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+ padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} +.poem span.i12 { + display: block; + margin-left: 12em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Castles and Chateaux of Old Touraine and +the Loire Country, by Francis Miltoun + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Castles and Chateaux of Old Touraine and the Loire Country + +Author: Francis Miltoun + +Illustrator: Blanche McManus + +Release Date: August 25, 2011 [EBook #37211] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CASTLES, CHATEAUX OF OLD TOURAINE *** + + + + +Produced by Elizaveta Shevyakhova, Juliet Sutherland and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian +Libraries) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/cover01.jpg" alt="Cover" title="" /> +</div> + +<h1>Castles and Châteaux of Old Touraine</h1> +<h2>and the Loire Country</h2> + + + +<div class="box"> +<h4><i>WORKS OF</i></h4> +<h3>FRANCIS MILTOUN</h3> + + <br /> + +<div class="figsmall"> +<img src="images/002_im1.jpg" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + + <br /> + +<div class="outdent">The following, each 1 vol., library 12mo, cloth, +gilt top, profusely illustrated, $2.50</div> + +<p> +<i>Rambles on the Riviera</i><br /> +<i>Rambles in Normandy</i><br /> +<i>Rambles in Brittany</i><br /> +<i>The Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine</i><br /> +<i>The Cathedrals of Northern France</i><br /> +<i>The Cathedrals of Southern France</i><br /> +<i>The Cathedrals of Italy</i> (<i>In preparation</i>)<br /> +</p> + +<div class="figsmall"> +<img src="images/002_im2.jpg" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="outdent">The following, 1 vol., square octavo, cloth, gilt +top, profusely illustrated. $3.00</div> + +<div class="outdent">Castles and Châteaux of Old Touraine +and the Loire Country</div> + +<div class="figsmall"> +<img src="images/002_im1.jpg" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h3><i>L. C. PAGE & COMPANY</i></h3> +<div class="outdent">New England Building, Boston, Mass.</div></div> + +<p> <br /> + <br /> + <br /></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Frontispiece" id="Frontispiece"></a></span></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a href="#Contents">To ToC</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/frontis_small.jpg" alt="A Peasant Girl of Touraine" title="" /> +</div> + + +<h1>Castles and Châteaux</h1> +<h3>OF</h3> +<h1>OLD TOURAINE</h1> +<h2>AND THE LOIRE COUNTRY</h2> + +<hr style="height: 3px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; width: 35%"/> +<hr style="height: 3px; margin-top: 0.3em; width: 35%; margin-bottom: 0em;"/> + +<h2 class="title">By Francis Miltoun</h2> + +<h5>Author of "Rambles in Normandy," "Rambles in Brittany," +"Rambles on the Riviera," etc.</h5> + +<h5><i>With Many Illustrations</i></h5> +<h6><i>Reproduced from paintings made on the spot</i></h6> + +<h2 class="title">By Blanche McManus</h2> + +<hr style="height: 3px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; width: 35%"/> +<hr style="height: 3px; margin-top: 0.3em; width: 35%;"/> + + +<div class="figsmall"> +<img src="images/005_im.jpg" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="smcapcent">Boston</div> +<h4>L. C. PAGE & COMPANY</h4> +<div class="smcapcent">1906</div> + +<p> <br /> + <br /></p> + + +<div class="center"> +<i>Copyright, 1906</i><br /> +<span class="smcapcent">By L. C. Page & Company</span><br /> +(Incorporated)<br /> +<hr /> +<i>All rights reserved</i><br /> + <br /> + <br /> +First Impression, June, 1906<br /> + <br /> + <br /> +<i>COLONIAL PRESS<br /> +Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co.<br /> +Boston, U. S. A.</i><br /> +</div> + +<p> <br /></p> + + + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illus007_small.jpg" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">v</a></span></p> + +<h2>By Way of Introduction</h2> + + +<p>This book is not the result of ordinary conventional +rambles, of sightseeing by day, and +flying by night, but rather of leisurely wanderings, +for a somewhat extended period, along +the banks of the Loire and its tributaries and +through the countryside dotted with those +splendid monuments of Renaissance architecture +which have perhaps a more appealing interest +for strangers than any other similar +edifices wherever found.</p> + +<p>Before this book was projected, the conventional +tour of the château country had been +"done," Baedeker, Joanne and James's "Little +Tour" in hand. On another occasion Angers, +with its almost inconceivably real castellated +fortress, and Nantes, with its memories +of the "Edict" and "La Duchesse Anne," +had been tasted and digested <i>en route</i> to a certain +little artist's village in Brittany.</p> + +<p>On another occasion, when we were headed +due south, we lingered for a time in the upper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">vi</a></span> +valley, between "the little Italian city of Nevers" +and "the most picturesque spot in the +world"—Le Puy.</p> + +<p>But all this left certain ground to be covered, +and certain gaps to be filled, though the +author's note-books were numerous and full to +overflowing with much comment, and the artist's +portfolio was already bulging with its +contents.</p> + +<p>So more note-books were bought, and, following +the genial Mark Twain's advice, another +fountain pen and more crayons and +sketch-books, and the author and artist set out +in the beginning of a warm September to fill +those gaps and to reduce, if possible, that series +of rambles along the now flat and now rolling +banks of the broad blue Loire to something +like consecutiveness and uniformity; with what +result the reader may judge.</p> + +<p> <br/> + <br/></p> + + +<h2><a name="Contents" id="Contents">Contents</a></h2> + +<hr /> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER</td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="left"><span class="smcap"><a href="#Page_v">By Way of Introduction</a></span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_v">v</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">I.</td><td align="left"> <span class="smcap"><a href="#Page_1">A General Survey</a></span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">II.</td><td align="left"> <span class="smcap"><a href="#Page_30">The Orléannais</a></span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">III.</td><td align="left"> <span class="smcap"><a href="#Page_56">The Blaisois and the Sologne</a></span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">IV.</td><td align="left"> <span class="smcap"><a href="#Page_94">Chambord</a></span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">V.</td><td align="left"> <span class="smcap"><a href="#Page_110">Cheverny, Beauregard, and Chaumont</a></span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_110">110</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VI.</td><td align="left"> <span class="smcap"><a href="#Page_128">Touraine: The Garden Spot of France</a></span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VII.</td><td align="left"> <span class="smcap"><a href="#Page_148">Amboise</a></span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VIII.</td><td align="left"> <span class="smcap"><a href="#Page_171">Chenonceaux</a></span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_171">171</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">IX.</td><td align="left"> <span class="smcap"><a href="#Page_188">Loches</a></span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_188">188</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">X.</td><td align="left"> <span class="smcap"><a href="#Page_203">Tours and About There</a></span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_203">203</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XI.</td><td align="left"> <span class="smcap"><a href="#Page_221">Luynes and Langeais</a></span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_221">221</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XII.</td><td align="left"> <span class="smcap"><a href="#Page_241">Azay-le-Rideau, Ussé, and Chinon</a></span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_241">241</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XIII.</td><td align="left"> <span class="smcap"><a href="#Page_273">Anjou and Bretagne</a></span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_273">273</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XIV.</td><td align="left"> <span class="smcap"><a href="#Page_301">South of the Loire</a></span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_301">301</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XV.</td><td align="left"> <span class="smcap"><a href="#Page_313">Berry and George Sand's Country</a></span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_313">313</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XVI.</td><td align="left"> <span class="smcap"><a href="#Page_330">The Upper Loire</a></span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_330">330</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="left"><span class="smcap"><a href="#Page_337">Index</a></span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_337">337</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr /> +<h2>List of Illustrations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">ix</a></span></h2> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right">PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Peasant Girl of Touraine</span></td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Frontispiece"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Itinerary of the Loire (Map)</span></td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#ItineraryMap_small">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Lace-maker of the Upper Loire</span></td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Loire Châteaux (Map)</span></td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Ancient Provinces of the Loire Valley and Their Capitals (Map)</span></td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Loire near la Charité</span></td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Coiffes of Amboise and Orléans</span></td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_21">21</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Châteaux of the Loire (Map)</span></td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Environs of Orléans (Map)</span></td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_39">39</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Loiret</span></td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Loire at Meung</span></td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Beaugency</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Arms of the City of Blois</span></td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Riverside at Blois</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Signature of François Premier</span></td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Cypher of Anne de Bretagne, at Blois</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_62">62</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Arms of Louis XII.</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Central Doorway, Château de Blois</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Châteaux of Blois (Diagram)</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Cypher of François Premier and Claude of France, at Blois</span></td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Native Types in the Sologne</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Donjon of Montrichard</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Arms of François Premier, at Chambord</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Plan of Château de Chambord</span></td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">x</a></span><span class="smcap">Château de Chambord</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_105">105</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Château de Cheverny</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_110">110</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Cheverny-sur-Loire</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Chaumont</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_116">116</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Signature of Diane de Poitiers</span></td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_118">118</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Loire in Touraine</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_134">134</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Vintage in Touraine</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_142">142</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Château d'Amboise</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Sculpture from the Chapelle de St. Hubert</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_165">165</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Cypher of Anne de Bretagne, Hôtel de Ville, Amboise</span></td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_168">168</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Château de Chenonceaux</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_178">178</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Château de Chenonceaux (Diagram)</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_179">179</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Loches</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_189">189</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Loches and Its Church</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_192">192</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Sketch Plan of Loches</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_198">198</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">St. Ours, Loches</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_199">199</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Tours</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_202">202</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Arms of the Printers, <i>Avocats</i>, and Innkeepers, Tours</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_205">205</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Scene in the Quartier de la Cathédrale, Tours</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Plessis-les-Tours in the Time of Louis XI.</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_213">213</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Environs of Tours (Map)</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_219">219</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Vineyard of Vouvray</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_223">223</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mediæval Stairway and the Château de Luynes</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_224">224</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Ruins of Cinq-Mars</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_229">229</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Château de Langeais</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_233">233</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Arms of Louis XII. and Anne de Bretagne</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_237">237</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Château d'Azay-le-Rideau</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_244">244</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Château d'Ussé</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_249">249</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Roof-tops of Chinon</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_253">253</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Rabelais</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_256">256</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Château de Chinon</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_259">259</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Cuisines, Fontevrault</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_265">265</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">xi</a></span><span class="smcap">Château de Saumur</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_277">277</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Ponts de Cé</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_284">284</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Château d'Angers</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_289">289</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Environs of Nantes (Map)</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_297">297</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Donjon of the Château de Clisson</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_307">307</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Berry (Map)</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_313">313</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">La Tour, Sancerre</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_317">317</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Château de Gien</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_318">318</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Château de Valençay</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_322">322</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Gateway of Mehun-sur-Yevre</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_324">324</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Le Carrior Doré, Romorantin</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_326">326</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Église S. Aignan, Cosne</span> </td><td> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_331">331</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pouilly-sur-Loire</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_332">332</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Porte du Croux, Nevers</span> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_335">335</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a id="ItineraryMap_small"></a> +<a href="images/map-01.jpg"> +<img src="images/map-01_small.jpg" alt="Itinerary of the Loire (Map)" title="Itinerary of the Loire (Map)" /> +</a> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">1</a></span></p> + + + + +<h1>Castles and Châteaux</h1> + +<h1>of Old Touraine</h1> + +<h3>and the Loire Country</h3> + + +<hr /> +<h2>CHAPTER I.<span class="pagenum"><a href="#Contents">To ToC</a></span></h2> + +<h4>A GENERAL SURVEY</h4> + + +<p>Any account of the Loire and of the towns +along its banks must naturally have for its +chief mention Touraine and the long line of +splendid feudal and Renaissance châteaux +which reflect themselves so gloriously in its +current.</p> + +<p>The Loire possesses a certain fascination +and charm which many other more commercially +great rivers entirely lack, and, while the +element of absolute novelty cannot perforce +be claimed for it, it has the merit of appealing +largely to the lover of the romantic and +the picturesque.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">2</a></span></p> + +<p>A French writer of a hundred years ago dedicated +his work on Touraine to "Le Baron de +Langeais, le Vicomte de Beaumont, le Marquis +de Beauregard, le Comte de Fontenailles, le +Comte de Jouffroy-Gonsans, le Duc de Luynes, +le Comte de Vouvray, le Comte de Villeneuve, +<i>et als.</i>;" and he might have continued with a +directory of all the descendants of the <i>noblesse</i> +of an earlier age, for he afterward grouped +them under the general category of "<i>Propriétaires +des fortresses et châteaux les plus remarquables—au +point de vue historique ou +architectural</i>."</p> + +<p>He was fortunate in being able, as he said, +to have had access to their "<i>papiers de famille</i>," +their souvenirs, and to have been able +to interrogate them in person.</p> + +<p>Most of his facts and his gossip concerning +the personalities of the later generations of +those who inhabited these magnificent establishments +have come down to us through later +writers, and it is fortunate that this should be +the case, since the present-day aspect of the +châteaux is ever changing, and one who views +them to-day is chagrined when he discovers, +for instance, that an iron-trussed, red-tiled +wash-house has been built on the banks of the +Cosson before the magnificent château of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">3</a></span> +Chambord, and that somewhere within the confines +of the old castle at Loches a shopkeeper +has hung out his shingle, announcing a newly +discovered dungeon in his own basement, accidentally +come upon when digging a well.</p> + +<p>Balzac, Rabelais, and Descartes are the leading +literary celebrities of Tours, and Balzac's +"Le Lys dans la Vallée" will give one a more +delightful insight into the old life of the Tourangeaux +than whole series of guide-books and +shelves of dry histories.</p> + +<p>Blois and its counts, Tours and its bishops, +and Amboise and its kings, to say nothing of +Fontevrault, redolent of memories of the +Plantagenets, Nantes and its famous "Edict," +and its equally infamous "Revocation," have +left vivid impress upon all students of French +history. Others will perhaps remember Nantes +for Dumas's brilliant descriptions of the outcome +of the Breton conspiracy.</p> + +<p>All of us have a natural desire to know more +of historic ground, and whether we make a +start by entering the valley of the Loire at the +luxurious midway city of Tours, and follow +the river first to the sea and then to the source, +or make the journey from source to mouth, or +vice versa, it does not matter in the least. We +traverse the same ground and we meet the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span> +same varying conditions as we advance a hundred +kilometres in either direction.</p> + +<p>Tours, for example, stands for all that is +typical of the sunny south. Prune and palm +trees thrust themselves forward in strong contrast +to the cider-apples of the lower Seine. +Below Tours one is almost at the coast, and +the <i>tables d'hôte</i> are abundantly supplied with +sea-food of all sorts. Above Tours the Orléannais +is typical of a certain well-to-do, matter-of-fact +existence, neither very luxurious +nor very difficult.</p> + +<p>Nevers is another step and resembles somewhat +the opulence of Burgundy as to conditions +of life, though the general aspect of the +city, as well as a great part of its history, is +Italian through and through.</p> + +<p>The last great step begins at Le Puy, in the +great volcanic <i>Massif Centrale</i>, where conditions +of life, if prosperous, are at least harder +than elsewhere.</p> + +<p>Such are the varying characteristics of the +towns and cities through which the Loire flows. +They run the whole gamut from gay to earnest +and solemn; from the ease and comfort of +the country around Tours, almost sub-tropical +in its softness, to the grime and smoke of busy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span> +St. Etienne, and the chilliness and rigours of +a mountain winter at Le Puy.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus023_small.jpg" alt="A Lace-maker of the Upper Loire" title="A Lace-maker of the Upper Loire" /> +<div class="caption"><i><a href="images/illus023.jpg">A Lace-maker of the Upper Loire</a></i></div> +</div> + +<p>These districts are all very full of memories +of events which have helped to build up the +solidarity of France of to-day, though the +Nantois still proudly proclaims himself a +Breton, and the Tourangeau will tell you that +his is the tongue, above all others, which +speaks the purest French,—and so on through +the whole category, each and every citizen of +a <i>petit pays</i> living up to his traditions to the +fullest extent possible.</p> + +<p>In no other journey in France, of a similar +length, will one see as many varying contrasts +in conditions of life as he will along the length +of the Loire, the broad, shallow river which +St. Martin, Charles Martel, and Louis XI., +the typical figures of church, arms, and state, +came to know so well.</p> + +<p>Du Bellay, a poet of the Renaissance, has +sung the praises of the Loire in a manner unapproached +by any other topographical poet, +if one may so call him, for that is what he +really was in this particular instance.</p> + +<p>There is a great deal of patriotism in it all, +too, and certainly no sweet singer of the +present day has even approached these lines,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span> +which are eulogistic without being fulsome +and fervent without being lurid.</p> + +<p>The verses have frequently been rendered +into English, but the following is as good as +any, and better than most translations, though +it is one of those fragments of "newspaper +verse" whose authors are lost in obscurity.</p> + + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Mightier to me the house my fathers made,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Than your audacious heads, O Halls of Rome!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">More than immortal marbles undecayed,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The thin sad slates that cover up my home;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">More than your Tiber is my Loire to me,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">More Palatine my little Lyré there;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And more than all the winds of all the sea,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The quiet kindness of the Angevin air."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<p>In history the Loire valley is rich indeed, +from the days of the ancient Counts of Touraine +to those of Mazarin, who held forth at +Nevers. Touraine has well been called the +heart of the old French monarchy.</p> + +<p>Provincial France has a charm never known +to Paris-dwellers. Balzac and Flaubert were +provincials, and Dumas was a city-dweller,—and +there lies the difference between them.</p> + +<p>Balzac has written most charmingly of Touraine +in many of his books, in "Le Lys dans +la Vallée" and "Le Curé de Tours" in particular; +not always in complimentary terms,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span> +either, for he has said that the Tourangeaux +will not even inconvenience themselves to go +in search of pleasure. This does not bespeak +indolence so much as philosophy, so most of +us will not cavil. George Sand's country lies +a little to the southward of Touraine, and +Berry, too, as the authoress herself has said, +has a climate "<i>souple et chaud, avec pluie +abondant et courte</i>."</p> + +<p>The architectural remains in the Loire valley +are exceedingly rich and varied. The feudal +system is illustrated at its best in the great +walled château at Angers, the still inhabited +and less grand château at Langeais, the ruins +at Cinq-Mars, and the very scanty remains of +Plessis-les-Tours.</p> + +<p>The ecclesiastical remains are quite as great. +The churches are, many of them, of the first +rank, and the great cathedrals at Nantes, Angers, +Tours, and Orléans are magnificent examples +of the church-builders' art in the middle +ages, and are entitled to rank among the +great cathedrals, if not actually of the first +class.</p> + +<p>With modern civic and other public buildings, +the case is not far different. Tours has +a gorgeous Hôtel de Ville, its architecture being +of the most luxuriant of modern French<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> +Renaissance, while the railway stations, even, +at both Tours and Orléans, are models of what +railway stations should be, and in addition are +decoratively beautiful in their appointments +and arrangements,—which most railway stations +are not.</p> + +<p>Altogether, throughout the Loire valley +there is an air of prosperity which in a more +vigorous climate is often lacking. This in +spite of the alleged tendency in what is commonly +known as a relaxing climate toward +<i>laisser-aller</i>.</p> + +<p>Finally, the picturesque landscape of the +Loire is something quite different from the +harder, grayer outlines of the north. All is of +the south, warm and ruddy, and the wooded +banks not only refine the crudities of a flat +shore-line, but form a screen or barrier to the +flowering charms of the examples of Renaissance +architecture which, in Touraine, at least, +are as thick as leaves in Vallambrosa.</p> + +<p>Starting at Gien, the valley of the Loire begins +to offer those monumental châteaux which +have made its fame as the land of castles. +From the old fortress-château of Gien to the +Château de Clisson, or the Logis de la Duchesse +Anne at Nantes, is one long succession of florid +masterpieces, not to be equalled elsewhere.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span></p> + +<p>The true château region of Touraine—by +which most people usually comprehend the +Loire châteaux—commences only at Blois. +Here the edifices, to a great extent, take on +these superfine residential attributes which +were the glory of the Renaissance period of +French architecture.</p> + +<div class="figright"><a href="images/illus029.jpg"> +<img src="images/illus029_small.jpg" alt="The Loire Châteaux Map" title="The Loire Châteaux Map" /> +</a> +</div> + + +<p>Both above and below Touraine, at Montrichard, +at Loches, and Beaugency, are still to +be found scattering examples of feudal fortresses +and donjons which are as representative +of their class as are the best Norman structures +of the same era, the great fortresses of +Arques, Falaise, Domfront, and Les Andelys +being usually accounted as the types which +gave the stimulus to similar edifices elsewhere.</p> + +<p>In this same versatile region also, beginning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span> +perhaps with the Orléannais, are a vast number +of religious monuments equally celebrated. +For instance, the church of St. Benoit-sur-Loire +is one of the most important Romanesque +churches in all France, and the cathedral +of St. Gatien, with its "bejewelled façade," +at Tours, the twin-spired St. Maurice at Angers, +and even the pompous, and not very good +Gothic, edifice at Orléans (especially noteworthy +because its crypt is an ancient work +anterior to the Capetian dynasty) are all wonderfully +interesting and imposing examples of +mediæval ecclesiastical architecture.</p> + +<p>Three great tributaries enter the Loire below +Tours, the Cher, the Indre, and the Vienne. +The first has for its chief attractions the Renaissance +châteaux St. Aignan and Chenonceaux, +the Roman remains of Chabris, Thézée, +and Larçay, the Romanesque churches of +Selles and St. Aignan, and the feudal donjon +of Montrichard. The Indre possesses the château +of Azay-le-Rideau and the sombre fortresses +of Montbazon and Loches; while the +Vienne depends for its chief interest upon the +galaxy of fortress-châteaux at Chinon.</p> + +<p>The Loire is a mighty river and is navigable +for nearly nine hundred kilometres of its +length, almost to Le Puy, or, to be exact, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span> +the little town of Vorey in the Department of +the Haute Loire.</p> + +<p>At Orléans, Blois, or Tours one hardly realizes +this, much less at Nevers. The river appears +to be a great, tranquil, docile stream, +with scarce enough water in its bed to make +a respectable current, leaving its beds and bars +of <i>sable</i> and <i>cailloux</i> bare to the sky.</p> + +<p>The scarcity of water, except at occasional +flood, is the principal and obvious reason for +the absence of water-borne traffic, even though +a paternal ministerial department of the government +calls the river navigable.</p> + +<p>At the times of the <i>grandes crues</i> there are +four metres or more registered on the big scale +at the Pont d'Ancenis, while at other times it +falls to less than a metre, and when it does +there is a mere rivulet of water which trickles +through the broad river-bottom at Chaumont, +or Blois, or Orléans. Below Ancenis navigation +is not so difficult, but the current is more +strong.</p> + +<p>From Blois to Angers, on the right bank, +extends a long dike which carries the roadway +beside the river for a couple of hundred kilometres. +This is one of the charms of travel +by the Loire. The only thing usually seen on +the bosom of the river, save an occasional fish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span>ing +punt, is one of those great flat-bottomed +ferry-boats, with a square sail hung on a yard +amidships, such as Turner always made an +accompaniment to his Loire pictures, for conditions +of traffic on the river have not greatly +changed.</p> + +<p>Whenever one sees a barge or a boat worthy +of classification with those one finds on the +rivers of the east or north, or on the great +canals, it is only about a quarter of the usual +size; so, in spite of its great navigable length, +the waterway of the Loire is to be considered +more as a picturesque and healthful element +of the landscape than as a commercial proposition.</p> + +<p>Where the great canals join the river at Orléans, +and from Chatillon to Roanne, the traffic +increases, though more is carried by the canal-boats +on the <i>Canal Latéral</i> than by the barges +on the Loire.</p> + +<p>It is only on the Loire between Angers and +Nantes that there is any semblance of river +traffic such as one sees on most of the other +great waterways of Europe. There is a considerable +traffic, too, which descends the Maine, +particularly from Angers downward, for Angers +with its Italian skies is usually thought +of, and really is to be considered, as a Loire<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span> +town, though it is actually on the banks of the +Maine some miles from the Loire itself.</p> + +<p>One thousand or more bateaux make the ascent +to Angers from the Loire at La Pointe +each year, all laden with a miscellaneous cargo +of merchandise. The Sarthe and the Loir also +bring a notable agricultural traffic to the +greater Loire, and the smaller confluents, the +Dive, the Thouet, the Authion, and the Layon, +all go to swell the parent stream until, when +it reaches Nantes, the Loire has at last taken +on something of the aspect of a well-ordered +and useful stream, characteristics which above +Nantes are painfully lacking. Because of its +lack of commerce the Loire is in a certain way +the most noble, magnificent, and aristocratic +river of France; and so, too, it is also in respect +to its associations of the past.</p> + +<p>It has not the grandeur of the Rhône when +the spring freshets from the Jura and the +Swiss lakes have filled it to its banks; it has +not the burning activity of the Seine as it bears +its thousands of boat-loads of produce and +merchandise to and from the Paris market; +it has not the prettiness of the Thames, nor +the legendary aspect of the Rhine; but in a +way it combines something of the features of +all, and has, in addition, a tone that is all its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span> +own, as it sweeps along through its countless +miles of ample curves, and holds within its +embrace all that is best of mediæval and Renaissance +France, the period which built up +the later monarchy and, who shall not say, the +present prosperous republic.</p> + +<p>Throughout most of the river's course, one +sees, stretching to the horizon, row upon row +of staked vineyards with fruit and leaves in +luxuriant abundance and of all rainbow colours. +The peasant here, the worker in the +vineyards, is a picturesque element. He is not +particularly brilliant in colouring, but he is +usually joyous, and he invariably lives in a +well-kept and brilliantly environed habitation +and has an air of content and prosperity amid +the well-beloved treasures of his household.</p> + + +<p>The Loire is essentially a river of other +days. Truly, as Mr. James has said, "It is +the very model of a generous, beneficent +stream ... a wide river which you may follow +by a wide road is excellent company."</p> + + +<p>The Frenchman himself is more flowery: +"<i>C'est la plus noble rivière de France. Son +domaine est immense et magnifique.</i>"</p> + +<div class="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> +<table summary="The Ancient Provinces of the Loire Valley and Their Capitals"> +<tr><td> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td> </td><td style="font-weight: bold;">The Ancient Provinces of the Loire Valley and Their Capitals</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Bretagne</td><td> </td><td align="right">Rennes</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Anjou</td><td> </td><td align="right">Angers</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Touraine</td><td> </td><td align="right">Tours</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Orléannais</td><td> </td><td align="right">Orléans</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Berry</td><td> </td><td align="right">Bourges</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Nivernais</td><td> </td><td align="right">Nevers</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Bourbonnais</td><td> </td><td align="right">Moulins</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Lyonnais</td><td> </td><td align="right">Lyon</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Bourgogne</td><td> </td><td align="right">Dijon</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Auvergne</td><td> </td><td align="right">Clermont-Ferrand</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Languedoc</td><td> </td><td align="right">Toulouse</td></tr> +</table> +</td> +<td> +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus035_small.jpg" alt="The Ancient Provinces of the Loire Valley and Their Capitals" title="The Ancient Provinces of the Loire Valley and Their Capitals" /> +</div> +</td> +</tr> +</table></div> + + + + + +<p>The Loire is the longest river in France, and +the only one of the four great rivers whose +basin or watershed lies wholly within French<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> +territory. It moreover traverses eleven provinces. +It rises in a fissure of granite rock at +the foot of the Gerbier-de-Jonc, a volcanic cone +in the mountains of the Vivarais, a hundred +kilometres or more south of Lyons. In three +kilometres, approximately two miles, the little +torrent drops a thousand feet, after receiving +to its arms a tiny affluent coming from the +Croix de Monteuse.</p> + +<p>For twelve kilometres the river twists and +turns around the base of the Vivarais mountains, +and finally enters a gorge between the +rocks, and mingles with the waters of the little +Lac d'Issarles, entering for the first time a +flat lowland plain like that through which its +course mostly runs.</p> + +<p>The monument-crowned pinnacles of Le Puy +and the inverted bowl of Puy-de-Dôme rise high +above the plain and point the way to Roanne, +where such activity as does actually take place +upon the Loire begins.</p> + +<p>Navigation, classed officially as "<i>flottable</i>," +merely, has already begun at Vorey, just below +Le Puy, but the traffic is insignificant.</p> + +<p>Meantime the streams coming from the direction +of St. Etienne and Lyons have been +added to the Loire, but they do not much +increase its bulk. St. Galmier, the <i>source</i> dear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span> +to patrons of <i>tables d'hôte</i> on account of its +palatable mineral water, which is about the +only decent drinking-water one can buy at a +reasonable price, lies but a short distance away +to the right.</p> + +<p>At St. Rambert the plain of Forez is entered, +and here the stream is enriched by numberless +rivulets which make their way from various +sources through a thickly wooded country.</p> + +<p>From Roanne onward, the <i>Canal Latéral</i> +keeps company with the Loire to Chatillon, not +far from Orléans.</p> + +<p>Before reaching Nevers, the <i>Canal du Nivernais</i> +branches off to the left and joins the Loire +with the Yonne at Auxerre. Daudet tells of +the life of the <i>Canal du Nivernais</i>, in "La Belle +Nivernaise," in a manner too convincingly +graphic for any one else to attempt the task, +in fiction or out of it. Like the Tartarin books, +"La Belle Nivernaise" is distinctly local, and +forms of itself an excellent guide to a little +known and little visited region.</p> + +<p>At Nevers the topography changes, or +rather, the characteristics of the life of the +country round about change, for the topography, +so far as its profile is concerned, remains +much the same for three-fourths the +length of this great river. Nevers, La Charité,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> +Sancerre, Gien, and Cosne follow in quick succession, +all reminders of a historic past as vivid +as it was varied.</p> + +<p>From the heights of Sancerre one sees a +wonderful history-making panorama before +him. Cæsar crossed the Loire at Gien, the +Franks forded the river at La Charité, when +they first went against Aquitaine, and Charles +the Bald came sadly to grief on a certain +occasion at Pouilly.</p> + +<p>It is here that the Loire rises to its greatest +flood, and hundreds of times, so history tells, +from 490 to 1866, the fickle river has caused +a devastation so great and terrible that the +memory of it is not yet dead.</p> + +<p>This hardly seems possible of this usually +tranquil stream, and there have always been +scoffers.</p> + +<p>Madame de Sévigné wrote in 1675 to M. de +Coulanges (but in her case perhaps it was mere +well-wishing), "<i>La belle Loire, elle est un peu +sujette à se déborder, mais elle en est plus +douce</i>."</p> + +<p>Ancient writers were wont to consider the +inundations of the Loire as a punishment from +Heaven, and even in later times the superstition—if +it was a superstition—still remained.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus039_small.jpg" alt="The Loire near La Charité" title="The Loire near La Charité" /> +<div class="caption"><i><a href="images/illus039.jpg">The Loire near La Charité</a></i></div> +</div> + + +<p>In 1825, when thousands of charcoal-burners<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span> +(<i>charbonniers</i>) were all but ruined, they petitioned +the government for assistance. The +official who had the matter in charge, and whose +name—fortunately for his fame—does not +appear to have been recorded, replied simply +that the flood was a periodical condition of +affairs which the Almighty brought about as +occasion demanded, with good cause, and for +this reason he refused all assistance.</p> + +<p>Important public works have done much to +prevent repetitions of these inundations, but +the danger still exists, and always, in a wet +season, there are those dwellers along the river's +banks who fear the rising flood as they +would the plague.</p> + +<p>Chatillon, with its towers; Gien, a busy hive +of industry, though with a historic past; Sully; +and St. Benoit-sur-Loire, with its unique double +transepted church; all pass in rapid review, +and one enters the ancient capital of the Orléannais +quite ready for the new chapter which, +in colouring, is to be so different from that +devoted to the upper valley.</p> + +<p>From Orléans, south, one passes through a +veritable wonderland of fascinating charms. +Châteaux, monasteries, and great civic and +ecclesiastical monuments pass quickly in turn.</p> + +<p>Then comes Touraine which all love, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> +river meantime having grown no more swift +or ample, nor any more sluggish or attenuated. +It is simply the same characteristic flow which +one has known before.</p> + +<p>The landscape only is changing, while the +fruits and flowers, and the trees and foliage +are more luxuriant, and the great châteaux are +more numerous, splendid, and imposing.</p> + +<p>Of his well-beloved Touraine, Balzac wrote: +"Do not ask me <i>why</i> I love Touraine; I love +it not merely as one loves the cradle of his +birth, nor as one loves an oasis in a desert, +but as an artist loves his art."</p> + +<p>Blois, with its bloody memories; Chaumont, +splendid and retired; Chambord, magnificent, +pompous, and bare; Amboise, with its great +tower high above the river, follow in turn till +the Loire makes its regal entrée into Tours. +"What a spectacle it is," wrote Sterne in +"Tristram Shandy," "for a traveller who +journeys through Touraine at the time of the +vintage."</p> + +<p>And then comes the final step which brings +the traveller to where the limpid waters of the +Loire mingle with the salty ocean, and what +a triumphant meeting it is!</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus043_small.jpg" alt="Coiffes of Amboise and Orléans" title="Coiffes of Amboise and Orléans" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus043.jpg"><i>Coiffes of Amboise and Orléans</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>Most of the cities of the Loire possess but +one bridge, but Tours has three, and, as be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span>comes +a great provincial capital, sits enthroned +upon the river-bank in mighty splendour.</p> + +<p>The feudal towers of the Château de Luynes +are almost opposite, and Cinq-Mars, with its +pagan "<i>pile</i>" and the ruins of its feudal castle +high upon a hill, points the way down-stream +like a mariner's beacon. Langeais follows, and +the Indre, the Cher, and the Vienne, all ample +and historic rivers, go to swell the flood which +passes under the bridges of Saumur, Ancenis, +and Ponts de Cé.</p> + +<p>From Tours to the ocean, the Loire comes to +its greatest amplitude, though even then, in +spite of its breadth, it is, for the greater part +of the year, impotent as to the functions of a +great river.</p> + +<p>Below Angers the Loire receives its first +great affluent coming from the country lying +back of the right bank: the Maine itself is a +considerable river. It rises far up in the +Breton peninsula, and before it empties itself +into the Loire, it has been aggrandized by +three great tributaries, the Loir, the Sarthe, +and the Mayenne.</p> + +<p>Here in this backwater of the Loire, as +one might call it, is as wonderful a collection of +natural beauties and historical châteaux as on +the Loire itself. Châteaudun, Mayenne, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span> +Vendôme are historic ground of superlative +interest, and the great castle at Châteaudun +is as magnificent in its way as any of the monuments +of the Loire. Vendôme has a Hôtel de +Ville which is an admirable relic of a feudal +edifice, and the <i>clocher</i> of its church, which +dominates many square leagues of country, +is counted as one of the most perfectly disposed +church spires in existence, as lovely, almost, +as Texier's masterwork at Chartres, or +the needle-like <i>flêches</i> at Strasburg or Freiburg +in Breisgau.</p> + +<p>The Maine joins the Loire just below Angers, +at a little village significantly called La Pointe. +Below La Pointe are St. Georges-sur-Loire, +and three <i>châteaux de commerce</i> which give +their names to the three principal Angevin +vineyards: Château Serrand, l'Epinay, and +Chevigné.</p> + +<p>Vineyard after vineyard, and château after +château follow rapidly, until one reaches the +Ponts de Cé with their <i>petite ville</i>,—all very +delightful. Not so the bridge at Ancenis, where +the flow of water is marked daily on a huge +black and white scale. The bridge is quite the +ugliest wire-rope affair to be seen on the Loire, +and one is only too glad to leave it behind,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span> +though it is with a real regret that he parts +from Ancenis itself.</p> + +<p>Some years ago one could go from Angers +to St. Nazaire by boat. It must have been a +magnificent trip, extraordinarily calm and serene, +amid an abundance of picturesque details; +old châteaux and bridges in strong contrast +to the prairies of Touraine and the Orléannais. +One embarked at the foot of the +stupendously towered château of King René, +and for a <i>petite heure</i> navigated the Maine +in the midst of great <i>chalands</i>, fussy little +<i>remorqueurs</i> and <i>barques</i> until La Pointe +was reached, when the Loire was followed to +Nantes and St. Nazaire.</p> + +<p>To-day this fine trip is denied one, the boats +going only so far as La Pointe.</p> + +<p>Below Angers the Loire flows around and +about a veritable archipelago of islands and +islets, cultivated with all the luxuriance of a +back-yard garden, and dotted with tiny hamlets +of folk who are supremely happy and content +with their lot.</p> + +<p>Some currents which run behind the islands +are swift flowing and impetuous, while others +are practically elongated lakes, as dead as +those <i>lômes</i> which in certain places flank the +Saône and the Rhône.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span></p> + +<p>All these various branches are united as the +Loire flows between the piers of the ungainly +bridge of the Chemin-de-fer de Niort as it +crosses the river at Chalonnes.</p> + +<p>Champtocé and Montjean follow, each with +an individuality all its own. Here the commerce +takes on an increased activity, thanks +to the great national waterway known as the +"Canal de Brest à Nantes." Here at the busy +port of Montjean—which the Angevins still +spell and pronounce <i>Montéjean</i>—the Loire +takes on a breadth and grandeur similar to the +great rivers in the western part of America. +Montjean is dominated by a fine ogival church, +with a battery of arcs-boutants which are a +joy in themselves.</p> + +<p>On the other bank, lying back of a great +plain, which stretches away from the river itself, +is Champtocé, pleasantly situated on the +flank of a hill and dominated by the ruins of a +thirteenth-century château which belonged to +the cruel Gilles de Retz, somewhat apocryphally +known to history as "Barbe-bleu"—not +the Bluebeard of the nursery tale, who was +of Eastern origin, but a sort of Occidental successor +who was equally cruel and bloodthirsty +in his attitude toward his whilom wives.</p> + +<p>From this point on one comes within the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> +sphere of influence of Nantes, and there is +more or less of a suburban traffic on the railway, +and the plodders cityward by road are +more numerous than the mere vagabonds of +the countryside.</p> + +<p>The peasant women whom one meets wear a +curious bonnet, set on the head well to the fore, +with wings at the side folded back quite like +the pictures that one sees of the mediæval +dames of these parts, a survival indeed of the +middle ages.</p> + +<p>The Loire becomes more and more animated +and occasionally there is a great tow of boats +like those that one sees continually passing on +the lower Seine. Here the course of the Loire +takes on a singular aspect. It is filled with +long flat islands, sometimes in archipelagos, but +often only a great flat prairie surrounded by a +tranquil canal, wide and deep, and with little +resemblance to the mistress Loire of a hundred +or two kilometres up-stream. All these isles +are in a high state of cultivation, though wholly +worked with the hoe and the spade, both of +them of a primitiveness that might have come +down from Bible times; rare it is to see a +horse or a harrow on these "bouquets of verdure +surrounded by waves."</p> + +<p>Near Oudon is one of those monumental<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> +follies which one comes across now and then +in most foreign countries: a great edifice +which serves no useful purpose, and which, +were it not for certain redeeming features, +would be a sorry thing indeed. The "Folie-Siffait," +a citadel which perches itself high +upon the summit of a hill, was—and is—an +<i>amusette</i> built by a public-spirited man of +Nantes in order that his workmen might have +something to do in a time of a scarcity of work. +It is a bizarre, incredible thing, but the motive +which inspired its erection was most worthy, +and the roadway running beneath, piercing its +foundation walls, gives a theatrical effect +which, in a way, makes it the picturesque rival +of many a more famous Rhine castle.</p> + +<p>The river valley widens out here at Oudon, +practically the frontier of Bretagne and Anjou. +The railroad pierces the rock walls of the river +with numerous tunnels along the right bank, +and the Vendean country stretches far to the +southward in long rolling hills quite unlike +any of the characteristics of other parts of +the valley. Finally, the vast plain of Mauves +comes into sight, beautifully coloured with a +white and iron-stained rocky background which +is startlingly picturesque in its way, if not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> +wholly beautiful according to the majority of +standards.</p> + +<p>Next comes what a Frenchman has called a +"tumultuous vision of Nantes." To-day the +very ancient and historic city which grew up +from the Portus Namnetum and the Condivicnum +of the Romans is indeed a veritable +tumult of chimneys, masts, and locomotives. +But all this will not detract one jot from its +reputation of being one of the most delightful +of provincial capitals, and the smoke and activity +of its port only tend to accentuate a note +of colour that in the whole itinerary of the +Loire has been but pale.</p> + +<p>Below Nantes the Loire estuary has turned +the surrounding country into a little Holland, +where fisherfolk and their boats, with sails of +red and blue, form charming symphonies of +pale colour. In the <i>cabarets</i> along its shores +there is a strange medley of peasants, sea-farers, +and fisher men and women. Not so cosmopolitan +a crew as one sees in the harbourside +<i>cabarets</i> at Marseilles, or even Le Havre, +but sufficiently strange to be a fascination to +one who has just come down from the headwaters.</p> + +<p>The "Section Maritime," from Nantes to +the sea, is a matter of some sixty kilometres.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> +Here the boats increase in number and size. +They are known as <i>gabares</i>, <i>chalands</i>, and <i>alléges</i>, +and go down with the river-current and +return on the incoming ebb, for here the river +is tidal.</p> + +<p>Gray and green is the aspect at the Loire's +source, and green and gray it still is, though +of a decidedly different colour-value, at St. +Nazaire, below Nantes, the real deep-water +port of the Loire.</p> + +<p>By this time the river has amplified into a +broad estuary which is lost in the incoming +and outgoing tides of the Bay of Biscay.</p> + +<p>For nearly a thousand kilometres the Loire +has wound its way gently and broadly through +rocky escarpments, fertile plains, populous and +luxurious towns,—all of it historic ground,—by +stately châteaux and through vineyards +and fruit orchards, with a placid grandeur.</p> + +<p>Now it becomes more or less prosaic and +matter-of-fact, though in a way no less interesting, +as it takes on some of the attributes +of the outside world.</p> + +<p>This outline, then, approximates somewhat +a portrait of the Loire. It is the result of +many pilgrimages enthusiastically undertaken; +a long contemplation of the charms of perhaps<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> +the most beautiful river in France, from its +source to its mouth, at all seasons of the year.</p> + +<p>The riches and curios of the cities along its +banks have been contemplated with pleasure, +intermingled with a memory of many stirring +scenes of the past, but it is its châteaux that +make it famous.</p> + +<p>The story of the châteaux has been told before +in hundreds of volumes, but only a personal +view of them will bring home to one the +manners and customs of one of the most luxurious +periods of life in the France of other +days.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER II.<span class="pagenum"><a href="#Contents">To ToC</a></span></h2> + +<h4>THE ORLÉANNAIS</h4> + + +<p>Of the many travelled English and Americans +who go to Paris, how few visit the Loire +valley with its glorious array of mediæval and +Renaissance châteaux. No part of France, except +Paris, is so accessible, and none is so comfortably +travelled, whether by road or by rail.</p> + +<p>At Orleans one is at the very gateway of +this splendid, bountiful region, the lower valley +of the Loire. Here the river first takes +on a complexion which previously it had +lacked, for it is only when the Loire becomes +the boundary-line between the north and the +south that one comes to realize its full importance.</p> + +<p>The Orléannais, like many another province +of mid-France, is a region where plenty awaits +rich and poor alike. Not wholly given over to +agriculture, nor yet wholly to manufacturing, +it is without that restless activity of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span> +frankly industrial centres of the north. In +spite of this, though, the Orléannais is not +idle.</p> + + +<div class="figleft"> +<a href="images/map-02.jpg"> +<img src="images/map-02_small.jpg" alt="The Châteaux of the Loire (Map)" title="The Châteaux of the Loire (Map)" /></a> +</div> + +<p>Orleans is the obvious <i>pointe de départ</i> for +all the wonderland of the Renaissance which +is to follow, but itself and its immediate surroundings +have not the importance for the +visitor, in spite of the vivid historical chapters +which have been written here in the past, that +many another less famous city possesses. By +this is meant that the existing monuments of +history are by no means as numerous or splendid +here as one might suppose. Not that they +are entirely lacking, but rather that they are +of a different species altogether from that +array of magnificently planned châteaux which +line the banks of the Loire below.</p> + +<p>To one coming from the north the entrance +to the Orléannais will be emphatically marked. +It is the first experience of an atmosphere +which, if not characteristically or climatically +of the south, is at least reminiscent thereof, +with a luminosity which the provinces of old +France farther north entirely lack.</p> + +<p>As Lavedan, the Académicien, says: "Here +all focuses itself into one great picture, the +combined romance of an epoch. Have you not +been struck with a land where the clouds, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> +atmosphere, the odour of the soil, and the +breezes from afar, all comport, one with another, +in true and just proportions?" This is +the Orléannais, a land where was witnessed the +morning of the Valois, the full noon of Louis +XIV., and the twilight of Louis XVI.</p> + +<p>The Orléannais formed a distinct part of +mediæval France, as it did, ages before, of +western Gaul. Of all the provinces through +which the Loire flows, the Orléannais is as prolific +as any of great names and greater events, +and its historical monuments, if not so splendid +as those in Touraine, are no less rare.</p> + +<p>Orleans itself contains many remarkable +Gothic and Renaissance constructions, and not +far away is the ancient church of the old abbey +of Notre Dame de Cléry, one of the most historic +and celebrated shrines in the time of the +superstitious Louis XI.; while innumerable +mediæval villes and ruined fortresses plentifully +besprinkle the province.</p> + +<p>One characteristic possessed by the Orléannais +differentiates it from the other outlying +provinces of the old monarchy. The people +and the manners and customs of this great and +important duchy were allied, in nearly all +things, with the interests and events of the +capital itself, and so there was always a lack<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> +of individuality, which even to-day is noticeably +apparent in the Orleans capital. The +shops, hotels, cafés, and the people themselves +might well be one of the <i>quartiers</i> of Paris, so +like are they in general aspect.</p> + +<p>The notable Parisian character of the inhabitants +of Orleans, and the resemblance of +the people of the surrounding country to those +of the Ile of France, is due principally to the +fact that the Orléannais was never so isolated +as many others of the ancient provinces. It +was virtually a neighbour of the capital, and its +relations with it were intimate and numerous. +Moreover, it was favoured by a great number +of lines of communication by road and by +water, so that its manners and customs became, +more or less unconsciously, interpolations.</p> + +<p>The great event of the year in Orleans is the +Fête de Jeanne d'Arc, which takes place in the +month of May. Usually few English and +American visitors are present, though why it +is hard to reason out, for it takes place at +quite the most delightful season in the year. +Perhaps it is because Anglo-Saxons are +ashamed of the part played by their ancestors +in the shocking death of the maid of Domremy +and Orleans. Innumerable are the relics and +reminders of the "Maid" scattered through<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span>out +the town, and the local booksellers have +likewise innumerable and authoritative accounts +of the various episodes of her life, which +saves the necessity of making further mention +here.</p> + +<p>There are several statues of Jeanne d'Arc +in the city, and they have given rise to the following +account written by Jules Lemaitre, the +Académicien:</p> + +<p>"I believe that the history of Jeanne d'Arc +was the first that was ever told to me (before +even the fairy-tales of Perrault). The 'Mort +de Jeanne d'Arc,' of Casimir Delavigne, was +the first fable that I learned, and the equestrian +statue of the 'Maid,' in the Place Martroi, +at Orleans, is perhaps the oldest vision +that my memory guards.</p> + +<p>"This statue of Jeanne d'Arc is absurd. +She has a Grecian profile, and a charger which +is not a war-horse but a race-horse. Nevertheless +to me it was noble and imposing.</p> + +<p>"In the courtyard of the Hôtel de Ville is a +<i>petite pucelle</i>, very gentle and pious, who holds +against her heart her sword, after the manner +of a crucifix. At the end of the bridge across +the Loire is another Jeanne d'Arc, as the maid +of war, surrounded by swirling draperies, as +in a picture of Juvenet's. This to me tells the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> +whole story of the reverence with which the +martyred 'Maid' is regarded in the city of +Orleans by the Loire."</p> + +<p>One can appreciate all this, and to the full, +for a Frenchman is a stern critic of art, even +that of his own countrymen, and Jeanne d'Arc, +along with some other celebrities, is one of +those historical figures which have seldom had +justice done them in sculptured or pictorial +representations. The best, perhaps, is the precocious +Lepage's fine painting, now in America. +What would not the French give for the return +of this work of art?</p> + +<p>The Orléannais, with the Ile de France, +formed the particular domain of the third race +of French monarchs. From 1364 to 1498 the +province was an appanage known as the Duché +d'Orleans, but it was united with the Crown +by Louis XII., and finally divided into the Departments +of Loir et Cher, Eure et Loir, and +Loiret.</p> + +<p>Like the "pardons" and "benedictions" +of Finistère and other parts of Bretagne, the +peasants of the Loiret have a quaint custom +which bespeaks a long handed-down superstition. +On the first Sunday of Lent they hie +themselves to the fields with lighted fagots +and chanting the following lines:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> + +<span class="i0_5">"Sortez, sortez d'ici mulots!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Où je vais vous brûler les crocs!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Quittez, quittez ces blés;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Allez, vous trouverez<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dans la cave du curé<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Plus à boire qu' à manger."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>Just how far the curé endorses these sentiments, +the author of this book does not know. +The explanation of the rather extraordinary +proceeding came from one of the participants, +who, having played his part in the ceremony, +dictated the above lines over sundry <i>petits +verres</i> paid for by the writer. The day is not +wound up, however, with an orgy of eating and +drinking, as is sometimes the case in far-western +Brittany. The peasant of the Loiret simply +eats rather heavily of "<i>mi</i>," which is +nothing more or less than oatmeal porridge, +after which he goes to bed.</p> + +<p>The Loire rolls down through the Orléannais, +from Châteauneuf-sur-Loire and Jargeau, +and cuts the banks of <i>sable</i>, and the very shores +themselves, into little capes and bays which +are delightful in their eccentricity. Here cuts +in the <i>Canal d'Orleans</i>, which makes possible +the little traffic that goes on between the Seine +and the Loire.</p> + +<p>A few kilometres away from the right bank +of the Loire, in the heart of the Gatanais, is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span> +Lorris, the home of Guillaume de Lorris, the +first author of the "Roman de la Rose." For +this reason alone it should become a literary +shrine of the very first rank, though, in spite +of its claim, no one ever heard of a literary +pilgrim making his way there.</p> + +<p>Lorris is simply a big, overgrown French +market-town, which is delightful enough in its +somnolence, but which lacks most of the attributes +which tourists in general seem to demand.</p> + +<p>At Lorris a most momentous treaty was +signed, known as the "Paix de Lorris," +wherein was assured to the posterity of St. +Louis the heritage of the Comte de Toulouse, +another of those periodical territorial aggrandizements +which ultimately welded the +French nation into the whole that it is to-day.</p> + +<p>From the juncture of the <i>Canal d'Orleans</i> +with the Loire one sees shining in the brilliant +sunlight the roof-tops of Orleans, the Aurelianum +of the Romans, its hybrid cathedral overtopping +all else. It was Victor Hugo who said +of this cathedral: "This odious church, which +from afar holds so much of promise, and which +near by has none," and Hugo undoubtedly +spoke the truth.</p> + +<p>Orleans is an old city and a <i>cité neuve</i>. +Where the river laps its quays, it is old but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span> +commonplace; back from the river is a strata +which is really old, fine Gothic house-fronts +and old leaning walls; while still farther from +the river, as one approaches the railway station, +it is strictly modern, with all the devices +and appliances of the newest of the new.</p> + +<p>The Orleans of history lies riverwards,—the +Orleans where the heart of France pulsed +itself again into life in the tragic days which +were glorified by "the Maid."</p> + +<p>"The countryside of the Orléannais has the +monotony of a desert," said an English traveller +some generations ago. He was wrong. +To do him justice, however, or to do his observations +justice, he meant, probably, that, +save the river-bottom of the Loire, the great +plain which begins with La Beauce and ends +with the Sologne has a comparatively uninteresting +topography. This is true; but it is not a +desert. La Beauce is the best grain-growing +region in all France, and the Sologne is now a +reclaimed land whose sandy soil has proved +admirably adapted to an unusually abundant +growth of the vine. So much for this old-time +point of view, which to-day has changed considerably.</p> + +<p>The Orléannais is one of the most populous +and progressive sections of all France, and its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> +inhabitants, per square kilometre, are constantly +increasing in numbers, which is more +than can be said of every <i>département</i>. There +are multitudes of tiny villages, and one is +scarcely ever out of sight and sound of a habitation.</p> + +<div class="figright"><a href="images/illus065.jpg"> +<img src="images/illus065_small.jpg" alt="Environs of Orleans (Map)" title="Environs of Orleans (Map)" /> +</a> +</div> + + +<p>In the great forest, just to the west of Orleans, +are two small villages, each a celebrated +battle-ground, and a place of a patriotic pil<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span>grimage +on the eighth and ninth of November +of each year. They are Coulmiers and Bacon, +and here some fugitives from Metz and Sedan, +with some young troops exposed to fire for the +first time, engaged with the Prussians (in +1870) who had occupied Orleans since mid-October. +There is the usual conventional "soldiers' +monument,"—with considerably more +art about it than is usually seen in America,—before +which Frenchmen seemingly never +cease to worship.</p> + +<p>This same <i>Forêt d'Orleans</i>, one of those wild-woods +which so plentifully besprinkle France, +has a sad and doleful memory in the traditions +of the druidical inhabitants of a former +day. Their practices here did not differ +greatly from those of their brethren elsewhere, +but local history is full of references to atrocities +so bloodthirsty that it is difficult to believe +that they were ever perpetrated under +the guise of religion.</p> + +<p>Surrounding the forest are many villages +and hamlets, war-stricken all in the dark days +of seventy-one, when the Prussians were overrunning +the land.</p> + +<p>Of all the cities of the Loire, Orleans, Blois, +Tours, Angers, and Nantes alone show any +spirit of modern progressiveness or of likeness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> +to the capital. The rest, to all appearances, +are dead, or at least sleeping in their pasts. +But they are charming and restful spots for +all that, where in melancholy silence sit the old +men, while the younger folk, including the very +children, are all at work in the neighbouring +vineyards or in the wheat-fields of La Beauce.</p> + +<p>Meung-sur-Loire and Beaugency sleep on the +river-bank, their proud monuments rising high +in the background,—the massive tower of +Cæsar and a quartette of church spires. Just +below Orleans is the juncture of the Loiret and +the Loire at St. Mesmin, while only a few kilometres +away is Cléry, famed for its associations +of Louis XI.</p> + +<p>The Loiret is not a very ample river, and is +classed by the Minister of Public Works as navigable +for but four kilometres of its length. +This, better than anything else, should define +its relative importance among the great waterways +of France. Navigation, as it is known +elsewhere, is practically non-existent.</p> + +<p>The course of the Loiret is perhaps twelve +kilometres all told, but it has given its name +to a great French <i>département</i>, though it is +doubtless the shortest of all the rivers of +France thus honoured.</p> + +<p>It first comes to light in the dainty park of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> +the Château de la Source, where there are two +distinct sources. The first forms a small circular +basin, known as the "Bouillon," which +leads into another semicircular basin called the +"Bassin du Miroir," from the fact that it +reflects the façade of the château in its placid +surface. Of course, this is all very artificial +and theatrical, but it is a pretty conceit nevertheless. +The other source, known as the +"Grande Source," joins the rivulet some hundreds +of yards below the "Bassin du Miroir."</p> + +<p>The Château de la Source is a seventeenth-century +edifice, of no great architectural beauty +in itself, but sufficiently sylvan in its surroundings +to give it rank as one of the notable places +of pilgrimage for tourists who, said a cynical +French writer, "take the châteaux of the Loire +<i>tour à tour</i> as they do the morgue, the Moulin +Rouge, and the sewers of Paris."</p> + +<p>In the early days the château belonged to the +Cardinal Briçonnet, and it was here that Bolingbroke, +after having been stripped of his +titles in England, went into retirement in 1720. +In 1722 he received Voltaire, who read him his +"Henriade."</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus069_small.jpg" alt="The Loiret" title="The Loiret" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus069.jpg"><i>The Loiret</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>In 1815 the invading Prince Eckmühl, with +his staff, installed himself in the château, when, +after Waterloo, the Prussian and French ar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span>mies +were separated only by a barrier placed +midway on the bridge at Orleans. It was here +also that the Prussian army was disbanded, on +the agreement of the council held at Angerville, +near Orleans.</p> + +<p>There are three other châteaux on the borders +of the Loiret, which are of more than +ordinary interest, so far as great country +houses and their surroundings go, though their +histories are not very striking, with perhaps +the exception of the Château de la Fontaine, +which has a remarkable garden, laid out by +Lenôtre, the designer of the parks at Versailles.</p> + +<p>Leaving Orleans by the right bank of the +Loire, one first comes to La Chapelle-St. Mesmin. +La Chapelle has a church dating from +the eleventh century and a château which is +to-day the <i>maison de campagne</i> of the Bishop +of Orleans. On the opposite bank was the +Abbaye de Micy, founded by Clovis at the time +of his conversion. A stone cross, only, marks +the site to-day.</p> + +<p>St. Ay follows next, and is usually set down +in the guide-books as "celebrated for good +wines." This is not to be denied for a moment, +and it is curious to note that the city bears the +same name as the famous town in the cham<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span>pagne +district, celebrated also for good wine, +though of a different kind. The name of the +Orléannais Ay is gained from a hermitage +founded here by a holy man, who died in the +sixth century. His tomb was discovered in +1860, under the choir of the church, which +makes it a place of pilgrimage of no little local +importance.</p> + +<p>At Meung-sur-Loire one should cross the +river to Cléry, five kilometres off, seldom if +ever visited by casual travellers. But why? +Simply because it is overlooked in that universal +haste shown by most travellers—who +are not students of art or architecture, or deep +lovers of history—in making their way to +more popular shrines. One will not regret the +time taken to visit Cléry, which shared with +Our Lady of Embrun the devotions of Louis XI.</p> + +<p>Cléry's three thousand pastoral inhabitants +of to-day would never give it distinction, and +it is only the Maison de Louis XI. and the +Basilique de Notre Dame which makes it worth +while, but this is enough.</p> + +<p>In "Quentin Durward" one reads of the +time when the superstitious Louis was held in +captivity by the Burgundian, Charles the Bold, +and of how the French king made his devotions +before the little image, worn in his hat, of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> +Virgin of Cléry; "the grossness of his superstition, +none the less than his fickleness, leading +him to believe Our Lady of Cléry to be quite +a different person from the other object of his +devotion, the Madonna of Embrun, a tiny +mountain village in southwestern France.</p> + +<p>"'Sweet Lady of Cléry,' he exclaimed, clasping +his hands and beating his breast as he +spoke, 'Blessed Mother of Mercy! thou who +art omnipotent with omnipotence, have compassion +with me, a sinner! It is true I have sometimes +neglected you for thy blessed sister of +Embrun; but I am a king, my power is great, +my wealth boundless; and were it otherwise, +I would double my <i>gabelle</i> on my subjects +rather than not pay my debts to you both.'"</p> + +<p>Louis endowed the church at Cléry, and the +edifice was built in the fine flamboyant style +of the period, just previous to his death, which +De Commines gives as "<i>le samedy pénultième +jour d'Aoust, l'an mil quatre cens quatre-vingtz +et trois, à huit heures du soir</i>."</p> + +<p>Louis XI. was buried here, and the chief +"sight" is of course his tomb, beside which +is a flagstone which covers the heart of +Charles VIII. The Chapelle St. Jacques, +within the church, is ornamented by a series +of charming sculptures, and the Chapelle des<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> +Dunois-Longueville holds the remains of the +famous ally of Jeanne d'Arc and members of +his family.</p> + +<p>In the choir is the massive oaken statue of +Our Lady of Cléry (thirteenth century); the +very one before which Louis made his vows. +There is some old glass in the choir and a +series of sculptured stalls, which would make +famous a more visited and better known shrine. +There is a fine sculptured stone portal to the +sacristy, and within there are some magnificent +old <i>armoires</i>, and also two chasubles, which +saw service in some great church, perhaps here, +in the times of Louis himself.</p> + +<p>The "Maison de Louis XI.," near the +church, is a house of brick, restored in 1651, +and now—or until a very recent date—occupied +by a community of nuns. In the Grande +Rue is another "Maison de Louis XI.;" at +least it has his cipher on the painted ceiling. +It is now occupied by the Hôtel de la Belle +Image. Those who like to dine and sleep where +have also dined and slept royal heads will appreciate +putting up at this hostelry.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus075_small.jpg" alt="The Loire at Meung" title="The Loire at Meung" /> +<div class="caption"><i><a href="images/illus075.jpg">The Loire at Meung</a></i></div> +</div> + + +<p>Meung-sur-Loire was the birthplace of Jehan +Clopinel, better known as Jean de Meung, who +continued Guillaume de Lorris's "Roman de la +Rose," the most famous bit of verse produced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span> +by the <i>trouvères</i> of the thirteenth century. +The voice of the troubadour was soon after +hushed for ever, but that thirteenth-century +masterwork—though by two hands and the +respective portions unequal in merit—lives +for ever as the greatest of its kind. In memory +of the author, Meung has its Rue Jehan de +Meung, for want of a more effective or appealing +monument.</p> + +<p>Dumas opens the history of "Les Trois +Mousquétaires" with the following brilliantly +romantic lines anent Meung: "<i>Le premier lundi +du mois d'Avril, 1625, le bourg de Meung, où +naquit l'auteur du 'Roman de la Rose.'</i>" +(One of the authors, he should have said, but +here is where Dumas nodded, as he frequently +did.)</p> + +<p>Continuing, one reads: "The town was in +a veritable uproar. It was as if the Huguenots +were up in arms and the drama of a second +Rochelle was being enacted." Really the description +is too brilliant and entrancing to be +repeated here, and if any one has forgotten +his Dumas to the extent that he has forgotten +D'Artagnan's introduction to the hostelry of +the "Franc Meunier," he is respectfully referred +back to that perennially delightful romance.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span></p> + +<p>Meung was once a Roman fortress, known +as Maudunum, and in the eleventh century St. +Liphard founded a monastery here.</p> + +<p>In the fifteenth century Meung was the +prison of François Villon. Poor vagabond as +he was then, it has become the fashion to laud +both the personality and the poesy of Maître +François Villon.</p> + +<p>By the orders of Thibaut d'Aussigny, Bishop +of Orleans, Villon was confined in a strong +tower attached to the side of the <i>clocher</i> of the +parish church of St. Liphard, and which adjoined +the <i>château de plaisance</i> belonging to +the bishop. Primarily this imprisonment was +due to a robbery in which the poet had been +concerned at Orleans. He spent the whole of +the summer in this dungeon, which was overrun +with rats, and into which he had to be lowered +by ropes. As his food consisted of bread +and water only, his sufferings at this time were +probably greater than at any other period in +his life. Here the burglar-poet remained until +October, 1461, when Louis XI. visited Meung, +and, to mark the occasion, ordered the release +of all prisoners. For this delivery, Villon, according +to the accounts of his life, appears to +have been genuinely grateful to the king.</p> + +<p>At Beaugency, seven kilometres from Meung,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span> +one comes upon an architectural and historical +treat which is unexpected.</p> + +<p>In the eleventh century Beaugency was a fief +of the bishopric of Amiens, and its once strong +château was occupied by the Barons de Landry, +the last of whom died, without children, in the +thirteenth century. Philippe-le-Bel bought the +fief and united it with the Comté de Blois. It +was made an independent <i>comté</i> of itself in +1569, and in 1663 became definitely an appanage +of Orleans. The Prince de Galles took Beaugency +in 1359, the Gascons in 1361, Duguesclin +in 1370 and again in 1417; in 1421 and in 1428 +it was taken by the English, from whom it was +delivered by Jeanne d'Arc in 1429. Internal +wars and warfares continued for another hundred +and fifty years, finally culminating in one +of the grossest scenes which had been enacted +within its walls,—the bloody revenge against +the Protestants, encouraged doubtless by the +affair of St. Bartholomew's night at Paris.</p> + +<p>The ancient square donjon of the eleventh +century, known as the Tour de César, still +looms high above the town. It must be one of +the hugest keeps in all France. The old château +of the Dunois is now a charitable institution, +but reflects, in a way, the splendour of +its fourteenth-century inception, and its Salle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> +de Jeanne d'Arc, with its great chimneypiece, +is worthy to rank with the best of its kind along +the Loire. The spiral staircase, of which the +Loire builders were so fond, is admirable here, +and dates from 1530.</p> + +<p>The Hôtel de Ville of Beaugency is a charming +edifice of the very best of Renaissance, +which many more pretentious structures of the +period are not. It dates from 1526, and was +entirely restored—not, however, to its detriment, +as frequently happens—in the last years +of the nineteenth century. Its charm, nevertheless, +lies mostly in its exterior, for little remains +of value within except a remarkable +series of old embroideries taken from the choir +of the old abbey of Beaugency.</p> + +<p>The Église de Notre Dame is a Romanesque +structure with Gothic interpolations. It is not +bad in its way, but decidedly is not remarkable +as mediæval churches go.</p> + +<p>The old streets of Beaugency contain a dazzling +array of old houses in wood and stone, +and in the Rue des Templiers is a rare example +of Romanesque civil architecture; at least +the type is rare enough in the Orléannais, +though more frequently seen in the south of +France. The Tour St. Firmin dates from 1530, +and is all that remains of a church which stood<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> +here up to revolutionary times. The square +ruined towers known as the Porte Tavers are +relics of the city's old walls and gates, and are +all that are left to mark the ancient enclosure.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus081_small.jpg" alt="Beaugency" title="Beaugency" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus081.jpg"><i>Beaugency</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>The Tour du Diable and the house of the +ruling abbot remain to suggest the power and +magnificence of the great abbey which was +built here in the tenth century. In 1567 it was +burned, and later restored, but beyond the two +features just mentioned there is nothing to +indicate its former uses, the remaining structures +having passed into private hands and +being devoted to secular uses.</p> + +<p>The old bridge which crosses the Loire at +this point is most curious, and dates from various +epochs. It is 440 metres in length, and is +composed of twenty-six arches, one of which +dates from the fourteenth century, when +bridge-building was really an art. Eight of +the present-day arches are of wood, and on +the second is a monolith surmounted by a figure +of Christ in bronze, replacing a former chapel +to St. Jacques. A chapel on a bridge is not +a unique arrangement, but few exist to-day, +one of the most famous being, perhaps, that +on the ruined bridge of St. Bénezet at Avignon.</p> + +<p>Altogether, Beaugency, as it sleeps its life +away after the strenuous days of the middle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span> +ages, is more lovable by far than a great metropolis.</p> + +<p>The traveller is well repaid who makes a +stop at Beaugency a part of a three days' gentle +ramble among the usually neglected towns +and villages of the Orléannais and the Blaisois, +instead of rushing through to Blois by express-train, +which is what one usually does.</p> + +<p>Southward one's route lies through pleasant +vineyards, on one side the Sologne, and on the +other the Coteau de Guignes, which latter ranks +as quite the best among the vine-growing districts +of the Orléannais.</p> + +<p>Near Tavers is a natural curiosity in the +shape of the "Fontaine des Sables Mouvants," +where the sands of a tiny spring boil and bubble +like a miniature geyser.</p> + +<p>Mer, another small town, follows, twelve kilometres +farther on. Like Beaugency it is a somnolent +bourg, and the life of the peasant folk +round about, who go to market on one day at +Beaugency and on another at Blois, and occasionally +as far away as Orleans, is much the +same as it was a century ago.</p> + +<p>There is a Boulevard de la Gare and a +Grande Rue at Mer, the latter leading to a fine +Gothic church with a fifteenth-century tower, +which is admirable in every way, and forms<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span> +a beacon by land for many miles around. The +primitive church at Mer dates from the eleventh +century, the side walls, however, being all +that remain of that period. There is a sculptured +pulpit of the seventeenth century, and a +great painting, which looks ancient and is certainly +a masterful work of art, representing +an "Adoration of the Magi."</p> + +<p>When all is said and done, it is its irresistible +and inexpressible charm which makes Mer well-beloved, +rather than any great wealth of artistic +atmosphere of any nature.</p> + +<p>Away to the south, across the Loire to +Muides, runs the route to Chambord, through +the Sologne, where immediately the whole aspect +of life changes from that on the borders +of the rich grain-lands of the Orléannais and +La Beauce.</p> + +<p>All the way from Beaugency to Blois the +Loire threads its way through a lovely country, +whose rolling slopes, back from the river, are +surmounted here and there by windmills, a not +very frequent adjunct to the landscape of +France, except in the north.</p> + +<p>Near Mer is Menars, with its eighteenth-century +château of La Pompadour; Suèvres, the +site of an ancient Roman city; the lowlands +lying before Chambord; St. Die; Montlivault;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> +St. Claude, and a score of little villages which +are entrancing in their old-world aspect even +in these days of progress. This completes the +panorama to Blois which, with the Blaisois, +forms the borderland between the Orléannais +and Touraine.</p> + +<p>Before reaching Blois, Menars, at any rate, +commands attention. It fronts upon the Loire, +but is practically upon the northern border of +the Forêt de Blois, hence properly belongs to +the Blaisois. Menars was made a rendezvous +for the chase by the wily and pleasure-loving +La Pompadour, who quartered herself at the +château, which afterward passed to her brother, +De Marigny.</p> + +<p>Before the Revolution, Menars was the seat +of a marquisate, of which the land was bought +by Louis XV. for his famous, or infamous, +<i>maîtresse</i>. The property has frequently +changed hands since that day, but its gardens +and terraces, descending toward the river-bank, +mark it as one of those <i>coquette</i> establishments, +with which France was dotted in +the eighteenth century.</p> + +<p>These establishments possessed enough of +luxurious appointments to be classed as fitting +for the butterflies of the time, but in no +way, so far as the architectural design or the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span> +artistic details were concerned, were any of +them worthy to be classed with the great domestic +châteaux of the early years of the +Renaissance.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span></p> + + + +<h2>CHAPTER III.<span class="pagenum"><a href="#Contents">To ToC</a></span></h2> + +<h4>THE BLAISOIS AND THE SOLOGNE</h4> + + +<p>The Blésois or Blaisois was the ancient name +given to the <i>petit pays</i> which made a part of +the government of the Orléannais. It was, and +is, the borderland between the Orléannais and +Touraine, and, with its capital, Blois, the city +of counts, was a powerful territory in its own +right, in spite of the allegiance which it owed +to the Crown. Twenty leagues in length by +thirteen in width, it was bounded on the north +by the Dunois and the Orléannais, on the east +by Berry, on the south by Touraine, and on +the west by Touraine and the Vendomois.</p> + +<p>Blois, its capital, was famed ever in the +annals of the middle ages, and to-day no city +in the Loire valley possesses more sentimental +interest for the traveller than does Blois.</p> + +<p>To the eastward lay the sands of the Sologne, +and southward the ample and fruitful Touraine, +hence Blois's position was one of su<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span>preme +importance, and there is no wonder that +it proved to be the scene of so many momentous +events of history.</p> + +<p>The present day Department of the Loir +et Cher was carved out from the Blaisois, the +Vendomois, and the Orléannais. The Baisois +was, in olden time, one of the most important +of the <i>petits gouvernements</i> of all the kingdom, +and gave to Blois a line of counts who rivalled +in power and wealth the churchmen of Tours +and the dukes of Brittany. Gregory of Tours +is the first historian who makes mention of +the ancient <i>Pagus Blensensis</i>.</p> + +<p>One must not tell the citizen of Blois that it +is at Tours that one hears the best French +spoken. Everybody knows this, but the inhabitant +of the Blaisois will not admit it, and, in +truth, to the stranger there is not much apparent +difference. Throughout this whole region +he understands and makes himself understood +with much more facility than in any other part +of France.</p> + +<p>For one thing, not usually recalled, Blois +should be revered and glorified. It was the +native place of Lenoir, who invented the instrument +which made possible the definite determination +of the metric system of measurement.</p> + +<p>One reads in Bernier's "Histoire de Blois"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> +that the inhabitants are "honest, gallant, and +polite in conversation, and of a delicate and +diffident temperament." This was written +nearly a century ago, but there is no excuse +for one's changing the opinion to-day unless, +as was the misfortune of the writer, he runs +up against an unusually +importunate vender +of post-cards or an +aggressive <i>garçon de +café</i>.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus079_small.jpg" alt="Arms of the City of Blois" title="Arms of the City of Blois" /> +</div> + + +<p>Blois, among all the +cities of the Loire, is +the favourite with the +tourist. Why this +should be is an enigma. +It is overburdened, +at times, with droves of tourists, and +this in itself is a detraction in the eyes of +many.</p> + +<p>Perhaps it is because here one first meets +a great château of state; and certainly the +Château de Blois lives in one's memory more +than any other château in France.</p> + + + +<p>Much has been written of Blois, its counts, +its château, and its many and famous <i>hôtels</i> +of the nobility, by writers of all opinions and +abilities, from those old chroniclers who wrote<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> +of the plots and intrigues of other days to those +critics of art and architecture who have discovered—or +think they have discovered—that +Da Vinci designed the famous spiral staircase.</p> + +<p>From this one may well gather that Blois is +the foremost château of all the Loire in popularity +and theatrical effect. Truly this is so, +but it is by no manner of means the most lovable; +indeed, it is the least lovable of all that +great galaxy which begins at Blois and ends +at Nantes. It is a show-place and not much +more, and partakes in every form and feature—as +one sees it to-day—of the attributes of +a museum, and such it really is. All of its +former gorgeousness is still there, and all the +banalities of the later period when Gaston of +Orleans built his ugly wing, for the "personally +conducted" to marvel at, and honeymoon +couples to envy. The French are quite fond +of visiting this shrine themselves, but usually +it is the young people and their mammas, and +detached couples of American and English +birth that one most sees strolling about the +courts and apartments were formerly lords +and ladies and cavaliers moved and plotted.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illus091_small.jpg" alt="The Riverside at Blois" title="The Riverside at Blois" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus091.jpg"><i>The Riverside at Blois</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>The great château of the Counts of Blois is +built upon an inclined rock which rises above<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span> +the roof-tops of the lower town quite in fairy-book +fashion,—</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0_5">"... Bâtie en pierre et d'ardoise converte,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Blanche et carrée au bas de la colline verte."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>Commonly referred to as the Château de +Blois, it is really composed of four separate +and distinct foundations; the original château +of the counts; the later addition of Louis XII.; +the palace of François I., and the most unsympathetically +and dismally disposed <i>pavillon</i> of +Gaston of Orleans.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus094_small.jpg" alt="Signature of François Premier" title="Signature of François Premier" /> +<div class="caption"><i>Signature of François Premier</i></div> +</div> + +<p>The artistic qualities of the greater part of +the distinct edifices which go to make up the +château as it stands to-day are superb, with +the exception of that great wing of Gaston's, +before mentioned, which is as cold and unfeeling +as the overrated palace at Versailles.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span></p> + +<p>The Comtes de Chatillon built that portion +just to the right of the present entrance; +Louis XII., the edifice through which one enters +the inner court and which extends far to the +left, including also the chapel immediately to +the rear; while François Premier, who here as +elsewhere let his unbounded Italian proclivities +have full sway, built the extended wing to +the left of the inner court and fronting on the +present Place du Château, formerly the Place +Royale.</p> + +<p>Immediately to the left, in the Basse Cour +de Château, are the Hôtel d'Amboise, the Hôtel +d'Épernon, and farther away, in the Rue St. +Honore, the Hôtel Sardini, the Hôtel d'Alluye, +and a score of others belonging to the nobility +of other days; all of them the scenes of many +stirring and gallant events in Renaissance +times.</p> + +<p>This is hardly the place for a discussion of +the merits or demerits of any particular artistic +style, but the frequently repeated expression +of Buffon's "<i>Le style, c'est l'homme</i>" +may well be paraphrased into "<i>L'art, c'est +l'époque.</i>" In fact one finds at all times imprinted +upon the architectural style of any +period the current mood bred of some historical +event or a passing fancy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span></p> + +<p>At Blois this is particularly noticeable. As +an architectural monument the château is a +picturesque assemblage of edifices belonging +to many different epochs, and, as such, shows, +as well as any other document of contemporary +times, the varying ambitions and emotions of +its builders, from the rude and rough manners +of the earliest of feudal times through the +highly refined Renaissance details of the imaginative +brain of François, down to the base concoction +of the elder Mansart, produced at the +commands of Gaston of Orleans.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a href="images/illus096.jpg"> +<img src="images/illus096_small.jpg" alt="Cypher of Anne de Bretagne, at Blois" title="Cypher of Anne de Bretagne, at Blois" /> +</a> +</div> + +<p>The whole gamut, from the gay and winsome +to the sad and dismal, is found here.</p> + +<p>The escutcheons of the various occupants +are plainly in evidence,—the swan pierced by +an arrow of the first Counts of Blois; the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span> +ermine of Anne de Bretagne; the porcupine +of the Ducs d'Orleans, and the salamander of +François Premier.</p> + +<p>In the earliest structure were to be seen all +the attributes of a feudal fortress, towers and +walls pierced with narrow loopholes, and damp, +dark dungeons hidden away in the thick walls. +Then came a structure which was less of a +fortress and more habitable, but still a stronghold, +though having ample and decorative doorways +and windows, with curious sculptures and +rich framings. Then the pompous Renaissance +with <i>escaliers</i> and <i>balcons à jour</i>, balustrades +crowning the walls, arabesques enriching the +pilasters and walls, and elaborate cornices here, +there, and everywhere,—all bespeaking the +gallantry and taste of the <i>roi-chevalier</i>. Finally +came the cold, classic features of the +period of the brother of Louis XIII., decidedly +the worst and most unlivable and unlovely +architecture which France has ever produced. +All these features are plain in the general +scheme of the Château de Blois to-day, and +doubtless it is this that makes the appeal; too +much loveliness, as at Chenonceaux or Azay-le-Rideau, +staggers the modern mortal by the +sheer impossibility of its modern attainment.</p> + +<p>In plan the Château de Blois forms an irreg<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span>ular +square situated at the apex of a promontory +high above the surface of the Loire, and +practically behind the town itself. The building +has a most picturesque aspect, and, to those +who know, gives practically a history of the +château architecture of the time. Abandoned, +mutilated, and dishonoured from time to time, +the structure gradually took on new forms until +the thick walls underlying the apartment +known to-day as the Salle des États—probably +the most ancient portion of all—were +overshadowed by the great richness of the fifteenth +and sixteenth centuries. One early fragment +was entirely enveloped in the structure +which was built by François Premier, the ancient +Tour de Château Regnault, or De Moulins, +or Des Oubliettes, as it was variously +known, and from the outside this is no longer +visible.</p> + +<p>From the platform one sees a magnificent +panorama of the city and the far-reaching +Loire, which unrolls itself southward and +northward for many leagues, its banks covered +by rich vineyards and crowned by thick forests.</p> + +<p>The building of Louis XII. presents its brick-faced +exterior in black and red lozenge shapes, +with sculptured window-frames, squarely upon +the little tree-bordered <i>place</i> of to-day, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span> +in other times formed a part of that magnificent +terrace which looked down upon the roof +of the Église St. Nicolas, and the Jesuit Church +of the Immaculate Conception, and the silvery +belt of the Loire itself.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<a href="images/illus099.jpg"> +<img src="images/illus099_small.jpg" alt="Arms of Louis XII" title="Arms of Louis XII" /> +</a></div> + + +<p>On the west façade of this vast conglomerate +structure one sees the effigy of the porcupine, +that weird symbol adopted by the family of +Orleans.</p> + +<p>The choice of this ungainly animal—in spite +of which it is most decorative in outline—was +due to the first Louis, who was Duc d'Orleans. +In the year 1393 Louis founded the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> +order of the porcupine, in honour of the birth +of Charles, his eldest son, who was born to him +by Valentine de Milan. The legend which accompanied +the adoption of the symbol—though +often enough it was missing in the +sculptured representations—was <i>Cominus et +eminus</i>, which had its origin in the belief +that the porcupine could defend himself +in a near attack, but that when he himself +attacked, he fought from afar by launching +forth his spines.</p> + +<p>Naturalists will tell you that the porcupine +does no such thing; but in those days it was +evidently believed that he did, and in many, if +not all, of the sculptured effigies that one sees +of the beast there is a halo of detached spines +forming a background as if they were really +launching themselves forth in mid-air.</p> + +<p>Above this central doorway, or entrance to +the courtyard, is a niche in which is a modern +equestrian statue of Louis XII., replacing a +more ancient one destroyed at the Revolution. +This old statue, it is claimed, was an admirable +work of art in its day, and the present +statue is thought to be a replica of it.</p> + +<p>It originally bore the following inscription—a +verse written by Fausto Andrelini, the +king's favourite poet. + +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span></p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">"Hic ubi natus erat dextro Lodoicus Olympo,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Sumpsit honorata Regia sceptra manu;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Felix quæ tanti fulfit lux nuntia Regis;<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Gallia non alio Principe digna fuit.<br /></span> +<span class="i8">FAUSTUS 1498."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus101_small.jpg" alt="Central Doorway, Château de Blois" title="Central Doorway, Château de Blois" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus101.png"><i>Central Doorway,<br/>Château de Blois</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>According to an old French description this +old statue was: "<i>très beau et très agréable +ainsy que tous ses portraits l'ont représenté, +comme celui qui est au grand portail de +Bloys</i>."</p> + +<p>Above rises a balustrade with fantastic gargoyles +with the pinnacles and fleurons of the +window gables all very ornate, the whole +topped off with a roofing of slate.</p> + +<p>Blois, in its general aspect, is fascinating; +but it is not sympathetic, and this is not surprising +when one remembers men and women +who worked their deeds of bloody daring +within its walls.</p> + +<p>The murders and other acts of violence and +treason which took place here are interesting +enough, but one cannot but feel, when he views +the chimneypiece before which the Duc de +Guise was standing when called to his death +in the royal closet, that the men of whom the +bloody tales of Blois are told quite deserved +their fates.</p> + +<p>One comes away with the impression of it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> +all stamped only upon the mind, not graven +upon the heart. Political intrigue to-day, if +quite as vulgar, is less sordid. Bigotry and +ambition in those days allowed few of the finer +feelings to come to the surface, except with +regard to the luxuriance of surroundings. Of +this last there can be no question, and Blois +is as characteristically luxurious as any of the +magnificent edifices which lodged the royalty +and nobility of other days, throughout the +valley of the Loire.</p> + +<p>A numismatic curiosity, connected with the +history of the Château de Blois, is an ancient +piece of money which one may see in the local +museum. It is the oldest document in existence +in which, or on which, the name of Blois is +mentioned. On one side is a symbolical figure +and the legend <i>Bleso Castro</i>, and on the other +a <i>croix haussée</i> and the name of the officer of +the mint at Blois, <i>Pre Cistato, monetario</i>.</p> + +<p>The plan of the Château de Blois here given +shows it not as it is to-day, but as it was at +the death of Gaston d'Orleans in 1660. The +constructions of the different epochs are noted +on the plan as follows:</p> + +<blockquote><div class="smcapindent">Erected by the Comtes de Chatillon</div> + +<p>1. Tour de Donjon, Château-Regnault, Moulins, or des +Oubliettes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span></p> + +<p>2. Salle des États.</p> + +<p>3. Tour du Foix or Observatory.</p> + + +<div class="smcapindent">Erected by the Ducs d'Orleans</div> + +<p>4. Portico and Galerie d'Orleans. (Destroyed in part +by the military.)</p> + +<p>5. Galerie des Cerfs. (Built in part by Gaston, but made +away with by the city of Blois when the Jardins du Roi +were built.)</p> + + +<div class="smcapindent">Erected by Louis XII.</div> + +<p>6. Chapelle St. Calais. (Destroyed in part by the military.)</p> + +<p>7. La Grande Vis, or Grand Escalier of Louis XI.</p> + +<p>8. La Petite Vis, or Petit Escalier, in one chamber of +which the corpse of the Duc de Guise was burned.</p> + +<p>9. Portico and Galerie de Louis XII.</p> + +<p>10. Portico.</p> + +<p>11. Salle des Gardes,—of the queen on the ground floor +and of the king on the first floor.</p> + +<p>12. Bedchamber,—of the queen on the ground floor and +of the king on the first floor.</p> + +<p>13. Corps de Garde.</p> + +<p>14. Kitchen. (To-day Salle de Réception for visitors.)</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<a href="images/illus107.jpg"> +<img src="images/illus107_small.jpg" alt="The Chateaux of Blois" title="The Chateaux of Blois" /> +</a></div> + +<div class="smcapindent">Erected from the Time of François I. to Henri III.</div> + +<p>15 and 16. Portico and Terrace Henri II. (In part built +over by Gaston.)</p> + +<p>17. Grand Staircase.</p> + +<p>18. Galerie de François I.</p> + +<p>19. Staircase of the Salle des États. (Destroyed by the +military.)</p> + +<p>20. First floor, Salle des Gardes of the queen; second floor, +Salle des Gardes of the king.</p> + +<p>21. Staircase leading to the apartments of the queen +mother. Here also Henri III. had made the cells destined for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span> +the use of the Capucins, and here were closeted "<i>pour s'assurer +de leur discretion</i>," the "<i>Quarante-Cinq</i>" who were to kill the +Duc de Guise.</p> + +<p>22. Cabinet Neuf of Henri III. (Second floor.)</p> + +<p>23. Gallery where was held the reunion of the Tiers Etats +of 1576.</p> + +<p>24. First floor, bedchamber of the king; second floor, bedchamber +of the queen.</p> + +<p>25. Oratory.</p> + +<p>26. Cabinet.</p> + +<p>27. Passage to the Tour de Moulins.</p> + +<p>28. Passage to the Cabinet Vieux, where the Duc de Guise +was struck down.</p> + +<p>29. Cabinet Vieux.</p> + +<p>30. Oratory, where the two chaplains of the king prayed +during the perpetration of the murder.</p> + +<p>31. Garde-robe, where was first deposited the body of De +Guise.</p> + +<div class="smcapindent">Erected by Gaston D'Orleans</div> + +<p>32. Peristyle. (Destroyed by the military.)</p> + +<p>33. Dome.</p> + +<p>34. Pavilion des Jardins.</p> + +<p>35. Pavilion du Foix.</p> + +<p>36. Petit Pavilion of the Méridionale façade. (Destroyed +in 1825.)</p> + +<p>37. Terraces.</p> + +<p>38. Bastions du Foix and des Jardins.</p> + +<p>39. L'Eperon.</p> + +<p>40. Le Jardin Haut, or Jardin du Roi.</p></blockquote> + + +<p>The interior court is partly surrounded by +a colonnade, quite cloister-like in effect. At +the right centre of the François I. wing is that +wonderful spiral staircase, concerning the in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span>vention +of which so much speculation has been +launched. Leonardo da Vinci, the protégé of +François, has been given the honour, and a +very considerable volume has been written to +prove the claim.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus108_small.jpg" alt="Cypher of François Premier and Claude of France, at Blois" title="Cypher of François Premier and Claude of France, at Blois" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus108.jpg"><i>Cypher of François Premier and Claude of France, at Blois</i></a></div> +</div> + + +<p>Within this "<i>tour octagone"—"qui fait +à ses huit pans hurler un gorgone</i>"—is built +this marvellous openwork stairway,—an <i>escalier +à jour</i>, as the French call it,—without +an equal in all France, and for daring and +decorative effect unexcelled by any of those +Renaissance motives of Italy itself. Its ascent +turns not, as do most <i>escaliers</i>, from left to +right, but from right to left. It is the prototype +of those supposedly unique outside staircases<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> +pointed out to country cousins in the +abodes of Fifth Avenue millionaires.</p> + +<p>It is as impossible to catalogue the various +apartments and their accessories here, as it is +to include a chronology of the great events +which have passed within their walls. One +thing should be remembered, and that is, that +the architect Duban restored the château +throughout in recent years. In spite of this +restoration one may readily enough reconstruct +the scene of the murder of the Duc de +Guise from the great fireplace on the second +floor before which De Guise was standing when +summoned by a page to the kingly presence, +from the door through which he entered to his +death, and from the wall where hung the +tapestry behind which he was to pass. All this +is real enough, and also the "Tour des Oubliettes," +in which the duke's brother, the cardinal, +suffered, and of which many horrible +tales are still told by the attendants.</p> + +<p>Duban, the architect, came with his careful +restorations and pictured with a most exact +fidelity the decorations and the furnishings of +the times of François, of Catherine, and of +Henri III. The ornate chimneypieces have +been furbished up anew, the walls and ceilings +covered with new paint and gold; nothing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> +could be more opulent or glorious, but it gives +the impression of a city dwelling or a great +hotel, "newly done up," as the house renovators +express it.</p> + +<p>One contrasting emotion will be awakened +by a contemplation of the two great Salles des +Gardes and the apartments of Catherine de +Medici; here, at least for the moment, is a +relief from the intrigues, massacres, and assassinations +which otherwise went on, for one recalls +that, at one period, "<i>danses, ballets et +jeux</i>" took place here continuously.</p> + +<p>In the apartments of Catherine there is much +to remind one of "the base Florentine," as it +has been the fashion of latter-day historians +to describe the first of the Medici queens. +Nothing could be more sumptuous than the +Galerie de la Reine, her <i>Cabinet de Toilette</i>, +or her <i>Chambre à Coucher</i>, with its secret +panels, where she died on the 5th of January, +1589, "adored and revered," but soon forgotten, +and of no more account than "<i>une +chèvre mort</i>," says one old chronicler.</p> + +<p>The apartments of Catherine de Medici +were directly beneath the guard-room where +the Balafré was murdered, and that event, +taking place at the very moment when the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span> +"queen-mother" was dying, cannot be said +to have been conducive to a peaceful demise.</p> + +<p>Here, on the first floor of the François +Premier wing, the <i>reine-mère</i> held her court, +as did the king his. The great gallery overlooked +the town on the side of the present +Place du Château. It was, and is, a truly +grand apartment, with diamond-paned windows, +and rich, dark, wall decorations on which +Catherine's device, a crowned C and her monogram +in gold, frequently appears. There was, +moreover, a great oval window, opposite which +stood her altar, and a doorway, half concealed, +led to her writing-closet, with its secret drawers +and wall-panels which well served her purposes +of intrigue and deceit. A hidden stairway +led to the floor above, and there was a +<i>chambre à coucher</i>, with a deep recess for the +bed, the same to which she called her son Henri +as she lay dying, admonishing him to give up +the thought of murdering Guise. "What," +said Henri, on this embarrassing occasion, +"spare Guise, when he, triumphant in Paris, +dared lay his hand on the hilt of his sword! +Spare him who drove me a fugitive from the +capital! Spare them who never spared me! +No, mother, I will <i>not</i>."</p> + +<p>As the queen-mother drew near her end,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span> +and was lying ill at Blois, great events for +France were culminating at the château. +Henri III. had become King of France, and +the Balafré, supported by Rome and Spain, +was in open rebellion against the reigning +house, and the word had gone forth that the +Duc de Guise must die. The States General +were to be immediately assembled, and De +Guise, once the poetic lover of Marguerite, +through his emissaries canvassed all France +to ensure the triumph of the party of the +Church against Henri de Navarre and his +queen,—the Marguerite whom De Guise once +professed to love,—who soon were to come to +the throne of France.</p> + +<p>The uncomfortable Henri III. had been told +that he would never be king in reality until +De Guise had been made away with.</p> + +<p>The final act of the drama between the rival +houses of Guise and Valois came when the +king and his council came to Blois for the +Assembly. The sunny city of Blois was indeed +to be the scene of a momentous affair, and a +truly sumptuous setting it was, the roof-tops +of its houses sloping downward gently to the +Loire, with the chief accessory, the coiffed and +turreted château itself, high above all else.</p> + +<p>Details had been arranged with infinite<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> +pains, the guard doubled, and a company of +Swiss posted around the courtyard and up and +down the gorgeous staircase. Every nook and +corner has its history in connection with this +greatest event in the history of the Château of +Blois.</p> + +<p>As Guise entered the council-chamber he was +told that the king would see him in his closet, +to reach which one had to pass through the +guard-room below. The door was barred behind +him that he might not return, when the +trusty guards of the "Forty-fifth," under +Dalahaide, already hidden behind the wall-tapestry, +sprang upon the Balafré and forced +him back upon the closed door through which +he had just passed. Guise fell stabbed in the +breast by Malines, and "lay long uncovered +until an old carpet was found in which to wrap +his corpse."</p> + +<p>Below, in her own apartments, lay the queen-mother, +dying, but listening eagerly for the +rush of footsteps overhead, hoping and praying +that Henri—the hitherto effeminate Henri +who played with his sword as he would with a +battledore, and who painted himself like a +woman, and put rings in his ears—would not +prejudice himself at this time in the eyes of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> +Rome by slaying the leader of the Church +party.</p> + +<p>Guise died as Henri said he would die, with +the words on his lips: "<i>A moi, mes amis!—trahison!—à +moi, Guise,—je me meurs</i>," but +the revenge of the Church party came when, at +St. Cloud, the monk, Jacques Clément, poignarded +the last of the Valois, and put the then +heretical Henri de Navarre on the throne of +France.</p> + +<p>Within the southernmost confines of the +château is the Tour de Foix, so called for the +old faubourg near by. The upper story and +roof of this curious round tower was the work +of Catherine de Medici, who installed there her +astrologer and maker of philtres, Cosmo Ruggieri.</p> + +<p>Ruggieri was a most versatile person; he +was astrologer, alchemist, and philosopher +alike, besides being many other kinds of a +rogue, all of which was very useful to the +Medici now that she had come to power.</p> + +<p>Catherine built an outside stairway up to the +platform of this tower, and a great, flat, stone +table was placed there to form a foundation +for Ruggieri's cabalistic instruments. Even +this stone table itself was an uncanny affair, +if we are to believe the old chronicles. It rang<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span> +out in a clear sharp note whenever struck with +some hard body, and on its surface was graven +a line which led the eye directly toward the +golden <i>fleur-de-lys</i> on the cupola of Chambord's +château, some three leagues distant on +the other side of the Loire. What all this symbolism +actually meant nobody except Catherine +and her astrologer knew; at least, the details +do not appear to have come down to enlighten +posterity. Over the doorway of the observatory +were graven the words, "<i>Vraniæ Sacrum</i>," +<i>i. e.</i>, consecrated to Uranius.</p> + +<p>Wherever Catherine chose to reside, whether +in Touraine or at Paris, her astrologer and his +"<i>observatoire</i>" formed a part of her train. +She had brought Cosmo from Italy, and never +for a moment did he leave her. He was a sort +of a private demon on whom Catherine could +shoulder her poisonings and her stabs, and, +as before said, he was an exceedingly busy +functionary of the court.</p> + +<p>That part of the structure built by Mansart +for Gaston d'Orleans appears strange, +solemn, and superfluous in connection with the +sumptuousness of the earlier portions. With +what poverty the architectural art of the +seventeenth century expressed itself! What an +inferiority came with the passing of the six<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span>teenth +century and the advent of the following! +One finds a certain grandeur in the outlines of +this last wing, with its majestic cupola over +the entrance pavilion, but the general effect +of the decorations is one of a great paucity of +invention when compared to the more brilliant +Renaissance forerunners on the opposite side +of the courtyard.</p> + +<p>It was under the régime of Gaston d'Orleans +that the gardens of the Château de Blois came +to their greatest excellence and beauty. In +1653 Abel Brunyer, the first physician of Gaston's +suite, published a catalogue of the fruits +and flowers to be found here in these gardens, +of which he was also director. More than five +hundred varieties were included, three-quarters +of which belonged to the flora of France.</p> + +<p>Among the delicacies and novelties of the +time to be found here was the Prunier de Reine +Claude, from which those delicious green plums +known to all the world to-day as "Reine +Claudes" were propagated, also another variety +which came from the Prunier de Monsieur, +somewhat similar in taste but of a deep purple +colour. The <i>pomme de terre</i> was tenderly +cared for and grown as a great novelty and +delicacy long before its introduction to general +cultivation by Parmentier. The tomato was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> +imported from Mexico, and even tobacco was +grown; from which it may be judged that Gaston +did not intend to lack the good things of life.</p> + +<p>All these facts are recounted in Brunyer's +"Hortus Regius Blesensis," and, in addition, +one Morrison, an expatriate Scotch doctor, who +had attached himself to Gaston, also wrote a +competing work which was published in London +in 1669 under the title of "Preludia Botanica," +and which dealt at great length with the +already celebrated gardens of the Château de +Blois.</p> + +<p>Morrison placed at the head of his work a +Latin verse which came in time to be graven +over the gateway of the gardens. This—as +well as pretty much all record of it—has disappeared, +but a repetition of the lines will +serve to show with what admiration this paradise +was held:</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"Hinc, nulli biferi miranda rosaria Pesti,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Nec mala Hesperidum, vigili servata dracone.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Si paradisiacis quicquam (sine crimine) campis<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Conferri possit, Blaesis mirabile specta.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Magnifici Gastonis opus! Qui terra capaci ...<br /></span> +<span class="i2"> . . . +. . . +. . . + . . <br /></span> +<span class="i4">JACOBUS METELANUS SCOTUS."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>Not merely in history has the famous château +at Blois played its part. Writers of fic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span>tion +have more than once used it as an accessory +or the principal scenic background of their +sword and cloak novels; none more effectively +than Dumas in the D'Artagnan series.</p> + +<p>The opening lines of "Le Vicomte de Bragelonne" +are laid here. "It should have been +a source of pride to the city of Blois," says +Dumas, "that Gaston of Orleans had chosen +it as his residence, and held his court in the +ancient château of the States."</p> + +<p>Here, too, in the second volume of the D'Artagnan +romances, is the scene of that most +affecting meeting between his Majesty Charles +II., King of England, and Louis XIV.</p> + +<p>Altogether one lives here in the very spirit +of the pages of Dumas. Not only Blois, but +Langeais, Chambord, Cheverny, Amboise, and +many other châteaux figure in the novels with +an astonishing frequency, and, whatever the +critics may say of the author's slips of pen +and memory, Dumas has given us a wonderfully +faithful picture of the life of the times.</p> + +<p>In 1793 all the symbols and emblems of royalty +were removed from the château and destroyed. +The celebrated bust of Gaston, the +chief artistic attribute of that part of the edifice +built by him, was decapitated, and the +statue of Louis XII. over the entrance gateway<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> +was overturned and broken up. Afterward the +château became the property of the "domaine" +and was turned into a mere barracks. +The Pavilion of Queen Anne became a "<i>magasin +des subsistances militaires</i>," the Tour de +l'Observatoire, a powder-magazine, and all the +indignities imaginable were heaped upon the +château.</p> + +<p>In 1814 Blois became the last capital of +Napoleon's empire, and the château walls sheltered +the prisoners captured by the imperial +army.</p> + +<p>Blois's most luxurious church edifice was the +old abbey church of St. Sauveur, which was +built from 1138 to 1210. It lost the royal favour +in 1697, when Louis XIV. made Blois a +city of bishops as well as of counts, and transferred +the chapter of St. Sauveur's to the bastard +Gothic edifice first known as St. Solenne, +but which soon took on the name of St. Louis. +In spite of the claims of the old church, this +cold, unfeeling, and ugly mixture of tomblike +Renaissance became, and still remains, the +bishop's church of Blois.</p> + +<p>One must not neglect or forget the magnificent +bridge which crosses the Loire at Blois. +A work of 1717-24, it bears the Rue Denis +Papin across its eleven solidly built masonry<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> +piers. Above the central arch is erected a +memorial pyramid and tablet which states the +fact that it was one of the first works of the +reign of Louis XV.</p> + +<p>Blois altogether, then, offers a multitudinous +array of attractions for the tourist who makes +his first entrance to the châteaux country +through its doors. The town itself has not the +appeal of Tours, of Angers, or of Nantes; but, +for all that, its abundance of historic lore, the +admirable preservation of its chief monument, +and the general picturesqueness of its site and +the country round about make up for many +other qualities that may be lacking.</p> + +<p>The Sologne, lying between Blois, Vierzon, +and Châteauneuf-sur-Loire, is a great region +of lakelets, sandy soil, and replanted Corsican +pines, which to-day has taken on a new lease +of life and a prosperity which was unknown +in the days when the Comtes de Blois first +erected that <i>maison de plaisance</i>, on its western +border which was afterward to aggrandize itself +into the later Château de Chambord. The +soil has been drained and the vine planted to +a hitherto undreamed of extent, until to-day, +if the land does not exactly blossom like the +rose, it at least somewhat approaches it.</p> + +<p>The <i>chaumières</i> of the Sologne have disap<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span>peared +to a large extent, and their mud walls +and thatched roofs are not as frequent a detail +of the landscape as formerly, but even now there +is a distinct individuality awaiting the artist +who will go down among these vineyard workers +of the Sologne and paint them and their +surroundings as other parts have been painted +and popularized. It will be hot work in the +summer months, and lonesome work at all times, +but there is a new note to be sounded if one +but has the ear for it, and it is to be heard right +here in this tract directly on the beaten track +from north to south, and yet so little known.</p> + +<p>The peasant of the Sologne formerly ate his +<i>soupe au poireau</i> and a morsel of <i>fromage +maigre</i> and was as content and happy as if his +were a more luxurious board, as it in reality +became when a stranger demanded hospitality. +Then out from the <i>armoire</i>—that ever present +adjunct of a French peasant's home, whether +it be in Normandy, Touraine, or the Midi—came +a bottle of <i>vin blanc</i>, bought in the wine-shops +of Romorantin or Vierzon on some of +his periodical trips to town.</p> + +<p>To-day all is changing, and the peasant of +the Sologne nourishes himself better and trims +his beard and wears a round white collar on +fête-days. He is proud of his well-kept appear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span>ance, +but his neighbours to the north and the +south will tell you that all this hides a deep +malice, which is hard to believe, in spite of +the well recognized saying, "<i>Sot comme un +Solognat</i>." The women have a physiognomy +more passive; when young they are fresh and +lip-lively, but as they grow older their charms +pass quickly.</p> + +<p>The Sologne in most respects has changed +greatly since the days of Arthur Young. Then +this classic land was reviled and vehement imprecations +were launched upon the proprietors +of its soil,—"those brilliant and ambitious +gentlemen" who figure so largely in the ceremonies +of Versailles. To-day all is changed, +and the gentleman farmer is something more +than a <i>bourgeois parisien</i> who hunts and rides +and apes "<i>le sport</i>" of the English country +squire.</p> + +<p>The jack-rabbit and the hare are the pests +of the Sologne now that its sandy soil has been +conquered, but they are quite successfully kept +down in numbers, and the insects which formerly +ravaged the vines are likewise less +offensive than they used to be, so the Sologne +may truly be said to have been transformed.</p> + +<p>To-day, as in the days of the royal hunt, +when Chambord was but a shooting-box of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> +Counts of Blois, the Sologne is rife with small +game, and even deer and an occasional <i>sanglier</i>.</p> + +<p>"<i>La chasse</i>" in France is no mean thing +to-day, and the Sologne, La Beauce, and the +great national forests of Lyons and Rambouillet +draw—on the opening of the season, +somewhere between the 28th of August and +the 2d of September of each year—their +hundreds of thousands of Nimrods and disciples +of St. Hubert. The bearer of the gun +in France is indeed a most ardent sportsman, +and in no European country can one buy in +the open market a greater variety of small +game,—all the product of those who pay their +twenty francs for the privilege of bagging rabbits, +hares, partridges, and the like. The hunters +of France enjoy one superstition, however, +and that is that to accidentally bag a crow on +the first shot means a certain and sudden death +before the day is over.</p> + +<p>La Motte-Beuvron is celebrated in the annals +of the Sologne; it is, in fact, the metropolis +of the region, and the centre from which radiated +the influences which conquered the soil +and made of it a prosperous land, where formerly +it was but a sandy, arid desert. La +Motte-Beuvron is a long-drawn-out <i>bourgade</i>, +like some of the populous centres of the great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> +plain of Hungary, and there is no great prosperity +or "up-to-dateness" to be observed, in +spite of its constantly increasing importance, +for La Motte-Beuvron and the country round +about is one of the localities of France which +is apparently not falling off in its population.</p> + +<p>La Motte has a most imposing Hôtel de Ville, +a heavy edifice of brick built by Napoleon III.—who +has never been accused of having had +the artistic appreciation of his greater ancestor—after +the model of the Arsenal at Venice.</p> + +<p>This is all La Motte has to warrant remark +unless one is led to investigate the successful +agricultural experiment which is still being +carried out hereabouts. La Motte's hôtels and +cafés are but ordinary, and there is no counter +attraction of boulevard or park to place the +town among those lovable places which travellers +occasionally come upon unawares.</p> + +<p>To realize the Sologne at its best and in its +most changed aspect, one should follow the +roadway from La Motte to Blois. He may +either go by tramway <i>à vapeur</i>, or by his own +means of communication. In either case he will +then know why the prosperity of the Sologne +and the contentment of the Solognat is assured.</p> + +<p>Romorantin, still characteristic of the Sologne +and its historic capital, is famous for its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span> +asparagus and its paternal château of François +Premier, where that prince received the +scar upon his face, at a tourney, which compelled +him ever after to wear a beard.</p> + +<p>To-day the Sous-Préfecture, the Courts and +their prisoners, the Gendarmerie, and the Theatre +are housed under the walls that once +formed the château royal of Jean d'Angoulême; +within whose apartments the gallant +François was brought up.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus125_small.jpg" alt="Native Types in the Sologne" title="Native Types in the Sologne" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus125.jpg"><i>Native Types in the Sologne</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>The Sologne, like most of the other of the +<i>petits pays</i> of France, is prolific in superstitions +and traditionary customs, and here for +some reason they deal largely of the marriage +state. When the <i>paysan solognais</i> marries, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span> +takes good care to press the marriage-ring well +up to the third joint of his spouse's finger, +"else she will be the master of the house," +which is about as well as the thing can be expressed +in English. It seems a simple precaution, +and any one so minded might well do the +same under similar circumstances, provided he +thinks the proceeding efficacious.</p> + +<p>Again, during the marriage ceremony itself, +each of the parties most interested bears a +lighted wax taper, with the belief that whichever +first burns out, so will its bearer die first. +It's a gruesome thought, perhaps, but it gives +one an inkling of who stands the best chance +of inheriting the other's goods, which is what +matches are sometimes made for.</p> + +<p>The marriage ceremony in the Sologne is a +great and very public function. Intimates, +friends, acquaintances, and any of the neighbouring +populace who may not otherwise be +occupied, attend, and eat, drink, and ultimately +get merry. But they have a sort of process of +each paying his or her own way; at least a collection +is taken up to pay for the entertainment, +for the Sologne peasant would otherwise start +his married life in a state of bankruptcy from +which it would take him a long time to recover.</p> + +<p>The collection is made with considerable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> +<i>éclat</i> and has all the elements of picturesqueness +that one usually associates with the wedding +processions that one sees on the comic-opera +stage. A sort of nuptial bouquet—a +great bunch of field flowers—is handed round +from one guest to another, and for a sniff of +their fragrance and a participation in the collation +which is to come, they make an offering, +dropping much or little into a golden (not gold) +goblet which is passed around by the bride herself.</p> + +<p>In the Sologne there is (or was, for the +writer has never seen it) another singular custom +of the marriage service—not really a part +of the churchly office, but a sort of practical +indorsement of the actuality of it all.</p> + +<p>The bride and groom are both pricked with +a needle until the blood runs, to demonstrate +that neither the man nor the woman is insensible +or dreaming as to the purport of the ceremony +about to take place.</p> + +<p>As every French marriage is at the Mairie, +as well as being held in church, this double +ceremony (and the blood-letting as well) must +make a very hard and fast agreement. Perhaps +it might be tried elsewhere with advantage.</p> + +<p>Montrichard, on the Cher, is on the border<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span>land +between the Blaisois and Touraine. Its +donjon announces itself from afar as a magnificent +feudal ruin. The town is moreover +most curious and original, the great rectangular +donjon rising high into the sky above a +series of cliff-dwellers' chalk-cut homes, in +truly weird fashion.</p> + +<p>There is nothing so very remarkable about +cliff-dwellers in the Loire country, and their +aspect, manners, and customs do not differ +greatly from those of their neighbours, who +live below them.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus129_small.jpg" alt="Donjon of Montrichard" title="Donjon of Montrichard" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus129.jpg"><i>Donjon of Montrichard</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>Curiously enough these rock-cut dwellings +appear dry and healthful, and are not in the +least insalubrious, though where a <i>cave</i> has +been devoted only to the storage of wine in +vats, barrels, and bottles the case is somewhat +different.</p> + +<p>Montrichard itself, outside of these scores +of homes burrowed out of the cliff, is most +picturesque, with stone-pignoned gables and +dormer-windows and window-frames cut or +worked in wood or stone into a thousand +amusing shapes.</p> + +<p>Montrichard, with Chinon, takes the lead in +interesting old houses in these parts; in fact, +they quite rival the ruinous lean-to houses of +Rouen and Lisieux in Normandy, which is say<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span>ing +a good deal for their picturesque qualities.</p> + +<p>One-third of Montrichard's population live +underground or in houses built up against the +hillsides. Even the lovely old parish church +backs against the rock.</p> + +<p>Everywhere are stairways and <i>petits chemins</i> +leading upward or downward, with little +façades, windows, or doorways coming upon +one in most unexpected and mysterious fashion +at every turn.</p> + +<p>The magnificent donjon is a relic of the work +of that great fortress-builder, Foulques Nerra, +Comte d'Anjou, who dotted the land wherever +he trod with these masterpieces of their kind, +most of them great rectangular structures like +the donjons of Britain, but quite unlike the +structures of their class mostly seen in France.</p> + +<p>Richard Cœur de Lion occupied the fortress +in 1108, but was obliged to succumb to his rival +in power, Philippe-Auguste, who in time made +a breach in its walls and captured it. Thereafter +it became an outpost of his own, from +whence he could menace the Comte d'Anjou.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER IV.<span class="pagenum"><a href="#Contents">To ToC</a></span></h2> + +<h4>CHAMBORD</h4> + + +<p>Chambord is four leagues from Blois, from +which point it is usually approached. To reach +it one crosses the Sologne, not the arid waste +it has been pictured, but a desert which has +been made to blossom as the rose.</p> + +<p>A glance of the eye, given anywhere along +the road from Blois to Chambord, will show +a vineyard of a thousand, two thousand, or +even more acres, where, from out of a soil that +was once supposed to be the poorest in all wine-growing +France, may be garnered a crop equalling +a hundred dozen of bottles of good rich +wine to the acre.</p> + +<p>This wine of the Sologne is not one of the +famous wines of France, to be sure, but what +one gets in these parts is pure and astonishingly +palatable; moreover, one can drink large +portions of it—as do the natives—without +being affected in either his head or his pocket-book.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span></p> + +<p>From late September to early December +there is a constant harvest going on in the +vineyards, whose labourers, if not as picturesque +and joyous as we are wont to see them +on the comic-opera stage, are at least wonderfully +clever and industrious, for they make a +good wine crop out of a soil which previously +gave a living only to charcoal-burners and goat-keepers.</p> + +<p>François was indeed a rare devotee of the +building mania when he laid out the wood +which surrounds Chambord and which ultimately +grew to some splendour. The nineteenth +century saw this great wood cut and +sold in huge quantities, so that to-day it is +rather a scanty copse through which one drives +on the way from Blois.</p> + +<p>The country round about is by no means +impoverished,—far from it. It is simply unworked +to its fullest extent as yet. As it is +plentifully surrounded by water it makes an +ideal land for the growing of asparagus, strawberries, +and grapes, and so it has come to be +one of the most prosperous and contented +regions in all the Loire valley.</p> + +<p>The great white Château de Chambord, with +its turrets and its magnificent lantern, looms +large from whatever direction it is approached,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> +though mostly it is framed by the somewhat +stunted pines which make up the pleasant forest. +The vistas which one sees when coming +toward Chambord, through the drives and +alleys of its park, with the château itself brilliant +in the distance, are charming and fairy-like +indeed. Straight as an arrow these roadways +run, and he who traverses one of those +centring at the château will see a tiny white +fleck in the sunlight a half a dozen kilometres +away, which, when it finally is reached, will be +admitted to be the greatest triumph of the art-loving +monarch.</p> + +<p>François Premier was foremost in every +artistic expression in France, and the court, +as may be expected, were only too eager to +follow the expensive tastes of their monarch,—when +they could get the means, and when they +could not, often enough François supplied the +wherewithal.</p> + +<p>François himself dressed in the richest of +Italian velvets, the more brilliant the better, +with a preponderant tendency toward pink and +sky blue.</p> + +<p>A dozen years after François came to the +throne, a dozen years after the pleasant life +of Amboise, when mother, daughter, and son +lived together on the banks of the Loire in that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> +"Trinity of love," the monarch and his wife, +Queen Claude of France, the daughter of +Louis XII. and Anne of Brittany, came to live +at Chambord on the edge of the sandy Sologne +waste.</p> + +<p>Here, too, came Marguerite d'Alençon, the +ever faithful and devoted sister of François, +the duke, her husband, and all the gay members +of the court. The hunt was the order of the +day, for the forest tract of the Sologne, scanty +though it was in growth, abounded in small +game.</p> + +<p>Chambord at this time had not risen to the +grand and ornate proportions which we see +to-day, but set snugly on the low, swampy banks +of the tiny river Cosson, a dull, gloomy mediæval +fortress, whose only aspect of gaiety was +that brought by the pleasure-loving court when +it assembled there. In size it was ample to +accommodate the court, but François's artistic +temperament already anticipated many and +great changes. The Loire was to be turned +from its course and the future pompous palace +was to have its feet bathed in the limpid Loire +water rather than in the stagnant pools of the +morass which then surrounded it.</p> + +<p>As a triumph of the royal château-builder's +art, Chambord is far and away ahead of Fon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span>tainebleau +or Versailles, both of which were +built in a reign which ended two hundred years +later than that which began with the erection +of Chambord. As an example of the arts of +François I. and his time compared with those +of Louis XIV. and his, Chambord stands forth +with glorious significance.</p> + +<p>On the low banks of the Cosson, François +achieved perhaps the greatest triumph that +Renaissance architecture had yet known.</p> + +<p>It was either Chambord, or the reconstruction +by François of the edifice belonging to the +Counts of Blois, which resulted in the refinement +of the Renaissance style less than a quarter +of a century after its introduction into +France by Charles VIII.,—if he really was +responsible for its importation from Italy. +François lacked nothing of daring, and built +and embellished a structure which to-day, in +spite of numerous shortcomings, stands as the +supreme type of a great Renaissance domestic +edifice of state. Every device of decoration +and erratic suggestion seems to have been carried +out, not only structurally, as in the great +double spiral of its central stairway, but in its +interpolated details and symbolism as well.</p> + +<p>It was at this time, too, that François began +to introduce the famous salamander into his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span> +devices and ciphers; that most significant emblem +which one may yet see on wall and ceiling +of Chambord surrounded by the motto: +"<i>Je me nourris et je meurs dans le feu.</i>"</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus137_small.jpg" alt="Arms of François Premier, at Chambord" title="Arms of François Premier, at Chambord" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus137.jpg"><i>Arms of François Premier, at Chambord</i></a></div> +</div> + + + + +<p>Chambord, first of all, gives one a very high +opinion of François Premier, and of the splendours +with which he was wont to surround +himself. The apartments are large and numerous +and are admirably planned and decorated, +though, almost without exception, bare to-day +of furniture or furnishings.</p> + +<p>To quote the opinion of Blondel, the celebrated +French architect: "The Château de +Chambord, built under François I. and +Henri II., from the designs of Primatice, was +never achieved according to the original plan. +Louis XIII. and Louis XIV. contributed a cer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span>tain +completeness, but the work was really +pursued afterward according to the notions of +one Sertio."</p> + +<p>The masterpiece of its constructive elements +is its wonderful doubly spiralled central staircase, +which permits one to ascend or descend +without passing another proceeding in the +opposite direction at the same time. Whatever +may have been the real significance of this +great double spiral, it has been said that it +played its not unimportant part in the intrigue +and scandal of the time. It certainly is a wonder +of its kind, more marvellous even than that +spiral at Blois, attributed, with some doubt +perhaps, to Leonardo da Vinci, and certainly +far more beautiful than the clumsy round +tower up which horses and carriages were once +driven at Amboise.</p> + +<p>At all events, it probably meant something +more than mere constructive ability, and a +staircase which allows one individual to mount +and another to descend without knowing of +the presence of the other may assuredly be +classed with those other mediæval accessories, +sliding panels, hidden doorways, and secret +cabinets.</p> + +<p>Beneath the dome which terminates the staircase +in the Orleans wing are three caryatides<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> +representing—it is doubtfully stated—François +Premier, La Duchesse d'Étampes, and +Madame la Comtesse de Châteaubriand,—a +trinity of boon companions in intrigue.</p> + +<p>In reality Chambord presents the curiously +contrived arrangement of one edifice within another, +as a glance of the eye at the plan will +show.</p> + +<p>The fosse, the usual attribute of a great +mediæval château—it may be a dry one or +a wet one, in this case it was a wet one—has +disappeared, though Brantôme writes that he +saw great iron rings let into the walls to which +were attached "<i>barques et grands bateaux</i>," +which had made their way from the Loire via +the dribbling Cosson.</p> + +<p>The Cosson still dribbles its life away to-day, +its moisture having, to a great part, gone to +irrigate the sandy Sologne, but formerly it was +doubtless a much more ample stream.</p> + +<p>From the park the ornate gables and dormer-windows +loom high above the green-swarded +banks of the Cosson. It was so in François's +time, and it is so to-day; nothing has been +added to break the spread of lawn, except an +iron-framed wash-house with red tiles and a +sheet-iron chimney-pot beside the little river,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> +and a tin-roofed garage for automobiles connected +with the little inn outside the gates.</p> + +<p>The rest is as it was of yore, at least, the +same as the old engravings of a couple of hundreds +of years ago picture it, hence it is a great +shame, since the needs of the tiny village could +not have demanded it, that the foreground +could not have been left as it originally was.</p> + +<p>The town, or rather village, or even hamlet, +of Chambord is about the most abbreviated +thing of its kind existent. There is practically +no village; there are a score or two of houses, +an inn of the frankly tourist kind, which evidently +does not cater to the natives, the aforesaid +wash-house by the river bank, the dwellings +of the gamekeepers, gardeners, and workmen +on the estate, and a diminutive church rising +above the trees not far away. These accessories +practically complete the make-up of the +little settlement of Chambord, on the borders +of the Blaisois and Touraine.</p> + +<p>Chambord has been called top-heavy, but it +is hardly that. Probably the effect is caused +by its low-lying situation, for, as has been intimated +before, this most imposing of all of +the Loire châteaux has the least desirable situation +of any. There is a certain vagueness and +foreignness about the sky-line that is almost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span> +Eastern, though we recognize it as pure Renaissance. +Perhaps it is the magnitude and lonesomeness +of it all that makes it seem so +strange, an effect that is heightened when one +steps out upon its roof, with the turrets, towers, +and cupolas still rising high above.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus141_small.jpg" alt="Plan of Chambord" title="Plan of Chambord" /> +</div> + +<p>The ground-plan is equally magnificent, +flanked at every corner by a great round tower, +with another quartette of them at the angles +of the interior court.</p> + +<p>Most of the stonework of the fabric is brilliant +and smooth, as if it were put up but yes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span>terday, +and, beyond the occasional falling of +a tile from the wonderful array of chimney-pots, +but little evidences are seen exteriorly +of its having decayed in the least. On the +tower which flanks the little door where one +meets the <i>concierge</i> and enters, there are unmistakable +marks of bullets and balls, which a +revolutionary or some other fury left as mementoes +of its passage.</p> + +<p>Considering that Chambord was not a product +of feudal times, these disfigurements seem +out of place; still its peaceful motives could +hardly have been expected to have lasted always.</p> + +<p>The southern façade is not excelled by the +elevation of any residential structure of any +age, and its outlines are varied and pleasing +enough to satisfy the most critical; if one pardons +the little pepper-boxes on the north and +south towers, and perforce one has to pardon +them when he recalls the magnificence of the +general disposition and sky-line of this marvellously +imposing château of the Renaissance.</p> + +<p>François Premier made Chambord his favourite +residence, and in fact endowed Pierre +Nepveu—who for this work alone will be considered +one of the foremost architects of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> +French Renaissance—with the inspiration for +its erection in 1526.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus143_small.jpg" alt="Château de Chambord" title="Château de Chambord" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus143.jpg"><i>Château de Chambord</i></a></div> +</div> + + + +<p>A prodigious amount of sculpture by Jean +Cousin, Pierre Bontemps, Jean Goujon, and +Germain Pilon was interpolated above the +doorways and windows, in the framing thereof, +and above the great fireplaces. Inside and +out, above and below, were vast areas to be +covered, and François allowed his taste to have +full sway.</p> + +<p>The presumptuous François made much of +this noble residence, perhaps because of his +love of <i>la chasse</i>, for game abounded hereabouts, +or perhaps because of his regard for +the Comtesse Thoury, who occupied a neighbouring +château.</p> + +<p>For some time before his death, François +still lingered on at Chambord. Marguerite and +her brother, both now considerably aged since +the happier times of their childhood in Touraine, +always had an indissoluble fondness +for Chambord. Marguerite had now become +Queen of Navarre, but her beauty had been +dimmed with the march of time, and she no +longer was able to comfort and amuse her +kingly brother as of yore. His old pleasures +and topics of conversation irritated him, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> +he had even tired of poetry, art, and political +affairs.</p> + +<p>Above all, he shamefully and shamelessly +abused women, at once the prop and the undermining +influence of his kingly power in days +gone by. There is an existing record to the +effect that he wrote some "window-pane" +verse on the window of his private apartment +to the following effect:</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">"Souvent femme varie;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Mal habile quis'y fie!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>If this be not apocryphal, the incident must +have taken place long years before that celebrated +"window-pane" verse of Shenstone's, +and François is proven again a forerunner, as +he was in many other things.</p> + +<p>Without doubt the Revolution did away with +this square of glass, which—according to Piganiol +de la Force—existed in the middle of +the eighteenth century. Perhaps François's +own jealous humour prompted him to write +these cynical lines, and then again perhaps it +is merely one of those fables which breathe the +breath of life in some unaccountable manner, +no one having been present at its birth, and +hearsay and tradition accounting for it all.</p> + +<p>François, truly, was failing, and he and his +sister discussed but sorrowful subjects: the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> +death of his favourite son, Charles, the inheritor +of the throne, at Abbeville, where he became +infected with the plague, and also the +death of him whom he called "his old friend," +Henry VIII. of England, a monarch whose +amours were as numerous and celebrated as +his own.</p> + +<p>Henri II. preferred the attractions of Anet +to Chambord, while Catherine de Medici and +Charles IX. cared more for Blois, Chaumont, +and Chenonceaux. Louis XIII. and Louis XIV. +only considered it as a rendezvous for the +chase, and the latter's successor, Louis XV., +gave it to the illustrious Maurice de Saxe, the +victor of Fontenoy, who spent his old age here, +amid fêtes, pleasures, and military parades. +Near by are the barracks, built for the accommodation +of the regiment of horse formed by +the maréchal and devoted to his special guardianship +and pleasure, and paid for by the king, +who in turn repaid himself—with interest—from +the public treasury. The exercising of +this "little army" was one of the chief amusements +of the illustrious old soldier.</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i10">"A de feints combats<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lui-même en se jouant conduit les vieux soldats"—<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>wrote the Abbé de Lille in contemporary times.</p> + +<p>King Stanislas of Poland lived here from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> +1725 to 1733, and later it was given to Maréchal +Berthier, by whose widow it was sold in 1821.</p> + +<p>It was bought by national subscription for +a million and a half of francs and given to +the Duc de Bordeaux, who immediately commenced +its restoration, for it had been horribly +mutilated by Maréchal de Saxe, and the surrounding +wood had been practically denuded +under the Berthier occupancy.</p> + +<p>The Duc de Bordeaux died in 1883, and his +heirs, the Duc de Parme and the Comte de +Bardi, are now said to spend a quarter of a +million annually in the maintenance of the +estate, the income of which approximates only +half that sum.</p> + +<p>There are thirteen great staircases in the +edifice, and a room for every day in the year. +On the ground floor is the Salle des Gardes, +from which one mounts by the great spiral to +another similar apartment with a barrel-vaulted +roof, which in a former day was converted +into a theatre, where in 1669-70 were +held the first representations of "Pourceaugnac" +and "Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme," +and where Molière himself frequently appeared.</p> + +<p>The second floor is known as the "<i>grandes +terrasses</i>" and surrounds the base of the great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> +central lantern so admired from the exterior. +On this floor, to the eastward, were the apartments +of François Premier. The chapel was +constructed by Henri II., but the tribune is of +the era of Louis XIV. This tribune is decorated +with a fine tapestry, made by Madame +Royale while imprisoned in the Temple. At the +base of the altar is also a tapestry made and +presented to the Comte de Chambord by the +women of the Limousin.</p> + +<p>The apartments of Louis XIV. contain portraits +of Madame de Maintenon and Madame +de Lafayette, a great painting of the "Bataille +de Fontenoy," and another of the Comte de +Chambord on horseback.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER V.<span class="pagenum"><a href="#Contents">To ToC</a></span></h2> + +<h4>CHEVERNY, BEAUREGARD, AND CHAUMONT</h4> + + +<p>From Chambord and its overpowering massiveness +one makes his way to Chaumont, on +the banks of the Loire below Blois, by easy +stages across the plain of the Sologne.</p> + +<p>One leaves the precincts of Chambord by the +back entrance, as one might call it, through six +kilometres of forest road, like that by which +one enters, and soon passes the little townlet +of Bracieux.</p> + +<p>One gets glimpses of more or less modern +residential châteaux once and again off the +main road, but no remarkably interesting +structures of any sort are met with until one +reaches Cheverny. Just before Cheverny one +passes Cour-Cheverny, with a curious old +church and a quaint-looking little inn beside it.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus151_small.jpg" alt="Château de Cheverny" title="Château de Cheverny" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus151.jpg"><i>Château de Cheverny</i></a></div> +</div> + + + +<p>Cheverny itself is, however, the real attraction, +two kilometres away. Here the château +is opened by its private owners from April to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> +October of each year, and, while not such a +grand establishment as many of its contemporaries +round about, it is in every way a perfect +residential edifice of the seventeenth century, +when the flowery and ornate Renaissance +had given way to something more severely +classical, and, truth to tell, far less pleasing +in an artistic sense.</p> + +<p>Cheverny belongs to-day to the Marquis de +Vibraye, one of those undying titles of the +French nobility which thrive even in republican +France and uphold the best traditions of +the <i>noblesse</i> of other days.</p> + +<p>The château was built much later than most +of the neighbouring châteaux, in 1634, by the +Comte de Cheverny, Philippe Hurault. It sits +green-swarded in the midst of a beautifully +wooded park, and the great avenue which faces +the principal entrance extends for seven kilometres, +a distance not excelled, if equalled, by +any private roadway elsewhere.</p> + +<p>In its constructive features the château is +more or less of rectangular outlines. The pavilions +at each corner have their openings <i>à la +impériale</i>, with the domes, or lanterns, so customary +during the height of the style under +Louis XIV. An architect, Boyer by name, who +came from Blois, where surely he had the op<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span>portunity +of having been well acquainted with +a more beautiful style, was responsible for the +design of the edifice at Cheverny.</p> + +<p>The interior decorations in Cordovan leather, +the fine chimneypieces, and the many elaborate +historical pictures and wall paintings, by Mosnier, +Clouet, and Mignard, are all of the best +of their period; while the apartments themselves +are exceedingly ample, notably the Appartement +du Roi, furnished as it was in the +days of "Vert Galant," the Salle des Gardes, +the library and an elaborately traceried staircase. +In the chapel is an altar-table which +came from the Église St. Calais, in the château +at Blois.</p> + +<p>Just outside the gates is a remarkable crotchety +old stone church, with a dwindling, toppling +spire. It is poor and impoverished when +compared with most French churches, and has +a most astonishing timbered veranda, with a +straining, creaking roof running around its two +unobstructed walls. The open rafters are filled +with all sorts of rubbish, and the local fire +brigade keeps its hose and ladders there. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span> A +most suitable old rookery it is in which to start +a first-class conflagration.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus155_small.jpg" alt="Cheverny-sur-Loire" title="Cheverny-sur-Loire" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus155.jpg"><i>Cheverny-sur-Loire</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>Within are a few funeral marbles of the +Hurault family, and the daily offices are con<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span>ducted +with a pomp most unexpected. Altogether +it forms, as to its fabric and its functions, +as strong a contrast of activity and decay +as one is likely to see in a long journey.</p> + +<p>The town itself is a sleepy, unprogressive +place, where automobilists may not even buy +<i>essence à pétrole</i>, and, though boasting—if +the indolent old town really does boast—a +couple of thousand souls, one still has to journey +to Cour-Cheverny to send a telegraphic +despatch or buy a daily paper.</p> + +<p>Between Cheverny and Blois is the Forêt +de Russy, which will awaken memories of the +boar-hunts of François I., which, along with +art in all its enlightening aspects, appears to +have been one of the chief pleasures of that +monarch. Perhaps one ought to include also +the love of fair women, but with them he was +not so constant.</p> + +<p>On the road to Blois, also, one passes the +Château de Beauregard; that is, one usually +passes it, but he shouldn't. It is built, practically, +within the forest, on the banks of the +little river Beauvron. An iron <i>grille</i> gives +entrance to a beautiful park, and within is the +château, its very name indicating the favour +with which it was held by its royal owner. It +was in 1520 that François I. established it as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> +a <i>rendezvous de chasse</i>. Under his son, +Henri II., it was reconstructed, in part; entirely +remodelled in the seventeenth century; +and "modernized"—whatever that may +mean—in 1809, and again, more lately, restored +by the Duc de Dino. It belongs to-day +to the Comte de Cholet, who has tried his hand +at "restoration" as well.</p> + +<p>The history of this old château is thus seen +to have been most varied, and it is pretty sure +to have lost a good deal of its original character +in the transforming process.</p> + +<p>The interior is more attractive than is the +exterior. There is a grand gallery of portraits +of historical celebrities, more than 350, executed +between 1617 and 1638 by Paul Ardier, +Counsellor of State, who thus combined the +accomplishment of the artist with the sagacity +of the statesman.</p> + +<p>The ceilings of the great rooms are mostly +elaborate works in enamel and carved oak, and +there is a tiled floor (<i>carrelage</i>) in the portrait +gallery, in blue faïence, representing an army +in the order of battle, which must have delighted +the hearts of the youthful progeny who +may have been brought up within the walls of +the château. This pavement is moreover an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> +excellent example of the craftsmanship of tile-making.</p> + +<p>One gains admission to the château freely +from the <i>concierge</i>, who in due course expects +her <i>pourboire</i>, and sees that she gets it. But +what would you, inquisitive traveller? You +have come here to see the sights, and Beauregard +is well worth the price of admission, +which is anything you like to give, certainly +not less than a franc.</p> + +<p>One may return to Blois through the forest, +or may continue his way down the river to +Chaumont on the left bank.</p> + +<p>At Chaumont the Loire broadens to nearly +double the width at Blois, its pebbles and sandbars +breaking the mirror-like surface into innumerable +pools and <i>étangs</i>. There is a bridge +which connects Chaumont with the railway at +Onzain and the great national highway from +Tours to Blois. The bridge, however, is so +hideous a thing that one had rather go miles +out of his way than accept its hospitality. It +is simply one of those unsympathetic wire-rope +affairs with which the face of the globe is being +covered, as engineering skill progresses and the +art instinct dies out.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus159_small.jpg" alt="Chaumont" title="Chaumont" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus159.jpg"><i>Chaumont</i></a></div> +</div> + + + +<p>The Château de Chaumont is charmingly +situated, albeit it is not very accessible to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span> +strangers after one gets there, as it is open +to the public only on Thursdays, from July to +December. It is exactly what one expects to +find,—a fine riverside establishment of its +epoch, and in architectural style combining the +well-recognized features of late Gothic and the +early Renaissance. It is not moss-grown or +decrepit in any way, which fact, considering +its years, is perhaps remarkable.</p> + +<p>The park of the château is only of moderate +extent, but the structure itself is, comparatively, +of much larger proportions. The ideal +view of the structure is obtained from midway +on that ungainly bridge which spans the Loire +at this point. Here, in the gold and purple +of an autumn evening, with the placid and far-reaching +Loire, its pools and its bars of sand +and pebble before one, it is a scene which is +as near idyllic as one is likely to see.</p> + +<p>The town itself is not attractive; one long, +narrow lane-like street, lined on each side by +habitations neither imposing nor of a tumble-down +picturesqueness, borders the Loire. +There is nothing very picturesque, either, about +the homes of the vineyard workers round +about. Below and above the town the great +highroad runs flat and straight between Tours +and Blois on either side of the river, and auto<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span>mobilists +and cyclists now roll along where the +state carriages of the court used to roll when +François Premier and his sons journeyed from +one gay country house to another.</p> + +<p>It is to be inferred that the aspect of things +at Chaumont has not changed much since that +day,—always saving that spider-net wire +bridge. The population of the town has doubtless +grown somewhat, even though small towns +in France sometimes do not increase their +population in centuries; but the topographical +aspect of the long-drawn-out village, backed by +green hills on one side and the Loire on the +other, is much as it always has been.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus162_small.jpg" alt="Signature of Diane de Poitier" title="Signature of Diane de Poitier" /> +<div class="caption"><i>Signature of Diane de Poitiers</i></div> +</div> + +<p>The château at Chaumont had its origin as +far back as the tenth century, and its proprietors +were successively local seigneurs, Counts +of Blois, the family of Amboise, and Diane +de Poitiers, who received it from Catherine in +exchange for Chenonceaux. This was not a fair +exchange, and Diane was, to some extent, +justified in her complaints.</p> + +<p>Chaumont was for a time in the possession<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> +of Scipion Sardini, one of the Italian partisans +of the Medici, "whose arms bore <i>trois sardines +d'argent</i>," and who had married Isabelle de la +Tour, "<i>la Demoiselle de Limieul</i>" of unsavoury +reputation.</p> + +<p>The "<i>Demoiselle de Limieul</i>" was related, +too, to Catherine, and was celebrated in the +gallantries of the time in no enviable fashion. +She was a member of that band of demoiselles +whose business it was—by one fascination or +another—to worm political secrets from the +nobles of the court. One horrible scandal connected +the unfortunate lady with the Prince de +Condé, but it need not be repeated here. The +Huguenots ridiculed it in those memorable +verses beginning thus:</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">"Puella illa nobilis<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Quæ erat tam amabilis."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>After the reign of Sardini and of his direct +successors, the house of Bullion, Chaumont +passed through many hands. Madame de Staël +arrived at the château in the early years of the +nineteenth century, when she had received the +order to separate herself from Paris, "by at +least forty leagues." She had made the circle +of the outlying towns, hovering about Paris as +a moth about a candle-flame; Rouen, Auxerre, +Blois, Saumur, all had entertained her, but now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> +she came to establish herself in this Loire citadel. +As the story goes, journeying from Saumur +to Tours, by post-chaise, on the opposite +side of the river, she saw the imposing mass +of Chaumont rising high above the river-bed, +and by her good graces and winning ways installed +herself in the affections of the then proprietor, +M. Leray, and continued her residence +"and made her court here for many years."</p> + +<p>Chaumont is to-day the property of the Princesse +de Broglie, who has sought to restore it, +where needful, even to reëstablishing the ancient +fosse or moat. This last, perhaps, is not +needful; still, a moated château, or even a +moated grange has a fascination for the sentimentally +inclined.</p> + +<div>At the drawbridge, as one enters Chaumont +to-day, one sees the graven initials of Louis +XII. and Anne de Bretagne, the arms of +Georges d'Amboise, surmounted by his cardinal's +hat, and those of Charles de Chaumont, +as well as other cabalistic signs: one a representation +of a mountain (apparently) with a +crater-like summit from which flames are +breaking forth, while hovering about, back to +back, are two C's: +<img src="images/two_cs.jpg" +height="21" alt="Two C's back to back" title="" />. The Renaissance artists +greatly affected the rebus, and this perhaps +has some reference to the etymology of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> +the name Chaumont, which has been variously +given as coming from <i>Chaud Mont</i>, <i>Calvus +Mont</i>, and <i>Chauve Mont</i>.</div> + + + +<p>Georges d'Amboise, the first of the name, +was born at Chaumont in 1460, the eighth son +of a family of seventeen children. It was a +far cry, as distances went in those days, from +the shores of the shallow, limpid Loire to those +of the forceful, turgent Seine at Rouen, where +in the great Cathedral of Notre Dame, this first +Georges of Amboise, having become an archbishop +and a cardinal, was laid to rest beneath +that magnificent canopied tomb before which +visitors to the Norman capital stand in wonder. +The mausoleum bears this epitaph, which in +some small measure describes the activities +of the man.</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">"Pastor eram cleri, populi pater; aurea sese<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Lilia subdebant, quercus et ipsa mihi.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">"Martuus en jaceo, morte extinguunter honores,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Et virtus, mortis nescia, mort viret."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>His was not by any means a life of placidity +and optimism, and he had the air and reputation +of doing things. There is a saying, still +current in Touraine: "<i>Laissez faire à +Georges.</i>"</p> + +<p>The second of the same name, also an Arch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span>bishop +of Rouen and a cardinal, succeeded his +uncle in the see. He also is buried beneath the +same canopy as his predecessor at Rouen.</p> + +<p>The main portal of the château leads to a fine +quadrilateral court with an open gallery overlooking +the Loire, which must have been a magnificent +playground for the nobility of a +former day. The interior embellishments are +fine, some of the more noteworthy features +being a grand staircase of the style of +Louis XII.; the Salle des Gardes, with a +painted ceiling showing the arms of Chaumont +and Amboise; the Salle du Conseil, with some +fine tapestries and a remarkable tiled floor, +depicting scenes of the chase; the Chambre de +Catherine de Medici (she possessed Chaumont +for nine years), containing some of the gifts +presented to her upon her wedding with +Henri II.; and the curious Chambre de Ruggieri, +the astrologer whom Catherine brought +from her Italian home, and who was always +near her, and kept her supplied with charms +and omens, good and bad, and also her poisons.</p> + +<p>Ruggieri's observatory was above his apartment. +It was at Chaumont that the astrologer +overstepped himself, and would have used his +magic against Charles IX. He did go so far +as to make an image and inflict certain indig<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span>nities +upon it, with the belief that the same +would befall the monarch himself. Ruggieri +went to the galleys for this, but the scheming +Catherine soon had him out again, and at work +with his poisons and philtres.</p> + +<p>Finally there is the Chambre de Diane de +Poitiers, Catherine's more than successful +rival, with a bed (modern, it is said) and a +series of sixteenth-century tapestries, with +various other pieces of contemporary furniture. +A portrait of Diane which decorates the +apartment is supposed to be one of the three +authentic portraits of the fair huntress. The +chapel has a fine tiled pavement and some +excellent glass.</p> + +<p>Chaumont is eighteen kilometres from Blois +and the same distance from Amboise. It has +not the splendour of Chambord, but it has a +greater antiquity, and an incomparably finer +situation, which displays its coiffed towers and +their <i>mâchicoulis</i> and cornices in a manner not +otherwise possible. It is one of those picture +châteaux which tell a silent story quite independent +of guide-book or historical narrative.</p> + +<p>It was M. Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont, the +superintendent of the forests of Berry and the +Blaisois, under Louis XVI., who gave hospitality +to Benjamin Franklin, and turned over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> +to the first American ambassador to France the +occupancy of his house at Passy, where Franklin +lived for nine consecutive years.</p> + +<p>Of this same M. de Chaumont Americans cannot +have too high a regard, for his timely and +judicious hospitality has associated his name, +only less permanently than Franklin's, with +the early fortunes of the American republic.</p> + +<p>Besides his other offices, M. de Chaumont was +the intendant of the Hôtel des Invalides, at +Paris, holding confidential relations with the +ministry of the young king, and was in the +immediate enjoyment of a fortune which +amounted to two and a half million of francs, +besides owning, in addition to Chaumont on +the Loire, another château in the Blaisois. +This château he afterward tendered to John +Adams, who declined the offer in a letter, +written at Passy-sur-Seine, February 25, 1779, +in the following words: "... To a mind as +much addicted to retirement as mine, the situation +you propose would be delicious indeed, +provided my country were at peace and my +family with me; but, separated from my +family and with a heart bleeding with the +wounds of its country, I should be the most +miserable being on earth...."</p> + +<p>The potteries, which now form the stables<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> +of the château at Chaumont, are somewhat reminiscent +of Franklin. M. de Chaumont had +established a pottery here, where he had found +a clay which had encouraged him to hope that +he could compete with the English manufacturers +of the time. Here the Italian Nini, who +was invited to Chaumont, made medallions +much sought for by collectors, among others +one of Franklin, which was so much admired +as a work of art, and became so much in demand +that in later years replicas were made +and are well known to amateurs.</p> + +<p>The family of Le Ray de Chaumont were +extensively known in America, where they became +large landholders in New York State in +the early nineteenth century, and the head of +the family seems to have been an amiable and +popular landlord. The towns of Rayville and +Chaumont in New York State still perpetuate +his name.</p> + +<p>The two male members of the family secured +American wives; Le Ray himself married a +Miss Coxe, and their son a Miss Jahel, both of +New York.</p> + +<p>From an anonymous letter to the New York +<i>Evening Post</i> of November 19, 1885, one quotes +the following:</p> + +<p>"It was in Blois that I first rummaged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span> +among these shops, whose attractions are almost +a rival to those of the castle, though this +is certainly one of the most interesting in +France. The traveller will remember the long +flight of stone steps which climbs the steep hill +in the centre of the town. Near the foot of this +hill there is a well-furnished book-shop; its +windows display old editions and rich bindings, +and tempt one to enter and inquire for antiquities. +Here I found a quantity of old notarial +documents and diplomas of college or university, +all more or less recently cleared out +from some town hall, or unearthed from neighbouring +castle, and sold by a careless owner, +as no longer valuable to him. This was the case +with most of the parchments I found at Blois; +they had been acquired within a few years from +the castle of Madon, and from a former proprietor +of the neighbouring castle of Chaumont +(the <i>calvus mons</i> of mediæval time), and most +of them pertained to the affairs of the <i>seigneurie +de Chaumont</i>. Contracts, executions, +sales of vineyards and houses, legal decisions, +<i>actes de vente</i>, loans on mortgages, the marriage +contract of a M. Lubin,—these were +the chief documents that I found and purchased."</p> + +<p>The traveller may not expect to come upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span> +duplicates of these treasures again, but the +incident only points to the fact that much documentary +history still lies more or less deeply +buried.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER VI.<span class="pagenum"><a href="#Contents">To ToC</a></span></h2> + +<h4>TOURAINE: THE GARDEN SPOT OF FRANCE</h4> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza center" > +<span class="i0_5">"C'est une grande dame, une princesse altière,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Chacun de ses châteaux, marqué du sceau royal,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lui fait une toilette en dentelle de pierre<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Et son splendide fleuve un miroir de cristal."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<p>It is difficult to write appreciatively of Touraine +without echoing the words of some one +who has gone before, and it is likely that those +who come after will find the task no easier.</p> + +<p>Truly, as a seventeenth-century geographer +has said: "Here is the most delicious and the +most agreeable province of the kingdom. It +has been named the garden of France because +of the softness of its climate, the affability of +its people, and the ease of its life."</p> + +<p>The poets who have sung the praises of Touraine +are many, Ronsard, Remy Belleau, Du +Bellay, and for prose authors we have at the +head, Rabelais, La Fontaine, Balzac, and Alfred +de Vigny. Merely to enumerate them all would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> +be impossible, but they furnish a fund of quotable +material for the traveller when he is writing +home, and are equally useful to the maker +of guide-books.</p> + +<p>One false note on Touraine, only, has ever +rung out in the world of literature, and that +was from Stendahl, who said: "<i>La Belle Touraine +n'existe pas!</i>" The pages of Alfred de +Vigny and Balzac answer this emphatically, +and to the contrary, and every returning traveller +apparently sides with them and not with +Stendahl.</p> + +<p>How can one not love its prairies, gently +sloping to the caressing Loire, its rolling hills +and dainty ravines? The broad blue Loire is +always vague and tranquil here, at least one +seems always to see it so, but the beauty of +Touraine is, after all, a quiet beauty which must +be seen to be appreciated, and lived with to +be loved.</p> + +<p>It is a land of most singular attractions, +neither too hot nor too cold, too dry nor too +damp, with a sufficiency of rain, and an abundance +of sunshine. Its market-gardens are +prolific in their product, its orchards overflowing +with plenitude, and its vineyards generous +in their harvest.</p> + +<p>Touraine is truly the region where one may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> +read history without books, with the very pages +of nature punctuated and adorned with the +marvels of the French Renaissance. Louis XI. +gave the first impetus to the alliance of the +great domestic edifice—which we have come +to distinguish as the residential château—with +the throne, and the idea was amplified +by Charles VIII. and glorified by François +Premier.</p> + +<p>In the brilliant, if dissolute, times of the +early sixteenth century François Premier and +his court travelled down through this same +Touraine to Loches and to Amboise, where +François's late gaoler, Charles Quint, was to +be received and entertained. It was after +François had returned from his involuntary +exile in Spain, and while he was still in residence +at the Louvre, that the plans for +the journey were made. To the Duchesse +d'Étampes François said,—the duchess who +was already more than a rival of both Diane +and the Comtesse de Châteaubriant,—"I must +tear myself away from you to-morrow. I shall +await my brother Charles at Amboise on the +Loire."</p> + +<p>"Shall you not revenge yourself upon him, +for his cruel treatment of you?" said the wily +favourite of the time. "If he, like a fool,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span> +comes to Touraine, will you not make him revoke +the treaty of Madrid or shut him up in one +of Louis XI.'s oubliettes?"</p> + +<p>"I will persuade him, if possible," said +François, "but I shall never force him."</p> + +<p>In due time François did receive his brother +king at Amboise and it was amid great ceremony +and splendour. His guest could not, or +would not, mount steps, so that great inclined +plane, up which a state coach and its horses +might go, was built. Probably there was a +good reason for the emperor's peculiarity, for +that worthy or unworthy monarch finally died +of gout in the monastery of San Juste.</p> + +<p>The meeting here at Amboise was a grand +and ceremonious affair and the Spanish monarch +soon came to recognize a possible enemy +in the royal favourite, Anne de Pisselieu. The +emperor's eyes, however, melted with admiration, +and he told her that only in France could +one see such a perfection of elegance and +beauty, with the result that—as is popularly +adduced—the susceptible, ambitious, and unfaithful +duchess betrayed François more than +once in the affairs attendant upon the subsequent +wars between France, England, and +Spain.</p> + +<p>From Touraine, in the sixteenth century,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span> +spread that influence which left its impress +even on the capital of the kingdom itself, not +only in respect to architectural art, but in +manners and customs as well.</p> + +<p>Whatever may be the real value of the +Renaissance as an artistic expression, the discussion +of it shall have no place here, beyond +the qualifying statement that what we have +come to know as the French Renaissance—which +undeniably grew up from a transplanted +Italian germ—proved highly tempting to the +mediæval builder for all manner of edifices, +whereas it were better if it had been confined +to civic and domestic establishments and left +the church pure in its full-blown Gothic forms.</p> + +<p>Curiously enough, here in Touraine, this is +just what did happen. The Renaissance influence +crept into church-building here and +there—and it is but a short step from the +"<i>gothique rayonnant</i>" to what are recognized +as well-defined Renaissance features; but it is +more particularly in respect to the great châteaux, +and even smaller dwellings, that the +superimposed Italian details were used. A +notable illustration of this is seen in the Cathedral +of St. Gatien at Tours. It is very beautiful +and has some admirable Gothic features, +but there are occasional constructive details, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> +well as those for decorative effect alone, which +are decidedly not good Gothic; but, as they +are, likewise, not Renaissance, they hence cannot +be laid to its door, but rather to the architect's +eccentricity.</p> + +<p>In the smaller wayside churches, such as one +sees at Cormery, at Cheverny, and at Cour-Cheverny, +there is scarcely a sign of Renaissance, +while their neighbouring châteaux are +nothing else, both in construction and in decoration.</p> + +<p>The Château de Langeais is, for the most +part, excellent Gothic, and so is the church +near by. Loches has distinct and pure Gothic +details both in its church and its château, quite +apart from the Hôtel de Ville and that portion +of the château now used as the Sous-Préfecture, +which are manifestly Renaissance; hence here +in Touraine steps were apparently taken to +keep the style strictly non-ecclesiastical.</p> + +<p>A glance of the eye at the topography of this +fair province stamps it at once as something +quite different from any other traversed by the +Loire. Two of the great "routes nationales" +cross it, the one via Orleans, leading to Nantes, +and the other via Chartres, going to Bordeaux. +It is crossed and recrossed by innumerable +"routes secondaires," "départementales,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span> +"vicinales" and "particulières," second to +none of their respective classes in other countries, +for assuredly the roads of France are +the best in the world. Many of these great +ways of communication replaced the ancient +Roman roads, which were the pioneers of the +magnificent roadways of the France of to-day.</p> + +<p>Almost invariably Touraine is flat or rolling, +its highest elevation above the sea being but a +hundred and forty-six metres, scarce four hundred +and fifty feet, a fact which accounts also +for the gentle flow of the Loire through these +parts.</p> + +<p>All the fruits of the southland are found +here, the olive alone excepted. Mortality, it is +said, and proved by figures, is lower than in +any other part of France, and for this reason +many dwellers in the large cities, if they may +not all have a mediæval château, have at least +a villa, far away from "the madding crowd," +and yet within four hours' travel of the capital +itself.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<a href="images/illus179.jpg"> +<img src="images/illus179_small.jpg" alt="The Loire in Touraine" title="The Loire in Touraine" /> +</a></div> + +<p>Touraine, properly speaking, has no natural +frontiers, as it is not enclosed by rivers or +mountains. It is, however, divided by the +Loire into two distinct regions, the Méridionale +and the Septentrionale; but the dress, the +physiognomy, the language, and the predilec<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span>tions +of the people are everywhere the same, +though the two sections differ somewhat in +temperament. In the south, the Tourangeau +is timid and obliging, but more or less engrossed +in his affairs; in the north, he is +proud, egotistical, and a little arrogant, but, +above all, he likes his ease and comfort, something +after the manner of "mynheer" of Holland.</p> + +<p>These are the characteristics which are +enumerated by Stanislas Bellanger of Tours, +in "La Touraine Ancienne et Moderne," and +they are traceable to-day, in every particular, +to one who knows well the by-paths of the +region.</p> + +<p>Formerly the peasant was, in his own words, +"<i>sous la main de M. le comte</i>," but, with the +coming of the eighteenth century, all this was +changed, and the conditions which, in England, +succeeded feudalism, are unknown in Touraine, +as indeed throughout France.</p> + +<p>The two great divisions which nature had +made of Touraine were further cut up into +five <i>petits pays</i>; les Varennes, le Veron, la +Champeigne, la Brenne, and les Gâtines; +names which exist on some maps to-day, but +which have lost, in a great measure, their +former distinction.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span></p> + +<p>There is a good deal to be said in favour of +the physical and moral characteristics of the +inhabitants of Touraine. Just as the descendants +of the Phoceans, the original settlers of +Marseilles, differ from the natives of other +parts of France, so, too, do the Tourangeaux +differ from the inhabitants of other provinces. +The people of Touraine are a mixture of Romans, +Visigoths, Saracens, Alains, Normans +and Bretons, Anglais and Gaulois; but all have +gradually been influenced by local conditions, +so that the native of Touraine has become a +distinct variety all by himself. The deliciousness +of the "garden of France" has altered +him so that he stands to-day as more distinctly +French than the citizen of Paris itself.</p> + +<p>Touraine, too, has the reputation of being +that part of France where is spoken the purest +French. This, perhaps, is as true of the Blaisois, +for the local bookseller at Blois will tell +one with the most dulcet and understandable +enunciation that it is at Blois that one hears +the best accent. At any rate, it is something +found within a charmed circle, of perhaps a +hundred miles in diameter, that does not find +its exact counterpart elsewhere. As Seville +stands for the Spanish tongue, Florence for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span> +the Italian, and Dresden for the German, so +Tours stands for the French.</p> + +<p>The history of the Loire in Touraine, as is +the case at Le Puy, at Nevers, at Sancerre, or +at Orleans, is abundant and vivid, and the +monuments which line its banks are numerous +and varied, from the fortress-château of Amboise +to the Cathedral of St. Gatien at Tours +with its magnificent bejewelled façade. The +ruined towers of the castle of Cinq-Mars, with +its still more ancient Roman "pile," and the +feudal châteaux of the countryside are all eloquent, +even to-day, in their appeal to all lovers +of history and romance.</p> + +<p>There are some verses, little known, in praise +of the Loire, as it comes through Touraine, +written by Houdon des Landes, who lived +near Tours in the eighteenth century. The following +selection expresses their quality well +and is certainly worthy to rank with the best +that Balzac wrote in praise of his beloved Touraine.</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">"La Loire enorgueillit ses antiques cités,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Et courounne ses bords de coteaux enchantés;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Dans ses vallons heureux, sur ses rives aimées,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Les prés ont déployé leurs robes parfumées;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Le saule humide et souple y lance ses rameaux.<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Ses coteaux sont peuplés, et le rocher docile<br /></span> +<span class="i4">A l'homme qui le creuse offre un champêtre asile.<br /></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> +<span class="i4">De notre vieille Gaule, ô fleuve paternel!<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Fleuve des doux climats! la Vallière et Sorel<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Sur tes bords fortunés naquirent, et la gloire<br /></span> +<span class="i4">A l'une dût l'amour, à l'autre la victoire."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>Again and again Balzac's words echo in +one's ears from his "Scène de la Vie de Province." +The following quotations are typical +of the whole:</p> + +<p>"The softness of the air, the beauty of the +climate, all tend to a certain ease of existence +and simplicity of manner which encourages an +appreciation of the arts."</p> + +<p>"Touraine is a land to foster the ambition +of a Napoleon and the sentiment of a Byron."</p> + +<p>Another writer, A. Beaufort, a publicist of +the nineteenth century, wrote:</p> + +<p>"The Tourangeaux resemble the good Adam +in the garden of Eden. They drink, they eat, +they sleep and dream, and care not what their +neighbour may be doing."</p> + +<p>Touraine was indeed, at one time, a veritable +Eden, though guarded by fortresses, <i>hallebardes</i>, +and arquebuses, but not the less an +Eden for all that. In addition it was a land +where, in the middle ages, the seigneurs made +history, almost without a parallel in France or +elsewhere.</p> + +<p>Touraine, truly enough, was the centre of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span> +old French monarchy in the perfection of its +pomp and state; but it is also true that Touraine +knew little of the serious affairs of kings, +though some all-important results came from +events happening within its borders.</p> + +<p>Paris was the law-making centre in the sixteenth +century, and Touraine knew only the +domestic life and pleasures of royalty. Etiquette, +form, and ceremony were all relaxed, +or at least greatly modified, and the court spent +in the country what it had levied in the capital.</p> + +<p>Curiously enough, the monarchs were omnipotent +and influential here, though immediately +they quartered themselves in Paris their +powers waned considerably; indeed, they +seemed to lose their influence upon ministers +and vassals alike.</p> + +<p>Louis XIII., it is true, tried to believe that +Paris was France,—like the Anglo-Saxon tourists +who descend upon it in such great numbers +to-day,—and built Versailles; but there was +never much real glory about its cold and pompous +walls.</p> + +<p>The fortunes of the old châteaux of Touraine +have been most varied. Chambord is vast and +bare, elegant and pompous; Blois, just across +the border, is a tourist sight of the first rank +whose salamanders and porcupines have been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span> +well cared for by the paternal French government. +Chaumont, Chenonceaux, Langeais, +Azay-le-Rideau, and half a dozen others are +still inhabited, and are gay with the life of +twentieth-century luxury; Amboise is a possession +of the Orleans family; Loches is, in +part, given over to the uses of a sous-préfecture; +and Chinon's châteaux are but half-demolished +ruins. Besides these there are numerous +smaller residential châteaux of the +nobility scattered here and there in the Loire +watershed.</p> + +<p>There have been writers who have sought to +commiserate with "the poor peasant of Touraine," +as they have been pleased to think of +him, and have deplored the fact that his sole +possession was a small piece of ground which +he and his household cultivated, and that he +lived in a little whitewashed house, built with +his own hands, or those of his ancestors. +Though the peasant of Touraine, as well as of +other parts of the countryside, works for an +absurdly small sum, and for considerably less +than his brother nearer Paris, he sells his produce +at the nearest market-town for a fair +price, and preserves a spirit of independence +which is as valuable as are some of the things +which are thrust upon him in some other lands<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> +under the guise of benevolent charity, really +patronage of a most demeaning and un-moral +sort. At night the Touraine peasant returns +to his own hearthstone conscious that he is a +man like all of his fellows, and is not a mere +atom ground between the upper and nether +millstones of the landlord and the squire. He +cooks his "<i>bouillie</i>" over three small sticks +and retires to rest with the fond hope that on +the next market-day following the prices of +eggs, chickens, cauliflowers, or tomatoes may +be higher. He is the stuff that successful citizens +are made of, and is not to be pitied in the +least, even though it is only the hundredth man +of his community who ever does rise to more +wealth than a mere competency.</p> + +<p>Touraine, rightly enough, has been called the +garden of France, but it is more than that, +much more; it is a warm, soft land where all +products of the soil take on almost a subtropical +luxuriance. Besides the great valley of the +Loire, there are the valleys of the tributaries +which run into it, in Touraine and the immediate +neighbourhood, all of which are fertile +as only a river-bottom can be. It is true that +there are numerous formerly arid and sandy +plateaux, quite unlike the abundant plains of +La Beauce, though to-day, by care and skill,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> +they have been made to rival the rest of the +region in productiveness.</p> + +<p>The Département d'Indre et Loire is the +richest agricultural region in all France so far +as the variety and abundance of its product +goes, rivalling in every way the opulence of +the Burgundian hillsides. Above all, Touraine +stands at the head of the vine-culture of all the +Loire valley, the <i>territoire vinicole</i> lapping +over into Anjou, where are produced the celebrated +<i>vins blancs</i> of Saumur.</p> + +<p>The vineyard workers of Touraine, in the +neighbourhood of Loches, have clung closely +to ancient customs, almost, one may say, to the +destruction of the industry, though of late new +methods have set in, and, since the blight now +some years gone by, a new prosperity has come.</p> + +<p>The day worker, who cares for the vines and +superintends the picking of the grapes by the +womenfolk and the children, works for two +francs fifty centimes per day; but he invariably +carries with him to the scene of his labours +a couple of cutlets from a young and juicy +<i>brebis</i>, or even a <i>poulet rôti</i>, so one may judge +from this that his pay is ample for his needs +in this land of plenty.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus189_small.jpg" alt="The Vintage in Touraine" title="The Vintage in Touraine" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus189.jpg"><i>The Vintage in Touraine</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>In the morning he takes his bowl of soup and +a cup of white wine, and of course huge hunks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span> +of bread, and finally coffee, and on each Sunday +he has his <i>rôti à la maison</i>. All this demonstrates +the fact that the French peasant is more +of a meat eater in these parts than he is commonly +thought to be.</p> + +<p>Touraine has no peculiar beauties to offer +the visitor; there is nothing <i>outré</i> about it to +interest one; but, rather, it wins by sheer +charm alone, or perhaps a combination of +charms and excellencies makes it so truly a +delectable land.</p> + +<p>The Tourangeaux themselves will tell you, +when speaking of Rabelais and Balzac, that it +is the land of "<i>haute graisse, féconde et spirituelle</i>." +It is all this, and, besides its spirituelle +components, it will supply some very real +and substantial comforts. It is the Eden of the +gourmandiser of such delicacies as <i>truffes</i>, +<i>rilettes</i>, and above all, <i>pruneaux</i>, which you get +in one form or another at nearly every meal. +Most of the good things of life await one here +in abundance, with kitchen-gardens and vineyards +at every one's back door. Truly Touraine +is a land of good living.</p> + +<p>Life runs its course in Touraine, "<i>facile +et bonne</i>," without any extremes of joy or sorrow, +without chimerical desires or infinite despair, +and the agreeable sensations of life pre<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span>dominate,—the +first essential to real happiness.</p> + +<p>Some one has said, and certainly not without +reason, that every Frenchman has a touch +of Rabelais and of Voltaire in his make-up. +This is probably true, for France has never +been swept by a wave of puritanism such as +has been manifest in most other countries, and +<i>le gros rire</i> is still the national philosophy.</p> + +<p>In a former day a hearty laugh, or at least +an amused cynicism, diverted the mind of the +martyr from threatened torture and even violent +death. Brinvilliers laughed at those who +were to torture her to death, and De la Barre +and Danton cracked jokes and improvised puns +upon the very edge of their untimely graves.</p> + +<p>Touraine has the reputation of being a wonderfully +productive field for the book collector, +though with books, like many other treasures +of a past time, the day has passed when one +may "pick up" for two sous a MS. worth +as many thousands of francs; but still bargains +are even now found, and if one wants great +calf-covered tomes, filled with fine old engravings, +bearing on the local history of the <i>pays</i>, +he can generally find them at all prices here in +old Touraine.</p> + +<p>There was a more or less apocryphal story<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span> +told us and the landlady of our inn concerning +a find which a guest had come upon in a little +roadside hamlet at which he chanced to stop. +He was one of those omnipresent <i>commis voyageurs</i> +who thread the French provinces up +and down, as no other country in the world is +"travelled" or "drummed." He was the +representative for a brandy shipper, one of +those substantial houses of the cognac region +whose product is mostly sold only in France; +but this fact need not necessarily put the individual +very far down in the social scale. Indeed, +he was a most amiable and cultivated +person.</p> + +<p>Our fellow traveller had come to a village +where all the available accommodations of the +solitary inn were already engaged; therefore +he was obliged to put up with a room in the +town, which the landlord hunted out for him. +Repairing to his room without any thought save +that of sleep, the traveller woke the next morning +to find the sun streaming through the +opaqueness of a brilliantly coloured window. +Not stained glass here, surely, thought the +stranger, for his lodging was a most humble +one. It proved to be not glass at all; merely +four great vellum leaves, taken from some ancient +tome and stuck into the window-framing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> +where the glass ought to have been. Daylight +was filtering dimly through the rich colouring, +and it took but a moment to become convinced +that the sheets were something rare and valuable. +He learned that the pages were from an +old Latin MS., and that the occupant of the little +dwelling had used "<i>the paper</i>" in the place +of the glass which had long since disappeared. +The vellum and its illuminations had stood the +weather well, though somewhat dimmed in comparison +with the brilliancy of the remaining +folios, which were found below-stairs. There +were in all some eighty pages, which were purchased +for a modest forty sous, and everybody +satisfied.</p> + +<p>The volume had originally been found by +the father of the old dame who then had possession +of it in an old château in revolutionary +times. Whether her honoured parent was a +pillager or a protector did not come out, but +for all these years the possession of this fine +work meant no more to this Tourangelle than +a supply of "paper" for stopping up broken +window-panes.</p> + +<p>"She parted readily enough with the remaining +leaves," said our Frenchman, "but nothing +would induce her to remove those which +filled the window." "No, we have no more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> +glass, and these have answered quite well for +a long time now," she said. And such is the +simplicity of the French provincial, even to-day—<i>sometimes</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER VII.<span class="pagenum"><a href="#Contents">To ToC</a></span></h2> + +<h4>AMBOISE</h4> + + +<p>As one approaches Amboise, he leaves the +comparatively insalubrious plain of the Sologne +and the Blaisois and enters Touraine.</p> + +<p>Amboise! What history has been made +there; what a wealth of action its memories +recall, and what splendour, gaiety, and sadness +its walls have held! An entire book might be +written about the scenes which took place under +its roof.</p> + +<p>To-day most travellers are content to rush +over its apartments, gaze at its great round +tower, view the Loire, which is here quite at +its best, from the battlements, and, after a brief +admiration of the wonderfully sculptured portal +of its chapel, make their way to Chenonceaux, +or to the gay little metropolis of Tours.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus197_small.jpg" alt="Château d'Amboise" title="Château d'Amboise" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus197.jpg"> <i>Château d'Amboise</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>No matter whither one turns his steps from +Amboise, he will not soon forget this great fortress-château +and the memories of the <i>petite +bande</i> of blondes and brunettes who followed +in the wake of François Premier.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span></p> + +<p>Here, and at Blois, the recollections of this +little band are strong in the minds of students +of romance and history. Some one has said +that along the corridors of Amboise one still +may meet the wraiths of those who in former +days went airily from one pleasure to another, +but this of course depends upon the mood and +sentiment of the visitor.</p> + +<p>Amboise has a very good imitation of the +climate of the south, and the glitter of the Loire +at midday in June is about as torrid a picture +as one can paint in a northern clime. It is not +that it is so very hot in degree, but that the +lack of shade-trees along its quays gives Amboise +a shimmering resemblance to a much +warmer place than it really is. The Loire is +none too ample here, and frets its way, as it +does through most of its lower course, through +banks of sand and pebbles in a more or less +vain effort to look cool.</p> + +<p>Amboise is old, for, under the name of Ambatia, +it existed in the fourth century, at which +epoch St. Martin, the patron of Tours, threw +down a pagan pyramidal temple here and established +Christianity; and Clovis and Alaric +held their celebrated meeting on the Ile St. +Jean in 496. It was not long after this, according +to the ancient writers, that some sort<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> +of a fortified château took form here. Louis-le-Bègue +gave Amboise to the Counts of Anjou, +and Hughes united the two independent seigneuries +of the château and the bourg. After +the Counts of Anjou succeeded the Counts of +Berry, Charles VII., by appropriation, confiscation, +seizure, or whatever you please to call +it,—history is vague as to the real motive,—united +Amboise to the possessions of the Crown +in 1434. Louis XI. lived for a time at this +strong fortress-château, before he turned his +affections so devotedly to Plessis-les-Tours. +Charles VIII. was born and died here, and it +was he who added the Renaissance details, or +at least the first of them, upon his return from +Italy. Indeed, it is to him and to the nobles +who followed in his train during his Italian +travels that the introduction of the Renaissance +into France is commonly attributed.</p> + +<p>It was at Amboise that Charles VIII., forgetful +of the miseries of his Italian campaign, set +about affairs of state with a renewed will and +vigour. He was personally superintending +some alterations in the old castle walls, and +instructing the workmen whom he brought +from Italy with him as to just how far they +might introduce those details which the world +has come to know as Renaissance, when, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span> +passing beneath a low overhanging beam, he +struck his head so violently that he expired +almost immediately (April 17, 1498).</p> + +<p>Louis XII., the superstitious, lived here for +some time, and here occurred some of the most +important events in the life of the great François, +the real popularizer of the new architectural +Renaissance.</p> + +<p>It was in the old castle of Amboise, the early +home of Louis XII., that his appointed successor, +his son-in-law and second cousin, François, +was brought up. Here he was educated by his +mother, Louise de Savoie, Duchesse d'Angoulême, +together with that bright and shining +light, that Marguerite who was known as the +"Pearl of the Valois," poetess, artist, and +court intriguer. Here the household formed +what in the early days François himself was +pleased to call a "trinity of love."</p> + +<p>Throughout the structure may yet be seen +the suggestions of François's artistic instincts, +traced in the window-framings of the façade, +in the interior decorations of the long gallery, +and on the terrace hanging high above the +Loire.</p> + +<p>In the park and in the surrounding forest +François and his sister Marguerite passed +many happy days of their childhood. Mar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span>guerite, +who had already become known as the +"tenth muse," had already thought out her +"Heptameron," whilst François tried his +prentice hand at love-rhyming, an expression +of sentiment which at a later period took the +form of avowals in person to his favourites.</p> + +<p>One recalls those stanzas to the memory of +Agnes Sorel, beginning:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">"Gentille Agnès plus de loz tu mérite,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">La cause était de France recouvrir;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Que ce que peut dedans un cloître ouvrir<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Close nonnaine? ou bien dévot hermite?"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>François was more than a lover of the beautiful. +His appreciation of architectural art +amounted almost to a passion, and one might +well claim him as a member of the architectural +guild, although, in truth, he was nothing more +than a generous patron of the craftsmen of his +day.</p> + +<p>François was the real father of the French +Renaissance, the more splendid flower which +grew from the Italian stalk. He had no liking +for the Van Eycks and Holbeins of the Dutch +school, reserving his favour for the frankly +languid masters from the south. He brought +from Italy Cellini, Primaticcio, and the great +Leonardo, who it is said had a hand in that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> +wonderful shell-like spiral stairway in the château +at Blois.</p> + +<p>By just what means Da Vinci was inveigled +from Italy will probably never be known. The +art-loving François visited Milan, and among +its curiosities was shown the even then celebrated +"Last Supper" of Leonardo. The +next we know is that, "<i>François repasse les +Alpes ayant avec lui Mon Sieur Lyonard, son +peintre</i>." Leonardo was given a pension of +seven <i>ecus de France</i> per year and a residence +near Amboise. Vasari recounts very precisely +how Leonardo expired in the arms of his kingly +patron at Amboise, but on the other hand, the +court chronicles have said that François was +at St. Germain on that day. Be this as it may, +the intimacy was a close one, and we may be +sure that François felt keenly the demise of this +most celebrated painter of his court.</p> + +<p>It was during those early idyllic days at +Amboise that the character of François was +formed, and the marvel is that the noble and +endearing qualities did not exceed the baser +ones. To be sure his after lot was hard, and +his real and fancied troubles many, and they +were not made the less easy to bear because +of his numerous female advisers.</p> + +<p>In his youth at Amboise his passions still<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span> +slumbered, but when they did awaken, they +burst forth with an unquenchable fury. Meantime +he was working off any excess of imagination +by boar-hunts and falconry in the neighbouring +forest of Chanteloup, and had more +than one hand-to-hand affray with resentful +citizens of the town, when he encroached upon +what they considered their traditional preserves. +So he grew to man's estate, but the +life that he lived in his youth under the kingly +roof of the château at Amboise gave him the +benefits of all the loyalty which his fellows +knew, and it helped him carry out the ideas +which were bequeathed to him by his uncle.</p> + +<p>It was at a sitting of the court at Amboise, +when François was still under his mother's +wing,—at the age of twenty only,—that the +Bourbon affair finally came to its head. Many +notables were mixed up in it as partisans of +the ungrateful and ambitious Bourbon, Charles +de Montpensier, Connétable de France. It was +an office only next in power to that of the sovereign +himself, and one which had been allowed +to die out in the reign of Louis XI. The final +outcome of it all was that François became a +prisoner at Pavia, through the treachery of the +Connétable and his followers, who went over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> +<i>en masse</i> to François's rival, Charles V., who, +as Charles II., was King of Spain.</p> + +<p>Of the subsequent meeting with the Emperor +Charles on French soil, François said to the +Duchesse d'Étampes: "It is with regret that +I leave you to meet the emperor at Amboise +on the Loire." And he added: "You will follow +me with the queen." His queen at this +time was poor Eleanor of Portugal, herself a +Spanish princess, Claude of France, his first +wife, having died. "These two," says Brantôme, +"were the only virtuous women of his +household."</p> + +<p>The Emperor Charles was visibly affected +by the meeting, though, it is true, he had no +love for his old enemy, François. Perhaps it +was on account of the duchess, for whom +François had put aside Diane. At any rate, +the emperor was gallant enough to say to her: +"It is only in France that I have seen such +a perfection of elegance and beauty. My +brother, your king, should be the envy of all +the sovereigns of Europe. Had I such a captive +at my palace in Madrid, there were no +ransom that I would accept for her."</p> + +<p>François cared not for the lonely Spanish +princess whom he had made his queen; but +he was somewhat susceptible to the charms of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span> +his daughter-in-law, Catherine de Medici, the +wife of his son Henri, who, when at Amboise, +was his ever ready companion in the chase.</p> + +<p>François was inordinately fond of the hunt, +and made of it a most strenuous pastime, full +of danger and of hard riding in search of the +boar and the wolf, which abounded in the thick +underwood in the neighbourhood. One wonders +where they, or, rather, their descendants, +have disappeared, since nought in these days +but a frightened hare, a partridge, or perhaps +a timid deer ever crosses one's path, as he +makes his way by the smooth roads which cross +and recross the forest behind Amboise.</p> + +<p>When François II. was sixteen he became +the nominal king of France. To Amboise he +and his young bride came, having been brought +thither from Blois, for fear of the Huguenot +rising. The court settled itself forthwith at +Amboise, where the majestic feudal castle piled +itself high up above the broad, limpid Loire, +feeling comparatively secure within the protection +of its walls. Here the Loire had widened +to the pretensions of a lake, the river being +spanned by a bridge, which crossed it by the +help of the island, as it does to-day.</p> + +<p>Over this old stone bridge the court approached +the castle, the retinue brilliant with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> +all the trappings of a luxurious age, archers, +pages, and men-at-arms. The king and his +new-found bride, the winsome Mary Stuart, +rode well in the van. In their train were Catherine, +the "queen-mother" of three kings, the +Cardinal de Lorraine, the Duc de Guise, the +Duc de Nemours, and a vast multitude of gay +retainers, who were moved about from place +to place like pawns upon the chess-board, and +with about as much consideration.</p> + +<p>The gentle Mary Stuart, born in 1542, at +Linlithgow, in stern Caledonia, of a French +mother,—Marie de Lorraine,—was doomed +to misfortune, for her father, the noble +James V., prophesied upon his death-bed that +the dynasty would end with his daughter.</p> + +<p>At the tender age of five Mary was sent to +France and placed in a convent. Her education +was afterward continued at court under the +direction of her uncle, the Cardinal de Lorraine. +By ten she had become well versed in +French, Latin, and Italian, and at one time, +according to Brantôme, she gave a discourse +on literature and the liberal arts—so flourishing +at the time—before the king and his court. +Ronsard was her tutor in versification, which +became one of her favourite pursuits.</p> + +<p>Mary Stuart's charms were many. She was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> +tall and finely formed, with auburn hair shining +like an aureole above her intellectual forehead, +and with a skin of such dazzling whiteness—a +trite saying, but one which is used +by Brantôme—"that it outrivalled the whiteness +of her veil."</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1558, when she was but sixteen, +Mary Stuart was married to the Dauphin, +the weak, sickly François II., himself but a +youth. He was, however, sincerely and deeply +fond of his young wife.</p> + +<p>Unexpectedly, through the death of Henri II. +at the hands of Montgomery at that ever debatable +tournament, François II. ascended the +throne of France, and Mary Stuart saw herself +exalted to the dizzy height which she had not +so soon expected. She became the queen of two +kingdoms, and, had the future been more propitious, +the whole map of Europe might have +been changed.</p> + +<p>Disease had marked the unstable François +for its own, and within a year he passed from +the throne to the grave, leaving his young +queen a widow and an orphan.</p> + +<p>Shortly afterward "<i>la reine blanche</i>" returned +to her native Scotland, bidding France +that long, last, sad adieu so often quoted:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span></p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">"Farewell, beloved France, to thee!<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Best native land,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">The cherished strand<br /></span> +<span class="i4">That nursed my tender infancy!<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Farewell my childhood's happy day!<br /></span> +<span class="i4">The bark, which bears me thus away,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Bears but the poorer moiety hence,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">The nobler half remains with thee,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">I leave it to thy confidence,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">But to remind thee still of me!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>The young sovereigns had had a most stately +suite of apartments prepared for them at Amboise, +the lofty windows reaching from floor +to ceiling and overlooking the river and the +vast terrace where was so soon to be enacted +that bloody drama to which they were to be +made unwilling witnesses.</p> + +<p>This gallery was wainscoted with old oak +and hung with rich leathers, and the lofty ceiling +was emblazoned with heraldic emblems and +monograms, as was the fashion of the day. +Brocades and tapestries, set in great gold +frames, lined the walls, and, in a boudoir or +retiring-room beyond, still definitely to be recognized, +was a remarkable series of embroidered +wall decorations, a tapestry of flowers +and fruits with an arabesque border of white +and gold, truly a queenly apartment, and one +that well became the luxurious and dainty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span> +Mary, who came from Scotland to marry the +youthful François.</p> + +<p>Mary Stuart knew little at the time as to +why they had so suddenly removed from Blois, +but François soon told her, something after +this wise: "Our mother," said he, "is deeply +concerned with affairs of state. There is some +conspiracy against her and your uncles, the +Guises."</p> + +<p>"Tell me," she demanded, "concerning this +dreadful conspiracy."</p> + +<p>"Were you not suspicious," he asked, querulously, +"when we left for Amboise so suddenly?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Ah, non, mon François</i>, methought that we +came here to hold a jousting tourney and to +hunt in the forest...."</p> + +<p>"Well, at any rate, we are secure here from +Turk, or Jew, or Huguenot, my queen," replied +the king.</p> + +<p>Within a short space a council was called in +the great hall of Amboise, which the Huguenot +chiefs, Condé, Coligny, the Cardinal de Chatillon,—who +appears to have been a sort of a +religious renegade,—were requested to attend. +A conciliatory edict was to be prepared, and +signed by the king, as a measure for gaining<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span> +time and learning further the plans of the conspirators.</p> + +<p>This edict ultimately was signed, but it was +in force but a short time and was a subterfuge +which the youthful king deep in his heart—and +he publicly avowed the fact—deeply resented. +Furthermore it did practically nothing +toward quelling the conspiracy.</p> + +<p>Through the plains of Touraine and over +the hills from Anjou the conspirators came in +straggling bands, to rendezvous for a great +<i>coup de main</i> at Amboise. They halted at +farms and hid in vineyards, but the royalists +were on the watch and one after another the +wandering bands were captured and held for +a bloody public massacre when the time should +become ripe. In all, two thousand or more +were captured, including Jean Barri de la +Renaudie. This man was the leader, but he +was merely a bold adventurer, seeking his own +advantage, and caring little what cause employed +his peculiar talents. This was his last +affair, however, for his corpse soon hung in +chains from Amboise's bridge. Condé, Coligny, +and the other Calvinists soon learned that +the edict was not worth the paper on which it +was written.</p> + +<p>After the two thousand had been dispersed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span> +or captured the "queen-mother" threw off +the mask. She led the trembling child-king +and queen toward the southern terrace, where, +close beneath the windows of the château, was +built a scaffold, covered with black cloth, before +which stood the executioner clothed in +scarlet. The prisoners were ranged by hundreds +along the outer rampart, guarded by +archers and musketeers. The windows of the +royal apartment were open and here the company +placed themselves to witness the butchery +to follow.</p> + +<p>Speechless with horror sat the young king +and queen, until finally, as another batch of +mutilated corpses were thrown into the river +below, the young queen swooned.</p> + +<p>"My mother," said François, "I, too, am +overcome by this horrible sight. I crave your +Highness's permission to retire; the blood of +my subjects, even of my enemies, is too horrible +to contemplate."</p> + +<p>"My son," said the bloodthirsty Catherine, +"I command you to stay. Duc de Guise, support +your niece, the Queen of France. Teach +her her duty as a sovereign. She must learn +how to govern those hardy Scots of hers."</p> + +<p>It was on the very terraced platform on +which one walks to-day that, between two ranks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span> +of <i>hallebardiers</i> and arquebusiers, moved that +long line of bareheaded and bowed men whose +prayers went up to heaven while they awaited +the fate of the gallows.</p> + +<p>Either the cord or the sword-blade quickly +accounted for the lives of this multitude, and +their blood flowed in rivulets, while above in +the gallery the willing and unwilling onlookers +were gay with laughter or dumb with sadness.</p> + +<p>When all this horrible murdering was over +the Loire was literally a reeking mass of +corpses, if we are to believe the records of the +time. The chief conspirators were hung in +chains from the castle walls, or from the +bridge, and the balustrades which overhang +the street, which to-day flanks the Loire beneath +the castle walls, were filled with a ribald +crew of jeering partisans who knew little and +cared less for religion of any sort.</p> + +<p>Some days after the execution of the Calvinists +the "Protestant poet" and historian +passed through the royal city with his <i>précepteur</i> +and his father, and was shown the rows +of heads planted upon pikes, which decorated +the castle walls, and thereupon vowed, if not +to avenge, at least to perpetuate the infamy +in prose and verse, and this he did most effectually.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span></p> + +<p>An odorous garden of roses, lilacs, honeysuckle, +and hawthorn framed the joyous architecture +of the château, then as now, in adorable +fashion; but it could not purify the malodorous +reputation which it had received until +the domain was ceded by Louis XIV. to the +Duc de Penthièvre and made a <i>duché-pairie</i>.</p> + +<p>It would be possible to say much more, but +this should suffice to stamp indelibly the fact +that Touraine, in general, and the château of +Amboise, in particular, cradled as much of the +thought and action of the monarchy in the fifteenth +and sixteenth centuries as did the capital +itself. At any rate the memory of it all is +so vivid, and the tangible monuments of the +splendour and intrigue of the court of those +days are so very numerous and magnificent, +that one could not forget the parts they played—once +having seen them—if he would.</p> + +<p>After the assassination of the Duc de Guise +at Blois, Amboise became a prison of state, +where were confined the Cardinal de Bourbon +and César de Vendôme (the sons of Henri IV. +and Gabrielle d'Estrées), also Fouquet and +Lauzun. In 1762 the château was given by +Louis XV. to the Duc de Choiseul, and the great +Napoleon turned it over to his ancient colleague, +Roger Ducos, who apparently cared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span> +little for its beauties or associations, for he +mutilated it outrageously.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus215_small.jpg" alt="Sculpture from the Chapelle de St. Hubert" title="Sculpture from the Chapelle de St. Hubert" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus215.jpg"><i>Sculpture from the Chapelle de St. Hubert</i></a></div> +</div> + + +<p>In later times the history of the château +and its dependencies has been more prosaic. +The Emir Abd-el-Kader was imprisoned here +in 1852, and Louis Napoleon stayed for a time +within its walls upon his return from the +south. To-day it belongs to the family of Orleans, +to whom it was given by the National +Assembly in 1872, and has become a house of +retreat for military veterans. This is due to +the generosity of the Duc d'Aumale into whose +hands it has since passed. The restoration +which has been carried on has made of Amboise +an ideal reproduction of what it once was, +and in every way it is one of the most splendid +and famous châteaux of its kind, though by no +means as lovable as the residential châteaux +of Chenonceaux or Langeais.</p> + +<p>The Chapelle de St. Hubert, which was restored +by Louis Philippe, is the chief artistic +attraction of Amboise; a bijou of full-blown +Gothic. It is a veritable architectural joy of +the period of Charles VIII., to whom its erection +was due. Its portal has an adorable bas-relief, +representing "La Chasse de St. Hubert," +and showing St. Hubert, St. Christopher, +and St. Anthony, while above, in the tym<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span>panum, +are effigies of the Virgin, of Charles +VIII., and of Anne de Bretagne. The sculpture +is, however, comparatively modern, but it +embellishes a shrine worthy in every way, for +there repose the bones of Leonardo da Vinci. +Formerly Da Vinci's remains had rested in the +chapel of the château itself, dedicated to St. +Florentin.</p> + +<p>Often the Chapelle de St. Hubert has been +confounded with that described by Scott in +"Quentin Durward," but it is manifestly not +the same, as that was located in Tours or near +there, and his very words describe the architecture +as "of the rudest and meanest kind," +which this is not. Over the arched doorway +of the chapel at Tours there was, however, a +"statue of St. Hubert with a bugle-horn +around his neck and a leash of greyhounds at +his feet," which may have been an early suggestion +of the later work which was undertaken +at Amboise.</p> + +<p>All vocations came to have their protecting +saints in the middle ages, and, since "<i>la +chasse</i>" was the great recreation of so many, +distinction was bestowed upon Hubert as being +one of the most devout. The legend is sufficiently +familiar not to need recounting here, +and, anyway, the story is plainly told in this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> +sculptured panel over the portal of the chapel +at Amboise.</p> + +<p>In this Chapel of St. Hubert was formerly +held "that which was called a hunting-mass. +The office was only used before the noble and +powerful, who, while assisting at the solemnity, +were usually impatient to commence their +favourite sport."</p> + +<p>The ancient Salle des Gardes of the château, +with the windows giving on the balcony overlooking +the river, became later the Logis du +Roi. From this great chamber one passes on to +the terrace near the foot of the Grosse Tour, +called the Tour des Minimes. It is this tower +which contains the "<i>escalier des voitures</i>." +The entrance is through an elegant portico +leading to the upper stories. Above another +portico, leading from the terrace to the garden, +is to be seen the emblem of Louis XII., the porcupine, +so common at Blois.</p> + +<p>In the fosse, which still remains on the garden +side, was the universally installed <i>jeu-de-paume</i>, +a favourite amusement throughout the +courts of Europe in the middle ages.</p> + +<p>At the base of the château are clustered numerous +old houses of the sixteenth century, +but on the river-front these have been replaced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> +with pretentious houses, cafés, automobile garages, +and other modern buildings.</p> + +<p>Near the Quai des Violettes are a series of +subterranean chambers known as the Greniers +de César, dating from the sixteenth century.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus220_small.jpg" alt="Cipher of Anne de Bretagne, Hôtel de Ville, Amboise" title="Cipher of Anne de Bretagne, Hôtel de Ville, Amboise" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus220.jpg"><i>Cipher of Anne de Bretagne, Hôtel de Ville, Amboise</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>Even at this late day one can almost picture +the great characters in the drama of other +times who stalked majestically through the +apartments, and over the very flagstones of the +courts and terraces which one treads to-day; +Catherine de Medici with her ruffs and velvets; +Henri de Guise with all his wiles; Condé the +proud; the second François, youthful but wise; +his girl queen, loving and sad; and myriads +more of all ranks and of all shades of morality,—all +resplendent in the velvets and gold of +the costume of their time.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span></p> + +<p>Near the château is the Clos Luce, a Gothic +habitation in whose oratory died Leonardo da +Vinci, on May 2, 1519.</p> + +<p>Immediately back of the château is the Forêt +d'Amboise, the scene of many gay hunting +parties when the court was here or at Chenonceaux, +which one reaches by traversing the +forest route. On the edge of this forest is +Chanteloup, remembered by most folk on account +of its atrocious Chinese-like pagoda, +built of the débris of the Château de la Bourdaisière, +by the Duc de Choiseul, in memory +of the attentions he received from the nobles +and bourgeois of the ville upon the fall of his +ministry and his disgrace at the hands of +Louis XV. and La Du Barry. It is a curious +form to be chosen when one had such beautiful +examples of architectural art near by, only +equalled, perhaps, in atrociousness by the +"Royal Pavilion" of England's George IV.</p> + +<p>La Bourdaisière, near Amboise, of which +only the site remains, if not one of the chief +tourist attractions of the château country, has +at least a sentimental interest of abounding +importance for all who recall the details of the +life of "La Belle Gabrielle."</p> + +<p>Here in Touraine Gabrielle d'Estrées was +born in 1565. She was twenty-six years old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> +when Henri IV. first saw her in the château +of her father at Cœuvres. So charmed was he +with her graces that he made her his <i>maîtresse</i> +forthwith, though the old court-life chronicles +of the day state that she already possessed +something more than the admiration of Sebastian +Zamet, the celebrated financier.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.<span class="pagenum"><a href="#Contents">To ToC</a></span></h2> + +<h4>CHENONCEAUX</h4> + +<div class="epi">"The castle of Chenonceaux is a fine place on the river +Cher, in a fine and pleasant country." <br /> + +<span class="smcapright">François Premier</span>. +</div> + +<div class="epi">"The castle of Chenonceaux is one of the best and most +beautiful of our kingdom."<br /> + + +<span class="smcap">Henri II.</span> +</div> + + +<p>The average visitor will come prepared to +worship and admire a château so praised by +two luxury-loving Kings of France.</p> + +<p>Chenonceaux is noted chiefly for its château, +but the little village itself is charming. The +houses of the village are not very new, nor +very old, but the one long street is most attractive +throughout its length, and the whole +atmosphere of the place, from September to +December, is odorous with the perfume of red-purple +grapes. The vintage is not the equal +of that of the Bordeaux region, perhaps, nor +of Chinon, nor Saumur; but the <i>vin du pays</i> +of the Cher and the Loire, around Tours, is not +to be despised.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span></p> + +<p>Most tourists come to Chenonceaux by train +from Tours; others drive over from Amboise, +and yet others come by bicycle or automobile. +They are not as yet so numerous as might be +expected, and accordingly here, as elsewhere +in Touraine, every facility is given for visiting +the château and its park.</p> + +<p>If you do not hurry off at once to worship +at the abode of the fascinating Diane, one of +the brightest ornaments of the court of François +Premier and his son Henri, you will enjoy +your dinner at the Hôtel du Bon Laboureur, +though most likely it will be a solitary one, and +you will be put to bed in a great chamber overlooking +the park, through which peep, in the +moonlight, the turrets of the château, and you +may hear the purling of the waters of the Cher +as it flows below the walls.</p> + +<p>Jean Jacques Rousseau, like François I., +called Chenonceaux a beautiful place, and he +was right; it is all of that and more. Here +one comes into direct contact with an atmosphere +which, if not feudal, or even mediæval, +is at least that of several hundred years +ago.</p> + +<p>Chenonceaux is moored like a ship in the +middle of the rapidly running Cher, a dozen +miles or more above where that stream enters<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span> +the Loire. As a matter of fact, the château +practically bridges the river, which flows under +its foundations and beneath its drawbridge on +either side, besides filling the moat with water. +The general effect is as if the building were +set in the midst of the stream and formed a +sort of island château. Round about is a gentle +meadow and a great park, which give to +this turreted architectural gem of Touraine +a setting which is equalled by no other château.</p> + +<p>What the château was in former days we +can readily imagine, for nothing is changed +as to the general disposition. Boats came to +the water-gate, as they still might do if such +boats still existed, in true, pictorial legendary +fashion. To-day, the present occupant has +placed a curiosity on the ornamental waters +in the shape of a gondola. It is out of keeping +with the grand fabric of the château, and it +is a pity that it does not cast itself adrift some +night. What has become of the gondolier, who +was imported to keep the craft company, nobody +seems to know. He is certainly not in +evidence, or, if he is, has transformed himself +into a groom or a <i>chauffeur</i>.</p> + +<p>The Château of Chenonceaux is not a very +ample structure; not so ample as most photo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span>graphs +would make it appear. It is not tiny, +but still it has not the magnificent proportions +of Blois, of Chambord, or even of Langeais. +It was more a habitation than it was a fortress, +a <i>maison de campagne</i>, as indeed it virtually +became when the Connétable de Montmorency +took possession of the structure in +the name of the king, when its builder, Thomas +Bohier, the none too astute minister of finances +in Normandy, came to grief in his affairs.</p> + +<p>François I. came frequently here for "<i>la +chasse</i>," and his memory is still kept alive by +the Chambre François Premier. François held +possession till his death, when his son made +it over to the "admired of two generations," +Diane de Poitiers.</p> + +<p>Diane's memory will never leave Chenonceaux. +To-day it is perpetuated in the Chambre +de Diane de Poitiers; but the portrait by +Leonardo da Vinci, which was supposed to best +show her charms, has now disappeared from +the "long gallery" at the château. This portrait +was painted at the command of François, +before Diane transferred her affections to his +son.</p> + +<p>No one knows when or how Diane de Poitiers +first came to fascinate François, or how or +why her power waned. At any rate, at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span> +time François pardoned her father, the witless +Comte de St. Vallier, for the treacherous part +he played in the Bourbon conspiracy, he really +believed her to be the "brightest ornament of +a beauty-loving court."</p> + +<p>Certainly, Diane was a powerful factor in the +politics of her time, though François himself +soon tired of her. Undaunted by this, she +forthwith set her cap for his son Henri, the +Duc d'Orleans, and won him, too. Of her +beauty the present generation is able to +judge for itself by reason of the three well-known +and excellent portraits of contemporary +times.</p> + +<p>Diane's influence over the young Henri was +absolute. At his death her power was, of +course, at an end, and Chenonceaux, and all else +possible, was taken from her by the orders of +Catherine, the long-suffering wife, who had +been put aside for the fascinations of the +charming huntress.</p> + +<p>It must have been some satisfaction, however, +to Diane, to know that, in his fatal joust +with Montgomery, Henri really broke his lance +and met his death in her honour, for the records +tell that he bore her colours on his lance, besides +her initials set in gold and gems on his +shield.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span></p> + +<p>Catherine's eagerness to drive Diane from +the court was so great, that no sooner had her +spouse fallen—even though he did not actually +die for some days—than she sent word to +Diane, "who sat weeping alone," to instantly +quit the court; to give up the crown jewels—which +Henri had somewhat inconsiderately +given her; and to "give up Chenonceaux in +Touraine," Catherine's Naboth's vineyard, +which she had so long admired and coveted. +She had known it as a girl, when she often +visited it in company with her father-in-law, +the appreciative but dissolute François, and +had ever longed to possess it for her own, +before even her husband, now dead, had given +it to "that old hag Diane de Poitiers, Duchesse +de Valentinois."</p> + +<p>Diane paid no heed to Catherine's command. +She simply asked: "Is the king yet +dead?"</p> + +<p>"No, madame," said the messenger, "but +his wound is mortal; he cannot live the day."</p> + +<p>"Tell the queen, then," replied Diane, "that +her reign is not yet come; that I am mistress +still over her and the kingdom as long as the +king breathes the breath of life."</p> + +<p>Henri was more or less an equivocal character, +devoted to Diane, and likewise fond<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span>one +says it with caution—of his wife. He +caused to be fashioned a monogram (seen at +Chenonceaux) after this wise:</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illus229_small.jpg" alt="Monogram" title="Monogram" /> +</div> + +<p>supposedly indicating his attachment for Diane +and his wife alike. The various initials of the +cipher are in no way involved. Diane returned +the compliment by decorating an apartment for +the king, at her Château of Anet, with the black +and white of the Medici arms.</p> + +<p>The Château of Chenonceaux, so greatly coveted +by Catherine when she first came to +France, and when it was in the possession of +Diane, still remains in all the regal splendour +of its past. It lies in the lovely valley of the +Cher, far from the rush and turmoil of cities +and even the continuous traffic of great thoroughfares, +for it is on the road to nowhere +unless one is journeying cross-country from +the lower to the upper Loire. This very isolation +resulted in its being one of the few monuments +spared from the furies of the Revolution, +and, "half-palace and half-château," it glistens<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span> +with the purity of its former glory, as picturesque +as ever, with turrets, spires, and roof-tops +all mellowed with the ages in a most entrancing +manner.</p> + +<p>Even to-day one enters the precincts of the +château proper over a drawbridge which spans +an arm of the Loire, or rather, a moat which +leads directly from the parent stream. On the +opposite side are the bridge piers supporting +five arches, the work of Diane when she was +the fair chatelaine of the domain. This ingenious +thought proved to be a most useful and +artistic addition to the château. It formed a +flagged promenade, lovely in itself, and led to +the southern bank of the Cher, whence one +got charming vistas of the turrets and roof-tops +of the château through the trees and the +leafy avenues which converged upon the structure.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<a href="images/illus231.jpg"> +<img src="images/illus231_small.jpg" alt="Château de Chenonceaux" title="Château de Chenonceaux" /> +</a> +</div> + + + +<p>When Catherine came she did not disdain +to make the best use of Diane's innovation that +suggested itself to her, which was simply to +build the "Long Gallery" over the arches of +this lovely bridge, and so make of it a veritable +house over the water. A covering was made +quite as beautiful as the rest of the structure, +and thus the bridge formed a spacious wing +of two stories. The first floor—known as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> +"Long Gallery"—was intended as a banqueting-hall, +and possessed four great full-length +windows on either side looking up and down +stream, from which was seen—and is to-day—an +outlook as magnificently idyllic as is possible +to conceive. Jean Goujon had designed +for the ceiling one of those wonder-works for +which he was famous, but if the complete plan +was ever carried out, it has disappeared, for +only a tiny sketch of the whole scheme remains +to-day.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus233_small.jpg" alt="Château of Checonceaux (Diagram)" title="Château of Checonceaux (Diagram)" /> +</div> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span>Catherine came in the early summer to take +possession of her long-coveted domain. Being +a skilful horsewoman, she came on horseback, +accompanied by a "<i>petite bande</i>" of feminine +charmers destined to wheedle political secrets +from friends and enemies alike,—a real "<i>escadron +volant de la reine</i>," as it was called by +a contemporary.</p> + +<p>It was a gallant company that assembled here +at this time,—the young King Charles IX., +the Duc de Guise, and "two cardinals mounted +on mules,"—Lorraine, a true Guise, and +D'Este, newly arrived from Italy, and accompanied +by the poet Tasso, wearing a "gabardine +and a hood of satin." Catherine showed +the Italian great favour, as was due a countryman, +but there was another poet among them +as well, Ronsard, the poet laureate of the time. +The Duc de Guise had followed in the wake +of Marguerite, unbeknownst to Catherine, who +frowned down any possibility of an alliance +between the houses of Valois and Lorraine.</p> + +<p>A great fête and water-masque had been +arranged by Catherine to take place on the +Cher, with a banquet to follow in the Long +Gallery in honour of her arrival at Chenonceaux.</p> + +<p>When twilight had fallen, torches were ig<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span>nited +and myriads of lights blazed forth from +the boats on the river and from the windows +of the château. Music and song went forth +into the night, and all was as gay and lovely +as a Venetian night's entertainment. The +hunting-horns echoed through the wooded +banks, and through the arches above which +the château was built passed great highly +coloured barges, including a fleet of gondolas +to remind the queen-mother of her Italian days,—the +ancestors perhaps of the solitary gondola +which to-day floats idly by the river-bank +just before the grand entrance to the château. +From <i>parterre</i> and <i>balustrade</i>, and from the +clipped yews of the ornamental garden, fairy +lamps burned forth and dwindled away into +dim infinity, as the long lines of soft light gradually +lost themselves in the forest. It was a +grand affair and idyllic in its unworldliness. +One may not see its like to-day, for electric +lights and "rag-time" music, which mostly +comprise the attractions of such <i>al fresco</i> pleasures, +will hardly produce the same effect.</p> + +<p>Among the great fêtes at Chenonceaux will +always be recalled that given by the court upon +the coming of the youthful François II. and +Mary Stuart, after the horrible massacres at +Amboise.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span></p> + +<p>All the Renaissance skill of the time was +employed in the erection of pompous accessories, +triumphal arches, columns, obelisks, and +altars. There were innumerable tablets also, +bearing inscriptions in Latin and Greek,—which +nobody read,—and a fountain which +bore the following:</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">"Au saint bal des dryades,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">A Phœbus, ce grand dieu,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Aux humides nyades,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">J'ai consacré ce lieu."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>Of Chenonceaux and its glories what more +can be said than to quote the following lines +of the middle ages, which in their quaint old +French apply to-day as much as ever they did:</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">"Basti si magnifiquement<br /></span> +<span class="i4">II est debout, comme un géant,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Dedans le lit de la rivière,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">C'est-à-dire dessus un pont<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Qui porte cent toises de long."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>The part of the edifice which Bohier erected +in 1515 is that through which the visitor makes +his entrance, and is built upon the piers of an +old mill which was destroyed at that time.</p> + +<p>Catherine bequeathed Chenonceaux to the +wife of Henri III., Louise de Vaudémont, who +died here in 1601. For a hundred years it still +belonged to royalty, but in 1730 it was sold to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span> +M. Dupin, who, with his wife, enriched and +repaired the fabric. They gathered around +them a company so famous as to be memorable +in the annals of art and literature. This is +best shown by the citing of such names as Fontenelle, +Montesquieu, Buffon, Bolingbroke, Voltaire, +and Rousseau, all of whom were frequenters +of the establishment, the latter being +charged with the education of the only son of +M. and Madame Dupin.</p> + +<p>Considering Rousseau's once proud position +among his contemporaries, and the favour with +which he was received by the nobility, it is +somewhat surprising that his struggle for life +was so hard. The Marquise de Créquy wrote +in her "Souvenirs:" "Rousseau left behind +him his <i>Mémoires</i>, which I think for the sake of +his memory and fame ought to be much curtailed." +And undoubtedly she was right. Rousseau +wrote in his "Confessions:" "In 1747 +we went to spend the autumn in Touraine, at +the Château of Chenonceaux, a royal residence +upon the Cher, built by Henri II. for Diane de +Poitiers, whose initials are still to be seen +there.... We amused ourselves greatly in +this fine spot; the living was of the best, and +I became fat as a monk. We made a great deal +of music and acted comedies."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span></p> + +<p>One might imagine, from a stroll through the +magnificent halls and galleries of Chenonceaux, +that Rousseau's experiences might be repeated +to-day if one were fortunate enough to be asked +to sojourn there for a time. The nearest that +one can get, however, to becoming personally +identified with the château and its life is to sign +his name in the great vellum quarto which ultimately +will rest in the archives of the château.</p> + +<p>It is doubtless very wrong to be covetous; +but Chenonceaux is such a beautiful place and +comes so near the ideal habitation of our imagination +that the desire to possess it for one's +own is but human.</p> + +<p>In the "Galerie Louis XIV." were given the +first representations of many of Rousseau's +pieces.</p> + +<p>One gathers from these accounts of the happenings +in the Long Gallery that it formed no +bridge of sighs, and most certainly it did not. +Its walls resounded almost continually with +music and laughter. Here in these rooms +Henri II. danced and made love and intrigued, +while Catherine, his queen, was left at Blois +with her astrologer and his poisons, to eat out +her soul in comparative neglect.</p> + +<p>Before the time of the dwelling built by +Bohier for himself and family on the founda<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span>tions +of the old mill, there was yet a manorhouse +belonging to the ancient family of +Marques, from whom the Norman financier +bought the site. The tower, seen to-day at the +right of the entrance to the château proper,—an +expressive relic of feudal times,—was a +part of the earlier establishment. To-day it +is turned into a sort of <i>kiosque</i> for the sale +of photographs, post-cards, and an admirable +illustrated guide to the château.</p> + +<p>The interior of the château to-day presents +the following remarkable features: The dining-room +of to-day, formerly the Salle des Gardes, +has a ceiling in which the cipher of Catherine +de Medici is interwoven with an arabesque. To +the left of this apartment is the entrance to +the chapel, which to-day seems a bit incongruously +placed, leading as it does from the dining-room. +It is but a tiny chapel, but it is as gay +and brilliant as if it were still the adjunct of a +luxury-loving court, and it has some glass dating +from 1521, which, if not remarkable for +design or colouring, is quite choice enough to +rank as an art treasure of real value.</p> + +<p>According to Viollet-le-Duc each feudal seigneur +had attached to his château a chapel, +often served by a private chaplain, and in some +instances by an entire chapter of prelates.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span> +These chapels were not simple oratories surrounded +by the domestic apartments, but were +architectural monuments in themselves, and +either entirely isolated, as at Amboise, or semi-detached, +as at Chenonceaux.</p> + +<p>Below, in the sub-basement, at Chenonceaux, +are the original foundations upon which Bohier +laid his first stones. Here, too, are various +chambers, known respectively as the prison, +the Bains de la Reine, the <i>boulangerie</i>, etc.</p> + +<p>Chenonceaux to-day is no whited sepulchre. +It is a real living and livable thing, and, moreover, +when one visits it, he observes that the +family burn great logs in their fireplaces, have +luxurious bouquets of flowers on their dining-table, +and use great wax candles instead of the +more prosaic oil-lamps, or worse—acetylene +gas. Chenonceaux evidently has no thoughts +of descending to steam heat and electricity.</p> + +<p>All this is as it should be, for when one visits +a shrine like this he prefers to find it with as +much as possible of the old-time atmosphere +remaining. Chambord is bare and suggestive +of the tomb, in spite of the splendour of its +outline and proportions; Pierrefonds, in the +north, is more so, and so would be Blois except +for its restored or imitation decorations; but +here at Chenonceaux all is different, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span> +breathes the spirit of other days as well as +that of to-day. It is, perhaps, not exactly as +Diane left it, or as Rousseau knew it under +the régime of the Dupins, since, after many +changings of hands, it became the property of +the <i>Crédit Foncier</i>, by whom it was sold in 1891 +to Mr. Terry, an American.</p> + +<p>Chenonceaux has two other architectural +monuments which are often overlooked under +the spell of the more magnificent château. In +the village is a small Renaissance church—in +which the Renaissance never rose to any very +great heights—which is here far more effective +and beautiful than usually are Renaissance +churches of any magnitude. There is also a +sixteenth-century stone house in the same style +and even more successful as an expression of +the art of the time. It is readily found by +inquiry, and is known as the "Maison des +Pages de François I."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER IX.<span class="pagenum"><a href="#Contents">To ToC</a></span></h2> + +<h4>LOCHES</h4> + + +<p>Much may be written of Loches, of its storied +past, of its present-day quaintness, and of its +wealth of architectural monuments. Its church +is certainly the most curious religious edifice +in all France, judging from a cross-section of +the vaults and walls. More than all else, however, +Loches is associated in our minds with +the memory of Agnes Sorel.</p> + +<p>Within the walls of the old collegiate church +the lovely mistress of Charles VII. was buried +in 1450; but later her remains and tomb were +removed to one of the towers of the ancient +castle of Loches, where they now are. She had +amply endowed the church, but they would no +longer give shelter to her remains, so her bones +were removed five hundred years later. The +statue which surmounts her tomb, as seen to-day, +represents the "gentille Agnes" in all +her loveliness, with folded hands on breast, a +kneeling angel at her head and a couchant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span> +lamb at her feet,—a reminder of her innocence, +said Henry James, but surely he nodded +when he said it. Lovely she was, and good in +her way, but innocent she was not, as we have +come to know the word.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus243_small.jpg" alt="Loches" title="Loches" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus243.jpg"><i>Loches</i></a></div> +</div> + + + + +<p>It is fitting to recall that Charles VII. was +not the only monarch who sang her praises, for +it was François I. who, many years later, wrote +those lines beginning:</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Gentille Agnes, plus de loz tu mérites."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>Whether one comes to Loches by road or by +rail, the first impression is the same; he enters +at once into a sleepy, old-world town which +has practically nothing of modernity about it +except the electric lights.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span></p> + +<p>There is but one way to realize the immense +wealth of architectural monuments centred at +Loches, and that is to see the city for the first +time, as, perhaps, François Premier saw it +when he journeyed from Amboise, and came +upon it from the heights of the forest of +Loches. The city has not grown much since +that day. Then it had three thousand eight +hundred souls, and now it has five thousand.</p> + +<p>Here, in the Forêt de Loches, Henry II. of +England built a monastery,—yet to be seen,—known +as the Chartreuse du Liget, in repentance, +or, perhaps, as a penance for the murder +of Becket. Over the doorway of this monastery +was graven:</p> + +<div class="smcapcent"> +ANGLORUM HENRICUS REX<br /> +THOMÆ CŒDE CRUENTUS,<br /> +LIGETICOS FUNDAT CARTUSIA MONAKOS. +</div> + +<p>To-day the monastery is the property of a +M. de Marsay, and therefore not open to the +public; but the Chapelle du Liget, near by, is a +fine contemporary church of the thirteenth century, +well worth the admiration too infrequently +bestowed upon it.</p> + +<p>The first view of Loches must really be much +as it was in François's time, except, perhaps, +that the roadway down from the forest has +improved, as roads have all over France, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> +fruit-trees and vineyards planted out, which, +however, in no way change the aspect when the +town is first seen in the dim haze of an early +November morning.</p> + +<p>It is the sky-line <i>ensemble</i> of the châteaux of +the Renaissance period which is their most +varied feature. No two are alike, and yet they +are all wonderfully similar in that they cut the +sky with turret, tower, and chimney in a way +which suggests nothing as much as the architecture +of fairy-land.</p> + +<p>The artists who illustrated the old fairy-tale +books and drew castles wherein dwelt beautiful +maidens could nowhere have found more real +inspiration than among the châteaux of the +Loire, the Cher, and the Indre.</p> + +<p>Loches is a veritable mediæval town, and it +is even more than that, for its history dates +back into the earliest years of feudal times. +Loches is one of those <i>soi-disant</i> French towns +not great enough to be a metropolis, and yet +quite indifferent to the affairs of the outside +world.</p> + +<p>The only false notes are those sounded by the +various hawkers and cadgers for the visitor's +money, who have hired various old mediæval +structures, within the walls, and assure one +that in the basement of their establishment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span> +there are fragments "recently discovered,"—this +in English,—quite worth the price of admission +which they charge you to peer about +in a gloomy hole of a cellar, littered with empty +wine-bottles and rubbish of all sorts.</p> + +<p>All this is delightful enough to the simon-pure +antiquarian; but even he likes to dig +things out for himself, and the householders +can't all expect to find <i>cachots</i> in their sub-cellars +or iron cages in their garrets unless they +manufacture them.</p> + +<p>The old town, in spite of its lack of modernity, +is full of surprises and contrasts that must +make it very livable to one who cares to spend +a winter within its walls. He may walk about +on the ramparts on sunny days; may fish in the +Indre, below the mill; and, if he is an artist, he +will find, within a comparatively small area, +much more that is exceedingly "paintable" +than is usually found in the fishing-villages of +Brittany or on the sand-dunes of the Pas de +Calais, "artist's sketching-grounds" which +have been pretty well worked of late.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus247_small.jpg" alt="Loches and Its Church" title="Loches and Its Church" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus247.jpg"><i>Loches and Its Church</i></a></div> +</div> + + + + +<p>The history of Loches is so varied and vivid +that it is easy to account for the many remains +of feudal and Renaissance days now existing. +The derivation of its name is in some doubt. +Loches was unquestionably the Luccæ of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span> +Romans, but the Armorican Celts had the word +<i>loc'h</i>, meaning much the same thing,—<i>un +marais</i>,—which is also wonderfully like the +<i>loch</i> known to-day in the place-names of Scotland +and the <i>lough</i> of Ireland. Partisans may +take their choice.</p> + +<p>In the fifth century a monastery was founded +here by St. Ours, which ultimately gave its +name to the collegiate church which exists to-day. +A château, or more probably a fortress, +appeared in the sixth century. The city was +occupied by the Franks in the seventh century, +but by 630 it had become united with Aquitaine. +Pepin sacked it in 742, and Charles le Chauve +made it a seat of a hereditary government +which, by alliance, passed to the house of Anjou +in 886, to whom it belonged up to 1205. +Jean-sans-Terre gave it to France in 1193. +Richard Cœur de Lion apparently resented +this, for he retook it in the year following. In +1204, Philippe-Auguste besieged Chinon and +Loches simultaneously, and took the latter +after a year, when he made it a fief, and gave it +to Dreux de Mello, Constable of France, who +in turn sold it to St. Louis.</p> + +<p>The château of Loches became first a fortress, +guarding the ancient Roman highway +from the Blaisois to Aquitaine, then a prison,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span> +and then a royal residence, to which Charles +VII. frequently repaired with Agnes Sorel, +which calls up again the strangely contrasting +influences of the two women whose names have +gone down in history linked with that of +Charles VII.</p> + +<p>"Louis XI. aggrandized the château," says +a French authority, "and perfected the prisons," +whatever that may mean. He did, we +know, build those terrible dungeons far down +below the surface of the ground, where daylight +never penetrated. They were perfect enough +in all conscience as originally built, at least as +perfect as the celebrated iron cage in which he +imprisoned Cardinal Balue. The cage is not in +its wonted place to-day, and only a ring in the +wall indicates where it was once made fast.</p> + +<p>Charles VIII. added the great round tower; +but it was not completed until the reign of +Louis XII. François I., in a not too friendly +meeting, received Charles Quint here in 1539, +just previous to his visit to Amboise. Marie de +Medici, on escaping from Blois, stopped at the +château at the invitation of the governor, the +Duc d'Epernon, who sped her on her way, as +joyfully as possible, to Angoulême.</p> + +<p>The château itself is the chief attraction of +interest, just as it is the chief feature of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span> +landscape when viewed from afar. Of course +it is understood that, when one speaks of the +château at Loches, he refers to the collective +châteaux which, in more or less fragmentary +form, go to make up the edifice as it is to-day.</p> + +<p>Whether we admire most the structure of +Geoffrey Grise-Gonelle, the elegant edifice of +the fifteenth century, or the additions of +Charles VII., Louis XI., Charles VIII., Louis +XII., or Henri III., we must conclude that to +know this conglomerate structure intimately +one must actually live with it. Nowhere in +France—perhaps in no country—is there a +château that suggests so stupendously the story +of its past.</p> + +<p>The chief and most remarkable features are +undoubtedly the great rectangular keep or donjon, +and the Tour Neuf or Tour Ronde. The +first, in its immensity, quite rivals the best +examples of the kind elsewhere, if it does not +actually excel them in dimensions. It is, moreover, +according to De Caumont, the most beautiful +of all the donjons of France. As a state +prison it confined Jean, Duc d'Alençon, Pierre +de Brézé, and Philippe de Savoie.</p> + +<p>The Tour Ronde is a great cylinder flanked +with dependencies which give it a more or less +irregular form. It encloses the prison where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span> +were formerly kept the famous cages, the invention +of Cardinal Balue, who himself became +their first victim. The Tour Ronde is reminiscent +of two great female figures in the mediæval +portrait gallery,—Agnes Sorel and Anne +de Bretagne. The tomb of Agnes Sorel is here, +and the Duchesse Anne made an oratory in this +grim tower, from which she sent up her prayer +for the success and unity of the political plans +which inspired her marriage into the royal +family of France. It is a daintily decorated +chamber, with the queen's family device, the +ermine with its twisted necklet, prominently +displayed.</p> + +<p>In the passage which conducts to the dungeons +of this great round tower, one reads this +ironical invitation: "<i>Entrés, messieurs, ches le +Roy Nostre Mestre</i>" (<i>O.F.</i>).</p> + +<p>That portion of the collective châteaux facing +to the north is now occupied by the Sous-Préfecture, +and is more after the manner of +the residential châteaux of the Loire than of +a fortress-stronghold or prison. Before this +portion stands the famous chestnut-tree, +planted, it is said, by François I., "and large +enough to shelter the whole population of +Loches beneath its foliage," says the same +doubtful authority.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span></p> + +<p>Under a fifteenth-century structure, called +the Martelet, are the true dungeons of Loches. +Here one is shown the cell occupied for nine +years by the poor Ludovic Sforza, who died +in 1510, from the mere joy of being liberated. +More deeply hidden still is the famous Prison +des Évêques of the era of François I. and the +dungeon of Comte de St. Vallier, the father of +the fascinating Diane, who herself was the +means of securing his liberation by "fascinating +the king," as one French writer puts it. +This may be so. St. Vallier <i>was</i> liberated, we +know, and the susceptible François <i>was</i> fascinated, +though he soon tired of Diane and her +charms. She had the perspicacity, however, to +transfer her affections to his son, and so kept +up a sort of family relationship.</p> + +<p>Like the historic "prisoner of Gisors," the +occupants of the dungeons at Loches whiled +away their lonely hours by inscribing their +sentiments upon the walls. Only one remains +to-day, though fragmentary stone-carved letters +and characters are to be seen here and +there. He who wrote the following was certainly +as cheerful as circumstances would allow:</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0_5">"Malgré les ennuis d'une longue souffrance,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span>Et le cruel destin dont je subis la loy,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i0">Il est encort des biens pour moy,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Le tendre amour et la douce espérance."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>Most of these formidable dungeons of Loches +were prisons of state until well into the sixteenth +century.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<a href="images/illus254.jpg"> +<img src="images/illus254_small.jpg" alt="Sketch Plan of Loches" title="Sketch Plan of Loches" /> +</a> +</div> + + +<p>Beneath, or rather beside, the very walls of +the château is the bizarre collegiate church of +St. Ours. One says bizarre, simply because it +is curious, and not because it is unchurchly in +any sense of the word, for it is not. Its low +nave is surmounted by an enormous tower with +a stone spire, while there are two other pyramidal +erections over the roof of the choir which +make the whole look, not like an elephant, as +a cynical Frenchman once wrote, but rather<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span> +like a camel with two humps. This strange +architectural anomaly is, in parts, almost +pagan; certainly its font, a fragment of an +ancient altar on which once burned a sacred +fire, <i>is</i> pagan.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus255_small.jpg" alt="St. Ours, Loches" title="St. Ours, Loches" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus255.jpg"><i>St. Ours, Loches</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>There is a Romanesque porch of vast dimensions +which is the real artistic expression of the +fabric, dressed with extraordinary primitive +sculptures of saints, demons, stryges, gnomes, +and all manner of outré things. All these details, +however, are chiselled with a masterly +conception.</p> + +<p>Behind this exterior vestibule the first bays +of the nave form another, a sort of an inner +vestibule, which carries out still further the +unique arrangement of the whole edifice. This +portion of the structure dates from a consecration +of the year 965, which therefore classes it +as of very early date,—indeed, few are earlier. +Most of the church, however, is of the twelfth +century, including another great pyramid which +rises above the nave and the two smaller ones +just behind the spire. The side-aisles of the +nave were added between the twelfth and fifteenth +centuries, while only the stalls and the +tabernacle are as recent as the sixteenth. The +eastern end is triapsed, an unusual feature in +France. From this one realizes, quite to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span> +fullest extent possible, the antiquity and individuality +of the Église de St. Ours at Loches.</p> + +<p>The quaint Renaissance Hôtel-de-Ville was +built by the architect Jean Beaudoin (1535-1543), +from sums raised, under letters patent +from François I., by certain <i>octroi</i> taxes. +From the fact that through its lower story +passes one of the old city entrances, it has come +to be known also as the Porte Picoys. In every +way it is a worthy example of Renaissance +civic architecture.</p> + +<p>In the Rue de Château is a remarkable +Renaissance house, known as the Chancellerie, +which dates from the reign of Henri II. It has +most curious sculptures on its façade interspersed +with the devices of royalty and the inscription:</p> + +<div class="smcapcent">IVSTITIA REGNO, PRUDENTIA NUTRISCO.</div> + +<p>The Tour St. Antoine serves to-day as the +city's belfry. It is all that remains of a church, +demolished long since, which was built in 1519-30, +in imitation of St. Gatien's of Tours. +Doubtless it was base in many of its details, as +is its more famous compeer at Tours; but, if the +old tower which remains is any indication, it +must have been an elaborate and imposing work +of the late Gothic and early Renaissance era.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span></p> + +<p>As a literary note, lovers of Dumas's romances +will be interested in the fact that in the +Hôtel de la Couroirie at Loches a body of Protestants +captured the celebrated Chicot, the +jester of Henri III. and Henri IV.</p> + +<p>Loches has a near neighbour in Beaulieu, +which formerly possessed an ardent hatred for +its more progressive and successful contemporary, +Loches. Its very name has been perverted +by local historians as coming from Bellilocus, +"the place of war," and not "<i>le lieu +d'un bel aspect</i>."</p> + +<p>The abbey church at Beaulieu was built by +the warlike Foulques Nerra (in 1008-12), who +usually built fortresses and left church-building +to monks and bishops. It is a remarkable +Romanesque example, though, since the fifteenth +century, it has been mostly in ruins. +Foulques Nerra himself, whose countenance +had "<i>la majesté de celui d'un ange</i>," found his +last resting-place within its walls, which also +sheltered much rich ornament, to-day greatly +defaced, though that of the nave, which is still +intact, is an evidence of its former worth.</p> + +<p>The abbatial residence, still existent, has a +curious exterior pulpit built into the wall, examples +of which are not too frequent in France.</p> + +<p>Agnes Sorel, the belle of belles, lived here for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span> +a time in a house near the Porte de Guigné, +which bears a great stone <i>panonceau</i>, from +which the armorial bearings have to-day disappeared. +It is another notable monument to +"the most graceful woman of her times," and +without doubt has as much historic value as +many another more popular shrine of history.</p> + +<p>In connection with Agnes Sorel, who was so +closely identified with Loches and Beaulieu, it +is to be recalled that she was known to the +chroniclers of her time as "<i>la dame de Beauté-sur-Marne</i>,"—a +place which does not appear in +the books of the modern geographers. It may +be noted, too, that it was the encouragement of +the "<i>belle des belles</i>" of Charles VII. that, in +a way, contributed to that monarch's success +in politics and arms, for her sway only began +with Jeanne d'Arc's supplication at Gien and +Chinon. Tradition has it, indeed, that it was +the "gentille Agnes" who put the sword of +victory in his hands when he set out on his +campaign of reconquest. Thus does the Jeanne +d'Arc legend receive a damaging blow.</p> + + + + +<p>The château of Sausac, an elegant edifice of +the sixteenth century, completely restored in +later days, is near by.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER X.<span class="pagenum"><a href="#Contents">To ToC</a></span></h2> + +<h4>TOURS AND ABOUT THERE</h4> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illus261_small.jpg" alt="Tours" title="Tours" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus261.jpg"><i>Tours</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>Tours, above all other of the ancient capitals +of the French provinces, remains to-day a <i>ville +de luxe</i>, the elegant capital of a land balmy and +delicious; a land of which Dante sung:</p> + + + +<div class="center">"Terra molle, e dolce e dilettosa...."</div> + + + +<p>It is not a very grand town as the secondary +cities of France go; not like Rouen or Lyons, +Bordeaux or Marseilles; but it is as typical a +reflection of the surrounding country as any, +and therein lies its charm.</p> + +<p>One never comes within the influence of its +luxurious, or, at least, easy and comfortable +appointments, its distinctly modern and up-to-date +railway station, its truly magnificent modern +Hôtel de Ville, its well-appointed hotels +and cafés and its luxurious shops, but that he +realizes all this to a far greater extent than in +any other city of France.</p> + +<p>And again, referring to the material things<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> +of life, everything is most comfortable, and the +restaurants and hotels most attractive in their +fare. Tours is truly one provincial capital +where the <i>cuisine bourgeoise</i> still lives.</p> + +<p>Touraine, and Tours in particular, besides +many other things, is noted for its hotels. Their +praises have been sung often and loudly, not +forgetting Henry James's praise of the Hôtel +de l'Univers, which is all one expects to find it +and more. The same may be said of the Hôtel +du Croissant, with the added opinion that it +serves the most bountiful and excellent <i>déjeuner</i> +to be had in all provincial France. It +is difficult to say just what actually causes all +this excellence and abundance, except that the +catering there is an easy and pleasurable occupation.</p> + +<p>The Rue Nationale—"<i>toujours et vraiment +royale</i>"—is the great artery of Tours running +riverwards. On it circulates all the life of +the city.</p> + +<p>To the right is the Quartier de la Cathédrale, +where are assembled the great houses of the +nobility—or such of them as are left—and of +the old <i>bourgeoisie tourangelle</i>.</p> + +<p>To the left are the streets of the workers, a +silk-mill or two, and the printing-offices. Tours +is and always has been celebrated for the num<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">205</a></span>ber +and size of its <i>imprimeries</i>, with which, in +olden times, the name of the great Christopher +Plantin, the master printer of Antwerp, was +connected. To-day, Tours's greatest establishment +is that of Alfred Mame et Fils, known +throughout the Roman Catholic world.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus265_small.jpg" alt="Arms of the Printers, Avocats, and Innkeepers, +Tours" title="Arms of the Printers, Avocats, and Innkeepers, Tours" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus265.jpg"><i>Arms of the Printers, Avocats, and Innkeepers, Tours</i></a></div> +</div> + + + +<p>The printers and booksellers of the middle +ages were favoured persons, and their rank +was high. In the days of solemn processions +the booksellers led the way, followed by the +paper-makers, the parchment-makers, the +scribes,—who had not wholly died out,—the +binders and the illuminators. In these days +the printers were granted an emblazoned arms, +which was characteristic and distinguished. +The same was true of the <i>avocats</i>, who bore +upon their escutcheon a gowned figure, with +something very like a halo surrounding its +head. The innkeepers went one better, and had +a bishop with an undeniable halo. This is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span> +curious and inexplicable in the light of our +modern conception of similar things, but it's +better than a shield with quarterings representing +half a canal-boat and half a locomotive, +which was recently adopted by an enterprising +watering-place which shall be nameless.</p> + +<p>In the same ancient quarter are the old +towers of Charlemagne and St. Martin. This +part of the town is the nucleus of the old foundation, +the site of the <i>oppidum</i> of the <i>Turones</i>, +the <i>Cæsarodunum gallo-romain</i>, and of the life +which centred around the old abbey of St. +Martin, so venerated and so powerful in the +middle ages.</p> + +<p>To the inviolable refuge of this old abbey +came multitudes of Christian pilgrims from +the world over; the Merovingians to undergo +the penances imposed upon them by the bishops +and clerics in expiation of their crimes. +Under Charlemagne, the Abbé Alcuin founded +great schools of languages, history, astronomy, +and music, from which founts of learning went +forth innumerable and illustrious religious +teachers.</p> + +<p>All but the two towers of this old religious +foundation are gone. The years of the Revolution +saw the fall of the abbey; a street was cut +through the nave of its church, and the two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span> +dismembered parts stand to-day as monuments +to the sacrilege of modern times.</p> + +<p>To-day a banal faubourg has sprung up +around the site of the abbey, with here and +there old tumble-down houses either of wood +and stone, such as one reads of in the pages of +Balzac, or sees in the designs of Doré, or with +their sides covered with overlapping slates.</p> + +<p>Amid all these is an occasional treasure of +architectural art, such as the graceful Fountain +of Beaune, the work of Michel Colombe, and +some remains of early Renaissance houses of +somewhat more splendid appointments than +their fellows, particularly the Maison de Tristan +l'Hermite, the Hôtel Xaincoings, and many +exquisite fragments now made over into an +<i>auberge</i> or a <i>cabaret</i>, which make one dream of +Rabelais and his Gargantua.</p> + +<p>It is uncertain whether Michel Colombe, who +designed this fountain and also that masterwork, +the tomb of the Duc François II. and +Marguerite de Foix, at Nantes, was a Tourangeau +or a Breton, but Tours claims him for her +own, and settles once for all the spelling of his +name by producing a "<i>papier des affaires</i>" +signed plainly "Colombe." The proof lies in +this document, signed in a notary's office at +Tours, concerning payments which were made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span> +to him on behalf of the magnificent sepulchre +which he executed for the church of St. Sauveur +at La Rochelle. In his time—fifteenth century—Colombe +had no rivals in the art of monumental +sculpture in France, and with reason +he has been called the Michel Ange of France.</p> + +<p>The cathedral quarter has for its chief attraction +that gorgeously florid St. Gatien, whose +ornate façade was likened by a certain monarch +to a magnificently bejewelled casket. It is an +interesting and lovable Gothic-Renaissance +church which, if not quite of the first rank +among the masterpieces of its kind, is a marvel +of splendour, and an example of the "<i>caprices +d'une guipure d'art</i>," as the French call it.</p> + +<p>Bordering the Loire at Tours is a series +of tree-lined quays and promenades which are +the scenes, throughout the spring and summer +months, of fêtes and fairs of many sorts. Here, +too, at the extremity of the Rue Nationale, are +statues of Descartes and Balzac.</p> + +<p>The Tour de Guise on the river-bank recalls +the domination of the Plantagenet kings of +England, who were Counts of Anjou since it +formed a part of the twelfth-century château +built here by Henry II. of England.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus269_small.jpg" +width="200" +alt="Scene in the Quartier de la Cathédrale, Tours" +title="Scene in the Quartier de la Cathédrale, Tours" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus269.jpg"> +<i>Scene in the Quartier de la Cathédrale, Tours</i></a></div> +</div> + + + +<p>At the opposite extremity of the city is another +other tower, the Tour de Foubert, which pro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">209</a></span>tected +the feudal domain of the old abbey of +St. Martin. The history of days gone by at +Tours was more churchly than political.</p> + +<p>Once only—during the reign of Louis XII.—did +the States General meet at Tours (in +1506). Then the deputies of the <i>bourgeoisie</i> +met alone for their deliberations, the chief outcome +of which was to bestow upon the king the +eminently fitting title of "Père du Peuple." +One may question the righteousness of Louis +XII. in throwing over his wife, Jeanne de +France, in order to serve political ends by acquiring +the estates of Anne of Brittany for the +Crown of France for ever, but there is no doubt +but that he did it for the "<i>good of his people</i>."</p> + +<p>The principal literary shrine at Tours is the +house, in the Rue Nationale, where was born +Honoré de Balzac.</p> + +<p>One could not do better than to visit Tours +during the "<i>été de St. Martin</i>," since it was the +soldier-priest of Tours who gave his name to +that warm, bright prolongation of summer +which in France (and in England) is known as +"St. Martin's summer," and which finds its +counterpart in America's "Indian summer."</p> + +<p>The legend tells us that somewhere in the +dark ages lived a soldier named Martin. He +was always of a charitable disposition, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span> +none asked alms of him in vain. One November +day, when the wind blew briskly and the snow +fell fast, a beggar asked for food and clothing. +Martin had but his own cloak, and this he forthwith +tore in half and gave one portion to the +beggar. Later on the same night there came +a knocking at Martin's door; the snow had +ceased falling and the stars shone brightly, and +one of goodly presence stood with the cloak +on his arm, saying, "I was naked and ye +clothed me." Martin straightway became a +priest of the church, and died an honoured +bishop of Tours, and for ever after the anniversary +of his conversion is celebrated by +sunny skies.</p> + +<p>We owe a double debt to St. Martin. We +have to thank him for the saying, "<i>All my +eye</i>" and the words "<i>chapel</i>" and "<i>chaplain</i>." +The full form of the phrase, "<i>All my +eye and Betty Martin</i>," which we all of us have +often heard, is an obvious corruption of "<i>O +mihi beate Martine</i>," the beginning of an invocation +to the saint. The cloak he divided with +a naked beggar, which, by the way, took place +at Amiens, not at Tours, was treasured as a +relic by the Frankish kings, borne before them +in battle, and brought forth when solemn oaths +were to be taken. The guardians of this cloak<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span> +or cape were known as "<i>cappellani</i>," whence +"<i>chaplain</i>," while its sanctuary or "<i>cappella</i>" +has become "<i>chapel</i>."</p> + +<p>For their descriptions of Plessis-les-Tours +modern English travellers have invariably +turned to the pages of Sir Walter Scott. This +is all very well in its way, but it is also well +to remember that Scott drew his picture from +definite information, and it is not merely the +product of his imaginary architectural skill. +In this respect Scott was certainly far ahead +of Carlyle in his estimates of French matters.</p> + +<p>"Even in those days" (writing of "Quentin +Durward"), said Scott, "when the great +found themselves obliged to reside in places of +fortified strength, it" (Plessis-les-Tours) +"was distinguished for the extreme and jealous +care with which it was watched and defended." +All this is substantiated and corroborated by +authorities, and, while it may have been chosen +by Scott merely as a suitable accessory for the +details of his story, Plessis-les-Tours unquestionably +was a royal stronghold of such proportions +as to be but meanly suggested by the +scanty remains of the present day.</p> + +<p>Louis XI. dreamed fondly of Plessis-les-Tours +(Plessis being from the Latin <i>Plexitium</i>, +a name borne by many suburban villages of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span> +France), and he sought to make it a royal residence +where he should be safe from every outward +harm. It had four great towers, crenelated +and machicolated, after the best Gothic +fortresses of the time. At the four angles of +the protecting walls were the principal logis, +and between the lines of its ramparts or fosses +was an advance-guard of buildings presumably +intended for the vassals in time of danger.</p> + +<p>This was the castle as Louis first knew it, +when it was the property of the chamberlain +of the Duchy of Luynes, from whom the king +bought it for five thousand and five hundred +<i>écus d'or</i>,—the value of fifty thousand francs +of to-day.</p> + +<p>Its former appellation, Montilz-les-Tours, +was changed (1463) to Plessis. All the chief +features have disappeared, and to-day it is but +a scrappy collection of tumble-down buildings +devoted to all manner of purposes. A few +fragmentary low-roofed vaults are left, and +a brick and stone building, flanked by an octagonal +tower, containing a stairway; but this is +about all of the former edifice, which, if not as +splendid as some other royal residences, was +quite as effectively defended and as suitable to +its purposes as any.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213"></a></span></p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus275_small.jpg" alt="Plessis-Les-Tours In the time of Louis XI" title="Plessis-Les-Tours In the time of Louis XI" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus275.jpg"> +<i>Plessis-Les-Tours In the time of Louis XI</i></a></div> +</div> + + + +<p>It had, too, within its walls a tiny chapel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span> +dedicated to Our Lady of Cléry, before whose +altar the superstitious Louis made his inconstant +devotions.</p> + +<p>Once a great forest surrounded the château, +and was, as Scott says, "rendered dangerous +and well-nigh impracticable by snares and +traps armed with scythe-blades, which shred +off the unwary traveller's limbs ... and calthrops +that would pierce your foot through, +and pitfalls deep enough to bury you in them +for ever." To-day the forest has disappeared, +"lost in the night of time," as a French historian +has it.</p> + +<p>The detailed description in "Quentin Durward" +is, however, as good as any, and, if one +has no reference works in French by him, he +may well read the dozen or more pages which +Sir Walter devotes to the further description +of the castle.</p> + +<p>Perhaps, after all, it is fitting that a Scot +should have written so enthusiastically of it, +for the castle itself was guarded by the Scottish +archers, "to the number of three hundred +gentlemen of the best blood of Scotland."</p> + +<p>An anonymous poet has written of the ancient +glory of this retreat of Louis's as follows:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span></p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0_5">"Un imposant château se présente à la vue,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Par des portes de fer l'entrée est défendue;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Les murs en sont épais et les fossés profonds;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On y voit des créneaux, des tours, des bastions,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Et des soldats armés veillent sur ses murailles."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>Frame this with such details as the surrounding +country supplies, the Cher on one side, the +Loire on the other, and the fertile hills of St. +Cyr, of Ballon, and of Joué, and one has a +picture worthy of the greatest painter of any +time.</p> + +<p>Louis XI. died at Plessis, after having lived +there many years. Louis XII. made of it a +<i>rendezvous de chasse</i>, but François II. confided +its care to a governor and would never live +in it. Louis XIV. gave the governorship as +a hereditary perquisite to the widow of the +Seigneur de Sausac.</p> + +<p>In 1778 it was used as a sort of retreat for +the indigent, though happily enough Touraine +was never overburdened with this class of humanity. +Under Louis XV. a Mademoiselle Deneux, +a momentary rival of La Pompadour and +Du Barry, found a retreat here. Later it became +a <i>maison de correction</i>, and finally a +<i>dépôt militaire</i>. At the time of the Revolution +it was declared to be national property, and on +the <i>nineteenth Nivoise, Year IV.</i>, Citizen Cormeri, +justice of the peace at Tours, fixed its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">216</a></span> +value at one hundred and thirty-one thousand +francs.</p> + +<p>To-day it is as bare and uncouth as a mere +barracks or as a disused flour-mill, and its ruins +are visited partly because of their former historical +glories, as recalled by students of +French history, and partly because of the +glamour which was shed over it, for English +readers, by Scott.</p> + +<p>Sixty years ago a French writer deplored the +fact that, on leaving these scanty remains of a +so long gone past, he observed a notice nailed +to a pillar of the <i>porte-cochère</i> reading:</p> + +<div class="box1"> +<div style="text-align: right">LA FERME DU PLESSIS</div><br /> +<div style="text-align: left">O LOUER OU A VENDRE</div> +</div> + +<p>To-day some sort of a division and rearrangement +of the property has been made, but +the result is no less mournful and sad, and thus +a glorious page of the annals of France has +become blurred.</p> + +<p>It is interesting to recall what manner of +persons composed the household of Louis XI. +when he resided at Plessis-les-Tours. Commines, +his historian, has said that habitually +it consisted of a chancellor, a <i>juge de l'hôtel</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">217</a></span> +a private secretary, and a treasurer, each having +under him various employees. In addition +there was a master of the pantry, a cupbearer, +a <i>chef de bouche</i> and a <i>chef de cuisine</i>, a <i>fruitier</i>, +a master of the horse, a quartermaster +or master-at-arms, and, in immediate control of +these domestic servants, a <i>seneschal</i> or <i>grand +maître</i>. In many respects the household was +not luxuriously conducted, for the parsimonious +Louis lived fully up to the false maxim: +"<i>Qui peu donne, beaucoup recueille.</i>"</p> + +<p>Louis himself was fond of doing what the +modern housewife would call "messing about +in the kitchen." He did not dabble at cookery +as a pastime, or that sort of thing; but rather +he kept an eagle eye on the whole conduct of +the affairs of the household.</p> + +<p>One day, coming to the kitchen <i>en négligé</i>, +he saw a small boy turning a spit before the +fire.</p> + +<p>"And what might you be called?" said he, +patting the lad on the shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Etienne," replied the <i>marmiton</i>.</p> + +<p>"Thy <i>pays</i>, my lad?"</p> + +<p>"Le Berry."</p> + +<p>"Thy age?"</p> + +<p>"Fifteen, come St. Martin's."</p> + +<p>"Thy wish?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">218</a></span></p> + +<p>"To be as great as the king" (he had not +recognized his royal master).</p> + +<p>"And what wishes the king?"</p> + +<p>"His expenses to become less."</p> + +<p>The reply brought good fortune for the lad, +for Louis made him his <i>valet de chambre</i>, and +took him afterward into his most intimate confidence.</p> + +<p>Louis was fond of <i>la chasse</i>, and Scott does +not overlook this fact in "Quentin Durward." +When affairs of state did not press, it was the +king's greatest pleasure. For the royal hunt no +pains or expense were spared. The carriages +were without an equal elsewhere in the courts +of Europe, and the hunting establishment was +equipped with <i>chiens courants</i> from Spain, +<i>levriers</i> from Bretagne, <i>bassets</i> from Valence, +mules from Sicily, and horses from Naples.</p> + +<p>The attractions of the environs of Tours are +many and interesting: St. Symphorien, Varennes, +the Grottoes of Ste. Radegonde, and the +site of that most famous abbey of Marmoutier, +also a foundation of St. Martin. Here, under +the name Martinus Monasterium, grew up an +immense and superb establishment. From an +old seventeenth-century print one quotes the +following couplet:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">219</a></span></p> + +<div class="figright"> +<a href="images/illus281.jpg"> +<img src="images/illus281_small.jpg" alt="Environs of Tours" title="Environs of Tours" /> +</a> +</div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0_5">"De quel côté que le vent vente<br /></span> +<span class="i0_5">Marmoutier a cens et rente."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>From this one infers that the abbey's original +functions are performed no more.</p> + +<p>In the middle ages (thirteenth century) it +was one of the most powerful institutions of its +class, and its church one of the most beautiful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span> +in Touraine. The tower and donjon are the +only substantial remains of this early edifice.</p> + +<p>A curious chapel, called the "Chapelle des +Sept Dormants," is here cut in the form of a +cross into the rock of the hillside, where are +buried the remains of the Seven Sleepers, +the disciples of St. Martin, who, as the holy +man had predicted, all died on the same day.</p> + +<p>Beyond Marmoutier, a stairway of 122 steps, +cut also in the rock, leads to the plateau on +which stands the gaunt and ugly Lanterne de +Rochecorbon, a fourteenth-century construction +with a crenelated summit, an unlovely +companion of that even more enigmatic erection +known as "La Pile," a few miles down +the Loire at Cinq-Mars.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">221</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XI.<span class="pagenum"><a href="#Contents">To ToC</a></span></h2> + +<h4>LUYNES AND LANGEAIS</h4> + + +<p>Below Tours, and before reaching Saumur, +are a succession of panoramic surprises which +are only to be likened to those of our imagination, +but they are very real nevertheless.</p> + +<p>As one leaves Tours by the road which skirts +the right bank of the Loire, he is once more +impressed by the fact that the <i>cailloux de Loire</i> +are the river's chief product, though fried fish, +of a similar variety to those found in the Seine, +are found on the menus of all roadside taverns +and restaurants.</p> + +<p>Still, the effect of the uncovered bed of the +Loire, with its variegated pebbles and mirror-like +pools, is infinitely more picturesque than if +it were mud flats, and its tree-bordered banks +are for ever opening great alleyed vistas such +as are only known in France.</p> + +<p>The hills on either bank are not of the stupendous +and magnificently scenic order of those +of the Seine above and below Rouen; but, such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">222</a></span> +as they are, they are of much the same composition, +a soft talcy formation which here +serves admirably the purposes of cliff-dwellings +for the vineyard and wine-press workers, +who form practically the sole population of the +Loire villages from Vouvray, just above Tours, +to Saumur far below.</p> + +<p>On the hillsides are the vineyards themselves, +growing out of the thin layer of soil +in shades of red and brown and golden, which +no artist has ever been able to copy, for no +one has painted the rich colouring of a vineyard +in a manner at all approaching the original.</p> + +<p>Not far below Tours, on the right bank, rise +the towers and turrets of the Château de +Luynes, hanging perilously high above the lowland +which borders upon the river. An unpleasant +tooting tram gives communication a +dozen times a day with Tours, but few, apparently, +patronize it except peasants with market-baskets, +and vineyard workers going into town +for a jollification. It is perhaps just as well, +for the fine little town of Luynes, which takes +its name from the château which has been the +residence of a Comte de Luynes since the days +of Louis XIII., would be quite spoiled if it were +on the beaten track.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">223</a></span></p> + + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus285_small.jpg" alt="A Vineyard of Vouvray" title="A Vineyard of Vouvray" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus285.jpg"><i>A Vineyard of Vouvray</i></a></div> +</div> + + + +<p>The brusque façade of the Château de Luynes +makes a charming interior, judging from the +descriptions and drawings which are to be met +with in an elaborately prepared volume devoted +to its history.</p> + +<p>The stranger is allowed to enter within the +gates of the courtyard, beneath the grim coiffed +towers; but he may visit only certain apartments. +He will, however, see enough to indicate +that the edifice was something more than +a mere <i>maison de campagne</i>. All the attributes +of an important fortress are here, great, round, +thickly built towers, with but few exterior windows, +and those high up from the ground. +There is nothing of luxurious elegance about +it, and its aspect is forbidding, though imposing.</p> + +<p>The château belies its looks somewhat, for it +was built only in the fifteenth and sixteenth +centuries, when, in most of its neighbours, the +more or less florid Renaissance was in vogue. +A Renaissance structure in stone and brick +forms a part of that which faces on the interior +court, and is flanked by a fine octagonal "<i>tour +d'escalier</i>."</p> + +<p>From the terrace of the courtyard one gets +an impressive view of the Loire, which glides +by two or more kilometres away, and of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">224</a></span> +towers and roof-tops of Tours, and the vine-carpeted +hills which stretch away along the +river's bank in either direction.</p> + +<p>The château of Luynes is still in the possession +of a Duc de Luynes, through whose courtesy +one may visit such of the apartments as +his servants are allowed to show. It is not +so great an exhibition, nor so good a one, as +is to be had at Langeais; but it is satisfactory +as far as it goes, and, when it is supplemented +by the walks and views which are to be had +on the plateau, upon which the grim-towered +château sits, the memory of it all becomes most +pleasurable.</p> + +<p>The former Ducs de Luynes were continually +appearing in the historic events of the later +Renaissance period, but it was only with +Louis XIII., he who would have put France +under the protection of the Virgin, that the +chatelain of Luynes came to a position of real +power. Louis made Albert, the Gascon, both +Duc de Luynes and Connétable de France, and +thereby gave birth to a tyrant whom he hated +and feared, as he did his mother, his wife, and +his minister, Richelieu.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus289_small.jpg" alt="Mediæval Stairway and the Château de Luynes" title="Mediæval Stairway and the Château de Luynes" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus289.jpg"><i>Mediæval Stairway and the Château de Luynes</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>The site occupied by the château of Luynes +is truly marvellous, though, as a matter of fact, +there is no great magnificence about the pro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">225</a></span>portions +of the château itself. It is piled gracefully +on the top of a table-land which rises +abruptly from the Loire and has a charmingly +quaint old town nestled confidingly below it, +as if for protection.</p> + +<p>One reaches the château by any one of a half-dozen +methods, by the highroad which bends +around in hairpin curves until it reaches the +plateau above, by various paths across or +around the vineyards of the hillside, or by a +quaintly cut mediæval stairway, levelled and +terraced in the gravelly soil until it ends just +beneath the frowning walls of the château itself. +From this point one gets quite the most imposing +aspect of the château to be had, its towers +and turrets piercing the sky high above the +head, and carrying the mind back to the days +when civilization meant something more—or +less—than it does to-day, with the toot of a +steam-tram down below on the river's bank +and the midday whistles of the factories of +Tours rending one's ears the moment he forgets +the past and recalls the present.</p> + +<p>To-day the Château de Luynes is modern, +at least to the extent that it is lived in, and has +all the refinements of a modern civilization; +but one does not realize all this from an exterior +contemplation, and only as one strolls<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">226</a></span> +through the apartments publicly shown, and +gets glimpses of electrical conveniences and +modern arrangements, does he wonder how far +different it may have been before all this came +to pass.</p> + +<p>Built in early Renaissance times, the château +has all the peculiarities of the feudal period, +when window-openings were few and far between, +and high up above the level of the pavement. +In feudal and warlike times this often +proved an admirable feature; but one would +have thought that, with the beginning of the +Renaissance, a more ample provision would +have been made for the admission of sunshine.</p> + +<p>The <i>chef-d'œuvre</i> of this really great architectural +monument is undoubtedly the façade +of the beautiful fifteenth-century courtyard. +There is nothing even remotely feudal here, +but a purely decorative effect which is as +charming in its way as is the exterior façade +of Azay-le-Rideau. "A poem," it has been +called, "in weather-worn timber and stone," +and the simile could hardly be improved upon.</p> + +<p>The town, too, or such of it as immediately +adjoins the château, is likewise charming and +quaint, and sleepily indolent as far as any great +activity is concerned.</p> + +<p>Luynes was the seat of a seigneurie until<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">227</a></span> +1619, when it became a possession of the Comte +de Maillé. Finally it came to Charles d'Albert, +known as "D'Albert de Luynes," a former +page to Henri IV., who afterward became the +favourite and the Guardian of the Seals of +Louis XIV.; and thus the earlier foundation +of Maillé became known as Luynes.</p> + +<p>Except for its old houses of wood and stone, +its old wooden market-house, and its tortuous +streets of stairs, there are few features here, +except the château, which take rank as architectural +monuments of worth. The church is +a modern structure, built after the Romanesque +manner and wholly without warmth and feeling.</p> + +<p>From the height on which stands the château +of Luynes one sees, as his eye follows the +course of the Loire to the southwestward, the +gaunt, unbeautiful "Pile" of Cinq-Mars. The +origin of this singular square tower, looking +for all the world like a factory chimney or some +great ventilating-shaft, is lost far back in Carlovingian, +or perhaps Roman, times. It is a +mystery to archæologists and antiquarians, +some claiming it to be a military monument, +others a beacon by land, and yet others believing +it to be of some religious significance.</p> + +<p>At all events, all the explanations ignore the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">228</a></span> +four <i>pyramidions</i> of its topmost course, and +these, be it remarked, are quite the most curious +feature of the whole fabric.</p> + +<p>To many the name of the little town of Cinq-Mars +will suggest that of the Marquis de Cinq-Mars, +a court favourite of Louis XIII. It was +the ambitious but unhappy career at court of +this young gallant which ultimately resulted in +his death on the scaffold, and in the razing, +by Richelieu, of his ancestral residence, the +castle of Cinq-Mars, "to the heights of infamy." +The expression is a curious one, but +history so records it. All that is left to-day +to remind one of the stronghold of the D'Effiats +of Cinq-Mars are its two crumbling gate-towers +with an arch between and a few fragmentary +foundation walls which follow the +summit of the cliff behind "La Pile."</p> + +<p>The little town of not more than a couple +of thousand inhabitants nestles in a bend of the +Loire, where there is so great a breadth that +it looks like a long-drawn-out lake. The low +hills, so characteristic of these parts, stretch +themselves on either bank, unbroken except +where some little streamlet forces its way by +a gentle ravine through the scrubby undergrowth. +Oaks and firs and huge limestone +cliffs jut out from the top of the hillside on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">229</a></span> +the right bank and shelter the town which lies +below.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus295_small.jpg" alt="Ruins of Cinq-Mars" title="Ruins of Cinq-Mars" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus295.jpg"><i>Ruins of Cinq-Mars</i></a></div> +</div> + + + + +<p>Cinq-Mars is a miniature metropolis, though +not a very progressive one at first sight; indeed, +beyond its long main street and its houses, +which cluster about its grim, though beautiful, +tenth and twelfth century church, there are few +signs of even provincial importance.</p> + +<p>In reality Cinq-Mars is the centre of a large +and important wine industry, where you may +hear discussed, at the <i>table d'hôte</i> of its not +very readily found little inn, the poor prices +which the usually abundant crop always brings. +The native even bewails the fact that he is not +blessed with a poor season or two and then he +would be able to sell his fine vintages for something +more than three sous a litre. By the time +it reaches Paris this <i>vin de Touraine</i> of commerce +has aggrandized itself so that it commands +two francs fifty centimes on the Boulevards, +and a franc fifty in the University +quarter.</p> + +<p>The fall of Henri Cinq-Mars was most +pathetic, though no doubt moralists will claim +that because of his covetous ambitions he deserved +nothing better.</p> + +<p>He went up to Paris from Touraine, a boy of +twenty, and was presented to the king, who was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">230</a></span> +immediately impressed by his distinguished +manners. From infancy Cinq-Mars had been a +lover of life in the open. He had hunted the +forests of Touraine, and had angled the waters +of the Loire, and thus he came to give a new +zest to the already sad life of Louis XIII. +Honour after honour was piled upon him until +he was made Grand Seneschal of France and +Master of the King's Horse, at which time he +dropped his natal patronymic and became +known as "Monsieur le Grand."</p> + +<p>Cinq-Mars fell madly in love with Marion +Delorme and wished to make her "Madame +la Grande," but the dowager Marquise de Cinq-Mars +would not hear of it: Mlle. Marion Delorme, +the Aspasia of her day, would be no +honour to the ancestral tree of the Effiats of +Cinq-Mars.</p> + +<p>Headstrong and wilful, one early morning, +Monsieur le Grand and his beloved, then only +thirty, took coach from her hotel in the Rue des +Tournelles at Paris for the old family castle +in Touraine, sitting high on the hills above the +feudal village which bore the name of Cinq-Mars. +In the chapel they were secretly married, +and for eight days the proverbial marriage-bell +rang true. Their Nemesis appeared +on the ninth day in the person of the dowager,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">231</a></span> +and Cinq-Mars told his mother that the whole +affair was simply a <i>passe temps</i>, and that +Mlle. Delorme was still Mlle. Delorme. His +mother would not be deceived, however, and she +flew for succour to Richelieu, who himself was +more than slightly acquainted with the charms +of the fair Marion.</p> + +<p>This was Cinq-Mars's downfall. He advised +the king "by fair means or foul, let Richelieu +die," and the king listened. A conspiracy was +formed, by Cinq-Mars and others, to do away +with the cardinal, <i>and even the king</i>, at whose +death Gaston of Orleans was to be proclaimed +regent for his nephew, the infant Louis XIV.</p> + +<p>The court went to Narbonne, on the Mediterranean, +that it might be near aid from Spain; +all of which was a subterfuge of Cinq-Mars. +The rest moves quickly: Richelieu discovered +the plot; Cinq-Mars attempted to flee disguised +as a Spaniard, was captured and brought as a +prisoner to the castle at Montpellier.</p> + +<p>Richelieu had proved the more powerful of +the two; but he was dying, and this is the reason, +perhaps, why he hurried matters. Cinq-Mars, +"the amiable criminal," went to the torture-chamber, +and afterward to the scaffold.</p> + +<p>"Then," say the old chronicles, "Richelieu +ordered that the feudal castle of Cinq-Mars, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">232</a></span> +the valley of the Loire, should be blown up, and +the towers razed to the height of infamy."</p> + +<p>From Cinq-Mars to Langeais, whose château +is really one of the most appealing sights of the +Loire, the characteristics of the country are +topographically and economically the same; +green hills slope, vine-covered, to the river, +with here and there a tiny rivulet flowing into +the greater stream.</p> + +<p>As at Cinq-Mars, the chief commodity of +Langeais is wine, rich, red wine and pale +amber, too, but all of it wine of a quality and +at a price which would make the city-dweller +envious indeed.</p> + +<p>There are two distinct châteaux at Langeais; +at least, there is <i>the</i> château, and just beyond +the ornamental stone-carpet of its courtyard +are the ruins of one of the earliest donjons, or +keeps, in all France. It dates from the year +990, and was built by the celebrated Comte +d'Anjou, Foulques Nerra, "<i>un criminel dévoyé +des hommes et de Dieu</i>," whose hobby, evidently, +was building châteaux, as his "follies" +in stone are said to have encumbered the land +in those old days.</p> + +<p>Taken and retaken, dismantled and in part +razed in the fifteenth century, it gave place to +the present château by the orders of Louis XI.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">233</a></span></p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus301_small.jpg" alt="Château de Langeais" title="Château de Langeais" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus301.jpg"><i>Château de Langeais</i></a></div> +</div> + + + + +<p>The Château de Langeais of to-day is a +robust example of its kind; its walls, flanked +by great hooded towers, have a surrounding +"<i>guette</i>," or gallery, which served as a means +of communication from one part of the establishment +to another and, in warlike times, allowed +boiling oil or melted lead, or whatever +they may have used for the purpose, to be +poured down upon the heads of any besiegers +who had the audacity to attack it.</p> + +<p>There is no glacis or moat, but the machicolations, +sixty feet or more up from the ground, +must have afforded a well-nigh perfect means +of repelling a near attack.</p> + +<p>Altogether Langeais is a redoubtable little +château of the period, and its aspect to-day has +changed but very little. "It is the swan-song +of expiring feudalism," said the Abbé Bossebœuf.</p> + +<p>One gets a thrill of heroic emotion when he +views its hardy walls for the first time: "a +mountain of stone, a heroic poem of Gothic +art," it has with reason been called.</p> + +<p>Jean Bourré, the minister of Louis XI., built +the present château about 1460. The chief +events of its history were the drawing up +within its walls of the "common law" of Touraine, +by the order of Charles VII., and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">234</a></span> +marriage of Charles VIII. with Anne de Bretagne, +on the 16th of December, 1491.</p> + +<p>The land belonged, in 1276, to Pierre de +Brosse, the minister of Philippe-le-Hardi; +later, to François d'Orleans, son of the celebrated +<i>Bâtard</i>; to the Princesse de Conti, +daughter of the Duc de Guise; to the families +Du Bellay and D'Effiats, Barons of Cinq-Mars; +and, finally, to the Duc de Luynes, in whose +hands it remained up to the Revolution.</p> + +<p>Honoré de Balzac, who may well be called +one of the historians of Touraine, gave to +one of his heroines the name of Langeais. To-day, +however, the family of Langeais does not +exist, and, indeed, according to the chronicles, +never had any connection with either the donjon +of Foulques Nerra or the château of the +fifteenth century. The present owner is M. +Jacques Siegfreid, who has admirably restored +and furnished it after the Gothic style of the +middle ages.</p> + +<p>The château of Langeais, like that of Chenonceaux, +is occupied, as one learns from a visit +to its interior. A lackey of a superior order +receives you; you pay a franc for an admission +ticket, and the lackey conducts you through +nearly, if not quite all, of the apartments. +Where the family goes during this process it is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">235</a></span> +hard to say, but doubtless they are willing to +inconvenience themselves for the benefit of +"touring" humanity.</p> + +<p>The interior, no less than the exterior, +impresses one as being something which has lived +in the past, and yet exists to-day in all its +original glory, for the present proprietor, with the +aid of an admirable adviser, M. Lucien Roy, a +Parisian architect, has produced a resemblance +of its former furnishings which, so far as it +goes, is beyond criticism.</p> + +<p>There is nothing of bareness about it, nor is +there an over-luxuriant interpolation of irrelevant +things, such as a curator crowds into a +museum. In short, nothing more has been done +than to attempt to reconstitute a habitation +of the fifteenth century. For seventeen years +the work has gone on, and there have been collected +many authentic furnishings contemporary +with the fabric itself, great oaken beds, +tables, chairs, benches, tapestries, and other +articles. In addition, the decorations have +been carried out after the same manner, copied +in many cases from contemporary pictures and +prints.</p> + +<p>To-day, the general aspect is that of a peaceful +household, with all recollections of feudal +times banished for ever. All is tranquil, re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">236</a></span>spectable, +and luxurious, and it would take a +chronic faultfinder not to be content with the +manner with which these admirable restorations +and refurnishings have been carried out.</p> + +<p>One notes particularly the infinite variety +and appropriateness of the tiling which goes +to make up the floors of these great salons—modern +though it is. The great chimneypieces, +however, are ancient, and have not been +retouched. Those in the Salle des Gardes and +the Salle where was celebrated the marriage +of Charles VIII. and Anne de Bretagne, with +their ornamentation in the best of Gothic, are +especially noteworthy.</p> + +<p>This latter apartment is the chief attraction +of the château and the room of which the present +dwellers in this charming monument of +history are naturally the most proud. To-day +it forms the great dining-hall of the establishment. +Mementos of this marriage, so momentous +for France, are exceedingly numerous +along the lower Loire, but this handsome room +quite leads them all. This marriage, and the +goods and lands it brought to the Crown, had +but one stipulation connected with it, and that +was that the Duchesse Anne should be privileged +to marry the elderly king's successor, +should she survive her royal husband.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">237</a></span></p> + + + +<div class="figleft"><a href="images/illus307.jpg"> +<img src="images/illus307_small.jpg" alt="Arms of Louis XII. and Anne de Bretagne at the time of their marriage" title="Arms of Louis XII. and Anne de Bretagne at the time of their marriage" /></a> +</div> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">238</a></span>Louis XII. was not at all opposed to becoming +the husband of la Duchesse Anne after +Charles VIII. had met his death on the tennis-court, +because this second marriage would for +ever bind to France that great province ruled +by the gentle Anne.</p> + +<p>In the Salle des Gardes are six valuable +tapestries representing such heroic figures as +Cæsar and Charlemagne, surrounded by their +companions in arms.</p> + +<p>From the towers, on a clear day, one may see +the pyramids of the cathedral at Tours rising +on the horizon to the northward. Below is the +Château de Villandry, where Philippe-Auguste +met Henry II. of England to conclude a memorable +peace. To the right is Azay-le-Rideau, +and to the extreme right are the ruined towers +of Cinq-Mars and its Pile. Nothing could be +more delicious on a bright summer's day than +the view from the ramparts of Langeais over +the roof-tops of the charming little town in the +foreground.</p> + +<p>Some time after the Revolution there was +found, in the gardens of the château, the +remains of a <i>chapelle romaine</i> which historians, +who have searched the annals of antiquity in +Touraine, claim to have been the chapel in honour +of St. Sauveur which Foulques V., called<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">239</a></span> +le Jeune, one of the five Counts of Anjou of that +name, constructed upon his return from his +voyage to Palestine in the twelfth century. +To-day it is overgrown with a trellised grapevine +and is practically not visible, still it is +another architectural monument of the first +rank with which the not very ample domain +of the Château de Langeais is endowed.</p> + +<p>From the courtyard the walls of the château +take on a Renaissance aspect; a tiny doorway +beside the great gate is manifestly Renaissance; +so, too, are the polygonal towers, with +their winding stairs, the pignons and gables +of the roof, and what carved stone there is in +evidence. Three stone stairways which mount +by the slender <i>tourelles</i> serve to communicate +with the various floors to-day as they did in the +times of Charles VIII.</p> + +<p>The courtyard itself, with its formal carpet +design in stone, its shaded walls, its stone +seats, and its Roman sarcophagus, is a pleasant +retreat, but it has not the seclusion of the larger +park, delightful though it is.</p> + +<p>Just before the drawbridge of the old château, +that mediæval gateway by which one enters +to-day, one sees the Maison de Rabelais, +who is the deity of Langeais and Chinon, as is +Balzac that of Tours. It is a fine old-time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">240</a></span> +house of a certain amplitude and grandeur +among its less splendid fellows, now given over, +on the ground floor, to a bakery and pastry-shop. +Enough is left of its original aspect, +and the Renaissance decorations of its façade +are sufficiently well preserved to stamp it as a +worthy abode for the "Curé de Chinon," who +lived here for some years.</p> + +<p>Two other names in literature are connected +with Langeais: Ronsard, the poet, who lived +here for a time, and César-Alexis-Chichereau, +Chevalier de la Barre, who was a poet and a +troubadour of repute.</p> + +<p>The main street of Langeais is still flanked +with good Gothic and Renaissance houses, +neither pretentious nor mean, but of that order +which sets off to great advantage the walls and +towers and porches of the château and the +church. This street follows the ancient Roman +roadway which traversed the valley of the +Loire through Gaul.</p> + +<p>The river is here crossed by one of those +too frequent, though useful, suspension-bridges, +with which the Loire abounds. The guide-books +call it <i>beau</i>, but it is not. One has to +cross it to reach Azay-le-Rideau, which lies ten +kilometres or more away across the Indre.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">241</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XII.<span class="pagenum"><a href="#Contents">To ToC</a></span></h2> + +<h4>AZAY-LE-RIDEAU, USSÉ, AND CHINON</h4> + + +<p>From Langeais, one's obvious route lies +towards Chinon, via Azay-le-Rideau and Ussé. +These latter are practically within the forest, +though the Forêt de Chinon proper does not +actually begin until one leaves Azay behind, +when for twenty kilometres or more one of the +most superb forest roads in France crosses +many hills and dales until it finally descends +into Chinon itself.</p> + +<p>Like most forest roads in France, this highway +is not flat; it rises and falls with a sheer +that is sometimes precipitous, but always with +a gravelled surface that gives little dust, and +which absorbs water as the sand from the +pounce-box of our forefathers dried up ink. +This simile calls to mind the fact that in twentieth-century +France the pounce-box is still in +use, notably at wayside railway stations, where +the agent writes you out your ticket and dries +it off in a box, not of sand, but of sawdust.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">242</a></span></p> + +<p>To partake of the hospitality of Azay-le-Rideau +one must arrive before four in the +afternoon, and not earlier than midday. From +the photographs and post-cards by which one +has become familiar with Azay-le-Rideau, it +appears like a great country house sitting by +itself far away from any other habitation. In +England this is often the case, in France but +seldom.</p> + +<p>Clustered around the walls of the not very +great park which surrounds the château are +all manner of shops and cafés, not of the tourist +order,—for there is very little here to suggest +that tourists ever come, though indeed +they do, by twos and threes throughout all the +year,—but for the accommodation of the +population of the little town itself, which must +approximate a couple of thousand souls, all +of whom appear to be engaged in the culture +of the vine and its attendant pursuits, as the +wine-presses, the coopers' shops, and other +similar establishments plainly show. There is, +moreover, the pleasant smell of fermented +grape-juice over all, which, like the odour of +the hop-fields of Kent, is conducive to sleep; +and there lies the charm of Azay-le-Rideau, +which seems always half-asleep.</p> + +<p>The Hôtel du Grand Monarque is a wonder<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">243</a></span>fully +comfortable country inn, with a dining-room +large enough to accommodate half a hundred +persons, but which, most likely, will serve +only yourself. One incongruous note is +sounded,—convenient though it be,—and that +is the electric light which illuminates the hotel +and its dependencies, including the stables, +which look as though they might once have +been a part of a mediæval château themselves.</p> + +<p>However, since posting days and tallow dips +have gone for ever, one might as well content +himself with the superior civilization which +confronts him, and be comfortable at least.</p> + +<p>The Château d'Azay-le-Rideau is one of the +gems of Touraine's splendid collection of Renaissance +art treasures, though by no means is +it one of the grandest or most imposing.</p> + +<p>A tree-lined avenue leads from the village +street to the château, which sits in the midst +of a tiny park; not a grand expanse as at Chambord +or Chenonceaux, but a sort of green frame +with a surrounding moat, fed by the waters +of the Indre.</p> + +<p>The main building is square, with a great +coiffed round tower at each corner. The Abbé +Chevalier, in his "Promenades Pittoresques +en Touraine," called it the purest and best of +French Renaissance, and such it assuredly is,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">244</a></span> +if one takes a not too extensive domestic establishment +of the early years of the sixteenth +century as the typical example.</p> + +<p>Undoubtedly the sylvan surroundings of the +château have a great deal to do with the effectiveness +of its charms. The great white walls +of its façade, with the wonderful sculptures +of Jean Goujon, glisten in the brilliant sunlight +of Touraine through the sycamores and willows +which border the Indre in a genuinely romantic +fashion.</p> + +<p>Somewhere within the walls are the remains +of an old tower of the one-time fortress which +was burned by the Dauphin Charles in 1418, +after, says history, "he had beheaded its governor +and taken all of the defenders to the +number of three hundred and thirty-four." +This act was in revenge for an alleged insult +to his sacred person.</p> + +<p>There are no remains of this former tower +visible exteriorly to-day, and no other bloody +acts appear to have attached themselves to the +present château in all the four hundred years +of its existence.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus315_small.jpg" alt="Château d'Azay-le-Rideau" title="Château d'Azay-le-Rideau" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus315.jpg"> +<i>Château d'Azay-le-Rideau</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>Gilles Berthelot erected the present structure +early in the reign of François I. He was a +man close to the king in affairs of state, first +<i>conseiller-secrétaire</i>, then <i>trésorier-général des<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">245</a></span> +finances</i>, hence he knew the value of money. +Among the succeeding proprietors was Guy de +Saint Gelais, one of the most accomplished +diplomats of his time. He was followed by +Henri de Beringhem, who built the stables and +ornamented the great room known as the +Chambre du Roi from the fact that Louis XIV. +once slept there, with the magnificent paintings +which are shown to-day.</p> + +<p>Everywhere is there a rich, though not gross, +display of decoration, beginning with such constructive +details as the pointed-roofed <i>tourelles</i>, +which are themselves exceedingly decorative. +The doors, windows, roof-tops, chimneypieces, +and the semi-enclosed circular stairways are +all elaborately sculptured after the best manner +of the time.</p> + +<p>The entrance portico is a wonder of its kind, +with a strong sculptured arcade and arched +window-openings and niches filled with bas-reliefs. +Sculptured shells, foliage, and mythological +symbols combine to form an arabesque, +through which are interspersed the favourite +ciphers of the region, the ermine and the salamander, +which go to prove that François and +other royalties must at one time or another +have had some connection with the château.</p> + +<p>History only tells us, however, that Gilles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">246</a></span> +Berthelot was a king's minister and Mayor +of Tours. Perhaps he thought of handing it +over as a gift some day in exchange for further +honours. His device bore the words, <i>"Ung +Seul Desir,"</i> which may or may not have had +a special significance.</p> + +<p>The interior of the edifice is as beautiful as +is its exterior, and is furnished with that luxuriance +of decorative effect so characteristic of +the best era of the Renaissance in France.</p> + +<p>Until recently the proprietor was the Marquis +de Biencourt, who, like his fellow proprietors +of châteaux in Touraine, generously gave +visitors an opportunity to see his treasure-house +for themselves, and, moreover, furnished +a guide who was something more than a menial +and yet not a supercilious functionary.</p> + +<p>Within a twelvemonth this "purest joy of +the French Renaissance" was put upon the +real estate market, with the result that it might +have fallen into unappreciative hands, or, what +a Touraine antiquarian told the writer would +be the worse fate that could possibly befall it, +might be bought up by some American millionaire, +who through the services of the house-breaker +would dismantle it and remove it stone +by stone and set it up anew on some asphalted +avenue in some western metropolis. This ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">247</a></span>traordinary +fear or rumour, whatever it was, +soon passed away and as a "<i>monument historique</i>" +the château has become the property +of the French government.</p> + +<p>Less original, perhaps, in plan than Chenonceaux, +less appealing in its <i>ensemble</i> and less +fortunate in its situation, Azay-le-Rideau is +nevertheless entitled to the praises which have +been heaped upon it.</p> + +<p>It is but a dozen kilometres from Azay-le-Rideau +to Ussé, on the road to Chinon. The +Château d'Ussé is indeed a big thing; not so +grand as Chambord, nor so winsome as Langeais, +but infinitely more characteristic of what +one imagines a great residential château to +have been like. It belongs to-day to the Comte +de Blacas, and once was the property of Vauban, +Maréchal of France, under Louis XIV., +who built the terrace which lies between it and +the river, a branch of the Indre.</p> + +<p>Perched high above the hemp-lands of the +river-bottom, which here are the most prolific +in the valley of the Indre, the château with its +park of seven hundred or more acres is truly +regal in its appointments and surroundings. +This park extends to the boundary of the +national reservation, the Forêt de Chinon.</p> + +<p>The Renaissance château of to-day is a recon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">248</a></span>struction +of the sixteenth century, which preserves, +however, the great cylindrical towers of +a century earlier. Its architecture is on the +whole fantastic, at least as much so as Chambord, +but it is none the less hardy and strong. +Practically it consists of a series of <i>pavillons</i> +bound to the great fifteenth-century donjon +by smaller towers and turrets, all slate-capped +and pointed, with machicolations surrounding +them, and above that a sort of roofed and +crenelated battlement which passes like a +collar around all the outer wall.</p> + +<p>The general effect of the exterior walls is +that of a great feudal stronghold, while from +the courtyard the aspect is simply that of a +luxurious Renaissance town house, showing at +least how the two styles can be pleasingly combined.</p> + +<p>Crenelated battlements are as old as Pompeii, +so it is doubtful if the feudality of France +did much to increase their use or effectiveness. +They were originally of such dimensions as to +allow a complete shelter for an archer standing +behind one of the uprights. The contrast +to those of a later day, which, virtually nothing +more than a course of decorative stonework, +give no impression of utility, is great, though<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">249</a></span> +here at Ussé they are more pronounced than in +many other similar edifices.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus321_small.jpg" alt="Château d'Ussé" title="Château d'Ussé" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus321.jpg"><i>Château d'Ussé</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>The interior arrangements here give due +prominence to a fine staircase, ornamented with +a painting of St. John that is attributed to +Michel Ange.</p> + +<p>The Chambre du Roi is hung with ancient +embroideries, and there is a beautiful Renaissance +chapel, above the door of which is a sixteenth-century +bas-relief of the Apostles. Most +of the other great rooms which are shown are +resplendent in oak-beamed ceilings and massive +chimneypieces, always a distinct feature of +Renaissance château-building, and one which +makes modern imitations appear mean and +ugly. To realize this to the full one has only +to recall the dining-room of the pretentious +hotel which huddles under the walls of Amboise. +In a photograph it looks like a regal +banqueting-hall; but in reality it is as tawdry +as stage scenery, with its imitation wainscoted +walls, its imitation beamed ceiling of three-quarter-inch +planks, and its plaster of Paris +fireplace.</p> + +<p>Near Ussé is the Château de Rochecotte +which recalls the name of a celebrated chieftain +of the Chouans. It belongs to-day, though +it is not their paternal home, to the family of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">250</a></span> +Castellane, a name which to many is quite as +celebrated and perhaps better known.</p> + +<p>The château contains a fine collection of +Dutch paintings of the seventeenth century, and +in its chapel there is a remarkably beautiful +copy of the Sistine Madonna. The name of +Talleyrand is intimately connected with the +occupancy of the château, in pre-revolutionary +times, by Rochecotte.</p> + +<p>On the road to Chinon one passes through, +or near, Huismes, which has nothing to stay +one's march but a good twelfth-century church, +which looks as though its doors were never +opened. The Château de la Villaumère, of the +fifteenth century, is near by, and of more than +passing interest are the ruins of the Château +de Bonneventure, built, it is said, by Charles +VII. for Agnes Sorel, who, with all her faults, +stands high in the esteem of most lovers of +French history. At any rate this shrine of +"<i>la belle des belles</i>" is worthy to rank with +that containing her tomb at Loches.</p> + +<p>As one enters Chinon by road he meets with +the usual steep decline into a river-valley, +which separates one height from another. +Generally this is the topographic formation +throughout France, and Chinon, with its silent +guardians, the fragments of three non-con<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">251</a></span>temporary +castles, all on the same site, is no +exception.</p> + +<p>"We never went to Chinon," says Henry +James, in his "Little Tour in France," written +thirty or more years ago. "But one cannot do +everything," he continues, "and I would +rather have missed Chinon than Chenonceaux." +A painter would have put it differently. Chenonceaux +is all that fact and fancy have painted +it, a gem in a perfect setting, and Chinon's +three castles are but mere crumbling walls; +but their environs form a <i>petit pays</i> which will +some day develop into an "artists' sketching-ground," +in years to come, beside which Etretat, +Moret, Pont Aven, Giverny, and Auvers +will cease to be considered.</p> + +<p>At the base of the escarped rock on which +sit the châteaux, or what is left of them, lies +the town of Chinon, with its old houses in +wood and stone and its great, gaunt, but beautiful +churches. Before it flows the Vienne, one +of the most romantically beautiful of all the +secondary rivers of France.</p> + +<p>From the <i>castrum romanum</i> of the emperors +to the feudal conquest Chinon played its +due part in the history of Touraine. There +are those who claim that Chinon is a "<i>cité antédiluvienne</i>" +and that it was founded by Cain,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">252</a></span> +who after his crime fled from the paternal malediction +and found a refuge here; and that its +name, at first <i>Caynon</i>, became Chinon. Like +the derivation of most ancient place-names, this +claim involves a wide imagination and assuredly +sounds unreasonable. <i>Caino</i> may, with +more likelihood, have been a Celtic word, meaning +an excavation, and came to be adopted because +of the subterranean quarries from which +the stone was drawn for the building of the +town. The annalists of the western empire +give it as <i>Castrum-Caino</i>, and whether its +origin dates from antediluvian times or not, it +was a town in the very earliest days of the +Christian era.</p> + +<p>The importance of Chinon's rôle in history +and the beauty of its situation have inspired +many writers to sing its praises.</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">"... Chinon<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Petite ville, grand renom<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Assise sur pierre ancienne<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Au haute le bois, au bas la Vienne."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>The disposition of the town is most picturesque. +The winding streets and stairways +are "foreign;" like Italy, if you will, or some +of the steps to be seen in the towns bordering +upon the Adriatic. At all events, Chinon is not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">253</a></span> +exactly like any other town in France, either +with respect to its layout or its distinct features, +and it is not at all like what one commonly +supposes to be characteristic of the +French.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus327_small.jpg" alt="The Roof-tops of Chinon" title="The Roof-tops of Chinon" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus327.jpg"><i>The Roof-tops of Chinon</i></a></div> +</div> + + + +<p>Dungeons of mediæval châteaux are here +turned into dwellings and wine-cellars, and +have the advantage, for both uses, of being cool +in summer and warm in winter.</p> + +<p>Already, in the year 371, Chinon's population +was so considerable that St. Martin, newly +elected Bishop of Tours, longed to preach +Christianity to its people, who were still idolators. +Some years afterward St. Mesme or +Maxime, fleeing from the barbarians of the +north, came to Chinon, and soon surrounded +himself with many adherents of the faith, and +in the year 402 consecrated the original foundation +of the church which now bears his name.</p> + +<p>Clovis made Chinon one of the strongest fortresses +of his kingdom, and in the tenth century +it came into the possession of the Comtes +de Touraine. Later, in 1044, Thibaut III. +ceded it to Geoffroy Martel. The Plantagenets +frequently sojourned at Chinon, becoming +its masters in the twelfth century, from which +time it was held by the Kings of France up to +Louis XI.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">254</a></span></p> + +<p>The most picturesque event of Chinon's history +took place in 1428, when Charles VII. here +assembled the States General, and Jeanne +d'Arc prevailed upon him to march forthwith +upon Orleans, then besieged by the English.</p> + +<p>Memories of Charles VII., of Jeanne d'Arc, +and of François Rabelais are inextricably +mixed in the guide-book accounts of Chinon; +but their respective histories are not so involved +as would appear. There is some doubt +as to whether the Pantagruelist was actually +born at Chinon or in the suburbs, therefore +there is no "<i>maison natale</i>" before which +literary pilgrims may make their devotions. +All this is a great pity, for Rabelais excites in +the minds of most people a greater curiosity +than perhaps any other mediæval man of letters +that the world has known.</p> + +<p>Though one cannot feast his eye upon the +spot of Rabelais's birth, historians agree that +it took place at Chinon in 1483. Much is known +of the "Curé de Chinon;" but, in spite of his +rank as the first of the mediæval satirists, his +was not a wide-spread popularity, nor can one +speak very highly of his appearance as a type +of the Tourangeau of his time. His portraits +make him appear a most supercilious character, +and doubtless he was. He certainly was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">256</a></span> +not an Adonis, nor had he the head of a god +or the cleverness of a court gallant. Indeed +there has been a tendency of late to represent +him as a buffoon, a trait wholly foreign to +his real character.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus331_small.jpg" alt="Rabelais" title="Rabelais" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus331.jpg"><i>Rabelais</i></a></div> +</div> + + + +<p>As for Charles VII. and Jeanne d'Arc, Chinon +was simply the meeting-place between the +inspired maid and her sovereign, when she +urged him to put himself at the head of his +troops and march upon Orleans.</p> + +<p>Chinon is of the sunny south; here the +grapes ripen early and cling affectionately, not +only to the hillsides, but to the very house-walls +themselves.</p> + +<p>Chinon's attractions consist of fragments of +three castles, dating from feudal times; of +three churches, of more than ordinary interest +and picturesqueness; and many old timbered +and gabled houses; nor should one forget the +Hôtel de France, itself a reminder of other +days, with its vine-covered courtyard and tinkling +bells hanging beneath its gallery, for all +the world like the sort of thing one sees upon +the stage.</p> + +<p>There is not much else about the hotel that +is of interest except its very ancient-looking +high-posted beds and its waxed tiled floors, +worn into smooth ruts by the feet of countless<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">257</a></span> +thousands and by countless polishings with wax. +It is curious how a waxed tiled floor strikes +one as being something altogether superior to +one of wood. Though harder in substance, it is +infinitely pleasanter to the feet, and warm and +mellow, as a floor should be; moreover it seems +to have the faculty of unconsciously keeping +itself clean.</p> + +<p><i>The Château de Chinon</i>, as it is commonly +called, differs greatly from the usual Loire +château; indeed it is quite another variety altogether, +and more like what we know elsewhere +as a castle; or, rather it is three castles, +for each, so far as its remains are concerned, +is distinct and separate.</p> + +<p>The Château de St. Georges is the most ancient +and is an enlargement by Henry Plantagenet—whom +a Frenchman has called "the +King Lear of his race"—of a still more ancient +fortress.</p> + +<p>The Château du Milieu is built upon the ruins +of the <i>castrum romanum</i>, vestiges of which are +yet visible. It dates from the eleventh, twelfth, +and thirteenth centuries, and was restored +under Charles VI., Charles VII., and Louis XI.</p> + +<p>One enters through the curious Tour de +l'Horloge, to which access is given by a modern +bridge, as it was in other days by an ancient<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">258</a></span> +drawbridge which covered the old-time moat. +The Grand Logis, the royal habitation of the +twelfth to fifteenth centuries, is to the right, +overlooking the town. Here died Henry II. of +England (1189) and here lived Charles VII. +and Louis XI. It was in the Grand Salle of this +château that Jeanne d'Arc was first presented +to her sovereign (March 8, 1429). From the +hour of this auspicious meeting until the hour +of the departure for Orleans she herself lived in +the tower of the Château de Coudray, a little +farther beyond, under guard of Guillaume +Bélier.</p> + +<p>The meeting between the king and the +"Maid" is described by an old historian of +Touraine as follows: "The inhabitants of +Chinon received her with enthusiasm, the purpose +of her mission having already preceded +her.... She appeared at court as '<i>une +pauvre petite bergerette</i>' and was received in +the Grande Salle, lighted by fifty torches and +containing three hundred persons." (This +statement would seem to point to the fact that +it was not the <i>salle</i> which is shown to-day; it +certainly could not be made to hold three hundred +people unless they stood on each other's +shoulders!) "The seigneurs were all clad in +magnificent robes, but the king, on the contrary,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">259</a></span> +was dressed most simply. The 'Maid,' endowed +with a spirit and sagacity superior to +her education, advanced without hesitation. +'<i>Dieu vous donne bonne vie, gentil roi</i>,' said +she...."</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus335_small.jpg" alt="Château de Chinon" title="Château de Chinon" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus335.jpg"><i>Château de Chinon</i></a></div> +</div> + + + +<p>The Grand Logis is flanked by a square tower +which is separated from the Château de Coudray +and the Tour de Boissy by a moat. In the +magnificent Tour de Boissy was the ancient +Salle des Gardes, while above was a battlemented +gallery which gave an outlook over the +surrounding country. This watch-tower assured +absolute safety from surprise to any +monarch who might have wished to study the +situation for himself.</p> + +<p>The Tour du Moulin is another of the defences, +more elegant, if possible, than the Tour +de Boissy. It is taller and less rotund; the +French say it is "svelt," and that describes +it as well as anything. It also fits into the landscape +in a manner which no other mediæval +donjon of France does, unless it be that of Château +Gaillard, in Normandy.</p> + +<p>The primitive Château de Coudray was built +by Thibaut-le-Tricheur in 954, and its bastion +and sustaining walls are still in evidence.</p> + +<p>The Vienne, which runs by Chinon to join the +Loire above Saumur, is, in many respects, a re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">260</a></span>markable +river, although just here there is +nothing very remarkable about it. It is, however, +delightfully picturesque, as it washes the +tree-lined quays which form Chinon's river-front +for a distance of upward of two kilometres. +In general the waterway reminds one +of something between a great traffic-bearing +river and a mere pleasant stream.</p> + +<p>The bridge between Chinon and its faubourg +is typical of the art of bridge-building, at which, +in mediæval times, the French were excelled by +no other nation. To-day, in company with the +Americans, they build iron and steel abominations +which are eyesores which no amount of +utility will ever induce one to really admire. +Not so the French bridges of mediæval times, +of the type of those at Blois on the Loire; at +Chinon on the Vienne; at Avignon on the +Rhône; or at Cahors on the Lot.</p> + +<p>If Rabelais had not rendered popular Chinon +and the Chinonais the public would have yet to +learn of this delightful <i>pays</i>, in spite of that +famous first meeting between Charles VII. and +Jeanne d'Arc.</p> + +<p>If the modern founders of "garden-cities" +would only go as far back as the time of Richelieu +they would find a good example to follow +in the little Touraine town, the <i>chef-lieu</i> of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">261</a></span> +Commune, which bears the name of Richelieu. +When Armand du Plessis first became the +seigneur of this "<i>little land</i>" he resolutely set +about to make of the property a town which +should dignify his name. Accordingly he built, +at his own expense, after the plans of Lemercier, +"a city, regular, vast, and luxurious." +At the same time the cardinal-minister replaced +the paternal manor with a château elaborately +and prodigally royal.</p> + +<p>Richelieu was a sort of "petit Versailles," +which was to be to Chinon what the real Versailles +was to the capital.</p> + +<p>To-day, as in other days, it is a "<i>ville vaste, +régulière et luxueuse</i>," but it is unfinished. One +great street only has been completed on its +original lines, and it is exactly 450 metres long. +Originally the town was to have the dimensions +of but six hundred by four hundred metres; +modest enough in size, but of the greatest luxury. +The cardinal had no desire to make it +more grand, but even what he had planned was +not to be. Its one great street is bordered with +imposing buildings, but their tenants to-day +have not the least resemblance to the courtiers +of the cardinal who formerly occupied them.</p> + +<p>Richelieu disappeared in the course of time, +and work on his hobby stopped, or at least<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">262</a></span> +changed radically in its plan. Secondary +streets were laid out, of less grandeur, and +peopled with houses without character, low in +stature, and unimposing. The plan of a <i>ville +seigneuriale</i> gave way to a <i>ville de labeur</i>. +Other habitations grew up until to-day twenty-five +hundred souls find their living on the spot +where once was intended to be only a life of +luxury.</p> + +<p>Of the monuments with which Richelieu +would have ornamented his town there remains +a curious market-hall and a church in the pure +Jesuitic style of architecture, lacking nothing +of pretence and grandeur.</p> + +<p>Not much can be said for the vast Église +Notre Dame de Richelieu, a heavy Italian structure, +built from the plans of Lemercier. However +satisfying and beautiful the style may be +in Italy, it is manifestly, in all great works of +church-building in the north, unsuitable and uncouth.</p> + +<p>There was also a château as well, a great +Mansart affair with an overpowering dome. +Practically this remains to-day, but, like all +else in the town, it is but a promise of greater +things which were expected to materialize, but +never did.</p> + +<p>At the bottom of a little valley, in a fertile<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">263</a></span> +plain, lies Fontevrault, or what there is left of +it, for the old abbey is now nothing more than +a matter-of-fact "<i>maison de détention</i>" for +criminals. The abbey of yesterday is the +prison of to-day.</p> + +<p>Fontevrault is an enigma; it is, furthermore, +what the French themselves call a "<i>triste et +maussade bourg</i>." Its former magnificent +abbey was one of the few shrines of its class +which was respected by the Revolution, but +now it has become a prison which shelters +something like a thousand unfortunates.</p> + +<p>For centuries the old abbey had royal princesses +for abbesses and was one of the most +celebrated religious houses in all France. It +is a sad degeneration that has befallen this +famous establishment.</p> + +<p>In the eleventh century an illustrious man of +God, a Breton priest, named Robert d'Arbrissel, +outlined the foundation of the abbey +and gathered together a community of monks. +He died in the midst of his labours, in 1117, and +was succeeded by the Abbess Petronille de +Chemille.</p> + +<p>For nearly six hundred years the abbey—which +comprised a convent for men and another +for women—grew and prospered, directed, +not infrequently, by an abbess of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">264</a></span> +blood royal. It has been claimed that, as a religious +establishment for men and women, ruled +over by a woman, the abbey of Fontevrault was +unique in Christendom.</p> + +<p>It is an ample structure with a church tower +of bistre which forms a most pleasing note +of colour in the landscape. The basilica was +begun in 1101, and consecrated by Pope Calixtus +II. in 1119. Its interior showed a deep +vaulting, with graceful and hardy arches supported +by massive columns with quaint and +curiously sculptured capitals.</p> + +<p>The twelfth-century cloister was indeed a +masterwork among those examples, all too +rare, existing to-day. Its arcade is severely +elegant and was rebuilt by the Abbess Renée de +Bourbon, sister of François I., after the best +of decorative Renaissance of that day. The +chapter-house, now used by the director of the +prison, has in a remarkable manner retained +the mural frescoes of a former day. There are +depicted a series of groups of mystical and real +personages in a most curious fashion. The refectory +is still much in its primitive state, +though put to other uses to-day. Its tribune, +where the lectrice entertained the sisters during +their repasts, is, however, still in its place.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265"></a></span></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus343_small.jpg" +alt="Cuisines, Fontevrault" title="Cuisines, Fontevrault" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus343.jpg"> +<i>Cuisines, Fontevrault</i></a></div> +</div> + + + +<p>The curious, bizarre, kilnlike pyramid,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">266</a></span> +known as the Tour d'Evrault, has ever been an +enigma to the archæologist and antiquarian. +Doubtless it formed the kitchens of the establishment, +for it looks like nothing else that +might have belonged to a great abbey. It has +a counterpart at the Abbey of Marmoutier near +Tours, and of St. Trinité at Vendôme; from +which fact there would seem to be little doubt +as to its real use, although it looks more like +a blast furnace or a distillery chimney.</p> + +<p>This curious pyramidal structure is like the +collegiate church of St. Ours at Loches, one of +those bizarre edifices which defy any special +architectural classification. At Fontevrault the +architect played with his art when he let all the +light in this curious "<i>tour</i>" enter by the roof. +At the extreme apex of the cone he placed a +lantern from which the light of day filtered +down the slope of the vaulting in a weird and +tomblike manner. It is a most surprising +effect, but one that is wholly lost to-day, since +the Tour d'Evrault has been turned into the +kitchen for the "<i>maison de détention</i>" of +which it forms a part.</p> + +<p>The nave of the church of the old abbey of +Fontevrault has been cut in two and a part is +now used as the dormitory of the prison, but +the choir, the transepts, and the towers remain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">267</a></span> +to suggest the simple and beautiful style of +their age.</p> + +<p>In the transepts, behind an iron grille, are +buried Henry II., King of England and Count +of Anjou, Éléanore of Guienne, Richard Cœur +de Lion, and Isabeau of Angoulême, wife of +Jean-sans-Terre. Four polychromatic statues, +one in wood, the others in stone, lying at length, +represent these four personages so great in +English history, and make of Fontevrault a +shrine for pilgrims which ought to be far less +ignored than it is. The cemetery of kings has +been shockingly cared for, and the ludicrous +kaleidoscopic decorations of the statues which +surmount the royal tombs are nothing less than +a sacrilege. It is needless to say they are comparatively +modern.</p> + +<p>At Bourgueil, near Fontevrault, are gathered +great crops of <i>réglisse</i>, or licorice. It differs +somewhat in appearance from the licorice +roots of one's childhood, but the same qualities +exist in it as in the product of Spain or the +Levant, whence indeed most of the commercial +licorice does come. It is as profitable an industry +in this part of France as is the saffron +crop of the Gâtinais, and whoever imported the +first roots was a benefactor. At the juncture +of the Vienne and the Loire are two tiny towns<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">268</a></span> +which are noted for two widely different reasons.</p> + +<p>These two towns are Montsoreau and +Candes, the former noted for the memory of +that bloodthirsty woman who gave a plot to +Dumas (and some real facts of history besides), +and the other noted for its prunes, +Candes being the chief centre of the industry +which produces the <i>pruneaux de Tours</i>.</p> + +<p>Descending the Vienne from Chinon, one first +comes to Candes, which dominates the confluence +of the Vienne with the Loire from its +imposing position on the top of a hill.</p> + +<p>Candes was in other times surrounded by +a protecting wall, and there are to-day remains +of a château which had formerly given shelter +to Charles VII. and Louis XI. It has, moreover, +a twelfth-century church built upon the +site of the cell in which died St. Martin in the +fourth century. The native of the surrounding +country cares nothing for churches or châteaux, +but assumes that the prune industry of +Candes is the one thing of interest to the visitor.</p> + +<p>Be this as it may, it is indeed a matter of +considerable importance to all within a dozen +kilometres of the little town. All through the +region round about Candes one meets with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">269</a></span> +fruit-pickers, with their great baskets laden +with prunes, pears, and apples, to be sent ultimately +to the great ovens to be desiccated and +dried. Fifty years ago, you will be told, the +cultivators attended to the curing process themselves, +but now it is in the hands of the middle-man.</p> + +<p>At Montsoreau much the same economic conditions +exist as at Candes, but there is vastly +more of historic lore hanging about the town. +In the fourteenth century, after a shifting career +the fief passed to the Vicomtes de Châteaudun; +then, in the century following, to the +Chabots and the family of Chambes, of which +Jean IV., prominent in the massacre of St. +Bartholomew's night, was a member. It was +he who assassinated the gallant Bussy d'Amboise +at the near-by Château of Coutancière +(at Brain-sur-Allonnes), who had made a rendezvous +with his wife, since become famous in +the pages of Dumas and of history as "La +Dame de Montsoreau."</p> + +<p>To-day the old bourg is practically non-existent, +and there is a smugness of prosperity +which considerably discounts the former charm +that it once must have had. But for all that, +there is enough left to enable one to picture<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">270</a></span> +what the life here under the Renaissance must +have been.</p> + +<p>The parish church—that of the ancient Paroisse +de Retz—still exists, though in ruins, +and there are very substantial remains of an +old priory, an old-time dependency of the Abbey +of St. Florent, now converted into a farm.</p> + +<p>Beside the highroad is the fifteenth-century +château. It has a double façade, one side of +which is ornamented with a series of <i>mâchicoulis</i>, +great high window-openings, and flanking +towers; and, in spite of its generally frowning +aspect, looks distinctly livable even to-day.</p> + +<p>The ornamental façade of the courtyard is +somewhat crumbled but still elegant, and has +incorporated within its walls a most ravishing +Renaissance turret, smothered in exquisite +<i>moulures</i> and <i>arabesques</i>. On the terminal gallery +and on the panels which break up the flatness +of this inner façade are a series of allegorical +bas-reliefs, representing monkeys, surmounted +with the inscription, "<i>Il le Feray</i>."</p> + +<p>The interior of this fine edifice is entirely +remodelled, and has nothing of its former fitments, +furnishings, or decorations.</p> + +<p>Near Port Boulet, almost opposite Candes, +is the great farm of a certain M. Cail. Communication +is had with the Orleans railway by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">271</a></span> +means of a traction engine, which draws its +own broad-wheeled wagons on the regular highway +between the <i>gare d'hommes</i> and the tall-chimneyed +manor or château which forms the +residence of this enterprising agriculturist.</p> + +<p>The property consists of nearly two thousand +acres, of which at least twelve hundred are +under the process of intensive cultivation, and +is divided into ten distinct farms, having each +an overseer charged directly with the control +of his part of the domain. These farms are +wonderfully well kept, with sanded roadways +like the courtyard of a château. There are +no trees in the cultivated parts, and the great +grain-fields are as the western prairies.</p> + +<p>The estate bears the generic name of "La +Briche." On one side it is bordered by the +railroad for a distance of nearly forty kilometres, +and it gives to that same railway an +annual freight traffic of two thousand tons of +merchandise, which would be considerably more +if all the cattle and sheep sent to other markets +were transported by rail.</p> + +<p>As might be expected, this domain of "La +Briche" has given to the neighbouring farmers +a lesson and an example, and little by little its +influence has resulted in an increased activity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">272</a></span> +among the neighbouring landholders, who formerly +gave themselves over to "<i>la chasse</i>," +and left the conduct of their farms to incompetent +and more or less ignorant hirelings. + + + +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">273</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.<span class="pagenum"><a href="#Contents">To ToC</a></span></h2> + +<h4>ANJOU AND BRETAGNE</h4> + + +<p>As one crosses the borderland from Touraine +into Anjou, the whole aspect of things changes. +It is as if one went from the era of the Renaissance +back again into the days of the Gothic, +not only in respect to architecture, but history +and many of the conditions of every-day life as +well.</p> + +<p>Most of the characteristics of Anjou are +without their like elsewhere, and opulent Anjou +of ancient France has to-day a departmental +etiquette in many things quite different from +that of other sections.</p> + +<p>A magnificent agricultural province, it has +been further enriched by liberal proprietors; a +land of aristocracy and the church, it has ever +been to the fore in political and ecclesiastical +matters; and to-day the spirit of industry and +progress are nowhere more manifest than here +in the ancient province of Anjou.</p> + +<p>The Loire itself changes its complexion but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">274</a></span> +little, and its entrance into Saumur, like its +entrance into Tours, is made between banks +that are tinged with the rainbow colours of the +growing vine. What hills there are near by +are burrowed, as swallows burrow in a cliff, +by the workers of the vineyards, who make in +the rock homes similar to those below Saumur, +in the Vallée du Vendomois, and at Cinq-Mars +near Tours.</p> + +<p>Anjou has a marked style in architecture, +known as Angevin, which few have properly +placed in the gamut of architectural styles +which run from the Byzantine to the Renaissance.</p> + +<p>The Romanesque was being supplanted +everywhere when the Angevin style came into +being, as a compromise between the heavy, +flat-roofed style of the south and the pointed +sky-piercing gables of the north. All Europe +was attempting to shake off the Romanesque +influence, which had lasted until the twelfth +century. Germany alone clung to the pure +style, and, it is generally thought, improved +it. The Angevin builders developed a species +that was on the borderland between the Romanesque +and the Gothic, though not by any means +a mere transition type.</p> + +<p>The chief cities of Anjou are not very great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">275</a></span> +or numerous, Angers itself containing but +slightly over fifty thousand souls. Cholet, of +thirteen thousand inhabitants, is an important +cloth-manufacturing centre, while Saumur carries +on a great wine trade and was formerly +the capital of a "<i>petit gouvernement</i>" of its +own, and, like many other cities and towns of +this and neighbouring provinces, was the scene +of great strife during the wars of the Vendée.</p> + +<p>In ancient times the <i>Andecavi</i>, as the old +peoples of the province were known, shared +with the <i>Turonii</i> of Touraine the honour of +being the foremost peoples of western Gaul, +though each had special characteristics peculiarly +their own, as indeed they have to-day.</p> + +<p>After one passes the junction of the Cher, +the Indre, and the Vienne, he notices no great +change in the conduct of the Loire itself. It +still flows in and out among the banks of sand +and those little round pebbles known all along +its course, nonchalantly and slowly, though now +and then one fancies that he notes a greater +eddy or current than he had observed before. +At Saumur it is still more impressed upon one, +while at the Ponts de Cé—a great strategic +spot in days gone by—there is evidence that +at one time or another the Loire must be a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">276</a></span> +raging torrent; and such it does become periodically, +only travellers never seem to see it +when it is in this condition.</p> + +<p>When Candes and Montsoreau are passed +and one comes under the frowning walls of +Saumur's grim citadel, a sort of provincial +Bastille in its awesomeness, he realizes for the +first time that there is, somewhere below, an +outlet to the sea. He cannot smell the salt-laden +breezes at this great distance, but the +general appearance of things gives that impression.</p> + +<p>From Tours to Saumur by the right bank of +the Loire—one of the most superb stretches +of automobile roadway in the world—lay the +road of which Madame de Sévigné wrote in +"Lettre CCXXIV." (to her mother), which +begins: "<i>Nous arrivons ici, nous avons quitté +Tours ce matin.</i>" It was a good day's journey +for those times, whether by <i>malle-post</i> or +the private conveyance which, likely enough, +Madame de Sévigné used at the time (1630). +To-day it is a mere morsel to the hungry road-devouring +maw of a twentieth-century automobile. +It's almost worth the labour of making +the journey on foot to know the charms of +this delightful river-bank bordered with historic +shrines almost without number, and peo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">277</a></span>pled +by a class of peasants as picturesque and +gay as the Neapolitan of romance.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus355_small.jpg" alt="Château de Saumur" title="Château de Saumur" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus355.jpg"><i>Château de Saumur</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>"<i>Saumur est, ma foi! une jolie ville</i>," said +a traveller one day at a <i>table d'hôte</i> at Tours. +And so indeed it is. Its quays and its squares +lend an air of gaiety to its proud old <i>hôtel de +ville</i> and its grim château. Old habitations, +commodious modern houses, frowning machicolations, +church spires, grand hotels, innumerable +cafés, and much military, all combine +in a blend of fascinating interest that one usually +finds only in a great metropolis.</p> + +<p>The chief attraction is unquestionably the +old château. To-day it stands, as it has always +stood, high above the Quai de Limoges, with +scarce a scar on its hardy walls and never a +crumbling stone on its parapet.</p> + +<p>The great structure was begun in the eleventh +century, replacing an earlier monument +known as the Tour du Tronc. It was completed +in the century following and rebuilt or +remodelled in the sixteenth. Outside of its +impressive exterior there is little of interest +to remind one of another day.</p> + +<p>To literary pilgrims Saumur suggests the +homestead of the father of Eugenie Grandet, +and the <i>bon-vivant</i> reveres it for its soft pleasant +wines. Others worship it for its wonders<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">278</a></span> +of architecture, and yet others fall in love with +it because of its altogether delightful situation.</p> + +<p>Below Saumur are the cliff-dwellers, who +burrow high in the chalk cliff and stow themselves +away from light and damp like bottles +of old wine. The custom is old and not indigenous +to France, but here it is sufficiently in +evidence to be remarked by even the traveller +by train. Here, too, one sees the most remarkable +of all the <i>coiffes</i> which are worn by any +of the women along the Loire. This Angevin +variety, like Angevin architecture, is like none +of its neighbours north, east, south, or west.</p> + +<p>Students of history will revere Saumur for +something more than its artistic aspect or its +wines, for it was a favourite residence of the +Angevin princes and the English kings, as well +as being the capital of the <i>pape des Huguenots</i>.</p> + +<p>While Nantes is the real metropolis of the +Loire, and Angers is singularly up-to-date +and well laid out, neither of these fine cities +have a great thoroughfare to compare with the +broad, straight street of Saumur, which leads +from the Gare d'Orleans on the left bank and +crosses the two bridges which span the branches +of the Loire, to say nothing of the island between, +and finally merges into the great national +highway which runs south into Poitou.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">279</a></span></p> + +<p>Fine houses, many, if not most of them, dating +from centuries ago, line the principal +streets of the town, which, when one has actually +entered its confines, presents the appearance +of being too vast and ample for its population. +And, in truth, so it really is. Its population +barely reaches fifteen thousand souls, +whereas it would seem to have the grandeur +and appointments of a city of a hundred thousand. +The revocation of the Edict of Nantes +cut its inhabitants down to the extent of twenty +or twenty-five thousand, and it has never recovered +from the blow.</p> + +<p>In the neighbourhood of Saumur, for a considerable +distance up and down the Loire, the +hills are excavated into dwelling-houses and +wine-caves, producing a most curious aspect. +One continuous line of these cliff villages—like +nothing so much as the habitations of the +cliff-dwelling Indians of America—extends +from the juncture of the Vienne with the Loire +nearly up to the Ponts de Cé.</p> + +<p>The most curious effect of it all is the multitude +of openings of doorways and windows and +the uprising of chimney-pots through the chalk +and turf which form the roof-tops of these +settlements.</p> + +<p>In many of these caves are prepared the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">280</a></span> +famous <i>vin mousseux</i> of Saumur, of which +the greater part is sold as champagne to an +unsuspecting and indifferent public, not by the +growers or makers, but by unscrupulous middlemen.</p> + +<p>Saumur, like Angers, is fortunate in its climate, +to which is due a great part of the prosperity +of the town, for the "Rome of the +Huguenots" is more prosperous—and who +shall not say more content?—than it ever +was in the days of religious or feudal warfare.</p> + +<p>Near Saumur is one shrine neglected by English +pilgrims which might well be included in +their itineraries. In the Château de Moraines +at Dampierre died Margaret of Anjou and Lancaster, +Queen of England, as one reads on a +tablet erected at the gateway of this dainty +"<i>petit castel à tour et creneaux</i>."</p> + + +<div class="box2">Manoir de la Vignole-Souzay autrefois Dampierre<br/> + Asile et dernière demure<br /> + de l'heroine de la guerre des deux roses<br /> +Marguerite d'Anjou de Lancastre, reine d'Angleterre<br /> + La plus malheureuse des reines, des éspouses, et des mères<br /> + Qui Morut le 25 Aout 1482<br /> + Agée de 53 Ans.</div> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">281</a></span>The Salvus Murus of the ancients became +the Saumur of to-day in the year 948, when the +monk Absalom built a monastery here and surrounded +it with a protecting wall. Up to the +thirteenth century the city belonged to the +"Angevin kings of Angleterre," as the French +historians proudly claim them.</p> + +<p>The city passed finally to the Kings of +France, and to them remained constantly faithful. +Under Henri IV. the city was governed +by Duplessis-Mornay, the "<i>pape des Huguenots</i>," +becoming practically the metropolis of +Protestantism. Up to this time the chief architectural +monument was the château, which was +commenced in the eleventh century and which +through the next five centuries had been aggrandized +and rebuilt into its present shape.</p> + +<p>The church of Notre Dame de Nantilly dates +from the twelfth century and was frequently +visited by Louis XI. The oratory formerly +made use of by this monarch to-day contains +the baptismal fonts. One of the columns of +the nave has graven upon it the epitaph composed +by King René of Anjou for his foster-mother, +Dame Thiephanie. Throughout, the +church is beautifully decorated.</p> + +<p>The Hôtel de Ville may well be called the +chief artistic treasure of Saumur, as the chât<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">282</a></span>teau +is its chief historical monument. It is a +delightful <i>ensemble</i> of the best of late Gothic, +dating from the sixteenth century, flanked on +its façade by turrets crowned with <i>mâchicoulis</i>, +and lighted by a series of elegant windows +<i>à croisillons</i>. Above all is a gracious campanile, +in its way as fine as the belfry of Bruges, +to which, from a really artistic standpoint, +rhapsodists have given rather more than its +due.</p> + +<p>The interior is as elaborate and pleasing as +is the outside. In the Salle des Mariages and +Salle du Conseil are fine fifteenth-century chimneypieces, +such as are only found in their perfection +on the Loire. The library, of something +over twenty thousand volumes, many of +them in manuscript, is formed in great part +from the magnificent collection formerly at the +abbeys of Fontevrault and St. Florent. Doubtless +these old tomes contain a wealth of material +from which some future historian will perhaps +construct a new theory of the universe. +This in truth may not be literally so, but it is +a fact that there is a vast amount of contemporary +historical information, with regard to +the world in general, which is as yet unearthed, +as witness the case of Pompeii alone, where the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">283</a></span> +area of the discoveries forms but a small part +of the entire buried city.</p> + +<p>At Saumur numerous prehistoric and <i>gallo-romain</i> +remains are continually being added +to the museum, which is also in the Hôtel de +Ville. A recent acquisition—discovered in a +neighbouring vineyard—is a Roman "<i>trompette</i>," +as it is designated, and a more or less +complete outfit of tools, obviously those of a +carpenter.</p> + +<p>The notorious Madame de Montespan—"the +illustrious penitent," though the former +description answers better—stopped here, in +a house adjoining the Church of St. John, to-day +a <i>maison de retrait</i>, on her way to visit +her sister, the abbess, at Fontevrault.</p> + +<p>From Saumur to Angers the Loire passes +an almost continuous series of historical guide-posts, +some in ruins, but many more as proudly +environed as ever.</p> + +<p>At Treves-Cunault is a dignified Romanesque +church which would add to the fame of a more +popular and better known town. It is not a +grand structure, but it is perfect of its kind, +with its crenelated façade and its sturdy arcaded +towers curiously placed midway on the +north wall.</p> + +<p>Here one first becomes acquainted with <i>men<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">284</a></span>hirs</i> +and <i>dolmens</i>, examples of which are to +be found in the neighbourhood, not so remarkable +as those of Brittany, but still of the same +family.</p> + +<p>The Ponts de Cé follow next, still in the midst +of vine-land, and finally appear the twin spires +of Angers's unique Cathedral of St. Maurice. +Here one realizes, if not before, that he is in +Anjou; no more is the atmosphere transparent +as in Touraine, but something of the grime +of the commercial struggle for life is over all.</p> + +<p>Here the Maine joins the Loire, at a little +village called La Pointe: "the Charenton of +Angers," it was called by a Paris-loving boulevardier +who once wandered afield.</p> + +<p>Much has been written, and much might yet +be written, about the famous Ponts de Cé, which +span the Loire and its branches for a distance +considerably over three kilometres. This ancient +bridge or bridges (which, with that at +Blois, were at one time, the only bridges across +the Loire below Orleans) formerly consisted +of 109 arches, but the reconstruction of the +mid-nineteenth century reduced these to a bare +score.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus365_small.jpg" alt="The Ponts de Cé" title="The Ponts de Cé" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus365.jpg"><i>The Ponts de Cé</i></a></div> +</div> + + + +<p>As a vantage-point in warfare the Ponts de +Cé were ever in contention, the Gauls, the Romans, +the Franks, the Normans, and the Eng<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">285</a></span>lish +successively taking possession and defending +them against their opponents. The Ponts +de Cé is a weirdly strange and historic town +which has lost none of its importance in a later +day, though the famous <i>ponts</i> are now remade, +and their antique arches replaced by more solid, +if less picturesque piers and piling. They span +the shallow flow of the Loire water for three-quarters +of a league and produce a homogeneous +effect of antiquity, coupled with the city's +three churches and its château overlooking the +fortified isle in mid-river, which looks as though +it had not changed since the days when Marie +de Medici looked upon it, as recalled by the +great Rubens painting in the Louvre. Since +the beginning of the history of these parts, battles +almost without number have taken place +here, as was natural on a spot so strategically +important.</p> + +<p>There is a tale of the Vendean wars, connected +with the "Roche-de-Murs" at the Ponts +de Cé, to the effect that a battalion, left here +to guard any attack from across the river, was +captured by the Vendeans. Many of the +"<i>Bleus</i>" refused to surrender, and threw +themselves into the river beneath their feet. +Among these was the wife of an officer, to +whom the Vendeans offered life if she surren<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">286</a></span>dered. +This was refused, and precipitately, +with her child, she threw herself into the flood +beneath.</p> + +<p>On the largest isle, that lying between the +Louet and the Loire, is one vast garden or +orchard of cherry-trees, which produce a peculiarly +juicy cherry from which large quantities +of <i>guignolet</i>, a sort of "cherry brandy," is +made. The Angevins will tell you that this was +a well-known refreshment in the middle ages, +and was first made by one of those monkish +orders who were so successful in concocting the +subtle liquors of the commerce of to-day.</p> + +<p>It is with real regret that one parts from +the Ponts de Cé, with La Fontaine's couplet on +his lips:</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0_5">"... Ce n'est pas petite gloire<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Que d'être pont sur la Loire."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>Some one has said that the provinces find +nothing to envy in Paris as far as the transformation +of their cities is concerned. This, to +a certain extent, is so, not only in respect to +the modernizing of such grand cities as Lyons, +Marseilles, or Lille, but in respect to such +smaller cities as Nantes and Angers, where the +improvements, if not on so magnificent a scale, +are at least as momentous to their immediate +environment.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">287</a></span></p> + +<p>For the most part these second and third +class cities are to-day transformed in exceedingly +good taste, and, though many a noble +monument has in the past been sacrificed, to-day +the authorities are proceeding more carefully.</p> + +<p>Angers, in spite of its overpowering château +and its unique cathedral, is of a modernity and +luxuriousness in its present-day aspect which +is all the more remarkable because of the contrast. +Formerly the Angevin capital, from the +days of King John up to a much later time +Angers had the reputation of being a town +"<i>plus sombre et plus maussade</i>" than any +other in the French provinces. In Shakespeare's +"King John" one reads of "black +Angers," and so indeed is its aspect to-day, +for its roof-tops are of slate, while many of the +houses are built of that material entirely. In +the olden time many of its streets were cut in +the slaty rock, leaving its sombre surface bare +to the light of day. One sees evidences of all +this in the massive walls of the great black-banded +castle of Angers, and, altogether, this +magpie colouring is one of the chief characteristics +of this grandly historic town.</p> + +<p>Both the new and the old town sit proudly on +a height crowned by the two slim spires of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">288</a></span> +cathedral. In front, the gentle curves of the +river Maine enfold the old houses at the base +of the hillside and lap the very walls of the +grim fortress-château itself, or did in the days +when the Counts of Anjou held sway, though +to-day the river has somewhat receded.</p> + +<p>Beyond the ancient ramparts, up the hill, +have been erected the "<i>quartiers neufs</i>," with +houses all admirably planned and laid out, with +gardens forming a veritable girdle, as did the +retaining walls of other days which surrounded +the old château and its faubourg. To-day +Angers shares with Nantes the title of metropolis +of the west, and the Loire flows on its ample +way between the two in a far more imposing +manner than elsewhere in its course from +source to sea.</p> + +<p>Angers does not lie exactly at the juncture +of the Maine and Loire, but a little way above, +but it has always been considered as one of +the chief Loire cities; and probably many of +its visitors do not realize that it is not on the +Loire itself.</p> + +<p>The marvellous fairy-book château of Angers, +with its fourteen black-striped towers, is +just as it was when built by St. Louis, save that +its chess-board towers lack, in most cases, their +coiffes, and all vestiges have disappeared of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">289</a></span> +the <i>charpente</i> which formerly topped them +off.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus371_small.jpg" alt="Château d'Angers" title="Château d'Angers" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus371.jpg"><i>Château d'Angers</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>Beyond the rocky formation of the banks +of the Loire, which crop out below the juncture +of the Maine and the Loire, below Angers, are +Savennières and La Possonière, whence come +the most famous vintages of Anjou, which, to +the wines of these parts, are what Château +Margaux and Château Yquem are to the Bordelais, +and the Clos Vougeot is to the Bourguignons.</p> + +<p>The peninsula formed by the Loire and the +Maine at Angers is the richest agricultural +region in all France, the nurseries and the +kitchen-gardens having made the fortune of +this little corner of Anjou.</p> + +<p>Angers is the headquarters for nursery-garden +stock for the open air, as Orleans is for +ornamental and woodland trees and shrubs.</p> + +<p>The trade in living plants and shrubs has +grown to very great proportions since 1848, +when an agent went out from here on behalf +of the leading house in the trade and visited +America for the purpose of searching out foreign +plants and fruits which could be made to +thrive on French soil.</p> + +<p>Both the soil and climate are very favourable +for the cultivation of many hitherto unknown<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">290</a></span> +fruits, the neighbourhood of the sea, which, +not far distant, is tempered by the Gulf Stream, +having given to Anjou a lukewarm humidity +and a temperature of a remarkable equality.</p> + +<p>Some of the nurseries of these parts are +enormous establishments, the Maison André +Leroy, for example, covering an extent of some +six hundred acres. A catalogue of one of these +establishments, located in the suburbs of Angers, +enumerates over four hundred species of +pear-trees, six hundred varieties of apple-trees, +one hundred and fifty varieties of plums, four +hundred and seventy-five of grapes, fifteen hundred +of roses, and two hundred and nineteen +of rhododendrons.</p> + +<p>Each night, or as often as fifty railway wagons +are loaded, trains are despatched from the +<i>gare</i> at Angers for all parts. When the <i>choux-fleurs</i> +are finished, then come the <i>petits pois</i>, +and then the <i>artichauts</i> and other <i>légumes</i> in +favour with the Paris <i>bon-vivants</i>.</p> + +<p>Near Angers is one of those Cæsar's camps +which were spread thickly up and down Gaul +and Britain alike. One reaches it by road from +Angers, and, until it dawns upon one that the +vast triangle, one of whose equilateral sides is +formed by the Loire, another by the Maine, +and the third by a ridge of land stretching be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">291</a></span>tween +the two, covers about fourteen kilometres +square, it seems much like any other neck or +peninsula of land lying between two rivers. +One hundred thousand of the Roman legion +camped here at one time, which is not so very +wonderful until it is recalled that they lived +for months on the resources of this comparatively +restricted area.</p> + +<p>Before coming to Nantes, Ancenis and Oudon +should claim the attention of the traveller, +though each is not much more than a typically +interesting small town of France, in spite of +the memories of the past.</p> + +<p>Ancenis has an ancient château, remodelled +and added to in the nineteenth century, which +possesses some remarkably important constructive +details, the chief of which are a great +tower-flanked doorway and the <i>corps de logis</i>, +each the work of an Angevin architect, Jean de +Lespine, in the sixteenth century. Within the +walls of this château François II., Duc de Bretagne, +and Louis XI. signed one of the treaties +which finally led up to the union of the Duché +de Bretagne with the Crown of France.</p> + +<p>Oudon possesses a fine example of a mediæval +donjon, though it has been restored in our +day.</p> + +<p>One does not usually connect Brittany with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">292</a></span> +the Loire except so far as to recollect that +Nantes was a former political and social capital. +As a matter of fact, however, a very considerable +proportion of Brittany belongs to the +Loire country.</p> + +<p>Anjou of the counts and kings and Bretagne +of the dukes and duchesses embrace the whole +of the Loire valley below Saumur, although the +river-bed of the Loire formed no actual boundary. +Anjou extended nearly as far to the southward +as it did to the north of the vine-clad +banks, and Bretagne, too, had possession of a +vast tract south of Nantes, known as the Pays +de Retz, which bordered upon the Vendée of +Poitou.</p> + +<p>All the world knows, or should know, that +Nantes and St. Nazaire form one of the great +ports of the world, not by any means so great +as New York, London, or Hamburg, nor yet +as great as Antwerp, Bordeaux, or Marseilles, +but still a magnificent port which plays a most +important part with the affairs of France and +the outside world.</p> + +<p>Nantes, la Brette, is tranquil and solid, with +the life of the laborious bourgeois always in the +foreground. It is of Bretagne, to which province +it anciently belonged, only so far as it +forms the bridge between the Vendée and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">293</a></span> +old duchy; literally between two opposing feudal +lords and masters, both of whom were hard +to please.</p> + +<p>The memoirs of this corner of the province +of Bretagne of other days are strong in such +names as the Duchesse Anne, the monk Abelard, +the redoubtable Clisson, the infamous +Gilles de Retz, the warrior Lanoue, surnamed +"Bras de Fer," and many others whose names +are prominent in history.</p> + +<p>"<i>Ventre Saint Gris! les Ducs de Bretagne +n'étaient pas de petits compagnons!</i>" cried +Henri Quatre, as he first gazed upon the Château +de Nantes. At that time, in 1598, this fortress +was defended by seven curtains, six towers, +bastions and caponieres, all protected by +a wide and deep moat, into which poured the +rising tide twice with each round of the clock.</p> + +<p>To-day the aspect of this château is no less +formidable than of yore, though it has been +debased and the moat has disappeared to make +room for a roadway and the railroad.</p> + +<p>It was in the château of Nantes, the same +whose grim walls still overlook the road by +which one reaches the centre of the town from +the inconveniently placed station, that Mazarin +had Henri de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz and co-adjutor +of the Archbishop of Paris, imprisoned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">294</a></span> +in 1665, because of his offensive partisanship. +Fouquet, too, after his splendid downfall, was +thrown into the donjon here by Louis XIV.</p> + +<p>De Gondi recounts in his "Mémoires" how +he took advantage of the inattention of his +guards and finally evaded them by letting himself +over the side of the Bastion de Mercœur by +means of a rope smuggled into him by his +friends. The feat does not look a very formidable +one to-day, but then, or in any day, it must +have been somewhat of an adventure for a +portly churchman, and the wonder is that it +was performed successfully. At any rate it +reads like a real adventure from the pages of +Dumas, who himself made a considerable use +of Nantes and its château in his historical romances.</p> + +<p>Landais, the minister and favourite of François +II. of Bretagne, was arrested here in 1485, +in the very chamber of the prince, who delivered +him up with the remark: "<i>Faites justice, +mais souvenez-vous que vous lui êtes redevable +de votre charge.</i>"</p> + +<p>There is no end of historical incident connected +with Nantes's old fortress-château of +mediæval times, and, in one capacity or another, +it has sheltered many names famous in +history, from the Kings of France, from Louis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">295</a></span> +XII. onward, to Madame de Sévigné and the +Duchesse de Berry.</p> + +<p>Nantes's Place de la Bouffai (which to lovers +of Dumas will already be an old friend) was +formerly the site of a château contemporary +with that which stands by the waterside. The +Château de Bouffai was built in 990 by Conan, +first Duc de Bretagne, and served as an official +residence to him and many of his successors.</p> + +<p>In Nantes's great but imperfect and unfinished +Cathedral of St. Pierre one comes upon +a relic that lives long in the memory of those +who have passed before it: the tomb of François +II., Duc de Bretagne, and Marguerite de +Foix. The cathedral itself is no mean architectural +work, in spite of its imperfections, as +one may judge from the following inscription +graven over the sculptured figure of St. Pierre, +its patron:</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0_5">"L'an mil quatre cent trente-quatre,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A my-avril sans moult rabattre:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An portail de cette église,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fut la première pierre assise."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>Within, the chief attraction is that masterwork +of Michel Colombe, the before-mentioned +tomb, which ranks among the world's art-treasures. +The beauty of the emblematic figures +which flank the tomb proper, the fine chiselling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">296</a></span> +of the recumbent effigies themselves, and the +general <i>ensemble</i> is such that the work is bound +to appeal, whatever may be one's opinion of +Renaissance sculpture in France. The tomb +was brought here from the old Église des +Carmes, which had been pillaged and burned in +the Revolution.</p> + +<p>The mausoleum was—in its old resting-place—opened +in 1727, and a small, heart-shaped, +gold box was found, supposed to have +contained the heart of the Duchesse Anne. The +coffer was surmounted by a royal crown and +emblazoned with the order of the Cordelière, +but within was found nothing but a scapulary. +On the circlet of the crown was written in +relief:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0_5">"Cueur de vertus orné<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dignement couronné."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>And on the box beneath one read:</p> + + +<blockquote> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0_5">"En ce petit vaisseau, de fin or pur et munde,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Repose un plus grand cueur que oncque dame eut au monde.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Anne fut le nom d'elle, en France deux fois Royne<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> + . . . +. . . +. . . + . . <br /></span> +<span class="i0">Et ceste parte terrestre en grand deuil nos demure.<br /></span> +<span class="i6">IX. Janvier M.V.XIII."</span> +</div></div> +</blockquote> + + +<p>In one respect only has Nantes suffered +through the march of time. Its magnificent +Quai de la Fosse has disappeared, a long façade +which a hundred or more years ago was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">297</a></span> +bordered by the palatial dwellings of the great +ship-owners of the Nantes of a former generation. +The whole, immediately facing the river +where formerly swung many ships at anchor, +has disappeared entirely to make way for the +railway.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<a href="images/illus381.jpg"> +<img src="images/illus381_small.jpg" alt="Environs of Nantes" title="Environs of Nantes" /> +</a> +</div> + +<p>The islands of the Loire opposite Nantes are +an echo of the life of the metropolis itself. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">298</a></span> +Ile Feydeau is monumental, the Ile Gloriette +hustling and nervous with "<i>affaires</i>," and +Prairie-au-Duc busy with industries of all +sorts.</p> + +<p>Couëron, below Nantes on the right bank, is +sombre with gray walls surrounding its numberless +factories, and chimney-stacks belching +forth clouds of dense smoke. Behind are great +walls of chalky-white rock crowned with verdure. +Nearly opposite is the little town of Le +Pellerin graciously seated on the river's bank +and marking the lower limit of the Loire Nantaise.</p> + +<p>Another hill, belonging to the domain of Bois-Tillac +and La Martinière, where was born +Fouché, the future Duc d'Otranta, comes to +view, and the basin of the Loire enlarges into +the estuary, and all at once one finds himself +in the true "Loire Maritime."</p> + +<p>At Martinière is the mouth of the Canal Maritime +à la Loire, which, from Paimbœuf to Le +Pellerin, is used by all craft ascending the +river to Nantes, drawing more than four metres +of water.</p> + +<p>At the entrance of the Acheneau is the Canal +de Buzay, which connects that stream with the +more ambitious Loire, and makes of the Lac de +Grand Lieu a public domain, instead of a pri<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">299</a></span>vate +property as claimed by the "marquis" +who holds in terror all who would fish or shoot +over its waters. All this immediate region +formerly belonged to the monks of the ancient +Abbey of Buzay, and it was they who originally +cut the waterway through to the Loire. About +half-way in its length are the ruins of the ancient +monastery, clustered about the tower of its +old church. It is a most romantically sad monument, +and for that very reason its grouping, +on the bank of the busy canal, suggests in a +most impressive manner the passing of all +great works.</p> + +<p>The prosperity of Nantes as a deep-sea port +is of long standing, but recent improvements +have increased all this to a hitherto unthought-of +extent. Progress has been continuous, +and now Nantes has become, like Rouen, +a great deep-water port, one of the important +seaports of France, the realization of a hope +ever latent in the breast of the Nantais since +the days and disasters of the Edict and its +revocation.</p> + +<p>Below Nantes, in the actual "Loire Maritime," +the aspect of all things changes and the +green and luxuriant banks give way to sand-dunes +and flat, marshy stretches, as salty as the +sea itself. This gives rise to a very consider<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">300</a></span>able +development of the salt industry which +at Bourg de Batz is the principal, if not the +sole, means of livelihood.</p> + +<p>St. Nazaire, the real deep-water port of +Nantes, dates from the fifteenth and sixteenth +centuries, when it was known as Port Nazaire. +It is a progressive and up-to-date seaport of +some thirty-five thousand souls, but it has no +appeal for the tourist unless he be a lover of +great smoky steamships and all the paraphernalia +of longshore life.</p> + +<p>Pornichet, a "<i>station de bains de mer +très fréquentée</i>;" Batz, with its salt-works; Le +Croisic, with its curious waterside church, and +the old walled town of Guérande bring one to +the mouth of the Loire. The rest is the billowy +western ocean whose ebb and flow brings +fresh breezes and tides to the great cities of +the estuary and makes possible that prosperity +with which they are so amply endowed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">301</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.<span class="pagenum"><a href="#Contents">To ToC</a></span></h2> + +<h4>SOUTH OF THE LOIRE</h4> + + +<p>The estuary of the Loire belongs both to +Brittany and to the Vendée, though, as a matter-of-fact, +the southern bank, opposite Nantes, +formed a part of the ancient Pays de Retz, one +of the old seigneuries of Bretagne.</p> + +<p>It was Henri de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz, +who was the bitter rival of Mazarin. French +historians have told us that when the regency +under Anne of Austria began, Mazarin, who +had been secretary to the terrible Richelieu, +was just coming into his power. He was a +subtle, insidious Italian, plodding and patient, +but false as a spring-time rainbow. Gondi was +bold, liberal, and independent, a mover of men +and one able to take advantage of any turn of +the wind, a statesman, and a great reformer,—or +he would have been had he but full power. +It was Cromwell who said that De Retz was the +only man in Europe who saw through his plans.</p> + +<p>Gondi had entered the church, but he had no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">302</a></span> +talents for it. His life was free, too free even +for the times, it would appear, for, though he +was ordained cardinal, it was impossible for +him to supplant Mazarin in the good graces +of the court. As he himself had said that he +preferred to be a great leader of a party rather +than a partisan of royalty, he was perhaps not +so very greatly disappointed that he was not +able to supplant the wily Italian successor of +Richelieu in the favour of the queen regent. +Gondi was able to control the parliament, however, +and, for a time, it was unable to carry +through anything against his will. Mazarin +rose to power at last, barricaded the streets +of Paris, and decided to exile Gondi—as +being the too popular hero of the people. +Gondi knew of the edict, but stuck out to +the last, saying: "To-morrow, I, Henri de +Gondi, before midday, will be master of +Paris." Noon came, and he <i>was</i> master of +Paris, but as he was still Archbishop-Coadjutor +of Paris his hands were tied in more ways +than one, and the plot for his supremacy over +Mazarin, "the plunderer," fell through.</p> + +<p>The whole neighbouring region south of the +Loire opposite Nantes, the ancient Pays de +Retz, is unfamiliar to tourists in general, and +for that reason it has an unexpected if not a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">303</a></span> +superlative charm. It was the bloodiest of the +battle-grounds of the Vendean wars, and, +though its monumental remains are not as +numerous or as imposingly beautiful as those +in many other parts, there is an interest about +it all which is as undying as is that of the most +ornate or magnificent château or fortress-peopled +land that ever existed.</p> + +<p>Not a corner of this land but has seen bloody +warfare in all its grimness and horror, from the +days when Clisson was pillaged by the Normans +in the ninth century, to the guerilla warfare of +the Vendean republicans in the eighteenth century. +The advent of the railway has changed +much of the aspect of this region and brought +a twentieth-century civilization up to the very +walls of the ruins of Clisson and Maulévrier, +the latter one of the many châteaux of this +region which were ruined by the wars of Stofflet, +who, at the head of the insurgents, obliged +the nobility to follow the peasants in their +uprising.</p> + +<p>Now and then, in these parts, one comes upon +a short length of railway line not unlike that +at which our forefathers marvelled. The line +may be of narrow gauge or it may not, but +almost invariably the two or three so-called +carriages are constructed in the style (or lack<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">304</a></span> +of style) of the old stage-coach, and they roll +along in much the same lumbering fashion. +The locomotive itself is a thing to be wondered +at. It is a pigmy in size, but it makes the +commotion of a modern decapod, or one of +those great flyers which pull the Southern Express +on the main line via Poitiers and Angoulême, +not fifty kilometres away.</p> + +<p>There is a little tract of land lying just south +of the Loire below Angers which is known as +"le Bocage Vendéen." One leaves the Loire +at Chalonnes and, by a series of gentle inclines, +reaches the plateau where sits the town of +Cholet, the very centre of the region, and a +town whose almost only industry is the manufacture +of pocket-handkerchiefs.</p> + +<p>The aspect of the Loire has changed rapidly +and given way to a more vigorous and varied +topography; but, for all that, Cholet and the +surrounding country depend entirely upon the +great towns of the Loire for their intercourse +with the still greater markets beyond. Like +Angers, Cholet and all the neighbouring villages +are slate-roofed, with only an occasional +red tile to give variety to the otherwise gray +and sombre outlook.</p> + +<p><i>En route</i> from Chalonnes one passes Chemillé +almost the only market-town of any size<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">305</a></span> +in the district. It is very curious, with its +Romanesque church and its old houses distributed +around an amphitheatre, like the <i>loges</i> in +an opera-house.</p> + +<p>This is the very centre of the Bocage, where, +in Revolutionary times, the Republican armies +so frequently fought with the bands of Vendean +fanatics.</p> + +<p>The houses of Cholet are well built, but always +with that grayness and sadness of tone +which does not contribute to either brilliancy +of aspect or gaiety of disposition. Save the +grand street which traverses the town from +east to west, the streets are narrow and uncomfortable; +but to make up for all this there are +hotels and cafés as attractive and as comfortable +as any establishments of the kind to be +found in any of the smaller cities of provincial +France.</p> + +<p>The handkerchief industry is very considerable, +no less than six great establishments +devoting themselves to the manufacture.</p> + +<p>Cholet is one of the greatest cattle markets, +if not the greatest, in the land. The farmers +of the surrounding country buy <i>bœufs maigres</i> +in the southwest and centre of France and +transform them into good fat cattle which in +every way rival what is known in England as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">306</a></span> +"best English." This is accomplished cheaply +and readily by feeding them with cabbage +stalks.</p> + +<p>On Saturdays, on the Champ de Foire, the +aspect is most animated, and any painter who +is desirous of emulating Rosa Bonheur's +"Horse Fair" (painted at the great cattle +market of Bernay, in Normandy) cannot find +a better vantage-ground than here, for one may +see gathered together nearly all the cattle types +of Poitou, the Vendée, Anjou, Bas Maine, and +of Bretagne Nantaise.</p> + +<p>In earlier days Cholet was far more sad than +it is to-day; but there remain practically no +souvenirs of its past. The wars of the Vendée +left, it is said, but three houses standing when +the riot and bloodshed was over. Two of the +greatest battles of this furious struggle were +fought here.</p> + +<p>On the site of the present railroad station +Kleber and Moreau fought the royalists, and +the heroic Bonchamps received the wound of +which he died at St. Florent, just after he had +put into execution the order of release for five +thousand Republican prisoners. This was on +the 17th October, 1793. Five months later +Stofflet possessed himself of the town and +burned it nearly to the ground. Not much is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">307</a></span> +left to remind one of these eventful times, save +the public garden, which was built on the site +of the old château.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus391_small.jpg" +alt="Donjon of the Château de Clisson" title="Donjon of the Château de Clisson" /> +<div class="caption"> +<a href="images/illus391.jpg"><i>Donjon of the Château de Clisson</i></a></div> +</div> + + + + + +<p>La Moine, a tiny and most picturesque river, +still flows under the antique arches of the old +bridge, which was held in turn by the Vendeans +and the Republicans.</p> + +<p>To the west of Cholet runs another line of +railway, direct through the heart of the Sèvre-Nantaise, +one of those <i>petits pays</i> whose old-time +identity is now all but lost, even more celebrated +in bloody annals than is that region +lying to the eastward. Here was a country +entirely sacked and impoverished. Mortagne +was completely ruined, though it has yet left +substantial remains of its fourteenth and fifteenth +century château. Torfou was the scene +of a bloody encounter between the Vendean +hordes and Kleber's two thousand <i>héroiques +de Mayence</i>. The able Vendean chiefs who +opposed him, Bonchamps, D'Elbée, and Lescure, +captured his artillery and massacred all +the wounded.</p> + +<p>At the extremity of this line was the stronghold +of Clisson, which itself finally succumbed, +but later gave birth to a new town to take the +place of that which perished in the Vendean +convulsion.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">308</a></span></p> + +<p>Throughout this region, in the valleys of the +Moine and the Sèvre-Nantaise, the rocks and +the verdure and the admirable, though ill preserved, +ruins, all combine to produce as unworldly +an atmosphere as it is possible to conceive +within a short half-hundred kilometres +of the busy world-port of Nantes and the great +commercial city of Angers. One continually +meets with ruins that recall the frightful struggle +of Revolutionary times; hence the impression +that one gets from a ramble through or +about this region is well-nigh unique in all +France.</p> + +<p>The coast southward, nearly to La Rochelle, +is a vast series of shallow gulfs and salt +marshes which form weirdly wonderful outlooks +for the painter who inclines to vast expanses +of sea and sky.</p> + +<p>Pornic is a remarkably picturesque little seaside +village, where the inflowing and outflowing +tides of the Bay of Biscay temper the southern +sun and make of it—or would make of it if +the tide of fashion had but set that way—a +watering-place of the first rank.</p> + +<p>It is an entrancing bit of coast-line which +extends for a matter of fifty kilometres south +of the juncture of the Loire with the ocean, +with an aspect at times severe with a waste<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">309</a></span> +of sand, and again gracious with verdure and +tree-clad and rocky shores.</p> + +<p>The great Bay of Bourgneuf and its enfolding +peninsula of Noirmoutier form an artist's +sketching-ground that is not yet overrun with +mere dabblers in paint and pencil, and is accordingly +charming.</p> + +<p>The Bay of Bourgneuf has most of the characteristics +of the Morbihan, without that severity +and sternness which impress one so deeply +when on the shores of the great Breton inland +sea.</p> + +<p>The little town of Bourgneuf-en-Retz, with +its little port of Colletis, is by no means a city +of any artistic worth; indeed it is nearly bare +of most of those things which attract travellers +who are lovers of old or historic shrines; +but it is a delightful stopping-place for all that, +provided one does not want to go farther afield, +to the very tip of the Vendean "land's end" +at Noirmoutier across the bay.</p> + +<p>Three times a day a steamer makes the journey +to the little island town which is a favourite +place of pilgrimage for the Nantais during +the summer months. Once it was not even an +island, but a peninsula, and not so very long +ago either. The alluvial deposits of the Loire +made it in the first place, and the sea, back<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">310</a></span>ing +in from the north, made a strait which just +barely separates it to-day from the mainland.</p> + +<p>On this out-of-the-way little island there are +still some remains of prehistoric monuments, +the dolmen of Chiron-Tardiveau, the menhirs +of Pinaizeaux and Pierre-Levée, and some +others. In the speech of the inhabitants the +isle is known as Noirmoutier, a contraction of +"<i>Nigrum Monasterium</i>," a name derived from +the monastery founded here in the seventh century +by St. Philibert.</p> + +<p>In the town is an old château, the ancient +fortress-refuge of the Abbé of Her. It is a +great square structure flanked at the angles +with little towers, of which two are roofed, +one uncovered, and the fourth surmounted by +a heliograph for communicating with the Ile +de Yeu and the Pointe de Chenoulin. The view +from the heights of these château towers is +fascinating beyond compare, particularly at +sundown on a summer's evening, when the +golden rays of the sinking sun burnish the coast +of the Vendée and cast lingering shadows from +the roof-tops and walls of the town below. To +the northwest one sees the Ilot du Pilier, with +its lighthouse and its tiny coast-guard fortress; +to the north is clearly seen Pornic and the +neighbouring coasts of the Pays de Retz and of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">311</a></span> +Bouin with its encircling dikes,—all reminiscent +of a little Holland. To the south is the +narrow neck of Fromentin, the jagged Marguerites, +which lift their fangs wholly above the +surface of the sea only at low water, and the +towering cliffs of the Ile de Yeu, which rise +above the mists.</p> + +<p>Just south of the Loire, between Nantes and +Bourgneuf, is the Lac de Grand-Lieu, in connection +with which one may hear a new rendering +of an old legend. At one time, it is said, +it was bordered by a city, whose inhabitants, +for their vices, brought down the vengeance of +heaven upon them, even though they cried out +to the powers on high to avert the threatened +flood which rose up out of the lake and overflowed +the banks and swallowed the city and +all evidences of its past. In this last lies the +flaw in the legend; but, like the history of +Sodom, of the Ville d'Ys in Bretagne, and of +Ars in Dauphiné, tradition has kept it alive.</p> + +<p>This wicked place of the Loire valley was +called <i>Herbauge</i> or <i>Herbadilla</i>, and, from St. +Philibert at the southern extremity of the lake, +one looks out to-day on a considerable extent +of shallow water, which is as murderous-looking +and as uncanny as a swamp of the Everglades.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">312</a></span></p> + +<p>From the central basin flow two tiny rivers, +the Ognon and the Boulogne, which are charming +enough in their way, as also is the route +by highroad from Nantes, but the gray monotonous +lake, across which the wind whistles in +a veritable tempest for more than six months +of the year, is most depressing.</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">There are various hamlets, with some pretence</span><br /> +at advanced civilization about them, scattered +around the borders of the lake, St. Leger, +St. Mars, St. Aignan, St. Lumine, Bouaye, and +La Chevrolière; but in the whole number you +will not get a daily paper that is less than +forty-eight hours old, and nothing but the most +stale news of happenings in the outside world +ever dribbles through. St. Philibert is the +metropolis of these parts, and it has no competitors +for the honour.</p> + +<p>At the entrance of the Ognon is the little +village of Passay, built at the foot of a low cliff +which dominates all this part of the lake. It +is a picturesque little village of low houses +and red roofs, with a little sandy beach in the +foreground, through which little rivulets of +soft water trickle and go to make up the greater +body.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">313</a></span></p> + + +<h2>CHAPTER XV.<span class="pagenum"><a href="#Contents">To ToC</a></span></h2> + +<h4>BERRY AND GEORGE SAND'S COUNTRY</h4> + + +<p>Whether one enters Berry through the valley +of the Cher or the Indre or through the +gateway of Sancerre in the mid-Loire, the impression +is much +the same. The historic +province of +Berry resounds +again and again +with the echoes of +its past, and no +province adjacent +to the Loire is +more prolific in +the things that interest +the curious, +and none is so little +known as the +old province which +was purchased for the Crown by Philippe I. +in 1101.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<a href="images/illus399.png"> +<img src="images/illus399_small.png" alt="Berry (Map)" title="Berry (Map)" /> +</a> +</div> + +<p>With the interior of the province, that por<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">314</a></span>tion +which lies away from the river valleys, +this book has little to do, though the traveller +through the region would hardly omit the episcopal +city of Bourges, and its great transeptless +cathedral, with its glorious front of quintupled +portals. With the cathedral may well +be coupled that other great architectural monument, +the Maison de Jacques Cœur. At Paris +one is asked, "<i>Avez-vous vu le Louvre?</i>" but +at Bourges it is always, "<i>Êtes-vous allé à +Jacques Cœur?</i>" even before one is asked if +he has seen the cathedral.</p> + +<p>From the hill which overlooks Sancerre, and +forms a foundation for the still existing tower +of the château belonging to the feudal Counts +of Sancerre, one gets one of the most wonderfully +wide-spread views in all the Loire valley. +The height and its feudal tower stand isolated, +like a rock rising from the ocean. From Cosne +and beyond, on the north, to La Charité, on the +south, is one vast panorama of vineyard, wheat-field, +and luxuriant river-bottom. At a lesser +distance, on the right bank, is the line of the +railroad which threads its way like a serpent +around the bends of the river and its banks.</p> + +<p>Below the hill of Sancerre is a huge overgrown +hamlet—and yet not large enough to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">315</a></span> +be called a village—surrounding a most curious +church (St. Satur), without either nave +or apse. The old Abbey of St. Satur once +possessed all the lands in the neighbourhood +that were not in the actual possession of the +Counts of Sancerre, and was a power in the +land, as were most of the abbeys throughout +France. The church was begun in 1360-70, on +a most elaborate plan, so extensive in fact +(almost approaching that great work at La +Charité) that it has for ever remained uncompleted. +The history of this little churchly +suburb of Sancerre has been most interesting. +The great Benedictine church was never finished +and has since come to be somewhat of +a ruin. In 1419 the English sacked the abbey +and stole its treasure to the very last precious +stone or piece of gold. A dozen flatboats were +anchored or moored to the banks of the river +facing the abbey, and the monks were transported +thither and held for a ransom of a thousand +crowns each. As everything had already +been taken by their captors, the monks vainly +protested that they had no valuables with which +to meet the demand, and accordingly they were +bound hand and foot and thrown into the river, +to the number of fifty-two, eight only escaping +with their lives. A bloody memory indeed for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">316</a></span> +a fair land which now blossoms with poppies +and roses.</p> + +<p>Sancerre, in spite of the etymology of its +name (which comes down from Roman times—Sacrum +Cæsari), is of feudal origin. Its fortress, +and the Comté as well, were under the +suzerainty of the Counts of Champagne, and +it was the stronghold and refuge of many a +band of guerilla warriors, adventurers, and +marauding thieves.</p> + +<p>At the end of the twelfth century a certain +Comte de Sancerre, at the head of a coterie +of bandits called Brabaçons, marched upon +Bourges and invaded the city, killing all who +crossed their path, and firing all isolated dwellings +and many even in the heart of the city.</p> + +<p>Sancerre was many times besieged, the most +memorable event of this nature being the attack +of the royalists in 1573 against the +Frondeurs who were shut up in the town. The +defenders were without artillery, but so habituated +were they to the use of the <i>fronde</i> that +for eight months they were able to hold the +city against the foe. From this the <i>fronde</i> +came to be known as the "<i>arquebuse de Sancerre</i>."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317"></a></span></p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus403_small.jpg" alt="La Tour, Sancerre" title="La Tour, Sancerre" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus403.jpg"><i>La Tour, Sancerre</i></a></div> +</div> + + +<p>Sancerre is to-day a ruined town, its streets +unequal and tortuous, all up and down hill and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">318</a></span> +blindly rambling off into <i>culs-de-sac</i> which +lead nowhere. Above it all is the fine château, +built in a modern day after the Renaissance +manner, of Mlle. de Crussol, proudly seated on +the very crest of the hill. Within the grounds, +the only part of the domain which is free to the +public, are the ruins of the famous citadel +which was bought by St. Louis, in 1226, from +the Comte Thibaut. The only portion of this +feudal stronghold which remains to-day is +known as the "Tour des Fiefs."</p> + +<p>One may enter the grounds and, in the company +of a <i>concierge</i>, ascend to the platform +of this lone tower, whence a wonderful view +of the broad "<i>ruban lumineux</i>" of the Loire +spreads itself out as if fluttering in the wind, +northward and southward, as far as the eye +can reach. Beside it one sees another line of +blue water, as if it were a strand detached from +the broader band. This is the Canal Latéral +de la Loire, one of those inland waterways of +France which add so much to the prosperity +of the land.</p> + +<p>Above Sancerre is Gien, another gateway to +Berry, through which the traveller from Paris +through the Orléannais is bound to pass.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus405_small.jpg" alt="Château de Gien" title="Château de Gien" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus405.jpg"><i>Château de Gien</i></a></div> +</div> + + +<p>At a distance of five kilometres or more, +coming from the north, one sees the towers of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">319</a></span> +the château of Gien piercing the horizon. The +château is a most curious affair, with its chainbuilt +blocks of stone, and its red and black—or +nearly black—<i>brique</i>, crossed and recrossed +in quaint geometrical designs. It was built in +1494 for Dame Anne de Beaujeau, who was +regent of the kingdom immediately after the +death of Charles VIII. This building replaced +another of a century before, built by Jean-sans-Peur, +where was celebrated the marriage +of his daughter with the Comte de Guise. +Gien's château, too, may be said to be a landmark +on Jeanne d'Arc's route to martyrdom +and fame, for here she made her supplication +to Charles VII. to march on Reims. In Charlemagnian +times this old castle had a predecessor, +which, however, was more a fortress than +a habitable château; but all remains of this +had apparently disappeared before the later +structure made its appearance. Louis XIV. +and Anne of Austria, regent, held a fugitive, +impoverished court in this château, and heard +with fear and trembling the cannon-shots of +the armies of Turenne and Condé at Bleneau, +five leagues distant.</p> + +<p>At Nevers or at La Charité one does not get +the view of the Loire that he would like, for, +in one case, the waterway is masked by a row<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">320</a></span> +of houses, and in the other by a series of walled +gardens; but at Gien, where everything is +splendidly theatrical, there is a tree-bordered +quay and innumerable examples of those coquettish +little houses of brick which are not +beautiful, but which set off many a French +riverside landscape as nothing else will.</p> + +<p>In Gien's main street there are a multitude +of rare mellowed old houses with sculptured +fronts and high gables. This street twists and +turns until it reaches the old stone and brick +château, with its harmoniously coloured walls, +making a veritable symphony of colour. Each +turn in this old high-street of Gien gives a new +vista of mediævalism quite surprising and +eerielike, as fantastic as the weird pictures of +Doré.</p> + +<p>Gien and its neighbour Briare are chiefly +noted commercially for their pottery. Gien +makes crockery ware, and Briare inundates the +entire world with those little porcelain buttons +which one buys in every land.</p> + +<p>Crossing the Sologne and entering Berry +from the capital of the Orléannais, or coming +out from Tours by the valley of the Cher, one +comes upon the little visited and out-of-the-way +château of Valençay, in the charming +dainty valley of the Nahon.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">321</a></span></p> + +<p>There is some reason for its comparative +neglect by the tourist, for it is on a cross-country +railway line which demands quite a full day +of one's time to get there from Tours and get +away again to the next centre of attraction, +and if one comes by the way of the Orléannais, +he must be prepared to give at least three days +to the surrounding region.</p> + +<p>This is the gateway to George Sand's country, +but few English-speaking tourists ever get +here, so it may be safely called unknown.</p> + +<p>It is marvellous how France abounds in these +little corners all but unknown to strangers, +even though they lie not far off the beaten +track. The spirit of exploration and travel +in unknown parts, except the Arctic regions, +Thibet, and the Australian desert, seems to be +dying out.</p> + +<p>The château of Valençay was formerly inhabited +by Talleyrand, after he had quitted the +bishopric of Autun for politics. It is seated +proudly upon a vast terrace overlooking one +of the most charming bits of the valley of the +Nahon, and is of a thoroughly typical Renaissance +type, built by the great Philibert Delorme +for Jacques d'Étampes in 1540, and only acquired +by the minister of Napoleon and Louis +XVIII. in 1805.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">322</a></span></p> + +<p>The architect, in spite of the imposing situation, +is not seen at his best here, for in no way +does it compare with his masterwork at +Anet, or the Tuileries. The expert recognizes +also the hands of two other architects, one of +the Blaisois and the other of Anjou, who in +some measure transformed the edifice in the +reign of François I.</p> + +<p>The enormous donjon,—if it is a donjon,—with +its great, round corner tower with a dome +above, which looks like nothing so much as an +observatory, is perhaps the outgrowth of an +earlier accessory, but on the whole the edifice +is fully typical of the Renaissance.</p> + +<p>The court unites the two widely different +terminations in a fashion more or less approaching +symmetry, but it is only as a whole +that the effect is highly pleasing.</p> + +<p>Beyond a <i>balustrade à jour</i> is the Jardin +de la Duchesse, communicating with the park +by a graceful bridge over an ornamental water. +In general the apartments are furnished in the +style of the First Empire, an epoch memorable +in the annals of Valençay.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus411_small.jpg" alt="Château de Valençay" title="Château de Valençay" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus411.jpg"><i>Château de Valençay</i></a></div> +</div> + + +<p>By the orders of Napoleon many royalties +and ambassadors here received hospitality, and +in 1808-14 it became a gilded cage—or a +"golden prison," as the French have it—for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">323</a></span>the Prince of the Asturias, afterward Ferdinand +VII. of Spain, who consoled himself during +his captivity by constructing wolf-traps in +the garden and planting cauliflowers in the +great urns and vases with which the terrace +was set out.</p> + +<p>There is a great portrait gallery here, where +is gathered a collection of portraits in miniature +of all the sovereigns who treated with +Talleyrand during his ministerial reign, among +others one of the Sultan Selim, painted from +life, but in secret, since the reproduction of +the human form is forbidden by the Koran.</p> + +<p>In the Maison de Charité, in the town, beneath +the pavement of the chapel, is found the +tomb of the family of Talleyrand, where are +interred the remains of Talleyrand and of +Marie Thérèse Poniatowska, sister of the celebrated +King of Poland who served in the +French army in 1806. In this chapel also is +a rare treasure in the form of a chalice enriched +with precious stones, originally belonging +to Pope Pius VI., the gift of the Princess +Poniatowska.</p> + +<p>The Pavillon de la Garenne,—what in England +would be called a "shooting-box,"—a +rendezvous for the chase, built by Talleyrand,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">324</a></span> +is some distance from the château on the edge +of the delightful little Forêt de Gatine.</p> + +<p>Varennes, just above Valençay, is thought by +the average traveller through the long gallery +of charms in the château country to be wholly +unworthy of his attention. As a matter of fact, +it does not possess much of historical or artistic +interest, though its fine old church dates +from the twelfth century.</p> + +<p>Ascending the Cher from its juncture with +the Loire, one passes a number of interesting +places. St. Aignan, with its magnificent Gothic +and Renaissance château; Selles; Romorantin, +a dead little spot, dear as much for its sleepiness +as anything else; Vierzon, a rich, industrial +town where they make locomotives, automobiles, +and mechanical hay-rakes, copying the +most approved American models; and Mehun-sur-Yevre, +all follow in rapid succession.</p> + +<p>Mehun-sur-Yevre, which to most is only a +name and to many not even that, is possessed +of two architectural monuments, a grand ruin +of a Gothic fortress of the time of Charles VII. +and a feudal gateway of two great rounded +cone-roofed towers, bound by a ligature +through which a port-cullis formerly slid up +and down like an act-drop in a theatre.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325"></a></span></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus415_small.jpg" alt="Gateway of Mehun-sur-Yevre" title="Gateway of Mehun-sur-Yevre" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus415.jpg"><i>Gateway of Mehun-sur-Yevre</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>Wonderfully impressive all this, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">326</a></span> +more so because these magnificent relics of +other days are unspoiled and unrestored.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus417_small.jpg" alt="Le Carrior Dore, Romorantin" title="Le Carrior Dore, Romorantin" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus417.jpg"><i>Le Carrior Dore, Romorantin</i></a></div> +</div> + + + +<p>Charles VII. was by no means constant in +his devotions, it will be recalled, though he +seems to have been seriously enamoured of +Agnes Sorel—at any rate while she lived. +Afterward he speedily surrounded himself with +a galaxy of "<i>belles demoiselles vêtues comme +reines</i>." They followed him everywhere, and +he spent all but his last sou upon them, as did +some of his successors.</p> + +<p>One day Charles VII. took refuge in the +strong towers of the château of Mehun-sur-Yevre, +which he himself had built and which +he had frequently made his residence. Here +he died miserable and alone,—it is said by +history, of hunger. Thus another dark chapter +in the history of kings and queens was brought +to a close.</p> + +<p>If one has the time and so desires, he may +follow the Indre, the next confluent of the Loire +south of the Cher, from Loches to "George +Sand's country," as literary pilgrims will like +to think of the pleasant valleys of the ancient +province of Berry.</p> + +<p>The history of the province before and since +Philippe I. united it with the Crown of France +was vivid enough to make it fairly well known,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">327</a></span> +but on the whole it has been very little travelled. +It is essentially a pastoral region, and, +remembering George Sand and her works, one +has refreshing memories of the idyls of its +prairies and the beautiful valleys of the Indre +and the Cher, which join their waters with the +Loire near Tours.</p> + +<p>If one would love Berry as one loves a +greater and more famous haunt of a famous +author, and would prepare in advance for the +pleasure to be received from threading its highways +and byways, he should read those "<i>petits +chefs-d'œuvre</i> of sentiment and rustic poesy", +the romances of George Sand. If he has done +this, he will find almost at every turning some +long familiar spot or a peasant who seems +already an old friend.</p> + +<p>Châteauroux is the real gateway to the country +of George Sand.</p> + +<p>Nohant is the native place of the great +authoress, Madame Dudevant, whom the world +best knows as George Sand; a little by-corner +of the great busy world, loved by all who know +it. Far out in the open country is the little +station at which one alights if he comes by rail. +Opposite is a "<i>petite route</i>" which leads directly +to the banks of the Indre, where it joins +the highway to La Châtre.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">328</a></span></p> + +<p>Nohant itself, as a dainty old-world village, +is divine. Has not George Sand expressed her +love of it as fervidly as did Marie Antoinette +for the Trianon? The French call it a "<i>bon +et honnête petit village berrichon</i>." Nude of +artifice, it is deliciously unspoiled. A delightful +old church, with a curious wooden porch +and a parvise as rural as could possibly be, +not even a cobblestone detracting from its rustic +beauty, is the principal thing which strikes +one's eye as he enters the village. Chickens +and geese wander about, picking here and there +on the very steps of the church, and no one +says them nay.</p> + +<p>The house of George Sand is just to the right +of the church, within whose grounds one sees +also the pavilion known to her as the "<i>théâtre +des marionettes</i>."</p> + +<p>In a corner of the poetic little cemetery at +Nohant, one sees among the humble crosses +emerging from the midst of the verdure, all +weather-beaten and moss-grown, a plain, simple +stone, green with mossy dampness, which +marks the spot where reposes all that was +mortal of George Sand. Here, in the midst of +this land which she so loved, she still lives in +the memory of all; at the house of the well-lettered +for her abounding talent—second only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">329</a></span> +to that of Balzac—and in the homes of the +peasants for her generous fellowship.</p> + +<p>Through her ancestry she could and did claim +relationship with Charles X. and Louis XVIII.; +but her life among her people had nought of +pretence in it. She was born among the roses +and to the sound of music, and she lies buried +amid all the rusticity and simple charm of what +may well be called the greenwood of her native +land. + + + +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">330</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.<span class="pagenum"><a href="#Contents">To ToC</a></span></h2> + +<h4>THE UPPER LOIRE</h4> + + +<p>The gateway to the upper valley may be +said to be through the Nivernais, and the capital +city of the old province, at the juncture of +the Allier and the Loire.</p> + +<p>After leaving Gien and Briare, the Loire +passes through quite the most truly picturesque +landscape of its whole course, the great height +of Sancerre dominating the view for thirty +miles or more in any direction.</p> + +<p>Cosne is the first of the towns of note of +the Nivernais, and is a gay little bourg of eight +or nine thousand souls who live much the same +life that their grandfathers lived before them. +As a place of residence it might prove dull +to the outsider, but as a house of call for the +wearied and famished traveller, Cosne, with its +charming situation, its tree-bordered quays, +and its Hôtel du Grand Cerf, is most attractive.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331"></a></span></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus423_small.jpg" alt="Église S. Aignan, Cosne" title="Église S. Aignan, Cosne" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus423.jpg"><i>Église S. Aignan, Cosne</i></a></div> +</div> + + +<p>Pouilly-sur-Loire is next, with three thou<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">332</a></span>sand +or more inhabitants wholly devoted to +wine-growing, Pouilly being to the upper river +what Vouvray is to Touraine. It is not a tourist +point in any sense, nor is it very picturesque +or attractive.</p> + +<p>Some one has said that the pleasure of contemplation +is never so great as when one views +a noble monument, a great work of art, or a +charming French town for the first time. +Never was it more true indeed than of the +two dissimilar towns of the upper Loire, +Nevers, and La Charité-sur-Loire. The old +towers of La Charité rise up in the sunlight +and give that touch to the view which marks +it at once as of the Nivernais, which all archæologists +tell one is Italian and not French, in +motive as well as sentiment.</p> + +<p>It is remarkable, perhaps, that the name La +Charité is so seldom met with in the accounts +of English travellers in France, for in France +it is invariably considered to be one of the +most picturesque and famous spots in all mid-France.</p> + +<p>It is an unprogressive, sleepy old place, with +streets mostly unpaved, whose five thousand +odd souls, known roundabout as Les Caritates, +live apparently in the past.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/illus425_small.jpg" alt="Pouilly-sur-Loire" title="Pouilly-sur-Loire" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus425.jpg"><i>Pouilly-sur-Loire</i></a></div> +</div> + +<p>Below, a stone's throw from the windows of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">333</a></span> +your inn, lies the Loire, its broad, blue bosom +scarcely ruffled, except where it slowly eddies +around the piers of the two-century-old <i>dos +d'ane</i> bridge; a lovely old structure, built, it +is recorded, by the regiment known as the +"Royal Marine" in the early years of the +eighteenth century.</p> + +<p>The town is terraced upon the very edge of +the river, with views up and down which are +unusually lovely for even these parts. Below, +almost within sight, is Nevers, while above are +the heights of Sancerre, still visible in the glowing +western twilight.</p> + +<p>Beyond the bridge rises a giant column of +blackened stone, festooned by four ranges of +arcades, the sole remaining relic of the ancient +church standing alone before the present structure +which now serves the purposes of the +church in La Charité.</p> + +<p>The walls which surrounded the ancient town +have disappeared or have been built into house +walls, but the effect is still of a self-contained +old burg.</p> + +<p>In the fourteenth century, during the Hundred +Years' War, the town was frequently besieged. +In 1429 Jeanne d'Arc, coming from +her success at St. Pierre-le-Moutier, here met +with practically a defeat, as she was able to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">334</a></span> +sustain the siege for only but a month, when +she withdrew.</p> + +<p>La Charité played an important part in the +religious wars of the sixteenth century, and +Protestants and Catholics became its occupants +in turn. Virtually La Charité-sur-Loire became +a Protestant stronghold in spite of its +Catholic foundation.</p> + +<p>In 1577 it bade defiance to the royal arms of +the Duc d'Alençon, as is recounted by the following +lines:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0_5">"Ou allez-vous, hélas! furieux insensés<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Cherchant de Charité la proie et la ruine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Qui sans l'ombre de Foy abbatre la pensez!<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> . . . +. . . +. . . + <br /></span> +<span class="i0">Le canon ne peut rien contre la Charité,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Plus tot vous détruira la peste et la famine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Car jamais sans Foy n'aurez la Charité."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>In spite of this defiance it capitulated, and, +on the 15th of May, at the château of Plessis-les-Tours +on the Loire, Henri III. celebrated +the victory of his brother by a fête +"<i>ultra-galante</i>," where, in place of the usual +pages, there were employed "<i>des dames vestues +en habits d'hommes....</i>" Surely a fantastic +and immodest manner of celebrating a +victory against religious opponents; but, like +many of the customs of the time, the fête was +simply a fanatical debauch.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">335</a></span></p> + + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus429_small.jpg" alt="Porte du Croux, Nevers" title="Porte du Croux, Nevers" /> +<div class="caption"><a href="images/illus429.jpg"><i>Porte du Croux, Nevers</i></a></div> +</div> + + + +<p>At Nevers one meets the Canal du Nivernais, +which recalls Daudet's "La Belle Nivernaise" +to all readers of fiction, who may accept it without +question as a true and correct guide to the +region, its manners, and customs.</p> + +<p>The chief characteristic of Nevers is that it +is Italian in nearly, if not quite all, its aspects; +its monuments and its history. Its ancient ducal +château, part of which dates from the feudal +epoch, was the abode of the Italian dukes who +came in the train of Mazarin, the last of whom +was the nephew of the cardinal, "who himself +was French if his speech was not."</p> + +<p>Nevers has also a charming Gothic cathedral +(St. Cyr) with a double Romanesque apse (in +itself a curiosity seldom, if ever, seen out of +Germany), and, in addition to the cathedral, +can boast of St. Etienne, one of the most precious +of all the Romanesque churches of +France.</p> + +<p>The old walls at Nevers are not very complete, +but what remain are wonderfully expressive. +The Tour Gouguin and the Tour St. Eloi +are notable examples, but they are completely +overshadowed by the Porte du Croux, which +is one of the best examples of the city gates +which were so plentiful in the France of another +day.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">336</a></span></p> + +<p>Above Nevers, Decize, Bourbon-Lancy, Gilly, +and Digoin are mere names which mean nothing +to the traveller by rail. They are busy +towns of central France, where the bustle of +their daily lives is of quite a different variety +from that of the Ile de France, of Normandy, +or of the Pas de Calais.</p> + +<p>From Digoin to Roanne the Loire is followed +by the Canal Latéral. Roanne is a not very +pleasing, overgrown town which has become a +veritable <i>ville des ouvriers</i>, all of whom are engaged +in cloth manufacture.</p> + +<p>Virtually, then, Roanne is not much more +than a guide-post on the route to Le Puy—"the +most picturesque place in the world"—and +the wonderfully impressive region of the +Cevennes and the Vivaris, where shepherds +guard their flocks amid the solitudes.</p> + +<p>Far above Le Puy, in a rocky gorge known +as the Gerbier-de-Jonc, near Ste. Eulalie, in +the Ardeche, rises the tiny Liger, which is the +real source of the mighty Loire, that natural +boundary which divides the north from the +south and forms what the French geographers +call "<i>la bassin centrale de France</i>."</p> + +<div class="smcapcent">THE END.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">337</a></span></div> + + + + +<h2>INDEX<span class="pagenum"><a href="#Contents">To ToC</a></span></h2> + + +<ul> +<li>Abbeville, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Abd-el-Kader, Emir</i>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Abelard</i>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Absalom</i>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.</li> +<li> +Acheneau, The, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Adams, John</i>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Alaric</i>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Alcuin, Abbé</i>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Alençon, Ducs d'</i>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, +<a href="#Page_334">334</a>.</li> +<li> +<i><a id="MarguiriteDAlenson" name="MarguiriteDAlenson">Alençon, Marguerite d'</a></i>, +<a href="#Page_97">97</a>, +<a href="#Page_150">150</a>, +<a href="#Page_151">151</a>-<a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> +<li> +Allier, The, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>.</li> +<li> +Amboise and Its Château, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, +<a href="#Page_20">20</a>, +<a href="#Page_82">82</a>, +<a href="#Page_96">96</a>, +<a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, +<a href="#Page_130">130</a>-<a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>-<a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Amboise, Family of</i>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>-<a href="#Page_122">122</a>.</li> +<li> +Amboise, Forêt d', <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> +<li> +Amiens, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</li> +<li> +Ancenis and Its Château, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>-<a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Andrelini, Fausto</i>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li> +<li> +Anet, Château d', <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Ange, Michel</i>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</li> +<li> +Angers and Its Château, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>-<a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, +<a href="#Page_21">21</a>-<a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, +<a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, +<a href="#Page_283">283</a>-<a href="#Page_284">284</a>, +<a href="#Page_286">286</a>-<a href="#Page_290">290</a>, +<a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>. +</li> +<li> +Angoulême, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>.</li> +<li><i>Angoulême, Isabeau d'</i>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Angoulême, Jean d'</i>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Angoulême, Louise de Savoie, Duchesse d'</i> (See <a href="#SavLo"><i>Savoie, +Louise de</i></a>).</li> +<li> +Anjou, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>-<a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Anjou, Counts of</i>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Anjou, Foulques Nerra, Comte d'</i> (See <a href="#FoulquesNerra"><i>Foulques Nerra</i></a>).</li> +<li> +<i>Anjou, Margaret of</i>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Anne of Austria</i>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>-<a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>.</li> +<li> +Aquitaine, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Arbrissel, Robert d'</i>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Arc, Jeanne d'</i>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>-<a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>-<a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Ardier, Paul</i>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</li> +<li> +Arques, Château d', <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Aumale, Duc d'</i>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Aussigny, Thibaut d'</i>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li> +<li> +Authion, The, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li> +<li> +Autun, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</li> +<li> +Auvergne, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> +<li> +Auvers, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.</li> +<li> +Auxerre, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</li> +<li> +Avignon, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li> +<li> +Azay-le-Rideau and Its Château, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>-<a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li>Bacon, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</li> +<li> +Ballon, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Balue, Cardinal</i>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Balzac, Honoré de</i>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, +<a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, +<a href="#Page_128">128</a>-<a href="#Page_129">129</a>, +<a href="#Page_137">137</a>-<a href="#Page_138">138</a>, +<a href="#Page_143">143</a>, +<a href="#Page_207">207</a>-<a href="#Page_209">209</a>, +<a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, +<a href="#Page_329">329</a>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">338</a></span></li></ul> + +<ul> +<li><i>Bardi, Comte de</i>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Barre, De la</i>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Barry, Madame du</i>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Beaudoin, Jean</i>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Beaufort, A.</i>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</li> +<li> +Beaugency and Its Château, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>-<a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Beaujeau, Anne de</i>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>.</li> +<li> +Beaulieu, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>-<a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</li> +<li> +Beauregard, Château de, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>-<a href="#Page_116">116</a>.</li> +<li> +Beauvron, The, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Becket</i>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Bélier, Guillaume</i>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Bellanger, Stanislas</i>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Bellay Family, Du</i>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Belleau, Remy</i>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Beringhem, Henri de</i>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</li> +<li> +Bernay, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Bernier</i>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> +<li> +Berry, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>-<a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>-<a href="#Page_329">329</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Berry, Counts of</i>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Berry, Duchesse de</i>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Berthelot, Gilles</i>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Berthier, Maréchal</i>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li> +<li> +Beuvron, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>-<a href="#Page_88">88</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Biencourt, Marquis de</i>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Blacas, Comte de</i>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li> +<li> +<a id="Blaisois">Blaisois, The,</a> <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>-<a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>-<a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>.</li> +<li> +Bleneau, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>.</li> +<li> +Blésois, The (<i>See</i> <a href="#Blaisois">Blaisois, The</a>).</li> +<li> +Blois and Its Château, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, +<a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, +<a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, +<a href="#Page_52">52</a>-<a href="#Page_54">54</a>, +<a href="#Page_56">56</a>-<a href="#Page_84">84</a>, +<a href="#Page_88">88</a>, +<a href="#Page_94">94</a>-<a href="#Page_95">95</a>, +<a href="#Page_98">98</a>, +<a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, +<a href="#Page_110">110</a>-<a href="#Page_112">112</a>, +<a href="#Page_116">116</a>-<a href="#Page_117">117</a>, +<a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, +<a href="#Page_125">125</a>-<a href="#Page_126">126</a>, +<a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, +<a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, +<a href="#Page_160">160</a>, +<a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, +<a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, +<a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, +<a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Blois, Comtes de</i>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>-<a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</li> +<li> +Blois, Forêt de, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Blondel</i>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</li> +<li> +Bocage, The, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>-<a href="#Page_305">305</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Bohier, Thomas</i>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>-<a href="#Page_186">186</a>.</li> +<li> +Bois-Tillac, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Bolingbroke</i>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Bonchamps</i>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>-<a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Bonheur, Rosa</i>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.</li> +<li> +Bonneventure, Château de, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Bontemps, Pierre</i>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.</li> +<li> +Bordeaux, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Bordeaux, Duc de</i>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Bossebœuf, Abbé</i>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li> +<li> +Bouaye, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>.</li> +<li> +Bouin, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>.</li> +<li> +Boulogne, The, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Bourbon, Cardinal de</i>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Bourbon, Renée de</i>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li> +<li> +Bourbon-Lancy, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</li> +<li> +Bourbonnais, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> +<li> +Bourdaisière, Château de la, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> +<li> +Bourg de Batz, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>.</li> +<li> +Bourges, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>.</li> +<li> +Bourgneuf-en-Retz, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>.</li> +<li> +Bourgogne, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</li> +<li> +Bourgueil, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Bourré, Jean</i>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Boyer</i>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li> +<li> +Bracieux, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</li> +<li> +Brain-sur-Allonnes, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Brantôme</i>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</li> +<li> +Brenne, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</li> +<li> +<a id="Bretagne">Bretagne</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>-<a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>-<a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Bretagne, Anne de</i>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, +<a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, +<a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, +<a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, +<a href="#Page_236">236</a>-<a href="#Page_238">238</a>, +<a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Bretagne, Conan, Duc de</i>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Bretagne, François II., Duc de</i>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>-<a href="#Page_296">296</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Brézé, Pierre de</i>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> +<li> +Briare, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Briçonnet, Cardinal</i>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Brinvilliers</i>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.</li> +<li><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">339</a></span> +Brittany (<i>See</i> <a href="#Bretagne">Bretagne</a>).</li> +<li> +<i>Broglie, Princesse de</i>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Brosse, Pierre de</i>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li> +<li> +Bruges, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Brunyer, Abel</i>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Buffon</i>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Bullion</i>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Bussy d'Amboise, De</i>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li> +<li> +Buzay, Abbey of, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Byron</i>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul><li> +<i>Cæsar</i>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.</li> +<li> +Cahors, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Cail, M.</i>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>-<a href="#Page_272">272</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Cain</i>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Calixtus II.</i>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li> +<li> +Canal de Brest à Nantes, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</li> +<li> +Canal de Buzay, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> +<li> +Canal d'Orleans, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>-<a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li> +<li> +Canal du Nivernaise, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.</li> +<li> +Canal Lateral, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</li> +<li> +Canal Maritime, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> +<li> +Candes, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>-<a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Castellane Family</i>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Caumont, De</i>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Cellini</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> +<li> +Chalonnes, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>.</li> +<li> +Chambord and Its Château, +<a href="#Page_2">2</a>-<a href="#Page_3">3</a>, +<a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, +<a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, +<a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, +<a href="#Page_94">94</a>-<a href="#Page_110">110</a>, +<a href="#Page_123">123</a>, +<a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, +<a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, +<a href="#Page_247">247</a>-<a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Chambord, Comte de</i>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li> +<li> +Chambris, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Champagne, Counts of</i>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>.</li> +<li> +Champeigne, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</li> +<li> +Champtocé, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</li> +<li> +Chanteloup, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Charlemagne</i>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Charles I. (the Bald)</i>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Charles II. of England</i>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Charles V., Emperor</i>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>-<a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Charles VI.</i>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Charles VII.</i>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, +<a href="#Page_188">188</a>-<a href="#Page_189">189</a>, +<a href="#Page_194">194</a>-<a href="#Page_195">195</a>, +<a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, +<a href="#Page_250">250</a>, +<a href="#Page_254">254</a>-<a href="#Page_256">256</a>, +<a href="#Page_257">257</a>-<a href="#Page_260">260</a>, +<a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, +<a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Charles VIII.</i>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, +<a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, +<a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, +<a href="#Page_194">194</a>-<a href="#Page_195">195</a>, +<a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, +<a href="#Page_238">238</a>-<a href="#Page_239">239</a>, +<a href="#Page_319">319</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Charles IX.</i>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Charles X.</i>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Charles Martel</i>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Charles the Bold of Burgundy</i>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li> +<li> +Chartres, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.</li> +<li> +Chartreuse du Liget, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Châteaubriand, Comtesse de</i>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.</li> +<li> +Château Chevigné, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li> +<li> +Château de la Fontaine, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li> +<li> +Château de la Source, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>-<a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li> +<li> +Châteaudun and Its Castle, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>-<a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Châteaudun, Vicomtes de</i>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li> +<li> +Château Gaillard, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li> +<li> +Château l'Epinay, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li> +<li> +Châteauneuf-sur-Loire, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li> +<li> +Châteauroux, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>.</li> +<li> +Château Serrand, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li> +<li> +Chatillon, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Chatillon, Cardinal de</i>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Chatillon, Comtes de</i>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</li> +<li> +Chaumont and Its Château, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>-<a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Chaumont, Charles de</i>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Chaumont, Donatien Le Ray de</i>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>-<a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</li> +<li> +Chemillé, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>-<a href="#Page_305">305</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Chemille, Petronille de</i>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> +<li> +Chenonceaux and Its Château, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, +<a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, +<a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, +<a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, +<a href="#Page_169">169</a>, +<a href="#Page_171">171</a>-<a href="#Page_187">187</a>, +<a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, +<a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.</li> +<li> +Cher, The, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, +<a href="#Page_91">91</a>, +<a href="#Page_171">171</a>-<a href="#Page_173">173</a>, +<a href="#Page_177">177</a>-<a href="#Page_178">178</a>, +<a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, +<a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">340</a></span><a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>-<a href="#Page_327">327</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Chevalier, Abbé</i>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.</li> +<li> +Cheverny and Its Château, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>-<a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Cheverny, Philippe Hurault, Comte de</i>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Chicot</i>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</li> +<li> +Chinon and Its Châteaux, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, +<a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, +<a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, +<a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, +<a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, +<a href="#Page_250">250</a>-<a href="#Page_261">261</a>, +<a href="#Page_268">268</a>.</li> +<li> +Chinon, Forêt de, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li> +<li> +Chiron-Tardiveau, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Choiseul, Duc de</i>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> +<li> +Cholet, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>-<a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Cholet, Comte de</i>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</li> +<li> +Cinq-Mars and Its Ruins, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>-<a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Cinq-Mars, Henri, Marquis de</i>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>-<a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li> +<li> +<i><a id="CinqMars">Cinq-Mars, Marquise de</a></i>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Claude of France</i>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Clément, Jacques</i>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</li> +<li> +Clermont-Ferrand, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> +<li> +Cléry, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>-<a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</li> +<li> +Clisson and Its Château, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Clisson</i>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Clopinel, Jehan</i> (See <a href="#JeanDeMeung"><i>Jean de Meung</i></a>).</li> +<li> +<i>Clouet</i>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Clovis</i>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li> +<li> +Cœuvres, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Coligny</i>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>-<a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</li> +<li> +Colletis, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Colombe, Michel</i>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>-<a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Commines, De</i>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Condé, Prince de</i>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>-<a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Conti, Princesse de</i>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Cormeri, Citizen</i>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li> +<li> +Cormery, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.</li> +<li> +Cosne, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>.</li> +<li> +Cosson, The, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>-<a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</li> +<li> +Coteau de Guignes, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li> +<li> +Couëron, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Coulanges, M. de</i>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> +<li> +Coulmiers, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</li> +<li> +Cour-Cheverny, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Cousin, Jean</i>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.</li> +<li> +Coutancière, Château of, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Coxe, Miss</i>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Créquy, Marquise de</i>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li> +<li> +Croix de Monteuse, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Cromwell</i>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Crussol, Mlle. de</i>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul><li> +<i>Dalahaide</i>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</li> +<li> +<a id="Dampierre">Dampierre</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Dante</i>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Danton</i>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Daudet</i>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.</li> +<li> +Decize, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Delavigne, Casimir</i>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Delorme, Marion</i>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>-<a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Delorme, Philibert</i>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Deneux, Mlle.</i>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Descartes</i>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</li> +<li> +Digoin, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</li> +<li> +Dijon, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Dino, Duc de</i>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</li> +<li> +Dive, The, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li> +<li> +Domfront, Château de, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Doré</i>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Duban</i>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Ducos, Roger</i>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>-<a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Dudevant, Madame</i> (See <a href="#GeorgeSand"><i>Sand, George</i></a>).</li> +<li> +<i>Duguesclin</i>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Dumas</i>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>-<a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>-<a href="#Page_295">295</a>.</li> +<li> +Dunois, The, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Dupin, M. and Mme.</i>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Duplessis-Mornay</i>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.</li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li> +<i>Eckmühl, Prince</i>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Effiats Family, D'</i> (See <a href="#CinqMars"><i>Cinq-Mars</i></a>).</li> +<li> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">341</a></span><i>Elbée, D'</i>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Eleanor of Portugal</i>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Éléanore of Guienne</i>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li> +<li> +Embrun, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Epernon, Duc d'</i>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Este, Cardinal d'</i>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Estrées, Gabrielle d'</i>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>-<a href="#Page_170">170</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Étampes, Duchesse d'</i>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>-<a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Étampes, Jacques d'</i>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</li> +<li> +Etretat, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.</li> +<li> +Eure et Loir, Department of, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li> +</ul><ul> +<li> +Falaise, Château de, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Ferdinand VII. of Spain</i>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>.</li> +<li> +Finistère, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Flaubert</i>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Foix, Marguerite de</i>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>-<a href="#Page_296">296</a>.</li> +<li> +Folie-Siffait, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</li> +<li> +Fontainebleau, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.</li> +<li> +Fontaine des Sables Mouvants, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Fontenelle</i>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li> +<li> +Fontenoy, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</li> +<li> +Fontevrault, Abbey of, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>-<a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Force, Piganiol de la</i>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.</li> +<li> +Forez, Plain of, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Fouché</i>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> +<li> +<i><a id="FoulquesNerra">Foulques Nerra</a></i>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Foulques V.</i>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Fouquet</i>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>François I.</i>, +<a href="#Page_60">60</a>-<a href="#Page_64">64</a>, +<a href="#Page_69">69</a>-<a href="#Page_70">70</a>, +<a href="#Page_72">72</a>-<a href="#Page_73">73</a>, +<a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, +<a href="#Page_94">94</a>-<a href="#Page_99">99</a>, +<a href="#Page_101">101</a>, +<a href="#Page_104">104</a>-<a href="#Page_107">107</a>, +<a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, +<a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, +<a href="#Page_148">148</a>, +<a href="#Page_151">151</a>-<a href="#Page_156">156</a>, +<a href="#Page_171">171</a>-<a href="#Page_172">172</a>, +<a href="#Page_174">174</a>-<a href="#Page_176">176</a>, +<a href="#Page_189">189</a>-<a href="#Page_190">190</a>, +<a href="#Page_194">194</a>, +<a href="#Page_196">196</a>-<a href="#Page_197">197</a>, +<a href="#Page_200">200</a>, +<a href="#Page_244">244</a>-<a href="#Page_245">245</a>, +<a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>François II.</i>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>-<a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Franklin, Benjamin</i>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>-<a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</li> +<li> +Freiburg, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li> +<li> +Fromentin, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>.</li> +</ul><ul> +<li> +<i>Galles, Prince de</i>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li> +<li> +<i><a id="Gaston">Gaston of Orleans</a></i>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>-<a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>-<a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>-<a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</li> +<li> +Gatanais, The, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>.</li> +<li> +Gatine, Forêt de, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>George IV.</i>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> +<li> +Gerbier-de-Jonc, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</li> +<li> +Gien and Its Château, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>-<a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>.</li> +<li> +Gilly, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</li> +<li> +Giverny, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.</li> +<li> +<i><a id="HenriGondi">Gondi, Henri de</a></i>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>-<a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>-<a href="#Page_302">302</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Goujon, Jean</i>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Gregory of Tours</i>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Grise-Gonelle, Geoffroy</i>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> +<li> +Grottoes of Ste. Radegonde, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</li> +<li> +Guérande, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Guise, Henri, Duc de (Le Balafré)</i>, +<a href="#Page_67">67</a>, +<a href="#Page_69">69</a>-<a href="#Page_70">70</a>, +<a href="#Page_73">73</a>-<a href="#Page_78">78</a>, +<a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, +<a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li> +</ul><ul> +<li> +Haute Loire, Department of, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Henri II.</i>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, +<a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, +<a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, +<a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, +<a href="#Page_171">171</a>-<a href="#Page_172">172</a>, +<a href="#Page_174">174</a>-<a href="#Page_177">177</a>, +<a href="#Page_183">183</a>-<a href="#Page_184">184</a>, +<a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Henri III.</i>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>-<a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>-<a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Henri IV. (de Navarre)</i>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>.</li> +<li> +<i><a id="HenryII">Henry II. of England</a></i>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>-<a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Henry VIII. of England</i>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Holbein</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Hugo, Victor</i>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li> +<li> +Huismes, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Hurault, Philippe</i>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</li> +</ul><ul> +<li> +Ile de Yeu, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>-<a href="#Page_311">311</a>.</li> +<li> +Ile Feydeau, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> +<li> +Ile Gloriette, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> +<li> +Ile St. Jean, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li> +<li> +Ilot du Pilier, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">342</a></span></li> +<li> +Indre, The, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>-<a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>-<a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>-<a href="#Page_327">327</a>.</li> +<li> +Indre et Loire, Département d', <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</li> +</ul><ul> +<li> +<i>Jahel, Miss</i>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>James V. of Scotland</i>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>James, Henry</i>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.</li> +<li> +Jargeau, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>.</li> +<li> +<i><a id="JeanDeMeung">Jean de Meung</a></i>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>-<a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Jean-sans-Peur</i>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Jean-sans-Terre</i>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Jeanne d'Arc</i>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>-<a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Jeanne of France</i>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>John, King</i>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>.</li> +<li> +Joué, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Juvenet</i>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> +</ul><ul> +<li> +<i>Kleber</i>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</li> +</ul><ul> +<li> +La Beauce, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.</li> +<li> +"La Briche," <a href="#Page_270">270</a>-<a href="#Page_272">272</a>.</li> +<li> +Lac de Grand Lieu, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>-<a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>-<a href="#Page_312">312</a>.</li> +<li> +Lac d'Issarles, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li> +<li> +La Chapelle, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li> +<li> +La Charité, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>-<a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>-<a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>-<a href="#Page_334">334</a>.</li> +<li> +La Châtre, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>.</li> +<li> +La Chevrolière, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Lafayette, Madame de</i>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>La Fontaine</i>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>.</li> +<li> +La Martinière, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> +<li> +La Motte, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>-<a href="#Page_88">88</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Landais</i>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Landes, Houdon des</i>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.</li> +<li> +Langeais and Its Château, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, +<a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, +<a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, +<a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, +<a href="#Page_224">224</a>, +<a href="#Page_232">232</a>-<a href="#Page_241">241</a>, +<a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li> +<li> +Languedoc, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Lanoue</i>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>.</li> +<li> +Lanterne de Rochecorbon, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>.</li> +<li> +La Pointe, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>-<a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>.</li> +<li> +La Possonière, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.</li> +<li> +Larçay, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li> +<li> +La Rochelle, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Lauzun</i>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Lavedan</i>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>-<a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li> +<li> +Layon, The, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li> +<li> +Le Croisic, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>.</li> +<li> +Le Havre, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Lemaitre, Jules</i>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Lemercier</i>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>-<a href="#Page_262">262</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Lenoir</i>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Lenôtre</i>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Lepage</i>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li> +<li> +Le Pellerin, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> +<li> +Le Puy, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>-<a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Leray, M.</i>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li> +<li> +Les Andelys, Château de, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Lescure</i>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Lespine, Jean de</i>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>.</li> +<li> +Liger, The, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</li> +<li> +Lille, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Lille, Abbé de</i>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</li> +<li> +"<i>Limieul, La Demoiselle de</i>" (See <a href="#TourIsabelle"><i>Tour, Isabelle de la</i></a>).</li> +<li> +Limousin, The, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li> +<li> +Lisieux, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>.</li> +<li> +Loches and Its Châteaux, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, +<a href="#Page_9">9</a>-<a href="#Page_10">10</a>, +<a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, +<a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, +<a href="#Page_188">188</a>-<a href="#Page_202">202</a>, +<a href="#Page_250">250</a>, +<a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>.</li> +<li> +Loches, Forêt de, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</li> +<li> +Loir, The, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> +<li> +Loir et Cher, Department of the, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> +<li> +Loire, The, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, +<a href="#Page_3">3</a>-<a href="#Page_30">30</a>, +<a href="#Page_32">32</a>, +<a href="#Page_34">34</a>-<a href="#Page_38">38</a>, +<a href="#Page_40">40</a>-<a href="#Page_41">41</a>, +<a href="#Page_43">43</a>, +<a href="#Page_50">50</a>-<a href="#Page_51">51</a>, +<a href="#Page_53">53</a>-<a href="#Page_54">54</a>, +<a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, +<a href="#Page_64">64</a>-<a href="#Page_65">65</a>, +<a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, +<a href="#Page_95">95</a>-<a href="#Page_97">97</a>, +<a href="#Page_101">101</a>-<a href="#Page_102">102</a>, +<a href="#Page_110">110</a>, +<a href="#Page_116">116</a>-<a href="#Page_118">118</a>, +<a href="#Page_120">120</a>-<a href="#Page_122">122</a>, +<a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, +<a href="#Page_133">133</a>, +<a href="#Page_134">134</a>, +<a href="#Page_137">137</a>, +<a href="#Page_140">140</a>-<a href="#Page_142">142</a>, +<a href="#Page_148">148</a>-<a href="#Page_149">149</a>, +<a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, +<a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, +<a href="#Page_177">177</a>-<a href="#Page_178">178</a>, +<a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, +<a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, +<a href="#Page_220">220</a>-<a href="#Page_223">223</a>, +<a href="#Page_225">225</a>, +<a href="#Page_227">227</a>-<a href="#Page_228">228</a>, +<a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, +<a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, +<a href="#Page_259">259</a>-<a href="#Page_260">260</a>, +<a href="#Page_267">267</a>, +<a href="#Page_273">273</a>, +<a href="#Page_275">275</a>-<a href="#Page_276">276</a>, +<a href="#Page_278">278</a>-<a href="#Page_279">279</a>, +<a href="#Page_282">282</a>-<a href="#Page_286">286</a>, +<a href="#Page_288">288</a>-<a href="#Page_290">290</a>, +<a href="#Page_292">292</a>-<a href="#Page_293">293</a>, +<a href="#Page_297">297</a>-<a href="#Page_302">302</a>, +<a href="#Page_304">304</a>, +<a href="#Page_308">308</a>-<a href="#Page_309">309</a>, +<a href="#Page_311">311</a>, +<a href="#Page_313">313</a>-<a href="#Page_314">314</a>, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">343</a> +</span> +<a href="#Page_318">318</a>-<a href="#Page_319">319</a>, +<a href="#Page_324">324</a>, +<a href="#Page_326">326</a>-<a href="#Page_327">327</a>, +<a href="#Page_330">330</a>, +<a href="#Page_332">332</a>-<a href="#Page_334">334</a>, +<a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</li> +<li> +Loiret, The, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>-<a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li> +<li> +Loiret, Department of the, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>-<a href="#Page_36">36</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Lorraine, Cardinal de</i>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Lorraine, Marie de</i>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li> +<li> +Lorris, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Lorris, Guillaume de</i>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.</li> +<li> +Lot, The, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li> +<li> +Louet, The, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Louis II. (Le Bègue)</i>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Louis IX.</i> (See <a href="#StLouis"><i>St. Louis</i></a>).</li> +<li> +<i>Louis XI.</i>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, +<a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, +<a href="#Page_44">44</a>-<a href="#Page_46">46</a>, +<a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, +<a href="#Page_130">130</a>-<a href="#Page_131">131</a>, +<a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, +<a href="#Page_194">194</a>, +<a href="#Page_195">195</a>, +<a href="#Page_211">211</a>-<a href="#Page_212">212</a>, +<a href="#Page_214">214</a>-<a href="#Page_218">218</a>, +<a href="#Page_232">232</a>-<a href="#Page_233">233</a>, +<a href="#Page_253">253</a>, +<a href="#Page_257">257</a>-<a href="#Page_258">258</a>, +<a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, +<a href="#Page_291">291</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Louis XII.</i>, +<a href="#Page_60">60</a>-<a href="#Page_61">61</a>, +<a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, +<a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, +<a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, +<a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, +<a href="#Page_194">194</a>-<a href="#Page_195">195</a>, +<a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, +<a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Louis XIII.</i>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>-<a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Louis XIV.</i>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, +<a href="#Page_82">82</a>-<a href="#Page_83">83</a>, +<a href="#Page_98">98</a>-<a href="#Page_99">99</a>, +<a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, +<a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, +<a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, +<a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, +<a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Louis XV.</i>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Louis XVI.</i>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Louis XVIII.</i>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Louis Philippe</i>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li> +<li> +Louvre, The, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Lubin, M.</i>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.</li> +<li> +Luynes and Its Château, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>-<a href="#Page_227">227</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Luynes Family</i>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li> +<li> +Lyonnais, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> +<li> +Lyons, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>.</li> +<li> +Lyons, Forêt de, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li> +</ul><ul> +<li> +Madon, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Maillé, Comte de</i>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>.</li> +<li> +Maine, The, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>-<a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>-<a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>-<a href="#Page_290">290</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Maintenon, Madame de</i>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Malines</i>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Mame et Fils, Alfred</i>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Mansart</i> (elder), <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li> +<li> +Marguerites, The, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Marie Antoinette</i>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Marigny, De</i>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li> +<li> +Marmoutier, Abbey of, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>-<a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Marques, Family of</i>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Marsay, M. de</i>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</li> +<li> +Marseilles, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Martel, Geoffroy</i>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li> +<li> +Maulévrier, Château of, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>.</li> +<li> +Mauves, Plain of, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</li> +<li> +Mayenne, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> +<li> +Mayenne, The, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Mazarin</i>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>-<a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Medici, Catherine de</i>, +<a href="#Page_73">73</a>-<a href="#Page_79">79</a>, +<a href="#Page_107">107</a>, +<a href="#Page_118">118</a>-<a href="#Page_119">119</a>, +<a href="#Page_122">122</a>-<a href="#Page_123">123</a>, +<a href="#Page_156">156</a>-<a href="#Page_157">157</a>, +<a href="#Page_160">160</a>-<a href="#Page_162">162</a>, +<a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>-<a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>-<a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Medici, Marie de</i>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</li> +<li> +Mehun-sur-Yevre and Its Château, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>-<a href="#Page_326">326</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Mello, Dreux de</i>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.</li> +<li> +Menars and Its Château, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>-<a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li> +<li> +Mer, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>-<a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</li> +<li> +Metz, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</li> +<li> +Meung-sur-Loire, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>-<a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li> +<li> +Micy, Abbaye de, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Mignard</i>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</li> +<li> +Moine, The, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>-<a href="#Page_308">308</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Molière</i>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li> +<li> +Montbazon, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Montespan, Madame de</i>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Montesquieu</i>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Montgomery</i>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</li> +<li> +Montjean, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</li> +<li> +Montlivault, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Montmorency, Connétable de</i>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>.</li> +<li> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">344</a></span>Montpellier, Castle of, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Montpensier, Charles de</i>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>-<a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</li> +<li> +Montrichard and its Donjon, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>-<a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>-<a href="#Page_93">93</a>.</li> +<li> +Montsoreau, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>-<a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>.</li> +<li> +Moraines, Château de (<i>See</i> <a href="#Dampierre">Dampierre</a>).</li> +<li> +<i>Moreau</i>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.</li> +<li> +Moret, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Morrison</i>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li> +<li> +Mortagne, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Mosnier</i>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</li> +<li> +Moulins, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> +<li> +Muides, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</li> +</ul><ul> +<li> +Nahon, The, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>-<a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</li> +<li> +Nantes and Its Château, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, +<a href="#Page_7">7</a>-<a href="#Page_8">8</a>, +<a href="#Page_12">12</a>-<a href="#Page_13">13</a>, +<a href="#Page_23">23</a>, +<a href="#Page_25">25</a>-<a href="#Page_28">28</a>, +<a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, +<a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, +<a href="#Page_207">207</a>, +<a href="#Page_278">278</a>-<a href="#Page_279">279</a>, +<a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, +<a href="#Page_291">291</a>-<a href="#Page_302">302</a>, +<a href="#Page_308">308</a>, +<a href="#Page_311">311</a>-<a href="#Page_312">312</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Napoleon I.</i>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>-<a href="#Page_322">322</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Napoleon III.</i>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Napoleon, Louis</i>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li> +<li> +Narbonne, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Navarre, Marguerite of</i> (See <a href="#MarguiriteDAlenson"><i>Alençon, Marguerite d'</i></a>).</li> +<li> +<i>Nemours, Duc de</i>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Nepveu, Pierre</i>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.</li> +<li> +Nevers, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>-<a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>-<a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Nini</i>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</li> +<li> +Nivernais, The, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>.</li> +<li> +Nohant, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>-<a href="#Page_329">329</a>.</li> +<li> +Noirmoutier, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>-<a href="#Page_310">310</a>.</li> +<li> +Normandy, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.</li> +</ul><ul> +<li> +Ognon, The, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>.</li> +<li> +Onzain, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.</li> +<li> +Orléannais, The, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>-<a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>-<a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</li> +<li> +Orléans, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>-<a href="#Page_8">8</a>, +<a href="#Page_10">10</a>-<a href="#Page_12">12</a>, +<a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, +<a href="#Page_19">19</a>, +<a href="#Page_30">30</a>-<a href="#Page_35">35</a>, +<a href="#Page_37">37</a>-<a href="#Page_41">41</a>, +<a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, +<a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, +<a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, +<a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, +<a href="#Page_289">289</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Orleans Family</i>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, +<a href="#Page_65">65</a>-<a href="#Page_66">66</a>, +<a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, +<a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, +<a href="#Page_234">234</a> (See also <a href="#Gaston"><i>Gaston of Orleans</i></a>).</li> +<li> +Orleans, Forêt d', <a href="#Page_39">39</a>-<a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</li> +<li> +Oudon, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>-<a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>.</li> +</ul><ul> +<li> +Paimbœuf, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> +<li> +Paris, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>-<a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>-<a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Parme, Duc de</i>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Parmentier</i>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li> +<li> +Pas de Calais, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.</li> +<li> +Passay, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>.</li> +<li> +Passy-sur-Seine, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li> +<li> +Pays de Retz, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>-<a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Penthièvre, Duc de</i>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Pepin</i>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Philippe I.</i>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Philippe II. (Auguste)</i>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Philippe III. (Le Hardi)</i>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Philippe IV. (Le Bel)</i>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li> +<li> +Pierrefonds, Château of, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.</li> +<li> +Pierre-Levée, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Pilon, Germain</i>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.</li> +<li> +Pinaizeaux, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Pius VI.</i>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Plantagenet, Henry</i> (See <a href="#HenryII"><i>Henry II. of England</i></a>).</li> +<li> +<i>Plantin, Christopher</i>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Plessis, Armand du</i> (See <a href="#Richelieu"><i>Richelieu, Cardinal</i></a>).</li> +<li> +Plessis-les-Tours, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>-<a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>.</li> +<li> +Pointe de Chenoulin, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>.</li> +<li> +Poitiers, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>.</li> +<li> +<i><a id="DianePoitiers">Poitiers, Diane de</a></i>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, +<a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, +<a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, +<a href="#Page_174">174</a>-<a href="#Page_178">178</a>, +<a href="#Page_183">183</a>, +<a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.</li> +<li> +Poitou, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Pompadour, La</i>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Poniatowska, Marie Thérèse</i>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>.</li> +<li> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">345</a></span>Pont Aven, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.</li> +<li> +Ponts de Cé, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>-<a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>-<a href="#Page_286">286</a>.</li> +<li> +Pornic, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>.</li> +<li> +Pornichet, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>.</li> +<li> +Port Boulet, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.</li> +<li> +Pouilly, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>-<a href="#Page_332">332</a>.</li> +<li> +Prairie-au-Duc, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Primaticcio</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Primatice</i>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</li> +<li> +Puy-de-Dôme, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li> +</ul><ul> +<li> +<i>Rabelais, François</i>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>-<a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>-<a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>-<a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li> +<li> +Rambouillet, Forêt de, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li> +<li> +Reims, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Renaudie, Jean Barri de la</i>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>René, King</i>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.</li> +<li> +Rennes, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Retz, Cardinal de</i> (See <a href="#HenriGondi"><i>Gondi, Henri de</i></a>).</li> +<li> +<i>Retz, Gilles de</i>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>.</li> +<li> +Rhine, The, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</li> +<li> +Rhône, The, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Richard Cœur de Lion</i>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li> +<li> +Richelieu, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>-<a href="#Page_262">262</a>.</li> +<li> +<i><a id="Richelieu">Richelieu, Cardinal</a></i>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>-<a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>-<a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>-<a href="#Page_302">302</a>.</li> +<li> +Roanne, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>-<a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Rochecotte</i>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li> +<li> +Rochecotte, Château de, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>-<a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li> +<li> +Romorantin and Its Château, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>-<a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Ronsard</i>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li> +<li> +Rouen, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>-<a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Rousseau, Jean Jacques</i>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>-<a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Roy, Lucien</i>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Royale, Madame</i>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Rubens</i>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Ruggieri, Cosmo</i>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>-<a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>-<a href="#Page_123">123</a>.</li> +<li> +Russy, Forêt de, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</li> +</ul><ul> +<li> +<i>Saint Gelais, Guy de</i>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</li> +<li> +Sancerre and Its Châteaux, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>-<a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Sancerre, Counts of</i>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>-<a href="#Page_316">316</a>.</li> +<li> +<i><a id="GeorgeSand">Sand, George</a></i>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>-<a href="#Page_329">329</a>.</li> +<li> +San Juste, Monastery of, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</li> +<li> +Saône, The, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Sardini, Scipion</i>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</li> +<li> +Sarthe, The, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> +<li> +Saumur and Its Château, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>-<a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>-<a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>-<a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>.</li> +<li> +Sausac, Château of, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Sausac, Seigneur de</i>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li> +<li> +Savennières, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.</li> +<li> +<i><a id="SavLo">Savoie, Louise de</a></i>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Savoie, Philippe de</i>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Saxe, Maurice de</i>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>-<a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Scott, Sir Walter</i>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</li> +<li> +Sedan, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</li> +<li> +Seine, The, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>.</li> +<li> +Selles, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Sertio</i>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Sévigné, Madame de</i>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Sforza, Ludovic</i>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Shenstone</i>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Siegfreid, Jacques</i>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li> +<li> +Sologne, The, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>-<a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>-<a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Sorel, Agnes</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>-<a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>-<a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Staël, Madame de</i>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>-<a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Aignan and Its Château, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Stanislas of Poland, King</i>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>-<a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Ay, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>-<a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Benoit-sur-Loire, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Claude, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Cyr, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Die, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</li> +<li> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">346</a></span>Ste. Eulalie, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Stendahl</i>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Etienne, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Florent, Abbey of, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Galmier, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Georges-sur-Loire, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Leger, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>St. Liphard</i>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li> +<li> +<i><a id="StLouis">St. Louis</a></i>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Lumine, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Mars, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>St. Martin</i>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>-<a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>St. Mesme</i>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Mesmin, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Nazaire, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Stofflet</i>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>St. Ours</i>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Philibert, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>-<a href="#Page_312">312</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>St. Philibert</i>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Pierre-le-Moutier, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Rambert, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>St. Sauveur</i>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li> +<li> +Strasburg, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Symphorien, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</li> +<li> +St. Trinité, Abbey of, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Stuart, Mary</i>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>-<a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>St. Vallier, Comte de</i>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.</li> +<li> +Suèvres, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</li> +<li> +Sully, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> +</ul><ul> +<li> +<i>Talleyrand</i>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Tasso</i>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.</li> +<li> +Tavers, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Terry, Mr.</i>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Texier</i>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li> +<li> +Thézée, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Thibaut-le-Tricheur</i>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Thibaut III.</i>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Thiephanie, Dame</i>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.</li> +<li> +Thouet, The, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Thoury, Comtesse</i>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.</li> +<li> +Torfou, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</li> +<li> +Toulouse, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> +<li> +<i><a id="TourIsabelle">Tour, Isabelle de la</a></i>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</li> +<li> +Touraine, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>-<a href="#Page_4">4</a>, +<a href="#Page_6">6</a>-<a href="#Page_9">9</a>, +<a href="#Page_15">15</a>, +<a href="#Page_19">19</a>-<a href="#Page_21">21</a>, +<a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, +<a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, +<a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, +<a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, +<a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, +<a href="#Page_128">128</a>-<a href="#Page_148">148</a>, +<a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, +<a href="#Page_169">169</a>, +<a href="#Page_172">172</a>-<a href="#Page_173">173</a>, +<a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, +<a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, +<a href="#Page_220">220</a>, +<a href="#Page_229">229</a>-<a href="#Page_230">230</a>, +<a href="#Page_233">233</a>-<a href="#Page_234">234</a>, +<a href="#Page_238">238</a>, +<a href="#Page_243">243</a>-<a href="#Page_244">244</a>, +<a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, +<a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, +<a href="#Page_275">275</a>, +<a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Touraine, Comtes de</i>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li> +<li> +Tours, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, +<a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, +<a href="#Page_10">10</a>-<a href="#Page_11">11</a>, +<a href="#Page_20">20</a>-<a href="#Page_21">21</a>, +<a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, +<a href="#Page_84">84</a>, +<a href="#Page_116">116</a>-<a href="#Page_117">117</a>, +<a href="#Page_120">120</a>, +<a href="#Page_132">132</a>-<a href="#Page_133">133</a>, +<a href="#Page_137">137</a>, + <a href="#Page_148">148</a>-<a href="#Page_149">149</a>, +<a href="#Page_166">166</a>, +<a href="#Page_171">171</a>-<a href="#Page_172">172</a>, +<a href="#Page_200">200</a>, +<a href="#Page_203">203</a>-<a href="#Page_211">211</a>, +<a href="#Page_215">215</a>, +<a href="#Page_221">221</a>-<a href="#Page_222">222</a>, +<a href="#Page_224">224</a>-<a href="#Page_225">225</a>, +<a href="#Page_238">238</a>-<a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>-<a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>-<a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>.</li> +<li> +Treves-Cunault, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>-<a href="#Page_284">284</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Turenne</i>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Turner</i>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.</li> +</ul><ul> +<li> +Ussé and Its Château, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>-<a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</li> +</ul><ul> +<li> +Valençay and Its Château, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>-<a href="#Page_324">324</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Valentine de Milan</i>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Valentinois, Duchesse de</i> (See <a href="#DianePoitiers"><i>Poitiers, Diane de</i></a>).</li> +<li> +Vallée du Vendomois, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Valois, Marguerite de</i> (<i>sister of François I.</i>) +(See <a href="#MarguiriteDAlenson"><i>Alençon, Marguerite d'</i></a>).</li> +<li> +<i>Valois, Marguerite de (de Navarre)</i>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Van Eyck</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> +<li> +Varennes, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>.</li> +<li> +Varennes, The, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Vasari</i>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Vauban</i>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Vaudémont, Louise de</i>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</li> +<li> +Vendôme, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Vendôme, César de</i>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li> +<li> +Vendomois, The, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>-<a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> +<li> +Veron, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</li> +<li> +Versailles, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Vibraye, Marquis de</i>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li> +<li> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">347</a></span>Vienne, The, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>-<a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>-<a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>.</li> +<li> +Vierzon, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>-<a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Vigny, Alfred de</i>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>-<a href="#Page_129">129</a>.</li> +<li> +Villandry, Château de, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li> +<li> +Villaumère, Château de la, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Villon, François</i>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Vinci, Leonardo da</i>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>-<a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Viollet-le-Duc</i>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</li> +<li> +Vivarais Mountains, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Voltaire</i>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li> +<li> +Vorey, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li> +<li> +Vouvray, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>.</li> +</ul><ul> +<li> +Yonne, The, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li> +<li> +<i>Young, Arthur</i>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</li> +</ul><ul> +<li> +<i>Zamet, Sebastian</i>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.</li> +</ul> + + + + +<h4>Transcriber's Notes</h4> + + +<p>1. Replaced chateau(x) with château(x) throughout the text (title pages +and pp. xi, 1, 9, 62, 72, 327).</p> + +<p>2. P. 36: added quotes after a verse.</p> + +<p>3. P. 67: replaced "três" with "très" ("très beau et très agréable ainsy +que tous ses portraits l'ont représenté...").</p> + +<p>4. P. 83: added quotes after the phrase "magasin des subsistances +militaires".</p> + +<p>5. P. 86: added quotes after a phrase "those brilliant and ambitious +gentlemen".</p> + +<p>6. P. 94: "potions" are replaced with "portions" ("... moreover, one can +drink large portions of it...").</p> + +<p>7. P. 108: "know" is replaced with "known" ("The second floor is known +as the...").</p> + +<p>8. All instances of "Francois" are replaced with "François" (pp. 69, +171, 304, 338, 346).</p> + +<p>9. P. 187: "Credit Foncier" is replaced by "Crédit Foncier".</p> + +<p>10. P. 235: Replaced "irrelevent" with "irrelevant" ("...an +over-luxuriant interpolation of irrelevant things...").</p> + +<p>11. P. 290: Replaced "Andre" with "André" ("Maison André Leroy").</p> + +<p>12. P. 296: Added quotes after a verse "Cueur de vertus orné Dignement +couronné."</p> + +<p>13. P. 314: Replaced "Etes-vous" with "Êtes-vous" ("Êtes-vous allé à...").</p> + +<p>14. P. 322: Replaced "Valencay" with "Valençay" ("Château de +Valençay").</p> + +<p>15. Replaced "Eglise" with "Église" (illustration caption: "Église S. +Aignan, Cosne").</p> + +<p>16. Innkeepers, manorhouse, sandbar, Bellilocus, seaside, harbourside, +headwaters, stairway, and waterways are chosen to be written without a +hyphen.</p> + +<p>17. Dining-table, wine-shops, and quatre-vingtz are chosen to be written +with a hyphen.</p> + +<p>18. P. 338: Replaced "Bréze" with "Brézé" (Brézé, Pierre de).</p> + +<p>19. P. 269: Replaced "Chateaudun" with "Châteaudun" ("... the fief +passed to the Vicomtes de Châteaudun...").</p> + +<p>20. Pp. 12, 17, and 339: Replaced "Canal Lateral" with "Canal Latéral".</p> + +<p>21. P. 344: Replaced "Orléans" with "Orleans".</p> + +<p>22. P. 286: Quotes after the verse added ("... sur la Loire.").</p> + +<p>23. P. 327: The (missing) closing quotes are added ("_petits +chefs-d'oeuvre_ of sentiment and rustic poesy").</p> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Castles and Chateaux of Old Touraine +and the Loire Country, by Francis Miltoun + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CASTLES, CHATEAUX OF OLD TOURAINE *** + +***** This file should be named 37211-h.htm or 37211-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/2/1/37211/ + +Produced by Elizaveta Shevyakhova, Juliet Sutherland and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian +Libraries) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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