Bedoin. Mont Ventoux.

Coach daily to Bedoin 8¾ m. N.E., 900 ft. above the sea, pop. 1300. Inn: Hôtel de Mont Ventoux. Station to ascend Mont Ventoux, 6274 ft., by a good road from the south end of the ridge. The base is about 2 m. from the village and the top 10 m. by the easy southern slope. Time to ascend, from 5 to 6 hours. Mule, 10 frs. No guide necessary. Before commencing the ascent, go to the top of the hill by the side of the church and take a general survey of the land. The road extending to the right, under those mulberry trees, is the one to take. A little distance along it, at a well with a cistern, a narrow road strikes off to the left and ascends the mountain by a steeper and shorter way. The mountain offers a splendid field for botanists. To see the sun rise from the top, travellers generally start at 11 P.M., and await the appearance of the glorious luminary in the chapel of Ste. Croix, on the summit. Mont Ventoux is the culminating point of the Lure range, an offshoot from the Alps. Among the minerals it has quartz in every form and colour, in nodules and in strata. Also beautiful jasper and fossils such as ammonites and belemnites. The kaoline clay, “terre de Bedouin,” is found in the plain between Bedoin and Crillon, a village 2¾ m. N.E. At different parts in this neighbourhood are strata of sandstone with fossils, overlying beds of sand. These strata crop up at different parts of the department.

Resin Baths. Malaucene.

Four and a half m. S. by omnibus from Carpentras is the village of St. Didier, with a good hydropathic establishment in an old château. Rooms from 1½ fr. to 3 frs. Servants’ rooms, 1 fr. Meat, breakfast and dinner, both with wine, 5 frs. Coffee in the mornings, ½ fr. Meat, breakfast and dinner, for children and servants, 3 frs. Service, ½ fr. First consultation, 10 frs. Every other consultation in the study gratis; but in the guests’ room 1 fr. each time. The baths are in the style of the Turkish baths, with the addition that the heated air is impregnated with resin or is turpentinised (térébenthiné). It has a beneficial effect on the lungs and muscular rheumatism. St. Didier is 2¾ m. W. from Venasque and 2 m. from Le Beaucet (map p. 56).

Two coaches daily from Carpentras to Buis-les-Baronnies, 23 m. N.E., by Malaucene 10 m. N.E. The road from Carpentras, in crossing the N.W. extremity of the Ventoux chain, passes by the village of Le Barroux on a hill crowned with the ruins of a castle, 15th cent. At the foot of Mont Ventoux, 5 m. S. from Vaison and 13 m. S.W. from Buis, is Malaucene, 1000 ft. above the sea, pop. 3000. Inn: Hôtel de Cours, in a picturesque neighbourhood, of which there is a good view from the calvary on an eminence in the town. At about ½ m. from the inn is the spring Groseau, gushing forth from the base of a lofty calcareous cliff, crowned with the ruins of the chapel of Groseaux, 11th cent. The stream that issues from the spring is soon strong enough to set in motion the machinery of paper, silk, and flour mills. Any one may visit the silk mills. In 1345 Petrarch ascended Mont Ventoux from Malaucene. The ascent from this place is more difficult, but more picturesque than from Bedoin and requires 2 hours more. On the side of the mountain are the springs—Angel, 3826 ft.; Puits de Mont-Serein, 4774 ft.; and Font Filiole, 5866 ft.

The road from Malaucene to Buis follows the picturesque valley of the Ouvèze. The most important village passed on the way is Mollans, with, in the neighbourhood, a great cave, beyond which is a deep lake. Shortly before arriving at Le Buis are seen, on an eminence, the bronze statue of Bishop Trophime, and beyond, the cliff of St. Julien. No public vehicle goes farther than Le Buis, although the road is good the length of the railway between Marseilles and Grenoble, passing St. Euphemie 7 m. E., St. Auban 10 m. E., Montguers 11¼ m. E., Lacombe 13¼ m. E., and Laborel 27 m. E., after which the road descends to the railway by the valley of the Céans.

Le Buis.

LE BUIS, pop. 2000; Inns: Luxembourg; Commerce; is situated in a hollow on the Ouvèze surrounded by mountains covered with olive, mulberry, fig, peach, and cherry trees. Schistose and shingle strata cover some parts; at others there are calcareous rocks in every form, either in gigantic cliffs or in countless strata of various thickness and at different angles. To go to the statue of St. Trophime and to the top of St. Julien, having crossed the bridge, ascend by the winding road to the valley, right hand, which continue to the next bridge. For the statue cross the bridge and go directly to the right: for the cliffs, ascend by the back of St. Julien by the path on the left, just before reaching the bridge.

PARIS
MARSEILLES 461 76 AVIGNON, pop. 39,000, surrounded with strong embrasured walls, garnished with 39 towers, and pierced with 9 gates, is situated on the Rhône, 2 m. above its junction with the Durance, and 20 m. N.E. from Nîmes by the railway passing the Pont d’Avignon and Remoulins. Hotels: *Europe, near the Pont; *Luxembourg; Louvre; St. Yves, in the centre of the town, near the Place Pie, the great market-place. Temple Protestant in the R. Dorée, near the Préfecture. Cabstands at station and in the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, 2 frs. per hour. From the station, a beautiful avenue, the Cours de la République, leads up to the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, with statue “au brave Crillon,” the friend of Henri IV., “Louis des Balbes-Berton duc de Crillon et Lieutenant-colonel de l’infanterie française,” died at Avignon in 1615. To the right is the road leading up to the *Palace of the Popes, the church of *N. D. des Domes, and the promenade, *“au Rochers des Doms;” which, with the ramparts, compose the principal sights of Avignon. The concierge of the palace lives just within the entrance. Fee for party, 1 fr. Opposite gate is the Conservatoire de Musique, built in 1610 for a mint. The churches are closed between 12 and 2. The Musées are open to the public on Sundays between 12 and 4.

Avignon Palace.

The present Palace, commenced by Benedict XII. in 1336, and finished by Gregory XI. in 1370, is an ugly huge structure, consisting of plain walls 100 ft. high and 14 thick, strengthened by long ungainly buttresses. Above the entrance, composed of a low archway, are the arms of Clement VI.; and higher up, on two oriel turrets, the balcony from which the Popes blessed the people. Within the gate is the Cour d’Honneur, a vast quadrangular space between flat walls, pierced by from 3 to 4 stories of windows, not on the same level nor of the same size. From the court ascend the Escalier d’Honneur, a groined staircase, of which the steps were formerly of marble, to the Salle Consistoriale d’Hiver, with an elegantly-groined roof. Before this hall was divided into two, it was 52 ft. high, 65½ wide, and 170 long. From it we enter the Salle d’Armes, with mural paintings by Simone Memmi of Sienna. Ascending higher the grand staircase, we pass on the left the small window for the Spies, and then go along a narrow lobby tunnelled in the wall, to a succession of large bare halls, the Galerie de Conclave, the Salle des Gardes, the Salle de Reception, and then enter the Tour St. Jean, containing the Chapelle du Saint-Office, or the chapel of the Inquisition, with mural paintings. In the story immediately below is the chapel of the Popes. From the Tour St. Jean, after passing through a large hall, we enter an octagonal room, gradually narrowing towards the centre, till it forms a chimney-tower, called the Tour Strapade. Some say this was the torture room; but it is evidently more suited for a kitchen, which in all probability it was. Adjoining is the Glacière, into whose underground cellars, now built up, the democrats of 1791 flung the bodies of 60 men and women they had murdered. From this we enter again the Place d’Honneur by the Tour Trouillas, in which Rienzi was imprisoned five years, bound to a chain fixed to the roof of his cell. During the time of the Popes, from 1305 to 1234, and till 1793, the half of Avignon was occupied by ecclesiastical edifices, which tolled daily 300 bells, and had among them a daily succession of religious processions.

Avignon: Rocher des Doms. Cathedral.

From the palace the road leads up to the highest part of the town, the Rocher des Doms; commanding a magnificent view, and laid out as a public garden, with in the centre a statue of Jean Althen, who introduced, in 1766, the culture of the “garance,” the Rubia tinctoria, now superseded, for the dyeing of red. From this terrace a stair leads down to the Rhône near the Bridge Bénézet (see page 63). In the middle of the river is the Ile de Barthelasse, and on the other side are the Tour de Philippe le Bel, the town of Villeneuve, and above it the Fort St. André. On the promenade is the Cathedral Notre-Dame-des-Doms, 194 feet above the Rhône, approached by a stair called the Pater, because originally it had as many steps as there are words in the Lord’s Prayer. This church has undergone many changes, and belongs to various periods. The portal and lower part of the tower are of the 10th cent., and are due to Fulcherius. The nave is two centuries later. The apse was added in 1671. The most remarkable part of the structure is the cupola, terminating in an octagonal lantern, and supported on pendentive arches. It bears traces of frescoes painted in 1672. In the sanctuary is the marble throne used by the Popes, in the sacristy the Gothic mausoleum of Jean XXII., and in one of the side chapels the tomb of Benoit XII. In the third chapel (right hand) is a Madonna in white marble, by Pradier. The sacristan is generally in the small room next the main entrance. Fee, ½ fr. for showing the church and the tomb.

Now return to the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville. At the foot or south end a tram-car leaves every ¼ to the Pont d’Avignon station on the other side of the Rhône, 2 sous; and another to St. Lazare at the eastern end of the town near the cemetery, 2 sous. An omnibus starts every hour from the corner of the theatre for Villeneuve, where it stops at the east end of the church. Fare both ways, 4 sous.

Avignon: St. Agricol. Musée Calvet.

In the “Place” the principal edifice is the Hôtel de Ville, built in 1862, on the site of the Palais Colonna, 14th cent, of which all that remains is the handsome belfry called Jacquemard and his wife, from the two figures which strike the hours. Next the Hôtel de Ville is the theatre, built in 1847. Behind is the church of St. Agricol, 1340, the patron saint of Avignon. To the right on entering is the tomb of the painter Pierre Mignard, d. 4th April 1725, aged 86, and third chapel on same side is a virgin and child in wood by Coysevox. To the left of the entrance is an ancient and elegant marble baptismal font. At the foot of the short street St. Agricol, in the Rue Calade, is the Oratoire, built in 1730. At No. 65 of the Rue Calade is the Musée Calvet, containing a valuable collection of art treasures open to the public on Sundays from 12 to 4, and a library and reading-room open every day except Sunday. Against the wall of the inner court is the tomb of the donor of this museum, Claud François Calvet, d. 25th July 1810, in his 82d year. On the right is the monument erected by Sir Charles Kelsall in 1823 to Laura de Sade, dead of smallpox in 1348, and buried in the church of the Cordeliers (see p. 62). On the other side is the tomb of the military strategist Folard, a native of Avignon. In the outer court, and in the rooms and passages on the ground-floor, are Roman altars, monuments, milestones, torses, amphoræ, and 170 Latin inscriptions, found in the neighbourhood, but chiefly from Orange and Vaison (p. 53). Among the sculptures in relief, one represents a Roman chariot drawn by two horses with their hoofs shod. There are 27 Greek inscriptions, 3d or 4th cent., from Venice. The statuary and sculpture of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance have been gathered principally from the suppressed churches and convents. The most noticeable are: the mausoleums of Pope Urbain V., of Cardinals Lagrange and Brancas, and of Marshal Palice. Within railings are: Cassandra by Pradier, a faun by Brian, and a bather by Esparcieux, all in the finest white marble. Upstairs is a valuable collection of Roman glass and bronzes, and 20,000 coins and medals, including a complete set of the seals and medals of the Popes during their residence at Avignon, and the seal used by the Inquisition while here. There are nearly 500 pictures, and a collection of drawings, including the original sketches of Horace Vernet. Most of the pictures have the artists’ names affixed. Those in the great hall are by Albano, Bassano, Berghem, Bloemen, Bourdon, Canaletto, A. Carracci, Caravaggio, Châlons, Coypel, Credi, David, *Eckout (crucifixion), Sasso Ferrati, F. Floris, Gericault, Girodet, Gros, Holbein, Lomi, Meel, P. and N. Mignard, J. and P. Parrocel, Poussin, Euysdael, Salvator Rosa, Teuiers jun., Veronese, Vigée-Lebrun, and Zurbaran. In the small room are the paintings by Claude-Joseph, Horace and Carle Vernet, with a few by Paul Huet. The marble busts of Horace and Carle are by Thorwaldsen. In the centre of an inner room, containing the medals and engravings, is the famous ivory crucifixion, 27 inches long, of one piece, excepting the arms, a chef-d’œuvre of the sculptor Guillermin in 1659. It is said that Canova stood in ecstasy over this delicate achievement in art. Avignon: Musée Requien. Continuing down the R. Calade to the other side of the R. Petrarque or de la République, we have on the right the Museum of Natural History in the church St. Martial, 15th cent. The greater part of the specimens were bequeathed by M. Requien, d. 1851, and of them the most interesting are those connected with the neighbourhood, such as the flamingo and beaver of the Rhône, and the fossils from Aix. In the eastern continuation of the R. Calade, at No. 62 R. des Lices, is the Collége Saint Joseph, containing within its grounds all that remains (the belfry and piece of the north aisle) of the church of the Cordeliers; in which Laura was buried. The aisle has been repaired, and is now used as a chapel. Visitors are freely admitted. It is to the left of the entrance. Of the tomb there are no vestiges, having been destroyed along with the church by an infuriated mob in 1791. On the E. side of the R. Petrarque, by the narrow R. Prévot, is the church of St. Dedier, 1355, containing, in first chapel right from entrance, a relief in marble representing Christ bearing his cross, executed by Francesco in 1481 at the request of King René. Opposite, over second arch, 36 ft. above the floor, is a stone pulpit with a sculptured pendant. The grave of St. Bénézet is under a plain slab in the middle of the nave, in front of the high altar. Near St. Dedier is the Hôtel Crillon, 17th cent.; and to the east of the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville is the church of St. Pierre (9 in plan), 1520, with an elaborately-sculptured door and pulpit. The pictures about the high altar are by N. Mignard, J. and P. Parrocel, and Simon de Châlons. From the S.E. corner of the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, the R. des Marchands and its continuation the Rues Saunerie and Carréterie, lead to the Porte St. Lazare, with, to the right, the town hospital (7 in plan), having a frontage of 192 yards, built in the last century on the site of the hospital of St. Martha, founded in 1354. Here, outside the town-walls to the right, then by a broad road to the left, is the Cemetery. The Protestant division is on the right side of the entrance. Avignon: J. S. Mill. In a corner at the end of a short avenue of pine trees is the white marble monument to John Stuart Mill, b. 20th May 1806, d. 7th May 1873. In the same grave is interred Harriet Mill, his beloved wife, who died at Avignon in the Hôtel de l’Europe, Nov. 3, 1858. A touching epitaph, recounting her virtues, occupies the whole surface of the top slab. From the Porte St. Lazare, a walk may be taken between the ramparts and the Rhône down to the bridge built in 1184, partly in the style of the Pont-du-Gard, by the shepherd, saint, and architect, Bénézet, who before had constructed one over the Durance at Maupas. This bridge, which stood 100 years, was 2952 ft. long and 13 wide, on 19 arches, of which four still remain. On the second arch is the chapel of St. Nicolas, in which the relics of St. Bénézet were kept till removed to the church of St. Dedier.

Villeneuve-les-Avignon.

Avignon to Villeneuve.

Every ¼, a tram crosses the bridge for the Pont d’Avignon station, while every hour an omnibus crosses for Villeneuve-les-Avignon, pop. 3100, 2½ m. from the “Place,” or 1¼ m. from the Pont station. Near the parish church, 14th cent., is the Hospital, containing, in the chapel to the left, the mausoleum of Innocent VI., under a lofty elaborately-sculptured canopy, rising in pinnacles to the roof. Upstairs is the picture gallery, in two rooms. The most remarkable picture belongs to the 15th or 16th cent., painted on wood, and represents two subjects, Purgatory and the Judgment Day, apparently by two different artists. Although stiff, the design is admirable, and all the heads, even the smallest, are carefully executed. But the gem is the most charming and bewitching portrait by Mignard of Mme. de Ganges attired as a nun. She was born at Avignon in 1636, and when only 13 married the Marquis de Castellane, with whom she frequented the court of Louis XIV., where she was called La Belle Provençale. After her husband’s death she married the Marquis de Ganges, with whom she returned to Avignon, where her sorrows commenced, caused by the conduct of her two brothers-in-law, the Abbot and the Chevalier de Ganges, whose unlawful passion she steadfastly resisted. At last the exasperated abbot having made her drink poison, she threw herself out of the window, and while lying on the ground in the agony of death, the chevalier pierced her seven times with his sword. These two monsters were condemned by the parliament to be broken alive on the wheel. The other pictures in the collection by Mignard are: Jesus before the Doctors, an Annunciation, and a St. Bruno. Fee, 1 fr., given to the hospital. In the parish church, built in the 14th cent, by Cardinal Arnaud de Via, there is nothing extraordinary. Near it are the ruins of the Chartreuse-du-Val-de-Bénédiction, and on an eminence Fort André, now inhabited as a walled village. The omnibus for Avignon starts every hour at the hour, from the apsidal end of the parish church of Villeneuve.

Avignon is very much exposed to different winds, especially the Mistral, yet perhaps they are necessary, for, according to the adage, “Avenio ventosa, cum vento fastidiosa, sine vento venenosa,” the odours from the drains in some of the streets being very offensive.

Till July 26, 1793, Avignon belonged to the Papal See, when it was forcibly taken possession of by the Republican army under General Cartaux, who owed his victory to the skill of his captain of artillery, the young commandant Napoleon, who afterwards remained nearly a month in this town for the establishment of his health, in No. 65 Rue Calade, opposite the Musée Calvet, where he wrote “Le Souper de Beaucaire.”

Avignon to Nîmes.

Avignon to Nîmes.

Avignon is 1½ hour or 15½ miles N.E. from Nîmes by rail, starting from the Pont-d’Avignon station on the west side of the Rhône. Those wishing to visit the Pont-du-Gard on the way should take their tickets for the Pont-du-Gard station, changing carriages at Remoulins. If with luggage, it is better to take the tickets only to Remoulins; where, without loss of time on arriving, take other tickets to the Pont-du-Gard, leaving the luggage behind. Time will generally be saved by returning from the Pont to Remoulins on foot, about 3 m. by the road, but 5 m. by the rail. See Map, p. 56. For Nîmes see p. 101, and for the Pont-du-Gard see p. 104. Consult the “Indicateur des Chemins de Fer du Lyon” before starting.

L’Isle. Fontaine de Vaucluse.

Avignon to Vaucluse by L’Isle.

From Avignon the Fontaine de Vaucluse is 18 m. eastward, by the village of Isle, on the line to Cavaillon. L’Isle, pop. 7000, a village on the Sorgues, with decorated church rebuilt in the 17th cent. Handsome reredos over high altar and several good paintings. The Tour d’Argent dates from the 11th cent. At the station the omnibuses of the Isle hotels, Petrarque et Laure and St. Martin, await passengers and take them to Vaucluse and back for 4 frs. each. From the village of Vaucluse, pop. 600, take for the fountain the road on the right bank of stream, but for the house and garden of Petrarch take the left side, crossing the bridge. On the left side, against a cliff near the cloth mill, is a small house on the site of Petrarch’s, of which it is a copy. Before it, is still a piece of what was Petrarch’s garden. On the other side of the Sorgue is a cigar-paper mill. There is a little hotel at Vaucluse, the Hôtel Petrarch et Laure. Under a stupendous cliff 1148 feet high is the source of the river Sorgue, the placid Fontaine de Vaucluse about 30 yards in diameter— “a mirror of blue-black water, so pure, so still, that where it laps the pebbles you can scarcely say where air begins and water ends.” During floods, however, the cavern being no longer able to contain the increased volume, the water rushes over in a cascade into the bed below. The poet’s modest house stood at the foot of the rock crowned by the ruins of the castle in which lived his friend Cardinal Philippe de Cabasole. Petrarch himself gives the following description of the site:— “On one side my garden is bounded by a deep river; on another by a rugged mountain, a barrier against the noon-day heats, and which never refuses, not even at mid-day, to lend me its friendly shade; but the sweet air reaches me through all obstacles. In the distance a surly wall makes me inaccessible to both man and beast. Figs, grapes, walnuts, almonds—these are my delights. My table is also graced with the fish that abound in my river; and it is one of my greatest pleasures to watch the fishermen draw their nets, and to draw them myself. All about me is changed. I once used to dress myself with care; now you would believe me a labourer or a shepherd. My house resembles that of Fabius or Cato. I have but a valet and a dog. The house of my servant adjoins my own. I call him when I want him, and when I have no more need of him he returns home.”

Avignon: Petrarch.

On the 6th of April 1327 Francesco Petrarca saw in a church of Avignon Laura the daughter of Audibert de Noves, for whom he conceived a romantic but hopeless attachment. Incessantly haunted with the beautiful vision of the fair Laura, he visited in succession the south of France, Paris, and the Netherlands, and after an exile of eight months returned to bury himself in the solitude of Vaucluse.

Vehicles are also hired at Avignon. Fare to Vaucluse and back, 12 to 18 frs.; time, 8 hours. Also for the Pont du Gard, same price.

20½ m. from Avignon by rail is Cavaillon (p. 66), whence a branch line extends 20 m. E. to Apt, another line 27 m. S.E. to Pertuis on the Marseilles and Grenoble line, and another 22½ m. S. to Miramas (p. 76), between Arles and Marseilles. (See map, p. 66.)

Apt.

AVIGNON TO MANOSQUE BY APT.

40½ m. E. by rail from Avignon, by Cavaillon, is Apt, pop. 7000, on the torrent Calavon, in a sheltered hollow surrounded by mountains and calcareous cliffs. Hotels: The *Louvre; des Alpes. The principal industries are agriculture, pottery, and the making of preserved fruits. Fruit to be glazed with sugar, as well as that on which the sugar is to be crystallised, is allowed to soak from 2 to 8 months in a strong solution of white sugar, in uncovered “terrines,” like small basins. Fruits with thick rinds, such as oranges, are pricked before being immersed. The best pottery (Bernard Croix) is near the station, to the left on descending the hill. The clay, gray and reddish, is in thick beds close to the establishment, and resembles that of Vallauris, near Cannes, in its power of resisting fire, and is therefore principally used for the manufacture of kitchen pottery. M. Croix has added artistic pottery and dinner and tea services, of which the prices are extremely low. Opposite is the establishment of L. A. Esbérard, who confines himself almost exclusively to kitchen pottery.

The parish church of St. Anne dates from the 11th cent. To the left on entering is the chapel of St. Anne, under a low octagonal domed tower. Below the altar is a crypt, 10th cent., said to contain the bones of the mother of Mary. Round about the town are pleasant walks, of which many are shaded with Oriental plane trees. Coach daily to Manosque (Hotel: Eymon), 26 m. E., passing Céreste, 5¼ m. E., and Reillanne, on the top of a hill, 5 m. farther. Manosque is on the rail between Marseilles and Grenoble. (See maps, pages 26 and 66.)

Cavaillon to Miramas, 22½ m. S. (see map, p. 66), across a fertile plain, with vineyards and groves of olive, almond, and apricot trees. Cavaillon (pop. 8000). Inns: Parrocel; Teston. Omnibus at station. Cavaillon is a pleasant town, intersected by avenues, and situated on the Durance at the base of great limestone cliffs. It possesses an ancient triumphal arch and a cathedral dating from the 12th and 13th cents., with a cloister of the 12th. Excellent melons are grown in the neighbourhood. 4¼ m. S. from Cavaillon is Orgon (pop. 3000. Inns: Paris; Poste), on the Durance. 11 m. farther S. is Salon (pop. 7100. Inns: Poste; Croix de Malte), on the canal Craponne. This town, dealing largely in first-class olive oil, has still remnants of its old ramparts: a church, St. Michel, of the 13th cent., another, St. Laurent, of the 14th, and a castle of the same date. In the town is a fountain to the memory of Adam de Craponne, the engineer of the canal. (For Miramas, see p. 75.)

Tarascon. Martha’s Tomb.

PARIS
MARSEILLES 474 63 TARASCON, pop. 11,000. Hotels: At the foot of the station stairs, the Luxembourg; in the town, the Empereurs. Junction with branch to Nîmes, 17 m. W., and 31 m. farther Montpellier. Below the station is a large hospital for old men and orphans, founded in 1761 by Clerc Molière. Tarascon is an unimportant town on the Rhône, opposite Beaucaire, and connected with it by a chain bridge 1450 feet long. In the church of St. Martha, built in the 12th cent., is an ancient crypt, just under the spire, with the tomb of Martha, the sister of Lazarus, whose mortal remains are said to repose here under the peaceful-looking marble effigy which marks the spot. The tradition of the place says she had come with her maid from Aix, at the request of the inhabitants, to kill a terrible dragon with a body as thick as a bull’s, and having succeeded, the inhabitants, out of gratitude to her, after her death buried her in this place. A few steps from the church, by the side of the river, rises the massive strong square castle, begun in 1400 and finished by the Roi René, now used as a prison. On the opposite side of the river, overlooking Beaucaire, are the more picturesque ruins of the castle of Montmorency, whose adjoining garden forms one of the many promenades of the people of Beaucaire. Beaucaire is a poor town with poor houses. The formerly famous fair, commencing on July 1, has become now of little importance. It is held in the broad avenue between the castle and the Rhône.

St. Remy. Les Baux.

9½ m. east from Tarascon by rail is St. Remy, pop. 6800. Inn: Hôtel du Cheval Blanc, a comfortable house, where carriages can be hired for Les Baux, 6 m. S.W., 10 frs. Also for Arles by Les Baux and Mont-Majour, 19 m. distant, 24 frs. A mile from the Hôtel Cheval Blanc, by the high road, stood the ancient Glanum, one of the commercial stations of the Phœnician traders from Marseilles, before it fell into the possession of the Romans, who have left here two remarkable monuments, of which the more perfect consists of an open square tower standing on a massive pedestal, and surmounted by a peristyle of ten columns surrounding two statues representing the parents of Sextus and Marius, of the family of the Julii, by whom it was erected. It is 50 ft. high; the faces of the statues look to the north. The sculpture on the north side of the pedestal represents a cavalry fight; the south, “sacrificing;” the west, a combat between infantry; and the east, which is the most dilapidated, “Victory crowning a wounded soldier.” Alongside stands a triumphal arch, of which the most perfect portions are the coffered panellings of the soffit.

6 m. S.W. from St. Remy is Les Baux, the ancient Castrum de Baucis, pop. 100. Inn: Monte Carlo. The castle town of Les Baux, commenced in 485, occupies a naked mountain of yellow sandstone, worn away by nature into bastions and buttresses, and coigns of vantage, sculptured by ancient art into palaces and chapels, battlements and dungeons. Now art and nature are confounded in one ruin. Blocks of masonry lie cheek-by-jowl with masses of the rough-hewn rock; fallen cavern vaults are heaped round fragments of fan-shaped spandrel and clustered column shaft; the doors and windows of old pleasure rooms are hung with ivy and wild fig tapestry; while winding staircases start midway upon the cliff and lead to vacancy. High overhead, suspended in mid-air, hang chambers—lady’s bower or poet’s singing room—now inaccessible, the haunt of hawks and swallows. Within this rocky honeycomb— “cette ville en monolithe,” as it has been aptly called, for it is literally scooped out of one mountain block—live a few poor people, foddering their wretched goats at carved piscina and stately sideboards, erecting their mud-beplastered hovels in the halls of feudal princes. From Les Baux road to Fontvieille, 7 m.; whence rail to Mont-Majour and Arles (see map, page 66).

Arles.

[East]
plan of Arles
[West]
Scale of ¼ Mile

PARIS
MARSEILLES 483 54 ARLES, pop. 26,000. Hotels: Nord; Forum; near each other in the Place du Forum. Arles is situated on the Rhône, near the Camargue, in a marshy place, as its original name, Arelas, from the Celtic words, “Ar lach,” damp place, indicates. It is said to have been founded 900 years before Marseilles, 700 years before Rome, and 1500 before the birth of Christ. The ramparts and walls rising from the public gardens and the Boulevard des Aliscamps are chiefly the work of the Emperor Constantine, who came to Arles with his family and mother, Saint Helena. He built by the side of the Rhône a superb palace, called afterwards “de la Trouille,” because opposite a ferry-boat, which was pulled or dragged from one side of the river to the other. Of this palace little more remains than the attached tower La Trouille, constructed of alternate layers of brick and stone. On the 7th August 312 his wife Faustina presented him with a son, Constantine II., who succeeded his father in May 357. He commenced the Forum, but was shortly after killed in battle defending himself against his brother Constance, who usurped the throne and finished the Forum. All that remains of this formerly splendid edifice are the two Corinthian columns, with part of the pediment encrusted into the wall of the Hôtel du Nord. It occupied the site of the Place du Forum, called also the Place des Hommes, because labourers and men-servants used to be hired in this “Place.”

In the Place de la République is the Hôtel de Ville, built in 1675 on the site of the Roman baths constructed by the Emperor Augustus. The spacious vaults under the Hôtel du Nord formed probably a part of these baths, although in later times they seem to have been used as an ossuary.

Almost adjoining the Hôtel de Ville is the church of St. Anne, now the Archæological Museum, with a collection of inscriptions, sarcophagi, urns, statues, columns, friezes, altars, and tombstones, those of the Pagans having the letters D.M., Diis manibus. Also some of the long lead pipes, with the name of the plumber, “C. Canthius Porthinus fac.,” which helped to bring water from the fountain at the foot of the hill on which Baux stands. At the inner end, right hand, is a torse of Mithras of white Pharos marble, 3 ft. 2 inches high, found in 1598 on the site of the Roman Circus. A serpent is coiled round the body, and between the coils are the signs of the Zodiac. In the opposite corner is an altar in Carrara marble to the good goddess “Bonae-Deae,” found under the church La Major. On the front face is a garland of oak leaves and acorns, and 7 inches distant from each other two human ears. Near it is a good head of Augustus, and a mutilated one of Diana. About the centre of the room is a recumbent figure of Silenus, with a wine skin under his arm.

In the centre of the “Place” is the monolith obelisk, 49 ft. high, hewn by the Romans from the quarries of Esterel. It stood originally in the Circus at the S.W. corner of the town; but of it no vestiges remain.

Arles: St. Trophime.

Opposite St. Anne is the cathedral of St. Trophime, consecrated on the 17th May 626, and rebuilt in the 9th cent. The portal, erected in 1221, consists of a semicircular arch resting on six columns, behind which are statues of apostles and saints separated by pilasters. In the tympanum is Christ, the judge of the world, with the symbols of the Evangelists. In the interior the door on the S. side of the choir leads out to the cloister, of which the N. side belongs to the 9th, the south to the 16th, the east to the 13th, and the west to the 14th cent.

Passing from the cloister into the street, and turning to the left, we arrive at the Theatre, commenced during the dominion of the Greeks, and finished before the Christian era. In the centre of this grand ruin, originally 335 ft. in its greatest diameter, stand two Corinthian columns 30 ft. high, and the base of other two, which formed part of the proscenium. Opposite them is the semicircular space for the spectators, with still many of the stone seats. The Venus of Arles, one of the most valuable statues in the Louvre, was found here. The theatre is open to the public, but the keeper endeavours to attach himself to strangers.

Arles: Amphitheatre.

A short way N.E. is the far grander and more imposing Amphitheatre or Les Arènes, said to have been commenced by the father of Tiberius Nero, B.C. 46. It is elliptic, 459 ft. long and 132 wide, surrounded by a double wall 60 ft. high, each with two stages of arches, and in each stage 60 arches. From around the arena rise 43 tiers of stone seats, capable of containing 23,438 spectators. The stone steps leading up to them were 1½ ft. high and 2 ft. 3 inches long. There were besides above 150 rooms for the gladiators and men connected with the theatre, and 100 dens for wild beasts. The three towers were added by the Saracens in the 8th cent. Bull-fights are given in the building, when a multitude of spectators, as in the time of the Romans, fill the galleries. A splendid view of the amphitheatre, the city, and of the commencement of the delta of the Rhône, is had from the western tower. The entrance into the amphitheatre is by the north gate. The doorkeeper lives in a house a little to the left of the gate. This grand ruin should, if possible, be visited by moonlight; yet during the day the beautiful masonry is more easily examined. It is the great sight in Arles, and it is better to omit all the others than to do this one hurriedly.

The Camargue or Delta of the Rhône, commencing at the outskirts of Arles, is a triangular plain of 180,000 acres extending to the Mediterranean, bounded on the west by the Petit Rhône, and on the east by the Grand Rhône. It contains small villages and large farms, with extensive vineyards and grazing ground for cattle, sheep, and horses. It is best visited by the steamboat sailing between Arles and Port St. Louis on the mouth of the great Rhône. (See p. 72, and map, p. 66.)

Arles: Elysei Campi. Trophimus.

S.E. above the Promenade is the church of St. Cesaire, 9th cent., on the site of a temple of Jupiter. From this to go to Alyscamps, walk down the Boulevard Alyscamps to the canal Craponne, where turn to the left. The first ruin passed is an old entrance into what was the domain of the monastery of St. Cesaire. The Avenue of Alyscamps is lined on each side by 33 large stone coffins with lids, and 120 smaller coffins without lids. This, the Elysei Campi, an ancient Roman cemetery, is now divested of all its valuables and statues, of which a few are in the museum. As J. C.Himself is said to have appeared during the consecration of the cemetery, it was believed that at the resurrection it would be especially favoured by Him; hence the efforts made by so many to bury their friends here. It is said that up to the 12th cent. coffins with their dead, and money for the funeral expenses, floated down the Rhône, of their own accord, to be buried in this privileged spot. At the end of the avenue is the church of St. Honorat, on the site of the chapel founded by Trophimus the Ephesian, one of St. Paul’s converts, who was sent to Arles to preach the gospel and to put an end to human sacrifices. Among the first things he is said to have done was to consecrate the Alyscamps and transform it thus from a heathen into a Christian burial-place, and add to it a little chapel. An old Arles writer alleges on his own authority that Trophimus dedicated this chapel to Mary, who was then alive. After labouring 36 years in this diocese he died on the 29th of November 94, and was buried in the little chapel he himself had built. Among the successors of Trophimus were Ambrose in 160, who remained here 20 years; Augustine in 220, who died 10 years afterwards; Jerome in 230, who also died 10 years afterwards; Marcien in 252, the originator of the Novatien sect; and St. Cyprien in 253. Saint Virgil, one of the successors, founded in 601 the church of St. Honorat beside the chapel of Trophimus. The present church dates only from the 12th to the 14th cent. The best and oldest part, excepting the foundations, is the apsidal termination, which is semicircular, with 4 pilasters and a small window in the centre to give light to the officiating priest. Over it rises a neat octagonal belfry in two arcaded stages. Under the chancel is a small crypt. The keeper calls a small chapel at the left hand corner of the chancel, the chapel of Trophimus.

Arles: Picture Gallery.

The Picture Gallery, or the Musée Reattu, is at No. 11 R. Grand Prieure, near the Tour Trouille. The house and pictures were bequeathed to the town by a cousin of the painter Reattu, b. at Arles 1760, d. 1833. On picture 119 are portraits of himself, wife, and two cousins. Next the picture gallery is the school of design.

Branch line from Arles to Fontvieille, 7 m. E., passing Mont-Majour 4 m. E. Fontvieille is 7 m. S.W. from Les Baux by a good road. Junction at Arles with line to Aigues-Mortes, 36 m. S.W., and to Montpellier, 58 m. S.W.; Cette is 17 m. farther. (See map, p. 66.)

Mont-Majour.

4 m. eastwards by rail from Arles are the ruins of the castle and abbey of Mont-Majour, all in a good state of preservation, excepting the domestic buildings, constructed in 1786. The concierge lives in a house near the station. Fee, 1 fr. He generally shows first the church, 11th cent., and the spacious crypt below, 9th cent. Adjoining the church are the cloisters, 11th cent., of the same kind as those of St. Trophime, but more interesting and more perfect, and containing the tombs of some of the counts of Anjou. Next is the beautiful square dungeon tower, nearly as perfect as when erected in 1374. It is 262 ft. high, is ascended by 137 steps, and commands a wide prospect. From this, a stair leads down the face of the hill to the chapel and cell of St. Trophimus, principally hewn in the soft limestone cliff. Standing apart at the base of the hill is St. Croix, dedicated in 1019, consisting of four semicircular sides, crowned with semidomes projecting from a square tower crowned with a kind of pyramid spire. At Fontvieille (Hôtel du Commerce) are important quarries of soft calcareous sandstone.

Arles to Port Saint Louis, at the mouth of the Great Rhône, 25 m. S. by steamer on the Great Rhône. Time, 5 hrs. Fare, 2 frs. Railway unfinished (see map, p. 66). The steamboat passes by an important part of the Camargue with large vineyards, rendered very fertile by irrigation, the water being forced up from the river by steam engines. Cattle, sheep, and horses are reared on the tufts of coarse grass which cover the more arid portions. The population is so sparse that not a village is seen during the whole journey. (See also p. 70.)

Port Saint Louis.

Port Saint Louis (Hôtel Saint Louis), 6½ m. W. from Port Bouc, consists of a straggling village between the Rhône and the basin of the canal constructed to enable vessels to avoid the bar of the Rhône. This canal is 2½ m. long, 196 ft. wide, and 22 ft. deep. To understand the geography of this desolate flat region of land and water, exposed to every wind, it is necessary to ascend the “tour Saint Louis,” whence the plain, intersected by the Rhône and numerous canals, appears literally like a map. The only villages seen in the vast expanse are Fos, on a hill, and near it the Port Bouc.

Great expense has been incurred to make Port St. Louis a convenient place for shipping, and attract to it some of the commerce from Marseilles.

23 m. S.W. from Arles, and separated from Port St. Louis by the great Etang Valcarès, is the port called Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, or simply Les Saintes. The parish church, 12th cent., surrounded by fortifications, contains the tombs of the Maries and some good sculpture.

For Arles to Port Bouc, 29 m. S., see p. 76. The steamer sails from the S.W. corner of Arles (see map, page 66).

St. Gilles. Lunel.

11¼ m. W. by rail from Arles is St. Gilles, pop. 7000. Hôtel du Cheval-Blanc. A poor and ancient town on the canal of Aigues-Mortes, near the Petit Rhône. The abbey church, founded in 1116, is considered a good specimen of Byzantine architecture. The façade consists of a bald wall with a plain tower on each side. Between these towers are three semicircular recessed portals, below an entablature resting on two single and two double columns. The capitals are Corinthian, but the pedestals (considerably effaced) consist of lions and grotesque animals in uncouth positions. Behind them, on the piers of the arches of the portals, stand in bold relief statues of apostles and saints, separated from each other by pilasters. The interior, consisting of a nave and two aisles, is 290 ft. long, 88 wide, and 62 high. In the N. aisle a stair of 33 steps leads down to the lower church, with semicircular arches on short massive piers. From the centre 7 more steps descend to the tomb of St. Gilles. All the characteristics of this church are equally well represented in St. Trophime of Arles.

16¾ m. farther W., or 28 m. from Arles by rail, is Lunel, pop. 7300. Inns: Palais; Nord; Tapis-verd; none good. A town of narrow streets, with a park and promenade by the side of the canal. The church is constructed after the pattern of those of Carcassonne and Perpignan. On the surrounding plain an inferior wine is grown. The first-class vineyards, producing the generous white wines from 17° to 18°, are all on the neighbouring gravelly eminences.

Aigues-Mortes.

8 m. S. by rail from Lunel is the more interesting town of AIGUES-MORTES, “stagnant waters,” pop. 4300, 4 m. from the Mediterranean, and 4 ft. above it, and connected with it by a navigable canal. Inn: Saint Louis. It is of great historical interest, and is surrounded by the most perfect old embrasured wall in France, built in the form of a parallelogram, 596 yds. long by 149 yds. broad. It is 36 ft. high, and is flanked by 15 towers. On the western side rises the famous round tower of Constance, 96 ft. high and 72 in diameter, containing two vaulted superimposed circular chambers, used by Louis XIV. and Louis XV. as prisons for their Protestant subjects of both sexes, who here suffered such cruelties that the Dutch and Swiss Governments were roused to interfere in their behalf, and even Frederic the Great is said to have interceded for them, but in vain. From the platform at the top of this tower is the highly interesting view of the flat country at the mouth of the Rhône, whence the traveller may judge for himself whether the sea has, or has not, receded from the town since the time of Saint Louis—we think not. Both the tower of Constance and the walls are the work of Saint Louis, who had a predilection for Aigues-Mortes, as he considered it the most suitable place in his kingdom from which to embark for Palestine. On 25th August 1248, after having heard mass in the church Notre-Dame-des-Sablons (fronting his statue), he and his Queen Marguerite sailed from Aigues-Mortes on their first expedition to Palestine. On the 3d of July 1270 he again sailed from the same place; and on that same year, on the anniversary day of his first expedition, the 25th of August, he perished among the ruins of Carthage. 4 m. S. from Aigues-Mortes by omnibus, or steamer by the canal, is the bathing station of Port-Grau-du-Roi. Inns: Pommier; Dubois (see map, page 66).

49 m. N. from Lunel by rail is Vigan. (See page 105.)

96½ m. W. from Marseilles, 43 m. W. from Arles, 31 m. S.W. from Nîmes, and 15 m. S.W. from Lunel, is

Montpellier.

MONTPELLIER, on the sides and summit of an eminence 145 ft. above the sea and 7 miles from it. Pop. 56,000. Hotels: H. Nevet, the best and most expensive, at the commencement of the Esplanade. On the same side, only a little farther up, is a block of handsome buildings containing the Public Library, closed on Sundays and Thursdays, and the Picture Gallery or Musée Fabre, open on Sundays and Mondays. Adjoining is the Lycée.

In the Place de la Comédie, near the Esplanade, is the H. du Midi, the next best hotel. In the Grande Rue, the H. Cheval Blanc, frequented by commercial men. Opposite the station is the H. de la Gare. In the fine broad street, the Rue Maguelone, leading from the station to the Place de la Comédie, is the H. Maguelone, second class. Their omnibuses await passengers.

Temple Protestant near station, in the Rue Maguelone. Telegraph Office in the Boulevard de la Comédie. Post in the Boulevard Jeu-de-Paume. From the Esplanade omnibus runs to Castelnau. From near the Place de la Comédie coach to Mauguio. From the Boulevard de Blanquerie, below the prison, coach to Claret and St. Hippolyte. (See map, p. 66.)

Montpellier: Botanic Gardens.

The most modern part of the town is the Rue Maguelone, leading from the station to the Esplanade, a delightful promenade bounded by the citadel. At the N.W. angle of the Esplanade a stair leads down to a line of boulevards, passing up by the “Hôpital Général” to the Botanic Gardens, the earliest institution of this kind in France, founded in the reign of Henri IV., and for some years under the direction of the famous botanist De Candolle. It contains an area of 9 acres, divided into three parts: at the N. end is a nursery; at the S., in a hollow, surrounded by trees, the botanical part; and between these two divisions the arboretum. Opposite the Botanic Gardens is the once famous École de médecine, said to have been founded by Arab physicians under the patronage of the Counts of Montpellier. It now occupies the old bishops’ palace, built in the 14th cent., with additions in the 17th. At the entrance are bronze statues of Barthez, 1734-1806, and La Peyronie, 1678-1747. Within the entrance are busts of the most celebrated professors and divines connected with the college and the church of Montpellier. In the same building are also valuable anatomical and pathological collections, and a library with 55,000 vols. Adjoining is the Cathedral of St. Pierre, 14th and 15th cents., but the choir is recent, though in the same style. White marble statue of Mary and child by Canova.

Overlooking the Botanic Gardens is the beautiful promenade, the Place du Peyrou, on an eminence at the western side of the town. In cold weather invalids and nurses with their children frequent the lower terrace of this “Place,” the promenade Basse du Midi. At the western end of the Peyrou is the Château d’Eau, a hexagonal Corinthian building, which receives and distributes through the town the water brought from the fontaine de St. Clement, 5½ m. from Montpellier. The aqueduct, which conveys the water across the valley from the opposite hill, consists of two tiers of arches 70 ft. high and 2896 ft. long. The gate at the end of the promenade was erected to commemorate the victories of Louis XIV. Adjoining is the Palais de Justice, with statues of Cambacérès and Cardinal Fleury. Eastwards, by crooked streets, are the Mairie and the markets.

Montpellier: Musée Fabre.

A short way north from the Hôtel Nevet, by the Rues Ste. Foi and also on the Esplanade, is a handsome modern edifice, comprising the Musée Fabre, the Bibliothèque publique with 65,000 vols., and the “Collection de la Société archéologique.” The Musée Fabre, open on Sundays and Mondays and feast days, contains, among many works of inferior merit, some good pictures by great artists, such as Berghem, Fra Bartolommeo, P. C. Champaigne, Cuyp, L. David, G. Dow, Van Dyck, Ghirlandajo, Girodet, Granet, Greuze, Metsu, Palma, P.Veronese, Porbus, P. Potter, Poussin, Samuel Reynolds, Salvator Rosa, Rubens, Ruysdael, Andrea del Sarto, D. Teniers, Terburg, Titian, and Zarg. The library contains some curious MSS. connected with, the Stuarts, which belonged to Prince Charles Edward.

Montpellier produces a lovely coloured wine with good bouquet, called St. Georges d’Orgues. The manufacture of verdigris, the preparation of preserved fruits, dye works, chemical works, and distilleries, are the principal industries.

From the railway station, opposite the Hôtel de Nevet, a line extends through the lagoon Pérols, covering a surface of 3000 acres, and yielding annually 2000 tons of salt, to the port of Palavas, 5 m. south (pop. 1000), with a beautiful beach. At the Palavas terminus is the Casino hotel, and on the Canal the Hôtel des Bains and the Restaurant Parisien. A cabine (bathing-house), including costume and linen, costs 1 fr. Leave the train at the Plage station. 3 m. from Montpellier, in the retired valley of the Mosson, is the mineral water establishment of Foncaude. Water saline, unctuous, and sedative. Good for indigestion and nervous disorders. 12½ m. north from Montpellier is the Pic du Loup, rising from the village St. Mathieu (pop. 500) to the height of 680 ft., commanding an extensive view, and having on the top a chapel visited by pilgrims.

From Montpellier a line extends 43½ m. W. to Faugères on the line from Beziers to Capdenac by Rodez. (See map, page 27.)

Frontignan. Cette.

109½ m. from Marseilles and 4½ from Cette is Frontignan, pop. 3000. Possessing 570 acres of vineyards producing rich amber-coloured, luscious, and spirituous wines, made principally from the clairette and picardan grapes. The neighbouring marshes yield annually about 50,000 tons of salt.

114 m. from Marseilles is Cette, pop. 29,000. At this point the Chemins de Fer de Paris à Lyon system joins the Chemins de Fer du Midi, and consequently carriages are often changed here. For Cette to Toulouse and Bordeaux, see Table “Bordeaux à Cette” in the “Indicateur des Chemins de Fer du Midi.” Cette is 271 m. east from Pau, 266 from Bordeaux, and 84 from Perpignan. Omnibuses and coaches await passengers. Hotels: Barrillon; Grand Galion; Bains; Souche. Cette makes a pleasant halting-place. The best walk is to the top of Mt. Setius, 590 ft. Ascend by the Rue d’Esplanade, and when at the highest part of the Public Gardens take the road to the right. The view is magnificent. In front is the Mediterranean, and behind Lake Thau with its villages. At the base of the mountain is Cette, and beyond Frontignan. The Port of Cette is protected by a breakwater 548 yds. long, which encloses a harbour of 210 acres, furnished with two jetties; the western, constructed by Vauban, is 656 yds. long, and the eastern 548 yds. This busy port, besides having an extensive carrying trade, has a large wine manufactory, where above 100,000 pipes of imitations of all the well-known wines are made annually, by mixing different wines with each other.

From the first bridge over the canal (not including the railway bridge) a small steamer starts three times daily for Balaruc and Meze, on Lake Thau. Meze, like Cette, is entirely devoted to the wine trade. Balaruc has a bathing establishment, supplied by intensely saline springs, resembling strong sea-water, temperature 125° Fahr. A quart contains 106 grains of chloride of sodium, 13½ of the chloride of magnesia, and a fraction of the chloride of copper, 15 grains of the sulphate, and 13½ of the bicarbonate of lime. Pension, 8 to 9 fr., and the bath treatment 4½ fr. additional. The Canal du Midi enters Lake Thau at Les Onglous, 11 m. W. from Cette. (See map, page 27.)

Miramas. Port Bouc.

PARIS
MARSEILLES 503 34 MIRAMAS, pop. 900, south from the station at the head of the Étang Chamas. At the station there are a small inn and a large plantation of almond trees, which, when in flower, exhale a delightful perfume. Passengers to Avignon by Cavaillon and L’Isle change carriages here (p. 65). Also for Port Bouc, 16¼ m. south.

MIRAMAS TO PORT BOUC.

Miramas to Port Bouc by rail through a flat plain (see map, p. 66). The two most important towns passed on the way are: Istres, 6¼ m. from Miramas station and 10 N. from Port Bouc, pop. 4000, founded in the 8th cent. on Lake Olivier, and possessing still part of its ancient ramparts. The principal industry is the manufacture of salt and of the carbonate of soda. 13¼ m. from Miramas is Fos (Fossae Marianae), pop. 1100, on a hill crowned with the ruins of a castle, 14th cent. At the foot of the hill, by the side of the Arles canal, are large tanks for the manufacture of salt. From Fos, other 3 miles south by rail, or 16¼ miles altogether from the Miramas railway station, or 29 miles S. from Arles by the canal, is Port Bouc, pop. 1000. Inns: near the stations of the railway and the canal steamer, the Hôtel du Commerce; near the jetty, the Hôtel du Nord. Port Bouc, on the Étang Caroute, near the entrance to the great lake, the Étang de Berre, is an important fishing-station with a large and well-protected harbour. At the end of the jetty is a fixed light, seen within a radius of 10 m. At the other side of the entrance is Fort Bouc with a massive square tower in the centre and another lighthouse. About 7 miles west from Port Bouc by the coast road is the Port of St. Louis, page 72. (For Port Bouc to Martigues and Marseilles, see p. 118.)

Port Bouc to Arles, 29 m. S. by the canal steamboat; time, 5 hrs; fare, 3 frs. The canal is 62 ft. wide and 8 deep. The embankments are very solid, and along a great part of them extends the railway between Arles and Saint Louis. The only town the canal passes is Fos, about ½ m. E. The Miramas railway passes it on the other side. Passengers drop into the steamer from the farmhouses. The steamer moors at the S.W. corner of Arles. (See p. 72, and map p. 66.)

Saint Chamas. Rognac.

PARIS
MARSEILLES 506½ 30½ SAINT CHAMAS (Sanctus Amantius), pop. 3000, about ½ m. from the station. It is situated on the N. end of the Étang de Berre, and on both sides of a short narrow ridge of soft sandstone pierced with excavations. The Government have one of their most important powder manufactories in this place. Hardly ½ m. E. from the Hôtel de Ville is the Flavian Bridge, built by the Romans, across the stream Touloubre, with at each end a kind of triumphal arch of 12 ft. span and about 22 ft. high. At each of the four corners is a grooved Corinthian pilaster surmounted by a frieze and a projecting dentilled cornice. On the top at each end stands a lion; the two on the east arch are apparently ready to spring eastward, and the other two westward. The bridge is in a state of perfect repair, but the sculpture and inscription on the two arches over the entrances are slightly effaced. The road to it is by the Hôtel de Ville and the parish church with a rudely sculptured “Pieta” over the portal. The bridge is to the E. of St. Chamas, and is well seen from the railway, especially when crossing the viaduct of 49 interlaced arches, which carry the rail over the little valley of the Touloubre. 8½ m. E. from St. Chamas is Berre station. The town, pop. 2100, is directly south, on Lake Berre, a sheet of water 14 m. long and 38 in circumference.

PARIS
MARSEILLES 519½ 17½ ROGNAC, pop. 900. Junction with rail to Aix, 16½ m. E., passing under the Roquefavour aqueduct, 7½ m. E. The canal, which brings 200 cubic ft. of water per second from the Durance to Marseilles and the neighbouring plain, commences opposite Pertuis, directly north from Marseilles. It is 94 m. long, of which more than 15 are under ground; it has a fall of 614 ft., traverses, by 45 tunnels, 3 chains of limestone hills, and crosses numerous valleys by aqueducts, of which the largest crosses the ravine of the river Arc at Roquefavour. This aqueduct is 270 ft. high on three tiers of arches, is 1312 ft. long, 44½ ft. wide at the base, and 14 ft. wide at the water-way. It consists of 51,000 cubic yards of masonry, and cost £151,394, while the cost of the whole canal from the Durance to the sea, near Cape Croisette, a little to the east of Marseilles, has been £2,090,000. A branch from the principal channel throws 198,000 gallons per minute into the city, while five other ramifications fertilise by irrigation the country around it. The canal water is purified in the basins of Réaltort. The large reservoir for Marseilles is behind the Palais de Longchamp. (See p. 114, and for the course of the canal, maps pp. 66 and 123.)

To visit the aqueduct, take the road to the left from the station, pass under the railway bridge, and then ascend partly by a steep path and partly by steps to the house of the concierge.

Aix. Hôtel de Ville.

16½ m. E. from Rognac, or 33 m. N. from Marseilles by Rognac, but only 18 m. N. by Gardanne, is Aix-en-Provence, pop. 29,000. Hotels: Negre-Coste, the best, in the Grand Cours; at the east end of the Cours, Mule-Noire, and near it at the Palais de Justice, the Hôtel du Palais; at the station end of the Cours, the Louvre and the France; at the baths, the Hôtel des Bains; opposite the Hôtel de Ville, the Hôtel Aigle d’Or. Best cafés in the Cours René. Post and telegraph offices in the street behind the Cours, or behind the division opposite the Hôtel Negre-Coste. Aix, formerly the capital of Provence, was founded 120 B.C. by the Consul Sextius Calvinus around the thermal springs, which he himself had discovered. The temperature of the water is 95° F., and the ingredients, iron and iodine, the carbonates, sulphates, and chlorides of soda and magnesia, together with an organic bituminous matter strongly impregnated with glairine. The establishment is situated at the extremity of the Cours Sextius. Pension, 8½ frs. Each bath 1 fr. At the high end of the Cours René is a statue, by David, of René of Anjou, “le bon Roi,” king of Naples, Sicily, and Jerusalem; died in 1480 at the age of 72, and buried at Angers, where he was born. He was endowed with every virtue, was a poet, painter, and musician, and was skilled in medicine and astronomy. During his reign in Aix the people were prosperous, and art and science flourished. From the right of the statue streets lead up to the principal square with a monument to Lodovico XV., the Palais de Justice with statues of the jurists Portales and Siméon, and the church of the Madeleine, built for the perpetual adoration of the host. A little higher up are the Hôtel de Ville, built in 1640; the Halle-aux-Grains, reconstructed in 1760 and adorned with bold and spirited sculpture. Next the Hôtel de Ville is the great clock tower, bearing the date 1512. In the centre of the court of the Hôtel de Ville is a statue of Mirabeau, and on the staircase a white marble statue of Marshal Villars, by Coustou. In the Hôtel de Ville is also the public library with 100,000 vols. Among the MSS. is the prayer book of King René, with illustrations said to have been done by himself. No. 569 is a small 4to volume, with copies of letters written by Queen Mary Stuart. The first 57 pages relate to her early history. At page 645 commences a defence of her conduct, written by a warm partisan of the queen. The street, ascending through the gateway of the clock tower, leads to the university buildings, the palace of the archbishop, and the Aix: Cathedral. Cathedral of Saint Sauveur, built in the 11th cent., partly on the foundations of a temple to Apollo. The tower, 195 ft. high, was built in the 15th cent., and the chancel in 1285. The façade was commenced in 1476, and the beautiful sculpture on the great entrance door executed in 1503. It is generally covered by a plain outer door. In the interior to the right is the Baptistery, an octagonal chapel with six antique marble and two granite Corinthian columns about 30 ft. high, each shaft being of one stone. The ornamental sculpture on the panels and in the spandrels is by Puget. On the same side are two triptychs, one by Crayer, “Mary worshipped by Saints,” and the other by some artist of the Jean Van Eyck school, representing in the centre Moses and the burning bush, with Mary up in a clump of trees. On one wing is King René on his knees, attended by the Magdalene, St. Maurice, and St. Anthony; and on the other wing is the king’s second wife, Jeanne de Laval, attended by her patron saints. On the outside of the shutters are the angel Gabriel and Mary.