Evening star., 1925-08-08
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY the BookLoUer.

Suppose that this week we take a
months trip, by book instead of by
train and motor, through some of the
parts of France which are not Paris
and the battle fields. THE Spell of
the Heart of France" by Andre
Hallays, tells of the towns, villages
and chateaux about Paris, most of
them not on regular tourist routes.
There is chapter on Maintenon,
with its chateau and park, given to
Nine. de Maintenon by Louis XVI
as a reward for her care of the chill
dren Of himself and Nine. de Monte
span. Other chapters take us to La
Ferte -Milon, the birthplace Of Racine;
to Senlis, with its beautiful twelfth
century Gothic cathedral and the
ruins of its royal chateau; to Juilly.
| seat of the college of the Oratorist
Fathers, where Malebranche studied
philosophy, Bossuet made pastoral
visits and La F'ontaine spent a short
time as a student: to Noyon and
Scissors. with their unique cathedrals:
to Cha ntilly, where are the chateau
land gardens of the Montmorency
family, descended from the great Con-
stable of France. Perhaps the most
the Valley of the Disc" which de-
scribes q tour made by the author to
all the churches of the Disc Valley.
Caroline Atwater Mason's The
Spell of France" takes us through
the southern provinces of Provence,
Languedoc and Gascony. She starts
from Avignon, seat of the massive
medieval palace of the Popes. where
they passed their period of exile from
a io huh Of md
less Gothic walls, consistories, guard
rooms, dormitories, refectories, kitch-
| ems, chapels and the papal bedcham-
ber. 1t has walls at last feet in
| thickness which form gigantic win
dow inches. Nearby are Petrsrch' s
Vaucluse and the old Roman aQue-
duct. the Pont du Gard. 1t is a pleas
mt motor trip from Avignon TO Aries,
founded by the Greeks and containing
today within it's boundaries at least
| four separate cities-the Greek, the
Roman, the medieval and the Pro
vencal; and then on to Mines. with
Its arena and its Maison Carree
almost as Roman as Rome. Carcas-
some. ancient stronghold Of kings
and counts, is reached by an inter-
esting route along the edge of the
Pyrenees, by way of Perpignan and
Quillan. The Hotel de la Cite at Car
| cassonne was formerly the bishop $
| palace and is inclosed by the ram
parts. The author thus describes it's
surroundings: Here we sat. just
| within those ramparts built by St
| Louis on the Roman and Visigoth
foundation, the stern Tower of the
| InQuisition and the Tower of the
Bishop fianking the terrace right and
left. Down below us lay a glorious
| stretch of country with the Cevennes
and the Pyrenees on the horizon line,
| the Vile Basse. with the spires of ST.
Michel and st. Vincent all dyed golden
| by the long rays of the setting sun "
The author finishes her tour with a
trip to the shrine of Lourdes and into
the high Pyrenees.
| The province of Dauphine contains
the French Alps. Grenoble is it's cap.
| ital. The book "Grenoble and There.
abouts." by Henri Ferrand, describes
| in an attractive way, with many illus
trations, all the places in this section
which is the rival of Switzerland. In.
Producing his chapter "Chartreuse, y
the author says:t The glories of the
Monastery of the Grande- -Chartreuse
were the first among all the beauties
surrounding Grenoble to become ia
| nous" Then follows a description OF
the Route du Desert" the Fashioned
road which leads through forest and
| along ledges cut into the cliffs from
| Grenoble TO Chartreuse, and of the
! famous monastery itself, now deserted
| and falling into ruin since the ex.
pulsion of the Chartreuse Fathers. or
the mountain climbing possibilities in
| Dauphine the author SAYS: "Berarde
a simple little village Of shepherd Is
| It's name indicates, has become the
holy city of the Alpine climbers oi
| Oisans The Societe des Touristes du
| Dauphine has built hotel here. which
is the point of departure for the as
cent of all the great peaks" Two OF
| the most famous of these peaks are
| "Grenoble in Winter" makes Grenoble
seem as fascinating a center of Winter
| sports as Grindelwald or Davos.
There are two delightful recent
books of travel in the Pyrenees. IL
! Hill Towns of the Pyrenes" Amy
| Oakley has followed a we'll planned
| tour of the Pyrenees from Perpignan
on the Mediterranean, gateway to the
| Pyrenees Orientales, through the
Hautes-Pyrenees of the central sec
ton, the climax of the peaks, to the
Pyrenees-O s-Occidentales and the shore
of the Atlantic at Biarritz. In her in
| PRODUCTION the author SAYS that hel
book Is the result OF three Summer.
spent by herself and The artist. Thorn
ton Oakley. who has illustrated tn.
book with unusual drawings, in the
Pyrenees before. during and since tn,
| World War. She says: "A lifetime
| would be all too short TO fathom the
possibilities of the range, although
measured as the crow flies, the entire
extent of the chain from sea to oceaI
| is not much more than 200 miles" II
speaking of the peoples found in these
mountains, she says: Upon the cas-
| on both French and Spanish sides Of
the watershed acquaintance will bt
| formed with the impulsive Catalan
| upon the west on both French anc
Spa nish slopes the virile Basque will
be admired; while in the central por
tion-where the barrier of the noun
tains is complete, the land Of snow
OF ice-bound lakes and mighty gla
| ciers-it will be discovered that thu
dwellers in Gascony are dramatically
unrelated by race, tongue or tradition
to the dwellers to southwark in the
| fair land of Aragon."
Paul Wilstach in Along the Py
Irenees" starts from Toulouse for his
tour. He quotes the dictum of an ole
legionnaire: There is no place else 81
proper first to see these noble noun
tains, for Toulouse by every natural
that is to say by every Typographical
reason. holds key to every gatewa,
to the Pyrenees." From the top of the
Hill of the Column at Toulose "as fal
as the eye can see is France. Beyond
the faint wavering line where eartf
and sky blend is Spain" The author
crosses this faint wavering line" ant
enters Spain at one point. He alst
| goes into the small indenendent stat