The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-01-11
Special Correspondence of The Tribune.

of my acquaintance. there are several
ways of getting to Les Baux. II you
We're in a hurry you would drive there,
but Ii you had plenty of time, as had,
and meant to take the whole day to 1t.
you would take the trtain leaving Aries
at 1880 i'm the morning. which is. per-
haps. the slowest train In the world. Its
schedule time to Paradon-the station
for Les BauX-is forty-one minutes.
The distance is nine miles. and even ut
this schedule time Of only twelve miles
an hour the train was five minutes late
at Paradon. Arriving at Paradon the
trainmen-they are always very oblig-
Ing In France-pointed out the road to
Les BauX and, bearing i'm mind their
instructions to keen loryons a IL
droit" always to the right started
on -
|. The day was one Of those days so
dear to the walkers heart, bright and
clear. with not Il cloud in the sky to
cause any apprehension of rainy re-
turn. The road lead itself across the
plain. through groves of olive trees. to
the foothills of the Alpines. among
which Les BauX Is situated.
Frances Admirable Roads.
Now, a good deal has been said in
praise Of French roads but only those
who have travelled on them can have q
true idea of their excellence. They are
hard and smooth as an asphalt pave.
with the advantage that there are no
cracks them. Walking to Tarscon the
other day l passed child strolling
along spinning q top in the middle OF
the road and there was no need to pick
out special parts OF the road for It, be-
cause 1t is the same its entire length.
A walk of about three miles brought
Los Rnnx, l1n. l,Dln a
of the solid rock. Its gigantic ruined
castle was cut right into the crest of the
rocky hill on which it stands. and many
or the houses of the town were formed
in the same way. The town was once
the capital of countship or province,
but now 1t has only a few hundred
people and Is practically deserted. In
fact the only person I saw while wan
dering through its rambling streets
was a little girl who sweetly lisped.
Bon jour, Monsieur" True, I now and
then heard voices amid the ruins but as
far as ! can positively state she was
the whole population Of the town. Dur
! ing the middle ages the place must have
been absolutely impregnable for a few
men could hold the winding road which
| leads to 1t against an army.
From Les BauX the road to ST. Remy
cuts through the Alpines. Now pru-
| dent man would probably not have gone
| to st. Remy for the sun was getting a
| little too warm for comfort, and the road
was somewhat of an uncertainty, not
being down on my map. However. two
peasants whom l met just outside of
Les Baux told me that 1t led to st. Remy
and that the distance was nine kilo-
meters. There Were Roman relics
! there and with that as an incentive
started off. Although the country was
mountainous, the road was so admir-
ably disposed around the base of the
| hills that there was scarcely any grade.
The hills We're barren and the scenery,
| with the exception of a superb retro
spective view of Les BauX, nothing ex-
| traordinary until I emerged from the
mountains. Then it led through the
| fertile plain of st. Remy, and was bor-
| dered on each side by long rows of tall
cvergreens, planted to break the force
/ of the mutcaf, the strong north wind
which blows during the winter.
Deceived as TO Distance.
now began to inquire for the Roman
monuments which I had hoped to find
t about a mile this side Of the town. But
none of the peasants knew anything
about them and 1 at last found that
would have to go through to St.. Remy
| and back to the monuments on another
road The peasants nine kilometers
stretched into eleven and when at last
reached St. Remy 1t was o'clock. at
which time I had expected to start on
the return trip. for I had to reach
| Fourville, six miles the other side of
| Les Baux, to catch the train starting
| from there at $50. | was somewhat
tired. for had walked twelve miles In
the last three hours, and the glamour
| nf Roman mOnllmantS hpUtDninp
to fade just trfie.
| However. after a few minutes ~est,
refreshed with a glass of coffee and
stocked with Information as TO the way
! from the innkeeper, / started again and
about a mile from town found the long
sought for relics. They stand alone in
the plain and consist of a small trium-
phal arch. and tower. The tower is in
very good preservation, and Is exceed
ingly well proportioned. 1t is sixty feet
high and has three stories. first the base.
then square stone, and lastly u group
of ten COrinthian columns arranged in
a circle and enclosing two statues.
| The structure il more beautiful than
massive and looks so comparatively
| frail that one wonders how II has stood
the winds of fifteen centuries. 1t Is Of
marble and that has the advantage over
stone of not crumbling.
Lost i'm the Mountains.
But beautiful as this tower was, ] had
| to tear myself away, for my time was
getting short. The road ] was on did
not run in the right direction to return
to Les BauX, but kept to it, hoping II
find a cross road that would take me tn
the Les BauX road, which / knew to be
about two miles to my right. Blu. no
cross road appeared. nothing except a
| l;,~.- l,x 4 xx-ac -.lI