. Castles and chateaux of old Touraine and the Loire country. s and wall paintings, by Mos-nier, Clouet, and Mignard, are all of the bestof their period; while the apartments them-selves are exceedingly ample, notably the Ap-partement du Roi, furnished as it was in thedays of Vert Galant, the Salle des Gardes,the library and an elaborately traceried stair-case. In the chapel is an altar-table whichcame from the ifiglise St. Calais, in the chateauat Blois. Just outside the gates is a remarkable crotch-ety old stone church, with a dwindling, top-pling spire. It is poor and impoverished whencompa
. Castles and chateaux of old Touraine and the Loire country. s and wall paintings, by Mos-nier, Clouet, and Mignard, are all of the bestof their period; while the apartments them-selves are exceedingly ample, notably the Ap-partement du Roi, furnished as it was in thedays of Vert Galant, the Salle des Gardes,the library and an elaborately traceried stair-case. In the chapel is an altar-table whichcame from the ifiglise St. Calais, in the chateauat Blois. Just outside the gates is a remarkable crotch-ety old stone church, with a dwindling, top-pling spire. It is poor and impoverished whencompared with most French churches, and hasa most astonishing timbered veranda, with astraining, creaking roof running around its twounobstructed walls. The open rafters are filledwith all sorts of rubbish, and the local firebrigade keeps its hose and ladders there. Amost suitable old rookery it is in which to starta first-class conflagration. Within are a few funeral marbles of theHurault family, and the daily oflSces are con- Cheverny, Beauregard, Chaumont 113. 114 Old Touraine and the Loire Country ducted with a pomp most unexpected. Alto-gether it forms, as to its fabric and its func-tions, as strong a contrast of activity and decayas one is likely to see in a long journey. The town itself is a sleepy, unprogressiveplace, where automobilists may not even buyessence a petrole, and, though boasting — ifthe indolent old town really does boast — acouple of thousand souls, one still has to jour-ney to Cour-Cheverny to send a telegraphicdespatch or buy a daily paper. Between Cheverny and Blois is the Foretde Eussy, which will awaken memories of theboar-hunts of Frangois I., which, along withart in all its enlightening aspects, appears tohave been one of the chief pleasures of thatmonarch. Perhaps one ought to include alsothe love of fair women, but with them he wasnot so constant. On the road to Blois, also, one passes theChateau de Beauregard; that is, one usuallypasses it, but h
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherbosto, bookyear1906
