The South of France-East Half Part 19

Maps, pages 26, 46, 56 and 66.

miles from LYONS miles to NiMES

{ }{172} NiMES

+LYONS+: start from the Perrache station. The train after pa.s.sing Oullins and Irigny arrives at Vernaison, 9 m. from Lyons, pop. 1400, with manufactories of pocket-handkerchiefs, and a large castle converted into a school. 4 m. farther is +Givors-ca.n.a.l+, where the Nimes line separates from the line to St. Etienne, 29 m. W. The ca.n.a.l of Givors, commenced in 1761, is 13 m. long, and is used chiefly by the coal barges. Near Tartaras it traverses a tunnel 118 yards long. The train now proceeds to Loire, 16 m. S. from Lyons, pop. 1400, famous for chestnuts, and then 8 m. farther down the Rhone to +Ampuis+ (opposite Vaugris), pop. 2000, H. du Nord, producing apricots, melons, and chestnuts, and possessing 94 acres of the Cote-Rotie vineyards, of which 46 acres belong to the first cla.s.s, yielding one of the best wines of France, remarkable for its fine colour, flavour, and violet perfume. It is a little heady, and gains much by a voyage. 3 m. farther south by rail is Condrieu, with 87 acres of vineyards, producing luscious white wines, becoming amber-coloured. 31 m. S. from Lyons is Chavanay, pop.

1800, with old castle and suspension bridge. _Inns:_ H. Commerce; Soleil; omnibus at station. 4 m. from Chavanay by coach is Pelussin, pop. 4000. Romanesque church with crypt and ruins of Virieux castle.

7 m. farther is Serrieres, pop. 1700. Railway viaduct of 66 arches.

{39}{132} +PEYRAUD+, pop. 400. Junction with line to Annonay, 9 m. W., and to Gren.o.ble, 60 m. E. by Rives and Voreppe. +Annonay+, pop. 16,500, built in the hollow and on the sides of the surrounding mountains, at the confluence of the Deome and the Cance. _Inn:_ H. Midi, in the princ.i.p.al square, occupying the centre of the low town.

The ruins of the old castle are on a rock by the side of the Cance.

The Hotel de Ville is on a hill beyond. The spot from which the brothers Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier made the first air-balloon ascent, 3d June 1783, is indicated by a pyramid. They were also the founders of one of the celebrated paper mills of Annonay; whose paper was long esteemed the best in France. 27 m. N.W. from Annonay by coach, traversing a beautiful mountain-road, is St. Etienne. From Annonay the road ascends 9 m. to Bourg-Argental, pop. 3600. _Inn:_ France. Bourg, as the inhabitants call it, is a silk-rearing and manufacturing town, on the Deome, in a hollow surrounded by mountains covered with vines and mulberry trees. 2 m. farther the road pa.s.ses the castle of Argental, and shortly after reaches its culminating point on a vast tableland to the south of Mont Pilat. The country around is covered with a great forest of firs. The obelisks along the road are to guide travellers when snow is on the ground. The road now crosses the plateau called La Republique, bounded by the Bois de Merlon, and then descends to St. Etienne by Planfoy, 5 m. from St.

Etienne, and La Riviere 2 m. 17 m. by rail from Annonay is Tournon.

[Headnote: TOURNON.]

56 m. S. from Lyons, 115 N. from Nimes, and opposite Tain, with which it is connected by two suspension bridges, is +Tournon+, pop. 6100, on the Rhone. Hotel de l'a.s.surance between the bridges, and opposite the landing-place from the Lyons and Avignon steamers. Fishers can easily reach from Tournon many of the tributaries of the Rhone. Next the hotel is the castle of the Counts of Tournon, now the Palais de Justice.

Beyond it is the church of St. Julien, built in 1300. The interior is on lofty early pointed arches. Wine, silk, and olives supply the princ.i.p.al industries. Coach daily to Le Cheilard, 5 hrs., ascending all the way (see p. 83). Coaches also to St. Felicien, 3 hrs. W.; to St. Agreve, 9 hrs. W.; and to St. Martin de Valamas, 7 hrs. W. 3 m. N. from Tournon is Vion, with a beautiful church. (See map, p. 46.)

{65}{106} +SAINT PERAY+, pop. 3000. _Inn:_ H. du Nord. Omnibus at station. Also omnibus for Valence. An uninteresting village about ten minutes from the station, situated on the sunny side of the valley of the Merdary. The vineyards here produce an excellent sparkling wine, the taste of which is natural, not given to it by the addition of prepared cordials, as is the case with the other champagnes.

69 m. from Lyons is Soyons, pop. 900, under an eminence crowned by the Tour Maudite, an old fortress. 77 yards above the village is a cave, La Grotte de Neron, in which prehistoric remains have been found. 2 m.

farther is Charmes, pop. 1000, and other 3 m. Beauchastel, pop. 1000, 2 m. from St. Laurent du Pape. (Map, p. 46.)

[Headnote: LA VOULTE.]

{77}{95} +LA VOULTE+, pop. 5000. _Inn:_ H. du Musee. Temple Protestant. Railway and steamboat stations. A dirty and badly-paved town on the right bank and on the steep sides of a hill rising from the Rhone. On the summit are the Grande Place, the parish church, and the castle, commenced by Bernard Anduze in 1305, and finished by Gilbert III. de Ventadour in 1582, who also built the chapel. The castle is now inhabited by workmen, and the chapel is a magazine. By the side of the castle is a large iron-foundry, employing 170 men.

The ores come from rich mines a little way up the valley, near the decayed mineral water establishment of Celles-les-Bains. _Inn:_ H.

Chalvet, 2 m. down the Rhone, but behind the hills. The water contains iron with a little free carbonic acid gas. Coach daily from La Voulte to Le Cheilard (or Cheylard), 30 m. N.W., 6 hrs., and to St.

Pierreville, 24 m. W., 5 hrs. The road to the two places separates at St. Sauveur, 8 m. E. from St. Pierreville, and 15 m. S.E. from Le Cheilard. (See map, p. 46.) St. Sauveur, pop. 2000. _Inns:_ Poste; Voyageur. Is prettily situated on the Erieux, which descends from Le Cheilard, between high rocky banks cultivated to the summit by a series of laboriously walled terraces, on which are small fields of wheat intermingled with walnut, chestnut, apple, pear, and cherry trees, and in the more favoured spots vines and peach and mulberry trees. The road skirts the cliffs, and is itself terraced the greater part of the way. A few miles up the river, opposite the village Chalancon, _Inn:_ H. Astier, is a very good specimen of an old donkey-backed bridge, +Le Cheilard+, 2130 ft. above the sea, pop.

3500. _Inn:_ H. Courtial. This, the great diligence centre of Ardeche, is a dingy, dirty town, with narrow streets, beautifully situated on the Evreux, in a hollow between lofty terraced mountains. Coaches daily to Valence, La Voulte, and Tournon. Every other day to Annonay by the same road as the Tournon coach as far as a little beyond Mastre, 1280 ft. above the sea, whence it diverges northward. Coach daily also to Le Puy, 36 m. N.W., by St. Martin-de-Valamas, pop. 2200, at the confluence of the Eysse and the Erieux and Fay-le-Froid, 22 m.

E. from Le Puy, near the river Lignon, pop. 900. (Map, page 46.)

[Headnote: ST. SAUVEUR. LE CHEILARD. MARCOLS.]

ROAD TO THE SOURCE OF THE LOIRE.

+Saint Sauveur to Le Beage+ by St. Pierreville, Marcols, Mezillac, and Lachamp-Raphael (Gerbier-de-Jones). The road from St. Sauveur to St.

Pierreville ascends the Gluyere or Glaire in much the same way as the road to Le Cheilard ascends the Erieux. +St. Pierreville+, 1788 ft.

above the sea, pop. 2100. _Inns:_ Rochier; Commerce. Temple Protestant. On an eminence rising from the Gluyere. At St. Pierreville pa.s.sengers for Marcols enter a smaller vehicle. The whole way the road follows the course of the Gluyere, between great granite cliffs. 2 m.

before reaching Marcols is the clean little village of +Olbon+, on both sides of the Gluyere, with a nice inn, the H. des Voyageurs, and a Temple Protestant. A little farther by the side of the stream is a spring of mineral water containing iron and carbonic acid gas.

6 m. W. from St. Pierreville is +Marcols+, 3380 ft. above the sea, a small village with three silk mills, on an eminence rising from the Gluyere. _Inn:_ H. de l'Union. This is the terminus of the stagecoaches, for the other places westwards vehicles must be hired.

As conveyances cannot always be had at Marcols, the most prudent plan for those going on to Le Beage, and not disposed to walk the distance, is to spend the night at St. Pierreville, and to start early next morning in a vehicle hired from the "Bureau des Diligences," 15 frs.

per day, with one horse. Gig from Marcols to Lachamp-Raphael, 11 frs.

Le Beage is 28 m. N.W. from St. Pierreville, pa.s.sing through Marcols 6 m., Mezillac 11 m., and Lachamp-Raphael 16 m.

The road from Marcols to Mezillac, 2 hrs., coils up the sides of steep terraced mountains. Near the summit of one, in a very exposed situation, is the small hamlet of Mezillac, consisting of low ma.s.sive stone cottages, and a modern church built in the style of the former one, 10th cent. Refreshments can be had at the Bureau de Tabac.

A little farther down is the inn. At Mezillac the road from Le Cheilard to Aubenas intersects the road from Mezillac to Le Beage.

Thus far the prevailing rock has been granite, but about m. from Mezillac the road skirts the face of a mountain one ma.s.s of basaltic prisms.

[Headnote: LACHAMP-RAPHAeL. SOURCE OF THE LOIRE.]

4 m. W. from Mezillac is the hamlet of Lachamp-Raphael, 4364 ft.

above the sea. Most of the better cottages take in travellers, where generally abundance of good milk, b.u.t.ter, eggs, coffee, and potatoes may be had, with a bed. There are no trees in this region. About 1 hour from Lachamp by a bad road is the cascade du Ray-Pic, which plunges down into a dark abyss. Any lad can show the way.

THE GERBIER-DE-JONCS AND MONT MEZENC.

2 m. beyond Lachamp-Raphael, just under the culminating point of the road (4600 ft. above the sea), is a farmhouse called La Maison Bourlatie, and near it a flattened peak. Just beyond this Maison Bourlatie a road diverges to the right (eastward) from the main road, which take for the Gerbier-de-Joncs, the top of which is distinctly seen after having proceeded a short way, and is hardly an hour's easy walking from Bourlatie. It is a most interesting and easy excursion.

The +Gerbier-de-Joncs+ (_Gerbiarum jugum_) is an isolated pointed cone, composed of ma.s.ses and fragments of trachyte, rising 325 ft.

above the tableland, 5125 ft. above the sea, and commanding a wide and extensive view. At the base, south side, from under a block of trachyte and some loose stones, wells gently forth the infant Loire, running first into a little circular basin for the use of the adjoining farmhouse, whence it runs down the bank in a tiny streamlet from 3 to 4 inches wide, but soon becomes sufficiently powerful to turn the wheel of a mill. The continuation of the road from the Gerbier goes to Les Etables, 22 m. S.E. from Le Puy, at the foot of Mount Mezenc, 5755 ft. above the sea. Now go on to Le Beage, or return for the night to Lachamp, 22 m. N. from Aubenas by Antraigues.

+Lachamp-Raphael to Le Beage+, 12 m. W. Char-a-banc, 10 frs. The road, which has been ascending all the way from Valence and La Voulte, continues to ascend till about 1 m. beyond Lachamp, where it attains its culminating point, about 4600 ft. A little farther the road to the Gerbier diverges to the right. Less than 2 m. from this the road crosses the Loire, and soon after is joined by the road from the village of St. Eulalie on the way to Montpezat.

[Map: Mont Mezenc and the Source of the Loire]

[Headnote: LE BEAGE. MEZENC.]

+Le Beage+, pop. 850. _Inns:_ La Maison Brun; H. des Voyageurs.

A dirty cattle and swine breeding village, 4122 ft. above the sea, beautifully situated on an eminence rising from the Veyradere, which rushes past in a dark ravine below. Pasture being the princ.i.p.al crop cultivated, the mountain sides have no terraces. Four great fairs are held annually here. The winter is long and severe, but from June to October the weather is pleasant. The staple occupation of the females is lace-making on a pillow with bobbins. The design is on paper fixed to a short cylinder, and is further indicated by pins with coloured gla.s.s heads. The linen thread is given them by the merchants, who pay them at the rate of from 2d. to 4d. the yard, according to the breadth of the lace, from 2 to 4 inches. A most industrious lace-maker can earn 1 fr. per day. 3 m. S.W. from Le Beage in an extinct crater is the lake Issarles, occupying a surface of 222 acres.

From Le Beage the trachytic mountain of +Mezenc+ (p.r.o.nounce Mezing) is visited. But the best plan is to go on to Les Etables, 4410 ft. above the sea, 7 m. N. from Le Beage by the wheel road, but only half that distance by the direct path. _Inns:_ Testud; Chalamel, where pa.s.s the night. The hamlet is situated at the foot of Mont Mezenc, 5755 ft.

above the sea, or 1345 ft. above Les Etables, and 866 ft. above the hamlet of Mezenc. The ascent takes about an hour.

LE BEAGE TO LE PUY.

Le Beage is 12 m. S.E. from Monastier, pa.s.sing through Chabanis. On the opposite side of the river are seen Freycenet, 3905 ft. above the sea, and Crouziols, 4 m. S. from Monastier. Char-a-banc between Le Beage and Monastier, 10 frs.

[Headnote: LE MONASTIER.]

+LE MONASTIER+, pop. 4000, on an eminence rising from the Colanse.

_Inns:_ Commerce; Voyageurs. Coach daily to Le Puy, 11 m. N.W. 10 m.

S. is Salettes, and 22 m. S. St. Paul de Tartas, 3393 ft. above the sea, at the foot of Mont Tartas, 4424 ft. St. Paul is near Pradelles, connected by diligence with Le Puy and Langogne. The parish church, St. Theofrede, of Le Monastier, was, along with the abbey, founded in 680, and rebuilt in 961 by Ufald, 10th abbot of Monastier, and repaired and enlarged in 1493 by Estaing, the 45th abbot. The edifice exhibits throughout the Auvergne style of architecture. The portal consists of a semicircular arch with 6 mouldings resting on four short columns with sculptured capitals. Above the tympanum and also over the large rectangular window are rude mosaics. Under the eaves of the roof runs a string moulding of grotesque sculpture, representing men and animals. In the interior the capitals of the columns and the corbels on the vaulting shafts are similarly adorned. In the apse is the chapel of Saint Theofrede; with sculptured stone roof. He is the "protecteur du Monastier"--"le bon pasteur, qui s'expose a la mort pour son troupeau"--the "conservateur des fruits de la terre." (See his litany.)

11 m. N. from Le Monastier by diligence along a beautiful mountain-road is Le Puy. The bureau at Le Puy of both the diligence and the courier is at No. 1 Rue du Pont-St. Barthelemy near the large "Place" and the hotels. About half-way from Le Monastier is the village of Arsac, _Inn:_ H. des Voyageurs, and about 1 m. more, on an eminence, the village and the still imposing remains of the fortress of Bouzols, 10th cent. Shortly after having crossed the Loire at the town of Brives, the diligence enters Le Puy, 2 m. from Brives.

36 m. S.W. by rail from St. Etienne, 89 m. from Lyons, and 33 m. S.E.

from St. George d'Aurac junction, on the line between Clermont and Nimes (see maps, pp. 26 and 46), is

[Headnote: LE PUY. THE CATHEDRAL.]