r put in at Meung, the attraction of the latter place being, for the
sentimentalist, that it is the scene of the opening pages of Dumas's
"Trois Mousquetaires," and, in an earlier day, the cradle of Jehan de
Meung, the author of the "Roman de la Rose." No evidences of Dumas's
"Franc Meunier" remained, and, as there was no inn with as romantic a
name as that at Beaugency, we kept on another seven kilometres.

We had made it a rule, while on the trip, not to sleep in a large
town when we could do otherwise, and that is why Orleans and Blois
and Bordeaux are mere guide-posts in our itinerary.

From Beaugency to Blois is thirty odd kilometres only, along the
flat, national highway, with glimpses of the broad, shining ribbon of
the Loire here and there gleaming through the trees.

Blois is the gateway of the chateaux country; a score of them are
within a day's compass by road or rail; but their delights are worthy
of a volume, so they are only suggested here.

The chateaux of Blois, Chambord, Cheverny, Amboise, Chaumont,
Chenonceaux, Loches, Azay le Rideau, Luynes, and Langeais, at any
rate, must be included in even a hurried itinerary, and so we paid a
hasty visit to them all in the order named, and renewed our
acquaintance with their artistic charms and their historical memories
of the days of Francois and the Renaissance. For the tourist the
chateaux country of the Loire has no beginning and no end. It is a
sort of circular track encompassing both banks of the Loire, and is,
moreover, a thing apart from any other topographical division of
France.

Its luxuriant life, its splendidly picturesque historical monuments,
and the appealing interest of its sunny landscape, throughout the
length and breadth of old Touraine, are unique pages from a volume of
historical and romantic lore which is unequalled elsewhere in all the
world.

The climate, too, combines most of the gentle influences of the
southland, with a certain briskness and clearness of atmosphere
usually found in the north.

By road the Loire valley forms a magnificent promenade; by rail,
even, one can keep in close and constant touch with its whole length;
while, if one has not the time or inclination to traverse its entire
course, there is always the delightful "tour from town," by which one
can leave the Quai d'Orsay by the Orleans line at a comfortable
morning hour and, before lunch-time, be in the midst of the splendour
and plenty of Touraine and its cha