IN FRANCE.

Hokitika Guardian, 2 January 1926, Page 4

IN FRANCE.

TOURAINE AND ITS CHATEAUX. (Ily Francis Jackson in Sydney “ Herald.”) The real gateway of La Tonraine and of the Valley of the Loire is tile town of lllois. Thither we went from Orleans in our old and faithful Ford—now no longer a Lizzie, hut a Lizette, and seemingly proud of the change of name, or liking her drink of French

“ essence ” rather better than the English “ petrol.” About 4 o’clock of a sunny August Saturday afternoon we clattered over the Napoleonic stone bridge. .Beneath us was the Loire, wider and deeper here than at Orleans, but still begirt will pale sands and rushes and willows. In front of us and right above the skyline rose the city, white and compact, in romantic confusion of steep roofs, towers, belfries and spires. So compact it seemed that it was difficult to spy an entry. The

streets are narrow, steep and tortuous, and it was a little hard to find our hotel. 'When we succeeded we were well repaid, for it was just opposite to the facade of the great chateau in the Place Victor Hugo. The facade looms above the street at dusk like a rising cloud, and .shows at once the size; and glow of the ancient, palace. It is, so ,» speak, its ceremonial face which it presents to the world. Its style is that of the dignified French Renascence, and it was Imilt by that master of pomp and ceremony. Francis 1., whose device was the fire-eating salamander.

That night we wandered round the city and explored its mediaeval alleys and byways, with their eyeless walls and gaunt-looking iron lamp posts of a past age. There is a peculiar chalky groynes- about Hie old towns and villages of Tonraine. which turns to blazing silver in the full glare of the sun. and offers the most extraordinary contrasts of light, ami shade. But bv night they seem made for lovers and for prowling eats, for they are pits of darkness. Wo drifted through those sinuous, quiet (though not always sweet-smell-ing) ways out into an old place, in the ('<ntre of which was the cathedral, white and sepulchral in the moon. There was a light in one of the chapels of the apse, and we wandered in for a few minutes to listen to a priest droning the evening office. The congrega-

tion was composed of a few men and a score of women in widows’ weeds. Then we went down along the quay and listened to the talk of fishermen and loiterers, and watched the shadows and tho sparkle of the moonbeams on the water. JOAN OK ABC. On Siindav morning we visilod the chateau and we were glad of the shade of the great building. Once it had extensive gardens and pleasuanees laid out in regal fashion, hut they have gone, absorbed by the growth, of democracy, which destroys gardens and trees. The history of the building touch.es the general history of France at many points. From here Joan of Arc set out for the deliverance of Orleans. The celebrated Illinois, the Bastard ot Orleans, held the clntleau during the latter end of the one hundred years’ war. Louis Nil lived hero. Anne of ilretuage died here in 1011. Charles V. visited it. llenrv 111 summoned the States Oeneral to meet here in 1.17;; and 1188. The most tragic

event in its story took place on December 22, 1588, when Henry HI., afraid of I 'no power and popularity of the Duke o! Oui-e. had him assassinated almost, before his eyes. To-day you can buy picture postcard copies of a famous picture, showing Henry gloating over the corpse of his dreaded adversary. At the same time, the king caused the Duke's brother, the Cardinal do Lorraine, to be thrown into tt dungeon, where In*, too. was ii’iirdcrecl the next day. Calchriiie do Medieis died a lew days afterwards. One is shown the rooms and the dungeon where these bloody events took place. .Love of beauty, treachery, and Mood lust went hand in hand with intellect and sulemlour in those days of the Bonin,ssance. The architectural glories of the cable,-in are the great facade, the exterior staircase of stone, constructed by Francis ].. whose s.ala-

mander is imprinted everywhere on Wiill, cnno'ic mill ceiling. mul (lie gallery of l.oiiis XII. There are in France >,omi on ilic f/'irp, buildings more I'eiuitif ll l. Inn iiono in wliioli one finds examples ol nil ilie or,nil styles of l''reiii'li domestic nrclii l eci lire. mu]

which ijreseiit so eloquent n re.-nine of ils development.

In the :: fternooii we drove old. to Chmiihoril, si limp; the roods bordered by tall, overhanging trees, into a ntagtiili'ent nark. Clta niboril differs from Blob, for ii is built upon the plain, and presents its stirtel.v i'mttl lo a wide open spin e where three avenues meet . An artificial lake lies a lew yards away I'rmli the principal entrance, and the towers mul pinnacles were reflected with unbliiired a< curacy in its still .surface. It presented the kind of inverted picture which pleases the child in all of ns. The sky was deep blue, and Ihe white of the building and the greenery of the (Kirk made a picture of hrillianl beauty, in part created by the art of man in an age which conceived beauty a.s the .supreme object of the cultured soul. Once more the style is that of the French Renaissance, which demanded grandeur and grace intermingled. The chateau is well . preserved. and was until ipiite recently used rs a dwelling place, (Tiamlxird is noted for the magtiiliceiioe of its outline, the immense variety of roof and chimneys which top it, and for a mighty stone staircase—divided into two parts ■■■one for these descending and one for the--.o ascending. Unlike the stairway at Ulois. this one is u.thin the chateau. The i oust ruction of Chnmhord was begun by that, magnificent spender and builder of mansions, Francis 1., in K>2f>, and was finished by Henry IT. and Charles DC. .MANY CHATEAUX. Ulois and Cluunbord are only two of many chateaux upon the Loire. CTiaumont. Amboise. Chenonceaux, Loelies, Az ayile Ridenti. Luyne.s, Cliinon. and others are mnnes width bring back to mind scenes of romantic beauty. The Loire is still called the Royal River.

From the beginning of the fifteenth century, when the whole of the north of Franco was English, this river remained almost entirely French. What a poor kingdom France was in those days, ravaged and invaded to the north and south! Henry Vi. of England reigned over Flanders. Artois. Picardy, Normandy. Brittany. Maine, the He do France. Champagne. and Barrois, whilst Burgundy was his ally. Even Orleans was besciged. but the Loire from Orleans to Nantes was free from the invader. Yendome was French and Tours, Lttde, Angers, and Craon. Tonraine and Anion barred the invader’s army. Then came the Maid, sent to the nation to give it such a lesson of hope and faith that never since has France been sunk into the depths of abject despair, however black the hour. Less than three months after the coming of Salute Jeanne to Cliinon Charles VTI. was crowned at. Reims, and the people of the country round Orleans and of the land of Champagne recognised once more their king. France in that year began to rebuild, as .she is rebuilding to-day. Aren and -women were persuaded, or wished to be, that there would he no

more yv&rs after, so\runny wars. Everywhere ui Picardy, Champagne, and Toulouse churches were built, and raised to the heavens the pointed Gothic of their stained glass windows, and their towers and spires. They wore a thnnks-offering to God. to the Holy Virgin, -and the saints who had, rescued France through the instrument Stity of the Maid. The nation wished do* rest and enjoy life. Jt was in this beautiful part of France, in Tourainc, the garden of France, along the Loire which had never ceased to be French, that princes ami great- nobles built (•bateaux quite unlike the ugly feudal strongholds which existed before Joan of Arc. Everywhere along the banks of the river, or near them, there rose dwellings and palaces which were marvels of skill and rare beauty. Great

avenues of trees were planted in long vistas east, and west-, and south and north. PEOPLE OF THE LOIRE. The Loire owes to its history, to its fertility, and its beauty, the politeness and courtesy of its people. Their fame ill this respect is not of yesterday. A monk of the first half of the seventeenth century, one Martin Marten u of Tours, who had breathed the air of Baris, and was in a position to make a comparison, said in his little hook. “Paradiso-Dclicieux de Tour-

aine” this land being such ns 1 have described, and so fertile, the inhabitants are also gentle, kind, affable,

-ociaiable, gracious-, honest, civil, lively, fond of conversation. . . they delight in enjoyment without excess, live well, and modestly, and each within his means.” It must he remembered that the worthy Carmelite, being of the soil of Tonraine. was complaisant in the enumeration of the virtues of his fellow countrymen. The adjectives may he reduced, but the truth remains that this land of elmteahx is inhabited bv vignerons and tillers of the soil, workmen, and bourgeois who are free and happy in spirit, and have pleasing gentle manners. What i.s acquired in other provinces of Fram e by strict education seems to belong naturally to the people of Tonraine, who live along the banks of the Loire. The polite society of the royal courts, and of the nobles attracted thither, lias left its impress upon the social life o[ the ancient province, and this happy result has been materially aided by the sunny climate, and the gracious fare of nature, and the breeze that bio’-"

by night from the roviii along the river with the cleansing scent- and air of the sea.