In the Heart of the Vosges | Page 2

the raspberry jam for which the
town is famous are brought to the doors of the railway carriage. Further
on at Commercy, you are enticed to regale upon unrivalled cakes called
"Madeleines de Commercy," and not a town, I believe, of this favoured
district is without its speciality in the shape of delicate cates or drinks.
Châlons-sur-Marne, moreover, possesses one of the very best hotels in
provincial France--the hotel with the queer name--another inducement
for us to idle on the way. The town itself is in no way remarkable, but it
abounds in magnificent old churches of various epochs--some falling
into decay, others restored, one and all deserving attention. St. Jean is

especially noteworthy, its beautiful interior showing much exquisite
tracery and almost a fanciful arrangement of transepts. It is very rich in
good modern glass. But the gem of gems is not to be found in Châlons
itself; more interesting and beautiful than its massive cathedral and
church of Notre Dame, than St. Jean even, is the exquisite church of
Notre Dame de l'Épine, situated in a poor hamlet a few miles beyond
the octroi gates. We have here, indeed, a veritable cathedral in a
wilderness, nothing to be imagined more graceful than the airy open
colonnades of its two spires, light as a handful of wheat ears loosely
bound together. The colour of the grey stone gives solemnity to the rest
of the exterior, which is massive and astonishingly rich in the grotesque
element. We carefully studied the gargoyles round the roof, and, in
spite of defacements, made out most of them--here a grinning demon
with a struggling human being in its clutch--there an odd beast, part
human, part pig, clothed in a kind of jacket, playing a harp--dozens of
comic, hideous, heterogeneous figures in various attitudes and
travesties.
[Illustration: Provins, The Capitol]
Notre Dame de l'Épine--originally commemorative of a famous
shrine--has been restored, and purists in architecture will pass it by as
an achievement of Gothic art in the period of its decline, but it is
extremely beautiful nevertheless. On the way from Châlons-sur-Marne
to Nancy we catch glimpses of other noble churches that stand out from
the flat landscape as imposingly as Ely Cathedral. These are Notre
Dame of Vitry le François and St. Étienne of Toul, formerly a cathedral,
both places to be stopped at by leisurely tourists.
The fair, the triste city of Nancy! There is an indescribable charm in the
sad yet stately capital of ancient Lorraine. No life in its quiet streets, no
movement in its handsome squares, nevertheless Nancy is one of the
wealthiest, most elegant cities in France! Hither flocked rich Alsatian
families after the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, and perhaps its
proximity to the lost provinces in part accounts for the subdued,
dreamy aspect of the place as a whole. A strikingly beautiful city it is,
with its splendid monuments of the house of Lorraine, and handsome
modern streets bearing evidence of much prosperity in these days. In
half-an-hour you may get an unforgettable glimpse of the Place
Stanislas, with its bronze gates, fountains, and statue, worthy of a great

capital; of the beautiful figure of Duke Antonio of Lorraine, on
horseback, under an archway of flamboyant Gothic; of the Ducal
Palace and its airy colonnade; lastly, of the picturesque old city gate,
the Porte de la Craffe, one of the most striking monuments of the kind
in France.
All these things may be glanced at in an hour, but in order to enjoy
Nancy thoroughly a day or two should be devoted to it, and here, as at
Châlons-sur-Marne, creature comforts are to be had in the hotels. In the
Ducal Palace are shown the rich tapestries found in the tent of Charles
le Téméraire after his defeat before Nancy, and other relics of that
Haroun-al-Raschid of his epoch, who bivouacked off gold and silver
plate, and wore on the battlefield diamonds worth half a million. In a
little church outside the town, commemorative of this victory, are
collected the cenotaphs of the Dukes of Lorraine--the chapelle ronde,
as the splendid little mausoleum is designated--with its imposing
monuments in black marble, and richly-decorated octagonal dome,
making up a solemn and beautiful whole. Graceful and beautiful also
are the monuments in the church itself, and those of another church,
Des Cordeliers, close to the Ducal Palace.
[Illustration: PROVINS, THE CITY WALLS]
Nancy is especially rich in monumental sculpture, but it is in the
cathedral that we are to be fairly enchanted by the marble statues of the
four doctors of the church--St. Augustine, St. Grégoire, St. Léon, and
St. Jerome. These are the work of Nicolas Drouin, a native of Nancy,
and formerly ornamented a tomb in the church of the Cordeliers just
mentioned. The physiognomy, expression, and pose of St. Augustine