YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Bought with the income of the ALFRED E. PERKINS FUND A HANDBOOK TRAVELLERS IN FRANCE NOTICE TO THIS EDITION. The Editor, of the 'Handbook for Travellers in France' requests tha travellers who may, in using this Work, detect any errors or omissions which they can correct from personal knowledge, will have the kindness to mark them down on the spot and communicate to him a notice of the same, favouring him at the same time with their names— addressed to the care of Mr. Murray, Albemarle Street. They may be reminded that by such com munications they are not merely furnishing the means of improving* the Handbook, but are contributing to the benefit, information, and comfort of future travellers in general. *** No attention can be paid to letters from innkeepers in praise of their own houses. Caution to Trav'eluers.— By a recent Act of Parliament the introduc tion into England of foreign pirated Editions of the works of British authors, in which the copyright subsists, is totally -prohibited. Travellers will there fore bear in mind that even a single copy is contraband, and is liable to seizure at the English Custom-house. Caution to Innkeepers and others. — The Editor of the Handbooks lias learned from various quarters that a person or persons have of late been extorting money from innkeepers, tradespeople, artists, and others, on the Continent, under pretext of procuring recommendations and favourable notices of them and their establishments in the Handbooks for Travellers. The Editor, therefore, thinks proper to warn all whom it may concern, that recommendations in the Handbooks are not to be obtained in this manner and that the persons alluded to are not only unauthorized by him, but are little better than swindlers. All those, therefore, who put confidence in such promises may rest assured that they will be defrauded of their money without attaining their object. English travellers are requested to explain this to innkeepers in remote situations, who are liable to become victims of such itinerant imposters. HANDBOOK FOE TRAVELLERS FRANCE: BEING A (iLTIDE TO JTORMANDY, BRITTANY ; THE RIVERS SEINE, LOIRE, -RHONE, AND GARONNE ; THE FRENCH ALPS, DAUPHINE, THE PYRENEES, PROVENCE, AND NICE, &c. &c. &c. ; THE RAILWAYS AND PRINCIPAL ROADS. TENTH EDITION, ENTIRELY RE VIS El*. JUEitfj fBUqrg arto plaits of Eofoits. LONDON: .TOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. PATHS : A. & W. GALIGNANI AND CO. ; A. XAVIER. 1867. THE ENSLISH EDITIONS OF JillKKA* V'MANPHOOfiS iW OBTAINED OF THE FOLLOWING AGENTS : — \AIX-LA- 1 ICHAPELLE f AMSTERDAM. ANTWERPBADEN- HADEN BERLIN . BRUSSELS CARLSRUHE . COBLENTZ COLOGNE. DRESDEN-FRANKFURT . GRATZ . THE HAGUE . HAM11IIRG HEIDELBERG. Germany, Holland, and Belgium. 1. A.MAYER. J. MULLER.-W. KIRBERGER. MAX. KORN1CKEK. D R MARX. ASHER. MUQI'ARDT. — KIESSL1NG & CO. A. BIELEFELD. BAKDEKEI'.. GUKVEN.— NELTE & CO- ARNOLD. C. ji'GI'.L. LEUSCHNRR & LUBENSKY. NIJHOFF & CO. MAUKE, SOHNE. MOIIU. KISSINGEN LEIPZIG . LUXEMBOURG MANNHEIM . MAYENCEMUNICH . NURNBERG . PEST PRAGUE . ROTTERDAM . STUTTGART . TRIESTE . VIENNA . WIESBADEN . C. JUGEL. BROCKHAUS.— DURR. RUCK. ARTARIA * FONTA1NE.- LOFFLER.— ROTTER. VON ZABERN. LITERARISCH.— ARTISTISCHB — ANS1ALT— I. PALM. SCHIIAG.— ZEISEli. HARTLEBEN.— O.HECKENAS7 — OSTERLAMM.— RATH . CALVK. KRAMERS— PET1U, P. NEFP. MUNSTEK— COEN. C. GEROI.D.— BRAUMULLEH KREIDEL. Switzerland. BASLE . UEUNE . COIRE CONSTANCEGENEVA . BOLOGNA FLORENCEGENOA . LEGHORNLUCCA . MANTUA. MILAN . MODENA . NAPLES . PALERMO AMIENS . ANGERS . AVIGNON AVUANCHES , BAYONNEBORDEAUXBOULOGNEBREST . CAEN CALAIS . CHERBOURG DIEPPE . DINANT . DOUAI DUNKERQUE . GRENOBLE . HAVRE . H. GEORG.— H. AMBERGER. DA LP— 1EUT it REINERT. GRUF.ENMANN. MECIC. IJ. GEORG DESROGIS— CHERBULIEZ.— GEX.— MONROE.— GHISLETTY. MARTINIEU & CHAVANNES.— T. liOUSSY. LILLE LYONS MARSEILLES . METZ GIBRALTAR LISBON . ST. PETERS- 1 BURG. J Malta. MDia. LUCERNE. . F. KAISER. NEUCHATEL . GF.RSTER. SCHAFKHAUSEN HI'HTER. SOLEURE. ST. GALLEN . ZURICH . Italy. M. RUSCONI. PARMA . GOODBAN. PISA . GRANDONA & CO.— ANIOINE PEUUGIA. BEUF.— T. D. ROSSI. ROME MAZZAIOLI. V. BARON. SIENA . . NF.GIIETTL TURIN ARTARIA. — DUMOLARD FRERES.— MOLINARI. VINCENZI a ROSS] VENICE . . DOIIANT. — DUFRESNE. PEDONE. VERONA . Fra nee. CARON. MONTPELLIER BARASSE'. MULHOUSE . CLE'MENT ST. JUST. NANCY . ANFRAY. NANTES . JAYMEBON LASSERRE. CHAUMAS.— MULLER.— SAU- VAT.— FERET. NICE WATEL.— MERRIDEW. HEHEKT. ORLEANS. BOISARD.— LEGOST. — CLE- PARIS RISSE'. PAU . RIGAUX CAUX. PERPIGNAN . Mi.lk. I.ECOUI'FLET. REIMS MARAIS. COSTE. , ROCHEFORT . JACUUART LEMALE. ROUEN . VANDENBUSSCHE. SAUMUR. VKLLOT ET COMP. ST. ETIENNE . COCHARD.— BOU1IDIGNON.— ST. MALO. FOUCHER— Mmb. BUYS. ST. QUENTIN . BE'GHIN. STRASBOURG . AYNE' FILS.— SCHEURING.— ME'RA. TOULON . CAMOIN FRERES.— LE TOULOUSE MEUNIER. TOURS WARION. TROYES . Spain and Portugal. ROWSWELL. MADRID . MATT. LEWTAS. MALAGA . JENT. HUBER. H. FUSSLI &CO.— MEYLIt i & ZELLER. H. F. LEUTHOLD, POST- STRASSE. J.ZANGHIERI. NISTRI.— JOS. VANNUCCHI. V1NCENZ. BARTELL1. SPITHOVER— PIALE.— MONALDINI. ONOHATO PORRI. MAGGI— GIANNINI FIORE.- MAR1ETTI.— BOCCA FRERES MCNSTER — COEN. — ME1NERS. H. F. MUNSTER. — MENIEKS LEVALLE. RISLER. GONET. GUE'RARD.— PETIPAS.- POIR1ER LEGIiOS.— AN DRE' — Hiim. VLOORS. VISCONTL— UIRAUD.— . JOUGLA. -tGATINEAl'.— PFSTY. GALIGNANI.— XAVIER.— LAFON.— AUG. BASSY. JUL1/1 FRERES. BRISSART BINET.— GEOFFROY. BOUCARD. LEBRUMENT.— HAULARD. GAULTIER BRIE'RE. DELARUE. HUE. DOLOY. TREUTTEL ET WURTZ— GRUCKER MONGE ET VILLAML'S. GIMET & COTELLE. V GEORGET. LALOY.— DUFEY ROBF»t DURAN— BAILLIERE. . FR. DE MOYA. Russia. ISSAKOFF.— ROTTGER.— WOLFF. Ionian Islands. CORFU . J.W. TAY>VBr MOSCOW. W. GAUTIER— DEUBNER.-LAlJiG CAMOIN FRERES. Constantinople. Greece s™™"\a,nast. PREFACE. The Handbook for France, in its origin, plan, and arrangements, .does not differ from the other Handbooks for Travellers, inas much as it is based on actual travels through the country, and on personal knowledge of the places described. When the Handbook first appeared, although there were monographs and itineraries of many parts of the country, there did not exist sin French or in any other language a complete guide-book to France. The author may claim credit for having opened, not only to his own countrymen, but to the French themselves, many new routes and districts of interest previously little known or visited. The Handbook was published before the construction of Rail ways in France, since the commencement of which travelling has been in a transition state : the changes produced by these gigantic enterprises have necessitated great alterations — involving much labour and time — in every succeeding Edition of this book and particularly in the present one. Exertions have been made to bring the information down to the date of each Edition, as well as to correct and improve the work in every part, and to render the description of the districts not visited at first more trustworthy, by the testimony and experience of actual eye witnesses. There can be no doubt that errors and imperfections still remain ; the Editor, therefore, continues to invite Tra vellers to enable him to correct them from their own personal observation and experience. The chapters into which the book is divided are arranged VI PREFACK. according to the ancient Provinces, as being less minute, more historical, and better understood by English than the more intricate subdivisions of Departments. Though the latter are universally used by the French, some centuries must elapse before Champagne and Burgundy cease to be remembered for their wines, Perigord for its pies, and Provence for its oil ; nor will it be easy to obliterate the recollection of William of Normandy, Margaret of Anjou, and Henri of Navarre. And it may be observed that the modern Departments are either identical with, or are subdivisions of, the old French Provinces. This volume contains no description of the capital, as an entirely new, condensed, and portable 'Handbook for Visitors to Paris,' suitable to the wants of English travellers of the pre sent day, has been recently published by Mr. Murray. A description of Nice and its neighbourhood, now annexed to France, is inserted in this volume, to make room for which the description of the Island of Corsica has been removed. It may be had separately, with a Map, at the Publisher's. Several new plans of towns have been added to this Edition, and the general Map of the Railways revised to the date of publication from documents obtained from the several companies. London, Aug, 25, 1867. CONTENTS. Paor Introductory Information ix Section I. PICAEDY.— FBENCH FLANDERS— ILE DE FRANCE— NORMANDY. Introductory Information j Routes 8 Section II. BRITTANY. Introductory Information , ,112 Routes . ..119 Section III. ORLEANOIS— TOURAINE— RIVER LOIRE— LA VENDEE.- POITOTJ— SAINTONGE. Introductory Sketch of the Country 180 Routes 183 Section IV. "' LIMOUSIN— GASCON Y— GUIENNE.- THE PYRENEES.— NAVARRE— BEARN.— LANGUEDOC.— ROUSSILLON. Preliminary Information 245 outes 257 Section V. CENTRAL FRANCE.— BERRI.— AUVERGNE— VIVAEAIS.— ARDECHE— CANTAL.— BOURBONNAIS.-LYONNAIS— THE CE>ENNES. General View of the Country 379 Routes - t , < t , i < t s84 VI II CONTENTS, Section VI. PROVENCE, LANGUEDOC, AND NICE. Page Preliminary Information 447 Routes 480 Section VII. DAUPHINE. Introduction — Sketch of the Country ...... 567 Routes 568 Section VIII. BURGUNDY.— FRANCHE-COMTE. Introduction 593 Routes 593 Section IX. CHAMPAGNE.— LORRAINE.— ALSACE.— THE VOSGES MOUNTAINS. Preliminary Information 605 Routes 606 Section X. ILE DE FRANCE— FLANDRES— ARTOIS. Introduction 648 Routes 648 Index . 663 HANDBOOK TRAVELLERS IN FRANCE. INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION. PAGE a. Money . . . . . . . x Table of French Francs reduced to £. s. d. . xi ,, English Money reduced into French . xi b. Tables of Weights and Measures . . .xii „ French Metres reduced to English Feet . xiii „ Metres — English Yards . xiii „ English Yards — Metres , . . xiii T2.„ .„>„„_. (English Miles 1 ,, Kilometres — J _ > . xiv L and Furlongs f Kilogrammes 'English Pounds . xiv „ Hectares — English Acres . xiv c. Passports ....... xiv d. London to Paris, Strasburg, Marseilles, &c. — Routes across France . . . . .xvi Modes of Travelling — e. Railroads ..... xviii /. Posting and Private Carriages . . xix g. Diligences . . . . . xx h. Inns — Tables-d'HSte, etc . . . . .xxi i. Cafes ....... xxiii j. A Traveller's General View of France — Points of Interest — Scenery — Architecture — Towns . xxiii /¦;. List of the 86 Departments into which France is divided, and of the 33 Ancient Provinces com posing them ...... xxvii I. The English abroad ..... xxix to. Skeleton Tour through France . . xxxi Chronological Table of Kings of France . . xxxii a 3 X a. MONEY TABLES. a. MONEY. In France, accounts are kept in francs and centimes (or hundred parts), the coinage being arranged on the decimal system. Each franc contains 10 decimes, or 100 centimes. FRENCH MONEY. Silver Coins : — £ s. d. Piece of 1 franc = 100 centimes = 20 sous =009$ English. „ .... 20 centimes = 4 sous =002 „ J franc = 50 centimes = 10 sous = 0 0 4f ,, 2 francs= 200 centimes = 40 sous =017 „ 5 francs= 500 centimes =100 sous =040 Gold Coins:— & s. d. Napoleon, or 20 franc piece . = 0 16 0 Half Napoleon, or 10 franc piece . =080 Quarter Napoleon, or 5 franc piece = 040- 100 franc pieces =400 Copper {Bronze') Coins .- — Decime, or 10 centime piece . =001 5 centimes = 1 sous . . = 0 0 Of 2 centimes = J sous . . r= 0 0 Oj 1 centime . . . =00 0^-^- N.B. To find the value of any given number of centimes, remember that the Tens represent pennies, and the Fives halfpennies : thus 75c.=7^. — 25c.=2i(i. — 15c. = lLi. within a fraction, but near enough for all practical purposes. To reduce French francs to English money, where minute exact ness is not required, it will only be necessary to divide the amount of francs by 25, or to substitute 4 for 100, thus : — Francs. £ 100 = 4 1,000 = 40 10,000 = 400 100,000 = 4,000 1,000,000 = 40,000 The Bank of France issues notes for 1000, 500, 200, 100, and 50 francs, which are legal tender throughout the empire. FOREIGN COINS REDUCED TO THEIR VALUE IN FRENCH CURRENCY AT THE PAR OF EXCHANGE.* fr. C English sovereign (par of exchange) = 25 2,1 shilling . . . = 1 26 Dutch guilder . . . = 2 15 Prussian dollar . . . = 3 70 Bavarian florin = 20 pence English = 2 12 Austrian florin = 2 shillings English = 2 47 . * The rate of exchange varies from day to clay. It was as high as 26 francs, and is now (1S6Y) very nearly at par. a. MONEY TABLES. FRENCH FRANCS AND CENTIMES REDUCED TO THEIR VALUE IN ENGLISH POUNDS, SHILLINGS, AND PENCE, AT 25 FRANCS FOR £1 £ s. d. £ s. d. 5 cents. 0 0 Oift 1 0 francs 0 8 0 10 0 0 Of ft 11 0 8 9$ 15 0 0 Uft 12 0 9 7 20 0 0 If fa IS 0 10 4J 25 0 0 2iA 14 0 11 2 30 0 o a* A 0 3? ft 15 0 12 0 35 0 16 O 12 H 40 0 0 3f ft 17 0 13 7 45 0 0 4t A 18 0 14 4J 50 0 0 4f 19 0 15 2 55 0 0 5- ft 20 0 16 0 60 0 o sift 30 1 4 0 65 0 0 6- ft 40 1 12 0 70 0 0 6$ ft 50 2 0 0 75 0 0 7- ft 60 2 8 0 80 0 0 7i ft 70 2 16 0 85 0 0 8- ft 80 3 4 0 90 0 0 8$ ft 90 3 12 0 95 0 o 9- A 100 4 0 0 1 franc 0 0 9$ 200 8 0 0 2 0 1 7 300 12 0 0 3 0 2 4$ 400 16 0 0 4 0 3 2 500 20 0 0 5 0 4 0 750 30 .0 0 C 0 4 9$ 1.00C 40 0 0 7 0 5 7 5,00C 200 0 0 8 0 6 4$ 10.00C 400 0 0 9 0 7 2 100,000 4000 0 0 ENGLISH MONEY REDUCED TO ITS VALUE IN FRENCH FRANCS AND CENTIMES. Fr. Cts. Fr. Cts. Fr. Cts 1 penny 0 10$ 12 shillings 15 0 15 £ sterl. 375 0 2 0 21 13 16 25 16 400 0 3 0 31$ 14 17 50 17 425 0 4 0 42 15 18 75 18 450 0 5 0 52$ 16 20 0 19 475 0 6 0 63 17 21 25 20 500 0 7 0 73$ 18 22 50 30 750 0 8 0 .84 19 23 75 40 1000 0 9 0 94$ 1 £ sterl. 25 0 50 1250 0 10 1 5 2 50 0 60 1500 0 11 1 15 3 75 0 70 1750 0 1 shilling 1 25 4 100 0 80 2000 0 2 2 50 5 125 0 90 2250 0 3 3 75 6 150 0 100 2500 0 4 5 0 7 175 0 200 5000 0 5 6 25 8 200 0 300 7500 0 6 7 50 9 225 0 400 10,000 0 7 8 75 10 250 0 500 12,000 0 8 10 0 11 275 0 1000 25,000 0 9 11 25 12 300 0 5000 125,000 0 10 12 50 13 325 0 10,000 250,000 0 V 13 75 14 3 50 0 xu b. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 0. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. A uniform decimal system of coins, weights, and measures was introduced into France in 1790, and since 1840 Las been universally adopted, to the exclusion of all others. In this new system all the measures of length, superficies, and solidity, the unit of weight, and the unit of money, are connected, and are derived from one fundamental measure of length, called Metre, equal to the ten-millionth part (0-0000001) of the distance from the pole to the equator of the terrestrial globe = 3-2808992 English feet. From this are derived the gramme or unit of weight = 15-43,235 English grains ; litre or unit of measure = 1-7596 imperial pints; ure or unit of land measure = 100 square metres = -02471 acre, from which is derived the hectare of 100 ares = 2'471 acres. On these units the other weights and measures are named by prefixes : the prefixes which express multiples are Greek ; the prefixes which express fractions are Latin ; thus : — Myria- Kilo- Hecto-Deca- Deci- Centi- Milli- metre = 10,000 Metres. metre = 1,000 „ metre = 100 „ metre = 10 ,, Metre = Metre. metre = one-tenth of a metre. metre = one-hundredth ,, metre = one-thousandth ,, The same prefixes are applied to grammes, litres, and ares ; the following are commonly used : — Metre = 3-281 English feet Kilometre = 0-621 English mile Kilogramme = 2-204 lbs. avoird. Litre = 1-761 Imp. pints. Hectolitre =22-010 Imp. gal. Hectare = 2-471 acres 3 feet 3-37 inches. $ mile 213 yds. 2 inches. 2 lbs. 3-26 ounces. 22 Imp.. gal. very nearly. 2$ Imp. acres nearly. 1 French pied (old) = 1 French pied metrique = 1 French toise (old) i 1 French ligne (old) = 1 French lieue de poste (old) = 1 French livre (old) = 1 French livre (new) = 1 French arpent = 1 French setier = 1-06576 English feet. one-third of metre. 1-95 metres. 2-256 millimetres. 2 miles 743 yards. 1-078 lbs. = 1 lb. Ii oz. one half of a kilog. 0-5107 hectare. 1-56 hectolitres. These comparisons between the English and the French weights and measures are taken from the researches of Prof. Miller (Ph. Trans., 1857) ; the French from the Almanach du Bureau des Longitudes, 1867. 6. TABLES OF FRENCH MEASURES AND WEIGHTS. TABLES OF FRENCH MEASURES AND WEIGHTS. Table A. — French Metres reduced to English Feet. English Feet and English Feet and Metres. English Feet and Decimal, l'arts. 20 Decimal Farts. 65-618 Decimal Parts. 1 3-281 300 984-270 2 6-562 30 98-427 400 1312-360 3 9-843 40 131-236 500 1640-450 4 13-123 50 164-045 600 1968-539 5 16404 60 196-854 700 2296-629 6 19-685 70 229-663 800 2624-719 7 22-966 80 262-472 900 2952-809 8 26-247 90 295-281 1000 3280-899 9 2ff- 523 100 328-090 10 32-809 200 656-180 I Table B. — French Metres into English Yards. 1 metre equal to 1-09 yards. 20 metres equal to 21-86 yards. 2 ,, 2-18 „ 30 32-79 „ 3 , 3-27 „ 40 43-72 „ 4 , 4-36 „ 50 54-75 „ 5 , 9-45 „ 60 65-58 „ « , 6-54 „ 70 76-51 „ 7 , 7-63 „ 80 87-44 „ 8 , 8-72 „ 90 98-27, „ 9 , 9-81 „ 100 109-36 „ 10 , 10-93 „ Table C. — English Yards into Metres, 1 yard equal to 0-914 metres. 20 pards equal to 18-288 metres. 2 „ 1-829 30 27-432 „ 3 „ 2-742 40 36-576 > 4 „ 3-658 „ 50 45-720 } 5 „ 4-572 „ 60 54-884 6 „ 5-488 „ 70 >, >> 64-000 , 1 „ 6-400 80 73-150 8 ,, 7-315 90 82-292 9 ,, 8-229 „ 100 91-440 10 „ t 9-144 „ XIV b. TABLES OP FRENCH MEASURES AND WEIGHTS. Table D.- -French Kilometres reduced into English Miles , ETC. Eng. Fur Eng. Fur KILOM. Miles. longs. Yds. Ft. In. KILOM. Miles. longs Yds. Ft. In. 1 = 0 4 213 1 11 8 = 4 7 169 0 4 2 = 1 1 207 0 10 9 = 5 4 162 2 3 3 = 1 6 200 2 9 10 = 6 1 156 1 2 4=2 3 194 1 8 20 = 12. 3 92 2 4 5=3 0 188 0 7 30 = 18 5 29 0 6 6=3 5 181 2 6 40 = 24 6 185 1 8 7=4 2 175 1 5 50 = 31 0 121 2 10 5 Kilometres = 3 English miles nearly. 8 „ =5 „ very nearly. Table E. — French Kilogrammes into English Pounds (Avoirdupois). Kil. E. Pds. Kil . E. Pds. Kil E. Pds. Kil. E. Pds. Kil. E. Pds. 1 2-206 14 30-880 27 59-554 40 88-228 300 761-714 2 4-411 15 33-086 28 61-760 41 90-434 400 882 286 3 6-617 16 35-291 29 63-996 42 92-640 500 1,102-857 - 4 8-823 17 37-497 30 66-171 43 94-846 1,000 2,205-714 5 11028 18 39-703 31 68-377 44 97-051 2,000 4,411-429 6 13 234 19 41-908 32 70-583 45 99-257 3.000 6,617-143 7 15-440 20 44-114 33 72-788 46 101 -463 4,000 8, 822.- 857 8 17-646 21 46-320 34 74-994 47 103-668 5,000 11,028-471 9 19-851 22 48-526 35 77-200 48 105-874 10,000 22,057-143 10 22-057 23 50-731 36 79-405 49 108-080 20,000 44,114-286 11 24-263 24 52-937 37 81-611 50 110-2-6 30,000 66,171-429 12 26-468 25 55-143 38 83-817 100 220-571 40,000 88,228-572 13 28-674 2'J 57-348 ¦39 86-023 200 441-143 50,000 110,285-715 1 Kilogr. = 2-20462 = 2 lbs. 3 oz. nearly. 50 Kilogr. = 1 cwt. very nearly. Table F. — French Hectares into English Acres. Hect. 1 - Acres.2-471 4-9427-413 9-884 12-35614-82? 17-298 Hect. 89 10 11 12 1314 Acres. 19-769 22-240 24-711 27-18229-654 32-125 34-596 Hect. 15, 16 1718 19 2030 Acres. 37-06739 538 4>-ou9 44-480 46-95249-42374- 134 Hec . Acres. 40 98-846 50 123-557 00 148-268 ','0 172-980 80 197-691 90 222-403 100 247-114 C. PASSPORTS. By a decree of the Emp. Napoleon III., British subjects are ad mitted into France and allowed to travel through the country without passports, on merely declaring their nationality. A police agent at the frontier, or the officers at the Prefecture de Police in Paris, will stamp a visiting card or paper bearing the Englishman's name, and the display of this will obtain for him the privilege formerly granted on producing a passport, of gratuitous admission to public monuments and exhibitions. On quitting France it is C. PASSPORTS. XV only necessary to present this card or paper to the police autho rities. Notwithstanding this liberal concession, and as Englishmen are not exempt from the need of passports in some other countries on the continent, it will be advisable, before leaving England, to provide them selves with one from, the Foreign Office, which is never taken from the bearer, and, if vise, requires nothing more for the space of one year than the words " Bon pour un an." Every Englishman therefore, on going abroad, is advised still to provide himself with such a passport, which will always serve as a certificate of his nationality. At least he has the comfort of knowing that the annoyance of constant demands for the passport and repeated visas exists no longer in France. A Foreign-office passport can be procured (charge 2s.) at the Foreign-office between 11 and 4 by leaving or sending on the pre ceding day a letter of application from any banking firm in the United Kingdom, or a certificate of identity signed by any Mayor, Magistrate, Justice of the Peace, Minister of Religion, Physician, Surgeon, Solicitor, or Notary resident in Great Britain. Bankers have printed forms of application, and will furnish one to their customers. Certificates of identity may be in the following form : — (Dated, &c.) The undersigned (mayor, &c, as the case may be), residing at (town, &c), hereby certifies that A. B. (Christian name and surname at length), whose signature is written beneath, is a British subject and requires a passport, as he intends to travel on the Continent (accompanied by his wife, children, sisters, and servant — Christian name and surname of servant at length — who is a British subject). (Signed) J. F. (usual signature). Signature of the above-named A. B. (usual signature). The letter or certificate must be enclosed in a cover addressed to the chief clerk, Foreign-office, London, with the word "Passport" on the cover. The applicant may on the next day either apply at the Passport-office in person, or send, with a written request that the passport be delivered to bearer. If the applicant is in the country he can apply by letter enclosing a post-office order for 2s. payable to the chief clerk, Foreign-office, at the post-office, Charing Cross, and the passport will be sent by post. Passports may also be obtained from the Foreign-office agents for that purpose at Dover, Folkestone, Newhaven, Southampton, &c. The passport must be signed by the bearer in the proper place, and he should take care to write the name legibly, otherwise he may be kept waiting whilst the foreign functionaries through whose hands it will pass are deciphering his name. - Lee, 440, West Strand, or Messrs. Dorrell & Son, 15, Charing Cross, will obtain passports and procure the requisite visas at Is. each on receiving the letter of application or certificate, and will also mount the passport in a book, to protect it from wear. xvi d. ROUTES ACROSS FRANCE. d. routes across france — london to paris, strasburg, marseilles, &c London to Paris by Rail and Steamer. a. By Folkestone (Rail — express 2J hours), Boulogne (2 hours. steam), Paris (rail — express trains 4-50 ; ordinary 7 hours). Total about 10^ hours. The time of departure by this route varies from day to day, according to the time of the tide. Travellers can obtain, at the offices of the London and South-Eastern Railway, tables of the hours of departure and arrival for every day in the month. 21. 13s. lOd. 1st class; 21. 2nd class ; return tickets, good for 7 days, 41. 9s. and 31. 10s. By crossing from Folkestone to Boulogne, instead of from Dover to Calais, several miles of land journey are saved. NB. Travellers will do well to book through from London to Paris in order to leave Boulogne by the tidal train, otherwise they may have to wait for the next ordinary train. b. By Dover, Calais, Boulogne, Amiens, \0\ hours by the morning mail, 7'35 a.m., and evening mail at 8-30 p.m., from London, by the South-Eastern Railwajr, from the Charing Cross, London Bridge, and Cannon Street stations, or from Victoria and Ludgate Hill stations — 1st class, 21. 17s. 3d. ; 2nd class, 21. 2s. 6d. N.B. Excellent fast steamboats cross the Channel between France and England ; still they are often crowded to inconvenience, and in rough weather passengers are liable to be wetted by the rain or spray. The passengers, especially ladies, should therefore take with them a small change of raiment in a hand bag. Both at the Charing Cross and London Bridge Stations of the South-Eastern Railway, and at the Victoria and Ludgate Hill Stations of the Chatham and Dover Railway, passengers' luggage may be booked through to Paris, where it is examined by. the Custom-house authorities, without any detention or trouble at Calais or Boulogne. On arriving at London it will be examined by the Custom-house officers in like manner. Charges for overweight of luggage (above 66 lbs.) very high by this route. When the wind blows from between N. and E. the best passage will be from Folkestone ; when S. and W. from Dover. c. By Newhaven, Dieppe, and Rouen, 12 to 15 hours. This is an economical and perhaps the shortest route, as far as actual distance is concerned, but it involves a sea passage varying from 5 to 7 hours, and is therefore not to be chosen by those who suffer from sea-sickness. In spring and summer the voyage is generally performed in 6 hours. The land journey is agreeable, and Rouen will well repay a halt of a day. Passengers taking through tickets, which cost 30s. and 20s., can remain 4 days on the road, which allows of their visiting Dieppe and Rouen com fortably. Luggage, which is charged considerably less than by the Calais and Boulogne routes, can be booked direct for Paris. d. By Southampton, Havre, and Rouen, 15 hours. Steamers in connexion with the S.W. Railway leave the Pier, e. railroads. xvii Southampton, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night. Fares 28s. and 20s. Sea voyage, in large steamers, 9 J hours, of which 1$ hour is under the Isle of Wight. Luggage can bo booked at London for Paris in the same way as by the other routes. e. By Dunkirk by screw steamer, and thence by Lille to Paris : fares 31s. and 23s. /. By Boulogne from London Bridge direct in about 10 hours : fares to Paris — 25s. 1st class ; 20s. 2nd class ; 24s. 1st class steamer and' 2nd class railway. In summer this is a very agreeable route, enabling the traveller to see the scenery of the Thames. It is also the most economical of all, no charge being made for an ordinarj- quantity of luggage, except from Boulogne to Paris. Express trains, in correspondence with the arrivals of the steamers between Boulogne and Paris, during the summer season. Luggage can only be registered from Paris to London ; in which ease it is examined on board the steamer on ascending the Thames, the traveller experiencing no delay on landing. London to Bayonne, by Tours, Poitiers, Bordeaux, Dax, Pau, and the Pyrenees. Railway open all the way. Trains from Paris to Bordeaux 11? hours; to Bayonne in 16; to the Spanish frontier at Irun in 17£, and to Pau in 174 hours. London to Bale, in Switzerland : from Paris, to Strasburg, 10 hrs. 40 min., Bale (16 hours), or by Troyes, Belfort and Muhl- house, 12| hours. London to Geneva : Paris to Geneva by Macon, in 14 hours. London to Marseilles in 28 hours — by railway Paris to Lyons, 11 hours (express) ; Lyons to Marseilles, 6J hours ; Marseilles to Nice, 64 hours. English contract steamers, belonging to the Peninsular and Oriental Company, ply four times a-month between Marseilles and Malta, leaving Marseilles 5th, 12th, 2oth, and 28th. They reach Malta in 2J days, where they meet the' steamer from Southampton. The fare is 91., including board, for 1st class passengers; that of the 2nd class being 5/. Tbey arrive at Malta early on the third day, and carry the overland mail for India. As these steamers sail at an early hour (7 a.m.), travellers will do well to reach Marseilles the day before the steamer starts, in order to get through the necessary formalities as regards passports, bills of health, aud to embark comfortably. The arrangements of the Mediterranean steamers from Marseilles are so frequently changing that it will be advisable to refer to the bills issued from time to time by the different companies. The people of the Packet-offices will do everything relative to passports, bills of health, &e., for a small fixed fee. French Government contract steamers of the Messageries Im- pe'riales leave Marseilles for Alexandria, Messina, Constantinople, Pir»us, and the Levant, touching at Malta, several times every month. A Government contract steamer runs from Marseilles to Naples, touching on the way at Leghorn and Civita Vecchia, every Thursday. Those of the Italian Peirano-Danovaro Company, large, roomy and in every respect excellent boats, leave Marseilles every Wednesday ** 1° *-'m- f°r Genoa, arriving at 7 a.m. on Thursday, XVIU e. RAILROADS. in correspondence with the mail steamers to Spezzia, Leghorn, Naples, the Italian ports in the Adriatic, Corfu, &c, and the coasts of Sicily, Calabria, and of the Adriatic, including Trieste and Venice. , There are frequent steamers of private companies calling at Genoa, Leghorn, Civita Vecchia, Naples, &c. e. RAILROADS. France, though later than England in the construction of rail ways, has made immense progress under the imperial rule. At present railways unite all the chief towns, and a network of lines, nearly completed, will very shortly connect the remotest corners of the empire. The Livret Chaix (price 1J fr.), published monthly, or the Indi- cateur des Chemins de Fer, weekly, contains the time-tables, fares, &c, of all the French railways, as well as the public conveyances to the remotest localities from the several stations. It is the "Bradshaw" of France, with very important improvements as to arrangement and clearness, corrected to the date of issue ; either will be an indispensable companion to travellers. Railway passengers with luggage must be at the station at least a quarter of an hour before the time advertised for starting, to deliver it into the hands of the officials, by whom it is weighed and registered, and overweight paid for, and for which a receipt is given, on de livery of which at the journey's end it is restored to the holder. This gives rise to some delay, but it ensures its safe delivery and conveyance. Another advantage is, that the traveller if tired need not wait for his luggage, but may leave it till he chooses to present his ticket for it. The best way to obviate this delay on com mencing a journey will be to take as little as possible, and to place it in one or more carpet-bags, which will lie under the seat in the carriage. 30 kilos (= 66 lbs. English) of luggage are allowed to every passenger free of charge, except the^ 10 centimes charged for registering. Passengers are excluded on many lines from the platform until the train is ready to start, and no one allowed access to it without a ticket. ¦ Provision is made for the persona], comforts of railway travellers at the stations ; and refreshment-rooms, very superior to our Eng lish ones, called buffets, are provided on all the lines at certain intervals, where halts are made of 10, 20, or 30 minutes, according to the distance travelled. An immense comfort on the French railways consists in the 1st class carriages being heated in cold weather by hot-water footstools. As a general rule the railway carriages are much cleaner and more comfortable than those in England, and the 2nd class ones often as good as the 1st on many of the British lines. Luggage Ticket.— On arriving at their journey's end, travellers instead of waiting for their luggage may give the ticket to the commissionnaire of the hotel to clear it. No examination generally takes place, except on arriving from England or upon entering France from a foreign stat- /. POSTING. Chemin de Fer du Nord 1'Ouest Lyon et la Me- diterranee de l'Est d' Orleans \ RAILWAY STATIONS IN PARIS. Paris to — ' Boulogne, Calais, Amiens, Dunkirk, Lille, Douai, Valenciennes, Brussels, E. Belgium, Cologne, and N. Germany. Versailles, rt. bank. St.1 Cloud. St. Germain. Rouen, Havre, and Dieppe. Caen. Cher- de/ bourg. Rennes. Brest. Angers. Napoleon Ven due. Saintes. Nantes. Lorient. Quimper. Na- poleonville. Brest, &c. Dijon, Chalons, Lyons,1 Grenoble, Marseilles, Toulon. Nice. Nim.es, Montpellier, Clermont, le Puy, &c. Geneva and Turin. I Strasburg, Metz, Bale, and Switzerland . Vienna, and S. Germany gene rally. Orleans, Tours, Nantes, Bordeaux, Bayonne, Pau, Spain, and the Pyrenees. Bourges. Rochefort. Limoges. Perigueux. Toulouse. Montauban. Auch, Pau,, and the Pyrenees. ' I Versailles, left bank, and) Place Roubaix. Place du Havre. Lazare. Rue St. Boulevard Mazas, near la Bastille. Rue et Place de Strasbourg. Boulevard de l'Hdpital, near the Jardin des Plantes. Chartres. Tours. (Boulevard de Mont Par Rennes. Lorient. | nasse. Brest. J Vincennes. Place de la Bastile. Sceaux. Barriere d'Enfer. Rive Gauche „ Sceaux /. POSTING. — PRIVATE CARRIAGE. Since the completion of the network of railways from Paris to the extremities of France, posting has nearly become a thing of the past. The old Livre de Poste no longer exists. A few directions are here given for those who may be constrained to travel on bye- ways, cross-roads, or from railway stations. Distances are calculated by kilometres and myriametres. See table, p. xiv. The postmaster's authorised charge is, for each horse, 2 francs or 40 sous per myriamdtre, or 20 centimes per kilom, ->'X Q. DILIGENCES. The Postilion is entitled by the tariff to demand only 1 franc per myriamdtre or 10 centimes per kilom. ; but it is customary to pay him 2 francs per myriam., or at the rate of a horse, unless he has misconducted himself, when he may be punished by limiting his pay to the tariff. He is bound to drive the myriametre within 46 and 58 minutes. The English, who generally want to go faster, are too often in the habit of giving him 50 sous per myriam., or 5 per kilom., which is at the rate of nearly 44, an English mile. In fact, French postboys are not satisfied, with 4 sous, but well contented with 5. The cost of posting with 3 persons in a caliche, may be calculated at 8 francs par myriamdtre, or 80 centimes par kilometre. For 2 persons, with 2 horses and postboy, the rate is about 6 francs, or nearly 9i. per English mile. Hired Carriages — Voitures a volonte. It is difficult to fix a fair scale of prices for the hire of a carriage and horses in different parts of France ; the best guide will be to calculate it at two-thirds of the posting price for the same distance, exclusive of the carriage. The carriage usually to be met with for hire is the cabriolet — a heavy, lumbering, and jolting vehicle : the charge for it is commonly 8 or 9 fr. a-day, exclusive of a pourboire of 2 or 3 fr. to the driver. It has neither the neatness nor the lightness of the gigs furnished at a country inn in England, but is necessarily clumsily built to stand the terrible cross-roads of France. In out-of-the-way places often no other vehicle is to be found than a patache — a rustic cab, verging towards the covered cart, without its easy motion. He who rides in a patache must prepare to be jolted to pieces. g. DILIGENCES. The French stage-coach or diligence is a huge, heavy, lofty, lumbering machine, something between an English stage and a broad- wheeled waggon. It carries 15 passengers inside and 3 outside, and when loaded weighs some 5 tons. It is composed of three parts or bodies joined together : 1. the front division called Coupe', shaped like a chariot or post-chaise, holding 3 persons, quite distinct from the rest of the passengers, so that ladies may resort to it without inconvenience, and, by securing all 3 places to themselves, travel nearly as comfortably as in a private carriage. 2. Next to it comes the Interievr, or inside, holding 6 persons, and oppressively warm in summer. 3. Behind this is the Hotonde, the receptacle of dust and dirt, the least desirable part of the diligence, and the cheapest except the Bimquette,or ImpSriale, an outside seat on the roof of the coup§, tolerably well protected from rain and cold by a hood or head, and lea ther apron, but somewhat difficult of access without a ladder. It affords a comfortable and roomy seat by the, side of the conduct™- h. INNS, TABLES-d'hoTE, ETC. Xxi with the advantages of fresh air and the best view of the country irom its great elevation, and greater freedom from the dust. It is true you may sometimes meet rough companions, for the French do not like to travel outside ; and few persons of the better class resort to it, except English. It is not suited to females, owing to the diffi culty of clambering up to it. The pace of the diligence is slow, rarely exceeding 6 or 7 m. an hour, and in bad weather, when roads are heavy, falling below that. The coach and its contents are placed in charge of the Conducteur, a sort of guard, who takes care of the passengers, the luggage, the way-bill, and the mecanique, that is, the break, by which the wheel is locked. He is paid by the administration, and expects nothing from the passengers, unless he obliges them by some extra service. He is generally an intelligent person, often an old soldier, and the traveller may pick up information from him. The^faces in the diligence are numbered, and are given out to pas sengers in the order in which they have booked themselves, the corner seats first; and it comports very much with the traveller's comfort to secure one of them. Before starting, the passengers' names are called over, and to each is assigned his proper place. The average rate of the fares may be calculated at l±d. a mile English, except for the coup6, which is somewhat higher. Diligences run on the roads of France on which the traffic is not already engrossed by railways, and correspond with provincial companies who " coach" the more distant and cross roads, so that there is no want of means of conveyance in any part of France between places of moderate consequence. In many cases, however, the " turn-out" from provincial towns is of an inferior description. ll. INNS, TABLES-D'HdTE, ETC. On the whole, the inns in the provincial towns of France are in ferior to those of Germany and to those of Switzerland, in the want of general comfort, and above all of cleanliness. There is an excep tion to this, however, in the bed and table linen. Even the filthy cabaret, whose kitchen and salon are scarcely endurable to look at, commonly affords napkins and table-cloths clean, though coarse and rough, and beds with unsullied sheets and white draperies, together with well-stuffed mattresses and pillows, which put German cribs and feather-beds to shame.. Many of the most important essentials to personal comfort, on the other hand, are utterly disregarded, and evince a state of backwardness hardly to be expected in a civilised country. The provision for personal ablution is defective. Fail not to take soap with you, a thing never to be found in foreign bed rooms. In the better hotels, the floors are polished as tables are in England. French inns may be divided into two classes: — a. Those which make some pretensions to study English tastes and habits (and a few of them are comfortable), and, being frequented by Englishmen, are high in their charges. Such exist on the great roads and in the large xxii h. INNS, TABLES-D'h6tE, ETC. towns, b. Those in remote situations, where the traveller who can conform with the customs of the country may live economic ally — 6 francs a-day for board and lodging, and i a franc for the servants. In one respect the innkeepers of France are more accommodating than those of Germany ; they will furnish at almost any hour of the day, at 10 minutes or £ hour's notice, a very fair dinner of 8 or 10 dishes, at a cost not greatly exceeding that of the table-d'h6te. When ordering dinner in private, the traveller should specify the price at which he chooses to be served, fixing the sum at 3, 5, or more francs. In remote places and small inns, never order dinner at a higher price than 4 francs : the people have only the same food to present, even if they charged 10 francs. A very fair dinner is usually furnished at 5 fr. a-head. Travellers -not dining at the table-d'h6te should come to an understanding beforehand for their meals at so much per head, otherwise they will be charged for each dish a la carte. The usual charge for a table- d'h6te dinner is 3 fr. (including wine in a wine country, but not in the north), and ought never to exceed that except in large towns and first-rate inns. Bargaining for rooms before you enter an inn, though usual, some times leads the landlord to suppose that you are going to beat him down, and he may therefore name a higher price than he is willing to take, and thus you may cause the exorbitance which you intend to prevent. In French inns it is the universal custom to lock the door of your room when going out of the house, and to leave the key with the porter : it is expected, and is indeed necessary for safety, and to secure the landlord's legal liability to make good any losses by theft or otherwise. Tables-d'hote in France are not so well attended as in Germany or Switzerland. The majority of the company frequently consist of " commis-voyageurs," Anglicd, bagmen, who swarm in all the inns, and are consequently the most important personages. In the principal hotels in Paris the charge for servants is 1 franc a-day, usually included in the bill, and that sum is ample in any part of France. It is usual, besides, to give a trifle to the porter who carries up and down the luggage on arriving and leaving. The prices in large towns will be higher than those mentioned in the following table, and for the last five years prices have been rising so much in France that it is difficult to state what the prices may be. Average Charges at French Provincial Hotels. Bedroom, 1 fr. 50 c. to 3 fr. and upwards. Salon, 3 fr. and upwards. Breakfast, tea or coffee, with bread and butter, 1 fr. 50 c. ; with eggs, 2 fr. ; with meat or a lafourchette, 3 fr. Dinner, table-cfh6te, 3 fr. to 5 fr. — In apartments, 4 fr. to 8 fr. Bottle of vin ordinaire, 1 fr. 50 c. — N.B. Generally included in the charge for table-d'h6te dinners in wine-growing countries. (. CAFES.— j. GENERAL VIEW OF FRANCE. xxiii The better descriptions of wines are sold in demi-bouteilles. When only a part of the bottle is consumed, the waiter puts it aside for the owner until another time. Coffee, 1 fr. It is usual to take it at a cafe, where it is always better, and costs only 8, and with a glass of brandy 12 sous. Bougies (wax lights), 1 fr. each. I. CAFES. We have scarcely any equivalent in England to the Cafes in France, and the number and splendour of some of these establish ments, everywhere seemingly out of proportion to the population and to other shops, not only in Paris, but in every provincial town, may excite surprise. They are adapted to all classes of society, from the magnificent salon, resplendent with looking-glasses, and glittering with gilding, down to the low estaminets, resorted to by the working population, which abound in every town and village, however remote. The latter sort occupy the place of the beer-shops of England, furnish beer and brandy, as well as coffee, and, though not so injurious to health and morals as the gin-palaces of London, are more destructive of time. It is only to the superior class of caf6s that an English traveller is likely to resort, and they furnish some agreeable resources to a visitor in a strange place. Ladies as well as gentlemen frequent these establishments, and obtain in the afternoon a demi-tasse of coffee well prepared, and a petit verre of liqueur ; and in the evening, in summer, excellent ices, sorbets, orgeats, limonade, and other cool drinks ; and in winter a very tolerable potation called "punch," but differing from its English namesake. They are always supplied with the journals of Paris and the provinces, including, in the principal cities, 'Galignani's Messenger,' and have billiard-tables attached to them. In the evening they are most crowded, and even in the most re spectable (except the first-rate Parisian cafes) the company is very mixed. Clerks, tradesmen, commis-voyageurs, soldiers — officers as well as privates — and men in blouzes, crowded about a multitude of little marble tables. A large cup of coffee (cafe" au kit), with bread and butter, and an egg for breakfast, costs about 25 sous. A demi-tasse, or small cup, in the afternoon, 8 sous ; a petit verre de cognac, 4 to 6 sous. The waiter usually receives 2 sous. j. A TRAVELLER'S GENERAL VIEW OF FRANCE. It has been the custom of the English, who traverse France on their way to Italy or Switzerland, to complain of the monotonous features of the country, and to ridicule the epithet "to Belle France " which the French are wont to apply to it. By a " beau tiful" 'country, a Frenchman generally understands one richly xxiv j. GENERAL VIEW OF FRANCE; SCENERY. fertile and fully cultivated ; and in this point of view the epithet is justly applied to France. It is also most fortunate in its climate. Many of its vineyards, the most valuable spots in the country, occupy tracts of poor, barren, and waste land, in appearance, which in our climate would be absolutely unprofitable. But in truth our country men are unjust in forming their opinion from the routes between Calais and Paris, and thence to Lyons, Strasburg, and Dijon, perhaps the least varied part of the kingdom, and at least no fair sample of its beauties. To this district, and to a large part of the province of Champagne, the descriptions of " wearisome expanse of tillage, un varied by hill or dale, and extent of corn-land or pasture, without enclosures, supremely tiresome," are almost exclusively applicable. Throughout nearly one half of France, especially in Lower Normandy, Brittany, a great part of the country S. of the Loire, the vicinity of the Pyrenees, Limousin, Auvergne, and Dauphine, enclosures and hedge-rows are almost as common as in England, and the variety of surface in some of these districts is far greater. Our own island, indeed, presents as it were a miniature of other lands — a concentra tion, within a small area, of scenery varying from flat fen and rolling down to mountains and precipices. In France, the features of nature are broad and expanded, and you must often traverse 50 or 100 miles to encounter those pleasing changes which, in Britain, succeed one another almost every 10 miles. Arthur Young (who travelled 1792-94) advised those "who know no more of France than just once passing through it to Italy, that, if they would see some of the finest parts of the kingdom, they should land at Havre, follow the Seine up to Paris, then take the great road to Moulins, and there quit it for Auvergne, and so to the Rh6ne at Valence or Viviers : such a variation from the common road, though it demand more time, would repay them by the sight of a much finer and more singular country than the road by Dijon." The districts of France which chiefly recommend themselves by their beauty and variety of scenery are, in the north, Normandy, the banks of the Seine, the valleys about Vire, Mortain, and Avranches, the wild coast scenery of Brittany, and the course of the Ranee, and of other streams near Quimper : — in the centre, the Loire below Tours, and parts of Limousin, Auvergne, the Cantal and Ard^che, the Rh6ne — by some preferred to the Rhine, on account of its more extended prospects ; — in the east, the hills ' of the Jura, the mountains and valleys of Dauphine, especially the vale of the Gresivaudan, the gorge of the Grande Chartreuse, and the savage magnificence of peaks and glaciers around Mont Pelvoux, a region which may be styled the Chamouny or Grindel- wald of France ; among the Vosges and-Ardennes are many soberly romantic scenes which have as yet attracted but little notice from travellers ; — in the south, Provence, with its sunny sky, is too arid to deserve general admiration, excepting that favoured region at the foot of the Alps, between Toulon and Nice. The Pyrenees, however, include the finest scenery in France, and, except in the absence of lakes, are scarcely inferior to the Alps of Switzerland and Savoy. ;. GENERAL VIEW OF FRANCE; ARCHITECTURE. XXV This brief enumeration of the chief points of interest is filled up in ampler details in the introductions to the different sections into which this Handbook is divided, with a view of enabling the tra veller to lay down for himself the plan of a tour, embracing as many of these points as his time or inclination will permit. " Bretagne, Maine, and Anjou, have the appearance of deserts. The fertile territories of Flanders, Artois, and Alsace are distinguished by their utility. Picardy is uninteresting. Champagne, in general, where I saw it, ugly, almost as much so as Poitou. Lorraine, Franche Comte and Bourgogne are sombre in the wooded districts, and want cheerfulness in the open ones. Berri and La Manche may be ranked in the same class." — Arthur Young. On the other hand, these districts, which are not interesting in point of scenery, have a compensating recommendation in their ar chitectural remains and relics of antiquity. The heaths of Brittany are studded with extraordinary prehistoric or Celtic monuments, and abound in very beautiful churches. Out of the midst of the monotonous plain of La Beauce rises the magnificent fabric of Chartres cathedral ; the colossal pile of Bourges overlooks the dull plain of the Berri, as the spire of Strasburg does the fertile valley of the Rhine. Reims, Troyes, Laon, &c, give an interest to the other- Wise tiresome journey through Champagne ; the sight of Amiens, Beauvais, and Abbeville makes one forget the length of the way through Picardy and Artois ; and the Roman remains of Nimes, Aries, St. Remy, and Orange, would alone compensate for a journey through Provence, even had it no other claims to interest.* France, however, is particularly rich in architectural remains, especially in Romanesque, or, as we call it in England, Norman Gothic architec ture, of which it possesses some of the noblest specimens existing, viz. the cathedrals above enumerated ; to which must be added those of Metz, and 3 churches at Rouen. These glorious monuments of architectural skill and lavish devo tion are far more stupendous in their proportions than the cathe drals of England, but have this peculiarity, that scarcely one of them is finished : thus, Beauvais has no nave, Arniens is incomplete in its towers, Abbeville has no choir, Bourges no spire. It has been well said that a perfect cathedral might be made of the portal of Reims, the nave of Amiens, the choir of Beauvais, and the tower of Chartres. The rose or wheel windows, the deeply recessed and grandly sculptured portals, are both more frequent and of larger dimen sions than in English cathedrals, and contribute greatly to the beauty of those of France, where it is not uncommon to find three in one church. The quantity, variety, and richness of the painted * Fergusson's -Illustrated Handbook of Architecture,' his ' History of Archiiecture,' and Mr. Petit' s -Architectural Studies in France,' 1854, should be peruspd and di gested by every student of Gothic before he visits France. They are books full of instruction and suggestion, and the illustra tions are valuable memorials to refer to on returning from one's travels. Fergusson's ' History of Architecture,' prepared espe cially as a companion to the Travellers' Handbooks of Europe, Is the only one pre senting a continuous view of several French styles, arranged in the ordiT of the several provinces. [France, 1867.] Xxvi j. GENERAL VIEW ; TOWNS. glass which the ecclesiastical edifices still retain, in spite of Huguenot iconoclasts and revolutionary destructives, is quite marvellous : we have nothing to compare with it in England. The churches are usually open all day, but the choir, its aisles and side chapels, are generally closed by an iron grating, and to obtain admittance one must apply to the Suisse, or beadle, who struts about in cocked hat, sword, and laced livery, though a franc is sufficient to render him most deferential. The finest provincial cities are Lyons, Rouen, Bordeaux, Mar seilles, and Nantes, all more or less distinguished for commerce, manufactures, and fine edifices. The minor provincial towns have a certain number of features in common which will not fail to draw the traveller's observation : such are the formal walk near the en trance or on the outskirts, often a mere platform, planted with rows of stunted trees, and the resort of nursery-maids, washerwomen, and recruits undergoing drill, except on Sundays or fSte-days, when the dusty and gritty platform is crowded with a gay throng, to whom the sight of bright ribbons, shawls, and new bonnets, compen- - sates for the want of other prospect. A walk into the country and across the fields is seldom thought of by the French artizan or shop keeper, nor indeed are there any field paths, green shady lanes, or pretty villas, or neat cottages with gardens, on the outskirts of the towns, to invite him to sally forth. The high roads in France have been greatly improved since 1844 ; many are now macadamized : indeed, in spite of the anarchy of 1848-50, the whole country shows unequivocal signs of great and increasing prosperity. Every town of a certain size is surrounded with a wall or barrier for the purpose of levying the octroi or town duties on articles of do mestic consumption, and which go to the municipal or corporation funds. All carts and carriages, public and private, are stopped at the gates in consequence, by officers, who search them, and the baggage contained in them, to ascertain that no eatables or hquors are concealed in order to evade this tax. The space outside the gates usually swarms with low cabarets, guinguettes, &c, where, in con sequence of there being no octroi duties levied, the poor man may eat and drink at a cheaper rate than within the walls. Arrived within the town, the traveller will commonly find narrow streets, with no pavement at the sides, but a huge gutter in the centre, lighted until recently by lamps (rtsverbSres), swinging from ropes attached to the houses on either side. After passing one or more barracks, the number of which and of soldiers is striking every where, the barrack being often a sequestrated convent or church, he will reach the Grande Place or square. On one side of it, or in some other conspicuous situation, appears a large whitewashed build ing, graced probably with a portico in front, guarded by a sentinel, surmounted by a tricolor flag, and fenced round by a tall iron railing tipped with gilt spearheads. This is the prefecture or sous-prefecture. There are many institutions and establishments in French towns deserving high commendation and imitation in England : such are the Abattoirs, or slaughterhouses, always in the outskirts ; the public Cemeteries, always situated outside the walls ; even the Public Walks k. PROVINCES AND DEPARTMENTS OF FRANCE, XXVI I to be found in every French town, though not suited altogether to English ideas of recreation, yet show an attention to the health and enjoyment of the people which would be worthy of imitation on our side of the Channel. In most of the larger towns there is a museum of natural history, and generally a gallery of antiquities and paintings, which, although for the most part of inferior merit, are commendable as institu tions for public recreation. Still more worthy of notice are the public libraries and reading- rooms arranged in convenient apartments, with salaried librarians common in all French provincial towns. " I could not visit these libraries without wishing that similar institutions could be intro duced into England, where the easy access to books in every part of the kingdom could not but prove at once agreeable and bene ficial. The encouragement of such an object would be a wise application of the public money." — Knight's Tour in Normandy. There are three authors whose works should be perused before entering France : Caesar for its ancient history, with the lucid commentary and notes, the maps of his campaigns, and plans of its most remarkable sites, by the Emperor Napoleon III. ; Froissart, in his Chronicles, for its feudal history ; and Arthur Young, for the picture of France before the Great Revolution, and its agriculture — many of his vivid local descriptions hold good to the present day. k. LIST OF THE 89 DEPARTMENTS INTO WHICH FRANCE IS DIVIDED, AND OF THE ANCIENT PROVINCES COMPOSING THEM. Provinces and date of union with France. Ile de France, with La Brie, &c. Always held by the Crown. Picardie. Louis XIV. 1667. Artois and Boolonnais. 1640. flandre and hainault fran CAIS. Louis XIV. 1667-1669. Normandie. Philippe-Auguste, 1204. Buetagnr. Francois I. 1532. Departemens. I Seine.Seine-et-Oise.Seine-et-Marne.Oise. Aisne.Somme. Pas-de-Calais. Word.ISeine-Inferieure. Eure.Calvados. Orne. Manche. Illle-et-Vilaine. Cotes-du-Nord. Finisterre.Morbihan. Loire-Inferienre. Chefs-Lieux. Paris.Versailles. Melun.Beauvais. Laon. Amiens Arras. Lille.Rouen.Evreux. Caen. Alencon.Saint-Lft.Eennes. Saint-Brieux. Quimper. Vannes. Nantes. xxvm ll. PROVINCES AND DEPARTMENTS OF FRANCE. Provinces and date of union with France. ORtiANAis. Louis XII. 1498. Beaoce and Pays Charirain. Maine. Louis XI. 1481. Anjou. Louis XI. 1481. Tocjraine. Henri III. 1584. Poitoit. Charles VI. 1416. Berri. Philippe I. 1100. Marche. Francois I. 1531. Limousin. Charles V. 1370. Angoumois. Charles V. 1370. Saintonge and Aunis. 1370. Perword. Guvenne. Charles VII. 1451. Armagnac (part of Gascogne) . Bigorre (part of Gascogne). Gascogne. Bkarn and French Navarre.' Louis XIII. Comte de Foix. Louis XIII. ROUSSILLON. 1659. LANGUEDOC. John, 1361. VlVARAIS.Gevaudan.Velay, comtat venaissin, orange, &c. Louis XIV. 1713. Provence. Louis XI. 1481. Dauphine. Philippe de Valois, 1343. LVONNAIS AND BEAUJOLAIS. FOREZ. Auvergne. Philippe Auguste, 1210. Bourbonnab. Louis XII. 1505. Nivernais. Charles VII. 1457. Bresse, Bugey, &c. Departemens. (Loiret. \Loir-et -Cher. Eure-et-Loire. ^Sarthe. (Mayenne. Maine-et-Loire. Indre-et- Loire. (Vendee. Deux-Sevres. Vienne. J Indre. (.Cher. Creuse. (Haute-Vienne. \Correze. Charente.Charente-Inferieure.Dordogne. Gironde.Lot-et-Garonne.Lot.Tarn-et-Garonne. Aveyron. Gers. Hautes-Pyrene'es. Landes. VBasses-Pyrenees. Ariege. Pyrene'es-Orientales. I Haute- Garonne. Tarn.Aude. He'rault. Gard.Ardeche.Lozere.Haute-Loire. >Vaucluse. {Bouches-du-Ehone. Var.Basses- Alpes. flsere. Drome. Hautes- Alpes. Rhone. Loire. /Puy-de-D6me. (Cantal. Allier. Nievre.Ain. Chefs-Lieux. Orleans. Blois. Chartres.Le Mans. Laval. Angers.Tours. [dee. Bourbon-Ven- Niort. Poitiers. Chateauroux. Bourges. Gueret. Limoges.Tulle. Angouleme. La Rochelle. Pe'rigueux.Bordeaux.Agen. Cahors. Montauban. Rhodez.Auch. Tarbes. [san. Mont- de-Mar- Pau.Foix.Perpignan. Toulouse.Alby.Carcassonne. Montpellier. Nismes, Privas.Mende. Le Puy. Avignon. Marseille. Draguigann. Digne. Grenoble. Valence. Gap.Lyon. St. Etienne. Clermont.Aurillac.Moulins. Nevers. Bourg. 1. THE ENGLISH ABROAD. Provinces and date of union with France. Bouegogne (duche). Louis XI. 1477. COMTE DE BOURGOGNE, OR Franche-Comte. Peace of Nimeguen, 1678. Champagne. Philippe le Bel, 1284. Lorraine. On the death of Stanislas Leczinsky, 1766. Alsace. Louis XIV. 1648. Corsica. 1794. Nice. 1861. Savoy Dipartemens. !Sadne-et-Loire. CSte d'Or. Yonne. IDoubs. Jura.Haute-Sa6ne. IAube. Marne. Haute-Marne. Ardennes. [ Meurthe. J Meuse. j Moselle. (Bas-Rhin. Haut-Rhin. Corse. Alpes Maritimes. (Savoie. Haute-Savoie. Chefs-Lieux. Macon.Dijon. Auxerre. Lons-le-Saul- Vesoul. [nier. Troyes. [Marne. Chalons sur- Chaumont. Mezieres. Nancy. Bar-le-Duc. Metz. Epinal.Strasburg. Colmar.Ajaccio. Nice.Chambery. Annecy. 1. THE ENGLISH ABROAD. It may not be amiss here briefly to, consider the causes which render the English unpopular in many countries of the Continent. In the first place, it arises from the number of ill-conditioned persons (mauvais sujets) who, not being in a condition to face the world at home, scatter themselves over foreign lands, and bring no little dis credit upon their country. But, in addition to these, there are many respectable and wealthy persons, who, through inattention, un- guardedness, wanton expenditure in some cases, niggardly parsimony in others, but, above all, from an unwillingness to accommodate themselves to the feelings of the people they are among, contribute not a little to bring their own nation into disrepute. The English man abroad too often forgets that he is the representative of his country, and that his countrymen will be judged by his own con duct ; that by affability, moderation, and being easily pleased, he will conciliate ; whereas by caprice, extravagant squandering, or ill- timed niggardliness, he affects the reception of the next comer. There are many points, however, in which our character is mis understood by foreigners. The morose sullenness attributed by them to the Englishman is, in perhaps nine cases out of ten, nothing more than involuntary silence, arising from his ignorance of foreign languages, or at least from his want of sufficient fluency to make himself readily understood, which thus prevents his enjoying society. If an Englishman were fully aware how much it increases the pleasure and profit of travelling to have made some progress in foreign lan guages before he sets foot on the Continent, no one would think of XXX 1. THE ENGLISH ABROAD. quitting home until he had devoted at least some months to hard labour with grammars and dictionaries. Englishmen and Protestants, admitted into Roman Cathofic churches, at times are often inconsiderate in talking loud and laughing while the service is going on: a moment's reflection should point out to them that they ought to respect the feelings of those around them who are engaged in their devotions. Above all, they should avoid as much as possible turning their backs upon the altar, especially whilst the minister of religion is officiating at it. In a church ladies and gentlemen should not walk arm in arm, as that is contrary to the practice of the country, and to respect and good breeding : they should particularly avoid talking together during service. Our countrymen have a reputation for pugnacity in France : let them therefore be especially cautious not to make use of their fists, however great the provocation, otherwise they will rue it. No French magistrate or judge will listen to any plea of provocation ; fine and even imprisonment will be the offender's inevitable portion. The general conduct of the French towards strangers, especially that of the peasantry, is courteous and civil, and in no country is the foreigner more sure of redress in the event of suffering from fraud or injus tice, provided only he preserves his temper and applies to the pro per authorities. In the case of an exorbitant bill, a stranger may* resort to a respectable lawyer in the place ; and without being compelled to stay and appear, as in England, by merely leaving his deposition properly attested, the fraudulent innkeeper may be compelled to disgorge. In most of the large towns places of worship for the performance of the English Church Service have been established, and at many there are resident Engfish ministers. With few exceptions the stipends are very small, and English travellers availing themselves of the benefit afforded by these places of worship should remember that they are bound to contribute, according to their means, to the support of the establishments and their ministers. m. SKELETON TOUR THROUGH FRANCE. m. SKELETON TOUR THROUGH FRANCE, TO EMBRACE THE PRINCIPAI. OBJECTS OF CURIOSITY, AND TO OCCUPY FIVE OR SIX MONTHS. Havre— By land up the N. bank of the Seine, halting to explore its beauties and curiosities. Rouen (to Paris by railway). Andelys — Chateau Gaillard. Mantes — Poissy. Descend the valley of the Seine by railway to Havre. Honrleur— Trouville. Caen. Bayeux— St. Lo — Cherbourg. Vire — Granville. Avranches and Mont St. Michel. Dol— St. Malo. Dinant — St. Brieux— Morlaix — Brest. Quimper — Lorient — Auray. Carnac and Vannes. Ploermel — Napoleonville — Redon. Nantes — Clisson — Napoleon Ven due— Sables d'Olonne. Ascent of the Loire to Angers. Saumur. Chinon.Tours.Loches — Chenonceaux. Amboise.Blois — Chambord. Orleans. Vierzon — Bourges — Moulins — Vichy. Clermont — Puy de D6me. Mont Dore. Cantal. Le Puy. St. Etienne. Lyons. Descent of Rh6ne — Valence. Montelimart — Privas — Aubenas — Ardeche — Volcanoes of the Vivaries. Viviers.Orange. Avignon — Pont du Gard. Nimes — Alais. Lunel— Aiguesmortes. Montpellier — Cette — Lodeve — Agde. Narbonne — Perpignan — Eastern Pyrenees. Carcasonne— Castelnaudary— Cas- tres. Toulouse. Montniihan — Agen — Anch . Descent of the Garonne. Bordeaux.Bayonne — Biaritz. Pau. Tour of the W. Pyrenees. St. Gaudens — Pamiers — Foix. Tour of the Central Pyrenees — Tarbes — Bagneres — Eaux Bonnes — Bagneres de Luchon. Perpignan. Narbonne. Montpellier.Aries — Aix. Marseilles. Toulon. Fre'jus — Cannes — Grasse. Antibes — Nice — Mentone. Digne. Sisteron. Gap. Embrun — Val Queiras. Briangon.Pass of Lauteret — Mont Pelvoux. Bourg d'Oysans. Grenoble — Vale of Gresivaudan, Grande Chartreuse. Chambe'ry — Aix — Annecy. Bourg — Macon. Chalons-sur-Sa6ne — Autun. Dijon.Besangon — Belfort — Mulhou se. Colmar. Strasburg. Nancy — Metz. Chalons-sur-Marne and its Military Camp. Reims. Troyes.Laon.Soissons— St. Quentin — Cambray. Mezieres— Upper Meuse. Valenciennes — Lille — Douai — Arras. Amiens — Abbeville. Boulogne. Calais — Dunkirk. Paris to Bordeaux, Orleans, Poitiers, Perigueux, Limoges, Figeaa, Ro- dez, Alby, Aveyron. Paris to Lyon by Fontainebleau, Montargiss, Nevers, Roanne, St. Etienne. Paris to Dieppe, Eu, St, Valery, &c. XXX11 U, TABLE OF KINGS OF FRANCE. n. A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE KINGS OF FRANCE. The succession from Meroveus, who i-eigned from 448, is traced in the following table : — Childeric I A.D. 458 ClovisI 481 On the death of Clovis in 510 the kingdom was divided amongst his sons — Thierry I., king of Metz; Clodomir, king of Orleans; Childebert, king of Paris; Clothaire I., king of Soissons. • In 558 Clothaire became sole king, but, dying in 560, his kingdom was again divided : Charibert reigned in Paris; Gontran (560), Thierry I. (596), at Orleans; Sigebert (560), Childebert II. (575), Theodebert II. (596), at Metz; Chilperic I. (560), Clothaire II. (584), at Soissons. Clothaire IL, sole king .... a.d. 613 Dagobert 1 628 A.D. Sigebert IL, king of Austrasia, 638 Childeric II 660 Dagobert II. . . . . 674 Pepin 681 Charles Martel 715 Carloman and Pepin . 741 Pepin the Little 752 . 768 Louis le D^bonnaire . . 814 Charles le Chauve . 840 Louis IL, le Be'gue . 877 . 879 . 879 . 884 . 887 Charles III., the Simple . 893 . 922 Rodolf of Burgundy . . 923 Louis IV., the Stranger . 936 . 954 Louis V., le Faine'ant . . 986 . 987 Robert II., the Wise . . 996 Philip I., l'Amoureux . . 1060 Louis VI., le Gros . 1108 Louis VII., le Jeune . . 1137 Philip Augustus . . . 1180 Louis VIII., the Lion . . 1223 Louis IX., the Saint . . 1226 Philip III., the Hardy . 1270 Philip IV., the Fair . . 1285 Louis X., Hutin . . 1314 . 1316 A.D. Clovis IL, king of Burgundy . 638 Clothaire III. . . . . .656 Thierry III 670 Clovis III 691 Childebert III 695 Dagobert III 711 Childeric III. (deposed 752) . 742 Carloman 768 Charles IV., le Bel . . Philip VI., de Valois . . John II., the Good Charles V., le Sage Charles VI., the Beloved . Charles VII., the Victorious Louis XI Charles VIII. . . . Louis XII. of Orleans . Francis I Henry II Francis II Charles IX. . . Henry III Henry IV., the Great . . Louis XIII., the Just . Louis XIV., le Grand . Louis XV Louis XVI. . . . Revolutionary Tribunal . Directory Napoleon, Consul . Napoleon I., Emperor Louis XVIII. . . Charles X Louis Philippe .... Republic Napoleon III., Emperor A.D. 1322 132813501364 1380 1422146114831498 1515 1547 155915601574 1589 1610 164317151774 1793179517991804 18141824 183018481 s\V2 ( xxxiii ) ABBREVIATIONS, &c, USED IN THE HANDBOOK. (rt.) right, (I.) left, — applied to the banks of a river. The right bank is that which lies on the right hand of a person looking down the stream, or whose back is turned towards the source. kil. for kilometre. Cent, for century. m. for English mile. R. Rte. for Route. Dept. for Departement. p. for page. Inhab. for inhabitants. Stat, for Railway Station. b. built. . The names of Inns precede the description of every place (generally in a parenthesis), because the first information needed by a traveller is where to lodge. The best Inns, as far as they can be determined, are placed first. B. breakfast ; D. dinner; R. room and bed. Every Route has a number, corresponding with the figures attached to the Route on the General Map of France, which thus serves as an index to the Book, at the same time that it presents a tolerably exact view of the great lines of communication, railways, or roads of France, and of the course of public conveyances. The length of the Routes and the distances at the head of each are measured in kilometres and English miles from the place of departure. In the text, the distances on the railways are given in English miles from station to station only ; on other roads from place to place. LIST OF MAPS AND PLANS. Page Amiens ......... 19 Course of the Seine and Railways . . To face 39 Rouen ......... 43 Country about Carnac, Locmariaker, and Vannes . . 160 Tumuli near Locmariaker . . . • • .162 Nantes 172 Orleans ......... 186 Course of the Loire and Railways . . To face 192 Tours 202 Poitiers ......... 231 Toulouse , ¦ • • -269 Bordeaux .....•• 286, 287 The Pyrenees, general Map of . . .To face 324 Central portion "of the Pyrenees, enlarged scale „ 355 Dijon 4°4 Lyons 422,423 Clermont-Ferrand . . • ¦ • • .435 Course of the Rh6ne and Railways . . To face 480 Avignon ...•••••• *"2 Nimes 502 Aries ¦ ¦ • • • ¦ • .517 Marseilles' .... . 526, 527 Nice ....••• To face 543 Strasburg • ¦ fi22 General Map of France .... At the end, HANDBOOK FOR TRAVELLERS IN FRANCE. SECTION I. PICARDY— FRENCH FLANDERS— ILE DE FRANCE— NORMANDY. INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION. Objects of Interest- ¦ Country of Normandy- Skeleton Tour. ROUTES. -Architectural Remains — . [The names of places are printed in italics only in those Routes where the places are described.] ROUTE PAGE 1 Calais to Paris, by Hazebrouck, A rras, and Amiens — Rail . 3 2 Calais to Brussels, by Haze brouck, Lille (Douai), Tour- eoing, Mouscron, Tournai, &c. 8 3 Calais to Paris, by Boulogne, Abbeville, and Amiens — Rail way 11 4 Creil to Beauvais — Railway . 30 5 Amiens to Rouen — Railway . 32 6 Dieppe to Rouen — Railway . 33 8 Paris to Rouen — Railway . .38 9 Paris to St. Germain .... 52 10 Paris to Rouen, by Magny . . 55 11 The Seine, a. — St. Germain to Rouen. — Roche Guyon. — Cha teau Gaillard . ...... 56 11a Paris to Dieppe, by Gisors, Gournay, and Neufchatel . . 60 12 The Seine, b. — Rouen to Havre and Honfleur 61 ROUTE PAGE 13 Rouen to Havre,.— Road, by St. George Boscherville, Jumieges, Caudebec, and Lillebonne . . 64 14 Rouen to Havre — Railway . 68 18 Havre to Fecamp (Railway) ; thence to Dieppe, Eu, and Abbeville 72 23 Havre to Honfleur, Trouville, and Lisieux 75 24 Havre to Caen, by Sea ... 77 25 Paris to Caen, by JEvreux and Lisieux — Railway .... 77 26 Caen to CfterooKro-— Railway . 86 27 Cherbourg to St. Malo, by Coutances, Granville, and Av ranches (Mont St. Michel). . 97 28 St. Malo to Rennes .... 106 29 Caen to Tours, by Falaise, Alencon, and Le Mans — Rail 107 31 Vire to Rennes, by Mortain and Fougeres 109 Picardy and lie de France, through which lie the routes to Paris from Calais and Boulogne, present few picturesque attractions, but numerous historical associations interesting to Englishmen, and fine examples of Gothic architecture in the Cathedrals of Amiens, Beauvais, Abbeville. Normandy, on the other hand, is full of interest : — it is remarkable for varied outline of swelling hills waving with corn; for beautiful valleys [France, 1867.] B 2 Picardy — Normandy. Sect. I. abounding in orchards, and in rich pasturages, on which large herds of cattle are reared, and traversed by winding rivers ; for richness and careful cultivation ; and above all, for remains of mediaeval antiquity; venerable cities; noble cathedrals, abbeys, and churches, not confined merely to the larger towns, but scattered over the country, so that every village, in some parts, possesses a fine specimen of architecture. Normandy is among the most attractive portions, of France. Parts of the upper country are certainly a flat, monotonous table land ; but in its joyous sunny slopes and winding dales, in its hedgerows, orchards, thatched cottages with gardens, in the general character of the land scape of La Basse Normandie, especially in its verdure, frequent village spires, and white chalk cliffs, an Englishman recognises with pleasure the features of his own country, which no other part of the Continent affords. He may also take pleasure in remembering that this was the cradle whence came the hardy bands of conquerors from whose possession of England that country dates her early prosperity and greatness. To those fond of mediaeval architecture,* especially to the architect and anti quary, Normandy will afford a rich field for observation. Rouen, a city possessing much of the mediaeval character in its edifices, and containing not only a magnificent cathedral, but, if possible, a still finer church, that of St. Ouen, is certainly one of .the most interesting cities in France, and will alone furnish occupation for many days. In its vicinity are a great number of curious village churches. The ruined abbeys, Boscherville, Jumieges, &c, on the N. bank of the Seine, are remarkable examples of genuine Norman archi tecture ; and the scenery of the river near whose banks they lie — the great water highway connecting Paris with its port of Havre — is very pleasing. Caen is also interesting, though in a lesser degree than Rouen. The cathe drals of Bayeux (famed for its tapestry), of Lisieux, and of Coutances also are noble edifices. Normandy abounds in old castles ; of which the most interesting, both in an historical and picturesque point of view, are Chateau Gaillard, the favourite stronghold of Richard Coeur de Lion ; Falaise, the birthplace of William the1 Conqueror; and several others, the cradles of our English nobility, whence many derive their titles ; and above all, Mont St. Michel, which possesses a triple interest as an historical fortress, a remarkable ecclesiastical and monastic j edifice, and a most grand and striking object. The Roman theatre at Lillebonne deserves particular notice as an interesting example of an edifice of the kind, and almost the only one existing in Northern Europe. The most picturesque parts of Normandy are the banks of the Seine from St. Germain to Havre, and especially from Rouen to Havre, though its innumerable islands planted with poplars and willows are somewhat monotonous ; the vicinity of Vire and of Avranches charmingly posted on a hill-top, whence the view extends to the Mont St. Michel, rising out of the sea, is peculiarly attractive. The Marine Arsenal, Dockyard, and Breakwater of Cherbourg, at the ex tremity of the promontory of the Cotentin, which deserves to be explored for its geological peculiarities, must not be omitted among the very interesting objects of Normandy. * J. H, Farter's ¦ Introduction to the Study bf Gothic Architecture,' 2nd edition, 1861, contains a concise view of French Gothic, which will render it a useful companion to the traveller. PlOARDY. Route l.-^Galais. Skeleton Tour of 3 Weeks through Normandy. Newhaven to Dieppe ; or 1 Southampton to Havre : rail to Bolbec Stat. -. walk to Tancarville. 3 Lillebonne.Caudebec. Jumieges. 4 St. George Boscherville. 7 Rouen. Chateau Gaillard: by rail coach. By rail back to Havre, and steamer to 8 Caen. * 10 Falaise and back : rail. and by 11 Bayeux: rail. 12 Valognes. 13 Cherbourg: rail. 14 Coutances, Granville. St. Lo. 15 Vire. Mortain. 16 Avranches. Mont St. Michel. 17 Dol. 18 Dinant. 19 St. Malo, and by steamer to 21 Jersey and Southampton.— Or from Dol by Dinant to Rennes, and to Paris by rail. ROUTE 1. CALAIS TO PARIS, BY HAZEBROUCK, ARRAS, AND AMIENS.* Calais Kil. Miles. St. Omer 42 26 Hazebrouck 62 3SJ- Be"thune 97 60 ' Arras 139 86 Loogueau (Amiens) . . . 200 124 Creil 276 171 Paris 327 203 5 trains daily, in 9 or 10 hrs. . Terminus at Calais is on the Quay, close to the landing-place. It includes the Custom-house and Passport-offices, 'jBefreshment-room (Buffet), and Hotel ^(where good beds may be had), all Londer one roof. Luggage is taken "from the steamer to the Custom-house, 'md may be cleared at once, unless it %as been registered through at London, n which case it can only be examined •bn arriving in Paris. Calais. — Inns: the Station Hotel, *air. H. Dessin (formerly Quillac's) : ;he H. Dessin, where Sterne and Sir * At the head of each route in this Handbook s placed a list of the most important stations, hose at which the Express trains stop. Opposite o each is placed the distance in kilometres and English miles from the point of departure, and n the text the names of all the stations, with he distances between each in English miles. Walter Scott lodged, in Rue Royale, is converted into Baths, a Museum, and Schools. H. Meurice. H. de Paris, moderate. For useful information on landing in France, see Introduction. Calais has 12,727 Inhab. ;* it is a fortress of the second class, with a large citadel, and several forts, situated in a very barren and unpicturesque district, with sandhills raised by the wind and sea on the one side, and morasses on the other, contributing considerably to its military strength, but by no means to the beauty of its position. Since 1840 the strength of its works has been greatly increased, especially sea ward. An English traveller of the time of James I. described it as "a beggarly, extorting town ; monstrous dear and sluttish." In the opinion of many, this description will hold good at the present time. The harbour, approached by 2 pa rallel wooden piers, one of them nearly f m. long, has 5 feet water over the bar at low water spring-tides, not so deep as that of Boulogne. A Lighthouse of the first class, nearly 190 ft. high, and visible 20 m. off, is erected near the outer ramparts. Except to an Englishman setting his foot for the first time on the Continent, * The numbers of the population of towns, throughout this volume, are taken from the Tables of the Census of 1867. B 2 Route 1. — Calais. Sect. I. to whom everything is novel, Calais has little that is remarkable. After an hour or two it becomes tiresome, and a traveller will do well to quit it as soon as he has cleared his luggage at the custom-house. Calais has become a manufacturing town of some importance; the bob bin-net (tulle) trade flourishes in rivalry of that of England ; numerous • mills have sprung up ; steam-engines are multiplying ; and the inner ram parts have been removed, to make room for factories. Gloves and hats are also made here, and the herring- fishery and cod-fishery are extensively carried on from it on the E. coasts of Scotland and Iceland. Water, which formerly was scarce here, as through out Artois generally, has been brought from the neighbourhood of Guines, and an artesian well is dug. The Pier of Calais is an agreeable promenade. Upon it is a column raised to commemorate the return of Louis XVIII. to France, which originally bore this inscription: — " Le 24 Avril, 1814, S. M. Louis XVIII. ddbarqua vis-a-vis de cette co- lonne, et fut enfin rendu a l'amour des . Francais ; pour en perpe"tuer le souve nir, la ville de Calais a elevfe ce monu ment." " As an additional means of perpetuating this remembrance, a bra zen plate had been let into the pave ment, upon the precise spot where his foot first touched the soil. It was the left ; and an English traveller noticed it in his journal as a sinistrous omen, that, when Louis le De"sire, after his exile, stepped on France, he did not put the right foot foremost." — Quar terly Review. At the Revolution in 1830, both inscription and foot-mark, in bronze, were removed, and are now to be seen in the Muse'e (ci-devant H. Dessin), Rue Royale, along with some indifferent paintings and Rousseau's chair (?). The principal gate leading from the sea-side into the town is that intro duced by Hogarth into his well-known picture of the " Gates of Calais." It was built by Cardinal Richelieu 1635. No one needs to be reminded of the interesting incidents of the Siege of Calais by Edward III., which lasted 1 1 months, and of the heroic devotion of Eustace de St. Pierre and his 5 com- 1 panions. Few, perhaps, are aware that the heroes of Calais not only went un- j rewarded by their own king and coun trymen, but were compelled to beg their- bread in misery through France, Calais remained in the hands of the English from 1347 to 1558, when it was taken by the Due de Guise, with an army of 30,000 men, from a forlorn garrison of 500. It was the last relic of the Gallic dominions-of the Plantagenets, which, at one time, com prehended one half of France. Calais*" was dear to the English as the prize of the valour of their forefathers, rathem than from any real value which it pos sessed : and it is usually related that Queen Mary I. grieved so much at the loss as to say that on her death Calais would be found written on her heart. The traveller should look at the Hdtel de Guise, at the end of Rue de la Prison, originally the guildhall of the mayor and aldermen of the " staple of wool," established here by Edward III. 1363. It derives its present name from the Due de Guise, to whom it was given by Henri II. after his expulsion of the English. It has some vestiges of our Tudor architecture. Henry VIII. used to lodge in it. In the Great Market Place stands the Hotel de Ville (Town HaU), con taining the municipal oflices. In front of it are placed, on columns, busts of Eustace de St. Pierre; of Francis, 2nd Due de Guise; and of Cardinal de Richelieu, who built the citadel on the W. of the town : above it rises a belfry, containing the chimes. The high tower behind the H6tel de Ville, called La Tour du Guet, dates from 1214; it was used as a light house until 1 848. The principal Church (Notre Dame); was erected at the time when the English were masters of Calais. It is a hand some Dec. Gothic edifice of the 14th centy. : a modern circular chapel has been thrown out behind the choir. It is surmounted by a stately tower and short steeple. Picardy. Route 1. — Calais to Paris— St. Omer. The old town is built in the form of an. oblong square, surrounded by old walls, having a gate towards the sea and one on the land side. To the latter a large modern suburb has been attached, filled with busy factories, lace-mills (for bobbinet=i!(Me), and steam engines. The walls and the pier command a dis tinct view of the white cliffs of England. More than 2000 English are said to find employment in the factories here. Many of our countrymen besides reside merely for the purpose of economising ; so that the place is half Anglicised, and our language is generally spoken. The number amounted at one time to 4800 English residents in and around the town. There is an English Chapel, Rue des Pretres; service on Sundays, 11 A.M., 3 p.m. : also in the English ch. of St. Pierre-les-Calais, 11| a.m. and 6J p.m. There is a small theatre ; also a public library in the Hotel de Ville. There is a bathing establishment and bathing-machines on the shore. Steamboats to and from Dover daily. The S.E. Rly. Company's, and Dover and Chatham's, vessels leave Dover at 9-35 a.m. and 10-40 p.m., and Calais at 1-15 p.m. and 2 a.m. The passage is made in 1J-2 hrs. At low water, when steamers cannot enter Calais harbour, of rare occurrence, passengers are landed in boats (charge 3 fr.), and must wait for their luggage until the vessel enters with the tide. Steamers direct to London in 10 hrs. twice a, week. Railways to Arras and Paris — to Boulogne, Amiens, and Paris, the shortest and quickest way, Mail Ex press, see Rte. 3 — to Lille and Brussels — to Mons and Namur — to Bruges, Ghent, and Antwerp. Excursions : from Calais to St. Pierre- les-Calais (2 m.); to Sandgatte (6 m.), at the foot of the chalk cliffs, which, extending to Boulogne, form the head lands of Blanc Nez and Gris Nez. On leaving the Terminus on the Quai the line to Paris skirts the N.E, angle of the Citadel. 2 m. St. Pierre-les-Calais Stat. This isagreat manufacturing suburbof Calais (17,294 Inhab.), more populous than the town itself. There are many tulle manu factories here, established by English capitalists since 1819. A great number of English weavers are settled here, for whose use a neat Gothic ch. was built 1862. rt. Hly. to Boulogne (Rte. 2) diverges. The rly. runs by the side of the river Aa : it crosses the Canal d'Ardres, near the Pont Sans Pareil. The country about Calais and St. Omer is like parts of Holland, low and intersected by ditches, and traversed by rows of pollard willows and osiers, useful for making baskets. It is drained by the canal de St. Omer, which falls into the sea at Calais : the tides are kept out by embankments. The villages are com posed chiefly of mud cottages. The peasants, men as well as women, are frequently seen mounted on high pat tens to avoid the mud. 7 m. Ardres Stat., a dismantled for tress, 1850. 2189 Inhab. The town 3 m. from the Stat. The plain between this place and Guines, a little to the W. of the road, is the Field of the Cloth of Gold, the scene of the meeting between Henry VIII. and Francis I., 1520, with their suites of 5696 persons and 4325 horses, so called from the cloth of gold with which the tents and pavilions of the monarchs were covered. The Field is 4 m. from Guines, near the village of Balinghem, 2 m. from Ardres. 5 m. Audruiclc Stat. 7 m. Watten Slat. 5^ m. St. Omer Stat., outside the old bastions. Inns: H. d'Angleterre; H. de France ; Grande Ste. Catherine. This is a third-rate fortress, whose means of defence lie less in its actual fortifications than in the marshes which surround it, and the facility afforded by the river Aa, on which it stands, of flooding the land round about, so as to leave only J of its circuit unprotected by the waters. Although it contains a population of 21,869 souls, it is a dull Route 1. — Calais to Paris — Azincour. Sect. I. place. There are, however, two eccle siastical edifices worthy of notice. The Cathedral of Notre Dame, at the upper end of the Rue St. Bertin, is a fine building, showing the transition from the round to the pointed style. The arrangement of the chapels round the apse is very good. Transepts very large. 06s. the S. transept doorway, and the incised slabs removed from the floor and placed against the walls of a S. side-chapel. rt. Close to the Stat., at the opposite extremity of the same street, stand the scanty remains of the famous Benedic tine Abbey Ch. of St. Bertin, at one time the noblest Gothic monument of French Flanders — in its present state a disgrace to the town, and a reproach to the government ; for be it known that its destruction has been perpetrated since 1830 ! At the outbreak of the great Re volution the monastery was suppressed ; the Convention spared the church ; and though under the Directory it was sold for the materials, unroofed, and stripped of its woodwork and metal, yet its walls remained comparatively unin jured until the magistrates barbar ously pulled it down to afford employ ment to some labourers out of work, and to build the new Hotel de Ville. The fragment remaining consists of a stately tower built in the 15th century (1431 - 1520), displaying ornaments of the florid Gothic in the mutilated panelling on its walls, and bits of tra cery in its windows ; a small portion of the nave remains attached to it. The tower, threatening to fall, has been propped by an ugly, ill-contrived but tress of masonry ; there is some talk of converting it into a museum. The town is well seen from its top, but there is nothing else of interest in the view. Within the walls of the Abbey of St. Bertin the feeble Childeric III., the last king of the first race, ended his days in 755; here also Becket sought refuge when a fugitive from England. The other objects of interest at St. Omer are the chs. of St. Sepulchre (14th centy.) and of St. Denis ; the modern H6tel de Ville ; the Artillery Arsenal, one of the most remarkable in the N. of France ; the Museum in the Hdtel du Balliage, on the Grand Place ; the Lycee containing the Public Library. A Seminary for the education of Eng lish and Irish Roman Catholics exists here : it has replaced the Jesuits' Coir, lege founded by Father Parsons for the education of Englishmen. Daniel O'Connell was brought up here for the priesthood ; and several of the con spirators engaged in the Gunpowder Plot were pupils of the same school. There are not more than 15 or 20 students at present. A large military] hospital occupies the site of the con vent and. chapel in which Dr. Alban Butler, author of ' Lives of the Saints,' , was buried (1773). Several English reside here. Ettglish Chapel, Rue du Bon Pasteur, Sunday, 11 and 3. Canals to Calais and to Aire. [About 20 m. S. of St. Omer is Azincour, a village of farms and peasants cottages, uninteresting but for its battwk field. Only the foundations remain of the castle mentioned by Shakspeare| " that stands hard by." Azincour lies on the 1. of the high road from St. Omerto Abbeville, which passes through* the village of Ruisseauville, mentioned in all the accounts of the battle. The hottest of the fight raged between Azin cour and the commune of Tramecour, where a wood still exists corresponding with that in which Henry posted his archers, who contributed so much to the victory, each armed with an iron- pointed stake, to fix in the ground be fore him and to serve the purpose of the modern bayonet. Henry, like his great-grandfather Edward III. previous to Crecy, had marched, with a force of 9000 men, through a hostile country, from, Har: fleur on his way to Calais. On reaching the Somme below Abbe ville he found the ford, by which Edward had crossed, staked, and was obliged to continue up the 1. bank, find ing every passage fortified, and every bridge broken, until he arrived above Amiens, where he gained the rt. bank by a ford which had been left open. The French army, though more than six times the number of the English, retreated before him beyond St, Pol, Picardy. Route 1. — Hazebrouck — Arras. and there drew up across the road to Calais to dispute his passage. There is thus a considerable similarity in the events attending the victories of Crecy and Azincour, and these two famous battle-fields are not more than 20 m. apart (see Rte. 3).] 7 m. Ebblinghem Stat. 6 m. Hazebrouck June. Stat. (Buffet ; H. des Trois Chevaux ; St. George) is the point of junction of the lines from Calais to Paris by Arras — Calais to Lille and Brussels (Rte. 2) — and Dun- kerque (by Cassel, Rte. 188). This is a flourishing town of 9017 Inhab., whose Ch., dedicated to St. Nicholas, is surmounted by a beautiful spire 260 ft. high, of open work, built 1493-1520. Hazebrouck to Amiens. Over the flat but fertile plain of Artois, passing by 4 m. Steenbecque Stat. 3 m. Thiennes Stat., to 4 m. Aire Stat., 4 m. from the town ; Pop. 8803 ; a fortified town of the 2nd class ; the Ch. of St. Pierre is highly ornamented. The adjoining district is one of the richest in French Flanders. H6tel de la Clef d'Or the best. 4 m. Litters Stat. The first artesian well was sunk here in the 12th centy. ; it may be seen in the gardens of a suppressed Dominican convent. 8 m. Be'thune Stat. A fortress of the 3rd class by Vauban ; Pop. 8178. The Beffroi, erected in 1388, and the ch. of St. Vaast, remarkable. There are several beet-root sugar manufac tories hereabouts. 11 m. Lens Junct. Stat. 1. rly. to Douai and Lille. The 3 towers of Arras visible. 9 m. Arras Junct. Stat. Buffet. Rly. to Douai, Valenciennes, Cambrai, and Laon (Rte, 187), Arras. (Inns : Griffon, and I'Europe ; omnibus from Rly. ;— Petit St. Pol, well recommended; — H. de I'Univers.) Arras is a large and fine city, formerly the capital of the Pays d' Artois, and now of the De'pt. du Pas de Calais ; Pop. 25,749. It is a fortress of the first class, seated on the Scarpe. The en trance, between and amongst the lofty ramparts, shaded by loftier trees, is grand and imposing. In the interior it has quite the character of a Flemish town, especially in its Grande Place, surrounded by Gothic gable -faced houses, terminating in scallops and scroll-work supported on open arcades, which by a decree of the town-conncil are to be preserved unaltered. Not far from it is the Petite Place, larger and even more, picturesque in its buildings. On one side of it stands the Hotel de Ville, a structure in the latest Gothic, resembling our Elizabethan, built 1510, surmounted by a tall Beffroi, rebuilt in 1834. The first Revolution raged here with exceeding violence — a matter of little surprise when it is remembered that Arras was the birthplace of the mon sters Max". Robespierre and his bro ther. (You may see the house, Roe des Rapporteurs, near la Place du Theatre.) They were the sons of an advocate, who abandoned them in their childhood and went to America, and they were educated at the College here, and maintained by the charity of some of the clergy of St. Waast. It is said that in one street all the inhabitants were guillotined, whence it was called the " Rue sans Tetes." One effect of this fury was the desecra tion of the greater portion of the reli gious edifices. The Cathedral fell like the rest, and only a fragment of it re mains near the Place. The present Cathedral, in the high est part of the town, though in the form of a Latin cross, with flying buttresses, is an Italian edifice. It contains several good paintings and sepulchral monuments from the Abbey of St. Vaast. Its interior, supported on classic columns, with side aisles and transepts, is plain but handsome. Among the relics preserved here, in 8 Route 1. — Arras. 2. — Calais lo Brussels. Sect. I. the tresor, is the blood-stained Rochet which Becket wore when he was mur dered at Canterbury. Arras was fortified by Vauban. In the Citadel are the head-quarters of an Ecole du Genie, or School of Mili tary Engineers ¦ — an establishment worth the attention of British Engineer officers. Near the Cathedral are the vast re mains of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Vaast, founded in 1500, now serving as the Bishop's Palace and Seminary ; the Museum, containing numerous objects of local archaeological interest, and a GaUery of Paintings, chiefly modern ; and the Public Library, of 40,000 vols. and 1100 MSS. chiefly formed from that of St. Vaast. There is a Pro testant place of worship in the Rue des Casernes. The other objects worthy of notice at Arras will be the Chs. of St. Jean Baptiste (1 584), and St. Ge'ry, a modern edifice in the style of the 13th centy. Arras is an important place of trade for the agricultural products of its rich district ; beet-root sugar, rape - oil, chicory, coffee, and corn. Some china and pottery are manufactured, and a great' deal of lace. The celebrated tapestry (Arazzi), which was in olden times so extensively manufactured at Arras, is no longer made here.! Damiens, who attempted to assassin ate Louis XV., and the infamous revo lutionary leader Joseph Lebon, were natives of Arras. Diligences to St. Pol. 20 m., by which Azincour can be visited. Soon after leaving Arras the railway quits the valley of the Scarpe. 15 m. Achiet Stat. [Diligence to Ba- peaume (4 m.) (H. du Pas de Calais), once a fortress, dismantled 1847. It has a handsome ch. (1 560), containing some modern painted glass ; a Hotel de Ville ; and a Beffroi of 1610.] 11 m. Albert Stat. Diligence to Peronne (16 m.). 10 m. Corbie Stat., a town of 3346 Inhab., with a Gothic ch. forming part of an ancient Benedictine abbey. It contains in a chapel of the rt; aisle a statue of St. Bathilde, of the early part of the 14th centy., pronounced by M. de Montalembert as one of the finest that exists. , The railway then crosses the Somme three times, and passes some considerable peat-works before reaching 8 m. Longueau J unct. Stat. Passengers for Amiens (2J m. distant), Abbeville, and Boulogne, here change carriages. The rly. from Boulogne to Paris (Rte. 3) falls in here. Amiens (Stat.) and. the Railway thence to Paris are described in Rte. 3. ROUTE 2. CALAIS TO BRUSSELS, BY HAZEBROUCK, LILLE, TOURCOING (DOUAl), MOUS- CRON, TOURNAI, ETC. Kil. Miles. Hazebrouck 62 38£ Lille 106 66 Tournai 130 81 Brussels 237 142 This, the shortest route, is per formed in 5 hrs.; the other, by Douai, Valenciennes, and Mons, will perhaps be the most interesting. 38J m. Hazebrouck, see preceding route. Raihvay to Lille and Brussels. 3 m. Strazeele Stat. 5 m. Bailleul Slat. (Inn: Faucon). 4 m. Armentieres Stat., a town of 15,579 Inhab., consisting for the most part of weavers, on the Lys, Picardy. Route 2. — Calais to Biiissels — Lille. 3 m. Steinwerlce Stat 5 m. Perenchies Stat. 8 m. Lille. The rly. skirts the fortifications of Lille, and joins the Belgian line near the Porte de Fives. Some trains stop here, others traverse the ramparts to Lille Junction Stat. Lille. (Flem. Ryssel.) — Inns: H. de Flandres et d'Angleterre ; H. de Gand. H. du Buffet at the stat., con venient for those who start early. This city is important both as a fortress of the first order for its strength, forming the central 'point of the defence of France on her N. frontier, and as a populous and in dustrious manufacturing town, ranking seventh among the cities of France. Pop. 154,749. It is chief town of the Dept. du Nord, and was formerly capital of French Flanders. The canals of the Haute Mayenne and Basse Deule tra verse the town, filling its moats and turning the wheels of its mills, and they are connected by a canal, by means of which the country for 1^ m. around the citadel and walls can be laid under water. There are no fine public buildings proportioned to the size and wealth of the city ; its monuments have been levelled by shells and shot, and its objects of interest for the passing traveller, unless he be a military man, are few. The old fortifications from the rly. stat. round to the citadel have been removed, and a wall, with a gallery on arches, 4 m. in circuit, has been thrown out. The Citadel passed for a master piece of the skill of Vauban, who was governor of it for many years. It is a regular pentagon, furnished with all the accessories which engineering skill can suggest, especially since the siege of 1792, and so strong, because com manded by no point, and capable of isolation by breaking the canal dykes, and filling its wide moats, that it is deemed impregnable. A great deal of misery, however, and enormous de struction of property, and injury to agriculture) would follow such an inun dation. The citadel is separated from the town by the Esplanade, a wide space for military exercises, parallel to which is the handsome promenade or public walk, planted with trees and traversed by the canal. Lille was cap tured from the Spaniards by Louis XIV. in 1667, in whose honour the triumphal arch, at the end of the Rue de Paris, was erected. At different periods, and under different masters, it has stood 7 distinct sieges ; the one most memorable for an Englishman, and one of the most memorable on record, was that by the allied armies of Marlborough and Eu gene in 1708, of 3 months' duration, during which the war was not merely waged above ground, but the most bloody combats were fought below the surface between the miners of the op posite armies, each endeavouring to sap and undermine the galleries of his op ponent. The siege was considered an act of great rashness, as the French in the field under Vendflme were actually as numerous as Marlborough's army, and advanced to relieve the place. Marlborough, however, took up his positions so skilfully that the relieving army was unable to effect anything, and Boufflers, the French commander of the town, after a masterly defence, was compelled to capitulate, but upon most honourable terms. It was finally restored to France by the treaty of Utrecht, 1715. In the Grande Place is a granite column surmounted by an allegorical statue of Lille, in memory of the citizens whofell in the bombardment of 1792, of 9 days, by the Austrians, under the Duke of Saxe Coburg, who was compelled to raise the siege. The Bourse, a richly ornamented building in the Spanish style, erected 1652. In the court is a statue of Napoleon I., as protector of National Industry. The Hdtel de Ville, in the Place Rihour, was mostly rebuilt 1849, but retains portions of 15th centy. A brick Gothic gatehouse and towers, which are parts of an ancient palace of the Dukes of Burgundy, built by Jean-sans-Peur, 1430, and inhabited by the Emp. Charles V. The Council B 3 10 Route 2. — Lille — Douai. Sect. I. chamber (Salle du Conclave) was painted by A. de Vuez, 1 726. The second floor of the building, appropriated to a * Museum and School of Art, contains a most interesting and valuable col lection of Drawings by the old Italian masters, upwards of 1300 in number, including several by Raphael, Masaccio, Fra Bartolomeo, Leonardo da Vinci, and nearly 200 (mostly architectural) by Michael Angelo, well worthy the inspection of all who take an interest in art. They were left to the city by Chev. Wicar, a native of Lille, who had resided for many years in Rome. Beyond the Musee Wicar is an Ethno graphical collection, also the gift of a citizen, M. Moillet. Among a number of mediocre pictures are two by Ru bens, a Death of the Magdalen, and the Virgin and St. Francis, both from a ch. at Ghent; Van Dyck, a Crucifixion. The St. Cecilia and St. Francis are by Arnold de Vuez (a native artist of con siderable merit, b. 1642); there is a series of old portraits of the Dukes of Burgundy and Counts of Flanders. The Public Library (Bibliotheque Communale), in the same building, con tains 35,000 vols, and several MSS. St. Maurice, the principal Ch., close to the Rly. Stat., is in the Gothic style of the 16th cent., resting on slender piers, with double aisles on each side of the nave, all of equal height. It has been well restored. A Romanesque- Byzantine Ch. with a tall spire has been built in the Faubourg Wazemmes (1860). N. Dame de la Treille is a Gothic building, begun 1860, by a Lillois architect. The huge storehouses for corn at the extremity of the Rue Royale, a street nearly a mile long, deserve notice. There are some very handsome shops in the Rue Esquermoise. In the centre of the Promenade, adjoining the canal of the Moyenne Deule and Espla nade, a statue has been erected to General Negrier, slain in the repub lican revolt of June 25th, 1848, at Paris, in putting down the insurgents. No city iu France has undergone, of late years, greater improvements than Lille. To include its fauxbourgs the greater part of the fortified walls have been pulled down, and handsome Bou levards erected on their sites; amongst which deserve particular notice — the B. de Vlmperatrice and B. Vauban, each nearly a mile long, on the W. side of the town ; the Rue Impe'riale, extending from the Grand Place to the ancient 1 suburb of Wazemmes ; the Square ' de la Reine Hortense; and the hand some Place Napoleon III., near the site of the Porte Be'thune. English Protestant Ch. Service, Rue du Cure St. Etienne. The tall chimneys of numerous mills, ; even within the walls, announce the active industry which is working here, and show the unusual combination of a fortress and manufacturing town, while the country around, and indeed a large part of the Dept. du Nord, is like a hive in population and activity, not unworthy of being compared with parts of Lancashire and the West Riding. The chief manufacture is that ofjlax, which is extensively grown in the viei- nity, and is spun into ordinary thread, and twisted to form the kind called Lille thread, by old - fashioned machines moved by the hand ; besides which much linen is woven here. In the spinning of cotton, Lille has become a rival of Manchester and Rouen. The extraction of oils from rape or colza and the seeds of poppies, linseed, &c, and the manufacture of sugar from beetroot, are very important, having given a great impulse to agriculture, as well as employing many thousand hands and hundreds of windmills. There are not less than 600 wind mills in the commune des Moulins: they are used for crushing rape-seed and other oleaginous grains for oil. [Rlwy. to Douai, 25 kil., 16 m., by Seclin, Carvin, and Forest. 16 m. Douai Junct. Stat. — Here the Lille branch of the Railway is joined by that from Valenciennes (Rte. 184), St. Quentin, Laon, and Reims (Rte. 187). Douai (Inns: H. de Versailles; — de I'Europe ; — de Flandres ; — du Com- Picardy. Route 3. — Calais to Paris. 11 merce) is a town of 24,105 Inhab., suiTounded by old fortifications, seated on the Scarpe, defended by a detached fort, about 1^ m. distant, on the 1. bank. Here is one of the 3 great can non-foundries of France. It is the least thriving large town in the Dept. du Nord ; and though it covers more ground than Lille, does not contain a quarter as many inhabitants. Like most Flemish towns, it has a picturesque * Beffroi, in its market-place, rising above the Gothic H. de Ville, built at the end of the 15th cent., and many picturesque Gothic hnoses. In the once Jesuits' convent, near the Place St. Jacques (not far from the Stat.), are : — 1. The Public Library, 40,000 vols., besides near 1000 MSS. from suppressed monastic institutions, including the English and Scotch convents at Douai ; 2. a Museum of antiquities (old records of the family de Lalaing, &c.) and Pic tures (old Flemish school, &c). In the Ch. of Notre Dame is a very remarkable early Flemish altarpiece, consisting of a variety of subjects — the Trinity, the Virgin, saints, &c, with figures innu merable. It was painted for the Abbey of Archers, near Douai. The Artillery Barrack aux Grands Anglais (close to the Rly. Stat.) was originally the English College, or semi nary, founded in 1569 by Cardinal Allen, an Englishman, for the education of Roman Cath. priests for England and Ireland. There were other Eng lish, Scotch, and Irish seminaries here, one of which (the Benedictines') alone remains. There is a considerable trade in flax at Douai, and numerous coal pits in the neighbourhood. The sculptor called John of Bologna is supposed to have been born here. Every July a procession parades the streets of Douai, consisting of a giant of osier, called Ge~ant Gayant, dressed in armour, 30 ft. high, attended by his wife and family, of proportionate size ; the giant doll is moved by 8 men en closed within it.] Returning to Lille, the line to Brus sels proceeds to 5 m. Roubaix Stat., a considerable manufacturing town of 65,091 Inhab. 2 m. Tourcoing Stat., the last town in France, a place of 38,262 Inhab.; the Belgian frontier being crossed before reaching Mouscron Stat. For route to Brussels through Tour nai (32 m.) see Handbook of Belgium. There is another route between Lille and Brussels, by Ascq — 4 m. S.E. of which is Bouvines, celebrated for the battle between Philip Augustus of France and the Emperor Otho in 1214 — Baisieux, Blaintain, Tournai, and Ath. EOUTE 3. CALAIS TO PARIS, BY BOULOGNE, ABBE VILLE, AND AMIENS— RAILWAY. Kil. Miles. Camers Stat 15 11 Marquise 26 16 WimiUe „ 36 23 Boulogne „ 43 26 Rly. opened 1867, 24 m. shorter than by Rte. 1. 6 trains daily, in 1 hr. Express mail to Paris follows, this route since April 1867, in 4 hrs. 40 min. On leaving St. Pierre les Calais (Rte. 1) the line crosses the plain. 11m. Caffiers is the stat. for Guines, 3 m. distant. Near this, at Fiennes, are coal-mines, and in the neighbouring forest, about 3 m. from the town, a pyramid to mark the spot where the aeronauts Blanchard and Jeffreys, after having crossed the Channel from Eng land, descended in 1785. Roads run from St. Fricat and Caffiers on the rt. to the village of Ouessant, or Witsand, on the sea-shore, about 4 m. N. of Cape Gris-Nez: it is supposed to be the Partus Itius of the Romans, where Julius Caesar embarked for the con quest of Britain. The harbour has long since been blocked up with sand ; 12 Route 3. — Boulogne. Sect. I. yet it was, for centuries the landing- place for passengers from England, and was one of the ports in which Napo leon's fleet of flat-bottomed boats was stationed. Beyond Caffiers the rly. ascends until it reaches its summit- level (360 feet), from which there is a steep descent to 6 m. Marquise Stat., a town of 4380 Inhab., having in its neighbourhood mines of coal, iron-works, and quarries of grey limestone, situated in a pretty valley of rocks, occupying a deep fissure in the plain, resembling Dove- dale. This is a favourite excursion from Boulogne. The Stat, is about 1 J m. F. of the town. Ambleteuse, a village on the coast, and deserted port, deserves mention only as the spot where James II. dis embarked, Jan. 5, 1689. 6 J m. Wimille Stat. In the church yard of Wimille, at the road side, 3 m. from Boulogne, the unfortunate aero nauts, Pilatre de Rosier and Romain, are buried; the balloon in which they had ascended from Boulogne (1785), intending to cross the Channel, caught fire at an elevation of 3600 ft., and they were miserably dashed to pieces. An obelisk has been erected on the spot where they fell near Wi- mereux. On the beach of Wimereux, Aug. 6, 1840, the Emp. Louis Napo leon landed, with a few faithful fol lowers, ^ou his premature attempt to seize the throne. On leaving Wimille Stat, the line passes near to Wimereux, and on 1. the Fort of Honvault, and the Colonne de la Grande Armee. To reach Bou logne it penetrates by 2 tunnels, each upwards of J m. long, first through a hill on N.W side, connected, by a bridge and cutting through the Tin- telleries, with the second tunnel, be neath the upper town of Boulogne. It afterwards crosses a viaduct of 400 yds. over the Liane, before joining the rly. from Amiens and Paris and reaching the 4 m. Boulogne Stat, at Capecure. — Inns : H. des Bains, table-d'hote 5 fr., good ; Pavilion Imperiale, on the shore ; H. Brighton et de la Marine, good and moderate— all near the harbour. H. de Londres; good, and great civility. H. du Commerce, good table-d'hote and reasonable. Hughes's Royal H., Rue d'Assas, quiet. Boulogne-sur-Mer is a seaport on the Channel, or Pas de Calais, upon the estuary of the Liane, which forms a tidal harbour, flanked on either side by wooden piers stretching out as far as low-water mark. It was the Roman Gessoriacum or Bononia. The old town occupies the summit of a hill, on which it was built for security in ancient times, and it is still encircled by its mediseval ramparts, and entered by sombre gateways. The new town or Basse Ville, stretching down the slopes of the hills which border the N. side of the harbour, and under the brown cliffs which partly line it, is the seat of com merce, and contains, the best hotels, streets, and shops. The number of Inhab. is 40,251, in cluding at least 3000 English residents ; indeed, Boulogne, being within 4j hrs. of London, and 1 hr. 40 min. by steam from Folkestone, is one of the chief British colonies on the Continent. Thus, by a singular reciprocity, on the very spot whence Napoleon pro posed the invasion of our shores, the sons and daughters of his intended victims have quietly taken posses sion and settled themselves down. The town is enriched by English money; warmed, lighted, and smoked by English coal ; English signs and advertisements decorate every other shop-door, inn, tavern, and lodging-house ; and almost every third person you meet is either a countryman or speaking our lan guage ; while the outskirts of the town are enlivened by villas and country- houses, somewhat in the style and taste of those on the opposite side of the Channel. There are numerous board ing-schools (pensionnats) for the youth of both sexes, many of them under English managers and masters. Le Port. The harbour concentrates the chief bustle and business ; here is the landing-place from the packets, and the Douane. Strangers may safely confide the keys of their luggage to the authorised commissionaires of their Picardy. Route 3. — Boulogne. hotels, who, without their presence being required, will see their boxes, &c, passed by the custom-house officers. The number of persons who disem bark here annually amounts to nearly 1 50,00Q ; hence one great source of the prosperity of Boulogne, The present harbour, entirely arti ficial, requires continual clearing from the sand which is driven into it by the wind and by the sea ; it is dry at low water, but vessels of moderate draught can enter for about 4 hours "every tide. The piers on each side, form ing the entrance,* serve as a plea sant walk 1638 ft., that on the W. 1968 ft. long. Above the harbour the wide shallow basin of the Liane, filled at high water by the tide, is closed by powerful lock-gates, and is used as a backwater for scouring the harbour. To the E. of the harbour, on the margin of a sandy beach, is the * Etablissement des Bains, a handsome building in the Renaissance style, con taining subscription, ball, and reading rooms, and large Stemming Baths. In front are drawn up in long array a number of bathing-machines. Boulogne is resorted to in summer, both by the Parisians and English, for sea-bathing, for which it is well adapted from its fine sands. A pretty garden surrounds the Establishment, in which is a large Aquarium -on the plan of M. E. Betiu- court. On the opposite (1.) side of the har bour a semicircular basin, dug out of the sand by Napoleon I., to contain the Flotilla of flat-bottomed boats intended to transport an invading French army to the coasts of England, has been converted into a floating dock, lined with quays faced with masonry. Forti fications have been raised on the sands commanding the entrance to the har bour, as in other Channel ports. Almost all the 300 vessels belong ing to Boulogne are engaged in the sea- fishery, and the arrival and departure of the boats collect a crowd of fisher men and their wives ' in their pic turesque costume., These people occupy a distinct quarter of the town on the N. side of the harbour, the streets of which are draped with nets hung out from the 13 fronts of the houses to dry ; in dress and manners they are distinct from the rest of the inhabitants, speaking a peculiar dialect, and rarely intermarry ing with the other 'townsfolk. . They are an industrious and very hard-work ing race, especially the women, and very religious. The Boulogne fishing- boats are the largest, and perhaps best, in the Channel. A great number re pair annually to the eastern coasts of Scotland for the herring fishery, and some go as far as Shetland and Iceland for that of the cod and ling. Near the Fish-market a statue of our countryman Jenner has been erected by the French. The Rue Napoleon, running parallel with the Liane, and the Grande Rue, ascending the hill towards the upper town, contain some of the best shops. About half-way up the Grande Rue (rt.) is the Muse'e (once the Grand Se"mi- naire). It deservedly ranks as one of the best provincial collections in France, is highly creditable to the town, and owes a large part of its contents to private donations. The series of arms, dresses, implements, weapons, &c, of various nations is very extensive. Here is an imaginary model of the Tower oi Caligula, which stood on the heights above the town: also engravings ot the siege of Boulogne under Henry VIII. ; some fragments of sculpture of the 15th and 16th cent, from churches, &c. ; a bas-relief of the Last Judgment, carved in wood very elabo rately; an extensive series of medals, — among them that celebrated one struck by Napoleon 1804, and bearing the inscription " Descente en Angleterre," " Frappe- a Londres," of which 3 or 4 impressions alone are said to exist, the die having been destroyed. The quan tity of Roman antiquities, of pottery, glass, bronzes, coins, utensils of various kinds, found in and about the town, is remarkable. — Obs. a collection of siege pieces, or coins struck in besieged towns ; a series of French Assignats, or paper money issued during the first Revolution; a mummy pronounced by Champollion one of the finest in Europe, for the number and brillancy of its paintings, &c. ; it was brought from Biban el Molouk by Denon. 14 Route 3. — Boulogne. Sect. I. Persons interested in natural history will find collections in all departments, by no means contemptible in extent or preservation. The geology of the dis trict is illustrated' by a large series of specimens, including the ironstone of the Boulonnois, the marbles of Mar quise, and the coal. In the Picture Gallery there is a good sea-piece by Auguste Delacroix. The Museum is open to the public Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, from 10 to 4; strangers may obtain admis sion on other days by giving a small fee to the concierge. Under the same roof is the Public Library, containing 30,000 volumes and 300 'MSS., many of them rare and richly illuminated, including the oldest copy extant of Bede's ' Homilies,' from the monastery of St. Bertin. The library is open every day except Friday, from 10 a.m. till 4 P.M. The Old Town, or Haute Ville, on the hill, retains its 3 arched gateways, and the ancient ramparts which defended it in the 15th cent., but offered a vain resistance to the assaults of the army of Henry VIII. The town was restored, however, to Henri II. of France by the English (1550), in the reign of Edward VI., by treaty, upon payment of 40,000 livres. In con sideration of this a bronze bust of Henri (by David d' Angers) decorates the Esplanade outside the Porte des Dunes. The Remparts form an agree able walk, running round the town, and commanding views in all directions, over the sea, port, cathedral, and the high ground to the E. occupied in turn by the camps of Caligula, Henry VIII., and Napoleon I., and lastly by Napoleon III. in 1854-55, and along the roads to Calais and Paris. In one corner of the walls is the Chateau, or old Castle, flanked by high round towers, and divided from the town by a fosse, but now much modernised and converted into a barrack. The Emp. Napoleon III. was confined here after his abortive attempt to excite an insurrection in Aug. 6, 1840. In the midst of the old town, behind the Hotel de Ville, rises the an tique Beffroi of the 13th centy., a square massive tower at its base, sur mounted by an octagonal one, from the top of which there is a magnificent The * Cathedral, a large modern Italian building of good proportions, the dome of which, at the E. end, rises to a height of nearly 300 ft., has been in progress since 1827, and was con secrated 1867. It has been built by subscription set on foot by a simple priest and self-taught architect, the Abbe Haffreingue, on the site of a Gothic one pulled down at the Revo lution. Beneath it extends a very ca pacious ancient crypt, supported on 2 rows of piers, 315 ft. long and 140 wide at the transepts, supposed to be the sub structions of the ch. built in the 12th cent, by Ida of Lorraine, mother of Godfrey of Bouillon: an inscription, however, in the vault attributes it to the 7th cent. The tradition is, that a boat, without sails or oars, brought an image of the Virgin to the neighbour ing shore in 633. It was a frequent object of pilgrimage in the middle ages, and of late years the custom has revived. The high altar, a gift of Prince Torlonia, the Roman banker, is a fine specimen of modern art. The tabernacle over it is a copy of the Arch of Constantine. Le Sage, the author of Gil Bias, who repaired to Boulogne in the latter years of his life to live with his son, a canon of the cathedral, died 1747, in a house, No. 3, Rue du Chateau, as an inscription over the door points out. The existing building, however, is of much more recent date, and only occupies the site of the original house. Churchill the poet also died at Bou logne, whither he had come on a visit to John Wilkes, then a voluntary exile from England. Thos. Campbell, author of ' Pleasures of Hope,' died at 5, Rue St. Jean, 1844. English Protestant Service. — The British Church, at No. 9, Rue du Temple, built by subscription of the Picardy. Route 3. — Boulogne. 15 English (1828), capable of containing 1000 persons, and 2 others in the lower town, at No. 139, Rue Royale, and in the Place des Capucins ; the 4tb in the Rue St. Martin in the Haute Ville. There is a Wesleyan chapel in an abandoned theatre in the Rue de l'An- cienne Comedie. The Poste aux Lettres is at No. 2S, Rue des Vieillards ; it is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ; on Sundays and Fetes, 7 a.m. till 3 p.m. The British Consul resides at 113, Grande Rue. Office hours, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. At Capecure are several manufac tories, amongst which a large flax-mill has been built, with 2 steam-engines, 6000 spindles, employing 1000 people. Merridew, British and Foreign Li brary, Rue Napoleon, keeps an English reading-room and circulating library, a good supply of English periodicals, Guides, Views of Boulogne, &c. Pianos on hire. On the edge of the cliff, above the sea-bathing "establishment," are the scanty remains of solid brick walls known as La Tour d'Odre (Tunis Ardens, i.e. light-house), supposed to have been the foundations of a tower built by Caligula, a.d. 40, when he marched to the shores of the Channel with an army of 100,000 men, boast ing that he intended to invade the opposite coast of Britain, but con tenting himself with gathering a few shells, which he called the spoils of the ocean. On the same heights 18 centuries later another emperor — Napoleon I. — encamped an army of more than 180,000 men, designed to invade Eng land. Buonaparte himself, during his visits to the camp, occupied a tempo rary hut, which was raised within a few yards of the Roman tower. Thence he could survey his flotilla of 2400 transports and flat-bottomed boats, and the shore on either side of the town, both under the cliff and upon the heights, bristling with batteries of cannon and mortars ; while in the dis tance the vigilant fleets of England hovered incessantly. In one instance (1801) Nelson approached near enough to throw shot and shells into the town and sink 2 of the floating batteries. "Boulogne," he writes, " was certainly not a pleasant place that morning ; but it is not my wish to injure the poor inhabitants, and the town is spared as much as the service will admit." It is stated, however, that most of the shells feU short, and that in exca vating the new harbour many tons of them were dug out. He afterwards made an unsuccessful attempt with the boats of his squadron to cut out the flotilla in the teeth of the batteries, and burn it. Another attempt, in 1804, to burn the flotilla with fire- ships, made by Lord Keith, was at tended with no more successful result. The flotilla of Boulogne formed only part of the deeply laid scheme of Napoleon for the destruction of England. His design was to collect to gether the combined fleets of France, Spain, and Holland, which for years he had been preparing in the harbours of Antwerp, Brest, Cadiz, and the Mediterranean, and with a fleet of 70 ships of the line to sweep the Channel of the British. Under cover of this vast armament, he intended "to have crossed over with the army of Bou logne, expecting to reach London in 5 days. The whole of these projects and combinations, however, were scat tered to the winds ; the English fleet, under Sir Robert Calder, preventing the junction of those of the enemy, which Nelson finally annihilated at Trafalgar. A conspicuous memorial of this un accomplished invasion stands near the rly., at about a mile from the town, in the Colonne de la Grande Armie. It was begun by the grand army, as a monu ment to Napoleon I. The first stone was laid by Marshal Soult, 1804; but its construction was discontinued after the departure of the troops. Under Louis XVIII. it was resumed, with the design of commemorating the Restoration of the Bourbons. In consequence, how ever, of the revolution of July it re sumed its original destination ; and the carved fleurs-de-lis and royalist inscrip tions having been effaced, was dedi- 16 Route 3. — Boulogne to Paris. Sect. I. cated, 1841, as a monument to Napo leon I., and surmounted by a bronze statue of him in his coronation robes by Bosio, while bronze bas-reliefs deco rate the base. The pillar is of the Doric order, and 166 ft. high, ex clusive of the statue, and is con structed of marble from the quarries of Marquise. Winding stairs lead up to the top, whence a view may be had of the white cliffs of England. The hills for miles round Boulogne are still crowned with decaying redoubts, con structed on the same occasion. f m. beyond the column a marble monument commemorates the distri bution of the Order of the Legion of Honour by Napoleon to his troops, during one of his visits to the camp. Nearer at hand, attached to a small group of houses in the hollow below, 1^ m. from Boulogne, a few hundred paces from the Nap. column (1.), is the humble chapel of Jesus Flagelle"; curi ous, as exhibiting the practice so common in the Romish Church of making votive offerings. It is re sorted to by the fishermen of Bou logne and tbeir families before they go to sea ; they have lined its walls with votive pictures, and hung its roof with models of their barks, each to comme morate some rescue from the perils of the deep. There is a very pretty walk to Wimille through the Vallee du Denacre, keeping a little to the E. of the Calais road; and the valley of the Liane is pleasing up to Pont-de-Brique. Le Portel (3 m.), a village on the shore, is exclusively inhabited by fishermen. The valley of Marquise (see above) is well worth a visit. About 4 m. off, on either side of Boulogne, along the coast, will be found huge tracts of sandy hills or dunes, occupy ing many square miles of land, and in some places encroaching on and de stroying farms and fields. Some of these dunes are crossed by the rly. between Boulogne and Etaples. Steamers. To Folkestone every tide in l1 to 2 hours. — To London daily in 9 to 10 hours. Railways. To Paris, by Amiens — to Calais, Terminus beyond the river, J m. from the steamboat quay. Omni buses convey passengers holding rly. tickets between the pier and stat. gratis. Hackney-carriages, with 1 or 2 horses : by day, 1 fr. 50 c. the course, and 2 fr. the hour; from midnight to 6 a.m., 2 fr. and 2 fr. 50 c. English mail closes 11-30 a.m. and 11-30 p.m. at General Post-office. BOULOGNE TO PARIS. Boulogne Kil. Miles. Montrenil Stat. ... 38 21 Hoyelles „ .... 65 40 Abbeville „ .... 79 49 Amiens 123 76J Clermont 1S8 117 Creil 203 126 ChantiUy „ .... 213 132 Paris 251 1571 11 trains daily; Tidal and Mail Express in 4J to 5, slow in 7 hrs. Terminus in the suburb of Cape- cure, beyond the bridge (Pont du Bar rage), on 1. bank of the Liane. The rly. at first follows the valley of the Liane by Ponte-de-Brique, and is rather pretty ; it then strikes across the hills,penetratingfheni[byatimnelof200 yards, through the forest of Hardelot, and afterwards traverses a region of dunes, a sandy desert, and emerges on the wide sandy estuary of the Canche, with the 2 tall lighthouses of Etaples, a decayed port. The railway skirts the sands washed by the sea at high tide, then crosses over a dreary flat to 17 m. Etaples Stat. The town is at some distance on the rt., near the mouth of the Canche; its Pop., 2719, exclusively occupied in fishing. Rly. projected to Arras. 6 m. Montreuil-Verton. Stat. [The town of Montreuil, 3655 Inhab. (H. de France et de I'Europe), lies 6 m. to the 1., and is pleasantly situated on a hill crowned by a foit. It is princi pally known to Englishmen as the spot in which Sterne laid one of the scenes in the ' Sentimental Journey.'] The rly. from Montrenil Stat, follows the coast until it reaches the Somme, travers ing a wide desolate expanse of sandv Picardy. Route 3. — Abbeville. 17 flats and shallows, with a few vessels lying on their sides or riding at anchor. 11m. Rue Stat. 5 m. W. is Le Crotoy, frequented as a bathing-place in sum mer. It contains a large fishing popu lation. 6 m. Noyelles Stat. The rly. runs near the N. bank of the Somme. [A branch line crosses the Somme by a long wooden viaduct just below Noyelles to St. Valery, at the mouth of the river. This is supposed by some to have been the port whence the fleet of William the Conqueror set sail to invade England ; but the honour is claimed by another St. Valery en Caux, in Normandy. It is a characteristic specimen of an old maritime fortress. On the shore is a ruined tower called Tour de Harold. It is partially resorted to as a watering- place. There is a good road from St. Valery to Eu, Treport, and Dieppe (Route 18).] The rly. after leaving Noyelles runs close by the ford of Blanquetaque (Blanche tache, from the neighbouring white rocks), where Edw. III. crossed the Somme with his army before the battle of Cre'cy. The ford is passable only at low water. The tide, rising im mediately after, arrested the pursuit of the French forces, and compelled them to ascend the 1. bank, while the English pursued their way up the rt. The Somme is crossed by a turning- bridge, to allow vessels to pass, before reaching 9 m. Abbeville Stat. — Inns (none good) : H. de la Tete de Boeuf. An industrious and flourishing town of 19,385 Inhab., which, from its situ ation on the river Somme, is accessible for vessels of 150 tons. Those who will penetrate into its narrow and filthy streets will find some quaint specimens of ancient domestic archi tecture, timber houses, &c, but the chief object of interest is The dilapidated Ch. of St. Wolfram. The W. front, and 5 first arches of the nave, are a portion only of amagnificent design, never carried out, commenced in the reign of Louis XII., under Car dinal George d'Amboise (1488). The facade is a splendid example of the flamboyant style, consisting of three gorgeous portals, surmounted by a pediment, and flanked by two towers ; the whole covered with the richest flowing tracery, or panelling; the niches being filled with statues. The central door is elaborately carved. The re mainder of the church is a mean con tinuation of the first plan. The prison is a fragment of the old Castle of the Counts of Ponthieu. The Maison Selincourt (PI. St. Pierre) is a good specimen of old domestic archi tecture. The ramparts form a shady promenade. M. Boucher de Perthes has a gallery of paintings and collec tions of geology, including a large series of wrought flint hatchets found in the vale of the Somme, in the gravel of the Drift. The Mus€e, in the Rue St. Gilles, amongst many objects of interest contains some Gallo- Roman antiquities. The Bibliotheque, in the H. de Ville, possesses a valuable MS. of the Gospels in gold letters, given by Charlemagne to the monastery of St. Riquier. , [About 6 m. E. of Abbeville is the Abbey Ch. of St. Riquier (there is a public conveyance twice a day to Auxi le Chateau, which passes through St. Riquier), a very splendid and inte resting Gothic edifice, well preserved, having a beautiful flamboyant W. front, in the centre of which rises an elegant tower ; while beneath it opens the main portal, having statues above and in its sides. "The details of the front are exquisite, well arranged, and well exe cuted." The interior is also very fine ; the nave flamboyant, the choir appa rently earlier. On the walls of the treasury are ancient frescoes; one in the style of the "Dance of Death." Cardinal de Richelieu was abbot of St. Riquier ; in his time Abbeville was a parish attached to the abbey.] [From Abbeville, Cr€cy(\1 m.) may be visited as follows : — go by the road to St. Omer through the forest of Cre'cy by Foret l'Abbaye and Canchy, which will give you a good view pf 18 Route 3. — Amiens. Sect. I. Abbeville as you leave it, and of the village of Cre'cy en Ponthieu as you approach it. At Cre'cy (where there is a small Inn, H. du Canon d'Or), N. of village, see the windmill, where the English king remained during the battle; tower of Edward III. ; the Vallee des Clercs ; and the stone cross of the King of Bohemia. These two last may be seen en route by taking on your return the road to Hes din, in which case you may also see on your way one or two chapels said to have been erected on the graves of the French who fell in the flight. Calculate on 2 hrs. going, 1 hr. there, and, if by Hesdin, 2^ for returning. The wood seen on the 1., at a little distance from the road, is a part of the forest of Cre'cy ; obscure in itself, but renowned for a victory gained in its precincts, Aug. 26th, 1346, by Edward III. and his 25,000 to 30,000 men over the French army of Philip of Valois 100,000 strong, commanded by the Count d'Alencon, which still, after the lapse of ages, remains one of the most brilliant in English annals. Here, upon that memorable day, to-the win ning of which the cannon, used, accord ing to some, for the first time, con tributed less than the clothyard shafts of the English yeomen, there fell, on the side of the French, the Kings of Bohemia and Majorca, the Duke of Lorraine, the Count d'Alencon (the king's brother), with 1200 knights, 1500 gentlemen, 5000 men at arms, and 30,000 infantry. Here it was that the Black Prince gained his spurs, and the feathers which our Princes of Wales bear to this day.] Abbeville has some large manufac tories of woollens, called here des rames, from the poles used in drying them; of carpets once celebrated; of linens ; it carries on a considerable coasting trade. From Abbeville to Amiens the line is carried up the valley of the Somme along its 1. bank, on which are exten sive excavations for peat. . 5 m. Pont-Remy Stat. The village is OB the rt, bank of the Somme, and has a large canvas and sailcloth manufac tory. 6§m.offisAillyleHautClocher, so called from the lofty steeple of its fine Ch., in a style resembling Early English Gothic. Longpre and Hangeest Stats. 13 m. Picquigny Stat. The ruined castle, close to the Church of St.Martin, with its terraces, mentioned in Mad. de Sevigne"s ' Letters,' was built at the end of the 15th cent. This place gives its name to a Treaty, signed 1475, between Edward IV. and Louis XI., who met on the bridge (blown up 1814 to arrest the march of the Prussians) ; but so distrustful of each other, that a barrier of stout palisades and wooden bars, "such as the cages of lions are made of," says De Co- mines, was raised to divide them, leav ing space between the bars only wide enough to allow them to shake hands. 2 m. from Picquigny is the interest ing Roman camp of Tirancourt. Before reaching Amiens the railway passes through some fine meadows, in which is situated the Amiens race course, one of the best in France. 9 m. Amiens Stat. — Inns: H. de France et d'Angleterre ; H. du Rhin ; H. du Nord, near the rly., good, clean, and moderate charges ; Buffet, at the stat, — the trains from Boulogne gene rally stop for 10 minutes. Railways to Paris; to Brussels, Lille, Calais ; Boulogne ; to Rouen, by Forges les Eaux, with branch to Dieppe; to La Fere, Tergnier, and Laon. Amiens is a manufacturing town of 61,063 Inhab., formerly capital of Picardy, now chef of the Dept. de la Somme, and situated on that river, which passes through the town split into 11 branches, and ren ders essential service in turning the water-wheels of many of the numerous manufactories, whose tall chimneys are seen rising above the other buildings, and are clustered around the outskirts. The weaving of cotton velvets, chiefly for the Spanish market and for cover ing furniture, of canvas, the spinning of cotton and woollen yarns, of satin for 1. Cathedral. 2. St. Germain. 3. Hdtel de Ville. 4. Museum. 3 feo 20 Route 3. — Amiens : Cathedral. Sect. I. ladies' shoes, are the principal branches of industry. Amiens is the cradle of the cotton manufacture of France, which dates as far back as 1 773. The objects of interest for the passing traveller will be — leaving the rly. stat., where carriages may be hired at 2 fr. an hour — the Cathedral, passing by the Rue de Noyon and the Place St. Denis ; the ch. of St. Germain ; the Prefecture ; the Promenade de la Hotoie: returning by the Boulevards to the Place Longue- vifle, the Mitstfe Napoleon, and Bib- liotheque Communale, and to the rly. stat. Longer excursions may be made to the Citadelle, the Hortillonnages, and St. Acheul. The object which will particularly attract the attention of travellers is the ** Cathedral, one of the noblest Gothic edifices in Europe. It is dedi cated to Notre Dame, and was begun 1220, only two years later .than that of Salisbury, though in a much more mature style. It was designed and commenced by the architect Robert de Luzarches, continued and com pleted, 1269, by Thomas and Regnault de Cormont, except the W. front, not finished until the end of the 14th cent. The central spire dates from the 16th cent. (1529) only, but replaced one raised in 1240, which was de stroyed by lightning. Three vast and deeply recessed portals lead into it, the arches supported by a long array of statues in niches instead of pillars, while rows of statuettes supply the place of mouldings, so that the whole forms one mass of sculpture ; an ar rangement of constant occurrence in French Gothic, though rare in Eng lish. The sculpture of these porches merits attention ; over the centre door or Porche du Beau Dieu d' Amiens, from the fine statue of Christ it con tains; the bas-relief represents the Last Judgment ; the statues are those of the. 12 Apostles. Over the rt.- hand porch are the Death and Assump tion of the Virgin ; over that on the 1. is the legend of St. Firmin, the patron of the city. Above the portals runs a line of colossal statues of French kings, behind which is a noble wheel-window ; and the whole is flanked by two stately but unfinished towers. " The interior is one of the most magnificent spectacles that architec tural skill can ever have produced. The mind is filled and elevated by its enor mous height (140 ft.), its lofty and many -coloured clerestory, its grand proportions, its noble simplicity. The proportion of height to breadth is almost double that to which we are accustomed in English cathedrals ; the lofty, solid piers, which bear up this height, are far more massive in their plan than the light and graceful clusters of our English churches, each of them being a cylinder with 4 engaged co lumns. The polygonal E. apse, and the arrangement which puts the walls at the outside edge of the buttresses, and thus forms interior chapels all round, in addition to the aisles, gives a vast multiplicity of perspective below, which fills out the idea produced by the gigantic height of the centre. Such terms will not be considered extravagant when it is recollected that the vault is half as high again as the roof of Westminster Abbey." — Whewell. The entire length is 469 ft., the height of the nave 141, the space covered by the entire building being S000 square metres, larger than that of any other cathedral in France, only surpassed by St. Peter's at Rome and the cathedral of Cologne. The general character of the architecture is that of the early English, except the geo metric tracery of the windows. The triforium in the choir is glazed, which gives great lightness to the interior. Just within the central porch are 2 fine tombs with brass effigies of bishops; that on the 1. is to Evrard de Fouilley, who laid the first stone of the church ; thatonthe rt. Geoffroy d'Eu, " learned," as his epitaph tells us, " in medicine as well as theology." The splendid pulpit, in the nave, the work of an artist of Amiens, Dupuis, is supported by statues of Faith, Hope, and Charity. It dates from the last cent., when it was exe cuted at an expense of 36,000 livres. Placed at the crossing of the tran sept, the spectator may admire the 3 Picardy. Route 3. — Amiens. 21 magnificent rose windows, all of ela borate tracery and varied patterns, filled with rich stained glass, each nearly 100 ft. in circumference, which form a great ornament to this church, and surpass everything of the sort which England can show. The font in the N. transept is an oblong trough of stone, probably of the 10th or 11th cent. Round the wall which separates the choir from its aisles runs a low stone screen, enclosing a series of sculp tures, in high relief, representing on the S. side the legends of St. Firmin and St. Sauve, and on the N. the acts and death of John the Baptist. They date from the end of the 1 5th cent. The head of St. John the Baptist, brought from Constantinople at the time of the Crusades, has always been considered, and still remains, the most valuable relic possessed by this church. It is deposited in the side chapel dedi cated to St. John. Several other heads of St. John existed before the Revolu tion in other churches of France, and one, indeed, in the neighbouring abbey of St. Acheul ; but that, it was main tained, was the genuine one. Since the Revolution, the skull has been re duced to the frontal bone and upper jaw. The choir, terminating in a semi circular E. end, the elegantly groined roof resting on compressed lancet- pointed arches, yields in beauty to no part of the church. It is also especially distinguished for the elaborately carved woodwork of its 110 stalls: in variety of invention and delicacy of execution there is nothing finer of the kind in Europe. The intricate details of the tabernacles and lace-like parapets, the bold drawing, and effective though coarse expression in the bas-reliefs, re presenting subjects from Holy Writ, the Life of the Virgin, &c, and the close imitation of nature in the twin ing tendrils and playful foliage of the vine and other plants, deserve minute attention. The carvers were Arnoult Boullin, Alex. Huet, and Jean Turpin, of Amiens : the work was finished in 1528. There are numerous sepulchral monuments in different parts of the church; which is now in progress of being restored, under the able super intendence of M. Viollet le Due. To appreciate the vast proportions and examine the details of this cathe dral, the visitor ought to ascend to the triforium gallery; thence he may mount the tower and enjoy the view over the city, the Hotoie Promenade, and the valley of the Somme, remark ing in his ascent the turret with the stone table, where Henri IV. posted himself to watch the retreat of the Spaniards in 1597. There are 306 steps from the level of the church below to the base of the spire. The roof is a wonderful piece of carpentry, 46 ft. high ; a forest of oak and chest nut must be contained in it. Within the cathedral of Amiens Edward III. did homage for Guienne to Philippe of Valois in 1329 ; here, in 1385, Isabeau of Bavaria was married to the idiotic king Charles VI. ; and here the treaty of peace between our Edward VI. and Henri III. of France was signed in 1550. The best descrip tion of Amiens Cathedral is that of M. Gilbert. St. Germain, in a back street, S.W. of the cathedral, is a fine specimen of a town church of the 15th cent., late Dec. verging into Flamboyant, sur mounted by a tower and spire at N.W. angle. 06s. the W. door, marvel lously enriched, canopied, and cusped, the graceful interior, and the vaulting perfect in construction. This ch. is a perfect study for an architect, and well worthy of investigation. — T. The other churches worth visiting at Amiens will be St. Remy and St. Leu, both of the 15th cent., but much restored. In the Salle du Congres of the Hotel de Ville, a building of 1600, the treaty of" the Peace of Amiens " was signed, 1 802, by Joseph Buonaparte for France, Lord Cornwallis for England, Cheva lier Azara for Spain, and M. Schim- melpenninck for Holland. The hall is hung with pictures of the modern French school. The Beffroi, opposite the H. de Ville, now a prison ; its base dates from the 13 th cent, 22 Route 3. — Amiens : Muse'e ; Boulevards. Sect. I. Of the old 'castle nothing remains but the crypt, where St. Firmin is said to have suffered martyrdom a.d. 301. No. 63, Rue des Vergeaux, is a Renaissance house, in which Ducange was born. The Museum (Muse'e Napole'on), in the Rue des Rabuessons, has been erected by the Socie'te' des Antiquaires de la Picardie, from the proceeds of several lotteries, and a grant from the Government, It is a very handsome edifice, in the Renaissance style, on the site of the ancient arsenal, covering with its gardens a considerable area. In the vestibule are paintings and busts relative to the history and cele brities of Picardy ; opening out of which, on 1., a collection of mediceval antiquities, and on the rt. a hall, called the Chapelte, a gallery of religious monuments from desecrated churches. In the 1. wing is the Salle Lagrence, con taining Egyptian and Greek antiquities, presented by a public-spirited gentle man of that name, and other halls not yet arranged. A very handsome stair leads to the upper floor, where the Salle du Dome has paintings by Barrais em blematical of Picardy- and its great men. The Salle Napole'on III. is a fine hall. In the wings is the collec tion of paintings {Galerie Nieuwer- kerke) ; and beyond, rooms dedicated to Celtic antiquities, amongst which the worked flint implements from the gravel-beds of the valley of the Somme deserve particular notice ; to Gallo- Roman pottery and mediseval wood- carvings, the latter in the Salle des Moines, from an old house in Amiens, are remarkable. The Muse'e Napole'on having been only recently opened, the arrangement of its contents is in a transitory state. The Public Library (Bibliothhque Communale), opposite the Muse'e, con tains 50,000 vols, and some curious MSS., amongst others a Bull on papyrus of Pope Benedict III. (a.d. 857), rela tive to the Abbaye of Corbie. A line of Boulevards surrounds the town, occupying the site of the ancient ramparts, and, being planted with trees, forms an agreeable promenade. They are separated into two nearly equal portions by the Place Longueville, on the site of one of the bastions, in the centre of which is the handsome fountain l'Eau Herbet, erected by a citizen at an expense of 20,000 fr. W. of the city is the fine Promenade de la Hotoie, well laid out and watered, covering a space of 52 acres. The Citadel, the only remaining portion of the old fortifications, built on the N. side of the Somme by Henri IV., has been strengthened by modern works. The Spaniards, in 1597, gained the city, which had claimed the privilege of exemption from a military garrison, through a stratagem of Hernando Tello de Porto Carrero, Spanish gover nor of Doullens, who, disguising him self and a band of companions as pea sants, entered the town at early dawn, along with the market folk, driving a waggon laden with fruit, which he halted under the gateway. In passing the gate it was contrived that a sack of walnuts should burst; and while the unsuspecting guards were occupied on all fours scrambling for its scattered contents, the Spaniards fell on them and put them to the sword. In vain the portcullis was hastily lowered : the waggon had been drawn up so as to catch it as it fell, leaving a passage by which a party of armed Spaniards, in ambush outside, gained easy admit* tance. Henri IV., not yet firmly fixed in his throne, felt the loss of Amiens as a severe blow, and hastened to recover it. He was aided in the siege and capture of the town, 1598, by a body of 4000 Englishmen, under Sir Arthur Savage, furnished by Queen Eliza beth. Amiens was the -Samarobriva of the Romans; and the capital of the Am- biani, the Gallic inhabitants of the district (whence the name Amiens), are mentioned by Caesar. Here Mero veus was proclaimed king by being raised on the shields of his victorious soldiers. The following eminent persons were born in the town or its vicinity: — Peter the Hermit. nvna/>i>n« -* **-- ^ - Picardy, Route 3. — St. Acheul — Clermont — Creil. 23 crusade, to whom there is a bronze statue in the Place St. Michel by Gaud- ron ; Ducange, author of the ' Glos- sarium ad Scriptores media; et infimse Latinitatis ;' a statue of him (Du Fresne, Seigneur du Cange) has been set up in the Place St. Denis, near the Stat.; Gresset the poet, author of 'Vertvert;' Delambre the astronomer ; Dumeril the naturalist; and Gabrielle d'Estrees, the favourite of Henri IV. The Hortittonnages, or extensive market-gardens, in the N.E. suburb, and near the banks of the Somme, will interest the horticulturist. They are penetrated in every direction by small canals, and can only be visited in a boat. The Abbey of St. Acheul, lg m. S.E. (where St. Firmin established the epis copal see of Amiens in the 4th cent.), on the outskirts of the town, was converted into a Jesuits' college under the Re storation. The crypt under the church contains some Gallo- Roman sarcophagi with bas-reliefs. Farther on is the large nunnery des Dames de Lowen- court. At St. Acheul, 90 ft. above the Somme, and at other places in its valley, wrought flints have been disco vered at a considerable depth in depo sits of gravel along with bones of ex tinct animals. The age of these deposits is not proved. The necropolis of the ancient Samarobriva was probably here abouts. l£ m. N.W. of Amiens is the extramural cemetery of La Madeleine, worth visiting. Amiens is celebrated among gour mands for its pale's de canard. The rlys. from Calais, Arras, and Brussels (lite. 1) meet the Boulogne line at Longueau Junct. Stat., 2£ m. from Amiens, where is a Buffet for passen gers from Calais, Brussells, Lille, &c. (the Boulogne trains seldom stop here). After quitting Longueau large peat- diggings are seen. The road soon begins to ascend to attain the high table-land of Picardy — chalk. 3 m. Boves Stat, Ruins of a Castle frequented by Henri IV. and la Belle Gabrielle (d'Estrdes) during the siege of Amiens. 6 m. Ailly-swr-Noye Stat., 657 ft., near the village of Quincanpoix. 10 m. Breteuil Stat. Beyond the country becomes more interesting, and the views picturesque. The line reaches the summit-level between Breteuil and 9 m. St. Just Stat. 19 m. Clermont-sur-Oise Stat. (Inn: Croissant), a prettily situated town (Pop. 5743) on the slopes of a hill, surmounted by the Castle, which is now a Penitentiary for women, the only old portion existing being the donjon, probably of the 11th cent. The number of female prisoners exceeds 1000. It was, however, an important fortress from the 10th to the 16th cent. ; taken by the English 1359 and 1434, and by Henri IV. from the troops of the League 1595. The elder Conde, dis gusted with the Court, retired hither in 1615, and fortified himself against attacks. The H. de Ville dates from 1294 ; the church of St. Samson is of the 14th cent. From the promenade du Chatellier, which surrounds its walls, jutting out over the valley, a beautiful view of its winding stream is obtained. Cassini de Thury, the astronomer and geo grapher, was a native of Clermont. 5 m. Liancourt Stat. A pretty town, which gives a ducal title to the family of La Rochefoucault. A statue to the Duke, the well-known philan thropist, has been erected in the Place. The principal industry in this flourish ing little town of 3140 Inhab. is shoe- making, one manufactory employing 1200 hands. Near this place are seen the first vines. 4 m. Creil Junction Stat. (Buffet ; H. de la Couronne; H. de l'Epee), a town of 4539 Inhab., on the rt. bank of the Oise. On an island in the river are remains of the old Castle in which Charles VI. was shut up during his 24 Route 3. — Amiens to Paris — ChantiUy. Sect. I. madness ; and near it a small dese crated Ch., St. Evrembnt, in ruins. There is a parish Church, peculiar in its ground-plan, and a massive bridge, also a large Wedgewood-ware manu factory, at Creil. Creil stands at the junction of 5 lines of railway : 1. to Paris direct by Chan tiUy; 2. to Paris by Pontoise (12 m. longer) ; 3. to Beauvais (Rte. i) ; 4. to Cologne by Compiegne (Rte. 183), Noyon, St. Quentin, and Erquelines; 5. to England and E. Belgium by Amiens. The direct line to Paris turns out of that to Pontoise (see below) soon after leaving Creil Stat. The river Oise is crossed on a bridge of 3 arches. The rly. traverses the stone-quarries of St. Maximin, which for ages have fur nished building-stone for Paris. Some of the old galleries are bridged over by the line, which is carried in a deep and long cutting, out of which was obtained free-stone for the con struction of the Viaduct of ChantiUy, traversing the valley of La Nonnette, a handsome structure of 36 arches, 66 ft. high in the centre, where they rest on piles. 6 m. ChantiUy Junct. Stat. (Inns : H. du Grand Cerf ; H. de la Pelouze, toler ably comfortable ; H. d'Angleterre), a town of 3322 Inhab. The splendid chateau, built by the grandson of the Grand Conde, in the reign of Louis XV., was levelled by the mob at the first Revolution. The Great Conde here spent his latter years, after re tiring from military life, in the society of Racine, Boileau, Bossuet, and the other literary men of his age. The Stables remain — a splendid pile, capable of lodging 180 horses, but unfinished, at the extremity of the Grande Rue, rt. Conde took great pride in this beau tiful retreat, and pleasure in embel lishing it ; and when Louis XIV., who had a claim on it, indicated a desire to obtain possession, he said, " Vous etes le maitre: mais j'ai une grace a de- mander a V. M., c'est de me laisser a ChantiUy comme votre concierge;" and the king had the good taste not to insist. Conde's affairs were never in a more desperate condition than at the moment when he was ho noured by a visit from his cousin and sovereign, 1671 ; nevertheless, nothing could exceed the magnificence of the entertainment, rendered memorable by the suicide of Vatel the cook, who ran himself through with his sword in de spair because the fish did not arrive in time for dinner.* ChantiUy, one of the most beautiful spots in the vicinity of Paris, abounds in interest and in souvenirs of its most distinguished owner. A noble author, f who visited it in 1841, has touchingly described its vast natural forest, its limpid and purling streams, its green Arbele poplars, which have taken root in the ruins of the Grand Chateau, and now quite overshadow them, its green turf drives, and its hedges of haw thorn. Le Petit Chateau, built by the Montmorencys, is one of the most charming monuments of the style of the Renaissance in France. It is sur rounded by water, and consequently the lower story is scarce habitable. The state rooms and gallery were adorned down to 1852 with the Battles of the Grand Conde', painted by Van der Meulen, now removed to the Due d'Aumale's, Twickenham. The Chapel contains a rich altar- screen in the style of the Renaissance, brought from Ecouen : a series of fine painted glass windows by B. Palissy, representing the story of Psyche, after Raphael's designs, is also now at Twick enham. After the death of the Due de Bourbon in 1850, the last of the line of Conde', ChantiUy became the property of the Due d'Aumale, his godson, and son of King Louis Phi lippe. Le Petit Chateau is shown, and ought to be visited. The estate was sold December, 1853, in con sequence of Napoleon III.'s confisca tion decree regarding the property of the Orleans family, to the Eng lish bankers Coutts and Co., for 11 million francs. An Hospital, built and endowed by the last Prince de Conde, remains a monument of his munificence to the town. * See Mail, de Sevigne's Letters. t Lord Malion .-— ' Life of Conde.' Picardy. Route 3. — ChantiUy — Ecouen. The Jardin Anglais was laid out before the Revolution ; the French garden is in bad taste — it has a noble Terrace. The park and grounds are very beau tiful, and are readily shown to strangers. The forest adjoining them has an ex tent of 6700 acres. There is some very fine turf here. ChantiUy is now the Newmarket and the Goodwood of France ; and the principal horse-races of France take place here in May, Sep tember, and October. Several hundred English grooms and jockeys are main tained here. A Church has been built for the English. The body of the aged Admiral Co- ligny, the noblest victim of the mas sacre of St. Bartholomew, after having been hung up by the heels on the gibbet of Montfaucon, was secretly brought hither by Montmorency, and buried in the parish ch. without the head, which was conveyed to Cath. de Medicis. Hither have been removed from the Ch. of St. Paul at Paris, the hearts of the princes of Conde', with a touching inscription from the pen of the Due d'Aumale, alluding to his unmerited exile from France. ChantiUy is famed for its silk lace (blonde, so called from the light colour), made here to a less extent in the town itself than in the 20 or 30 neighbouring communes, the artificers being women and children. There are several large establishments; but they only give out the patterns and materials, the work being executed at the homes of the lace- makers. [Branch Rly. of 8 m. from ChantiUy to Senlis. The rly. is carried through the forest, which covers an area of 5852 acres. A fine view is seen in crossing the Viaduct (1100 ft. long, 130 high) of 15 arches over the Theve val ley. Just below appear the Ponds, or Etangs de Comelle ; on the dam at the margin is a modern Gothic Castle, caUed Chateau de la Loge de Viarmes, on the site of one said to have been built by Queen Blanche of Castille, mother of St. Louis. Three avenues traverse the ponds; and here grand [Fra \"""~' 25 stag-hunts were held by the royal princes. - Not far from Viarmes is the ruined Cisterciau Abbey of Royaumont, founded by St. Louis, 1230, who often retired hither from the world, tending the sick and eating with the monks. A wall and turret of the church, with bits of the refectory and cloister, alone remain, and are now converted into a cotton-mill. The valley of the Oise in this vicinity is very rich.] 7 m. Luzarches-Surviiliers Stat. The town, 1470 Inhab., lies on rt. Luzarches has an interesting Church of the end of the 12th or begin ning of the 13th cent. ; its portal is ornamented with curious sculptures of martyred saints ; and a fragment of a square donjon and a chapel, remains of a castle of the French kings, exist on the top of the hill. 1| m. from the stat. is Survilliers; its chateau formerly belonged to King Joseph Bonaparte, from which he took his title of Comte de Sur villiers, preserved during his long exile ; that of Champlatreux, the seat for centuries of the great judicial family of Mole', is now that of the Due d'Ayen, their descendant in the female line, the male being extinct. ' 7 m. Villiers le Bel Stat., 1 J m. from the town, on a hill: Pop. 2107. [4 m. from here is Ecouen, a town of 1296 Inhab., celebrated for its cha teau, the seat of the Montmorencys, from whom it passed by inheritance to the Conde's. It was erected in the 16th cent, by Jean BuUant ; confiscated during the first Revolution, it was con verted into a barrack ; in 1807 it be came a house of education for the daughters of members of the Legion of Honour, under the direction of the celebrated Madame Campan, which being removed during the Bourbon rule to St. Denis, Ecouen devolved to the Conde's ; it is now a school for the daughters of military men. The ele gant chapel is a clief-d'cmvre in the style of the Renaissance.] Route 3. — Creil to Paris — Pontoise. Sect. I. 3 m. Pierrefitte Stat. Our rly. falls into the loop-line from Pontoise shortly before reaching 2 m. St. Denis Stat. See below. Creil to Paris by Pontoise. Kil. M. Creil to St. Leu ... 7 4 Beaumont .... 21 13 Pontoise 39 24 Ermont 53 33 Enghien 56 34 Paris 68 42 4 ni. St. Leu d'Esserent Stat. The Abbey Church (close to the Stat.) is one of the finest in the dis trict. It has 2 W. steeples, one only finished, and 2 towers, in place of tran septs, flanking the choir. The W. front shows a transition from round to pointed; the rest of the ch. is pure early pointed, grand in proportions, with a well-planned chevet. Portions of cloister and of the abbey buildings remain. The hill above is pierced with stone-quarries of great extent. 9 m. Beaumont-sur-Oise Stat., a town of 2560 Inhab., surmounted by a ruined tower, part of its old castle. Church 13th cent. 4 m. Isle Adam Stat., from which the baronial family of Villiers derives its title. 4 m. Anvers Stat. Fine Church. Pretty country to 3 m. Pontoise Slat. (Inns: Grand Cerf ; H. des Messageries), a town of 6287 Inhab., occupies a steep slope above the river Oise, here traversed by a bridge, whence its name. It is famous for its fatted calves and flour. The Vionne, which here" joins the Oise, turns numerous corn-mills. The Ch. of St. Maclou is an interesting edifice presenting various styles ; there is some painted glass in a chapel near the prin cipal entrance. The Palais de Justice is a Gothic building. Pontoise is a place of some historical interest. St. Louis, attacked by a violent illness, was here warned by a voice from heaven to assume the cross — 1244,. During the hard winter of 1437, when the ground was covered with snow, the English took the town by surprise, through an ingenious ruse of Talbot, who clothed his soldiers in white, under cover of which, in the obscurity of the night, they reached the foot of the walls unobserved by the garrison. [Coaches to Chaumont, 16 m., and Gisors, 24 m. Rly. in progress.] 5 m. Herblay Stat. [Excursion to St. Leu Taverny, 4 m. on 1., celebrated for its chateau and park, which, before the first Revolution, belonged to the Due d'Orleans, and was the favourite residence of Ma dame de Genlis. In the time of Na poleon I. it was given to Hortense Queen of Holland, and after the Restoration became the property of the Due de Bour bon, who ended his days there mys teriously, being found hanging to a window-bolt in his bed-room. Not a trace remains of the chateau of the last of the Condes, and even the grounds are completely altered. It was purchased by the Bande Noire, sold for its materials, and streets built on the site, one appro priately called Rue des Vandales. The Orleans family have erected on the spot an octagonal monument to the family of Conde. The Comte de St. Leu, ex-king of Holland, father of Napoleon III., is buried in the village ch., rebuilt by his son.] 6 m. Enghien Stat. Enghien les Bains (H. des Quatre Pavilions) is a very pretty village on the borders of a lake, the Etang de Montmorency, with a Bathing Establishment supplied with medicinal waters from a sulphureous spring. Not only on this account, but for the beauty of its situation and. en virons, it is much frequented by the Parisians as a sort of French Rich mond. The walks in the Pare de St. Gratien, where Princess Mathilde has a chateau, are pleasant. [An omnibus runs from Enghien Stat, to Montmorency, about 14. m. Montmorency is a dirty little town 14 m. distant from Paris. Its fine Gothic Picardy. Route 3.— St. Denis. 27 Ch., of the 15th cent., contains some good painted glass. In the house called VErmitage, about i m. off, Rousseau resided 1756-58, and wrote there his 'NouveUe Heloi'se.' It was then the property of Madame d'Epinay, and reaUy a peasant's cot tage, fitted up for Rousseau, to prevent his returning to Geneva. It was af terwards occupied by Gretry the com poser, who died in it 1813. It still exists, but built into a large and more modern mansion. Nothing of Rousseau now remains except perhaps the garden.] The rly. from Enghien passes near Epinay, and is carried past one of the detached forts (la Briche) which sur round Paris, and skirts (rt.) the margin of the Seine shortly before reaching 3 m. St. Denis Junct. Stat., about 1 m. W. of the town .- omnibus to the square of the Abbey meet all the trains. St. Denis, a town of 26,117 Inhab., has of late years become the seat of numerous manufactures, but its only interest for the traveller will be its celebrated Abbey Church, for a descrip tion of which, up to the latest period, we must refer our readers to that given in the Handbook of Paris. The Abbey of St. Denis, one of the most important and wealthy reli gious foundations in France : its abbots were powerful potentates ; Turpin was chanceUor to Charlemagne, and Suger prime minister to St. Louis. The Abbey Church has been the burial-place of the kings of France from the time of Dagobert (638), and is a building of great interest, in spite of the dUapidations of revolutionary violence, which the restorations carried on under Napoleon, the Bourbons, Louis-Philippe, and the present Em peror, have not entirely repaired, and can never atone for. Indepen dently of its historic interest, the works lately executed have made it one of the most magnificent and gorgeous Gothic edifices in the world. The W. front, flanked and surmounted by 2 towers (one rebuilt since 1847), is in the Romanesque style, having been raised by Abbot Suger, 1140-44. The E. end of the choir and semi circle of chapels is of the same age and style. It was in the porch of St. Denis that Henri IV. abjured the Pro testant faith. Over the central portal, which is semicircular, is a bas-relief of the Last Judgment. A vestibule, crowded with piers to support the towers, leads into the nave, which was built 1281, and is of remarkable width (40 ft.), considering that the roof is of stone. It is about 92 ft. high and 354 ft. long. The choir is, like that of Canterbury, narrower than the nave. In front of the raised choir is the High Altar. On the rt. of it is the monument of Dagobert, a singular Gothic structure, raised to his memory by St. Louis ; the effigy is modern ; that of his Queen Nanthilda is a fine work of the 13th cent. ; so are the bas-reliefs representing the pretended vision of » hermit, who reported that he had seen Dagobert in a boat pursued and scourged by devUs, but defended by St. Denis, St. Martin, and St. Maurice. In the transepts stand 3 splendid monuments, in the style of the Renais sance, (a) of Louis XII. and Anne of Brittany, whose recumbent effigies in marble are surrounded in niches by 12 sitting statues of the Apostles, admirable for design, attitude, and exe cution. The bas-reliefs round the base represent the battle of Agnadel and the entry of Louis into Milan. This monument is the work of Jean Juste of Tours, 1591. (b) Of Henri II. and Catherine of Medicis his queen, said to have been designed by Philibert Delorme and executed by Germain Pilon. The royal effigies are twice repeated; below recumbent as dead, above kneeling : at the 4 corners are figures of the Cardinal Virtues in bronze. (