There was a town here called Forus in Gallo-Roman times, but there are no remains to interest the passing traveller beyond a few old houses.
Balbigny is an uninteresting village on the Loire, just where the road leaves the level ground and begins to enter the tumble of hills enclosing the northern end of the plain. The views obtained are most exhilarating all the way to Roanne, and one frequently has great panoramic views of the Loire, which appears as a huge blue serpent in the midst of the green and reddish-brown fields.
The road passes through the villages of Neulise, Vendranges, and l’Hôpital, and then drops down to the red-roofed town of
ROANNE
There is nothing to detain visitors in this busy manufacturing town, for all that was interesting or picturesque, beyond a few houses of the sixteenth century, has disappeared. The streets are narrow and not beautiful.
North of Roanne the vine appears again, after having disappeared since leaving the Rhone Valley.
The enormous plain of the Loire extends to the north, with mountains on the western horizon, dominated by the silvery grey peaks of the Auvergnes.
THE TOUR DE L’HORLOGE AT MOULINS.
Built in the fifteenth century. The spires of the cathedral are modern work by Viollet-le-Duc. (Page 365.)