In Troubador-Land | Page 3

André-le-Bas--Situation of Vienne--Foundation of the Church
there--Letter of the Church on the martyrdoms at Lyons

CHAPTER XXII.
BOURGES.

The siege of Avaricum by Cæsar--The complete subjugation of
Gaul--The statue of the Dying Gaul at Rome--Beauty of Bourges--The
cathedral--Not completed according to design--Defect in height--Strict
geometrical proportion in design not always satisfactory--Necessity of
proportion for acoustics--Domestic architecture in Bourges--The house
of Jacques Coeur--Story of his life--A rainy day--Why Bourges
included in this book--A silver thimble--_Que de singeries faites-vous
là, Madeleine?_--Adieu
APPENDIX

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.
Tower of S. Trophimus, Arles Abbey of S. Victor, Marseilles Part of
the North Cloister of Arles Cathedral Les Baux The Pont du Gard
Béziers from the River An Entrance to Carcassonne The Cathedral and
the Palace of the Popes, Avignon
GENERAL ILLUSTRATIONS.
The Carro A Florentine Torch Holder A Horse in a Hat Lérins
Aqueduct of Fréjus Lantern of Augustus Map of Massalia Musical
Instruments from the Tomb of Julia Calpurnia's Monument An Arelaise.
(_From a Photograph._) Part of the Amphitheatre of Arles Back of a
House at Arles A Boat with two rudders at Arles On a House at Arles
Samson and the Lion, from the West door of the Cathedral of Arles On
a House at Arles South Entrance to the Cloister, Arles Cathedral
Church of Notre Dame de la Majeur, Arles Tower of the desecrated
Church of S. Croix, Arles Part of the Courtyard of the Convent of S.
Cæsarius, Arles Church of the Penitents Gris, Arles In the Cloisters,
Montmajeur In the Cloister at Arles Les Baux Range of the Alpines
from Glanum Liviæ Ruins S. Gabriel La Trémaïé Les Gaïé Caius
Marius (_From a bust in the Vatican._) Orgon and the Durance Mont
Victoire and the Plain of Pourrières Sketch Plan of the Battle-fields
Monument of Marius Venus Victrix Gardanne The Vielle Les Saintes
Maries Early Altar, Tarascon Spire of S. Martha's Church, Tarascon
Iron Door to Safe in S. Martha's Church King René's Castle, Tarascon
A bit in Tarascon The Chapel of Beaucaire Castle Beaucaire Castle

from Tarascon.--Sunset In the Public Garden, Nimes The Maison
Carrée, Nimes Cathedral of Nimes.--Part of West Front Aigues
Mortes.--One of the Gates Aigues Mortes.--Tower of the Bourgignons
Sketch Map of Aigues Mortes and its Littoral Chains Original use of
Battlements. (_From Viollet-le-Duc._) Second stage of Battlements
East End of the Church of Maguelonne Béziers.--Church of S. Nazaire
Fountain in the Cloister of S. Nazaire, Béziers Types of faces,
Narbonne: Modern--Sixteenth-Century Tomb in Cathedral--Classic
Bust in Museum Freedmen's Caps, Narbonne Children's Toys in the
Museum, Narbonne Towers on the Wall, Carcassonne A Bit of
Carcassonne Inside the Wall, Carcassonne Papal Throne in the
Cathedral of Avignon John XXII. Benedict XII. An Angle of the Papal
Palace, Avignon Lantern at the Cathedral, Avignon Angel at West
Door, Church of S. Agricole A Bit of the Old Wall, Avignon Part of
Church of S. Didier, Avignon Bridge and Chapel of S. Benezet At
Villeneuve Castle of S. André, at Villeneuve At Villeneuve A Well at
Villeneuve Cathedral of Valence Doorway in the House Dupré Latour,
Valence Doorway and Niche in the Maison des Têtes, Valence House
in Vienne At Vienne Hurdy-Gurdy Played by an Angel Church of S.
André-le-Bas.--The Tower Porte de l'Ambulance, Vienne A Street
Corner, Bourges Part of Jacques Coeur's House Turret in the Hôtel
Lallemand Staircase in the Hôtel Lallemand Sculpture over the Kitchen
Entrance at Jacques Coeur's House Jacques Coeur's Knocker

CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
The Tiber in Flood--Typhoid fever in Rome--Florence--A Jew
acquaintance--Drinking in Provence--Buying _bric-à-brac_ with the
Jew--The carro on Easter Eve--Its real Origin--My Jew friend's
letters--Italian dolce far niente.
Conceive yourself confronted by a pop-gun, some ten feet in diameter,
charged with mephitic vapours and plugged with microbes of typhoid
fever. Conceive your sensations when you were aware that the piston
was being driven home.

That was my situation in March, 1890, when I got a letter from Messrs.
Allen asking me to go into Provence and Languedoc, and write them a
book thereon. I dodged the microbe, and went.
To make myself understood I must explain.
I was in Rome. For ten days with a sirocco wind the rains had
descended, as surely they had never come down since the windows of
heaven were opened at the Flood. The Tiber rose thirty-two feet. Now
Rome is tunnelled under the streets with drains or sewers that carry all
the refuse of a great city into the Tiber. But, naturally, when the Tiber
swells high above the crowns of the sewers, they are choked. All the
foulness of the great town is held back under the houses and streets,
and breeds gases loathsome to the nose and noxious to life. Not only so,
but a column of water, some twenty to twenty-five feet in height, is
acting like the