Chalon-sur-Saône

“ Saint Gengoux has gained nothing by its spasm of republicanism. It is not more national to-day than Cavaillon or Carpentras, whereas the suffix Royal meant, if it meant anything, that it was an indication of its ancient rank when it belonged directly to{174} the crown of France. Republicanism did not change its allegiance, only its name.
The diligence from Paris stopped at Chalon-sur-Saône in the old days and passengers made their way to Lyons by the river. Colbert it was who sought to develop the service of coches d’eau on the Saône between Chalon and Lyons. ”

“ In the eighteenth century, the heart of Burgundy was traversed by the celebrated “coches d’eau” which, as a means of transportation for{5} travellers, was considerably more of an approach to the ideal than the railway of to-day. These “coches d’eau” covered the distance from Chalon to Lyon via the Saône. One reads in the “Almanach de Lyon et des Provinces de Lyonnois, Forêz et Beaujolais, pour l’année bissextile 1760,” that two of these “coches” each week left Lyon, on Mondays and Thursdays, making the journey to Chalon without interruption via Trévoux, Mâcon and Tournus. ”

“ W. from Chagny, is Montchanin, pop. 2500. Inn: H. des Minis; its omnibus awaits passengers. The town, nearly a mile from the station, consists chiefly of the houses of the workmen employed in the surrounding coalpits, foundries, and large artistic brick and tile works. Outside the town is the Étang Berthaud, the reservoir of the Canal du Centre, which connects the Saône with the Loire, between Chalon and Digoin.
781⁄4 m. E. from Nevers, 73⁄4 m. W. from Montchanin, and 26 m. W. from Chagny, is Le Creusot, pop. 25,000, of whom 6300 are employed in the ironworks. Hotels: Commerce ”

“ Châlons-sur-Marne (25) , capital of the French dep. of Marne, 100 m. E. of Paris, where Attila was defeated by the Romans and Goths in 451; Napoleon III. formed a camp near it for the training of troops.
Châlons-sur-Saône (24) , a trading centre some 80 m. N. of Lyons; manufactures machinery, glass, paper, and chemicals.
Chains, chief town of the French dep. of Haute Vienne, where Richard Coeur de Lion was mortally wounded in 1199 by a shot with an arrow. ”

“ The houses of Châlons are generally ill-built of timber and plaster, or rough-cast, but some old mansions, dating from the 15th to the 16th centuries, remain. The church of Ste Pudentienne, on the left bank of the river, is a well-known place of pilgrimage. The town is the seat of a bishop and a prefect, and headquarters of the VI. army corps; it has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a chamber of commerce, a board of trade-arbitrators, a museum, a library, training colleges, a higher ecclesiastical seminary, a communal college and an important technical school. ”

“ Laurent, which was formerly a little town with privileges of its own, occupies an island formed by the Saône. It had once a convent of Cordeliers, in the church of which was the tomb of a monk who was its superior. The historian of Chalons says he was the only brother of Alphonso the Fifth, King of Portugal; in 1481, he wandered hither and assumed the cowl: the king dying childless, ambassadors came to offer him the crown he had inherited; he refused it, and dismissed them as well as his mother the queen dowager, who strove to persuade him 117 by entreaties and vain tears. ”

“ The Saône, moving slowly in a sinuous channel, has its course in the wide depression between the Plateau of Langres, the Côte d'Or and the mountains of Charolais and Beaujolais on the west and the western slopes of the Vosges and Jura and the plain of Bresse and the plateau of Dombes on the east. ”

“ On the banks of the river Saone it was wet, depressing, solitary; and the night deepened fast.
One man slowly moving on towards Chalons was the only visible figure in the landscape. Cain might have looked as lonely and avoided. With an old sheepskin knapsack at his back, and a rough, unbarked stick cut out of some wood in his hand; miry, footsore, his shoes and gaiters trodden out, his hair and beard untrimmed; the cloak he carried over his shoulder, and the clothes he wore, sodden with wet; limping along in pain and difficulty ”

“ If cities are to be estimated by their appearance of neatness and opulence, Chalons deserves to be marked on the map in more capital letters than the imposing names of Sens or Auxerre. To no town indeed does it bear a greater resemblance than to Tours, both from the modern air of its houses, and from its noble river, adapted for every purpose of internal commerce. The Hôtel des Trois Faisans is also an excellent inn, and, like that at Auxerre, sufficiently well frequented to find no account in these little beggarly impositions which are practised at inferior places. ”

“ This is why to-day one sees only the heap of stones, locally called “the chateau,” which, to be appreciated, require a healthy imagination and some knowledge of the situation.
At Belleville-sur-Saône is a little strip of the earth’s surface called by the French the finest panorama in the world and “le plus bel lieu de France.” It is beautiful, even beyond words, a smiling radiant river valley with{180} nearly all the artistic attributes which go to make up the ideal landscape. Just how near it comes to being the finest view in the world is a matter of opinion. ”

“ Châlons is traversed by branches of the canal and by small streams, and its streets are for the most part narrow and irregular, but it is surrounded by ample avenues and promenades, the park known as the Jard, in the south-western quarter, being especially attractive. Huge barracks lie to the north and east. There are several interesting churches in the town. The cathedral of St Étienne dates chiefly from the 13th century, but its west façade is in the classical style and belongs to the 17th century. There are stained-glass windows of the 13th century in the north transept. ”

“ The extraordinary appearance of the "Boussemroum" with its three large tents attracted quite a crowd on the quay where it was moored, and as we made our way towards it we were followed by many curious eyes.
Mr. Pennell, having been discouraged and disheartened by the loss of time and the insecurity of his situation in France, especially since he had failed to get an official permission to sketch at Lyons, gave up all idea of illustrating the Lower Saône. What was to be done with the book? Could it be published in an incomplete state and called "The Upper Saône?" ”

“ In 1214 the militia of Châlons served at the battle of Bouvines; and in the 15th century the citizens maintained their honour by twice (1430 and 1434) repulsing the English from their walls. In the 16th century the town sided with Henry IV., king of France, who in 1589 transferred thither the parlement of Paris, which shortly afterwards burnt the bulls of Gregory XIV. and Clement VIII. In 1856 Napoleon III. established a large camp, known as the Camp of Châlons, about 16 m. north of the town by the railway to Reims. ”

“ This reply seemed to merit some consideration, by the way the eyes of Adolphus and Pauline regarded their child. They did not understand her;—her meaning was deeper than her utterance.
"To Chalons?" repeated Adolphus, quietly.
"Home?" said Pauline;—it was almost the sweetest word she knew, almost the easiest of utterance.
"You have promised me a hundred times that I should go. Did you mean it? May I go? You wish me to see the old place and the old people. But the old place is changing, and the old people are dying. Soon, if I go to Chalons, it will not be your Chalons I shall see." ”

“ I have seen more extensive ones, but never one that comprehended more beauty and interest. Lyons lies at the foot, with the Saone winding through its bosom in abrupt curves; the Rhone comes down from the north on the other side of the range of mountains, and meeting the Saone in a broad stream below the town, they stretch off to the south, through a diversified landscape; the Alps rise from the east like the edges of a thunder-cloud, and the mountains of Savoy fill up the interval to the Rhone. All about the foot of the monument lie gardens, of exquisite cultivation ”

“ And thus passing through that lake without any damage, it runs through Savoy and the district of Tranche Comté; and, after a long course, it forms the boundary between the Viennese on its left, and the Lyonnese on its right. Then after many windings it receives the Saone, a river which rises in the first Germany, and this latter river here merges its name in the Rhone. At this point is the beginning of the Gauls. And from this spot the distances are measured not by miles but by leagues. ”

“ It is the head-quarters of the 6th Army Corps, and is the military centre for the departments of Ardennes, Aubes, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Marne, Meuse, and Vosges. It is 107 miles east of Paris by rail, and is one of the principal brewing centres of France, the wine trade in which it used to be engaged having gone northward to Rheims. In the scheme under which the French Army is constituted, Châlons is one of the centres for early mobilisation of troops of the first line with a view to the defence of the north-eastern frontier. ”

“ We trot along in a whirlwind of dust, blinded, bewildered, jolted, we cling to the bar of the cacolet, shut our eyes, laugh and groan. We arrive at Chalons more dead than alive; we fall to the gravel like jaded cattle, then they pack us into the cars and we leave Chalons to go—where? ”

“ The descent is long and rapid, passing some wild and beautiful gorges of the mountain, where the summer residences of the 132 Lyonnese citizens are thickly scattered, and when we reached the bottom we were on the bank of the Saône, its windings on the left hand leading among green shores, and to the Isle Barbe, and on the right into Lyons. ”

“ At Chalons they exchanged horses. The king now felt that he was safe, for the Marquis of Bouillé had posted detachments of troops at every important point between Chalons and Montmedy. With characteristic imprudence, as the carriage was surrounded with idlers at Chalons, the king put his head out of the window, showing his well-known face to the crowd. The postmaster instantly recognized the king, but, being himself an ardent Royalist, divulged not his secret, but aided in putting in the fresh horses, and ordered the postillions to drive on. ”

“ From Lyon to Chalon took the better part of two and a half days’ time, but the descent was accomplished in less than two days. From Chalon, by “guimbarde,” it was an affair of eight days to Paris via Arnay-le-Duc, Saulieu, Vermanton, Auxerre, Joigny and Sens. By diligence all the way, the journey from the capital to Lyon was made in five days in summer and six in winter. Says Mercier in his “Tableau de Paris”: “When Sunday came on, the journey mass was said at three o’clock in the morning at some tavern en route.” ”

“ Rhone and Saône streams flashing suddenly visible; and height and hollow, hamlet and smooth stubble-field, and all the region round; heights, alas, all scarped and counterscarped, into trenches, curtains, redoubts; blue Artillery-men, little Powder devilkins, plying their hell-trade there through the not ambrosial night! Let the darkness cover it again; for it pains the eye. Of a truth, Chalier's death is costing the City dear. Convention Commissioners, Lyons Congresses have come and gone; and action there was and reaction; bad ever growing worse ”

“ In his later years he gave himself up to the study of mathematics and philosophy. He became bishop of Châlons-sur-Saône in 1578, and in 1587 appeared his Discours philosophiques. He was a zealous defender of the cause of Henry III. against the pretensions of the Guises. This attitude brought down on him the vengeance of the league; he was driven from Châlons and his château at Bissy was plundered. He survived all the members of the Pléiade and lived to see the onslaught made on their doctrines by Malherbe. ”

“ Indeed, I was told that the wine vaults of Epernay were as well worth inspection, as the catacombs of Paris.
I should observe to you that the river Marne, one of the second- rate rivers, of France, accompanies you pretty closely all the way from Chateau Thierry to Chalons--designated as Chalons-sur-Marne. From Epernay to Chalons you pass through nothing but corn fields. It is a wide and vast ocean of corn--with hardly a tree, excepting those occasionally along the road, within a boundary of ten miles. Chalons is a large and populous town; but the churches bear sad traces of revolutionary fury. ”

“ Every mile Roger put between himself and Châlons, he was less heavy-hearted. Lovers’ pangs are sharp, but singularly curable as long as the lady remains unmarried. At last, just as he saw the old castle rising on the hill at Vitry, the sun came out gloriously. He thought he would not go on to Bar. [255] He turned around and had half a mind to ride back toward Châlons, but mercy for his good Merrylegs restrained him. ”

“ Although a boy at the time, I knew him well, Master Beverley; a more gallant Cavalier never drew sword. Come, we must be sworn friends in life and death, Beverley," continued Chaloner, extending his hand, which was eagerly grasped by Edward, who then confided to Chaloner the history of his life. When he had concluded, Chaloner said,
"We all heard of the firing of Arnwood, and it is at this moment believed that all the children perished. It is one of the tales of woe that our nurses repeat to the children, and many a child has wept at your supposed deaths. ”

“ Presently they set off in Indian file, Nannichette in front, as the one led by the spirit, and carrying with her a washed and polished spade, that she had brought from her home.
Claudine and Bidiane were careful not to speak, for there was not a word uttered now by the women in front, and the pursuers needed to follow them with extreme caution. On they went, climbing silently over the grassy mounds that were now the only reminders of the old French fort, or stumbling unexpectedly and noisily into the great heap of clam shells, whose contents had been eaten by the hungry exiles of long ago. ”