GUIDE THROUGH FRANCE. CHAPTER I. Route from Paris to Lyons, by the Bourbonnaisby Burgundy. Account of SensAuxerre Autun Châlons -sur-Saône Macon Dijon. Lyons. Route by Troyes and Account of Dijon. - Excursion to Besançon. From Dijon to Lyons. - THE various routes to Paris, as well as that great capital itself, having become so familiar to the English reader, either by repeated visits, or by the numerous excellent descriptions which have been published, since the peace,we shall not unnecessarily increase the cost of this work by any additional matter on the subject, but commence at once our journey into the provinces of France, -réferring the reader to the last greatly improved edition of Galignani's Guide of Paris and its Environs, as the completest Guide extant, not only con taining the best account of the metropolis of France, but of the various interesting towns which the traveller must pass through, in his journey thither, by all the different routes now so frequented by our countrymen. The following route to the South of France, is greatly preferable in summer, to that by Burgundy, in No. 2; the road being, after we leave Fontainebleau, as good as any mail road in England, we can travel much more swiftly and pleasantly than on the other, which is nearly the whole of it a pavé, or pavement; but in winter this last is always to be preferred.. Those who pass through the Bourbonnais, at the time of the vintage, the latter end of September, or beginning of October, will « travel through the sweetest part of France; when nature is pouring her abundance into every one's lap, and every eye is lifted up; a journey, through each step of which music beats time to labour, and all her children are rejoicing as they carry in their clusters.»> No. I. From PARIS to LYONS, by the Bourbonnais, 59 posts-3274 English miles. INNS. (1) La Galère, l'hôtel de France, du Dauphin. La Bussière..... (2) La Ville de Lyon. FROM Neuvy-sur-Loire. Briare.. Cosne.. Pouilly.. La Palisse.... POSTS. La Palisse to Droiturier 1 Pouilly to La Charité.. 1 Pacaudière... St. Germain l'Espinas sc..... Roanne (2).. I St. Symphorien de-Lay 2 Pougues. NEVERS (1).. Arnas.. We quit Paris by the faubourg St. Marceau, one of the most gloomy and disagreeable of its suburbs, and by the barrier of Italy; one of the best of all those strange whimsical buildings round the city. It was by this barrier, then called Des Gobelins, that J. J. Rousseau first entered Paris; and the aspect of this dismal and dirty faubourg made such a strong impression upon him, to the disadvantage of the French capital, that all the real magnificence he afterwards beheld could never efface it. The stranger who travels on this direct road to a royal palace, only forty miles from the capital, is surprised not to see it bordered by country seats though, indeed, all the approaches to Paris offer, more or less, the same INNS. (1) L'hôtel Royal, Golden Lion. From the last, diligences set out for Lyons and Clermont. (2) Hôtel de Flandre. (3) Hôtel du Parc, in the Place des Terreaux; Palais Royal, in the rue du Plat; Hôtel du Commerce, etc. etc. subject for astonishment. This road is planted for a league with two rows of clipped elms, which increase more than they diminish the monotony of the country: unfertile at first, it appears less so as we advance; but even then we find that extensive crops, though they constitute the riches, do not much contribute to the picturesque beauties of a country. On our left, we leave the road which leads to Choisy, as well as to a number of charming country seats, agreeably situated on the banks of the Seine. Choisy is a pretty village, formerly celebrated for an ancient royal castle, in which Louis XV took great delight, but of which, at present, not even the ruins are to be seen. The plough goes over the ground it once occupied, on the left bank of the Seine. The buildings which served to lodge the servants, and for stables, have alone been preserved; and are now converted into manufactories of earthenware and soap. The parish church, contiguous to which was the house occupied by the famous Madame Dubarry, is only remarkable for its noble simplicity. The steeple exhibits a peculiarity, perhaps the only one in France, which consists in its being lower than the church. The cause of this singular construction is still more singular; it arose from a caprice of Louis XV, who did not like the sound of bells. Farther to the right is the road to Orleans, between which, and the road we are now pursuing, runs the little river of Bièvre. We next pass, on the right, the Bicêtre, which being situated at the extremity of a long avenue, has a fine effect. Villejuif consists only of a single street, and is chiefly remarkable for the obelisk erected here, not to indicate the meridional line of Paris, as is commonly said, but to mark the northern extremity of the base of a triangle, the object of which was the measurement of an arch of the meridian, the opposite extremity of which base is marked by a similar obelisk at Fromenteau. Between the first obelisk and the chateau, the whole of Paris may be seen, presenting a singular view of black looking stone buildings, and irregular steeples; the elevation is so great, as to enable us to discover every object with facility: some persons, indeed, pretend that the road is on a level with the summit of the towers of NotreDame. The plain of Villejuif is entirely composed of corn-fields, but the environs of the village present some pretty vineyards and orchards; about a quarter of a league towards the West, are quarries of plaster, remarkable for the fossils frequently found in them. « The day I visited them,» says a late traveller, « a workman had just extracted, at the depth of 120 feet, the jaw-bone of an unknown animal, which he thought was of a wild boar, but which belongs to one of those lost species, the ancient existence of which is attested by the great number of fossils of this nature, found in different parts of the globe. This jaw-bone, in very good preservation, adhered to a small block of plaster, which the workman sold me A. |