oratory of Anne of Brittany, among the apartments of the castle the only
chamber worthy of note. This small room, hardly larger than a closet,
and forming part of the addition made to the edifice by Charles VIII.,
is embroidered over with the curious and remarkably decorative device of
the ermine and festooned cord. The objects in themselves are not
especially graceful, but the constant repetition of the figure on the
walls and ceiling produces an effect of richness in spite of the modern
whitewash with which, if I remember rightly, they have been endued. The
little streets of Loches wander crookedly down the hill and are full of
charming pictorial "bits:" an old town-gate, passing under a medieval
tower, which is ornamented by Gothic windows and the empty niches of
statues; a meagre but delicate _hotel de ville_ of the Renaissance
nestling close beside it; a curious _chancellerie_ of the middle of the
sixteenth century, with mythological figures and a Latin inscription on
the front--both of these latter buildings being rather unexpected
features of the huddled and precipitous little town. Loches has a suburb
on the other side of the Indre, which we had contented ourselves with
looking down at from the heights while we wondered whether, even if it
had not been getting late and our train were more accommodating, we
should care to take our way across the bridge and look up that bust in
terra-cotta of Francis I. which is the principal ornament of the Chateau
de Sansac and the faubourg of Beaulieu. I think we decided that we
should not, that we had already often measured the longest nose in
history.

[Illustration]

Chapter xi

[Bourges]

I know not whether the exact limits of an excursion as distinguished
from a journey have ever been fixed; at any rate, it seemed none of my
business at Tours to settle the question. Therefore, though the making
of excursions had been the purpose of my stay, I thought it vain, while
I started for Bourges, to determine to which category that little
expedition might belong. It was not till the third day that I returned
to Tours; and the distance, traversed for the most part after dark, was
even greater than I had supposed. That, however, was partly the fault of
a tiresome wait at Vierzon, where I had more than enough time to dine,
very badly, at the _buffet_ and to observe the proceedings of a family
who had entered my railway carriage at Tours and had conversed
unreservedly, for