I notice all these decorative treatments here merely in order to suggest to the reader the way in which the knowledge he has gained of the fabric of St. Denis may be utilised to examine works of art from the great Abbey both here and at Cluny. You will find it useful to visit both collections on your return from such a church, in order to mentally replace in their proper surroundings works now divorced from it. Some other good objects from the same Treasury may also be seen at the Bibliothèque Nationale.
VII
THE OUTER RING, ETC.
[PARIS, outside the great Boulevards comprises by far the larger part of the existing city. Nevertheless, it contains comparatively few objects of historical or artistic importance, being almost entirely modern and merely residential. Walks and drives in this part of Paris are pleasing, of course, as exhibiting the life of the great town, and they embrace many points of passing interest, such as the Trocadéro, the Champs Élysées, the Champ-de-Mars, the Place de l’Étoile, the Arc de Triomphe, the Parc Monceau, the church of the Sacré-Cœur on the height of Montmartre, etc., etc. Most of these the visitor will find out for himself. They do not need any explanation or elucidation.
Among the very few objects of historical interest in this district, I would call special attention to the Maison de François Ier, on the Cours-la-Reine, at the first corner after you pass the Palais de l’Industrie. This beautiful little gem of domestic Renaissance architecture was erected for François Ier at Moret, near Fontainebleau, in 1527, probably as a gift for Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of Henri II, though it is also asserted that the king built it for his sister, Queen Margaret of Navarre. It was taken down in 1826, and rebuilt on the present site. The style recalls that of the Renaissance palaces of Venice. The delicate and beautiful decorative work of the pilasters, etc., and the dainty portrait medallions deserve inspection. Do not miss this charming little building, which should be compared with Jean Goujon’s portion of the Louvre, and with the Renaissance remains at the École des Beaux-Arts and elsewhere.
A collection to which a few hours may be devoted, in the same connection, by those who have time, is the Musée Carnavalet, which lies, however, within the Boulevards. The building is a fine Renaissance mansion, once the residence of Madame de Sévigné. Many of the objects preserved here have a purely sentimental and to say the truth somewhat childish interest, consisting as they do of relics of the Great Revolution or other historical events, which derive whatever value they happen to possess from their sentimental connection only. But some of the objects have real artistic and historical importance; so have the decorations by Jean Goujon. When you have seen everything else enumerated here, you may give with advantage a Thursday morning to this somewhat scratch collection. The most important objects are those in the garden.
For the Champs Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe, and the other buildings or promenades of wealthy, modern, western Paris, the guidance of Baedeker is amply sufficient.
The buildings already enumerated and the objects noted in them form the most important sights in Paris, and are as many as the tourist is likely to find time for visiting during a stay of some weeks. If, however, he can add a few days to his sojourn, I give briefly some hints as to a list of other objects worthy his notice—taking it for granted, of course, that he will find his way to the Champs Élysées, the Bois de Boulogne, the theatres, etc., by the light of nature, not unaided by Baedeker. Amid the mass of information tendered in the ordinary Guides, the visitor scarcely knows how to distinguish the necessary from the optional. This short list may help him in his selection.
In the old region on the South Side (between the river and Cluny) are two churches worth inspection by the antiquarian: (1) St. Julien-le-Pauvre, the former chapel of the old Hôtel Dieu, which here occupied both banks, spreading to the spot now covered by the statue of Charlemagne; transitional; 12th cent.; and (2) St. Séverin, dedicated to two local Gallic saints, of the same name; good flamboyant Gothic; its interesting portal commemorates St. Martin, part of whose famous cloak was kept in a chapel here; the façade was brought from St. Pierre-aux-Bœufs, on the Île de la Cité, demolished in 1837; good modern reliefs on altar represent episodes in the lives of the two saints—St. Séverin the Abbot healing Clovis, and St. Séverin the Hermit ordaining St. Cloud. Altogether, a church to be visited and understood, rich in historic interest.