The Architecture of Provence and the Riviera

THE beautiful buildings of the North of France are as well known to all English lovers of architecture as many of the edifices of our own country, and every one is more or less acquainted with them.

The various styles which have prevailed there—whether Gothic or Renaissance, Ecclesiastical, Castellated or Domestic—have all been fully illustrated and rendered familiar by numerous admirable works, both French and English. Besides, being so near our own shores, and lying as it does, between England and Paris, this part of the country is easily accessible, and is much visited by English tourists and students of architecture.

The various styles of Northern France, too, have many points of resemblance to those on this side of the channel; and there thus exists a feeling of sympathy between the two which renders the study of both, and a comparison of their similarities and differences, particularly interesting to the English observer.

All these circumstances have contributed to make the great cathedrals of Amiens, Beauvais, Rouen, Rheims, and Chartres familiar and attractive; while the picturesque towns of Northern France, with their quaint half-timbered houses, and the no less picturesque costumes of the inhabitants, are constantly brought before us in the charming representations of our artists.

The ancient castles of Normandy and Northern France, such as the Châteaux d’Arques, Gaillard, and Falaise, are as closely connected with English as French history; and as the dwellings of our Plantaganet Kings, and the scene of many important events in their lives, they claim even more attention at our hands than they have yet received.

But the South of France is a comparatively unknown country. It is much less frequented by our countrymen than the North, and its buildings and scenery rarely form the subject of our artists’ paintings. It is indeed true that a very large number of English people winter in the Riviera or at Pau; but these visitors are all desirous to perform their migration at a single flight, and to move, as by a magic spell, unconscious of the horrors of the middle passage, from the gloom of the dreary winter of England to the bright sunshine and lovely landscape of the South. That this should be the case is perhaps scarcely to be wondered at, so many of the visitors being themselves delicate or in company with invalids. But for their own sakes it is much to be regretted, as they thus pass through a great deal of fine and novel scenery without observing it, and catch but a passing glimpse of some of the most ancient and interesting cities, churches, and castles in Europe. It must, however, be confessed that the intervening district between the North and South is not a pleasant region in mid-winter. Between Lyons and Marseilles the cold is frequently very intense, and the whole valley of the Rhone suffers from the fierce and bitter “mistral” which sweeps down it from the region of the Cevennes Mountains on the north-west. To enjoy a tour in the valley of the Rhone on the way out to the Riviera one must start earlier than usual, so as to make the October weather available, or delay till the return journey in spring.