A Tour Through Old Provence. A. S. Forrest

      Published by Good Press, 2019

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      EAN 4064066232153

Table of Contents

       FOREWORD

       LIST OF HALF-TONE ILLUSTRATIONS

       AVIGNON

       I AVIGNON

       VILLENEUVE

       II VILLENEUVE

       TARASCON

       III TARASCON

       IV LES BAUX

       MONTMAJOUR

       V MONTMAJOUR

       ARLES

       VI ARLES

       NÎMES

       VII NÎMES

       ORANGE

       VIII ORANGE

       INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS

       INDEX

FOREWORD

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      Southwards from Valence, the Rhone flows swiftly and silently through a fertile and picturesque valley, the river broadening as the valley widens. The undulating valley is filled with vineyards and farms, amidst which are scattered houses and villages innumerable, with here and there on rising ground the ruins of an ancient castle or the grey mass of a city or town of some importance. From the banks of the river, as far as the eye can reach in every direction, the land was known in Cæsar’s time as Provincia or The Province, although the term Provence is in these modern times only applied to the extreme south-eastern portion.

      The wayfarer, in this land of sunshine and fertility, passing through its villages and visiting its towns, will continually meet with those relics, ruins, and remains which are left like footprints by races, dynasties, and empires long since passed away. Some of these footprints are nearly effaced, but others stand out to-day in clear and distinct outline, recalling whole histories of bygone days. The very appearance of the people, of their buildings, their manners and customs are as reminiscent of their remote ancestry as the ancient monuments to be found in their midst.

      Heredity and environment are both important factors in the making of a race, and it may be that the blue skies and sunlit landscapes, with their lovely distant prospects, have had as large a share in moulding the character of the inhabitants of this land to-day as the traits and tendencies inherited from Phoceans, Gauls, and Romans. Whatever may be the cause, there is something about this region that makes an irresistible appeal to strangers from northern lands. Romance is written so plainly on its face that even “he who motors may read,” and every day spent among its towns, villages, and castles is filled with vivid pictures of many of the more illustrious periods of civilisation.

LIST OF HALF-TONE ILLUSTRATIONS

       Table of Contents

      For Index of Illustrations in the text see page 283.

AVIGNON

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I

       AVIGNON

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      From whatever direction Avignon is approached, the dignity of its battlements, the profusion of its belfries, and the towering majesty of its remarkable palace, call forth the unstinted admiration of the most surfeited sightseer. But it is from the river that the finest view of the City of the Popes can be obtained.

      The silent gliding waters of the winding Rhone flow in their fleet course past many a noble town and castle, but in the whole of their long voyage past none to compare with the glorious town of Avignon.

      The richness of the surrounding fields and vineyards dotted with foliage of varied shape and hue, the extensive plains, with many a rugged