University of Virginia Library

49. From Paris to Strasbourg by Châlons and Nancy.

By Express in 10¼—11¼ hrs., by ordinary trains in 15—16½ hrs.;
fares 56 fr. 20 c., 42 fr. 15 c. and 30 fr. 90 c. — Station in the Place de
Strasbourg; special omnibuses, see p. 24.

Soon after quitting the station the train crosses the canal of
St. Denis and the high-road from Paris to Lille. Beyond the
fortifications it skirts Pantin, where on March 14th, 1814, the most
sanguinary encounters took place between French and Russian
troops. Stat. Noisy-le-Sec. Several of the villages beyond the
Forêt de Bondy, especially Lagny and Damard, annually send
a vast quantity of fruit to Paris, of an average value of 50,000 L.

The line now reaches the Marne and continues on or near
the bank of the river as far as Vitry-le-François (p. 255). The
valley of the Marne presents a succession of picturesque landscapes.
Near Chalifert the river is crossed and a tunnel entered.
The Canal de Chalifert also penetrates the hill by means of another
tunnel, navigated by small steamboats. The country is here
remarkably pretty.

Meaux (Sirène; Hôtel Grignan; Palais Royal) is a small town of
great antiquity, on the Marne (10,762 inhab.). Here in 1240 the
council sat which sentenced the emperor Frederick II. to excommunication.
Five centuries later Meaux was the episcopal residence
of the celebrated Bossuet (d. 1704), whose study and favourite
walks are still pointed out. The Gothic Cathedral, erected at
various periods between the 12th and 16th. centuries, is situated
on an eminence. It contains a monument to Bossuet of very inferior
workmanship. The vaulted roof is remarkable for its loftiness,
and the triforium merits inspection.

The small town of Laferté-sous-Jouarre, birthplace of Madame
de Pompadour, was in the 16th cent. a flourishing Protestant community,
whose liberty, however, was but of short duration. It is
situated in a fertile and highly cultivated valley and surrounded
by numerous country-residences. To the left, the river is bounded
by richly wooded hills.

Château-Thierry (Hôtel d'Angleterre), on the Marne, is rendered
conspicuous by the massive tower of the ancient Gothic
church of St. Crispin, and the scanty ruins of a castle said to
have been erected by Charles Martel in 720 for the young king
Thierry. Lafontaine, the eminent fabulist, was born here, and a
monument has been erected to his memory. The Russians suffered
severe losses in the vicinity of the town in Feb., 1814.

The champagne-growing district is now entered. Between
Port-à-Binson and Damery, on a wooded eminence to the right,
rises the Château de Boursault, a handsome Gothic edifice erected
by Madame Cliquot, a name dear to the bon-vivant, for her sonin-law
M. de Mortemart.

To the right and left rise rich, vine-clad hills, between which,
in a broad, fertile valley, the Marne winds.

Epernay (Hôtel de l'Europe), the central point of the champagne
traffic, is picturesquely situated in the midst of the most
prolific vineyards. The spacious cellars hewn in the chalk-rock
are admirably suited for storing the wine, and contain millions of
bottles. — The day-express allows passengers time for a hasty
meal ("déjeuner-dînatoire") at Epernay, 2½ fr. incl. wine; champagne
may be purchased by the glass.

From Epernay to Rheims by a branch line in 50 min.; fares 3 fr.
35, 2 fr. 50 and 1 fr. 25 c.

Rheims (Lion d'Or, opp. the cathedral; Arbre d'Or. — English Church
Service), situated on the right bank of the Vesle and surrounded by vine-clad

hills, the Civitas Remorum of the Romans, is the ancient city (55,808
inhab.) where for many centuries the coronation of the monarchs of France
was wont to be celebrated.

The most interesting monument which Rheims possesses of the late
Roman period is the *Porte de Mars, a triumphal arch sonsisting of three
different archways. On the vaulting of the arch to the right (approached
from the town) are represented Romulus and Remus with the wolf, between
Faustulus and Acca Laurentia (?). On the central arch were represented
the 12 months in different compartments, five of which are totally
destroyed. A few fragments of the beautifully fluted Corinthian columns
still exist.

The *Cathedral is a magnificent structure in the early Gothic style,
founded in 1212 and completed by Robert de Coucy of Rheims at the commencement
of the 14th cent. The Façade, with its three receding portals,
adorned with numerous statues, is unfortunately in a dilapidated state,
but is now with the rest of the church undergoing a careful restoration.
The central portal represents the Coronation of the Virgin, that to the r.
the Final Judgment, and to the l. the Passion. Of the seven Towers five
were destroyed by fire in 1841. The two towers of the façade, which lost
their spires on the same occasion, present a far more elegant aspect than
is usually the case with unfinished Gothic towers, owing to the pointed
character of the large windows and the remarkably graceful turrets at the
angles. Many of the numerous sculptures with which the exterior is richly
decorated are considered the finest specimens in France of the early
Gothic period.

The church is cruciform with an unusually projecting transept, an dconsists
of a nave and two aisles; the choir is at first flanked with four
aisles, of which however the two external beyond the second arch form
a series of chapels. The entire length of the edifice is 450 ft., breadth
92 ft., length of transept 153 ft., height 110 ft. The tracery of the triforium
gallery and the windows is rich and beautiful; generally, however, the interior
of the church is far simpler than the exterior with the exception
of the jambs of the door, which alone are adorned with 122 statues. On
those of the principal entrance is represented the martyrdom of St. Nicaise.
Most of the windows, including the magnificent rose between the towers
of the façade, are filled with stained glass.

To the r. in the nave is situated the ancient Sarcophagus of Jovinus,
at a very remote period prefect of Rheims, removed to its present position
in 1790 from the Gothic church of St. Nicaise, which was at that time
destroyed. It consists of a single, solid block of white marble, 8½ ft.
long and 4½ ft. in thickness. The bas-relief which adorns it represents
a lion-hunt, beautifully executed.

The Clock with moveable figures in the N. transept is said to be the
oldest existing piece of mechanism of this description.

Rheims was probably selected for the coronation of the monarchs of
France because here the Sainte Ampoule, or sacred oil-vessel, was preserved,
which is said to have been brought down from heaven by a dove on the
occasion of the baptism of Clovis by St. Remi Louis VII. and his son
Philip Augustus elevated the archbishops to the rank of dukes and confirmed
their often disputed privilege of performing the coronation ceremony.
Here in 1429 Charles VII. was crowned, after he had been conducted to
Rheims by the intrepid Joan of Arc, who during the ceremony stood beside
him, the victorious banner in her hand. With the exception of
Henry II. who was crowned at Chartres, Napoleon I., crowned at Paris,
and Louis XVIII., Louis Philippe and Napoleon III. on whom the ceremony
was never performed, all the monarchs of France since 1173 have been
crowned at Rheims by the archbishop as primate of the entire kingdom.
Of all the costly objects employed on these occasions none have escaped
the Vandalism of the Revolution with the exception of the massive golden
goblet of St. Remi, which during six centuries has been in the possession
of the cathedral.

REIMS

The S. tower, which contains the huge bell (24,000 lbs.) cast in 1750,
should be ascended, as it affords an admirable survey of the rich decorations
and architectural beauties of the exterior of the church.

The Archiepiscopal Palace, contiguous to the cathedral on the S. side,
contains a gorgeously decorated vestibule and a beautiful chapel. Here
the sovereigns of France abode during the coronation festivities, and in
1429 the Maid of Orleans.

*St. Remi, founded in 1044, is the most ancient church in Rheims, and
in its plan somewhat resembles the cathedral. The interior was originally
Romanesque, the choir is a beautiful specimen of Gothic, the S. transept
Flamboyant. The five semicircular chapels which flank the choir are separated
from it by a graceful colonnade. The exterior displays a few
symptoms of early Gothic; the two Romanesque towers of the façade are
surmounted by lofty, pointed spires. The revolution has left the church
entirely destitute of its former costly and magnificent contents, save the
12 statues representing the 6 temporal and 6 spiritual peers of France, and
the group of the tomb of St. Remi.

The Sainte Ampoule (see p. 254) was formerly kept in the church of
St. Remi. The abbot, mounted on a white palfrey, conveyed this precious
vessel, filled with the sacred oil, to the cathedral on the coronation-day,
whilst a number of knights were detained at St. Remi as pledges for the
safe return of the holy man. The Sainte Ampoule was destroyed during
the devastation of the abbey in 1793; a fragment, however, is said to have
been preserved, and was afterwards employed at the coronation of Charles X.
in 1826.

The handsome Hôtel de Ville is Renaissance, erected under Louis XIII.,
an equestrian figure of whom is seen in the bas-relief above the entrance.

The best-built street in Rheims leads from the Hôtel de Ville to the
Place Royale, adorned with a statue of Louis XV. The houses surrounding
the square are flanked with arcades of the Doric order.

The tasteful fountain in the Place Goudinot was erected to the memory
of a canon of that name who was instrumental in supplying the town
with water.

Over the door of the Hôtel de la Maison Rouge is the following inscription:
"L'an 1429, au sucre de Charles VII., dans cette hôtellerie, ulors
nommée l'Ane Rouge, le père et la mère de Jeanne d'Arc ont été logés et défrayés
par le conseil de la ville."

Beyond Epernay the country becomes flatter. The first
station of importance is Châlons-sur-Marne (Cloche d'Or;
Morisot), capital of the Department of the Marne, with a
population of 16,675, and one of the principal depôts of champagne.
The extensive buildings to the right of the station are
the champagne manufactory of M. Jacquesson. — The Cathedral
with its graceful, open-work towers is a conspicuous object in
the town. Notre Dame, on the other side of the town, a fine
example of the transition from the Romanesque to the Gothic,
dates from 1157. Its towers are more massive than those of the
cathedral, but by no means devoid of beauty.

Near Chalons (by a branch line in 50 min.) is situated the
camp of Le Mourmelon, destined by the present emperor for the
great annual manœuvres of the army which take place every autumn.

The train next traverses a far poorer district. To the left
flows the Marne winding through picturesque meadows and fringed
with trees.

Vitry-le-François, with its handsome Renaissance church,
surrounded by vineyards and fruit-trees, is indebted to Francis I.

for its entire re-construction after it had been devastated by the
emperor Charles V. — Here the Marne is crossed for the last
time and the course of the Rhine-Marne Canal followed. The
next station worthy of mention is

Bar-le-Duc (Hôtel de Metz et du Commerce; Cygne, moderate),
a picturesque town on the Ornain, once the capital of the
ancient Duché de Bar, now of the Department of the Meuse
(population 14,922). The church of St. Pierre in the Haute Ville
contains a well-executed monument in marble to the memory of
the Duc Réné de Châlons, Prince of Orange, who fell in 1544
at the siege of St. Dizier. The animated Ville Basse contains
monuments of the marshals Oudinot and Excelmans, both natives
of Bar-le-Duc.

After traversing a somewhat monotonous district the train
descends into the valley of the Meuse, here an insignificant stream,
which it twice crosses.

Commercy possesses a château of considerable size, on the
bank of the Meuse, which was once the residence of Cardinal
Francis Paul de Retz (d. 1679), who here wrote his memoirs. It
was subsequently occupied by Stanislaus Lesczinski, ex-king of
Poland, in 1744, and is now employed as barracks.

Toul (Hôtel de l'Europe), the Tullum Leucorum of the Romans,
a fortress situated on the Moselle at some distance to the right of
the line, has during 1200 years been the seat of a bishop and
is one of the most ancient towns of Lorraine (7687 inhab.).
The beautiful Gothic towers of the Cathedral are conspicuous; it
also possesses an admirable façade dating from 1340—1389. Another
Gothic tower which is also visible belongs to the abbey
church of St. Gengoult.

The Rhine-Marne Canal and Moselle here flow side by side
and are crossed at Fontenoy, beyond which one of the most
picturesque and, in an engineering point of view, remarkable
points of the whole line is reached. The valley of the Moselle
here contracts, the banks become more precipitous, and vineyards
begin to appear on the sunny heights.

Liverdun, the Livodunum of the Romans, is picturesquely
situated on an eminence, with the ruins of a castle destroyed in
1467. For some distance the railway, high-road, river and canal
are parallel to each other; the latter penetrates the hill, on which
Liverdun lies, by means of a tunnel. Here, within a very short
distance of each other, are two railway-bridges, a canal-bridge,
a lock, a harbour, a canal-tunnel and railway-bridges over canal
and road, works which have cost upwards of 140,000 L.

At Frouard the Meurthe unites with the Moselle. The town
is on the right, the railway-station on the left bank of the river.
The line to Metz diverges here.

Nancy. Hotels: *de l'Europe; de France; de Paris; du Commerce;
*d'Angleterre, moderate, and de Metz both near the railway-stations.
— Cafés: Stanislas; de l'Opéra; de la Comédie etc. all in
the Place Stanislas, formerly capital of Lorraine and seat of the dukes,
of whom Stanislaus Lesczinsky, ex-king of Poland, was the last,
is chiefly indebted for its prosperous aspect to his predecessor
Leopold (d. 1729), father of the German emperor Francis I. It
is now the principal town of the Department of the Meurthe,
on which river it is situated, and has a population of 49,305.
Nancy is one of the best-built towns in France and possesses
many handsome edifices. The vineyards by which it is surrounded
contribute greatly to the beauty of the situation. —
It contains an Ecole Forestière, or nursery for forest-trees, the only
establishment of the kind in France.

The town is entered by the Porte Stanislas, one of the seven
handsome gates of Nancy, leading to the Place Dombasle, where
a statue by David of the eminent agriculturist of that name stands.
The first street which diverges from the Rue Stanislas to the left
leads to the Cours Léopold, a handsome square adorned with a
*Statue of Marshal Drouot, in bronze, by David. The pedestal
is decorated with reliefs and inscribed with the names of battles
at which the marshal (a native of Nancy) was present.

Returning to the Rue Stanislas the traveller follows this street
and will soon reach the *Place Stanislas, the finest point in the
town. It is adorned with the Statue of Stanislaus (d. 1766),
erected by the three departments (Meurthe, Meuse, Vosges) which
formerly constituted the Duchy of Lorraine. The statue looks towards
the Triumphal Arch which Stanislaus erected in honour of
Louis XV. The Place is surrounded by five handsome edifices,
the Hôtel de Ville, the theatre, the episcopal palace (Evêché)
and two private residences.

The Hôtel de Ville contains a small *collection of pictures.
1st Room (in a small box is preserved a lock of Napoleon's
hair, his star of the Legion of Honour and a sabre worn by him
in Egypt): 225. Delacroix, Battle of Nancy, Jan. 5th, 1477, fought
by Charles le Téméraire, Duke of Burgundy, against Duke Réné
of Lorraine, in which the former fell; 184. Horace Vernet, Portrait
of General Drouot; 187. Vouet, Nymphs; 188. Vouet, Cupids
playing with the arms of Æneas; 189. Ziegler, St. George and
the dragon. 2nd Room: 14. Guido Reni, Cleopatra; 16. Copy
of the celebrated "Marriage of Cana" of Paul Veronese in the
Louvre (p. 62); 45. De Craeyer, The pestilence at Milan;
46. Delmont, The Resurrection, covering the greater portion of
the wall. — 3rd Room: 15. Leonardo da Vinci, Head of Christ;
75. Teniers, Interior of a farm; 76. Teniers, Landscape; 163. A
landscape by "Claude Lorrain" (properly Claude Gelée, d 1652)

the most celebrated of French landscape-painters, born at Nancy
in 1600; 170. Mignard, Virgin and Child.

At the back of the Hôtel de Ville, in the Rue d'Alliance
(so called from the French and Austrian alliance of 1756 against
Prussia), is the Préfecture.

Passing through the Triumphal Arch, to the left, the visitor
reaches the Place Carrière, another handsome square planted with
trees, on the farther side of which is the former palace of King
Stanislaus, now the residence of the commander of the 3rd corps
of the French army (lately Marshal Forey). On either side, the
Tribunal de Commerce and the Cour Impériale.

The Franciscan Eglise de Cordeliers, at the back of the palace,
contains (l. side) the tomb of the talented painter and engraver
Jacques Callot, and, in the richly decorated *Chapelle Ronde,
burial-place of the Dukes of Lorraine, a number of interesting
monuments from the 12th to the 18th cent. During the first
revolution the coffins were conveyed to the public cemetery and
this chapel converted into a magazine. In 1822 it was restored
at the expense of France and Austria. Mass is still performed
here by an almoner of the Lorraine Hapsburg family. — Duke
Francis of Lorraine by his marriage with the Archduchess
Maria Theresa (1736), heiress of the lands of Hapsburg, became
the founder of the present imperial house of Austria.

The contiguous Palais Ducal, formerly a residence of the
dukes, contains the Musée Lorrain, a collection of relics from the
Lorraine period. In a small court, Roman antiquities found in
the environs. The palace itself now serves as barracks. It was
erected by Duke Réné II., conqueror of Charles le Téméraire,
and possesses a fine late Gothic portal with an equestrian statue
of Duke Leopold II. towards the Grand' Rue. The edifice was
restored by Stanislaus.

In the new part of the town, to the right of the Place Stanislas
(when approached from the station) rises the Cathedral,
in the Jesuitical style, completed in 1742, containing nothing to
interest the traveller save some handsome altars in marble.

The Pepinière, extensive grounds with fine avenues, entered
from the Place Stanislas and the Place Carrière, affords a pleasant
promenade; military music at 4 p. m. during the season.

In the suburb of St Pierre is the Eglise de Bon Secours,
where Stanislaus (d. 1766) and his consort are interred. After
his abdication as king of Poland (1735) he continued to be reigning
duke of Lorraine and Bar until his death, when the duchy
fell to the crown of France.

In 1814, and again in 1815, the three allied monarchs (Prussia,
Austria, Russia) had their head-quarters at Nancy, where the proposal
of a "Holy Alliance" is said first to have been originated.

The railway-station of Nancy occupies a piece of marshy ground
where, after the battle of Nancy, the body of the Duke of
Burgundy was found. In a burial ground in the vicinity 4000
of the duke's troops were interred, and the commemorative Croix
de Bourgogne erected by the victorious Duke Réné (d. 1508),
bearing the following inscription:

       

En l'an de l'incarnation	Et en bataille ici transcy
Mil quatre cent septante six	Ou croix fut mise pour mémoire
Veille de l'Apparition	Réné Duc de Loraine me(r)cy
Fut le Duc de Bourgogne occis	Rendant à Dieu pour la victoire.

Quitting Nancy, the train crosses the Meurthe and the Rhine-Marne
Canal.

Varangeville and St. Nicolas are two small towns connected
by a bridge over the Meurthe. The church of the former dates
from the 15th cent., that of the latter from 1494—1544.

Lunéville (15,528 inhab.), at the confluence of the Meurthe
and Vezouse, was the birthplace of Francis I. of Austria, son
of Leopold Duke of Lorraine, and founder of the present
imperial house. In a house in the Rue d'Allemagne the
peace of Lunéville, between France and Austria, was signed,
Feb. 9th, 1801.

Sarrebourg (*Hôtel du Sauvage), on the Sarre which here
becomes navigable, is the boundary between the French and German
languages, the former being spoken in the upper, the latter
in the lower part of the town (not to be confounded with Saarburg
near Treves, in the Prussian dominions). The place would
become of the utmost importance in case of a Rhenish war,
and has in consequence been provided with extensive provision
magazines.

The rich plains of Lorraine are now quitted, and a spur of
the Vosges Mts. is penetrated by the tunnel of Archwiller, 1½ M.
in length, through which the Rhine-Marne Canal also passes. The
train enters the valley of the Zorn. Opposite to Lutzelbourg, the
last station in the Department of the Meurthe, rise the picturesque
ruins of an ancient fortress.

Saverne (*Soleil), a small town with a population of 6400.
The handsome Palace, erected in 1666 by a Bishop of Strasbourg,
was afterwards occupied by Cardinal de Rohan (d. 1802), whose
fatal influence on the destinies of the court of Louis XVI is well
known. By an imperial decree of 1852 the edifice was appropriated
to the use of widows and daughters of deserving officials.
Above the town rises the ancient castle of Greifenstein. On the
opposite side of the valley, the extensive and picturesque ruins
of *Haut-Barr, scarcely distinguishable from the grotesquely shaped
rocks on which it stands.

Between Saverne and Strasbourg the country is uninteresting.