Le Cateau (54 miles), or Cateau Cambresis, on the Selle, is best known for the Treaty of peace, made 1559, between Philip of Spain and Henry II. of France. It was the head-quarters of the Duke of Wellington in 1815. Marshal Mortier, to whom there is a statue, was born here. Population, 9,9774, in the coal mines, &c. It had a castle or Chateau built by Bishop Hallais. [Solesmes (5 miles from Le Câteau, along the Valenciennes road) on the Selle, has the cloister, &c., of an Abbey of old date, with a modern church, having a spire 213 feet high. Population, 6,000. Linens and muslins are made, besides soap and leather.] Landrecies (7 miles), a small fortified town, with an Hotel and Café. Marshall Clarke, Duke of Feltre, is in the church. Aulnoye (82 miles), from which a rail to Valenciennes via Le Quesnoy was opened 1872. [Le Quesnoy (6 miles), a fourth class fortress, on a hill, in a wide plain, near Mormal Forest, with an arsenal, a curious church, a nail factory, &c. It was taken by Prince Eugene, 1712, taken and retaken, 1793, and occupied by the Allies, 1815-18. Rail open to Lille. Avesnes (12 miles), a station near the Roman Avesnæ; a sous-préfecture and fortified town, on the Sambre, on the Belgian frontier; taken by the Prussians, 1815. It has a church, with a tower about 320 feet high, Hôtel de Ville, Charleroi (18 miles); at Chatelineau there is a connection with the Acoz rolling mills. Hence to Waterloo, and Brussels (45 miles); also to Cologne, via Liége and Aix-la-Chapelle. (See Bradshaw's Hand-Book to Belgium.) ROUTE 6. Paris to Dammartin, Soissons, Reims, Constructed by the Ardennes Company in 1857. With that from Reims to Mézières, it fills up the departments of Ardennes, &c., between the Northern and Eastern systems. The stations out of Paris are Le Bourget (the scene of fighting in the Paris sorties of January, 1871), Aulnay-le-Bondy (where the Bondy branch comes in-Route 54), Sevran, and Mitry, followed by Dammartin (22 miles from Paris), on a hill, where there is a fine circle of view. Lace is made. [MAYEN-MULEIN (7 miles north-east), on the canal de l'Ourcq, has a very ancient church.] Then follow Le Plessis-Belleville, Nanteuil-le-Haudoin, Ormoy, and Crépy-en-Valois (16 miles from Dammartin), founded 10th century, with St. Arnould's Abbey. It was the capital of the Valois country, and a strong clock tower, &c.; and is noted for prepared place, having a palace called Bouville. Only one boars' heads. Population, 3,600.] Hautmont (4 miles). Maubeuge (2 miles), a small frontier fortress, on the Sambre, with a population of 7,400, and manufactures of fire-arms, nails, iron, &c. Coal and marble are got near. The Austrians were defeated here, 1793. New forts have been built. Hotel. - Grand Cerf. [BAVAY, or Bavai (8 miles north-west), the Roman Bayacum, has, in the Place, a seven-sided Pillar, marking on its faces as many Roman ways, and replacing a Roman milliary stone.] Jeumont (6 miles), a French douane. the Belgian frontier is Erquelines (1 Another douane, Thence to Across (St. Denis, with a good choir) of its five churches remains, with ruins of another; also a tower of the château. The English took it 1431, and the Leaguers, 1588; but it is best known for the treaty of 1544, between Francis I. and Charles V. The next station, Vaumoise, is followed by Villers-Cotterets (11 miles from Crépy), in the forest of Retz, has a château restored by Francis I. (on the site of one burnt by the English) now a depôt de mendicité, or poor-house, for the district. Near it are remains of Longpont abbey church, founded in the 12th century. General Dumas (called the French Cocles, for his defence of Brixen Bridge), his son Alexander Dumas, author of Monte Cristo, and Otto, the statesman, were natives. [There is a short railway connection of 9 miles 1545; with the dungeon where Louis-le-Debonwith La Ferté Milon (25 miles north-east of Meaux), in department Aisne, on a hill by the Ourcq, fortified as far back as 845; and having the fine remains of a Castle, dismantled by Henry IV. In front of the Hôtel de Ville is David's statue of Racine (born here, 1639), and whose bust, by Stabinsky, is in the Bibliothèque of 17,000 volumes. Population, 4,800. Hotel.-Du Sauvage. naire was confined by his sons. Clotaire, son of Clovis, king of Soissons (whose dominions took in all the north-east of France) was buried in it. Another spot is Braisnes (as below) which belonged to the Counts of Egmont, before the Revolution, under the name of Château de la Folie. Coucy Castle and Anizy, built by Francis I., may be visited from here. Childeric I., Clotaire II., the Duke of Mayence (the chief of the League against Henry IV.), and Longpont, Vierzy, and Berzy are passed, Collot d'Herbois, the infamous terrorist, were before reaching Soissons (17 miles from Villers-Cotterets), a sous-préfecture (department Aisne), an ancient fortified town, and a diocese, in the valley of the Aisne. It was the chief hold of the Suessones in Cæsar's time. Clovis made it the capital of the Franks (486), after routing its Roman governor, Syagrius. Pepin deposed Childeric here, 752, and Charles the Simple was beaten, 922, by his competitor Robert. In 1315, it suffered from the Burgundians and Armagnacs; the Huguenots ravaged it, 1567; and it was taken and retaken twice over, 1814. It is well-built, and defended by a citadel, which capitulated to the German forces, 16th October, 1870, with 4,000 men, after four days' bombardment. The Gothic Cathedral of the 12th century, on the site of that in which Pepin was crowned by St. Boniface, has a tower 160 feet high, and Rubens's "Adoration of the Shepherds," given, they say, by him to the Cordeliers here, in gratitude for their care of him when sick. St. Pierre is in the Lombard style, small and round. with buttresses and a dome; St. Leger, in the Renaissance style. Only the fine Gothic portal and spire are left of St. Jean-des-Vignes Abbey, on a hill, founded in the 11th century. The old Château, on the site of the palace, is flanked by heavy round towers. Other buildings are, the Arsenal, the College, Hôtel Dieu, house of correction, Museum, and library of 19,000 volumes, two barracks, theatre, &c. A bridge leads over to St. Vaast. natives of Soissons. At 7 miles south-east of Compiégne, near one end of its forest, are the picturesque walls and towers of Pierrefonds Castle, on a hill, lately restored by Viollet le Duc, and containing an Armoury. It was so strong that a determined soldier, Rieux, in 1592, held out against three or four of Henry IV.'s commanders, and was at last only bought over with gold. In 1617, no fewer than 15,000 men invested it, and took it after six days' continual firing, when it was dismantled. There is a sulphur spring here, called Pierrefonds-lesBains, now much frequented in summer, and beneficial in cases of weak lungs. Population, 1,500. Amusement is afforded by fishing in the lake, and excursions in the forest. Here the branch to Reims (32 miles), turns off, við Braisnes and Fismes. The next station to Soissons is Anizy-Pinon, and its old Castle, followed by Laon, 22 miles from Soissons, 87 miles from Paris, where the branches to Rheims and Tergnier make a junction. Hotels.-La Hure; de l'Ecu; de la Bannière. Population, 10,090. Capital of department Aisne (in the old province of La Brie), a fortified town, In the neighbourhood is a Deaf and Dumb and formerly seat of a diocese, on a rocky hill, 720 Hospital, on the site of St. Medard's Abbey, founded | feet above sea level, in a fertile wine country, half way between the Aisne and Oise. It was the ancient Laudunum, and as it stands high, the air is keen, though healthy. The old walls and ramparts command a succession of prospects on all sides. The Cathedral Church of Notre Dame, its most remarkable building, is an excellent uniform specimen of the Early Pointed style in France; it was built 1112-14. It has five towers; portals pierced with deep entrances (three in the west front); stained rose and other windows, and several ornamented side chapels. St. Martin's Church is as old as the 12th century, and has two good towers. The abbey of St. Martin is now the Hôtel Dieu. Here are also the Préfecture, which was part of the Bishop's Palace; Hotel de Ville; library of 25,000 volumes; museum; theatre; barracks; hospital; a new citadel to the east of the town; and the Tour Penchée, or Leaning Tower, ncar Porte St. Martin. Lothaire I., St. Remi, and Marshal Serrurier, were born here; a statue has been erected to the last near the Hôtel de Vilie. Charles the Bald made it the capital of his Frankish kingdom; and it was the seat of a bishop, who afterwards came to be styled Duke of Laon. The caves in the rock are worth notice. It was taken by the Allies in 1814-15. The Fort capitulated to the Germans, September, 1870. As they entered the citadel, the powder magazine exploded, killing 300 French troops and 50 Ger mans. Manufactures of stockings, hats, leather, nails, and a trade in corn, wine, and excellent artichokes. [From Laon the rail to Tergnier passes CrepyCouvzon (6 miles), from which the glass works of St. Gobain, and the old castles of Coucy and Anizy (Route 5) may be visited; and La Fere (73 miles) on the Oise, the seat of the oldest Artillery School in France (1719), and a fortified post, taken by the Allies, 1815. Here are an arsenal and barracks. Tergnier, 4 miles further, is on the Paris and St. Quentin line, as in Route 5. From Laon to Rheims the rail passes CoucyLes-Eppes (7 miles), St. Erme (44 miles), Guignicourt (8 miles), near the Aisne, and Loivre (6 miles). Reims is 6 miles further, as in Route 55.] Dercy-Mortier (9 miles) where a branch along the Serre goes off to Crécy-sur-Serre, Pont-àBucy, Versigny, and La Fère; connecting the Laon and Hirsin line with Laon and Tergnier. Marle (6 miles.) Vervins (9 miles), on the Vilpion, a small place and sous-préfecture of 2,930 population, frequently ravaged in the civil wars of France. Henry IV. and Philip II., of Spain, made peace here, 1598. In the chapel of the hospice, founded 1570, by Jacques de Coucy, is a picture by Jouvenet (St. Charles Borromeo during the Plague of Milan); and another, by the same hand, is in the parish church. At the next stations, Hirson and Anor, junctions are made with the lines to Mézières, Givet, Charleroi, and Aulnoye (see Route 55). ROUTE 7. Paris to Creil, Beauvais, Tréport, and Gournay. By rail, 53 miles to Beauvais. Creil, as in Route 1. The intermediate stations, Mouy, Heilles, Hermes (which connects with Noailles and Persan-Beaumont), and RochyCondé, as the line ascends the Thérain, are of no importance. Then comes BEAUVAIS, 22 miles from Creil; 54 miles from Paris. HOTELS.-Du Cygne; Hôtel d'Angleterre. CHIEF OBJECTS OF NOTICE.-Cathedral-St. Etienne's Church-Hôtel de Ville-Bishop's Palace Tapestry Factory-Old Towers, in La Cité. Population, 15,550. Chief town of department instance, college, societies of agriculture and arts, Oise, and a bishopric, with a tribunale de première and manufactures, &c. It stands in a fertile valley, surrounded by vineyards, on the rivers Thérain and Avalon, which turn many mills. This very ancient place was the Roman Cesaromagus or Bellovaci, which joined the league against Cæsar, without success. It gave name to the insurrection of the "Jacquerie," in king John's time, so called after one Jacques, a man of Beauvais, who headed the mob against their feudal oppressors. The English besieged it, 1472, but were repulsed by Jean Lignière. It was again attempted by Charles the Bold, with 80,000 men, in 1472, when it was so well defended, by the valour of Jeanne Laine, or Jeanne le Hachette, and the women of the town, that they have taken precedence of the men, in an annual procession, in October, ever since. This heroine's picture and Banner are in the Hôtel de Ville; and a bronze statue was erected to her, 1851, in the Grande Place. In La Cité, the oldest part, some round towers of solid construction may be seen, as ancient as the 3rd or 4th century. The ramparts of the 12th century are laid out as promenades. You may notice a great number of timbered houses, curiously carved, with their gables turned to the narrow streets. St. Pierre Cathedral, in Rue St. Pierre, with its buttresses and pinnacles, is the great object of attraction; and was begun, 1225, but is incomplete, having no nave or steeple. The latter was overturned in a storm, 1574. A fine rose window stands over the entrance, in the south porch, which is full of niches and other ornaments. The magnificent choir is 51 feet broad, but 145 feet high! so that in this respect it exceeds that at Amiens, by 13 feet, and Westminster, by about 57 feet. It is the highest choir, or roof, perhaps, in the world. The transepts were built, 1500-55. The long narrow windows are richly stained. In the chapel is the kneeling effigy of Cardinal de Forbin Janson, by Coustou; and a piece of tapestry, the "Healing of the Paralytic." One part, called the Eglise de la Basse Euvre, on the west side, is of the 9th century. St. Etienne (St. Stephen) is a Transition church, older than the cathedral, with good stained windows of the 16th century. Formerly this town had three abbeys, seven convents, six collegiate, and thirteen parish churches, with a commandery of St. John, &c., attached to it. The Bishop's Palace, now the Préfecture, is in the castle style, with towers, &c. The Hôtel de Ville, in the Grande Place, is a fine, regular building, with an Ionic front, built 1754. There are also, a public Library, of 12,000 volumes; the Hôtel Dieu, theatre; cavalry barracks; and the government tapestry factory, founded by Colbert. L'Ile Adam, Grand Master at the siege of Rhodes, was a native. Small canals and branches of the Thérain run through the town. Its manufactures are woollens, flannels, good carpets, tapestry, shawls, linens (called demi-Hollands), felt for hats, cotton thread, black lace; and it has a commerce in grain, wine, woollen and other goods. The Germans occupied the town, 1870-1. There is an alternative line from Paris to Beauvais, 48 miles long, via St. Denis (page 11), Epinay, Ecouen, Montsoult, Persan-Beaumont, Meru (page 10), and Warluis. From Beauvais the rail is open to Gisors (21 miles)-see Route 8; Gournay (as below); and to Tréport, 115 miles from Paris, by the direct line throngh St. Omeren-Chaussée, Grandvilliers (as below), Abancourt (on the Rouen and Amiens line), Aumale, Gamaches and Eu. (See Route 2,) Rail also to Crévecœur, (see p. 7), and Amiens. [Crevecœur (12 miles north), has the fine old brick Château of its seigneurs; and in the church are good fragments of the tomb of Admiral Bonnivet, the favourite of Francis I. Grandvilliers (7 miles north-west of this, near the Amiens and Rouen line), in a wide plain, was founded, 1213, by a bishop of Beauvais, and has near it the castle of Damerancourt, a curious seven-storied building, with battlements and corner towers, 106 feet high,-and the pretty Château of Sarcus, built 1522, for one of the mistresses of Francis I.] Gournay (18 miles), or, Gournay-en-Bray, a small place on the Epte, and the Dieppe road, may be noticed as having given name to the ancestors of the Gurney family, in Norfolk. Here the rail from Pontoise and Gisors makes a junction, and is carried on to Dieppe, 46 miles further (see Route 8), Rouen is about 36 miles from Gournay, SECTION II. ROUTES TO THE NORTH-WEST AND WEST IN CONNECTION WITH THE CHEMIN DE FER DE L'OUEST, or Western Railway System of France; SUPPLYING MANTES, ROUEN, DIEPPE, HAVRE, EVREUX, CAEN, CHERBOURG, VERSAILLES, DREUX, CHARTRES, LE MANS, ALENCON, LAVAL, RENNES, AVRANCHES, ST. MALO, BREST, &c., IN THE OLD PROVINCES OF NORMANDY, MAINE, AND BRITTANY ROUTE 8. Dieppe to Rouen and Paris. By rail, 125 miles. The line comes down to the waterside landing. Trains, in 4 to 7 hours. Each passenger is allowed 18 miles, or about 60lbs. of luggage, free. From Dieppe to Rouen is a single line of rail. A direct line to Paris is open by way of Neufchâtel, Gisors, &c. DIEPPE (64 miles from Newhaven.) It was occupied by the Germans, December, 1870, to obtain supplies. About 60,000 persons yearly pass to and from England. HOTELS.-Hotel Royal, facing the sea, is a firstrate hotel, in an admirable situation. Hotel Bristol, facing the sea, and next to the Baths. D. Autin, proprietor. Grand Hotel de Dieppe (formerly Hotel Imperial), first-class hotel, on the shore, facing the sea. De la Plage, facing the sea, and close to the Baths. Grand Hotel des Bains, good in every respect. Hotel de la Paix. The Douane is at the railway station, close to the quay; baggage of travellers direct to Paris need not be examined till they get there. Resident English Vice Consul; English Church Service; and Resident Physician. Post Office, Rue de l'Epée. place, the nearest to Paris, and within six hours of Newhaven. It stands in a gap or the chalk cliffs of the Channel, where the Arques, Béthune, and Aulne fall into the sea. Close to the edge of these cliffs, on the west side, stands the old Castle, (now a barrack), rebuilt 1433, on the site of an earlier structure; the conduits for supplying water to Dieppe are in the ditch. It commands a good prospect, and overlooks the baths. June to September is the bathing season here. There are bathing machines, hot and cold baths, &c., at the Etablissement des Bains, at the east end of the cliffs, a range which includes a well laid out garden, assembly rooms, with a theatre, &c., all under the direction of a Physician Inspector. A ball every Saturday. The Harbour at the north end of the town has a narrow, sandy mouth, and is entered between two piers, one of which carries a light, or pharos, kept for more than a century by the Bouzard family, who are celebrated here for the number of drowning persons they have saved. This harbour includes an Avant Port, and floating Basin, and is scoured by means of a bassin de retenue behind. It will hold about 200 craft, up to 500 tons burden. A large street, Grande Rue, leads from the quay towards the Castle at the other end. The houses are of brick chiefly, with high-pitched roofs and bal conies, mostly built since the English bombarded it in 1694. The Barre faubourg is the quietest part Population, 20,235. A fishing port, sous-préfec- The old walls are left. There are six Places or ture (department of Seine-Inférieure), and bathing-squares the principal, or Place Nationale, having a OBJECTS OF NOTICE.-The Castle-PharosBaths-Statue of Duquesne-the Pollet-Churches of St. Remi and St. Jacques. |