Appendices
I — The Provinces of France
Up to 1789, there were thirty-three great governments making up modern France, the twelve governments created by Francis I. being the chief, and seven petits gouvernements as well.
In the following table the grands gouvernements of the first foundation are indicated in heavy-faced type, those which were taken from the first in italics, and those which were acquired by conquest in ordinary characters.
| NAMES OF GOVERNMENTS | CAPITALS | |
| 1. | Ile-de-France | Paris. |
| 2. | Picardie | Amiens. |
| 3. | Normandie | Rouen. |
| 4. | Bretagne | Rennes. |
| 5. | Champagne et Brie | Troyes. |
| 6. | Orléanais | Orléans. |
| 7. | Maine et Perche | Le Mans. |
| 8. | Anjou | Angers. |
| 9. | Touraine | Tours. |
| 10. | Nivernais | Nevers. |
| 11. | Berri | Bourges. |
| 12. | Poitou | Poitiers. |
| 13. | Aunis | La Rochelle. |
| 14. | Bourgogne (duché de) | Dijon. |
| 15. | Lyonnais, Forez et Beaujolais | Lyon. |
| 16. | Auvergne | Clermont. |
| 17. | Bourbonnais | Moulins. |
| 18. | Marche | Guéret. |
| 19. | Guyenne et Gascogne | Bordeaux. |
| 20. | Saintonge et Angoumois* | Saintes. |
| 21. | Limousin | Limoges. |
| 22. | Béarn et Basse Navarre | Pau. |
| 23. | Languedoc | Toulouse. |
| 24. | Comté de Foix | Foix. |
| 25. | Provence | Aix. |
| 26. | Dauphiné | Grenoble. |
| 27. | Flandre et Hainaut | Lille. |
| 28. | Artois | Arras. |
| 29. | Lorraine et Barrois | Nancy. |
| 30. | Alsace | Strasbourg. |
| 31. | Franche-Comté ou Comté de Bourgogne | Besançon. |
| 32. | Roussilon | Perpignan. |
| 33. | Corse | Bastia. |
* Under Francis I. the Angoumois was comprised in the Orléanais.
The seven petits gouvernements were:
1. The ville, prévôté and vicomté of Paris.
2. Havre de Grâce.
3. Boulonnais.
4. Principality of Sedan.
5. Metz and Verdun, the pays Messin and Verdunois.
6. Toul and Toulois.
7. Saumur and Saumurois.
II — The Ancient Provinces of France
III — Gazetteer and Hotel List
Being a brief résumé of the attractions of some of the chief centres of Provence and the Riviera.
| ABBREVIATIONS | |
| C. | Chef-Lieu of Commune. |
| P. | Préfecture. |
| S. P. | Sous-Préfecture. |
| h. | Habitants (population). |
| * | Hotels at nine francs or less per day. |
| ** | Hotels nine to twelve francs per day. |
| *** | Hotels above twelve francs per day. |
AIX-EN-PROVENCE
Bouches-du-Rhône. S. P. 19,398 h.
Hotels: Nègre-Coste,** De la Mule Noire,* De France.*
The ancient capital of Provençal arts and letters, and the Cours d’Amour of the troubadours.
Sights: Eglise de la Madeleine, Cathedral St. Sauveur, Hôtel de Ville, Tour de Toureluco, Eglise St. Jean de Malte, Musée, Bibliothèque, Statue of René d’Anjou, by David d’Augers. Carnival each year in February or March.
Excursions: Ruins of Château de Puyricard, Aqueduc Roquefavour, Ermitage de St. Honorat, Bastide du Roi René, Gardanne and Les Pennes.
Distances in kilometres: Marseilles, 29; Arles, 80; Toulon, 75; Roquevaire, 29.
ANTIBES
Alpes-Maritimes. C. 5,512 h.
Hotels: Grand Hotel,*** Terminus.**
Excursions: Presqu’ile and Cap d’Antibes, Fort Lavré, Villa and Jardin Thuret, La Garonpe, Chapelle, and Phare.
Distances in kilometres: Paris, 976; Cannes, 12; Grasse, 23; Nice, 23; La Turbie, 41; Monte Carlo, 44; St. Raphaël, 51.
ARLES
S. P. 15,606 h.
Hotels: Du Forum,** Du Nord.**
Delightfully situated on the left bank of the Rhône.
Sights: Les Arènes, Roman Ramparts, Antique Theatre, Cathédrale de St. Trophime and Cloister, Les Alyscamps and Tombs, Musée d’Arletan and Musée de la Ville, Palais Constantin.
Excursions: Les Baux, Montmajour, Les Saintes Maries.
Distances in kilometres: Paris, 730; Tarascon, 17; Avignon, 39; Salon, 40; Marseilles, 91; Aix, 80.
AVIGNON
Vaucluse. P. 33,891 h.
The ancient papal capital in France.
Hotels: De l’Europe,*** Du Luxembourg.**
Sights: Ancient Ramparts, Palais des Papes, Musée, Pulpit in Eglise St. Pierre, Cathedral of Notre Dame des Doms, Ruined Pont St. Bénézet (Pont d’Avignon).
Excursions: Villeneuve-les-Avignon, Fontaine de Vaucluse, Aqueduct of Pont du Gard.
Distances in kilometres: Sorgues, 10; Orange, 27; Carpentras, 24; Fontaine de Vaucluse, 28.
BANDOL-SUR-MER
Var. 1,616 h.
Winter and spring-time station, situated on a lovely bay. Small port, and in no sense a resort as yet.
Hotel: Grand Hotel.**
Distances in kilometres: Marseilles, 51; Toulon, 21; La Ciotat, 23; Sanary, 5.
BEAULIEU-SUR-MER
Alpes-Maritimes. 1,354 h.
Winter station. Beautiful situation on the coast, with groves of pines, olives, etc.
Hotels: De Beaulieu,** Empress Hotel.***
Distances in kilometres: Nice, 8; Monte Carlo, 18; Grasse, 46; Menton, 49.
CAGNES
Alpes-Maritimes. C. 2,040 h.
Winter station and town “pour les artistes-peintres” in other days; now practically a suburb of Nice, to which it is bound by a tram-line.
Hotels: Savournin,** De l’Univers.*
Sights: Château des Grimaldi.
Excursions: Vence, Antibes, Villeneuve-Loubet.
Distances in kilometres: Nice, 12; Vence, 10; Antibes, 20.
CANNES
Alpes-Maritimes. C. 25,350 h.
On the Golfe de la Napoule, with Nice the chief centre for Riviera tourists.
Hotels: Gallia,*** Suisse,** Gonnet.***
Excursions: Iles de Lerins, La Napoule, The Corniche d’Or and the Estérel, Le Cannet, Vallauris, Californie, Croix des Gardes, Grasse, Antibes, Auberge des Adrets.
Distances in kilometres: Grasse, 17; Fréjus, 47; St. Raphaël, 43; Nice, 35; Antibes, 12.
CASSIS
Var. 1,972 h.
A charming little Mediterranean port; near by the ancient château of the Seigneurs of Baux.
Hotel: Lieutand.*
Distances in kilometres: Marseilles, 31; La Ciotat, 11; Bandol, 34.
CIOTAT (LA)
Bouches-du-Rhône. C. 9,895 h.
Great ship-building works, but beautifully situated on Baie de la Ciotat.
Hotel: De l’Univers.**
Distances in kilometres: Cassis, 11; Marseilles, 43.
COGOLIN
Var. 2,102 h.
Delightfully situated in the valley of the Giscle, at the head of the Golfe de St. Tropez.
Hotel: Cauvet.*
Sights: Butte des Moulins, Château des Grimaldi.
Excursions: Grimaud and La Garde-Freinet.
Distances in kilometres: St. Tropez, 10; Fréjus, 34; Nice, 104; St. Raphaël, 37; Hyères, 44; Toulon, 62.
FRÉJUS
Var. C. 3,612 h.
Hotels: Du Midi.*
Sights: Roman Arena (Ruins), Old Ramparts, Citadel, Cathedral (XI. and XII. centuries), and Bishop’s Palace.
Excursions: St. Raphaël and the Corniche d’Or, Auberge des Adrets and Route de l’Estérel, Mont Vinaigre (616 metres).
Distances in kilometres: Cannes, 35; Nice, 78; St. Raphaël, 3; Ste. Maxime, 21.
GRASSE
Alpes-Maritimes. S. P. 9,426 h.
More or less of a Riviera resort, though seventeen kilometres from the coast at Cannes, situated at an altitude of 333 metres.
Hotels: Grand Hotel,*** De la Poste.**
Sights: Cathedral (XII. and XIII. centuries), Jardin Public, La Cours, Source de la Foux, Sommet au Jeu de Ballon.
Excursions: Ste. Cezane, Dolmens, Grottes, Source de la Siagnole, Le Bar and Gorges du Loup.
Distances in kilometres: Cannes, 17; Cagnes, 20; Le Bar, 10; Vence, 28; Draguignan, 59.
HYÈRES
Var. C. 9,949 h.
The oldest and most southerly of the French Mediterranean resorts.
Hotels: Grand Hotel,*** Hôtel des Hespérides.**
Sights: Eglise St. Louis (XII. century), Château, Place, and Ave. des Palmiers, Jardin d’Acclimation.
Excursions: Mont des Oiseaux, Salines d’Hyères, Giens and the Iles d’Or (Iles d’Hyères).
MARSEILLES
Bouches-du Rhône. P. 396,033 h.
The second city of France, and the first Mediterranean port.
Hotels: Du Louvre et de la Paix,*** Grand Hotel,*** De la Poste, Du Touring (the two latter for rooms only—2 francs 50 centimes and upwards).
Sights: Cannebière, Bourse, Vieux Port, Pointe des Catalans, N. D. de la Garde, Palais de Longchamps, Chemin de la Corniche, Le Prado, Cathedral Ste. Marie Majeure.
Excursions: Château d’If, Martigues, Sausset, Carry, Port de Bouc, Aubagne, Roquevaire, Grotte de la Ste. Baume, Estaque.
Distances in kilometres: Paris, 818; Avignon, 97; Arles, 91; Salon, 51; Martigues, 40; Aix, 28; Toulon, 64.
MARTIGUES
Bouches-du-Rhône. C. 4,689 h.
“La Venise Provençale,” celebrated for “bouillabaisse.”
Hotel: Chabas.*
Sights: Canals and Bourdigues, Eglise de la Madeleine, Etang de Berre.
Excursions: Port de Bouc, St. Mitre (Saracen hill town), Istres, Fos-sur-Mer, Châteauneuf-les-Martigues, St. Chamas and Cap Couronne.
MENTON
Alpes-Maritimes. C. 8,917 h.
The most conservative of all the popular Riviera resorts.
Hotels: Des Anglais,*** Grand.*
Sights: Jardin Public, Promenade du Midi, Tête de Chien.
Excursions: Cap Martin, Italian Frontier, Castillon, Gorbio, Roquebrune.
Distances in kilometres: Monte Carlo, 8; La Turbie, 14; Roquebrune, 4; Nice, 30; Grasse, 64.
MONTE CARLO
Principality of Monaco.
Hotels: Metropole,*** De l’Europe,** Du Littoral.*
Sights: Casino and Salles de Jeu and de Fête, Palais des Beaux Arts, Serres Blanc.
Excursions: La Turbie, Mont Agel, Cap Martin.
Distances in kilometres: Paris, 1,017; Menton, 8; Nice, 19.
NICE
Alpes-Maritimes. P. 78,480 h.
The chief Riviera resort and headquarters.
Hotels: Gallia,*** Des Palmiers,*** Des Deux Mondes.**
Sights: Casino, Promenade des Anglais, Jardin, Mont Baron, and Parc du Château.
Excursions: Cimiez, Villefranche, St. Andre, Cap Ferrat, La Grande Corniche, Eze.
Distances in kilometres: Paris, 998; Cannes, 35; Grasse, 38; Cagnes, 12; Fréjus, 66; Menton, 30; Monte Carlo, 19.
SAINT RAPHAËL
Var. 2,982 h.
Hotel: Continental.***
Sights: Boulevard du Touring, Lion de Terre, and Lion de Mer, Eglise, Maison Close (Alphonse Karr), Maison Gounod.
Excursions: La Corniche d’Or, Agay, Ste. Baume, Cap Roux, Valescure, Anthéore, Thèoule, Forêt and Route d’Estérel.
Distances in kilometres: Nice, 60; Cannes, 43; Fréjus, 3.
SAINT TROPEZ
Var. C. 3,141 h.
Hotel: Continental.*
Excursions: La Foux, Grimaud, Cogolin, Ste. Maxime, Baie de Cavalaire.
Distances in kilometres: Marseilles, 120; Nice, 90; Cogolin, 10; St. Raphaël, 43.
SALON
Bouches-du-Rhône. C. 9,324 h.
Hotel: Grand Hotel.*
Sights: Eglise (XVI. century), Ramparts, Tomb of Nostradamus.
Excursions: St. Chamas, Berre, Pont Flavian, La Crau, Les Baux.
Distances in kilometres: Marseilles, 53; St. Chamas, 16; Aix, 33; Orgon, 18.
SOLLIÈS-PONT
Var. C. 2,100 h.
Hotel: Des Voyageurs.*
Excursions: Valley of the Gapeau and Forêt des Maures, Cuers, Montrieux.
Distances in kilometres: Marseilles, 90; Toulon, 15; Besse, 25; St. Raphaël, 77.
ST. RÉMY
Bouches-du-Rhône. C. 3,624 h.
Hotel: Grand Hotel de Provence.*
Sights: Fontaine de Nostradamus, Temple de Constantin, Mausolée and Arc de Triomphe.
Excursions: Tarascon, Les Alpilles, Montmajour, Les Baux, Fontaine de Vaucluse, Pont du Gard.
Distances in kilometres: Arles, 20; Les Baux, 8; Avignon, 19; Cavaillon, 18.
TOULON
Var. S. P. 78,833 h.
Hotel: Grand Hotel,*** Victoria.**
Sights: Cathedral Ste. Marie Majeure (XI. century), Harbour, Hôtel de Ville, Maison Puget.
Excursion: Gorges d’Ollioules, Tamaris, Batterie des Hommes Sans Peur, St. Mandrier, Cap Brun, Cap Sicié, La Seyne, Six-Fours, Sanary.
Distances in kilometres: Aix, 75; Marseilles, 65; Nice, 163; Cannes, 128.
IV — The Road Maps of France
The traveller by road or by rail in France should, if he would appreciate all the charms and attractions of the places along his route, provide himself with one or the other of the excellent road maps which may be purchased at the “Libraire” in any large town.
Much will be opened up to him which otherwise might remain hidden, for, excellent as many guide-books are in other respects (and those of Joanne in France lead the world for conciseness and attractiveness), they are all wofully inadequate as regards general maps. Really, one should supplement his French guide-books with the remarkably practical “Guide-Michelin,” which all automobilists (of all lands) know, or ought to know, and which is distributed free to them by Michelin et Cie., of Clermont-Ferrand. Others must exercise considerable ingenuity if they wish to possess one of these condensed guides, with its scores and scores of maps and plans. The Continental Gutta Percha Company does the thing even more elaborately, but its volume is not so compact.
Both books, in addition to their numerous maps and plans, give much information as to roads and routes which others as well as automobilists will find most interesting reading, besides which will be found a list of hotels, the statement as to whether or not they are affiliated with the Automobile Club de France, or The Touring Club de France, and a general outline of the price of their accommodation, and what, in many cases, is of far more importance, the kind of accommodation which they offer. It is worth something to modern travellers to know whether a hotel which he intends to favour with his gracious presence has a “Salle de Bains,” a “Chambre Noire,” or “Chambres Hygiéniques, genre du Touring Club.” To the traveller of a generation ago this meant nothing, but it means a good deal to the present age.
As for general maps of France, the Carte de l’Etat-Major (scale of 80,000, on which one measures distances of two kilometres by the diametre of a sou) are to be bought everywhere at thirty centimes per quarter-sheet. The Carte du Service Vicinal, on the scale of 100,000 and printed in five colours, costs eighty centimes per sheet; and that of the Service Géographique de l’Armée (reduced by lithography from the scale of 80,000) costs one franc fifty centimes per sheet.
There is also the newly issued Carte Touriste de la France of the Touring Club de France (on a scale of 400,000), printed in six colours and complete in fifteen sheets at two francs fifty centimes per sheet.
Finally there is the very beautiful Carte de l’Estérel, of special interest to Riviera tourists, also issued by the Touring Club de France.
The Cartes “Taride” are a remarkable and useful series, covering France in twenty-five sheets, at a franc per sheet. They are on a very large scale and are well printed in three colours, showing all rivers, railways, and nearly every class of road or path, together with distances in kilometres plainly marked. They are quite the most useful and economical maps of France for the automobilist, cyclist, and even the traveller by rail.
The house of De Dion-Bouton also issues an attractive map on a scale of 800,000 and printed in four colours.
The four sheets are sold at eight francs per sheet, but they are better suited for wall maps than for portable practicability.
V — A Travel Talk
The travel routes to and through Provence and the Riviera are in no way involved, and on the whole are rather more pleasantly disposed than in many parts, in that places of interest are not widely separated.
The railroad is the hurried traveller’s best aid, and the all-powerful and really progressive P. L. M. Railway of France covers, with its main lines and ramifications, quite all of Provence, the Midi, and the Riviera.
Marseilles is perhaps the best gateway for the Riviera proper and the coast towns westward to the Rhône, and Avignon or Arles for the interior cities of Provence. Paris is in close and quick connection with both Arles and Marseilles by train express, train rapide, or the more leisurely train omnibus, with fares varying accordingly, and taking from ten to twenty hours en route, there being astonishing differences in time between the trains ordinaires and the trains rapides all over France. Fares from Paris to Arles are 87 francs, first class; 58 francs 75 centimes, second class; and 38 francs 30 centimes, third class; and from Paris to Marseilles, 96 francs 55 centimes, 65 francs 15 centimes, and 42 francs 50 centimes respectively. In addition, there are all kinds of extra charges for passage on the “Calais-Nice-Ventimille Rapide” and other trains de luxe, not overlooking the exorbitant charge of something like 70 francs for a sleeping-car berth from Paris to Marseilles—and always there are too few to go around even at this price.
From either Arles or Marseilles one may thread the main routes of Provence by many branches of the “P. L. M.” or its “Chemins Regionaux du Sud de France;” can penetrate the little-known region bordering upon the Étang de Berre and enter the Riviera proper either by Marseilles or by the inland route, through Aix-en-Provence, Brignoles, and Draguignan, coming to the coast through Grasse to Cannes or Nice.
The traveller from afar, from America, or England, or from Russia or Germany, is quite as well catered for as the Frenchman who would enjoy the charms of Provence and the Riviera, for there are through express-trains from Calais, Boulogne, Brussels, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Vienna, and Genoa. Now that the tide of travel from America has so largely turned Mediterraneanward, the south of France bids fair to become as familiar a touring ground as the Switzerland of old,—with this difference, that it has an entrance by sea, via Genoa or Marseilles.
For the traveller by road there are untold charms which he who goes by rail knows not of. The magnificent roadways of France—the “Routes Nationales” and the “Routes Départmentales”—are nowhere kept in better condition, or are they better planned than here. East and west and across country they run in superb alignment, always mounting gently any topographical eminence with which they meet, in a way which makes a journey by road through Provence one of the most enjoyable experiences of one’s life.
The diligence has pretty generally disappeared, but an occasional stage-coach may be found connecting two not too widely separated points, and inquiry at any stopping-place will generally elicit information regarding a two, three, or six hour journey which will prove a considerable novelty to the traveller who usually is hurried through a lovely country by rail.
For the automobilist, or even the cyclist, still greater is the pleasure of travel by the highroads and by-roads of this lovely country, and for them a skeleton itinerary has been included among the appendices of this book with some useful elements which are often not shown by the guide-books.
The “Voitures Publiques” in Provence, as elsewhere, leave much to be desired, starting often at inconveniently early or late hours in order to correspond with the postal arrangements of the government; but, whenever one can be found that fits in with the time at one’s disposal, it offers an opportunity of seeing the country at a price far below that of the voiture particulière. Here and there, principally in the mountainous regions lying back from the coast, the “Societies and Syndicats d’Initiative,” which are springing up all over the popular tourist regions in France, have inaugurated services by cars-alpins and char-à-bancs, and even automobile omnibuses, which offer considerably more comfort.
Concerning the hotels and restaurants of Provence and the Riviera much could be said; but this is no place for an exhaustive discussion.
Generally speaking, the fare at the table d’hôte throughout Provence is bountiful and excellent, with perhaps too often, and too strong, a trace of garlic, and considerably more than a trace of olive-oil.
At Aix, Arles, Avignon, and Orange one gets an imitation of a Parisian table d’hôte at all of the leading hotels; but in the small towns, Cavaillon, Salon, Martigues, Grimaud, or Vence, one is nearer the soil and meets with the real cuisine du pays, which the writer assumes is one of the things for which one leaves the towns behind.
At Marseilles, and all the great Riviera resorts, the cuisine française is just about what the same thing is in San Francisco, New York, or London,—no better or no worse. As for price, the modest six or eight francs a day in the hotels of the small towns becomes ten francs in cities like Aix or Arles, and from fifteen francs to anything you like to pay at Marseilles, Cannes, Nice, or Monte Carlo.
VI — The Metric System
METRICAL AND ENGLISH WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
Mètre = 39.3708 in. = 3.231. 3 ft. 3 1-2 in. = 1.0936 yard.
Square Mètre (mètre carré) = 1 1-5th square yards (1.196).
Are (or 100 sq. mètres) = 119.6 square yards.
Cubic Mètre (or Stere) = 35 1-2 cubic feet.
Centimètre = 2-5ths inch.
Kilomètre = 1,093 yards = 5-8 mile.
10 Kilomètres =6 1-4 miles.
100 Kilomètres = 62 1-10th miles.
Square Kilomètre = 2-5ths square mile.
Hectare = 2 1-2 acres (2.471).
100 Hectares = 247.1 acres.
Gramme = 15 1-2 grains (15.432).
10 Grammes = 1-3d oz. Avoirdupois.
15 Grammes = 1-2 oz. Avoirdupois.
Kilogramme = 2 1-5th lbs. (2.204) Avoirdupois.
10 Kilogrammes = 22 lbs. Avoirdupois.
Metrical Quintal = 220 1-2 lbs. Avoirdupois.
Tonneau = 2,200 lbs. Avoirdupois.
Litre = 0.22 gal. = 1 3-4 pint.
Hectolitre = 22 gallons.
ENGLISH AND METRICAL WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
Inch = 2.539 centimètres = 25.39 millimètres.
2 inches = 5 centimètres nearly.
Foot = 30.47 centimètres.
Yard = 0.9141 mètre.
12 yards = 11 mètres nearly.
Mile = 1.609 kilomètre.
Square foot = 0.093 mètre carré.
Square yard = 0.836 mètre carré.
Acre = 0.4046 hectare = 4,003 sq. mètres nearly.
2 1-2 acres = 1 hectare nearly.
Pint = 0.5679 litre.
1 3-4 pint = 1 litre nearly.
Gallon = 4.5434 litres = 4 nearly.
Bushel = 36.347 litres.
Oz. Troy = 31.103 grammes.
Pound Troy (5,760 grains) = 373.121 grammes.
Oz. Avoirdupois = 8.349 grammes.
Pound Avoirdupois (7,000 grains) = 453.592 grammes.
2 lbs. 3 oz. = kilogramme nearly.
100 lbs. = 45.359 kilogrammes.
Cwt. = 50.802 kilogrammes.
Ton = 1,018.048 kilogrammes.