The South of France-East Half Part 18

From Montpellier a line extends 43 m. W. to Faugeres on the line from Beziers to Capdenac by Rodez. (See map, page 27.)

[Headnote: FRONTIGNAN. CETTE.]

109 m. from Ma.r.s.eilles and 4 from Cette is +Frontignan+, pop. 3000.

Possessing 570 acres of vineyards producing rich amber-coloured, luscious, and spirituous wines, made princ.i.p.ally from the clairette and picardan grapes. The neighbouring marshes yield annually about 50,000 tons of salt.

114 m. from Ma.r.s.eilles is +Cette+, pop. 29,000. At this point the Chemins de Fer de Paris a Lyon system joins the Chemins de Fer du Midi, and consequently carriages are often changed here. For Cette to Toulouse and Bordeaux, see Table "Bordeaux a Cette" in the "Indicateur des Chemins de Fer du Midi." Cette is 271 m. east from Pau, 266 from Bordeaux, and 84 from Perpignan. Omnibuses and coaches await pa.s.sengers. _Hotels:_ Barrillon; Grand Galion; Bains; Souche. Cette makes a pleasant halting-place. The best walk is to the top of Mt.

Setius, 590 ft. Ascend by the Rue d'Esplanade, and when at the highest part of the Public Gardens take the road to the right. The view is magnificent. In front is the Mediterranean, and behind Lake Thau with its villages. At the base of the mountain is Cette, and beyond Frontignan. The Port of Cette is protected by a breakwater 548 yds.

long, which encloses a harbour of 210 acres, furnished with two jetties; the western, constructed by Vauban, is 656 yds. long, and the eastern 548 yds. This busy port, besides having an extensive carrying trade, has a large wine manufactory, where above 100,000 pipes of imitations of all the well-known wines are made annually, by mixing different wines with each other.

From the first bridge over the ca.n.a.l (not including the railway bridge) a small steamer starts three times daily for Balaruc and Meze, on Lake Thau. Meze, like Cette, is entirely devoted to the wine trade.

Balaruc has a bathing establishment, supplied by intensely saline springs, resembling strong sea-water, temperature 125 Fahr. A quart contains 106 grains of chloride of sodium, 13 of the chloride of magnesia, and a fraction of the chloride of copper, 15 grains of the sulphate, and 13 of the bicarbonate of lime. Pension, 8 to 9 fr., and the bath treatment 4 fr. additional. The Ca.n.a.l du Midi enters Lake Thau at Les Onglous, 11 m. W. from Cette. (See map, page 27.)

[Headnote: MIRAMAS. PORT BOUC.]

miles from PARIS miles to Ma.r.s.eILLES

{503}{34} +MIRAMAS+, pop. 900, south from the station at the head of the etang Chamas. At the station there are a small inn and a large plantation of almond trees, which, when in flower, exhale a delightful perfume.

Pa.s.sengers to Avignon by Cavaillon and L'Isle change carriages here (p. 65). Also for Port Bouc, 16 m. south.

MIRAMAS TO PORT BOUC.

+Miramas to Port Bouc+ by rail through a flat plain (see map, p. 66).

The two most important towns pa.s.sed on the way are: +Istres+, 6 m. from Miramas station and 10 N. from Port Bouc, pop. 4000, founded in the 8th cent. on Lake Olivier, and possessing still part of its ancient ramparts. The princ.i.p.al industry is the manufacture of salt and of the carbonate of soda. 13 m. from Miramas is +Fos+ (Fossae Marianae), pop.

1100, on a hill crowned with the ruins of a castle, 14th cent.

At the foot of the hill, by the side of the Arles ca.n.a.l, are large tanks for the manufacture of salt. From Fos, other 3 miles south by rail, or 16 miles altogether from the Miramas railway station, or 29 miles S. from Arles by the ca.n.a.l, is +Port Bouc+, pop. 1000. _Inns:_ near the stations of the railway and the ca.n.a.l steamer, the Hotel du Commerce; near the jetty, the Hotel du Nord. Port Bouc, on the etang Caroute, near the entrance to the great lake, the etang de Berre, is an important fis.h.i.+ng-station with a large and well-protected harbour.

At the end of the jetty is a fixed light, seen within a radius of 10 m. At the other side of the entrance is Fort Bouc with a ma.s.sive square tower in the centre and another lighthouse. About 7 miles west from Port Bouc by the coast road is the Port of St. Louis, page 72.

(For Port Bouc to Martigues and Ma.r.s.eilles, see p. 118.)

+Port Bouc to Arles+, 29 m. S. by the ca.n.a.l steamboat; time, 5 hrs; fare, 3 frs. The ca.n.a.l is 62 ft. wide and 8 deep. The embankments are very solid, and along a great part of them extends the railway between Arles and Saint Louis. The only town the ca.n.a.l pa.s.ses is Fos, about m. E. The Miramas railway pa.s.ses it on the other side. Pa.s.sengers drop into the steamer from the farmhouses. The steamer moors at the S.W. corner of Arles. (See p. 72, and map p. 66.)

[Headnote: SAINT CHAMAS.]

miles from PARIS miles to Ma.r.s.eILLES

{506}{30} +SAINT CHAMAS+ (Sanctus Amantius), pop. 3000, about m. from the station. It is situated on the N. end of the etang de Berre, and on both sides of a short narrow ridge of soft sandstone pierced with excavations. The Government have one of their most important powder manufactories in this place. Hardly m. E. from the Hotel de Ville is the Flavian Bridge, built by the Romans, across the stream Touloubre, with at each end a kind of triumphal arch of 12 ft. span and about 22 ft. high. At each of the four corners is a grooved Corinthian pilaster surmounted by a frieze and a projecting dentilled cornice.

On the top at each end stands a lion; the two on the east arch are apparently ready to spring eastward, and the other two westward. The bridge is in a state of perfect repair, but the sculpture and inscription on the two arches over the entrances are slightly effaced.

The road to it is by the Hotel de Ville and the parish church with a rudely sculptured "Pieta" over the portal. The bridge is to the E. of St. Chamas, and is well seen from the railway, especially when crossing the viaduct of 49 interlaced arches, which carry the rail over the little valley of the Touloubre. 8 m. E. from St. Chamas is Berre station. The town, pop. 2100, is directly south, on +Lake Berre+, a sheet of water 14 m. long and 38 in circ.u.mference.

[Headnote: ROGNAC.]

{519}{17} +ROGNAC+, pop. 900. Junction with rail to Aix, 16 m. E., pa.s.sing under the Roquefavour aqueduct, 7 m. E. The ca.n.a.l, which brings 200 cubic ft.

of water per second from the Durance to Ma.r.s.eilles and the neighbouring plain, commences opposite Pertuis, directly north from Ma.r.s.eilles. It is 94 m. long, of which more than 15 are under ground; it has a fall of 614 ft., traverses, by 45 tunnels, 3 chains of limestone hills, and crosses numerous valleys by aqueducts, of which the largest crosses the ravine of the river Arc at Roquefavour. This aqueduct is 270 ft. high on three tiers of arches, is 1312 ft. long, 44 ft. wide at the base, and 14 ft.

wide at the water-way. It consists of 51,000 cubic yards of masonry, and cost 151,394, while the cost of the whole ca.n.a.l from the Durance to the sea, near Cape Croisette, a little to the east of Ma.r.s.eilles, has been 2,090,000. A branch from the princ.i.p.al channel throws 198,000 gallons per minute into the city, while five other ramifications fertilise by irrigation the country around it. The ca.n.a.l water is purified in the basins of Realtort. The large reservoir for Ma.r.s.eilles is behind the Palais de Longchamp. (See p. 114, and for the course of the ca.n.a.l, maps pp. 66 and 123.)

To visit the aqueduct, take the road to the left from the station, pa.s.s under the railway bridge, and then ascend partly by a steep path and partly by steps to the house of the concierge.

[Headnote: AIX. HoTEL DE VILLE. CATHEDRAL.]

16 m. E. from Rognac, or 33 m. N. from Ma.r.s.eilles by Rognac, but only 18 m. N. by Gardanne, is +Aix+-en-Provence, pop. 29,000. _Hotels:_ Negre-Coste, the best, in the Grand Cours; at the east end of the Cours, Mule-Noire, and near it at the Palais de Justice, the Hotel du Palais; at the station end of the Cours, the Louvre and the France; at the baths, the Hotel des Bains; opposite the Hotel de Ville, the Hotel Aigle d'Or. Best cafes in the Cours Rene. Post and telegraph offices in the street behind the Cours, or behind the division opposite the Hotel Negre-Coste. Aix, formerly the capital of Provence, was founded 120 B.C. by the Consul s.e.xtius Calvinus around the thermal springs, which he himself had discovered. The temperature of the water is 95 F., and the ingredients, iron and iodine, the carbonates, sulphates, and chlorides of soda and magnesia, together with an organic bituminous matter strongly impregnated with glairine. The establishment is situated at the extremity of the Cours s.e.xtius.

Pension, 8 frs. Each bath 1 fr. At the high end of the Cours Rene is a statue, by David, of Rene of Anjou, "le bon Roi," king of Naples, Sicily, and Jerusalem; died in 1480 at the age of 72, and buried at Angers, where he was born. He was endowed with every virtue, was a poet, painter, and musician, and was skilled in medicine and astronomy. During his reign in Aix the people were prosperous, and art and science flourished. From the right of the statue streets lead up to the princ.i.p.al square with a monument to Lodovico XV., the Palais de Justice with statues of the jurists Portales and Simeon, and the church of the Madeleine, built for the perpetual adoration of the host. A little higher up are the Hotel de Ville, built in 1640; the Halle-aux-Grains, reconstructed in 1760 and adorned with bold and spirited sculpture. Next the Hotel de Ville is the great clock tower, bearing the date 1512. In the centre of the court of the Hotel de Ville is a statue of Mirabeau, and on the staircase a white marble statue of Marshal Villars, by Coustou. In the Hotel de Ville is also the public library with 100,000 vols. Among the MSS. is the prayer book of King Rene, with ill.u.s.trations said to have been done by himself. No. 569 is a small 4to volume, with copies of letters written by Queen Mary Stuart. The first 57 pages relate to her early history.

At page 645 commences a defence of her conduct, written by a warm partisan of the queen. The street, ascending through the gateway of the clock tower, leads to the university buildings, the palace of the archbishop, and the Cathedral of +Saint Sauveur+, built in the 11th cent., partly on the foundations of a temple to Apollo. The tower, 195 ft. high, was built in the 15th cent., and the chancel in 1285. The facade was commenced in 1476, and the beautiful sculpture on the great entrance door executed in 1503. It is generally covered by a plain outer door. In the interior to the right is the Baptistery, an octagonal chapel with six antique marble and two granite Corinthian columns about 30 ft. high, each shaft being of one stone. The ornamental sculpture on the panels and in the spandrels is by Puget.

On the same side are two triptychs, one by Crayer, "Mary wors.h.i.+pped by Saints," and the other by some artist of the Jean Van Eyck school, representing in the centre Moses and the burning bush, with Mary up in a clump of trees. On one wing is King Rene on his knees, attended by the Magdalene, St. Maurice, and St. Anthony; and on the other wing is the king's second wife, Jeanne de Laval, attended by her patron saints. On the outside of the shutters are the angel Gabriel and Mary.

On each side of the chancel is an organ case, but only the one on the left hand has pipes. Under each is a large tapestry dating from 1511, representing scenes in the life of J. C. Both pieces are said to have belonged to St. Paul's of London. Among the relics the church possesses are: the skull of St. Ursula, the arm of one of her 11,000 virgins presented by Nicolas V. in 1458, a rib of St. Sebastian presented by King Rene, and three thorns from the crown of our Lord.

[Headnote: PICTURE GALLERY.]

The last street at the S.E. end of the Cours Rene leads directly to the church of St. Jean and the +Picture Gallery+ adjoining; free on Sundays and Thursdays from 12 to 4. St. Jean was built in the 13th cent. by the Princes of the house of Aragon for the order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. The spire is 220 ft. high. To the left of the altar is the tomb of Raymond and wife, Comte de Provence.

On the ground-floor of the picture gallery are sarcophagi, inscriptions, and statues ancient and modern. Upstairs is a large collection of paintings, water-colours, and drawings; but few have either labels or numbers.

The "Biscotins" seen in the shop windows are round sweet biscuits about the size and shape of walnuts. The better kind, "Gallissons,"

are flat and diamond shaped. The olive oil made in the farms around Aix is reputed to have a very fine fruity flavour. The reason alleged is--the trees being small the berries are gathered, or rather plucked, by the hand before they are quite ripe. Where the trees are large, as in the more favoured parts of the Riviera, the fruit must be allowed to ripen to allow of its being shaken down by long poles. The trees are pruned in circles, leaving an empty s.p.a.ce in the centre.

[Headnote: RIANS. MEYRARGUES.]

(For the following see maps, pages 66 and 123.) Coach daily from the "Cours" to Rians, 20 in. N.E., pa.s.sing Vauvenargues, 8 m. E. The castle, 14th cent., and village of Vauvenargues are situated near the cascades of the Val Infernets, and within 3 hrs. of the culminating point, 3175 ft. above the sea, of the Sainte Victoire mountains.

+Rians+, pop. 2900, _Inn:_ Hotel Bareme, is situated amidst olive trees and vineyards. Coach daily from Rians to Meyrargues, on the railway 34 m. N. from Ma.r.s.eilles, and 155 S. from Gren.o.ble, pa.s.sing Jouques, 7 m. N., with the ruins of its castle, both situated in the gorge of the Riaou, in which rise the copious springs of the Bouillidous, which irrigate the fields and set in motion numerous mills. 2 m. beyond Jouques is +Peyrolles+ (pop. 1200. _Inn:_ Hotel du Grand Logis), on the Durance, and at the foot of the Grand Sambiu, 2560 ft. above the sea. In the chapel of the old fortress is a painting on wood attributed to King Rene.

+Meyrargues+ (pop. 2000. _Inn:_ Reynaud) is situated with its castle in the valley of the Volubiere. Coach at station awaits pa.s.sengers from Rians.

[Headnote: DILIGENCES. BRANCH LINES.]

Diligence also from the Cours to Pelissanne, 18 m. W., pa.s.sing by La Barben, with one of the best castles in Provence, 14 m. W. Coach from Pelissanne to Salon, 4 m. W. (For Salon, see p. 66.) 5 m. N.E. from Pelissanne is Lambesc.

Diligences leave the Cours also for St. Cannat and Lambesc; but the best way is to go on to the next station N. from Aix, La Calade, where a coach awaits pa.s.sengers for St. Cannat, 5 m. N.W., and Lambesc, 3 m. farther. In the village of St. Cannat is the chapel of N. D. de la Vie, visited by pilgrims. +Lambesc+, 14 m. from Aix, pop. 3000, is a pretty little town, agreeably situated at the foot of the hill Berthoire. The manufactures of olive oil and silk form the princ.i.p.al industries.

7 m. S. from Aix, and 11 m. N. from Ma.r.s.eilles, is +Gardanne+, pop.

3500, with extensive coalfields. Junction here with branch to Carnoules, 52 m. S.E., on the line between Ma.r.s.eilles and Cannes. (See under Carnoules, p. 142.)

From Rognac the train pa.s.ses by the etang de Berre, and halts at Vitrolles, on the east side of the rail, 2 m. S. from Rognac. 3 m. S.

from Vitrolles and 11 m. N. from Ma.r.s.eilles is Pas-des-Lanciers, junction with line to Martigues (see p. 66), 12 m. E.

Four and a half miles south from the Pas-des-Lanciers, and 7 miles north from Ma.r.s.eilles, is the station of +L'Estaque+, a village on the sea, full of large brick and tile works, extending a good way up the valley of the Seon. This is the birthplace of the painter, sculptor, architect, and engineer Pierre Puget, born 31st October 1622, died at Ma.r.s.eilles 2d December 1694, in the 51st year of the reign of Louis XIV., to the glory of which his genius had contributed. He was the youngest of three brothers, the children of Simon Puget, a poor stonemason, who died while Pierre was still a boy.

+Ma.r.s.eilles+ (see p. 111). Cabs and the omnibuses from all the princ.i.p.al hotels await pa.s.sengers in the large open court just outside the arrival side of the railway station. At the east end of the departure side of the railway station is the Station Hotel, very comfortable, but the prices are rather more than moderate.

+LYONS TO NiMES.+

172 m. south by the west bank of the Rhone, pa.s.sing Oullins, Givors-ca.n.a.l, Ampuis, Peyraud, Tournon, La Voulte, Le Pouzin, Le Teil, Laudun, and Remoulins. Thence to Ma.r.s.eilles other 79 miles.