The South of France-East Half Part 54

[Headnote: CESANNE.]

+Briancon to Oulx+, 17 m. N.E. by diligence, 4 hrs., 7 frs., by a beautiful road winding up fir-clad mountains disclosing charming views of the valley of the Durance and of the Mont Pelvoux group. On the summit of the Pa.s.s or of Mont Genevre, the Mons Jovis of the Romans, is the village of Genevre (pop. 400), with the French custom-house, 6476 ft. above the sea or 2141 ft. above Briancon, and 7 m. from it and 10 m. from Oulx. An iron plate indicates that it is 11 kilometres from Briancon, 61 from Embrun, 10 from Cesanne, and 40 or almost 25 m.

from Susa (p. 291). A few yards beyond is an obelisk which marks the boundary between France and Italy, and which commemorates in French, Latin, and Italian the opening of this road in 1807 under Napoleon I., and its restoration or rather repair in 1835. 5 m. farther is +Cesanne+, at the confluence of the Dora with the Ripa, 4420 ft., or nearly at the same height as Briancon. Italian custom-house. _Inn:_ Croix Blanche, where the horses are changed. A post-road leads from Cesanne to Perosa, 28 m. E. (p. 307). 5 m. from Cesanne is Oulx, 3514 ft., with a good inn, the Dell' Alpi Cozzie, close to the station. The diligence halts at and starts from the station. (See also p. 291. From Oulx rail to Turin, p. 291.) The road between Briancon and Oulx forms a pleasant and easy walking excursion, which can be considerably shortened on the French side by following the footpath.

Gren.o.ble to Gap by diligence, 62 m. S. The Gren.o.ble diligence goes only the length of Corps, where the Gap pa.s.sengers enter the diligence for Gap.

+Gren.o.ble to Corps.+

By diligence, 39 m. S., 9 hrs., 9 frs., by a very beautiful road.

From Gren.o.ble the road extends nearly in a straight line between the railway and the Drac to Claix, 5 m. S. (pp. 328 and 345), and thence in another straight line between poplars to Vizille, 5 m. farther.

Coach from Vizille to La Motte les Bains. From Vizille the diligence takes nine horses, and having crossed the Romanche, ascends by the flanks of Mont Conex in 2 hrs. to the village of La Frey or Laffrey, 2000 ft. above, and 4 m. from Vizille, and 15 from Gren.o.ble, in a cold situation on the top of this pa.s.s, about 3000 ft. above the sea; the horses are changed, and time given to take a cup of coffee. On this plateau, immediately beyond the village, is Lake Laffrey, 3050 ft. above the sea, 2 m. long and 875 yards wide. At its S. end is the village of the Pet.i.t-Chat, whence commences the Lake Pierre-Chatel. To the right or west of the road is Mt. Peychagnard, with rich anthracite coalmines, some of the beds being from 10 to 15 yards thick. The diligence next pa.s.ses through Pierre-Chatel, 20 m. from Gren.o.ble, a considerable village, with to the E. Mont Tabor, 7829 ft.

[Headnote: LA MURE. CORPS.]

23 m. S. from Gren.o.ble and 38 m. N. from Gap is +La Mure+, 2860 ft., pop. 3800, the largest town on the road, with the ancient castle of Beaumont, nail manufactories, and the anthracite mines of Availlans, 3 m. distant. Horses changed. Between La Mure and La Salle, the next village, is perhaps the grandest scenery, the road running along the edges of high cliffs or in the profound depths of the ravine of the Bonne, which it crosses by the Pont-Haut. The hamlet of La Salle is exactly half-way between Gren.o.ble and Gap, 31 m. from each, and 8 m.

from Corps. The road, after pa.s.sing the village of Quet and the gorge of La Salette, arrives at

+Corps+, 39 m. from Gren.o.ble, on a plateau 814 ft. above the confluence of the Drac with the Souloise, or 3156 ft. above the sea.

Pop. 1500. _Inns:_ *Poste; Palais; next each other. Mules for La Salette with man, 4 frs. Vehicles, 5 frs. the seat, or 15 frs. the whole. La Salette is 5 m. from Corps, and 2750 ft. above it, by a wheel-road. The ascent by mule takes 2 hrs. It is better to descend on foot. The excursion to La Salette is very picturesque, and, like all the journeys among the mountains of the department of Isere, of great interest to the botanist and geologist. The inhabitants of these mountains wander in winter to distant parts selling their plants, bulbs, and seeds. From the aromatic varieties most justly famous liqueurs are distilled at the Chartreuse, La Salette, Gren.o.ble, and elsewhere. The rocks produce nearly every kind of metal, one of the best cements, and many beautiful crystals and marbles, of which the black variety of Beaumont is the most celebrated.

[Headnote: CHURCH OF NOTRE DAME DE LA SALETTE.]

LA SALETTE.

This place, formerly a dreary and desolate mountain plateau, is now visited by thousands of pilgrims, especially on the great feast-day of Notre Dame de la Salette, sanctioned by Pio IX. himself. The church, a handsome and substantial edifice, built in 1860, of unpolished marble, is 146 ft. long and 49 ft. wide, and 60 ft. high, inside measure. Eighteen columns surround the nave and choir, while attached pillars support the walls, all covered with votive offerings. The pulpit was a gift from Belgian votaries. The facade, with three doorways, has on each corner a handsome square tower. The expenses, which were very great in a region of such difficult access, and where winter lasts six months, were defrayed by spontaneous contributions.

Opposite the facade are well-executed colossal figures in bronze, the gift of a Spaniard, representing the events of the story. On the south side of the choir a door opens into the large and s.p.a.cious building occupied by the nuns, and on the north side another door opens into a similar building occupied by the monks. The hotel accommodation in each is exactly the same. The pension price, including wine and everything else, is 5 frs. per day. Visitors can have a good meat breakfast for 1 fr., dinner 2 frs., supper 2 frs., a bowl of cafe au lait fr., a cup of cafe noir 25 c. Both the monks and the nuns are very obliging. Books approved of by the bishop of Gren.o.ble are sold in the "magasin" of the establishment, giving the history of the apparition, from which the following is extracted:-- "On the 19th of September 1846, at 2.30 P.M., was seen by a girl and a boy in the place where the statue now is, a figure seated on a stone shedding tears so copiously that they caused a dried-up spring, about 2 ft. in diameter and 2 ft. deep, a little to her left, to flow forth freely.

Since then it has been fed by a pipe, and has been called the miraculous fountain. The girl's name was Fracoise-Melanie Calvat Mathieu, 15 years old, and the boy's Pierre-Maximin Giraud, 11 years old, both employed as cowherds, and both so ignorant that they could neither read nor write. They understood only the patois, and had such frail memories that the girl had as yet been hardly able to remember a few lines of the catechism, while it had taken the boy three years to learn the Pater Noster and the Ave Maria. The statues of the children in the path between the railings indicate the place where they were standing when they first saw the figure. When the apparition became aware of their presence it arose, and calling them to her, said in French, shedding tears abundantly all the time, 'If my people will not submit, I shall be obliged to let loose the arm of my son; it is so heavy and weighty that I cannot retain it any longer. You may pray and do what you like, you will never be able to recompense the labour I have taken for you. I have given you six days for work, and have reserved for myself the seventh, but they will not grant me it; it is that that makes the arm of my son so heavy. Those who drive carts cannot swear without using (inserting) the name of my son. These are the two things which make the arm of my son so burdensome.' She continued a little longer in French till, observing the children did not understand her, she added in patois a long harangue in the same strain, a diatribe on the blasphemy of the age and the desecration of the Sabbath-- 'only some old women go to ma.s.s.' After her speech, and having twice charged the children to make known her discourse, 'a tout mon peuple,' she glided up the path between the railings, followed by the children, to the eminence where the colossal statue stands with the statues of the children before it, and, having ascended 5 ft., she disappeared, looking to the S.E." That this being was really Mary was acknowledged by Pio IX., who sanctioned the inst.i.tution of a feast-day in her honour, and several plenary indulgences for pilgrimages and other acts of devotion, to Notre Dame de la Salette. On the 6th August 1867 the worship (culte) of her was publicly established in Rome. The first stone of the church, up on the mountain near the site where Mary appeared to the children, was laid by Bruillard, bishop of Gren.o.ble, on 25th May 1852, a.s.sisted by Chatrousse, bishop of Valence, in the presence of 15,000 pilgrims. In the churches all over France and in many of those in Belgium are pictures representing N. D. de la Salette addressing the children. In the litany addressed to Mary of Salette she is appealed to as "the tower of David," "the gate of heaven," "the morning star," "the refuge of sinners," "the queen conceived without sin," "the healer of diseases," "thou by whose supplications the arm of the irritated Lord against us is held back," "thou who hast said, If my people will not submit I shall be forced to let go the arm of my son," "thou who continually beseechest thy divine son to have mercy upon us, pray for us."

The lad, Pierre Maximin, after serving his time in the army, kept a shop at Corps, upon which was written, "Objets de Piete vendus par Maximin Giraud." He died about the year 1880. Melanie, the girl, was sent to a nunnery at Naples. A priest is said to have affirmed that the pretended Mary was an eccentric lady called Mlle. Lamerliere, born near Saint-Marcellin, Isere.

From Corps either return to Gren.o.ble or take the diligence to Gap, 22 m. S. (See p. 333, and map p. 304.)

[Headnote: GIeRES.]

miles from PARIS miles to MODANE

{398}{78} +GIeRES.+ At this station omnibuses await pa.s.sengers for the baths of Uriage, 4 m. N., and 1358 ft. _Hotels:_ Grand Hotel; Cercle; Ancien Hotel; Des Bains; Du Rocher. The bathing establishment is comfortable and commodious, and is pleasantly situated in a narrow wooded valley, about 400 ft. higher than Gren.o.ble. The water contains common salt, sulphates of magnesia and soda, and carbonate of lime, and rises in a deep valley at the junction of granite and lias, which is, however, concealed for some way by an immense ma.s.s of detritus, through which the spring forces itself. It is conveyed 700 yards in a subterraneous conduit to the establishment, whence it issues with a temp. of 71 Fahr.

[Headnote: DOMENE.]

{401}{75} +DOMENE+, pop. 2000. _Inn:_ Hotel du Commerce. From this village is generally made the laborious ascent of the Pic de Belledonne, 9780 ft.

above the sea-level. Guides necessary. The first night is generally spent at the village of Revel. Two days required.

[Headnote: GONCELIN.]

{412}{64} +GONCELIN+, pop. 1600. Station for Allevard-les Bains, 6 m. distant by an excellent road through a beautiful country, in comfortable omnibuses awaiting pa.s.sengers at the station, fare 2 frs. Here also a coach awaits pa.s.sengers for Tourettes, pop. 400, in the opposite direction, upon the right bank of the Isere.

Allevard on the Breda, 1837 ft. above the sea, pop. 4000. The three princ.i.p.al hotels are within the park, and the prices are from 8 frs.

to 12 frs. per day, including everything. The Hotel des Bains, with the casino, theatre, and mineral water establishment. At the other end of the park are the Louvre and the H. Parc. In the Place contiguous to the Temple Protestant is the H. du Rhone, 8 to 10 frs. In a garden of its own, Le Chalet. Near the diligence office, the France. The H.

Very. Nearly a mile from Allevard at the junction of the lias with the primitive talc-slate rise the springs, temp. 61 Fahr., with a great deal of free sulphuric acid gas, especially efficacious in diseases of the throat and the respiratory organs, for the cure of which the establishment is especially adapted, the apparatus for inhalation and gargling being both complete and varied.

Allevard possesses also important ironworks, where the rich carbonate of iron ores from the neighbouring mountains are smelted.

Among the easiest of the many delightful walks around Allevard is the road that leads up the gorge of the Breda to what is called the "Fin du Monde," 1 m. distant, where ma.s.ses of rock render it impracticable to proceed farther. To reach it, walk up the left bank to a bridge at the upper ironworks. Do not cross it, but continue on the left bank and ascend the road to the right. Finger-posts indicate the rest of the way. At one part of the road travellers are requested to pay a toll of 10 sous.

The ascent of the Brame Farine, 3983 ft., takes 1 hr. It is an elevated point on the ridge between the valleys of the Breda and the Isere. 25 min. from Allevard is the Tour de Treuil, 10th cent., the remains of a castle belonging to the family of Crouy Chanel. From this a path ascends through a ravine planted with walnut trees to the hamlet of Crozet. Descend by sledge, 2 frs.

There are a great many other excursions into the valleys and up the mountains, either by carriage or on horseback, for which there is a tariff by the authorities of the place.

[Headnote: SEPT LAUX.]

The most remarkable of these excursions, and at the same time the most difficult, is 9 m. up the valley of the Breda by the hamlet of +La Ferriere+, to the Sept Laux or Lakes, 7144 ft. above the sea-level, and the Glacier of Gleyzin, 9480 ft. above the sea-level. Time required to go, 14 hrs. constant walking, but to the lakes only, about half that time. This series of lakes, above 30 in all, lies in a wild gloomy ravine, shut in on all sides by low bare peaks. They are fed by springs, and are not acc.u.mulations of stagnant water derived from the melting snow. The banks are surrounded with fragments of rock, covered with snow nearly the whole year, while the highest of the lakes, Lake Blanc, is almost always frozen over. Some of them contain trout, and a sluggish frog inhabits the marshy margins.

[Headnote: PONTCHARRa.]

miles from PARIS miles to MODANE

{418}{58} +PONTCHARRa+ station. An omnibus awaits pa.s.sengers for the village of Pontcharra, pop. 2800, _Inn:_ Domenjon, 1 m. distant.

From Pontcharra the coach proceeds 5 m. E. to the village of La Rochette, in a beautiful valley. Near Pontcharra, and seen distinctly from the station, is the castle in which Bayard was born.

{426}{50} +LES MARCHES+, a straggling village overlooked by a hill, on which stands the church of Notre Dame de Myans, with a colossal statue of the Virgin. Beyond are some small lakes and mounds formed by landslips from Mt. Granier, 6520 ft. 2 m. from Les Marches is Montmelian, where pa.s.sengers by this route for Modane and Turin _change carriages_ and join the direct line. For the rest of the journey to Modane (53 miles), see from Montmelian, p. 289.

+Ma.r.s.eilles to Gren.o.ble+,

190 m. N., by GARDANNE, AIX, PERTUIS, ST. AUBAN, VEYNES, and CLELLES.

Fare--first cla.s.s, 36 frs. 70 c.; second, 27 frs. 55 c. Gren.o.ble is 394 m. S.E. from Paris by Lyons (see p. 324).

miles from Ma.r.s.eILLES miles to GREn.o.bLE

{ }{190} +Ma.r.s.eILLES.+ There are two ways from Ma.r.s.eilles to Aix, either by Rognac 33 m., or by Gardanne 16 m. The Rognac route must be chosen by those who desire to visit the aqueduct of Roquefavour (see p. 77).

[Headnote: GARDANNE.]

{11}{179} +GARDANNE+, pop. 3500, on the stream Jaret. Both here and at Septemes are important coal-fields.

Southwards, towards the Bouches du Rhone, are seen the chimneys of numerous tile, brick, and pottery works. From Gardanne a branch line extends to Carnoules, 52 m. S.E., on the line between Ma.r.s.eilles and Cannes (p. 142), on which the only towns of interest are Brignoles and St. Maximin.

{18}{171} +AIX-EN-PROVENCE+ (see p. 78). At Aix change carriages for Rognac. 5 m.

N. from Aix is La Calade station, where a coach awaits pa.s.sengers for St. Cannat, 5 m. N.W. (p. 80); and Lambesc, 3 m. farther (p. 80). 5 m.

S.W. from Lambesc is Pelissanne. 16 m. N. from Aix, or 34 m. N. from Ma.r.s.eilles, is Meyrargues (see p. 79).