The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1919-03-08

ages. three sizes.
was almost on time and we got into
/ Amboise about II, and had time to
inspect the chateau before dinner
Amboise is built on a bluff overlook
! ing the Loire with the base of the
] battlements almost on a level with the
banks of the river. The startling
thing is the great spiral ramp in the
circular tower. This ramp provides
circular driveway up which loaded
carriages or wagons could be driven
from the base to the level of the
court-an ascent of fifty feet or more.
Amboise was much used by the court
at the time of the persecution of the
| Hugenots and we stood on the bal
| cony from which the unfortunate vic
/ TINS were thrown to their death on
! the rocks more than seventy-fve feet
| below Jeanne dare visited here
in her day, Leonardo-di- Vinci came
| to Amboise to execute some paint
ings for the King and died here. His
remains are buried in the little chapel
that graces the court.
Sunday was market day and it was
an interesting sight. had camera
along and took some pictures which
hope will turn out well. After an
agreeable dinner at the hotel we set
out about :45 on IL kilometer
e IL miles,, walk to Chenonceaux.
1t was snowing-the first snow we
have had this winter-and the ground
was covered with just a light cover
ing of white and the air had a plea
SAINT crispness. Our way lay through
the forest of Amboise, not much Of
a forest, as forests go in the United
States, but interesting for. all that.
American engineers had been cutting
there and besides the road for mile
or two fuel wood was piled six feet
high and at one place we passed the
camp where through the trees we
could see the large pyramidal tents
with the smoke lazily curling up from
the stove pipes that projected
through the outer openings. Finally
passed over the last ridge and down
into the valley of the Cher.
Chenonceaux is the only one of it's
type in the world, so far as I have
been able to learn, in that the major
portion of the chateau spans the
Cher river. It is delightful to visit
also because it is one of the few chat
aaux Of the region that was not dam
aged by the revolution. Chenonceaux
is furnished, though not as lavishly
as Chaumont, but, on the other hand
it is larger tt is owned by a man
named Menier who makes Chocolate
Menier" which one sees advertised
all over France as one does gum in
America, and | imagine he must be
several times millionaire to be able
to keep up such place as this. One
approaches the chateau by a long
road over which the trees form a
great continuous arch, at the end
are pair of sphinxes. Passing by
these, one finds on the right the sta
bles built at later date, but in good
taste, and on the left the caretaker's
house and beyond that, reaching to
the banks of the river a vast Italian
garden. The chateau itself is placed
by the river. Passing over the draw
bridge. we entered a long hall, and
from there into large room on the
left. This room was richly furnished
the purple of the tapestry, the red
of the velvet hangings at the win
dows, the dark hue of the rugs, COM
bining to produce a sumptiousness
that | find hard to picture to you.
In the great marble fireplace a CHEEKY
fire was blazing. Adjoining this
J room was little chapel and scratch
ed on the soft stone of the wall we
found this inscription in Old English
placed there by. Marie Stuart, who
spent her honeymoon at Chenon-
ceaux.
"The ir of man wirketh not the
will of God-1532"
| Through various other rooms we
were shown, among them the great
long room that spans the river. We
left the castle about 4:15 and took
short cut to the station in order
that we might catch a train for Tours
due at 4:48.
/ And from this atmosphere of
medievalism ] was suddenly brought
with a jolt to the present, and the
little incident | am about to relate,
I count, too, as one of the days
pleasurabIe experiences. Chenen-
ceaux is on the main railroad used by
t the American Expeditionary Forces,
and you can imagine that these days
| the line is a busy one. As we made
our way across the fields to the sta
ton great American hospital train
| of Ia cars pulled up to the station
| As we drew nearer we saw that il
was empty-probably had just beer
down to the port with load and was
! returning to the hospitals for an,
other. This pulled out and there fol
lowed behind it shortly, a long train
tof steel gray freight cars, each la
belled q. S. A. drawn by a great
Mogul likewise lettcred. It contain
ed American supplies, probably from
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