friendly to Spain, it was particularly exasperating.

Francis had asked Verrazzano to come to Moulins because, from what he
had heard, it seemed to him that here was a man who could take care of
himself and hold his tongue, and he liked such men. The experience
reminded the Florentine of the great days of the Medici. Charles de
Bourbon's palace at Moulins was fit for a king. Unlike most French
chateaux, which were built on low lands among the hunting forests, it
stood on a hill in a great park, and was surrounded with terraces,
fountains, and gardens in the Italian style. Moreover its furniture was
permanent, not brought in for royal guests and then taken away. The
richness and beauty of its tapestries, state beds, decorations, and
other belongings was beyond anything in any royal palace of that time.
The duke's household included five hundred gentlemen in rich suits of
Genoese velvet, each wearing a massive gold chain passing three times
round the neck and hanging low in front; they attended the guests in
divisions, one hundred at a time.

The feasting was luxurious, and many of its choice dishes were supplied
by the estate. There were rare fruits and herbs in the gardens, and a
great variety of game-birds and animals in the park and the forest. But
there were also imported delicacies--Windsor beans, Genoa artichokes,
Barbary cucumbers and Milan parsley. The first course consisted of Medoc
oysters, followed by a light soup. The fish course included the royal
sturgeon, the dorado or sword-fish, the turbot. Then came heron, cooked
in the fashion of the day, with sugar, spice and orange-juice; olives,
capers and sour fruits; pheasants, red-legged partridges, and the
favorite roast, sucking-pig parboiled and then roasted with a stuffing
of chopped meats, herbs, raisins and damson plums. There were salads of
fruit,--such as the King's favorite of oranges, lemons and sugar with
sweet herbs,--or of herbs, such as parsley and mint with pepper,
cinnamon and vinegar. For dessert there were Italian ices and
confectionery, and the Queen's favorite plum, Reine Claude, imported
from Italy; the white wine called Clairette-au-miel, hypocras,
gooseberry and plum wines, lemonade, champagne. There was never a King
who could appreciate such artistic luxury more deeply than Francis I.
This may be one reason for his warm welcome of Verrazzano, who seemed to
be able to increase the wealth of his country and his King.

"I have had a very in