The South of France—East Half

by C. B. Black

station to the Place de la Comédie, is the H. Maguelone, second class. Their omnibuses await passengers.

Temple Protestant near station, in the Rue Maguelone. Telegraph Office in the Boulevard de la Comédie. Post in the Boulevard Jeu-de-Paume. From the Esplanade omnibus runs to Castelnau. From near the Place de la Comédie coach to Mauguio. From the Boulevard de Blanquerie, below the prison, coach to Claret and St. Hippolyte. (See [map, p. 66].)

Montpellier: Botanic Gardens.

The most modern part of the town is the Rue Maguelone, leading from the station to the Esplanade, a delightful promenade bounded by the citadel. At the N.W. angle of the Esplanade a stair leads down to a line of boulevards, passing up by the “Hôpital Général” to the [Botanic Gardens], the earliest institution of this kind in France, founded in the reign of Henri IV., and for some years under the direction of the famous botanist De Candolle. It contains an area of 9 acres, divided into three parts: at the N. end is a nursery; at the S., in a hollow, surrounded by trees, the botanical part; and between these two divisions the arboretum. Opposite the Botanic Gardens is the once famous École de médecine, said to have been founded by Arab physicians under the patronage of the Counts of Montpellier. It now occupies the old bishops’ palace, built in the 14th cent., with additions in the 17th. At the entrance are bronze statues of Barthez, 1734-1806, and La Peyronie, 1678-1747. Within the entrance are busts of the most celebrated professors and divines connected with the college and the church of Montpellier. In the same building are also valuable anatomical and pathological collections, and a library with 55,000 vols. Adjoining is the Cathedral of St. Pierre, 14th and 15th cents., but the choir is recent, though in the same style. White marble statue of Mary and child by Canova.

Overlooking the Botanic Gardens is the beautiful promenade, the Place du Peyrou, on an eminence at the western side of the town. In cold weather invalids and nurses with their children frequent the lower terrace of this “Place,” the promenade Basse du Midi. At the western end of the Peyrou is the Château d’Eau, a hexagonal Corinthian building, which receives and distributes through the town the water brought from the fontaine de St. Clement, 5½ m. from Montpellier. The aqueduct, which conveys the water across the valley from the opposite hill, consists of two tiers of arches 70 ft. high and 2896 ft. long. The gate at the end of the promenade was erected to commemorate the victories of Louis XIV. Adjoining is the Palais de Justice, with statues of Cambacérès and Cardinal Fleury. Eastwards, by crooked streets, are the Mairie and the markets.

Montpellier: Musée Fabre.

A short way north from the Hôtel Nevet, by the Rues Ste. Foi and also on the Esplanade, is a handsome modern edifice, comprising the [Musée Fabre], the Bibliothèque publique with 65,000 vols., and the “Collection de la Société archéologique.” The Musée Fabre, open on Sundays and Mondays and feast days, contains, among many works of inferior merit, some good pictures by great artists, such as Berghem,

Fra Bartolommeo, P. C. Champaigne, Cuyp, L. David, G. Dow, Van Dyck, Ghirlandajo, Girodet, Granet, Greuze, Metsu, Palma, P.Veronese, Porbus, P. Potter, Poussin, Samuel Reynolds, Salvator Rosa, Rubens, Ruysdael, Andrea del Sarto, D. Teniers, Terburg, Titian, and Zarg. The library contains some curious MSS. connected with, the Stuarts, which belonged to Prince Charles Edward.

Montpellier produces a lovely coloured wine with good bouquet, called St. Georges d’Orgues. The manufacture of verdigris, the preparation of preserved fruits, dye works, chemical works, and distilleries, are the principal industries.

From the railway station, opposite the Hôtel de Nevet, a line extends through the lagoon Pérols, covering a surface of 3000 acres, and yielding annually 2000 tons of salt, to the port of Palavas, 5 m. south (pop. 1000), with a beautiful beach. At the Palavas terminus is the Casino hotel, and on the Canal the Hôtel des Bains and the Restaurant Parisien. A cabine (bathing-house), including costume and linen, costs 1 fr. Leave the train at the Plage station. 3 m. from Montpellier, in the retired valley of the Mosson, is the mineral water establishment of Foncaude. Water saline, unctuous, and sedative. Good for indigestion and nervous disorders. 12½ m. north from Montpellier is the Pic du Loup, rising from the village St. Mathieu (pop. 500) to the height of 680 ft., commanding an extensive view, and having on the top a chapel visited by pilgrims.