1819. Coaches to Crest, Flaviac, St. Julien, Le Pouzin, Privas (see Route 29). [LE POUZIN, on the west bank of the Rhône, at the L'Ouvèze's mouth, where the road to Privas, Aubenas, &c., turns off, suffered much in the religious wars of the time of Louis XIII., and was taken, after a long siege, by Montmorency, 1628. BAIX, (3 miles from this), a little beyond the Payre's mouth, was another of the Protestant strongholds, and the birthplace of Archbishop Audibert de Lussan. Several islands face it.] Saulce (4) miles), a little beyond which, on the west bank of the Rhône, is CRUAS, behind another group of islands. It has a Romanesque parish church (partly washed away), as old as 1095, and once part of the more ancient abbey of St. Benoît. La Coucourde (3 miles), is near the amlets of Logis Neuf, &c., and the half ruined tower of Len, on a stream of that name, so called after a Princess Bélène, who retired here a leper. The line passes close to ANCONE, below Ile Blanc, the ancient Ancunum, taken by storm by Lesdiguières, 1586, when the fortifications were reduced. It is opposite Meysse, on the river Lavezon, on the west of the Rhône, which has a quarry of gun-flints. A little below it a bridge leads over to Rochmaure, and its old basalt castle, on a lava cliff, 320 feet high, once the seat of the Adhemars, and a stronghold of the Catholics. The Volcan de Chénévari, a collection of basaltic pillars, is near this. Montelimar (7 miles), a sous-préfecture (of 10,000 souls) in department Drôme, on the rivers Roubion and Jabron, and the Marseilles road, in a fertile spot, cultivated with vines, mulberries, olives, oranges, &c. Some ancient Gothic ramparts and gates, and a château, now turned into a citadel, remain. It belonged, till 1198, to the Adhemars (from whom its name is derived), was dreadfully injured in the religious wars; and gave birth to D. Chamier, a Protestant minister, who was shot while defending a breach at Montauban, 1621, and who, therefore, according to a joke of the Catholics, died canonized. There was a fight on the bridge between the Duke of Angoulème's troops and those of Napoleon, 1815. It has a good mineral water, and a trade in Nougat cakes (of honey and almonds), fruit, wax, oil, grain, cattle, morocco leather, &c. Hotel.-Post. The roads to Dieu-le-Fit, Château-Grignan, Nions, &c., turn off to the east. Coaches to Aubenas, Le Theil, Villedieu, Villeneuve de Berg, &c. [At 25 kil. east is DIEU-LE-FIT (i. e., God made it), an industrious little place, at the Jabron's head, noted for its mineral waters, useful in bilious and other complaints; linen, cotton, and silks are made. A curious grotto, called by the good English name of "Tom Jones," near it, has a high vault, and many beautiful stalactites. Pop. 4,000.] On the west bank of the Rhône is LE THEIL, at the bridge below Luizene Island, which was taken and reduced by Louis XIII., in 1632, and is noted for its pottery. Near it are the Marquis of Joviac's seat (with a gallery of Roman inscriptions), the Roches des Dames (at Aps), where some of the persecuted Albigenses were once hid, and Melas on the river Frayol, which runs into the Rhône a little south. Chateauneuf-du-Rhone (51 miles), on the slope of the hills, has part of a Roman camp and various marks of a decayed town. Pop. 1,450. It gave birth to an adventurer called the Marquis de Courbon, who led the Venetian armies at the siege of Negropont, and fell when thirty-nine years old. The river from this part is less hilly on the banks, but more winding in its course, and broken with islands. On the sloping cliffs, on the west bank, lies Viviers. [VIVIERS, the old walled capital of the Vivarais, now seat of a bishopric, with 2,500 souls (it once had 15,000). It grew out of a Roman town called Alps or Aps, on the Escontaye, which runs up by it; but fell into decay after the religious wars here. The choir and tower of the Cathedral, standing over the town, are Gothic; the nave is more modern. The bishop's palace is a fine building, with good grounds about it. The new priests' seminary stands close by. Richelieu visited this place in his ascent of the Rhône, 1642, with his two victims, Cinq Mars and De Thou. A road to Villeneuve de Berg goes off to the west.] Donzere (21 miles), opposite lle Toncheloz, was given to the bishops of Viviers, 877, who had an abbey here, and built a château of the 16th cent., of which there are some fragments on the cliffs above. They were styled princes of Donzère. It commands a view over the plains of Vaucluse, and is noted for its red wine. Pop. 1,770. A large group of islands (2 miles long), called the Margiries, divides the Rhône into two branches below this point. [At 15 kil. east, up the Berre, are the remains of the fine Château de Grignan, half demolished at the Revovolution, and remarkable as the residence of Madame de Sevigné, who has made it familiar by her charming Letters, and died here in 1676. It stands on a rock above the town, contains many windows, has a wide terrace round it, and became the head of a comté, 1550. Frederic Barbarossa once resided here. The plain church contains the tomb of Madame.] Pierrelatte (5 miles), with a trade in wine, silk, fruit, and grain. It had a castle on the rocks (pierre), 300 feet high, taken by the Baron des Adrets, with great bloodshed. Pop., 3,480. A suspension bridge crosses to BOURG-ST.-ANDÉOL, on the west bank, which has a large and good Church, built in the 10th cent. by the bishops of Viviers, on the site of the relics of St. Andéol, a disciple of St. Polycarp. It was one of the chief seats of the bishops, and had many convents before the Revolution. Pop. 4,700. At the fountain of Tourne, is a grotto, with a carving of Mithras sacrificing the bull, with his dog, an altar, and traces of an inscription. [ST. MARCEL, (about 3 miles) in the Ardeche, has a part of the old seat of the Bernis family, where a cardinal of that name was born 1755. Pop., 3,000. At 6 miles east-south-east of Pierrelatte is ST. PAUL-TROIS-CHÂTEAUX (or Three Castles), a very old place under a hill, and the capital of the Tricastins, when the Romans came in, who called it Augusta-Tricastinorum. Remains are seen of an amphitheatre, of a wall (in St. Jean quarter), mosaics, bas-reliefs, and a gate (one of three), called Fan Jou, i. e., Fanum Jovis, because it was part of a temple of Jupiter. Many fossils are collected near this.] La Palud (5 miles), the first place in department Vaucluse, and once a fortified town, belonging to the Knights Templars, with a spire church. A road goes off to Nyons. Pop., 2,600. The town was occupied by both parties in the religious wars in the time of Louis XIII., and sacked by the Baron des Adrets. Roads go out to Barjas and Mende, and also to Nismes. NYONS (34 kil. east-north-east), or NIONS, on the Aigues or Eygues, is a sous-préfecture (pop., 3,400), in department Drôme, and the ancient Neomagus, finely seated over the beautiful valley of the river, under the Col de Devoz, Mont de Vaulx, and Mont de Garde Crosse. It had a château of the Dauphins, and in 1622, against the Duke of Savoy, made a worthy defence, headed by the daughter of Marguerite de Charce. The town proper, called the Halles, from an arcaded building here, is divided from the Bourg and forts (where the castle stood), by old walls and gates. In the lower part, at the defile of Pilles, a very old, if not Roman, bridge, crosses the river, by a single stone arch, 127 feet wide, 65 high, having a square tower in the midst. The valley of the Aigues is like a garden all the way from the Rhône, between high hills, covered with vineyards, olive-yards, mulberry-grounds, &c. It is remarkable for a healthy wind called Vent Pontias, blowing down the valley from the mountain of that name at the head of it, every day till noon, when it is succeeded by another blowing up it, called Vesine, more hot and ener vating. A road turns off to Carpentras. NOLLANS, 20 kil. south, in a picturesque ravine on the Ouvèze, under Chatelard and other mourtains. It has a sulphur spa, &c. VAISONS, a little lower down the Ouvèze, in depart ment Vaucluse, is the Roman Vaisio, with remains of a circus, aqueduct, temple, a good bridge of one arch, &c.] Mondragon (2 miles), standing on the river Lez, under an old ruined castle on the rocks, was held by the archbishop of Arles, with the title of prince. La Croisiere (2 miles). Coaches to Pont St. Pop., 2,840. Esprit, and Nyons. [PONT ST. ESPRIT, on the west bank of the Rhône, below the river Ardèche, which falls in here, and gives name to the department, is a dirty place of 5,550 souls, with a citadel. Its remarkable stone bridge of twenty-six arches, 2,622 feet long, was built 1263-1309, by a brotherhood of masons, &c., called the Frères du Pont, with subscriptions collected in Holy Ghost (St. Esprit) chapel, hard by. The centre arch is 108 feet wide. It will be observed that the bridge itself is not built straight, either from the difficulties of Mornas (3 miles), nearly opposite St. Etienne-deSorts, is an ancient place, with a ruined castle above it, which was taken 1562, by one of Des Adret's fierce captains, Dupuy Montbrun, and its defenders forced to jump from the rock on the pikes of his soldiers. Their bodies were then put in a boat to float down the river, with this notice to the people of Avignon, "Pass these merchants, as they have paid their pas sage at Mornas." The line diverges from the river, to Piolenc (14 mile), a small fortified post, with a ruined castle near its church, in a spot abounding with wine, corn, fruit, &c. [About 4 miles south-west, across the Rhône, is CODOLET, near the Cèze's mouth, noted for its wine, and formerly, for the château of the Marquis d'Ancèzune - Cadart, who received Louis XIII. here, in 1662. A few grains of gold have been picked up in the little stream. After leaving Piolenc stat., and crossing the Aigues and Arais (now the Meyne), we reach Orange (4) miles), in a well watered plain. Hotels.-Des Prince; De l'Eveche; Poste; Luxem bourg. A OBJECTS OF NOTICE. -Roman Arch and Theatre - Church. Though now a sous-préfecture in department Vaucluse, with 9,830 souls, and much decayed, it was the Arausio of the Romans, who placed the second legion here, and have bequeathed a famous arch, and a theatre to present times. It was also the seat of an erchbishop; but an Englishman will be pleased to look upon it as having once belonged to our great deliverer, William, Prince of Orange, through his ancestor, René de Nassau, who succeeded to the principality, on the death of his uncle, Philibert do Chalon, 1530. After the death of William III. it was seized by Louis XIV., but the title and arms are still borne by the eldest son of the king of Holland. It has narrow straight streets, with several fountains, and a new college, near which is greatest curiosity, the Roman Triumphal Arch, called the "Arch of Marius," though the founder and date are uncertain. It stands across the Lyons road, on the north side of the town; is nearly square, 70 feet wide, and 64 feet high, with a centre arch and two side arches, supported by Corinthian pillars, and carved with bas-reliefs (dif. ferent for each face), of fruits, cornucopiæ, syrens, ships, military trophies, &c., all in good condition. Formerly it was enclosed within a castle of the Princes of Orange. The Roman Theatre, called the Cirque," rises over a hill to the south, close to the remains of the old citadel. It is well preserved, and makes a large half-circle, with two rows of arcades, and a heavy wall across it, formed of great blocks, joined without mortar, 334 feet long, 120 high, and 13. thick. It would hold about 6,000 persons. You may [At 22 kil. south.east is CARPENTRAS, a sous-préfecture, with a population of 10,720, under Mont Ventoux, over the deep ravine of the Auzon, in a fertile spot. It was Carpenteracte and Forum Neronis of the Romans, who settled a colony here; was pillaged by Crocus, the Pomeranian leader, in 266; and by the Lombards, Saracens, &c.; but revived again under the encouragement it received from popes Clement V. and Innocent VI. The former began the aqueduct, 10 kil. long, from Mont Ventoux, finished 1720-34, part of which, 2,790 feet long crosses the river on forty-eight arches. It still retains its old turreted walls and four gates; that of Porte d'Orange bore a great tower. There are good walks outside in the faubourgs, with delightful prospects. The fine façade of the hospital was built in 1751. The Gothic cathedral church includes a tower of Charlemagne's time, and pillars (in the front), brought, they say, from the Temple of Diana, at Venasque. Near the palais de justice (which was the bishop's seat), in the Place, is a very much decayed Roman Arch of Triumph. The public Library, given by Bishop Inguimebert, comprises 22,000 volumes and 2,000 MSS., many of which belonged to Peyresc, the scholar, besides engravings, paintings, 6,000 medals, antiquities, &c. There are also a large lavoir publique (or baths), theatre, new prisons, market halls, &e.Trade in spirits, wine, essences, oil, fruit, silk, &c. Hotels-Du Nord; de l'Europe. At 12 kil. north-east, is Bedouin, where the Ascent to Mont Ventoux begins: it takes from four to five hours to reach the top (10 kil.) which is about 2,200 yards above the sea level (the highest in all this quarter), and looks like a cone placed on the top of a dome. The north side, on the Drôme border, is steep and almost inaccessible. At the summit (covered with snow three parts of the year), is a chapel, near a lake, whence there is a splendid panorama, which takes in the Rhône, the Alps, Cevennes, &c.] Close to the east bank of the Rhône is CADEROUSSE, just past the large island of Piboulette, which is noted for its fertility. It was given by Pope Alexander VII. to the Dukes of Avignon, and now belongs, with a handsome seat, &c., to the Duke of Gramont-Caderousse. Population 3,000. Nearly opposite stands MONTFAUCON, with St. Genies-de-Comolas behind it. Courthezon (53 miles), a little fortified place on the Seille, where Jos. Saurin was born, Pop. 3,490 Across the Rhône is Roquemaure, it of the Countess of Provence. The last resident Pope was Benedict XIII., whom the French drove away, 1408; but it was garrisoned by his successors, under a vice-legate, till 1791, when it was forcibly annexed to France. The Inquisition was established here. While the Pope held the town, the river belonged to the King of France, who kept him in check at Villeneuve. [ROQUEMAURE, past Ile de Lers, is so called from the dark colour of the cliffs (as in the Latin maurus, a Moor). According to some, it is the spot where Hannibal crossed the Rhône on his way to Italy, 218 B.C., and is further noted as the place where Clement V. (on his way to his native town, Bordeaux) died, in 1314. He was hardly dead when his attendants went off with everything they could lay their hands. on, leaving his very body half-burnt by a torch which fell on it. Trade in wine, eau-de-vie, olive oil. Pop. 5,000. About 1 mile to the left, the suburb of Sauveterre carries in its name (Safe ground) the memorial of a fortified retreat against robbers in old times.] Bedarrides (3 miles). Pop. 2,790. This is the the most bustling; Rue Calade contains several fine Learest station to CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, opposite Ile d'Oiselet, so called from a fortified country seat of the Popes, built by them on the sloping heights near the river, when they reigned at Avignon. Towers, walls, gates, &c., still remain. Sorgues (3 miles), a little way up the Ouvèze or Sorgues, which falls in here, is the town next to Avignon, towards which the Rhône makes a bend, dividing into two parts, round the large Ile de la Barthlasse. Sorgues, with a population of 3,100, stands in a wide plain, on which Cncius Enobarbus defeated the Celtic barbarians. It has a curious old four-arch bridge, and the walls of a castle of the Counts of Toulouse, which Urban V. enlarged for a country house. The prospects of the nearer and further hills are pleasing.. Le Pontet (33 miles), from which it is 3 miles to the old papal palace, &c., of the city of AVIGNON. It lies almost entirely within its machicolated Walls, which are strengthened with ramparts and towers, partially destroyed by the inundations of 1856. The cour or promenade round them commands very pleasing prospects of the country, the green islands of the Rhône, Provence, the Alps, &c. Houses of stone; the streets narrow and winding. Rue de la Ferraterie is buildings. The Jews live in the Juiverie. The quays are large. A long wooden bridge leads over to Ile de la Berthelasse, near the picturesque remains (three or four arches, with a chapel) of a stone one, built by St. Benezet in 12th cent. This is continued from the Island by a suspension bridge to Villeneuve-les-Avignon. The Cathedral, called Nôtre Dame des Doms, on the Rocher des Doms (which forms a level ridge at the back of the town, and is mounted by steps), was rebuilt by Charlemagne; but the oldest part of the present building is a doorway of the 11th cent. It has monuments of Archbishop Libelli, John XXII., Benet XII., and the brave Crillon, who was a native, with the papal (now archbishop's) marble throne, Charlemagne's chapel, some old frescoes, and modern paintings. Close to it is the large Palace of the Popes, an irregular Gothic pile, now used as a barrack and prison. It was begun by John XXII., and finished by Urban V. (1336-70), and included seven great towers. The south side hangs over a precipice. Rienzi, the "last of the Tribunes," was kept a prisoner here by Clement VI., his foot being chained to the roof of his prison. It has traces OBJECTS OF NOTICE.- City Walls Cathe of frescoes by Giotto, and S. Aretino (both doubtful); dral-Papal Palace-Museum-Bridge. A buffet, 143 miles from Lyons, 75 from Marseilles. This old city of the Popes, chief town of department Vaucluse, seat of an arch-diocese, &c., is in the valley of the Rhône, where the Durance joins it, in a country of orchards, vineyards, mulberry and olive grounds. The Romans, when they colonized it, called it Avenis. It afterwards came to the Burgundians and Ostrogoths; was for awhile kept by the Saracens; and at length was divided between the Counts of Provence and Toulouse. Louis VIII. took it after a siege, 1226, for supporting the Albigenses. the Salle de la Question (where heretics were tortured), and the Glacière Tower, whence the revolutionary mob threw their prisoners, 1791. The Rocher des Doms, now laid out with flowers among the ruins, is worth ascending, were it only for the fine view from its top. St. Pierre's church, of the 14th and 15th cents., has a good front, built 1512, and a black marble pulpit. There are 16 other churches; at one time there were 60, and as many religious houses. St. Agricol (named after the patron saint of Avignon) offers a fine nave, Pope Clement V. (a Frenchman) came to live here, of the 14th cent. At St. Didier's (a church of the 14th 1309, and in 1348, Clement VI., the anti-pope, bought | cent.) is part of a curious bas relief of Christ carrying the cross, by King René, the other part being in the museum. The ruined Dominican church and its cloisters are used as a cannon foundry. That of St. Marial (15th cent.) contains the Musée Requien. A fragment is left of the Cordeliers' church, which had the tomb of Petrarch's Laura de Sade, whom he first aw here, 1327. A cypress marks the spot. The Hôtel de Ville was the Pope's Mint, built 1620, by Paul V. It stands in Place de l'Horloge (where most of the cafés are), so called from the Jacquemart, or belfry tower, close to the theatre (built 1847). Near it, on Place d'Oule, Marshal Brune was killed by the royalists, 1815. The public Library, of 60,000 vols. and 1,200 MSS. is placed in the Musée Calvet (so named after the founder), with Roman and other inscriptions, 20,000 medals, sculptures, the Inquisition seal, rare books, pictures by Italian and Dutch masters, the Vernets, &c., and a cabinet of natural history, geology, &c. One of the pictures is Vernet's "Mazeppa," and here is the remainder of King Rene's bas-relief. At the lunatic asylum (hospice des alienés) is Guillemin's famous ivory crucifix, 26 inches long, which was in Miséricorde Church. Hotel de Crillon, of the 17th sent., is in Rue de la Masse. The Préfecture is a modern building. The Protestant Temple, about 150 years old. A vast pile, called the Hôtel des Invalides (for soldiers), was suppressed in 1850, and turned into a Penitentiary. (VILLENEUVE-LES-AVIGNON (pop., 5,560), across the new bridge, contains various remains, as the old fort and abbey of St. André; the Chartreuse convent, and its ruined church; the fortified church of Nôtre Dame, of the 14th cent. In the Hôpital church is Innocent VI.'s tomb, also another picture attributed to le bon Roi René, and Mignard's portrait of Madame de Ganges, the belle Provençale, whose melancholy fate is well known.] The women of Avignon are handsome. Its climate is soft, but variable. North and north-west winds blow vehemently; but the people comfort themselves with a proverb founded on experience "Avenio ventosa, Sine vento venenosa, Cum vento fastidiosa." The manufactures are silk, madder, leather, honey, cantharides flies, olive oil, &c. Madder was first introduced by a Persian, styled Jean Althen on the bronze statue erected to him by the grateful Avignonnese, on the Rochers des Doms. He was ruined by it, but the culture of the plant now reaches the value of three-quarters of a million. Conveyances: by steamer to Valence, and Lyons being against the stream,-the steamer takes three or four days to go up). The new road to Geneva by the plains of the Bresse is open, by coach, to Carpen tras, Digne, &c. Coaches to Vaucluse, Apt, Pertuis, Sallon, St. Remy, &c. A caleche may be hired to Vaucluse (17 miles) there and back, 22 fr., including the driver (see A, below). Senany Abbey and Pont du Gard are near (see C.) St. Ruf's Romanesque church is also within a short run. [(A.) To Vaucluse, &c. Following the high road you come to Thor and its Romanesque church; then L'ISLE (20 kil.) on the Sorgues, (noted for its eels and trout), 8 kil. to the left of which is VAUCLUSE, at the head of a deep cleft (vallis clausa) in the limestone of Mont Ventoux, where the Sorgues takes its rise, in precipices 500 feet high. In summer it is seen trickling down from many parts of the rock; but when the snows melt at the beginning of spring, it falls like a cataract, from an arched cave, (overshadowed by a fig-tree), into the dark pool, or Fountain of Vaucluse, below. Petrarch describes it in his Letters, and they show his little country seat on a hill to the right, with remains of the bishop of Cavaillon's castle. An ugly pillar stands close to the pool. The Hotel de Laure. APT (35 kil.), a sous-préfecture of 5 800 souls, in department Vaucluse, on the Cavalon, founded by Cæsar, as Apta-Julia-Vulgientes. Old wal's run round it, and it stands in a valley among vines and olive yards. Its church of the 10th and 11th cent. contains an old crypt. Port Julien is ancient. FORCALQUIER (36 kil.) another old place, once the capital of the Memini, now a sous-préfecture in department Basses-Alpes. Pop. 3,060. About 50 kil. further, is DIGNE (see Route 25), up the Durance. (B.) Along the Durance. CHÂTEAU-RENARD (16 kil. south-east), on the south side of the Durance, is so called from an old castle which commands a noble range of view. Further up the river is Organ, once a Roman settlement, with old walls, and two or three castles round it.-On the opposite or north bank, is another Ronfan station, Cavaillon, in a fertilo spot, where vermicelli, silk, &c., are made. It possesses a triumphal arch, and a church of the 11th and 12th cent.-Still higher up the river is Cadenet, 19 kil. south of Apt, near the remains of a Roman station the font in the church is |