u beurre_" is a ravishing dish which one meets with too
infrequently, even in France, and this in spite of the millions of
kilos of them which reach the markets through the gateway of the town
of Soissons.

Soissons undoubtedly has a good hotel. How could it be otherwise in
such a food-producing centre? We were directed, however, by a
_commis-voyageur_ whom we had met at Villers-Cotterets, not to think
of a hotel at Soissons, if we were only to stop for lunch, but to go
to the railway restaurant. Of all things this would be the most
strange for an automobilist, but we took his advice, for he said he
knew what he was talking about.

The "Buffet" at the railway station at Soissons is not the only
example of a good railway eating-house in France, but truly it is one
of the best. It is a marvellously conducted establishment, and you
eat your meals in a beautifully designed, well-kept apartment, with
the viands of the country of the best and of great variety. _Soissons
au beurre_ was the _piece de resistance_, and there was _poulet au
casserole_, an _omelette au rhum_, a crisp, cold lettuce salad, and
fruits and "biscuits" galore to top off, with wine and bread _a
discretion_ and good coffee and cognac for ten sous additional, the
whole totalling three francs fifty centimes. We were probably the
first automobilists on tour who had taken lunch at the railway
restaurant at Soissons. Perhaps we may not be the last.

It was but a short detour of a dozen or fifteen kilometres to visit
the romantic Chateau de Coucy, one of the few relics of mediaevalism
which still look warlike. It is more or less of a ruin, but it has
been restored in part, and, taken all in all, is the most formidable
thing of its kind in existence. It rises above the old walled town of
Coucy-le-Chateau in quite the fashion that one expects, and, from the
platform of the donjon, there spreads out a wonderful view over two
deep and smiling valleys which, as much as the thickness of the
chateau walls, effectually protected the occupants from a surprise
attack.

The thirteenth century saw the birth of this, perhaps the finest
example still remaining of France's feudal chateaux, and, barring the
effects of an earthquake in 1692, and an attempt by Richelieu to blow
it up, the symmetrical outlines of its walls and roofs are much as
they always were.

Its founder was Enguerrand III. de Coucy, who took for his motto
these boastful words--which, however, he and hi