From the standpoint of one who finds himself in Paris, it is not going
to be very convenient to visit the glass we are now considering. If he
will content himself with a little, he can see that without much
difficulty. He has but to visit the two nearby cities of Evreux and
Rouen, each of them only an hour and a half by train from Paris and not
far removed from each other. The latter is, admittedly, peculiarly a
place to study sixteenth century glass--its numerous churches are full
of it. While it is better to visit Rouen in connection with the
sixteenth century, still we have mentioned it at this time because one
of its churches, St. Ouen, affords such a beautifully complete
exposition of fourteenth century glazing. Besides, it is near Evreux,
and therefore we advise that it be visited now so that the glass at St.
Ouen can be seen directly after that in the Cathedral of Evreux. If our
reader wishes to thoroughly study the glass of this period, we would
advise him to begin with a longer trip, which we will outline, and then
conclude with Evreux and Rouen, because he will then be enabled, after
seeing the fourteenth century glass of Rouen, to immediately pass on to
the study of the sixteenth century windows which are so splendid and
abundant in the other churches of that Mecca of the glass student.
Now for the longer tour just mentioned. It should begin at Bourges, four
hours and a quarter from Paris by train. Thence we go south to
Clermont-Ferrand (on our way stopping to visit its little neighbour,
Riom), next across the mountains which overshadow these last two towns,
to Eymoutiers, which lies close to Limoges, the next city in order. From
Limoges we go north to Poitiers, then to Angers, to Le Mans, through
Alencon to Sees, to Verneuil, and conclude with Chartres, an hour and a
quarter from Paris by express. Although this is a long tour, we can
safely promise that it will repay the pilgrim. If the pilgrim has
already visited Chartres for its thirteenth century glass, he probably
took occasion to see that of the fourteenth century in the church of St.
Pierre. In that event he can omit Chartres at this time. If he wishes,
he can go on from Verneuil to Evreux (43 kilometres), and thus link this
longer trip to the shorter one already described. It is only in the
event that he travels by automobile or bicycle that we suggest a stop at
Moulins on his way from Bourges to Riom, for his way lies through it;
but if he travels by train, then, because of the finer and more
plentiful glass he is about to see, Moulins may well be omitted. We
would not recommend visiting Limoges if it were not directly upon his
road, no matter by what means of transportation he travels.
There is hardly a place in France where fifteenth century glass can be
seen to greater advantage than in the Cathedral of Quimper, but it is
too far from any other glass place to be combined therewith into a tour.
It is tucked away in the northwestern part of France, eleven hours from
Paris by express, and is only mentioned here so that if the traveller
finds himself in its neighbourhood he may not fail to avail himself of
the opportunity. The long tour beginning at Bourges and ending at
Chartres, will, if supplemented by the short one to Evreux and Rouen,
show him most of the best glass of this period which has come down to
our time. It is easily distinguishable from that of the century
preceding it as well as of the century following, and has a beauty all
its own.
[Illustration: 14TH and 15TH CENTURIES TOURS.
(_a_) _Evreux, Rouen._
(_b_) _Bourges, Moulins, Riom, Clermont-Ferrand, Eymoutiers, Limoges,
Poitiers, Angers, Le Mans_, (_Alencon_), _Sees, Verneuil, Chartres._
_Also separate visit to Quimper._
(_For table of distances, see page 295._)]