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 A SUMMER 
 
 AMONGST THE 
 
 BOCAGES AND THE VINES. 
 
 VOL. II.
 
 LONDON : 
 PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY, 
 
 Bangor House, Shoe Lane.
 
 A SUMMER 
 
 AMONGST THE 
 
 BOCAGES AND THE VINES. 
 
 BY 
 
 LOUISA STUART COSTELLO. 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 " SPECIMENS OF THE EARLY POETRY OF FRANCE. 
 
 " La Nature se joue du pinceau des homines : lorsqu'on croit 
 qu'il a atteint sa plus grande beaute, elle sourit et s'embellit encore." 
 
 Audubon. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. II. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, 
 
 iPubltefjrc in ©rttinarg to feev fHaj*3ti>. 
 
 1840.
 
 DC 
 27 
 
 ens 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 THE SECOND VOLUME. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Fontevraud. — The Vintage of 1834. — Habits of the Vigne- 
 rons. — Tintamarre. — Warnings. — The way to Fontevraud. 
 — The Abbey. — Tombs of the Kings. — Coeur de Lion. — 
 Henry and Elionore. — Isabella of Angouleme. — Church. — 
 Dampierre. — Queen Margaret. — Candes. — Rochecotte. — 
 Road to Chinon. — The happy Conducteur. — The Malle 
 Poste. — The Castle Height. — The Market-place. — The Ar- 
 rival. ..... Page 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Chinon. — The Gardens. — Oubliettes. — Charles VII. — The 
 King's Wife. — Les Caves Peintes. — Adventure of the Caves 
 concluded. — Azay le Rideau. — Les Bannerets. — Cinq Mars. 
 — Letter of Marion de Lorme. ... 29 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Tours. — The Bridge. — The River of Sand. — Toute Beaute. 
 — Notre Dame la Riche. — Le Roi Lietin. — Le Chevalier du 
 
 lcJ-i-O-LOO
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 Renard. — Les Trois Pucelles. — L'Inconnue. — Suspense. — 
 The Denouement. — House of Tristan l'Hermite. — Torture. 
 — The rival Towns. — Chateauneuf. . . Page 55 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Cathedral.— The Mother,— The Tomb.— St. Julian 
 
 Dearth of Churches.— Streets.— The Trellis.— The Towers. 
 — The Musee. — A morning with the Old Bridge. — Charles 
 de Lorraine. — Heurte Loup. — View-hunting. . 81 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Plessis les Tours. — The old Husband. — The Towers. — 
 Louis XI. — Balue. — Olivier le Dain. — Seven Sleepers. — 
 Holy Balm. . . . . . 103 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Jocose Friend. — Mont Louis. — Roche Corbon. — Mon- 
 contour. — Amboise. — Chenonceau. — Diana and Catherine. 
 — Parallel. — Louise de Vaudemont. — The Cher. — Rousseau. 
 — Rabelais. — The Grounds. . . . 121 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A Carriage. — The Heights. — Castle Gardens. — Chapel of 
 St. Hubert. — Louis Philippe. — The Town of Amboise, and 
 Chateau. — The Family of Babou. — St. Denis. — Les Gre- 
 niers de Cesar. — Chanteloup. . . . 147
 
 CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Loches. — Roman Tower. — Beaulieu. — St. Ours. — Geoffroy 
 Grise Gonelle. — The Tomb and the Monks. — Chapel of 
 Louis XI. — English Visitors. — The Castle of Loches. — 
 The Dungeons. — Oubliettes. — Observatory of Catherine 
 — Prison des Anglais. . . . Page 166 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Loches. — Agnes Sorel. — Monogram. — Bonaventure. — 
 Francois the First's Letter. — Olivier le Diable. — Monument 
 of St. Nicolas.— Orfon. . . . . 183 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Blois. — Chaumont. — Les Tonneliers. — Arrival. — Inns. — 
 
 The Conducteur. — The Chateau The arbitrary Guide. — 
 
 Exterior of the Chateau. — Le Lion. — Streets. — The Jesuits. 
 — St. Nicolas. — Aqueduct. — Adventure of the Aqueduct. 196 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Chambord. — Menard le Chateau. — Bibliotheque of Blois. 
 — Creme de St. Gervais. — Moonlight. — Lingering depar- 
 ture. — Meun. — Notre Dame de Clery. — Tomb of Louis II. 
 —Merlin Hume.— St. Ay. 212 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Val de Loire and its Coteaux — The Little Mirrors. 
 — MarhaYt de Kergluj. — Ballad of the Mirrors. — La Sologne. 
 — La Bauce. — Le Gatinais. . . . '2'S4
 
 Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Orleans. — The Cathedral. — Churches. — Plenary Indul- 
 gence. — Agnes Sorel's House. — Bolingbroke. — Pithivie-s. — 
 Yevres le Grand. — St. Salomon. — Malsherbes. — La Cha- 
 pelle la Reine. — The Royal Forest. — The Barrier. Page 244 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Fontainebleau. — Rendezvous de Chateaux. — Courts. — ■ 
 Novel mode of Payment. — Henri IV. and the Spanish 
 Ambassador. — Divorce. — Mysterious Machine. — Royal 
 Murderess. — Letter of Christine of Sweden. — Lavalliere. — 
 Louis XVI. — Napoleon. — Interior of the Palace. — J)I- — 
 Francois I. — Galleries. — Salles. — Chapels. — Princesse 
 Marie Gardens. — Les Carpes. — Fontaine de Belle Eau. — 
 Avon. ...... 266 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Forest. — Existence Bocagere. — Grand- Veneur. — Par- 
 ties de Chasse. — Delicieuses Solitudes. — Points de Vue. — Sa- 
 moys. — Moret. — Thomery. — The Vignerons. — The Chasselas. 
 — The River. — The Quay. — The Champion. — The Es- 
 cape. ...... 296 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Paris. — Churches — Monuments — The Louvre. — The Spa- 
 nish Gallery. — Spanish Masters — Murillo. — St. Bonaventure. 
 — The Spanish Watteau. — Adventure in the Hotel of'Madame 
 du Barri. . . 310
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Le Chateau de Chenonceau . . Frontispiece. 
 
 Les Caves Peintes, at Chinon . . Page 42 
 
 Ruins of the Chateau de Cinq Mars . . 50 
 
 Interior of the Church of St. Julien, at Tours . 55 
 
 La Fontaine de Beaune at Tours . . 89 
 
 House of Olivier le Dain at Plessis les Tours . .113 
 
 The Town and Castle of Amboise . . 147 
 
 Gateway of the Castle of Amboise . . .157 
 
 The Castle of Loches . . . . 176 
 
 The Tomb of Agnes Sorel . . . .184 
 
 Church of Pithiviers .... 257 
 
 %* For a description of the Ornamental Letters, see List of 
 Illustrations to the First Volume.
 
 THE 
 
 BOCAGES AND THE VINES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Fontevraud. — The Vintage of 1834. — Habits of the Vigne- 
 rons. — Tintamarre. — Warnings. — The way to Fontevraud. 
 — The Abbey. — Tombs of the Kings. — Cceur de Lion. — 
 Henry and Elionore. — Isabella of Angouleme. — Church. — 
 Dampierre. — Queen Margaret. — Candes. — Rochecotte. — 
 Road to Chinon. — The happy Conducteur. — The Malle 
 Poste.— The Castle Height The Market-place.— The Ar- 
 rival. 
 
 udden showers intermingled 
 with occasional snatches of 
 jf brilliant sunshine, divided the 
 morning, until the latter at 
 l%4£& : l en gth predominated, when, 
 disregarding the prognostics 
 of our hostess of the Ecu de Bretagne, who in- 
 sisted upon it that it would rain, we ordered 
 a cabriolet and prepared to set out for the tomb 
 
 VOL. II. b 
 
 pm
 
 2 FONTEVRAUD. 
 
 of the English Kings. As soon as it was dis- 
 covered that our intention was to return, we 
 were assured on all hands that the weather was 
 sure to be propitious, and, in fact, was made on 
 purpose : indeed, so it seemed ; for nothing could 
 be more brilliant and beautiful than it conti- 
 nued during the whole of our charming drive, 
 and, perhaps, one more lovely it would be im- 
 possible to find in any part of France. 
 
 The river is here remarkably fine, and the 
 coteaux rise in graceful forms on the other side 
 of the excellent road ; the curious fairy dwellings 
 in the caves, continue for leagues, placed at all 
 heights and distances, and festooned with grape- 
 vines and shaded with acacia, birch, and flower- 
 ing shrubs : here and there a dwelling of fantastic 
 shape is seen perched on a shelf of rock which 
 , forms its back ground ; its ornamentally draped 
 windows and brightly painted doors, singularly 
 contrasting with its mysterious situation : many 
 of the rich bourgeois have country houses, a league 
 or two from the town, to which, during the sum- 
 mer, they retire after the business/ of the day is 
 over, and there enjoy a delightful repose, not 
 unaccompanied by visitors and friends. 
 
 At intervals, between these ranges of troglo-
 
 THE VINTAGE OF 1834. 3 
 
 dyte habitations, extend rich vineyards, where 
 some of the most precious growth of wine is 
 produced: here are the coteaux of Champigny, 
 Savigny, and a host of others, whose wines are 
 highly esteemed and seldom allowed to leave 
 the country. 
 
 All along this luxuriant range of hills every 
 inch of ground is golden, and our driver ex- 
 patiated with great gout on the perfection of 
 their delicious produce. " Here," he said, " in 
 the great year, never to be forgotten in a wine 
 country, 1834, these vineyards were one mass 
 of the richest grapes : so excellent was their 
 quality and so over abundant the vintage, that 
 the lowest-priced wine for the poorest people 
 was equal to that charged a franc a bottle in 
 other years : unfortunately many abused this ad- 
 vantage, and much sickness was the consequence : 
 to be sure it was difficult to avoid being affected 
 by the wine even though every one drank as 
 usual, for a very different result ensued, one 
 glass being as strong as a dozen of ordinary." 
 This man, who was extremely intelligent, told 
 us some curious particulars of the customs and 
 manners of the vignerons, who are a class quite 
 apart* from others; they are rich, industrious, 
 
 B 2
 
 4 HABITS OF THE VIGNERONS. 
 
 sober, and respectable : keeping strictly to their 
 own habits, marrying amongst themselves, and 
 being altogether distinguished from their neigh- 
 bours. 
 
 A master vigneron, after his vintage is com- 
 pleted, and the husks of the grapes alone left, 
 has boiling water poured upon them, and filling 
 casks with this, allows the mixture to ferment 
 until a drink is procured which is the strongest 
 that either he or his men ever indulge in : they 
 are never known to be intoxicated, or to exceed 
 in any way the bounds of temperance ; they are 
 good masters, and honest in all their dealings: 
 like the Bretons, they have peculiar and not 
 very gallant notions with respect to the weaker 
 sex. 
 
 The women are so attached to their cows that 
 they appear to feel an equal affection towards 
 them and their children, and on the death of 
 one their lamentations know no bounds : the 
 men consider it beneath them to attend to the 
 cattle, as they look on them as peculiarly the 
 women's charge, who are also offended at being 
 interfered with ; nor do they, as in many parts 
 of France, meddle with their husband's depart- 
 ment, the care of the horses.
 
 HABITS OF THE VIGNERONS. 5 
 
 A master of a family always addresses his 
 wife by the familiar style of tu and toi, but she 
 never forgets his superior dignity so much as 
 to return his salutation but by using the ce- 
 remonious pronoun vous : the master and his 
 sons take precedence of the mistress and the 
 other females of the establishment ; all the fa- 
 mily, even to the lowest servants, dine at the 
 same board in the Saxon style, with a divided 
 part for the master, and all partake of the same 
 very homely food, consisting of black bread and 
 bacon. Before they separate, the master and 
 mistress drink between them one small glass 
 of real wine as a kind of grace cup to the rest, 
 who then disperse to their occupations ; the mis- 
 tress sometimes eats white bread in case of ill- 
 ness. 
 
 As with every other class, however, innova- 
 tions are creeping in amongst them, and many 
 of their customs are disappearing by degrees ; 
 they marry more with strangers, and learn to 
 laugh at many of their old prejudices, nor do 
 the families separate themselves so exclusively 
 from the tradesmen of the town as formerly. 
 They are not in general long-lived, for it is a 
 very fatiguing employment, and the necessity
 
 6 HABITS OF THE VIGNERONS. 
 
 for stooping draws their figures strangely out 
 of the perpendicular — sometimes it is painful 
 to behold persons, not particularly aged, lite- 
 rally bent double and apparently walking on 
 all fours ! A French author, who had travelled 
 in the southern wine countries, describes the 
 hardships of this life in the following manner, 
 and adds a few particulars respecting a well- 
 known French expression, which will scarcely 
 be considered out of place here. 
 
 " There is no culture so hard as that of the 
 vine ; no fruit more uncertain, nor which the 
 earth yields with more regret, as if she wished 
 to conceal the excess of her own fruitfulness. 
 It is singular how men condemn themselves to 
 an existence which, if forced on them, would 
 be considered an intolerable hardship. All these 
 ridges planted with vine plants, are cultivated 
 by men necessarily bent to the earth : at the 
 age of sixty they can only walk quite bent 
 double. From the manufacturer to the vine- 
 dresser, all sedentary or painful occupations, 
 obliges the race to live degenerated and de- 
 formed. Each species of labour has an influence 
 on morals; the labourer is attached to the soil, 
 but the vine-dresser is to other cultivators what
 
 T1NTAMARRE. 7 
 
 the cat is to other domestic animals : he is not 
 more attached to the master than to the house : 
 more independent than the ploughman, he is 
 less peaceful. His state is much the same in 
 all countries where the vine is cultivated. It 
 has frequently been to me a matter of surprise 
 why the handle of the vine-knife or mare, as 
 it is called in the south, should not be longer, 
 this would but little diminish its power, and 
 would be a great advantage to the health of 
 the labourer." 
 
 I do not think that at present the instrument 
 used to dress the vines is called on the Loire 
 a mare ; I have heard it called serpe, and am not 
 aware if the old word, which was formerly used 
 at Blois, is still in vogue : the author above 
 quoted proceeds to give a curious definition of 
 the term tintamarre, to express "a noise, riot, 
 calling together " — a " charivari en effet." 
 
 " After the hours allotted to repose amongst 
 all workmen, when the time is come to resume 
 their duties, it is customary with the vinedressers 
 to strike on their implements of labour, tinter a 
 la marre, to call their companions together. In 
 many instances bells do this office, and the pro- 
 prietors of some of the largest vineyards have
 
 8 WARNINGS. 
 
 endowed churches for the privilege of having 
 their workmen rung together at stated periods : 
 this is called ringing the tintamarre. 
 
 "These rural signals serve also for other pur- 
 poses ; sometimes I have seen a hive of bees col- 
 lected by the sound of the marre. In the time 
 of conscription the vignerons had a custom of 
 warning each other from vineyard to vineyard 
 by the same sound of the approach of soldiers, 
 and the reply extended itself rapidly along the 
 line : the moment the troops were seen on the 
 horizon, this warning told all the men to dis- 
 appear in time. Shepherds also in the woods 
 did the same on the approach of a wolf. This 
 custom of warning by signs was practised in Gaul 
 in the time of Csesar. It was thus that the 
 massacre of the Romans at Orleans by the Gauls 
 was known in Auvergne between the rising and 
 the setting of the sun." 
 
 At Blois, according to old usage, when it was 
 time to leave off work, the cry was raised, " Dieu 
 pardoint au Comte Thibault^ and at the same time 
 the marre was struck with a stone. , This was in 
 grateful memory of a certain Count Thibault who 
 introduced the custom in order to prevent the 
 workmen from being forced to labour too long.
 
 THE WAY TO FONTEVRAUD. 9 
 
 About a league from Saumur, at Dampierre, 
 the new road turns off towards Fontevraud, and 
 a varied and beautiful country lies before you 
 through a succession of the most luxuriant vine- 
 yards and woods of light graceful trees, with 
 accidents of growth and ground made for a land- 
 scape painter. 
 
 We had, after a time, reason to alter the tone 
 of our commendation of the goodness of the road, 
 which was getting worse and worse at every half 
 league, till when we arrived at the entrance of 
 the village of Fontevraud it appeared to have 
 reached its acme : even after our experience in 
 our abbey-hunting in Normandy we had seldom 
 lighted upon anything so bad ; add to which our 
 conductor, as usual, pretending to be in the habit 
 of driving that way every second day of his life, 
 mistook a turn and was carrying us down a ravine 
 filled with water, which was so perilous that we 
 begged he would ascertain the positive position 
 of the abbey before we ventured onwards. He 
 was induced, however unwillingly, to consent to 
 this derogation of his dignity, and we discovered 
 that there was, fortunately, no necessity for our 
 following in the track of an enormous waggon, 
 which had preceded us for some time, but that
 
 10 THE ABBEY. 
 
 we might turn our horse's head in an opposite 
 direction, and ascend a rugged hill before us. 
 
 With considerable difficulty, as the road was 
 actually undergoing repair, a great event in these 
 regions, we contrived to reach the rising ground 
 where stands the upper bourg, and found ourselves 
 in a mournful-looking, stony, slovenly square, 
 at one side of which stood the dilapidated walls, 
 rudely repaired, of the ancient church, at an- 
 other the entrance to a caserne, and in the centre 
 a ruined cross. We were somewhat startled on 
 hearing that it was not customary to permit the 
 remains of the abbey to be shown to strangers, 
 unless they were provided with a special order 
 to that purpose. After some demur, however, 
 and a good many messages taken by lounging 
 soldiers backwards and forwards, we were al- 
 lowed to traverse several interior courts, and at 
 length our anxiety was relieved by the sight 
 of an orderly, who appeared with an enormous 
 bunch of keys in his hand, each key half a yard 
 long. 
 
 It seems the building has long been converted 
 into a prison, and is generally very full, being a 
 central place of detention for the district. Our 
 civil conductor led us through a variety of dark
 
 THE ABBEY. 11 
 
 passages, locking every door carefully after us ; 
 and having proceeded some distance we emerged 
 into the faint daylight of the chapel, — the only 
 entire remain of the once enormous and splendid 
 abbey. This part was formerly the choir of the 
 church, and is one of the finest and most re- 
 markable specimens of the period to be met with 
 in any part of France. The immensely high 
 dome is spherical, supported by a range of light 
 and elegantly-formed pillars, with circular arches : 
 the form of the choir is altogether unlike the 
 usual appearance of Gothic architecture, and re- 
 minds one rather of the lightness and grace of 
 a Grecian temple ; a row of windows behind the 
 pillars of the dome give light to the whole ; these 
 have no longer any painted glass. When the 
 coloured rays were thrown down on the tombs 
 and columns and arches in former days, the effect 
 must have been magical. 
 
 Service is performed here constantly, and the 
 chapel is in high repair ; of course the whitewash 
 materially injures the general character, and the 
 grated seats round for the prisoners have an in- 
 congruous effect ; but it appears to me idle to 
 vituperate (as is the custom of antiquarian tra- 
 vellers), the powers that be, for turning to the
 
 12 TOMBS OF THE KINGS. 
 
 best advantage for necessary purposes a huge 
 mass of building, like these ancient monasteries, 
 whose ruined walls must either be demolished 
 altogether, which would surely be the greater 
 evil, or employed in such a manner as, while what 
 beauties they have left are preserved, to offer some 
 valuable return for all the expense bestowed 
 on them. I looked on the solid masonry sur- 
 rounding this beautiful chapel, and effectually 
 guarding it from all further injury of time or 
 weather, with gratitude rather than anger, that 
 the present destination of the abbey was so dif- 
 ferent from the former : and when another large 
 key was produced which opened a low vaulted 
 chapel in a retired nook, I more than ever re- 
 joiced that every vestige of the royal mausoleum 
 had been collected by the hand of care, if not of 
 taste, and was now placed in security after cen- 
 turies of desecration. In this low cell, which is 
 lit by one small window filled with remnants of 
 antique stained glass, probably picked up amongst 
 the rubbish of the ruins, lie all that ages have 
 left of the once magnificent tombs of the kings 
 of England of the Angevine race. 
 
 Raised about three or four feet from the 
 ground, on wooden blocks, are placed four
 
 CCEUR DE LION. 13 
 
 statues, three of which are at once recognised as 
 Henry II. of England, and Elionore his wife, 
 and their warrior son, Richard Coeur de Lion ; 
 beside the latter reclines a delicate female form, 
 which is either his wife Berengere, or the widow 
 of his brother, John Lackland, antiquaries are 
 divided as to which. 
 
 It is impossible that any poet's description 
 could better convey to the mind the impression of 
 the actual appearance of Coeur de Lion in life, 
 than this glorious effigy. As you gaze upon 
 it, an involuntary awe creeps over you, and 
 the frowning brow seems to contract still more, 
 as if reproving the freedom which permits so 
 near an approach to a monarch so powerful and 
 so commanding. His forehead is the grandest 
 I ever beheld — broad, open, and majestic, with 
 straight brows knit firmly together, sternly, and 
 somewhat fiercely ; the upper part of the nose 
 is finely formed, but, alas ! the rest is defaced, 
 yet, strange to say, the countenance is not dis- 
 figured. The eyes are closed, and appear well 
 cut, though not very large ; the mouth is firm 
 and handsome, the chin cloven and very finely 
 rounded, the jaw powerful, " the short curled 
 beard, and hair" flowing and thick, and the
 
 14 HENRY AND ELIONORE. 
 
 moustache fine. The shape of the head good, 
 rather broad in front — the throat remarkably 
 thick and strong, and the breadth of the chest 
 prodigious. One hand remains, which is large and 
 powerful and admirably sculptured, as, indeed, 
 is the whole statue : he wears a robe gathered at 
 the throat, and a belt round the waist, but no 
 appearance of armour ; his feet, which are some- 
 what mutilated, rest on a lion, which is suffi- 
 ciently apparent. A circlet with jewels sur- 
 rounds his head, the hair is very dark auburn, 
 and the whole, as is usual in statues of this 
 and of earlier date, has been painted. His heavy 
 mace lies by his side, an evidence of his strength 
 and power. The length of the statue of Richard 
 is upwards of six feet, that of Henry is rather 
 less : there is a striking resemblance between 
 the father and son, but still many distinct traits 
 of individuality. Henry has a less stern and 
 more careful countenance, and his forehead is 
 not so high — his chin is not divided, and his 
 face is somewhat longer. He wears the same 
 fashion of beard and moustaches,- but his hair 
 is longer and less curled; on the whole, there 
 is less character of strength in his frame, and 
 a more intellectual expression in his face; his
 
 HENRY AND ELIONORE. 15 
 
 eyes are finely shaped, and might have been 
 larger than Richard's. He wears a damask robe 
 and a sword-belt ; the colouring and gilding are 
 very apparent ; his hands are mutilated, but his 
 feet are entire. 
 
 The haughty and vindictive heiress of Aqui- 
 taine, the cause of so much wretchedness and 
 contention, has a noble head, encircled with a 
 golden coronet, and covered with a veil conceal- 
 ing her hair. Her features, except the nose, 
 which in all is destroyed, are beautiful, but se- 
 vere, and very stern : her lips compressed, her 
 cheeks rounded and finely-formed ; her chest 
 high, and her figure extremely majestic : she is 
 nearly as tall as Henry, and her proportions 
 extremely good. Her robe is in countless folds 
 of drapery, and her feet covered. 
 
 The pretty little statue which reclines close 
 to the side of the gigantic Richard, forms a sin- 
 gular contrast with the rest. She is very de- 
 licately made ; her small hands both repose on 
 her breast, her long waving hair confined by 
 a circlet, and falling on her shoulders : all the 
 features charming; the nose less injured than 
 in the others, the upper part of a fine shape : 
 there is something inexpressibly interesting in
 
 16 ISABELLA OF ANGOULEME. 
 
 her extreme youth, her helpless delicacy, and 
 her beauty, placed as she is beside the power- 
 ful characters before whose presence she seems 
 to shrink and tremble, as doubtless she did in 
 her life time. The artist of each, or all of these 
 effigies, has thrown so much truth into his work 
 that it is impossible not to feel convinced that 
 the likenesses are perfect. 
 
 I know not why the statue of the young beauty 
 I have named is called, at Fontevraud, that of 
 Berengere, since Charles Stothard, in 1816, dis- 
 covered and rescued hers from oblivion, at le 
 Mans, where it had been lying for years in a 
 barn, and was dragged from under a load of 
 wheat. I imagine this to be the effigy of Isa- 
 bella of Angouleme, whose romantic story suits 
 well with her appearance. She was attached to 
 Hugues de Lusignan, tenth Count de la Marche, 
 to whom she was to have been united, but the 
 tyrant John Lackland, having cast his eyes on 
 her without regard to anything but his own will, 
 made no scruple of appropriating her to himself, 
 and she was forced to become his wife. After 
 his d^ath, however, she was able to repay the 
 constant affection of her first lover, one of the 
 most elegant Troubadour poets of his time, who
 
 ABBEY. 17 
 
 addressed several of his lays to her, under the 
 title of Biaux doux Rubis. He died too soon 
 for her happiness, and she then entered the royal 
 convent of Fontevraud, where she died, and 
 where also was buried the heart of her son, 
 Henry III, whom she had by John. 
 
 The abbey of Fontevraud, or Fontevrault, was 
 the chief of a peculiar order, the only one in 
 which the men were subjected to the women. 
 The abbess was the head of the whole order, 
 and all the monasteries were subject to her com- 
 mand : she was generally a royal personage. The 
 abbey was founded in 1099, by Robert d'Arbrissal, 
 a famous Breton preacher, charged by Pope Ur- 
 ban II, to advocate the cause of the first crusade. 
 
 There are several precious morsels of ancient 
 magnificence scattered along the walls, in par- 
 ticular, a circular arched window, of wondrous 
 beauty and size, highly decorated, and exquisitely 
 executed ; but it is difficult to examine these 
 remains, in consequence of the whole building, 
 which is very extensive, being occupied by the 
 prison, and visitors being admitted merely as 
 a favour, though with a courtesy on which one 
 is unwilling to presume. 
 
 The ancient church of Fontevraud is very cu- 
 
 VOL. II. c
 
 18 CHURCH. 
 
 rious ; it has little architectural beauty to recom- 
 mend it, but several of the white marble or fine 
 stone pillars of its high altar, are finely-carved, 
 and of early date ; the foliage and vines which 
 surround these twisted columns, are admirable, 
 and there is a good deal of carved wood-work 
 about the altars and misereres very well worth 
 notice. 
 
 On one is a large and flourishing rose-tree, 
 which throws its branches in all directions, and 
 whose flowers are beautifully delineated — (could 
 it have any allusion to Henry II.'s fair love, Ro- 
 samond, — in the same manner as his namesake 
 of France introduced his Diana and her crescent 
 everywhere ?) On another are some " curiously 
 cut," and quaintly embroidered waves, which have 
 once been gilt, over which a saint is riding on 
 something which looks strangely like a broom- 
 stick ! Everywhere, on these antiquely carved 
 blocks of wood, occur roses, in groups and singly, 
 as ornaments. 
 
 There are pleasant boulevards round the upper 
 part of the bourg of Fontevraud, and the view 
 is rich and varied from the hill on which it 
 stands ; but it is, in itself, a wretched, neglected- 
 looking place, with all its glory long departed
 
 QUEEN MARGARET. 19 
 
 from it, and the presence of a huge prison, cast- 
 ing a gloom over it which nothing can dispel. 
 
 The bourg of Dampierre, through which we 
 passed on our return, and which is on the high 
 road to Chinon, is celebrated, not only for its 
 fine wine, but for having been the last retreat 
 of the unfortunate Margaret of Anjou, when, 
 driven from all her possessions, deprived of rank, 
 wealth, and having seen the downfall of all that 
 was dear to her, she was received into the house 
 of a private person in this secluded place, and 
 there, after some melancholy years of regret, 
 ended her sad career. The turreted house is 
 still nearly entire, and has considerable beauty 
 and a peculiar interest when her fate is remem- 
 bered, to whom her own bitter words too well 
 apply:— 
 
 " Who sues, who kneels, who says God save the Queen ? 
 Where be the bending peers that flattered thee ? 
 Where be the thronging troops that followed thee ? 
 Decline all this and see what now thou art ; 
 For happy wife, a most distressed widow ; 
 For joyful mother, one that wails the name ; 
 For queen, a very caitiff, — crown'd with care ! " 
 
 After leaving Dampierre and its memories of 
 the unfortunate daughter of the troubadour king, 
 
 c 2
 
 20 CANDES. 
 
 the road to Chinon, which continues to be as 
 beautiful and varied as possible, runs through 
 Montsoreau, a pretty town, nearly at the con- 
 fluence of the Vienne with the Loire, and cele- 
 brated for the remains of its castle of the twelfth 
 century, which is now occupied by artisans and 
 work-people, and divided into a variety of tene- 
 ments. Seen from a distance, its old walls, 
 towers, and loophole windows have a grand 
 effect, but lose on close inspection. It was 
 the residence of that infamous Count de Mont- 
 soreau who directed, in Anjou, the dreadful 
 massacre of the Protestants under Charles IX. 
 
 Candes, with its beautiful church, next appears, 
 which once boasted the tomb of St. Martin, 
 who died there about 400. The castle was suc- 
 cessively inhabited by Charles le Chauve, Phi- 
 lippe Auguste, Charles VII. and Louis XI. At 
 St. Germain is a fine old church, with a mag- 
 nificent tower ; on the opposite coast may be 
 perceived the turrets of the antique chateau de 
 Grillemont, where once resided Tristan 1'IIer- 
 mite, the terrible compere of Louis XI. Several 
 very interesting chateaux are in this vicinity, 
 those, in fact, which give beauty to the banks 
 of this " famous stream." The fine chateau
 
 ROAD TO CHINON. 21 
 
 d'Usse is one of the most remarkable, and not 
 far off is Rochecotte, the charming residence 
 of Madame la Duchesse de Dino, of which, 
 however^ I cannot speak, having, unfortunately, 
 missed seeing it. 
 
 The drive to Chinon from Saumur, whose de- 
 lightful towers, and downs, and coteaux we left 
 with infinite regret, is like passing through a 
 succession of shrubberies and parks : there is 
 a good deal of cultivation, and the rich vines 
 give an air of there being still more, but nature 
 has been so lavish of her most refined beauties 
 in this part, that, like superabundant charms in 
 " lovelier things," she scarcely is allowed credit 
 for not asking the aid of art. The fine, high- 
 raised road, which answers to the levee on the 
 opposite bank, is in some parts flanked, next the 
 river, by a plantation of sallow willows, and other 
 trees that love moisture, and these are enclosed 
 with a trellis, along which run and climb, in 
 graceful profusion, wild hops and clematis, at 
 this time in full bloom : meadows, like sheets 
 of emerald, succeed ; here and there a planta- 
 tion of gigantic hemp, with its scarlet stems, 
 and every variety of beautiful tree mingled to- 
 gether in groups on the irregular banks, which
 
 22 THE HAPPY CONDUCTEUR. 
 
 seem made for fairy gambols, rise up at each 
 turn of the winding road, now leading through 
 light woods of rare exotic growth, now along 
 a wide, open country, with the glittering and 
 divided streams, studded with islands, shining 
 along the way, forming lakes and creeks, then 
 gliding along in a narrow rivulet, and then lost 
 to sight by the projecting headlands and high 
 vine-covered coteaux, which sometimes sink 
 down, suddenly, flat to the shore, as if in play, 
 while a sister Jiill throws up her rocky peaks 
 on the opposite side, and seems challenging to 
 sport. 
 
 We had plenty of leisure to remark all the 
 beautiful varieties of our way, for the little car- 
 riage in which we travelled, occupying the two 
 foremost seats, so as to have an uninterrupted 
 view, was conducted by a boy, whose age could not 
 be more than twelve or thirteen, and who ap- 
 peared to be in a state of enjoyment perfectly 
 enviable ; whether he had but lately arrived at 
 the honours of a conducteur, or whether he was 
 influenced by the extreme beauty of the morn- 
 ing, and resolved for once to indulge in unin- 
 terrupted happiness, certain it is that he had 
 thrown all care to the winds, and all fear of
 
 % 
 
 THE MALLE POSTE. 23 
 
 overturn or misadventure to the fates, and all 
 responsibility on his horses ; as, leaning care- 
 lessly back on his box, fastening the reins to 
 a knob on the carriage, he abandoned himself to 
 delicious thought, or rather absence of thought, 
 and applied his ear diligently to catch the foreign 
 sounds which fell from our lips as we conversed 
 in English, or to join in occasionally when his 
 countrymen and ourselves talked of the scene 
 around. 
 
 I never saw so perfect a picture of bliss as 
 his gay laughing face exhibited, or such pre- 
 meditated enjoyment as he seemed to be in- 
 dulging in ; meantime, the horses, who were 
 strong and large, and not by any means loaded, 
 took it as easily as their young master, and 
 sauntered along at a pace more suited to con- 
 templation than diligence. It was not till we 
 had reached a charming turn of the road, which 
 was here bordered with plum-trees, loaded with 
 the delicious white plum of Touraine, and were 
 passing through a village, that the sound of a 
 clock suddenly dispelled in a moment his dream 
 of joy — he started from his recumbent posture, 
 seized his reins and his whip, and, with the 
 startling exclamation of "Bon Dieu!" bestowed
 
 24 THE MALLE POSTE. 
 
 a smart lash on the dormant animals, who were 
 plodding onwards through a beautiful wood in 
 unconscious ease. 
 
 Not only was the young charioteer himself 
 aroused, but some sharp voices, which he had 
 not heeded before, now sounded in a higher 
 key from the interieur, ordering him to hasten 
 his movements, or we should not arrive at Chinon 
 till night. At this awful surmise, terror seemed 
 to give new energy to the arm of the lately 
 happy idler — he stood up like one contending 
 in a chariot race, and presently his well-directed 
 blows and vociferous exclamations roused equal 
 vigour in his steeds — with manes and tails flvincr. 
 heads tossed up, heels flung abroad, and harness 
 in disorder, on thev rushed, as though some 
 monster of the Loire had suddenly emerged 
 from the waters, and driven them on like the 
 coursers of Hippolytus, 
 
 To every one now whom we met, our young 
 firrimr shrieked out inquiries as to the precise 
 time of day, and by their jeers and laughter we 
 at length discovered the cause of this sudden 
 metamorphosis. If, like the victim of the wood 
 demon, he had not arrived at the inn in the 
 market-place at Chinon at a given hour, he had
 
 THE CASTLE HEIGHT. 25 
 
 a fearful amende to pay ! — for now the truth 
 was apparent, — we were travelling in the mail, 
 and he was the postman ! 
 
 Tramp, tramp, across the land we went, splash, 
 splash, across the lea — when presently our ani- 
 mated young friend turned round to us with 
 a glance of exultation ; and, raising his whip- 
 hand, he pointed to a distant height covered 
 with trees — "La voila!" said he, "et je me suis 
 bien sauve' ! " 
 
 He could descry, although we could not, the 
 towers of Chinon, hailing him afar off, and now 
 he knew that his anxiety might be at an end, 
 for he should arrive at the minute. For a time, 
 as the road was level, he relaxed his speed, and 
 we went quietly along, between a long line of 
 poplars, till we reached the bridge, and there 
 the magnificent towers of the gorgeous ruin of 
 Chinon first burst upon our sight. Far up the 
 height, crowning its very pinnacle, rose a pile 
 of antique walls, one over the other, with an 
 enormous donjon frowning over all ; the clear, 
 glassy Vienne bathing the foot of the stupen- 
 dous rock into which the castle is built ; fairy 
 islands, covered with willows and poplars, ap- 
 pearing to float along the surface of the lake-
 
 26 THE MARKET-PLACE. 
 
 like waters, and high above, hanging from peak 
 to peak, a bridge, which seemed to connect two 
 cliffs, whose steep and rugged sides descended 
 perpendicularly into the river. 
 
 Not long, however, could we contemplate this 
 picture, glowing with the bright light of a sum- 
 mer morning's sun ; across the old bridge straight 
 went our vehicle, regardless of a whole phalanx 
 of waggons, market-carts, barrows, mules, and 
 panniered donkeys, regardless of the shouts and 
 remonstrances of the passengers, and the threats 
 of opposing drivers : " Place ! place ! " vociferated 
 our hero of the post, as he drove before him 
 man and beast ; — coming violently in contact with 
 a cart laden with stones, as he turned the sharp 
 corner, we thought it was all over with our safety, 
 but the strength of the springs resisted every ob- 
 stacle, and our foaming steeds, and fiery guide, 
 went thundering into the square ; there an ex- 
 traordinary spectacle awaited us ; not an inch 
 of pavement, in a very spacious place, surrounded 
 with lofty and well-built houses, but was occupied 
 by market people and their wares i heaps of fruit, 
 flowers, vegetables ; droves of pigs, sheep, calves ; 
 mounds of meat, cheese, butter, fowls, ducks, 
 geese, men, women, children, and dogs ; all
 
 THE MARKET-PLACE. 27 
 
 were mingled together so thickly that it seem- 
 ed impossible to drop a pin between them. 
 
 The men, some in large Spanish sombreros, 
 some in ancient French cocked hats ; the women 
 in scarlet petticoats and aprons, and snow-white 
 caps of various shapes ; a bright blue sky above, a 
 glowing sun over all ; such was the market-place 
 of ChinoD, with its ruined, slovenly, wooden 
 market-house, affording no retreat to the crowds 
 who flocked round and near it ; and through all 
 this compact mass, hallooing, cracking his whip, 
 and calling at the top of his voice " Gare ! gare ! 
 — place ! place !" drove furiously onward our offi- 
 cial friend, holding aloft the insignia of his office, 
 the expected letter-bag. At this moment, the 
 deep tone of the church bell of Chinon began 
 to peal, and before the last stroke of eleven had 
 sounded on the ears of the half crushed and 
 trampled, screaming, scolding, expostulating, 
 denizens of the market-place, the " conquering 
 hero" of the royal mail had stopped before the 
 door of the principal hotel, and delivered his 
 credentials to the attendants. 
 
 The sudden quiet which ensued in his de- 
 meanour, was as irresistibly comic as his former 
 fury ; he coolly waved off the vociferous indi-
 
 28 THE ARRIVAL. 
 
 viduals whom the impetuosity of his wild career 
 had injured, and proceeded to unpack his dili- 
 gence with an air of great importance, to re- 
 commend his passengers to the care of the inn- 
 keepers, and to unharness his horses as if he 
 had never in the course of his life been guilty 
 of an hour of idleness. He was pretty well 
 aware that he was on sure ground, and left 
 the exculpation of his violence to his friends 
 of the grande poste, who merely observed, that 
 " le jeune homme doit faire son devoir, sans fa il 
 serait oblige de payer une amende;" no more, 
 therefore, was to be said on the subject.
 
 29 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 Chinon.— The Gardens.— Oubliettes.— Charles VII.— The 
 King's Wife. — Les Caves Peintes. — Adventure of the Caves 
 concluded. — Azay le Rideau. — Les Bannerets. — Cinq Mars. 
 — Letter of Marion de Lorme. 
 
 hinon is said to be one of the 
 earliest castles constructed by 
 the Romans in Gaul, but the 
 period of its first foundation 
 is extremely uncertain. In 
 Normandy, and in this part 
 of France, the usual answer to a question of 
 antiquity is, pa etait bdti par les Anglais; but 
 Chinon goes beyond even that date, which im- 
 plies all that is old and barbarous in creation. 
 The most ancient part is a huge mass of build- 
 ings, extending along from the top of what is 
 called la Rue Jeanne d'Arc, which is but a 
 precipitous way, only fit for goats or mules to
 
 30 CHINON. 
 
 attempt, but which we had ocular demonstra- 
 tion that waggons and teams both ascend and 
 descend, how is a " marvel and a secret," without 
 being annihilated themselves, and crushing every 
 one they approach in the narrow, stony, unpaved 
 lane which conducts from the stairs (!) to the first 
 bridge of the castle. 
 
 These stairs, or, rather, this stony ladder, de- 
 serve a word of remark. They connect the lower 
 town with the strange nest of buildings perch- 
 ed on the height, following the walls of the 
 castle, as they serpentine from the river up- 
 wards. Enormous walls enclose this way, which 
 was, of course, the only approach in old times, 
 when it was not desirable to render the access 
 to a fortress too easy. They are overgrown with 
 ivy and moss, and the stone steps are so much 
 broken away, besides being very precipitous, that 
 it is a work of time and labour to reach the 
 opening where you are introduced to the grand 
 Rue Jeanne d'Arc, leading to the donjon. 
 
 The moment you emerge from this ladder and 
 stand to recover breath, leaning over the parapet 
 at top. you feel that any trouble is overpaid by 
 the beautiful view which bursts upon you : the 
 large, long, scrambling town lies spread out be-
 
 CH1N0N. 31 
 
 neath, with its high buildings and its spires, the 
 Roman bridge spans the full, clear, broad river, 
 which sparkles along, bathing the opposite mea- 
 dows and circling round the willowy aits which 
 gem its surface, the distant hills of Anjou and 
 Touraine, and a wide extent of country, forests 
 and vineyards, as far as the eye can reach. 
 
 It is said to be to the redoubted Thibault le 
 Tricheur, first Count of Touraine, that, in 960, 
 is owing the next division of the ruined walls 
 till you reach the second bridge, where a pile 
 of magnificent ruins extends a considerable way 
 along the walls, in various directions. Henry 
 II. of England, Philip Augustus, and Charles 
 VII. appear to have built the remaining towers, 
 defences, chambers and dungeons. It signifies 
 little when or by whom raised ; the whole, " in 
 one tremendous ruin hurl'd," is alike uninhabi- 
 table, though the concierge and her family contrive 
 to make for themselves a shelter amongst the 
 crumbling galleries of the Tour d'Argenton, some- 
 what a precarious dwelling, for, notwithstanding 
 the immense strength of the foundation and many 
 of the walls, the ruin is so complete that the 
 winds of winter must have fearful entrance, and the 
 pinnacles of decaying stone look far from secure.
 
 32 THE GARDENS. 
 
 Chinon belongs to Government, and care is 
 now taken to preserve, as much as possible, the 
 venerable remains of this Windsor of the French. 
 The first tower is closed by a strong door of 
 entrance, and visitors are admitted by a porter, 
 who attends to the pretty garden which surrounds 
 the whole of the ruin. Some critics have been 
 very severe on this modern innovation, prefer- 
 ring that the castle should have been left in 
 uninterrupted company with nettles and weeds, 
 but, as I have before had cause to observe, 
 on similar occasions, I cannot agree in thinking 
 that any injury is done to the effect by planting 
 beautiful trees and fragrant flowers, and prevent- 
 ing the growth of noxious weeds, and, perhaps, 
 reptiles, produced from the accumulation of dirt 
 and decayed vegetation. Besides, any approach 
 to cleanliness, in France, must be hailed with 
 welcome, for, whether from love of the pictu- 
 resque, or from natural slovenliness, not too 
 much of that English commodity is ever to be 
 met with. 
 
 To me it appeared infinitely delightful to sit 
 for hours in an expanse of flowers and herbs, 
 lavender, roses, and the wild thyme which the 
 native down produces, and which is allowed to
 
 THE GARDENS. 33 
 
 appear, as well as straggling vine and clustering 
 ivy, every here and there, mixed with more cul- 
 tivated shrubs and plants : — to sit in such a place, 
 in "a populous solitude of bees and birds," at 
 the foot of a gigantic tower, beside a second, in 
 front of a third, with a range of walls of all heights 
 and dimensions, extending wherever I turned my 
 view, bridges, parapets, turrets, chimneys, and all 
 unaccompanied by the dirt and damp and danger 
 which usually attend such sights. Our adven- 
 tures in Bretagne had a little changed our views 
 of the bliss of exploring ruins left entirely to 
 themselves, and we could find no fault with the 
 pretty walks and glowing gardens of beautiful 
 Chinon. 
 
 Chinon was the favourite abode of Henry II. of 
 England, who closed his disturbed life here, bro- 
 ken hearted at the ungrateful conduct of his sons, 
 instigated by their malignant mother. Richard 
 and John both resided here occasionally, and here 
 the former was brought to die ; but the most 
 remarkable event which took place within its 
 walls is the presentation of the Maid of Orleans, 
 who should have been rather called of Chinon, 
 to Charles VII. 
 
 The tower still exists, and even the chamber, 
 
 VOL. II. d
 
 Si THE OUBLIETTE. 
 
 where that heroic and unfortunate creature re-: 
 cognized the King amidst his knights : there is still 
 a fireplace and part of several windows ; immedi- 
 ately leading from it, at that period, of course, con- 
 cealed by walls twelve feet thick, but now, yawn- 
 ing open through the breaches time has made, is a 
 frightful oubliette, which from this, the second stage, 
 descends, dark and hideous, far below the earth 
 to the foundation of the castle. This hopeless 
 dungeon then joined the saloon in which the 
 kings and nobles who kept their court here for 
 ages spent their leisure : they could not, perhaps, 
 be said to hear the groans of the victims thrust 
 down this horrible abyss, because they were too 
 many fathoms below ; but the shrieks of famine 
 and despair might occasionally have reached them 
 in the midst of their mirth and revelry ; nay, the 
 gentille Agnes, when entertaining her royal lover 
 in her tower, might have been sometimes startled 
 with the smothered cry " of hopeless wretches in 
 their agony." In one of these dens languished 
 for years the unfortunate Geoffroi le Barbu. 
 
 It is difficult to see the evidences of such 
 barbarity and to believe that anything gentille or 
 good could exist in such times ! This is not the 
 only dungeon of the kind ; we found so many
 
 CHARLES VII. 35 
 
 black gulfs which proclaimed similar destinations 
 that we at length almost feared to enter the ex- 
 tensive ruins lest an unlucky step should render 
 us more intimately acquainted with these " caves 
 of horror ;" several, nevertheless, have been filled 
 up, being considered dangerous. There are two 
 deep wells little less so, down one of which a 
 young lady of Chinon fell in 1822, and her corpse 
 was found afterwards on the bank of the river 
 Vienne, just where a canal of communication had 
 been cut. There also existed, formerly, and 
 remains of it are still to be seen, a subterraneous 
 way from the castle under the river, leading to 
 what is still to be traced as a Roman camp, on 
 the hill opposite. 
 
 Charles VII. is said to have lived in great 
 luxury at Chinon at the very time when his 
 country was suffering from every hardship that 
 war and desolation could inflict : the note of a 
 receiver of royal revenues in this town, who 
 claimed from the chamber of accounts in Paris 
 twenty sous for new sleeves put to the old pourpoint 
 of Monseigneur Charles Septieme, does not convey 
 any idea of superfluous expense. However, he 
 seems to have had money or credit enough to be 
 able to build a magnificent house adjoining the 
 
 D 2
 
 36 THE KING'S WIFE. 
 
 royal castle, part of the towers of which still 
 exist, for his beloved Agnes Sorel, who was then 
 a lady of honour to his Queen, and his attach- 
 ment for whom, afterwards sufficiently public, 
 he seemed to wish to be then concealed from 
 the eyes of the court, as he constructed a sub- 
 terranean way to her dwelling, by which he was 
 in the habit of secretly visiting her. 
 
 This way can yet be seen, but it appears a 
 clumsily managed secret to build a castle close 
 to his own, where his wife resided, to place 
 his mistress in, and then go such a roundabout 
 road to see her, when all the world must have 
 known of the concealed passage. Fair Rosa- 
 mond's labyrinth was better contrived, though it 
 did not answer so well ; but probably poor Mary 
 of Anjou was obliged to appear more blind than 
 Elinore of Aquitaine, who seemed much more 
 mistress of Chinon in her time. 
 
 Some historians have cast a doubt on the truth 
 of Agnes' redeeming qualities, her desire to draw 
 her lover from the sloth and supineness in which 
 he indulged while his kingdom was torn to pieces, 
 and her devotion to the cause of France, giving 
 the merit of all these great actions to Queen 
 Mary herself. It is not impossible that the aunt
 
 LES CAVES PEINTES. 37 
 
 of Margaret of Anjou might have a great and 
 daring mind, though as she was also the sister 
 of the quiet and contented Rene of Sicily, it is 
 hard to judge by relationship. If she really were 
 the friend to France, which it has so long been 
 supposed her rival proved herself, she was indeed 
 doubly injured ; though conceiving her to have 
 sufficient power over her husband's mind to ex- 
 cite him to noble deeds, how can his fondness 
 for Agnes be reconciled, for whom it is notorious 
 that he built castles and endowed lands ? How- 
 ever this may be, after his father's death, Louis 
 XI, whose vices were probably all his own, but 
 who appears to have had some love for his mo- 
 ther, if indeed it was not mere opposition to his 
 father which induced the act, bestowed the castle 
 of Chinon on Mary of Anjou. 
 
 It afterwards belonged to Henri de Lorrain, 
 Due de Guise, and was bought in the end by the 
 Cardinal de Richelieu : it is said that the ex- 
 pense of keeping it from entire decay has for 
 many years prevented any claimant for it, and 
 at present the French government possesses it. 
 
 The objects of greatest interest after the castle 
 of Chinon are the caves. These are situated 
 beneath the coteau on which the town is built,
 
 38 LES CAVES PEINTES. 
 
 and extend for many leagues ; indeed, the imagi- 
 nation sets no bounds to their extent. They are 
 immense exhausted quarries, which for twelve 
 centuries have supplied stone for all the required 
 buildings in their vicinity. The castle, bridge, 
 churches, &c. are all built from hence, and the 
 foundations of those tremendous towers are car- 
 ried down to the lowest depths of these caverns. 
 We traced the cemented stones of the walls of 
 Agnes Sorel's tower amongst the huge masses 
 which lie in picturesque confusion piled into fan- 
 tastic shapes by the sport of nature. Occasion- 
 ally basins of clear water are to be met with in 
 these retreats, and some crystallizations are seen 
 clinging to the dripping roofs ; but it is rather 
 from their strange forms and enormous and awful 
 extent than from any positive beauty that these 
 painted caverns, as they are called, present a mys- 
 terious interest. 
 
 Armed with lighted candles, and preceded by 
 a guide bearing a long ladder, we threaded the 
 mazes of numerous paths leading to cathedral- 
 roofed chambers, rugged valleys' of rocks, and 
 wild-looking " antres vast," where the flashing 
 lights showed fantastic figures on the walls 'painted 
 by the gliding and dropping water which oozes
 
 LES CAVES PEINTES. 39 
 
 through the sandstone. The adventurous may 
 discover, by climbing into narrow apertures, nu- 
 merous curiously shaped saloons and fine effects 
 of shadow ; we were obliged to be content with 
 the most accessible, though we conceived our 
 peril quite approaching near enough to the posi- 
 tive to be sublime. 
 
 One large cavern, filled with blocks of stone, 
 particularly struck us ; a circular arch, quite per- 
 fect, spanned a space which was occupied by a 
 heap of rocks of all dimensions, leaving an open- 
 ing at the top, which displayed the entire form 
 of the arch, and a range of continued blocks 
 beyond: down the front of this pile, trickled 
 a glittering stream, winding from stone to stone, 
 and forming the only path by which to climb ; 
 this stream fell into a little pool below, and 
 then escaped into another arched cavern far 
 lower, which again communicated with another 
 of the same kind. 
 
 We were told that an artist, not long since, 
 delighted with the beautiful shape of this curious 
 place, established himself there with painting ap- 
 paratus, and having placed lights on every pro- 
 jecting ledge, contrived to obtain a splendid 
 illuminated effect, which he conveyed to can-
 
 40 LES CAVES PEINTES. 
 
 vass on the spot. The dripping of the roof 
 in some parts makes it difficult to keep lights 
 long enough in one place to gain this object, 
 but it is easy to imagine how grand it must 
 have been, when only our small supply of light 
 threw from glittering peak to peak rays which 
 made the gloomy retreat of hundreds of bats 
 a fairy palace for a moment. We feared every 
 moment that our candles would be put out 
 by these animals, but escaped without such a 
 catastrophe. 
 
 Our guide, a young man en blouse, and quite 
 artistement mis, had been in the garde royale of 
 Charles X, and seen some perils during les Trois 
 Jours : he told us that not long since, he had 
 conducted a party of ladies through the caves, one 
 of whom he lifted through several difficult passes, 
 and who seemed inclined to dare many more 
 had he not represented the probable danger 
 for a lady. " I recognised the Duchesse de 
 Berry at once," said he, "for I had mounted 
 guard too often at her apartments to be de- 
 ceived, and her misdirected spirit might have 
 convinced me had it been required." 
 
 This man, who is remarkably intelligent and 
 obliging, and with manners beyond his station,
 
 LES CAVES PEINTES. 41 
 
 (if, indeed, he was a private in the garde royale,) 
 seems to obtain his livelihood by exhibiting the 
 caves, and takes as much pleasure in their won- 
 ders as the visitors he conducts ; his ladder 
 enables him to reach the roof, and procure sta- 
 lactites for the curious, not without some risk, 
 considering the height and the black gulphs 
 below : no entreaties, however, would repress 
 his adventurous gallantry, and, to our exceed- 
 ing fear, he insisted on mounting to a vaulted 
 part, where a glittering mass of descending spires 
 invited ; having gained the upper rock, he quit- 
 ted his ladder, and swung himself across the 
 " dark profound" to a somewhat uncomfortable- 
 looking seat opposite amongst a nest of spar. 
 Here he began operating with his fossil-hammer, 
 the clink of which and the echoing sound of 
 the falling fragments as they bounded from peak 
 to peak in their descent, had a strange un- 
 earthly sound in the solitude of the wild sombre 
 chambers of this subterranean retreat. 
 
 As we stood at different distances below, lean- 
 ing on projecting pieces of rock, and holding 
 up our torches as high as possible, while he 
 continued his labours by the light which flick- 
 ered between the transparent drops and branches
 
 LES CAVES PEINTES. 
 
 of petrifaction, and which he had fixed in a 
 niche, so sculptured by nature as to appear made 
 by the hand of man as a resting-place for some 
 Notre Dame de la Solitude, — many romantic 
 visions flitted before our imaginations of at- 
 tempted escapes by prisoners from some of the 
 dungeons of the castle in times of old, when 
 every sound of the hammer which might be striking 
 upon a lock or a bar that impeded the progress of 
 the captive, would have carried terror with it.
 
 LES CAVES PEINTES. 43 
 
 We thought of the mere possibility of some 
 devoted wretch having discovered a crevice at 
 the bottom of his oubliette, through which he had 
 desperately forced his way, and as we had just 
 seen the foundations of the towers in this very 
 place, we figured to ourselves his finding him- 
 self in the midst of these fearful caverns, with 
 a feeble lamp his only guide, having wan- 
 dered from den to den, till by some fortunate 
 turn he might have reached the entrance of 
 the cavern; or, more likely, have strayed about 
 deeper and deeper into darkness till his lamp 
 expired, and his frame exhausted, he sunk down 
 to die. 
 
 Several tragical tales are related of children 
 wandering into these caves and returning no 
 more; and one account tells of two boys, who, 
 having wandered about for four days, were dis- 
 covered, and brought back safe by persons sent 
 in quest of them. 
 
 While we remained in a dreamy state of 
 musing, occasionally casting an anxious look at 
 our military conductor still busied in his occu- 
 pation, a sudden crash above made us start, and 
 in an instant down came a heap of rock and 
 spar, rattling and rumbling along, and with it
 
 44 LES CAVES PEINTES. 
 
 the candle which was lighting the work going 
 on overhead. Our first impression was terror, 
 lest the guide should be the next to descend 
 precipitously, and we clamoured for him to leave 
 off, which he now did, and scrambling along in 
 the dark, reached his ladder, and came down 
 the steep side of the cave. He searched care- 
 fully for the bits of broken stalactites, and with 
 the characteristic inconsequence of a Frenchman, 
 began to bemoan and express his astonishment 
 at his candle being broken ; he picked up the 
 bits, and gazed at them with a melancholy ex- 
 pression, forgetting that it would have been more 
 tragical had he been the victim, as we had al- 
 most expected at the instant. I asked him if 
 he had a supply of candles ; " no," said he, " but 
 I am well provided with light ; here is a con- 
 trivance which we have in France, tenez ;" and 
 kneeling down on the slippery ground, he pro- 
 duced a box of lucifer matches, and triumphantly 
 lighted one. "Yes," I exclaimed, " but suppose 
 you had nothing to light with it?" " Cest mail* 
 said he, quite astonished at the suggestion ; such 
 an idea had never occurred to him. He promised 
 in future never to enter the caves without several 
 candles, in order to be prepared, in case of an 
 accident like the present.
 
 THE ADVENTURE CONCLUDED. 45 
 
 Meantime, the dripping from the disturbed wa- 
 ter became more frequent, and the drops so large, 
 that we thought ourselves scarcely safe, in spite of 
 the ingenious French contrivance he was so proud 
 of, and commenced descending to the path which 
 led us back to the mouth of the cavern. By this 
 time, all the surface had become so slippery that 
 our footing was very insecure, and it was not with- 
 out many falls that we contrived to slide down. 
 I imagined that our route lay clearly before us, 
 in consequence of the apparently recent marks 
 of waggon wheels, but was told that as these 
 were to be seen in all directions throughout the 
 caves, and led to a variety of paths, they would 
 prove but an uncertain guide to any one trusting 
 to them. 
 
 More than eighty years had elapsed since any 
 works had gone on here, yet the cart ruts are as 
 fresh as if made yesterday, for they become hard- 
 ened by the constant dripping upon them till 
 they are like an iron way. 
 
 We followed quite a different path on our 
 return, *and were introduced to a variety of dif- 
 ferent caves, in one of which visitors are in the 
 habit of tracing their names in smoke on the 
 flat roof; several English figured amongst them,
 
 46 NEIGHBOURHOOD OF CHINON. 
 
 of course, but this matter-of-fact proceeding, and 
 the everyday names of Davies and Wylde, where 
 Coeur de Lion and La Gentille Agnes should 
 be the presiding genii of the place, were like to 
 ruin all our romance, and we hastened on. 
 
 The air throughout the caves is perfectly pure, 
 and the lights burnt steadily the whole time ; it 
 is also much warmer than usually happens in 
 these subterranean places, but the sudden change 
 from an unnatural atmosphere to open day and 
 a brilliant sun was startling as we approached 
 the mouth of the caverns, where we were restored 
 to their influence. 
 
 There is nothing to attract the traveller in 
 the town of Chinon, not a single church of in- 
 terest, nor a monument worthy of attention, 
 but the walks and rambles round about the 
 castle and its neighbourhood are picturesque and 
 pleasant, and the views of the country through 
 which the bright Vienne pursues its winding way, 
 bearing the tribute of its stream to the sandy 
 Loire, are perfectly delightful. There is an ex- 
 cellent inn at Chinon, which occupies great part 
 of one side of the market square ; so good was it, 
 that this circumstance alone seemed to announce 
 that we were not in an insignificant village, but in
 
 AZAY LE RIDEAU. 47 
 
 a town ; a chef -lieu (Tarrondissement. The people 
 are all civil, obliging, and their charges reason- 
 able. 
 
 Our destination was now to the great city so 
 much visited and talked of, and so favoured by 
 our countrymen, that it is looked upon in France 
 as belonging as much to England now as when 
 our English Kings held sway throughout Tou- 
 raine. Wherever we had been, in all the beau- 
 tiful country we had travelled, from Caen to 
 Chinon, the praises of delicious, enchanting, 
 lovely Tours, had sounded in our ears, and it 
 was with no little pleasurable expectation that 
 we prepared to set out from our last stage. 
 
 The most interesting place between Chinon 
 and Tours, is the little town of Azay le Rideau, 
 five leagues from the latter, situated in an agree- 
 able and picturesque position, and famous for 
 its chateau, the facade of which is an exqui- 
 sitely executed mor^eau, by the chisel of Jean 
 Goujon. The castle, which replaced one more 
 antique, stands in an island formed by the In- 
 dre, and is remarkable from its peculiar ar- 
 chitecture, its numerous towers and battlements, 
 and the groups of high ornamented chimneys, 
 which, far off, appear like lances bound together.
 
 48 LES BANNERETS. 
 
 The cognisance of Francis I. appears with 
 his mottos everywhere among the friezes and 
 ornaments — his salamander and its surround- 
 ing nutrio et eattinguo, and his other device, more 
 tender still, un seul desir, probably understood 
 by some fair favourite of the time, who shared 
 with him the beautiful retreat of Azay le Ri- 
 deau. 
 
 The archives of this manor present a series 
 of names of seigneurs, as far back as the mid- 
 dle of the thirteenth century. From Hugo Ri- 
 dellus, or Ridelli, Lord of Azay, or de Relay, 
 the little town took its name. This lord was 
 one of those Chevaliers Bannerets de Touraine, 
 made by Philip Augustus in 1213, whose title 
 is one of great honour, having been reserved 
 exclusively for the high nobility : an ancient poet 
 has said on this subject, 
 
 Ordre de Banneret est plus que chevalier : 
 Comme apres chevalier accort suit hachelier ; 
 Puis apres bachelier, ecuyer ; de maniere 
 Qu'apres le due ou roi est toujours la banniere. 
 
 Many Roman remains have been found at 
 Azay le Rideau, in the park and grounds ; 
 amongst others, several seal-rings, one of a gla- 
 diator, set as a ring ; the other, in crystal, a car
 
 PILE DE CINQ-MARS. 49 
 
 drawn by two bulls. These were found in a 
 tomb discovered in the park, at a place called 
 la Remoniere. 
 
 The town seems to have been formerly of 
 consequence ; it was occupied by the Burgun- 
 dians, and being reduced by the Dauphin, af- 
 terwards Charles VIII, in 1418, this prince, 
 with a barbarity worthy of his father, had most 
 of the inhabitants hung on the roofs of their 
 houses, and the houses afterwards burnt, from 
 whence it was called Azay le Brule, which ap- 
 pellation it still retains. 
 
 One of the monuments, which is not only 
 the most ornamental, but has occasioned the 
 most speculation of any along the banks of the 
 Loire, is the famous Pile de Saint-Mars, or de 
 Cinq-Mars, about four leagues from Tours. It 
 is a quadrangular pyramid of eighty-six French 
 feet six inches in height, and twelve feet six 
 inches in breadth on each of its faces, at its 
 summit, which is surmounted by five pillars ten 
 feet high, somewhat similar to those on mosques : 
 that in the centre has been destroyed by storm, 
 but those at the four angles remain entire. It 
 is a mass of brick, mortar, and cement, with- 
 out staircase or opening, and what its destina- 
 
 VOL. II. E
 
 50 CINQ-MARS. 
 
 tion could have been will ever be a profound 
 mystery. It is attributed to the Romans, but 
 like the round towers of Ireland, is involved in 
 total darkness as to its origin, and whether the 
 Visigoths or their predecessors built it, it is im- 
 possible to decide. Of course it has given rise 
 to endless disputes and conjectures, which will 
 probably continue to the end of time, or as long 
 as this wonderful pile lasts, which there is every 
 reason to suppose will be for ever, to judge by 
 its strength and stability through ages. 
 
 The unfortunate favourite of Louis XIII, the 
 Marquis de Cinq-Mars, derived his title from the 
 chateau near this spot, of which the ruins remain.
 
 LETTER OF MARION DELORME. 51 
 
 At the period, when his fair friend, Marion 
 Delorme, addressed to him the following in- 
 teresting letter, how little did any of that gay 
 party suppose that steam-boats would ever pass 
 along those shores, and send up their columns 
 of smoke as high as the towers which are now 
 but a heap of ruins: where then resided in 
 gaiety and splendour, he, who doubtless read 
 the lively description of the intriguing French- 
 woman with admiration of her wit alone, and 
 utter contempt for the madman and his ad- 
 mirer. 
 
 LETTER OF MARION DELORME TO 
 M. DE CINQ-MARS. 
 
 Paris, Feb. 1641. 
 My dear Effiat, while you are forgetting 
 me at Narbonne and giving yourself up to the 
 pleasures of the court and the delight of thwart- 
 ing M. le Cardinal de Richelieu, I, according 
 to your express desire, am doing the honours 
 of Paris to your English lord, the Marquis of 
 Worcester, and I carry him about, or, rather, 
 he carries me, from curiosity to curiosity, choosing 
 always the most grave and serious, speaking very 
 
 E 2
 
 52 LETTER OF MARION DELORME 
 
 little, listening with extreme attention, and fix- 
 ing on those whom he interrogates two large 
 blue eyes, which seem to pierce to the very 
 centre of their thoughts. He is remarkable for 
 never being satisfied with any explanations which 
 are given him ; and he never sees things in 
 the light in which they are shown him : you 
 may judge of this by a visit we made together 
 to Bicetre, where he imagined he had discovered 
 a genius in a madman. 
 
 If this madman had not been actually raving, 
 I verily believe your marquis would have en- 
 treated his liberty, and have carried him off to 
 London, in order to hear his extravagances, from 
 morning till night, at his ease. We were cross- 
 ing the court of the madhouse, and I, more dead 
 than alive with fright, kept close to my com- 
 panion's side, when a frightful face appeared 
 behind some immense bars, and a hoarse voice 
 exclaimed, '* I am not mad ! I am not mad ! 
 I have made a discovery which would enrich 
 the country that adopted it." " What has he 
 discovered '{" I asked of our guide. "Oh!" he 
 answpred, shrugging his shoulders, " something 
 trifling enough ; you would never guess it : it 
 is the use of the steam of boiling water." I
 
 TO M. DE CINQ MARS. 53 
 
 began to laugh. " This man," continued the 
 keeper, " is named Salomon de Caus : he came 
 from Normandy, four years ago, to present to 
 the king a statement of the wonderful effects 
 that might be produced from his invention. To 
 listen to him, you would imagine that with steam 
 you could navigate ships, move carriages, in fact, 
 there is no end to the miracles which, he insists 
 upon it, could be performed. The Cardinal sent 
 the madman away without listening to him. Sa- 
 lomon de Caus, far from being discouraged, fol- 
 lowed the Cardinal, wherever he went, with the 
 most determined perseverance, who, tired of find- 
 ing him for ever in his path, and annoyed to 
 death with his folly, ordered him to be shut up 
 in Bicetre, where he has now been for three 
 years and a half, and where, as you hear, he 
 calls out to every visitor that he is not mad, 
 but that he has made a valuable discovery. He 
 has even written a book on the subject, which 
 I have here.*" 
 
 Lord Worcester, who had listened to this ac- 
 count with much interest, after reflecting a time, 
 
 * This book is intitled, " Les raisons des Forces mouvantes 
 avec diverses machines tant utiles que puissantes." Pub. 
 1615, in fol.
 
 54 LETTER OF MARION DELORME. 
 
 asked for the book, of which, after having read 
 several pages, he said, " This man is not mad. 
 In my country, instead of shutting him up, he 
 would have been rewarded. Take me to him, 
 for I should like to ask him some questions." 
 
 He was, accordingly conducted to his cell, but 
 after a time, he came back sad and thoughtful. 
 " He is, indeed, mad now," said he ; " misfortune 
 and captivity have alienated his reason, but it 
 is you who have to answer for his madness : 
 when you cast him into that cell, you confined 
 the greatest genius of the age." After this we 
 went away, and, since that time, he has done 
 nothing but talk of Salomon de Caus. 
 
 Adieu, my dear friend and faithful Henry. 
 Make haste and come back, and pray do not 
 be so happy where you are as not to keep a 
 little love for me. 
 
 Marion Delorme.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Tours. — The Bridge. — The River of Sand. — Toute Beaute. — 
 Notre Dame la Riche. — Le Roi Lietin. — Le Chevalier du 
 
 Renard. — Les Trois Pucelles. — L'Inconnue Suspense. — 
 
 The Denouement. — House of Tristan l'Hermite. — Torture. 
 — The rival Towns. — Chateauneuf. 
 
 Is this the region, this the soil, the clime ? — Milton. 
 
 ong before we arrived at 
 I Tours, night had set in, and 
 i its beauties were veiled from 
 
 our eyes : we scarcely re- 
 ] gretted this, as we promised 
 
 ourselves the more delight
 
 56 TOURS. 
 
 in contemplating all its varied charms by the 
 light of day as soon as, recovered from our fa- 
 tigue, we could set forth on so inviting an ex- 
 cursion. Our inn was so full that we were fain 
 to repose awhile on temporary beds, in a clean 
 bricked salon on the rez de chaussee, till room 
 was made for us, by the departure of other tra- 
 vellers. Every attention and civility was heaped 
 upon us, and the whole establishment seemed 
 bent on lavishing all its care on our well-being. 
 Though not one of the best situated hotels in 
 the town, it was certainly one of the most ex- 
 cellent, and perfectly content with our pretty 
 apartments, we arranged to remain there while 
 we stayed at Tours, and next morning sallied 
 forth to the first goal which attracts wanderers, 
 the post-office ; after which, we proceeded to the 
 quays, anxious to indulge all our curiosity. 
 
 The Rue Rovale of Tours extends from the 
 bridge one thousand three hundred and thirty- 
 two feet in length, throughout the whole extent 
 of the town, broad, wide, airy, and paved, and 
 as far as the fact of its being clean and open 
 goes, is worthy of admiration, though, as there 
 are neither arcades nor fine buildings along its 
 extent to break the monotony of its straight line,
 
 THE BRIDGE AT TOURS. 57 
 
 an English eye, not unaccustomed to neatness, can 
 find little else to admire, and when a burning 
 sun is striking full upon its long stony extent 
 across the white bridge along the still straight 
 line of dusty road on the other side of the river, 
 he almost wishes that the ancient Rue Traver- 
 saine had not been sixty years ago replaced by 
 this immense street, which is the boast of Tou- 
 raine ! The shops are in general small and mea- 
 gre, and the houses without architectural beauty, 
 most of the best being in the older streets ; there 
 are some fashionable hotels there, which must 
 be sufficiently noisy, but none are particularly 
 worthy of remark from any splendour of outward 
 appearance. 
 
 Somewhat disappointed in this our first ven- 
 ture in Tours, we took our way to the quay : 
 here, with the remembrance of Nantes and all 
 its bustle, its gaiety and its magnificence fresh 
 in our minds, we were wofully struck with the 
 contrast. If beauty consists in vastness, the 
 broad square leading to the bridge has claims 
 to be thought fine : the extreme width of the 
 bridge itself is remarkable, its great length and 
 the number of its arches. As it is looked upon 
 as the finest in France it might be presumptuous
 
 58 THE RIVER OF SAND. 
 
 to say that it strikes an unprejudiced or un- 
 scientific eye as being singularly low for its extra- 
 ordinary length, but the flatness of its banks here 
 of course prevented its being otherwise. But 
 with so beautiful, so stupendous, so renowned a 
 bridge, where is the river ? Where ? we asked 
 again, as in amazement we traversed its extent 
 and saw beneath us a sea of sand, — sand as far 
 as the eye could reach, — sand islands and heaps, 
 all sand, deep, undisturbed, dry, and burning in 
 the sun ! Mute with surprise we looked round 
 and walked on, when under the centre arch we 
 perceived a thread of crystal flowing brightly 
 onwards, and became aware that we were gazing 
 upon the far-famed waters of the majestic Loire. 
 
 Exactly in the centre of the stream stood a 
 little boy with naked feet, and trowsers tucked 
 up, fishing ! In the deepest part, perched on step- 
 ping stones, formed by the debris of the old 
 Roman bridge, were a group of the nymphs of 
 the Loire bathing their garments in the limpid 
 waters, but all beside was a desert of uninter- 
 rupted sand ! We had been prepared for some- 
 thing distantly approaching to this by the glimpses 
 we had had of the river before, but the Sarthe, 
 the Vicnne, the Indre had hitherto come to the
 
 TOUTE BEAUTE. 59 
 
 aid of their mistress and concealed her poverty ; 
 now she appeared alone and unassisted, — the 
 bridge was all there, " but the waters were gone !" 
 
 We should have been less annoyed at this 
 discovery had we made it anywhere but at 
 Tours— at Tours, which we were told at every 
 step was "toute beaute." We looked round 
 in despair for hills such as those of Saumur, 
 for the vine-covered coteaux, the emerald mea- 
 dows, the rocky heights, the distant towers, the 
 varied and luxuriant foliage we had seen and 
 left for Tours ! We rubbed our eyes, and saw 
 only long formal rows of poplars, or stunted 
 sallows, whose grey leaves added to the glare; 
 a flat shore with scarcely a rise for miles, a 
 long, straggling, ill-built range of houses on one 
 side of the sandy plain, and a slight acclivity 
 on the other, crowned with common-place houses. 
 
 Once more we rubbed our eyes, and turned 
 again; there rose the dark sombre mass of the 
 cathedral, smoky and grim ; there the one tower 
 of what was once the castle, and there the two 
 mighty piles of St. Martin and Charlemagne ; 
 and we resolved to re-enter the town, and make 
 ourselves acquainted with all the wonders it must 
 contain, giving up at once, in despair, all hope
 
 60 ST. CYR. 
 
 of convincing ourselves that Tours was " toute 
 beaute !" 
 
 We gave one more glance across the appa- 
 rently interminable bridge, and saw with plea- 
 sure a white, antique-looking tower, rising above 
 the tops of houses, but all interest in it ceased 
 when we were informed that it was a lime manu- 
 factory, and we turned mournfully from it as 
 we should from Westminster bridge, and 
 
 " the height 
 Where patent shot they sell ! " 
 
 The village of St. Cyr is a sort of cockney 
 faubourg, which has but little to recommend 
 it; if there was any water, it might be said 
 to stand well on the banks of the river, but, as 
 it is, the dust predominates over the shade which 
 a few meagre poplars throw. Beranger, the 
 poet, lives there occasionally, but even he was 
 away on a tour, so that St. Cyr offered no 
 inducement to wade through oceans of sand 
 and dirt to get at it. A staircase, communi- 
 cating with the centre of the bridge, conducts 
 to a long walk in the river, planted with low 
 shrubs, to the poplar-covered island, where a 
 cafe, celebrated for its matelottes d'anguilles, in- 
 vites the badauds of Tours to broil at leisure over
 
 TOURS. 61 
 
 the waste of sand which should be water, and 
 is supposed to roll its streams at the foot of 
 gardens and groves ; but, except the eels, it 
 must be all a Bermukide banquet, for all is 
 boast and promise there. 
 
 The Musee, the Prefecture, and H6tel de Ville 
 are large buildings, but have a slovenly, neglect- 
 ed look, with discoloured marks on the stone, 
 which has a bad effect, and the unswept pave- 
 ment round gives an air of desolation quite 
 remarkable ; they stand on the square opposite 
 the river and bridge, and look vast and ex- 
 tensive, but have no beauty, antique or modern, 
 to recommend them. 
 
 Several rows of small black trees on a raised 
 platform, form a walk, occupying part of the 
 space near the Mus6e, frequented by children 
 and shabby persons only, and having stone seats 
 much decayed and very dirty, as are the flight 
 of steps leading to it. Some ruined sheds, used 
 when a fair is held here, extend along one side, 
 and a tawdrily painted Chinese cafe appears at 
 the extremity, where, however, nothing is offered 
 to view to tempt the idler. 
 
 At what period of the year Tours is to be 
 expected to look gay or clean, I cannot imagine,
 
 62 TOURS. 
 
 as summer, one would naturally conclude, was 
 the time to exhibit fruit, flowers, and out-of-door 
 agremens in the best situations. The river, I 
 am told, is magnificent in winter, but when the 
 foliage, even of the poplars, is gone, and rain 
 and cold succeed the burning sun, a quoi bonf 
 We were assured that it was very lively when the 
 people were there, and that most of the English 
 were absent from their villas on tours in other 
 parts ; but when they come back, what is there 
 to delight them to the degree which has been 
 so often expressed? 
 
 The travelling English, or rather the residents 
 in towns, are not often zealous antiquaries, and 
 unless they are so, even the antiquities which 
 may interest some, being difficult to find amongst 
 all the newness which has improved the town, 
 what do they discover ? — Society. It appears that 
 this magic spell is the charm of Tours to the 
 French, and probably to foreigners also ; of 
 course, a mere passer-by knows nothing of that 
 by experience, and should be grateful to learn 
 any sufficient cause which may account for the 
 extraordinary and undeserved vogue of this vex- 
 atious place. The drives are far before you 
 reach any spot of interest, and there are no
 
 NOTRE DAME LA RICHE. 63 
 
 walks: those which are public, are monotonous 
 and tiresome, without view, and ill-kept ; and 
 all the gardens being nursery, the odours from 
 them rise as often from cabbage-stalks as from 
 cabbage roses. Still the chief advantage of Tours 
 are the boulevards, which are of great extent; 
 not that they possess any beauty, being mostly 
 low, bordered on one side by rows of houses, and 
 on the other by a high bank, from which a 
 flat of fields, and sometimes nursery-gardens, are 
 seen, but they nearly surround the town, and 
 of course are healthful, and an advantage to 
 the inhabitants. One walk alone has some 
 beauty, being planted with a row of acacias, 
 and running across the most picturesque street 
 in Tours, perhaps, indeed, in Europe. So long 
 and uninterrupted a line of peaked-roofed houses 
 exceeds description ! one could scarcely believe 
 it was not exaggerated ; but the quartier Notre 
 Dame La Riche has features peculiarly its own, 
 and more singular than in any other town I 
 have ever seen. 
 
 The Rue des Acacias divides the long wide 
 street into a faubourg, which extends an im- 
 mense distance: all the houses, with scarcely 
 an exception, are old, most of them striped
 
 64 NOTRE DAME LA RICHE. 
 
 and crossed, many elaborately carved, almost all 
 having projecting fronts ; they are of all heights 
 and sizes, among them some which appear to 
 have been magnificent, and the carving of which 
 is delicate and rich ; fortunately, the street is 
 extremely broad, so that the extraordinary dirt, 
 and closeness of the houses, is somewhat rectified 
 by the fresh air which can circulate freely. Such 
 black dens as these dwellings are no imagination 
 (at least, no English one,) can picture, with their 
 small heavy windows, and low-arched doors ! but 
 over the fronts of nearly every one, trained on 
 trellises, and carefully kept, hung festoons of luxu- 
 riant grape-vine, so rich and fine, that they could 
 render any habitation pleasing, however mean ; 
 and running, as they do, over these antique build- 
 ings, make them actually beautiful, and a per- 
 fect treasure to a painter. 
 
 I am surprised never to have seen a scene of 
 Prout's taken from some point on the long line 
 of the Quartier La Riche : every step presents 
 new combinations, picturesque and curious in 
 the extreme. Scarcely less than a mile is the 
 walk, from the Champ de Mars, a large, dusty, 
 stony place, bordered with small poplars, to the 
 interior of the town along this antique quartier.
 
 RUE DU RENARD. 65 
 
 The Duke of Orleans having passed through it 
 not long before, when on his way to Africa, 
 garlands had been hung across the road, from 
 house to house, at intervals; and as, in con- 
 formity, with the usual carelessness of the French, 
 they had been allowed to remain long after the 
 ceremony of welcome was over, the effect was 
 still more extraordinary: the natural garlands 
 offered by the fine grape-vines, hanging like 
 drapery from every window, would have been 
 infinitely more graceful, if considered sufficient ; 
 but eggs, shells, and faded artificial flowers and 
 ribbons, are supposed to show loyalty as much 
 as similar ornaments express devotion when the 
 magnificent pillars of their beautiful churches 
 are deformed by heaps of trumpery, put up to 
 show honour to a saint, as savages cut slits in 
 their flesh to introduce pieces of tin and tinsel ! 
 
 We were much amused with the names of 
 some of the streets in this neighbourhood, and, 
 indeed, Tours is altogether remarkable for having 
 preserved the old nomenclature of its streets, to 
 many of which curious legends attach. The Rue 
 du Renard owes its etymology to a circumstance 
 belonging to the sad events of which Tours was 
 the theatre at the time when religious animo- 
 
 VOL. II. F
 
 66 RUE PORTE HUGON. 
 
 sities ran so fearfully high. In 1562 several 
 officers of the magistracy were suspected of 
 heresy, and on the occasion of a grand proces- 
 sion, thought it advisable to join the ranks in 
 order to appease the popular clamour by their 
 presence. No sooner, however, were they per- 
 ceived than a general cry was raised, " Au Re- 
 nard ! Au Renard !" and they were pursued with a 
 fury to which they had nearly fallen a prey, as 
 had, on several other occasions, many unfortu- 
 nate Protestants who were unable to escape the 
 popular animosity. As the cry was first raised 
 in this street, it became attached to it, probably 
 designedly, to keep up the memory of the cause 
 of quarrel. 
 
 The Rue Porte Hugon has a still more ce- 
 lebrated reputation, inasmuch as it records the 
 name which served to designate the victims them- 
 selves. The Protestants, who were accustomed to 
 meet secretly, and, crossing the ramparts at night, 
 to repair to their place of rendezvous, were oc- 
 casionally seen by the timid country people, or 
 the superstitious sentinels, who took each dusky 
 and flitting form, as it glided by in the dim 
 light, for the spectre of le Roi Hugon, known, 
 from time immemorial, to haunt the ancient
 
 RUE DU PETIT GARS. 67 
 
 walls of Tours. From this circumstance the 
 name of Hugonot was bestowed on them; or, 
 as others say, because all sorts of wickedness 
 and evil being attributed to this Roi Lutin, the 
 enemies of the Roman Catholic religion were 
 looked upon as his fitting children, worthy to 
 bear his name. 
 
 In the quartier Notre Dame la Riche, is a 
 shabby little street, called Rue du petit Gars :* 
 it was so called from the following circumstance, 
 and has not lost its name so long after the 
 event. About 1560, Francois II, accompanied 
 by the Cardinal de Lorraine, flying from the 
 infection caused by the massacre of Amboise, 
 made a solemn entree into Tours. Every sign 
 of public rejoicing was forbidden ; nevertheless, 
 a boy of eight or nine years of age, the son 
 of a rich workman, obtained from his father 
 permission to see the procession, and appeared in 
 a costume somewhat bizarre. He had equipped 
 himself as a knight in wooden armour, " silvered 
 o'er," and his casque was surmounted by a bird 
 of a red colour. Two other youths, in grotesque 
 black costumes, led the ass on which the new 
 
 * Gars, in the idiom of Touraine, is the diminutive of 
 garcon. 
 
 f 2
 
 68 RUE DU PETIT GARS. 
 
 knight was mounted ; and the party thus adorned, 
 introduced themselves into the midst of the Car- 
 dinal's escort, to the infinite amusement of the 
 people. But hilarity, in those days, was not 
 without danger. The red head of the bird was 
 thought to convey a double meaning. In the 
 child the King was thought to be typified, and 
 in the bird, who was his head and crown, the 
 Cardinal who directed all his movements. The 
 black attendants seemed intended for some in- 
 fluential members of the church, and the whole 
 farce an insult, for which the town of Tours 
 had to undergo a severe admonition, and great 
 was the terror of the Faubourg la Riche, on 
 whom royal indignation was likely to fall. The 
 record of their fear, and the memory of the event, 
 is kept by the street from whence the young 
 hero issued, being from thence named Rue du 
 Petit Gars. 
 
 The origin of the name of the street des Trots 
 Pucelles is thus recounted, though it scarcely 
 deserves to be so called, as only one lady figures 
 in the history. ' 
 
 In the city of Tours formerly lived a Jew, 
 rich and well-esteemed ; he had a very beau- 
 tiful daughter whose wit equalled her charms,
 
 RUE DES TROIS PUCELLES. 69 
 
 and when she had grown to woman's estate, 
 her father proposed to unite her to a young 
 man of their tribe, who had no other possession 
 but youth and his love ; but these were not suf- 
 ficient for the fair maid of Israel, who disdained 
 him altogether. Her father remonstrated with 
 her in vain, and represented the worthlessness 
 of all the children of Adam, and the superiority 
 of young Tobias over the great and pompous of 
 the earth. "But if you will not trust my ex- 
 perience, seek, my child," continued the sage 
 Jew, " and judge for yourself. I will guide your 
 researches, and I desire to see before the end of 
 six months, three lovers, a prince, an abbe\ and 
 a knight at your feet, and overwhelmed with 
 your contempt." 
 
 Nothing could better suit the humour of the 
 young coquette than this proposition, and it re- 
 quired no consideration to accept it at once. 
 Accordingly she collected together a numerous 
 suite of pages and attendants, surrounded herself 
 with ladies, and being provided with rich clothes, 
 gold, and jewels, set out on her expedition, taking 
 the road to Bretagne. 
 
 A duke, king, or prince then reigned in Ar- 
 morica, whose name it is not necessary to men-
 
 70 l'inconnue. 
 
 tion, suffice it that he was young, rich, hand- 
 some, and powerful. The fair Jewess appeared 
 suddenly at his court, where her beauty and 
 magnificence created the greatest possible sen- 
 sation, but the mystery attached to her added 
 new charms to all : in consequence of being 
 bound by a vow, she was unable to declare her 
 name, and could only be known as " the damsel 
 concealed." The susceptible prince became very 
 soon the slave of her eyes, nor did she appear 
 to receive his professions with coldness, but her 
 delicate reserve required him to defer his pre- 
 tensions for six months, when the fair incog- 
 nita appointed him a rendezvous at the town of 
 Tours. 
 
 This conquest readily accomplished, she now 
 began to look about for a priest on whom to 
 try the force of her charms, and was not long 
 before she contrived so to fascinate the heart of 
 a young and handsome monk, that, forgetting 
 his vows and all considerations but the hope of 
 obtaining her favour, he listened too readily to 
 her proposal to meet her in six months at Tours 
 to hear his fate decided. 
 
 It was not likely that so much genius and 
 beauty should seek in vain for a gallant knight
 
 l'inconnue. 71 
 
 who would fall before her arts, and the most 
 distinguished paladin of the country was he who 
 accepted her proposal of repairing on Good 
 Friday to Tours at the end of six months, no- 
 thing doubting that the hand of his fair enchant- 
 ress would reward his devotion. 
 
 So far all went well, and each adorer was 
 content : the Good Friday, the day appointed 
 for all separately, arrived, and the three lovers 
 repaired to the fair city, full of expectation and 
 impatience. But a difficulty arose, the " Beauti- 
 ful Concealed" had named no particular place 
 of meeting, and, as her name was unknown, how 
 was she to be found? The prince, the monk, 
 and the knight, were all in an equal state of 
 embarrassment! The prince sent emissaries to 
 every quarter of the city, inquiring news of a 
 young, rich, and fair personage, called The Un- 
 known Damsel, but elicited nothing, and re- 
 proached himself too late with his remissness 
 in not having been more particular in his ap- 
 pointment. The monk went begging from door 
 to door in every street, but, as he of course 
 avoided the Jew's quarter, he sped no better 
 in his researches. As for the knight, whose 
 valour surpassed his wit, he resorted to the ex-
 
 72 SUSPENSE. 
 
 pedient of issuing a challenge to all Touraine, 
 proclaiming the transcendence of his unknown 
 mistress, whose claims were not disputed by any 
 appeal. 
 
 While they were all in this state of irritated 
 suspense, one morning a billet was delivered 
 to each, appointing them to seek a certain street, 
 and there to inquire from house to house, asking 
 what questions they thought requisite, till they 
 should happily come to one where the answer 
 to their demands would be, " I am yours !" As 
 soon as they got this intimation, each of the 
 swains set out on his voyage of discovery. The 
 Jew, in disguise, failed not to watch their move- 
 ments, and had no little satisfaction in observing 
 them knock at the different doors one after 
 the other, asking and importuning the inhabit- 
 ants, who, at each question of a new comer, 
 began to grow more impatient, till, at length 
 the whole neighbourhood was in an uproar, and 
 the " unknown damsel " consigned to perdition 
 by all their gods. The monk, who had had 
 the start of the others, arrived at last at the 
 house where the preconcerted answer invited 
 him in, and with great delight he entered a 
 dark passage, and threaded the mazes of a
 
 THE DENOUEMENT. 73 
 
 gloomy corridor, till he found himself in a large 
 chamber, where, however, no light greeted him. 
 He had not been long there when the prince 
 arrived, and being led into the same room, 
 where he caught, as the door opened, the sight 
 of drapery, he hurried forward, and caught in 
 his arms the form of the astonished monk, who 
 began to roar out lustily, not being certain that 
 the author of ill himself had not embraced him. 
 At the sound of such a voice, and the buffets 
 which ensued, the prince drew back, when a 
 third came to the attack in the shape of the 
 knight, who, finding so different a reception 
 to that he had anticipated, began to lay about 
 him stoutly, and the house soon rang with 
 clamour and the echo of blows given and re- 
 ceived. 
 
 All night the three unfortunate lovers were 
 confined in this retreat, and when morning dawn- 
 ed, they exhibited such unpleasing marks of their 
 nocturnal contention, that they were glad to ob- 
 serve an outlet, which permitted them to escape 
 into the street, and repair to their several abodes. 
 Breathing vengeance againt the deceitful author- 
 ess of their mishaps, they all recommenced their 
 attempts to discover her, but were suddenly
 
 74) THE DENOUEMENT. 
 
 stopped in their career by receiving another 
 billet, (the lady appears to have had much learn- 
 ing for her time,) informing them of the real 
 name and condition of their lady-love, and add- 
 ing that she was now the wife of Tobias, the 
 young Jew, whom she preferred to them all, 
 with whom she had left Tours, and desired no 
 further communication with either of her adorers, 
 whose Christian virtues she not very tenderly ad- 
 verted to. 
 
 Neither of the gentlemen felt particularly 
 proud of the adventure, and considering it as 
 wise to say no more about it, quietly left Tours, 
 and returned whither their avocations called 
 them: the prince to his kingdom, the monk to 
 his convent, where, as he had supplied himself 
 with charitable contributions, no questions were 
 asked, and the knight probably to make a figure 
 in a Holy War. From this period, the street 
 where the adventure occurred, has been called 
 Des Trois Pucelles; and down this street we 
 went, in order to reach the house whose renown 
 is no less great as having been the residence of 
 no other a person than Tristan 1'Hermite. 
 
 This house, made by tradition the dwelling 
 of the awful compere of Louis XL presents a
 
 HOUSE OF TRISTAN L'HERMITE. 75 
 
 singular fa9ade. Its roof is pyramidal, going 
 off in steps, like the houses in the low countries ; 
 it has two stories, but the upper windows have 
 been changed, and present nothing remarkable 
 to the eye. The door and the two windows, 
 and the ornamental carving round them, are 
 worthy of particular remark and admiration. 
 The entrance door has a circular arch, and is 
 adorned with an ogee canopy, with crockets, 
 having not only foliage, but creeping animals 
 on them; on each side of this is a pinnacle, 
 formed of a twisted pillar, which terminates in 
 a corbel, formed by a very remarkable and hide- 
 ous group, representing a man writhing in the 
 clutch of a lion. The spandrils have for orna- 
 ment, a twisted cord, which is repeated beneath 
 the windows in a double line, and has led to 
 the popular conclusion that this was expressly 
 intended to represent Tristan's occupation of 
 hangman, as the hideous figures on the corbels 
 are supposed to present his victims tortured by 
 wild beasts. A fearful interest hangs about this 
 dwelling, and everything in it is looked upon 
 as possessing some hidden meaning. So far is 
 this belief carried, that I heard of a lover of the 
 marvellous being shown the interior of the house
 
 76 HOUSE OF TRISTAN L'HERMITE. 
 
 now occupied by a leather-dresser, who expressed 
 a shuddering horror at a variety of large, strong, 
 rusty, middle-age looking nails, sticking out from 
 the wall of one of the gloomy chambers — "Ah !" 
 he exclaimed, " on these, no doubt, did that 
 monster, Tristan, hang, impale, and torture the 
 wretched beings who fell under the displea- 
 sure of his inhuman master ; here • — " he would 
 have proceeded, but was stopped suddenly in 
 his eloquent and indignant tirade, by the in- 
 formation that those identical nails had been 
 knocked into the wall by the present proprietor, 
 who was accustomed to stretch his leather upon 
 them. I confess to having had similar mis- 
 givings on observing a quantity of " auld warld " 
 looking nails on the outside of the upper story 
 of the house, and as nothing seemed too diabo- 
 lical to attribute to Tristan l'Hermite, I had not 
 scrupled to indulge in visions of torture, which 
 this story dispelled in time. 
 
 While I was making a sketch of the house, 
 a system of persecution was commenced against 
 us by beggars, and curious passers-by, and but 
 for a timely shower of rain, which drove away 
 the herd, and which we welcomed, thougli we 
 were obliged to brave it, we must have aban-
 
 STREETS OF TOURS. 77 
 
 doned the enterprize, in spite of the civility 
 of Tristan's opposite neighbour, who invited us 
 into his court-yard, and provided us with chairs. 
 
 Numerous are the long, narrow, dirty, high, 
 and gloomy streets of Tours ! and I believe there 
 were few of them we did not venture to visit, 
 in spite of their uninviting appearance, but as 
 there is literally nothing without the walls to 
 attract, and very much within, we resolved not 
 to be easily deterred in our search after old 
 doorways, windows, fountains, and houses, of 
 which there is indeed foison. In this respect, 
 Tours is really interesting, though I say nothing 
 of the beauty discovered in these rambles, the 
 antiquity and singularity being the recommend- 
 ations which we sought. 
 
 From the. Roman walls which formerly sur- 
 rounded Tours, which the boulevards now re- 
 place, to the river, scarcely a street can be passed 
 which has not some remarkable recollection at- 
 tached to it which fills the mind with pleasure 
 and interest, until having discarded all thought 
 of the disappointment experienced in finding a 
 sandy desert where you looked for an Oasis, you 
 acknowledge this to be a city worthy to attract 
 the traveller who takes delight in the antique,
 
 78 THE RIVAL TOWNS. 
 
 and is ready to give up his energies in prose- 
 cuting discoveries of the olden time through 
 heaps of rubbish, slovenliness, and modern im- 
 provement. 
 
 In former times, Tours and an adjoining town 
 called Chateauneuf, were two rivals who disputed 
 with each other the palm of celebrity, both for 
 commerce and pilgrimage, and it was long before 
 the present city swallowed up the other and im- 
 posed on it her arms and laws. The population 
 of each having caused them to approach closer 
 and closer, a union became the consequence, in 
 spite of the determined hostilities which it took 
 ages to extinguish. Where the Rue Royale now 
 drags its length along, existed in other days gar- 
 dens and vineyards, which extended between the 
 walls and towers that divided the two towns and 
 formed a neutral ground. 
 
 The fine towers of St. Martin and of Charle- 
 magne, beacons which are seen for leagues over- 
 topping all the other buildings, stood in Chateau- 
 neuf, while those of St. Gatien were, as they may 
 still be considered, the pride of lier twin sister. 
 The Quartier de la Poissonnerie formed a third 
 and distinct portion, and, as its name imports, was 
 dedicated to the fishers of the Loire, and to
 
 CHATEAUNEUF. 79 
 
 mercantile persons ; and this part was separated 
 from others by vineyards and gardens. The 
 names of the old ugly streets in these neighbour- 
 hoods tell their own story, as those de la Lam- 
 proie, de l'Egout des Tanneurs, du Commerce, 
 Nourriciere, Cerisier, des Haies, &c; and the Trou 
 des Maures speaks of Charles Martel and his 
 victories over the " Heathen hounds " who dared 
 to seek him so far in the interior of his kingdom. 
 
 It is probable that all the trade was carried on 
 in this third part, which had the advantage of 
 being on the river, and that the other two were 
 rather distinguished for their churches, their cas- 
 tle, and their strength. 
 
 A monk of Marmoutiers of the twelfth century 
 has thus described the inhabitants of Chateau- 
 neuf : — " They are rich, dressing in robes of pur- 
 ple, lined with furs of vair and petit-gris : their 
 furniture is enriched with gold and silver ; their 
 houses are surmounted by high towers ; their 
 tables are covered with the greatest delicacies. 
 They pass their time in playing at dice and cards. 
 They are affable to strangers, benevolent and ge- 
 nerous to the Church, charitable to the poor, firm 
 in their resolutions, and faithful to their pro- 
 mises."
 
 80 CHATEAUNEUF. 
 
 This is a picture which gives a rather exalted 
 idea of the refinement of Chateauneuf in those 
 days, and would make it seem the Faubourg St. 
 Germain of the period. When we are informed 
 that Tours could boast of no less than nine con- 
 vents of men and eight of women, besides hos- 
 pitals and other monastic establishments, the 
 number of ancient doorways, windows, and rem- 
 nants of walls, need not excite surprise.
 
 81 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Cathedral.— The Mother,— The Tomb St. Julian.— 
 
 Dearth of Churches — Streets.— The Trellis.— The Towers. 
 — The Musee. — A morning with the Old Bridge. — Charles 
 de Lorraine. — Heurte Loup. — View-hunting. 
 
 t. Gatien, now the cathedral 
 of Tours, is extremely beau- 
 tiful. Its first constructions 
 actually remaining may be 
 dated from 1170. About 
 a century later, under St. 
 Louis, the choir was terminated, and from period 
 to period additions and restorations have made 
 it what it is, one of the lightest, finest, and 
 most pleasing in France. Its painted windows, 
 which are entire, are exquisite, and in great pro- 
 fusion : those which surround the choir have a 
 very fine effect, besides its being unusual to see 
 them so placed. The rose windows are very 
 
 VOL. II. G
 
 82 THE CATHEDRAL. 
 
 brilliant, partly restored, but very well clone, and 
 the whole is gorgeous and beautiful ; the colours 
 would seem almost too brilliant were they not 
 shaded by the exquisite stone-work which covers 
 them as with a veil of point lace, and subdues 
 the richness of their hues. 
 
 As the greatest neatness and cleanliness prevail, 
 and the whole is maintained with extreme care, 
 it is impossible to find a more delightful retreat 
 on a burning hot day, such as we sought shelter 
 from, than this inviting church, where we after- 
 wards spent hours every day tracing the arms of 
 Blanche of Castille, and her sainted son, on the 
 windows, copying the intricate patterns which 
 run in mazy lines over the delicately-coloured 
 panes, and making out the crimson, blue, and 
 green draperies of the saints who figure among 
 the canopies and towers which hem them in on 
 every side. The diversity of the stone- work is 
 very great, forming every variety of flower and 
 leaf-like shape over the glass, filled as with rubies 
 and emeralds, and no repetition is to be dis- 
 covered.* / 
 
 * Much of the original magnificent glass painted by Sar- 
 rasin, a celebrated artist in this style, born at Tours about 
 the end of the fourteenth century, was destroyed by a tre- 
 mendous hail-storm about 1667.
 
 ANNE OF BRETAGNE. 83 
 
 There is but one tomb, but that is very in- 
 teresting, and was well restored in 1815. It is 
 the work of the brothers Juste, who were natives 
 of Tours, and is executed in the best style of the 
 Renaissance. This monument was erected for 
 the two infant sons of Charles VIII. and Anne 
 of Bretagne, whose effigies repose on the marble 
 sarcophagus, and their pretty innocent faces are 
 well delineated. The ornaments and allegorical 
 figures are well designed and executed ; and placed 
 in a chapel partly in shadow, with gleams from 
 the richly-coloured windows just touching its 
 pure marble garlands, the whole presents an 
 image of innocence and peace soothing and agree- 
 able. 
 
 The illustrious heiress, who, by the loss of these 
 children, became twice Queen of France through 
 her marriage with the successor of her first hus- 
 band, must have felt a pang as she consigned 
 these sweet little creatures to the grave, and wept 
 over the loss of her name of mother, destined not 
 to be renewed : perhaps her after glory, and her 
 happiness with the father of his people and the 
 husband of her choice, could scarcely compensate 
 for the grief of heart with which she knelt weep- 
 ing on the steps of this tomb as she gazed on 
 
 g 2
 
 84 THE TOMB. 
 
 the counterfeit presentment of those two bro- 
 thers. 
 
 " Pauvre mere, ton fils est mort !" 
 
 The epitaphs are as follows : — 
 
 Charles huitieme Roi preux et excellent 
 
 Eut d'Anne Royne et Duchesse de Bretagne, 
 
 Son premier fils nomme Charles Orlant, 
 
 Lequel regna sans mort qui rien n'epargne, 
 
 Trois ans, trois mois Dauphin du Viennois, 
 
 Comte Dijois et de Valentinois. 
 
 Mais l'an cinq cent moins cinq* il rendit lame 
 
 A Amboise le seizieme du mois 
 
 De Decembre, puis fut mis soubs la lame. 
 
 Par Atropos qui les coeurs humains fend 
 D'un dard mortel de cruelle souffrance, 
 Cy-dessoubs gist Charles, second enfant 
 Du Roi Charles et d'Anne Royne de France, 
 Lequel vesquit Dauphin du Viennois, 
 Comte Dijois et de Valentinois, 
 Vingt-cinq jours, puis les tours au Plessis, 
 En Octobre mourut au deux du mois 
 Mil quatre cent avec nonante et six.j- 
 
 The two towers of the cathedral are each 
 two hundred and five feet in height, and the 
 portals are rich and fine ; there is a handsome 
 
 * 1495. f 1496.
 
 ST. JULIEN. 85 
 
 flight of steps leading to it, and the square in 
 which it stands is spacious and clean, though 
 without anything besides to render it remark- 
 able. 
 
 The next church in importance to St. Gatien 
 was, in early times, that of St. Julien, now form- 
 ing part of the Hotel St. Julien, and its fine 
 choir used as a coach-house and stable ! — curi- 
 ously enough, for St. Julien is the patron of 
 travellers. As it offers great accommodation for 
 this purpose, it is to be hoped that the vene- 
 rable and interesting building will not be de- 
 stroyed ; and as it is kept extremely clean, and 
 far neater than is usual in France, one feels 
 scarcely inclined to mourn over its present state, 
 as it is only by contributing to " general utility" 
 its existence has been preserved at all. It is 
 singular enough on going to see about the pre- 
 parations for a journey to find yourself in a 
 magnificent vaulted cathedral, lofty arches and 
 slender shafts, carved pillars and ornamented 
 windows, strangely mingling with loads of hay 
 and straw, and carriages of all descriptions, while 
 neighing steeds and clamorous conducteurs make 
 that roof re-echo which once rung only to choral 
 strains and hymns of praise !
 
 86 ST. JULIEN. 
 
 The magnificent abbey, of which this is all 
 that time's mutability has left, was founded 
 by Clovis, in 508, at the period when he came 
 to Tours in pomp and triumph after his victory 
 over Alaric, and in the church of St. Martin 
 solemnly arrayed himself in the imperial robes 
 sent him by Anastatius the Emperor ! 
 
 Here were placed with honour and all rever- 
 ence, the holy relics of St. Julien, for relics 
 were always opportunely discovered in those days 
 immediately that a great prince had endowed a 
 place to receive them ; here were miracles per- 
 formed, as wonderful as any vouchsafed by St. 
 Martin or St. Gatien, its rivals ; here resided, 
 in all the state befiting the church's dignity, 
 its distinguished abbots, all of high birth and 
 renown ; here, in the grand hall of the abbey, 
 was celebrated, in 1459, the marriage of a daugh- 
 ter of France, Magdeleine, to the gallant Gaston 
 de Foix, Prince de Viane ; here that pious 
 monarch, Henri III, in 1589, opened the par- 
 liament which he had transferred to Tours ; and 
 here the traveller takes his placd and sees his 
 baggage packed for every town on the Loire, 
 and hears only conversation fitting such subjects ; 
 all the princes, cardinals, abbots, and monks of
 
 DEARTH OF CHURCHES. 87 
 
 bygone days as thoroughly unknown to the pre- 
 sent generation, as the fate of their splendid 
 abbey was to those great men who deemed their 
 dignity eternal ! 
 
 It struck us that churches did not by any 
 means abound in Tours, for every second appa- 
 rition of a church which we saw turned out 
 to be used for some commercial purpose ; and 
 the remark we made everyivhere we travelled 
 applied peculiarly to Tours, — that the congre- 
 gation in all the churches was singularly thin, 
 even on fete days; rarely are men to be seen 
 at all, and of the few women the greater part 
 are aged and infirm, and of the lowest order. 
 
 The church of St. Saturnin is one of the oldest 
 in the town, and possesses a good deal of interest, 
 but is sadly neglected. St. Pierre des Corps 
 was named from the fact of the Normans being 
 defeated in 838 under the walls of Tours, when 
 the heaps of dead bodies of the vanquished were 
 piled up beneath the walls of this church ; a 
 street near is still called St. Jean des Coups. 
 Another church, now desecrated, called La Ba- 
 zoche, was founded on the site of a Roman 
 tower, commonly called the tower of Cupid ; 
 oddly enough the street called du Petit Cupidon
 
 88 STREETS — FOUNTAINS. 
 
 led into that in which was situated the convent 
 of the Ursulines. But there is no end to the 
 comic associations attached to the streets at 
 Tours, and the speculations which their names 
 give rise to : among others are, Rue de la Ville 
 Perdue, Rue des Anges, Rue des Huit pies, Rue 
 du Serpent Volant, des Belles Filles, de Jeru- 
 salem, de St. Julien le Roi, de Boucicault. Some 
 of the names over the shops are sufficiently 
 comic, as, for instance, Romeo, coiffeur et par- 
 fumeur ; Homo, tailleur. 
 
 We had heard much of the fountains of Tours, 
 and sought with great care for them, but though 
 they doubtless are a great accommodation to the 
 inhabitants, they serve little to beautify the 
 town. There are six public fountains, a cir- 
 cumstance greatly to be rejoiced at in a French 
 town : one, at the caserne d ' Infanterie, is a hand- 
 some modern structure ; but the most interest- 
 ing one, which, though it no longer stands 
 in its original place, is to be found in the 
 Place du Marche, is very beautiful. The 
 marble of which it is formed is of Genoa, of 
 great beauty, and its execution is the work 
 of the celebrated brothers, Juste. It bears the 
 name of La Fontaine de Beaune, from Jacques
 
 FOUNTAINS. 
 
 89 
 
 de Beaune,* Seigneur de Semblancay, governor 
 of Touraine, at whose expense it was erected, 
 and who suffered under a false charge in 1527. 
 
 * The ancient chateau de Semblancay, the ruins of which 
 are still seen, was built in 993, by Foulques Nerra, in order 
 to serve with other neighbouring fortresses as a blockade to 
 the town of Tours. A modern castle was constructed by 
 Jacques Fournier de Beaune, governor of Tours and intend- 
 ant of finances, whose fate was so tragical. Of him, Marot 
 speaks in one of his elegies, remarking on his fortune, 
 
 Mais cepandant sa main gauche tres orde, 
 
 Secretement me filoit une corde ; 
 
 Qu'un de mes serfs, pour sauver sa jeunesse 
 
 A mis au col de ma blanche vieillesse.
 
 90 THE TRELLIS. 
 
 The arms of Louis XII. and Anne of Brittany 
 are to be distinguished ; the escutcheon of Louis, 
 the porcupine, and the motto, cominiis et eminiis; 
 and that of Anne, an ermine with the words, 
 potius mori quam fcedari. This beautiful fount- 
 ain is of an elegant shape, and elaborately orna- 
 mented with arabesques and various sculptures. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of this market-place, 
 which is spacious and good, are several curious 
 antique houses. 
 
 Perhaps the most curious, as they are the 
 most stupendous monuments in Tours, are the 
 two Towers of St. Martin, all that 
 
 " The Goth, the Norman, time, war, flood, and fire " 
 
 have left of the magnificent church once of such 
 renown, where the bones of the saint were found 
 in a tomb, which the piety of the arch-hypocrite, 
 Louis XI, surrounded with a trellis * of silver, 
 weighing six thousand seven hundred and seventy- 
 six marcs, — a costly ornament which the war- 
 rior king, Francois I, destroyed, and had melted 
 down into coin, called testons au grps bonnet. 
 
 * According to the chronicle of Jean de Troyes, " il fit 
 la grille de St. Martin de Tours, avec les aiguieres et les 
 gobelets d'argent dont les gens glorieux couvraient leur 
 tables." The subtle tyrant contrived to provide for his pious 
 gifts a ties peu defrais by this expedient.
 
 THE TOWERS. 91 
 
 Jacques de Beaune, the governor, on issuing 
 orders that the king's will should be accom- 
 plished, found that no workman in Tours was 
 to be met with who dared execute so profane 
 an order, and he was obliged to arm himself 
 with a hammer and set the example. Probably 
 his after fate was considered, by the devout, as 
 a punishment for the insult he had offered to 
 the saint. To destroy so fine a work of art, as 
 it is reported to have been, must have given a 
 pang to the Roi Chevalier as well as his loving 
 subjects, who looked upon this trellis as an 
 object of pride and veneration : but necessity 
 urged, and doubtless the money into which it 
 Mas converted, greatly comforted the mind of 
 the sovereign at least, though the regrets of the 
 people of course remained in full force. The 
 great revolution swept away all the rest of the 
 church but these two towers : one, that of the 
 portal, was saved, as it holds the town clock. 
 The other, whose height is immense, is called 
 La Tour de Charlemagne, and is the crowning 
 wonder of Tours. It is related that the great 
 Emperor's wife, Luitgarde, dying at Tours, he 
 erected this monument over the tomb of a being 
 tenderly loved by him. It was on the occasion
 
 92 THE MUSEE. 
 
 of his journey to Rome to receive the crown 
 of the East, that this misfortune overtook him, 
 and he found himself monarch of the world with 
 a bereaved heart, in which glory was effaced by 
 grief! He is said to have attended on the fair 
 object of his affection with the greatest tender- 
 ness during her illness, and having a peculiar 
 devotion to St. Martin, he had her buried with 
 great pomp in the church dedicated to that 
 Saint. 
 
 The wonderful solidity of this gigantic tower, 
 may account for its escaping the sieges and fires 
 which St. Martin had to undergo through se- 
 veral ages, since the first construction of the 
 church. It supports the fine bell, called by 
 the saint's name, which was founded in the 
 reign of Charles VII, who contributed five hun- 
 dred livres tournois to its expense. 
 
 From every point, at every distance, the glo- 
 rious Tour de Charlemagne looks out from its 
 nest of buildings, making all appear like pig- 
 mies near it, and adorning the scene, in all di- 
 rections, with its gigantic proportions. The Tour 
 St. Martin would astonish by its size, but for 
 its dominating neighbour, before which every 
 building sinks into insignificance. It is much
 
 THE MUSEE. 93 
 
 to be regretted that both stand in so bad a si- 
 tuation, surrounded by a mass of crowded, filthy 
 houses, as closely packed as possible, huddled 
 at their feet, as if seeking the protection which 
 they have too long found : if cleared away, and 
 the towers left free, a great object would be 
 attained, and these fine monuments appear in 
 all their grandeur, — a " consummation devoutly 
 to be wished ! " 
 
 The Musee, it must be confessed, is very bad. 
 I never remember to have seen so many exe- 
 crable copies collected together ; it appeared to 
 me the very triumph of bad taste, and I could 
 scarcely credit the evidence of my eyes, as I 
 looked from historical portrait to portrait, worthy 
 only of a sign-post, and remembered that I was 
 in the Musee die Departement d'lndre et Loire ! 
 
 Two enormous pictures, by M. le Comte de 
 Forbin, are, however, worthy of attention, not 
 only from the magnificence of their subjects, 
 but the breadth and boldness of their execution. 
 One represents ruins in Upper Egypt during the 
 inundation of the Nile, the waters and mys- 
 terious buildings illumined by the rising sun : 
 the colouring, design, and conception, are very 
 fine and imposing. And the same feeling per-
 
 94 THE MUSEE. 
 
 vades its gigantic companion, the ruin of Pal- 
 myra, — Tadmor in the Desert, — by sunset, with 
 Arabs attacking a caravan from Mecca. If these 
 two pictures were alone in the large, glaring, 
 ugly, ill-constructed, whitewashed room, which 
 serves as a gallery, they would redeem the dis- 
 grace, in some measure, of having such a room 
 at all ; but as it is filled with numbers of dread- 
 ful daubs, called, profanely, the works of all the 
 great masters of the arts, there is nothing to plead 
 the excuse of the authorities for expecting any 
 pictures to exist a month exposed to a burning 
 sun, reflected from the broad expanse of sand im- 
 mediately opposite the unshaded windows, which 
 look into a large square, all white stone, throw- 
 ing up a glare of light enough to fade the vi- 
 traux of St. Gatien. 
 
 The first time we visited this singular Musee, 
 it was crowded with all the blouses, and sabots, 
 and frocs, of the peasantry and military of the 
 place, who, though requested by the book of 
 the catalogue to present themselves d'une ma- 
 nure decente, did not appear to have paid much 
 attention to the hint. On our next visit we were 
 solitary in our observations, not an inhabitant 
 or visitor in Tours having thought it worth
 
 A MORNING WITH THE OLD BRIDGE. 95 
 
 while to mount the dusty staircase, and indulge 
 in the exhibition of geological treasures which 
 occupy an upper story, or gaze on the wonders 
 of art which the department has collected into 
 its bosom. One picture, said to be by Fre- 
 minet, a copy from Michael Angelo, though 
 it possesses not much interest as a painting, is 
 curious from having formerly belonged to Plessis 
 les Tours, where it fitted into a certain recess, 
 to effect which it had been cut on each of its 
 four sides. It would appear that respect and de- 
 votion to the arts is not the foible of the dwellers 
 on the banks of the Loire in Touraine. 
 
 The sun was shining with intense lustre, but 
 there was a fresh breeze ; we had had several 
 days' violent rain, which, together with the " mute 
 arbitress of tides," had combined to increase the 
 waters of the Loire, and give it some appearance 
 of a river. It ran sparkling along as if its sands 
 were of gold, and the waves liquid diamonds, 
 for nothing can equal their extreme purity, the 
 absence of mud preventing any turbid ap- 
 pearance : it flows like Al Cawthar, whose bed 
 is strewn with jewels, but it cannot boast of 
 the trees on its banks ! — however, such as they 
 were, we resolved to seek what shade they might
 
 96 A MORNING WITH THE OLD BRIDGE. 
 
 bestow, and we accordingly plunged into the 
 sands on the side of St. Symphorien, and waded 
 along till we reached the picturesque ruins of 
 the old bridge, and the sandy and sallowy Isle 
 du Vieux Pont. 
 
 Half buried in the accumulated sands, stand 
 several decayed arches of this picturesque ruin, 
 through which the distant buildings peep, like 
 pictures in perspective, and whose accidents of 
 foliage and weeds render it quite an artist's 
 study. 
 
 It owed its erection to Eudes II, fourteenth 
 hereditary Count of Touraine, in 1022, who, con- 
 trary to usual custom, allowed all passengers to 
 pass free of toll, taking all expense on himself, 
 as his sole motive in building it was the pre- 
 vention of the numerous accidents which were 
 constantly occurring in the passage of the Loire, 
 during the overflowings of the river. It existed 
 till 1780, when the new bridge was thrown open 
 to the public. It is to be greatly regretted that 
 the latter is in a state which threatens some 
 misfortune, as, for many years, more than one of 
 its pillars have been found to have sunk consider- 
 ably, a source existing beneath which was not 
 suspected at the time the bridge was built. It
 
 ISLAND OF ST. JACQUES. 97 
 
 would be mortifying enough for modern science 
 if this boasted work of art should be rendered 
 unserviceable in so short a time, when the 
 other, constructed in a barbarous period, lasted 
 upwards of seven centuries ! 
 
 After loitering about, making sketches of its 
 picturesque forms, for some time, we sauntered 
 along the island, anciently dedicated to St. 
 Jacques, and for several hours enjoyed the cool 
 freshness of the waters glittering close to our 
 feet, as we sat under the small stunted willows 
 and poplars by its brink. Nothing could be 
 more agreeable, and if the opposite banks had 
 presented a better aspect, — if the trees which 
 shaded us had been other than they were, and 
 the grass been less coarse and rough, — if, in 
 fact, we had been sitting on a willowy ait, 
 such as our own beautiful Thames presents, the 
 scene would have been quite perfect. Could we 
 have been transported on such an island, to the 
 coast opposite lovely Saumur, and have looked 
 on the vine-covered coteaux, and romantic rocks 
 which beautify its borders, we should have had 
 nothing to desire. We sat and amused our fan- 
 cies with these wishes, and in the mean time 
 gazed before us on the dark mass of the ca- 
 
 VOL. II. H
 
 98 CHARLES OF LORRAINE. 
 
 thedral, rising from the town it seems to pro- 
 tect, the roofs of St. Julien, gloomy and defaced, 
 the long formal row of poplars by the side of 
 the quay, and the remnants of the antique cha- 
 teau, now forming part of a plain, uninteresting 
 building, used as barracks. 
 
 All that exists of this once strong castle, are 
 two towers, one of which makes a good object 
 in this view ; it is called La Tour de Guise, 
 and is more modern than the rest of the chateau. 
 It derived its name from the circumstance of 
 Henri III. having, in 1588, confined in it Prince 
 Charles de Lorraine, eldest son of the Duke de 
 Guise (le Balafre), whom he had just caused to 
 be assassinated at Blois, with the Cardinal, his 
 brother. It would appear that, however guarded 
 by nature and art a prison may be, there is a 
 possibility of escaping from it ; for in somewhat 
 a similar manner as the Cardinal de Retz man- 
 aged to delude his gaolers at Nantes, the prince, 
 after being detained for two years, got away 
 by means of a rope which had been conveyed 
 to him, and which he fastened to the battle- 
 ments, and slid down by it from the top to 
 the bottom. In spite of the broad fosses which 
 then existed, and of course, numerous other ob-
 
 CHURCH OF ST. SYMPHORIEN. 99 
 
 stacles, he reached St. Avertin before his escape 
 was discovered, and from thence fled into Berry, 
 where he was able to join his partisans. 
 
 When we had enjoyed this cool retreat suf- 
 ficiently, and threaded all the windings of the 
 little sandy paths along the island, discovering 
 the haunts, not of naiads, but nymphs engaged 
 in such occupations as the royal maids of Homer 
 might beseem, namely, laving their garments 
 in the gushing stream, which went foaming and 
 sparkling over the stones and pebbles that 
 impeded its way, we turned our steps to the 
 opposite bank and explored the faubourg of St. 
 Symphorien, which has an air of great anti- 
 quity, though no beauty or picturesque effect 
 to recommend it. Its ruinous old church is, 
 however, very curious. The portal is elabo- 
 rately carved with the rudest and most gro- 
 tesque figures, amongst foliage and flowers, well 
 expressed : one favourite group amused us ex- 
 tremely, and appeared unique — an angel's head, 
 with an open mouth, from which issued a stream 
 received into a very commonplace-shaped jug 
 or pot, after trickling over what seemed a book 
 or an ornamented box ; in this pot were two 
 spoons : the whole composition is far more sin- 
 
 H 2
 
 100 HEURTE LOUP. 
 
 gular than elegant, but is frequently repeated 
 round the arches. It is remarkable, consider- 
 ing how much defaced great part of the facade 
 of this church is, that three saints, almost 
 unharmed, have kept their places under their 
 canopies, and are yet within reach of any de- 
 stroyer. 
 
 We crossed a dingy black-looking street, with 
 its ominous name of Heurte Loup, and mounted 
 the cote between long walls which enclose gar- 
 dens, and probably some good houses, but as 
 they were not visible, we could only conjecture 
 so. We toiled along with great perseverance, 
 being now convinced, that on reaching the sum- 
 mit of this stony rugged road, we should behold 
 a view which would repay us for our trouble 
 and redeem the character of the country; but 
 we found everywhere nothing but brick walls 
 hemming us in, or deep roads shut in by high 
 banks : occasionally a peep could bo obtained of 
 the towers of the cathedral opposite, but in an 
 instant another high brick wall snatched it away. 
 Thus we went on, still hoping and expecting, 
 and still disappointed ! There are, it must be 
 confessed, no walks in or about Tours ! 
 
 We had before tried the experiment of the
 
 THE TRANCHEE. 101 
 
 Tranchee, the broad road which is a continuation 
 of the bridge, and seems, seen from the Rue 
 Royale, to promise a view : we were told that 
 the buildings there were fine, and as, at a dis- 
 tance, they appeared so, we took it for granted, 
 and were not a little surprised to find a large 
 octagonal space surrounded with uninhabited 
 houses, half built and left to neglect, though 
 originally intended to have been handsome ; dirty 
 butchers' shops, such only as France can exhibit ! 
 and every description of slovenliness that could 
 annoy and disgust. 
 
 From this renowned Tranchee several roads 
 branch off in a star, and if it were really properly 
 arranged, the whole place might be handsome, 
 for the position is good, being the most elevated 
 near Tours, and terminating a long broad road, 
 which might be cut into terraces and made very 
 agreeable ; but if such was ever the intention 
 it was abandoned, and woe to the inexperienced 
 who, like us, embark in an attempt to walk be- 
 neath the trees, not poplars, on what we thought 
 was a pretty path, where, being once arrived, 
 we were compelled to remain, as the bank was 
 too steep to permit of our descending to the 
 preferable dusty road below. At distances, with-
 
 102 THE BRIDGE. 
 
 in high walls which shut out all but the roofs, 
 on the top of these banks are country-houses, 
 which must have good gardens, and, if there is 
 any view of the town, it may be there obtained. 
 
 After a most uninteresting half league of dirt 
 and dust, we rejoiced to find ourselves again on 
 the bridge, where the scorching sun was glowing 
 in full strength across the sandy waste below, 
 and the stony pile above. Oh ! this fatal and 
 finest of bridges ! whether the unwary traveller 
 is caught in rain, wind, or sun — and we expe- 
 rienced the delights of all — the arrival on the 
 wrong side of it from his hotel is to be deplored, 
 for it seems interminable, and instead of your 
 complaints exciting pity in the hearers of your 
 misadventures, you are doomed to listen to its 
 praises, and find you have only administered to 
 the pride of the Department in lamenting its 
 amazing expanse. When the Loire is in all its 
 glory, namely, in the winter, and a sharp wind 
 is blowing from the unsheltered shores, the de- 
 lights of crossing must be still more striking, 
 though we found it sufficiently s'o, with a brisk 
 wind driving columns of sand into our faces from 
 the exhaustless store below.
 
 103 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Plessis les Tours. — The old Husband. — The Towers. 
 Louis XI. — Balue.— Olivier le Dain. — Seven Sleepers. 
 Holy Balm. 
 
 here were several days of ori- 
 ental heat while we remained 
 at Tours; indeed, although we 
 had heard the climate much 
 praised, all we experienced of 
 it was an extraordinary and 
 sudden transition from extreme heat to intense 
 cold and wet. One evening, unrivalled in any 
 West India island for closeness, we sought the 
 Boulevards, where we were told all Tours re- 
 sorted to enjoy the cool air from the gardens, 
 and there, amongst loitering groups of soldiers 
 and labouring people, their day's task finished, 
 who represented the society of the town, as in 
 most other French cities, we learned how much
 
 104 PLESSIS. 
 
 more intense the heat might be on a terrace 
 which had all day been exposed to the sun's 
 rays, shut in as it is by houses and high banks, 
 even than in the streets, where the broad black 
 gutters threw up their steams, and announced 
 an approaching thunder storm, which was not 
 long in arriving. 
 
 There was one spot which we were very anx- 
 ious to visit, and finding that it was within a 
 short walk, we set out to indulge our wish by 
 paying our devoirs to Plessis les Tours. Cross- 
 ing the stony desert of the Champ de Mars, newly 
 planted with infant poplars, where no shade is to 
 be procured by any possible deviation from the 
 beloved straight lines, we entered upon the dusty 
 road which conducts to the famous chateau of 
 Louis XI. Of course we had not been a day 
 in Tours before we had procured Quentin Dur- 
 ward, a work which is looked upon as belonging 
 exclusively to this town, and which is produced 
 by every bookseller the instant a stranger of any 
 nation sets his foot in his shop. Full of re- 
 collections of the Scotch hero's adventures, we 
 formed all kinds of images of the mysterious 
 abode, which we were aware is now converted
 
 PLESSIS. 105 
 
 into a boarding house, and has been almost en- 
 tirely rebuilt. 
 
 Not far from the barrier is the village of 
 Plessis, whose vine-covered cottages make it al- 
 together rather pretty, as it is less slovenly than 
 usual in French villages ; but as there are no trees 
 in any direction save stunted elms, which can af- 
 ford but little shelter from the sun, we began 
 to find our walk anything but agreeable, and 
 paused by the side of a garden gate to recover 
 our strength. The cottage, garden, porch and 
 well before us immediately engaged our at- 
 tention. " This, then," we said, " shows the ef- 
 fect of prejudice ; we should have denied the 
 possibility of so much neatness and order being 
 met with in this laissez-aller region, if we had 
 not stumbled upon this charming little rural re- 
 treat ; but where in Kent or Surrey could be 
 found anything better arranged ? The neatly- 
 clipped hedge, the clean steps, the well-trained 
 vine over the well-painted trellis, the beds of 
 highly- cultivated picotees, the roses, dahlias, and 
 a world of flowers without the semblance of a 
 weed, all, in fact, that should make a fitting 
 abode for ' young Love,' or where a poet might 
 profess his wish ' blest to live and calm to die.' "
 
 106 THE OLD HUSBAND. 
 
 We had time to make these sentimental ob- 
 servations while unobserved by the mistress of 
 the house, but as soon as she perceived us, she 
 came forward with native politeness and in an 
 accent which was not altogether what we had 
 been accustomed to hear, invited us to walk in 
 and repose in a pretty arbour, which she pointed 
 out. We accepted her obliging offer, and began 
 instantly admiring her dwelling, when we dis- 
 covered that we were talking to almost a coun- 
 trywoman, and all the mystery was at an end. 
 
 She had lived the greatest part of her life in 
 England, having married a Mr. O'Brien, who 
 she told us she believed was an Englishman, when 
 very young, which might well be, for this hus- 
 band was fifty years older than herself. She 
 spoke of him with such deep affection, and of 
 England, that we were quite moved, and as we 
 seated ourselves in her beautiful little parlour, 
 and looked round on her handsome French furni- 
 ture, arranged with English neatness, we thought 
 the combination charming ; and as she busied 
 herself with the " house affairs," ,we speculated 
 on the probable income which supported this 
 pretty establishment in a cheap country. 
 
 After a time the widow returned to us and
 
 THE OLD HUSBAND. 107 
 
 renewed her commendations of her departed hus- 
 band. " Ah !" said she, " he was both a learned 
 and a good man, and I had a great loss in losing 
 him; however," she added, "my present hus- 
 band, who is reposing there" pointing to the next 
 room, " is equally good and kind, though he is a 
 Frenchman, and only thirty years older than my- 
 self." 
 
 We could not avoid laughing at this very 
 bizarre taste on her part, and hoped her present 
 lord was not ill. " Oh no," she answered, " but 
 the weather is hot, and as he is advanced in 
 years, I make him lie down a little before 
 dinner." 
 
 As we found their dinner was nearly ready, 
 and probably she delayed calling her antique 
 partner till we took our leave, we prepared to 
 continue our walk, having obtained from her 
 ready courtesy all the information necessary re- 
 specting the locality ; and with a bouquet of 
 the richest and most beautifully tinted picotees, 
 presented by our hostess with all the grace of 
 a Frenchwoman and the cordiality of England, 
 we bade her good morning, charmed with the 
 specimen she had given us of what a good ex- 
 ample can effect ; for evidently she was the cause
 
 108 TOWERS. 
 
 of the superior neatness we had observed in pass- 
 ing through Plessis. 
 
 There are several antique striped houses of 
 very early construction near the entrance to 
 the chateau, where now no pitfalls nor other 
 concealed dangers lurk to entrap the unwary 
 wanderer, as in the days of its gloomy master, 
 who must have chosen this site for his favourite 
 abode because of the advantages it offers for 
 observing an enemy a long way off, while it is 
 itself concealed by the flatness of its position ; of 
 the three moats, and the countless defences which 
 protected it in his time, not a vestige remains ; 
 indeed, except one tower with its little donjon 
 tourelle attached, there is nothing exteriorly 
 which indicates anything but a mere modern resi- 
 dence. In the interior, with the exception of the 
 staircase of the tower, a few passages, and one 
 or two chambers, all the immense and fearful 
 building has been swept away. This staircase 
 is, however, beautifully constructed, the steps 
 connecting themselves with the spindle, which 
 they ornament, with delicate ridges ; at the land- 
 ing-placos, the roof is finely carved with foliage, 
 and the staircase terminates in a beautiful um- 
 brella-shaped roof, from which hangs a richly-
 
 LOUIS XL 109 
 
 ornamented pendant. Attached to this tower 
 is a smaller one, whose narrow stair leads to an 
 apartment perched at the highest extremity of 
 the castle, and having little windows from which 
 a very extensive view of the level country for 
 leagues is obtained. In this tower, Charles VIII, 
 when Dauphin, was made to reside, kept little 
 better than a prisoner by his jealous father. It 
 is now the study of the master of the mansion, 
 a literary man, who is preparing a history of 
 Louis XI. We were amused to observe on 
 his table a French illustrated copy of Quentin 
 Durward beside a Sismondi and a modern and 
 ancient copy of the Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles. 
 
 This is certainly a delightful retreat for a 
 scholar, for, as there was no escape for the poor 
 prince, so is there difficult access to intruders, 
 and the author may feel himself quite safe in 
 his tonrette — provided, always, he is not obliged 
 to rouse himself to do the honours to some 
 " curious traveller." We had, however, no re- 
 morse, as M. Louyette was otherwise occupied, 
 and had delegated an English gentleman to ex- 
 plain all the wonders of his castle to us. 
 
 To build this royal chateau, Louis XL pur- 
 chased, in 1463, of Hardouin de Maille, the
 
 110 LOUIS XI. 
 
 lordship of Montils for the sum of one thousand 
 five hundred gold crowns, and constructed it 
 almost entirely of bricks in the midst of a park, 
 whose principal attraction was its vicinity to 
 the Cher. Water brought at great expense from 
 a spring on an opposite hill, and conducted be- 
 7ieath the river, supplied the fountains of the 
 castle courts. The chapel was fine, but exists no 
 longer. Here then lived, for some time, sur- 
 rounded with guards and defences, the morose 
 tyrant, who made every one tremble who ap- 
 proached him, whose cruelty knew no bounds, 
 whose duplicity was equalled only by his saga- 
 city, whose character the historian has justly 
 described as 
 
 Mauvais fils, mauvais pore, infidele nourri, 
 Frere unjuste, ingrat maistre, et dangereux ami. 
 
 Here he dwelt in constant terror of death, list- 
 ening to the ignorant or designing prognostics 
 of his physician, Jacques Cottier, who could make 
 the tyrant shiver with fear at his will ;* and here 
 
 * Comines relates, that so great was his confidence in this 
 man, that he gave him " en cinq mois cinquante quatre mille 
 ecus contans et l'Evesche d' Amiens pour son neveu et autres 
 offices et terres pour lui et ses amis :" he adds that " il lui
 
 BALUE. Ill 
 
 he directed that his tomb should be prepared, 
 giving, in spite of his parsimony, a thousand 
 crowns of gold, that due magnificence might 
 be exhibited in its decoration ; and here he 
 closed a life, useful to his country though odious 
 to the world, on the 30th of August 1483. His 
 body was solemnly deposited in the church of 
 St. Martin, and afterwards transferred, as he 
 had desired, to Notre Dame de Clery, where 
 a statue was erected to his memory. 
 
 It was in 1469 that the Cardinal Balue, con- 
 victed of having betrayed secrets of state to the 
 Duke of Bunmndv, was arrested, and confined 
 in a dungeon of this chateau. The Trou du 
 Cardinal is still shown, but it has lost all its 
 terrors, for not only is it entered by a pretty 
 pavilion in the garden, but a new flight of 
 steps, and a new entrance, leads to it, the an- 
 cient ones being destroyed. As there is in the 
 cell a very large chimney-piece, over which is 
 the salamander of Francois I., it appears to 
 me to be an error to suppose it ever was 
 the prison ; because it was occupied by many 
 
 etoit si rude qu'on ne diroit point a un valet les outrageuses et 
 rudes paroles qu'il lui disoit, et si le craignoit tant le dit seig- 
 neur qu'il ne l'eut ose envoyer hors d'avec lui."
 
 112 OLIVER LE DAIN. 
 
 a merry party of the guards of the generous 
 king, who would scarcely have been likely to 
 choose a dungeon for a guard-room ; and besides, 
 it is not sufficiently deep underground. I sus- 
 pect the real prison-house was far beneath, to 
 judge by the aspect of the undoubted dungeon 
 of Balue, at Loches, which we afterwards saw. 
 
 Either here, or near the spot, at all events, 
 the miserable man languished out nine wretched 
 years, pent, like a wild beast, in that iron cage 
 whose celebrity is so fearfully known. 
 
 After the death of Louis, his successor, Charles 
 VIII. soon abandoned a castle of which he had 
 so many disagreeable recollections, in addition to 
 which his eldest son died there at the age of 
 three years. 
 
 In the great salle of Plessis les Tours the 
 States General conferred on Louis XI. the ho- 
 nourable title of Father of his People, which 
 posterity has since confirmed. The " mad fa- 
 natic," St. Francois de Paule, whom he had 
 invited from Calabria, expired here in 1507, 
 after which no further mention is made in his- 
 tory of the castle, except on the occasion of 
 the interview between Henry III. and Henry 
 IV. in 1589.
 
 OLIVIER LE DAIN. 
 
 113 
 
 Leaving the castle, we proceeded, as directed, 
 across some fields, and saw, at a distance, an ex- 
 traordinary congeries of buildings, of all forms, 
 amongst the irregular roofs of which rose a long, 
 slight, and very antique-looking tower, behind 
 which, partly built into a roof, appeared another 
 of unequal height. A gable end to part off 
 this mass had the appearance of a church wall, 
 and, as we approached nearer, we found that 
 we had reached that object of which we were 
 in search, namely, the house of Olivier le Dain. 
 Not only is the house curious in itself, but, 
 by a singular coincidence, adjoining to it is still 
 
 VOL. II. I
 
 114 OLIVIER LE DAIN. 
 
 an hotel, or, rather, cabaret, not bearing the 
 title of the Fleur-de-Lis, as at the period when 
 Maister Pierre conducted Quentin thither, but 
 still a house of entertainment, where we saw 
 soldiers sitting drinking. So wild and strange is 
 the place that it would not seem an unfitting 
 scene, even now, for some of the acts of Olivier 
 le Diable, and we regretted that the style of 
 the inmates did not permit us to enter and ex- 
 plore. Conveniently situated without the walls 
 of the chateau, the wily barber could here rea- 
 dily receive his master's visits, and prowl about 
 unobserved in the town and neighbourhood, col- 
 lecting information everywhere, to be detailed 
 to the fearful ear of the bigot and tyrant who 
 condescended to employ such an instrument. 
 This worthy he afterwards made governor of 
 Loches ! There are still some remains of orna- 
 ment on the arches, and great appearance of 
 strength in the entrance of this house. It ap- 
 pears to have been surrounded by a moat, but 
 there are so many little gardens, and sheds, and 
 cottages crowded round the towers that it is 
 very difficult to trace its original dimensions. 
 
 Of the once- celebrated Abbey of Marmoutier, 
 which held such unbounded sway over Touraine,
 
 MARMOUTIER. 115 
 
 and was one of the richest and most renowned 
 in France, scarcely a vestige remains, and it 
 is probable that, in a short time, not even the 
 walls which can now be traced, will exist, as it 
 has long been employed as a manufactory, and 
 the ground on which it stands is advertised to 
 be sold for building. So important was this 
 monastery, erected in the first age of Chris- 
 tianity, that its history is attached to most of 
 the leading events in France, and even of Eu- 
 rope. About the year 370, St. Martin, the 
 worthy bishop of Tours, founded Marmoutier, 
 with the view of educating, under his own care, 
 ministers worthy of enlightening the people, at 
 that period plunged in the depths of idolatry; 
 and, in a short time, so great was the reputation 
 of these pious men, that most of the churches 
 of France, and of the neighbouring states, sought 
 to obtain directors from this celebrated convent. 
 From age to age, the monks went on, obtaining 
 from kings and popes the most important pri- 
 vileges. William the conqueror and his wife 
 Matilda were their great benefactors, and every 
 succeeding monarch, both Norman and French, 
 delighted to load them with benefits : and the 
 fleur-de-lis and the leopard appeared in the arms 
 
 i 2
 
 116 MARMOUTIER. 
 
 of the convent with the mitre, the cross, and 
 the keys. 
 
 This abbey lost nothing of its splendour under 
 the sway of its abbes co?nmendataires, among whom 
 may be cited the Cardinals of Lorraine, de la 
 Rochefoucauld, de Joyeuse, de Berulle, and de 
 Richelieu. The latter divided his attention be- 
 tween the cares of the government of France, 
 and that of the community confided to him : 
 he re-established its discipline, and attached to 
 it, in 1638, the monks of the learned congre- 
 gation of St. Maur. It was at this period, more 
 exclusively, that might be justly applied to this 
 establishment the name of grand Monastere, 
 or, in old French, Maire-Moatier : the new in- 
 mates caused it to be rebuilt with magnificence. 
 The chapters general of the order were held 
 there every three years, and no other, but that 
 of Cluny, possessed so many nominations, or en- 
 joyed so ample a revenue. Louis de Bourbon, 
 Comte de Clermont, the last abbe commenda- 
 taire, in 1740, resigned his command, and the 
 archbishopric of Tours, with the consent of Louis 
 XV. and Pope Clement XII. assumed it. All 
 its rights, spiritual and temporal, were confided, 
 after that time, to a grand prior.
 
 MARMOUTIER. 117 
 
 At the time of the destruction of all religious 
 establishments, this abbey had reached an extra- 
 ordinary degree of splendour. A line of build- 
 ings connected with it extended from the sum- 
 mit of the coteau to the banks of the Loire, 
 in a succession of sumptuous edifices, of various 
 ages of architecture, so that it had the effect, 
 at a distance, of a whole city; and the high 
 walls which surrounded it, decorated with antique 
 battlements, recalled the times of old, when every 
 castle was a fortress, and every town a place of 
 war. 
 
 But all the memories attached to its name, 
 the saint whose bones reposed there, the long- 
 list of illustrious men who had distinguished 
 it for learning and piety, nothing had power to 
 defend this venerable pile from the general pro- 
 scription, and all that the hand of time had 
 spared for ages, the hand of man destroyed ; 
 of all those wondrous walls, only a mass of 
 ruin remained, and by degrees these were re- 
 moved, till scarcely a vestige can be traced. 
 The few walls were, till lately, used as a brewery, 
 and probably, in a few years or months, the glori- 
 ous monastery of Marmoutier will be a mere 
 tradition.
 
 118 SEVEN SLEEPERS. 
 
 Fancy alone can now image the Repos de St. 
 Martin, a retreat where the holy bishop used 
 to meditate in silence and prayer, and consider 
 the great duties of his office of instructor to 
 those under his charge: or trace, in the rock, 
 that famous chapel founded in 845, in honour 
 of the Seven Sleepers. 
 
 Gregory of Tours recounts that twenty-five 
 years after the death of St. Martin, seven of 
 the monks of Marmoutier, to whom the bishop 
 had announced their approaching end, fell on 
 a sudden into a lethargic sleep, which, unac- 
 companied by any of the symptoms of disso- 
 lution, became eternal. For seven days their 
 bodies were kept in this state, at the end of 
 which time they were reverently placed in a 
 grotto in the mountain, where they were ex- 
 posed to the veneration of the pious, until the 
 period of the destruction of Marmoutier by the 
 Normans. In memory of this event, the third 
 dignitary of the abbey bore the title of Prior 
 of the Seven Sleepers. 
 
 In speaking of Marmoutier, the Sainte Am- 
 poule, of great renown, must not be passed over 
 unnoticed. This holy balm was brought by an
 
 HOLY BALM. 119 
 
 angel from Heaven, express, in order to be ap- 
 plied to the bruises of Saint Martin, who had 
 fallen in his cell and was much injured. It 
 was always, as so precious a remedy deserved, 
 preserved with great care, and on the occasion 
 of the coronation of Henri IV. at Chartres, in 
 1594, this holy oil was called into requisition, 
 and administered to that most Catholic King, in 
 consequence of the legitimate Ampoule of Rheims 
 not being available, owing to that town being in 
 the power of the League. 
 
 Great ceremony was observed in removing this 
 precious unction from Marmoutier, and the city 
 of Tours entered into a solemn engagement to 
 restore it safely to the abbey. 
 
 The King, in testimony of his gratitude, and 
 impressed, of coarse, with the utmost reverence 
 for the miraculous treasure, independently of his 
 subordinate pleasure in the triumph obtained 
 over his foes, on returning it, added a rich 
 emerald, which became henceforth attached to 
 the Sainte Ampoule until 1791, when the de- 
 puties of this department thought fit to present 
 it as an offering to Louis XVI. 
 
 The timber-work of the church, and the magni-
 
 120 LAST RELICS. 
 
 ficent staircase of the abbey, were remarkable 
 for their great perfection, and seemed rather 
 fitted for the abode of a mighty sovereign, than 
 the retreat of humble monks. These were the 
 last relics allowed to remain after the general 
 destruction ; but all is now entirely swept away.
 
 121 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Jocose Friend. — Mont Louis. — Roche Corbon. — Mon- 
 contour. — Amboise. — Chenonceau. — Diana and Catherine. 
 — Parallel. — Louise de Vaudemont. — The Cher. — Rous- 
 seau. — Rabelais. — The Grounds. 
 
 ow could we resist our land- 
 lady's offer of a basket of 
 the famous plums of Tours, 
 although this year they, like 
 all other fruit in this part 
 of the country, were far from 
 good ? We accepted them with many thanks, 
 and having secured places in the coupe to Am- 
 boise, we prepared for our departure. 
 
 In the morning we were disturbed by an un- 
 usual noise in the court-yard of the inn, round 
 which the tower-shaped buildings of the antique 
 house extended, connected in one part by & flying 
 corridor on the exterior, which had a singular 
 effect. We looked out and saw all the inmates,
 
 122 THE JOCOSE FRIEND. 
 
 servants as well as visitors, assembled on the steps, 
 and in the passages opposite, occupied in observ- 
 ing the uproarious movements of an enormous 
 heavy Norman horse, on which was mounted a 
 traveller with his valise, evidently about to depart 
 on a journey ; but just as he was soberly enough 
 quitting the yard, a jocose friend had been seized 
 with a sudden desire to accompany him part of 
 his way, and without announcing his intention, 
 had tout d'un coup sprung up behind him, and 
 was endeavouring to hold on in spite of the 
 curvettings and plungings of the indignant steed, 
 who was not, it appeared, antiquarian enough to 
 relish this revival of the Templar mode of tra- 
 velling. Shouts of laughter, screams, and clap- 
 ping of hands, accompanied every movement of 
 the trio ; and nothing certainly could be more 
 ludicrous than the whole set-out, more especially 
 the delight expressed in all the eager counte- 
 nances watching the event as if it had been some 
 of the humours of Punch. After a considerable 
 time, in which no struggles were spared on every 
 side, the horse got the better, the ** funny friend " 
 was un c eated, and the traveller rode clattering 
 out of the court, followed by the shouts of the 
 audience.
 
 MONT LOUIS. 123 
 
 A calm immediately ensued, as is always the 
 custom with the French, whose spirits, like their 
 champagne, rise and subside with the same ra- 
 pidity ; all returned to the occupations they 
 had left, the servants to their work, the mis- 
 tress to her calculations, the chef to his fire, the 
 visitors to their dejeuner, and the dogs to their 
 kennels, and then it was possible to obtain an 
 audience of some of the members of the estab- 
 lishment, whose ministry we required to transport 
 our baggage to the church of St. Julien, where, 
 in due time, we entered our diligence, and quit- 
 ting the beautiful aisles and graceful roof, we 
 followed half a dozen other vehicles, all starting 
 at the same time, and took our way towards 
 Amboise, having quitted Tours not more than 
 an hour and a half after the time named, a cus- 
 tom as common here as in Normandy. 
 
 The road is flat and uninteresting for some 
 distance out of Tours, but begins to improve at 
 Mont Louis, a long village, formerly famous for 
 the convocation of bishops called here by Henry 
 II. in order to reconcile him to Thomas a Becket, 
 who very shortly after this was murdered. Here 
 again begin the mysterious caves which had be- 
 fore so much surprised us, and by degrees the
 
 124 ROCHE CORBON. 
 
 beauties which we trembled to have lost came 
 back upon our path. The Escalier St. George, 
 connecting the valley with the hills, came out in 
 picturesque effect; the Chateau de Rougemont, 
 crowning the height above Marmoutier, of the 
 materials of which it is built, was glowing in the 
 setting sun ; and the isolated Lanterne de Roche 
 Corbon darted suddenly up into the stormy sky 
 from its base of rocks on the opposite bank of 
 the still sand-encumbered Loire, as if pointing 
 to the approaching thunder clouds. This quad- 
 rangular pillar is a very striking object rising 
 from a confused mass of antique and tottering 
 walls, which, with the rudely piled rocks that 
 support them, seem threatening to fall and further 
 choke up the river. These are all the redes of 
 the Chateau des Roches possessed at the end of 
 the tenth century by Corbon, the first Lord of 
 Touraine, who employed in his titles the formula, 
 " Par la grace de Dieu," — " moi, Corbon, par la 
 grace de Dieu, vassal du Seigneur et Seigneur 
 moi-m6me," and who gave his name to the castle. 
 Robert, his grandson, in 1095 built the pillar- 
 like tower now remaining, for the purpose, it is 
 conjectured, of communicating by signals with 
 the tower of Amboise.
 
 AMBOISE. 125 
 
 Moncontour, though not historically interest- 
 ing, has its effect in the picture; and the wild 
 shores and islands continually occurring, co- 
 vered with a thick growth of willows, looked 
 romantic and strange amidst the changing light 
 which illumined them. Before we reached Am- 
 boise the rain had become incessant, and a dense 
 grey mist shut out the opposite banks as if a veil 
 had been cast over them ; we could only observe 
 that, as the shore rises on one side it uni- 
 formly sinks on the other, which gives constant 
 variety and liveliness to the scene : the narrow 
 stream, which is all the Loire allows here, was 
 sometimes visible on one side and sometimes on 
 the other, now broader and fuller, and now dimin- 
 ishing almost to a thread along its broad bed of 
 sand. 
 
 We were most happy in being driven to the 
 Boule d'Or at Amboise, where we arrived in the 
 rain and dark, and crossed a moat to the court- 
 yard, at one side of which, in the indistinct light, 
 we observed a huge round tower, and imagined 
 we were entering the chateau itself. All was 
 neatness and cleanliness in the hotel, and civi- 
 lity and empresscment from the young hostess, 
 who assured us her husband, who was himself
 
 126 AMBOISE. 
 
 chef, had come from Paris, and was au fait at 
 any description of cookery. We had no reason, 
 from the refinement of his manners, to doubt 
 that he had come from the capital, but as the 
 mere air of Paris does not make cooks, in that 
 particular he might as well have never left the 
 towers of Amboise. However, good will made up 
 for other deficiencies, and good beds, which it 
 is rare in France not to find, made us perfectly 
 content, particularly when, on opening our win- 
 dow the next morning, we saw immediately be- 
 fore us the identical tower of which we had a 
 glimpse in the evening, and which was built 
 into a series of sheds used for coach-houses, kept 
 perfectly clean, and exhibiting the strangest com- 
 bination of domestic architecture it is possible 
 to conceive. Beyond the roofs of the opposite 
 house, but extremely near, the high majestic 
 tower and belfry of St. Florentin's church ap- 
 peared ; and there were the moat and bridge 
 which we had crossed on entering, and beyond, 
 a lofty range of fine trees, which form the bou- 
 levard next the river, and make a charming walk. 
 As the morning was brilliant and balmy, and the 
 weather was so uncertain, we resolved, before we 
 indulged ourselves in exploring Amboise— which
 
 CHENONCEAU. 127 
 
 promised much, and reminded us of our regretted 
 and favourite Saumur, from its situation and 
 its heights, — to take a carriage and set out for 
 Chenonceau, that object of so much interest and 
 curiosity to all strangers. 
 
 Chenonceau is four leagues from Amboise, and 
 the drive is beautiful: we passed the Obelisque 
 of Chanteloup, proposing to visit that admired 
 spot on another occasion, and pursued our way, 
 in a very clean, easy vehicle — a circumstance 
 worthy of record — through the ancient monastic- 
 looking village of St. Croix. From this bourg 
 the road turns off from that leading to Bler£, 
 and the cross-road commenced, which is very 
 good, beiug direct to Montrichard, and much 
 frequented. Here began the most delicious 
 scenery of a simple and rural character; on one 
 side thymy coteaux, occasionally rocky, with 
 myriads of caves, inhabited as usual ; on the other, 
 a wide expanse of vineyard of the rich black 
 grape, now approaching to perfection, the leaves 
 changing to brilliant crimson and purple from 
 their former vivid green, and the thick heavy 
 clusters hanging down to the earth, which seemed 
 all laden with the abundant harvest. Beautiful 
 orroves of trees succeeded, the chestnuts most
 
 128 CHENONCEAU. 
 
 luxuriant and lovely, and light and graceful 
 foliage on each side of the road, which seemed 
 like a drive in a private park. 
 
 At a neat, but rather precipitous village, we 
 heard the sound of music, and presently came 
 up with a very gay and numerous wedding pro- 
 cession, preceded by fiddles. The bride's cap 
 was ornamented with a garland of orange-flowers 
 and silver ribbon ; the bridegroom had a large 
 silver rosette with long floating ends fixed on 
 his breast, and all the party carried magnificent 
 bouquets : every one was in full costume and 
 scrupulously new and clean ; they walked in pairs 
 to the primitive looking church, where our driver 
 passed them rather unceremoniously, not appa- 
 rently enjoying the loitering pace at which we 
 had made him proceed; perhaps he had some 
 deeper motive, for he evidently regarded the 
 ceremony with impatience, and we therefore set 
 him down as a disappointed swain. The approach 
 to the chateau of Chenonceau is by a long avenue 
 of young trees, and although its modern effect 
 a little destroys the ideas rising in the mind on 
 nearing the Castle of Diana, it is nevertheless 
 pretty. By degrees a few towers rise on the 
 view, and presently you come in sight, of the
 
 CHENONCEAU. 129 
 
 beautiful building somewhat obscured at this 
 point by the enormous detached antique tower 
 that guards it, and which seems to have lost 
 a brother which should answer it on the other 
 side. 
 
 The castle has been built at various periods, 
 and is the only one in the department of Indre 
 and Loire which remains entire with all its re- 
 collections fresh about it. Its origin may be 
 traced to the thirteenth century, when it was 
 only a simple manor-house belonging to a family 
 of Auvergne. A descendant of this family, Jean 
 Marques, sold it about the end of the fifteenth 
 century to Thomas Boyer, mayor of Tours in 
 1497, and general of finance in Normandy. 
 Boyer may be considered as the true founder of 
 Chenonceau, which he built in the centre of the 
 river Cher, with a magnificence truly regal. His 
 cipher and devices are to be seen on the entrance 
 tower, on the walls, and in the chapel of the 
 chateau. Here this great financier had frequently 
 the honour of receiving the king and court, on 
 occasion of the many hunting excursions in which 
 they indulged. His son, who is represented as 
 vain and frivolous, thinking to secure the royal 
 favour, offered Chenonceau to the Duchesse de 
 
 VOL. II. K
 
 130 DIANA AND CATHERINE. 
 
 Valentinois, who was extremely desirous of pos- 
 sessing it. From this period it became a royal 
 residence, and the beautiful Diana its presiding 
 genius. She built the bridge over the Cher to 
 accommodate her royal lover when he returned 
 from hunting in the forest of Loches, and la- 
 vished all the resources of her taste and genius 
 to render this abode delightful and unique. 
 
 Although for some time Diana enjoyed with 
 her lover the creations of her fancy, and must 
 have passed some of the most delightful years 
 of her life here, she was not destined to con- 
 tinue its mistress ; but, being in a manner com- 
 pelled to exchange it with her rival the Queen, 
 on the death of Henri II, for the chateau of 
 Chaumont on the Loire, Catherine resolved to 
 outdo all that had been done before, and to make 
 the long-triumphant favourite forgotten in her 
 superior magnificence. 
 
 Although, as far as regards the worth of either 
 of these celebrated women, there is probably 
 little to choose between the cruel, vindictive, 
 unnatural, and bigoted Catherine, and the no 
 less bigoted and persecuting Diana, who per- 
 haps in hypocrisy alone excelled her rival, since, 
 though unfaithful to her husband, she could erect
 
 PARALLEL. 131 
 
 to his memory a magnificent tomb, on which 
 she is herself represented weeping as a Mag- 
 dalen, but carried on the farce to the end of 
 wearing widow's mourning while she was openly 
 living with the husband of another: in spite 
 of this, the recollection of the fascinating mis- 
 tress bears the belle over that of the " Jesabel,"* 
 whose name is another word for wickedness ; and 
 at Chenonceau, the frail beauty is more inte- 
 resting than the harsh queen. 
 
 * After the massacre of St. Bartholomew, the following 
 lines were stuck up in every part of France : 
 
 L'on demande la convenance 
 De Catherine et Jesabel, 
 L'une reine d'Israel, 
 L'autre reine de la France. 
 L'une etoit de malice extreme, 
 Et l'autre est la malice meme ; 
 En fin le jugement est tel 
 
 Par une vengeance divine, 
 Les chiens mangerent Jesabel, 
 
 La charogne de Catherine, 
 Sera different en ce point, 
 Car les chiens n'en voudront point ! 
 
 The murders that Catherine is accused of, with too great 
 probability, are a fearful list : — Queen Jane of Navarre ; her 
 own son, Charles IX ; the Vidame de Chartres ; the Secretary 
 Lomenie ; Du Guast, favourite of Henri III ; and others, 
 ad infinitum.
 
 132 LOUISE DE VAUDEMONT. 
 
 More worthy, though perhaps insignificant in 
 character, is the widow of her favourite son, 
 the infamous and vicious Henri III. Poor 
 Louise de Vaudemont retired to this place after 
 the murder of her husband, whom she could 
 regret ! and spent the remainder of her sad 
 life in sorrow, and acts of what to her seemed 
 piety. The chambers she principally occupied 
 have still the sombre character she imprinted 
 on them, and her grey and black ornaments 
 are still preserved. One can feel but little 
 sympathy in her grief for a wretch so degraded 
 as her husband, who was so universally detested 
 by his subjects, that when Clement's crime had 
 extinguished his hateful existence, so great was 
 the general joy that the people put on green 
 mourning, la livre'e des fous, and Madame de 
 Montpensier, the daughter of the murdered 
 Duke de Guise, distributed green scarfs to all, 
 openly rejoicing in the event ; feux de joie were 
 made, also, everywhere. The preachers called 
 Clement a martyr, who died to deliver France 
 from a tyrant. It was the custom to express 
 public opinion by verses, which were posted in 
 different parts ; the following, not remarkable
 
 LOUISE DE VAUDEMONT. 133 
 
 for their poetical merit, were read by all the 
 populace of Paris : 
 
 Un jeune Jacobin, nomme Jacques Clement, 
 Dans le. bourg de St. Cloud une lettre presente 
 A Henri de Valois et vertueussement 
 Un couteau fort pointu dans l'estomac lui plante. 
 
 Louise de Vaudemont applied to Henri IV. 
 that an investigation of the murder should take 
 place, for several persons of the highest rank 
 did not attempt to conceal their participation; 
 but Henri judged it best for all parties to let 
 it rest, and Clement alone was the sacrifice, as 
 he deserved to be. 
 
 Over the chimney of the room of Louise is 
 the inscription Scevi monumenta doloris. The 
 tapestry of the chamber was black, strewed 
 with tears in white, but is now replaced by 
 grey and black. The compartments of the ceil- 
 ing are, however, the same as in her time, 
 black and grey, elegantly carved ; the canopy 
 is of black velvet, and is of a remarkably beau- 
 tiful form, the cushions grey and black bro- 
 cade, with H and L interlaced, though all is 
 not the original furniture; some of it has been 
 carefully copied and reproduced, and the effect
 
 134 CHENONCEAU. 
 
 is singularly triste and solemn. The room is 
 in one of the towers looking to the Cher, and 
 the little library adjoining was her oratory; it 
 is fitted up with choice books, and contains 
 some curious pictures, and is the prettiest boudoir 
 study in the world. 
 
 It was at Chenonceau that Henri IV. paid 
 a visit to Louise de Vaudemont, to inform her 
 of the project of marriage between her relation, 
 Mademoiselle de Mercoeur with Cesar de Ven- 
 dome, the eldest of his children by Gabrielle. 
 This union was celebrated at Angers, and the 
 queen dowager gave up to the young people, 
 after her death, the right to Chenonceau. Thus 
 it passed into the family of Vendome, afterwards 
 into that of Conde, by whom it was sold to M. 
 Dupin, a fermier-general ; it is still the pro- 
 perty of one of his descendants, M. le Comte 
 de Villeneuve. 
 
 During the retreat of the melancholy Louise, 
 the chateau became almost a religious establish- 
 ment ; at least, a part of it was arranged for 
 the monks of the severe order of Capuchins, 
 whom she had invited, and that portion was se- 
 parated from the rest by a drawbridge : after her 
 death these monks established at Tours the con-
 
 PALIZZI. 135 
 
 vent of Capuchins, which formerly existed on 
 the Place d'Aumont. 
 
 Quels souvenirs divers, consacres d'age en age 
 Viennent s'offrir a nous dans ces lieux enchanteurs ! 
 C'est ici que d'un roi, fixant le tendre hommage, 
 Diane, a cinquante ans enchainait tous les coeurs ; 
 De son pouvoir long-temps rivale malheureuse, 
 Medici y formait ses coupables projets ! 
 Du foible Henri Trois l'epouse vertueuse 
 Y vint ensevelir ses douloureux regrets. 
 
 These verses have the merit of giving a picture 
 in little of this abode of celebrated women. 
 
 After pausing to admire the large tower which 
 you are informed was built " par les Anglois," 
 an universal resource when a date is unknown, 
 the portal and exterior walls of which are finely 
 ornamented with the initials T. B.* introduced 
 frequently, and with additional decorations of the 
 time of Francis I, you are conducted through a 
 row of fine orange trees up the handsome flight 
 of steps by which you cross the third moat, which 
 leads to the principal entrance, where an enor- 
 mous salamander, in stone, sprawls above the 
 
 * The singular and somewhat inexplicable device of M. 
 Boyer the financier of Charles VIII. and his two successors, 
 which may be found everywhere, is, Sil vient a point, il men 
 aoverra (souviendra).
 
 136 PALIZZI. 
 
 door, which is, however, fine and massive. You 
 enter a somewhat gloomy but grand vaulted hall, 
 the walls of which are covered with warlike tro- 
 phies, and at the extremity, a gigantic gilded 
 salamander writhes in golden flames: the con- 
 stant recurrence of this device, and on a large 
 scale, is tedious, and the taste rather question- 
 able. Chambers succeed each other all filled 
 with furniture, tapestry, decorations, marbles, 
 pictures, each called by the name of the par- 
 ticular person who occupied the suite. Francis 
 I. has several dedicated to him, and most in- 
 teresting : his devices and crowned F, being 
 embroidered on the rich satin chairs, sofas, and 
 hangings ; the tables round covered with an- 
 tiques and delicate works of art, collected by 
 himself, and arranged in these identical places. 
 The enamels of Leonard de Limoges, a favourite 
 enameller of Francis, who gave him the direc- 
 tion of the fabrique at Limoges, appear in pro- 
 fusion, together with the exquisite works of that 
 original genius Bernard Palizzi,* to whom the 
 
 * Bernard Palizzi has been, by some, erroneously consider- 
 ed as the first Frenchman who discovered the art of enamel- 
 ling on china ; but though he may not lay claim to the in- 
 vention, the great perfection to which he brought the art,
 
 PALIZZI. 137 
 
 invention of enamelling on china, in France, is 
 generally allowed ; at least, a particular sort which 
 occurs frequently among the treasures of Che- 
 nonceau, many of which are to be found in the 
 
 gives him as high renown as though he had. He was born 
 in the Agenois, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, of 
 poor parents, and till nearly forty years of age followed the 
 profession of a land surveyor, and the occupation of painting 
 on glass, and fabricating pottery : living at Saintes with his 
 numerous family, occupied with chemical experiments, and 
 observing the wonders of natural history, with no guide or 
 instructor but nature and his talents, when, in 1539, as he 
 relates, the sight of a round enamelled earthen cup disturbed 
 his whole existence. This cup was, doubtless, the production 
 of some chemical artist of Ravenna, or Faenza ; the fine 
 enamelled sculptures of the brothers della Robbia had al- 
 ready obtained celebrity in Florence and all Italy. No sooner 
 did he behold this marvel of art, than he resolved to perform 
 something equal or superior to it, and for that purpose devoted 
 the whole energies of his genius to accomplish the desired 
 object. F "or fifteen long years he strove to overcome all the 
 difficulties that beset him, contending with poverty and care ; 
 and became so reduced by application and anxiety, that his 
 body appeared a perfect skeleton. All the reputation he then 
 acquired was that of a madman, who was ruining his family, 
 committing all kinds of strange acts, such as burning his 
 furniture, even to the planks of his house, and consuming 
 his life by inches in order to be able to colour bits of clay 
 in the Italian manner ! It was about this same period, 1546, 
 that Cellini was acting in a somewhat similar manner at 
 Florence, when he cast ail his two hundred vessels of brass,
 
 138 PALIZZI. 
 
 museums of Paris, and more particularly at that 
 emporium of all that is curious and interesting 
 
 no doubt covered with the elaborate work of years, into the 
 furnace, in order to secure the success of his immortal statue 
 of Perseus ! 
 
 So resolute was Palizzi that his work should be worth its 
 price, that, in spite of threats and remonstrances, he threw 
 back into the furnace a part which he considered but half 
 successful, and, having done so, reflected with deep sadness 
 on the exhausted resources of his family, and his want of 
 success. With the most liberal candour he relates, in his 
 own memoirs, all the means he took, and warns others to 
 avoid his mistakes ; his great desire being, that his discovery 
 should be useful to his countrymen. 
 
 It was, doubtless, during this forced interruption to his 
 attempts, that having resumed his occupation, of surveyor and 
 glass painter, he executed, for the chateau of Ecouen, then 
 building, the fine windows of the Psyche and the arabesques 
 after the designs of il Rosso ; and at this period became known 
 to the Constable Anne de Montmorency, then all powerful, 
 for whom he painted, at a later time, some fine pictures on 
 china, and the magnificent flooring of Ecouen. The protec- 
 tion of the Constable saved his life when he was condemned 
 to be burnt as a heretic, in 1560, and he went to Paris, where 
 he established himself under the title of " Inverdeur des rus- 
 tiques figulines du roi, de la reine mere el du connetable de 
 Montmorency" He was lodged in the Tuileries, from whence 
 he is frequently called Bernard des Tuileries. Catherine de 
 Medici seems, as well as her sons, to have afforded him her 
 protection ; his chemical knowledge seems to have been as 
 distinguished as his talent for painting in this peculiar style,
 
 PAL1ZZI. 139 
 
 in art, connected with the middle ages, the 
 valuable musee of the Hotel Cluny. 
 
 The peculiar style to which I allude, is the 
 
 and he gave courses of lectures in Paris on these subjects, 
 the first ever established. Voltaire turns them, most unjustly, 
 into ridicule, and treats him as a charlatan, and a visionary, 
 in which he is not borne out by fact. 
 
 It would appear that he owed to his reputation, or to the 
 relenting humour of Charles IX, his preservation on the fatal 
 eve of St. Bartholomew. 
 
 His great and unassisted acquirements in many branches 
 of science, gained him the respect and consideration of all, 
 and his noble and honest character, and the justness of his 
 views, made him numerous friends ; although it is remarkable 
 that he was bold in asserting his religious opinions at a time 
 when persecution was at its height, and in waging war with 
 the professors of the false science of astrology, alchemy, witch- 
 craft, &c, then held in such esteem. This conduct of course 
 attracted the malice of many interested persons, and he was 
 accordingly arrested in 1588, by order of the Seize, and he must 
 have fallen a victim but for the Due de Mayenne, who had 
 him shut up in the Bastile, where he died, in 1589, aged 
 ninety. His reply to Henri III. who came to him in prison, 
 is worthy of his life. " My good friend," said the king, " if 
 you do not accommodate yourself a little to necessity in matters 
 of religion, I am constrained to leave you in the hands of your 
 enemies ;" to which he heroically replied, " Sire, I was already 
 prepared to give my life for the glory of God ; if I had felt 
 any regret at doing so, all would at once have disappeared 
 when I heard so great a king pronounce the words, '/ am con- 
 strained! It is what you, sire, nor any of those who constrain 
 you, could never effect on me, for I know how to die."
 
 140 ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 representation, in high relief, of reptiles, swim- 
 ming or crawling, in vases and plateaux, which, 
 filled with water, appear, on the slightest mo- 
 tion, to be endowed with life. The brilliant 
 colours of this china, its foliage, the scales of 
 its fish, snakes, and lizards, and the flowers and 
 weeds round them are all admirable, though 
 not particularly pleasing, perhaps, on a dinner 
 table. 
 
 Venice glasses, painted and enamelled, are 
 also seen, and the carved cabinets are of the 
 finest order. There are several pieces of tapes- 
 try, and some pictures which, from the costume, 
 must be as early as the time of Charles VI ; 
 indeed, it would be almost endless to enume- 
 rate the treasures contained in this delightful 
 place. The bed, undisturbed, of Catherine ; a 
 splendid marble chimney-piece, worthy of a Me- 
 dici ; her bath, and the fine furniture of her 
 room, remain, with her initials worked on all 
 the satin, as in other apartments. The most 
 conspicuous initials, however, are the D and H, 
 interlaced in every possible manner, and cover- 
 ing the walls and filling the panels : the picture, 
 full length, of Diana, said to be by Primatice, 
 holds a conspicuous place in one chamber. It
 
 PICTURE OF DIANA. 141 
 
 is extremely lovely, and represents her as the 
 goddess Diana, setting out for the chase : there 
 is a happy mixture, in the dress, of the classical 
 and the costume of the period, which marks 
 the time, and yet does not shock the imagi- 
 nation. She is stepping along with graceful 
 swiftness, her head rather turned, as if listen- 
 ing ; she holds a hound and her bow ; her head 
 is, as usual, crowned with a crescent ; the hair 
 flies lightly on the air ; her bodice is tight to 
 the shape and laced, the waist rather long and 
 pointed; her full petticoat is of rich stuff, with 
 gold embroidery, but it hangs in fine folds, and 
 her springing foot is advanced. The landscape 
 is spirited and good, the colouring well pre- 
 served, and the whole picture admirable. This 
 is the most remarkable portrait of Diana, though 
 there are others. 
 
 In one room is a medallion of the head of 
 Agnes Sorel, copied from her tomb, and, in 
 the library, a most extraordinary enamel, repre- 
 senting her seated behind the king, Charles VII, 
 on a clumsy horse, Darby and Joan fashion : she 
 is there hideous, and her royal lover looks like 
 an old monk with a cowl on. Near it is a fine 
 and, evidently, correct mask, in plaster, of Henry
 
 142 MASK OF HENRY IV. 
 
 IV, taken from his face after death ; it has 
 an expression of pain, and is so real as to be 
 very distressing. There is, also, an autograph 
 letter of his. 
 
 A singular portrait, characteristic, but not 
 handsome, of Isabeau de Baviere, and of Charles 
 
 V, VI, and VII. ; Charles V. of Spain, Titian's 
 Francis I, and a portrait of Marguerite de Valois, 
 remarkably like her brother. The collection of 
 portraits, so numerous and so singular, reminded 
 me of the treasures which cover the walls of 
 Knole. The fine gallery, built on piles and 
 arches over the Cher, is full of pictures, of all 
 dates and ages, and medallions of celebrated per- 
 sons ; amongst others is a Ninon, the most beau- 
 tiful I ever saw, and giving a better idea than 
 we usually have of her fascinations ; a Madame 
 de Sevigne, holding Madame de Grignan's pic- 
 ture ; and a host of others, some copies, some, 
 probably, originals. A very curious pair, which, 
 I think and hope, are genuine, of Petrarch and 
 Laura, as both are worthy of their reputation. 
 
 The view from this fine gallery is exquisite. 
 The clear waters of the sparkling Cher flow 
 under its arches, the fine park slopes down to 
 the verdant banks on one side, and rich mea-
 
 THE THEATRE. 143 
 
 dows on the other, varied and beautiful trees 
 crowd along the margins, and in the distance 
 is seen the pretty bridge and white sails flitting 
 on the bosom of the abounding waters, blue 
 coteaux form the background of the picture, and 
 all is harmony and grace. 
 
 The theatre is left precisely as it was when 
 Jean Jacques had his Devin du Village played 
 here. He was an inmate of Chenonceau, whose 
 beauties he has sung, and it is recorded that 
 the intellectual and charming Madame Dupin, 
 the mistress of the chateau, whose son he in- 
 structed, is the only person, throughout his ca- 
 reer, who escaped the bitterness of his ingra- 
 titude, and was uniformly named by him with 
 respect. As I confess to being, at all times, 
 unable to get up any enthusiasm for Rousseau, 
 the thought always intruding, — 
 
 " What a pity a man of such exquisite notions 
 Should send his poor brats to the Foundling, my dear ! " 
 
 I looked with little reverence on the dusty forms 
 and stools, and faded scenery. This, however, 
 is doubtless a sacred spot to the lovers of the 
 author of Heloi'se, and, perhaps, as worthy to 
 afford delight as the relics of monarchs and their
 
 144 PICTURE OF A TOURNAMENT. 
 
 favourites, round whom time has cast a halo of 
 glory, which, en leur vivant, they little deserved. 
 
 There are some fine antique busts, and a few 
 good pictures of masters, but our attention was 
 drawn away from these by the historical me- 
 mories scattered through every room. A very 
 lovely portrait engaged our sympathy, particu- 
 larly. It is that of a very young and delicate 
 girl, in a semi-monastic habit, with the sweet- 
 est and saddest expression I ever beheld. There 
 must be some story attached to such a face. 
 She is named as Louise de Portugal, princess 
 of Braganza, and is said to be a nun of Evora. 
 
 A very curious picture exhibits a tournament 
 at the time of Henry II. entirely filled with 
 armed knights, and ladies, 
 
 Whose bright eyes 
 Rain influence and adjudge the prize. 
 
 One fair lady has risen from amongst a group, 
 and is placing a scarf round the neck of a kneel- 
 ing knight. The costumes are quaint and good, 
 and the grouping tolerable, the colouring very 
 fresh, and the whole a valuable specimen of art 
 at the period, though quaint and stiff, as all then 
 were but the works of the wonderful masters of 
 the time.
 
 RABELAIS. 145 
 
 There is a portrait of Rabelais,* expressively 
 ugly. We were amused to find that, at half- 
 a-dozen towns hereabouts, the honour is claimed 
 of being the birth-place of Rabelais. 
 
 Whether that extraordinary satirist ever re- 
 sided here cannot be known, but Chenonceau 
 appears in all times to have been the abode of 
 genius and taste, and to have been more or less 
 celebrated by all. J. J. Rousseau, Fontenelle, 
 Buffon, Tressan, Montesquieu, Sainte Palaye, 
 and Voltaire, have been visitors within its walls. 
 
 The grounds which surround the chateau are 
 finely laid out and extensive, more resembling 
 English shrubberies and walks than any we had 
 seen ; the shaded winding ways by the charming 
 river are delightful, and great variety and taste 
 are displayed in their arrangements. There are 
 some enchanting strolls for summer weather, 
 and they must be most enjoyable. The family 
 
 * Francois Rabelais was born in 1483, not actually at 
 Chinon, where his father followed the profession of an apothe- 
 cary, but about a league from that place, at a farm, called la 
 Deviniere, in the commune of Seuilly. It was in the abbey of 
 Seuilly that he began his studies. 
 
 In the King's library, at Paris, is a drawing representing the 
 interior of the chamber occupied by Rabelais at Chinon, Rue 
 la Lamproie. 
 
 VOL. II. L
 
 146 TOURS. 
 
 who now occupy Chenonceau, seem to appre- 
 ciate its beauties, for they inhabit it nine months 
 of the year, quitting it for Tours or Paris during 
 the remainder. Tours seems considered a sort 
 of metropolis to the Loire, where everything can 
 be got, and everybody can be met with.
 
 147 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A carriage.— The Heights. — Castle Gardens.— Chapel of 
 St. Hubert. — Louis Philippe. — The Town of Amboise, and 
 Chateau. — The Family of Babou. — St. Denis. — Les Gre- 
 niers de Cesar. — Chanteloup. 
 
 e quitted Chenonceau with 
 regret, and returned to Am- 
 boise : on our way we met 
 a carriage, which attracted 
 our attention as a pheno- 
 menon rarely met with : in- 
 deed we were inclined to think that it must have 
 been, at most, the second we had seen since we 
 began our travels from Normandy, and I cer- 
 tainly cannot remember another. On our ar- 
 rival at our Boule d'Or, it was announced to us 
 that an English family had arrived and had set 
 off for Chenonceau ; this, then, accounted for so 
 strange an apparition : we had more than half 
 suspected as much before. We found it was 
 
 L 2
 
 148 THE HEIGHTS OF AMBOISE. 
 
 Sir William Follet and his family, travelling in 
 search of health, which we afterwards rejoiced 
 to hear he had obtained. They were, however, 
 unlucky in the weather, for, brilliant as it was 
 early in the day, it came on to rain violently 
 about this very time, and, with delicious inter- 
 vals, so continued for several days. 
 
 The sun was brilliant and cheering when we 
 set out for the heights above Amboise and 
 mounted so rugged and precipitous a street, that 
 we began to despair of reaching the top : we were 
 encouraged, however, by several people, who 
 answered our questions very civilly, but appeared 
 surprised to see strangers in such a part of their 
 town, which, but for the spirit of curiosity, that 
 led us everywhere, would be unsought : the houses 
 are ill-built and dirty, the streets ill-paved, and 
 the inhabitants dirty, and not healthy-looking — 
 the poorer sort positively wretched, and many 
 beggars. We continued to ascend till we reached 
 a cottage situated on an eminence, where we 
 inquired if the castle could be reached that way. 
 The owner smiled, and told us that we had con- 
 trived to make our walk fifty times as long as 
 needful, but if we went on we should be al- 
 lowed to pass through a vineyard, and get on
 
 THE DOWNS. 149 
 
 the downs which led to it. This we did, pleased 
 to have thus, by chance, procured one of the 
 most agreeable walks imaginable. The vine- 
 yard we entered was teeming with rich ripe 
 grapes, of various kinds, both purple and golden ; 
 and from that spot a magnificent view of the 
 town and country round is obtained. An old 
 woman was busied amongst the grapes, who 
 laughed good-humouredly at our having mis- 
 taken her property for a public path, but very 
 kindly indicated to us the way we should go — 
 by the "great Fountain," till a "petit quart de 
 lieue," should bring us to the castle gates. 
 
 Exquisitely fresh and bright were the downs 
 along which we proceeded, with a fine wide 
 prospect for leagues, and the town below, with 
 all its towers and spires, by distance made more 
 admirable. The undulating hills and trees shut 
 out the castle from us, which, though on the 
 height, is thus sheltered, and which is seen best 
 from the bridge. The dark masses of forest, 
 extending for leagues, told where lay mysterious 
 Loches, whither we proposed shortly to go ; the 
 purple heath and various wild flowers springing 
 up beneath our feet, accompanied us all the way, 
 and changes of scenery broke on our view at
 
 150 CASTLE GARDENS. 
 
 every hundred yards. "This," we exclaimed, 
 " should have been Tours, and then we could 
 well understand all the praises lavished on its 
 flat uninteresting plain, without a coteau to break 
 the dreary monotony." So angry were we with 
 Tours, that we never lost an opportunity of say- 
 ing something uncivil of it when we came to 
 other scenery which has been passed over by its 
 admirers. 
 
 We wandered on, regardless of the threatening 
 clouds, which gave new beauties to the landscape 
 by the fitful gleams of light they permitted to 
 escape, till we reached a dry moat and bridge, 
 which, crossing, we found no " proud porter rear- 
 ing himself thereat," and therefore, like the mer- 
 chant in the fairy tale, pushed open the unre- 
 sisting gate and found ourselves amongst a para- 
 dise of flowers. An immense platform, beautifully 
 cultivated and adorned with bowers and groves 
 and parterres, from its peculiar form revealed its 
 former destination : it was the site of an enormous 
 round tower, which had been levelled, and its 
 base now held a garden, while an ornamental 
 balustrade, which attracted us, led down a twisted 
 stair to a deep well, at the bottom of what had 
 been a turret. As we continued to stray in
 
 CASTLE GARDENS. 151 
 
 this quiet, solitary, but cultivated region, we 
 came every here and there to masses of brick 
 work and huge stone walls ; to deep ravines de- 
 scending into what had been moats, into which, 
 in former times, the waters of the rivers Amasse 
 and the Loire could be introduced to form a 
 defence ; to broad and fearfully suspended bridges 
 spanning the abyss now filled up with flowering 
 shrubs and graceful trees, but through which 
 the enormous bastions would frown as still as- 
 serting their power. From spot to spot all lovely 
 and romantic, we came at last to an inner garden, 
 more carefully planted, where long ranges of 
 orange trees told the front of the chateau was 
 hard by ; and soon we saw its long extent, which 
 has no very particular claim to admiration, being 
 modern, and rebuilt from time to time, more with 
 a view to convenience than ornament. Hitherto 
 we had met no human being of whom to inquire 
 whether we were trespassing, and began to ex- 
 pect " the beast " would start out upon us if 
 we went on much further. Presently we saw 
 a portly gentleman in a negligent undress and 
 slippers lounging along amongst the roses : — 
 this might be the "governor" himself! — we ac- 
 costed him, and he set us instantly at our ease,
 
 152 CHAPEL OF ST. HUBERT. 
 
 agreeing that our entrance was an unusual pro- 
 ceeding, but assuring us no one would take ex- 
 ception at our conduct. 
 
 Unwilling to forego the charm of walking in 
 this lovely place, we continued our way till we 
 found ourselves in a grove beside one of the most 
 exquisite little chapels that could be conceived 
 by a poet. It was as perfect as if built yesterday, 
 and so delicate was the colour of the stone that 
 we felt convinced it had been recently restored, 
 yet the dilapidated state of the painted windows 
 contradicted the belief. 
 
 We were satisfied, however, of the fact by 
 a young artist, who was seated before the chapel 
 sketching with exquisite precision the large en- 
 tablature over the portal, representing the miracle 
 of St. Hubert and the angelic stag, with all his 
 train of hunters and dogs, and the cross beaming 
 between the horns of the heaven-sent animal to 
 convert him from his infidelity. It appears that 
 Louis Philippe, to whose family the castle of 
 Amboise belongs, has had this beautiful chapel 
 restored with great care from drawings which 
 were preserved of the original form, as it had 
 for many years been deformed by an ugly roof 
 and additions, and had supplied what was want-
 
 GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 153 
 
 ing of the painted glass ; but unfortunately a 
 tremendous hail storm in the last spring has de- 
 stroyed great part of the windows, which are all 
 now to do again. This storm had also broken 
 every pane of glass in a large oval room over 
 the great tower, which looks to the river, and 
 desolated the castle in all directions. 
 
 The interior of this bijou of a chapel is the 
 most exquisite specimen possible of the Gothic 
 architecture of the middle ages. The roof is 
 fretted with finely wrought pendants ; the walls 
 and arches are incrusted with ornaments so de- 
 licately carved as to resemble lace work ; gro- 
 tesque figures of the minutest size are introduced 
 amongst the foliage of the friezes, which are 
 varied beyond description. The restorations are 
 admirably done, and the altars, and some marble 
 figures in niches, in the best taste. When finish- 
 ed, it will be quite unique, and does infinite cre- 
 dit to the taste of the King, whose liberality and 
 desire to introduce improvement are conspicuous 
 in every town we have passed through from Caen 
 to Amboise. If the French can restrain their 
 craving for glory, and manage to be content with 
 prosperity and with an improved country, they 
 will not oppose the measures of their present
 
 154 THE CHATEAU. 
 
 ruler, who makes himself acquainted with the 
 wants of every town in his dominions; and to 
 know, with him is to act. It is impossible to 
 deny all the good he is doing ; the facts speak 
 for themselves in the erection of splendid build- 
 ings, the clearing of filthy old streets and repla- 
 cing them by commodious and neat houses, pave- 
 ments, walls, bridges, roads, — all the appearances 
 which the traveller hails at every town, and 
 which proclaim the increased power of the sub- 
 ject and the generous assistance of the monarch. 
 
 The interior of the chateau is all modern, and 
 the apartments kept for the royal family furnished 
 in the simplest manner. Except the Duke of 
 Orleans and his Duchess, who lately spent a few 
 days here on their way to the South, where the 
 Duke was to embark for Africa, none of the 
 family had ever been to Amboise. This visit will 
 probably not, however, be the last, as both were 
 delighted with this charming place, and orders 
 for repairs and alterations have been left, which 
 promises a return at no great distance of time. 
 Most of the other apartments are occupied by 
 persons who have obtained the privilege of re- 
 siding here ; some, pensioners of the - crown, or of 
 the familv of Orleans.
 
 AMBOISE. 155 
 
 The town of Amboise is celebrated in history 
 as the scene of the event called " la Conjuration 
 d'Amboise," against the Guises in 1560, and also 
 for the institution by Louis XL of the order of 
 St. Michel, which soon fell into degradation. 
 It was possessed from the eleventh century by 
 the illustrious house of Amboise, whose pos- 
 sessions comprised Montrichard, Blere, Thouars, 
 and Chaumont. The lordship of Amboise was 
 confiscated in 1431 by Charles VII, and an- 
 nexed to the domain of the crown. Louis XV. 
 exchanged it with the Due de Choiseul, who 
 had just purchased Chanteloup. To this then 
 powerful minister much of the embellishment 
 of the town is owing. 
 
 Francis II. was the last French king who 
 inhabited the chateau, but as no vestige re- 
 mains of times gone by but the walls, there 
 is no relic of any monarch whatever, nor of 
 the beautiful Mary Stuart, who must have lived 
 here, and whose portrait, I had heard, was at 
 Chenonceau, but could not find it. Very much 
 of the ancient part has been destroyed ; indeed 
 the walls and vaulted ways, too strong to be 
 demolished, are almost all that remain : some 
 of these are attributed to the Romans. One
 
 156 CASTLE OF AMBOISE. 
 
 of the entrances is called la Porte de Cesar ; 
 another, called la Porte des Lions, supposed to 
 be of the age of Clovis, exists no longer. The 
 fortifications are immense, and the fosses tre- 
 mendous, though much is now filled up. 
 
 Charles VIII. was born here, and here met 
 with the accident which caused his death. On 
 his return from Naples, he brought with him 
 Italian artists, under whose direction a great 
 part of the castle was built; and doubtless the 
 beautiful chapel of St. Hubert owes its exist- 
 ence to their taste. The towers he built are 
 ninety feet high and forty-two in diameter ; 
 there is a broad winding way within by which 
 a carriage can easily ascend from the gate in 
 the town to the platform above. It is a very 
 surprising work, and so well arranged, that, 
 though the towers are of such immense height, 
 the road offers little difficulty from its steepness. 
 The Duke of Orleans was extremely pleased with 
 this singular method of egress, and walked down 
 on his departure from the castle ; the lower 
 part, beyond the entrance-gate, which still de- 
 scends many feet, had been blocked up ; he 
 desired that it might all be opened, and the 
 whole properly arranged, which was in the course
 
 CASTLE OF AMBOISE. 
 
 157 
 
 of performance when we saw it. The gateway 
 itself is peculiarly fine, and of an unusual style 
 of architecture, very grand and imposing. Louis 
 XII. made several additions to the building, 
 and those who followed did the same ; but few 
 of their embellishments are to be traced now. 
 
 The church of St. Florentin, whose modern 
 tower peeped at us in our inn-court, has no- 
 thing whatever to attract attention ; the exterior 
 is so much defaced, and the whole appearance 
 so neglected and gloomy. The interior is with- 
 out interest, mere whitewashed walls, with
 
 158 TOMB OF THE BABOUS. 
 
 neither arches nor pillars ; but in a niche, trans- 
 ported from the church of Bon Desir, where it 
 was first placed, is a tomb so remarkable, that 
 we could not but remain a long time examining 
 it. It represents Christ in the tomb, surrounded 
 by the holy women, St. John, Nicodemus, and 
 Joseph of Arimathea. These figures, larger 
 than life, are executed in terracotta by one of 
 the Italian artists who followed Francis I. from 
 Italy, and exhibit a whole generation of the 
 family of Babou de la Bourdaisiere. The four 
 women, all handsome, and dressed with great 
 taste, are said to be striking resemblances of 
 Marie Gaudin, wife of Philibert Babou, and 
 her three daughters, who successively became 
 mistresses to le Roi Chevalier I Francis I, tra- 
 dition says, is figured in St. John, though I 
 confess there appears to me not the slightest 
 likeness to his very remarkable countenance ; 
 I should rather imagine it to be another of 
 the same family : and Babou the father's por- 
 trait is in the recumbent figure. 
 
 It seems difficult to imagine hypocrisy and pro- 
 faneness carried to a higher degree. This family 
 appears illustrious in seeking its own dishonour : 
 Gabrielle d'Estree was a descendant. It is re-
 
 IMPORTUNATE BEGGARS. 159 
 
 ported that the last of the race was living in an 
 obscure part of the town, a few years ago, as a 
 porter. It would seem that the favour of kings, 
 obtained at any sacrifice, had not served to pre- 
 serve the prosperity of this family, whose moral 
 degradation had been begun long before, but 
 had ended its career of worldly honour in the 
 lowest grade of society. 
 
 The figures are painted, and richly gilt, the 
 fringes and ornaments superb ; but, like all these 
 things, even the beautiful execution of the work 
 does not redeem it from a certain meanness and 
 tawdry appearance which impresses the beholder 
 rather as an exhibition of wax- work, than as a 
 superior work of art. 
 
 The first time we went we were literally driven 
 out of the church by the importunity of several 
 disgusting beggars, to whom having given a 
 trifle, others succeeded, till we could bear it no 
 longer. Several of these pious individuals were 
 kneeling before the tomb of the "virtuous Ba- 
 bous, which looks like an altar as it is arranged, 
 and doubtless were invoking the aid of those im- 
 maculate characters, with the supreme powers :" 
 their priests did not appear to have taken the 
 trouble of undeceiving them. Having watched
 
 160 ST. DENIS. 
 
 our tormentors out of sight, we returned to 
 examine this group more at our leisure, and were 
 again worried almost past endurance by a mar- 
 ket-woman, who was the only person in the 
 church, having slipped in to say a short prayer, 
 and amuse herself with observing our movements 
 at the same time. She insisted on knowing the 
 story of the tomb, which she had heard, she said, 
 various accounts of, and seemed proud of as be- 
 longing to her town ; but le cure appeared to have 
 strangely puzzled himself and her by an account 
 of the personages ; one female figure, with a box 
 of precious ointment, as Magdalen, passing in 
 her mind for St. John. I asked her to consult 
 the evidence of her eyes, and whether such a 
 costume, braided hair with jewels, an embroi- 
 dered gown with rich ceinture, and bracelets 
 on the plump arms, had at all a manly appear- 
 ance ? " Ah ! mais," said she, still unconvinced, 
 " ils sont tous des Saints a ce que m'a dit Mon- 
 sieur le Cure, et il ne faut pas en douter !" 
 
 The old church of St. Denis is very curious 
 in the interior, though modern externally. The 
 pillars are of the earliest and rudest Gothic, 
 and the ornaments of some of the capitals are 
 the most grotesque I had ever seen, the bizarre
 
 THE GREN1ERS DE CESAR. 161 
 
 figures so extravagant and large, as to be irre- 
 sistibly ludicrous. Crowned female faces, joined 
 to fish's tails, with other nondescript fanning 
 tails growing out of their feathered backs, are 
 attached to a wreath of leaves, which terminates 
 in another figure, bird-shaped, with a pantaloon- 
 like mask, looking towards the female creature : 
 birds, whose tails end in large palmy leaves, and 
 whose beaks turn up like a ridiculously carica- 
 tured nose : in short, all that can be imagined 
 of absurd is clustered together to form the richest 
 and most effective capitals to the fine bold pil- 
 lars which support the roof. 
 
 A part of the town of Amboise is called Vi- 
 eille Rome, and antiquaries may find food for 
 inquiry in many of the remains. We were di- 
 rected to the Greniers de Cesar, and proceeded 
 along the side of the river, passing a great many 
 well-built handsome houses with gardens, and 
 the fine coteau rising above the roofs, to a cer- 
 tain mansion kept by Madame Veuve Boudant, 
 whose " valet de chambre" we were directed, by 
 our hostess of the Boule d'Or, to ask for, as it 
 was his province to show the caves which exist 
 on the premises of his mistress. We strolled 
 into the open court of the house, and looked 
 
 VOL. II. m
 
 162 THE GRENIERS DE CESAR. 
 
 about for our destined guide, whom we dis- 
 covered sitting in a dark niche, and whistling 
 gaily as he cleaned his boots and shoes — rather 
 a singular employment for a lady's page. With 
 great readiness he dismissed his blacking-brush, 
 and lighting a candle, led the way through a 
 desolate shrubbery to the mouth of the caves, 
 which we entered, and were surprised to see a 
 fine chamber cut in the rock, round which were 
 ranged a great number of barrels and different 
 vessels, which our guide informed us, with a 
 sigh, had been so arranged by his late master, 
 who, having property in the West Indies, had 
 proposed establishing here a manufactory of sugar, 
 as these Roman caves presented so excellent a 
 locale for the purpose. Just as everything was 
 ready, he was seized with an illness which carried 
 him off, and left his plans unexecuted. So high, 
 and wide, and large, and long, and dry, is this 
 chamber, that one might imagine a handsome 
 ball-room, which, well lighted, would have a mag- 
 nificent effect; there are three tiers of arches, 
 one above the other to the arched roof, appa- 
 rently intended as receptacles for corn; a stair- 
 case conducts to each tier, and, as all is per- 
 fectly sharp and fresh, it has the appearance of
 
 THE GRENIERS DE CESAR. 163 
 
 having been recently hewn out of the rock. A 
 small chamber beyond, leads, by a spiral stair, 
 to others above, and the caves, I am told, ex- 
 tend for some distance, and are all equally warm, 
 dry, and uninjured ; we did not, however, explore 
 them, as our recollections of Chinon were vivid, 
 and we were somewhat fatigued with several 
 days' incessant climbing. 
 
 The principal cave, correctly speaking, is two 
 hundred feet long and about fifty feet wide, 
 the vaults are built into the rock with hewn 
 stone, and the cement is formed of a sort of 
 sulphate of lime, not known in the country. 
 
 Whatever was the destination of these curious 
 caves, and by whomsoever they were constructed, 
 whether by the Romans or by Foulques Nera, 
 who might have wished to provision a country 
 which he had covered with fortresses, they are 
 wonderful works of solidity and ingenuity, and 
 worthy to excite admiration. 
 
 After being caught half-a-dozen times in a 
 smart shower, which the succeeding bright gleams 
 of the sun made us forget, we resolved, in order 
 to dry our feet, to walk into the bed of the river, 
 which, being filled with deep, hot sand, dries 
 immediately. This we did, and roamed about 
 
 M 2
 
 164 CHANTELOUP. 
 
 till our object was accomplished, admiring, from 
 under the bridge, the majestic appearance of the 
 old castle and the singular town : we then re- 
 turned to the top of the fine, bold bridge, as 
 the majestic Loire offered, on this side, a stream 
 where women were washing, too deep for us to 
 cross; and found that the best spot to see the 
 town is from its centre. We then, having crossed 
 it, went down a very slovenly, shabby street op- 
 posite, and crossed the wooden bridge over the 
 Loire, beneath which is the broader current, to 
 the Isle St. Jean, formed by the sands, and cover- 
 ed with sallows and poplars. 
 
 Here, in 504, the famous conference took place 
 between Clovis and Alaric the Visigoth, to con- 
 secrate the remembrance of which, Clovis had 
 coins struck, on which the interview was repre- 
 sented, with the word Ambacia. 
 
 Within a pleasant walk or drive from Am- 
 boise is the forest of Chanteloup, where stands 
 a fine pagoda, the sole remnant of the Castle 
 built by the Duke de Choiseul in the midst 
 of the wood, which served as a park round the 
 building. The chateau was not very ancient, 
 and came to the duke in 1760. He was exiled 
 to his estates by Louis XV, and to that circum-
 
 CHANTELOUP. 165 
 
 stance the town of Amboise owes the principal 
 part of its embellishments. 
 
 The pagoda is one hundred and twenty feet 
 high, and five hundred and seventy feet above 
 the level of the sea. It has seven stories, from 
 each of which a fine view is obtained, but from 
 the last the whole of the forest of Chanteloup, 
 in all its extent, with an immense tract of coun- 
 try, is spread out for leagues, with rivers, and 
 mountains, and cultivated plains seen, in this 
 clear atmosphere, to a great distance. As it 
 now belongs to the Duke of Orleans, who ad- 
 mires it extremely, he will probably keep it up 
 as a hunting lodge. The whole of the chateau 
 was destroyed at the great Revolution.
 
 166 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Loches. — Roman Tower. — Beaulieu. — St. Ours. — Geoffroy 
 Grise Gonelle. — The Tomb and the Monks. — Chapel of 
 Louis XL — English Visitors. — The Castle of Loches. — 
 The Dungeons. — Oubliettes. — Observatory of Catherine. 
 — Prison des Anglais. 
 
 iETTiNG out from Amboise early 
 in the morning, we took, on 
 our way to Loches, the city 
 of Agnes Sorel. It was rain- 
 ing hard, but, occasionally, the 
 sun shone out brilliantly, and 
 illumined the country we passed through, which 
 is, however, in general, flat, and rather mono- 
 tonous, its only beauty being the vines, which 
 are in profusion. Sometimes the whole scene 
 changes, and a few hills, rather steep, appear ; 
 then, again, comes a wide champagne country, 
 wild, and appearing uncultivated, though, in pro- 
 per season, covered with corn for leagues. The
 
 LOCHES. 167 
 
 Romans are said to have had camps in this part, 
 and its uninterrupted extent is most favourable 
 to the accommodation of an army : there is, in- 
 deed, "ample space and room enough" for many 
 legions. 
 
 Blere is a strange, ugly, stony old town, very 
 like some of the wildest in Bretagne. As soon 
 as you enter the magnificent Forest of Loches 
 a totally new aspect is presented : for several 
 leagues rich glades open amongst the thick, high 
 trees, avenues of young oaks spread into beau- 
 tiful vistas, light, graceful foliage is succeeded 
 by massive, antique branches, which look coeval 
 with the kings of old time, who hunted the 
 wolf and boar when they were saplings. It is 
 truly a royal forest, the finest we had yet seen, 
 and one of the grandest in France. The road 
 appears interminable : it is excellent, broad, and 
 well kept ; on each side, around, behind, before, 
 nothing but huge, towering trees ! I imagined 
 it might give some idea of an American forest ; 
 at all events, it is extremely grand. 
 
 Suddenly we emerged from this leafy skreen, 
 and a fine smiling country greeted us : at a dis- 
 tance we thought we saw before us the town 
 we were seeking, for a very imposing spire rose
 
 168 ROMAN TOWER. 
 
 up from a mass of building, and for more than 
 a league was continually in our view, higher 
 and higher, plainer and plainer, and evidently 
 belonging to a building of great consequence. 
 We advanced steadily ; it was before us ; we 
 wound round a steep hill, still it rose in front ; 
 we descended a declivity, and emerged upon 
 a plain ; again mounted and arrived, not at 
 Loches, but at the insignificant village of St. 
 Quentin, where this splendid spire crowns a 
 fine old church, which, by the antique walls 
 scattered along the way, must formerly have 
 been attached to an important religious estab- 
 lishment. 
 
 We continued our route, but still Loches seem- 
 ed hidden in the future. By degrees we became 
 aware of an enormous square mass of building, 
 which looked as if amongst the clouds, and we 
 were not sure was not a congeries of clouds 
 alone, so shadowy and wild it seemed : for three 
 leagues this giant remained immovable, frown- 
 ing and beckoning us on. " That," we were told, 
 " is the great square Roman tower of Loches," 
 and we watched the grim spectre With increased 
 interest. For a few moments he was lost, as 
 we slowly ascended a hill ; on reaching the top
 
 BEAULIEU. 169 
 
 of which, a broad green meadow appeared at 
 our feet, with streams, and groves, and bowers 
 surrounding it, and springing from its bosom 
 into the sky, the towers, and spires, and turrets 
 of majestic Loches covered the opposite fell. 
 
 Of all the towns I had visited, the appearance 
 of Loches by this approach, struck me as most 
 imposing in its feudal grandeur : tower after 
 tower, large, dark, and high, looked down upon 
 the valley beneath, the huge Roman fortress, 
 commanding them all, like a feudal sovereign 
 dominating over his powerful barons who chafed 
 beneath his rule and unwillingly confessed 
 his superiority. But it was yet long before 
 we reached this strange town, for first its rival 
 Beaulieu, whose pretensions answer precisely to 
 those of Chateauneuf, at Tours, was to be 
 traversed with all its antique houses, and the 
 skeletons, for little more remains, of its once 
 celebrated churches and rich abbeys ; literally, 
 scarcely anything is left but shells of these far- 
 famed structures, once the pride of the country, 
 and the objects of veneration to a race of mon- 
 archs. The river Indre divides the town from 
 Loches, and a jealousy which has existed from 
 time immemorial, separates the interests of the
 
 170 BEAULIEU. 
 
 inhabitants of both places ; all attempts to con- 
 nect them in amity have failed, and they have 
 still their respective fairs, markets, and muni- 
 cipal administration. 
 
 A French writer describes Loches as an an- 
 tique relic enfoncee dans son obscurite seculaire, 
 which modern amateurs of the middle ages 
 should place under a glass case, or preserve in 
 one of the galleries of the mus^e Charles X, 
 beside some Egyptian manuscript. 
 
 Without looking so far back as the Romans, 
 whose square tower tells its own tale, before 
 the town fell into the claws of the Dukes of 
 Aquitaine, the old castle of Loches could boast 
 of high antiquity ; — and its church of Saint Ours, 
 so savage in the sound of its appellation, carries 
 with it recollections of eld, and conjures up a 
 thousand mysterious thoughts; a species of for- 
 tified church, it recalls those times when it was 
 necessary to pray with the sword drawn, as well 
 as to " drink the red wine through the helmet 
 barr'd." 
 
 The nave of St. Ours is formed of a succession 
 of towers and domes vaulted in a pyramidal 
 shape, each isolated, and capable of being con- 
 verted into a donjon. The general character of
 
 ST. OURS. 171 
 
 the building is Gothic, or rather Byzantine; in 
 many parts of the walls can be traced fragments 
 of Roman sculpture, and one very perfect rem- 
 nant of that date is preserved in the benitier, 
 which had been conjectured, apparently with 
 reason, to have been an ancient altar. 
 
 The remarkable towers which attract the at- 
 tention immediately, are one hundred and twenty 
 feet high, their construction is attributed, by 
 popular tradition, to that Count of Anjou whose 
 name's portentous severity seems to breathe of 
 fairy horrors, Blue-beard and The Beast ! no 
 other than the warrior-chief who led his legions 
 to the Holy Wars, the redoubtable Geoffroy 
 Grise-Gonelle ! His statue, and that of his no 
 less grim and fearful son, Foulques-Nera, were 
 to be seen in the church of St. Ours, till the 
 savages of the Revolution broke those venerable 
 figures to pieces which had excited the awe and 
 respect of ages. One statue, however, almost 
 miraculously escaped, and our vexation for the 
 loss of the two grim champions, is forgotten 
 in the joy of its preservation, for one more ex- 
 quisitely lovely, or more peculiarly interesting, 
 it is difficult to find. 
 
 This is the tomb of the perhaps too celebrated
 
 172 THE TOMB AND THE MONKS. 
 
 Agnes Sorel, who, with Diane de Poictiers, di- 
 vides France, at least this half of France; for 
 scarcely a town exists which has not some me- 
 mories to offer of these two celebrated favourites, 
 powerful alike by their beauty and talents, and 
 the entire sway which they exercised over their 
 royal protectors. 
 
 In the highest tower of the castle, built ex- 
 pressly for the beautiful Agnes, and which bears 
 her name, now reposes in a small chamber the 
 famous tomb, finely restored, and bearing no 
 marks whatever of the injury it must have sus- 
 tained from time and ill-usage. But to continue 
 the account of the church, where the tomb is 
 no longer to be seen of her whose piety made 
 her one of its chief benefactors ; who endowed 
 it, embellished and loaded it with honours, yet 
 the canons of which, soon after her death, seized 
 with religious remorse for having so long en- 
 dured benefits from a character not altogether 
 immaculate, and who could offend no more by 
 her seductive gifts, applied to Louis XI, whom 
 they hoped to propitiate by so doing, for leave 
 to eject her ashes from their sacred fane. The 
 reply of the wily monarch is characteristic. 
 " Very well, since you object to keeping her
 
 ST. OURS. 173 
 
 corpse, you have nothing to do but to give back 
 at the same time all the goods, lands, money, 
 and jewels that this body, when it had a soul, 
 endowed you with." There was no fear, after 
 this, of the consciences of the holy men being 
 troubled, and Agnes was permitted to rest in 
 peace, more fortunate than the Fair Rosamond, 
 who met with similar gratitude from the monks 
 of Woodstock, whose horror at frailty awoke 
 always at a convenient distance from the period, 
 when to remember it would have been danger- 
 ous to their interest. 
 
 The porch of the principal entrance to St. 
 Ours is beautiful : the stone of so pure a colour, 
 that it looks like marble ; the capitals of the 
 pillars are delicately carved, and seem of all 
 periods, from Roman to middle age. Like St. 
 Denis, at Amboise, the grotesque prevails in 
 the ornaments, and figures quite as comic appear 
 peeping from graceful or bold groups of foliage. 
 Two owls, for instance, will be represented joined 
 by the head which has a human expression, and 
 gnashes the teeth, as if enjoying the meal it 
 has made on the two bodies. But it would be 
 endless to attempt to describe what is so amusing 
 and absurd to trace.
 
 174 CHAPEL OF LOUIS XL 
 
 A short time since, a subterranean chapel 
 was discovered, while some repairs were going 
 on in the church, and it proves, by the arms 
 and devices on the walls, to have been built 
 by Louis XI, who was accustomed to retire 
 here to his devotions. The vaulted cell, for 
 such it appears, is small and strongly built ; 
 the stone altar the same, and a little window 
 admitting just sufficient light to show it. It 
 is a gloomy retreat, just fit for the meditations 
 of the sinner whose religious terrors led him 
 there. 
 
 We were guided to this part of the church 
 by a young man of considerable intelligence and 
 great civility, who had been summoned to our 
 aid, as he possessed the key of the chapel, by 
 the waiting-maid at our inn, who had apparently 
 taken a violent fancy to us, and insisted on run- 
 ning, unbonneted through the wet streets, and 
 climbing the precipitous hill where the church 
 and castle stand, fearing we might not find our 
 way at once. This good-humoured, handsome, 
 wild-looking specimen of the female population 
 of Loches, told us, all the world there were de- 
 voted to the English, who were " des braves 
 gens," and so fond of sights ! She related to
 
 ENGLISH VISITORS. 175 
 
 us with much animation, the fact that, only a 
 week before, an English gentleman, Mr. Walsh, 
 from Tours, accompanied by eleven male friends, 
 had arrived at their hotel, and spent the day in 
 exploring the antiquities of Loches, and as they 
 spent their money liberally, and all seemed in 
 high good-humour, they gave the most un- 
 bounded satisfaction, as well as created an im- 
 mense sensation in this secluded and little vi- 
 sited place. 
 
 Our new guide introduced us to the chateau, 
 and enjoyed with us the views from the towers, 
 and all the wonders that the walls enclose; he 
 seemed an enthusiastic amateur, and extremely 
 proud of his native town, all the beauties and 
 advantages of which he pointed out with great 
 eagerness. He professed his admiration of our 
 countrywomen in general, and dwelt with a sort 
 of wonder upon their transparent fairness, for 
 which he considered them famous, regretting 
 and apologising for the complexions of the French 
 who live, he said, so much in the air that they 
 are as " black as Moors" 
 
 The castle of Loches is said to be the best 
 preserved of all the chateau-forts of Touraine, 
 but it is nevertheless very much in ruins. It
 
 176 
 
 THE CASTLE OF LOCHES. 
 
 is built on a rock of great elevation, and quite 
 perpendicular on three sides : this rock had been 
 isolated, in order to render the castle impreg- 
 nable, by a broad and deep excavation from the 
 contiguous mountain of Vignemont. 
 
 ■ ,},' II' 
 
 Besides, the enormous square tower attributed 
 to the Romans, there is one of stupendous size, 
 built by Louis XI, and much of the more modern 
 part was constructed by Louis XII, now occu- 
 pied as a tribunal and sous-prefecture. 
 
 The chateau has been the theatre of many 
 historical events ; amongst others, James V. of
 
 THE CASTLE OF LOCHES. 177 
 
 Scotland came here to espouse Magdalen of 
 France, and made his entree into Loches about 
 the year 1534. Here Francis I, with his queen, 
 and a numerous and brilliant court, received the 
 Emperor Charles V, whom he conducted from 
 hence to Paris.* Hither the Due d'Epernon, 
 when disgraced by Henri III, retired, and here he 
 lived in the utmost pomp and splendour till his 
 death in 1642. The last French sovereign who 
 made it his abode was Henri II. 
 
 The most beautiful part of the castle, indeed 
 the only portion which exhibits any fine archi- 
 tecture, is the elegant little oratory of Anne 
 of Brittany. It stands in a tower, on the third 
 story, and commands a view more extensive and 
 magnificent than can be described. The ermines 
 and cordelieres of the illustrious heiress cover 
 the walls ; the roof is exquisitely carved, the 
 pendants and rosaces inimitable — the altar cover- 
 ed with her devices, and its twisted and orna- 
 mented pillars adorned with foliage and flowers 
 in the purest taste. Altogether, the oratory is 
 
 * Loches was at that time the grand route from Paris to 
 Spain ; the discontinuance of this road reduced the town to 
 comparative insignificance, and its river being but little adapt- 
 ed to navigable purposes, contributed to its decadence. 
 
 VOL. II. N
 
 178 DUNGEONS. 
 
 a perfect gem, and the adjoining bedroom, with 
 its niches, charming: that is, for its form, and 
 the splendid view it commands; for bare walls 
 alone remain throughout the castle. 
 
 We entered the great square, ruined, Roman 
 tower, open to the sky, and presenting a series 
 of loop-holes from height to height, indicating 
 the different stories which formerly existed, and 
 plainly showing that high as it still is, time 
 has destroyed several. The court is now over- 
 grown with high grass and weeds, and it is un- 
 used. We then proceeded to visit the dungeons, 
 which are renowned for their frightful number 
 and strength. It would be difficult to convey 
 an idea of the profound horror which the sight 
 of these receptacles of human misery, these relics 
 of ancient barbarity, display ! We groped amongst 
 piles of rubbish, mounting and descending alter- 
 nately for a long time ; now startled by coming 
 suddenly upon a hideous chasm, and gazing down 
 into the " dark profound," from which we natu- 
 rally expected to see " two huge black arms" 
 appear, and being told that this was one of 
 the many oubliettes of which we stood so much 
 in awe, — now led into a narrow cell with grated 
 windows, the prison and probably the grave of
 
 DUNGEONS. 179 
 
 many a devoted wretch ; and from depth to 
 depth we descended, till the horrible den was 
 gained where the unfortunate Galeazzo Sforza, 
 Duke of Milan, was confined. This damp, dark, 
 frightful vault still bears traces of the attempts 
 of the wretched captive to beguile his tedious 
 hours. On each side of the narrow window, 
 which admitted light through a distant opening 
 in the wall, fifteen feet thick, armed with strong 
 iron bars at three different distances before that 
 light could enter! are to be seen with diffi- 
 culty amongst the green damps which have 
 marked the walls and roof, rude figures of war- 
 like heads, casques, swords, and shields, dimly 
 visible like shades flitting amidst the gloom. 
 
 We looked round in horror and saw other 
 black niches extending into the darkness. We 
 were shown the prisons of Jean II, Due d'Alen- 
 <^on ; of Pierre de Breze, Grand Seneschal ; of 
 Saint Vallier, father of the celebrated Diane de 
 Poictiers ; and " last and ugliest," the cachot 
 de Balue, in which that miserable man lingered 
 out his existence in an iron cage ; where also 
 the tender mercies of a sovereign consigned the 
 historian Philippe de Comines, who for nearly 
 eight months (Balue had passed years !) groaned 
 
 N 2
 
 180 DUNGEONS. 
 
 in this frightful confinement. Could it be, as 
 reported, that the gentle Duchess Anne placed 
 him there ? 
 
 Fatigued, and absolutely terrified, we entreated 
 to be released, and were glad enough to leave 
 unseen several lower dungeons, which must have 
 descended into the bowels of the earth, for we 
 seemed already to have reached some " lower 
 than the lowest." 
 
 All the prisons above these, which have the 
 advantage of light and a certain degree of air, 
 are still used as places of detention for small 
 offences, principally political. We entered seve- 
 ral of these, where the poor prisoners asked for 
 sous "pour acheter du tabac? and seemed ill 
 enough accommodated, though, with the evi- 
 dences of former punishment round them, they 
 might have looked upon their own state as para- 
 dise. In one of these rooms we observed an im- 
 mensely thick and strong iron bar fastened to 
 two short pillars ; to this were affixed huge iron 
 rings, apparently for the purpose of securing pri- 
 soners : by a gigantic rusted iron chain, in the 
 wall of another, hung a frighful collar, the use 
 of which imagination shuddered to contemplate ! 
 Our joy was great when, after mounting steps
 
 OBSERVATORY OF CATHERINE. 181 
 
 innumerable, we found ourselves at length on the 
 platform of the prison tower, looking round in 
 the open air on an extensive panorama of the 
 most animated and brilliant country, illumined 
 by fitful gleams of sunshine, and exhibiting a 
 variety, quite inexhaustible, of plain, and moun- 
 tain, and forest. The strange old town, its crowd- 
 ed towers and pinnacles, the great square Roman 
 fortress, the pyramids of Saint Ours, all laid out 
 before the near view, and the distant country 
 spreading away into space for leagues, gave the 
 scene features quite unique ; nor was the ro- 
 mance destroyed when we were told that we 
 rested on a block of stone which once served 
 as an observatory to the superstitious Catherine 
 de Medici, when she followed her occult studies 
 directed by some famous astrologer, to whom she 
 accorded all her faith. 
 
 On descending from this tower we found we 
 had yet to visit another prison called " des An- 
 glois," probably used during the occupation of 
 Loches by our Henry II. and John. It is, how- 
 ever, a less fearful place, and I am rather inclined 
 to believe might have been used as a cellar, as 
 it is very dry and warm ; or it might have been 
 a subterranean chapel, for the vault is built with
 
 182 PRISON DES ANGLOIS. 
 
 some elegance. This chamber, to which a long 
 flight of stairs leads from a door which till lately 
 was walled up, has not been very long disco- 
 vered ; and the learned discussions which took 
 place between our young antiquarian guide and 
 the burly gaoler who had conducted us through 
 his department, threatened to keep us longer 
 than we desired in this mysterious retreat. At 
 last, their dispute finished, we were allowed to 
 ascend, and felt almost relieved when we had 
 quitted this part of the terrible castle, and en- 
 tered the ground-floor vaulted cell, adorned with 
 modern painted glass, representing the device of 
 Agnes, and her portrait with that of her royal 
 lover, where reposes the tomb of la dame, pro- 
 perly called, though not correctly, de BeautL
 
 183 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Loches . — Agnes Sorel Monogram. — Bonaventure. — Fran- 
 cois the First's Letter. — Olivier le Diable. — Monument of 
 St. Nicolas. — Orfon. 
 
 ... la dame belle et plaisans 
 En tous biens estoit si parfaite 
 Que Diex pour amer l'avait faite. 
 
 Chatelain de Coucy. 
 
 he tomb of Agnes Sorel is 
 of black and white marble, 
 inscribed on all sides with 
 the titles and virtues of the 
 fair creature to whom it was 
 raised. The figure is of the 
 natural size, full length, reclining with the 
 pretty slight hands on the bosom : the pro- 
 portions are all fine, and the face is very pret- 
 ty, though the predominant expression is that 
 of sense and firmness : there is not, however;
 
 184 
 
 AGNES SOREL. 
 
 the slightest hardness or unfeminine charac- 
 ter, on the contrary, the features are small 
 and delicately formed: the long hair is confined 
 by a coronet of pearls, and a neckless of pearls 
 clasps the throat. In looking on this statue one 
 can quite imagine the kind of being la gentille 
 Agnes must have been : but there is a quiet and 
 refinement about the face that tells no tale of 
 frailty — it might rather have belonged to the 
 virtuous wife than to the mistress of a king, and 
 perhaps accounts for the decency which her 
 lover attempted always to keep up in his in- 
 tercourse with her; constructing subterraneous
 
 AGNES SOREL. 185 
 
 ways by which to visit her, instead of openly 
 keeping her in his palaces before the eyes of his 
 court. Although their intercourse was suffi- 
 ciently known, they " assumed a virtue," and 
 perhaps for that, even deserve some credit. Her 
 aspect is noble and dignified, and bespeaks her 
 birth, and, in the chief traits of her life, her 
 character. 
 
 Agnes was born in 1409, in the village of Fro- 
 menteau. Her father, Jean Sorel, was Lord of 
 Saint Gerard and Fromenteau, and her mother, 
 Chatelaine of Verneuil, in the Bourbonnois ; both 
 her parents died in her infancy, and she was 
 brought up by an aunt, la Dame de Maigne- 
 lais, her mother's sister, who placed her as maid 
 of honour about the queen, wife of Charles VII. 
 She was then eighteen, and combined a noble 
 and enlightened mind with surpassing beauty 
 and seductive grace. The passion conceived 
 for her by the young king was never extin- 
 guished but with her existence, and her con- 
 duct appears such as to have even secured the 
 esteem of her rival, the queen. Alain Ch artier 
 thus names her : " Si aucune chose elle avait com- 
 mise avec le roi, cela avait ete fait tres caute- 
 leusement," which implies a rather singular doubt,
 
 186 AGNES SOREL. 
 
 which, it is to be feared, cannot well be sup- 
 ported. 
 
 The poor, the clergy, and, above all, the na- 
 tion found a friend in Agnes, and whatever there 
 was of good in the mind of Charles, her power 
 could bring into action, and the profuse expen- 
 diture which he delighted to lavish on her, per- 
 haps was well bestowed by the former Roi de 
 Bourges, of whom she made the powerful mon- 
 arch of a victorious kingdom. 
 
 Agnes possessed in this province the Chateau 
 de la Guerche, which was built for her ; in Berry, 
 those of Bois, Trouseau, and Issoudren ; in Nor- 
 mandy, Vernon-sur-Seine, and Beaut6, or, rather 
 J9rmw£e-sur-Marne, near Vincennes. 
 
 La Belles des Belles, at the age of forty, was 
 still the most lovely woman in France, adored 
 by the king, respected and beloved by the people, 
 when death suddenly carried off " the most re- 
 plenished sweet work of nature," whether by na- 
 tural disease or by poison was never ascertained. 
 She died at the Chateau de Menil, near Ju- 
 mieges, when on her way to join Charles in 
 Normandy. According to her desire her body 
 was taken to Loches, where it was placed in a 
 black marble tomb in the choir of the collegiate 
 church.
 
 EXHUMATION OF AGNES SOREL. 187 
 
 Louis XVI, in consequence of the reiterated 
 requests of the canons of Loches, authorized 
 the translation of the tomb of Agnes to the 
 nave of the church, with the special clause that 
 no part of the body was to be disturbed ; for it 
 was imagined, not without reason, that respect 
 for the dead would not be strong enough to re- 
 press the natural desire to appropriate some of 
 these precious remains. 
 
 The first exhumation of the body of the fair 
 Agn6s took place on the 5th March 1777. 
 After opening the tomb, a sort of vaulted cell 
 was discovered beneath the marble of the sar- 
 cophagus, in which reposed a coffin of oak en- 
 closing another of lead, which was partly de- 
 cayed ; this covered a third of cedar-wood, in 
 which lay the object of so much care ; the head 
 was entire, but all but the bones had disap- 
 peared : the teeth, which were very fine, were 
 all uninjured, and the hair was there in all its 
 beauty; two long floating ringlets depended at 
 each side of what had been the face, and the 
 long tresses behind were from eighteen to twenty 
 inches long : the colour was of a clear brown. 
 
 The surgeon who assisted at the opening of 
 the tomb, it appears, could not resist his desire to
 
 188 PRESERVATION OF THE TOMB. 
 
 become the possessor of one of these beautiful 
 tresses ; but, as soon as the theft was discovered, 
 means were taken immediately to recover the 
 lost treasure, which was in due time restored to 
 the rector of St. Ours, who delivered it to the 
 Archbishop of Tours, who, lamentable to relate, 
 cast it into the fire as a profane relic unworthy 
 of regard ! 
 
 It seemed as if this unnecessary profanation 
 of the remains of her who had been looked 
 upon almost as the tutelary genius of France, 
 was an omen of the fearful events which so soon 
 followed ; the priests who, after three hundred 
 years, suddenly discovered that her tomb was 
 in the way, little dreamt at that moment of 
 their own annihilation. Agn6s Sorel rose from 
 her tomb, like a Pythoness disturbed in her 
 cave, to announce the desolation which was about 
 to fall on her country. 
 
 At the fatal period of the Revolution, this 
 tomb was, with infinite difficulty, preserved in 
 the general wreck, and some funds appropriated 
 to obtain for it a niche of safety in a part of 
 the old chateau ; and in 1834 it was placed where 
 it is now found, by the sous-prefet of the ar- 
 rondissement, in compliance with the wish of
 
 MONOGRAM OF AGNES SOREL. 189 
 
 several lovers of the arts. Here, then, after 
 many vicissitudes, lies, without the pale of the 
 church, the lovely mistress of France, for so she 
 may be called, being as much loved by the na- 
 tion as by the king. " She sleeps well," with her 
 two white lambs at her feet, and two watching 
 angels at her head, and is perhaps as beautiful 
 a vision as ever delighted the eyes of a lover 
 of the romantic in history. 
 
 The punning device which was used by Charles 
 to designate Agn^s, was the tree surelle, (the 
 sallow) ; and in the chateau which he built for 
 her at La Guerche, the walls were covered with 
 this tree, with L. and A. interlaced, forming a 
 sur ette, a curious monogram of her name. Be- 
 sides, at this her favourite residence, every luxury 
 of architecture was expended to adorn the cha- 
 teau where the lovers were accustomed to meet. 
 The powers of painting, to represent the king's 
 prowess in the chase, and his lovely favourite 
 in various attitudes, were taxed to the utmost ; 
 but of all this scarcely a vestige remains : the 
 immense thickness of the walls of the castle has 
 kept it still standing, and a statue, supposed 
 to be original, of the lady of the manor, is now 
 placed in a turret chapel, adorned with painted
 
 190 FRANCOIS THE FIRST'S LETTER. 
 
 glass; a pretty park, called a PAnglaise, bathed 
 by the waters of the Creuse, surrounds the former 
 habitation of Agnes. 
 
 At Huismes, near Chinon, Charles VII. built 
 another bower for his beloved, which he called 
 Bona venture, in memory of the sylvan scene 
 where, beneath an oak, on that spot, he first 
 received from her the confession of her attach- 
 ment. 
 
 At Beaulieu, which the Indre divides from 
 Loches, she had a house, which seems to indi- 
 cate her not having altogether resided in the 
 castle with her lover. 
 
 The famous lines, said to be written by Fran- 
 cois I. on the Gentille Agnes, are not, after 
 all, perfectly authenticated: Voltaire doubts his 
 being their author, and cites, as a proof, that le 
 Roi Chevalier 's diction was not so pure as it would 
 appear by those verses. To support his assertion 
 he cites a letter, given by Daniel, in proof that 
 Francois used the dialecte Tourangeau, then com- 
 monly spoken at court. This is the beginning 
 of the curious letter which is to destroy, by 
 its evidence, his authorship of those pleasing and 
 complimentary lines which do so much honour 
 to the saviour of her country.
 
 GATES OF LOCHES. 191 
 
 " Tout a steure, ynsi que je me voloys mestre 
 o let, est arriv6 Saral, lequel m'a apport6 la cer- 
 tenete du levement d'in siege," &c. 
 
 As we left this most curious and interesting 
 town, we looked back many times before we 
 passed the fine antique gateway, whose embattled 
 walls still give a warlike aspect to the now 
 peaceful place. Formerly it was fortified most 
 extensively, and surrounded by a deep moat, into 
 which the waters of the Indre could at will be 
 introduced. 
 
 There were five gates ; one was called La 
 Porte Poitevine, because it opened to the road 
 to Poitou, though the frequent journeys made by 
 Charles VII. to La Guerche caused it at that 
 time to be more generally called Porte de la 
 Guerche. Another was La Porte Picoys lead- 
 ing to the faubourg of that name, where the 
 present Hotel de Ville stands. That of St. An- 
 toine is near the church dedicated to that saint, 
 the tower of which dates from the time of Fran- 
 cois I, and probably served as a belfry. The 
 Portail des Cordeliers was near the convent of 
 that name. The Porte des Cerfs, between Loches 
 and Beaulieu, was so called because it led to the 
 forest.
 
 192 OLIVIER LE DIABLE. 
 
 We quitted its vine-covered hills and its eme- 
 rald green meadows and plunged once more into 
 the vast forest, which no doubt in the days when 
 Henry II. of England and his sons hunted in 
 these parts extended over a much greater space 
 of country, and advanced much nearer to the 
 walls of the town, which was given as dower 
 to the widow of Coeur de Lion, and of which 
 Olivier le Diable was governor ! 
 
 There has always reigned in this enormous 
 forest, where the wild boar still maintains his 
 haunts, and whence the wolf is not entirely ex- 
 tirpated, a gloomy mystery which has its charm ; 
 and as in the dusk of evening we passed through 
 it on our return, our imaginations conjured up 
 a variety of strange fancies; among others the 
 traditions of Orfon l'Enchanteur were not for- 
 gotten, and we tried to persuade ourselves that 
 we could hear the clink of his money above the 
 rattling of our vehicle as we hurried along. 
 
 In the midst of this antique forest rises the 
 yet-unaccounted-for monument of St. Nicolas, 
 attributed to the Gauls, the Romans, or the 
 fairies. It is composed of a circular mound sur- 
 rounded on all sides by a deep moat. On the 
 southern side is a way which conducts to a plat-
 
 ORFON. 193 
 
 form on the summit : on the west is a kind of 
 well, formerly much deeper than at present, for it 
 is much choked up by ruins and earth : it does not 
 appear to have been dug with the intention of pro- 
 curing water : its masonry is very remarkable. On 
 the northwest of this mound is a cavern, the open- 
 ing of which is six feet wide and ten feet long ; 
 on following this, by precipitately descending, 
 you arrive at a low doorway, by which another 
 cavern is entered, leading to a third, and to how 
 many more is lost in the uncertainty of conjec- 
 ture ; but this series of subterranean vaults pro- 
 bably conducted to a monastery which formerly 
 existed here, and where the enchanter Orfon was 
 known to keep his revels; for here he dwelt in 
 his concealed palace beneath the earth, where 
 he hoarded his immense treasures, for he was 
 the heir to that mysterious knowledge left by 
 the Druids, by means of which he could convert 
 other metals into gold. Mountains of the pre- 
 cious metal grew under his hand, and, with daring 
 impiety, the night he chose to count his riches 
 was always that of the eve of Christmas. Every 
 year on this awful night the inhabitants of this 
 part of the country were alarmed by frightful 
 storms. The furious wind howled wildly through 
 vol. 11.
 
 194 ORFON. 
 
 the immense forest of Loches, the gigantic trees 
 bowed to the very earth, and a horrible commo- 
 tion took place for leagues round, during all 
 which time the Enchanter might be heard in 
 the intervals of the tempest counting his gold, 
 and dashing piece after piece upon his enormous 
 heap with a ringing sound which made the vaults 
 of the consent beneath which he dwelt echo and 
 resound, while the timid monks, at the very mo- 
 ment when they were singing their hymns of 
 thanksgiving, would be startled to hear the clang- 
 ing sound of the hidden treasure. 
 
 Orfon was the scourge and terror of the neigh- 
 bourhood ; he inspired evil actions, he excited 
 to wicked deeds, and though secretly cursed by 
 all, none dared openly attack or reproach so 
 powerful a monarch, the possessor of such heaps 
 of gold. At length the period of his reign drew 
 to a close, and one night in December, when 
 the ground was covered with snow and the earth 
 bound in the fetters of frost, in the midst of the 
 Christinas mass of midnight, on a sudden, instead 
 of the usual sound of the clink of gold, a frightful 
 cry was heard, the tapers on the altar of St. Nico- 
 las were extinguished, long and deep was the 
 echo which died through the subterranean vaults,
 
 ORFON. 195 
 
 and it was known to the monks and to the world 
 that the enchanter Orfon had expired. 
 
 Even since that time he may yet be heard 
 on Christmas night counting the gold which he 
 may now no longer use, and uttering deep groans 
 and lamentations over his useless treasure ; but 
 it requires a peculiar delicacy of hearing to dis- 
 tinguish the clink of his pieces as they are thrown 
 upon the heap which accumulates no more.
 
 196 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Blois. — Chaumont. — Les Tonneliers. — Arrival. — Inns. — The 
 Conducteur. — The Chateau. — The arbitrary guide. — Exte- 
 rior of the Chateau. — Le Lion. — Streets. — The Jesuits. — 
 St. Nicolas. — Aqueduct. — Adventure of the Aqueduct. 
 
 here is no remarkable beauty 
 in the river from Amboise 
 to Blois, for the intermina- 
 ble rows of poplars weary 
 the eye, and give a great 
 formality to the scene. We 
 were much struck, however, with the situation and 
 appearance of a fine castle, of majestic style, which, 
 in some of its features, reminded us of Chenonceau. 
 We found it to be Chaumont, which Catherine 
 exchanged with Diana for the former, after the 
 death of Henri IT, and so beautiful is its posi- 
 tion, and so lordly its towers, that it probably, 
 at the time, could be but little inferior : at
 
 CHAUMONT. 197 
 
 present it is the property of a family who live 
 there, and I am told there are no relics of the 
 time of Diana but its walls. The castle stands 
 on a rising ground, with the village at its foot, 
 and the Loire flowing beneath. 
 
 Here Catherine de' Medici occupied herself in 
 those astrological studies in which she was an 
 adept : whether her rival ever resided here after 
 the exchange of castles, which she was obliged 
 to make with as good a grace as possible, does 
 not quite appear, for after her royal lover's death 
 she retired to Anet, on the Eure, where she died. 
 Chaumont was possessed, from the thirteenth 
 century, by the family of Amboise. It is recorded 
 that one of these lords suffered torture, by order 
 of Thibaut V, in order that he might give up 
 his right to the castle and domain. It passed 
 about 1525, to the La Rochefoucaulds, and from 
 them to Queen Catherine. There exists, on a 
 window-frame, a sculptured shield, surmounted 
 by a cardinal's hat, and a pendant cordeliere, 
 the arms of the Cardinal d' Amboise. 
 
 Before we reached Chousy, the diligence, paus- 
 ing, was overtaken by a party of young tonneliers, 
 each bearing the implements of his trade, and 
 dressed in a variety of costume : all were ex-
 
 198 LES TONNELIERS. 
 
 tremely young, and full of gaiety : they seemed 
 old friends of the conducteur, for much shaking 
 of hands ensued on their meeting. Songs and 
 jokes abounded amongst them, and after a little 
 colloquy, they, to the number of nine, contrived 
 to establish themselves on the top of the vehicle, 
 (where we could scarcely imagine,) and so went 
 on laughing, singing, and talking, till we reached 
 Blois. We felt glad that they had obtained a 
 place and were spared a long walk, but our 
 philanthropy was considerably repressed when 
 we discovered that their resting-places had prin- 
 cipally been found amongst our baggage, some 
 of the lighter part of which had not a little 
 suffered by the constant kicking and dancing of 
 their feet, as, in the exuberance of their animal 
 spirits, they kept up an incessant tattoo amongst 
 the boxes. 
 
 Here the coteaux are again covered with vines 
 down to the very road ; and so irregular is the 
 ground, that some of the roofs of the houses 
 do not reach above the path, and a rich woody 
 valley falls suddenly beneath the level to rise 
 again as unexpectedly. 
 
 On approaching Blois, the first object that 
 attracts the eye is a remarkable obelisk on the
 
 ARRIVAL AT BLOIS. 199 
 
 bridge, which one cannot at first understand, 
 as it has the appearance of the spire of a 
 church. The river is here fuller and finer than 
 we had hitherto seen it, and the handsome quay 
 along which we drove, the numerous spires of 
 the opposite faubourg, and the general appear- 
 ance of the town, were pleasing and lively. Our 
 diligence, however, stopped at an inn, the mere 
 outward appearance of which actually terrified us ; 
 and when, in spite of all remonstrance, our bag- 
 gage was forcibly seized, and ourselves conducted 
 into a black, dirty kitchen, filled with men, we 
 looked round appalled : we were desired, by a 
 very civil hostess, to walk up stairs, where we 
 were assured we should be content; and, in a 
 state of vexed amaze, we followed her up a 
 turret stair. Every step grew blacker and more 
 filthy : we had been induced to enter, imagining 
 that this might be the side entrance to a mag- 
 nificent house next door, which we fondly hoped 
 was the hotel ; but we now became aware of our 
 mistake. To enter a squalid, dirty, fine bed- 
 room, and as quickly rush out again, make the 
 best of our way down the murderous-looking 
 staircase, carrying as many of our things as we 
 could, and clamouring for the treacherous con-
 
 200 CONDUCTEUR. 
 
 ducteur, was the only plan we could pursue. 
 We crossed a sort of drawbridge over a cellar, 
 and fancied we had escaped the fate of Amy 
 Robsart, when we found ourselves once more 
 in the street, and after a great struggle with 
 porters, hostess, and passengers in the same 
 position as ourselves, all anxious about their 
 baggage, at last the penitent conducteur came 
 to our rescue, and, bidding us be quite easy, 
 marched off with us and his load to one of the 
 handsomest hotels in Blois. When fairly en- 
 tered into a beautiful chamber with all the re- 
 quisite accommodations, I could not refrain from 
 reproaching our friend with attempting to serve 
 his acquaintance at the expense of English 
 travellers : he bore my indignation with great 
 calmness, and replied to it by approaching the 
 casement, throwing it wide open, and pointing 
 triumphantly to the fine bridge, the magnificent 
 river flowing at our feet, the beautiful buildings 
 opposite, all lighted by a rich sun, when he 
 turned round and exclaimed " Est-ce que je ne 
 vous ai pas indique un bon hotel — bon Dieu !" 
 
 There was nothing to be said to such an 
 appeal — all the past was to be merged in the 
 present, and in consideration of the fact r and
 
 BLOIS. 201 
 
 his extreme good-humour, we forgave him and 
 the mischief his nine friends had done to our 
 packages. 
 
 The Loire appeared to us much finer here 
 than we had yet seen it; it is narrower and 
 less divided by islands, consequently the stream 
 is fuller. The moon was at the full when we 
 arrived, and the late rains had swelled the tide, 
 therefore it had some advantages which at Tours 
 were wanting ; but, under any circumstances, the 
 two towns cannot be compared: it is true the 
 waves are not here so lucid as at Tours, where 
 they trickle along like diamond-drops, but the 
 broad sheet of sparkling waters, glowing in the 
 sun, or silvered by such a moon as delighted 
 us at Blois, is really magnificent. 
 
 Blois is built on several hills, on one of which 
 the castle stands; that castle, so famous in 
 history for so many ages ! from the Romans, 
 whose walls still rise to mock the power of 
 later builders — and Stephen (to whom many of 
 the recollections belong) to Louis XII, the 
 father of his people, who was born here ; to 
 Francois I, and the hideous murderous race of 
 Medici. Here the frightful tragedy of the assas- 
 sination of the Guises took place ; every passage
 
 202 THE CHATEAU OF BLOIS. 
 
 and room is full of horror, where those wretches, 
 without remorse or humanity, triumphed ; and one 
 scarcely can regret that every trace of them is 
 swept away, the walls white-washed, the floors 
 planed, their bloody marks effaced for ever, and 
 the whole occupied as a caserne. 
 
 We met our friend the artist of St. Hubert's 
 chapel, at Amboise, with his mother, an agree- 
 able Frenchwoman, while we were going over 
 the castle with our facetious guide, the porter, 
 whose business it is to enlighten travellers, and 
 who, though the most good-natured, is one of 
 the most arbitrary of characters. Our acquaint- 
 ances joined us, and were not sorry for the op- 
 portunity of seeing the rooms a second time, as 
 they confessed to us that our guide had thorough- 
 ly bewildered them with his information. With 
 his large bunch of keys and his portly figure, 
 he made a most imposing appearance as he " mar- 
 shalled us the way we should go : " but in vain 
 did we ask questions relative to any object that 
 excited our interest if it came out of the order 
 he had laid down ; everything, he informed us, 
 was well known to him, for he had studied 
 history in order to make himself master of all 
 particulars relative to the castle ; " but how,"
 
 THE ARBITRARY GUIDE. 203 
 
 said he, " can you expect to hear what will 
 be useful to you, if you can't wait, but will keep 
 importuning me with questions at the wrong 
 moment ? I shall tell you all in turn, without 
 missing the least thing — but do not allow your 
 impatience to disturb our tranquillity." In this 
 philosophical manner he prosed on from chamber 
 to chamber, till we were almost exhausted with 
 listening : he would interlard his discourse with 
 scraps of English, such as " Nivere meend," and 
 " Teake keer," rubbing his hands and chuckling 
 as he uttered these words, which he asserted 
 were the favourite expressions of our country- 
 women, when they came to see the castle. 
 
 Except the mere circumstance of such and 
 such events having happened in such chambers, 
 the interior of the castle possesses no interest; 
 as all is changed, and the walls and ceilings 
 white-washed, and most of the carving removed 
 or destroyed. The suite in which the tragedy 
 of Guise's murder was perpetrated, is pointed 
 out, and the closet into which the victim was 
 dragged when the hateful Henri came to mea- 
 sure his dreaded enemy with his eye as he lay 
 prostrate. The oratory and rooms occupied by 
 his wicked mother, the arch-witch, Catherine,
 
 204 EXTERIOR OF THE CHATEAU. 
 
 the Salle des Etats, and countless others are 
 all dismantled. 
 
 It is the exterior of the chateau which de- 
 serves admiration, and the beautiful open spiral 
 staircase, unrivalled except at Chambord. The 
 facade, built by Louis XII, is very interesting; 
 mutilated remains of the statues of Louis and the 
 heiress of Bretagne, are in niches over the grand 
 entrance, and beautiful ogee windows still exist. 
 A gallery and tower, built by Stephen, are in the 
 interior court ; another facade is by Francis I, 
 whose Salamander and the double DD's of Henri 
 II, occur continually. The extent of the castle 
 is enormous, and the bewildering variety of ar- 
 chitecture gives it the effect of a city built 
 in different ages. Here are huge towers and 
 embattled walls, erected by the earliest Counts 
 of Blois, joining to the elegant ornamented style 
 of the Medici, or the elaborate grace of the 
 time of Francois ; further on appear specimens 
 of the bad taste of Louis XIII. and XIV, and 
 the incongruous designs of Mansard, which ill 
 accord with the style of the middle ages, con- 
 spicuous in other parts. All this, together, forms 
 a most extraordinary pile of building, which, 
 taken in parts, is admirable. A ruined Roman
 
 THE CATHEDRAL OF BLOIS. 205 
 
 tower, and bridges and walls, extend their lines 
 on the opposite side of a large space, once an 
 exterior court, forming picturesque bits, which 
 were not lost on our young artist : there is, 
 indeed, in Blois endless food for an artist's study, 
 and it would be difficult to choose amiss among 
 the sketches it offers at every turn. 
 
 The Cathedral of Blois stands on another hill, 
 at a distance from the castle, and offers nothing 
 to interest. It is built after the designs of Man- 
 sard, is heavy, and without grace : over the altar 
 is rather a fine piece of painted glass, represent- 
 ing the crucifixion, as large as life ; but nothing 
 is in conformity with it, and it fails of its effect. 
 The Eveche' is a handsome building, and its gar- 
 dens and walks, open to the public, charming. 
 On terraces, along the ancient walls, they over- 
 look the town and magnificent river, with a 
 far distant prospect, in which can easily be dis- 
 tinguished Chambord, with its oriental turrets, 
 on one hand, and the gothic towers of Chau- 
 mont on the other. These promenades are most 
 agreeable, and laid out with taste: beneath are 
 the private gardens of the archbishop, on a lower 
 terrace, full of flowers and fruit, looking tempting 
 and lively.
 
 206 A PARISIAN " LION." 
 
 The honours of this part of Blois were done 
 us by a stranger, who was similarly seeking the 
 picturesque in travel: his appearance was to us 
 then so remarkable, that we started on his ac- 
 costing us to point out some object worthy our 
 attention. He was a man about five-and-twenty, 
 attired in a kind of furred palletot, buckled round 
 his waist: his long tresses were confined by an 
 eastern-looking casquette, his chestnut beard, 
 whiskers, and moustachios, combining together 
 in a downward sweep, reached to his breast, 
 which the beard, branching off square, nearly 
 covered ; his dark eyes flashed from amongst 
 this forest of hair like the orbs of a " wull- 
 cat," and his appearance was most astounding 
 to our inexperience, for we had then to learn 
 that this is the approved style of the Parisian 
 exquisites of the present day, who are known 
 by the sobriquet of " Lions."* Fierce and ultra- 
 African as this figure seemed, it spoke in so soft 
 and gentle a tone, that all fear was at once 
 removed, and the refinement of its manners 
 
 * The " femelles de ces males," we learned, arc called 
 " Gazelles :" they vie with their partners in extravagance 
 of costume.
 
 STREETS OF BLOIS. 207 
 
 pleasingly contradicted the menacing character 
 of its countenance. 
 
 From the fine broad quays, adorned with very 
 handsome shaded promenades, the trees of which 
 are luxuriant, but their appearance spoilt by 
 having large advertising sheets stuck all over 
 their trunks (!)— to the heights, the streets are ex- 
 tremely steep and are paved in steps as at Angers, 
 but they are in general wider and better : they 
 are much less crowded and dark than the great 
 antiquity of the town might lead one to expect : 
 however, in the Quartier des Juifs, they preserve 
 their original appearance, being crooked, dark, 
 high, and narrow, and excluding daylight. A 
 great many retain their antique names, as Rue 
 Pierre de Blois, Rue des Papegaux, Rue des 
 chants d'Oiseaux, &c. We met with several 
 very curiously carved houses ; one in particular, 
 at the end of the precipitous street of Pierre 
 de Blois, leading to the Place de l'Eveche, in 
 the style of those at Angers of the fourteenth 
 century. An immense deal, however, has been 
 cleared away, and though the town has gained 
 air and light by their demolition, the taste dis- 
 played in the new buildings is not remarkable.
 
 208 ST. NICOLAS. 
 
 The church of the Jesuits is handsome, and is 
 undergoing judicious restoration. There are two 
 altars of carved white marble, whose beauty, 
 though considerably defaced, makes one regret 
 the injuries they have sustained, not from time, 
 but the less sparing hand of man: in several 
 of the chapels are wreaths of flowers in stone 
 above the altars, so exquisitely carved as to 
 excite astonishment by their truth and grace, 
 and these are perfectly entire. 
 
 The old church at Vienne, the faubourg on the 
 other side of the bridge, which is very extensive, 
 is in the heaviest early style of architecture ; and 
 though imposing exteriorly, has but little to in- 
 terest within, except for the solemn gloom which 
 its huge pillars and low-groined roofs cast round, 
 giving it the effect of a subterranean chapel. 
 It possesses a few painted windows, the figures 
 much mutilated and oddly pierced, their rich co- 
 lours spreading a dim religious light on the old 
 and rugged pavement. 
 
 But the treasure of Blois in this style is the 
 beautiful church of St. Nicolas, than which I 
 never saw one lighter or more graceful : its an- 
 tiquity is very great, and it is built in the best 
 taste of the period. A cupola surrounded with
 
 ST. NICOLAS. 209 
 
 delicate arches, supported by slender columns, 
 gives height and elegance to the roof: this form 
 reminded us of the temple-shaped church of Font- 
 evraud. Clustered groups of small pillars spring 
 up, like reeds " of decent growth " fit for the 
 Cyclop's instrument, suited to his " capacious 
 mouth," to the height of the roof, and support 
 numerous arches of extensive span. The chapels 
 are beautiful, and the capitals of some of the 
 shorter pillars are grotesque and curious : there 
 are no tombs, but several marble slabs elabo- 
 rately carved are affixed to the walls, so cruelly 
 defaced, however, that the joint efforts of our- 
 selves and our artist friends failed to discover 
 their subject. 
 
 There are several good squares in Blois ; in 
 one is the Salle de Spectacle, which we sought 
 after for some time, not imagining that a fine 
 Gothic church could have been converted into 
 a theatre ; but so it is. Opposite this remarkable 
 building is all that remains of an exquisite little 
 Gothic fountain, which is being cleared away, 
 having become too ruinous to be available. The 
 ornaments of this are most graceful and elegant, 
 and we saw with regret what its fate must in- 
 evitably be: our artist friend made a charming 
 
 VOL. II. p
 
 210 AQUEDUCT. 
 
 drawing of it, which will be very valuable as a 
 reminiscence, for doubtless it is already destroyed, 
 to be replaced by a new fountain, which was 
 greatly required. 
 
 We had heard that there existed the re- 
 mains of a magnificent Roman aqueduct, and we 
 sought for it for some time, blaming ourselves 
 for not at once discovering what was of course 
 so conspicuous. We inquired at several libraries, 
 but found every one in amaze at our questions, 
 as no French person likes to confess himself in 
 ignorance, particularly on a subject connected 
 with his town. We were directed different ways, 
 but still no aqueduct appeared : at last, after 
 wandering through innumerable streets, we reach- 
 ed a very shabby faubourg, where we were told 
 to ask for the Pont de Cesar ; but, like the estates 
 of the Lord Marquis of Carrabas, it was nowhere 
 to be found. To the great amusement of a group 
 of very cheerful old women, who seemed to think 
 us crazed, " a la mode Anglaise" we continued 
 our demands, and had nearly given up our search 
 in despair, when we beheld a smart intelligent- 
 looking cordonnier, carrying home some shoes, ad- 
 vancing in our direction. As cobblers and bar- 
 bers are sure to know all that is to be known,
 
 ADVENTURE OF THE AQUEDUCTS. 211 
 
 we accosted him, and learnt that we were ac- 
 tually standing on the Pont de C6sar at that 
 moment, and the famous aqueduct was within 
 a few yards of us, being nothing more than a 
 common sewer ; admirably constructed, certainly, 
 being a series of arched vaults, which extend in 
 every direction under the town, and communi- 
 cate with the river. Our informant entered very 
 learnedly into the praise of Roman ability, and 
 pointed out to us the antique walls which might 
 be traced by the side of the ditch near where 
 we stood, the arches of the little bridge over- 
 grown with weeds and covered with rubbish, and 
 the dark opening down which, he said, an anti- 
 quary, resolved to discover the extent of the sewer, 
 had ventured and remained exploring for hours ; 
 an occupation, I should conceive, more curious 
 than agreeable, and requiring a zeal a toute epreuve 
 to undertake ! Thus ended our adventure of 
 the aqueducts, which, like the search after the 
 philosopher's stone, led to many interesting dis- 
 coveries, as we by this means made ourselves 
 acquainted with several sites and points which 
 we should otherwise have missed. 
 
 p 2
 
 212 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Chambord. — Menard le Chateau. — Bibliotheque of Blois. 
 — Creme de St. Gervais. — Moonlight. — Lingering depar- 
 ture. — Meun. — Notre Dame de Clery. — Tomb of Louis II. 
 —Merlin Hume. — St. Ay. 
 
 a Belle Loire for once look- 
 ed full and sparkling, the sun 
 shone brilliantly, "and all the 
 clouds that lower'd" for so 
 many days, had disappeared, 
 leaving the atmosphere as 
 clear as possible; a fine fresh air added to the 
 charm of the inviting morning when we set out, 
 having made a party with our artist friends to 
 Chambord, four leagues from Blois, and the great 
 lion of that part of the country. 
 
 The drive is extremely pleasant, and almost 
 for the first time we found ourselves in a respect- 
 able carriage, really good and well appointed, 
 with a coachman looking like a man of this
 
 BLOIS. 213 
 
 world, and not in a blouse. Indeed Blois and 
 all its belongings is more civilized than any 
 town we had seen, not excepting Tours. We 
 should have said the improvement was owing 
 to a nearer approach to the capital, but for the 
 falling off we discovered at Orleans, which is 
 nearer. 
 
 Blois was formerly looked upon as the court 
 town, par excellence; its language, manners, and 
 habits, partook of the refinement attendant on 
 the court, whose residence was fixed there. The 
 inhabitants were said to speak the best French 
 in France, and an air of grace was supposed to 
 pervade all things within its limits. As for the 
 language, it is now, as far as we could judge, 
 no better than any other patois on the Loire ; 
 but it would seem that it has retained a supe- 
 riority in many respects, and a style de maitre 
 as though it could not forget the time when 
 it was preferred to Paris by the gay followers 
 of the Roi Chevalier. The elegance for which 
 it was famed may have faded away, but the 
 politeness and ease, and a certain polish belong- 
 ing to a better order of society, may be traced 
 in most of the habits and customs of Blois. 
 
 To return to our drive, in our smart carriage,
 
 214 MENARD LE CHATEAU. 
 
 of which we were " justly vain." The first ob- 
 ject of interest, en route, is Menard le Chateau, 
 formerly the residence of Madame de Pompa- 
 dour, now belonging to the Prince de Chimay, 
 who has established there an ecole (Parts et me- 
 tiers. The building is very extensive, the gar- 
 dens must be fine, and the terraces are magni- 
 ficent, and command an immense view of the 
 banks of the Loire : avenues of handsome, though 
 formally-cut trees, extend along the shore for 
 a long distance, elevated above the river, with 
 neat, well-kept walks between, and both house 
 and grounds appearing in excellent repair; but 
 there is nothing beyond its extent and commo- 
 diousness to admire, nor does the recollection 
 of Madame de Pompadour excite any particu- 
 larly pleasurable memoirs in the traveller's mind 
 as he passes by. 
 
 A somewhat rugged, and now neglected road 
 leads to the celebrated chateau of Francis I, 
 which had been his pet place, where he delighted 
 to let his imagination run riot, and which he 
 formed to resemble, in some degree, a Moorish 
 palace. Chambord was his Pavilion, and its mi- 
 narets and domes must have appeared as strange, 
 and were, perhaps, as much criticised in France,
 
 CHAMBORD. 215 
 
 in his time, as the Brighton bijou of George 
 IV. But Francis had a less questionable taste, 
 and the enormous sums he expended in adorn- 
 ing this palace, were not so utterly thrown away, 
 for the chateau must have been a gorgeous fabric 
 at the time when he delighted in its beauty.* 
 The vandalism of Louis XIV. and his successor 
 here shines forth in full vigour. Surrounding 
 the chateau on three sides, a hideous range of 
 low buildings, in the very worst taste, have been 
 placed : these are out-houses, stables, servants' 
 apartments, &c, and shut out the beauty of the 
 interior courts, most effectually concealing the 
 elegant facades, and all the proportions of the 
 
 * Chambord was commenced in 1526. Although Francois 
 I. employed always eighteen hundred workmen upon it, and 
 Henri II, Henri III, and Charles IX, continued the con- 
 struction, it was never completely finished. Louis XIII. 
 was particularly fond of it as a residence, and under Louis 
 XIV. it became another Versailles, from the fetes which were 
 here given. Some of the comedies of Moliere, as, for in- 
 stance, " Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme," were played in this 
 palace for the first time in 1670. 
 
 King Stanislaus afterwards occupied Chambord, where he 
 lived in the style of a country gentleman : the Marechal de 
 Saxe kept up great splendour within its walls, and died here. 
 The family of Polignac made it a place of quiet enjoyment, 
 and the last occupant, Berthier, lived here wretchedly, cutting 
 down the woods, and neglecting the domain.
 
 216 CHAMBORD. 
 
 palace worthy of admiration, within their cir- 
 cumvallation. At each angle of the castle an 
 enormous roof of the favourite extinguisher 
 shape, rises from amidst the delicate spires and 
 turrets which spring up round them, like flower- 
 ing reeds beside some deformed trunk ! Never 
 was ingenuity taxed to such an extent to render 
 what was originally beautifully singular, grotesque 
 and monstrous. A deep feeling of disgust and 
 disappointment immediately takes possession of 
 the beholder's mind, and a vain desire to separate 
 the work of the two monarchs, so opposite in 
 all ways, and so unnaturally brought into compe- 
 tition. 
 
 One can only rejoice that the war waged by 
 the soi-disant lover of Grecian architecture 
 against the grace and elegance of that which 
 Francis imitated from the Italian and Spanish, 
 combined with the taste of the middle ages, not 
 unsuccessfully striving to produce a pleasing re- 
 sult, has permitted anything but his own heavy 
 clumsy piles to appear ; and be grateful to hail the 
 too-often repeated salamander, and the crowned 
 crescent on the walls and roofs. The unri- 
 valled double staircase, a master-piece of ele- 
 gance and beauty, is still perfect, at least, as
 
 CHAMBORD. 217 
 
 regards its exterior; but the effect is a good 
 deal lessened by a flooring having been con- 
 structed half way up inside, in order that more 
 chambers might be procured. The ceilings of 
 that part built by Francis are elaborately deco- 
 rated in panels of alternate F's crowned, and 
 the salamander in the midst of flames. On some 
 of the walls, Henri II. has left his devices and 
 those of his huntress love ; but the windows 
 on which the Hoi Chevalier, in a pettish mood, 
 traced those ungallant lines so often quoted, 
 for which he was justly reproved by his charm- 
 ing sister, are no longer to be seen. 
 
 Indeed imagination must assist greatly in 
 viewing this place, for every room is dismantled, 
 every bit of carving that could be removed has 
 been taken away, and the whole presents, like 
 the chateau of Blois, merely a shell, with nothing 
 to offer of interest except its external walls : that 
 is all that remains of its first construction. 
 
 The principal front has even now an imposing 
 effect from its extent, though bizarre from the 
 extraordinary variety of its architecture ; scarcely 
 any two windows are alike, or on the same line, 
 the rooms appear thrown here and there at 
 random, the old windows having been stopped
 
 218 CHAMBORD. 
 
 up, the old stories divided into two floors, 
 Grecian pillars squeezed amongst Italian walls 
 and arcades ; while, flanking two beautiful and 
 exquisitely carved tourelles, one at each ex- 
 tremity of the facade, rise, crowning the large 
 original round towers, the before-named gigantic 
 Gargantua-like extinguishers ! — hideous blots on 
 the face of taste. As if these monstrosities, 
 which did not agonize our companions as they did 
 us, were to be perpetuated, preparations are going 
 on to restore one of these roofs, the lead of 
 which was lately curled completely up by a 
 furious wind (the spirit of the injured Francis 
 doubtless guiding the spirits of the storm), and 
 so much damage done to the roof, that prompt 
 measures were requisite to be taken to prevent 
 extensive mischief. 
 
 There are two other staircases, one at each side 
 of an interior court, of the same form and in the 
 same taste as the double one in the centre of the 
 building ; and nothing can exceed their lightness 
 and grace, or the beauty of the ornaments with 
 which they are decorated. All that remains of 
 the first part of the building is charming, the 
 courts are spacious, and the whole grand and 
 royal.
 
 CHAMBORD. 219 
 
 The park is very large, and its avenues fine, 
 but a great deal of timber has been cut down, 
 and no part of the grounds is in a state to offer 
 any temptation to explore them : the long rank 
 grass grows high and coarse, the few shrubs are 
 choked up with briers and weeds, and desolation 
 reigns triumphant at the neglected and dila- 
 pidated palace of Chambord ! The cause of this 
 is, that the right of property is contested : it 
 was presented to the young Duke de Bour- 
 deaux by the nation, having been bought by sub- 
 scription by the friends of the Bourbons, of 
 Madame Berthier, who possessed it from her 
 husband, on whom Napoleon had bestowed the 
 castle and domain. After the last revolution 
 it became a question whether it of right be- 
 longed to the prince, as he is supposed to have 
 no estates in France ; and the law is to decide 
 what is to be done with this possession, which 
 every year becomes of less value. It is to be 
 regretted that the question is not set at rest, 
 so that either the crown or the exiled duke 
 could claim it, for it will be totally ruined in 
 a short time, should it remain neglected as at 
 present. 
 
 The people who show the chateau are sulky
 
 220 CHAMBORD. 
 
 and sad, and everything around is gloomy and 
 desolate. There are, however, some delightful 
 bits of study, which were not to be neglected ; 
 and our friend the artist, having chosen a por- 
 tion of the facade for a sketch, set himself about 
 it, forgetting that he had left a large portfolio 
 of other drawings, which we had been examining 
 at the top of a tower, lying on a parapet. We 
 were reminded of this fact by observing, from 
 time to time, the descent of various sheets of 
 paper, some of which quietly fell into the courts, 
 but some were borne by the wind into pools and 
 amongst the wet grass. A general consternation 
 ensued when we found what they were, and every 
 one was instantly busied in picking up stray 
 turrets, and fountains, and castles, and facades — 
 the stores collected in a journey from Auvergne 
 to the present spot, all interesting, and of un- 
 speakable value to the possessor. At last, amidst 
 much laughter, and some scolding from his ma- 
 man, our friend contrived to get together all 
 his treasures, and having ascertained that all 
 was right, set about bewailing the loss of half 
 a dozen sheets of excellent English drawing- 
 paper, which had gone into a little stream and 
 were lost beyond redemption. This reminded us
 
 THE VINES. 221 
 
 of the distress of our guide in the caves of 
 Chinon, who mourned over his broken candle 
 having saved his own neck. 
 
 We returned from Chambord by another route 
 through a deep wood, by a very bad road ; but 
 the glades and groves were so agreeable, that 
 we were scarcely conscious of all the secousses 
 we met at every hundred yards. On emerging 
 from this, we came upon plains covered with 
 purple vines, here arranged differently from many 
 other parts. They are allowed to grow higher, 
 and the branches are confined at the top, and 
 tied to their sticks, so that they form garlands, 
 from which the rich bunches of nearly ripe grapes 
 depend, and have a most beautiful and Italian 
 effect : this is quite unusual, and is probably 
 done to prevent the leaves from overshadowing 
 the fruit too much. The leaves had now become 
 of a rich deep colour, and, together with the 
 ripened grapes, made a splendid appearance, 
 the tints being so foncees and fine. In some 
 vines they were almost black, which we were 
 told is a particular sort, generally used in making 
 wine to give colour to the paler kind. The sun 
 shining through these clusters, casts a glow over 
 the whole scene of extreme richness and bril-
 
 222 BIBLIOTHEQUE OF BLOIS. 
 
 liancy: the lively conversation of our amusing- 
 companions, the enthusiasm in art of the young 
 man, the examination of his charming sketches, 
 and his anecdotes of adventure, made our day 
 pass off with infinite spirit and gaiety, although 
 we had been a little disappointed in the pre- 
 sent appearance of the far-famed chateau of 
 Chambord. 
 
 The Bibliotheque of Blois is excellent and 
 well-arranged, and possesses many treasures. We 
 examined here the unequalled work of M. de 
 Bastard, which exhibits specimens of illuminated 
 paintings from ancient MSS. so exquisitely co- 
 pied as to have lost none of the delicacy and 
 intricate beauty of the originals. The gold and 
 cblours are laid on with a perfection quite im- 
 comparable, and if they would last for centuries, 
 like those from which they are taken, would be 
 indeed valuable ; but I fear the scarlets and greens 
 of the present time, particularly the former, will 
 never be found to retain their brilliancy long. 
 This work, the title of which is, " Peintures des 
 MSS. depuis le 8 siecle jusqu' a la fin du 16." 
 is altogether the most splendid specimen of mo- 
 dern art it is possible to conceive, and is got up 
 with a care worthy of its extraordinary merit.
 
 CREME DE ST. GERVAIS. 223 
 
 Here are the gorgeous gold letters on purple 
 ground, of the wondrous MS. of Charles le 
 Chauve, reproduced, not fresher, which is im- 
 possible, but as fresh and perfect as the original ; 
 here are pages of the delicate and graceful ini- 
 tials of the Evangile de St. Medard de Soysons 
 — its Fontaine Mystique, and all the different 
 styles of letters and ornaments of various periods, 
 each of the purest and most unique design; the 
 Ecriture Onciale Caroline, the Initiales Zoomor- 
 phes and Phyllomorphes, from the bible of St. 
 Martial de Lymoges ; in short, all that the in- 
 dustry and taste of genius can accomplish in 
 this beautiful art which, when carried to such 
 perfection, deserves to rank with the highest. 
 
 They have also in the library, M. de So- 
 merard's fine work, " Les Arts au Moyen Age," 
 which I had not before seen, and which is most 
 interesting, before or after visiting his charming 
 cabinets at the Hotel Cluny in Paris. 
 
 Amongst the agreeable productions of Blois, 
 it would be neglectful not to name its pears, 
 and, above all, its creme de St. Gervais — the 
 most delicious cream in the world, superior to 
 our Devonshire cream, which it somewhat re- 
 sembles, inasmuch as it is not like butter, which
 
 224 MOONLIGHT. 
 
 is the fault of that celebrated condiment. The 
 creme de St. Gervais is served up in little black 
 glazed earthen cups, white inside, covered with 
 a vine-leaf, and tied round. In this rustic state 
 it is sent up at dessert, and is fit food for 
 " Corydon and Thirsis," attended by the " neat- 
 handed Phillis." 
 
 Charming as the aspect of Blois may be, il- 
 lumined by a glorious sun, it has a still finer 
 appearance at night when the harvest-moon is 
 at the full, as was the case during our stay. From 
 the windows of our inn, justly vaunted by our 
 conducteur, the view was magnificent : the hand- 
 some bridge, unlike most of the modern bridges on 
 the Loire, is steep, and runs up into a most incon- 
 venient curve ; in its centre is an obelisque, which 
 by day is not an object of much interest from 
 its architectural merit, but at night has a sha- 
 dowy and picturesque effect, touched by the 
 moonlight, while the heavy pillars and arches of 
 the bridge sleep in broad shadow on the full 
 waters beneath. A sheet of trembling silver 
 spreads far away into the distance, and all the 
 opposite shore is distinctly visible. The churches, 
 hospitals, manufactories, and ranges of high build- 
 ings, with their intermixed trees, all reflected
 
 LINGERING DEPARTURE. 225 
 
 in the river as in a mirror ; a gentle "breeze, and 
 a sky of pearly transparency, with a musical 
 wanderer seated on the steps of the bridge with 
 his guitar, singing softly the sweetest airs, and 
 making 
 
 " Such a soft floating witchery of sound, 
 . As twilight fairies make when they at eve 
 Voyage on gentle gales from fairy land : — " 
 
 All this formed a picture seldom equalled, and 
 which we enjoyed every night during our stay 
 in Blois. 
 
 The delight experienced by a traveller in 
 coming to a place which he has heard but little of, 
 and finding it full of interest, is counterbalanced 
 frequently by discovering the inferiority of many 
 others to their reputation. This we had found 
 in the cite de " toute beaute" Tours ; and this we 
 were destined to find in Orleans, for which town, 
 considered one of the best in France, we set 
 out in a diligence, which started somewhat more 
 than two hours after its time ; the cause of such 
 arrangements being, that more passengers had 
 presented themselves than would fill one vehicle, 
 and not enough had yet appeared for two, there- 
 fore it was considered necessary to wait till the 
 
 VOL. II. Q
 
 226 MEUN. 
 
 proper number was got together, and then the two 
 coaches should start fair. At length, after great 
 lingering and lounging, — during which period 
 our artist friend contrived to run off to make a 
 flying sketch of some object which he had seen, 
 and we discovered that our hotel had evidently, 
 by its towers and walls, once formed part of an 
 important fortress destined to defend the bridge, 
 — we were allowed to depart, and took our way 
 along the opposite bank of the river. 
 
 Our route lay through several bourgs, which 
 offered but little interest; occasionally losing sight 
 of the river, and returning again to it : Beau- 
 gency and its antique Roman square tower and 
 fine bridge appearing at a distance, with its 
 coteaux producing the vines which have given 
 it celebrity. 
 
 Baulle, a picturesque village, also famous for 
 its wine and its excellent saffron, and Meun, 
 that delightfully situated bourg which formerly 
 formed part of the domain of the bishops of 
 Orleans, remarkable for its Gothic castle and 
 church, and its iron bridge, but more so as 
 being the birth-place of Clopinel, he who con- 
 tinued the famous Romance of the Rose, which 
 De Lords had " left half-told," and which was
 
 CLOPINEL. 227 
 
 translated and improved by our Chaucer, until 
 he made it his own. 
 
 Jean de Meun,* called Clopinel from his lame- 
 ness, was inferior to his predecessor, De Lorris, 
 in imagination and descriptive talent, but was a 
 poet of no ordinary power ; his satire was prin- 
 cipally directed against the monks, and in par- 
 ticular the Jacobins, then a new order; the 
 trick he played them after his death is comic 
 enough. 
 
 He gave directions that his funeral should be 
 performed in their church, and when it was com- 
 pleted, that a weighty coffer should be placed 
 in the hands of the pious monks who had paid 
 him the last honours. Of course they under- 
 stood that this was an atoning offering for all 
 the evil which the daring poet had said of them 
 during his life ; and, as soon as the body had 
 been committed to the grave, and the customary 
 ceremonies concluded, they proceeded to examine 
 the bequest, which, by its appearance must be 
 of considerable value. The coffer was opened, 
 when great were their dismay and disappoint- 
 ment in discovering only a few sheets of lead, 
 
 * See, for accounts of him and his works, " Specimens of 
 Early French Poetry." 1835. 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 NOTRE DAME DE CLERY. 
 
 inscribed with mathematical figures. Indignant 
 at this treatment, they hurried to disinter the 
 body of the insolent scribbler who had so cheated 
 them, and to cast his remains out of their sanc- 
 tuary, but this was not permitted by the Court 
 of Parliament, to whom his friends applied, and 
 it was again honourably interred in the cemetery 
 attached to the same church. 
 
 The little town of Clery is opposite Meun, 
 and we were happy to arrive at a place so 
 famous in story, which the bigot Louis XI. 
 held in such high esteem, and where he was 
 buried by his own desire. It is prettily situated, 
 and the country round very agreeable ; but its 
 chief object of interest is its beautiful church, 
 founded in 550, as a chapel dedicated to the 
 Virgin, and built entirely by Philip de Valois 
 in 1330. The Earl of Salisbury, in 1428, de- 
 stroyed it in part, and it was left to Louis XL 
 to reconstruct it with all the magnificence for 
 which it is even now remarkable. 
 
 The principal door is wonderfully beautiful, 
 elaborately ornamented in the best and most 
 delicate taste ; its towers and spires and j)yra- 
 midal belfry, together with its buttresses, give 
 it a monumental effect, which was the original
 
 TOMB OF LOUIS XI. 229 
 
 intention, as Louis designed it for his mausoleum. 
 The principal nave is adorned with twenty-three 
 windows, and, when filled with painted glass, 
 they must have had a splendid effect, judging by 
 those now left, which are exquisite. The orna- 
 ments of the doors of the sacristy and chapter 
 are admirable ; the garlands which wreath the 
 pillars, and throw their clusters of flowers along 
 the facade, are sculptured as if by the hands 
 of fairies. The stalls are grotesque, but finely 
 worked. A chapel of Anne of Brittany, the 
 walls covered with her ermines, is very elegant ; 
 the pendants to the roof of a tomb, now no more, 
 are in the highest style of art, forming thick 
 groups of stalactite forms, carved with the most 
 graceful patterns, and terminated with bouquets, 
 that seem formed for the hand of an heiress 
 queen. There is also a beautiful chapel of the 
 Counts of Dunois. 
 
 The most conspicuous object in the church is 
 the tomb of Louis XI. ; whether it is the iden- 
 tical tomb described by La Fontaine, I do not 
 know, but imagine not, as I cannot agree with 
 him that it is d'assez bonne main. It appears 
 so very new and clean, that it may be a work 
 of yesterday, and the figure is so totally unlike
 
 230 TOMB OF LOUIS XI. 
 
 all that one has ever seen or read of the nig- 
 gardly bigot, who passed his life in cheating 
 the saints and his people, that I imagine it is 
 either new or spoilt by restoration. It is curious, 
 that with all his care to provide himself with 
 so glorious a sepulchre, and a fine tomb, exe- 
 cuted by German artists in gilded bronze, after- 
 wards destroyed, there should not have been a 
 statue of him in his own time : that his son 
 and successors should have neglected such a duty, 
 we cannot wonder. It appears that a monu- 
 ment, perhaps the one in question, was erected 
 to him in 1622. This was placed here in 1816, 
 and our first impression was that it represented 
 Louis XVIII, in coronation robes, which may 
 give some idea of its total want of resemblance 
 to the wearer of the old cap, with its wreath 
 of leaden images. This monarch is clothed in 
 a long and ample ermine robe, silk stockings 
 and hose, and a capacious ruff surrounds his 
 throat ; no indication of the costume of the 
 period appears, and still less correct is the round, 
 unmeaning face which surmounts the plump and 
 comfortable figure. The description of La Font- 
 aine is as follows : • 
 
 " Louis XI. est enterr6 a, Clery : on le voit a
 
 TOMB OF LOUIS XI. 231 
 
 genoux sur son tombeau, quatre enfans aux coins : 
 ce sont quatre anges et ce pourrait etre quatre 
 amours, si on ne leur avait point arrache les ailes- 
 Le bon apotre de roi fait la le saint horame, et 
 est bien mieux pris que quand le Bourguignon 
 le mena a Liege. 
 
 " Je lui trouvai la mine d'un matois ; 
 Aussi l'etoit ce prince dont la vie 
 Doit rarement servir d'example aux rois, 
 Et pourrait etre en quelques points suivie. 
 
 " A ses genoux sont ses lieures et son chapelet, 
 et autres meme utensiles, sa main de justice, son 
 sceptre, son chateau, et sa Notre Dame : je ne 
 sais comment le statuaire n'y a point mis le pre- 
 vot Tristan : le tout est en marbre blanc et m'a 
 semble d'assez bonne main." 
 
 The pedestal is supported by four columns, and 
 the inscription runs thus : — " A la memoire de 
 Louis XL roi de France, et de Charlotte de 
 Savoie, son epouse." 
 
 The famous Virgin of Clery, said to be the 
 very identical image so beloved by Louis and so 
 potent in miracles, is placed in a niche over the 
 grand altar. She is black and ugly enough to 
 be the original, but is dressed out in tinsel, beads,
 
 282 MERLIN HUME. . 
 
 roses, and every sort of finery, more like a black 
 girl at a " Dignity Hop " in the West Indies, 
 than anything else that can be imagined. The 
 good people of Clery appear more pious or more 
 ignorant than their neighbours, for they seem 
 extremely proud of this remarkably disagreeable 
 figure, — a fit object of adoration to the royal 
 hypocrite, but very unlikely to be the real she, 
 burnt of course at the Revolution. 
 
 In the town of Clery the house is shown which 
 Louis inhabited, the hotel where Louis XIII. 
 rested, and which was also visited by Louis XIV. 
 and Madame de Pompadour. This habitation has 
 still ceilings painted in fresco, with devices, em- 
 blems, and Cupids : it has a fine iron balustrade 
 to the staircase, ornamented with LL interlaced 
 in copper, well executed. 
 
 We were amused at observing a name over 
 a door which spoke strongly of a Scotch origin, 
 and must have descended from one of the archers 
 of the Scotch guard, for who else could have 
 been the ancestor of Merlin Hume, tonnelier f 
 
 Saint Ay, built in an amphitheatre on the 
 descent of a hill amongst all its vines, is on the 
 opposite side of the river, and must command
 
 SCENERY OF ST. AY. 233 
 
 a charming view of picturesque Clery, its magni- 
 ficent church, and the smiling country round ; 
 after this, there is a succession of vineyards, and 
 then the plains of La Sologne, and those of La 
 Bauce Orl^anaise, and the Val de Loire.
 
 234 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Val de Loire and its Coteaux. — The Little Mirrors. — 
 Marha'i't de Kergluj. — Ballad of the Mirrors. — La Sologne. 
 —La Bauce. — Le Gatinais. 
 
 n both sides of the river is a 
 district called the Val de 
 Loire, which extends to a cer- 
 tain distance, and most of the 
 best towns of the department 
 of the Loiret are comprised 
 in it. On the right bank are Orleans, Gien, and 
 Beaugency, which are on the borders of La Bauce. 
 On the left bank are the Faubourgs of Orleans, 
 those of Gien, the little towns of Sully, Jargeau, 
 and Clery; these are on the borders of La So- 
 logne. 
 
 Immense vineyards clothe the coteauw, which 
 hem in this valley and reach from one extremity 
 of the department to the other, the wine they
 
 THE VAL DE LOIRE AND ITS COTEAUX. 235 
 
 produce being more or less prized : those of Clery 
 and St. Mesmin are white and much esteemed ; 
 the red wines of St. Denis en Val are thought 
 the best in the Orleanois. Its meadows are very 
 rich and fruitful. A part of the district called 
 Le Gatinais, of which Chartres is the centre, 
 joins the Val and contributes its corn and wine 
 to the general store. 
 
 The great variety of manners to be observed 
 in the inhabitants of these districts is curious : 
 in some they differ so strongly as scarcely to be 
 recognised as the same people : the peasants of 
 the Val and of Sologne are beings of entirely 
 opposite qualities, although they are separated 
 only by a hill and a few fields. Civilization is 
 now doing wonders, and doubtless these differ- 
 ences will soon cease, or be at least softened 
 down, but they still exist in a surprising degree, 
 considering all the changes to which France has 
 been subject for so many years. 
 
 At Mareau and St. Andre the peasants may 
 be said still to speak in the romance language; 
 at least, many of their expressions are the same : 
 their dress is totally different from that of other 
 towns, and neither its form nor quality has been 
 altered from time immemorial. Their manners,
 
 236 THE PARDONS. 
 
 habits, and particularly their dances, are not the 
 same as those of their nearest neighbours. 
 
 The Pardons of Bretagne have extended to this 
 part of the Loire, and some of their other customs 
 appear, to me, similar to those of the Bretons. 
 At these meetings, when religion and gaiety are 
 combined, it is a saying of the country — 
 
 Pour vivre sans envie 
 Et qu'on ait bien son lot, 
 II faut que la Marie 
 Prenne ici son Pierrot. 
 
 Which means simply, that at the Pardons each 
 young girl is free to choose a partner for the 
 season, who shall attend her to all the fetes 
 which take place, of which there are many. 
 
 The grandest of these is that of N. D. de 
 Clery, the Sunday which follows the 8th of Sep- 
 tember. This fete, which is nearly the last of 
 the season of fine weather, is remarkable : it has 
 features like Long-champs, in its processions of 
 carriages of all descriptions, and the variety of 
 costumes displayed may vie with the fashion- 
 ables of the Bois de Boulogne. The mysterious 
 inhabitants of the villages of Mareau and St. 
 Andre here appear in all their glory, and their 
 dances excite the interest and surprise of all
 
 THE LITTLE MIRRORS. 237 
 
 their neighbours. The women wear enormous 
 full thick petticoats, flat caps, and peculiar- 
 shaped corsets : the men have short breeches, 
 enormous buckles in their shoes, hats with large 
 brims turned up, several waistcoats, and their 
 coats almost all of the same tint, which is dark 
 claret colour. At this festival hospitality pre- 
 vails, and the whole neighbourhood is turned 
 into a fair, where the jongleur and the trouba- 
 dour, of the present day, exhibit their powers of 
 attraction. 
 
 A custom prevails, which is particularly pleas- 
 ing and romantic, and has a refinement about 
 it which would seem to have been taught by 
 the courtly natives of Blois, but that it evidently 
 is derived from the most distant villages of un- 
 civilized Brittany, as the poem, which I shall 
 presently give, will prove. 
 
 Each Pierrot, on taking leave of his Marie, 
 when the fete is concluded, presents her with 
 a bouquet, which is only sold on that occasion. 
 It is composed of artificial flowers of fanciful 
 shapes, whose cup is formed of a pearl, made of 
 looking-glass, and little convex mirrors are dis- 
 posed between the leaves and flowers. These 
 bouquets are religiously preserved by the young
 
 238 MARHAlT DE KERGLUJ. 
 
 girls, as they are often a pledge of proposed 
 marriage at All Saints, or Christmas. They are 
 placed at the head of their beds, and are fre- 
 quently looked at with great interest to see if 
 the little mirrors remain untarnished, as other- 
 wise, it is a proof of the infidelity of the youth 
 who was the giver of the tell-tale treasure. 
 
 The following simple poem, taken from the 
 source whence I have drawn others, in the brief 
 account of Bretagne I have attempted, alludes 
 to the custom of the little mirrors, and is, as 
 usual, of a deeply melancholy character. It 
 would appear, by the conclusion, that the young 
 girl on whom it was composed by the rustic 
 minstrel, must have committed suicide. She is 
 called in the verse, Marhai't de Kergluj, or, in 
 the strange dialect of Vannes,* Varc'hait doc'h 
 Gerglujar. 
 
 * It is somewhat singular that in this neighbourhood is a 
 town called Vannes : perhaps a colony of Bretons established 
 themselves here.
 
 239 
 
 THE MIRRORS. 
 
 DIALECT OF VANNES. 
 
 Chileuet holl, o chileuet, 
 Ur zonik neue zo sauet. 
 
 Listen all and listen long-, 
 To the minstrel's latest song : 
 'Tis of Mary whom ye knew, 
 Flower that in our hamlet grew. 
 
 Oft her mother said apart, 
 " Mary, — oh, how fair thou art ! " 
 
 " Ah ! what hoots it being fair ? 
 Happier other maidens are ! 
 I am with'ring on the stem, 
 For I may not wed, like them. 
 When the apple's tender cheek 
 Blushes with its rosy streak, 
 It is sought and gather'd free, 
 But, if left upon the tree, 
 Soon 'twill perish and decay, 
 And, like me, will fade away ! " 
 
 " Pretty child, lament no more, 
 Wait but till a year be o'er." 
 
 " If I die before the year 
 Thou wilt shed the fruitless tear.
 
 240 LA SOLOGNE. 
 
 Build a tomb, if I should die, 
 On it let three nosegays lie ; 
 One must be of roses' sheen, 
 And the rest of laurel green. 
 When two lovers pass that way 
 
 Tender grief their hearts shall move ; 
 Each shall choose a flower, and say 
 
 ' 'Tis her grave who died for love : 
 For around her shining hair 
 
 Was no marriage garland tied, 
 No bright mirrors, glittering there, 
 
 Bade us hail her as a bride ! ' 
 
 " Ah ! — no bell for me shall sound, 
 Place me not in hallow' d ground ; 
 Dig my grave beside the way, 
 Never priest a prayer shall say : 
 None the flower-strewn grave shall see 
 Of a wretch who died like me ! " 
 
 La Sologne forms part of the Val-de-Loire, 
 on the left bank of the river, and spreads from 
 Gien as far as Blois, and near to Orleans. It 
 is a less productive district than most of the 
 other parts, and its wine is not of the first 
 quality. Its natives are a strange and chetive 
 race ; they are called Solognots, and are wretched 
 in health, manners, and intellect. Their com- 
 plaints are supposed to be caused by the bad 
 water of this part of the country, and their gene-
 
 THE SOLOGNOTS. 241 
 
 ral style of living. Their apathy and indolence 
 prevent the introduction of improvements which 
 would probably alter their present state for the 
 better. They are not without cunning for their 
 own interest, so that it is the custom in the neigh- 
 bourhood to apply to an artful but apparently 
 irresolute and apathetic person, the term of un 
 niais de Sologne. 
 
 The Romans seem to have cultivated this dis- 
 trict, and fixed themselves here, to judge by the 
 numerous remains which are frequently disco- 
 vered. In spite of its few attractions the Solo- 
 gnots are more attached to their plains than are 
 the Baucerons, or the natives of the Val or the 
 Gatinais. 
 
 Their piety seems to arise from ignorance in 
 the extreme : they change the names of the 
 saints as they are impressed by the sound, at- 
 tributing to them powers corresponding with 
 those sounds ; as, for instance, they pray to St. 
 Sulpice, whom they turn into Supplice, for a ces- 
 sation of the supplice of their pain in sickness ; 
 St. Firmin is St. Fremiti, and is supposed to 
 avert the staggers from animals. Their priests 
 seem to have allowed them to remain in this 
 '' blissful state," either from ignorance or design, 
 
 VOL. II. it
 
 242 LA BAUCE. 
 
 but it is not likely, and, it is to be hoped, that 
 it will not last much longer. 
 
 La Bauce is another district which is spread 
 out on each side of this part of the Loire ; that 
 portion of it in the department of Loiret is 
 called La Bauce Orleanaise. It was formerly 
 woody, but is now covered with corn lands and 
 fields and immense plains : occasionally pretty si- 
 tuations occur, but in general there is a want of 
 good water, and a recurrence of marshy ground 
 called mares, which are unwholesome and danger- 
 ous. The vine is nevertheless cultivated in many 
 parts, and the inhabitants are strikingly different 
 from those of La Sologne ; for they are generally 
 well grown and robust, and even the women are 
 large and masculine : the manners here are not 
 dissimilar to those of the Bretons ; particularly 
 in the circumstance of the supremacy the men 
 exercise in their households, and the meetings 
 of relations and friends at certain fixed periods 
 of the year. Their style of living is exactly in 
 opposition to that of the Solognots, for they 
 indulge in absolute luxuries, in that respect dif- 
 fering from the Breton ; they drink wine in con- 
 sequence of the badness of the water; are frank, 
 generous, and hospitable, proud of their country,
 
 LA GATINAIS. 243 
 
 and inclined to be mercenary. It is singular to 
 observe the extreme difference between two dis- 
 tricts so closely united as to locality, and surpris- 
 ing that the one should not profit by the expe- 
 rience of the other, both having to contend with 
 similar disadvantages of country. 
 
 Le Gatinais, which joins La Bauce and La 
 Sologne, is rather an uncultivated than a barren 
 district. Its most celebrated produce is saffron, 
 which is considered of the best kind ; its game is 
 also good, and, in many parts, corn, honey, fruit, 
 and vines are in abundance. The natives are 
 lively and healthy, and more citizens of the world, 
 more ready to adopt improvements, than those of 
 the other divisions of the country. They are, in 
 general, civil and honest, except as regards the 
 temptations offered of cheating in their dealings 
 respecting their saffron crops : they are rich and 
 independent, and consequently more civilized than 
 their poorer and more dependant neighbours. 
 
 it 2
 
 244 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Orleans. — The Cathedral. — Churches. — Plenary Indul- 
 gence. — Agnes Sorel's house. — Bolingbroke. — Pithiviers.— 
 Yevres le Grand. — St. Salomon. — Malsherbes.— La Cha- 
 pelle la Reine. — The Royal Forest. — The Barrier. 
 
 ( rawing near this ancient city, 
 once all that remained to a 
 king of France, with Bourges, 
 of his fair inheritance, and ce- 
 lebrated as having given a title 
 to the heroic saviour of her 
 country, we were much struck with the fine ap- 
 proach to it from the left bank of the river, after 
 crossing its handsome bridge. We arrived at 
 sunset, when a broad curtain of crimson and gold 
 was spread over the sky, and the majestic city 
 was surrounded with all the glory of the depart- 
 ing sun: its magnificent cathedral . and numerous 
 towers rising proudly from the mass of imposing
 
 ORLEANS. 245 
 
 buildings round ; the river wide and full, and but 
 little encumbered with sand, and all announcing the 
 importance of one of France's proudest towns, and 
 nearly the central one of her dominions. Scarce- 
 ly, however, is the bridge passed, and the Rue 
 Royale entered, than an entire change comes over 
 the mind of the beholder, and, 
 
 " As he comes near 
 And sees more clear, 
 A long way off he wishes him again." 
 
 Dirty, slovenly, crowded, and commercial ap- 
 pears everything; no grace, no elegance, no gaiety; 
 — and then, perhaps, for the first time, one feels 
 the reason why Tours is so much vaunted, as the 
 absence of commercial bustle is felt, and the 
 better appearance of its shops must be confessed. 
 
 If we were disappointed in its principal streets, 
 and the gloomy, ugly appearance of its inns, what 
 was our annoyance, when we began to explore, 
 to find its squares without grace, its buildings 
 irregular without antiquity, its statues below 
 contempt, its churches devoid of interest ! 
 
 The Rue Royale is, like that at Tours, a con- 
 tinuation of the bridge, and is wide and long; 
 but the eye is shocked by seeing, at every third
 
 246 THE CATHEDRAL AT ORLEANS. 
 
 door, quantities of ready-made clothes set out 
 for sale, all of coarse materials for the common 
 people, giving a Rag-fair effect — anything but 
 pleasing ; while along every house-front hang 
 draperies, as in Paris, of red, white, and green, 
 &c, greatly adding to the disagreeable ensemble 
 — for, as all these streamers are necessarily dingy 
 and faded, and soon become dirty in a great 
 town, they can give no elegance to the scene, they 
 are at all times tawdry and ugly, and their total 
 suppression would be a benefit. The shops ap- 
 pear good, and the town is very vast, but has no 
 beauty whatever to recommend it, and is, in 
 general, slovenly and ill kept, while the odours 
 are such as can with difficulty be endured : in 
 this latter respect Orleans is infinitely worse 
 than any town we had yet met with, which is 
 surprising, as most of the old streets and houses 
 are cleared away, and there is, consequently, less 
 excuse for such a failing. 
 
 The Cathedrale de Sainte Croix is considered 
 one of the finest religious edifices in France, 
 and is certainly extremely grand, though far less 
 interesting than many we had seen. Its vast- 
 ness, extraordinary height, grace, and lightness, 
 are wonderful, but though the grand entrance
 
 THE CATHEDRAL AT ORLEANS. 247 
 
 is splendid, another equally elaborate appears, 
 to me, entirely spoiled, by having a fine Grecian 
 portico introduced amongst the Gothic piles 
 around. The portico itself is admirable, but 
 it can have no business there, and does not in 
 any way answer to the rest of the architecture, 
 which is in tolerable keeping, considering the 
 different modern periods at which the cathedral 
 has been built. Its foundation was previous to 
 865, at which period the Normans burnt it. It 
 rose from its ruins in 999, and was once more 
 destroyed by the Calvinists in 1567, who left 
 only six of the pillars of the nave, and a few 
 of the chapels : these are still to be traced 
 amongst the more recent adornments. Henri IV. 
 laid the first stone of the reconstruction, and 
 built a great deal ; since that time, it has always 
 been going on, and is not yet finished. It appears 
 to me extraordinary that, while the original in- 
 tention has been carried on in every other part, 
 this unfortunate Grecian door-way should be allow- 
 ed to disfigure the building with its incongruity. 
 I do not know by whom it was built, but am inclin- 
 ed to accuse Louis XIV., whose contempt for 
 the architecture of the middle-ages, showed itself 
 in his constant introduction of classical bits,
 
 248 THE CATHEDRAL AT ORLEANS. 
 
 wherever he could put them, without taste or 
 meaning. 
 
 High mass was being performed while we were 
 in the church, and the effect of the solemn music 
 was extremely fine, the voices of the priests and 
 choristers swelling along the majestic aisles, and 
 echoing through the vaulted roof, the coloured 
 glass from the spacious windows casting a thou- 
 sand tints on the fine marble floor, as the sun- 
 gleams pierced the many-hued panes. But where 
 was the congregation to respond to the prayer 
 of the priest, and to gaze with reverence on the 
 mystical ceremony ? a few old women, several 
 of them beggars, were kneeling here and there 
 near the vast pillars, scarcely a chair was oc- 
 cupied, and it seemed as if the whole service 
 had been got up for our edification alone. Yet 
 almost all the other places of worship in Orleans 
 are destroyed, and turned into manufactories, 
 stables, and workshops, and this enormous pile 
 is capable of containing pious thousands. This, 
 though peculiarly remarkable in so large a church, 
 is not a singular instance ; for we had been fre- 
 quently struck, throughout our journey, with the 
 emptiness of all their temples, the few who at- 
 tend being infirm women, beggars who have
 
 CHURCHES. 249 
 
 other motives besides religious ones, though their 
 gains cannot be great, — and very young people. 
 
 One of the chapels is entirely formed of black 
 and white marble, and has the most magnificent 
 effect of any I had ever seen ; no tinsel, or 
 flowers, or silver draperies, to disfigure the altar, 
 which looks grand and solemn, as an altar should, 
 instead of being desecrated by the trumpery 
 which generally overloads them. 
 
 On the whole, both the exterior and interior 
 are worthy of admiration ; the two towers and 
 principal portal being as fine specimens of grace 
 and lightness as it is possible to behold. 
 
 The Church of St. Pierre le Puellier, is the 
 most ancient in Orleans : on the wall of a cloister, 
 which now forms one side of the outer court, is 
 a series of tableaux, in relief, of admirable exe- 
 cution, representing scenes in the life of our 
 Saviour, in good preservation. The church itself 
 has been dreadfully defaced, so much so as to 
 present little to observe, but what there is, is 
 of the earliest Norman style. We were con- 
 siderably amused by reading an inscription on 
 a slab of marble, put up by a cure* of Orleans, 
 in 1722, who had received, as he states, very 
 particular favours from Notre Dame, and in gra-
 
 250 PLENARY INDULGENCE. 
 
 titude erected this monument or shrine, at which, 
 by the Pope's decree, whoever, of either sex, be- 
 longing to the Confrererie of the Immaculate 
 Conception, shall say mass every Friday for seven 
 years, shall receive 'plenary indulgence. This in- 
 dulgence extends also to souk in purgatory, in 
 perpetuity. 
 
 There are a great many portals and towers 
 of churches which, when you reach them, are 
 found to be coach-houses, salpetrieres &c, and the 
 filthy state in which many of the exteriors are 
 found, renders it impossible to examine them. 
 We were wearied in seeking for once cele- 
 brated churches, which, when we discovered, dis- 
 appointed us thus ; the few that are still places 
 of worship are dreadfully mutilated, and have 
 lost almost all beauty. 
 
 It has been intended, for many years, to raise 
 an equestrian statue to the Heroine of Orleans ; 
 but, in the mean time, the town is disgraced, 
 as well as her memory, by a figure like an actress, 
 from Franconi's, placed in the principal square, 
 and so bad that it would not deserve mention 
 if it were not to receive its deserved censure. 
 Nothing can be less elegant than the place in 
 which it stands, surrounded with irregular build-
 
 AGNES SOREL'S HOUSE. 251 
 
 ings, neither old nor new, but of the juste milieu 
 of all that is least interesting. 
 
 The quays are deserted, slovenly, and without 
 beauty, and the whole town dull, ugly, and dirty ! 
 
 The house called of Agnes Sorel, is in the Rue 
 Tabourg, No. 15, and is extremely curious. It 
 is now occupied by a marchand de sabots, and is 
 shown to all comers, as it is one of the great 
 sights of Orleans, together with that of Francois 
 I. in the Rue de Recouvrance, No. 28, at the 
 corner of the Rue de la Chevre qui danse. 
 
 The supposed habitation of Agnes Sorel is 
 built with remarkable taste and care, the win- 
 dows beautifully sculptured, and the doors of en- 
 trance of carved wood most elaborately worked in 
 bas-relief, representing a perfect history in little. 
 The lower court is well-paved in a sort of mosaic 
 of black and white stone : an antique well is at 
 one extremity, the iron-work of which, and the 
 extremity of the leaden pipe against the wall, are 
 highly decorated ; the latter with azure and gold, 
 like a twisted ribbon. 
 
 On the left of the court, is a gallery, supported 
 by three arcades of round arches, with strong and 
 fine pillars, surmounted by richly-executed capi- 
 tals, of great delicacy. This gallery sustains the
 
 252 AGNES SOREL'S HOUSE. 
 
 corridor of the first story, the ceiling of which 
 is adorned with panels, carved with much taste, 
 representing hearts pierced with arrows, lighted 
 torches, cupids, a tortoise, a sun, and, in one, a 
 plate of pears, of that sort called rousselets, of 
 which, it is to be supposed, Agnes was fond, 
 and which also might have formed an allusion 
 to her birthplace of Touraine, celebrated for this 
 fruit. Fleurs-de-lis also occur here and there ; and 
 there are several heads placed along the wall. 
 
 The staircase is beautiful, and runs from the 
 lowest depth of the cellars to the height of the 
 house; the steps are six feet long, and two feet 
 wide, in some places, and on the landing-places 
 the roof is elegantly carved in pendants. 
 
 A large saloon, with an immense chimney, 
 exhibits much carving, and the remains of gold 
 and azure ornaments, which must once have in- 
 crusted it ; but all is wearing away, and disap- 
 pearing as the room is used for the purposes 
 of the house. There is no doubt that the house 
 must have been thus decorated about 1470, and 
 there is no reason to question its having been 
 built by Charles VII, for his ladye-love. One of 
 the heads presents a resemblance to that of 
 Agnes, as shown on her tomb at Loches, and
 
 BOLINGBROKE. 253 
 
 another is like the head of Charles VII, on 
 the coin of his time. 
 
 There are several interesting sites in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Orleans, as the gardens of the an- 
 cient abbey of St. Mesmin and its little penin- 
 sula, so dear to the monks ; opposite which is 
 the chateau de Randon, Caubrai, where the Due 
 de Guise was assassinated by Poltrot, and the 
 chateau de la Source, one of the great objects 
 of interest to strangers and the townspeople. 
 The small river Loiret takes its rise in the gar- 
 dens of this chateau, which is remarkable as 
 having been the retreat of Bolingbroke during 
 his exile. Voltaire visited it, and is said to have 
 composed some of his works here. 
 
 The gevre, or gulf, in which the waters of 
 two rivers meet, is a large circular basin, formed 
 by nature. The small river Duis enters at the 
 upper part, and is lost in its serpentine way ; 
 while, what is singular, it does not mix with 
 the current of the Loiret, which here issues forth, 
 but maintains its course, each preserving the re- 
 spective colour of its stream, one ending, and 
 one beginning here. The scenery is pretty and 
 the drive agreeable, to this point. 
 
 We found the inn where we stopped dull,
 
 254 PITHIVIERS. 
 
 shabby, and by no means good, in any respect; 
 and the waiting-maid, probably a Solognot, to 
 judge by the style of her attendance and general 
 manners. Here, as at most of the inns, good 
 and bad, in France, there is a lamentable want 
 of bells, and it is next to a miracle to gain a 
 hearing in the house. When once in your rooms 
 you are supposed to want nothing, and may 
 fret in vain, till it pleases the waiters to appear, 
 or you must descend and find them where you 
 can. 
 
 Pithiviers, in the Gatinais, is about ten leagues 
 from Orleans, and we rested there on our way 
 to Fontainebleau. It is one of the pleasantest 
 little towns we had met with, built on an eleva- 
 tion, beneath which flows the winding river (Euf. 
 The name of Pithiviers or Pluviers is supposed 
 to be derived from the circumstance of its neigh- 
 bourhood producing great numbers of plovers. 
 The partridges here are the finest in France ; 
 indeed, nothing can exceed their excellence : the 
 pies made here are as celebrated as those of 
 Chartres of great renown. Pithiviers is also fa- 
 mous for almond cakes. 
 
 The town is very irregularly built, has a fine 
 square, and some good houses ; all the ancient
 
 YEVRE-LE-GRAND. 255 
 
 parts seem to have been cleared away and new 
 streets made, which are neat and clean : young 
 trees, in double rows, border the boulevards, 
 which surround the town, and the whole has 
 a pleasing and cheerful aspect. It was formerly a 
 place of very considerable consequence, and had a 
 castle and walls, remains of which are still to be 
 seen. From the ancient ramparts the view is ex- 
 tremely pretty, and there is a rural quiet about 
 the whole place altogether delightful. Its for- 
 tress was built by Aloi'se de Champagne about 
 990, and must have been a stronghold ; the 
 large tower is now altogether destroyed, only 
 the huge circular remnants of towers, along the 
 ramparts, tell of what was once so powerful. 
 After standing attacks and sieges, for many 
 ages, from the Norman, the English, and the 
 Leaguers, its fortifications were dismantled by 
 Henri IV, in 1589. 
 
 The chateau of Yevre-le-Grand, can be seen 
 at a distance, rising with its proud battlements, 
 and the ruins of the fine church of St. Lubin, 
 in its village, Yevres-le-Chatel, from the height 
 which commands the charming and extended 
 valley beneath. Not far off, is the mineral fount- 
 ain of Segrais, where is still shown the grotto
 
 256 YEVRE-LE-GRAND. 
 
 given by Aloi'se to St. Gregory of Armenia : 
 and several country-houses, where exotic plants 
 and trees are cultivated with care and success. 
 The walks round about are delightful, and every- 
 thing looks inviting in this pretty quiet place; 
 the people are civil and obliging, and we found 
 our inn excellent as far as it went, though " our 
 content and imagination" considerably "amend- 
 ed 11 it; for our landlady and her husband, the 
 civilest of people, had to apologise for their 
 best room being without any furniture, but a 
 very clean white bed, a marble table, and two 
 chairs, which had been cut down to stools, — 
 all owing to the dilatory conduct of the up- 
 holsterers, who delayed bringing all the splendid 
 furniture, which, they assured us, had been 
 ordered six months before. When it arrives, 
 I have no doubt, with the addition of a stove, 
 which is to stand where no fireplace now is, 
 that the hotel will quite amaze travellers arriv- 
 ing from Paris, by its grandeur. Meanwhile, 
 we were infinitely amused, and, " promise- 
 crammed," slept well, being awakened early 
 by a brilliant sun pouring into our chamber 
 through uncurtained windows, which will some 
 day exhibit draperies of crimson and white.
 
 ST. SALOMON. 
 
 257 
 
 The church of Pithiviers is dedicated to St. 
 Salomon, and is extremely beautiful and large, 
 and has all the appearance of having once been 
 of great importance. The chapels are adorned, 
 as in the cathedral at Orleans, with white and 
 black marble, which has a very fine effect. The 
 portals and towers are very grand ; the high 
 spire leans extremely, but seems quite solid. 
 This church might, perhaps, have been con- 
 nected with the abbey of St. Pierre, close by, 
 which was of the order of Cluny, of which no- 
 
 VOL. II. s
 
 258 SCENERY. 
 
 thing is left. This town took a conspicuous 
 part, in consequence of its neighbourhood to 
 Orleans, in the troubles of the Revolution, 
 having its club, and doing homage to Robespierre. 
 The Cossacks, commanded by the Hetman Pla- 
 to w, pillaged and destroyed all they approached, 
 which may account for the little remains of 
 antiquity beyond the church, which escaped 
 more than could reasonably have been ex- 
 pected. 
 
 Its principal commerce is in saffron, for 
 which this part of the country is particularly 
 famous. 
 
 Nothing can be prettier than the rural land- 
 scape round, as you quit Pithiviers, on the route 
 to Fontainebleau. The town seems seated in 
 the midst of gardens ; its cathedral-shaped church 
 rises to its full height from amongst the build- 
 ings, its high spire a landmark for miles ; a 
 perfect bower appears to surround it, and village 
 after village comes out in the verdant distance, 
 presenting now a fine Norman square tower, 
 now a picturesque pyramid : all here is either 
 corn-land or vineyards, and all is rich and glow- 
 ing : after a time, the country becomes flat, 
 and then heathy downs succeed, perfumed with
 
 THE CONDUCTEUR. 259 
 
 wild thyme, and enamelled with many-coloured 
 flowers. 
 
 It was high-market at Malsherbes when we 
 drove through, and, except at Chinon, I never 
 saw so many country-people collected together ; 
 not only in the market-place, but swarming in 
 every street, so that it was with difficulty we 
 could make our way through. Our driver was 
 one of the most good-natured, nonchalant crea- 
 tures in the world, and had a word to say to 
 every one, and a ready joke and compliment 
 for all the pretty paysannes. As soon as the 
 town is passed, the road lies through a magni- 
 ficent forest for more than a league, the features 
 of which are peculiar. Enormous blocks of grey 
 stone are strewn about between the thick high 
 trees in every sort of picturesque situation, and 
 of every form imaginable. 
 
 A plain country, rich in corn-land, follows 
 the forest ; but we had first, a long ascent, during 
 which our condncteur walked by his vehicle. Pre- 
 sently, we observed a cart, drawn by a donkey, 
 and driven by a remarkably pretty young girl, 
 scarcely fifteen ; an old market woman, who 
 might be her grandmother, was seated com- 
 fortably in the cart, while the girl walked, hold- 
 
 s 2
 
 260 PEASANT GIRL. 
 
 ing her whip in her hand. She had a figure 
 and face to attract the attention of any one, and 
 they were not lost upon our gallant driver, who 
 hailed her with a joke upon her skill as a chari- 
 oteer, to which she replied gaily, smiling and 
 showing a row of pretty white teeth. From time 
 to time, as we proceeded up the hill, our friend 
 looked back in evident admiration, which the 
 little coquette was not slow to observe : he made 
 several exclamations to himself, and, at last, 
 as if impelled by a sympathy he could not resist, 
 he fairly left his horses and carriage to their 
 fate, and joined his rural beauty, who was some 
 little distance en arriere. She had been very 
 bold and saucy while she felt that he must of 
 necessity take care of his conveyance, but when 
 she found that he had abandoned them, she drew 
 nearer to her own cart, and blushing deeply, 
 began whipping her donkey to conceal her con- 
 fusion : the old grandmamma, who seemed en- 
 joying the scene, now entered into conversation 
 with the bewildered lover, and the girl, recover- 
 ing herself, recommenced a system of flirtation, 
 which seemed to delight the swain, who, totally 
 forgetful of all besides, allowed our carriage to 
 creep on at a snail's pace, till, finding the horses
 
 LA CHAPELLE LA REINE. 261 
 
 on the point of going to sleep, one of the pas- 
 sengers recalled him to his duty. With many 
 a longing, lingering look, did he rejoin us, and 
 after sundry callings out, and wavings of hands, 
 he reseated himself on his box, and with one 
 heavy, deep-drawn sigh, he raised his arm, in- 
 flicted a few sharp lashes on his beasts, uttered 
 the emphatic " en route /" and left the scene of 
 his sudden impression, evidently " stabbed with 
 a white wench's black eye — pierced to the heart 
 with the blind bow-boy's butt-shaft." This, no 
 doubt, was the beginning of an attachment ; which 
 " bud of love," as our friend frequently passed 
 that road, and the village beauty had occasion, or 
 would, in future, make one, frequently to drive 
 her donkey to Malsherbes, " might prove a beau- 
 teous flower when next they met." 
 
 The drive continued to be delightful as we 
 advanced, and at La Chapelle la Reine we found 
 a remarkably neat village, with the most beau- 
 tiful of little churches. We went into the clean, 
 well-kept churchyard to examine it, and found 
 one of the most perfect specimens of early Nor- 
 man architecture we had seen since we had left 
 Avranches, and the charming village of St. Loup : 
 but this was in a more elegant style, and presented
 
 262 THE ROYAL FOREST. 
 
 features of superior delicacy. The principal door- 
 way is of the early pointed form, with pillars 
 crowned with peculiar-shaped foliage ; between 
 the leaves, grotesque heads, appearing as if they 
 were the fruit produced. One single line of 
 rounded zigzag, large, and projecting beyond the 
 arch, runs round it, and all is as perfect as pos- 
 sible. Another door is of the circular form, also 
 uninjured, and the ornaments wonderfully sharp 
 and fresh. The tower is square, with the circular 
 Norman window. On the whole, it is quite a 
 gem, and seems to be appreciated, for it was 
 carefully locked, and the field in which it stood 
 and the walks and gates leading to it are arranged 
 with English neatness. There seemed some re- 
 mains of towers as we passed through the bourg, 
 which was infinitely the cleanest we had ever 
 beheld. At Uri, the next village, there is a 
 church on the same model with a square tower 
 much higher, which appears very perfect. 
 
 We had now reached the royal forest, and for 
 several leagues pursued our way with its mag- 
 nificent groves on each side of us, dark, thick 
 and solemn. There is something very imposing 
 in travelling, particularly in the dusk of evening,
 
 THE BARRIER. 263 
 
 through an enormous forest with no interruption 
 for leagues to the ocean of leaves which spreads 
 out broad and grand around, above, on every 
 side. 
 
 We had heard, with some misgivings, of the 
 camp at Fontainebleau, as it was expected that 
 the King and royal family would shortly arrive 
 to visit it, in which case the usual permission 
 for strangers to see the chateau would cease. 
 This was very provoking, as we had come out 
 of our way on purpose to see this, one of the 
 most interesting chateaux in France. 
 
 On arriving at the barrier some delay took 
 place, from the necessity of the coach being ex- 
 amined to discover whether any of the baskets 
 contained grapes, which pay a duty. Our driver, 
 whose love affair had detained him on the road, 
 was extremely annoyed at what he considered 
 a vexatious inquisition, and seemed resolved to 
 afford the officers of the customs no assistance 
 in their search. He refused to say whether a 
 large panier on the top contained white or black 
 grapes, and gave them the trouble of opening 
 it, when it was found full of peaches : much to 
 his mischievous delight they had some difficulty
 
 264 FONTAINEBLEAU. 
 
 in closing the basket, and as they pronounced 
 him free to proceed, he drove on with many ex- 
 clamations of discontent at their severity. 
 
 We expected to be asked for our passport, 
 but no notice was taken of us further than our 
 being reported as " des dames Anglaises:" those 
 cabalistic words had carried us unquestioned from 
 one end of France to the other, and prevented 
 our meeting with any disagreeable adventure, for 
 which courtesy we are in duty bound to be 
 grateful. 
 
 Every inn in the town of Fontainebleau was 
 filled to overflowing, and we began to despair 
 of finding accommodation, when the " Aigle 
 Noir " — we only knew our host by this title given 
 him by his fellows — took us under his protection, 
 and by his means we procured a good lodging 
 in the town kept by an excellent French woman, 
 devoted to the English, for she had lived in an 
 English nobleman's family for some years pre- 
 viously to her marriage with the retired militaire 
 whom she now called her lord. As the family 
 with whom she had resided were known to us, 
 and we had some recollection of her and her 
 pretty charge in former clays, we were excellent
 
 FONTAINEBLEAU. 265 
 
 friends immediately, and nothing could exceed 
 her attention and civility. In a few minutes 
 we were quite at home, and settled with her, 
 before an hour was passed, all that was to be 
 done in the way of sight-seeing for a fortnight : 
 but she could give us no hope for the chateau ; 
 the words, " the King comes here to night," shut 
 out all hope !
 
 266 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Fontainebleau. — Rendezvous de Chateaux. — Courts. — 
 Novel mode of Payment. — Henri IV. and the Spanish 
 Ambassador. — Divorce. — Mysterious Machine. — Royal 
 Murderess. — Letter of Christine of Sweden. — Lavalliere. — 
 Louis XVI. — Napoleon. — Interior of the Palace. — £)J. — 
 Francois I. — Galleries. — Salles. — Chapels. — Princesse 
 Marie Gardens. — Les Carpes. — Fontaine de Belle Eau. — 
 Avon. 
 
 Care selve beate ! 
 
 O quanto volentieri 
 
 A revederve i' torno : e se le stelle 
 
 M'avesser dato in sorte 
 
 Di viver a me stessa, e di far vita 
 
 Conforme a le mie voglie, 
 
 I' gia co' campi Elisi 
 
 Fortunato giardin de' Semedei, 
 
 La vostr' ombra gentil non cangerai ! 
 
 Guarini. 
 
 3 __ H he history of the palace of Fon- 
 sP&m! tainebleau is intimately con- 
 nected with that of France : 
 every part of this vast edi- 
 fice awakens some recollec- 
 tion and recals some memo-
 
 FONTAINEBLEAU. 26? 
 
 rable event. Here some mark of the feudal 
 times appears, and we follow the changes and 
 improvements which bring us to the period when 
 the pencil of Primatice adorned the walls of 
 this gorgeous place with records of the valour 
 of Francois, and of the loves of Diana and her 
 royal slave. Gabrielle, and Henri, and Sully, 
 Louis XIII. and Richelieu, Louis XIV. and Col- 
 bert, meet us at every step, and the shade of 
 Napoleon seems hovering over the towers where 
 he signed the scarcely legible paper which gave 
 his power away ! 
 
 It was left, however, for Louis Philippe to 
 revive all the faded glories of this splendid 
 abode of kings, and royally has he accomplished 
 the design which he is said to have formed many 
 years ago, without the expectation then of seeing 
 his wish realized. 
 
 No sooner did he become king of the French 
 than his first thought was for Fontainebleau, 
 and it is under his especial direction that the 
 palace has reached the state of splendour in 
 which it now appears. The ancient paintings 
 have been well-restored, the ancient gilding re- 
 touched, the carvings and ornaments carefully 
 replaced, and all that was destroyed imitated in 
 the very best and most correct manner.
 
 26*8 RENDEZVOUS DE CHATEAUX. 
 
 All our fears were, in a few days, put an 
 end to ; a simple application to the king him- 
 self, as travellers, and English, was sufficient 
 to obtain us the most courteous admission, and 
 every facility we could desire. It is impossible 
 not to feel grateful for so much kindness, and 
 to appreciate politeness so distinguished. 
 
 We saw, therefore, in all its details, a " rendez- 
 vous de chateaux?" which the French delight to 
 call it, adopting an expression used by an Eng- 
 lish traveller, who was amazed to behold the 
 extraordinary number and variety of buildings 
 which, joined together, form the whole of this 
 singular chateau. It possesses none of the cor- 
 rect formality of Versailles, nor has it either 
 the merits, or perhaps the defects, of most of the 
 royal residences of France. " None but itself 
 can be its parallel." * 
 
 From Louis VII, who dates a charter, in 1169, 
 
 * Cardinal Bentivoglio wrote, in 1624, to the Cavalier Ma- 
 rini, as follows, 
 
 " I have been once to Fontainebleau, and to-morrow I shall 
 return ; it is truly a magnificent abode, worthy of such a king ; 
 and although it is formed of several buildings joined together, 
 at different times, without either order or symmetry, there is 
 in this confusion an air of grandeur and majesty which occa- 
 sions an agreeable surprise."
 
 RENDEZVOUS DE CHATEAUX. 269 
 
 from Fontainebleau,* to the present day, it would 
 seem that parts remain ; though the hand of 
 Francois I, and that of Henri IV, if not now 
 the most conspicuous, are the most interest- 
 ing. Louis le Jeune constructed a chapel here, 
 which the great martyr, Thomas a Becket, con- 
 secrated, when forced to take refuge in France 
 from the anger of his outraged master. 
 
 Philippe Auguste passed much of his time 
 here, and reposed from his warlike toils, after 
 contending with the followers of Mahound and 
 Termagaunt. 
 
 St. Louis came here to wander in ses deserts, 
 as he called the glorious forests which surround 
 the royal dwelling. He added much to the 
 castle; and one of the pavilions, restored by 
 Francis I, is still called by his name. Here it 
 was that when, on a bed of sickness, he thought 
 his end approaching, he spoke these memorable 
 words to his son : 
 
 " Biau fils, je te prie que tu te faces amer du 
 peuple de ton royaume, car vraiment je aimerais 
 mieux qu'un Escot venist d'Ecosse, et governast 
 le peuple du royaume bien et loialement, que 
 tu le gouvernasse mal apertement." 
 
 * Fontene-Bleaude.
 
 270 FONTAINEDLEAU. 
 
 The chateau of Fontainebleau is composed of 
 six courts ; the Cour du Cheval Blanc ; Cour 
 des Fontaines ; Cour Ovale, or du Donjon ; Cour 
 de l'Orangerie, or Garden court ; Cour des Princes, 
 and Cour des Cuisines. There are three prin- 
 cipal entrances ; the entree d'honneur by the court 
 of the Cheval Blanc, that by the Kitchen court, 
 and that by the Allee de Maintenon, the Chaussee 
 Royale, and La Porte Doree. 
 
 The staircase on the exterior, built by Louis 
 XIII, in the Cour du Cheval Blanc, is remark- 
 ably fine; it rises to the height of a terrace, 
 placed along the apartments on the first floor. 
 
 The Court of the Fountains has a fine effect : 
 the Sphinxes, who guard the fountain, are grand 
 and imposing, but the appearance of the build- 
 ings round is irregular. 
 
 The Cour des Princes is the smallest, and 
 is remarkable as having been the portion of the 
 castle occupied by Christine of Sweden. The 
 Galerie des Cerfs, where the famous tragedy of 
 Monaldeschi was acted, is on the side looking 
 towards the garden ; but all traces of that deed 
 are now cleared away, though, for a long period, 
 the blood on the floor, like that of Rizzio at 
 Holyrood, was carefully preserved.
 
 NOVEL MODE OF PAYMENT. 271 
 
 Every step one makes in this palace revives 
 some interesting souvenir. Francois Premier 
 would engross the attention altogether, were it 
 not that the fair Diane de Poictiers usurps so 
 large a share to herself, as in none of the royal 
 abodes is her cipher and device so frequently re- 
 peated as on the walls of Fontainebleau. 
 
 The husband of Mary Stuart was born here, 
 and spent the leisure of the principal part of 
 his brief reign within these walls, where his 
 lovely wife must, probably, have accompanied 
 him. Anquetil, in his work " Esprit de la Ligue," 
 relates the following anecdote, somewhat charac- 
 teristic of the manners of the period : — 
 
 " The court came here to pass the season : 
 it was very numerous, and numerous also were 
 the persons who followed it, some for payment 
 of wages and debts, others for arrears of pensions 
 and rewards. Tired out with the continual im- 
 portunities of these people, the Cardinal de Lor- 
 raine, first minister of Francis II, caused a 
 gibbet to be erected near the chateau, and pub- 
 lished, by sound of trumpet, an edict command- 
 ing all persons, of what condition soever, who 
 came to the court to solicit, to quit the neighbour- 
 hood in the space of twenty-four hours, on pain 
 of being hanged."
 
 272 HENRI IV. AND 
 
 From this palace the proud Catherine, with 
 her royal child weeping in her arms, was com- 
 pelled by the Guises to depart for Paris. Two 
 years afterwards that same child, Charles IX, 
 who at that time was uncorrupted by his harpy 
 mother's influence, received in this palace the 
 ambassadors of the Pope, the King of Spain, and 
 the Duke of Savoy, all sent to urge vigorous 
 measures against the Protestants. The young 
 King put them off with vague promises, his 
 answers being dictated by the virtuous Michel 
 de l'Hopital. He professed, that all his actions 
 towards that portion of his subjects should be 
 regulated by strict justice. Unfortunately for 
 his memory, he kept his word but ill. His 
 brother, Henri III. was born at Fontainebleau. 
 The poet Desportes made these verses on the 
 occasion for the young prince : — 
 
 Nymphes de ces forcts, mes fideles nourrices, 
 Tout ainsi qu'en naissant vous me futes propices ; 
 
 Ne m'abandonnez pas 
 Quand j'acheve le cours de ma triste aventure; 
 Vous fetes mon berceau, faites ma sepulture, 
 
 Et pleurez mon trepas. 
 
 But little was done in the way of embellish- 
 ment by this gentle King, who nevertheless loved
 
 THE SPANISH AMBASSADOR. 273 
 
 the arts as well as murder ; but the political 
 troubles of his reign occupied all his attention, 
 and one is glad to find that he left no record of 
 himself in these walls. 
 
 Several of the children of Henri IV. were 
 born at Fontainebleau. An anecdote is related of 
 the honest Bearnais, to whom the ambassador of 
 Spain had been representing the great advantage 
 of allying himself with Spain by means of the 
 marriage of the royal children. Suddenly Henry, 
 who had long been listening with impatience, 
 stopped him short, saying, " Pray understand, 
 Monsieur l'Ambassadeur, that my children are well 
 enough born not to want for good matches when 
 they are old enough to be married." 
 
 On another occasion, when he accompanied 
 the ambassador over the palace, the Spaniard, 
 jealous of the magnificence he saw everywhere, 
 on arriving at the chapels, which had not been 
 yet repaired and embellished as they were after- 
 wards, remarked to the King, that he was better 
 accommodated than God himself. Henry, who 
 was always prepared with • a reply, answered 
 briskly : " That is not surprising, because in 
 France we lodge God in our hearts, while in 
 
 VOL. II. T
 
 274 DIVORCE OF MARGUERITE OF VALOIS. 
 
 Spain you are content to place Him in temples 
 of stone." 
 
 Gabrielle d'Estrees passed great part of her 
 time with the King here, and only quitted the 
 chateau to go to Paris on a pious errand during 
 the Holy Week, when she was taken ill and 
 died. Henry, though at first inconsolable, soon 
 forgot her for Henrietta d'Entragues, who ma- 
 naged so well, as Sully said, " de cajoler le Roi," 
 that she obtained from him a promise of mar- 
 riage, which the true friend of his master got 
 possession of, and tore in pieces in the Galerie 
 d'Ulysse before his face, yet was forgiven. 
 
 At Fontainebleau the negotiations were carried 
 on for the divorce of Henry and Marguerite de 
 Valois; and two hundred and ten years after- 
 wards the same ceremonies were gone through 
 to separate Napoleon and Josephine. 
 
 In what is now the Jardin Anglais occurred 
 that celebrated scene, which does so much ho- 
 nour to Henry, when, in spite of all the malice 
 of the enemies of Sully, to whose influence he 
 was obliged to yield in some degree, the monarch 
 threw himself upon the friendship which had 
 never deceived him, and frankly confessing all to
 
 MYSTERIOUS MACHINE. 275 
 
 his minister, triumphed over their machinations 
 and secured his own happiness. 
 
 Henry delighted to live amongst his workmen 
 at Fontainebleau, and directed the additions and 
 improvements which were made in his time. 
 The cardinal-eclipsed King, his son, lived much 
 here, and finished what had been so well begun 
 in the preceding reign. 
 
 In the year 1642, all the world of Fontaine- 
 bleau was astonished by the arrival of a non- 
 descript machine, which was nothing less than 
 a chamber constructed of wood, finely orna- 
 mented, and covered with crimson damask. It 
 was borne by eighteen gardes-du-corps, who walked 
 with heads uncovered, and were followed by an 
 escort of other guards, ready to relieve them from 
 distance to distance. Within, propped on pil- 
 lows, and surrounded with every luxury, lay in 
 state the sick cardinal, who, having been taken 
 ill at Valence in Dauphine, had chosen to have 
 himself thus conveyed, in order to avoid the 
 jolting of an ordinary carriage. This chamber 
 was so large, that, at many places where they 
 stopped, the walls of the houses were necessa- 
 rily broken down to admit it. In this equipage 
 
 T 2
 
 276 ROYAL MURDERESS. 
 
 Richelieu arrived at Fontainebleau, which he left 
 to go to Paris, where he died soon after. 
 
 About nine months from this time Louis 
 XIII. followed his all-sufficient minister to the 
 tomb, to the great relief of the court, which, 
 to use the words of Madame de Motteville, 
 " s'ennuyait de ce que le roi ne pouvait achever 
 de mourir." 
 
 There was not sufficient space in the chateau 
 of Francis I. and Henry IV. for the magnificent 
 court of Louis le Grand, and therefore was it that 
 he built Versailles : his visits to Fontainebleau, 
 though he was fond of the retreat, were only oc- 
 casional ; and it henceforth served as a place of 
 refuge to unfortunate royalty. The unfortunate 
 Henrietta, widow of Charles I, resided here some 
 time ; and fifty years afterwards Charles Edward 
 the " desdichado" sought the same roof. 
 
 In the year 1657 these walls were polluted 
 by a crime which had no parallel in the records 
 of modern times. The murder of Monaldeschi 
 and all its particulars, as related so naively by 
 Le Pere Lebel, are too well known to make 
 it necessary to detail them ; but the letter that 
 the haughty Christine wrote to the minister Ma- 
 zarin, when the king's displeasure was signified
 
 LETTER TO CARDINAL MAZARIN. 277 
 
 by him to her, is less frequently quoted. It is a 
 masterpiece of effrontery and insolence ; yet, a 
 fortnight after receiving it, both the king and 
 the cardinal paid a solemn visit of reconciliation 
 to the royal murderess. 
 
 LETTER OF CHRISTINE QUEEN OF SWEDEN, 
 TO CARDINAL MAZARIN. 
 
 " Monsieur Mazarin. — Those who have de- 
 tailed to you the affair of Monaldeschi, my 
 equerry, were very ill-informed. I think it 
 strange that you should compromise so many 
 people in order to inform yourself of a fact which 
 does not concern you. I ought not to be 
 astonished at your conduct, however absurd it 
 may be ; but I could scarcely have credited that 
 either you or your proud young master would 
 have dared to exhibit towards me any marks 
 of resentment. 
 
 " Learn, all of you, valets and masters, great 
 and little, that it was my pleasure to act as I 
 have done: and that I neither am obliged, nor 
 will render an account of my actions to anybody, 
 be they who they may ; above all to a braggadocio
 
 278 LETTER TO CARDINAL MAZARIN. 
 
 like you. You give yourself singular airs for 
 a personage of your rank ; but whatever reasons 
 you may have had to write to me, I do not care 
 enough about them to concern myself on the 
 subject for a single instant. I desire you to 
 know, and to repeat it to whomsoever it may 
 concern, that Christine is totally indifferent to 
 the opinion of your court, and still less to yours : 
 that I have no occasion, in order to compass 
 my own vengeance, to have recourse to your 
 formidable power. 
 
 " My honour required what was done ; my will 
 is a law which it is your part to respect : to 
 be silent is your duty ; and there are many per- 
 sons for whom I have no more regard than for 
 yourself, who would do well to learn how to 
 conduct themselves towards their equals, before 
 they venture to make more disturbance than is 
 necessary. 
 
 "Know further, Monsieur le Cardinal, that 
 Christine is a queen, wherever she may chance 
 to reside ; and in whatever place it is her pleasure 
 to live, the persons who surround her, cheats 
 though they may be, are better than you and 
 your confederates. 
 
 " The Prince de Conde was right when he ex-
 
 LAVALLlfeRE. 279 
 
 claimed, at the time when you kept him prisoner 
 so inhumanly, at Vincennes ; ' This old fox will 
 never cease to outrage all the good friends of 
 the state; until, at last, the parliament shall 
 turn off, or severely punish, this illustrious rascal 
 of Piscina.' 
 
 " Take my advice then, Jules ; conduct yourself 
 in a manner to merit my favour ; it is a study 
 to which you cannot too much apply. God pre- 
 serve you from ever daring to utter the least 
 syllable against me ; for, were I at the other 
 end of the world, I should be aware of your 
 proceedings. I have friends and courtiers in 
 my service who are as adroit and as watchful 
 as any you can boast of, although they may 
 not be so well bribed." 
 
 Lavalliere followed in these shades the foot- 
 steps of Diana and Gabrielle, though neither 
 her merit nor her beauty could secure the con- 
 stancy of her royal and fickle lover, who formed 
 for her parties de chdsse, and fetes champetres, in 
 the forest, where princes attended them,* and 
 
 * Sometimes when a collation was served in some of 
 these expeditions, Le Grand Conde, and le Due de Beaufort, 
 formerly foes of the young king, used themselves to place the 
 dishes on the table.
 
 280 LOUIS XV. 
 
 all the fair, and noble, and royal ladies of his 
 luxurious court paid homage at her shrine. 
 
 Louis XV. was born in this palace : and here 
 was signed the fatal Revocation of the Edict of 
 Nantes, of which Christine de Suede wrote to 
 Rome, " I look upon France at this moment 
 as on a diseased person, whose arms and legs 
 have been cut off in order to remove a malady 
 which patience and judicious treatment would, 
 in the end, have entirely cured : now I fear that 
 the evil will continue to increase, and become 
 incurable." 
 
 Louis XV. was married at Fontainebleau, and 
 his eldest son, father of three kings, died here. 
 During the reign of Louis, frequent visits were 
 paid to this palace, which began to be discon- 
 tinued in the time of his successor. 
 
 The king having given orders that public 
 fetes should be discontinued, when the court 
 went there in October 1786, none but those 
 attached to the household followed. The king 
 was much offended, and was injudicious enough 
 to revive the famous regulations of Louis XIV, 
 which obliged all those of the court who held 
 great offices to reside wherever the royal fa- 
 mily chose to live, and to follow them in all
 
 NAPOLEON. 281 
 
 their journeys, under the penalty of losing part 
 of the revenues which they received. But this 
 measure, which was easily carried into execu- 
 tion in the time of the Grand Monarque, was 
 far from giving satisfaction, or succeeding, at 
 that period, when the times were so much al- 
 tered, and royalty was every day losing some of 
 its splendour. 
 
 Napoleon found Fontainebleau in a state of 
 great decay, and, on the occasion of the expected 
 arrival of the Pope to crown the Emperor, he 
 had so promptly employed workmen of all de- 
 scriptions, that the palace was in a state fit to 
 receive the illustrious visitor, who was there 
 treated with great consideration, not imagining 
 that he had seen his future prison. Seven mil- 
 lions of francs were expended in beautifying this 
 imperial abode, where the Emperor delighted 
 to reside, and where many magnificent f&tes took 
 place under his reign, and many important events 
 occurred. Josephine's place was taken by the 
 daughter of the Emperor of Austria, who did 
 not love him better : then came the abdication ; 
 then the adieux, and the great drama, of which 
 he was the hero, was closed. 
 
 It would be a very long task to enumerate
 
 282 INTERIOR OF THE PALACE. 
 
 all the beauties of this magnificent place : one 
 chamber seems to rival the other in grace and 
 brilliancy, and each gallery effaces the remem- 
 brance of a former. 
 
 The gallery of Henry II. is now restored ex- 
 actly as he built and decorated it, with its mag- 
 nificent ceilings and splendid chimney-piece (an 
 unequalled work of art), all its fresco and encaus- 
 tic paintings by Primatice and his friend and 
 pupil Nicolo, given back to the day as though 
 the artists themselves had superintended the re- 
 storation. 
 
 The chimney, which deserves particular atten- 
 tion, is the work of the sculptor Guillaume Ron- 
 delet : its bronze satyrs, eight feet high, sup- 
 porting fruit in baskets, are no longer there, 
 having been converted, in 1793, into instruments 
 of war ; but the columns which replace them are 
 fine, and the gold, and azure, and enamel, and 
 marble, elegantly mingled to produce garlands 
 and branches, and festoons, and ciphers, are ini- 
 mitable. Diana's crescent gleams above all, and 
 the entwined letters of her lover's and her own 
 name. Again, on the beautiful and elaborately- 
 ornamented ceiling, divided into octagonal com- 
 partments, on a gold or silver ground, in relief,
 
 INTERIOR OF THE PALACE. 283 
 
 they appear ; the rose and crescent intermingle 
 with the united DI ; and, on large scrolls, appears, 
 every here and there, the mysterious inscription 
 which Catherine must have looked on with no 
 pleasant glance — " Donee totum impleat orbem" 
 which has been translated, "JusqvCa ce que ma 
 maitress soil reine." The walls are similarly or- 
 namented, and, sometimes, a triple crescent is 
 interlaced, surmounted by a star or a royal 
 crown.* 
 
 The flooring is of beautifully arranged woods, 
 
 * In the curious collection of M. de Somerard, in the 
 Hotel Cluny, amongst a crowd of other wonders, all delight- 
 ful to the lover of the middle ages, is a chamber, called of 
 Francois I, fitted up with objets belonging to his time. The 
 door of this room came from Diane de Poictiers' house, at 
 Anet, and is remarkable for its elegant carving of the usual 
 device of Diana and Henry : round the keyhole, which is 
 finely worked in iron, are inscribed the words Donee totum 
 impleat orbem. It is surprising that the vindictive Catherine 
 should not only, for so many years, have endured the public 
 triumphs of her rival, but that, when she became mistress, 
 after Henry's death, she did not efface from the walls of all the 
 chateaux the obnoxious devices, which were so little compli- 
 mentary to herself. She appears, instead, to have contented her- 
 self with some slight exhibition of disdain, and with reclaiming 
 the crown jewels, which were in Diana's possession ; and by 
 the exchange of Chaumont with Chenonceau, seemed to forget 
 ail injuries. Diana was, perhaps, useful to her in many ways,
 
 284 THE GALLERY OF FRANCIS I. 
 
 of native growth, and is laid down in all the 
 beauty of marqueterie. I imagine that no finer 
 room can be seen in Europe than the Galerie 
 d'Henri II. ; and it is far more interesting than 
 the most gorgeous chamber in a modern palace, 
 which I have ever seen. 
 
 The Galerie de Francois I. is yet to be re- 
 stored. His salamanders, flames, arms, trophies, 
 and ciphers, appear, but their splendour is faded ; 
 the beautiful ceiling of walnut- wood, with com- 
 partments, formerly gilt, is there, still fine, but 
 asking for the artist's hand. Its quantities of 
 
 and probably assisted her views against the Huguenots, of 
 whom both were jealous and furious persecutors. Diana was, 
 at least, thirty-five years old when Henry, who was only 
 eighteen, fell so desperately in love with her, who was more 
 than suspected of being mistress to his father Francis. For 
 twenty-three years his passion for her was undiminished, and 
 at the fatal tournament, where he lost his life, he wore her 
 colours, black and white, and she, with hypocrisy worthy of 
 the rest of her life, always continued to wear mourning as a 
 widoxv. Brantome describes this remarkable woman as emi- 
 nently graceful and beautiful at the age of sixty-five "si 
 belle que je ne sache cceur de rocher qui ne s'en fut emu." 
 She died at about sixty-six. These verses, which she ad- 
 dresses to Henry II, describe, in the style of the period, her 
 struggles against her love and her weakness : / 
 
 Voicy vraisment, qu 'Amour un beau matin 
 
 S'en vint m'offrir flourette tres-gentille :
 
 THE GALLERY OF FRANCIS I. 285 
 
 carving, caryatides, masks, and ideal forms, exe- 
 cuted by Paul Ponce, will doubtless soon revive, 
 and the frescos of Rosso shine again in all their 
 lustre, — allegories which represent the glories of 
 the Roi Chevalier, and which are consequently 
 interesting. 
 
 Francis delighted to employ the great artists, 
 whom he drew to his court, in embellishing his 
 favourite palace. Cellini projected under his 
 direction, a magnificent bronze fountain, of co- 
 lossal size ; which, however, was not executed. 
 This capricious genius, who was not celebrated 
 for his grateful acknowledgment of favours, says 
 
 La, se prit il, aournez vostre teint, 
 Et vistement visliers, et jonquille, 
 Me rejettoit, a tant que ma raantille, 
 En estoit pleine et mon coeur en pasmoit, 
 (Car, voyez vous, flourette si gentille 
 Estoit garcon frais, dispos et jeunnet.) 
 Ains tremblottante et destournant les jeux . . . 
 Nenni . . . disoi — je. — Ah ! ne serez decue, 
 Reprit Amour : et soudain a ma vue 
 Va presentant un laurier merveilleux. 
 Mieulx vault, lui dis-je, etre sasge que royne 
 Ains me sentis et fraimer et trembler. 
 Diane faillit, et comprendrez sans peine 
 Du quel matin je praitends reparlez. 
 
 MS. de la Bibliotheque.
 
 286 BENVENUTO CELLINI. 
 
 of the King: "We" (speaking of himself and 
 Guido Guidi, a Florentine physician,) " were 
 proud of our talents, and were encouraged to 
 excel in our respective professions, by the pa- 
 tronage of a prince so grand and magnificent. 
 I may indeed say, that whatever I did of grand 
 and beautiful, was the work of this wonderful 
 monarch." * 
 
 Leonardo da Vinci, Andrea del Sarto, il Rosso, 
 
 * Benvenuto Cellini arrived in France in 1537 ; but, offend- 
 ed by the cold reception of il Rosso, he resolved, notwith- 
 standing the gracious welcome of Francis I. to return to Italy 
 almost immediately, where he was imprisoned in the Castle of 
 St. Angelo. By the generous intervention of Francis he was 
 at length released, and returned to France, where he was 
 most royally provided for ; nevertheless, his pride, and jeal- 
 ousy of Primatice, kept him in constant agitation, and at 
 length wearied out the patience of the King, whose desire was 
 always obliged to yield to his caprice ; and at last he aban- 
 doned all the greatest advantages which ever were offered to 
 an artist, and quitted France for ever — a step he never ceased 
 to regret. On one occasion, he went to St. Germain with a 
 vase of silver-gilt, destined for the Duchesse d'Etampes, and 
 was so irritated at the loss of time which he was obliged to 
 submit to before he could be admitted to her presence, that he 
 hurried away, and, in the height of his indignation, offered the 
 vase to the Cardinal de Lorraine as a present. 
 
 Another instance of his furious temper, is sufficiently re- 
 markable. He tells, in his Confessions, that one of his 
 models, a beautiful French girl, named Catherine, who sat to
 
 FRANCOIS I. 287 
 
 il Primatice, Nicolo dell Abbate, Vignole, and 
 numerous other great artists combined to adorn 
 this fine palace with their works. It is deeply 
 to be regretted that at the period of the Revo- 
 lution an immense quantity of splendid carving 
 in wood, on Cabinets, commodes, &c. was taken 
 away and destroyed or dispersed : some of the 
 beautiful pieces of furniture which must have 
 decorated these galleries, may occasionally be 
 met with, and nowhere in greater preserva- 
 tion than in the Hotel Cluny in Paris, where 
 Francis seems to live again in his domestic en- 
 tourage. 
 
 How wondrously beautiful must these cham- 
 bers have appeared when filled with all those 
 objects of art and virtu with which Francois I. 
 delighted to surround himself. Chairs whose 
 high backs and wide arms were carved after the 
 most delicate designs of Primatice and il Rosso ; 
 tables covered with the enamelled porcelain of 
 
 him for thirty sous a-day, having offended him : " Giving way 
 entirely to my rage, I seized her by the hair and dragged her 
 about the room, kicking and beating her till I was quite 
 fatigued. She swore she would never come near me again ; 
 but the next morning at daybreak she came, threw herself on 
 my neck, covered me with kisses, and asked, if / was still 
 angry with her ?"
 
 288 OBJECTS OF ART AND VIRTU. 
 
 Leonard de Limoges, and the wondrous Venice 
 glasses of flower-forms which could secure against 
 poison. A bed whose four posts were armed 
 knights, sculptured in oak ; boxes covered with 
 goldsmiths' work, where the hand of Cellini or 
 of Francois Briot had been busy ; groups in mar- 
 ble by rare Italian artists, on pedestals of antique 
 form, covered with relievos of the most graceful 
 workmanship. In the embrasures of the win- 
 dows one can imagine those coffers covered with 
 coloured leather, which served for seats in the 
 time of Charles VII ; a stand supporting one of 
 those mirouers de toilette whose frames were so 
 richly worked in ivory and gold; and perhaps 
 spread beneath it a tablier ouvre, a luxury sent 
 from Damascus or from Venice ; while round on 
 various coigns of vantage might repose reliquaires 
 of rock crystal mixed with chlorite, on which 
 the point of a diamond has traced the forms of 
 animals, flowers, fruit, or landscape. Perhaps 
 a little book, whose cover is of gilded copper 
 worked as if in lace-work, with the salamander 
 and the crowned F introduced amongst the foli- 
 age, the horoscope of the owner being drawn with- 
 in and the secrets of astrology revealed to the 
 initiated.
 
 SALLES. 289 
 
 These, and much more, one can fancy filled 
 the chambers of Francois I, and one could wish 
 to see those at Fontainebleau furnished as they 
 still are at Chenonceau. If some of the trea- 
 sures of M. de Somerard's collection, enough 
 now to form half a dozen museums, were trans- 
 ferred to this beautiful palace, there would be 
 nothing left to desire. 
 
 The Galerie de Diane was constructed and de- 
 corated by Henri IV; it was formerly full of 
 medallions and pictures by Ambroise Dubois, 
 which have all disappeared. Napoleon and Louis 
 XVIII. restored this chamber, and modern artists 
 have replaced by their allegorical designs those 
 which figured forth the loves of Henri and Ga- 
 brielle. 
 
 From this gallery opens a chamber, which has 
 been entirely formed by Louis Philippe in the 
 ancient Pavilion de Noailles. It is exquisitely 
 beautiful, and in the best taste : the walls are 
 covered with arabesques, the ceiling in compart- 
 ments, and all answering to, but, if possible, 
 surpassing in elegance, the rest of the building. 
 A staircase connects this room with the private 
 gardens. Another fine salle newly built by the 
 present King, is called by his name, and is very 
 
 VOL. II. u
 
 290 THE PRINCESS MARIE. 
 
 grand ; the doors superb, the pillars handsome, 
 and the whole extremely rich. The Salles des 
 Gardes is in equally good taste. 
 
 The most ancient chapel in the palace is that 
 which was consecrated by Thomas a Becket, St. 
 Saturnin ; it was restored under Francis I, and 
 completed under Louis XIII. The windows are 
 filled with coloured glass from the designs of that 
 charming and interesting Princess, Marie d'Or- 
 leans Duchesse de Wurtemberg, one of the best 
 artists in France, to judge by her unequalled 
 statue of Joan of Arc, the most chaste concep- 
 tion of the present age. 
 
 Another chapel is that of La Sainte Trinity, 
 established by Louis XI. Henri IV. restored 
 it ; his cipher and that of Marie de' Medici * 
 
 * " The house of Medici," says the author of the Discours 
 Merveilleux sur la Vie de Catherine de' Medici, " was for a 
 long period hidden amongst the lowest refuse of the people at 
 Florence. It began to rise by means of a collier who had a 
 son an apothecary, who took the name of his profession ; and 
 as in the present day we see people taking for devices the 
 emblems of their trade, as tailors their scissors, masons their 
 hammer or trowel, so this doctor adopted Jive pills, as it is 
 their habit to order an uneven number to their patients." 
 This is a singular derivation of the armorial bearings of this 
 celebrated house.
 
 THE GARDENS. 291 
 
 ornament the walls. The Duke of Orleans was 
 married to the Princess Helene of Mecklenburg 
 in this chapel in 1837. 
 
 The Porte Dor6e, which is the gateway be- 
 tween the Cour Ovale and that part leading to 
 the Avenue de Maintenon, is one of the most 
 celebrated sights at Fontainebleau, and is wonder- 
 fully magnificent : it was built under Francis I, 
 and the frescos of il Rosso have been carefully 
 restored. 
 
 Nothing can exceed the beauty of the ceilings 
 and walks throughout the whole range of count- 
 less chambers, public and private ; and every one 
 has some peculiar feature to recommend it, either 
 for its vastness or its elegance, or some souvenir 
 attached to it. One is shown as the apartment 
 where lodged the Emperor Charles V. when re- 
 ceived by Francis : one of Marie Antoinette ; 
 and all reviving "thoughts and recollections sweet 
 and bitter." 
 
 The gardens are as charming and as magni- 
 ficent as the palace ; they infinitely excel in 
 beauty and variety those of Versailles : and, 
 though planted in some parts with long avenues 
 of clipped trees, there is much more nature and 
 grace, even in the absence of the statues, than 
 
 u 2
 
 292 THE GARDENS. 
 
 at that tediously- formal royal residence, so uni- 
 formly grand and imposing. The state of the 
 soil, nevertheless, did not appear to promise such 
 a result of industry as they now exhibit, to judge 
 by the anecdote told of Henri IV, who, walking 
 one day in the gardens with the Due d'Epernon, 
 met the gardener, with whom he began to con- 
 verse. The king complained at the meagre ap- 
 pearance of the parterres, and the few flowers 
 and shrubs he saw. " Sire," said the good man, 
 " I can make nothing come in this ground." — 
 " Sow Gascons," answered Henri, looking slyly 
 at the Due d'Epernon ; " they come everywhere.'''' 
 
 Lendtre laid out most of the gardens as they 
 now appear ; the lakes, and fountains, and groves, 
 and terraces, are really delightful, and, as the 
 fountains were constantly playing, and the swans 
 in motion, while we were there, the effect was 
 animating and brilliant. This is the part open 
 to the public ; the English garden is beautifully 
 laid out, and the fine Etang and its pretty pa- 
 vilion are objects of great interest, particularly 
 to the strollers who frequent this part for the 
 purpose of watching and feeding the enormous 
 carp, who come in shoals to receive the offerings 
 daily and hourly brought to them, and on which
 
 LES CARPES. 293 
 
 they appear to thrive, for they are perfectly 
 gigantic, of all ages and hues, some perfectly 
 grey and looking extremely venerable. The 
 contentions of these creatures with their rivals, 
 the swans, for biscuit and brioche are truly comic, 
 and the ?ia'ive exclamations of the grown-up chil- 
 dren who amuse themselves on the banks of 
 this beautiful lake, leaning over the high wall, 
 and throwing crumbs of discord to the assembled 
 finny multitude, no less so : " Sont-ils done des 
 carpes /" " Ah ! quelle bete !" " Est-il niais !" 
 were terms which we used to listen to with 
 infinite amusement, as we, with little more phi- 
 losophy, stretched our necks and arms over the 
 parapet, idly enjoying the commotion below. 
 
 In the Jardin Aglais is the fountain which 
 gave name to the palace and town, which is 
 said to have inspired Malesherbes, with the fol- 
 lowing quatrain : 
 
 " Vois-tu, passant, couler cette onde 
 Et s'ecouler incontinent ? 
 Ainsi fuit la gloire du monde, 
 Et rien que Dieu est permanent." 
 
 An immensely long and very fine trellis, co- 
 vered with grapes, extends along a wall the 
 whole length of that part which is called the
 
 294 AVON. 
 
 park, on a high raised terrace, which is a most 
 agreeable walk, from one point of which the 
 picturesque church of Avon is seen beyond the 
 trees, closing a fine turfed walk of great extent. 
 The fine vine produces, in ordinary years, from 
 six to seven thousand pounds of grapes, called 
 chasselas, the finest of which are served at the 
 royal table during the months of autumn. 
 
 Another delightful walk is through the fine 
 avenues of the park which border the long canal, 
 and on reaching the gate at the extremity, to 
 follow the road which leads to the village of 
 Avon. The pretty old church is very ancient, 
 of the tenth century, and is curious for many 
 reasons : a slab of marble at the entrance tells 
 that the victim of Christine was buried here : 
 we read the words — 
 
 " Ci git Monadelxi," 
 
 and shudder at the fate of the unhappy and 
 false favourite. 
 
 The heart of the great persecutor of the Jews, 
 and destroyer of the Order of the Templars, 
 Philippe le Bel, who was born at Fontainebleau 
 in 1262, was buried in this church, together 
 with that of his queen, the heiress of Navarre.
 
 AVON. 295 
 
 The tumulary stone, on which is engraved the 
 figure of a king with some scarely legible gothic 
 letters, is still to be seen at the entrance of the 
 choir. There are several others to be traced on 
 the pavement more or less preserved, but no 
 tombs. The church, with its pretty tower, is 
 remarkably picturesque, and a charming study 
 for an artist.
 
 296 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Forest. — Existence Bocagere. — Grand- Veneur.— Parties 
 de Chasse. — Delicieuses Solitudes. — Points de Vue. — Sa- 
 moys.— Moret. — Thomery. — The Vignerons. — The Chas- 
 selas. — The River. — The Quay. — The Champion. — The 
 Escape. 
 
 n entire summer might easily 
 be passed at Fontainebleau, 
 and the whole of this un- 
 rivalled, beautiful and ex- 
 tensive forest, be un visited. 
 Every day may be employed 
 in rambles, on foot, on horseback and in car- 
 riages, and every day new beauties are to be 
 found. 
 
 It is not only the rural charms and deep se- 
 clusion of these enchanting glades, that delight 
 the wanderer amongst their shades, but the 
 splendid points of view, the stupendous rocks 
 and extensive prospects that meet him at every
 
 GRAND VENEUR. 297 
 
 turn. It is impossible, on entering the forest, 
 to take a wrong route ; all are fraught with such 
 deep interest, and possess such varied beauties. 
 
 We met with some agreeable and intelligent 
 French people, who had come, like ourselves, 
 to explore, and with them we made a party 
 almost daily in the forest, sometimes walking 
 for leagues, resting in every pleasant nook and at 
 every splendid point, till the whole day was con- 
 sumed in this existence bocagere, than which nothing 
 could be more enjoyable, for the weather was 
 exquisite, with nothing to desire, and all seemed 
 to concur to render our sejour agreeable. 
 
 The forest is the chosen haunt of the artist, 
 who can there study the sublimest scenes, and 
 find accidents of all kinds necessary to his art. 
 A crowd of young men from Paris are con- 
 stantly roaming about, on pictorial works in- 
 tent, amongst the eternal shades of Fontaine- 
 bleau ; and matter may there be found for all 
 compositions. The poet is equally at home here, 
 and the romancier finds food for his inventions. 
 The Grand Veneur is now too much " frighted 
 from his hallowed haunts" to appear as he did, 
 with hound and horn, in his sable garb, with his 
 livid countenance and gigantic stature, to Henri
 
 298 PARTIES DE CHASSE. 
 
 IV. He could, indeed, scarcely discover game 
 sufficient to engage him, for since the last revo- 
 lution it has almost entirely been destroyed, the 
 last great hunter being Charles X. whose mind 
 was chiefly occupied in " sports and pastimes" of 
 that description. Occasional parties de chdsse still 
 occur ; and it is a fine sight, to stand on a rocky 
 eminence and see the flying deer rushing along 
 the precipitous ravine below, followed by the 
 sweeping train, with horns and dogs, and shouts, 
 which echo among the magnificent avenues ; but 
 these are rare, as are the wild boar, stag, and 
 smaller " deer" 
 
 The botanist may find enough to employ him 
 here, for numerous and remarkable are the herbs 
 and plants which he meets in his rambles. It 
 is the dryest and most healthy forest, perhaps, 
 in Europe. Immediately after rain has ceased 
 the sandy soil becomes dry, and there is seldom a 
 period when it appears damp or gloomy. 
 
 The description of an author of the last cen- 
 tury, Professor Beranger, gives a lively picture of 
 the more severe character of the Forest : — 
 
 " Elle est affreusement belle. Ces vieux 
 chenes, ces roches cariees, noires, Jnformes ; ces 
 blocs de gres entasses au hazard, a moitie ex-
 
 DELICIEUSES SOLITUDES. 299 
 
 ploites pour l'ecarrissement des paves ; ces lietres 
 elances dans les airs ou couches a terre, ebranches 
 par la foudre ou prets a tomber ; voila ce que 
 j'ai vu dans les plaisirs du Roi." 
 
 Francois I. called his forest, with justice, ses 
 delicieuses solitudes. It was Henri IV. who esta- 
 blished the Route Ronde, from whence nine prin- 
 cipal points spread out, and an infinity of smaller 
 divisions grow out of them. There are direction 
 posts at every turn ; nevertheless, so numerous 
 are the roads, that it is difficult for a stranger to 
 find his way ; but no one can regret the circum- 
 stance, as the more he wanders the more charm- 
 ed he must be, in these delicious " mazes lost." 
 There seems no end to the variety they exhibit : 
 now chains of high rocks meet the view, between 
 the crevices of which spring up trees of magnifi- 
 cent growth ; immediately afterwards you arrive 
 at a wide plain of sand and heath, which again 
 conducts to a pine grove ; then a fine mountain, 
 covered with light foliage, overlooking a valley 
 of grey rocks, hurled in confusion down a pre- 
 cipitous descent ; beyond rises a steep hill, dotted 
 with rocks, and bristling with shrubs and wild- 
 looking trees. Then a wide marsh, without a 
 trace of vegetation, which the ignis fatuus alone
 
 300 POINTS DE VUE. 
 
 inhabits ; and at the edge of that a thick bosquet 
 of enormous oaks, whose trunks are wreathed 
 into fantastic forms. Then, a series of hollow 
 caverns, some filled with the finest sand ; the 
 entrances festooned, and adorned with wild flow- 
 ers and feathery grass ; then darker caves, with- 
 out a blade or leaf near them ; picturesque 
 buildings, occasionally, serving as hunting lodges ; 
 and in other spots the ruins of ancient monas- 
 teries. After which, for leagues, avenues of 
 beautiful trees, of the most luxuriant kind ; now, 
 an opening of velvet turf, surrounded by an am- 
 phitheatre of gentle hills, now a plantation of 
 young firs, and the Pin-Sglvestre, which flourishes 
 here ; in fine, all of sylvan beauty, that can be 
 imagined, combined with the wildest and most 
 savage nature. 
 
 To name a few of the beautiful points de vue in 
 the forest, is all I can venture to do. Let every 
 visitor to Paris, not quite a slave to the gaieties 
 of the splendid city, hurry in autumn to Fon- 
 tainebleau, and no longer neglect, as has been 
 too much done, a treat within the reach of all, 
 who must be but indifferent observers and ad- 
 mirers of the sublime and beautiful, if they do 
 not acknowledge the exquisite delights of one of
 
 POINTS DE VUE. 301 
 
 the most charming situations in France. I had 
 never heard it sufficiently praised, or indeed, 
 spoken of with any enthusiasm by French or 
 English, except by one dear friend, who possesses 
 all the taste for which both nations are cele- 
 brated, in their way, who had lived some happy 
 years in the palace, where her husband was 
 governor, and who could appreciate and enjoy 
 what she had often urged me in vain to visit. 
 Judging by St. Cloud, Versailles, and other French 
 palaces, I could not bring myself to feel a wish to 
 go to Fontainebleau, and now seem to " awake as 
 from a pleasant dream," and would willingly 
 " sleep to dream it o'er again." 
 
 The mail de Henri IV. — So called because the 
 spot was chosen, being nearest the chateau, for 
 the Jeu du mail. There is some similarity, in 
 the line, broad avenue which conducts to it, to 
 the long walk at Windsor. It terminates in a 
 very high hill, from whence is a wild and ex- 
 tensive prospect on one side, and the chateau 
 on the other, with part of the town in perspec- 
 tive. There are a hundred walks, all beautiful, 
 diverging from this. 
 
 Les Mockers et la Vallee de la Sollc. — Rocks and 
 trees, huge blocks, crowned with magnificent fo-
 
 302 POINTS DE VUE. 
 
 liage, all confusedly hurled into the green abyss 
 of an immensely extensive valley, bordered by 
 high hills, with blue mountains in the distance. 
 Occasional waterfalls rushing down from rock 
 to rock, and lost in streams which run like silver 
 threads beneath. 
 
 Les Gorges d'Apremont et de Franchard. — This 
 is a fine, wild, savage district, where piles of 
 rocks are thrown one upon the other, to an 
 immense height, and where the ground descends 
 with its accustomed irregularity, forming gorges 
 of tremendous depth. In the most retired part 
 rose a monastery of Mathurins, in the time of 
 Philippe Auguste, a few walls of which still re- 
 main, attached to which is a house belonging to 
 one of the gardes de chasse. This is a spot cele- 
 brated for its fete, which all the youths and 
 maidens of Fontainebleau are intimately acquaint- 
 ed with. The Roche qui pleure, which is near, 
 is a fine mass of grey stone, through which the 
 rain-water, received in its hollow basins, filters 
 and drops into a free-stone reservoir below, 
 through the pores of the rock. 
 
 Mont Aigu, La Gorge aux Loups, Les Roches 
 des Deux Soeurs, La Fontaine Desiree, La Vallee 
 du Nid cb l'Aide, Le Mont Chauvct, L'Antre des
 
 SAMOYS. 303 
 
 Druides, Le Coeur du Diable, and many others, 
 are all objects of extraordinary interest, and can 
 all be seen in turn. The lover of scenery will, 
 of course, not be content to drive along the high 
 roads which lead, in all directions, through the 
 forest, but will diverge wherever he can. He 
 must be a good walker, and not mind a little 
 fatigue, nor must he be out of humour at not 
 finding his way immediately, as he is sure to be 
 fortunate in losing himself, even if he return 
 to his home three hours after his dinner hour, 
 as we generally contrived to do. 
 
 But the true champetre plan is to dine in the 
 forest. One day Ave spread our rural repast upon 
 a commanding height, beneath the shelter of a 
 mass of piled up rocks, in a situation command- 
 ing an extensive prospect on the outskirts of 
 the forest, with the village of Samoys below us, 
 and the bright river Seine and its gliding steam- 
 boats far off. We were so pleased with the 
 prospect, illumined by the brilliant light of the 
 setting sun, that we resolved to descend and 
 visit the village and its fine church, whose square 
 Norman tower attracted us at a distance. On 
 our way an incident altogether Swiss occurred ; 
 a Ranz des Vaches was blown by a peasant,
 
 304 SAMOYS. 
 
 and, presently, descended from the hills a line 
 of no less than seventy beautiful cows, taking 
 their way to the Tillage, which we entered much 
 at the same time. We were met by numbers 
 of peasants bringing home grapes in panniers 
 overflowing with crimson juice from the half- 
 pressed bunches. But here ended our romance ; 
 for of all the filthy, disgusting places it had been 
 " our lot to mark," the village of Samoys is the 
 most horrible, and we quickly returned to our 
 carriage and our drive through the groves on 
 our return, lighted by the lamp of the glowworm, 
 and amused by the tales of our host and con- 
 ducteur of his campaigns with Napoleon, and 
 his feats of greenwood craft. 
 
 Another of our expeditions was to Moret, 
 a pretty town, the scene of one of Napoleon's 
 tremendous struggles, whose antique gates, splen- 
 did church, consecrated by Becket, old castle 
 towers, and ruined bridge, are " toute beaute." 
 From thence we took our way to Thomery, the 
 famous place, from w T hence come all the grapes 
 called of Fontainebleau; and here we saw the 
 head quarters of " the vines " in perfection. 
 
 This hameau is the richest, and the inhabitants 
 are the most industrious, of the department of
 
 THOMERY. 305 
 
 Seine et Marne. It rises in an amphitheatre, 
 on a coteau by the side of the forest, the foot 
 of which is bathed by the river. Every house 
 is well-built, and serves, in every part, to sup- 
 port a trellis loaded with grapes; all the streets 
 are vineyards, for not a foot of wall but is co- 
 vered with trellis, from which hang clusters of 
 the rich chasselas, so justly renowned. The white 
 are of an opal tint, touched with ruddy gold; 
 the purple, less esteemed, are beautiful to be- 
 hold, and nothing can exceed the order and 
 scrupulous neatness with which these treasures 
 are preserved and cherished : five or six thou- 
 sand baskets are sent from hence every week 
 to Paris, where they are sometimes sold au poids 
 de Voi\ 
 
 We were introduced by our host and hostess, 
 who guided us, on the occasion, to a family of 
 vignerons, at whose house we rested, and ex- 
 amined their vine-gardens, which are curious 
 and interesting. Rows of walls are erected, on 
 which the grapes are trained ; these are divided 
 into compartments, about every twelve rows 
 being again surrounded by a wall ; every atten- 
 tion being paid to their position as regards sun 
 and heat. 
 
 VOL. II. x
 
 306 THE CHASSELAS. 
 
 These vignerons are extremely wealthy, but 
 mere peasants in their manner ; they work hard 
 and live well ; but, to judge by the specimen 
 we saw, they are not very recherche as to the 
 furniture of their domiciles, apparently content- 
 ing themselves with bare walls and a few chairs ; 
 except the best room, where the usual hand- 
 some bed and ornamented chimney are to be 
 observed. 
 
 They pack the grapes, with care, in baskets 
 of various sizes, and in a dry season they will 
 keep a long time : as the summer had been 
 wet, and the grapes we bought had been ga- 
 thered in the rain, we did not find the boast 
 true, of the possibility of their remaining good 
 for months. 
 
 From Valoin we embarked in the steam-boat 
 for Paris, being less afraid of the sands of the 
 Seine than those of the Loire, which render 
 the voyage uncertain and tedious. The river 
 was full and fine, and the banks so varied and 
 beautiful, as to allow a comparison between 
 them and the borders of the Thames. The boat, 
 however, was crowded to excess, not only with 
 passengers, but with baggage, which was piled 
 up in a most inconvenient manner, in the centre
 
 THE RIVER. 307 
 
 of the deck, masking the view on one side. 
 The camp had just broken up at Fontainebleau, 
 and all the world was returning to Paris. Me- 
 lun, Corbeil, Charenton, appeared by turns, with 
 their respective beauties, and the vine-covered 
 banks, and rich woods, which slope down to 
 the river, give an animated, and graceful, and 
 characteristic effect to the scene. 
 
 The approach to Paris, by the river, is very 
 singular : the great city comes out by degrees 
 in all its vastness ; tower after tower, bridge 
 after bridge, and building after building, suc- 
 ceed each other in constant variety ; and the 
 solemn, dark, patriarchal masses of Notre Dame, 
 have an imposing air as they welcome the 
 stranger to the walls of the old town. 
 
 Nothing could exceed the confusion on the 
 quay on the arrival of the steam-boat ; the use- 
 less, senseless screaming and hallooing of hundreds 
 of unaccredited commissionaires on shore, the as- 
 severations and commands of the officials on 
 board, until we fairly sat down in despair beside 
 our baggage, waiting till the hubbub should sub- 
 side. Our passports were demanded, and our 
 keys, — why, no human being could imagine, as 
 it was next to impossible that our trunks should 
 
 x 2
 
 308 THE CHAMPION. 
 
 be filled with Fontainebleau grapes, and the small 
 basket we had was not concealed. Everything 
 was opened on the deck, and thrown about with 
 the utmost carelessness ; the custom-house of- 
 ficial all the time looking another way, so that 
 if there had been anything contraband, he had 
 no opportunity of detecting the fact, which mode 
 of proceeding made it more vexatious : add to 
 which, our accredite, who kept insisting, with 
 raised finger, that we should remain perfectly 
 tranquille, very coolly broke the hinges of one 
 of the trunks in forcing it to close, after having 
 disturbed its contents. Finding that he had 
 committed an error, he began to use every bland- 
 ishment that penitence could suggest, and vowed, 
 with clasped hands, that we should have no 
 reason to complain of him further, for that he 
 would protect and assist us to the last gasp. 
 To judge by the wondrous noise on shore, the 
 jeers, and jokes, and vituperation as every pas- 
 senger landed, one might have imagined a cham- 
 pion really necessary, and, accordingly, we fol- 
 lowed closely the steps of our friend, who led 
 us through the mob, elbowing and driving away 
 the ranks who saluted us with cries of "des 
 Anglaises ! des Anglaiscs !" certainly "pour rire"
 
 THE ESCAPE. 309 
 
 Having procured us a fiacre, deposited our 
 goods, and seen us fairly packed, we named our 
 hotel, presented our penitent knight with a gra- 
 tuity, for which he made us fifty bows, and 
 gave us a hundred thanks, doubtless, inwardly 
 chuckling at the liberality induced by fear, — 
 and left the quay, resolving to abandon our 
 former intention of making a voyage from Paris 
 to Rouen by the steam-boat, in spite of the 
 beauty of the trajet.
 
 310 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Paris. — Churches. — Monuments. — The Louvre. — The Spa- 
 nish Gallery. — Spanish Masters. — Murillo. — St. Bonaven- 
 ture. — The Spanish Watteau. — Adventure in the Hotel of 
 Madame du Barri. 
 
 sgssusgsi ^ ROM the time that had elapsed 
 since we last beheld Paris, 
 in the year of the Trois 
 Jours, we looked for and 
 found a great change, and, 
 in many respects, also a 
 great improvement. The new church of La Ma- 
 deleine, so much vaunted, struck me as in rather 
 questionable taste, as did that of Notre Dame 
 Lorette, splendid as both are, but unfit for places 
 of worship : the latter would make a magnificent 
 ball-room or theatre. Gilding, painting, carving, 
 and marble in profusion, are employed in these 
 gorgeous churches, but after being so long ac- 
 customed to the severe simplicity of the Norman
 
 PARIS. 311 
 
 buildings, or the chaste and graceful delicacy of 
 those of later date, our eyes could only be 
 dazzled by the glare and glitter round us, and 
 we hastened to behold Notre Dame again in 
 its glory and majesty ; to the church of Chilperic, 
 St. Germain TAuxerrois, that of St. Gervais, 
 with its beautiful pendant roofs and twisted 
 pillars; to the Palais de Justice, and its Pas 
 Perdues and Sainte Chapelle ; to the wonderful 
 Roman ruin in the heart of Paris, the Palais 
 des Thermes ; and lastly to that curious, ex- 
 traordinary, interesting museum of the middle 
 ages, so well appreciated by us now after our 
 researches in Normandy and Brittany, the Hdtel 
 Cluny. 
 
 The Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile, has been com- 
 pleted since we last saw Paris, and is a splendid 
 monument. The wondrous Egyptian pillar in the 
 Place Louis XV, appears to me, if not misplaced, 
 at least rather incongruously surrounded by can- 
 delabras of gold and bronze, and fountains, and 
 statues, which are as unlike the severe and sim- 
 ple pile as it is possible to imagine, and entirely 
 spoil the effect it would produce, if left " alone 
 with its glory." The fountains, after being com- 
 pleted, are discovered to be top-heavy, and are
 
 312 THE LOUVRE. 
 
 about to be taken down; it seems, therefore, 
 that the English are not the only architects 
 who spend their time in doing and undoing, 
 and who are unable to judge of an effect till 
 it is too late. 
 
 I found the galleries of the Louvre much ex- 
 tended since I last saw them : rich in art of 
 every description, ancient and modern. It would 
 now require days to go over them, and weeks 
 to examine them room by room. The Egyp- 
 tian treasures are very great, and also those of 
 the antique collection : the enamels of the 
 period of Francois I. and later, extremely numer- 
 ous and beautiful. The naval museum is com- 
 plete and interesting; a part of the mast and 
 other debris of La Perouse's 
 
 " fatal and perfidious bark, 
 
 Built in th' eclipse, and rigged with curses dark," 
 
 brings melancholy reflections to the mind. 
 
 The enormous stores of sketches and drawings 
 of masters, in portfolios and framed, make one 
 blush to remember that England could have 
 become possessed of an equally valuable col- 
 lection, — " could — but did not'!" But the 
 crown of all curiosity, wonder, and admiration,
 
 THE SPANISH GALLERY. 313 
 
 now in Paris, is the Spanish gallery, which is 
 certainly very fine, and has some splendid spe- 
 cimens of that magnificent and gloomy school ; 
 nevertheless it greatly disappointed me, and vi- 
 siting it in the hasty manner I was obliged to 
 do, my impression was, that I had never seen 
 so many hideous and ill-painted pictures brought 
 together before. The subjects of the greatest 
 part of them are revolting and horrible, being 
 representations of martyrdoms and punishments 
 too terrific to think of, much less look at and 
 examine. Even were these painted in the very 
 first style of art, they must be always unfit for 
 a public gallery: their only fitting place is in 
 the gloomy cell of some bigot ; and I cannot 
 but think that had M. Taylor, instead of trea- 
 suring them, rejected every one of these mon- 
 strosities he would have done the state more 
 service, than in bringing them to Paris to show 
 this turbulent and excitable people how to com- 
 mit — 
 
 " The oldest sins the newest kinds of ways." 
 
 Had Marshal Soult, when he made such havoc 
 amongst the convents of Spain, committed whole 
 heaps of this disfigured canvass to the flames,
 
 314 SPANISH MASTERS. 
 
 the world might have thanked him ; for it appears 
 to me that the best Spanish gallery that could 
 be made is in his own possession, and, with a 
 few exceptions, every picture far exceeds any 
 in this. 
 
 The best are the Velasquez, of which there 
 are several admirable — his portrait, by himself, 
 a head only, is unrivalled for truth, finish, and 
 breadth, except by a similar one of Murillo, 
 which is its worthy rival. Morales el Divino 
 has some monks in all the perfection of sack- 
 cloth and ashes, with attenuated limbs and ghast- 
 ly faces, that start from the canvass, and look 
 more or less than human ; the great master, Zur- 
 baran, has also a monk in his rocky cell, at 
 prayer, surrounded by every attribute that can 
 make the scene appalling and awful ; it is terri- 
 bly grand, but hideous. Ribera follows in the 
 same style, with torture, blood, wounds and 
 starvation in his train, imitated and sometimes 
 equalled by less known painters, now, perhaps, 
 first introduced to a Parisian public in all their 
 gloom and fearful power, — such as Theotocopuli 
 el Greco, Francisco Camillo, Luis Tristan, Her- 
 rera el Viejo, and a crowd of others, most of 
 whose subjects are as little pleasing as the rest.
 
 MURILLO. 315 
 
 Alonzo Cano presents some fine compositions ; 
 but, in spite of the cry that has been raised 
 against Murillo's genius of late by those who, 
 perhaps, are but partially acquainted with his 
 countless works, so unequal in their power and 
 beauty, and so different from each other, and 
 who are apt to confound the master's hand with 
 that of his numerous imitators and pupils — he 
 stands the first amongst his great brethren. 
 Who that has contemplated some of the divine 
 faces of his virgins, and angels made 'perfect, can 
 agree in the common accusation against him of 
 vulgarity and want of grace ? 
 
 If the fine picture, of which we ought to 
 be proud in our poverty, the Pedrosa Murillo, 
 cabined in one of the closets of what is called 
 our National Gallery, have defects, its glorious 
 truth and beauty outshine them ; and though 
 the earnest face, with its devoted gaze of the 
 young mother is Spanish and peasant-like, it 
 is not less real and affecting than the refined, 
 beatified, sublimely-lovely faces of some of his 
 Virgins of the Ascension. 
 
 Murillo, as he must have painted his pictures 
 for different communities, no doubt conformed 
 to the taste of those who desired to have their
 
 316 ST. BONAVENTURE. 
 
 convents and churches enriched by his genius, 
 and like all other great masters, could not al- 
 ways follow his own desire of representing the 
 great and beautiful, and may have occasionally 
 followed the mere nature too closely, which he 
 knew in his own clime ; but he is always a 
 wondrous artist, and his pictures have the me- 
 rit, in general, of being pleasing to look on, 
 as well as holding an exalted place as works 
 of art : this is not altogether the case in the 
 present instance, for several of his subjects are 
 as fearful as those of his brother painters. The 
 most remarkable, is a picture of St. Bonaven- 
 ture, whose terrific legend he has recorded with 
 a fidelity truly appalling. The saint was occu- 
 pied, at the time of his death, in the compo- 
 sition of a work on which depended his eternal 
 salvation, according to his own belief. Even 
 in the grave his spirit could find no repose, for 
 the unfinished task kept his soul from bliss. 
 
 The painter has shown his dimly-lighted cell, 
 the stone table, and the writing-materials which 
 he used in the pursuit of his destined toil ; and 
 before that table, and holding that pen in his 
 bony fingers, sits an unearthly form, to which 
 the damps of the grave yet seem to cling, on
 
 ST. BONAVENTURE. 317 
 
 which the hand of corruption had already been 
 laid — there sits the spectre monk, meditating 
 and inditing as he was wont to do in life. His 
 eyes have a lurid lustre, like " lamps in sepul- 
 chres ;" his cheeks are sunk and livid, his lips 
 are black and bloodless, and between their fear- 
 ful opening, one almost imagines a dark abyss 
 of death may be seen; his skull is that of a 
 skeleton not yet divested of the outward co- 
 vering which veils the awful aspect it would 
 otherwise assume. There is a halo of pale me- 
 teor light round the head, which shines out 
 through the dark profound that encircles the 
 figure ; the drapery hangs in broad folds over 
 the thin body, the feet have the same deadly 
 hue as the ghastly hands, and the whole atti- 
 tude has a stillness and absorbing devotion about 
 it which chains the beholder, and rivets the 
 gaze, which would fain turn away from the 
 hideous fascination that enthrals it. 
 
 Altogether St. Bonaventure is the most hor- 
 rible picture that can be conceived ; it is " the 
 likeness of that so foul to behold," that a wizard's 
 tower or an inquisitor's cell were the only proper 
 receptacle for such a piece of barbarous super- 
 stitious fable, told in a manner to unnerve the
 
 318 THE SPANISH WATTEAU. 
 
 stoutest heart and make the judicious amateur 
 deplore the perversion of so splendid a genius, 
 while a feeling of disgust comes over the mind 
 for a belief which it was necessary to secure by 
 means of terror and falsehood, contrary to every 
 precept of true religion. 
 
 As a relief to this catalogue of horrors the 
 eye turns to a series of extraordinary pictures 
 of every-day life, by an artist who is the Watteau 
 of Spain, except in his grace. Ladies and cava- 
 liers are represented in all the extravagance of 
 fashionable Spanish costume at no very recent 
 period : the ladies are mounted on stilted shoes 
 a foot high ; their bodies are drawn into all the 
 contortions of ultra-fashion ; the head-dresses, 
 flounces, fans, and ornaments are most extraor- 
 dinary, and the pictures are consequently curious 
 as a faithful delineation of costume ; besides this 
 they possess little merit. Many in the collection 
 appear to me to have been restored^ and that 
 somewhat clumsily, the carnations being unnatu- 
 rally brilliant considering their age. 
 
 On the whole I can scarcely agree in thinking 
 that any great acquisition has been made to 
 France by this crowd of bleeding St. Sebastians 
 writhing against a stake pierced with a hundred
 
 RUE LOUIS LE GRAND. 319 
 
 arrows, — saints and martyrs undergoing the tor- 
 tures of the rack, flaying, broiling, being crucified 
 with the head downwards, or cloven with an axe, 
 — half naked, dirty monks in stone cells and caves, 
 bleeding from recent discipline, haggard from 
 fasting, and exhibiting the features of demons 
 or madmen ; and the greatest part of these scenes, 
 hard, harsh, faded, and ill-executed. 
 
 The hotel at which we were staying, at Paris, 
 was in the Rue Louis le Grand, now almost 
 rebuilt from what it was since the days when 
 we saw all its pavement taken up to form barri- 
 cades at the corners of the different streets which 
 lead into it. A friend of ours, who called to 
 see us there, amused us with the relation of an 
 adventure which, he asserted, had happened to 
 him on this spot, though he refused to indicate 
 the exact house in which it occurred. I give 
 it in his own words, but do not venture to vouch 
 for its entire truth from any similar experience 
 on my own part, for we found our hotel ex- 
 tremely quiet, and were never disturbed by any 
 supernatural, or other noises or apparitions, be- 
 yond that of the civil waiter and chambermaid, 
 both the most silent persons it had been our 
 lot to meet with in France.
 
 320 
 
 AN ADVENTURE IN THE HOTEL OF 
 MADAME DU BARRI. 
 
 " Lass dass nur stehen ! Dabey wirds Niemand wohl. 
 Es ist em Zauberbild, ist leblos, ein Idol. 
 Ihm zu begegnen ist nicht gut." — Faust von Gothe. 
 
 " In one of the streets of Paris, which, from 
 its designation, shows that it was built during 
 the reign of the ' Grand Monarque,' it was my 
 fortune once to take up my abode. The hotel 
 in which I resided was a large one, with various 
 suites of apartments, in most of which the faded 
 magnificence of the furniture and decorations 
 gave sufficient evidence of the glories of the 
 past. 
 
 " It may be supposed that it was not without 
 reason the proprietor of the hotel boasted of 
 its former grandeur, when it is known that tra- 
 dition assigned it as the dwelling of Madame du 
 Barri during the plenitude of her power. It was 
 here, perhaps, that she celebrated those agree- 
 able suppers which the king was accustomed to 
 attend ; here were assembled the various and
 
 MADAME DU BARRL 321 
 
 opposing aspirants for power, who so obsequiously 
 paid her their court ; and it was even here that, 
 in her unguarded moments, she bestowed those 
 favours on her untitled lover, which accident so 
 nearly revealed to her royal friend. 
 
 " Though the characters of Madame du Bar- 
 ri, Louis XV, and nearly all the court, are as 
 bad as licentiousness could make them, there 
 is still a lingering feeling of regard for that 
 which is antique and magnificent, although a 
 claim upon our respect no longer exists ; and, 
 at the least, the powerful situation in which she 
 was placed, and the generous faults which mark- 
 ed her character, independently of the recollec- 
 tion of her melancholy end, are motives suffici- 
 ent to attach an interest to the place where 
 she resided. At any rate, such was my feeling ; 
 and, when I first took possession of my apart- 
 ment, my thoughts were fully impressed with 
 the by-gone dreams of splendour and intrigue 
 which these walls and their tenants had once 
 been witness to. 
 
 " It was late in the month of December when 
 I first became a sojourner in this abode. The 
 gloom of the season, and the loneliness of my 
 situation, contributed their share to the state of 
 
 VOL. II. y
 
 322 ADVENTURE IN THE HOTEL 
 
 mind which influenced me. Though established 
 in the gayest city in the universe, my own pros- 
 pects were anything but cheering ; the present 
 was overcast ; the future, doubtful ; my friends 
 were remote, and the winter opened before me 
 with its dark days and long companionless even- 
 ings. My only resources lay in study ; and, for- 
 tunately, the means of accomplishing the desire 
 are, in this capital, at the command of all who 
 seek them. I had always felt an ardent thirst 
 for reading ; it was the highest gratification I 
 could experience. Books were to me the sum- 
 mum bonum of existence. 
 
 " It was not so much the pursuit of science, the 
 acquisition of learning, which impelled me ; it 
 was, rather, a deep and mysterious pleasure which 
 I felt in communing in secret with those authors 
 whose names, or the records which they gave, 
 carried me back to the remoter periods of his- 
 tory ; when knowledge was in its infancy, and 
 was deeply tinctured with imagination and super- 
 stition. The wonderful narratives of the early 
 travellers, the first speculations of the discoverers 
 of science, and the opinions of men on their 
 promulgation ; the traditional accounts so impli- 
 citly believed and so faithfully recorded, and the
 
 OF MADAME DU BARRI. 323 
 
 tone of romance which was imparted to every 
 object hallowed by the lapse of ages ; all com- 
 bined to charm and interest me, and enabled me 
 to support the solitude in which I dwelt with 
 some degree of endurance. 
 
 " During the day I saw enough of the world 
 and external objects. The morning I devoted to 
 those splendid libraries, which are at once the 
 glory of Paris and the envy of other nations. 
 Amidst the endless collections spread out before 
 me, accessible to all, I revelled in the enjoyment 
 of my favourite studies. When the hour came 
 which dispersed the crowd of students, I usually 
 resorted to some public exhibition of art ; most 
 frequently to the Louvre ; where, in the gorgeous 
 gallery of paintings, or the still halls of sculpture, 
 I wandered along, fancy free, combining the ob- 
 jects I saw with the visions flitting through my 
 mind, and enjoying the fullest flights of imagina- 
 tion. From hence into the world ; the gay, busy, 
 bustling throng of Paris ! the Boulevard, with 
 its motley groups ; the Palais Royal, with its 
 numberless attractions ; or the Tuileries, with its 
 host of fashion, on the promenade, or among the 
 critical and observant loungers who throng the 
 shady walks.
 
 324 ADVENTURE IN THE HOTEL 
 
 " While the daylight lasted I had as much com- 
 mand of Paris as the richest idler, or the pos- 
 sessor of a thousand friends (admitting such an 
 improbability). But the days in this gay city 
 are not of longer duration than in our own 
 gloomy capital ; and, when the shades of night 
 approached, I was thrown upon my own resources. 
 It was then that I returned with ' lingering steps 
 and slow' towards my old hotel ; where, seated 
 beside the blazing wood fire, my bachelors fare 
 soon discussed, — a few choice books, ' such as 
 my soul loved,' beside me, I once more forgot 
 the existing world in favour of the past, and 
 abandoned myself to the reveries which my 
 situation and course of reading were wont to 
 produce. 
 
 " Perhaps a description of my apartment may 
 not be amiss. Imagine a lofty saloon, of capa- 
 cious dimensions, with three high windows on 
 one side, overlooking a square court ; though 
 large, the windows admit but little light, being 
 shrouded by thick curtains, and draperies of yel- 
 low cloth with a deep black border, to match 
 with a canape, a fauteuil, and numerous high, old- 
 fashioned chairs, of yellow velvet. A tall secre- 
 taire, with secret drawers innumerable, stands
 
 OF MADAME DU BARRI. 325 
 
 in a recess at one extremity ; between the win- 
 dows are two consoles of marble, with richly- 
 gilt frames, ornamented with Arabesque work; 
 but the gilding somewhat smirched. Three long 
 glasses, let into the panels of the wainscot, oc- 
 cupy different sides of the salon ; a gleam of 
 faded gilding runs round the moulding of the 
 walls, gives a faint tinge to the figures above 
 the fireplace, and vanishes at the doorway. It 
 may be conceived, how well these gaieties accord 
 with the cold tiled parquet, which forms the floor 
 of the apartment, long guiltless of a carpet, but 
 polished a Voutrance, and slippery as the bridge of 
 Al Sirat. A bedroom, of nearly equal dimen- 
 sions corresponds with the salon, and is redolent 
 in an equal degree, of dim velvet, faded brocade, 
 ancient commode, and time-worn canape and chairs. 
 
 " The least imaginative tenant of such an abode 
 must recall the days of Louis Quatorze, and of 
 his reprobate ' petit fils ;' judge, then, what / 
 felt in surveying my chamber, with the full re- 
 collection of all that did occur elsewhere, and 
 might have happened here. 
 
 " In a short time I became quite reconciled to 
 my Carthusian solitude ; my books, my apart- 
 ment, my thoughts, all harmonized together ; a
 
 326 ADVENTURE IN THE HOTEL 
 
 degree of romance appeared to tinge the hours of 
 my seclusion, and time wore on. One night 
 when, after the usual routine, I had retired to 
 rest, and was preparing to address myself to 
 sleep, I heard a quick harsh sound, apparently 
 close beside me. I started up, thinking some- 
 thing had fallen, or that some animal had in- 
 truded into the chamber, and, throwing back the 
 bed-curtains, I watched attentively to see if I 
 could discover anything, yet nothing stirred ; but 
 while in this attitude of attention I distinctly 
 heard the same grating sound repeated ; and my 
 senses being now more acute, and my mind pre- 
 pared for its repetition, I recognised, this time, 
 the peculiar sound of a curtain quickly drawn. 
 This surprised me ; for, from whence could it 
 proceed ? I was not aware of any lodgers occu- 
 pying the adjoining suite of apartments ; indeed, 
 I had been given to understand that they were in 
 a very dirty dilapidated state. I continued to 
 listen, in hopes of hearing the sound once more, 
 but was compelled to lay my head on my pillow 
 with the wish ungratified. I pondered for a short 
 time on the subject, and had just arrived at the 
 conclusion, that those mysterious noise-makers, 
 the rats, were the authors of the disturbance,
 
 OF MADAME DU BARRI. 327 
 
 when I fell asleep. Next day, as soon as I had 
 breakfasted, and was proceeding on my usual 
 expedition across the river to the Mazarin Li- 
 brary, I stopped for a moment at the porter's 
 lodge to inquire of old Petronelle, the portress, 
 if any recent arrival had tenanted the apartment 
 in my vicinity. 
 
 "'Ah mon Dieu — non, Monsieur! il n'y a 
 personne qui est venue ; and, besides,' added she, 
 ' if any one were to come, Monsieur le Pro- 
 prietaire could not let that apartment.* 
 
 " ' Why not V said I. 
 
 " ' Oh, bejfiause it 's too much out of order ; 
 the rooms are filled at present with old furni- 
 ture, and want repairs : next month, please God, 
 ca sera bien arrange et superbement garni pour 
 le Printemps.' 
 
 " ' It 's very odd,' replied I, ' for I declare 
 I thought I had heard some one there last night ; 
 but, as nobody lives there, I suppose it must have 
 been the rats.' 
 
 " ' Ah, oui, Monsieur — sans doute c'etaient 
 les rats — il n'y a pas de mal tandis qu'ils restent 
 a la maison !' 
 
 " / thought differently ; however, I said no 
 more, and set off' on my walk.
 
 328 ADVENTURE IN THE HOTEL 
 
 " I now thought no more of the circumstance 
 till bed-time arrived again, and then only to 
 say to myself as I extinguished my light, ' I 
 wonder if I shall hear it again !' My wonder 
 did not last long; again I heard the curtains 
 drawn to and fro. They were not those of my 
 own window ; besides, the sound came from a dif- 
 ferent quarter, and I felt sure that it proceeded 
 from the adjoining apartment. I got up ; and, 
 walking across the room and leaning against 
 the wainscot, I listened to hear if any other 
 sound stirred within : but all was silent as the 
 grave. I went to the window and looked across 
 the court-yard ; — all was gray and cold. While I 
 stood there I heard the chimes of midnight from 
 a neighbouring church, and shivering with cold, 
 though full of curiosity, I returned to my bed 
 and resumed the comfortable position from which 
 I had been roused. I now indulged in a host 
 of speculations. I abandoned the rats, and be- 
 gan secretly to hope that some less natural cause 
 was at work. The house was old, and many 
 strange scenes had, no doubt, once been enacted 
 in it. I trusted that some mystery was con- 
 cealed, and fervently prayed that the enjoyment 
 of it might be left me undisturbed.
 
 OF MADAME DU BARRI. 329 
 
 " That no interruption might arise from the in- 
 terference of the household, I forbore to speak 
 again of the circumstance ; and, when questioned 
 by Madame Petronelle, I laughed and shook 
 my head. I had now another object added to 
 the dreamy pursuits of my existence, and this 
 of a nature well calculated to add to the excite- 
 ment which my studies had fostered. What I 
 precisely expected I knew not ; but in this un- 
 certainty lay the chiefest charm. If I had no 
 friendly face to welcome me on my return home, 
 I had a nocturnal expectation to supply the 
 hiatus ; and, as regularly as the night came, 
 and about the same hour, I invariably heard 
 the same undoubted noise of the curtains. Once 
 or twice I exclaimed aloud when I heard it, to 
 ascertain if my voice would cause any additional 
 noise, but nothing seemed to disturb the regu- 
 lar uniformity of the sound, and I therefore 
 now waited for it in silent expectation. 
 
 " A fortnight, perhaps, had elapsed in this 
 manner, when one stormy night in February (the 
 13th, as I remember from a subsequent occur- 
 rence), I had gone to bed earlier than usual, 
 being rather tired after a long excursion into 
 a very remote part of the city. The wind howled
 
 330 ADVENTURE IN THE HOTEL 
 
 mournfully in the hollow area of the court ; the 
 clouds drifted fitfully across the face of heaven ; 
 and, by transient gleams, the moon was occa- 
 sionally visible. Though tired in body, I did 
 not feel unusually sleepy ; and, placing my light 
 on a small table beside the bed, I continued to 
 read the book which had been the object of 
 my afternoon's excursion. It was a voluminous 
 work, purporting to be a secret history of the 
 courts of many succeeding monarchs, from the 
 reign of Henry III. to that of Louis XV. 
 
 "As I wandered from one period to another, 
 now selecting an anecdote from the faction of 
 the Ligue, anon a detail of the court intrigues 
 of Richelieu or Mazarin ; a fragment from the 
 Wars of the Fronde; a battle, or a scene at 
 Versailles, from the Reign of the Grand Mo- 
 narque ; a drunken revel of the regent Philip, 
 and his vile associate and minister Dubois ; or 
 one of the many tales of frailty connected with 
 the Pare aux Cerfs, my mind began to sympathise 
 with the weariness of my limbs, and amid this 
 chaos of recollections the page danced before my 
 eyes, and I sank back on my pillow to rest there 
 for a moment before I finally closed the book. 
 I suppose I must immediately have fallen asleep,
 
 OF MADAME DU BARRI. 331 
 
 and this without the nightly accompaniment — 
 ' evermore the prologue to my slumber.' 
 
 " How long I slept I know not ; but, while I 
 did so, my dreams were painful and troubled. 
 I was tired — my mind was confused with a mul- 
 tiplicity of images — the heavy book weighed upon 
 my chest like lead, and all combined to give me 
 a fit of the nightmare. It seemed to me as if 
 an antiquated, meagre female figure, were beside 
 me, striving to repress the struggles which I made 
 to free myself from her grasp ; this was the prin- 
 cipal feature, but a thousand indistinct objects 
 mingled with it. A fortunate movement of my 
 body at length removed the book from its posi- 
 tion, and I awoke with outstretched arms, striv- 
 ing against the air. 
 
 " The moon, for the moment, shed her light 
 across the room — my candle was extinguished, 
 and as I turned my head towards the place where 
 it stood, it seemed as if a part of my dream were 
 actually realized. On the other side of the little 
 table, which I have mentioned, stood a large 
 high-backed chair, lined with green velvet, a relic 
 of former days. Here I usually deposited my 
 clothes, but their place seemed now supplied 
 by an upright figure quietly seated upon them.
 
 332 ADVENTURE IN THE HOTEL 
 
 I gazed in astonishment, and rubbed my eyes, 
 to be certain that they were not deceiving me ; 
 but no — the more I gazed, the clearer became 
 the outline, the more certain the definiteness of 
 the figure. It was a female, and the moon's rays 
 striking full upon her, I could discern a set of 
 pale, worn features marked by age ; but even 
 in this uncertain light, bearing traces of beauty. 
 Her large eyes shone brightly, and were steadily 
 fixed upon my own, as motionless and silent I 
 gazed upon her. At length my voice found ut- 
 terance, and I hurriedly demanded, ' Who, and 
 what are you ? — what brings you here?' 
 
 " Her lips parted, and every tone as she spoke 
 vibrated through my frame with a sudden thrill. 
 ' I am one whom you have wished to see. I 
 bring intelligence such as you have long de- 
 sired to know. — Arise, and follow me !' 
 
 " While she spoke, her figure imperceptibly 
 changed its position, and I saw her at the further 
 extremity of the room. Without pausing to 
 reflect, I obeyed the impulse which urged me — 
 and hastily enveloping myself in a robe-de-chambre, 
 I followed the movements of the figure. I had 
 arrived within arm's length of her, when I paused. 
 ' Whither do you conduct me V said I ; * there 
 is no exit here, — the door is opposite.'
 
 OF MADAME DU BARRI. 333 
 
 " ' This dwelling is well known to me,' she 
 answered ; ' have you ever passed this way 
 before?' 
 
 " So saying she seemed to press against the 
 wainscot, and immediately a narrow doorway 
 was apparent. ' Follow me,' she repeated ; and 
 I passed through the aperture. I found myself 
 in a bed-room of dimensions considerably larger 
 than the one I occupied myself. A single veil- 
 leuse was burning, and shed a faint ray through 
 the chamber. My companion cast a significant 
 glance at the bed, as though it contained some 
 one who might not be disturbed, and we crossed 
 to the other side of the room. She opened a 
 door, and we passed through an antechamber; 
 another door was opened, and my eyes were 
 dazzled with a full blaze of light from numerous 
 chandeliers suspended above a festive board, round 
 which were assembled about a dozen guests, all 
 engaged in doing honour to the occasion of their 
 meeting. The apartment was magnificently fur- 
 nished, and every article of luxury was there — 
 such at least was my impression on the sudden 
 coup d'oeil which greeted me. My conductress 
 paused, though our entrance seemed to have at- 
 tracted no attention from the convives.
 
 334 ADVENTURE IN THE HOTEL 
 
 " I had now time to scan my companion's ap- 
 pearance more minutely. She was tall, and 
 elegantly made ; her features were fine, but 
 strongly marked ; and, but for the rigidity of 
 outline, and the sharp lines in her face and 
 throat, indicative of age, she would still have 
 been pronounced beautiful. That she had been 
 so was evident. Her costume was magnificent, 
 but antiquated. Her dress was of green satin, 
 spangled with gold, and ornamented by a gar- 
 land of roses, fastened by knots of pearls, with 
 a deep flounce of rich Flanders lace. On her 
 head she wore a garland of roses, with green 
 and gold leaves alternately, bound on by a cor- 
 don of small pearls. Across her forehead was 
 also a string of pearls, supporting, in the centre, 
 a magnificent star of blazing diamonds. Splen- 
 did pendants adorned her ears, and her whole 
 parure was superb. It was strange this extra- 
 ordinary degree of finery on one so attenuated 
 and wan ; but the whole scene was equally so, 
 and the sensation of astonishment was among 
 the slightest of my perceptions. Curiosity and 
 expectancy were the motives which principally 
 influenced me. Who, thought I for a moment, 
 is my companion? — and who are all these guests?
 
 OF MADAME DU BARRI. 335 
 
 — and more than all, what are they doing here? 
 But I had little time for reflection ; my con- 
 ductress motioned me to advance with her, and 
 walked toward the head of the table. As we 
 approached the group, I perceived that all the 
 company were dressed with the same degree 
 of elegance, though the fashion was somewhat 
 passe. The society was mixed, — there were 
 ladies as well as gentlemen. At the upper end 
 of the table were two vacant seats ; beside one 
 of them sat a very elderly gentleman, decked 
 in the extremity of a mode fashionable a cen- 
 tury ago. As we advanced, he rose, and making 
 a most inimitable bow, he waved his hand with 
 a theatrical gesture, while looking toward my 
 companion, he exclaimed, 
 
 ' Chacun doutait en vous voyant si belle 
 Si vous etiez femme ou deite, 
 Mais c'est trop sur ; votre rare beaute 
 N'est pas l'effet d'une simple mortelle ! ' 
 
 " ' Chere Comtesse,' he added, ' we have been 
 au desespoir at your absence ; — le baron, ne vient- 
 il pas ? ' 
 
 " ' Non, Monsieur le Due,' answered the lady 
 thus addressed ; ' et vous le savez comme moi ! 
 but here I have the honour to produce a sub-
 
 336 ADVENTURE IN THE HOTEL 
 
 stitute;' and she presented me, her passive fol- 
 lower, to the company, who all rose, saluted 
 me with great solemnity, and then resumed 
 their places and the conversation which this 
 introduction had interrupted. 
 
 "I glanced my eyes rapidly along the table, 
 to take note of the appearance of each indivi- 
 dual. 
 
 " ' Connaissez-vous les notes ? ' inquired ' la 
 comtesse ' (as I must call her, par excellence.) 
 
 " ' Not one,' replied I ; ' and yet some of their 
 features are in a degree familiar to me : but one 
 thing strikes me, — a forced expression of gaiety 
 seems to pervade every countenance, except that 
 one,' I added, indicating by a look, an old gentle- 
 man with a sardonic mouth, and sarcastic grey 
 eyes. 
 
 " ' Ah ! pour celui-la vous avez bien raison, — 
 autant que pour les autres, I will tell you 
 who they all are. He, towards whom you 
 glanced this moment, is named the Due d'Ayen ; 
 spiteful, slanderous, and witty, were he alone 
 in the world, he would speak ill of himself, il 
 aime tant a medire. He is only sorry for mis- 
 fortune when he fails to witness it, and never 
 rejoices in the prosperity of any one, except it
 
 OF MADAME DU BARM. 337 
 
 is built on the ruin of another. He who sits 
 next to him, and whose natural dulness is the 
 whetstone of his present sarcasm, is the Due 
 de Duras, a philosopher, as profound as the 
 countryman of Horace. " II attend jusqu'a la 
 riviere soit passee;" poor man, the current of 
 his imagination is at the lowest ebb. That lady 
 who sits opposite, coquetting with a gentleman 
 in a rich military dress, who looks as if she 
 never lost an opportunity of realizing some good, 
 of gaining some advantage, or deriving some 
 benefit for herself, is Madame la Marechale de 
 Mirepoix, — her present admirer, is the Prince 
 de Soubise, un guerrier fameux, not for victory, 
 but defeat, — demandez au Roi de Prusse. Next 
 to him, is the hypocritical Due de la Vauguyon, 
 " jesuite jusque par dessus les oreilles." That 
 lady in the dress of satin cramoise, with a bril- 
 liant agraffe of diamonds, is the Duchesse d'Ai- 
 guillon ; her husband, the duke, is on this side, 
 conversing with that mild, agreeable-looking man, 
 who listens so patiently, yet shrewdly, to the spe- 
 cious arguments of his companion : the latter is 
 the Marquis de Chauvelin. There is the Due 
 de Cosse-Brissac — yonder the Comte d'Escars; — 
 and that noisy, intemperate fellow at the bottom 
 vol. il z
 
 338 ADVENTURE IN THE HOTEL 
 
 of the table, each of whose hands is stretched 
 towards what he most covets — wine and women 
 — whose every third word is an oath, and every 
 jest an indecency, that is le Comte Jean, as he 
 is generally called.' 
 
 " I had had no time to interrupt this description 
 so fluently given. Here, luckily, she stopped, and 
 I took the opportunity of saying, ' Your remarks 
 are most interesting, but you have omitted the 
 principal personage ; still I think I can divine 
 who she is, if, as I believe, I am among the elite 
 of the court of Louis XV.' 
 
 " ' Quant a cela, monsieur, vous avez raison ; 
 mais dites-moi, — who am I, and who is this gen- 
 tleman on my right hand ?' 
 
 " ' I will reserve the greatest pleasure for the 
 last : the gentleman I imagine to be the Due 
 
 de Richelieu — " un vieux papillon " ' 
 
 " ' Taisez-vous,' interrupted la Comtesse, ' that 
 quotation must be made aside.' 
 
 "'I should be happy if I could anywhere find 
 words to say all I think of the ornament of the 
 court, the accomplished Madame du Barri! 
 
 " ' Je vois bien que, Monsieur, n'est pas ami de 
 Milord Stair.' 
 
 " ' Mais, madame,' said I, ' I see all here whom
 
 OF MADAME DU BARRI. 339 
 
 I might have expected, save one; why, when all 
 others are assembled, is the king absent? 1 
 
 " * Do you not know,' replied the Countess, 
 ' that he is ill 1 Are you ignorant of the fatal 
 malady which wastes him away ? Did you not 
 observe the bed in the room through which we 
 passed ? There he lies, and none go near him 
 save myself.' 
 
 " ' How comes it, then,' said I, ' that all his 
 friends are enjoying the banquet here, if his 
 situation be so precarious?' (For my mind was 
 fully impressed with the reality of what I saw.) 
 
 "'Enjoyment!' exclaimed Madame du Barri ; 
 1 observe them well for a moment, and you will 
 correct your opinion.' 
 
 " I obeyed her direction, and once more turn- 
 ed my attention towards the guests. It seemed 
 as if, during the lapse of a few minutes, a great 
 change had occurred in each individual of the 
 company. That mirth, which even then ap- 
 peared to sit uneasily upon them, had now the 
 character of convulsion ; their eyes seemed to 
 sparkle with a lurid gleam, an unnatural flush 
 overspread their features, and the entire expres- 
 sion of their countenances was distorted. Yet 
 still they pursued the theme of their conver-
 
 340 ADVENTURE IN THE HOTEL 
 
 sation, of love, politics, or war: the argument- 
 ative grew fiercer — the passionate more vehe- 
 ment. 
 
 "I turned towards the Countess— 'Tell me,' 
 I demanded, ' the meaning of this scene ! I 
 see before me people who have long since been 
 numbered with the dead — you have yourself 
 recorded the deaths of some, yet here I see 
 them before me, endued with human passions, 
 and acting as though they were still living.' 
 
 " ' You heretics, 1 she answered, ' belfeve in 
 nothing, or I might tell you that there is a 
 life between mortality and eternity : if you wish 
 for another, and a stronger proof, retire with 
 me to the chamber which I named, and judge 
 for yourself.' 
 
 " She rose as she spoke ; none save the old 
 Due de Richelieu attempted to assist her in 
 doing so, or did honour to her departure, (and 
 his politeness involved him in an epigram from 
 the Due d'Ayen,) and we retired as quietly as 
 we entered. As we quitted the salon, the con- 
 versation seemed to die away, and as I cast a 
 backward glance, all seemed motionless and silent 
 as the inhabitants of that eastern city of tombs, 
 where all is converted into stone.
 
 OF MADAME DU BALIUI. 341 
 
 " When we entered the sick chamber, for such 
 I now found it to be, Madame du Barri went 
 towards the bed, and quickly withdrew the cur- 
 tains, and my ear immediately recognised the 
 accustomed sound. Before me lay an invalid, 
 stretched in the helplessness of overwhelming 
 disease. He was awake, but in his eyes alone 
 dwelt the consciousness of vitality ; his tongue 
 was silent, and his features impassive, except 
 when a convulsive motion of the mouth be- 
 trayed some inward pang. Though disfigured 
 by the disease which preyed upon him, there 
 was that mark of the Bourbon in his features, 
 which, independent of the circumstances, would 
 have enabled me to recognise in the sick man 
 no other than Louis XV. 
 
 " ' How long has he been thus V I asked. 
 
 " ' lie is always so,' answered Madame du 
 Barri ; ' his disease is fixed at this point — hope- 
 less suffering and incurable pain. The time may 
 come to free him and all of us, but long years 
 must intervene.' 
 
 " ' Am I to believe, then, that your present 
 state is what is called purgatory?' 
 
 " ' It is so.' 
 
 " ' How comes it, then, that your situation is
 
 34>2 ADVENTURE IN THE HOTEL 
 
 so dissimilar to that of the king ? He lies here 
 in torment, and his boon companions are revelling 
 in the renewal of the scenes of their past life.' 
 
 " ' It is only a variety of punishment, there is 
 no reality in their apparent merriment ; in the 
 midst of our gaiety we are pursued by the bit- 
 terest recollections ; the most fatal moments of 
 our past lives are ever before us ; the guillotine 
 and all its attendant horrors are to me a second 
 self; and this perpetual death-bed is continually 
 before me. — With all those whom you have 
 just seen the case is the same, but modified in 
 its relation to each individual.' 
 
 " ' Are you always here, then V 
 
 " ' No, we roam from place to place, changing 
 the scene, but never the circumstances ; at Ver- 
 sailles, at Fontainebleau, in Paris, or wherever 
 we may be, the same occurrences exist. But on 
 the approach of any remarkable event, we are 
 invariably here, and particularly if it has refer- 
 ence to any of the descendants of St. Louis.' 
 
 " ' You tell me extraordinary things,' said I ; 
 1 what proof have I that all which passes before 
 me is not delusion ? It certainly impresses itself 
 on my senses, but how do I know that it pos- 
 sesses any reality ? '
 
 OF MADAME DU BARRI. 343 
 
 " ' Observe him who lies on that couch — listen 
 to his words — he is about to speak.' 
 
 " I gazed upon the king ; his countenance for 
 a moment resumed the expression of intelligence ; 
 he attempted to raise himself in the bed, and, 
 turning his head towards my companion, he mut- 
 tered, ' Ah, Madame du Barri, nous sommes bien 
 malheureux ; encore un coup de fer ; ma race 
 sera bientot eteinte ! ' With these words, he 
 sank on the bed. 
 
 " 'What does this mean V I demanded : ' to 
 what event does he allude V 
 
 "'You will know to-morrow,' she answered, 
 * and then you will remember our interview.' 
 
 " As she spoke, she raised her hand, and drew 
 the curtains close. The light disappeared from 
 the chamber, and with it I lost all conscious- 
 ness of my situation ; a sudden torpor came over 
 me, and what further befel I knew not. When 
 the morning came, I found myself in my own 
 room, lying upon the bed — my dressing-gown 
 was in the chair beside it. It was yet early 
 when I heard a loud rap at the door, and the 
 shrill voice of Petronelle, exclaiming, ' Levez-vous, 
 levez-vous, Monsieur, tine revolution a eclatee. Le 
 Due de Berri est assassine /'
 
 344 ROUEN. 
 
 " It was true : the previous night, at the Opera, 
 Louvel's knife had avenged his private wrongs." 
 
 Rouen is too well known to most English tra- 
 vellers to need description. Not having visited 
 the town for some years, we were much struck 
 with the improvements we found everywhere, 
 though they are, perhaps, more in course of exe- 
 cution at the present moment than completed. 
 Certain it is that no city of France required, and 
 still demands, more changes, for nothing can ex- 
 ceed the dirty, slovenly, dark, ill-paved state of 
 the streets. The magnificent churches stand in 
 general in positions, which, from the surrounding 
 disagreeables, disgust and frighten the visitor ; and 
 should one chance to diverge into a back street 
 the force of horror can no farther go ! 
 
 Rouen may be justly pronounced the filthiest 
 and at the same time one of the most interesting 
 towns in France. Its situation is magnificent ; 
 its quays are fine, its river grand, its bridges 
 handsome, and the scenery round it surpassingly 
 beautiful. Such a town in England, placed as 
 it is with so many advantages, both for commerce 
 and improvement, being on such a river and on 
 the high road to the capital, would have long
 
 ROUEN. 345 
 
 since been made one of the finest cities in the 
 country ; another Bath would have arisen on the 
 ruins of the antique town, and the glorious cathe- 
 dral and abbey church been undisgraced by their 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 Whoever goes twice to Rouen will find that 
 his first impression on entering the two splendid 
 churches will be a preference given, in the first 
 instance to St. Ouen, in the second to the cathe- 
 dral ; perhaps if he remain long he will end in 
 being unable to select his favourite, including 
 St. Maclou in his admiration. 
 
 Dazzled with the splendour of the painted 
 window, whose long ranges of coloured light il- 
 lumine the majestic aisles, the length and height 
 of which amaze the beholder, we advanced to 
 the chapel of the Virgin, anxious to lose no time 
 in seeing the newly discovered statue of Coeur 
 de Lion, which is there exposed to public view, 
 waiting the time when a suitable tomb shall be 
 prepared whereon it may repose. It was in July 
 1838 that, on occasion of some researches direct- 
 ed by M. Deville, this valuable archeological dis- 
 covery was made. 
 
 Beneath the pavement of the sanctuary, on 
 the left side of the altar, not far from the place
 
 346 ROUEN. 
 
 where the inscription has been placed, about two 
 feet below the surface was found the precious sta- 
 tue, together with the box containing the heart of 
 the Lion King. The statue is, like that at Fon- 
 tevraud, six feet and a half (French) in length, 
 and though somewhat inferior in execution to 
 that with which we had been so delighted, is still 
 an admirable specimen of art. The features are 
 scarcely so well preserved, but there is the same 
 noble character of head, expansive chest and 
 commanding form ; the draperies are extremely 
 well expressed, and the statue is most interesting 
 in all its details. The tomb which it decorated 
 was formerly surrounded by a trellis of silver, 
 which was sola in the thirteenth century to help 
 to pay the ransom of that pious monarch, who 
 sacrificed his subjects to a misplaced zeal, St. 
 Louis. 
 
 In the same chapel is the fine antique tomb 
 of the Grand Seneschal of Anjou, Poitou, and 
 Normandy, Pierre de Breze, Count de Maule- 
 vrier, who was killed at the battle of Montlhery, 
 in 1465. There is neither inscription nor statue, 
 though formerly the effigies of the seneschal and 
 his lady, Jeanne de Bec-Crespin, adorned the 
 tomb, which is seventeen feet high, while the
 
 ROUEN. 347 
 
 points of the two pilasters which crown it, rise 
 two or three feet higher still, and give this grace- 
 ful and beautiful erection additional dignity. 
 
 Beside this monument, is that of another of 
 the same family, Louis de Breze, who died 1531, 
 and is remarkable for having been the husband 
 of the famous Diana of Poictiers, of whom we 
 had seen so many records on our journey, and to 
 whose pious care is owing the erection of this tomb, 
 where she herself figures in the character of a 
 disconsolate widow, kneeling at the head of her 
 dead husband, her arms crossed and her head 
 bent down in all the "mockery of woe" imagin- 
 able. There is no beauty either in the face or 
 form of this statue, which can therefore scarcely 
 be a likeness ; the Virgin Mother, in the niche 
 opposite, at the foot, is very lovely, and, one 
 would much rather suppose, like the celebrated 
 beauty who could subdue not only the hearts 
 of kings but the jealousy of queens. 
 
 The tomb is covered with inscriptions, of which 
 the most singularly impudent, is the following in 
 Latin : 
 
 " Oh ! Louis de Breze, Diana of Poictiers, 
 inconsolable for the loss of her husband, has 
 raised this monument to thee ! She was thy
 
 348 ROUEN. 
 
 inseparable companion, thy wife ever faithful to 
 her nuptial vows : she will be equally faithful 
 to thee in the tomb." 
 
 The Duchesse de Valentinois no doubt kept 
 her word, and was equally true in both cases; 
 she spared neither alabaster nor black marble, 
 neither devices nor ornaments, neither garlands 
 nor trophies, to dignify the monument of him 
 she so deeply regretted : he lies recumbent be- 
 neath, he bestrides his war-horse above. Love, 
 Glory, Victory, Prudence, Justice, and Faith, 
 are pressed into the service ; and the magnificent 
 sorrow of the bereaved wife is made manifest 
 to all unbelievers ! one is divided between ad- 
 miration of her peculiar conjugal tenderness, and 
 the genius of the artist who executed her design, 
 said to be either Jean Cousin, or Goujon. 
 
 Another, and even more exquisite monument, 
 is that of the Cardinals d'Amboise, placed in 
 the thickness of the wall : it was finished in 
 1525, and is a fine specimen of art at that 
 period. The two Cardinals, uncle and nephew, 
 are represented kneeling on cushions, their heads 
 uncovered, and their hands joined in prayer. The 
 expression is admirable, and the six charming 
 little figures, placed in niches below, of the Vir-
 
 TOMBS IN ROUEN CATHEDRAL. 349 
 
 tues, cannot be surpassed for grace and delicacy ; 
 the statues are all of white, the tomb of black 
 marble. The twelve apostles also appear in their 
 separate niches, divided by pilasters of exquisite 
 workmanship. A bas-relief represents St. George 
 overcoming the Dragon, with other saints, among 
 whom the famous St. Romain, Archbishop of 
 Rouen in the seventh century, figures ; he who 
 vanquished a hideous demon in the form of a 
 dragon, called La Gargouille, who ravaged the 
 country in his time : the story of which miracle 
 is represented at full in another part of the 
 cathedral on the painted glass, and wherever it 
 could be placed to give celebrity to the achieve- 
 ment. 
 
 There are other tombs in Rouen Cathedral, 
 but less curious, and less known. The exterior 
 is undergoing repair ; and though the iron pyra- 
 mid, which replaces the antique one executed by 
 Robert Becquet in 1544, is usually considered a 
 chef-d'oeuvre of modern art, I confess it does not 
 appear to me to harmonize with the rest of the 
 building. Perhaps one ought not to judge posi- 
 tively until the whole of the repairs are finished, 
 as the principal facade appears at this moment 
 greatly disfigured by scaffolding, and the general 
 effect is spoilt.
 
 350 CHURCH OF ST. ELOI. 
 
 St. Ouen, with its perfection of proportion, its 
 magnificent windows ; its light, reedy pillars, of 
 amazing height ; its delicacy and grace, makes 
 you, on entering, forget at once the superior 
 solidity and solemnity of its rival, and you go 
 from one to the other, unable to decide on the 
 superiority of either, but convinced that these 
 two splendid churches are the finest, on the 
 whole, to be found in Normandy. 
 
 The Fille Ainee de M gr . VArcheveque, St. Mac- 
 lou, is full of interest and beauty ; the sculp- 
 tured staircase, which leads to the organ, is parti- 
 cularly remarkable, and is a perfect bijou in its 
 kind ; the painted glass is also exceedingly fine, 
 and the ornamented doors are in the highest 
 style of art. 
 
 Among the numerous churches in Rouen is 
 that of St. Godard, which still preserves some of 
 its magnificent glass, from the richness of the 
 colours of which came the proverb alluding to 
 the purple hue of wine, " II est de la couleur des 
 vitrcs de St. Godard." 
 
 To another church, that of St. Eloi, the natives 
 of Rouen, who seem particularly fond of proverbs, 
 are indebted for another. There existed in the 
 choir a well, the water of which was drawn up
 
 PALAIS DE JUSTICE. 351 
 
 by means of an iron chain, from whence — " II 
 est froid comme la corde du puits de St. Eloi." 
 
 There is no city in France which has the 
 remains of so many churches and monasteries as 
 Rouen, — it would be a fatigue to count them, to 
 find them all is next to impossible ; but those 
 suppressed are fast disappearing amongst the 
 daily alterations and improvements ; nor has one 
 the heart to regret this, observing the squalid 
 dirt which usually surrounds their remains. 
 
 The beautiful Palais dc Justice, and the Hotel 
 de Bourgtheroulde, are always to be visited ; and 
 are examined with increasing interest on every 
 new inspection ; but they are well known, and 
 numerous excellent plates are published repre- 
 senting them in all their details. Nor is there 
 any dearth of information respecting this im- 
 portant town, in which, perhaps, is to be seen 
 more antiquity than in any other in France ; and 
 which, were it not more impracticably dirty than 
 any other, would afford endless delight to the 
 amateur antiquary. 
 
 The statue of the heroine of Orleans is not 
 more successful here than anywhere else ; and 
 until a fine copy of the exquisite work of the 
 regretted Princess Marie is placed in one of the
 
 352 ARRIVE AT HAVRE. 
 
 towns consecrated to the memory of the unfor- 
 tunate Joan, no worthy representation of her is 
 likely to adorn them. 
 
 The scenery round Rouen is of the most beau- 
 tiful description : the tower, with its numerous 
 spires, the fine flowing river, the mountains, 
 vales, and woods, give it altogether features of 
 beauty and grandeur seldom to be met with. 
 There is no end to the delightful walks (some 
 rather precipitous, it is true,) to be found during 
 a protracted stay in this place, which, in spite 
 of its disadvantages, is lively and agreeable ; and 
 which in a few years, when the slow progress of 
 its building permits, may vie with any town in 
 France as a pleasant residence. 
 
 We left Rouen for Havre, taking, in our way, 
 the town of Caudebec, which we were anxious 
 to see. The whole route is charming, varied, 
 and interesting, and the points de vues from the 
 high hills along the river, are surpassingly beau- 
 tiful : at Duclair the river is particularly fine and 
 picturesque. At a short distance, is the Abbey 
 of Jumieges, famous in history, and celebrated 
 as the place where the heart of Agnes Sorel 
 was deposited : some late discoveries have re- 
 stored part of the stone which formed her tomb,
 
 LA MAILLERAYE. 353 
 
 but all that remains of the inscription are these 
 words : 
 
 " Dame de Breaute, de Roqueferriere, d'Issoudun 
 
 et de Vernon sur Saine : piteuse entre toutes gens, et qui large- 
 ment donnoit de ses deniers aux eglises et aux pauvres, laquelle 
 trepassa " 
 
 The stone on which is this inscription, had been 
 for a long time employed to form part of a bal- 
 cony of a house in Rouen. 
 
 The ruin has a fine effect in the distance, 
 but it has, as usual, been converted into a 
 manufactory. 
 
 La Mailleraye is a fine domain which we 
 passed on the way: its gardens, and park, and 
 woods, appear grand and extensive. Saint Wan- 
 drille, situated in a charming valley, now offers 
 but a few walls of its ancient abbey, once so 
 famous. Nothing can be prettier than the coun- 
 try round, and few towns are approached by a 
 more beautiful road than Caudebec. 
 
 This charming little town is situated at the 
 base of a double mountain, in the midst of 
 one of the deep windings of the Seine : the 
 small river of St. Gertrude here meets the great 
 stream, and throws itself into its bosom, occa- 
 sioning a commotion in the waters, which, at 
 
 VOL. II. 2 A
 
 354 FOREST OF BROTONNE. 
 
 certain periods, produces a phenomenon which 
 is an object of much curiosity, called la barre, 
 similar to the contention of the streams at the 
 port below Avranches. 
 
 The forest of Brotonne crowns the fine per- 
 spective of hills, of which a chain covered with 
 verdure extends for some distance beyond this pret- 
 ty port, for such it once was, of some importance, 
 at the period when William the Conqueror pass- 
 ed through it on his victorious way, when roused 
 from his bed by the news of revolt ; 
 
 Sun bon cheval a demande : 
 Or verrai, dist il, ki vendra, 
 Et or verrai ki mi swivra. 
 * # # # 
 
 Baieues passa e puiz Caen : 
 Semblant fist d'aler a Roem. 
 Quant il vint al Punt Audumer, 
 A Chaudebec ala passer, 
 De Chaudebec as Bans-le-Cumte. 
 
 Roman de Ron. 
 
 But the wealth of Caudebec is its lovely church, 
 of which Henri IV. said, " this is the most beau- 
 tiful chapel I ever beheld." It is certainly per- 
 fect for delicacy and exquisite taste, and the 
 high tower, one hundred and sixty-five French 
 feet from the ground, has some resemblance
 
 CAUDEBEC. 355 
 
 to that of Strasbourg. This tower is an object 
 of great beauty from the distant hills, and 
 equally so on a near inspection. Some of the 
 chapels are very fine; one in particular, dedi- 
 cated to the Virgin, the pendant roof of which 
 is exquisite. Much of the coloured glass is pre- 
 served, and there are two baptismal fonts, very 
 antique and curious. 
 
 In the interior of the small, insignificant town 
 which has now but little commerce, though 
 once famous for a manufacture of gloves, greatly 
 esteemed, and hats called " Caudebecs," there 
 are some delightful bits for an artist : as in all 
 other places, these are disappearing, and pro- 
 bably, in a few years, there will be few striped 
 and projecting houses to be found. The people 
 readily assisted us, as we took our station to 
 sketch some of these, by bringing out chairs 
 ior our accommodation, but the crowds of cu- 
 rious amateurs who gathered round us, ren- 
 dered a protracted stay in the retreat we had 
 chosen, between two walls, impossible. There 
 is scarcely a vestige of the castle, upon the 
 ruins of which small houses are now built. The 
 ancient fosse has long since been filled up, and 
 the quay and boulevards conceal the former 
 defences.
 
 356 LILLEBONNE. 
 
 Our hotel, where everything was remarkably 
 bad, except the beds, was the dearest we had 
 met with in France, which surprised us, as the 
 place is so retired, and so little visited ; we 
 regretted having chosen it for its situation op- 
 posite the river, instead of an antique, wild- 
 looking hotel des posies, which, less presuming 
 in appearance, would, probably, have turned out 
 much better. 
 
 Lillebonne, the next town we reached, was 
 a favourite residence of William the Conqueror, 
 particularly while he was hatching the miching 
 malico of the battle of Hastings ; and, to judge 
 by the extensive Roman remains, not long since 
 discovered, it was a place much delighted in 
 by earlier conquerors. Mosaic pavements, bronze 
 statues, medals, and other curiosities, are con- 
 stantly being met with ; and the sites of houses 
 and baths appear on the road as you pass, 
 along the river Bolbec, and in the low meadows. 
 Swords, cups of glass, and sculptured stones, are 
 frequently dug up, and walls are traced on the 
 hills, at the base of one of which is now deve- 
 loped a nearly perfect theatre, an object of 
 great curiosity and interest to classical anti- 
 quaries.
 
 LILLEBONNE. 357 
 
 There are a great many marshes round Lille- 
 bonne, and from them are dug quantities of peat, 
 which we observed piled up at the sides of 
 the road ; the country is verdant and pretty, 
 but begins to lose its former charm. Bolbec 
 is an ugly place, filled with manufactories for 
 dyeing, as the black streams which run through 
 every part of the town indicate. From thence 
 to le Havre, there is nothing particularly attract- 
 ive, and every indication was now given by the 
 weather that our summer was over. We re- 
 mained a day at this bustling port, which is 
 lively and amusing, having very good shops, ex- 
 cellent inns, a handsome high-street, and many 
 advantages ; but is, as usual in all French towns, 
 even the best, sufficiently slovenly, and unbear- 
 ably dirty in wet weather. 
 
 Our passage, on our return to Southampton, 
 was a remarkable contrast to that we were fa- 
 voured with when we first arrived some months 
 before, and we gladly welcomed the pretty port 
 of Southampton, whose sparkling waters were 
 enlivened by a brilliant sun, as if purposely that 
 we might draw a comparison for the best between 
 it and the dingy waves we had left behind in fog 
 and rain. The country from Southampton to
 
 358 CONCLUSION. 
 
 London over the Hog's Back is so beautiful, 
 that, as we passed through the cultivated plains, 
 by the parks and meadows, along a charming 
 road, with a speed which seemed to us almost 
 incredible, though, this time, we did not travel 
 by railroad, and caught here and there glimpses 
 of fine Norman towers, and beheld magnificent 
 prospects, we felt that we had not quitted all 
 beauty on our return from wandering amongst 
 the Bocages and the Vines. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 Bangor House, Shoe Lane.
 
 
 
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