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The Motor Routes of France / To the Châteaux of Touraine, Biarritz, the Pyrenees, the Riviera, & the Rhone Valley

Chapter 3: PREFACE
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About This Book

The guide offers detailed motor itineraries linking plains, hill country, mountain passes, and the Mediterranean coast, with step-by-step directions and practical cautions about road surfaces, tides, and steep descents. Each route is supplemented by concise historical and architectural notes on towns, churches, abbeys, and châteaux, and by recommended sightseeing stops. Maps, town plans, and numerous illustrations are provided to aid navigation and visual orientation. The text emphasizes a readable layout for use on the move and suggests alternative paths and timing advice to help motorists plan smoother tours.

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Title: The Motor Routes of France

Author: Gordon Home

Release date: May 10, 2018 [eBook #57133]
Most recently updated: January 24, 2021

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images available at The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MOTOR ROUTES OF FRANCE ***

Contents.

List of Illustrations
(In certain versions of this etext [in certain browsers] clicking on the image will bring up a larger version.)

Index: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, Y, Z

(etext transcriber's note)

THE MOTOR ROUTES
OF FRANCE
·
TO THE CHÂTEAUX OF TOURAINE, BIARRITZ, THE
PYRENEES, THE RIVIERA, AND THE
RHONE VALLEY

ALREADY PUBLISHED IN THE
SAME SERIES

MOTOR ROUTES
OF ENGLAND
SOUTHERN SECTION
(South of the Thames)

With 24 Illustrations in Colour

Cloth, 5s. net (by post, 5s. 4d.)
Leather, 7s. 6d. net (by post, 7s. 10d.)

“The touring motorist ... will find Mr. Home exactly the sort of companion who will add sensibly to the pleasures of the day’s run. All along the main roads he gossips brightly of history, architecture, and archæology, and manages to convey a large amount of information without being unpleasantly didactic.”—Pall Mall Gazette.


TO BE PUBLISHED SHORTLY
MOTOR ROUTES
OF ENGLAND

WESTERN SECTION

A. AND C. BLACK, SOHO SQUARE, LONDON

AGENTS

AMERICATHE MACMILLAN COMPANY
64 & 66 Fifth Avenue, NEW YORK
AUSTRALASIA    OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
205 Flinders Lane, MELBOURNE
CANADATHE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LTD.
27 Richmond Street West, TORONTO
INDIAMACMILLAN & COMPANY, LTD.
Macmillan Building, BOMBAY
309 Bow Bazaar Street, CALCUTTA

 

 

CHARTRES.

The Cathedral towering above the old roofs of the city from near the Porte Guillaume.

THE
MOTOR ROUTES
OF FRANCE

TO THE CHÂTEAUX OF TOURAINE,
BIARRITZ,   THE   PYRENEES,   THE
RIVIERA,  &  THE  RHONE  VALLEY

BY
G O R D O N   H O M E


WITH

16 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR, 16 IN
BLACK AND WHITE, AND 60 MAPS & PLANS




ADAM   AND   CHARLES   BLACK
SOHO SQUARE, LONDON · MCMX

‘O’er the Flaminian way he bade the axle glow—
For there, our young Antomedon first tried
His powers, there loved the rapid car to guide.’
Juvenal.

PREFACE

The fascination of a motor tour through France can scarcely be exaggerated. It is a country eminently suited to the new method of road travel, for with the spaces between the towns traversed by wide national ways going to their objectives as straight as the contours of the country will permit, no one feels that the presence of a rapid car is destroying the peace or beauty of the neighbourhood. And yet in the tour described in this book there is a huge diversity of scenery, from the wheat plains of the North to the mountains and sea of the South.

Great pains have been taken to embody in the small compass of a book that will easily slip into an overcoat pocket all that is essential for the motorist to know both before and during the tour. At the same time, the large clear type of the first volume of this series has been retained in order that there may be no difficulty in reading while the car is in motion.

Dr. Kirk’s practical notes are the result of much experience, and they need only be supplemented by a word as to hotel charges. In every case the wise tourist discusses prices with the manager or proprietor before he takes his car into the courtyard or garage. By doing so he knows exactly what his bill will amount to in the morning, and he is quite sure of no overcharge. If no arrangement is made on arrival, one must be prepared for any charge, notwithstanding the prices given in guides or the hotel books published by the Touring Club de France.

For those who either do not possess cars or do not wish to take their own abroad, the simplest method is to hire a car in England. The author’s experience of hiring from the Daimler Company has been so satisfactory that he is glad of this opportunity of recommending their cars. To Mr. A. H. Hallam Murray the author is greatly indebted for permission to reproduce four of his delightful pictures from ‘On the Old Road through France to Florence.’

As in the previous volume of this series, a list of dates of prominent events in French history and of the Kings of France is given in the Appendix.

The author would greatly appreciate any suggestions for improving the book, and would much like to hear of any inaccuracies which may have crept in.

GORDON HOME.

43, Gloucester Street,
London, S. W.

CONTENTS

SECTION  PAGE
I.Havre to Rouen, Dieppe to Rouen, and Calais and Boulogne to Rouen1
II.Rouen to Evreux27
III.Evreux to Chartres50
IV.Chartres to Orleans62
V.Orleans to Tours80
VI.Tours to Poitiers116
VII.Poitiers to Angoulême138
VIII.Angoulême to Bergerac152
IX.Bergerac to Mont-de-Marsan167
X.Mont-de-Marsan to Biarritz175
XI.Biarritz to Pamplona and San Sebastian, Spain193
XII.Biarritz to Pau218
XIII.Pau to St. Gaudens227
XIV.St. Gaudens to Carcassonne241
XV.Carcassonne to Montpellier254
XVI.Montpellier to Aix-en-Provence272
XVII.Aix-en-Provence to Cannes292
XVIII.Cannes to San Remo305
XIX.Aix-en-Provence to Avignon324
XX.Avignon to Valence320
XXI.Valence to St. Étienne346
XXII.St. Étienne to Moulins356
XXIII.Moulins to Briare364
XXIV.Briare to Melun375
XXV.Melun to St. Germain-en-Laye383
XXVI.St. Germain-en-Laye to Gisors390
XXVII.Gisors to Rouen400
XXVIII.Gisors to Dieppe417
Hints on Touring in France, by John L. Kirk420
French and Italian Road Warnings426
A Table of the Dates of the Chief Events in French History430
Index: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, Y, Z435

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

IN COLOUR
1.Chartres Frontispiece
  FACING PAGE
2. Caudebec-en-Caux 12
3. The Towers of St. Ouen, Rouen 40
4. The Road near Rouen 49
5. Amboise 105
6. The Château of Chenonceaux 112
7. The Limestone Cavern on the Road near Mas d’Azil 248
8. The Pyrenees in Spring 257
9. Narbonne 265
10. The Castle at Tarascon 272
11. On the Coast of the Estérels 305
12. Cap Martin 312
13. The Mouth of the Roya at Ventimiglia 321
14. An Arched Street in Apricale, Italy 328
15. The Roman Arch at Orange 344
16. Château Gaillard, Normandy 412
IN BLACK AND WHITE
1. Rouen Cathedral from the South 57
2. Approaching Chartres 64
3. Old Gabled Houses at Tours 121
4. The Street of Narvate 128
5. Shoeing a Bullock in the Basque Country 201
6. One of the Gates of Pamplona 208
7. The Limestone Gorge in the Pyrenees between Pamplona and Tolosa 217
8. The Fortified Bridge at Orthez 224
9. A picturesque Corner of St. Lizier 243
10. The Cloisters at St. Lizier 246
11. On the Ramparts of the Cité of Carcassonne 259
12. The Arcaded Square of Mirepoix 262
13. The Greek Theatre at Arles 289
14. The Romanesque Bridge at Avignon 296
15. The Tour de l’Horloge at Moulins 361
16. The Fifteenth Century Fireplace in the Hôtel du Grand Cerf at Le Grand Andely 368
IN THE TEXT
Plan of the Château of Blois, p. 95.
How Biarritz was visited in 1813, p. 188.
Twenty-eight Route Maps.
Thirty-one Town Plans.
AT END OF BOOK

Folding Map of France, showing all the routes described and other alternative routes to which some reference is given.

THE
MOTOR ROUTES OF FRANCE

ERRATA

The amount of ‘£48 10s. 0d.’ on page 420 should read ‘£89 3s. 4d.’; and the grand total at the foot of the page should be ‘£102 16s. 4d.’

(OMITTING JUMIÈGES, 89 KILOMETRES)

DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE

 Kil.Miles.
Havre to Harfleur7
Harfleur to Lillebonne via St. Romain de Colbosc2918
Lillebonne to Caudebec1610
Caudebec to Jumièges14½9
Jumièges to Duclair7
Duclair to St. Martin Boscherville9
St. Martin Boscherville to Rouen11

THE
MOTOR   ROUTES   OF   FRANCE


TO THE CHÂTEAUX OF TOURAINE, BIARRITZ,
THE PYRENEES, THE RIVIERA, AND
THE RHONE VALLEY

SECTION I

HAVRE TO ROUEN, 58¼ MILES
(93½ KILOMETRES)
(OMITTING JUMIÈGES, 89 KILOMETRES)

DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE

 Kil.Miles.
Havre to Harfleur7
Harfleur to Lillebonne via
St. Romain de Colbosc2918
Lillebonne to Caudebec1610
Caudebec to Jumièges14½9
Jumièges to Duclair7
Duclair to St. Martin Boscherville9
St. Martin Boscherville to Rouen11

DIEPPE TO ROUEN, 36 MILES

(58 KILOMETRES)

DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE

 Kil.Miles.
Dieppe to Tôtes2918
Tôtes to Maromme2415
Maromme to Rouen53

BOULOGNE TO ROUEN, 109½ MILES

(176 KILOMETRES)

DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE

 Kil.Miles.
Boulogne to Montreuil (via Samer)3521½
Montreuil to Abbeville4025
Abbeville to Neufchâtel5635
Neufchâtel to Rouen4528
CALAIS TO BOULOGNE
1. By the coast3924
2. By Marquise3622

NOTES FOR DRIVERS