. Castles and chateaux of old Touraine and the Loire country. rovincial France. Itis difficult to say just what actually causes allthis excellence and abundance, except that thecatering there is an easy and pleasurable oc-cupation. The Rue Nationale — toujours et vraimentroyale — is the great artery of Tours run-ning riverwards. On it circulates all the life ofthe city. To the right is the Quartier de la Cathedrale,where are assembled the great houses of thenobility — or such of them as are left — and ofthe old bourgeoisie tourangelle. To the left are the streets of the workers, asilk-mill or
. Castles and chateaux of old Touraine and the Loire country. rovincial France. Itis difficult to say just what actually causes allthis excellence and abundance, except that thecatering there is an easy and pleasurable oc-cupation. The Rue Nationale — toujours et vraimentroyale — is the great artery of Tours run-ning riverwards. On it circulates all the life ofthe city. To the right is the Quartier de la Cathedrale,where are assembled the great houses of thenobility — or such of them as are left — and ofthe old bourgeoisie tourangelle. To the left are the streets of the workers, asilk-mill or two, and the printing-offices. Toursis and always has been celebrated for the num- Tours and About There 205 ber and size of its imprimeries, with which, inolden times, the name of the great ChristopherPlantin, the master printer of Antwerp, wasconnected. To-day, Tourss greatest establish-ment is that of Alfred Mame et Fils, knownthroughout the Roman Catholic world. The printers and booksellers of the middleages were favoured persons, and their rank. was high. In the days of solemn processionsthe booksellers led the way, followed by thepaper - makers, the parchment - makers, thescribes, — who had not wholly died out,—the binders and the illuminators. In these daysthe printers were granted an emblazoned arms,which was characteristic and same was true of the avocats, who boreupon their escutcheon a gowned figure, withsomething very like a halo surrounding itshead. The innkeepers went one better, and hada bishop with an undeniable halo. This is 206 Old Touraine and the Loire Country curious and inexplicable in the light of ourmodern conception of similar things, but itsbetter than a shield with quarterings represent-ing half a canal-boat and half a locomotive,which was recently adopted by an enterprisingwatering-place which shall be nameless. In the same ancient quarter are the oldtowers of Charlemagne and St. Martin. Thispart of the town is the nucle
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherbosto, bookyear1906
