Dr. Alquie, the Gov. Di- rector, and Dr. Villemain, the Under Director, a gentleman who can be most strongly recomended. Although the legal fee is only 5f., visitors generally continue to consult them during their stay, and on leaving present such an amount as they may consider fair for the advice and benefit they have de- rived. English generally give 20f. on their first visit. This being arranged, the day is generally passed thus : — As early as 6 a crowd assembles to drink the waters, which occupies, with the subsequent exercise, an hour or two. To this succeeds breakfast at 10; after- wards the bath, for those who are recommended to bathe. Tickets for the baths are obtained on presenting the physician's certificate, and cost 1 £ f . each, or a small trifle less on taking a certain number (cachets). Owing to the number of applicants, persons may have sometimes a long time to wait. The table-d'h6te dinner takes place at 5, and in the evening the company assemble in the salon of their hotel. Precedence at the table-d'hote is de- termined by the date of the visitor's arrival, as in the choice of bed-rooms ; 342 R. I0\.—Bourges to Moulins and Vichy — Vichy. Sect. V. a residence to the youthful Conde, des- tined to become Le Grand Conde, while pursuing his studies at the Jesuits' Col- lege here. The Caserne de Gendarmerie, in a street behind the Hotel de Ville, not far off from it, was the house of Cujas, professor in the University, which ex- isted here from 1465 to the Revolution. It is of brick, of very solid construc- tion, built towards the end of the 16th centy., and displays about its doors, windows, and turrets, some fragments of elegant decoration. It will be re- membered that Bourges had great fame as a school of law , The Convent of the Swurs Bleues, in the Rue des Vieilles Prisons, originally the mansion of the family Lallemand, and built probably about 1512-26, has an irregular front, flanked by tourelles, gracefully decorated with arabesque patterns, bas-reliefs, &c, in the style of the Renaissance, which will please an architect. It contains a little family oratory, about 10 ft. by 15, surmounted by a roof of 3 stone slabs, divided into 30 compartments, each filled with some device, as a Globe on Fire, a Hand gathering a Chesnut, or other pattern, rebus, relief, or ornament, alternating with the letters R E, often repeated, most elaborately carved, but of which the meaning is difficult to explain. These buildings and others of the same age in other parts of France in the same debased style of Gothic, have a curious resemblance to the contemporary ar- chitecture of Scotland, as shown in many castellated mansions still existing. The house, said to be that of Charles VII. (Rue de Paradis), now part of the Lycee, has a beautiful staircase turret and a fine fireplace in the old hall. Bourges was his residence and refuge at a time when three-fourths of his kingdom of France belonged to the English, when he was little more, in fact, than " king of Bourges." Bourges has a museum, a receptacle of antiquities, of various ages, and other curiosities, without order or arrange- ment. A series of 6 weeping figures (pleureuses), in alabaster, from some monument ; a model of the Saint Cha- pelle, mentioned above, now destroyed; -*bony cabinet, ornamented in the style of the Renaissance, from Agnes Sorel's castle, Bon-sire-aime, and some portraits, including those of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, merit notice. Bourges was the birthplace of Louis XL, and of Bourdaloue, one of the first pulpit orators of the French Church. The Railway is continued from Bourges by 10 Moulins Stat. 9 Bengy Stat. 6 Savigny Stat. 6 NeVondes Stat. 5 Avor Stat. 12 La Guerche Stat., where the Allier is crossed. 9 Le Guetin Junction Stat. [Here a branch Rly. diverges 1. 11 kilom. to Nevers Stat,] (Rte. 105.) 12 Mars Stat. 7 St. Pierre le Moutier Stat. In the village is an old Ch., and near it the ruins of the massy donjon tower of Langeron. 2 St. Hubert Stat. 9 Villeneuve Stat. Allier Stat. 14 Moulins Stat, (in Rte. 105.) 9 Varennes Stat. 7 Creechy Stat. St. Germain des Fosses Stat, for Vichy, distant 9 kilom. = 5£ Eng. m. Omnibuses and carriages thither on the arrival of every train. Vichy. — Inns: The greater number of visitors live at the hotels or board- ing-houses. Of the first there are 8 or 10, the best being the Motel Guittermen and Hotel de Paris, the two most fashion- able;—the Hotel Velay, kept by Ger- mot, excellent and moderate ; — Hotel de Corneil, civil people. In none is the accommodation first-rate, being greatly inferior to similar watering-places in Germany. There are very few sitting- rooms in any of the hotels, unless you turn a bed-room into one, for which the same price for board is ex- acted as if occupied; the principle at Vichy being that " le lit mange." The charges Vary from 8 to 12f. per diem; at the Hotel Velay the price for a bed- room and board was 9f. 75c. in 1855, and 4f. 75c. for servants. It is usual for all the inmates to breakfast and dine together, but this rule is often de- parted from in the case of families who have their own servants who can wait upon them, or when returning after the Central, France. Route 101. — Vichy. 343 ordinary hours for those meals from excursions in the country. Lodgings may be easily obtained in private houses, with sitting-rooms, &c; and arrangements made with the pro- prietors for furnishing meals, or by hiring servants — a system better suited perhaps for families, especially English. Vichy is situated in the valley of the Allier, a rapid stream here crossed by a bridge J m. long. Little eminences surmounted by round towers, of which the Vieux Vichy is one, rise along the 1. bank of the river. To this has been added a new quarter or suburb, con- sisting chiefly of hotels and lodging- houses connected with the old town by a fine promenade, shaded by avenues of plane-trees. This is the watering-place properly speaking, now one of the most frequented in France, and daily in- creasing in prosperity and reputation. The mineral springs of Vichy are acidulous and alkaline. The water has been not inappropriately compared to heated soda-water, their principal in- gredients being carbonate of soda and carbonic acid gas in excess. This acid is combined with the soda, potash, and lime ; but the im- portant ingredient is the bicarbonate of soda resulting from this combination. There are 8 principal springs, vary- ing in temperature from 56° Fahr. (Les Celestins) to 113° (Puits Carre*). The former therefore cannot be considered thermal. These sources are, with the quantity of bicarbonate of soda con- tained in an English pint of each : — Grains of bicarb, of Temp. soda in a • o pint. Grande Grille • . 89*5 , . 44 Puits Chomel • . . 104 . . . 45 Puits Carre . . . 113 . . , . 45 L'Hopital . . . . 113 . . . 45£ Lucas • . . . • . 82-5 , . 45* . . 39 . . 44 Celestins . . • . 56 . . . . 50 Three of the springs— La Grande Grille, Le Puits Chomel, and the Puits Carrd, rise under the foundations of the Batiment Thermal ; three others, L'Hdpital, Les Sources Lucas et Lardy, in different parts of the old town ; La Source des Celestins near the banks of the Allier, at an inconvenient distance : the Brosson source has been pro- cured by an Artesian boring. The Grande Grille is most used for drink- ing, from its vicinity to the Bath- house, and for exportation. The Bath-house, called the Etablisse- ment or B&timent The?mal} is a very handsome building, faced by a long colonnade, containing, in the* upper floor a reading and ball room ; in the lateral ranges or wings are numerous baths tolerably well appointed, and 4 douches. The water is received in stone basins, has the appearance of boiling from the quantity of carbonic acid gas which bubbles up through it. The season at Vichy commences as early as the end of May, and lasts until the end of August. The following is the routine observed by persons frequent- ing the waters for their health: — On arrival it is usual to consult one of the medical men attached to the baths, without whose certificate no one is allowed to use them', the most eminent phy- sicians being Dr. Alquie, the Gov. Di- rector, and Dr. Villemain, the Under Director, a gentleman who can be most strongly recomended. Although the legal fee is only 5f., visitors generally continue to consult them during their stay, and on leaving present such an amount as they may consider fair for the advice and benefit they have de- rived. English generally give 20f. on their first visit. This being arranged, the day is generally passed thus : — As early as 6 a crowd assembles to drink the waters, which occupies, with the subsequent exercise, an hour or two. To this succeeds breakfast at 10 ; after- wards the bath, for those who are recommended to bathe. Tickets for the baths are obtained on presenting the physician's certificate, and cost 1 \ f . each, or a small trifle less on taking a certain number (cachets). Owing to the number of applicants, persons may have sometimes a long time to wait. The table-d'hote dinner takes place at 5, and in the evening the company assemble in the salon of their hotel. Precedence at the table-d'hote is de- termined by the date of the visitor's arrival, as in the choice of bed-rooms; 342 2?. 101. — Bourges to Moulins and Vichy — Vichy. Sect. V. a residence to the youthful Conde, des- tined to become Le Grand Condi, while pursuing his studies at the Jesuits' Col- lege here. The Caserne de Gendarmerie, in a street behind the Hotel de Ville, not far off from it, was the house of Cujas, professor in the University, which ex- isted here from 1465 to the Revolution. It is of brick, of very Solid construc- tion, built towards the end of the 16th centy., and displays about its doors, windows, and turrets, some fragments of elegant decoration. It will be re- membered that Bourges had great fame as a school of law, The Convent of the Sceurs Bleues, in the Rue des Vieilles Prisons, originally the mansion of the family Lallemand, and built probably about 1512-26, has an irregular front, flanked by tourelles, gracefully decorated with arabesque patterns, bas-reliefs, &c, in the style of the Renaissance, which will please an architect. It contains a little family oratory, about 10 ft. by 15, surmounted by a roof of 3 stone slabs, divided into oh compartments, each filled with some device, as a Globe on Fire, a Hand gathering a Chesnut, or other pattern, rebus, relief, or ornament, alternating ' with the letters R E, often repeated, niost elaborately carved, but of which the meaning is difficult to explain. These buildings and others of the same age in other parts of France in the same debased style of Gothic, have a curious resemblance to the contemporary ar- chitecture of Scotland, as shown in many castellated mansions still existing. The house, said to be that of Charles VII. (Rue de Paradis), now part of the Lycee, has a beautiful staircase turret and a fine fireplace in the old hall. Bourges was his residence and refuge at a time when three-fourths of his kingdom of France belonged to the English, when he was little more, in fact, than "king of Bourges.'1 Bourges has a museum, a receptacle of antiquities, of various ages, and other curiosities, without order or arrange- ment. A series of 6 weeping figures (pleureuses), in alabaster, from some monument ; a model of the Saint Cha- pelle, mentioned above, now destroyed; ^bony cabinet, ornamented in the style of the Renaissance, from Agnes Sorel'8 castle, Bon-sire-aime, and some portraits, including those of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, merit notice. Bourges was the birthplace of Louis XL, and of Bourdalou-e, one of the first pulpit orators of the French Church. The Railway is continued from Bourges by 10 Moulins Stat. 9 Bengy Stat. 6 Savigny Stat. 6 Nerondes Stat. 5 Avor Stat. 12 La Guerche Stat., where the Allier is crossed. 9 Le Guetin Junction Stat. [Here a branch Rly. diverges 1. 11 kilom. to Nevehs Stat,] (Rte. 105.) 12 Mars Stat. 7 St. Pierre le Moutier Stat. In the village is an old Ch., and near it the ruins of the massy donjon tower of Langeron. 2 St. Hubert Stat. 9 Villeneuve Stat. Allier Stat. 14 Moulins Stat, (in Rte. 105.) 9 Varennes Stat. 7 Creechy Stat. St. Germain des Fosses Stat, for Vichy, distant 9 kilom. = 5£ Eng. m. Omnibuses and carriages thither on the arrival of every train. Vichy. — Inns: The greater number of visitors live at the hotels or board- ing-houses. Of the first there are 8 or 10, the best being the Hotel Guillermen and Hdtel de Paris, the two most fashion- able;—the Hotel Velay, kept by Ger- mot, excellent and moderate ; — Hotel de Corneil, civil people. In none is the accommodation first-rate, being greatly inferior to similar watering-places in Germany. There are very few sitting- rooms in any of the hotels, unless you turn a bed-room into one, for which the same price for board is ex- acted as if occupied; the principle at Vichy being that " le lit mange." The charges vary from 8 to 12f. per diem; at the Hotel Velay the price for a bed- room and board was 9f. 75c. in 1855, and 4f. 75c. for servants. It is usual for all the inmates to breakfast and dine together, but this rule is often de- parted from in the case of families who have their own servants who can wait upon them, or when returning after the Central France. Route 101. — Vichy. 343 ordinary hours for those meals from excursions in the country. Lodgings may be easily obtained in private houses, with sitting-rooms, &c. \ and arrangements made with the pro- prietors for furnishing meals, or by hiring servants — a system better suited perhaps for families, especially English. Vichy is situated in the valley of the Ailier, a rapid stream here crossed by a bridge \ m. long. Little eminences surmounted by round towers, of which the Vieux Vichy is one, rise along the 1. bank of the river. To this has been added a new quarter or suburb, con- sisting chiefly of hotels and lodging- houses connected with the old town by a fine promenade, shaded by avenues of plane-trees. This is the watering-place properly speaking, now one of the most frequented in France, and daily in- creasing in prosperity and reputation. The mineral springs of Vichy are acidulous and alkaline. The water has been not inappropriately compared to heated soda-water, their principal in- gredients being carbonate of soda and carbonic acid gas in excess. This acid is combined with the soda, potash, and lime ; but the im- portant ingredient is the bicarbonate of soda resulting from this combination. There are 8 principal springs, vary- ing in temperature from 56° Fahr. ( Les Celestins) to 113° (Puits Carre'). The former therefore cannot be considered thermal. These sources are, with the quantity of bicarbonate of soda con- tained in an English pint of each : — Grains of bicarb, of Temp. soda in a o pint. Grande Grille • . 89-5 . . 44 Puits Chomel • • . 104 . . . 45 Puits Carre . . . 113 . . . 45 VHopital . . . . 113 . . . 45* Lucas . 82-5 . . 45$ Lardy .... . 77 . . . 39 . . 44 Celestins . . . . 56 . . . 50 Three of the springs— La Grande Grille, Le Puits Chomel, and the Puits Carr^, rise under the foundations of the Batiment Thermal ; three others, L'Hdpital, Lea Sources Lucas et Lardy, in different parts of the old town ; La Source des Celestins near the banks of the Ailier, at an inconvenient distance : the Brosson source has been pro- cured by an Artesian boring. The Grande Grille is most used for drink- ing, from its vicinity to the Bath- house, and for exportation. The Bath-house, called the Etablisse- ment or Batiment Thermal, is a very handsome building, faced by a long colonnade, containing in the- upper floor a reading and ball room ; in the lateral ranges or wings are numerous baths tolerably well appointed, and 4 douches. The water is received in stone basins, has the appearance of boiling from the quantity of carbonic acid gas which bubbles up through it. The season at Vichy commences as early as the end of May, and lasts until the end of August. The following is the routine observed by persons frequent- ing the waters for their health: — On arrival it is usual to consult one of the medical men attached to the baths, without whose certificate no one is allowed to use tliem: the most eminent phy- sicians being Dr. Alquie, the Gov. Di- rector, and Dr. Villemain, the Under Director, a gentleman who can be most strongly recomended. Although the legal fee is only 5f., visitors generally continue to consult them during their stay, and on leaving present such an amount as they may consider fair for the advice and benefit they have de- rived. English generally give 20f. on their first visit. This being arranged, the day is generally passed thus : — As early as 6 a crowd assembles to drink the waters, which occupies, with the subsequent exercise, an hour or two. To this succeeds breakfast at 10 ; after- wards the bath, for those who are recommended to bathe. Tickets for the baths are obtained on presenting the physician' 8 certificate, and cost 1* f. each, or a small trifle less on taking a certain number (cachets). Owing to the number of applicants, persons may have sometimes a long time to wait. The table-d'hdte dinner takes place at 5, and in the evening the company assemble in the salon of their hotel. Precedence at the table-d'hote is de- termined by the date of the visitor's arrival, as in the choice of bed-rooms; 344 Route 101. — Vichy — Excursions. Sect. V. the longest resident occupying the head of the table and having first choice of apartments. The Etablissement Thermal, with its handsome saloons and reading-rooms, is the general rendezvous of the bathers. The subscription for what is considered the course of baths, occupying about 6 weeks, was, in 1855, 30 f. for 2 per- sons, which admits the subscriber to all balls, concerts, &c. These are fre- quent, commencing at half-past 8 and generally ending before midnight, the physicians regulating the time. The concerts have been conducted hitherto by Strauss, who resides here in the season, a guarantee for the music. Collections are made at the several ho- tels and boarding-houses for charitable purposes; and on leaving it is usual for visitors to leave 5 f. or more for the cha- rities and parish schools of the town. The waters of Vichy have of late years acquired a well merited celebrity throughout Europe, and have become more and more the rendezvous of Eng- lish visitors. They are considered to be particularly efficacious in chronic com- plaints of the liver and digestive or- gans arising from acidity and from atony ; but it is principally in en- largements of the liver, either pro- duced by long residence in warm cli- mates (as in India for example), and in hepatic obstructions that they are useful. The same may be said as regards obstructions of the spleen, in diseases of the kidneys and urinary organs (especially gravel of the most frequent kind, that produced by uric acid), in gout, and the glandular affec- tions produced by it. The completion of the Rly. to St. Germain des Fosses now renders it easy to reach Vichy in a day from Paris; by leaving the latter at 9 40 the tra- vellers reach St. Germain des Fosses at 7 20 p.m., where carriages will always be found ready to convey the traveller, in less than an hour, to Vichy. Per- sons who wish to divide the journey will find Bourges the best sleeping- place, leaving which at 7 A.M., Vichy will be reached by 2 p.m. N. of the great Round Tower, the only one remaining out of 7 which de- eded the walls, stands the mansion which Madame de Sevigne* occupied, and from which she wrote some of her Letters : see vol. v. The Rocker des Celestins, at the foot of which the springs rise, so called from a convent in ruins on its top, presents a curious geological pheno- menon, being composed of vertical strata of a tufacious rock, almost pure arragonite, no doubt deposited from mineral springs, projecting in shattered slabs above the surface, and abutting at a short distance against horizontal strata of the same tufa. The situation of Vichy is agreeable, but not striking, in an open and highly cultivated country, the celebrated Li- magne d'Auvergne (Rte. 109); in fact, Vichy's main attractions are its waters. Several pleasant excursions may be made in the neighbourhood; light ca- liches, by the hour and at a fixed rate, are always in readiness for hire, as well as donkeys. The most frequented drive is along the road to Thiers. Ardoissin, Mallavant, the Montagne Verte, and the Valley ofSichou afford plea- sant walks and drives, and the stream of the latter prime trout-fishing. More distant excursions may be made to the Chateau d'Effiat, which belonged to the Marechal of that name, the father of St. Mars, the favourite of Louis XIII., who was born here, and was executed at Lyons at the instiga- tion of Cardinal Richelieu ; to the Cha- teau of Randan, a modern mansion with pretty grounds, purchased by Madame Adelaide, the sister of King Louis- Philippe, from the Ohoiseul family, and bequeathed by her to her nephew the Due de Montpensier. • When the Orleans family were obliged to sell all their pos- sessions in France, Randon passed into the hands of the Genoese millionaire De Ferraris, now Duke di Galliera. Vichy possesses a large military hos- pital, where soldiers are sent from every part of France. Since the occu- pation of Algeria, and the increase of chronic affections of the liver arising from a residence there, it has been found necessary to enlarge it. The Allier is crossed at St. Germain des Fosse's by a long viaduct. The rly. ascends the valley by Cent. France. Route 103. — Bourges to Montlugon. 345 St. Remy Stat. Ronteignet Stat. Gannat Stat. Aigueperse Stat. Riom Gerzat Clermont FerranJ Stat. ► See Rte. 109. (Rte. 109). ROUTE 103. BOURGES TO MONTLUCON AND NERIS LES BAINS. Diligences daily. Country flat and of little interest. By 18 Levet. 13 Jariole. A little on one side of the road is the ruined Abbey of Noiriac, so named from a dark pool near it. It is now converted into a China manufactory, including The Ch., a large and still perfect struc- ture, and a good example of the tran- sition Gothic of the latter part of the 13th centy., 1289. The kitchen and refectory, supported on pillars, still re- main, as well as the cloister. 16 St. Amand Montrond, a neat town of 6636 Inhab., on the Marmande, about a mile from the rt. bank of the Cher. Only a few shapeless ruins remain of its Castle, once an important strong- hold, belonging to the princes de Conde', in which the sickly infant who grew to be le Grand Conde was nursed and reared. His heroic wife, the Princess Clemence de Maille, after her escape from Chantilly, 1650, threw herself and her son into this castle, whence, after gathering around her the dependants and retainers of the house of Conde, she set forth to cross some of the wildest provinces of France in. order to join the Dukes of Bouillon and La Rochefoudald, and put herself at the head of the army of the Fronde, which kept possession of Bordeaux against Mazarin. Montrond was the birthplace of Gaston de Foix ; it was fortified by the Due de Sully, who wrote here his 'Adieux a la Cour:' after enduring a siege of a whole year's duration, 1652, from the royal forces, it was compelled to surrender to the Comte de Palluau, who levelled the fortifications. The last tower which remained standing has been pulled down, in order that the proprietor may make gardens and ter- races on the site. About 21 m. S.W. of St. Amand is the Chateau de Meillant, built 1511, for Charles, Seigneur de Chaumont, some- what in the style of the house of Jacques Coeur at Bourges, with similar external ornaments, balustrades, and projecting towers to contain the snail- shell stairs, but vastly inferior to it. The blazing hill, -sculptured in various parts, is intended as a sculptured pun on the owner's name, Chauds Mimts. The decorations of the interior are not supposed to be later than the 18th cent. On the towers are sculptured figures of sentinels threatening all who approach, like those on the battlements of Alnwick. The road from St. Amand is very agreeable, running by the side of the Cher. At Drevant, on its rt. bank, tra- versed by the road, extensive substruc- tions of a theatre, and other Roman buildings, have been laid bare. A branch of the Canal du Cher runs parallel with the Cher and the high road from St. Amand to Montlu^on, and the coal mines of Commentry, where it terminates. 18 Meaulne.. 16 Reugny (Dept. Allier). 15 Montlucon (Inns: H. de France, and de l'Ecu), a very ancient town of the province of the Bourbonnais, having 11,922 Inhab., picturesquely situated on the slope of a hill, whose base is washed by the Cher, and its summit crowned by a, Castle.. During the middle ages it was a strong fortress ; and, from its position near the frontier of the French king's domains, had often to sustain the attacks of the English. A part of its old walls, and their flanking watch- towers, still remains, constructed with great soadity.. The donjon, and a few towers, on. the, summit of the hill, are all that remain^ of the castle of the Dues. de. Bourbon, which commanded the town, as its ruins still command an extensive, view. Diligences to Moulins until the branch Rly. is finished. A hilly and uninteresting road to a Ne'ris (Inns: Grand Hotel,— H. Leopold),, a w.ate^ng-place of consider- able resort wi£Uj», a few years, but well known to the Romans, who must have Q 3 346 Route 103.— Neris. Route 104.— Paris to Dijon. Sect. V. had a magnificent establishment here, judging from the architectural frag- ments— columns, friezes, foundations of walls— discovered from time to time. Yet it is only since 182 1 that the French have begun a bath-house, which is not yet finished, and which, with several boarding-houses attached to a poor vil- lage of 800 Inhab., compose the place. The mineral waters are warm, 126° Fahr., alkaline, but nearly tasteless, so that the inhabitants employ them for culi- nary purposes and for drinking; they are furnished from 4 sources, one of which, La Source Nouvelle, burst forth, 1 757, at the time of the earthquake at Lisbon. The latter are exclusively used for baths, being introduced into the houses. They resemble the spring of gchlangen- bad, have the same unctuous feel to the touch, the same smoothing effect on the skin, and sedatiye influence on the nerves. The latter are recommended in nervous and rheumatic affections ; neuralgia, sciatica, &c. It is usual to go to bed after taking the bath, in order to promote perspiration. There are also douche and mud baths, and 8 piscines or public baths. The very pretty promenade, or Jardin cfes Bains, occupies the site of an am- phitheatre, built by the Romans for the recreation of visitors to these remote baths of Aquce Neri, as Ne'ris was an- oiently called. Concentric terraces mark the stages on which the seats were plaoed ; and traces remain of one of the passages which divided them into cunei, or wedges. There are con- siderable fragments of walls. The Church is a very ancient Roman- esque edifice, in the form of a basilica, ending in 3 apses. The arches in the nave are pointed, those in the choir round. From the rude sculpture of the capitals, its date has been referred to the 11th centy. The country around is pleasing, and the situation very healthy. The road to Clermont is carried through a wild hilly district, passing through a country of primitive rocks shortly before reaching *18 Montaigu, a little town appro- -nately named from its site on a pointed crowned by a castle, situated in Vpt. Puy de Dome. At Menat are quarries, whence tripoli or polishing slate is obtained : it is pro- duced by the spontaneous combustion of iron pyrites acting on beds of bitu- minous shale, which contains impres- sions of fresh-water vegetables, fish, and insects. Near this the road ascends a long and steep hill, commanding a very extensive view over the volcanic ranges of Auvergne, and near at hand looks down upon the Castle of Blot, seated amidst rugged rocks. The river Sioule is crossed before reaching 27 St. Pardoux. The very peculiar forms of the volcanic mountains of the Puy de Ddine cannot fail to arrest at- tention. We now enter the fertile plain of the Limagne d' Auvergne. J5 cZZmt } d«sc^ed in Rte- 109- ROUTE 104. PARIS TO DIJON, BY MELUN, FONTAINE- BLEAU, MONTEREAU, SENS, JOIGNY [AUXERRE], AND TONNERRE. — PARIS AND LYONS RAILROAD A. Terminus Boulevard Mazas, on the rt. bank of the Seine, not far from the Bastille. 6 trains daily to Chalons — fast in 10 hrs. 20 min., slow in 13 hrs. 10 min. halt for refreshment at Ton- nerre. The first part of this railway, from Paris to Tonnerre, was opened 1 849. It is carried up the valleys of the Seine, Yonne, Armancon, Brenne, and Oze. The river Marne is crossed by a bridge of two divisions, respectively of 2 and 3 arches, at 5 Charenton Stat., a village of 1900 Inhab., containing a Lunatic Asylum, a large building. Two of the detached forts for the defence of Paris here guard the passage of the Seine, one on each bank. 2 Alfort Stat. ; near this is a large veterinary college, the most celebrated establishment of the kind in France. rt. flows the Seine; 8 Villeneuve St. George Stat. 1. is the Forest of Senart, Viaduct of 9 arches over the valley of the Yeres river. 7 Brunoy Stat. 2nd viaduct of 28 arches 72 ft. high. N Central France. Route 104. — Fontainebleau. 347 4 Combes la Ville Stat. 1. m. is Brie Comte Robert. 5 Lieusaint Stat. 4 Cesson Stat. A handsome bridge of 3 arches of cast iron traverses the Seine at le Mee. 7 Melun Stat, (fan: H. de France), a town of 7528 Inhab., chef -lieu of the Dept. Seine et Marne. It is mentioned in Caesar's Commentaries under the name Melodunum. In 1520 it was be- sieged and taken by the armies of Henry V. and the Duke of Burgundy, but the English were ejected 1 530. Diligence to Provins by Nanjis. £ Bois le Roi Stat. There is a very fine viaduct of 30 arches, 66 ft. high by 33 wide, at Avon. In the old church of the village, Mo- naldeschi, favourite of Christina Queen of Sweden, murdered by her orders (p. 348), is buried. A small square stone in the pavement, near the benitier, marks the grave. 5 Fontainebleau Station is about 1 m. E. of the town— omnibus thither. Fontainebleau. — Inns: H. de France, facing the Palace; good. Ville de Lyon, — clean, comfortable, and moderate; Aigle Noir; — H. de Londres, good, civil people; — Cafe du Balcon. This town, seated in the midst of the Forest of Fontainebleau, has swelled, under the influence of the presence and smiles of royalty, to a population of 10,000, from a poor hamlet in the time of Louis VII., who first built a castle here ( 1 1 62). It owes its consequence entirely to its ** Chateau Royal}* palace of much his- torical interest, but not very imposing as an edifice, externally, in spite of its extent; the masses of building com- posing it, though they enclose 6 courts, being limited to low ranges of 2 or 3 stories, chiefly of brick. The oldest and the greatest part of the existing edifice dates from the reign of Francis I., excepting the chapel. Time, neglect, and violence had greatly dimmed the splendour of this venerable seat of kings, when Louis- Philippe undertook to revive it; and his judicious and splendid restorations, following closely the style and cha- racter of the different periods at which it was originally constructed, have added greatly to the magnificence and interest of the palace. The entrance is by the " Cour du Che val Blanc," so called from a plaster cast of the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius at Rome, which Catherine of Medici set up in it, but it no longer exists. In the midst of this court, near the foot of the horseshoe stair, Napoleon took leave of the remnant of the Old Guard, who had followed him to the last, midst his reverses, pre- viously to his departure for Elba, 1814, an event commemorated by the well- known picture of " Les Adieux de Fon- tainebleau." The apartments first entered are those fitted up for the late Due d' Or- leans, on the occasion of his marriage ; they had been originally occupied by Catherine de' Medici and Anne of Austria, whence they got the name Appartements des Reims Meres. Here Pope Pius VII. was lodged, rejecting all the magnificence and comforts pre- pared for him by his, imperial jailer, who desired that his forced residence of 3 years should have the appearance of a visit rather than an imprisonment. Napoleon attempted in a private inter- view to wring from the old man his consent to the Concordat, by which he renounced temporal power. The ceiling of the salon, recently restored, is very gorgeous. In the Chapelle de la Trinity, whose paintings are inferior and faded, the marriages of Louis XV. with Maria Leckzinska (1725) and of the late Due d'Orleans (1837) were celebrated. The Galerie de Francois I. is one of the most striking in the palaee; perfectly cha- racteristic of the style of art of the period of the Renaissance; and it sup- plies specimens of some of the pro- ductions of the Italians attracted, at the king's bidding, to France, where they founded a school of art. Its roof is of walnut wood, its walls are richly panelled and covered with stucco, scroll-work, carvings, trophies, de- vices, among which the Salamander of Francis is often repeated alternating with terms, or Caryatid figures, me- dallions, bas-reliefs. These serve partly as frames to 14 pictures, in fresco, the work of Rossi (Maitre Roux), a Flo- 348 Route 104. — Fontainebleau. Sect. V rentine, and his scholars. One of Danae, however, is attributed to /'#••- maticcw, who is supposed also to have designed the ornaments. The paint- ings, now too much faded or injured to be appreciated, are chiefly mytho- logical subjects, chosen for their alle- gorical reference to the life of Francis. In the first he is represented opening the Temple of Art and Taste to a crowd of blind persons; next comes a Triumph, in honour of the victory of Marignan, led by a caparisoned ele- phant; then the Rape of Europa; the Burning of Troy; iEneos carrying off Anchises, &c. In the centre is a bust of Francis. The paintings of the age of Francis I. were of so licentious a character, that Anne of Austria thought right to cause a great part of them to be effaced in 1653, when she became Regent, and this will account for the slight remains now existing. The Cabinet de 'Travail contains the little round mahogany table at which Na- poleon, in 1814, signed his abdication, a fac-simile of which, blotted and scrawled, is suspended on the walls. His bed-room remains nearly as he left it. The Salle du Trfae is of the age of Louis XIII. and XIV., but the throne was set up by Buonaparte. The Boudoir de la Heine was fitted up for the unfortunate Marie- Antoinette by Louis XVI., and the metal window bolts (espagnolettes) are said to have been wrought by his own hand, and are masterly specimens of his skill in smith's work. The Qalerie de Diane is a long corridor, built 1600, but deco- rated with paintings relating to that goddess, by modern artists. Below it runs the Galerie des Cerfs, which was in 1657 the scene of the atrocious murder of an Italian, the Marquis Monaldeschi, by 3 assassins hired for the purpose by Christina of Sweden, at that time re- siding in the chateau as the guest of Louis XIII. The reason assigned by her for the crime was some alleged betrayal of her secrets by Monaldeschi, who was her high chamberlain, and had enjoyed her full confidence. She subjected him to a sort of mock trial, in which she acted as judge and jury. She sent for a priest to confess him *ore she gave orders for his murder, which was executed in the confessor's presence. Monaldeschi seems not to have been free from suspicions of his mistress, for he wore under his dress a coat of mail, which turned the first thrusts of the sword of the assassin. The French court was content to give a hint of displeasure at this atrocity, but the queen remained here until 1659. This gallery is now subdivided into small apartments, and is not shown. The suite of rooms called Salons de Reception comprises one called de Fran- cois I., containing Gobelins tapestries, of recent date, as brilliant as oil paint- ings, and a chimney-piece ornamented with Sevres china. A second is named after Louis XIII,, because he was born in it; and the Salle de St. Louis is orna- mented with a high relief of Henri IV. on horseback, over the fireplace. The Salle des Gardes is admirably and most richly restored: the paintings on the walls are in the style of those of the Loggie of Raphael. The chimney- piece rests on 2 figures of Strength and Peace, and in the centre is a bust of Henri IV. The Salle du Bat, or Galerie de Henri II., is the most splendid of the recent restorations, and one of the finest things in the palace. The paintings have been renovated with as much care as possible, yet, it is to be feared, retain little of the master pencils of Priinaticcio, and his pupil, Niocolo del Abbate, by whom they were executed. The ceiling is most gorgeous and elaborate with ornaments ; the walls are of consistent richness. Every- where appears the crescent of Diana of Poictiers, and her initial D. linked with that of her royal lover, H. The chimney-piece, glittering with fleurs- de-lis, and resplendent with marbles, was the work of the sculptor Bandelet. The Chapelle de St. Saturnin, on the ground floor, is said to be of the time of Louis VII., and the oldest part of the palace ; but the repairs of Francis I., who found it in ruins, have disguised and altered it so that little of its primi- tive structure can be traced. It was ori- ginally dedicated by Thomas a Becket. In its windows is some good modern painted glass, from the designs of the late talented Princess Marie d' Orleans. V Central France. Route 104. — Fontainebleau. 349 The Porte Donfe, a splendid portal, decorated with revived frescoes, ori- ginally by Rossi, leads from the Cour Ovale to the Allee de Maintcnon, " named by the proudest and vainest king in Europe after his plebeian wife." The Oval Court is also called Cour du Donjon, from an elevated pavilion on an archway in the style of the Re- naissance, and includes the oldest part of the Palais. The other entrance to it is called Port Dauphine, because built at the birth of Louis XIII., 1601. The gardens at the back of the palace are not, on the whole, very remark- able to one accustomed to those of England. That called Jardin Anglais is bordered by a triangular pond, in the midst of which rises a pavilion surrounded by water. The "Fontaine de Belle Eau," which gave the name to the place, rose, it is said, within the garden; but the source has been lost in forming the artificial ponds. Philippe le Bel was born and died at Fontainebleau; the emperor Charles V. was lodged in the Salle des Poeles, and entertained here by Francis I., 1530; Henrietta Maria sought refuge here when the cause of Charles I. became hopeless, 1644; here the Marechal de Biron, betrayed by his agent Mann, was arrested for conspiracy against Henri IV., 1602, and conveyed to the Bastille; the Grand Conde died here 1686, and Louis XIY. here signed (1685) the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Sandstone quarries around Fon- tainebleau not only furnish paving stones for the chausseed high roads around the town, but are transported in quantities down the Seine to Pans. The rock sometimes presents very pretty groups of crystals, having the form of carbonate of lime, but com- posed of fine Band united by a calcareous cement, well known to mineralogists. The band of the Cavalry Regt. sta- tioned here plays every Thursday and Sunday afternoon in the Gardens of the Chateau. Cfa/itf'Reillier, Place au Charbon, is the best. Post Office, Rue St. Merry, No. 49. Baths, No. 33 same street. English Church Service in the Temple Protestant, Rue du Cimetiere, No. 1 bis, not far from the Post Office, every Sun- day at 3-30 ; French Service at 12-30. Local souvenirs made of the wood of the juniper (GeneVrier) are made and sold here. Carriage hire with 2 horses, 1 2 fr. per diem; saddle-horse, 6 fr. ; donkey, 2 fr. : may be engaged at any of the hotels. It is scarcely possible to praise too highly the woodland scenery of La Foret de Fontainebleau, the constant resort of French artists in summer, many of whom take up their quarters at the village Barbizon, on the skirts of the forest, at the homely Inn (Ganne), which is embellished with a curious gallery of sketches, by many hands, of different inmates, covering walls, panels, shut- ters, with arabesques and whimsies. It would take weeks to explore the forest thoroughly. An excellent Guide has been published by M. Denecourt, a veteran officer of Napoleon, who has devoted himself to " la Foret." His map is essential in tracing the various picturesque routes which he has indi- cated, by the paths which he has cut through the wildest parts, making them clear to the wanderer by arrows painted on the rocks or trees. The forest of Fontainebleau extends over an area of about 60,000 Eng. acres. This attractive hunting-ground in- duced the monarchs of France, ardent lovers of the chase, to build a palace within it, and make it their favourite resort. At the Revolution of 1830, however, all the deer were extermi- nated. Only a small portion of the forest is occupied with full-grown" trees; but here and there it has pre- served noble groves of oaks and beech, of majestic size and luxuriant foliage, which may have sheltered the jovial Francois I., the Bon Roi Henri IV., Louis XIV., and Napoleon. A large space is covered with broom, heath, and underwood, and with extensive plantations of black fir, from the midst of which picturesque masses of bare sandstone rock (gres de Fontainebleau) break through, and give great variety and picturesqueness to the forest sce- nery. The points best worth visiting are — to the rt. of the road from Paris, i the Gorges (TApremont and de Franchard, I above which are remains of a hermit- 3oO Route 104. — Montereau, Sect. V. age, as old as the days of Philippe- Auguste, destroyed by Louis XIV. ; and to the 1. of the road La Valine de la Solle, La Gorge aux Loupe, and Nid de l'Aigle. " La Croix du Grand Veneur," an obelisk on the grand route, at a place where 4 roads meet, receives its name from a spectral Black Huntsman, sup- posed to haunt the forest, who ap- peared here to Henri IV., according to the story, shortly before his assas- sination. The forest is so intersected with roads radiating in all directions, that it is difficult to find one's way without a map or a guide. Railway continues 5 Thomery Stat. On the borders of the Seine are grown the fine Chasselas grapes called Fontainebleau grapes. 5000 or 6000 baskets of them, packed in heather, are sent down the Seine every week in autumn, to supply the markets of Paris. The vines are trained along the houses and walls of the village, shel- tered by narrow roofs from the rain. Even the streets are. vineyards, and every foot of wall is covered with vines. Viaduct at St. Mammes of 30 arches, 62 ft. high, 32 ft. wide. 5 Moret St. Mammes Stat. Moret is a picturesque old walled town on the verge of the Forest of Fontaine- bleau, with ancient Ch. and Castle. 10 Montereau Stat, (Inns : none good : — Grand Monarque) is a town of 41 53 Inhab., occupying a pleasing situation, and one very advantageous for com- merce, at the junction of the two navigable rivers the Seine and Yonne, whence it has gained the adjunct to its name Montereau - faut -Yonne — where the Yonne fails, or is lost in the Seine. The most considerable part lies on the 1. bank of the Yonne. Both rivers are crossed by bridges, and the one over the Seine (or rather an older bridge in the same situation) was the scene of the murder of Jean-Sans-Peur, Duke of Burgundy, in 1419, in the presence and by the orders of the Dauphin (afterwards Charles VII.), during a conference be- tween them, and in spite of the precau- tions which had been resorted to of erecting double barricades to divide arsons of the 2 princes. The blow was struck by Tanneguy du Chastel. The conference was designed to bring about a reconciliation, in order that the two parties might com- bine to resist the invasion of France by Henry V. That king, before the walls of Montereau, committed the atrocious cruelty of hanging 1 2 of the garrison whom he had made prisoners, in sight of their friends within the walls, in order to induce them to sur- render. 1. Here a branch Railway to Troyes (Rte. 143) diverges. " The traveller who approaches Mon- tereau from the side of Paris involun- tarily halts on the summit of the heights of Surville, which overhang the town on the N., to gaze on the lovely scene which lies spread out, like a map, beneath his feet : he would do well to remember that there, beside the little cross adjacent to the chateau, stood Napoleon during the last and not the least of his many victories, on Feb. 18th, 1814. On the evening of the 17th the French troops assembled in imposing masses on these heights (which they had gained only after a severe conflict), and which commanded the bridge and town beneath. The artillery of the Guard was placed on either side of the road near the cross, and the Emperor took his station, in person, amidst the guns, to direct their fire, for the enemy still held the town. Such was his eagerness to annihilate the dense masses of the enemy crowd- ing over the bridge, that he himself, resuming his old occupation of a gun- ner, with his own hand, as at Toulon, levelled and pointed a cannon upon them." — Alison. The allies were so hotly pursued by the French cuiras- siers, that they were driven over the Seine, and out of Montereau, having barely time to blow up the bridge over the Yonne, which checked the pursuit in the direction of Sens. The Railroad ascends the pleasant and fertile valley of the Yonne. 11 Villeneuve-la-Guiard Stat. — Inn: H. de la Souche, tolerable. 12 Pont-sur- Yonne Stat., pleasantly situated on green banks fringed with tall poplars and silvery willows. The country is full of vineyards ; and a C ent r a t, Fr a n ce. Route 1 04 . — Sens — Joigny — A uxerre. 35 1 larger proportion than ordinary of the chateaux of the old noblesse seem to be in existence near the churches of the villages, or peeping over the trees. 11 Sens Stat. — Inn: H. de l'Ecu; clean but extortionate. This ancient capital of the Sennones is now but a small city, containing 10,335 Inhab., partly surrounded by its original ram- parts. It is remarkably clean, with little becks of water running through the streets, supplied from a stream called the Yanne, which falls into the Yonne hard by. The *Cathedral, de- dicated to St. Stephen, is one of the finest of its style, early Gothic, or Transition Norman, resembling Can- terbury, whose builder was William of Sens ; it has undergone a thorough repair. The tracery in front of the transepts is the perfection of flam- boyant detail. The painted glass de- serves peculiar attention. It was executed by Jean Cousin, a native of Soucy, a village near Sens, who attained great excellence in this as well as in other branches of art. The colouring is extremely harmonious. The tomb of tiie Chancellor Duprat has partly escaped the general destruction; the bas-reliefs around it are very curious. (Temp. Francis I.) There is also a monument to the dauphin, son of Louis XV., and his wife, by Coustou. In the Treasury, among other curious relics, are shown the vests and mitre of Thomas Becket, his alb, girdle, stole, maniple, and chasuble, to all appearance genuine; they have been repaired. He fled to Sens 1 1 64, when he escaped out of England from the wrath of Henry II. The altar of St. Thomas is said to be the same at which Becket performed his devotions, and is very ancient. He resided, while in this city, in the Abbey of St. Colnmbe, now occupied by the Sceurs de l'Enfance de Jesus. The Cathedral has 2 of the largest Bells in France ; one weighs 1 6 J tons. 3 of the old town gates, the Portes Notre Dame, St. Antoine, and St. Remy, still remain : they are probably as old as the 14th cent. The walls of Sens, which, on the south side, extend in a straight un- broken line, exhibit in the lower por- tions magnificent remains of Roman, some Bay Gaulish, masonry. [At Vallery, 12 in. to the W. of Sens, the Grand Conde is buried in the Ch., which contains a costly monu- ment of marble. The Chateau was de- signed by Philibert Delorme.] An open chalky country follows Sens till you reach 14 Villeneuve-le-Roi (or sur- Yonne) Stat., a pretty and peculiar town, with much scope for the use of the pencil and sketch-book. The principal street is terminated by a gate at each end, of feudal times, yet apparently more for ornament than defence. The church, in the style of the Renaissance, is richly ornamented. 8 St. Jullien-du Sault Stat. 11 Joigny J unct. Stat. — Inn: Due de Bourgogne; dear. This town (Pop. 6056) is also pleasantly situated on the Yonne. It derives its ancient name (Joviniacum) from Jovinian (see Reims). A fine quay, closed at either end by an iron gate, runs along the side of the Yonne, from one end of the town to the other. The old town, scarcely ac- cessible, owing to its steep and numer- ous streets, contains 3 Gothic churches — St. Jean, which stood within the castle ; St. Andre', attached to the priory ; and St. Thibault.- [A Branch Bly. diverges from La- roche Stat, by Chemille and Moncleau Stats, to Auxerre. Trains in 52 min. 17 Auxerre Stat. — Inn: Leopard, on the quai, next the Poste; civil people. This city of 12,673 Inhab., very pret- tily situated on the 1. bank of the Yonne, and chef-lieu of that Dept., is seen to great advantage from a distance. The grand mass of the cathedral, and two or thre#-other large churches, and a ruined spire, all rise finely above the houses. The ^Cathedral has a splendid though unfinished facade, in the Flamboyant Gothic style, which prevails through- out the edifice, except in the choir, in the early Gothic (1215-30). " The transepts are covered externally with the boldest flowing tracery, occasion- ally standing free from the wall. The doors and rose windows are magnifi- cent."— Petit. The nave was finished about 1350. Within, it is beautifully proportioned ; and the painted glass, 352 Route 104- — Auxerre — Vezelay* occr» v • principally in mosaic patterns, is splen- did. Here is the tomb of Jacques Amyot, whilome bishop of this see, : and celebrated for his racy translation of Plutarch, so excellent in its style as almost to form an era in the history of the French language. The chapter of Auxerre was at one time one of the richest in France, but they freed them- selves from most of their superfluous possessions by indulging in the luxury of litigation. St. Germain, now attached to the Hdtel Dieu, on the height, is in a ' plainer style than the cathedral ; it has lost part of its nave, but possesses ' a lofty choir, and transepts. Under- neath are curious crypts, one below another; in the lower are some tombs of early counts of Auxerre. It has an ancient tower, which belonged to the W. front, but is now detached. St. Pierre is a large and handsome specimen of Italianised Gothic, begun at the end of the 16th centy., and finished 1672. St. Eusebe is a Ro- manesque church in its nave, and de- tached tower, with a choir in the florid style, begun 1530. There is a curious old clock tower over a gate-house, "with an ugly skeleton spire of iron bars," in the Place du Marche. " The Boulevards, in the place of the ancient walls which surround the town on 3 sides, present a variety of pro- spects; the moats are filled with plan- tations of acacia, gardens, and vines; the fine old towers are covered with festoons of ivy." — Miss Cost el lo. A considerable quantity of wines (chiefly ordinaires), the growth of La Basse Bourgogne, are sent down the Yonne hence to Paris. Chdblis, about 12 m. E. of this, on the road to Ton- nerre, gives its name to a wine of superior quality, prized for drinking at breakfast or with oysters. 10 Champs. A good road, avoiding the hills and St. Bris, leads from Aux- erre to Semur, keeping along the banks of the Yonne, through the pretty vil- lages of Champs, Vincelles, and Cra- vaut-Vermanton. 15 Vermanton. Inn: Etoile. 19 Lucy-le-Bois (no Inn) stands in a sheltered and rather pretty valley. The rocks around, and the stone heaps at the road-side derived from them, abound in fossils of the lias and gryphitc limestone. About 6 m. from Vermanton, and 9 from Lucy-le-Bois, to the S., are the Grottes cTArcy, a series of natural caverns in the limestone, many of vast extent, abounding in stalactites, and in bats, separated from one another by natural divisions, through which it is often necessary to crawl on hands and knees. The entrance to them is by a door inserted in an opening in the rock of a wooded dell, on the borders of the Cure. A guide, with candles, can be obtained at the village ; the best time to visit them is during dry weather. The largest cavern is about 25 ft. high, 30 wide, and 400 long. 9 Avallon (/nn: Poste), a pleasantly situated town, nearly surrounded by a ravine. Around it runs a broad ter- race walk, under lime-trees, about 500 ft. above the bed of the Cousin. The Ch. is ancient, and has a curious Romanesque portal. Parts of its in- terior are singular.] [8 m. off the road, to the E., is Vezelay, a decayed town, capital of the district of Le Morvan, situated on a hill 2000 ft. high, commanding a noble view, surrounded by embattled walls, and entered still by feudal gateways. It contains a very remarkable * Abbey Church, dedicated to the Madeleine, finely seated on the summit of a hill. The W. front lost one of its towers by the attack of the Huguenots in 1569; the lower part of it is Roman- esque, the upper a late Pointed Re- storation, poor in effect. Another tower rises from the angle between the nave and S. transept. The W. doors lead into a sort of porch, destined, like the Galilees in some English cathedrals, for catechumens : 3 other doorways open out of this vestibule into the nave; that in the centre is very rich in sculpture, and supported by an ornamental shaft, on which rests a transom covered with a procession of figures, in relief. The tympanum of the arch above it is filled with a large bas-relief : the figure of the Saviour forms the centre, attended by groups of saints reading or writing. One of the Central France. Route 104. — Vezelay. 353 archivolts above is carved with a zodiac, the signs of whioh are inter- mingled with monsters forming 29 medallions. The interior of the nave is very impressive from "its great length, its gloom, and the simplicity of design which pervades its Norman features." It has no triforium, and is surmounted by a cradle roof. These walls doubtless echoed to the voice of Becket in 1168, when he repaired to Vezelay on Ascension-day, when the church was crowded, and, mounting the pulpit, cursed by bell, book, and candle, all those who maintained in England " the Customs of their Eld- ers/' This proceeding so enraged Henry II. that he threatened to con- fiscate all the Benedictine abbeys in England, if the Order continued to shelter Becket in France. A flight of steps leads up into the choir, which, with the transepts, is a fine specimen of early complete Pointed Gothic. It is surrounded by 8 round pillars, each of a single stone, and it is lighted by lancet windows. The axis of the choir differs from that of the nave, inclining a little to the 1. Attached to the S. transept is the Chapter-house, a low vaulted chamber, its roof resting on 2 clumsy central piers in the Romanesque style. Here, it is said, the monks assembled, with tears in their eyes, before their expul- sion in 1154, through the rebellion of their vassals, the townsfolk, aided by the forces of the Comte de Nevers. The oldest part of the existing church is the nave, from the porch E., and the crypt ; and they probably date from 1050, the previous church having been destroyed, "prope ad nihilum re- dactum," in the middle of the 10th centy., and its restoration begun 1008. The W. front is probably of the 12th centy., and the choir of the early part of the 13th. Scarcely any remains ex- ist of the domestic buildings of the abbey, which were so vast that kings, with their suite, could be lodged in them without discomfort- to their monkish inmates. The entire length of the building is 404 ft. ; the height of the choir 70 ft. This ch. has been well restored (1855) by the French Government. Vezelay is now a poor wretched town; yet it possesses interesting his- torical associations. Here, on March 31, 1145, St. Bernard assembled a solemn Council of the Church, and preached in the presence of Louis VII., to a multitude assembled in the open field (the church being too small to hold them), the necessity of a new Crusade, with such impressive elo- quence, that the universal cry for the Cross burst from the crowd around; and the supply of crosses not being sufficient, the Abbot of Clairvaux tore his own red robe to pieces to distri- bute among his willing hearers. The king, on his knees, first received the sacred symbol from him; the nobles followed his example ; and the year following he set out from hence, with his army, for the Holy Land. In 1190 Richard Coeur de Lion and Philippe- Auguste repaired hither to assume the pilgrim's cross at the head of their armies. Theodore Beza, the Reformer and Calvinist theologian, was born at Vezelay, of noble parents, 1519. On the way to Vezelay you pass the church of St. Pere, whose tower is "an almost unique specimen of tran- sition, or very early complete Gothic. The detached shafts, and canopies at its angles, and its several stages of open windows, give it an air of light- ness and elegance such as I have never seen surpassed in later buildings."— Petit, The chateau de Bazoche be- longed to Marshal Vauban, who was born in the village St. Leger de Fou- cheret, in Le Morvan. His room and bed and sword are still preserved in it — also 4 cannon used at the siege of Philipburg. His body is buried in the chapel, his heart is removed to the Invalides.] To the S.W. of Avallon stretches the extensive tract of woodland called La Fordt de Morvan, which supplies Paris with fuel, the wood being cut every 10 or 15 years, by portions at a time, and transported down the Yonne and Seine in rafts.] From Joigny the Railroad is carried to 17 La Roche Stat. 334 Route 104. — St. Florentin — Tonnerre — Tanlay. Sect. V. A bridge of 6 stone arches crosses the Yonne. 9 St. Florentin Stat., a pretty town at the junction of the Armance and Armancon. Its Churchy founded 1376, is said to possess fine painted glass, and a curious double staircase. The walk of the Prieure commands a view. [About 14 m. S. of St. Florentin Stat. on the road to Auxerre, lies the Abbey of Pontigny, remarkable as having been the residence of many English prelates, and the retreat of Thomas Becket during his exile, 1164-6. While here he carried the practice of the auste- rities of the Cistercian order to the very extreme, and while in prayer before one of the altars of the church had a divine vision, accompanied by the words, "Thomas, Thomas, my church shall be glorified by thy blood :" such, at least, is the Romish legend. The Abbey was devastated by the Huguenots, who unroofed and burnt the church and Abbey, and broke open the tombs, 1567; and the de- struction of the conventual buildings and confiscation of the revenues were effected at the Revolution. The Ch., however, still remains, and, though very dilapidated, is a grand edifice, in a severe style of early or transition Gothic, uniform throughout, erected 1150 by the munificence of a Count of Champagne, the finest church in Burgundy" after Sens and Auxerre. It is 354 ft. long and 68 ft. high, and is lighted by narrow lancet windows. Behind the high altar is the Shrine of the English Saint, Edmund Archbishop of Canterbury, an ark or chest of wood, carved and gilt, with a top in the form of a roof, and statues of saints around it, supported by 4 stone statues of angels as large as life. Attached to the S. transept is a chapel, now in ruins, dedicated to St. Thomas the Martyr, who was driven from Pontigny by the threat of Henry II. to banish the Cistercians from Eng- land, if they sheltered him in France. It retains some traces of frescoes, ex- ecuted 1520. Among the English refugees who found shelter here was Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Can- terbury, when banished from England King John, together with his suf- fragans. The church of Pontigny is to be repaired. 3 The railroad from St. Florentin fol- lows the valley of the Armancon, and the line of the Canal de Bourgogne up- wards, through 13 Flogny Stat., where is a wire bridge, to 18 Tvnnerre Stat— [Buffet— 10 min.] (fans: Lion d'Or ; Poste, not good, and exorbitant, 1854.) This is an old and dull town, of 4310 Inhab., on a steep slope, on the summit of which stands the Ch. of St. Pierre, commanding a fine view of the town from its rocky platform, and contain- ing the interesting monument, in marble, of Marguerite de Bourgogne, Queen of Sicily, who founded the noble Hospital in this town, endowing it with large revenues, which it still enjoys. Her effigy, finely sculptured in the costume of the time, reclines upon the tomb. Here is also buried, under an imposing monument, Michel le Telliir, Marquis de Louvois, Minister of War to Louis XIV. It is the work of Girar- don. St. Pierre and Notre Dame possess some architectural interest as Gothic churches. The gnomon traced on the walls of the hospital, in 1786, is interesting as a scientific memorial, 8 Tanlay Stat. — Here is one of the finest chateaux in Burgundy, and tole- rably well kept up by its owner. It is a good specimen of the style of the Renaissance, the oldest part having been begun, 1559, by Coligny d'An- delot, brother of the Admiral Coligny, the leader of the Protestants, and the chief victim of the St. Bartholomew's night. A chamber in the Tour de la Ligue is pointed out as the place where he and the other leaders of the party, the Prince de Conde, &c, were iu the habit of meeting; and it is still covered with faded frescoes, representing, under the disguise of the gods of Olympus, the leading characters of the time; Catherine de Medicis as Juno (but with a double face?), and her son, Charles IX., as Pluto; Conde* as Mars. The larger and more splendid portion of the chateau, including numerous additions to the original plan, was built between Central France. Route 104. — Dijon. 35? 1643 and 1648 by Particelli d'Emery, Surintendant de Finance under Ma- zarin, from designs of Le Muet, except the Petit Chateau at the entrance of the great building, which is a beautiful specimen of the Renaissance of the 16th centy. At the extremity of the grand Canal, flanked by avenues, beneath which Coligny and Conde* may have walked, is the Chateau d'Eau, from which artificial streams burst forth. 5 Lezmes Stat, 219 Ancy le Franc Stat. The Chateau was begun in 1 555, from designs, it is said, of Primaticcio, and decorated with frescoes still existing. In 1688 it became the property and residence of Louvois, minister of Louis XIV., who owned besides the Comte of Tonnerre, and other vast neighbouring possessions brought to him by his wife, Anne de Souvr^, the richest heiress in France. The Mar- quis de Louvois established iron-forges here. The chateau is well kept up, and surrounded by park and woods. 6 Nuits-sous-Raviere Stat. — Coaches to Chatillon, Bar-sur-Aube. 5 Aisy - sur - Armancon Stat. — Soon after quitting this place you enter the department of the Cote d'Or, so famous for its vineyards. 5 Montbard Stat. — {Inn: Point du Jour.) This unimportant and dirty town was the residence of the naturalist Buffon, who was born 1707, and lived in the Chateau, which still exists. The gardens attached to it are arranged in terraces along the slope of the hill, and decorated with orange-trees. In an isolated antique tower, rising in a corner of them, now going to decay, and stripped of its furniture, Buffon formed his study, and composed most of his works. Nothing but bare walls now remains. The gardens, now open to the public, were laid waste and de- stroyed by the Revolutionists, but one relic of their ancient condition was preserved in a small pillar of marble raised by the son of Buffon in front of the lofty tower which contained his father's study, and bearing this inscrip- tion, " Excelss turris humiliscolumna, Parenti suo Alius Buffon, 1785." "The Chateau, now occupied by the widow of Buffon's son, who was one of the first victims of the guillotine at the Revolution, contains portraits of Buffon and his assistant Daubenton. Two of the rooms are lined with coloured prints from the Natural History of its great owner. His tomb, in the parish church, was destroyed at the Revolu- tion, the lead of his coffin melted, and his bones scattered." — Costello. [Funtenay is a sequestered abbey, a few miles from Montbard, whose founder was one Evrard Bishop of Norwich. It was devoted to monks of the Cister- cian order. Its ruined buildings are now converted into a paper manufac- tory, belonging to the respected family of Montgolfier. The chapter-house and cloisters are still fine specimens of Gothic architecture. The church, con- verted into every-day purposes, is less striking; but it contains several muti- lated ecclesiastical monuments.] Coaches from Montbard to Autun, Semur, Saulieu, Chatillon sur Seine. 4 Les Laumes Stat. 2 Verrey Stat. 9 Blaisy-Bas Stat. The Tunnel of B I aisy is about 2$ m. long, and cost more than 10 million francs. Within it is the summit level of the Rally., 1328 Eng. ft. above the sea. 8 Malain Stat. 14 Plombieres Stat. The Rly. cuts through the bastions of the town, in order to reach 5 Dijon Stat. (/»ns.- H. de la Cloche, near the Rly. and Cathedral ; H. du Pare, very good), the ancient capital of the Duchy of Burgundy, now the chef -lieu of the De*pt. de la Cdte d'Or, contains 29,000 Inhab. The first view of this once important and opulent city is peculiarly agreeable and striking. The Jura faintly bounds the horizon . Dij on lies outspread on the plain below. The great fortress-like masses of the churches, and the Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy, standing out boldly from the buildings of the town, mark them- selves forcibly on the landscape, quite as advantageously as the greater rich- ness of battlemented turrets and of crocketed spires. The artist may pass several days here agreeably and profitably. Route 104. — Dijon. Sect. V. Ft. Benijne, originally a conventual Ch., became the Cathedral after the Revolution, when it was much injured. It is a fine building of the 13th and 14th cent., with a bold W. front. Its spire enjoys local celebrity, but is an obelisk of wood (1742), on open legs, and its spiral leading lines add to its appearance of insecurity. Here have been recently discovered the remains of Duke Philip le Hardi and some fine brick slabs with effigies of Burgundian nobles. In the nave is the slab tomb of Udislaus King of Po- land, 1388. The organ is large and fine, St. Jean (1466), now March€du Midi, behind the Cathedral, is a fine cross Ch., with a painted roof of wide span and good flamboyant windows. The choir was destroyed 1810. Bossuet was baptized here, and was born in the adjacent house, 10, Place St. Jean. Notre Dame is a singularly fine Ch. in the purest Gothic, somewhat like Ely, and remarkable for the boldness of its construction. The £. end, a beautiful specimen of early pointed, was finished 12'29. The front exhibits a peculiar play of light and shade. At one corner of this facade, where it was intended a tower should rise, still stands the clock brought (1382) from Courtrai, by Philip le Hardi, an epithet which his general conduct de- served, though, in this achievement, the Cruel would have suited him better, for he plundered and burnt the town, and massacred the inhabitants. Jacques Marques, a Flemish mathematician, was the maker of this clock, which, in the opinion of Froissart, was the most curious existing, whether in Christen- dom or in the heathen lands, and hence selected by the duke as his trophy. The bells are struck by two hammer- men, and who are called Jacquemars by the badaud of Dijon— a corruption of their maker's name. St. Michael's Ch. was consecrated 1529. Its front is a splendid example of the Renaissance. The portal is com- posed of three circular arches, with a very fine frieze above. The ornaments of this front are generally Italian in their details, yet so put together that the whole becomes a perfect Gothic cathedral. There are a great many desecrated churches here, degraded into stables, coach-houses, warehouses, &c, though in tolerable repair, and worthy the attention of the architect; such are St. Etienne, a covered market; St. Phili- bert, cavalry stables. Next to the Theatre, distinguished by its noble octoetyle Corinthian por- tico, stands the ancient Palace of the dukes of Burgundy, which, after the union of the duchy to the crown of France, became the Palais des Etats, and is now the*/?, de Ville. It has been so completely modernised in its prin- cipal front, that the great interest pos- sessed by the building would hardly be anticipated. Parts of its interior, how- ever, are old, such as the Hall and the low vaulted chambers beneath, and it is still surmounted by a large and massy feudal tower. A curious well, in another part, marks the site of the Sainte C/iapelle, in which chapters of the order of the Golden Fleece were held, 1433. Thus the building retains many of the features of the residence of the premier dukes of Christendom. "The style prevailing in this and the other buildings of the 15th centy. in Dijon, and which may be properly called the Burgundian style, has many of the features which we afterwards find in our Tudor architecture, and the aspect of the building softens down from the castle to the palace or man- sion. Besides the Civic Offices, and the Oratoire, or Protestant Chapel, this building contains a Museum. The ancient hall and adjoining chambers have been very judiciously chosen as the place of deposit for the very rich and important monuments of the middle ages which are there pre- served. The following articles may be particularly noticed. The crozier of St. Robert, the first abbot of the Cistercian order (ob. 1098). The wooden cup of St. Bernard, undoubted relic of this truly great and pious man, whose memory cannot be, however, relieved from the atrocities occasioned by the Crusades. The ornaments were probably added after his canonization. Toilet furniture of the Duchesses of Burgundy ; caskets and boxes of ivory, beautifully carved. A purse supposed Central France. Route 104. — Dijon. to have belonged to Isabella of Por- tugal, third wife of Philip the Good, of leather richly embroidered, and apparently of oriental workmanship. The chief ornaments of the collection are the magnificent Tombs of Philippe le Hardi, the founder of the second race of the Dukes of Burgundy (1342 — 1404), and of Jean-sans-Peur, his son and successor (1371 — 1419). These tombs, the sculptures on which are perhaps the finest specimens existing of mediaeval art on this side of the Alps, have suffered strange vicissi- tudes. Both were erected in the Chartreuse of Dijon, founded and en- dowed by Philip, and selected by him. Upon the suppression of the Char- treuse they were removed to St. Benigne, where they rested but a short time, as in 1793 the Council of the Commune decreed their destruction. The bases remained at St. Benigne, but the figures were dispersed: some were placed in the Museum, others in private cabinets, and some abandoned in a lumber-room. In 1818 the de- partment determined upon their resto- ration. This labour, though costly, was comparatively easy, for, although pulled to pieces, these pieces were as little defaced as possible We see them in a state very little different from the original splendour. The tomb of Philippe le Hardi represents him in a recumbent posture, in his full ducal robes. He is crowned with the ducal coronet, a plain circle without flowers, and his hand grasps the ducal sceptre. By the side is a space for the statue of his consort, but it never was filled. The sides of the tomb are ornamented with arcades filled with elaborately sculptured statuettes, in alabaster, of friars, represented as mourners, but with skilful variety of feeling. The draperies are admirable, Claus Slater, a Dutchman, was the artist. The tomb of Jean-sans-Peur, slain on the Bridge of Montereau, 1419, matches entirely with that of his father both in material and in design. His ducal robe is seme with the device which he adopted, the rabot, or car- penter's plane, assumed by him in opposition to the ragged staff of his political adversary, the Duke of Or- leans. By his side is his consort, Margaret of Bavaria. Her robe is white, seme with the well-known little flower which bears her name. A Gothic altarpiece (retable), with folding-doors, filled with wooden statuettes of saints in great numbers, executed by Jacques de Baerze, 1351, came also from the Chartreuse. The chimney-pieee of the Great Hall is said to have been built in 1504, after a fire which destroyed the roof in 1 502 ; but was probably only restored. It is a magnificent specimen of Gothic art. Here is a model of the beautiful Sainte Chapelle, the chief Gothic orna- ment of Dijon: desecrated at the Revo- lution; pulled down and sold, 1807. The paintings in the Museum are numerous, but much of the usual kind found in provincial collections : some of the portraits are interesting, especially those of the Duchesses of Burgundy ; also a carved Gothic shrine or altarpiece, the compartments of which are painted by Melchior Broederlein, 1398. The Palais de Justice has a fine Renais- sance front, restored, and a large Hall. Some curious relics of domestic architecture and early art are to be met with in the town. In a street near St. Michael's is a very elegant stone seat or sofa. In a house in the Rue des Forges, entered through a shop, not far from Notre Dame, is a Gothic staircase on the top of which stands the figure of a man with a basket on his shoulder, whence spring, in the form of a plant or tree, the vaulting ribs of the roof (a newel) ; these are foliated in a very bold manner. The whole is of good execu- tion, though evidently late in the style. The Public Walks are, indeed, a leading feature in Dijon, surrounding the walls as with a belt of foliage, and there is perhaps no other provincial town in France so well provided. They run partly in the form of Boule- vards outside of, and parallel to, the old ramparts, which themselves form elevated terraces. The Pare, about a mile out of the town, reached by the Cours du Pare, was laid out, 1610, by Le Ndtre for the Great Cond6, its owner, when governor of the province, who gave free admission to the public. / / / Route 105. — Paris to Lyons. Sect. V. ^ijon has the renown of being the native place of Bossuet, the divine, born in the* house No. 12, Place St. Jean; of Crebillon; of Guyton Mor- veau, the chemist ; and of Maret Due de Bassano. St. Bernard was born in the village Fontaines, about a mile beyond the walls, and his father's castle is still in existence beside the curious church. The trade in the wines of Upper Bur- gundy is concentrated in Dijon; the district which produces the most celebrated wines lies to the S. of the town, and is traversed by the Railroad to Ch&lons-sur-Sadne, passing Vou- geot, Nuits, and Beaune. (Rte. 152.) 10 min. walk from the town, by the Rly. Stat., stands the Asyle des Aliene's, formerly the Chartreuse, founded by Philip le Hardi, 1383, as a burial-place for the ducal house, many of whom were buried here, including Charles the Bold, until the Emperor Charles V. removed his body in 1550 to Bruges. The existing remains are scanty^ — the entrance gate, part of a tower, the kneeling effigies of Duke Philip and his Duchess prefixed to the portal of the modern chapel, and the well or cistern known as Les Putts de Mdise (1399) executed by Claus Slater (the sculptor of the ducal monuments). It consists of figures of Moses, David, Jeremiah, Zachariah, Daniel, and Isaiah, hexagonally placed under a rich canopy, and upon elaborate pedestals. The figures are well preserved. Rly. to D61e (Rte. 148) and Besan- con; diligences thence to Geneva by les Rousses, and to Neuchatel and Lau- sanne by Salins and Verrieres. Diligences to Nancy ; to Vesoul ; to Belfort; to Pontarlier.; to Gray. Railroads to ChaMons-sur-Sa6ne (Rte. 106); to Paris by Tonnerre; to Lyons and Marseilles. ROUTE 105. PARIS TO LYONS. — ROUTE DU BOURBON- NAIS, BY FONTAINEBLEAU, MON- TARGIS, NEVERS, AND MOULINS. 473 kilom. = 293 Eng. m. From Paris to Lyons the Raily. (Rtes. 104-106) is usually followed. From Paris to Nevers the Raily. by Orleans (Rte. 103). Most of the towns on this route are now more quickly and easily reached from stations on these Rlys. The road, soon after quitting Paris by the Faubourg St. Marceau and the Barrier© d'ltalie, passes at a short distance on the rt. of Bicetre, an hos- pital for old men, a lunatic asylum, and a penitentiary. Its name is said to be a corruption of Winchester, be- cause it is thought to occupy the site of a country-house built, 1290, by John Bp. of Winchester; another derivation is from its owner in the 15th centy. (1410), John Due de Berry, in Latin, " Dux Bituricensis." The oldest of the existing buildings are chiefly those constructed by Cardinal Riche- lieu, as an asylum for wounded soldiers, which was afterwards transferred to the Invalides. Nearly 4500 criminals are confined here, including convicts awaiting their transmission to the hulks. The road, which is paved, runs through an avenue of trees along the table-land which sinks down into the valley of the Seine. 8 Villejuif. At the entrance of this town, on the 1., stands an obelisk, marking the N. extremity of a base- line, established for the construction of Cassinfs Map of France: a similar obelisk, at Fromcnteau, marks the other extremity of the base. 11 Fromenteau. Napoleon, hastening to the relief of Paris, March 30th, 1814, here met the head of the column of dejected troops who informed him of the surrender of the eapital to the allies ; in consequence he was forced to return to Fontaine- bleau, where he soon after signed his abdication. Near Juvisy pur road crosses the railroad to Orleans (Rte. 49), and runs for some distance parallel with the branch to Corbeil. 12 Essonne, a small town, in a hol- low, on the Essonne, which falls into the Seine, 1A m. below, at Corbeil (Rte. 49), where the branch-rly. terminates. There are several chateaux near this part of the road, Villeroy on the rt., Coudray on the 1.; but they contri- bute in no respect to adorn the road, Central France. Route 105. — Montargis — Chdtillon. 359 as the parks, and lodges, and seats of England. On the 1. the Seine, winding through its fertile valley, is a pleasing feature. 11 Ponthierry. 8 Chailly. About 5 m. short of Fontainebleau, we enter its noble Forest (p. '649). 10 Fontainebleau (Rte. 104). On quitting Fontainebleau our road passes an obelisk or Pyramid, planted in the midst of a star (etoile) formed by the divergence of 11 roads; among them those to Orleans, to Montereau, and to Nemours, the last of which we follow. For 4 or 5 m. the road continues through the Forest; then issues out into a plain of sand, amidst which the traveller's carriage flounders; in sum- mer enveloped -in tormenting dust, in winter sinking up to the axles in mud. The pavement ceases near 13 Nemours, a town of 3830 Inhab., deriving its name from the woods (ne- mora) which once surrounded it. The old Castle, the residence of the Dues de Nemours, of the line of Savoy, still exists, flanked by 4 towers, and includes several institutions. The Parish Ch., originally attached to the Priory of St. John, is a fine building. St. Pierre is the oldest in the town. Mirabeau was born (1749) at Bignon, 15 m. from Nemours, on the road to Sens. We continue by the side of the small river Loing all the way to Montargis, through 13 La Croisiere. 7 Fontenay. 14 Montargis (Inn: Poste; — H. de Lyon; not good), a town of 7757 Inhab., on the borders of an extensive forest, at the junction of the Cannl de Briare with that of Orleans, by the side of which there are public walks. The vast castle, for a long time part of the domain of the crown, serving as a royal nursery, and called "le Ber- ceau des Enfans de France," was sold, 1809, to a demolisseur, for 60,000 fr., and is entirely destroyed. Over one of the fireplaces in its great hall (for it had no less than 6) was a fresco paint- ing, representing the combat between " the Dog of Montargis" and the mur- derer of its master, Macaire, which is said to have taken place, in the pre- sence of Charles VI., in the lists of the lie Ndtre Dame at Paris. The saga- city of the dog not only indicated the spot where his master was buried in the forest of Bondy, but also singled out the murderer; and the king, ac- cording to the spirit of the laws of the time, directed that the cause should be tried by a duel between the dog, as accuser, and the accused. After seve- ral attacks, the dog seized his adver- sary, who was armed with a elub, by the throat, and compelled him to confess his crime. In 1652 the Grand Conde, then a rebel against the royal au- thority, arriving before Montargis with a small force, summoned it to surren- der. The magistrate hesitated, but Conde', taking out his watch, declared he would sack the town and slay the inhabitants if it were not given up in an hour. This produced the desired effect, and gaye rise to the saying, " que M. le Prince avait pris Montargis avec sa montre." At Trigueres ruins cf a Roman theatre have been found. The country in which Montargis lies belongs to the district anciently called le Gatinois; it has little interest. The road is carried in a straight line, through a dull district, to 17 Nogent-sur-Vernisson. A road strikes off from this to Qien on the Loire (Rte. 52). [About 5 m. to the E. lies Chatillon- sur-Loing, in whose ancient castle the Admiral Coligny was born, 1516. After his murder on the Bartholomew's night his body was cut down from the gallows of Montfaucon, upon which it had been shamefully hung by his Ro- manist assassins, and conveyed by his cousin Montmorency to his wife, who concealed it for many months before she could venture to commit it to the tomb at Chantilly . Chatillon belonged to the family of Conde.] 12 La Bussiere has a handsome cha- teau of the 15th centy. From the summit of a hill, on approaching Briare, the valley of the Loire bursts into view : the pleasing effect of the broad winding river, and its vine-clad banks, is much enhanced by the pre- 360 Route 105. — Paris to Lyons. — Never*. Sect. V. vious barrenness and monotonous road. 16 Briare (Inn: Poste), a town of 2730 Inhab., on the rt. bank of the Loire, has given its name to the Caned, begun by Sully, and completed 1642, remarkable as the first attempt to open a communication between 2 river basins by means of supplies of water stored up on the summit level (point de part- age). It runs from the Loing at Mon- targis to the Seine at St. Mamet, thus opening a communication between Paris and the S. and centre of France. From Briare there is a post-road along the rt. bank of the Loire by Gien (Rte. 52) to Orleans, where the traveller may take the railroad to Paris. 17 Neuvy. Inns: Poste, small, but the bed-rooms comfortable. — W. M. H. de Nievre, clean. Here is the quiet, unpretending country seat of the late Marshal Macdonald, in an English- looking park. Across an undulating country, commanding, from time to time, peeps of the Loire, the road pro- ceeds through 14 Cosne (Inn: Grand Cerf— H.N.), where there are iron-forges ; and a little way above which the town of San- cerre is seen on the opposite bank of the river. 15 Pouilly. 13 La Charite* (Inn: Poste, pretty good — C. 2?.), an ancient town of 5000 Inhab., still partly surrounded by ram- parts, flanked by watch-towers, of the 14th centy. It is said to have derived its name from the benevolence shown to travellers by the monks of St. Bene- dict; and its arms are 3 open purses, on a field azure. Its Ch. (Notre Dame) must originally have been a very fine Romanesque building; but the nave is, in part, destroyed, and the aisles and other portions modernised. The choir, however, surrounded by pointed arches, on light piers with elegant capi- tals, and the front, are probably as old as the latter part of the 12th centy. The church, which had 5 doors (4 Romanesque and with bas reliefs still remaining), 5 aisles, and 5 apses round the choir, was in great part destroyed by fire, 1204, and was restored by Philippe-Auguste. A ruined tower is the only remaining relic of the monas- tery, whose priors were so wealthy and powerful, that in the 16th centy. the Pope found it necessary to interfere and regulate the number of knights who should form their escort when they went abroad. The road to Bourges here crosses the Loire on a stone bridge (Rte. 103): there is also a suspension bridge. A diligence goes daily to Bourges. At La Marche are ruins of a Roman- esque Ch., which, from the rudeness of its architecture and carved capitals, is probably as old as the 10th centy. Under its E. end is a crypt. 13 Pouges. There are mineral springs about a mile from this. From the top of a hill surmounted in the course of this stage, a fine view is presented of the valley of the Loire and of that of the Allier, which joins it a little below Nevers ; the latter river, however, is not visible. At Fourchambault there are exten- sive iron furnaces and forges, perhaps the largest in France, where the iron conservatories in the Jardin des Plantes, the arches of the Pont du Carrousel, the frame-work for the roof of Char- tres cathedral, and the piers for the bridge of Cubsac, were cast. They em- ploy between 2000 and 3000 workmen. 12 Nevers (Inn: H. de France), an unprepossessing, dirty, but ancient city of 17,085 Inhab., chef-lieu of the De'pt. de la Nievre, formerly capital of the Nivernois, is situated on the rt. bank of the Loire, at the confluence of the Nievre. It is mentioned by Caesar in his Commentaries, "Noviodunum op- pidum ^Eduorum, ad ripas Ligeris opportuno loco positum." He depo- sited here his money-chest. The oldest ecclesiastical edifice here is the Romanesque Ch. of St. Etienne, very plain, both within and without. The date is proved by the charter to be 1063. It is entered by descending several steps. The transepts are se- parated from the body of the church, opening below in a wide arch sur- mounted by smaller arcades. St. Sou- venir, near the Loire, another Roman- esque church, is turned into a ware- house; St. Genest, an example of the Transition into the Pointed style, is also desecrated into a brewery. Central France. Route IQb.— Moulins. 361 The Cathedral of St. Cyr, on the hill top, somewhat heavy externally, con- sists of a nave and choir, built in the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, with an apse at both ends; that at the W. is Romanesque, and probably of the 10th centy. ; beneath it is a large crypt. The nave and choir have not the same axes, the choir inclining perceptibly to the S. (rt.) The tower is flanked at the angles by colossal figures, in bad taste. The decoration of the interior is praiseworthy ; the capitals of the columns sculptured with rich foliage, of admirable workmanship. All the statues were mutilated at the Revolu- tion. There are some painted glass and old tapestries in the choir; and in the S. transept a rich flamboyant doorway, leading to a fanciful spiral staircase, is a remarkable example of what Mr. Willis calls " interpenetration," or the running of several series of mouldings into one another : these complicated interfacings pervade not only the canopy of the arch, but even the pinnacles. The Hfitel de Ville, also on the height facing an irregular Place, for- merly palace of the Dukes of Nevers, built by the princes of the line of Cleves, is an edifice in the flamboyant style, retaining several of its pic- turesque turrets and gables. The old walls and towers of the 15th centy. still remain. One of the town gates, a relic of the fortifications erected by Pierre de Courtenay, Seigneur de Nevers, at the end of the 12th centy., rebuilt 1393, still exists in the Porte du Crovuc, black with age and dirt. Another entry into the town is by a triumphal arch, erected to commemorate the battle of Fontenay, 1746. Behind the H. de Ville is a public garden, formerly the park of the palace. Nevers is a thriving, busy manufac- turing town, now connected with Or- leans and Paris by Rly. ; its potteries are 8 centuries old, and employ 700 persons: in its iron-works chains and cables for suspension bridges are made; the iron used is that of Berry. There is a royal cannon-foundry, for the navy, where 125 pieces are cast annually. Not far from Nevers, the lateral canal of the Loire is carried over the Allier France, in an aqueduct called Pont Canal de Gue'tin, a work of magnitude, com- pleted 1845. Railway. A branch line connects Nevers with Gue'tin Stat, on the Grand Central Rly. from Vierzon to Moulins and Clermont (Rte. 103) — from Vier- zon to Orleans and Paris. The railroad crosses the Loire by a bridge of several arches on quitting Nevers, and, leaving that river on the 1., proceeds to ascend the valley of the Allier, its tributary. The scenery between Nevers and Moulins is on the whole very pleasing, the country much enclosed with hedge-rows, and generally fertile. The river Allier is seldom seen, concealed as it is by trees, in the flat valley through which it passes. 1 1 Le Gue'tin Stat. 2 Mars Stat. 7 St. Pierre le Moutier. Near this is a large pond. Hence a road strikes off to Bourges and Orleans. 9 St. Imbert. 9 Villeneuve-sur-Allier (Dept. Al- lier). 14 Moulins Stat. (Inns: G. H. de Paris ; bedroom 8 to 10 frs., 1854 ;— H. d* Allier, moderate), a cheerful town, without the activity of much trade or commerce, pleasantly situated on the rt. bank of the Allier. It is chef- lieu of the Dept. d' Allier, and con- tains a population of 15,398. It is a comparatively modern town, and has no fine buildings. The castle is reduced to a square tower of the 15th centy., called La Mai Coiffe'e, and som« buildings erected by Cath. de Medicis. The Cathedral of Notre Dame consists merely of a lofty choir in the Florid style of the 15th centy. : its vaulted roof is elaborately groined. It con- tains an old painting of the Virgin and Child, the two shutters of which, now detached from it, and hung against piers, bear portraits of Pierre II., Due de Bourbon, and his wife, Anne of France, attended by their patron saints, attributed to Ohirlandajo. Works are in progress for finishing this cathedral. In the Chapel of the College is the mo- nument of Henri Due de Montmo- rency, who suffered, under the heavy hand of Richelieu, for having conspired 362 Route 105. — Bourbon V Archambault, Sect. V. against him and his master, Louis XIII., and was executed at Toulouse, 1632. His widow, Maria Orsini, con- veyed his remains to this chapel, then attached to the Convent of the Visi- tation, of which she became superior, spending in it the rest of her days. The monument, attributed to an Ita- lian sculptor, Agheri, consists of the reclining statue of the duke, in Roman armour, resting on his helmet, with his duchess beside him in an attitude of grief and resignation; the expression of profound sorrow in her countenance is perfect, and the draperies are very beautifully executed. On either side is an allegorical figure — Valour, a sort of Hercules, and Liberality, a coarse female. The fact of this monument being in honour of a man beheaded for conspiring against a king preserved it from demolition at the Revolution. Marshal Villars, the 'opponent of Marlborough, and Marshal Berwick, natural son of James II. by Arabella Churchill (Marlborough's sister), who won the battle of Almanza from the English in Spain, were both born here. Here Lord Clarendon wrote the greater part of his 'History of the Great Rebellion/ in exile. Some cutlery, of an inferior kind, is made at Moulins; the manufacture has much fallen off. At Moulins the very interesting road through the Limagne, Clermont, and the Volcanic district of Auvergne, strikes off up the valley of the Allier (Rte. 109). Rly. to Clermont and Brioude ; in progress to Le Puy; also from St. Germain des Fosse's to Roanne on the way to Lyons. Ely, in progress to Montlucon. No one will quit Moulins without thinking of Sterne and his Maria, the scene of her melancholy story being laid here. [a. The watering-place of Bourbon V Archambault, a town of 3017 Inhab., frequented on account of its mineral waters, is about 19 m. W. of Moulins. The waters are saline, and are supplied by a hot spring, and a cold spring called Source de Jonas. There is a bath- ^ouse in the middle of the town, •re are very considerable and pic- turesque remains of the ancient castle of the early Sires de Bourbon, and a fragment of the apse of the Ste. Chapelle. Diligences run daily from Moulins to the Baths in summer, and the road thither passes through Souvigny, a poor village 5 m. from Moulins, containing an Abbey Church, which is one of the most remarkable Gothic monuments in the province for size. The central nave, the apses at the E. end, and the crypt below the choir, date from the 11th centy. ; the more recent portions from 1446, when the church was re- built. The nave is flanked by double aisles, the outer ones nearly as broad as the centre. In the N. aisle is a curious fragment of an octagonal pillar covered with sculptures — signs of the zodiac, mythical beasts, &c. — in the Byzantine style. The Chapelle Vieille, on the S. side, is separated from the choir and transept by a stone screen, beautifully carved with flamboyant tracery. It encloses the monument of Louis Due de Bourbon, and Anne his wife, bear- ing their recumbent figures, of white marble, sadly mutilated by the Revo- lutionists. A recess, or niche, in the wall opposite, displays, amidst rich flamboyant tracery, the word " Esp£- rance," the motto of the Order of the Thistle, founded by the Duke. This chapel, the greater part of the choir, the vaults, and windows of the nave, 4 divisions of the outer S. aisle of the nave, and the remains of the cloisters on the S. side of the chapel, are sup- posed by M. Merimee to have been built 1441. On the N. side of the choir is La Chapelle Neuve, similarly decorated, and even more injured by the Vandals of '93, containing the tombs of Due Charles, and his wife, Agnes de Bourgogne. The date of this chapel is somewhere about the end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th centy. b. All persons who take an interest in Gothic architecture should visit Souvigny from Moulins : in spite of its mutilations, it is a very interesting church. The Auberge de la Poste was the ancient Priors' palace. At St. Me- noux, not far from Souvigny, is another ancient church, once attached to a Be- nedictine abbey, but much decayed. The choir is the most interesting por- Cent. Fa. JR. 105. — Paris to Lyons — Roanne — Tarare, 363 tion, and a good example of the florid Romanesque,] 15 Bessay Stat. 15 Varennes Stat. — Poste; a com- fortable little Inn. — (7. B* 11 St. Gerard-le-Puy. [From this a road turns off to the fashionable watering place of Vichy, 61 kilom. from Moulina= 39± Eng. m., through a rich but unpicturesque country, the only objects of interest being the Puy de Ddme and Mont Dore; visible the whole way. (See Rte. 101). .- A Railway, the Grand Central, direct to Lyons from St. Germain des Fosses Stat., is in progress. Until the Rly. is finished, diligences go daily to join the rly. at Roanne, on the way to Lyons, &c. Beyond Moulins the post-road to Lyons quits the valley of the Allier, and enters on a hilly country. The mountains of Auvergne appearing to the S.W., and those of Forez more to the £., form features in the landscape. 10 La Palisse. — Inn: Between this and la Pacaudiere the road traverses a hilly tract. The road erosses a deep ravine by a very lofty bridge, called Pont de la Vallee, shortly before entering 8 Droiturier. 7 St. Martin d'Estreaux is seated on a height, in the midst of a barren and hilly country. 7 La Pacaudiere. Here we are once more in the valley of the Loire, though that river is not reached until, after passing 12 St. Germain l'Espinasse, we ar- rive at 12 Roanne {Inns: none good; H. du Centre; Poste, best; two call them- selves H. du Midi), a town of 12,000 Inhab., deriving importance from its situation on the 1. bank of the Loire, at the point up to which it is navigable against the stream as well as down- wards. It has a great transit trade: the manufactures of Lyons, the iron and coal of St. Etienne, the produc- tions of the S. provinces of France, and the imports from the Levant, conveyed hither from the Rhdne by railway or canal, are transported hence, down the Loire, to NanteB, or through it, and the Canal de Briare, to the Seine and Paris. There are also considerable ma- nufactures of cotton in the town and its neighbourhood. There is an old Ch., St. Etienne, rebuilt 1549, near the chateau, and a bridge over the Loire which cost 3 million francs. The Railroad from Roanne to St. Etienne and Lyons is described in Rte. 119; it is inferior as a passenger line of conveyance. Carriages are not taken by it. The Loire is crossed by a fine stone bridge on leaving Roanne, and the road proceeds across the plain for some dis- tance parallel with the railroad. About half way to 17 St. Symphorien-en-Lay, the ascent of the Montague de Tarare be- gins. The ascent has been made com- paratively easy by a truly alpine road, carried up in a series of zigzag terraces, sweeping round the shoulders of the hills, and crossing the gorges on hand- some bridges of masonry, protected, at the sides, by stone studs like mile- stones. 15 Pain Bouchain. Near this is the summit of the pass, about 3000 ft. above the sea. You reach the foot of the descent at 12 Tarare {Inns : H. de TEurope ; beds clean, fare middling ; — le Soleil), a thriving manufacturing town of 7762 Inhab., seated in a narrow valley. The weaving of muslins, remarkable for their fineness, is the staple branch of manu- facture, and it is calculated that be- tween 3 and 4 millions of pieces are produced annually. It is said that as many as 52,000 persons are employed in the town and surrounding country on this branch of industry. The weavers ply their trade in damp cellars., which are neither floored nor warmed by fire, in order to keep up the moisture necessary for weaving fine webs, and to prevent the breaking of the thread. The road continues along the narrow valley of the Tardine from Tarare to 11 Arnas, where the country opens out. 19 Salvagny. A few m. to the 1. of the road are the copper-mines of Chessy, which pro- duced the beautiful blue ore (car- bonate) of copper so well known to B 2 364 Route 106.— Dijon to Chdlons-sttr-Saone. Sect. V. the mineralogist ; but they are now little worked. As you approach Lyons the scene becomes extremely fine, and imme- diately above the city you took down upon it, extending along the. banks of the two great rivers, surrounded by an amphitheatre of hills. Hand- some country seats, gardens, and vine- yards, are dotted over the landscape, bespeaking the wealth and prosperity (in a mercantile sense) of the district. As the town is entered by the quay of the Sadne, it assumes a most pictu- resque character, the grey rough rocks forcing themselves, as it were, into the city, protruding between the lofty houses — a singular mixture of nature and art. 14 Lyons, described in Rte, 108. BOUTE 106. DIJON TO CHALONS -SUR-8A6NE BY BEAUNE, AND THE WINE DISTRICT OF THE CdTE D'OR, CHAMBERTIN, CL08-VOUGEOT, NlftTB, ETC, — PARI8 AND LYONS RAILWAY (b). 68 kilom. = 43$ Eng, m. 6 Trains daily in 1 h. 20 min. to 2 hours. Pijon is in Rte. 104. This Railroad carries the traveller along the skirts of the vineyards, pro* ducing the Burgundy vcines, which rank amongst the best and most famous in France. The country, wherever it presents an advantageous slope, is en- tirely laid out in vines, and what it loses in plcfcuresqueness it gains in richness. It is besides very populous ; there are said to be 40 or 50 villages between Dijon and Beaune, a distance of 26 m, "About 1 m. S.W. of Dijon begins the chain or district of hills which form the celebrated C6te (TOr, and average from 800 to 1000 ft. in height, continuing to range at the distance of about 2 m. from the road on the rt. It is a wall of hills, covered with vine- yards, which ascend in terraces their sunny sides, and then spread along the table-land on the summit. The colour of the soil, as seen through the well-trimmed tufty vines, is of yel- 'ish red; and it may be asked whether the name of the range arises from this prevailing colour of the ground, or from the richness of the product. Here the best Burgundy is grown, and here, as in almost all other vine countries, we find the singular and perplexing phenomenon (but per- haps nowhere so forcibly apparent as here), that whilst one tract of small extent produces the finest quality, another hard by, enjoying the same aspect, and as far as we can judge, either by our unaided senses or by chemical tests, the same soil, can never be made to bring forth a wine of equal flavour. In richness of flavour and in perfume, and all the more delicate qualities of the juice of the grape, they unquestionably rank as the finest in the world ; and it was not without rea* son that the Dukes of Burgundy were designated as the 'princes des bona vins/ The soils on which these valu- able wines are grown consist, in general, of a light black or red loam, mixed with the debris of the calcareous rocks upon which they repose. The principal vineyards of the Cote ctOr are all situ- ated between Dijon and Chagny, and describe an arc of a large circle exposed to the S.E. and protected from the N.W. by the range of limestone hills that stretches behind them. The vines are planted in trenches, at the distance of about 2 ft. apart, and are trained on poles to the height of 30 to 40 inches. In the best vineyards they are ex- tremely old, and when old vines are replaced by others, a larger crop, but of an inferior quality, is obtained. The choice red growths of the Cote , founded by Nic. Rollin, chancellor of Philip Duke of Burgundy, 1443, presents in its court some good bits of Gothic, and there is a fine Gothic hall. Here is a remarkable painting, a Last Judg- ment, by Roger v. der Weyden, his best work, and one of the finest pictures of the early Flemish school. The Bou- zeoise, a limpid stream full of green weeds floating with its current, tra- verses the town. Beaune is the birthplace of the senator Monge, the mathematician and favourite of Napoleon. Coaches daily to Autun"(Rte. 108). [At Cussy la Colonne, 12 m. S.W. of Beaune, is a Roman pillar or monu- ment, bearing bas-reliefs; but it is accessible with difficulty by cross roads. At Nolay, near it, Carnot, the republican general and engineer, was born.] The country immediately about une has much amenity, and in its neighbourhood are produced the wines of Volnay and Pomard, the former being characterised by its light and grateful aroma and delicate tint, the latter having more body and colour: they are sometimes mixed with the red wines to give them fire. Savigny, Beaune, Meursault, and several other vineyards in the neighbourhood, all produce excellent wines, and, generally speaking, all the growths of that dis- trict are remarkable for the purity of their flavour. 7 Meursault Stat. A vineyard. 8 Chagny Stat. This town is full of interesting subjects for the sketch- book, particularly of domestic archi- tecture; one house in the principal street, with a row of trefoil windows, is particularly striking. The tower of the Ch. is also curious; it is a perfect specimen of the transition into the Pointed from the Norman style. 1 6 Chalons-sur-Satine Stat. — {Inns : Trois Faisans; H. du Chevreuil; H. de l'Europe.) The Saone, which runs through this town of 15,719 Inhab., and which, from this point, becomes an important river, navigablefor steam- boats, gives it much water-side activity. The Canal du Centre , which joins the Saone to the Loire, commences here, and affords an outlet for a considerable traffic and transit of goods to the Mediterranean and Atlantic from the central departments of France. Chalons is the Cabillonum of Csesar, whose Commentaries should be one of the handbooks of every traveller through the districts of Gaul. A fine granite column, standing, or rather raised, on one of the Places, is unquestionably a relic of the Roman age. The town is dull, but clean, for France; and there is little worth see- ing. But the quai, facing the river, is lined by good houses, and is the most lively portion. The Cathedral (St. Vincent), lately, restored, in tolerably good taste, with the addition of 2 new towers, is in the early Gothic, when the peculiarities of that style were begin- ning to mix themselves with the older Romanesque. The Hospital of St Laurent, on the island in the Saone, has some good painted glass, wliich, it has been suggested, should be removed Central France, JR. 107. — Nevers to Chalons, — Autun. 367 to the cathedral. At present it is necessary to traverse the sick ward in order to see it. The date of this vaulted dormitory, and of the hospital itself, is 1528. Steamers down the Sadne to Lyons in Rte. 108. Diligences daily to Autun; to Geneva, by Lons-le-Saulnier. Abelard died (1142) at the Abbey of St. Marcel, about 2 m. from Chalons, now destroyed except the Ch. ; he was buried there, but afterwards removed to the Paraclete. Railways — to Paris in 10 hrs.; to Lyons in 2 to 3f hrs. ROUTE 107. NEVERS^ TO CHALON8-8UR-8A6NE, BY CHATEAU-CHINON AND AUTUN. 154 kilom. = 101 J Eng. m. Diligences daily from Nevers Stat. Railway from Orleans and Vierzon is described in Rte. 101. 19 Maison Rouge (Nievre). 22 Chatillon-en-Bazois. Hilly road, extensive views. 10 Moulin Mauguin. 15 Chateau-Chinon, an ancient town (Pop. 3000), built on a considerable height, with traces of old fortifications, not far from the sources of the Yonne. Under its walls Louis XI. beat the army of the Due de Bourgogne, 1475, and put the inhabitants to the sword. 17 Pommoy. 20 Autun. (Inns: La Poste; Ohablis good here; — La Cloche.) In Septem- ber a fair is held which lasts the whole month: the inns are then intolerable, and the town one scene of bustle and confusion. The first view of this interesting city is very pleasing. It is supposed to have been the ancient Bibracte, capital of the iEdui, men- tioned by Caesar as "oppidum maxima? auctoritatis apud eos," but its name was changed, in the time of Augustus, into Augustodunum, modernised into Autun. Tacitus describes its import- ance as a fortress and great city, and states that the most illustrious of the youth of Gaul were educated here. "Autun, now a town 6f 11,094 Inhab., stands at the foot of a range of well- wooded hills. The Roman ruins, hoary-grey, situated low down near the river, distinguish themselves by their fine and peculiar forms. Amongst the masses of buildings, crowned by the cathedral and its lofty spire, is the Temple of Janus, as it is called, though without any sufficient authority, a square building, of which 3 sides are standing, near the river. It is denuded of ornaments, but imposing, from its pro- portions and its solidity. It probably dates from the time of the Lower Em- pire. The Two Roman Gates are beautiful and very perfect. They are both nearly on the same plan; double arches be- low, and ranges of smaller arches above, ornamented with pilasters. The Porte oVArroux is Corinthian, the Porte Saint Andre Ionic. They are evidently of the Lower Empire, and the purist will find fault with the details; but if you will put away criticism, and enjoy the objects, the effect is most satisfac- tory. Nothing can be more charming' than the appearance of the delicately- cut arches, coming off against the blue sky." — F. P, The Roman walls of Aw* gustodunum, within which the present city has shrunk, are very massive and curious, and large fragments still very perfect exist. Just without Autun, upon the Dijon road, is a singular pyramidal mass of masonry, called the Pierre de Cottars, It is about 50 ft. in height, and was probably originally much more lofty. The facing is entirely destroyed. It is quite solid, and is probably sepul- chral : antiquaries suppose it to be the tomb of Divictiacus (?). Autun had a noble amphitheatre. The ruins are now encircled by other buildings, but the general site of the Roman city is a perfect mine of anti- quities. Many were collected by the late M, Jovet, Here also is a frag- ment of the tomb of the wicked Brune- hault, who was buried at the abbey of St. Martin, a curious structure, now razed to the ground. The Cathedral of St. Lazarc, lately repaired, exhibits an interesting variety in its style of architecture. The lofty spire, covered with fotiaged crockets, is a masterpiece of Gothic; so also is the rood-loft, composed of delicate and elaborate filigree-work. But a large "368 Route 1 08. — Chahns to Lyons. Sict. V. proportion of the building is in the Romanesque style, and displays the closest imitation of Roman art; indeed, it is copied from the neighbouring Porte d'Arroux. The elegant flam- boyant decorations of the chapels in the nave, and especially of the door of the sacristy, a charming bas-relief of Christ and the Magdalene, in the chapel "which serves as baptistery, the painted glass in the Chapelle St. Nazare, repre- senting the genealogy of the Virgin, and the Martyrdom of St. Symphorien, by Ingres, deserve also particular attention. - In all parts of the city you may see the disjointed and lamentable fragments of the ancient edifices by which Autun was once adorned. There is a good collection of the geology of the district in the Petit Seminaire, of which the Abbe* Landriot is superior. St. Symphorien suffered martyrdom here for refusing to join a procession in honour of Cybele. Autun, it will be remembered, was the see of Bishop Talleyrand. Coach daily from Autun to Chalons Stat. (Rte. 100.) Not far from Autun are the two valuable coal-basins of Epinac (to the N .) and of Creuzot, which are worked by pits, in some cases more than 650 ft. deep. Mineral oil for lighting the mines is obtained by a distillation from the bituminous schists accompanying the coal. The Romans used these very schists to line the walls of their houses at Autun. At Creuzot are the most extensive Iron-works in France, employing 1 0, 000 persons. Here are 1 0 blast fur- naces and 150 coke-ovens; also foun- dries, locomotive factories, and copper- works. The Canal dn Centre passes through Creuzot. Chagny Stat, is 20 m. dist. The iron-ore is brought from a distance. From Epinac (where are considerable glass-works for making wine-bottles) the coal is transported on a tramway to the Canal de Bourgogne, thence by water to Paris and Alsace. There is a very hilly road from Autun to Macon (104 kilom.), by Marmagne, Mt. Cenis, and Cluny. "Soon after quitting Autun you enter the forest of Morvan (lite. 104). ™\e road ascends, but with frequent dips. It is richly wooded, and some of the little glens are lovely. The sides of the road are clad with alder and beech, with here and there a fine oak- tree lifting up his head above his com- peers. The rocks show between and amongst the verdure, and you see and hear the rushing of the little rills, dashing by or in the road.** 17 St. Emiland. "Beyond St. Emi- land you begin to find yourself in another climate. Vines reappear in great luxuriance, and, unlike other parts of France, they are often trained in festoons and arcades ; a mode equally disadvantageous to the produce, and advantageous to the beauty of the scenery." — F. P. 14 St. Leger. 8 Bourgneuf. 12 CItulons-sur-Saoiie. (Rte. 106.) ROUTE 108. CHALONS TO LYONS, BY MACON: BAIL- WAY. — DESCENT OF THE SA6NE. Railroad from Chalons to Lyons opened in 1854; the tunnel into Lyons in 1856. Distance 124 kilom. = about 78 Eng. m. 8 trains daily in 2| to 4^ hra. Steamboats every day. The distance by the river is about 100 m. The voyage is performed in 5 or 6 h. de- scending. Meals are served on board. The captain will take charge of the carriage, embarking and landing it, and the luggage, and will forward them to and from the hotel. The steamers are liable to detention by too much water in the river, in which case there is not room for the vessel to pass under the bridges, as well as by too little, and to be delayed by fogs. The post-road is good and pic- turesque. The Railroad runs along the rt. side of the Sa6ne, sometimes close to it, at others out of sight of it, but so little removed from it that the course by water or land may, without inconve- nience, be described together.* * From some of the eminences surmounted by the road, towards the E., you see the chain of the J urn, and. in favourable weather, the white snow of Mont Blanc, which may at first easily be mistaken for a cloud, distant as the crow flies about 100 miles. Central France. Route 108. — Tournus — Macon. 369 rt. Immediately below Chalons is the mouth of the Canal da Centre, and a basin or -dock for barges entering or quitting it. The banks of the Sadne are at first tame, but improve as you approach Lyons. 9 Sennecy Stat. 10 rt. Tournus Stat. (Inn: H. du Sauvage— also called H. de TEurope; tolerable), a town of 5311 Inhab., possessing a wooden bridge of 5 arches over the Sadne. Its Church, formerly attached to a venerable abbey, now destroyed, is a very plain edifice, in the Romanesque style, but interest- ing to the student for its architecture and antiquity. It is surmounted by a central tower, flanked with Corinthian pilasters at the angles, and has 2 other towers at the W. end. Its nave, pre- ceded by a narthex or vestibule sup- ported on 2 rows of short thick pillars without capitals, is probably of the 10th centy. The nave is roofed with a series of cradle- vaults, placed trans- versely, separated by cross arches, so as to divide it into compartments. In the Place de l'H6tel de Ville is a granite column, reputed an antique. The charming painter Greuze was a native of Tournus : the house where he was born is marked by an inscription: he died at Paris, 1805, 1. Fleurville Stat.; a bridge over the Sadne. 1. St. Albin has a curious early pointed Gothic ch. ; windows lancet. The costume of the villagers is picturesque. Near the river vineyards cover the slopes, which are a prolongation of the distant range of the hills of Charolois. 12 rt. Macon Stat. (Tuns: Le Sauvage; a view of the river ; tolerable ; — H. de TEurope, on the Quay, good.) Macon was heretofore the capital of the coun- try of the Maconnois, and ruled by its own sovereigns from the time of Louis le Debonnaire until it passed to the house of Burgundy. The country was often settled as an appanage upon the younger branches of the family. The present population of the town, which is not flourishing, is 12,653: it is chef- lieu of the Dept. Sadne et Loire. The conjoint devastations of the Huguenots, who exercised the greatest cruelties and atrocities here, and of the Revo- lutionists, have nearly denuded Macon of all its ancient religious structures; hence the necessity of erecting a new church, which, until recently, was an unheard-of event in France. The towers of the Cathedral are standing, but mutilated, together with a very small portion of the body of the build- ing, now turned into a blacksmith's forge. The river is crossed by a Bridge of 13 arches. From it, but still better from a little Esplanade planted with poplar trees beyond it, a view of Mont Blanc may be obtained. In the neigh- bourhood of Macon are many very fine prospects of the ranges of hills of the Bourbonnois and Charolois, the latter being a continuation of the Cote d'Or. Macon is thus mentioned by Caesar: "Tullium Ciceronem Matiscone, rei frumentarise causa, collocat." It is the birthplace of the living poet and French politician Lamartine, Sis Cha- teau, St. Point, not far off, is sold. Macon is the centre of a great trade in the wine grown in its arrondissement, though at some distance from the town itself, and from our road ; at the foot of the hills on the W. The best sorts are the growths of Thorins and Moulin a Vent, which are red, and the Pouilly, a white wine. Romandche, situated in the midst of this wine district, 12 m, from Macon, possesses a mine of oxide of manganese. Branch Railway, Macon to Geneva by Bourg and Pont d'Ain ; open 1857 to Culoz. [22 kilom. = 15 m.N. W. of Macon is Cluny, a large place (Tnn: H. de Bour- gogne), once famous for its ancient and wealthy abbey, of the order of St. Bene- dict, which, before the Revolution, had 600 religious houses dependent upon it, and enjoyed a revenue' of 300,000 fr. a year. It was so utterly destroyed in 1789, that of its noble Gothic church, which had 5 aisles and double tran- septs, only the 2 towers remain, with some fragment of wall, and the chapelle de Bourbon, 15th centy. The town, which has a population of 4152, and carries on some manufactures, is built on the site and with the materials of the abbatial buildings. The cloisters form a sort of public square, and a R 3 370 Route 108. — The Sadne. — Trevoux— Lyons. Sect. V. fragment of the Abbot's Palace is con- verted into a private dwelling. Here is a government stud (Haras).] The country on the 1. bank of the Saone formed part of the ancient divi- sions of La Bresse and Dombes. 7 Creches Stat. 4 Pontaneveaux Stat. The banks of the Sadne acquire some elevation and picturesqueness below Macon; the Jura mountains being all along a feature in the view to the E. ; the nearer hills studded with white chateaux and villages. The Chateau de Coriclles, flanked by 4 round towers, stands at some distance off the road to the W. rt. At St. Romain, a suspension- bridge. 1. Toissey, an ancient town of the principality de Dombes, partly hid by poplars and willows. Homanache Stat. 8 rt. Belleville Stat. A bridge. # About 13 m. to the W. is -Beaujeu, capital of the province of Beaujolais, in the midst of a district famed for its wines. 1. Montmerle, a village situated be- low a considerable island, has a suspen- sion-bridge: other bridges are thrown across at Flechere, Beauregard, and at Frans, opposite to 9 rt. Villefranche Stat., a town of 7800 Inhab.; has rather a cheerful aspect. The church has been a beautiful specimen of the florid Gothic, though small. There is a bridge at St. Bernard. 9 rt. Tre'ioux Stat. 1, Tre'coux is an ancient town of 2239 Inhab., on the slope of a concave hill, surmounted by the ruins of its old castle. It possesses now no interest beyond that connected with the recol- lection of its having once been capital of the principality of Dombes, and the place where the Jesuits compiled and printed the very learned works called the 'Journal de Trevoux/ 1701, and ' Dictionnaire de Trevoux/ 1704, a sort of Encyclopaedia. Their house remains, marked by the shield of the Order of St. Ignatius. Dombes was acknowledged as an in* dependent state by the French kings ^cept Francis I.) from Philippe- Au- guste down to Louis XIV., owing them only allegiance and aids of men in case of war. It had a parliament pf its own, which met at Trevoux, and the right of striking money, down to 17H2. It is supposed to have been the Roman Trivise, near which Septimius Severus beat the army of his rival Albinus, and thus secured the empire for himself. Through pretty scenery, between banks thickly scattered with habita- tions, the Saone, considerably con- tracted in width, passes under the richly-wooded heights called Mont d'Or, rising 1000 ft. above the river, on the rt., by Belle He, 8 1. Neuville, with its suspension- bridge, and rt. Couson Stat., connected by a wire bridge with 1. La Roche TaUltie, so called from the cutting which Agrippa caused to be made through it, to allow the passage of one of the great Roman highways. Lower down is V lie Barbe, the fa- vourite retreat of Charlemagne, linked to either bank by a suspensionTbridge. (See p. 379.) rt. 3 Collonges Stat. For the present the Railway stops at 7 Vaise Stat., in a suburb of Lyons. A tunnel leads under the hill of Notre Dame de Fourvieres into Lyons Terminus. A tubular bridge over the Saone, built by Fox and Henderson, carries the line into the Quartier Perrache, where is the general station. The valley of Rochecorbon, with its wood and fountain of Roset, was a fa- vourite haunt of Rousseau. 1. La Tour de la Belle Allemande and Pierre Seise. (See p. 375.) The entrance to Lyons has been compared to the *' approach to Bristol under the slopes of Durdham and King's Down, and the rocks of Clifton Hot Wells; but the river Sadne is larger, and the cliffs not so high." Lyons (French, Lyon). — Inns: H. d'Univers, Rue de Bourbon, not very good, though an English landlord; — H. de l'Europe; — H. de Provence et des Ambassadeurs, opposite the Post Office, in the Place Bellecour; — H. du Nord, chiefly for bachelors, not far from the H. de Ville. There is no good inn Cent. Fr. Rte. 108. — Lyons — Notre Dame de Fourvieres. 371 here; a new one near the new Ely* Station is in progress. There are few more stately cities, in external aspect, in striking situation, seated as it is on two great rivers, the Rhone and Sadne, or in the lively air of bustle and commerce diffused through its interior, than Lyons, the second city of France, the chief seat of manufactures, the focus where the commerce of the North and South converges. It is a fortress of 1st class, and chef -lieu du D£pt. du Rhdne. Its pop. amounts to 155,169, or 200,000 in- cluding its suburbs. The appearance of grandeur, how- ever, is limited to its quais, bridges, and noble rivers, to the steep and commanding heights of Fourvieres on the rt. of the Sadne, and to the two Places Bellecour and des Terreaux; it is deficient in fine streets and long open thoroughfares. The interior is one stack of lofty houses, penetrated by lanes so excessively narrow and nasty as not to be traversed without disgust. It is worth the stranger's while to remember, as a clue to find his way through this labyrinth, that the streets whose names are written on black plates run parallel with the course of the two rivers, those on yellow plates at rt. angles to them. Lyons stands on both banks of the Sadne and Rhdne, but the largest part occupies the tongue of land between these two rivers, extending from the j heights covered by the populous suburb j of La Croix Rousse, the residence of the silk-weavers and the hot-bed of insurrection, down nearly to the con- fluence of the rivers, towards which the quarter of Perrache has pushed forward buildings. On the 1. bank of the Rhdne are the suburbs of Les Brotteaux, the scene of revolutionary executions, and of Guillotiere, where a new town is rapidly rising; on the rt. bank of the Sadne, the suburbs of Vaise, through which you enter Lyons from Paris, of Fourvieres, mounting up the face of a slope so abrupt as scarcely to be accessible for wheel carriages, of St. Ir^nee behind it, and of St. George, lower down, near the water-side. These dry topographical details will be best understood when the traveller has scaled the ** Height of Fourvieres, which he should do the first thing after his arrival, on acoount of the view it commands. To reach it you pass between the Palais de Justice and the cathedral, ascending the steep and narrow streets above the cathe- dral, which are often foul. You pass behind the huge straggling hospital of Antiquailles, occupying the site of the Roman palace in which Claudius and Caligula were born, now assigned to the reception of 600 pa- tients, the most miserable wretches of this populous city, afflicted with mad- ness and all sorts of incurable and disgusting diseases, to the care of whom 27 Freres Hospitallers and 67 Scaurs devote their lives. Up narrow lanes, and steep stone stairs, partly in front of shops in which rosaries, medals, pictures, candles, and wax models of different parts of the body for suspen- sion in the church, are displayed before the eyes of devout pilgrims, you reach The Ch, of Notre Dame de Fourvieres, whose lofty dome is crowned by a co- lossal gilt copper figure of the Virgin : it is only remarKable for the quantity of ex-votos, paintings, &c,, to the number of 4000, with which its walls are covered, offered to the altar of the miracle-working figure of our Lady of Fourvieres, whose intercession is stated, by an inscription over the entrance, to have preserved Lyons from the cholera. Close beside the Ch. a speculator has built a tou-er, by way of observatory, 630 ft. above the Sadne, and from it, even better than from the terrace beside it, a most magnificent view may be obtained, The city of Lyons appears unrolled as a map beneath your feet, includ- ing the two noble rivers visible to their junction, the Sadne crossed by 8 or 10 bridges, the Rhdne by 7. Beyond it stretch fields, plains, and hills, dotted over with country houses, and the distance is closed (in clear weather) by the snowy peak of Mt. Blanc, nearly 100 m. off, this being one of the farthest points from which it is seen. More to the S. the Alps of Dauphin^, the mountains of the Grande Chartreuse, and the Mont Pilas appear. The Ch. of Notre Dame is seated on 372 Route 108. — Lyons — St. Irenee — Cathedral. Sect. V. the very summit of the hill, and is said to occupy the site, and retain the name, of the Roman Forum Vetxts, built by Trajan. Numerous but inconsi- derable Roman remains have been brought to light on the hill, the prin- • cipal being an amphitheatre within the Jardin des Plantes, and some fine arches of an Aqueduct, partly included in the Fort St. Irene's (see p. 379 \ In the faubourg St. Irenee, behind Fourvieres, is the Ch. of St. Inf/iee, an •uninteresting modern building, but erected on the grave of that saint and martyr, and upon subterranean vaults, in which, it is said, the early Chris- tians met for prayer, and were after- wards massacred, by order of Septimius Severus, a.d. 202. In the midst of this crypt, an ancient Romanesque building, resting on plain columns, is a sort of well, down which the bodies •of the Christians were thrown, until it overflowed with the blood of the 19,000 martyrs, for such is the number reported to have fallen, according to the legend, and a recess is filled with their bones. The upper Ch. was de- stroyed, and the crypt much injured, by the Calvinists, 1562; and the whole has been sadly modernized, much to the disparagement of historic associ- ations. The Cathedral of St. Jean Baptists, on the rt. bank of the Sadne, has 4 towers, two of which flank the W. front, and two, more massive, but shorter, from the transepts. The W. front is the most recent part, not having been completed until the reign of Louis XI.: its bas-reliefs and sta- tues are curious, but they have suf- fered from the Calvinistic iconoclasts of the 16th centy. ; these injuries have usually, but unjustly, been attributed to the infamous Baron des Adrets, since he was not in Lyons at the time when they were perpetrated. "The greater portion of the cathedral is of the age of St. Louis; but, though Gothic, the attentive observer will remark some curious imitations of Roman ornaments, particularly in an incrusted band or frieze of red and white marble, composed of masques And foliage, copied from the antique, Lh considerable exactness, running 1 the principal apse. The painted glass windows are remarkably fine. The centre tower, which opens into the cross, contains a rose window, which produces a peculiarly good effect. In a side aisle, on the floor, stands the once celebrated clock, made or built by Nicholas Lippeus of Basle, in 1 508. It is very much like that at Strasburg, exhibiting various proces- sions of little figures, the courses of the sun and moon, and the like ; but it is quite out of repair; and to be called in action it requires the admin- istration of half a franc to the sacris- tan."— F. P. l ' The clerestory presents an interesting series of windows, giving, in order, the gradations from plain lancets and circles, without foliation, or even a containing arch, to*the per- fect mullioned window, with flowing tracery" {Petit), a good lesson for the student. The Bourbon chapel, built by the Cardinal Bourbon and his brother Pierre, son-in-law of Louis XL, is remarkable for its ornaments, princi- pally flowers and foliage of the most delicate sculpture. Amongst them the thistle or chardon is repeatedly intro- duced ; a pun or rebus, allusive to the cher-dun which the king had made to Pierre in the gift of his daughter. "The see of Lyons, the religious metropolis of the Gauls, ascends to the era of the primitive church, its founders having been St. Pothinus, an Asiatic Greek, in the 2nd centy., and St. Ircnseus, disciples of the apostles, both of whom suffered martyrdom here. Before the Revolution the cathe- dral enjoyed many high privileges. The canons had the title of Counts of Lyons: and in the service many an- cient usages are retained; amongst others, yellow or native wax alone was used for the tapers, and no instru- mental music was allowed. Adjoining the cathedral is a building, part of the ancient Archiepiscopal Palace, which seems to be of the 9th centy." — F. P. On the quai, a little above the cathe- dral, opposite tiie Pont Seguin, de- stroyed by the flood of 1840, is the new Palais de Justice, a handsome building, faced with a colonnade of 24 pillars. Baltard is the architect. On the opposite side of the Sa6ne, about £ m. lower down, at the end of a street running up from the Pont Cent. France. JR. 108. — Lyons — Church of Ainay. 373 d* Ainay, is the Church of the Aljbey of Ainay, a very remarkable monument, both of Pagan and Christian antiquity. " The centre of the cross is supported by 4 ancient granite columns, supposed to have belonged to the altar erected at the confluence of the Rhdne and Sadne (which originally met close to the Ch.), in honour of Augustus, who resided for 3 years at Lyons, by the <>0 nations of Gaul. In the represen- tation of that altar existing on medals there are only 2 pillars, 1 on either side of the altar, each supporting a statue of Victory; but these lofty tx>lumns, each of a single shaft, having been cut in two, now form the 4 sup- porters, of somewhat low proportions, to the central lantern." The mea- surements of the diameter of the sec- tions in each pair show how they were joined. Their capitals, an imitation of the Corinthian, are mediaeval. The original capitals were Ionic. The Ch., as a building, was in existence before 037 (its foundation as a monastery was much earlier), and these are pos- sibly of that sera. The outer tower is probably Carlo vingian; but the build- ing has recently been restored, in some parts awkwardly, so as to prepare much perplexity for the antiquarians who are yet unborn. Beneath the sacristy are the dungeons in which Pothinus and Blandina were immured previously to their martyrdom. *' The sufferings of these witnesses for the truth rest upon a document of great authenticity, the Epistle of the Churches of Vienne and Lyons to the Brethren in Asia and Phrygia. Pothi- nus, chosen bishop of Lyons, and then 90 years of age, was sent back into this dungeon, where he expired after two days' confinement. For Blandina, who was a converted slave, greater tortures were reserved. After being scourged and exposed to the fire in an iron chair, she was delivered over to the beasts in the amphitheatre. These events took place during the persecu- tion under Marcus Antoninus, the im- placable enemy of Christianity, a.d. 177. • "These dungeons are gloomy cells, without light or air, below the bed of the adjoining river. The apertures by which they are entered are so low that you must creep into them upon hands and knees. They adjoin a crypt which, until the Revolution, was used as a chapel : traces of Roman work are here distinctly seen, and the walls are co- vered with modern frescoes of the mar- tyrs, and the floor with fresh mosaics. It has been restored to use. " The middle-age name of Ainay is Athenaeum, and most of the historians of Lyons are unanimous in supposing that it is built upon the site of the Athenoeum founded by Caligula, and the buildings of which joined to or included the Augustan altar. It was a school of debate and composition, in which pleaders competed for the prize. Great honours were bestowed upon the successful competitors; but those who failed were liable, according to the statutes of the imperial founder, to the most severe and humiliating punishments — to be chastised with a ferula, or thrown into the river, and to obliterate their own compositions by licking them out with the tongue : hence even the most gifted would approach the altar with trepidation and fear" (F. P.), and hence the line of Juvenal — " Palleat, ut nudis pressit qui calcibus angnem, Aut Lugdunensem rhetor dicturus ad aram." Some other remarkable churches, &c, have been spared: — St. Nizier, a splendid example of the flamboyant Gothic. 06s.- the triforium, with foliated window arches, without mul- lions. The bosses of the arched roof are curiously pointed. The portal, in the style of the Renaissance, is a work of the architect Philibert Delorme, in the 1 6th centy. Several hundred of the insurgents in the insurrection of 1834 were pursued within the walls of this church by the soldiery, and killed there. St. Pierre has a curious Carlovingian portal, in perfect preservation, though barbarously coated with oil-paint. The square called Place des Terreattx, one side of which is occupied by the Hdtel de Ville, and another by the Museum or Palais des Beaux Arts, was the scene of the execution of Cinq Mars and De Thou: "they perished on the scaffold, the one like a Roman, 374 Route 108. — Lyons — Hotel de Ville — Museum, Sect, V. the other like a saint;" thus atoning for their share in a conspiracy against the unrelenting Cardinal Richelieu. Here also, in 1794, the guillotine was erected, and actively kept at work until the square became so flooded with human blood, that the Terrorist chiefs, fearing to rouse the sensibility of the people, resolved on a wholesale massacre, by musketry and grape, in the Brotteaux, on the other side of the Rhdne. The- Hotel de Ville (1447-55), with its lofty roofs and bold projections, is not unworthy of the ancient consulate, who, before the Revolution, were a most influential and useful magistracy, though much reduced in authority by Henri IV. In this building sat the Revolutionary Tribunal which, under Challier before the siege of Lyons, and J after it under Couthon, Collot d'Her- bois, and Fouche, despatched so many thousand victims to perish by the guil- lotine and the fusillade. Collot d'Her- bois, the chief of these tyrants, had been an actor, and in that capacity had been hissed off the stage of Lyons. He vowed vengeance against the town in consequence of this affront ; and amply did the savage glut his desire for it. The Palais des Beaux Arts, or Mu- seum, in the ancient convent of St. Pierre, contains some very remarkable specimens of Roman antiquity. A Ihurobole, or square altar, 5 ft. high. The Bronze Tables containing the speech made by Claudius, when Censor, in the Roman senate (a.d. 48), on moving that the communities of Gallia Cornata should be admitted to the pri- vileges of the citizenship of Rome — an act of the highest national importance. They are beautifully cut, and the letters are as sharp and as legible as if they had just issued from the en- graver's hands. In these engravings we have probably the very words or composition of Claudius himself. They were discovered in the year 1528, on the heights of St. Sebastian. Clau- dius was born at Lyons on the very day when the altar of Augustus was consecrated. In ^ contemplating a relic of this description in the city to which it belongs, we become sensible how much of its interest would be diminished by depositing it in any situation out of its proper locality. A very fine mosaic pavement, representing the games of the Circus, in which the Spina, and the gates whence the chariots started for the race, are fully given, was found at Ainay, 1800. Several other pavements were found in or near the city, includ- ing one of Orpheus and the Beasts, brilliant in colour, with many sepul- chral and other inscriptions. The legs of a bronze horse, ex- tracted from the bed of the Sadne, are remarkable. In the Picture Gallery are several paint- ings of celebrated masters. — * Pietro Pe/iigino : The Ascension, the heavenly choir in the sky, the Apostles and Virgin below; one of the best works of the master, a magnificent painting; given to the city by Pope Pius VII. Rubens : St. Francis, St. Dominic, and the Virgin interceding for the world, against which the Saviour is about to launch his thunder; finely coloured, but coarse and offensive in the composi- tion. Two saints, more pleasing in tone and quite as characteristic. The Adora- tion of the Magi. Spagnoletto: St. Francis after Death, as placed in the tomb by Gregory IV. ; the ghastly glare of the eye and rigidity of the frame are truly, but somewhat painfully, represented. Palma Vecchio: Portrait of his daughter Violante (called a Titian), the same face by Palma existed at Dresden. Caracci : The Baptism in the Jordan. A Por- trait of a Canon of Bologna. Guercino: The Circumcision, very fine. Teniers : St. Peter delivered from the Prison, ' or rather soldiers gaming in the guard- house; for what is called the subject is rendered merely an accessory. Peru- gino : St. Gregory and St. James. A. i Durer (?) : The Empr. Maximilian and the Empress. A Portrait of Jacquart, inventor of the silk-loom named after him, by Bonnefonds. Portrait of Mi* guard, by himself. Portrait of William III. of England, Van Heem. Here are preserved Poussiris original drawings for the 7 Sacraments; also a small col- lection of majolica, porcelain, and Li- moges enimels, Palissy ware. A School of Design established at Lyons has been attended with remark- Central France. Route 108. — Lyons — Pierre Seise. 375 able success in improving the manu- factures. A portrait of Jacquart, in imitation of an engraving, but pro- duced by the loom invented by him, is both a monument to his memory and a proof of the skill attained by his townsmen. In one of the apartments are placed the busts of some of the illustrious natives of Lyons, as Philibert De- lorme, architect; Bernard de Jussieu, the botanist; Jacquart, inventor of the silk-loom; Suchet, marshal of France; Poivre, governor of L'lle de France, who introduced pepper. The Museum of Natural History is very creditable to the town, by its ex- tent; and most useful and instructive to the student, by its excellent systema- tic arrangement, according to orders, families, genera. It is tolerably well filled in all the departments of natural history ; but where specimens of a genus are wanting, the place is supplied by a drawing. Among the minerals are a very com- plete and valuable series of marbles, an- tique and modern, of Italy, France, &c. ; a suit of the blue and green copper-ores from the mine of Chessy. The mineralogical and geological topo- graphy of France is illustrated in a collection of rocks and fossils from the different departments. "The Bibliotheque Publique is the best provincial collection in France. The consulate of the city took great pride in this institution, which was originally annexed to the college. It contains many manuscripts, and about 80,000 printed volumes. Amongst them are many valuable and all but unique articles of the early printers — the delight and despair of the biblio- maniac. During the siege of Lyons in 1793, the library suffered greatly from the bombardments and the cannonade to Which the city was exposed. The roof of the library was beat down, large heaps of the books were covered by the rubbish, and it might have been wished that they could have continued so during the reign of the Convention. Some were carried to Paris; others stolen. The foregoing were at least preserved for literature. But the li- brary was turned into a barrack; the National Guard lighted their fires and boiled their coffee with the volumes, which they employed in preference to any other combustible ; and a Juge de Paix in a different canton caused a cart- load to be brought to him every de- cade for the same purpose; for, said he, they are all books of devotion, and we do not exactly seek truth in the age of reason." — F. P. In the suburb of Vaise, on the rt. bank of the Sadne, on the line of the old fortifications, and just above the rail- road leading to Paris and Chalons, rise the scanty remains of the escarped rock of Pierre Seise, or Encise, so called from its having been cut through by Agrippa, in order to open a military road. It is now used as a quarry, and the proprietors are carting off the pic- turesque and beautiful by wholesale. Upon this rock stood a castle of the Archbishops, demolished during the Revolution, perhaps in consequence of the odium which it acquired by having been a state prison, and also because it was offensive to the inhabitants from its domineering over the town. In it Lu- dovico Sforza, called II Moro, was con- fined by Louis XII. ; he was afterwards removed to the castle of Loches, where, being occasionally confined in an iron cage, he sank under the misery he sus- tained. Here also Card. Richelieu shut up Cinq Mars, for conspiring against his authority and corresponding with Spain ; and De Thou, the son of the historian, for not betraying the conspiracy. Farther on, upon the opposite (1.) bank of the Sadne, is an antique castle, surmounted by a lofty tower, called Tour de la Belle Allemande, from a tra- dition of a German damsel being' im- mured in it while her beloved was shut up in Pierre Seise. He, as the story goes, having escaped, by leaping into the Sadne, was swimming across the river to join her, when he was per- ceived by the castle guard, and shot at the foot of the tower. " The charitable institutions of Lyons are numerous. The principal one is the Hdtel Dieu, on the quay facing the Rhdne, between the Pont de l'Hdtel Dieu and Pont Guillotiere: it is the most ancient, perhaps, now subsisting in France, having been founded by 376 Route 108. — Lyons — Hotel Dieu — Siege. Sect. V. Childebert, and Ultrogotha his queen. The present edifice was built by Soufflot, architect of the Pantheon, but the front is recent. The plan of the building is that of a cross, and it is arranged upon the Panopticon principle. An octagon altar is placed under the central dome. From this the wards radiate, and the crucifix and the officiating priest can be seen from every bed in the hospital. The chambers are very lofty and spacious. Amongst other attendants are 1 50 sisters of charity." — F. P. The building was destroyed during the siege of 1793, when filled with wounded, by shells and red- hot shot: a black flag, hoisted upon the building to »avert the deadly shower, seemed only to attract towards it a larger share of the fire; and after the flames had been in vain extinguished 42 times, it was finally consumed. From an in- scription discovered not long since in a courtyard of the Hdtel Dieu (once a Pro- testant burial-ground), it would seem that Mrs. Temple, daughter of Young, author of the ' Night Thoughts,' who died at Montpellier, 1736, was actually buried here. By the archives in the H.- de Ville, it appeal's that 729 livres were paid for permission to inter her. On the quay of the Rhdne, below the Pont Guillotiere, is the still larger Hospice de la Chariti. The Place Bellecour, one of the largest squares in Europe, perhaps too large, since it covers 15 acres, and only one side has any pretension to architec- tural merit, has been rebuilt since 1793-94. The bronze statue of Louis XIV. in the centre was restored by Charles X. On the capture of Lyons by the republicans, the total annihilation of the town, and of all its chief build- ings, public and private, which had escaped the 1 1,000 red-hot shot and the 27,000 shells hurled against it during a bombardment of several weeks, was de- creed by the National Convention, in order to humble the pride of the Lyon- nais. The demolition of the houses of the Place Bellecour was directed by Cou- thop, who, borne on a litter, on account of illness, gave the signal by striking with a little hammer on the door of «ach condemned house, repeating the -ords " Je te condamne a etre dcmolie au nom de la loi." A mob of dis- charged workmen and others of the lowest classes then hastened to carry into effect these commands. Lyons, the chief manufacturing town of France, was reduced to a heap of ruins, and the expense of merely pulling down amounted to 700,000/. — a sum larger than that which built the Hdtel des Invalides at Paris. Thus was ful- filled the decree of the Montagne, that "Lyons should no longer exist," that "even its name should be effaced," and that of *' Commune Affranchie" substituted. This decree enacted also that a column should be erected on its ruins to bear these woras : — «< Lyon fit la guerre a la Liberte ; " Lyon n'est plus." The Siege of Lyons, which preceded this wanton razing of the town, was undertaken by the National Conven- tion, to punish and bring back to their side the people of Lyons, who, irri- tated by the vexations, and horror- stricken by the tyranny, of the club of Terrorists and the municipality, had risen up in arms against them, and made prisoner, tried, and executed their president, the infamous Challier, a Savoyard, and once an abbe. In con- sequence 60,000 troops were collected from all quarters against this devoted town. Its defence was intrusted to about 30,000 of her citizens, who cheer- fully manned the walls, resolving that their oppressors should not capture the place without marching over piles of ruins and heaps of dead. After an heroic resistance of 63 days, during which acts of the utmost bravery and scenes of the direst misery were ex- hibited, after all the surrounding heights had been gained by the ene- my, and 30,000 persons had perished within the walls, famine began to arrest the power of all further resistance, and the town was yielded, Oct. 9, 1793. The Suburb of Perrache, between the Saoue and Rhdne, receives its name from the architect who conceived and executed the plan of removing the con- fluence of these rivers, which, before 1770, were united a little below the church of Ainay, to its actual situation. He effected this by strong embank- ments; and the greater portion of the Cent. France. Route 108. — Lyons — Massacre. 377 land thus gained is either built over, or is prepared for building. Here is the General Station of the Railways to Paris, Avignon, Marseilles, and St. Etienne. (Rte. 118.) In the Place Louis Napoleon is a statue of Napoleon I. by Nieuerkerk. Until the commencement of the present century the Rhdne merely -skirted the city, and Lyons may be said to have been confined to its rt. bank; or, as Gray in his letters hu- morously describes the confluence, "the Sadne goes through the middle of the city in state, while he (the Rhdne) passes incog, outside the walls, but waits for her a little below." Since that time the 1. bank of the Rhdne has been covered over with houses, forming the suburbs of Brot- teaux and Guillotiere. Several streets of fine and lofty houses are built here, and a new bridge over the Rhdne con- nects them directly with the business quarter of the city. At the back of these new constructions an embankment has been formed, and a military canal dug, protected by forts, so as to serve the double purpose of protecting the neigh- bourhood from the inundations of the Rhdne and the attack of an enemy. In the Brotteaux, at the extremity of the street called Avenue des Martyrs, a monumental Chapel, in the form of a pyramid, perpetuates the memory of the miserable victims of one of the worst atrocities of the Revolution. After the siege and capture of Lyons, as narrated above, the guillotine proved too slow an instrument of slaughter of the accused or suspected victims, condemned, with or without cause, to suffer by the mandate of ^he revolutionary tribunal. The blood- thirsty and infamous tyrant Collot d'Herbois therefore conducted the pri- soners, by 60 at a time, under the escort of soldiers, to a field beside the granary of La Part Dieu. Here, with their hands bound behind their backs, they were fastened by ropes to a cable attached to a row of willows ; and at the end of the line two cannons, loaded with grape-shot, were so placed as to enfilade the whole. At the first discharge few fell dead; a second and third, directed against the poor wretches, mutilated, wounded, and deprived of their limbs a great num- ber, but left the greater part still alive, rending the air with their agonizing shrieks, so that the soldiers were obliged to finish the work with their swords or the butt end of their mus- kets. So laborious was the task, and so imperfectly performed, that some were found breathing 12 hrs. after, when their bodies were covered with quicklime, and thrown into a hole for burial. These heart-sickening massa- cres were repeated, by the aid of grape- shot or musketry fired by platoons of soldiers, until the number of victims amounted to 2100. Collot d'Herbois and Fouche looked on while these deeds were done; and the former, when informed, on one occasion, that a band of prisoners about to be led forth to death exceeded by two the num- ber condemned for execution, replied, "Qu'importe ! s'ilspassentaujourd'hui, ils ne passeront pas demain." The miscreant Collot d'Herbois, ex- ulting in his atrocities, forwarded from time to time to Paris reports of his proceedings to the Convention, from which these are extracts. He says of himself and colleague, " The sword of the law is falling on the conspirators at the rate of 30 at a time; that they have already despatched 200, and they were occupied, in the most unceasing manner, in the discharge of their func- tions," 3 days after he writes, "I send you a second list; the number now amounts to 300. A more grand act of justice is preparing; 400 or 500, with whom the prisons are filled, are one of these days to expiate their crimes : the stroke of powder shall purge them from the earth by a single discharge." In a vault beneath the chapel are shown about 200 skulls and skeletons, the relics of the miserable sufferers by this tyranny. At the extremity of the suburb of La Guillotiere is an ancient castle called Chateau de la Motte, in which Henri IV. was married to Marie de Medicis. The Bridges. There are 7 over the Rhdne: — the Pont Morand, of wood, opposite the Place des Terreaux, lead- ing to Les Brotteaux, named after its architect, who perished by the hand 378 Route 108, — Lyons — Bridges — Silk Trade. Sect. V. v of the revolutionary assassins ; Pont Lafayette (formerly de Charles X.), of wood, on stone piers ; Pont de CHdtel Dieu, a suspension bridge; Pont de la Guillotiere, between the Hdtel Dieu and la Charite, leading to the Place Belle- cour, is of stone, 539 yards long: it is the oldest of all the bridges, its found- ation being referred to Pope Innocent IV., 1190, though no part of the pre- sent structure is of that age. The high road to Savoy passes over it. A very curious silver buckler, bearing a repre- sentation of the Continence of Scipio, in relief, was found at the base of one of its piers. The bridges over the Sadne, be- tween L'lle Barbe and La Mulatiere, are 10 in number. The principal are Pont de Tilsit, a beautiful stone bridge, leading from the Place Belleoour to the Archevdche ; the Pont Segum, a suspension bridge (destroyed 1840), named after its engineer, opposite the Palais de Justice ; and higher up, the Pont du Change, an old stone bridge. The Quartiers des Capucins, between the Place des Terreaux and Croix- Rousse, and of St. Clair, are chiefly inhabited by rich capitalists and manu- facturers. The former stretches up the foot of the hill of Croix-Rousse, separated from the faubourg of that name by a line of antiquated ramparts and bastions. The fortifications of Lyons consist of 1 8 detached forts arranged in a circle of 12 J m. around the town, crowning the heights of St. Croix and Fourvieres, on the rt. bank of the Sadne, and of Croix-Rousse, above the suburb of that name ; and the circuit is completed round the fauxbourgs Brotteaux and Guillotiere. They owe their origin to the fearful insurrections of the work- men and others which took place as a consequence of the July Revolution in 1831 and 1834; and they are at least as much designed to repress intestine revolt as to withstand invasion from without. A garrison of 6000 men would suffice to defend them. The chief work, the Fort Mont essay, is so constructed that its guns entirely com- mand, and could level with the dust, the faubourg of La Croix-Rousse, the St. Antoine of Lyons, a moral volcano teeming with turbulence and sedition; while a fortified barrack on the Place des Bernardines separates it, at will, from the rest of the city. From this faubourg issued, in 1831 and 1834, the armed insurgents who for several days held possession of the town, having expelled the military, until an army could be assembled large enough to put them down, which was only ef- fected with a loss of more than 1000 lives. In these revolts (for they were far too serious to fall under the name of riots) , this ill-starred and ill-conditioned city experienced a renewal of many of the horrors, the bloodshed, and misery of the first Revolution . Many workmen were obliged to quit the town for their share in these disturbances, and settled in Switzerland. Even under a Repub- lican government Lyons required a per- manent army of 30,000 to enforce order — to do the work of police ! The Croix-Rousse is principally in- habited by silk-weavers, who live in densely crowded narrow streets, where 12 to 20 families are piled one above another in the lofty houses. Silk is the staple manufacture of Lyons; t in the extent of it she sur- passes every other town of Europe. The manufacture of silk was first esta- blished in Lyons in the year 1450. In variety of design, in taste, in elegance of pattern, and in certain colours, the manufactures have a superiority over the English. " They can work 25 per cent, cheaper ; but the hand-loom weavers of Lyons are nearly as ill off as those of Spitalfields." — Laing. There are no huge factories here : the master, instead of having a certain number of workmen constantly employed in his own premises, merely buys the raw material, and gives it out to be manu- factured by the weavers, dyers, &c, at their own houses, by themselves and their families. The patterns are pro- duced by draughtsmen (generally a partner of the master manufacturer), and the laying or preparing of the pattern (raise en carte) is the province of another artiste. There are about 31,000 silk-looms in and about Lyons. The silk-weavers are, bodily and phy- sically, an inferior race ; half the young men of an age for military ser- Central France. Route 108. — Lyons — Environs. 379 vice are exempted, owing to weakness or deformity. Of late manufactories of cotton, hardware, &c, have been established in Lyons; it is also the centre of money transactions with Swit- zerland and Italy. The Conseil des Prudhommes is a com- mercial tribunal, composed half of masters, half of workmen, designed to settle disputes, respecting wages and such matters, between the two classes, and between masters and apprentices, in a spirit of conciliation. It is of immense service, and exists in other manufacturing towns, and might, per- haps, be imitated with advantage in England. Every workman is provided with a "livret de bonne conduite," in which particulars of his ability, indus- try, and conduct are entered from time to time, so that it serves as a passport for him when in want of work, provided it shows a good and steady character. The Condition des Soies is an esta- blishment in which the quality and goodness of raw silks brought hither for sale is tried, by exposing them to heat, at a temperature of 72£° to 77° Fahr. The weight of the silk is then ascertained, and marked by a sworn es- timator, and fraud is thus prevented. There are several Theatres, the chief one behind the H. de Ville, another in the Place des Celestins. The Post Office is in the Place Belle- cour. English Church, No. 2, Rue de Pavie, Quai de Bon Rencontre, opened 1854. Service is performed on Sunday at llh. 30m. by a resident English Chap- lain (Rev. G. Warner). It depends on voluntary contributions entirely. Omnibuses traverse the town from end to end ; and cabriolets and nacres stand in the Places des Terreaux and Bellecour, and on the Quai de Retz. Mallepostes daily to Strasbourg in 36 h. ; to Geneva, and to Turin by Cham- bery. Diligences daily: 2 to Turin by Cham- bery, every evening, in 36 hrs.; toAix- les-Bains; to Strasbourg, by Lons-le- Saulnier, Belfort, Colmar; to Grenoble; to Geneva in 13 hrs., performing the first part of the route by rly. as far as Amberien. Railways to Chalons and Paris in 13 hrs.; to Avignon and Marseilles, by Valence, Tarascon, and Aries; to Am- berien and Bourg, on the line to Geneva, in progress to Chambery. Ge- neral terminus Quartier Perrau. Railroad to St. Etienne. Office, Place Bellecour, whence omnibuses go to the terminus in the Quartier Perrache. Trains 3 times a day. (See Rte. 118.) Steamers on the Rhone start for Vienne, Valence, Avignon, and Aries, every morning at 4 or 5 a.m., from the Quai on the Rhdne (see Rte. 125). They are now principally used for merchandise. Steamers on the Sadne for Chalons, starting from the Quai (Rte. 108) every morning, from 4 to 6 a.m. A steamer starts every morning in the summer for Aix-les-Bains, arriving there in the afternoon. The Environs of Lyons are correctly described by Gray the poet: " The hills around are bedropped and be- speckled with country houses, gardens, and plantations of rich merchants and bourgeois." These villas are much more numerous than in the vicinity of Paris. "Vile Barbe, a high rocky island in the Saone, above Lyons, nearly sur- rounded by escarped rocks, and con- nected with the banks of the river by a wire bridge, was the frequent residence of Charlemagne; and at the upper ex- tremity is a watch-tower, on which, according to tradition, the emperor sat and contemplated his Paladins, heading his army, as it marched along the banks of the river. This castle seems not older than the 15th centy., but the small Church has a tower which looks older than the 12th. Many curious antique fragments are dispersed in the island, which is wonderfully secluded, con- sidering its near vicinity to a great city, and little frequented save on f^te-days. A feuj Historical Notices of Lyons. — The ancient city of Lyons, the Roman Lugdunum, founded, according to Dion Cassius, by Munatius Plancus (b.c. 40), occupied the heights of Fourvieres. Here Augustus and Severus resided. The central fountain in the Jardins de Plantes stands in the arena of a Roman Amphitheatre. Here still exist traces of the vast Aqueduct, constructed, it is said, by the soldiers of Marc Antony, 380 Route 109. — Moulins to Clermont. Sect. V. when his legions were quartered here, to supply the town with water from the distant mountains of La Forez. It may be still traced for miles, crossing the valleys on arches, of which the most considerable remains are at Bionnat (6 arches), Chapponost, Char- donniers and Oullins. Remains of Agrippa's 4 great roads, which met at Lyons, radiating thence to the Pyrenees, through the Cevennes to the Rhine, to the Ocean through Picardy, and to Marseilles, may also be traced. The settlement of the early Chris- tians, and the persecutions they en- dured in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, have been alluded to in p. 373. Lyons was possessed and governed by its archbps., who held it by a grant from the Emp. of Germany, during the 12th and part of the 13th centy., and was not restored to the French crown until the reign of Philippe le Bel. The silk manufacture was established here in the middle of the 15th centy. by Italian refugees, and was nearly ruined by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which dispersed most of its best workmen to Spitalnelds, Amster- dam, Crefeld, &c. The events which occurred at Lyons during the first Revolution have been detailed at p. 376. In 1815 Lyons threw open its gates to Napoleon on his return from Elba; the troops intended to defend it having at once deserted the standard of the Bourbons, to gather round the tri- color, in spite of the exertions of the Comte d' Artois and Marshal Macdonald to keep them to their duty. , Lyons suffered fearfully from the inundations of its two rivers in June 1 856, especially in the low quarter of La Guillotiere, beyond the Rhone. ROUTE 109. MOULINS TO CLERMONT (RAIL) AND LE PUT — THE VOLCANOES OF AUVERONE. To Clermont 95 kilom. = 59 Eng. m. Railicay, a continuation of the line of the Grand Central from Orleans and Vierzon to Moulins, opened 1 855 to Cler- mont, and in 1856 to Lempde and Bri- "de. Three trains daily to Clermont — time, 3J to 4£ hours. Diligences daily from the Lempde and Brioude Stats, to Puy, 122 kilom. =75 Eng. m. Moulins is described in Rte. 105. This line of route is interesting from the natural beauties and rich cultivation of the country which it traverses ; but, more than all, for the phenomena of the extinct volcanic mountains of Au- vergne, through the midst of which it passes. It proceeds nearly due S. from Moulins, up the valley-plain of the Allier, the chief tributary of the Loire. The upper part of this valley above Aigueperse was anciently called La Limagne, and is believed to have been once a lake basin, in which were deposited the fresh-water marls, sands, &c, which now contribute so much to its fertility. The mountains of Forez, which divide the waters of the Allier from those of the Loire, are seen on the E. Bessay Stat. Varennes Stat., Allier Stat. About 6 m. from this is St. Pourcain (Inn; Poste), a town of 4000 Inhab., on the Sioule. An Ecce Homo, carved in the stone, in the church here, is praised. Crechy Stat. St. Germain des Fosse's Stat. A branch Rly. is in progress hence to Roanne. (See p. 363.) The Baths of Vichy are about 5 m. from this Stat. Frequent omnibuses ply thither. (See Rte. 101.) The road, leaving the Allier on the 1. at St. Pourcain, ascends the vale of the Sioule. Gannat Stat. There is a road hence to the Baths of Vichy (Rte. 101). [About 9 m. from this is the ancient and picturesque Castle of Veaitce, an old in- heritance of the family de Cadier. Its situation on a lofty rock, isolated on 3 sides by ravines, is most picturesque, and it commands noble views. It has been sumptuously restored and is sur- rounded by terraced gardens, and shows within and without the influence of an English lady, wife of its owner. It is readily shown to strangers.] The hill rising on the 1., about 1 m. N.E. of Aigueperse, is called La Butte de Montpensier, and is com- Auvergne. Route 109, — Moulins to Clermont — Riom. 381 posed of yellow marly limestones. There is a fine view from its top. Be- tween it and the road is a hole which exhales carbonic acid nearly pure, so that small animals which come to drink from the pool of water which often collects at the bottom are apt to be suffocated. The common people, attri- buting this to the water, called it La Fontaine empoisonne'e. 9 Aigueperse Stat. (7»»: Poste; com- fortable) is the first town in the Dept. Fuy de Ddme, and is celebrated as the native place of the Chancellor d'Agues- seau, born at the Chateau de la Roche : his statue may be seen in the Hdtel de Ville. Its name is derived from " acqua sparsa," from the streams around it. The choir of the principal church, attached to an ugly modern nave, deserves notice as a pure speci- men of the Gothic of the 13th centy. ; its lofty roof is sustained by long graceful columns. Here is a painting of the Nativity, attributed to Ghirlan- dajo, in a stiff style (the figures said to be portraits of princes and lords of the Bourbonnais), and a St. Sebastian (?), locked up. There is also a Sainte Chapelle here, founded, 1475, by Louis, Dauphin d* Auvergne, inferior to one at Riom. The Abbe* Delille, author of ' Les Jardins/ was born here 1738. " O champs de la Limagne, 6 fortune sejour, J'ai revu les beaux lieux qui m'ont donne le jour." The hill of Chaptuzat, on the rt. of the road, is quarried for building- stone ; the rock is an oolite. Above it, and on many other eminences throughout the Limagne, beds of a tertiary limestone occur, entirely formed of the cases of insects resem- bling the caddis-worm, or May-fly, in- crusted by carbonate of lime, and formed into a hard travertin^ called " calcaire a friganes," or indusial lime- stone. The cases, or tubes, are coated over with shells of Paludina, often to the number of 100 around one tube, and 10 or 12 tubes are packed within the space of a cubic inch. These insects must have inhabited the lake which once covered the valley of the Limagne. Near Riom the country becomes in- teresting, and exhibits the character- istic features of the scenery of Au- vergne,— a rich vegetation and beautiful verdure, produced by the abundant irrigation ; a varied outline of country, with towns, castles, and villages perched on the tops of eminences com- manding the Limagne. Riom Stat. {Inns : Colonne ; H. du Palais ; Ecu de France) is a town of 12,500 Inhab., the second in the De*pt. Puy de D6me, in a cheerful situation, but built of dark lava from the quar- ries of Volvic, and paved with volcanic stones. It is encircled by boulevards planted with trees, in one part widen- ing out into a platform called Pr€- Madame, where a monument of granite has been raised to the memory of Gen, Desaix. It is a perfect treasury of domestic architecture, chiefly of the Renaissance period, the greater part of the town having been built, as it now stands, in the reign of Francis I. The Sainte Chapelle, attached to the Palais de Justice, is, like that of Paris, a light and lofty lantern of stone, built 1 382, the piers which support the roof forming the separations between the windows. It has, however, suffered material injury from being divided horizontally, by a floor, into 2 stories : the lower one is converted into a law court (Cour Royale), and is stripped of its painted glass in order to throw a light upon the proceedings ; the upper one, turned into a record office, is filled with old musty deeds, so that its really beautiful stained windows can scarcely be seen. St. Amable is a curious church, which will interest the architect and anti- quary. The date of the nave, the oldest part, seems uncertain. The lower arches are pointed, and rest on piers, having engaged pillars on 3 sides, but plain on the inner face; above them runs a gallery of circular arches roofed with a demi-vault, which serves the purpose of a range of flying but- tresses to support the roof of the cen- tral aisle. The little sculpture em- ployed is very rude. The choir is in the Gothic style of the 13th centy. the arches alternately pinched up and expanding. The W. front and cupola above the cross are tasteless additions of the 17th centy. 382 Route 109. — Clermont Sect. V. About a mile from Riom, on the W., is the village of Mosac or Mosat, whose church has been attributed to Pepin ; but the only part which can be referred to the 8th or 9th centuries is the W. porch, now walled up. The nave, in the Romanesque style, seems to belong to the early part of the 12th centy., and is remarkable for the beau- tifully executed capitals of its columns : the only windows are in the aisle. The choir and rest of the church are of the 15th centy., and uninteresting. In the sacristy is preserved a silver-gilt shrine, in the shape of a sarcophagus, ornamented with enamels in the Ro- manesque style, made in the middle of the 10th centy. It contained the relics of Saints Calmidius and Numadia. [At Volvic, a few miles farther to the W. of Riom, are the vast quarries of lava which have furnished the stones for building that town and Clermont. The lava current in which they are ex- cavated has issued out of the extinct crater called Puy de la Nugere. They are partly subterranean, partly open to the sky ; they have been worked since the 13th centy., and- give em- ployment to the whole neighbouring population. The stone is porous, re- sembling trachyte, and contains specu- lar iron in its cells ; it is easily worked, and the bed furnishes blocks 20 ft. by 6 ft. in size. When firet extracted, it is of a grey or slate colour, but darkens by exposure to the air ; it is used for rude works of sculpture. The church of Volvic is ancient. Volvic is built at the foot of the vol- canic cone called Puy de la Banniere, on the lava current which has flowed from it, and appears to have crossed and covered that from Puy de la Nugere. On an eminence near Volvic stands the very romantic ruined Castle of Toumoe'lle, in ancient times one of the strongest in Auvergne, so that it re- sisted long and stoutly a besieging army under Guy Dampierre and Re- nauld de Forez, Archbishop of Lyons, in 1213, and again 1590, when it was defended against the forces of the League by Charles d'Apchon. The remains are accessible by a steep path, and part of them are tolerably perfect : the oubliettes, or dungeon, entered only by a small hole from above, still exist under the round tower. There is a footpath or horse -road direct from Volvic to Clermont.] Gersat Stat. About a mile before entering Cler- mont, the suburb of Montferrand, a cluster of narrow streets conspicuously seated on a limestone eminence, crowned by an old church dedicated to Notre Dame de Prospent6, is passed. It was anciently an independent town and fortress, and was called Montfer- rand le Fort. It was surprised and pillaged by the English, under Perrot the Bearnais, 1388. Froissart, in his Chronicles, recounts at length the story of its capture. An avenue of trees, nearly a mile long, leads into Clermont, or Clermont - Ferrand Stat. — Inns : H. de la Paix (Boyer*s) ; good, and tolerably clean ; — H . de l'Ecu ; — H. de l'Europe. Clermont, once capital of Lower Auvergne, now of the Dept. du Puy de Ddme, is a cheerful town, which, in consequence of recent improvements, has lost the gloomy character which once distinguished it, its houses, built of dull grey lava, being now white- washed. Its principal interest is de- rived from its situation on a hill, com- posed chiefly of volcanic tuff, in the fertile Limagne, in the midst of a mountainous country, at the foot of that extraordinary range of extinct volcanoes which rear their conic or crater - shaped forms around, sur- mounted by the mountain of the Puy (». e. Pic) de Ddme, whence the depart- ment is named, which, though appa- rently overhanging Clermont, is nearly 5 m. distant. The population amounts to 32,427, including the suburbs. On the outskirts of the town, nearly all round its circuit, except on the N.W., runs a line of boulevards, or " places," the chief of which are the Place de Jaude, a wide oblong dusty space on which fairs are held, sur- rounded by houses ; the Place de Tau~ reau, on which a monument has been raised to Gen. D^saix, a native of Cler- mont; and the PI. Delille, by which the Paris road enters the town, named after the poet, who was also an Auvergnat. Auvergne. J?. 109. — Clermont — Notre Dame du Port. 383 Clermont is destitute of fine public buildings : the principal edifice is the Cathedral, externally an irregular pile of dark lugubrioufe hue, from the black lava of Volvic, of which it is built. It suffered serious injury from the frenzy of the Revolution, being stripped of its ornaments and monu- ments, and condemned by the mob to be levelled with the ground, but was saved by the exertions of a citizen and magistrate, M. Verdier Latour, under the pretext that it would be useful to hold popular meetings in. It is, not- withstanding, an interesting example of the mature pointed Gothic, begun 1248, and carried on till 1265, by the architect Jean Deschamps (J. de Campis), but never completed. The interior, therefore, is all of a piece, presenting one harmonious whole, re- markable for its lightness and lofti- ness, the vaulted roof (of tufa) being more than 100 ft. above the pavement. There are fine rose windows in the transepts. The painted glass is very beautiful ; that in the choir is of the age of St. Louis (13th cent.), and dis- plays his arms quartered with those of Spain: the glass in the large window of the nave is of the 15th and 16th cents., and inferior ; it has, besides, suffered from a hailstorm in 1835. In one of the side chapels of the choir is an ancient sarcophagus of white marble, adorned with sculptures well executed. The N. portal suffered least at the Revolution, is very richly adorned with sculptures, and deserves notice. From the top of the tower the stranger may survey to advantage the town, and the volcanic mountains, the valley of the Limagne, and the plateau of Gergovia, the scene of Caesar's dis- comfiture. (See p. 387.) The most ancient and interesting church, in an architectural point of view, is Notre Dame du Port, a Roman- esque edifice of the 10th or 11th centy., judging from the evidence of style, but said to date from 870, and perhaps portions of the very curious crypt may be of that age. It is encrusted exter- nally with rude mosaics. The tower above the W. door is modern (1823), but in tolerable taste: the S. doorway is surmounted by curious bas-reliefs, much mutilated, and partly hidden behind woodwork; yet Christ between two six-winged cherubims, and the Adoration of the Magi, and the Baptism of Christ, may be distinguished below. The interior possesses some modern painted glass by a native artist, M. Thevenot; and in the crypt is a black image of the Virgin, said to have been found at the bottom of the well, which is supposed to work miracles, and is re- sorted to by pilgrims on the 15th May. In the N.E. corner of the town, not far from the last-named church, is the Place Delille, in the midst of which has been placed a fountain of elegant design in the style of the Renaissance, with some mixture of Gothic, executed 1515, for Bishop Jacques d'Amboise. In the same quarter, on the 1. of the road to Montferrand, is the Cimetiere de la Ville, in whose chapel a curious antique sarcophagus, richly sculptured, has been converted into an altar. In the Faubourg St. Alyre, to the N. W. of Clermont, and at the foot of the eminence on which it is built, rises a remarkable calcareous spring, called Fontaine pe'trijiante, issuing out of a volcanic tufa resting upon granite. It resembles that of Matlock, except that its deposits are more copious and quickly formed, from the larger quan- tity of calcareous matter dissolved by the carbonic acid with which it is im- pregnated. It has deposited in the course of ages a mass of travertine or limestone, 240 ft. long, 16 ft. high, and 1 2 ft. wide at its termination. It has formed over the rivulet a sort of na- tural bridge, Pont de Pierre, which is in fact nothing more than a huge sta- lactite, while a second bridge is in pro- gress, and gradually increasing. So abundant is the quantity of lime held in solution in the water, that the pipes and troughs through which it passes would be choked up with stone, were they not cleared out every 2 or 3 months. By breaking the fall of a jet of the water, and allowing its spray to descend upon any object subjected to it, such as bunches of grapes, baskets, nests, eggs, hedgehogs, &c, they be- come encrusted with the calcareous sediment, or petrified, as it is vulgarly 384 Route 109. — Clermont — Puy de Dome. Sect, V. called ; in this way also casts may be obtained from medals, &c. The fountain and bridge are situated in a garden, within which is a bathing- house supplied from its waters. The Muse'e, or Etablissement Scien- tifique, a building situated on the S. side of the town within the ill-kept but beautifully-situated botanic garden, contains — 1. A collection of Natural History, particularly rich in the mineral products of Auvergne, which may be studied with advantage by the geo- logical traveller previous to travelling through the country, as the specimens are arranged topographically. 2. The Public Library of 15,000 vols., includ- ing some curious ancient MSS., and a folio bible of the 12th centy., illumi- nated with vignettes. Here is a statue of Pascal (b. 1623), and a bust of Delille, both Auvergnats. In a corner of the Jardin Botanique, a number of antiquities, inscriptions, fragments of columns, &c, and a head in relief of the Gallic Mercury (?), dug up in the vicinity, have been deposited here, but are very little cared for, being exposed to the weather in the open air. The terraced walks called Place du Taureau and Place de la Poterne com- mand fine views of the surrounding mountains. Clermont has been the seat of several ecclesiastical Councils: the most re- markable was that held in 1095, which may be said to have lighted the spark of the crusades in Europe, the train having been laid by Peter the Hermit. It was convoked by Pope Urban II., who presided in person over the vast assembly at the head of his cardinals, of 13 archbishops, and 205 bishops. The place of meeting is supposed to have been an open space to the rear of the church of Notre Dame du Port. Here, from a throne raised in the midst, around which were grouped the tents of tens of thousands of enthu- siastic hearers, the pope pronounced that eloquent discourse which melted all to tears, and was followed by the universal shout of " Diex le volt " (Dieu le veut) ; when the cloaks of red cloth worn by the noble bystanders were *orn into shreds, to form the badge of the cross, then first adopted and laid on the breast of all who took the vow. Clermont is supposed to be the an- cient Augustonemetum. Conveyances. — Mallepostes to Mont- pellier, by St. Flour, in 60 hrs. Railroad open to Lempde, and in progress from thence to Le Puy. Diligences daily to Lyons and St. Etienne; to Montpellier, to Aurillac, to Alby and Toulouse, to Tulle, Li- moges, and Bordeaux; to Bourges. Small carriages and saddle-horses may be hired at a moderate rate, by aid of which numerous interesting ex- cursions may be made in the Environs, the beauties of which can be reached only by passing over a dreary intervening space of dusty road between high walls. It is not there- fore advisable to make these excur- sions on foot. The ascent of the Puy de Ddme, the highest mountain in the neighbour- hood, 4806 ft. above the sea-level, is very interesting on account of the in- sight it affords into the geological phe- nomena of the district. It may be performed in the following manner: — You may hire a char-a-banc at Cler- mont for 8 or 10 fr. to go and return. No carriage can advance farther than to the foot of the cone, the rest of th# ascent must be performed on foot; it is practicable on horseback if the beast be sure of foot : the distance is about 6 m. A steep, but well - engineered road, commencing at the barrier, passing at first over black basalt, and afterwards over the more modern lava, scoriae, and calcined stones, which have issued from the Puy de Pariou, leads, in about 1 J hr., to the hamlet and cabaret of la Barraque, where the road divides, the 1. -hand branch leading to the Puy de D6me and Mont Dore, the rt.-hand to the Puy de Pariou and PontGibaud, and passing on the 1. the ruined Castle of Montrodeix. A guide may be hired at la Barraque, and the carriage may pro- ceed nearly to the base of the Ddme, beyond which is a very steep ascent, partly over coarse grass, mixed with bilberry bushes, partly over the bare crumbling rock of which the mountain is composed; a variety of trachyte, called Domite by the French geologists, AUVERGNE. Route 109. — Puy de Pariou. 385 because peculiar to this locality. It is so porous, that it retains no water on its surface, and the mountain in con- sequence does not possess a single spring. The summit is most easily accessible from the S., where a sort of zigzag path has been carried up its side. The Puy (pic) de Ddme rises to a height of 1600 ft. above the table-land around; it is the largest in mass and the most central of the northern group of volcanoes of Auvergne. Viewed from - the W. only has it the form of a dome, but its name is said to come from dutnus, the thicket which once co- vered its sides. From the top the eye surveys the singular range of igneous *- mountains, craters, domes, lava cur- rents (called cheires in the dialeot of the country), and heaps of scoriae, the produce of volcanoes, which, though extinct within the period of all human tradition, were once as active as iEtna or Vesuvius, and converted the sur- rounding district into the Phlegraean Fields of France. In many instances the vast lava currents, flowing across the country for miles, may be traced up to the funnel-shaped craters which poured them forth. The fertile Limagne lies expanded to view, traversed by the winding Allier. On the S.W. rises the central group of volcanoes of the Monts Dore; the remainder of the panorama is somewhat uninteresting over a monotonous country. The range of hills of the Monts Ddme rises from a granitic platform, and stretches "18 m. in length by 2 in breadth. They are usually truncated at the summit, where the crater is often preserved en- tire, the lava having issued from the base of the hill; but frequently the crater is broken down on one side, where the lava has flowed out. Had these cones of loose sand and ashes been in existence previous to the De- luge, they must have been swept away, or greatly altered, by the power of a current of water. Had these volcanoes, again, been in activity in the time of Ceosar, he would scarcely have failed to observe them when encamped on the neighbouring plateau of Gergovia (p. 387), or to have mentioned them in his Commentaries." — LyelVs Geology, See Scrope and Daubeny on Volcanoes. France. The experiments instituted by Pascal, to determine the weight or pressure of the atmosphere, were made on the Puy de Ddme, within view of his native town. A chapel, dedicated to St. Barnabe, formerly stood on the summit; and the blocks of basalt, brought from a distance to build it, still strew the mountain side. In descending from the summit, every one should visit the crater called the Nid de la Poule, Hen's Nest, at the base of the Petit Puy de Ddme, a re- gular bowl-shaped hollow, 294 ft. deep, and nearly the same in diameter. Still farther to the N., the Puy de Pariou deserves to be ascended, be- cause it is one of the most beautifully regular and perfect volcanic cones and craters existing in Auvergne. The sides of this bowl-shaped hollow are composed of scoria and pozzolana, thrown up so regularly from below, that they taper upwards into a narrow ridge so little degraded by time or by the weather, that in many places it is barely wide enough for one person to walk along it. The crater is 300 ft. deep, and 3000 in circumference, mea- sured along the brim of the bowl. It has the figure of an inverted cone. " It is clothed to the bottom with grass ; and it is a somewhat singular spectacle to see a herd of cattle quietly grazing above the orifice whence such furious explosions once broke forth. Their foot-tracks, round the shelving side of the basin, in steps rising one above the other, like the seats of an amphi- theatre, make the exoeasive regularity of its ciroular basin more remarkable." — Scrqpe. The lava from this crater flowed down in one undivided stream, brist- ling and rugged on its surface, like that of a river blocked up by floating masses of ice. After descending as far as la Barraque it encountered a small knoll of granite. The lava has accumulated against this impediment into a long and elevated ridge, "which still bears the appearance of a huge wave about to break over the seemingly insignificant obstacle; but an easier issue offered itself in two lateral valleys." The rt.-hand*branch " entered the valley of 386 Route 109. — Volcanoes of Auvergne. Sect. V. Villar, a steep and sinuous gorge, -which it threaded, exactly in the man- ner of a watery torrent, turning all the projecting rocks, dashing in cascades through the narrowest parts, and widen- ing its current where the space per- mitted, till, on reaching the Limagne, it stopped at a spot called Fontmore, where its termination constitutes a rock, 50 ft. high, still quarried for building stone. From the base of this rock gushes a plentiful spring, the waters of which still find their way from Villar, beneath the lava, which usurped their ancient channel." — Scrope. ■ The left-hand branch " plunged down a steep bank into the valley of Gresinier, replacing the rivulet which flowed there with a black and shagged torrent of lava ; entered the limits of the Limagne at the village of Durtol; and, following the course of the stream, did not stop till it reached the site of the village of Nohanent. Here, as at Fontmore, an abundant spring busts forth from the extremity of the lava current. The springs of the valley of Durtol find a passage beneath the lava concealed among the scoriae, which always form the lowest part of a bed of lava, and flow on in these subterranean channels till they burst forth at the limits of the lava, in the same manner that the Arveiron and other Swiss rivers issue from beneath, under the termination of a glacier. Above Nohanent, con- sequently, is seen the anomaly of a valley without any visible stream ; and the inhabitants of Durtol are con- demned in seasons of drought to the strange necessity of seeking at No- hanent, a distance of 2 m., the water which flows below their own houses. A similar phenomenon is common throughout Auvergne, wherever a cur- rent of recent lava has occupied the bed of a mountain rivulet not sufficiently copious or violent to undermine the lava above, or open a new side channel through its former bank." — P. Scrope. "A little to the N.W. of the Puy de Pariou is the Puy de Cliersou, whose * form is most precisely that of a bell,' and which is curious from the numerous perforations made on its side's in an- cient times for the purpose of obtaining trachyte for sarcophagi." — T. J. T. Instead of returning from the Puy de Ddme by la Barraque and the high road, you may strike down into the Val de Fontanat to Royat, until lately a poor and dirty village, 1 m. from Cler- mont, which has twice been nearly swept away by inundations of the tor- rent which flows past it. It is built on one of the branches of the lava- current which has issued from the Puy de Gravenoire. The torrent, flowing through the valley, has cut through the bed of basaltic lava to a depth of 65 feet, exposing, at the bot- tom, a sort of grotto, out of which gush numerous copious springs, some of which, conducted in an aqueduct to Clermont, supply the town with fresh water. There are many other sources higher up the valley, issuing out at intervals from the rocky sides. Royat is rapidly being converted into a fashionable watering-place. New houses and a bathing establishment have been built, on account of its thermal waters — temp. 95° Fahrenheit. They were used by the Romans. The Roman Baths have been rediscovered by the cur£. When the workmen first cleared them out, the waters rushed in so fast as nearly to drown and parboil them. The scenery of the vale of Royat is over- praised by the French ; but a fine view is gained of the Puy de Ddme from some part of it, and the lava- current, one stratum of which is filled with burnt corn as thick as plums in a pudding, is highly curious. The church is remarkable for its antiquity (anterior to the 11th centy.) ; it has a crypt supported by low columns, and a spring rises in the midst of it. In front of the ch. is a curious cross. The Puy de Gravenoire is composed of scoriae and pozzolana ; the latter is used in the country to make mortar, and is commonly called " gravier noir," whence the name of this hill. The conical basaltic summit of the Puy de Girou, 3 or 4 m. to the S. of Clermont, is an excellent point for obtaining an extensive view over a considerable portion of Auvergne. At Pontg&aud, 13 m. from Cler- mont, on the road to Limoges, may Auvergne. Route 109. — Clermont to Le Pay — Gergovia. 387 be seen a feudal castle of the 14th centy., which once belonged to the family Lafayette, and was visited by Montaigne ; and the smelting-houses, where the argentiferous lead from mines in this neighbourhood is refined and separated. The village and castle stand on a lava-current, which has issued from the base of the very < perfect and regularly-conical crater called Puy de Come. The course of this current deserves observation : de- scending the granite slope, it has covered the ground on which Pontgi- baud now stands ; then, pouring in a broad sheet down a steep granite hill into the valley of the Sioule, it has usurped the ancient bed of that river for more than a mile, and, crossing the more ancient stream of Louchadiere, near Pichadoire, terminates there. The river has, in consequence, worked out for itself a fresh bed between the lava and the granite of its W. bank, and in one place has laid bare a sin- gular basaltic colonnade, formed of jointed pillars, partly vertical, partly twisted. " In the ravine between the smelting-house and the castle is a small isolated knob of granite which separates the two great lava currents of Louchadiere and Come. The former continues a short way down the rt. bank of the river, and then crosses it." — T. J. T. At some little distance to the N.W. of Pontgibaud are the ruins of the Chartreuse de Porte Sainte Marie, while in an opposite direction, a little to the S., near the margin of the lava current from the Puy de Come, is the Fon- taine cTOule, a grotto whence issues a streamlet which is partly frozen in the hottest weather of summer, but in winter preserves a temperature con- siderably higher than that of the outer air. ' ' Several of the more interesting Puys are easily accessible from the road between Clermont and Pontgi- baud ; and of these two may be par- ticularly specified, viz. the Grand Sarcouy, 3799 ft. above the sea-level, composed of domite, of a striking, flattened hemispherical form, and hav- ing on its S.E. side a large artificial excavation, about 70 ft. long, 30 wide, and 35 high, from which the trachyte was quarried in ancient times for sarcophagi ; and the conical Puy de Chopine, 3910 ft. above the sea, of a singularly complicated and confused geological structure, and composed chiefly of domite, granite, and basalt : the view from it is very fine." — T. J. T. The Puy de Louchadiere may be visited from Pontgibaud by the cross- road leading to Volvic. The excursion to the volcanoes and baths of Mont Dore is described in Rte. 110. The Puy de la Poix, about 3 m. from Clermont on the road to Lyons, is mentioned in Ete. 112. The Limagne, or valley of the Allier, is far more interesting above Clermont, on the way to Le Puy, than below it. Here it is truly a luxuriant garden, teeming with the most varied productions. Soon after quitting Clermont, by the road to Issoire, we skirt a lava current from the mountain Gravenoire, called Plateau de Beaumont, a very charac- teristic specimen of a lava stream, which, although partly covered with vines, exhibits, even to the unsci- entific eye, in a manner not to be mistaken, compact and porous lava, and volcanic ashes (pozzolana). Be- yond rises the singular peak of Montrognon, a basaltic dyke bursting through fresh-water strata, crowned by an old castle, built by the 1st Dauphin of Auvergne, and demo- lished, like so many other feudal for- tresses, by the Card. Biohelieu. The basaltic prisms on which it is founded are the most regular which occur in this district. Our road next passes, within a short distance on the rt., the Hill of Gergovia (4£ m. from Cler- mont), memorable as the site of the chief city of the Arverni (whence Au- vergne), so nobly defended by the Gauls and their chief Vercingetorix against Caesar, who was more seriously worsted here than in any other of his numerous campaigns, having run great risk of being made prisoner, and having left his sword in the enemy's hands. The hill of Gergovia is as interesting for its geology as for its history : it is a table-land, composed on its sides of fresh-water marls, capped 8 2 388 Route 109. — Clermont to Le Puy — Jssoire. Sect. V. by a sheet of basalt, surrounded by steep escarpments, absolutely inacces- sible on the N. and W., while on the S. and E. it presents a slope in the form of steps, occasioned by the horizontal strata of rock composing it. At the base of the eminence flows a small stream, the Auzun, whence the Gaul- ish garrison are supposed to have drawn water, there being no springs upon the plateau itself ; and one of Caesar's first objects was to cut them off from this supply. The hill called La Roche Blanche, surmounted by a tower of the middle ages, though called Tour de Cesar, is conjectured to be the Gaulish post seized by two Roman Legions in order to effect that object. Caesar's camp is supposed to have been formed on a detached and lower eminence, called Le Crest. The only traces of human habitation on the top of the table-land of Gergovia are some scanty foundations of walls, some Roman coins, and Gaulish axes of flint, found from time to time, and a rampart or agger of loose stones, which may be traced near the margin of the plateau. In the ravine above the village of Merdogne a section of the strata composing the hill is ex- hibited, consisting of beds of white and greenish marls, nearly 300 ft. thick, intersected by a basaltic dyke, which has greatly altered the marl in contact with it. In the flanks of this hill also are found extensive deposits of the limestone formed of the cases of insects mentioned before. The road to Le Puy, unlike the mo- notonous chausseestof most other parts of France, winds and undulates be- tween and over varied heights, some- times crossing a lava current or basal- tic dyke, jand is generally shaded from the sun by luxuriant walnut-trees. Scarcely an eminence but possesses some interest, either from its volcanic origin, or from its picturesquely-placed castle in ruins, or village, which, in this district, is almost invariably perched on the hill-top, The country is very populous as well as fertile, and intersected by numerous roads. "The Puy de Marman, a little to the N. of Vayre, is celebrated among mineralogists for the beautiful crys- tallized specimens of mezotype con- tained in the volcanic tuff and basalt of which it is composed. In the same neighbourhood interesting fragments of charred wood, whose bark has been replaced by mezotype, are met with in the tufa of the Puy de la Pignette, situated a little to the N. of Mouton." — T. J. T. The Stations on the Rly. from Cler- mont are Sablieve Stat. Le Cendre Stat. Les Martres de Veyre Stat., a popu- lous village. Vie le Comte Stat. Coudes Stat., situated on the bank of the Allier. The castle of Montpey- roux, on an adjoining eminence, now reduced to a round tower, and some fragments of walls, belonged to Philip Augustus. "Near Coudes a variety of sandstone conglomerate is quar- ried for millstones. Between Coudes and Montpeyroux veins of fibrous arragonite occur in travertine, and farther down the river Allier at Corent there are plaster of Paris quarries which afford fine specimens of fibrous gyp- sum."— T.J. T. From Coudes through a lovely country, which keeps the at- tention constantly alive. In the ravine des Etouaires, near the village of Perrier, an interesting geological section is presented. Here fossil remains of extinct quadrupeds, mastodon, tapir, rhinoceros, elephant, &c, have been found in alluvial beds, covered by volcanic conglomerates, and alternating with them. Near Vayre and at Perrier the rock has been exca- vated to form cave-dwellings ; above Perrier rises the tower of Maurifolet. A view of the Monts Dores rising on the W. may be obtained near Issoire Stat. (Inn: Chez Roussard, Poste), an ancient town of 5990 Inhab., situated on the Couze, a short way above its exit into the Allier. The ch. of St. Paul will interest the archi- tect and antiquary, as a characteristic specimen of Auvergnat architecture, as it prevailed in the 10th and 11th centuries. It is in the Romanesque style, ending in 5 apses at the E., surmounted at the cross by a tower, the upper part of which, and also the Auvbrgne. Route 109. — Brioude — La Chaise Dim. 389 W. front, are modern. The exterior of the wall at the £. end is singularly decorated with rude mosaics, and with 12 medallions, representing the signs of the zodiac, let into the wall under the cornice. Under the window of the N. transept are 2 bas-reliefs, re- presenting the Angel appearing to Abraham, and the Sacrifice of Isaac. In the interior the arches are semi- circular, the side aisles and transepts being covered with a stone roof, form- ing the quarter of a circle, and thus serving as a buttress to support the tower and central walls of the nave. There is an extensive crypt under the choir. The chancellor Duprat was born here. The chief manufacture is that of copper kettles. Le Saut du Loup Stat. Brassac Stat., near an extensive and interesting coalfield. After passing St. Germain Lembron, and leaving on the 1. the coal-mines and steam-engines of St. Florine beyond the Allier, we quit the volcanic country, and the Dept. du Puy de Ddme, to enter that of la Haute Loire, shortly before reaching Lempde Stat. (Inn : Poste), situated on the rt. bank of the Alagnon. Here the road to St. Flour, Montpellier, and Aurillac (Rte. 114) branches off. It is the line of a malleposte. Brioude Stat. — Inn : H. de la Poste. The very fine Romanesque ch. of St. Julien is curious for its semicircular E. end, with chequered patterns in a coarse mosaic of parti- coloured stones on the outer walls, and round its 5 projecting apsidal chapels, of elegant design. The in- terior is lofty; the arches of the choir are pointed, and the capitals of the columns adorned with foliage: the arches of the nave are round, and the capitals of the columns supporting them are partly very grotesque, partly display a nearly pure classic character. At the W. end, which is almost bare externally, is a sort of inner vestibule, or narthex, supporting, on low arches, 3 chambers, one of which, the chapel of St. Michel, is decorated with curious antique frescoes of the 13th centy. The canons of the ch. of St. Julien the Martyr anciently bore the title of counts. [The very curious Ch. of La Chaise Dieu is distant 18 m. from Brioude, nearly due E. The monastery of the Casa Dei, now ruined, and attached to a dilapidated little village (Cheval Blanc is the inn), is situated at a con- siderable elevation, on a high moun- tain. It was founded in the 11th century by St. Robert, a canon of Brioude, and became the most opulent convent in Auvergne. Of this original structure nothing exists, except, per- haps, an outer gateway. The mo- nastic buildings were destroyed at the Revolution. The Ch. alone remains, and is a noble edifice in the pointed Gothic style, begun 1343, chiefly at the expense of Pope Clement VI., a native of Chaise Dieu, who laid the first stone, and is buried under a mutilated monument, surmounted by his effigy, wearing the triple crown. The caroed woodwork of the 156 stalls in the choir is much and deservedly admired. On the N. wall, which encloses the choir, are traces, now nearly defaced, and obliterated bv moisture, of a Dance of Death, painted in fresco, probably in the 15th centy. Here are preserved some most curious ancient tapestries, executed probably at the beginning of the 16th centy., woven partly with gold thread. The tomb of another pope, Gregory XI., and of an abbot, in the S. choir aisle, deserve notice. Two sides of the cloisters re- main tolerably perfect, and are of a good style. Contiguous to the ch. rises a tall square donjon tower, the only remains of the ancient fortifica- tions which surrounded the monaster}'. It is surmounted by a bold cornice.] 2 m. beyond Brioude, on the road to lie Puy, at the wretched village of La Vieille Brioude, the Allier, here running in a deep and rocky bed, is crossed by a stone Bridge of a single arch, which was long celebrated as being the widest in span of any known, measuring 181 English ft. and 90^ ft. in height, but now surpassed by the stone arches of Turin and of Chester (200 ft. span). It is a very noble arch, and constructed of Volvic lava. It replaces a more ancient br-3 — 390 Saute 109. — Poliynac — Le Puy. Sect. V. (b. 1451), of equal dimensions, which fell down in 1822. Immediately be- yond the bridge, the road begins to ascend, and continues over a hilly and uninteresting country, almost con- stantly ascending, for many leagues. A little beyond the poor Tillage of 21 St. George d'Aurat, the chateau de Chavagnac is passed, at the dis- tance of l£ m. on the 1. of the road: it is remarkable as being the birth- place of Gen. Lafayette. By a long, though gradual ascent, which the diligence takes 3 hours to surmount, the Montagne de Fix, separating the valley of the Allier from that of the Loire, is crossed. Measured at the village of Fix, this road is 3197 ft. above the sea-level, and one of the highest carriage-roads in France. 18 Limandre. We are now again upon volcanic rocks, belonging to the basin of lie Puy. The small river Borne, which runs into the Loire below Le Puy, is crossed, and the road is carried down its valley, passing, at a distance of 4 m. from Le Puy, under the black rock of basaltic breccia, escarped and inaccessible on all sides but the N., which bears the ruined castle of Po- lignac, seat of that noble family, the elder branch of the name, whence sprang the Cardinal, a diplomatic ser- vant of Louis XIV., and the Prince Jules de Polignac, the well-known minister of Charles X. in 1830. It was pulled to pieces during the fury of the Revolution, and all the lands sold; but the mouldering and pic- turesque ruins, which still bristle on the top of the rock, were repurchased by the family. They consist of rude but strongly built walls, often double and treble, with flanking towers at intervals, surmounted by a square donjon tower. Part of the pile of buildings which served as dwellings may be as old as the 12th oenty. There is little to be seen except an enormous mask, rudely carved in gra- nite, of a bearded human face, with a wide orifice for the mouth. According to the tradition, a Temple of Apollo occupied the summit of the rock before the castle, and from this mouthpiece (somewhat after the fashion of the Bocoa della Verita at Rome) oracles were delivered: hence some have gone so far as to derive Polignac from "Apollinis Arx." (?) Sunk in the platform of the castle is a well, called Putt de V Oracle, from a tradition that the oracles were delivered from it through the mask, which is said to have covered it. At a depth of 20 feet this well communicates with a vaulted chamber, supported on circular arches, resting on square piers, de- signed doubtless as a cistern, into which rain-water was conducted by pipes, now stopped up. About 25 paces from the well is the abyme, a hole about 40 ft. deep and 15 wide, cut in the rock, probably designed as a storehouse. The ch. of Polignac, at the foot of the castle rock, is an ancient Romanesque edifice. Upon a sudden turn of the road, here bordered by basaltic columns, a very striking view is presented of Le Puy and its volcanic rocks; the "spiry pinnacle" of St. Michel's, resembling more an artificial obelisk than a natural eminence, and Corneille, starting up from amidst the masses of buildings, while on the rt. appears Espailly (p. 392). 19 Le Puy. — Inns: H. des Am- bassadeurs; — Palais Royal; good; — H. du Commerce. Le Puy, anciently capital of the Velay, and now of the Dept. de la Haute Loire, with 14,924 Inhab., is, at a distance, one of the most striking, uncommon, and pic- turesque towns in France. Excepting the broad modern Boulevard, through which the high roads from Clermont and St. Etienne pass, which stands on level ground, the buildings and narrow streets of the old town are carried up a steep slope, surmounted by a tower- ing, table-topped mass, called JRocher de Corneille, whose summit, vertically escarped and mouldering in the form of turrets, is surmounted by the ruins of an old castle, the stronghold and place of retreat from danger of the former bishops. This rock is a vol- canic breccia, resting on a calcareous base. C. France. Route 109. — Le Puy — St. Michel — Cathedral. 391 Far more remarkable, though less lofty, is the Rocker de St. Miohel, an isolated rock of basaltic tufa, which, from its needle shape, gives the name de V Aiguille to the suburb in which it stands. It rises from the margin of the stream of the Borne to a height of 265 ft., with a thickness of 500 ft. at its base, and 45 or 50 on its top. It is a fragment of the vast bed of vol- canic rock once covering the country around. The rocks of Corneille and Polignac are also relics of it ; and, be- cause harder than the rest, all three have resisted the erosive processes of rivers and the atmosphere, which have scooped out into valleys the in- tervening portions, and washed away the de*bris. Faujas de St. Fond ab- surdly supposes the Aiguille of St. Michel to have been projected by a volcanic eruption from below, and consolidated in its actual form. The Bides of this truncated cone, or sugar- loaf, are nearly vertical, and its top is surmounted by a small chapel, which just fills the platform, dedicated to Michael, the saint who loves such airy sites. This building, rendered acces- sible by a winding stair partly cut in the rock, is in the Romanesque style, and was constructed at the cost of a dean of the cathedral in the 10th centy. Its Moresque portal, a circular arch under a trefoiled arch, is ornamented with curious sculptured mermen, bas- reliefs, and chequered stone-work, com- posed of black scoriae, white sandstone, and red tile, in the style of marque- terie. The interior presents a low irregular choir, supported by short pillars with carved capitals. From the top of the rock a good view is obtained of the vine-clad hills covering the slopes of the valley, dotted over with white country-houses, boxes, and pavilions, built in the midst of the vines, also of the white escarp- ments of the tertiary strata, laid bare here and there. Near the foot of this rock stands an octagonal building which has long passed for a heathen temple of Diana, though destitute of any pretensions to such a title, being, in fact, a Chris- tian edifice in the Romanesque style, and perhaps originally a baptistery: some say a chapel of St. Claire. A small apse projects from its eastern side, and it is entered by doors on the N. and W. It has an octagonal roof, with a hole in the centre, resting ou columns placed in the angles. It may have been built by the Templars, who had property in this suburb. A road slopes upwards from St. Michel, under the Rock of Corneille, past the Hospital, and the little turn- ing box, in which enfans trouv^s are deposited after ringing a bell to an- nounce their arrival, through the " Rue de la Raison," to The Cathedral, which rears its singu- larly streaked W. front high over the other buildings. The regular approach to it is up the steep streets leading from the market-place to the long flight of steps under the huge cavern- ous vaulted portal, which is prolonged in a sort of corridor beneath the church. As the slope of the hill denied to the architect level ground sufficient to extend his church to the W., he was forced to raise an artificial platform for it upon these vast sub- structions. The doorway is flanked by 2 pillars of Egyptian porphyry. It is a heavy ungainly building, in the Ro- manesque style; its interior not im- proved by the repairs and stucco ap- plied at the expense of Louis XVIII. The oldest parts of the church are the choir, including 4 compartments of arches on either side, and the transepts ; each compartment is cross-vaulted ; the probable date is the 10th or 11th centy. This church is chiefly remark- able for a miracle-working image of Notre Dame du Puy, which for many centuries has attracted thousands of devout pilgrims, who still repair hither, though in less number than formerly. Among its visitors in former times are numbered several popes, and the fol- lowing kings : — Louis VII., Philippe Auguste, Philippe le Hardi, Charles VI. and VII., Louis XL, Charles VIIL, and Francois I. : its visitors at present do not exceed 4000 annually, and are chiefly of the lower order of peasants. One cause for this falling off may be that the existing image deposited over 392 Route 109. — Le Puy — Cathedral — Museum. Sect. V. the high-altar, a black group of the Virgin and Child with shining faces, is a modern work, executed by a sculptor in the town, whose name is well known, from recollection of the ori- ginal, which was destroyed at the Re- volution. The original Notre Dame du Puy, believed to have been made by the Christians of Mount Lebanon, or, according to some accounts, by the prophet Jeremiah himself, and brought to Europe at the time of the Crusades, was of cedar-wood, singularly swathed round with bands of papyrus glued to it, and partly inscribed. Upon this the features of the face, of negro tint, the flesh of hands and feet, and the draperies, were painted in distemper, in a rude style, probably by some artist who copied from Egyptian models. A marble tablet on one side of the church records the names of 20 priests of the diocese slaughtered in the Revo- lution, 1793, 4, and 8. The monument raised to the Con- stable Du Guesclin, whose body re- posed some time at Le Puy, after his death at Chateauneuf de Randon, and whose entrails were buried here, has recently been restored in a chapel on the N. side of the Gothic Church of St. Laurent, in the lower part of the town. His effigy represents him in armour, except the helmet, lying on his back, his hands raised in prayer. The head is modern, but copied from a cast of the original, destroyed by the Baron des Adrets and his followers, and is considered to have some claim to be looked on as a portrait. The collections in the Musee, not far from the cathedral, are of considerable interest as local curiosities in art and nature. Besides some mediocre paint- ings (among them Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I., a copy from Van- dyke ; a faint but curious portrait of Henri II., in the style of Janet; and a good landscape by Huysman), are some Roman antiquities, a bas-relief of a Stag and Boar Hunt, found on digging the foundations of the Eveche' ; also 3 Genii or Cupids fishing (one with 2 dolphins of very fair execution), from Margeaix ; a cippus hollowed out into a sarcophagus, bearing figures of arms, cut in relief, among them a cross- bow (?) ; cast of a bronze hand, with a Greek inscription, recording a treaty of peace ; a cast from the so-called Mask of Apollo, at Polignac (see p. 390) ; one or two groups of Gothic sculpture, nuns, female saints, &c. ; carvings in ivory, in Byzantine and Gothic styles ; a portion of the in- scribed papyrus in which the image of N. D. de Puy was swathed, preserved at the time the image was burnt, at the Revolution ; some old furniture ; an abbot's seat, carved in the style of the Renaissance ; and an arm-chair of Gothic work, bearing the arms of Po- lignac. Those who take interest in the geology and mineralogy of the district will find the collections here not only the best part of the whole museum, but one of the best arranged and best named cabinets which any provincial museum in France possesses, under the inspection of M. Bertrand de Doue, the able expositor of the geology of Velay. The formations of La Puy en Velay, the Vivarais, and the Ardeche may be studied in distinct series of specimens, topographically arranged, side by side with a series of the vol- canic rocks of Vesuvius, for the sake of comparison. Here are preserved the bones of rhi- noceros, hyaena, deer, &c, found at St. Privat d'Allier, between two layers of basaltic lava; a discovery of great in- terest, as proving the recent date at which the volcanoes of the Velay were in activity; also fossil bones of Palaeo- therium, of Anthracotherium Velau- num, so named by Cuvier from the locality where it was found; of hippo- potamus, found in the terrain du trans- port near Polignac ; and fossil fruits from the coal-measures at Longeac. The manufacture of cotton lace gives employment to the females of the lower classes in and about the town ; and some specimens are shown at the mu- seum of great beauty. About 1 m. W. of the town is the village of Espaxlly, surmounted by an- other castle-crowned rock of volcanic breccia. Charles VII. was residing here during the occupation of France C. France. R. 110. — Clermont to Mont Dore les Bains. 393 by the English (1422), when news was brought of the death of his father, and his scanty train of followers proclaimed him King of France in the ancient fashion, by raising him aloft on a shield, at the same moment that the infant Henry VI. of England was pro- claimed, with all pomp, at Paris, the successor to the French throne. There are good displays of basaltic columns here, called Les Orgues dt Espailly ; and on the opposite side of the river, in the eminence of Denise, several coarse varieties of precious stones, sapphires, zircons, and garnets, are found in the basalt, and in the sands of the neigh- bouring streamlet of Riou Pezzouliou. Fossil remains of Anthracotherium and other extinct animals have been found in the marly limestone near Espailly. The Castle of Polignac is a walk of about an hour, not far from the road to Clermont. The Roche Rouge, an isolated mass of basalt, rising abruptly out of the gra- nite rock to a height of 60 ft., about 3 m. to the E. of Le Puy, will interest the geologist. Its name is probably derived from the colour of the lichens which grow on it. It is nothing more than the expanded portion (renflement) of a basaltic dyke, which, from supe- rior hardness, has resisted the action of the weather, while the softer granite around has been disintegrated. The dyke is continued on either side in a vein often not more than a foot wide. Diligences daily to St. Etienne, and to Langogne. The views of the town from the sur- rounding heights from the roads to Espailly, Polignac, St. Etienne, are very striking. Mr. Scrope prefers the extensive panorama from the more dis- tant Mont a* Ours, and observes, with some geological enthusiasm, — " There are, perhaps, few spots on the globe which offer a more extraordinary pros- pect than this. To the eye of a geo- logist it is superlatively interesting, exhibiting in one view a vast theatre of volcanic formation, containing igneous products of various natures belonging to different epochs, and exhibited under a great diversity of aspect." The traveller bound from Le Puy to the Volcanic District of the Vivarais and Ardeche may take the diligence to Pradelles, and thence strike across the country, by very hilly but good roads, to Aubenas, by Thueyts(Rte. 118, 121), or, more directly, by a mule-road to Montpezat ; in the course of which he may visit the Mt. Mezene, the highest volcanic mountain in Central France, presenting some wild and singular views. He may also pass the curious mountain called Gerbier des Jones, at the foot of which rises the Loire. There is scarcely any accommodation on this route, which can hardly be performed in a day; and the people are rude and forbidding ROUTE 110. CLERMONT TO MONT DORE LES BAINS. I. Grande Route, 53£ kilom.= 33 Eng. m. Diligences creep, in 9 or 10 hours, miserably slow. II. Petite Route, billy and not good for carriages, 42 kilom.=27 Eng. m. It is a hilly journey by either of these routes, beginning to ascend from the Barriere of Clermont to La Bar- raque (see p. 384), then leaving the Cone of the Puy de Ddme on the rt. and the ruined castle of Montrodeix on the 1. ; its walls formed of basaltic prisms. The road reaches the summit-level of the chain of the Monts Ddme at a spot called More*neau, between the Puys . de Leschamps, covered with wood, and de Montchi6, an extinct volcano, furnished with 4 craters, which has been cut away at the base to give pas- sage to the road; and trunks of trees charred have been disclosed by the section of the trachytic rock. De-, scending the opposite slope, it crosses the stream of the Sioule, here in its infancy. Before reaching le Pont des Eaux, the turreted Castle of Cordis is for some distance conspicuous. At St. Bonnet a basaltic clinkstone is quarried, used for roofing slate, fences, &c: the slabs ring like a bell when I struck. 8 3 394 Route 110. — Clermont to Mont Dore les Bains. Sect. V. 29 Rochefort. The rained castle, on the summit of a basaltic rock, once belonged to the Dauphins of Auvergne. The road continues to ascend through a hilly and bleak country, often blocked up by snow in winter. About 3 m. beyond the village of Laqueuille the road to Mont Dore branches off to the 1., out of that to Aurillac by Muriac, and, crossing another ridge, descends upon the village Murat le Queire, in the valley of the Dordogne, and pro- ceeds up the rt. bank of that stream to 24 Mont Dore les Bains (see below). No. II. La Petite Route is the same as No. I. until reaching the village Laschamp, 3 m. beyond La Barraque; or, on foot, more directly and agree- ably by Thadde. As there are few villages, the route may most conve- niently be traced by the Puys which are passed, viz. Gravenoire and Cha- rade on the rt. : La Bache and Las- solas, also on the rt., are extremely well preserved, and are completely thrown open on the S.W. side, towards which they, have diverted their lava streams. There is here quite a circle of craters, among which the Mont Jughat and Mont Chat are conspicuous. 21 Randanne (a roadside Inn, with one bedroom: respectable travellers may procure a bed in the Chateau). In the vicinity, at the foot of the Puy de Montchal, lived the patriotic philosopher le Comte de Montlosier, who settled himself down here, after his return from exile in 1816, in the midst of an unproductive wilderness, the home of his fathers having been destroyed in the Revolution, and, by the enlightened agricultural improve- ments which he introduced, redeemed a large tract from unproductive barren- ness, and " bid the desert smile." He is buried in a small Gothic chapel, erected on a pretty spot within his estate; the Roman Catholic clergy having refused interment to his re- mains within consecrated ground, on ac- count of his writings against the Jesuits. A road just practicable for a char leads in about 3 m. on the 1. to the sheet of water called Lac cTAidat, formed by the volcanic current from the Puy de la Vache, damming up the course of 2 rivulets. On its borders Sidonius Apollinaris lived, and an inscription on the wall of the curious early church marks the place of his interment. " To the rt. is the Puy de la Rodde, a fine crater opening to the S., and commanding an extensive view of the Puys, the streams of lava, and the mountains of Mont Dore. Abun- dance of fine crystals of augite are found on its surface." — T. J. T. After attaining the table-land of Baladaud, which commands an exten- sive view, but is itself bleak and unin- teresting, it is an uninterrupted and steep descent into the vale of the Dordogne. It is clothed with wood, and interesting. At Quereilh the tra- veller turns abruptly to the 1., and enters the valley enclosing 21 Mont Dore les Bains. Inns : H. de Paris, chez Chaboury le jeune; H. Cha- boury, kept by Chaboury aine* ; both very good; — H. Bellon, good; — H. de Lyon (chez Baraduc) ; charge, living en pen- sion, 6 to 9 frs. a day. There is a table- d'hdte at most of them. The rivers and lakes furnish trout, and the moun- tains roe venison. The people here, little accustomed to English, are disposed to make exorbitant charges, experi- mentally, trying to hit the mark of the standard which English are made to pay elsewhere. This small water- ing-place is a village at a height of 3412 ft. above the sea-level, in an upland valley, the cradle of the river Ztor-dogne, surrounded by an amphi- theatre of volcanic hills, their sides clothed with verdant meadows or black pine forests, but torn and gashed at intervals by ravines and gullies, down which numerous streams dash in small cascades from the bare table-land above. The village lies at the distance of about 2 m. from the Pic du Sancy, the highest summit in central France, 6217 ft. above the sea- level, and the culminating point of the Mont Dore, that vast volcanic excrescence which has broken through the fundamental granite rock, and, stretching from this point to a distance of 8 or 10 m., measures 18 leagues in C. France. Route 110. — Baths of Mont Dore. 395 circumference. It is seamed and fissured by deep valleys radiating in all directions from the common centre, the chief of them on the N. side being the valley of the Dordogne, or of Mont Dore. The crater from which this eruption burst forth is not dis- tinctly marked, owing to the dilapida- tions in its sides caused by volcanic convulsions, by the wearing down of torrents, and even by the effects of the weather; but there can be no doubt that we see the traces and remains of the lava walls which surrounded it in " the elevated peaks which still bristle over the circus-like gorge occupying the very heart of the mountain. ' This was probably the site of its central crater, but now, branching off into deep and short recesses, it forms the upper basin of the principal valley, and the recipient into which 2 moun- tain rills, the Dor and the Dogne unite, at the source of the noble river Which henceforward bears their joint names." — Scrope, 98. The mineral springs, on account of which Mont Dore is resorted to from June to the beginning of September, are 8 in number, 2 being cold, the rest of a temperature of 116 to 113 Fahren- heit; they issue out of the trachytic rock, at the foot of the eminence called Plateau de 1* Angle. They are alka- line, and are efficacious in complaints of the lungs, when unattended with inflammation, in disorders of the sto- mach, and in rheumatism. They are conducted into a very handsome bath- ing establishment, built, like the rest of the houses, of a trachytic lava, resem- bling that of Volvic, but obtained from a neighbouring quarry. The most copious source, La Madeleine, is also used for drinking, and large quantities are exported in bottles. It, as well as that called Le Bain de Cesar, is enclosed in Roman masonry, proving that bath-loving people to have made use of these warm springs. Numerous architectual fragments, columns, &c, very curious, in a rich semi-barbarous style, have been disco • vered here, supposed to have belonged to a temple whose foundations exist, and go by the name of Le Panthdon. The angler may catch some trout in the Dordogne below the Baths. A char-a-banc holding 4 to 6 people costs 15 frs. a day. Capital, sure- footed mountain horses may be hired at the rate of 3 frs. a day; also guides, and chaises-a-porteurs with bearers for ladies, for the numerous interesting excursions in the vicinity of these baths. In front of the bath- house is a pretty green promenade, encircled by the windings of the Dor- dogne, over which a suspension bridge has been thrown, conducting to a path which leads to the base of the Capucin, the isolated, cowl-shaped rock, con- spicuous from all parts of the valley, namedfrom a detached pinnacle, jutting forward on one side, said to resemble a monk in a hood. The direction of the valley of the Dor from its head, at the base of the Pic de Sancy, to a short distance below the baths, is nearly due N. and S. In its E. side, not more than i an hour's walk above the baths, a singular breach or fissure is percep- tible, worn away by the descent of a Btream called La Grande Cascade, which has cut through the rock, and exhibits, in the face of the precipice, an instructive geological section of a series of beds of trachyte, tufa, and basalt. Vast blocks have been de- tached and hurled below, so that the stream, after its leap of nearly 80 ft., is almost hidden from view. The Valley of Mont Dore is a region of woods and waterfalls; the latter, though not of any great ele- vation or grandeur, add an interest to the many pretty scenes around; by far the finest is the Cascade de Quereilh, shooting perpendicularly downwards ; a miniature Staub-bach. On the W. side of the valley, op- posite to the Grand Cascade, is the gorge called Valle'e d'Enfer, excavated out of a volcanic rock, consisting of scoriae and other fragments, bearing the marks of fire, over which rise the naked summits of the Pic d'Aiguiller. The breccia is in many places pene- trated by vertical dykes of dark por- phyritic trachyte; and such a dyke forms the separation, called Les 396 Route 110. — Murol — Pay de Tartaret Sect. V. Femes, between the gorges of Enfer and La Cour. Similar dykes are seen traversing the precipices of the Pic d' Aiguiller exposed to the view at the end of the Val d'Enfer. The ascent of the Pic de Sancy may be made in 2 hours from the baths, on foot or horseback, or in a chair; pro- ceeding to the head of the valley, past the gorges d'Enfer and de la Cour, and turning to the 1., near the ravine of La Craie, where a steep ascent begins, through a fir wood, in the depths of which lies the Cascade du Serpent, passing the marsh in which the Dore rises. The Pic ( 6 1 7 1 ft. above the sea- level) is reached by passing the high Col between it and the Puy Ferrand. The distant objects seen from it are the volcanic group of the Cantal to the S., and the Monts D6me to the N., while near at hand yawns a labyrinth of valleys and gorges, with peaks brist- ling around on all sides; and numer- ous small lakes glitter in the depths, among them the crater Lakes de Pavin and that de Chambon. Another very interesting excursion is to the castle of Murol, situated to the E. of the baths, crossing the mountains by the Puy de Diane and the pretty little Lac Chambon. There is a road thither directly over the Mont Dore by la Croix Morand, but, as it requires to be repaired every spring after the melting of the snow, inquiry should be made whether it is passable. Murol, the village, is built at the base of the red scoriaceous volcanic hill called Puy de Tartaret, upon a lava current which has issued from it, at a period long after the formation of the volcanic rocks of the Mont Dore. Homely and rustic accom- modation at the public-house kept by Morin. The castle, one of the largest relics of feudal times in France, and a very picturesque object, crowns the summit of a detached eminence topped with basalt, affording a platform just large enough to hold the fortress. It con- sists of a double enclosure, an outer wall flanked with bastions, dating from the 16th centy. and an inner circular wall, surmounted by machicolations of the 15th. In the midst rises a round tower, or donjon, commanding the country far and near, and affording a most interesting view of the plain and valley around, covered with lava vomited forth from the Tartaret. Some of the existing constructions of the castle are as late as the 18th centy., and none appear older than the 15th; the first mention of it occurs in 1223, when its seigneur was named Jean Chambre Chevarier. The Puy de Tartaret deserves the attention of the geologist; it consists of loose scoriae, lapilli, and fragments of granite, which have been forced up through the fundamental granite rock. "It has 2 deep and regular bowl-shaped craters, separated by a high ridge, and each broken down on one side:" the lava current which they have furnished first spreads over the plain, then, contracting, confines itself to the valley, whose sinuosities it follows as far as Neschers, a dis- tance of 13 m., occupying the channel of the former river. Near Neschers and Champeix it assumes a regular columnar form. Neschers is a pictu- resque village, and the cure', the Abbe* Croizet, has a collection of fossils. Rather more than an hour's walk (4jf m.) from Murol, passing partly over the lava from the Puy de Tar- taret, and near the waterfall Des Granges, one of the prettiest in Au- vergne, lies St. Nectaire (Inn: H. Meudon, fair), a village possessing hot Baths and an mcrusting spring, much more remarkable than that at Clermont, which issues from the granite and deposits large quantities of lime. The curious Romanesque church is a very ancient and unaltered specimen of the style, no part of it apparently older than the 12th centy. ; lately repaired. It is sur- mounted at the cross by an octagonal tower, and terminates at the E. end in 3 apses. The capitals of the pillars in the choir, carved with bas-reliefs of Scriptural and legendary subjects, are curious. In this church are preserved a curious Byzantine crucifix of copper gilt, and a reliquiary, in the form of a bust, of embossed copper gilt, also C. Fj&ance. Route 111. — Mont Dore to Le Puy. 397 Byzantine, and probably of the 11th centy. The Castle of St. Nectaire, the cradle of a noble family, whence sprang 2 marshals of France, has been destroyed. Here are a curious natural grotto and remains of Roman Baths. On the rt. of the road to Neschers, a little way out of St. Nectaire, is the arch of a Roman bridge, the piers of which stand on the lava of Tartaret. On the heights above the Bains de Boite, not far from St. Nectaire, are some Druidical remains, consisting of a dolmen or altar formed of the un- hewn blocks of the granite found in the country. On the summit of the hill of Cornadore are extensive exca- vations supposed to be of great an- tiquity, formed, perhaps, by the Gauls as store-houses, or places of refuge; tbey are now used as sheep-sheds. Another interesting excursion, especially for the geologist, may be made to the Roches de la Thuilliere and Sanadoire, l£ hour from Mont d'Or. The columnar feldspar por- phyry of the Roche Sanadoire is cu- rious, and the view fine. l£ hour more takes the traveller to the Lake of Servieres, from which he may gain the great road to Clermont by de- scending the valley of the Sioule by Vernines (old castle) and St. Bonnet. ROUTE 111. MONT DORE LE8 BAINS TO LE PUT, BT I8SOIRE. The traveller who wishes to go from Mont Dore les Bains to Issoire, and thence to Le Puy or elsewhere, need not go round by Clermont. He may ride across the hills, a journey of about 7 hours, or of 10 hours if the ascent of the Pic de Sancy be taken en route, which is quite prac- ticable. There is also a very fair road direct to Issoire, and a voiture may be hired at Mont Dore for the journey, which will take about 8 hours, in- cluding stoppages. The road passes by the Chateau of Murol and the baths of St, Nectaire (Rte. 110), both of which may be visited, especially as the latter is the usual resting-place for the horses. After quitting St. Nectaire, the road passes through Sailhens, and leaves Verrieres on the rt., at which latter place it enters a defile called the Valley of Montaigut, about 3 m. in length, the scenery of which is very striking, the carriage-way being cut along the side of a torrent, and hemmed in by precipitous rocks of great height, on one side mostly covered with wood, on the other bare and rugged. The scenery of this pass is well worth the attention of the traveller, and, though perhaps not equal to some similar defiles among the Alps, is certainly of a very high order. About two- thirds down the pass, upon the top of the rocks to the 1., stand the ruins of the Castle of Montaigut, and at the end of the pass the village of the same name. At the small town of Cham- peix the road turns to the S., and, ascending a hill, passes by Pardines on the 1., where are visible the remains of a very remarkable landslip, which took place June 25th, 1737, destroying almost the whole village and many of the inhabitants. The vast fragments extend nearly a mile from the crag whence they fell. It is well worth the traveller's while to mount to the top, and look down on the immense fragments and the fissures in the upper part of the rock, which did not actu- ally give way. From this spot also a very beautiful panorama of all the Auvergne mountains, including the Puy de Dome and the range about Mont Dore, may be obtained. About 2 m. from Issoire the road passes Rouge Perrier, where, in the rocks to the 1., are a great number of caverns, many of which are inhabited. The ruins of the tower of Maurifolet are seen above the village. IX }Bte-109- 398 Route 112. — Clermont to Lyons, by Thiers. Sect. V. ROUTE 112. CLERMONT TO LYONS, BY THIERS — MONTBRISON. 177 kUom. = 109 Eng. m. Diligence daily. The road out of Clermont runs nealy due W., passing on the 1. the Puy de la Poix, an eminence of basaltic tufa, having on the N. side a spring of bitumen, or mineral pitch, which issues out of the soil with a source of water. 15 Pont du Chateau, a prettily si- tuated town, named from a bridge over the Allier, by which our road crosses it. " About 4 m. above the bridge, on the rt. bank of the river, there is an interesting geological display of fossili- ferous freshwater limestone strata, al- ternating with calcareous beds contain- ing volcanic substances/' — T. /. T. The Ch&teau of Beauregard, a little on the 1. of the road, was formerly the country seat of the bishops of Cler- mont. 13 Lezoux, a small town on the verge of the Limagne, has an ancient church. The Castle of Ravel belonged to Philippe le Bel. Our road is hilly, threading a part of the chain of the mountains of Forez, which separate the Allier from the Loire. 12 Thiers (Inns: Poste ;— H. de 1' Europe; new and good), an indus- trious manufacturing town, built on the top and slope of a peaked granitic hill, at whose base the Durole flows in a deep rocky bed, turning many paper- mills and forges, where various articles of cutlery are wrought, the staple ma- nufacture of the town, giving employ- ment to a large portion of its 13,751 Inhab. The town, so picturesque at a distance, with its houses rising one above another, on nearer approach is found to consist of dirty lanes ; but from the upper part of it, especially from the high terrace, fine views are ob- tained over the Limagne and the distant chain of the Monts Ddme. Here also is situated the antique church of St, Genes, a Romanesque building, chiefly of the 12th centy., though the vaults of the roof are newer: the end * the S. transept is ornamented with coarse mosaics. More curious to the antiquary is the church Du Moutier, in the lower part of the town; the E. ex- tremity of the choir has been referred to the 8th centy. A portion of the old castle remains. The road after threading a bold and steep gorge for about 4 m. is carried along the edge of a precipice called Le Cordon. The views over the rich plain of the Limagne, to the range of the Monts Dome in one direction, and of the chain of the Forez in the other, are very fine. 14 La Bergiere. 13 Noiretable, a village at the foot of the high Montagne de 1' Hermitage. 12 St. Thurin. Through a narrow valley. 15 Boen (Inn : Poste; tolerable, clean beds), a dirty village. [It is about 11 m. distant from Montibrison, chef -lieu of the Dept. of the Loire, though in- ferior in extent and population (7000) both to Roanne and St. Etienne. It stands at the base of a lofty and pre- cipitous rock, from the top of which, or from the tower of the neighbouring church, as some say, the ferocious leader of the Calvinists, Le Baron des Adret8, compelled his Roman Catholic prisoners to leap, to their certain de- struction. When one of the con- demned, after twice approaching the brink, faltered in taking the leap, the tyrant exclaimed, "Two chances are too much." " I'll wager that you will not do it in ten," was the ready reply; and, it is said, saved the waverer's life. The Cathedral is a Gothic building (1205), and contains the tomb of its founder, Guy IV., Comte de Forez. The Salle de Diane, once the chapter- house, is decorated with curious ar- morial bearings. {Inns : H. du Nord; du Centre.)] From Boen the road to Lyons crosses the flat and marshy plain of the Loire, and runs parallel with the Lignon, which is seen on the rt. ; it is crossed, and at a short distance the river Loire also, before entering 18 Feurs (an uninteresting place with no tolerable Inn), which occu- pies the site or one of the most im- portant cities of the Gauls — Forum Se- gusianorutn. In this name may be Cantal. Route 114. — Clermont to Toulouse. 399 traced the modern one of Forez, given to the district of which it was the capital, during the middle ages. Ex- tensive fragments of Roman walls, aqueducts, inscribed stones, &c, attest its ancient consequence. Pop. 2250. The railroad from Roanne to St. Etienne (Rte. 1 1 9) runs past the town on the E., directly across our line of route. Soon after, the road ascends out of the fertile valley of the Loire. 10 St. Barthelemy l'Estra. 13 Sainte Foy l'Argentiere. 6 Duerne. A high mountain ridge, a continua- tion of the hill of Tarare, described in Rte. 105, commanding an extensive view over the valley of the Rhone, and extending even, it is said, as far as Mont Blanc, is traversed in this stage. 11 LaBraly. 14 Grand Buisson. Lyon. (Rte. 108.) ROUTE 114. CLERMONT TO TOULOUSE, BY THE CAN- TAL AND AURILLAC. 322 kilom. = 188 Eng. m. Those who wish to avail themselves of a public conveyance must take the Montpellier diligence as far as St. Flour, whence a private vehicle may be procured to Aurillac. The most direct road from Clermont to Aurillac is by Rochefort (Rte. 110) and Mauriac, but it is not provided with post-horses, and it avoids the picturesque district of Cantal, so in- teresting to geologists, through the heart of which the following road through Murat is carried. It is the same as Rte. 109, and may be travelled by rly. as far as 55 Lempde, where it turns to the 1., ascending a long hill as it quits the town. By another hill, du Grenier, you descend in zigzags to 18 Massiac (D£pt. Cantal), where you turn to the left out of the St. Flour road, by a very pretty branch line car- ried up the vale of the Alagnon. This new road lies through scenery of un- interrupted beauty and interest, pass- ing the picturesque castle of Merdogne, perched on a crag of basalt. 14 Ferrieres (Cantal). 22 Murat.— Inn: Chez Dolly; to- lerable, excepting the dirt. Fine trout here and elsewhere in the Cantal. Murat is a dirty and antiquated town of 2655 Inhab., in the upland valley of the Alagnon, here bare of trees, but surrounded by hills of uncommon ap- pearance, capped by basalt. One of these rises immediately behind Murat, in a tall cliff called Roche Bonnevie, composed of lofty and regular basaltic pillars, 30 to 50 ft. long. The castle on its summit was razed by Louis XI., after he had put to death its owner, Jacques d'Armagnac, 1477. Opposite the town is another re- markable hill, also topped with basalt, on which stands the pilgrimage chapel of N. D. de Bredom. Soon after quitting the town, the convent of St. Gal, now an hospital, is passed on the 1., and the Castle of Anterroches on the rt. An excellent road is carried up the valley of the Alagnon, constantly ascending, amidst cliffs and precipices of granite. Near the Pont de Pierre Taillee, a bridge thrown over a stream which falls in a pretty cascade, a good geological sec- tion of the trachyte and tufa has been exposed. Above this, the fine fir forest of Lioran, which clothes the upper part of the valley, commences. The additional steepness of the valley near its head has hitherto been surmounted by a series of tourniquets or zigzags; but in order to avoid this, as well as the snow which blocks up the highest part of the road, frequently for weeks and months in winter and spring, a Ttmnel is carried through a saddle- shaped ridge, which divides the waters of the Alagnon from those of the Cere, a little to the E. of the highest point of the old road, and about 400 or 500 ft. below it. This Tunnel is driven through the trachytic rock for a dis- tance of about 4593 ft. (1400 metres) ; it is nearly 18 ft. high, ascends slightly in the centre, and terminates a little below the village of les Chazes. On emerging from it, the Put/ de Griov, a pointed, wedge-shaped peak of white rock, with a stream of debris descend- ing from it, is seen on the rt. : and the Plomb de Cantal, a boss like a camel's 400 Houte 114.— Valley of the Cere. oCCt* \ • hump surmounting a precipice, rises on ' the 1. Those, however, who are con- ; tent merely to pass through the tunnel ' will miss altogether the grand and striking scenery of the vast volcanic amphitheatre, through the midst of which the old road is carried, in proxi- mity to the sources of the Alagnan and Cere. The traveller, whether geologist or merely a lover of picturesque, will be well rewarded by making the ascent of the Puy de Griou, which may be effected in about an hour from the hamlet of les Chazes, even without a guide. It is fatiguing from the extreme steepness of the slope; but the only difficulty is in surmounting the bare crest of white clinkstone, covered with loose fallen masses, which rattle down under your feet into the depths below. But even here a sort of path has been formed, over the scanty grass tufts springing up between the stones. The summit itself is a mere crest only 3 or 4 ft. wide and 20 yds. long, plunging pre- cipitously down on all sides. The Puy de Griou rises in the midst of an ir- regular circle of precipices, supposed by geologists to have been the fiery mouth or crater whence the volcanic rocks of the Cantal were erupted, and whence they spread for 15 or 20 m. around, from this centre as far as Au- rillac, Murat, and St. Flour. It is also supposed that, at a later period, the volcanic forces acting from below, at the same point, burst through these deposits of trachyte, tufa, and basalt, fracturing the strata with radiating cracks like those in a starred pane of glass, and that these cracks, gradually widening, became the valleys of the Alagnon, Cere, Jourdanne, Dienne, &c. The circuit of precipices which com- posed the walls of this crater is broken by gaps formed by the openings of the different valleys radiating from this ?oint like the spokes of a wheel, 'hese walls are most perfect on the E. below the basaltic hump called Plomb de Cantal, the highest summit in the district, 6095 ft. above the sea-level; on the N. in the Puy Mary, 5459 ft. ; and on the W. in the Puy Chavaroche. Through the gaps between them the ■-» ranges down the vistas of the valleys over an extensive horizon of plain and distant hills. The dimen- sions of this crater greatly exceed those of any in Auvergne, as it is more than 6 Eng. m. in diameter. Within and beneath its bounding walls are rounded slopes, wooded or covered with turf, forming the lining of the crater, and presenting a pleasing picture. Quite at the foot of the Puy de Griou is a re- markable kettle-shaped hollow, covered with the brightest verdure, and dotted over with 2 or 3 cabins, and with herds, for it is the best piece of pasturage in the district. From its shape it might be mistaken for a minor crater, hemmed in by wooded eminences. It is called le Font du Vacher. Quitting the volcanic amphitheatre at les Chazes, we commence the de- scent of the valley of the Cere, which is far more picturesque in its scenery than that of the Alagnon, but is best seen in ascending, as the forms of the mountains at its head lend to the views their most striking features. The first village, St. Jacques des Blats, produces excellent cheeses of goat's milk, called cabepyns. The numerous projections on either side of the valley conceal the villages from view until you are close upon them. The river outs through a rocky bed, and the road, skilfully engineered, is carried in terraces hewn out of the trachytic rock along the edge of deep precipices, the most re- markable of which, called Pas de Com- pany terminates within a few hundred yards of the village of 26 Thi6zac, where the Poste (Tete Noire), though most forbidding exter- nally, by reason of its dirt, can afford 2 clean beds and a tolerable supper, with trout; for which and a breakfast only 5 fr. are charged. Below Thiezac calcined flints shattered by heat, like un- annealed glass, may be seen embedded in the trachyte rock at the road side. The most strikingly picturesque scene in the whole valley is at a spot called Pas de la C&re, a little way above the solitary projecting rock (Rocher de Murat), rendered conspicuous by the single round-headed lime-tree which crowns its summit. Here the valley at once expands considerably, and makes a deep descent or step, and the Cantal. Route 1 14. — Aurillac — Figeac. 401 river has forced for itself a passage, at a great depth below the road, in a fissure lined by smooth walls of rock, and nearly shrouded by a luxuriant growth of trees. The rocks towering above the road imitate the forms of old castles. The little town of Vic (Vic-en-Carlades, or Vic-sur-Cere) is the chief place in the very picturesque valley. (Inn: Chez Vialette.) Close to it there are mineral springs of aci- dulous water, received into a bathing establishment. 1 m. out of the town, at the roadside, stands the Chateau de Comblat, belonging to an ancient and loyal family settled here for ages, the present owner being the Comte Charles de la Baume. At Polminhac is a far more picturesque castle, towering over the road, a fit subject for the artist's pencil. The valley of Vic, here widening out into a small plain, co- vered with meadows and corn-fields, is yet enlivened by a pretty distribution of wood and hedgerows, amidst which rise numerous chateaux and modern country houses, indicating that the proprietors reside on their estates. At this point our road quits the vale of the Cere, gradually ascending in a sloping terrace cut through the white tertiary limestone, containing flints, in appearance closely resembling the upper chalk of England, though of a very different age, which has been disturbed and baked by the trachytic rocks. Turning the shoulders of the hills, we enter the valley of the Jourdanne, a tributary of the Cere, at the mouth of which stands 27 Aurillac (Inn: Trois Freres; best and good), chef-lieu of the Dept. du Cantal, and anciently one of the 6 good towns of la Haute Auvergne, a dull town of 9886 Inhab., without objects of interest, in a tame and bare val- ley watered by the Jourdanne. The churches, convents, and palace of the abbot were destroyed by the Hugue- nots, who took the town, 1569, by as- sault, and kept it for a year : the ex- isting public buildings are modern and commonplace. The Castle of St. Etienne, rising on a rock above the town to the W., is said to have be- longed to the ancestors of St. Geraud (d. 918), the patron of the town : it was held by the abbots, and now belongs to the bishop of Clermont, but is not worth visiting. The chief manufactures carried on here are of copper vessels and coarse lace. The infamous Carrier, the author and inventor of the Noyades at Nantes, was born, 1 756, in the village of Yolet, close to Aurillac. Diligences daily to Paris, to Rodez, 3 times a week to Toulouse, by Figeac. The road to Figeac, after crossing the level verdant valley of the Cere, and the river itself, mounts into a hilly dis- trict of gneiss and mica slate rocks, barely covered with heath. From the high ground fine views are obtained of the volcanic group of the Cantal. 27 Cayrols. A very long and winding descent, doubling the shoulders of the hills, and diving deep into the recesses of the glens, leads down a wooded valley to 18 Maurs. Another hilly tract in- tervenes before we reach 24 Figeac (Inn: Poste), a town of 7197 Inhab., in the Dept. of Lot, lying snugly at the bottom of a small valley, so shut in by steep hills that the high roads are obliged to make the most singular and circuitous contortions in order to reach it. The town, whose naturally obscure name has become familiar through its illustrious citizen Champollion, who was born here, and to whom a monumental obelisk has been erected at the water- side, con- tains a great number of antique nouses and 2 curious churches. The abbey Church of St. Sauveur, in the lower part of the town, consists of a Romanesque basement, with a later pointed super- structure, of the 15th centy., and a modern front of the 19th. The choir, however, seems almost entirely of the 11th cent. Attached to the S. tran- sept is a small chapter-house, resting on pointed arches. On an eminence, above the town, stands Notre Dame de Puy, a church of the 11th centy., though much altered, in the form of a basilica, ending to- wards the E. in 3 apses. At the bottom of the choir is a very fine altar screen of wood richly carved and ornamented, a masterly work of the early part of the 17th centy., judging from its style. 402 Route 116. — Clermont to Toulouse. Sect. V. The Ch&tean de la Baleine, now Palais de Justice, fortified and moated, also deserves attention. A high table -land of limestone, bounded by very abrupt slopes, sepa- rates Figeac from the valley of the Lot. After reaching its summit by a steep ascent, the road to Villefranohe passes near a singular stone pillar, or obelisk, rising on the brow of the hill above Figeac. Its use and age are equally unknown. Some consider it to have been a beacon: it was more probably a landmark to designate the boundary of some jurisdiction. There is a similar pillar on the other side of Figeac. From the high ground a view is ob- tained, on the 1. of the town, of Cap- denac, on the it. bank of the Lot, supposed by Champollion to be the ancient " Uxellodunum," besieged by Caesar, and mentioned in his Com- mentaries. The Dept. Aveyron pos- sesses a coalfield of some importance ; also deposits of iron. It is worked at St. Aubin, Deceizeville, and Cranzac. In the pit of Lea Etuves the coal occurs in a bed 50 ft. thick, and is quarried out in open day. The Lot is crossed by a wire suspen- sion bridge : the hills bordering on the river sides are very steep. 18 La Remise. 17 Villefranche {Inn: Grand Soleil). This town of 9540 Inhab., on the Aveyron, was one of the Bastides, or Free Towns, built in the 14th centy., and retains its original plan (p. 228). Its principal building is the large Col- legiate Church, in the pointed Gothic style of the 15th and 16th centuries, standing in a market-place surrounded by arcades. Its W. facade, though bare of ornament, is imposing from its proportions, and is surmounted by a lofty tower, supported by obliquely set buttresses, at the base of which a porch, furnished with triple arches, gives entrance to the interior. There are many ancient houses of the 15th and 16th centuries, very pic- turesque in their architecture, in the principal street. " In the suburb beyond the river stands the Hospital, formerly a Carthusian convent, the \uildings of which are preserved nearly entire, including a good flamboyant church and the refectory, with rich pulpit, and 2 cloisters — the smaller one very rich." — J. H. P. Steep bills lead into and out of 29 Caylus (Inn: Poste), a town of most picturesque character, both in itself and in its situation, buried as it were in the deep recess of a valley. In the midst, its castle, rising on a rock, towers above the houses cluster- ing round its base; and by its side rises the church spire. Opposite the W. door of the Ch. is a remarkable house of the 14th centy. ; the front curious and well preserved. The road emerges from this bowl- shaped hollow, by being carried in bends round its nearly vertical sides. 22 Caussade. ["On a cross-road from Caussade to Alby lies St. Antonin (Inn: H. de Commerce ; homely, but clean), a small town with a pretty H. de Ville, chiefly of the 12th centy., well restored under M. Viollet-le-Duc. There are a number of old houses. " Cordes (Inn on the top of the hill, good ; not so the one below, H. de Commerce), a curious little town on the top of a steep sugar-loaf hill, which no antiquary should pass without as* cending. The old fortification and gates remain, and within them a num- ber of elaborate and well-preserved houses of the 13th and 14th centuries.] 23 Montauban ) described in Rte. 51 Toulouse J 70. ROUTE 116. CLERMONT TO TOULOUSE, BY ST. FLOUR, THE BATHS OF CHAUDES AIGUES, RODEZ, AND ALBY. 385 kilom. = 238£ Eng. m. Malleposte as far as St. Flour, and thence to Montpellier, in 31 hrs. The route is identical with Rte. 109 as far as 54 Lempde (Inn : la Poste). At 18 Massiac (Cantal) it turns to the 1. away from the road to Aurillac, and reaches, by an ascent requiring 1 4 hr. to surmount, an elevated plain called la Fageole, formed by a great basaltic plateau. 10 La Barraque is a solitary post- C. France. JR. 116. — St. Flour — Chaudes Aiyues. 403 house, surrounded by a few farm- buildings, in a desolate spot. About 5 m. short of St. Flour, a good view of it, and of the volcanic group of the Cantal beyond, is ob- tained. 1 9 St. Flour (Inns ; Chez Aubertot, tolerable ; supper, bed, and coffee cost 3 fr. 5 sous. H. de France). St. Flour, the 2nd town in import- ance of the Cantal, is strikingly con- spicuous at a distance, owing to its elevated position on the top of a table mount, whose platform is of basalt. The high road from Clermont to Mont- pellier passes through a suburb at its base ; but the upper town is rendered accessible for carriages by a road carried in winding terraces cut into the basaltic rock, and laying bare a regular natural' colonnade near the crest of the hill. Excepting its singu- lar and picturesque situation, bounded on 3 sides by escarped precipices, the town, consisting of narrow streets and houses built of basalt, and containing 6464 Inhab., is deficient in attraction. Its Cathedral, the chief edifice, is a Gothic structure, not remarkable, de- dicated 1496, but not finished till 1566; its towers, demolished in 1593, have been recently rebuilt. The roof is finely groined, and rests on piers without capitals. From a little terrace behind the Cathedral, from another behind the S£minaire, and from the Promenade, or Cows Chazeret, occupying the neck of land by which the town is alone con- nected with the adjoining high ground of the Plarfese, views may be obtained over the country and distant hills, but they are arid and bare, and over the contiguous valley watered by the Arder, on whose banks the suburb, the most busy part of the town, is planted. The basaltic rocks in the neighbouring mountains are covered with the lichen orchil (orseille) used in dyeing, which is collected and largely exported hence. St. Flour was anciently a very strong fortress, and withstood many sieges from the English in the 14th centy. At this point the road to Chaudes Aigues and Rodez separates from that to Montpellier ; a malleposte from Clermont follows the latter through St. Chely, Marvejols, and Kilhau. The road to Chaudes Aigues tra- verses for a considerable distance the elevated basaltic plateau called la Planese. The volcanic group of the Cantal mountains is visible for a long time on the W. On the way to Chaudes Aigues, but considerably to the 1. of the road, lies Alleuzes, mentioned by Froissart under the name Louise, a castle which be- longed to the celebrated robber-chief of the 14th centy., Aymerigot Marcel, whence his band used to sally forth to pillage on the highways. A little fur- ther in the same direction is Montbrun, another castle, which was taken and held for the English, 1357, by John Chandos, constable of Guienne. The approach to Chaudes Aigues is by the steep hill called C6te de La- neau, where the road has been ter- raced through rocks of gneiss and mica-schist, whose contortions are laid open in sections, at the edge of ravines and precipices. After passing the ra- vine called Saut du Loup, from a fan- ciful resemblance in the rock to a wolf's head, it descends into the valley or gorge of the Truyere, a tributary of the Lot. That river is passed on a handsome stone bridge. 33 Chaudes Aigues (Inns : the best is Chez Fabre, recently rebuilt. H. Fel- gere, furnished with baths). This is an old but rustic-looking town of 2351 Inhab., planted in a narrow and picturesque gorge, which about 3 m. below opens into that of the Truyere. The mineral waters, from which it has obtained some resort as a watering-place, are almost pure warm water : they issue out of the slate- rock, and are 4 in number. That called Source du Par is the hottest spring in Europe, except the Geysers in Iceland, having a temperature of 177° Fahrenheit, and is one of the most copious sources in France ; the others, de Felgere, du Ban, and de la Grotte, vary in heat between 135° and 162° Fahr. The waters are taken in baths, and are drunk, being considered efficacious in rheumatism, swellings of the joints, and some cutaneous dia- 404 Route 116. — Expalion — Rodez. Sect.V. orders, though scarcely impregnated with any mineral particles. They are also turned to various domestic and economic purposes : they have the property of discharging most ra- pidly the grease from sheep's wool, and a vast number of fleeces are sent hither from the Dept. Aveyron to be washed. Prom the month of Nov. to April the hot water is used for warm- ing the town, being conducted in pipes into some of the houses, called in the patois of the country Maison Caoudo ; and it thus saves the inhabitants the cost of many tons of coal or whole forests of firewood : the equal distri- bution of the waters is watched over by the police. The hot streams are also partly employed for cookery, for boiling eggs, prepared soups, and scalding pigs. They have also been turned to the artificial incubation of chickens with considerable success. There is no object of interest in or near the town except the waters. A ruin at a short distance, near the chapel, is called le Fort des Anglais; indeed, the English are said to have captured the town in the 14th centy., in the 2 incursions which they made, in 1357, under the command of Robert Knollys, and in 1387. A large portion of the inhabitants of Chaudes Aigues migrate every winter to Paris, to ob- tain employment in various menial offices, as water-carriers, decrotteurs, &c. — a practice common among the lower orders throughout Auvergne. From Chaudes Aigues it is possible to ascend on foot the Plomb de Cantal and descend on Thiezac (p. 399), but this cannot be accomplished in a single day. Scarcely a human habitation occurs on the long stage from Chaudes Aigues, except the poor hamlet of Le- calru, where the road enters the Dept. Aveyron ; a hilly road. 32 Laguiole, built on the slope of a basaltic hill, trades in the excellent cheese made in this district. The road skirts on the 1. a valley, in whose recesses, once shrouded by forests, stood the venerable and wealthy Bernardine Monastery of Bonneval, now entirely swept away. The de- scent into the fertile and verdant valley of the Lot is very pleasing. Above the winding course of the river, which is bordered with wooded and vine -clad slopes, rise the escarped peaks crowned with the ruined castles of Caumont and of Roquelaure. 24 Espalion (Inn : Chez Aigalenz ; tolerable) is a prettily-situated small town, residence of a sous-pre'fet, on the Lot. There is nothing of interest in the town itself, but in its vicinity the 2 castles already mentioned, and a curious chapel in the cemetery of the village of Perse. Pop. 4253. The road to Rodez ascends out of the valley of the Lot after crossing it, under the castle-crowned height of Caumont. From a distance of many miles the traveller discerns the pic- turesque towers of 31 Rodez {Inns : H. du Midi ; best. Ville de Paris ; good. H. des Voy- ageurs. Des Princes), chef-lieu of the Dept. Aveyron, a town of 9685 Inhab., and occupying a commanding site on an escarped peninsula, sur- rounded on 3 sides by a curve of the Aveyron, which flows at a depth of 150 ft. below. The tongue of land, which alone connects it with the neighbouring plain, is traversed by the road from Paris and Espalion; from all other sides the town is accessible only by steep ascents. The Cathedral, so imposing and con- spicuous at a distance, will probably not altogether justify the impression it has produced on a near approach, though it is of large size, and possesses some elegant details. It was founded 1274, but carried on slowly through the 2 following centuries, and never finished. The W. end is destitute of entrance, because fitted up internally with a high altar as well as the E. end. The entrances are at the sides, and, though mutilated, display some rich ornaments; near the N. transept rises the belfry, the pride and boast of Rodez, 265 ft. high, consisting of a square base supporting an octagonal summit, richly ornamented in the upper part with florid tracery. It is surmounted by a statue of the Virgin, and was finished 1531. The interior of the church, 110 ft. high, rests on piers without capitals, C. France. Route 116. — Marcillac— Conques — St. Foy. 405 and the style of its decorations re- sembles the perpendicular of English Gothic. At the entrance of the choir is a fine Jub€ (rood-loft), which, though mutilated, exhibits workmanship of surprising beauty, in the delicate sculp- ture of its curled foliage. A part of the screen intended to surround the choir is of like beauty. The wood- work of the stalls and bishop's throne in the choir are of good execution, and were well preserved until painted re- cently. One of the side-chapels con- tains a fine altar-screen of wood, ela- borately carved with bas-reliefs, ara- besques, and ornaments partly Gothic, partly classic, in the style of the 16 th centy. The whole is painted and illu- minated. The partition screen to this chapel is of rich open work in stone, flamboyant in its style. The wood- work of the organ-loft, a tomb in the form of a sarcophagus, adorned with bas-reliefs of the 9th centy. ; another tomb of Bishop Guirbert, 14th centy. ; an altar-table of white marble, 6 ft. long, with Byzantine ornaments, 10th centy., now used as an altar-screen, and painted with a figure of the Virgin, — also deserve attention. The town abounds in antique houses of the 15th and 16th centuries, and contains some of perhaps a still older date. In the Place