The long canal extending from Briare to the Loing passes through Montargis, which was at one time surrounded by marshy country, now drained and cultivated.
On leaving the town one passes a statue of Mirabeau, and, after crossing three bridges, the road to Fontainebleau turns sharply to the left past the goods entrance of the railway-station, and then keeps to the western side of the fairly extensive forest of Montargis.
No. 24. BRIARE TO MELUN.
Mistletoe grows luxuriantly in this district, and all the way from Moulins the trees are tufted with the curious parasitic plant, which English folk buy from the French in huge quantities as each Christmas festival approaches.
At the hamlet of Fontenay one goes to the right at the fork, and the road continues through a scattered forest, with prodigious quantities of mistletoe, and at a point 13½ kilometres from Nemours there is a caniveau in the middle of the village.
After passing Souppes, a hamlet with a twelfth-century church, the scenery changes. On the right great isolated masses of rock stand on the grassy slopes, and on the left the shallow little valley of the Loing is beautified with the picturesque mills and weirs on the river. The low wooded hills on the left, full of faint purples and browny greens in spring-time, form a delightful background to the bright green of the grass near at hand. The rocky slopes on the right are often covered with juniper, and here and there pines scent the atmosphere.
Nemours is a quiet little town, with a collegiate church of the Gothic and Renaissance periods, with the lower part of the tower of the thirteenth century; but the château, built in the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, is the most interesting and picturesque feature. It has circular towers, with conical roofs at each corner, and another tower (the keep) to the north is joined to the main building with a passage three stories in height. The castle has been converted into a museum, and the whole of the interior is shown to visitors by an indefatigable old gardienne, who insists on showing the view over the surrounding forests, which can be seen from the donjon tower.
It was at Nemours, in July, 1585, that Catherine de Medici, on behalf of Henri III., signed the treaty revoking all edicts in favour of the Protestants, and enforcing the universal profession of Catholicism.
At the present time the title of Duc de Nemours is borne by the second son of Louis-Philippe.