Sweet Valley Confidential Ten Years Later

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Sweet Valley Confidential Ten Years
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 Sweet Valley Confidential
Ten Years Later

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.
 Mo n tagnac is a sad-looking town, with gloomy and dirty stuccoed
houses; and one is glad to leave it behind, as one goes through the sunny
hills towards Mèze, having, as one approaches that town, a great panoramic
view over the land-locked Etang-de-Thau, with the Mediterranean showing
beyond Cette. It is in this neighbourhood that one begins to notice the
swords of the cactus, and the olive is seldom absent from the views. Aleppo
pines grow picturesquely here and there, and a solitary cypress appears now
and then.
It is hardly worth while to linger at Mèze , as there is little to see, and
there are many places farther east where the time would be valuable. There
is a pleasant run by the side of the sparkling blue waters of the Etang,
followed by a rather uninteresting stretch of country to Montpellier, which
is entered through a fine avenue of sycamores.
 SECTION XVI

MONTPELLIER TO AIX-EN-PROVENCE,
98½ MILES
(158 KILOMETRES)
DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE
Kil. Miles.
Montpellier to Lunel 22 13½
[Lunel to Aigues-Mortes and back 32 20]
Lunel to Nîmes 24 15
[Nîmes to Pont-du-Gard and back 44 27¼]
[Nîmes to Beaucaire and Tarascon-sur-Rhone 24 15]
[Tarascon-sur-Rhone to Avignon 23 14¼]
By going north from Nîmes to Avignon, and
omitting the Riviera, the tour can be shortened by
five or six days.
[Nîmes to Avignon 42 26]
Nîmes to St. Gilles 19 11¾
St. Gilles to Arles 18 11¼
Arles to Salon 40 25
Salon to St. Cannat 18 11¼
St. Cannat to Aix-en-Provence 17 10¾
NOTES FOR DRIVERS
Montpellier to Nîmes.—Level, and nearly every road across the delta of
the Rhone is quite flat.

THE CASTLE AT TARASCON.

On the Rhone.

Pélissanne to Aix-en-Provence.—An undulating road, with a long run

down into Aix-en-Provence.
PLACES OF INTEREST ON THE ROUTE
Montpellier.—A cheerful and prosperous city; new streets and wide
boulevards—(1) Historic School of Medicine in former Episcopal
Palace; (2) Musée Fabre contains very fine collection of pictures; (3)
Cathedral dates from 1364, choir and other parts 1857; (4) Tour des
Pins; (5) Porte du Peyrou, seventeenth century.
Lunel.—Small town, with a partially Romanesque church.
Aigues-Mortes.—In the Carmargue. A very remarkable medieval walled
city, founded by St. Louis (IX.); fortifications built by Philippe-le-Hardi
in thirteenth century.
Nîmes.—Has some of the finest Roman remains in France—(1)
Amphitheatre; (2) Maison Carrée; (3) Porte d’Auguste; (4) Porte de
 France; (5) Roman baths and the Tour Magne; (6) Cathedral of St.
Castor (eleventh century); (7) Pont-du-Gard, 14 miles north.
St. Gilles.—In the Carmargue. A decayed port, with a remarkable
Romanesque church.
Arles.—A large town, with a history going back to the Greek occupation
of the ports of Southern France—(1) Roman amphitheatre; (2) Greek
theatre; (3) remains of Roman Forum; (4) Roman tower of La Trouille;
(5) Museum in Church of St. Anne; (6) Cathedral of St. Trophime, with
cloisters; (7) Avenue des Alyscamps, with stone sarcophagi; (8) and (9)
Churches of St. Antoine and St. Honorat.
Salon.—A small town on the edge of the Crau; Churches of St. Michel
(thirteenth century) and St. Laurent (fourteenth century); also château of
same date as the latter.
Pélissanne.—A small town, with a church and clock-tower, both of the
sixteenth century; also ruins of a château of the twelfth and fifteenth
centuries.
St. Cannat.—See Section XIX.
Mo n tp ell i er does not boast many antiquities, but it has some spacious
promenades and boulevards which give a dignity and charm to the city.
Hare, writing before some of the more modern streets had assumed their
present appearance, says:
‘No words can express the dulness of the place, or the savage ferocity of
the mistral which blows there; as a winter resort it possesses no advantages
whatever.’

The place became prosperous in the thirteenth century with the founding
of the School of Medicine, which is famous to this day. It is housed in the
buildings of the Episcopal Palace, and its frontage is still machicolated.
T h e Musée F abr e in the Esplanade contains the best provincial
collection of pictures in France next to Lille. It is open on week-days—
except Mondays—from 9 to 12, and 1.30 to 4 or 5; Sundays, 11 to 4 or 5.
T h e C athedr al , with a very odd-looking porch, is the church of a
Benedictine abbey founded in 1364. Three of the original towers at the
angles of the nave survive; the fourth and the Gothic choir were rebuilt
about 1857.
 Town Plan No. 20.—Montpellier.

T h e Tour d es P i ns is a survival of the early fortifications of the town,

now restored. The inscription is to the memory of Jayme, the conqueror of
Arragon.
T h e Jar din des P l antes , founded in 1593 by Henry IV., is the
earliest in France.
A triumphal arch, called the Porte du Peyrou, was put up at the end of
the seventeenth century to the glory of Louis XIV. The Promenade de
Peyrou, begun about the same time and completed in 1785, has a statue of
the same Louis, and a great prospect towards the sea and the Cevennes
across the level country bordering the mouth of the Rhone.
The impression one gets of Montpellier in a short visit is that of a city
mainly composed of buildings that are all of a uniformly creamy-white
colour, and that the only other colour besides the dusty green of the foliage
is the bright red of the soldiers’ uniforms and the gaudy colour of
advertisements.
THE ROAD TO NÎMES
Keeping to the edge of the plain, the road goes eastwards to L unel ,
which stands in the great vine-growing plain. In the Place de la Liberté one
may see a small facsimile of the New York statue of Liberty by Bartholdi.
The church is Romanesque in part.
From Lunel a détour of a most profitable character may be made to
A i g u es- Mor t es (meaning ‘stagnant waters’), one of the dead ports of that
blighted land called the Carmargue. The road passes through Marsillargues
and St. Laurent-l’Aigouze, and for the last three kilometres runs parallel
with the Beaucaire Canal, which has to some extent reanimated the ancient
walled town from which St. Louis embarked for the Holy Land in 1248 and
1270. The lofty walls and square towers, without any machicolation to
relieve their grim strength, were built by Philippe-le-Hardi, and are said to
have been copied from Ascalon, in Syria, even as the Château Gaillard was
based on the experience Richard I. gained in the Holy Land. It was the
Crusades that seem to have brought the town into being, and, like
everything connected with those unsuccessful efforts to roll back the
Mohammedan power, Aigues-Mortes, being surrounded by fever-producing
swamps, was doomed to failure from the first day St. Louis founded it. But
the constant depletion of the population in the past—at the rate, it is said, of
five or six a day in the spring out of a population of 1,500—has given the
modern antiquary a walled medieval town only comparable to Carcassonne
and Avignon, and in some respects of greater interest than either.
No. 17. MONTPELLIER TO AIX-EN-PROVENCE.
 From L unel to N î m es the country is a vast vineyard, with here and
there an Aleppo or an umbrella pine or a few olives.
NÎMES
To the tourist who has never seen Roman remains outside a museum, or
has only looked dully at a few foundations of Roman walls in situ, Nîmes
brings the reality of Rome’s power before his eyes with such overwhelming
vividness that he begins to forget the remoteness of the civilization which
raised these enduring monuments. That the vast amphitheatre, the perfect
temple to Caius and Lucius Cæsar, the gateway called the Porte d’Auguste,
the complete aqueduct known as the Pont-du-Gard, and the Roman tower,
90 feet high, called the Tour Magne, date from the early years of the
Christian era, or even before the birth of Christ, seems at first easy to grasp.
But these structures stand so imposingly among the buildings of 2,000 years
later which have grown up around them that there comes in time a feeling
almost of incredulity. Perhaps some clever French architects have done
most of the building, one thinks; but a glance at the stonework of any of
these great works shows that the restoration that has taken place has been of
a trifling character, the main work in the case of the arena having been the
clearing away of the later accretions which were hiding the Roman fabric.
It was in 121 B.C. that the capital of a Gaulish tribe became the Nemausus
of the Romans. For over five centuries it remained a Roman city of the
greatest importance, a period equal to England’s history from the crude
times of Richard II. to the present year. So much did the Romans appreciate
their new colonies in Provincia (now Provence) that they even considered
the transference of the capital of the Empire to the banks of the Rhone. One
need not wonder, therefore, at the magnificence and the permanent
character of the buildings they erected. At Orange, at St. Rémy, and at Arles
the survivals are equally forceful, and the most ill-informed who gaze upon
them go away with an impression of Roman power so vivid that they cannot
ever again regard archæology as a musty science.
 Town Plan No. 21.—Nîmes.

In its modern aspect Nîmes is a thriving city with a busy trade in wine
and silk. The main streets are wide and cheerful, with trees which are a
boon during the hot time of the year.
The chief features of the town are:
1. T he R om an Am phi t heatr e . —It is smaller than those of Arles,
Capua, Verona, and Rome, but is the best preserved in the whole world.
It was built in the first century, and the enormous stones are so perfectly
cut that, although laid without cement, they have not been disturbed
throughout the 1,800 years of change that have passed since the
building of the arena. The seats allowed about 22,000 people to watch
the gladiatorial and other contests that took place. The arrangements for
flooding the arena for aquatic displays are said by some authorities to be
discoverable. At the present time bull-fights take place in the arena on
Sundays from April onwards throughout the summer, and the less
 dangerous Courses Libres, when anyone can attempt to obtain a rosette
from the bull’s head, are frequently given.
2. T h e Mai son Car r ée is a Roman temple, built between A.D. 1 and 14,
and dedicated to Caius and Lucius Cæsar, adopted sons of the Emperor
Augustus. It is the best-preserved Roman temple in the world, and after
having been used as a church, a municipal hall, and a stable, it is now
well restored, and contains a very fine collection of Roman remains.
3. T h e P or te d’ August e bears an inscription stating that it was built in
16. B.C. It was a gateway of the Roman line of fortifications which
surrounded the city.
4. T h e P or t e de F r ance , another Roman gateway, of much more simple
character, stands at the end of the Rue de France.
5. T h e Ro m an B at hs and thermæ in the Jardin de la Fontaine, on the
north side of the town, with, above them, the Tour Magne , a Roman
tower, 90 feet in height, which formed a part of the defences of the city,
and was utilized as a watch-tower in the Middle Ages.
6. T he Cat hedr al of S t. Castor , dating from about the eleventh
century, has been reconstructed and restored so much that the western
façade is the chief survival of the original church. Its richly carved
frieze, showing scenes from the Book of Genesis, is of great interest.
7. T h e P o nt - du- G ar d (about fourteen miles north from Nîmes, near the
town of Ramoulins) is one of the most imposing Roman works in the
world. It is part of the aqueduct, twenty-five miles long, which brought
water to Nîmes, and is still practically perfect to-day. It was built in 19
B.C., in the time of Agrippa; some repairs were made in 1702, and again
in 1855. From the steep sides of the river one can easily reach the top of
the aqueduct, and walk the whole length of the waterway or on the slabs
of stone which cover it in for a considerable distance. Looking down
over the orange-coloured stone of the superimposed arches, one sees the
myrtle-green waters of the River Gardon rushing between grey rocks
156 feet below.
Remains of the reservoir to which the water was led still survive in Nîmes.
THE ROAD TO ARLES
From Nîmes the road is practically level all the way to Arles, whether
one goes by St. Gilles or direct through Bellegar de .
 ST. GILLES
The St. Gilles route is only seven kilometres longer, and the slightly
increased distance will not be regretted when the remarkable church has
been seen. It was planned on a vast scale, and, if carried out, would have
been one of the finest Byzantine churches in France; but for some reasons,
perhaps connected with the decline of St. Gilles as a port owing to the
constant silting up of the Rhone delta, or possibly owing to war or
pestilence or a weakening of religious enthusiasm, the great structure was
never finished, and a smaller church in the Gothic style is all that came to
completion. It embodies, however, the splendid western façade of the earlier
scheme, and the details of its columns, its mutilated statues and carved
enrichments, are finer even than those of St. Trophime at Arles. The abbot
of the monastery, which had been founded by St. Egidius in the sixth
century, administered justice seated between the grotesque lions of the
portal, and the charters often began with, ‘Sedente inter leones.’ The crypt,
the tomb of St. Gilles and his altar, the twelfth-century sacristy, and the Vis
de S. Gilles, a remarkably fine newel staircase, should all be seen. There is
also a restored Romanesque house in the town of St. Gilles. [J]
It should be remembered that historical and geological evidence prove
that the flat marshy country called the Car m argue was in Roman times a
beautiful district of rivers, tree-grown islands, and extensive seaways. No
doubt there were marshes at the mouth of the Rhone then, but that mouth
was a long way north of the present outlet, and the area must have been
comparatively small before some of the large inlets were silted up and
became fever-breeding swamps. Everywhere one goes in the Carmargue,
from Arles to Aigues-Mortes, St. Gilles or Les Saintes-Maries, the same tale
is told of prosperous ports becoming land-locked and fever-stricken. To-day
the flat treeless land is cultivated where the swamps have dried up, but it is
a sad desert even under a cloudless sky. In the summer there is dust
everywhere, and in the winter the ground has a tendency to become a
morass.
ARLES
is entered from the west side through the old suburb of Trinquetaille, the
business quarter of the Roman city, and the Rhone is then crossed on a
semi-suspension bridge of lattice girders, on which, when the mistral blows,
it is scarcely possible to keep one’s feet. It is on the east side of the river—
the official and patrician quarter—that the thrilling relics of Greek and
Roman Arles survive.
In the importance of these ancient monuments Arles is a close rival to
Nîmes, and in some ways Arles is pre-eminent.
The origin of the name is generally considered

Town Plan No. 22.—Arles.

to be the Celtic ‘Ar-lath,’ meaning a wet place, and its position at the mouth
of the Rhone, with the island which is now the corner of the Carmargue
opposite, was so advantageous to traders that, long before the Romans
conquered Provence, earlier even than the founding of Marseilles by the
Greeks from Phocæa, there was a busy commercial town at Arles, well
known to the Phœnician traders of the Mediterranean. When the Romans
found it necessary to conquer Provence they found a Greek city at Arles,
and the ruins of the beautiful theatre, built before the Roman occupation
was a reality, impress on the mind the change which took place, for within a
few paces of the theatre there stands the amphitheatre—the time-defying
evidence of the power of Rome. The amphitheatres and most of the other
Roman remains in Provence are due to the Imperial policy of ‘panem et
circenses,’ and what the huge arenas really meant is vividly brought to mind
by Mr. Theodore Cook.
 ‘For four centuries,’ he writes, ‘the world was ransacked “to make a
Roman holiday.” Whole populations taken prisoner were butchered for the
delectation of society. Whole nations were ground down with taxes to
provide extravagantly gorgeous details for the spectacle. Whole tracts of
country were laid waste to supply the animals that furnished jaded epicures
with novel forms of death or fiercer appetite for carnage. Unequal combats
were not enough. Defenceless families were cast to the lions to be publicly
devoured on the excuse of having professed a religion that was considered
politically dangerous.
‘It is difficult to believe all this even among the sinister shadows of the
Coliseum. At Arles it seems impossible. Yet the fashions of Rome were the
fashions of the provinces—the difference was in quantities alone; and there
was not a fragment of that huge building where the public circulated which
was not given up to the gratification of their passions—sometimes the
vilest.’

The beauty of the women of Arles astonishes the stranger even when he
is prepared by the statement of the fact in all guide-books. The classic
features of their Greek ancestry are constantly reproduced to-day, although
in the men the intermingling of Roman, Saracen, and Frank has destroyed
all resemblance to the Hellenic type. In a book of this character one is
compelled to summarize where expansion is so inviting, and the reader is
advised to study Mr. Cook’s two volumes entitled ‘Old Provence’ if he
wishes to know more of the story of the region which teems with evidence
of the Roman occupation.
The historic monuments of Arles are therefore briefly tabulated below:
1. T h e Rom an Am phi t heat r e, begun, it is said, about 46 B.C., and
capable of holding an audience of about 30,000.
2. T h e G r eek T heat r e, of which two beautiful columns of the
proscenium, the bases of two others, and the semicircular tiers of seats,
remain. It was built before the Christian era, and prior to the Roman
occupation of the city. The lovely Venus of Arles, now in the Louvre at
Paris, was dug up among the ruins of this theatre.
3. T h e R em ai ns of t he Rom an F or um , commenced by Constantine
II., embedded in the walls of an hotel in the Place du Forum.
 THE GREEK THEATRE AT ARLES.
The two pillars formed part of the proscenium, and in the Middle Ages were used as a gibbet.

4. T h e R om an Tower of L a Tr ouille (near the Musée Réattu—a

small picture-gallery) is all that remains of the magnificent palace built
by the Emperor Constantine between 306 and 330 A.D.
5. T h e Ar chæ ologi cal Museum in the Church of St. Anne contains a
magnificent Roman collection, including carved sarcophagi, altars,
statues, and inscriptions.
6. T h e C at hedr a l of S t. Tr ophim e is opposite the museum. The
Romanesque façade, dating from 1221, is a beautiful piece of
architecture, enriched with statues and a bold arch supported by
columns. The cloisters are intensely interesting, having been built in
different periods—north and east sides Romanesque of the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries, west about 1380, and south about 1505.
7. T h e Av enue d es Al yscam ps is the Roman cemetery of the city, just
without the ramparts, put up during the reign of the Emperor
Constantine. On either side of the avenue there are altogether 153 stone
sarcophagi, the 33 large ones having retained their lids. The Alyscamps,
when consecrated as a Christian burial-place, became so famous that
bodies were brought great distances in order that they might enjoy the
privileges supposed to be the lot of those who were buried there.
8. Ch u r ch of S t. Ant oi ne, an interesting Gothic building.
9. Ch u r ch of S t. Honor at , partially eleventh century.
THE ROAD TO AIX-EN-PROVENCE
leaves Arles from the Avenue Victor Hugo, and after winding a little for
about twelve kilometres, with trees interfering with the view, goes due east
in a straight line across the open plain called La Crau (pronounced ‘Crow’).
It is a strange level waste of round stones, very uniform in size, which the
torrents of innumerable ages have brought down from the Alps. The early
peoples of Provence were mightily impressed with these monstrous
pebbles, and Strabo has preserved the legend that Zeus rained them down
on the earth to scatter the Ligurian tribesmen who often attacked the
adventurous Phœnician traders and colonizers. The heat of the sun on the
mass of stones, which has a depth averaging from 30 to 45 feet, produces
the phenomenon of the mirage, and the conditions of wind and temperature
are always inclined to be different to less exposed places. A clear sunrise
over the mountains north-east of the Crau is a memorable sight. The desert
of stones, broken here and there with lines of cypresses, is full of a strange
shadowiness under the crimson-streaked sky as the eastern light grows in
intensity, and one half expects to see a caravan of camels and the burnous of
Arabia in place of the country cart of the French peasant.
The curiously isolated ridge called Les Alpines is prominent to the north
wherever one goes between Nîmes and Salon.
S alo n is a cheerful town at the very edge of the Crau. The main street
has a bright and almost Parisian touch, with its numerous cafés having their
tables under the shade of old plane-trees. There is a fourteenth-century
château, and in the Church of St. Laurent, a Gothic building of the same
period, is the tomb of Michel de Notre Dame, Catherine de Medici’s
favourite astrologer. Another church is dedicated to St. Michael, and is a
century earlier.
 At the fork just beyond Salon the turning to the right is taken to
P élissanne , a village with tall cream-washed houses. In the centre one
goes to the right and immediately afterwards to the left. Beyond this the
road runs through pine-covered hills to St. Cannat, and finally through open
country down a long descent into A ix- en- P r ovence .
 SECTION XVII

AIX-EN-PROVENCE TO CANNES, 100 MILES

(160 KILOMETRES)
DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE
Kil. Miles.
Aix-en-Provence to St. Maximin 36 22½
St. Maximin to Brignoles 19 11¾
Brignoles to Le Luc 24 15
Le Luc to Le Muy 23 14¼
Le Muy to Fréjus 16 10
Fréjus to St. Raphaël By the 3 1¾
St. Raphaël to Agay Corniche 8 5
Agay to Théoule d’Or, 20 12½
Théoule to Cannes 26¼ miles. 11 7
[Fréjus to Cannes through the Estérels 36 22½]
NOTES FOR DRIVERS
Brignoles to Le Luc.—Fairly hilly; elsewhere the journey from Aix to St.
Raphaël is practically level.
St. Raphaël to La Napoule (beyond Théoule)—[10 miles an hour
recommended].—This road was only finished in 1903. It is called the
Corniche d’Or (or d’Estérel), and follows the ragged coast-line in and
out of the beautiful bays. There is no protection on the seaward side,
and a collision between automobiles means that the outside car will
probably fall crashing into the sea immediately below. Drivers are
therefore warned to go very slowly and with the greatest care,
especially at corners, where one sometimes passes a car being driven
at a recklessly fast pace, allowing all too little room for any vehicle
being passed. The exquisite beauty of the scenery makes a crawling
 pace welcome, and those who drive faster than 10 miles an hour deserve
whatever disaster may befall them.
PLACES OF INTEREST ON THE ROUTE
Aix-en-Provence.—A large town—the Aquæ Sextiæ of the Romans—
formerly the capital of Provence: (1) Cathedral of St. Sauveur,
Romanesque, chancel 1285, west doors richly carved, baptistery with
Roman columns, and Romanesque cloister; (2) Archbishop’s Palace; (3)
Hôtel de Ville, containing large and interesting library; (4) hot springs;
(5) in the garden of thermal establishment slight remains of Roman
baths; (6) Tour de Tourreluco, a survival of the medieval walls; (7)
Church of St. Jean de Malte, thirteenth century.
Mont Ste. Victoire and Pourrières.—The precipitous ridge looks down
on the battlefield of Pourrières, where Marius, with his Roman legions
and auxiliaries, wiped out the two northern tribes of the Ambrones and
the Teutones.
St. Maximin.—A small town, with a beautiful Gothic church (thirteenth to
fifteenth centuries), early crypt, and beautiful altars.
Tourves.—Village with a large ruined castle.
Brignoles.—A small town, famous for its dried plums, but otherwise
without great interest.
Flassans.—A roadside village, with an old deserted one on the hill
adjoining.
Le Luc and Le Muy.—Pleasant little roadside towns.
Fréjus.—The Roman Forum Julii. The Roman remains consist of—(1)
The amphitheatre; (2) the walls, with three gateways; (3) the aqueduct;
(4) the remains of the harbour; (5) the baths; (6) the theatre; (7) the two
citadels. The cathedral is an interesting Romanesque building, with fine
choir-stalls, cloisters, and a baptistery containing eight Roman columns.
St. Raphaël.—A small village, with a new quarter on the shore, with large
hotels lately added.
The Corniche d’Or.—The new road along the coast of the Estérels,
recently built by the Touring Club de France; lovely scenery all the way.
Théoule.—A small resort on the Corniche d’Or, with hotels and villas.
La Napoule.—A small place on the flat plain west of Cannes, where the
well-known golf-links are situated.
Although Aix has retained no structures of the Roman period, it was the
oldest of the colonies, having been founded by the Consul Sextius Calvinus,
about 120 B.C., at the hot springs still in existence. The place was therefore
called Aquæ Sextiæ, after the discoverer of the thermal waters, and is now
contracted into Aix. The threatened invasion of Italy by the Teutones and
Ambrones was utterly defeated by Marius, a few miles east of the city, in
102 B.C.; but Aix at the fall of Rome fell a prey to the barbarians of the
north, recovering slowly, and eventually becoming the capital of Provence.
Under the good King Réné of Anjou, who died in 1480, Aix was
exceedingly prosperous. His statue by David can be seen in the Cours
Mirabeau.

Town Plan No. 23.—Aix-en-Provence.

T h e Cathedr a l of S t . S au veur dates from Romanesque times, with

a chancel built in 1285. The tower and façade are fifteenth century—a little
earlier than the highly enriched portal, with its lovely doors ornamented
with sixteen figures in niches, which dates from 1503.
In the baptistery are eight monolithic columns—probably from the
Temple of Apollo, that stood on the same spot—sculptured panels by Puget,
and two triptychs, on one of which King Réné is depicted on his knees.
The Romanesque cloister, with richly carved capitals, and the great
Renaissance doorway of the Ar chbishop’s P alace should be seen.
T h e Hô tel de Vi l l e, containing a big library, to which the public is
admitted, except on Sundays and Mondays, and between August 15 and
October 15, was built in 1640, and much altered in 1760; but the clock-
tower adjoining goes back to 1512.
One relic of the medieval fortifications of Aix exists in the Tour de
To u r r elu co. It stands in the garden of the thermal establishment, where
one can also see the slight remains of the Rom an baths.
T h e Chur ch of L a Madeleine was built in 1703 with a later façade,
and S t . Jea n de Mal l e was founded in the thirteenth century for the
Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. It contains on the left side of
the altar the tomb of

THE ROMANESQUE BRIDGE OF ST. BÉNÉZET AT AVIGNON.

Only four arches and the chapel survive. (Page 335.)
 Raymond, Count of Provence, with statues and recumbent figures.
THE ROAD TO FRÉJUS
goes out eastwards, and, after a few miles, passes through a rocky ravine
before coming out into the long valley of the River Arc, bounded on the
north by the gaunt grey precipices of Mont Ste. Victoire. It was into this
valley that Marius with his legions drove the undisciplined invaders in 102
B.C., and near Pourrières he outflanked and defeated them. The slaughter
was so enormous that the two great tribes of the Teutones and Ambrones,
with their women and children, were practically annihilated, and the river
ran red with their life-blood. Just after crossing the Arc, on the north side of
the road, are the slight ruins of the monument put up by the Romans to
celebrate the great victory achieved by the brilliant strategy of Marius, who
thus saved Rome from premature extinction.
Soon after passing P our r ièr es, a compact village north of the road,
with roofs and walls of the same dark orange-red as the soil of the
vineyards, there is spread out in front a splendid mountain view, with snow-
capped peaks standing out against the blue of the distant sky.
 No. 18. AIX-EN-PROVENCE TO CANNES.

S t . Maxim i n is a very small town with a lovely Gothic church, which

should by no means be ignored. It dates from the thirteenth to the fifteenth
century, and stands over an early crypt containing Early Christian
sarcophagi. This is kept locked, but the sacristan has the key. The altar at
the east end of the north aisle is dated 1526, with the name ‘Jacques
Baurmes, Chamberlain to the King,’ who gave it to the church. In one of the
paintings Christ is being scourged on the Piazzetta at Venice! The choir-
stalls of the seventeenth century are richly carved, the whole interior is
clean and light, and the lofty arches are exceptionally beautiful.
The way out of St. Maximin is a zigzag to the right, and at the fork just
outside one turns to the left, neither going under the railway-arch nor up to
the station, which one can see on the left a little farther on.
 The village of Tour ves has an obelisk by the fine ruined Château de
Valbelle, on a ridge to the left. On the steep hillsides one sees miles of
terraces, where vineyards have been patiently extracted from the formerly
arid slopes.
Br ig n oles is a small town, with a long, narrow street, and the hotel is
often a convenient resting-place for déjeuner. The dried plums of Brignoles
have long been famous. They were eaten by the Duc de Guise, it will be
remembered, just before his assassination (p. 98). A twelfth-century house,
with windows divided by columns, and the Sous-Préfecture, which was
formerly the winter palace of the Counts of Provence, sacked by Charles V.,
are the only antiquities of the town.
F l assans is a comparatively new village on the road, with an
abandoned one, now roofless and with broken walls, on the hill to the left.
A conspicuous wooden cross and a little chapel by the ruined houses seem
to suggest that something had to be done to keep restless spirits under
proper control.
L e L uc has a narrow, shady street, with large plane-trees by a fountain,
where there are often picturesque groups fetching water.
T h e Maur e Mount ai ns lie to the south, covered with pine, or
showing crags of grey and orange rock. The coast-road from Fréjus to
Hyères, round the bays of these mountains, is an exquisitely beautiful one,
and those who have time should include this in their tour when staying at
St. Raphaël or Valescure.
Passing through L e Mu y in a serpentine fashion, with a very sharp and
narrow turning, the road comes out into the flat alluvial plain of the River
Argens, with the pine-clad Estérels on the left as one runs into
FRÉJUS
This is a place of vanished glories, having the atmosphere of ancient
importance inseparable from ports abandoned by the sea, which was their
life-blood.
Fréjus was the last harbour on the great Roman road from Rome to
Provence—the Via Aurelia—which at this point turned inland to Aix. Its
importance was therefore seen by Julius Cæsar, who built the town called
after him Forum Julii, and now contracted into Fréjus. By the remains to be
seen to-day the work appears to have been done hurriedly, for strength
rather than beauty, but the interest of the place is scarcely diminished in the
knowledge of this probability.
The first most imposing survival is the A m phitheatr e . It stands
outside the town, and a by-road passes through its longest axis. There is no
fencing, nor, indeed, any restriction to the public from climbing the broken
tiers of seats; nor has there been any attempt at restoration to the broken
arches or the grass-grown arena. On the eastern side of the little town,
where the harbour was situated, is a small tower with a conical top, called
La Lanterne. This was the Roman harbour-master’s office, and not a
lighthouse. The remains of the aqueduct are imposing detached masses of
ivy-mantled stonework, ranging like great sentinels across cornfields and
meadows to the hills to the north, from whence a pure supply of water was
obtained. There are also remains of the walls of the Roman town; of three
of the gateways, including the Porta Romana, which is the best; of the two
citadels; the baths; and the theatre.
Modern Fréjus has some picturesque doorways and old houses spoilt
with stucco. T he R om anesque Cathedr al has beautiful cloisters, much
in need of restoration, and a baptistery with eight monolithic granite pillars
from a Roman temple.
ST. RAPHAËL
stands on the opposite side of the alluvial plain, and being on the sea, has
lately blossomed into a Riviera resort, with modern hotels, a huge domed
church, and new streets of shops and stuccoed houses. It is a dusty and
windy place compared to Valescur e, a little way inland, on high ground,
among the pines of the Estérel slopes.
Napoleon embarked from St. Raphaël for Elba after his abdication in
1814. The British warship Undaunted received the ex-Emperor on board on
April 28. He had come through many hostile crowds on his journey from
Fontainebleau, and so great was the danger to his life that he consented to
disguise himself in the uniform of an Austrian officer.
THE CORNICHE D’OR
is a most beautiful road, recently built by the Touring Club de France, along
the high rocky coast of the Estérels. Its dangers for motorists have been
described at the beginning of this section, but in case that warning may
have been overlooked, the need of driving slowly and cautiously is again
emphasized.
 After the somewhat arid scenery of the delta of the Rhone and of the
country about Aix and Brignoles, the first few miles of the Riviera are an
exquisite pleasure to the eye. The road at first winds between gardens,
whose trees cast long patches of shade, and the air is deliciously scented
with lemons and other plants; then one comes out by the breaking waves,
and looks across little bays, ‘the peacock’s neck in hue.’ Dark masses of firs
clothe the red of the porphyry cliffs, and each turn of the road brings some
fresh combination of rock and wave and tree-clothed valley.
Ag ay is a tiny place on one of these lovely bays, and as there is a choice
of hotels, it is a delightful spot for a halt for the night if one does not mind
the periodic roar of the P.L.M. expresses. Beyond Théoule comes the first
great view of the French Riviera. On a clear morning of typical spring
sunshine the great sweep of the blue bay of Cannes, with its bold mountain
background and green villa-dotted shores, is one of exquisite loveliness. It
appears with a foreground of the strong, hot colour of swarthy rocks, deep
green foliage, and perhaps the brilliance of lemons and oranges, or a bank
of glowing flowers, emphasizing the delicate charm of the distance.
The road gradually drops down to the sea-level at La Napoule, where the
famous golf-links of Cannes are situated. A short run along the villa-
bordered main road brings one to the great resort founded by an English
statesman—Henry, Lord Brougham and Vaux.
 ON THE COAST OF THE ESTERELS.
A typical stretch of the rocky shore between Cannes and St. Raphaël.
 SECTION XVIII

CANNES TO SAN REMO, 53¾ MILES

(89 KILOMETRES)
DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE
Kil. Miles.
Cannes to Antibes 10 6¼
Antibes to Nice 20 12¼
Nice to Villefranche 6 3¾
Villefranche to Monaco 14 8¾
Monaco to Mentone 12 7½
[Nice to Mentone by the Upper Corniche 31 19¼]
This upper road can be taken on the return journey.
Mentone to Ventimiglia 11 7
Ventimiglia to Bordighera 5 3¼
Bordighera to San Remo 11 7
NOTES FOR DRIVERS
The whole of this section is on the Rivieras of France and Italy. There are a
few steepish hills, but, taken as a whole, the road is level.
The Upper Corniche is between Nice and Mentone, and the ascent to it
and the descent from La Turbie are both formidable, although the road
is well engineered.
The roads are tarred between Cannes and Nice, but beyond Nice the dust is
not excessive until east of Mentone, where it is encountered in
yellowish-white clouds as far as Bordighera, where the surface greatly
improves.
A moderate pace is recommended to all who drive on the French Riviera.
There are trams to avoid almost continuously from Cannes to Mentone,
and the Continental chauffeurs take such risks that the ordinary dangers
 of passing other cars are increased enormously, unless one keeps under
twenty miles an hour.
PLACES OF INTEREST ON THE ROUTE
Cannes.—A large Riviera resort, greatly patronized by English winter
visitors; old town on Mont Chevalier.
Antibes.—The Greek Antipolis is now partially modern. The medieval
walled town is quite separate; it is exceedingly interesting and very
picturesque, and contains Roman remains.
Nice.—A large town of Parisian aspect, famous for its carnival; is one of
the most fashionable and populous of the Riviera resorts. Cimiez, on the
high ground behind Nice, was a Roman town, and still retains large
portions of its amphitheatre.
Eze.—A romantically perched Saracen village, in one of the most beautiful
spots on the French Riviera.
Villefranche.—An old town, formerly Villafranca; has a picturesque
harbour and old arched streets.
Beaulieu.—A new collection of villas and hotels.
Monaco.—Is a principality, including Monte Carlo; it stands on an almost
isolated rock; castle partly thirteenth century, modern church, and
museum of oceanography.
Monte Carlo.—A new town, facing Monaco, famous on account of its
Casino, which is conspicuous; foundation-stone laid in 1858 by the
present Prince of Monaco.
Roquebrune.—A picturesque rock village, with a ruined castle and fine
views.
La Turbie.—An old village by the ruins of the enormous Roman trophy to
Augustus, put up about 12 B.C.; joined to Monte Carlo by a funicular
railway.
Mentone.—A beautifully situated Riviera resort, with grand mountain
scenery and a safe climate.
La Mortola.—The villa and gardens of the late Sir Thomas Hanbury.
Ventimiglia.—An Italian town near the frontier; Romanesque cathedral,
with early baptistery; Church of St. Michele; old tunnelled passages and
medieval walls.
Dolceacqua.—Strikingly picturesque rock village, with ruins of an
imposing castle.
Apricale.—Another rock village, in a wonderfully fine mountainous
situation.
Bordighera.—A modern resort, with beautiful surroundings and an old
village on Capo San Ampeglio.
Ospedaletti.—A small and newly built resort.
San Remo.—A large and fashionable town, with fine scenery and a golf-
course; old town, full of quaint passages and stairways.
C an n es has a sea-front broken by the isolated mass of rock called Mont
Chevalier. Here was founded the early settlement which was, no doubt, the
Aegytna mentioned by Polybius as the scene of a treacherous attack by
some of the Ligurian tribesmen on some unarmed Romans. The hill is now
picturesquely crowned with the thirteenth-century parish church, a medieval
tower, and the ruins of the castle of the Counts of Provence. Down below is
a small harbour.
The views westwards from the palm-shaded promenades along the shore
include the rugged masses of the always attractive Estérels.

Town Plan No. 24.—Cannes.

Cannes is essentially a resort of English visitors, and the winter and

spring of every year bring together in the hotels and flower-scented villas a
more or less regular selection of English gentlefolk. The town has grown
enormously since the days when Lord Brougham, the founder, who died at
Cannes and was buried in the cemetery, first began to find relaxation from
his Parliamentary activities at the Villa Louise Elenore. Le Cannet, at one
time a separate village among the hills, is now joined by the straggling
suburbs and a tramway to the centre of the town, but the main charms of the
resort are not lost.
A good road inland takes one to G r asse , an interesting old town with a
curious eleventh-century church, fine views, and a huge industry in
perfumery and preserved fruits. Beyond Grasse a splendid road takes one to
L e L o up , and the romantic limestone gorge of that name, and farther on
still is the ancient town of Vence , where a church incorporating part of a
Roman temple has several other interesting features.
From Vence a road goes down to the coast at Cagnes , a village whose
name the visitor finds difficult to pronounce differently to Cannes.
If this inland route has been taken the coast road is joined east of
Antibes, so that one must either go back about six miles or leave that
fascinating town for the return journey.
ANTIBES
There is a tendency for ordinary guide-books to say that there is nothing
to see at Antibes, but all who have read of the Greek colony of Antipolis
should
 No. 19. CANNES TO SAN REMO.

test this with half an hour in the old part of the town. It will not be
disappointing. Facing the wide Cours Masséna is the medieval wall of the
town, with a big round-towered gateway leading into a street that almost at
once brings one out on to the seaward defensive wall, at the base of which
the waves break continuously, often shooting up columns of spray on to the
pathway above. In the narrow streets there are arches, quaint doorways, and
medieval defensive towers, often incorporating Roman stones and many
other details telling of the changes that time has wrought. A narrow
doorway in the old wall at the harbour end of the Cours Masséna has a
stone lintel from some Roman building, placed upside down by the
medieval masons. One of the most interesting relics of the Greek town is a
dark green diorite boulder, bearing the strange inscription: ‘I am Terpon,
servant of the august goddess Aphrodite; may Cypris reward with her
favours those that erected me here.’
T h e Î l es des L ér i ns that lie opposite Cannes are full of interest.
Steamboats ply regularly to them from the harbour. S te. M arguer it e , the
larger island, retains the fort, built by Cardinal Richelieu, wherein was
imprisoned by Louis XIV., at the end of the seventeenth century, the
mysterious ‘Man with the Iron Mask.’
S t . Honor at , the smaller island, is the Lindisfarne of the South of
France, for there, during the European upheavals in the fifth century, St.
Honorat founded a monastery and kept alive the sacred spark of a pure and
restrained life beyond the reach of the barbarous waves of invasion that
were sweeping over south-western Europe. In the eighth century Saracens
wiped out the monastery and massacred the monks, but their crude weapons
could not destroy the influence which had gone forth from the islet in the
four centuries of its previous existence. In the ninth century the monastery
was refounded, and two hundred years later the fortified building existing
to-day was put up to secure the monks from attack.
NICE