. Castles and chateaux of old Touraine and the Loire country. The cathedral quarter has for its chief attrac-tion that gorgeously florid St. Gatien, whoseornate f a§ade was likened by a certain monarchto a magnificently bejewelled casket. It is aninteresting and lovable Gothic-Renaissancechurch which, if not quite of the first rankamong the masterpieces of its kind, is a marvelof splendour, and an example of the capricesdune guipure dart, as the French call it. Bordering the Loire at Tours is a seriesof tree-lined quays and promenades which arethe scenes, throughout the spring and summermonths
. Castles and chateaux of old Touraine and the Loire country. The cathedral quarter has for its chief attrac-tion that gorgeously florid St. Gatien, whoseornate f a§ade was likened by a certain monarchto a magnificently bejewelled casket. It is aninteresting and lovable Gothic-Renaissancechurch which, if not quite of the first rankamong the masterpieces of its kind, is a marvelof splendour, and an example of the capricesdune guipure dart, as the French call it. Bordering the Loire at Tours is a seriesof tree-lined quays and promenades which arethe scenes, throughout the spring and summermonths, of fetes and fairs of many sorts. Here,too, at the extremity of the Rue Nationale, arestatues of Descartes and Balzac. The Tour de Guise on the river-bank recallsthe domination of the Plantagenet kings ofEngland, who were Counts of Anjou since itformed a part of the twelfth-century chateaubuilt here by Henry IL of England. At the opposite extremity of the city is an-other tower, the Tour de Foubert, which pro- Scene in the Quartier de la Cathedrak, Tours. Tours and About There 209 tected the feudal domain of the old abbey ofSt. Martin. The history of days gone by atTours was more churchly than political. Once only — during the reign of Louis XII.— did the States General meet at Tours (in1506). Then the deputies of the bourgeoisiemet alone for their deliberations, the chief out-come of which was to bestow upon the king theeminently fitting title of Pere du may question the righteousness of LouisXII. in throwing over his wife, Jeanne deFrance, in order to serve political ends by ac-quiring the estates of Anne of Brittany for theCrown of France for ever, but there is no doubtbut that he did it for the govd of his people. The principal literary shrine at Tours is thehouse, in the Eue Nationale, where was bornHonore de Balzac. One could not do better than to visit Toursduring the ete de St. Martin, since it was thesoldier-priest of Tours who gave his name tothat wa
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