FIG. 200. LE BAR, S. DOORWAY OF CHURCH.
From Grasse another excursion of surpassing interest, not only on account of the magnificent natural scenery passed through, but also from the variety of the architectural remains, may be made to the eastward leading by Le Bar and Vence to Cagnes, where the Paris, Lyons, and Mediterranean Railway is reached. The whole distance is about twenty-five miles. The first place of note arrived at after leaving Grasse is Le Bar, about six miles to the eastward. It stands on a platform at a considerable height and enjoys a fine view to the southwards. The church, not remarkable otherwise, has a Roman inscription built into the tower, and a fine Italian Gothic doorway ([Fig. 200]) in the south side. This doorway, with its twisted nook shafts and arch mouldings, plain caps, and enclosing notched weather table, might have been found in almost any part of Italy. Wooden doors covered, like this one of Le Bar, with elaborate carvings, are a feature of common occurrence in every part of the province, and are often of much interest and beauty. The church contains two remarkable Mediæval paintings which were thought worthy of notice at the great Exhibition of Paris, to which they had been sent. The town is still dominated by the relics of a great castle of the Middle Ages, of which some towers remain, but it is now greatly ruined and shorn of its grandeur. Some of the old walls of the town also still survive, and give this quaint old place, perched as it is on the steep slope of the hill, an unusual and striking aspect.
From Le Bar the main road descends in wide curves towards the valley of the river Loup, but long before reaching the bottom of the gorge the eye is attracted by the unusual appearance of towers and pinnacles rising from the summit of a lofty pyramidal mountain to the northwards ([Fig. 201]). These distant peaks are found on nearer approach to be the edifices of the town of Gourdon, an eyrie built for security from the assaults of the Corsairs on this inaccessible and naturally fortified eminence.
FIG. 201. GOURDON.
A post road, branching off the main road at Le Bar, passes, after many windings and ascents round the rocky sides of the opposite cliffs, within a short distance of Gourdon; but for those who intend going on to Vence, the latter course is too great a deviation from the route. Their only way of reaching Gourdon is by the steep and stony footpath which is seen rising to it in innumerable zig-zags from near the bridge over the Loup.
It is a splendid ascent, although a somewhat arduous one, and affords a lovely series of views; but it may be questioned whether one is sufficiently rewarded by the specimens of architecture which he finds in Gourdon. It is now a melancholy and deserted village, occupied apparently only by a few women and children. Some of the houses are picturesque in their grouping, like those in [Fig. 202], but there is nothing fine about the place except the magnificent view to the south, east, and west from the terrace in front of the old church. One very large building seems to swamp all the rest of the little town. This is a great château ([Fig. 203]), built by the family of Lombard in the style of the seventeenth century, and which, we believe, is still occupied in summer, when the cool breezes of this elevated pinnacle form a grateful change from the heat of the plains.