partly gone), and its equally ancient spire Church, which combines the Norman, Gothic, and later styles. Pass Morville château and Hanches church, to Maintenon (5 miles), in the fertile valley of the Eure (here crossed by a fine viaduct on 32 arches) where the Vaise joins it, gave title of Marchioness de Maintenon to the widow of Scarron, whom Louis XIV. privately married at Versailles. A square, and several round high-peaked towers, most picturesquely grouped, are seen in the moated Château, now belonging to the Duc de Noailles, but in part as old as Philippe Auguste's time. They show Madame's portrait (by Mignard), and her bed-room, also the rooms of Louis XIV., and Charles X., who spent a night here after his abdication. These are carefully preserved by the duke. The chapel has some stained glass of the 15th cent.

At the end of the noble Park, are Druid stones called the Berceau (cradle), the Pierres de Gargantua, &c. The remains of an Aqueduct, begun from PontGouin, about 60 kil. west-south-west, up the Eure, 1684-8, by Louis XIV., to supply Versailles with water are also seen, supported by 47 or 48 arches or piles, above 80 feet high, and to make which 30,000 troops and masons were sometimes employed. One avenue of the Park is named after Racine, who is said to have composed in it. Colin d'Harleville, the comic writer, was born here. Pop., 2,200.

Coaches to Nogent-le-Roi, and Dreux.
[NOGENT-LE-ROI (10 kil.), down the Eure, was so
called after Philip de Valois (who died here,
1350), and suffered much in the civil and reli-
gious wars. The English, under Salisbury,
carried it sword in hand, in the time of Henry
V. of England.

see an enormous brick donion (now used as a telegraph), a ruined chapel, with sculptures as old as 1142, and a highly-finished modern Chapel in the Greek style, built by Louis Philippe. Here his family are buried, including his mother (who began the chapel), his aunt the Duchesse de Condé-Bourbon (the poor Duc d'Enghien's mother), his sister, Madame Adelaide (died 1847), his son, the Duc d'Orleans (killed 1842), his daughter, Marie of Würtemberg, &c. A high tower close to it leads by a subterranean way to the chapel.

On the plain close by, in the battle of 1562, the
Calvinists, under the Prince of Condé and Co-
ligny, were defeated by the Royalists, under
Montmorency, after a severe action, Condé being
taken prisoner.

Rotrou, a dramatic writer; Philidor, the chess-
player; and General Sénarmont, were born here.
Hotels-Du Paradis; du Lion d'Or (Golden Lion);
du Saumon (Salmon).
Coaches to Evreux, &c.

About 15 or 20 kil. north-east, down the Eure, are
Anet and Ivry (see Route 8).-Up the Blaise
(10 kil. south-west), are remains of Crecy château,
built by Louis XIV., for Madame de Pom-
padour.]

Jouy (51 miles), up the fertile valley of the Eure.
At 41 miles beyond, with the cathedral full in view,
after crossing the river on a three-arch bridge, and
the ravine of the Vauroux, by a viaduct on eighteen
arches, is
CHARTRES,

Abuffet, 54 miles from Paris, 178 miles from Rennes.
HOTELS.-Du Grand Monarque; Du Duc de

Near Le Péage (8 kil. west-south-west), is a cromlech Chartres; Restaurant de l'Ouest.
of one stone on two others.

DREUX (17 kil.) further, in a fertile part of the Blaise, near the Eure, is a well built sous-préfecture of 6,800 pop., who make cloth, hats, linens, &c.; and stands under a hill covered by the remains of its old castle. It was the capital of the Durocasses in Caesar's time; Louis le Gros gave it to his son Robert; it was burnt by the English (being on the border of Normandy) 1188, and taken by Henry IV., 1593, after repeated assaults.

The pâtés des Chartres, at Lemoine's, corner of Rua de Cygne, are of hereditary celebrity.

OBJECTS OF NOTICE.-Cathedral-Hotel de Ville Porte Guillaume - St. André's Church Museum.

Pop. 18,230. The chief town of department Eureet-Loire, seat of atribunal, bishopric, &c., in the fertile corn plain of the Beauce, on a hill (crowned by its noble cathedral), over the Eure, which runs round the old ramparts, now turned into public walks. The other promenades are near St. Pierre's Church and Places des Epares or des Barricades, &c. Basse Ville, or Lower Town, is full of narrow streets and Gothia

The Church is early and later Gothic. The square Hôtel de Ville, a mixture of Gothic and Renaissance, has a curious chimney and a carved clock-looking houses of wood, with their gables to the tower. There are also a college, good hospital, and several timbered houses.

Of the old Château, which Catherine de Medicis gave to her son, the Duc de Alençon, 1559, you

front, and is joined by very steep ascents to Haute Ville, where the best buildings are found. Among these are the vast and imposing

Cathedral of Notre Dame, built 1026-1260, in the shape

after the cathedral architect) is the new Cattle Market. In Rue des Êcuyer is a curiously carved circular house, with a spiral staircase winding round the exterior from top to bottom.

Of its seven gates, Porte Guillaume, with its old machicolated towers, remains; and there are some traces of aqueducts made by the Romans, who called this place Autricum, when it was the capital of the Carnutes. The Northmen attacked it under their leader, Hastings, and again under Rollo, the founder of Normandy. It gave title of duke to the Orleans family.

Nicole, one of the Port Royal writers, and the advocate Pétion, were born here A very large market for corn and flour every Saturday, lasting an hour, when six millions of quintals are sold. Leather, woollens, are made.

of a cross, 422 feet long, 208 broad through the tran- | des Changes. In Rue Jean de Beauce (so named sept, and 113 to the roof. It is calculated that 15,000 persons might easily stand within the walls, allowing a square yard to each, The front, 160 feet broad, consists of a noble triple portal between two towers of equal breadth with it. One tower has a plain spire 364 feet high; the other, to the north, 402 feet high, is later built (1514), and in a more florid style, by Jean de Beauce. Three entrances, covered with carvings of prophets and apostles, are in the portal, which is 40 feet by 30, and recessed 18 feet, having statues in the jambs, with a fine rose window above. Above this is an open gallery from tower to tower, then 17 kings in niches; above these the Virgin and Child, and a figure of Christ over all, on the apex of the roof. Two other ornamented porches and rose windows are in the north and south sides. The nave is 239 feet long, but the interior is dark, on account of the painted windows, of which there are 130. A beautifully carved screen of the 15th or 16th cent., leads to the choir, which has 45 niches in it, and a multitude of sculptures, besides bas-reliefs of the Descent from the Cross and the Presentation, by Bridan; another over the altar by the same artist, of the Assumption of the Virgin, was saved at the Revolution by having a cap of liberty put on her head. Bishop Fulbert's crypt and chapels of the older foundations are below. It is worth notice that there are 1,800 statues on the exterior, 2,000 in the interior, besides 500 figures in the windows. One statue, the Vierge Noire, is a great object of worship. In the bishop's garden is the stone coffin of St. Chalétric, bishop here in the 6th cent. An Hôtel Dieu stands in the cloisters, of the 18th cent.

St. Andre's large old church, in Basse Ville, of the th century, is a store house; St. Pierre's, lately a barrack, but now restored for public worship, belonged to the Benedictines, and has some stained windows. The Préfecture stands in a good garden. At the Hôtel de Ville (near the corn market), which was formerly Hôtel Montécot, and originally the Ursuline convent, the Museum is kept, with several objects of natural history, Charlemagne's glass, Phillippe le Bel's armour, and the sword of General Marceau. The latter was a native, and a pillar, erected to him in Place Marceau or the herb market (where the old palace of the dukes stood), states that he was "Soldat à 16 ans, Général à 23. Il mourut à 27,"— at the battle of Altenkirchen.

The public library contains 30,000 volumes and 1,000 MSS. There is a theatre, formerly the old church of St. Foy; also a college, normal school, school of design, public baths, and a bridge, by Vauban. The old Gothic Hôtel de Ville remains standing in Rue

Conveyances: by coach, to Orleans (80 kil.) Châteauneuf-en-Themerais, (24 kil. north-west), Illiers (25 kil. south-west), Brou (13 kil. further), Bonneval, Châteaudun, and Courtalain.

[At MORANCEZ (5 kil.) is a very old church, having
no side chapel, but a Lombard porch and but-
tresses in front. It is supposed to be at least
of the 10th cent.
BONNEVAL (31 kil. south-south-west), a pretty
place of 2,800 pop. on the Loir, having a church
with a good spire, and a mill which was
once a Benedictine college. Coudreaux, which
belonged to Ney, is near; and there are several
Druid stones (called menhirs, dolmen, &c.) in the
neighbourhood. One dolmen near Baudouin
mill on the river, towards St. Germain, is 12 feet
long; another of 10 feet, is on the Houssay road,
besides peulvans, or ring stones.

CHÂTEAUDUN (14 kil. further), the ancient Castel

lodunum, and a sous-préfecture of 6,750 population, in the valley of the Loire, was rebuilt after the fire of 1723, on a regular plan. It has a square where you command a view of the whole town; also remains of a convent (now the sous-préfect's house), and the old tower of the Castle of Thibaut-le-Tricheur (the cheater or tricker), Count of Dunois, built in the 10th century. It is 96 feet high and 188 round. J. Toulain, the inventor of painting on enamel, was born here.

From this, vid Tournoisin, it is 48 kil. to Orleans.-Vendôme is 40 kil. further; and 56 kil. beyond that is Tours (see Route 35).-Blois is 32 kil. from Vendôme.]

Across the wide but well-cultivated plain of La Beauce to

Courville (11 miles), on a hill, in a fertile part of the Eure valley, once a marquisate in the Sully family. Pop. 1,650.

[VILLEBON (7 kil. south), has the fine old feudal brick Castle, with towers, moats, battlements," &c., in which Sully, the great minister of Henry IV., died 1641. It preserves its ancient decorations and furniture, with the staircases, chapel, picture gallery, &c., all worth notice.]

Courville is near Louis XIV.'s aqueduct, which begins at the next station,

Pontgouin (5 miles), on the Eure, and was. completed as far as Maintenon, following a zigzag course of upwards of 30 miles. The châteaux of Vaux and la Rivière, belonging to the Marquis d'Aligre, are near this station.

La Loupe (6 miles), has a trade in grain and cattle, and gave birth to the learned Vincent de la Loupe, of the 16th cent. The rail crosses a dried-up lake near the station, on an embankment; and beyond it, is one of the greatest works on the line a vast cutting through a rock of silex and ferruginous earth, 2 miles and 854 yards long, and about 50 feet deep. One-half is on a level, the other on an incline; and the whole length is crossed by six viaducts for roads passing over the line. In the middle, where, the hill lies deepest, is a tunnel of 5,700 feet, drained by a network of wells and subterranean aqueducts. About 1,200 men were employed for several years on this colossal work, by whom a colony was extemporized, called "Nouveau Monde," near the site of the Duchesse de Verneuil's castle. M. Ducos was the engineer, and Messrs. Hunebelle were the contractors for this work. The next station is

Bretoncelles (6 miles), in the district of le Perche and department of Orne, near Butte de Château (in Saussaye forest) and the old castle of Launay, now a farm-house. The railway has a rival here in a Roman road, called the Rue Ferrêe (Stone or Metalled Street). It follows the Corbionne, to

Conde-sur-Huisne (4 miles), near which is a seat of Comte de Baulny, and the old castle of Montlandon. Coach to Mortagne.

[MORTAGNE (30 kil. west-north-west), a sous-préfecture of 4,950 souls, once a strong place, and the capital of the Perche, is on a hill over the Chippe, and was founded by Yves de Bellême 968, who strengthened it by a double moat, forts, &c. In the wars of the League it was pillaged twenty-two times. The streets are steep; has the old Gothic Church of St. Jean, with richly carved culs-de-lampe (pendants) in the vaulting of the nave. The hospice was founded, D

1523, by Margaret de Lorraine. There are large market halls, a prison, public fountains, &c. Manufactures of hemp, strong linens, sheep skins, &c. The old church of the Capucins is now a linen factory. Its langues fourrécs, or stuffed tongues, are noted..

Hotels.-Des Trois Lions; de la Bouteille.
About 6 kil. from it, near the road to Soligny is
the old Romanesque church of Champs, with
stained windows.

SOLIGNY-LA-TRAPPE (12 kil. north), in a sandy
spot, has remains of the Cistercian abbey
of La Trappe, founded in the 12th cent., by
Rotrou II., Count of Perche, reformed by the
severe discipline of Abbé de Rancé, 1666, and
suppressed at the Revolution. After taking
shelter in Switzerland, the Trappists settled in
England, and returned here 1815, but in 1824,
on a dispute with the bishop, moved to Meille-
raye.]

Nogent-le-Rotrou (4 kil.), a sous-préfecture in department Eure-et-Loir, of 7,000 pop., on the Huisne (which has a fall at the entrance of the town), under a rocky hill, crowned by remains of famous Duc de Sully, whose tomb, with that of his of Perche, and the wife, is at the Hôtel Dieu, founded by Count Rotrou. The old church of St. Hilaire, and the remains of St. Denis' monastery, deserve notice. Excellent trout and cray fish are caught in the pretty valley of

a Castle of the Counts

the Arcisse.

[BELLESME (about 20 kil. west-north-west), in a forest, has the Herse mineral waters (2 kil.) near it, discovered 1607, rising out of a fountain marked by a Roman inscription (?)]

Le Thiel (6 miles), formerly Tilium, was burnt by the English, in 1424, and again by Sully, who took it for Henry IV., in 1594. It stands in department Orne, which we now leave for that of Sarthe, and pass through a pastoral country, to

La Ferte Bernard (3 miles), on the Huisne, and so called from a corruption of forte (strong). It was one of the keys of France when the English held Normandy. It is a miniature town, having a moat round its ancient battlemented walls, a castlelike gate, with two solid high-peaked towers, now used for prisons, Hôtel de Ville, and a fine Gothic Church of the 16th cent., looking like a cathedral. It is 190 feet by 70, and 80 high to the vault, or about 160 to the low spire over the west front, which, as well as the sides, is supported by tall buttresses. The windows are finely stained. Notice also the Halles in the town, built 1535. The English, under Salisbury, took La Ferté, 1424, and it was given

(About 19 kil. west, is BONNÉTABLE a town of 5,100 pop., in a fertile spot, having the old Castle of its seigneurs, surmounted by six towers, and ornamented inside with wood carvings and

portraits.

The

up to the Prince of Conti, 1590. Pop., 2,620. Linen tagenet, whose son, Henry II., was born here, 1133. is made. Coach to Mamers. It was, of course, often attacked in the early times of French history, until the English were finally disIn 1793, it was occupied by possessed, in 1447. Larochejaquelin and 60.000 Vendéans, who were driven out with great slaughter by Marceau. Chouans also took it at their rising, in 1799. Three bridges cross the Sarthe. Pont Yssoir joins Gourdane quarter to that of the Pre; Pont Perrin leads to St. Jean, and Pont Napoleon is opposite Place des Halles, the largest square in the city, where the hotels and cafés are found. Another square, called Place des Jacobins, and planted with poplars, was the site of a convent, and of a Roman amphi

MAMERS (32 kil. north-west), a sous préfecture of 6,000 population, in department Orne, on the Dive, having a Church founded 1145, and restored 1831, and an old convent, now the mairie, &c. Some ditches, called after Robert le Diable, are traced; and at 6 kil. off, is a Roman camp. To

the north are the ruined walls and arches of

Persaignes Abbey, founded 1145, by the counts of

Alençon, who were buried here till 1377. Abbé
Rancé, who reformed the Trappists, was a monk

in this abbey.]

theatre; Place du Greffier is a walk by the Sarthe,

near the quais, with prospects of the fertile country beyond, and the station at one end of it. The best part of the town is up the hill, that on the river being a collection of narrow, steep, and dirty streets. The

Sceaux (54 miles) on the Huisne. The next sta- houses are of stone and slate; many old buildings tion,

are in Grande Rue, Place du Château, Rue des ChaConnerre (5 miles), is near Dollon, so called after noines, &c. An ancient seat of the Knights Templars a dolmen or cromlech, of one stone, 20 feet long, rest-yet remains, and there are four or five modern founing on eight others. Before you reach this, you leave tains, one of which was opened 1854, on a part of the on the right, at Croix-de-Fer, another dolmen called ancient town walls. the Pierre-de-Vouvray, near which coins have been Lound; some of a Gaulish character, called pixtilos. Pont de Gennes (63 miles), was originally Pons Hiogenæ, after a Roman bridge, since replaced by a later one, on the Huisne, near the new railway

viaduct.

St. Julien's Cathedral, 446 feet long, is on the site of a Roman temple, of which traces are said to be visible in the oldest part, the Norman nave, which is of the 10th and 11th cents., and has a good south door. The fine lofty choir and the transepts are of

the 13th to 15th cents., the former being 106 feet high. A square tower, ornamented with niches, &c., stands St. Mars la Bruyere (4) miles), is in a wide over one transept, 217 feet from the ground, or 331 tract of what was once a mere heath (bruyère).

from the river. The fine rose and other windows are

Yvre-l'Eveque (2 miles), was a country seat beautifully stained; in one of the thirteen side chapels

of the bishops of Mans, in a large park.

We follow the Huisne to Pontlieue (so called from an old bridge) in the suburbs of Mans, of which the large and important station, with its workshops, magazines, &c., is 4 miles from the last station.

LE MANS,

A buffet, 130 miles from Paris, 1012 from Rennes. Here the branch line to Alençon and Mézidon (on the Cherbourg line) turns off (see Route 16).

are monuments of Richard Coeur de Lion's queen, Berengaria, whose tomb was brought here, 1821, from the abbey of Epau (now a linen factory, 4 kil. off), which she founded; and of Charles IV. of Anjou, L. Dubellay, &c. A carved house in Grande Rue is called Queen Berengaria's. Near the cathedral is the Grabatoire, a house with spires and a peaked roof, once used by the canons. The first bishop of Mans was St. Julien, in the 3rd cent. At No. 1, in Rue St. Michel,

HOTELS.-Le Dauphin; De la Boule d'Or; De close by, lived Scarron, the comic writer, who held a France; De l'Europe; De l'Ouest; Du Maine.

OBJECTS OF NOTICE.-Cathedral-Churches of La Couture and Nôtre Dame.

Pop., 27,200. This chief town of department Sarthe, seat of a bishopric, &c., on a hill-side, by the Sarthe, near the junction of the Huisne or Huin, was the Roman Suidunum, or capital of the Cenomanni (whence the modern name), afterwards of the province of Maine, which was held by Geoffrey Plan

canonry here, till he married his wife, who afterwards, as Madame de Maintenon, became mistress and wife of Louis XIV.

La Couture Church is partly Norman and partly Gothic, of the 11th and 13th cents.; it has a good west portal (with carvings of the Judgment), and an ancient crypt. The Abbey buildings near it are used as the Préfecture, which contains a library of 45,000 vols., with 500 MSS., also a gallery of paintings

(including a portrait on copper of Geoffrey Plantagenet), | ancient church, begun in the 13th cent., is close to and a museum of natural history, armour, Roman it. A fine view from here. stones, &c., besides an Egyptian mummy.

Manufactures of cotton, woollen, wax candles, black soap, leather, paper, and beer; and a trade in these, and in cattle, fruit, fat poultry, grain, cloverseed, wine, eaux-de-vie, and honey. Conveyances: to Tours, Blois, and Angers, on the early times. A beautiful bas-relief of the Sepulchre Nantes rail.