by
the nobility, the Rohans, the Alegres and Rotroux.

At No. 21 lived Victor Hugo, just before the Coup d'Etat, in the house
first made famous as the habitation of the somewhat infamous Marion
Delorme.

Among other illustrious names who have given a brilliance to these
alleyed walks and corridors are to be recalled Corneille, Conde, Saint
Vincent de Paul, Moliere, Turenne, Madame de Longueville, De Thou,
Cinq-Mars, Richelieu, D'Ormesson, the Prince de Talmon, the Marquis de
Tesse and the Comte de Chabanne.

It is possible that this charming Paris square will remain as ever it
has been, for a recent attempt of the owner of one of the houses which
borders upon it to change the disposition of the facade brought about a
law-suit which compelled him to respect the procedure which obtained in
1605 when it was ordained the Place Royale.

To prove their rights the civic authorities had recourse to the original
plans still preserved in the national archives. This is a demonstration
of how carefully European nations preserve the written records of their
pasts.

The decision finally arrived at by the courts--that the Place des Vosges
must be kept intact as originally planned--gave joy to the hearts of all
true Parisians and archeologists alike.

[Illustration: BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF OLD PARIS]

CHAPTER V

THE OLD LOUVRE AND ITS HISTORY

A stroll by the banks of the Seine will review much of the history of
the capital, as much of it as was bound up with Notre Dame, the Louvre
and the Palais de la Cite (now the Palais de Justice), and that was a
great deal, even in mediaeval and Renaissance times.

The life of the Louvre was Paris; the life of Paris that of the nation;
and the life of the nation that of the people. This even the Parisians
of to-day will tell you. It is scant acknowledgment of the provinces to
be sure, but what would you? The French capital is much more the capital
of France than London is of England, or Washington of America--leaving
politics out of the question.

Paris before the conquest by the Franks was practically only the
Seine-surrounded isle known as Lutetia, and later as "La Cite," and the
slight overflow which crept up the slopes of the Montagne de la Sainte
Genevieve. From the Chatelet to the Louvre was a damp, murky swamp
called, even in the moyen-age, Les Champeaux, meaning the Little Fields,
but swampy ones, as inferred by studying the evolution of the name still
further.

A rapid