1936 On the Continent

and remains the French religious metropolis. With its 500,000 inhabitants, it is an important centre of the silk industry and derives from that fact most of its present prosperity. Despite its wealth, however, Lyons is rather a dismal town, with something mysterious about it and its river fogs. The people have a well-established reputation for unfriendliness and coldness. It is practically impossible for a visitor to get to know them, although their coldness by no means excludes serviceableness or politeness.
    There is nothing much to see at Lyons in the way of monuments. However, if you are there, it is worth having a peep at the Church of Saint-Jean, the Hôtel de Ville, and the sanctuary of Notre Dame de Fourvière, which is built in rather a pretentious style on the top of a hill where the Rhone and the Saone meet. Lyons also has a very fine park, the Parc de la Tête d’Or.
    Although the main streets of the town are all very busy, the centre is the Place Bellecour where most of the big hotels and cafés are.
    Lyons too is famous for its cooking, and contains perhaps the most celebrated restaurant in France, that of Mère Fillioux, 73 Rue Duquesne. Perhaps you are thinking that in that case it must be too expensive for words. Not at all! You can lunch or dine chez Mère Fillioux for between 25 and 40 francs. The menu is always the same: Saucisson, Poularde, quenelles, fonds d’artichauts, with foie gras, vanilla ice covered with a raspberry cream. It is a wonderful meal, and worth eating more than once.
    They say that on holidays in Lyons you will find no one in the streets; they are all at home spending the day eating!

THE CHATEAUX OF THE LOIRE
    The valley of the Loire has often been called the garden of France, and it is eminently worthy of its name. In this lovely garden, with its rich soil, graceful vines, breezy forests, watered by a beautiful river running between the gentle slopes of green hills, the kings of France of the Renaissance period built a whole series of famous castles, almost all perfect of their type.
    The whole way along the Loire from Orleans to Angers, there is not a village in the region, whether it be in the district of Tours, Blois or Anjou, which is not a centre of lovely walks and of good food and drink, for we are now in one of the richest parts of France, not only from the economic standpoint, but also from that of cooking. The climate is mild—if anything you will find it just a bit too rainy. The inhabitants are the most friendly in France, and it is in Blois and its surroundings that the best French is supposed to be spoken, so much so that the labourers, it is said, talk like academicians.
    The Loire is both the political and the geographical centre of France. A few hours from Paris by train or by road, it is particularly convenient for a rapid visit, since you can see everything there is to see in a few days. All you need to do is to follow the course of the Loire, along which all the towns are located, and from there make excursions out to the places of interest.
Orleans
    You reach the Loire at Orleans, a town celebrated for its delivery from the English by Joan of Arc, after crossing the vast, rather monotonous plain of La Bauce with its rich fields of wheat stretching away out of sight for hundreds of miles. On the outskirts of the town you pass through a district all split up into hundreds of nursery-gardens, for Orleans is one of the best known spots in France for flowers and plants of every kind. The town has about 70,000 inhabitants, and despite recent improvements is a bit cold and grim. The people of Orleans seem to have caught their character from the town, and arerather mistrustful and difficult to get on with. There is very little to see in the town apart from the Cathedral Sainte Croix with its statue of the Maid. But it is worth visiting on May 8th each year, when the raising of the siege by Joan is celebrated in the town by festivals and historical processions which are distinctly out of the ordinary run. You can, of course, go to see the famous vinegar works, Orleans being one of the chief producing centres in the world. The town has some good hotels, particularly the Hôtel Terminus near the station. As for restaurants, I should recommend the Hôtel Saint Aignan on the Place Gambetta.
Blois
    From Orleans it is worth motoring or walking, if you have the time, to Blois by the lovely road which follows the banks of the Loire. Immediately you come into the town,