MELUN TO ST. GERMAIN-EN-LAYE,
45¼ MILES
(73 KILOMETRES)
DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE
Kil. Miles.
=Melun= to Villeneuve =27= 16¾
=Villeneuve= to Choisy-le-Roi =5= 3
=Choisy-le-Roi= to Versailles =27= 16¾
=Versailles= to St. Germain-en-Laye =14= 8¾
TO PARIS, DIEPPE, AND CALAIS
DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE
Kil. Miles.
=Melun= to Paris =40= 25
=Paris= to Dieppe via Pontoise, Beauvais,
and Gournay-en-Bray =186= 115¾
=Paris= to Calais via Beauvais, Abbeville,
and Montreuil =279= 173½
NOTES FOR DRIVERS
=Melun to Choisy-le-Roi.=--Level.
=Choisy-le-Roi to Versailles.=--Has a few sections of paved road, but
this route avoids any bad or continuous stretches.
=Versailles to St. Germain.=--A steep ascent at Rocquencourt, and at
the fork at the =Grille Royale= _turn to the right_ to avoid the
steep descent to Marly-le-Roi.
PLACES OF INTEREST ON THE ROUTE
=Melun.=--An old town on the Seine, with the Church of Notre Dame on
the island (eleventh century and later), and St. Aspais on the
north bank of the river, a graceful late Gothic church.
=Versailles.=--A considerable town; the huge royal palace is on the
west side, with the gardens and park extending beyond.
=St. Germain-en-Laye.=--A pleasant little town, built by François I.,
also having a royal palace and a forest attached to it; the terrace
on the east side of the park has a splendid view over Paris.
The interests of Melun to the passing stranger are summed up in the two
churches of Notre Dame and St. Aspais. The first is on the island formed
by the Seine, and is a curious specimen of eleventh-century
architecture, with alterations and additions made in the twelfth,
fifteenth, and later centuries. The Tour de César, also on the island,
is a relic of the royal castle demolished in 1740. The Church of St.
Aspais, on the north side of the river, is an irregularly shaped
building of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, with a beautiful
choir, having a fine vaulted ambulatory.
Henry V. captured Melun in 1420, but ten years later Joan of Arc
stirred up the people to regain their liberty, and with her help the
English were expelled.
[Illustration: TOWN PLAN NO. 31.--MELUN.]
[Illustration: No. 25. MELUN TO ST. GERMAIN-EN-LAYE, AVOIDING PARIS]
Three straight roads lead away from Melun towards Paris, and it is
necessary to be careful to take the central one, going through
Lieusaint. This road goes as straight as an arrow to Montgéron and
Villeneuve-St.-Georges, suburbs of Paris. By using the accompanying map,
one will easily find the turning to Choisy-le-Roi, which crosses the
railway to the left of the busy street of Villeneuve.
Choisy-le-Roi is a manufacturing suburb of Paris. The palace, in which
Louis XV. spent his time in profligacy and debauchery, and where Louis
XVI. and Marie-Antoinette often stayed, was destroyed in 1797, during
the Revolution.
Beyond Choisy-le-Roi the road curves and twists frequently, and there
are about 4 kilometres of _pavée_. Near Chatenay one reaches some
straight sections of road, bringing one rapidly to
VERSAILLES
[Illustration: MELUN TO ST. GERMAIN-EN-LAYE.]
The town is a large and pleasant outer suburb of Paris, with wide
streets and large open spaces. Louis XV. laid the first stone of the
cathedral in 1743.
The palace of Versailles is the largest royal residence in the world. It
almost tires one to look at the enormous frontage with its great wings,
and the waste of gravel, extending over several acres outside the gates
and railings, gives a dreary appearance to the town side of the palace.
It takes a whole day to go over the buildings and the park, and on a
tour such as this it may be wiser to leave the historic palace for some
other occasion. There is, unfortunately, no opportunity of including any
adequate description of the buildings and their story here, but the
literature obtainable in handy form on the spot is amply sufficient for
all.
It was Louis XIV. who made Versailles the Court residence instead of St.
Germain, and his successors, Louis XV. and Louis XVI., continued to
spend vast sums on the palace, until it became the wilderness of great
apartments through which the tourist is conducted at the present day.
The two small residences in the park--the Grand Trianon and Petit
Trianon--were built for Marie de Maintenon and Madame du Barry, and were
appreciated as retreats from the immensities of the palace.
ST. GERMAIN-EN-LAYE
is a delightfully situated town commanding beautiful views across a
great loop of the Seine towards Paris. The famous terrace by the side of
the park and above the river has a wonderful prospect towards the east,
wherein the capital appears on a bright, sunny day as one of the most
beautiful cities in the world.
The château, built of red brick and stone, belongs to the thirteenth,
fourteenth, and sixteenth centuries, and has only just been subjected to
an excess of restoration, leaving the exterior with the freshness of a
new building. The earliest portion of the château is the chapel, a
beautiful example of the style prevalent in the reign of St. Louis
(IX.). This was spared when, in 1539, François I. ordered the famous
Pierre Chambiges to rebuild the medieval castle. Henri II. continued the
work, but the form of the letter <f>D</f> in the plan probably has no
connection with his beloved Diana de Poitiers, as the plans were
prepared several years earlier.