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whither Joan of Arc went, 1429, to fetch the sword of Charles Martel, with which he slew the infidels. The Marquis de Lussac is proprietor. The church is in the Renaissance style of Francis I.

commerce, lives in Louis XI.'s old Gothic chancel- | Poitou), near the château of Comonacre, or Comacro. lerie, Hotel Gouin, in Rue de Commerce, which he has restored. Another house, in Rue des Trois Pucelles, is called Maison de Tristans l'Hermite; but it is not so old as Louis XI.'s provost-marshal. They show in the town a block of stone (a remnant of some Roman building), said to be the tomb of Turnus, its reputed founder. A Roman wall and an amphitheatre have been traced, by M. Courtigis. At St. Radegonde (3 kil.) are some remains of Marmoutiers abbey, founded in the 4th cent.

Tours is the native place of Destouches the comic writer, Duchesne the geographer, Heurteloup the mayor, Alfred de Vigny, &c. The famous Battle of Tours was fought, 732, some think, at Miré (15 kil. south-west), near Artanes; here Charles Martel (i.e. Charles the Hammer) defeated Abd-el-rahman and lis Saracen hosts, who, having conquered Spain, had thus far overrun France. But for this check, "the Koran (says Gibbon) might have been taught in the schools of Oxford to a circumcised people."

Manufactures of silk stuffs, or gros de Tours, which flourished till the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, (when the pop. fell from 80,000 to 33,000), ribbons, lace, carpets, muslins, pottery, powder, wax candles, soap, saltpetre, &c.; and a trade also in grain, wine (of Vouvray, &c.), spirits, dry fruits, and chesnuts. The large printing aud bookbinding establishment of Mame and Co., in Rue de l'Intendance, deserves a visit, as do also Avisseau's potteries.

The railway goes on to Angers and Nantes, as in Route 36, and to Le Mans, as in Route 39, Coaches to Château-Lavallière, La Châtre, and Loches.

ROUTE 35-Continued,

Towards Poitiers and Bordeaux. Four trains, in 7 to 10 hours. Leaving Tours, you pass the châteaux of Caude and La Roche, and some deep cuttings and embankments, to the great viaduct across the valley of the Indre, 31,120 feet long, 70 high, on 57 arches.

Monts (8 miles), on the Indre. Coaches to Artannes (near the field of Miré, as above mentioned), Esvres, Montbazon, Pont-de-Ruan, Vergné. MONTBAZON (5 kil. east), up the Indre, has an old castle, built in the 11th cent., by Foulques de Néra, Count of Anjou. Near it are Couziers château, where Louis XIII. was reconciled to his mother, Catherine de Medicis, and the Ripault powder and sugar works.] Villeperdue (5 miles). A little beyond is the old village of Ste. Catherine-de-Fierbras (so called from Guillaume Fier-à-bras, or strong arın, Count of

St. Maure (7 miles), on a branch of the Vienne, called the Manse, which is traversed by a short viaduct, 112 feet high, on 15 arches. There is a do! men of six stones here. The old château de Brau is in sight. Coaches to Chinon (see Route 36), Courcoué Latour-St.-Gélin, Ligneil, L'Isle-Bouchard, Richelier St. Espain.

At Isle-Bouchard (13 kil.), near the Vienne, ig another dolmen, and the curious Romanesque chapel of St. Leonard.

[RICHELIEU (25 kil. south-west), on the Amable,
belonged to the father of Armand du Plessis,
the famous Cardinal Richelieu, whose seat here,
which he enlarged and beautified, was pulled
down at the Revolution. It was made the head
of a dukedom, 1631, and the town was rebuilt
by him a little while after.]
Port-de-Piles (6 miles), on the Creuse.
[HAYE-DESCARTES (7 miles south-east), higher up
the river, so called (since 1802) from the philoso-
pher, Descartes, who was born here, 1596. They
show the house, with his bust, &c. To the east
of it is Gralmoont, the old seat of Louis XI.'s
gossip, Tristan l'Hermite.]

Les Ormes (3 miles), in department Vienne, has a fine château of the Argensons, surmounted by a column 80 feet high, with a staircase in it, whence there is a wide prospect over the Vienne, &c.

[At PREUILLY (33 kil. south-east), beyond the
Vienne, are the remains of the castle of the Pre-
mier Barons of Touraine, and a good abbey
church, founded 1001. Pop., 2,370.]
Dange (2 miles), on the Vienne.
Ingrandes (5 miles), up the same river.
[GUERCHE (13 kil. east), on the Creuse, has the
chateau of Agnes Sorel, and a church of the 16th
cent.]

Chatellerault (6 miles), a sous préfecture is department Vienne (pop., 11,580), and seat of the government arms-factory. Here about 20,000 firearms, and 3,500 armes blanches, i. e., swords and bayonets, are made yearly. Inferior cutlery, grindstones, paste diamonds, &c., are branches of local trade on the Vienne, which a good bridge crosses, with an old four-turreted gate at one end. It stands among pleasant hills and gardens, and has the Gothic church of St. Jean, a salle-de-spectacle, &c. The Duke of Hamilton claims to be Duke of Châtellerau't through the title conferred on his ancestor, the

Regent Arran, for negociating the marriage of Mary | ance, with its gardens and meadows, but the streets Stuart. are crooked, dirty, and steep; and the houses mean

Hotels.-De l'Esperance (the Hope); De la Tete though interesting from their antiquity. Some reNoire.

Steamer, in summer, early in the morning. down the Vienne and Loire, to Tours, Saumur, Angers, Nantes. Coaches to Aux-Angles, Plumartin, Le Blanc, and Montmorillon (see below); Laroche and Izeure. Cenon (4 kil.), as well as Moussay (on the Clain), is another supposed site of the Saracens' defeat by Charles Martel, at what is called the Battle of Tours. [LAROCHE, or ROCHE-POZAY (23 kil. east-south east), on the Creuse, where the Gartempe joins, has some cold sulphur waters (discovered 1573), in the limestone, which are taken between July and September, and are useful in scrofula, skin diseases, intermittent fever, &c. To the northeast of it is

BOUSSAY (with an old camp), where General Menon, who succeeded Kléber in Egypt, was born. MIREBEAU (28 kil. west-south-west of Chatellerault), the old capital of Mirebelais, had a castle, built by Foulques Néra, in which Henry of England's widow, Eleanor, was besieged by her grandson, Arthur.]

mains of the Gothic walls are left, pierced by six gates, four of which lead out to the Clain. That on the south, Porte de la Tranchée, takes you to the Parc de Blossac walk, on the rise of the opposite hill, whence there is a fine prospect; beyond, at the hermitage, are four arches of a Roman aqueduct, called the Arcs de Parigny, which supplied the Arènes, or amphitheatre, the ruins of which are in the court-yard of hôtel d'Evreux. Its length was upwards of 500 feet. Cæsar called this place Limonum; it was then the capital of the Pictavi, who gave name both to it and the province.

The Vandals, Visigoths, Saracens, and Normans, took it in succession, but the most memorable event, to an Englishman, is the famous Battle of 1356 (fought at Cardinerie, a few miles to the south-west) in which Edward III., his son, the Black Prince, and Chandos, with 14,000 men (4,000 of whom were archers), defeated 50,000 French, taking prisoners king John and his son, with an archbishop, and seventy nobles, besides men-at arms, leaving 11,000 French counts, barons, knights, &c., dead on the field; the English loss being

Les-Barres-le-Naintre (3 miles), near the 2,400 killed. By the treaty of Bretigny, four years remains of a Roman mansio,

La Tricherie (3 miles).

after, it was given, with the province, to the English, but was recovered by Duguesclin, 1372. The Hugue.

Dissais (2 miles), on the Clain, is known for its nots held it for a time in 1562; and it was besieged, red wines. It has an old church, &c.

in 1569, by Coligny (without success) before his defeat at Montcontour. They show, on the Clain's banks,

Clan (2 miles), higher up the Clain. Chasseneuil (14 mile), in the pretty valley of the grotto of Calvin, where he used to meet his the same river.

At 5 miles further is

POITIERS, or Poictiers.

A buffet, 209 miles from Paris, 1531 from Bordeaux. The station is not far from the old Castle, in the valley of the Boivre.

HOTELS.-De l'Europe; De France; Des Piliers.

disciples. In modern days, Poitiers is remarkable for the attempted rising of General Berton, in 1822, for which he was executed.

The Palais de Justice, in Rue des Cordeliers, on the hill, includes part of the seat of the counts of Poitou, such as Maubergeon tower, and the Salle des Gardes, Trois-a timber-roofed hall, in a half-Norman style, 162 feet long. It was rebuilt, 1395, after the English had

Post Office, in Place d'Armes, where the best hotels burnt it. Here Charles VII. was proclaimed king of are found.

Population, 24,000.

OBJECTS OF NOTICE.-Roman arches - Palais de Justice Maison de la Prévôte-Cathedral Churches of Radegond, Montierneuf, St. Hilaire, Nôtre Dame, &c. - Baptistry of St. Jean-Pierre Levée-Field of Cardinerie.

A very old city, capital of department Vienne and the old province of Poitou, seat of a cour impèriale, university, college, bishopric, &c., on a rocky height, about 130 feet above the Clain, where the Boivre joins, and, with the other, almost surrounds it. As you look at the town it has a most picturesque appear

France, when he was little more than "Roi de Bourges." At the corner of Rues de St. Paul and du Coy is a house in which Diana de Poitiers lived. The Préfecture was the old bishop's palace, and offers nothing remarkable. The Hotel de Ville, is the headquarters of the Commune, a corporation, as old as 1199; and a University, founded by Charles VII, in 1431, is now represented by a Faculté des Lettres, which, with the Ecole de Droit, founded 1431, have a place in the ancient Hôtel Dieu, opposite Nôtre Dame. Here also are various collections, including the public archives, the Bibliothèque of 25,000 vols., and 300 MSS. (missals, &c.), with museums of Natural history pic

tures, and antiquities; open daily. There is a bust, by David, to M. Boncenne, the lawyer, who died 1840. The Maison de la Prévôte, a curious house of the 15th cent., in that street, is now used as an École chrétienne; another of the same age is in the Rue de l'Arceau; and in Rue du Marché stands one in the Rennaissance style. The ancient Jurisdiction Consulaire, in Rue de la Mairie, was built by a native, Girpuard, who is the author of the portal of the Augustine church, in Place d'Armes. Poitiers is remarkable for many old churches, most of which have been carefully renovated, of late years.

St. Pierre's Cathedral, in a mixed Romanesque and Gothic style, was begun about 1042, carried on by Henry II. of England, in 1152, and finished in 1379, except part of the front, which is as late as the 15th cent., and has two towers and a rose window. Length 323 feet, by 100 wide, and 97 feet high, to the vault of the nave, which stands on sixteen pillars, and is strengthened by buttresses. It contains painted windows, a fine organ by Cliquot, a good choir, and has immensely thick east walls. At the Seminary for priests, in the old Cordeliers' convent, is a good library of 10,000 vols and MSS., with a figure of a winged dragon, called Grand Gueule, which used to be carried in procession during Rogation days, and swallowed the offerings of the faithful. At Rouen such a monster is called Gargouille, for a similar reason, namely, his having a capacious throat.

Close to the Cathedral is the church of Ste. Radé gonde (Clotaire's wife), a narrow Romanesque building of the 12th cent., with a carved portal of the 15th cent., a good nave, unsupported by pillars, an ancient sacristy, the Pas de Dieu chapel, and a crypt, where they show the tomb of the saint, as well as of St. Agnes, first abbess of St. Croix, before which lights are kept perpetually burning.

A little further, is the very ancient rectangular baptistry of St. Jean, built in the 4th or 5th cent. (some say the 3rd, as a Roman temple). lately used as a musée of antiquities, and now in course of restoration. Another old church is that of Montierneuf, built 1076-96, as part of a Benedictine abbey, founded by Guy Geoffry, Count of Poitiers; a mixture, like the rest, of the round and pointed styles, except the choir, which was rebuilt in the 14th cent., and contains a modern tomb to the founder. It stands near the large cavali barracks, and Pont de Rochereuil, in the north division of the town.

In Place dr Marché is the Roma.

Church of

ôtre Dame la Grande, which some fix in the 9th cent., and some in the 10th; it has a rich and highly curious front, carved with statues and sculptures, of Adam and Eve, the Annunciation, Christ in the Manger,

&c.; and inside a bas-relief of the Resurrection; a brass reading-desk and a pulpit are worth notice. St. Porchaire has a tower of the 11th cent., and a carved front, with the tomb of its saint. Near Grande Porte and the railway station, is part of St. Hilaire. built 1049, on the site of one by Clovis, in honour of Pope Hilary, and burnt, 863, by the Normans; it contains a Romanesque apse, the saint's shrine, (which holds part of his skull and arm bone!), and some statues commemorating the deliverance of the town from the English, 1202. St. Triaise offers a front of the 11th cent. In the Cordeliers' church, Madame de Montespan was buried. The Lyceum or college, founded by Henry IV., in 1608, has a chapel worth notice, near the usine à gaz.

There are also the schools of medicine and design, a female deaf and dumb school (école de sourdesmuettes), public baths, a well built theatre, botanic garden, and pepiniére or nursery (on the Cours), with a large hospital. Rev. M. Poupot is Protestant pastor here.

Paper, and a few woollen and cotton caps (at Eiard), are made. Trade in wool, paper, iron, grain, wine, spirits, honey, stone, &c., the produce of the neighbourhood.

For the branch rail to Rochefort, &c., see Route 37. Coaches to Le Blanc (59 kil.); Limoges (121 kil.)

Some points of interest near this are-the Pierre Levée, or druid stone (2 kil. south-east), 33 feet long, noticed by Rabelais. It stands near the Clain, on five low pillars, and is inscribed with names as far back as the 16th cent., among which is Mercator. The Cardinerie (6 kil.) near Noaillé abbey ruins, where the battle of Maupertuis (as the French historians call the battle of Poitiers), was fought. St. Benoit abbey ruins, near another famous rock, Passée lourdin, celebrated by Rabelais. Also, Beruges (8 kil. west), with its Roman vaults, Fleury aqueduct, an I Guienne tower; and the Cistercian abbey of Pin (12 kil. west), now a thread factory, near the castle of Montreuil-Romien, which belonged to the dukes of Aquitaine, the Lusignans, &c., and was the residence of Coeur-de-Lion, Duguesclin, the Montmorencies, &c. [At VOUILLÉ, or Vougé, or Voulon, on the Auzance,

below Latille, 16 kil. west of Poitiers, Clovis, in
the battle of 507, defeated Alaric II. (who was
killed), and his Visigoths, and finally drove them
out of Gaul.

CHAUVIGNY (23 kil. west), on the Vienne, offers
remains of castles and a curious old church, of
the same age as St. Savin, which is 16 kil. be-
yond, and has an old Norman-style church, with
ancient wall paintings of the 10th cent.
At 50 kil. south-south-east, is

[About 42 kil. east, is the sous-préfecture of CONFOLENS (pop. 2,070), at the old bridge on the Vienne, where the Goire joins, having the square tower of its ancient castle, and a library of 13,000 volumes. Trade in cattle, which are grazed here, timber for shipping, &c. Hotel,-Courteau La

MONTMORILLON, a sous-préfecture (pop., 3,700), on the Gartempe, in a pretty spot, but ill-built, having a seminary, hospital, &c.; and noted for its biscuits and macaroons. Paper and linen are also made. It is further remarkable for a Chapel or temple, partly Romanesque, eight-sided and vaulted, over a vault or crypt lit with narrow slits. Four quaint groups, of thirteen figures, are carved above the chapel door, composed of women holding snakes and toads to their breasts, young and bearded men, a man and woman kissing, &c., and supposed to represent the Vices and other emblems. Hotel. -Du Grand Monarque.]

Leaving Poitiers for Angoulême (a part opened 1853), you pass through a tunnel, of 984 feet in the town rock, to the Clain, which is still ascended by the rail, with a succession of bridges, cuttings, and embankments.

St. Benoit (1 miles).

Liguge (about 3 miles), on the Clain, was once the seat of St. Martin de Tours, who here founded the earliest monastery in western Europe. Then another tunnel at Brachées, of 1,407 feet.

Vivonne (8 miles), up the Clain, where the Vonne joins. A good trade in woollens, grain, &c. Pop., 2,850.

Couhe Verac (8 miles), on the Dive.
Epauvilliers (4) miles).

Civray (5 miles), a sous-préfecture (2,400 pop.), in department Vienne, in a rich hollow on the Charente, includes an old château, in the faubourg across the river, and has a large, ancient, and curiously carved church, of the 12th cent. Trade in woollens, truffles, corn, chesnuts, walnuts, cattle, &c. Hotel.-De France.

[CHERVOUX, 10 kil. east, (past the Camp des Anglais, 3 kil.), has some fine ruins of a church, belonging to a monastery founded by Charlemagne, in 785. At Availles, 20 kil. east-south-east of this, on the Vienne, is a good cold sulphur spring; it has a trade in wine and mill-stones.] Ruffec (8 miles), on the little rivulet Liain, (which produces good trout), is a sous-préfecture in depart ment Charente, (pop., 3,650), in a grass and corn country, noted for its truffles and partridge pies, chesnuts, and cream cheeses.

Hotel.-des Ambassadeurs.

The church is of the 11th cent. Near it are the Condac windmills and several forges, and the old château of Broglie, in a large forest. Plans tunnel, which next succeeds, is 1,640 feet long, and is near the ancient church of Courcôme. Several deep cuttings are passed in this part of the line.

grange.

Half-way to Germains, 2 kil. down the river, is the island of St. Madelire, having a pagan temple, excavated in the rock, about 39 feet by 10, and near it, a cromlech of nine tons, resting on four pillars, of Grison stone, a sort of granite found here. It has an altar and benetière, for the use of the priest on the saint's fète day.] Moussac (5 miles) is near Les Négres, on the Lien, opposite Verteuil château, a seat of the dukes of Rochefoucauld, lately restored. It was once occupied by the English. Here Louis XIII. staid in 1616, on his return from Bordeaux. The next station,

Luxe (5 miles), is not far from Mansle, on the Liain, where it joins the Charente, which runs through green meadows, under a high stone bridge. Luxé has a trade in grain, wine, and spirits. Pop. 900. Cross the Charente on a bridge of 4

arches. Then comes

Vars (9 miles), on the Charente, 6 miles from the old abbey Church (built 1170), of Amand de Boixe. Hereabouts the sons of Chilperic were killed in fighting against Sigebert, in 576.

[ROCHEFOUCAULD (about 20 kil. west), a place

of 3,000 souls, on the Tardoire, having an old
château in the Renaissance style, with peaked
towers at the corners, where the Duc de la
Rochefoucauld, author of "Les Maximes," was
born, 1613. Several caves are found along the
banks of the river.]

At 9 miles further (across the Touvre) is
ANGOULEME.

A buffet, 280 miles from Paris. The station in faubourg de l'Houmeau, is the old Marine School, remodelled for the purpose. In this faubourg are several works for paper, sugar, spirits, pottery, &c.

HOTELS.-Grand Hotel du Palais; first-rate hotel

for families and gentlemen. A buffet at the Station.

Grand Hotel des Postes, Rue du Palais.
Population, 16,622.

OBJECTS OF NOTICE.-Cathedral-Castle- Hôtes de Taillefer-St. Martial's Church.

An ancient town or city, on the Charente, capital of that department (formerly of the province of Angoumois), seat of a bishopric, &c., called Iculisma by the Romans. It stands at a good height (about 230 feet) on the rocks above the river, in a pure but sharp air, looking, at a distance, something like Chester, and commanding, from the old ramparts, a

wide prospect over the rich and beautiful wine country round the basins of the Charente and Anguienne, &c. The old town is, as usual, a nest of illbuilt narrow streets. In the Place d'Artois, is a fine sloping promenade running from the Hotel de Ville, with a pillar 50 feet high, raised to the memory of her husband, by the late Duchesse d'Angoulême. At a later date this memorial was painted in tricolour, and dedicated to the heroes of July!

The Cathedral of St. Pierre, mostly rebuilt, 1816, is a square pile, remarkable chiefly for its Romanesque front of the 12th century, surmounted by an entablature and two pepper boxes at the corners, of the 16th century. Near the top are figures of the Almighty and the four Evangelists. Its tail steeple was burnt by the Calvinists in 1568; in falling it crushed a church, and the handsome Renaissance chapel of St. Calais. Its new tower is one of six stages, by Abbadie, who is the architect of the new Romanesque church of St. Martial, begun 1852, 190 feet long.

Two round and polygonal towers of the 12th and 14th centuries, still remain at the Castle or châtelet, where the sister of Francis I., Marguerite des Marguerites (Pearl of Pearls) was born. It is now a prison. Our John Lackland's wife, Isabelle de Taillefer, was born, in the old palace of the family, in the street of that name. The Hôtel de Ville is in Place de la Commune. The Palais de Justice contains the Library of 14,000 volumes, including the first book printed here (1481), and a Xenophon by H. Stephen, with his autograph. New Lyceum in Place de Beaulieu. The Hôtel Dieu was founded by Guez de Balzac, a reformer of the French language, opposite the house he was born in. The bishop's house has been restored by Abbadie. Under the rocks to the north, is the Grotto of St. Cybard. Ravaillac, who assassinated Henry IV., and Poltrot, the assassin of the Duke of Guise, were natives. Angoulême was given up to the English after the battle of Poitiers. It suffered in the wars of the Huguenots; and first gave title to the Duc d'Angoulême, who commanded at the final siege of Rochelle.

Trade in excellent paper (made in the various mills around at Veuze, Maumont, &c., on the Touvre), wine, spirits, grain, truffles, chesnuts, cork, hemp, needles, iron, copper, &c. A government cannon foundry at Ruelle (7 miles) and powder factory at Thérouat, on the Charente.

Conveyances to St. Jean d'Angély, Rochefort, Limoges, Cognac, Périgueux, Saintes, Brives, Tulle, &c. [From Angoulême, on the Rochefort road, you come to Hiersac (14 kil.), noted for its red wines. JARNAC (15 kil.), with a pop. of 2,400, and a good brandy trade, is at the suspension bridge on the

Charente, in the middle of vast meadows, and is famous for the battle of 1569, when the Duke of Anjou defeated the Huguenots, under Coligny and the Prince of Condé, who was killed. When Guy Chabot de Jarnac and La Chataigne raie, of Vivonne, were once having a friendly pass at arms in the presence of Henry II., in 1547, the latter received from his opponent a stab with a dagger, which he was unprepared for; hence a treacherous blow came to be called a coup de Jarnac.

COGNAC (65 kil.), a sous-préfecture, and small town of 3,409 pop., on the south side of the Charente, is commanded by an old castle, and stands at the west end of the beautiful country furnishing the Cognac Brandies so well known in Europe. The tract belonging to the growers of La Societié Vignicole Champenoise, who profess to sell the genuine article, is within a circle, 20 to 25 miles in diameter, near the Charente; having Segoniac for the centre, and taking in Cognac on the west, Jarnac on the north, Chateauneuf on the east, and nearly to Barbezieux, on the south. Francis I. was born here, under an elra, in the castle grounds.

Hotels.-De France; Du Faisan (Pheasant); Trois
Marchands (Three Merchants).

For Saintes (27 kil.) and Rochefort (66 kil.), sce
Route 37.]

From Angoulême stat. the line passes a tunnel of 2,428 feet under the town, and crosses the Anguienne, &c., leaving on the west the ancient Church of St. Michel d'Entraigues, built 1137, an octagonal edifice, lately restored by Abbadie.

La Couronne (5 miles). Pop., 2,349. Here are an old church, founded in the 6th cent., and the fine abbey ruins of the 13th cent.

Mouthiers (4 miles), on the Boëme, in a plain. dividing the basins of the Charente and Dronne. On a conspicuous rock stands Rocheandry Castle, built in the 9th cent., and restored, in 1855, by an Angoulême banker. Couteaubières viaduct, on 12 arches, 993 feet long, succeeded by cuttings, one of which is 92 feet deep.

[To the west is BEAULIEU, a fine spot at the source of the Touvre, which springs up among rocks (under the ruins of Ravaillac Castle), and is thought to be like Vaucluse.]

Charmant (4 miles), has an ancient spire church of the 12th cent. The country is flat and uninteresting, and traversed by deep cuttings, and Livernant tunnel, 4,826 feet long. Then a cast-iron viaduct, over the Chavenat, brings us to the valley of the Tude. Montmoreau (8 miles), on the Tude, has sɔme

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