AND THE LOIRE COUNTRY

By Francis Miltoun

Author of "Rambles in Normandy," "Rambles in Brittany," "Rambles on the Riviera," etc.
With Many Illustrations
Reproduced from paintings made on the spot

By Blanche McManus

Boston

L. C. PAGE & COMPANY

1906

Copyright, 1906
By L. C. Page & Company
(Incorporated)

By Way of Introduction

This book is not the result of ordinary conventional rambles, of sightseeing by day, and flying by night, but rather of leisurely wanderings, for a somewhat extended period, along the banks of the Loire and its tributaries and through the countryside dotted with those splendid monuments of Renaissance architecture which have perhaps a more appealing interest for strangers than any other similar edifices wherever found.

Before this book was projected, the conventional tour of the château country had been "done," Baedeker, Joanne and James's "Little Tour" in hand. On another occasion Angers, with its almost inconceivably real castellated fortress, and Nantes, with its memories of the "Edict" and "La Duchesse Anne," had been tasted and digested en route to a certain little artist's village in Brittany.

On another occasion, when we were headed due south, we lingered for a time in the upper valley, between "the little Italian city of Nevers" and "the most picturesque spot in the world"—Le Puy.

But all this left certain ground to be covered, and certain gaps to be filled, though the author's note-books were numerous and full to overflowing with much comment, and the artist's portfolio was already bulging with its contents.

So more note-books were bought, and, following the genial Mark Twain's advice, another fountain pen and more crayons and sketch-books, and the author and artist set out in the beginning of a warm September to fill those gaps and to reduce, if possible, that series of rambles along the now flat and now rolling banks of the broad blue Loire to something like consecutiveness and uniformity; with what result the reader may judge.

[Contents]

CHAPTER PAGE
[By Way of Introduction][v]
I. [A General Survey][1]
II. [The Orléannais][30]
III. [The Blaisois and the Sologne][56]
IV. [Chambord][94]
V. [Cheverny, Beauregard, and Chaumont][110]
VI. [Touraine: The Garden Spot of France][128]
VII. [Amboise][148]
VIII. [Chenonceaux][171]
IX. [Loches][188]
X. [Tours and About There][203]
XI. [Luynes and Langeais][221]
XII. [Azay-le-Rideau, Ussé, and Chinon][241]
XIII. [Anjou and Bretagne][273]
XIV. [South of the Loire][301]
XV. [Berry and George Sand's Country][313]
XVI. [The Upper Loire][330]
[Index][337]

List of Illustrations

PAGE
A Peasant Girl of Touraine [Frontispiece]
Itinerary of the Loire (Map) [1]
A Lace-maker of the Upper Loire [5]
The Loire Châteaux (Map) [9]
The Ancient Provinces of the Loire Valley and Their Capitals (Map) [15]
The Loire near la Charité [19]
Coiffes of Amboise and Orléans [21]
The Châteaux of the Loire (Map) [31]
Environs of Orléans (Map) [39]
The Loiret [42]
The Loire at Meung [46]
Beaugency [51]
Arms of the City of Blois [58]
The Riverside at Blois [59]
Signature of François Premier [60]
Cypher of Anne de Bretagne, at Blois [62]
Arms of Louis XII. [65]
Central Doorway, Château de Blois [67]
The Châteaux of Blois (Diagram) [69]
Cypher of François Premier and Claude of France, at Blois [72]
Native Types in the Sologne [89]
Donjon of Montrichard [92]
Arms of François Premier, at Chambord [99]
Plan of Château de Chambord [103]
Château de Chambord [105]
Château de Cheverny [110]
Cheverny-sur-Loire [113]
Chaumont [116]
Signature of Diane de Poitiers [118]
The Loire in Touraine [134]
The Vintage in Touraine [142]
Château d'Amboise [148]
Sculpture from the Chapelle de St. Hubert [165]
Cypher of Anne de Bretagne, Hôtel de Ville, Amboise [168]
Château de Chenonceaux [178]
Château de Chenonceaux (Diagram) [179]
Loches [189]
Loches and Its Church [192]
Sketch Plan of Loches [198]
St. Ours, Loches [199]
Tours [202]
Arms of the Printers, Avocats, and Innkeepers, Tours [205]
Scene in the Quartier de la Cathédrale, Tours [208]
Plessis-les-Tours in the Time of Louis XI. [213]
Environs of Tours (Map) [219]
A Vineyard of Vouvray [223]
Mediæval Stairway and the Château de Luynes [224]
Ruins of Cinq-Mars [229]
Château de Langeais [233]
Arms of Louis XII. and Anne de Bretagne [237]
Château d'Azay-le-Rideau [244]
Château d'Ussé [249]
The Roof-tops of Chinon [253]
Rabelais [256]
Château de Chinon [259]
Cuisines, Fontevrault [265]
Château de Saumur [277]
The Ponts de Cé [284]
Château d'Angers [289]
Environs of Nantes (Map) [297]
Donjon of the Château de Clisson [307]
Berry (Map) [313]
La Tour, Sancerre [317]
Château de Gien [318]
Château de Valençay [322]
Gateway of Mehun-sur-Yevre [324]
Le Carrior Doré, Romorantin [326]
Église S. Aignan, Cosne [331]
Pouilly-sur-Loire [332]
Porte du Croux, Nevers [335]