Photo by Airs. A. H. Harris 



ANOTHER VIEW OF THE WALLS OF CARCASSONNE, FRANCE 



The citadel of Carcassonne was regarded as possessing so much "preparedness" that it 

 was deemed impregnable and remained intact down to the French Revolution. In a single 

 one of its barbicans, or strong towers, 1,500 defenders could be housed. 



ing coffee ; there a stout matron dams the 

 rushing mountain gutter into a lake, so 

 that she can swab off the front of her 

 debit des tabacs; down a steep alley the 

 street cleaners — a lazy man, a tired wo- 

 man, and a brisk little girl — and a hand- 

 ful of farmer women, with pitchforks 

 and enormous hats, move like figures on 

 the screen. And in the principal plaza, 

 before the remarkable old church, gypsies 

 camping make another picture against the 

 soft background of the Roman walls, in 

 one of whose blasted towers a full-grown 

 tree peeps through the windows and the 

 open top. 



All through this southern region there 

 are astounding rock formations — moun- 

 tains in the guise of giant heads, with 

 vertical ridges up the middle of their 

 backs, like the crests of ancient helmets ; 

 others, square of top, like walled cities, 

 symmetrically flanked by low lines of 



carefully planned fortifications and out- 

 works (see page 474). 



ITALY AND SWITZERLAND MEET IN FRANCE 



Dauphine has been called an "Italian 

 Switzerland'' by the French themselves, 

 for it has the sunny skies and rich vege- 

 tation of the Mediterranean Peninsula 

 and the cold, stern, snow-capped moun- 

 tains of the Swiss. The most character- 

 istic feature of the province is its vivid 

 contrasts : tremendous masses of granite 

 pyramids, bare and blasted and savagely 

 desolate ; long stretches of primeval for- 

 est, pines and firs of noble girth and 

 height, from among which here and there 

 huge rocks leap up like uncouth animals 

 of another age ; smiling pasture lands and 

 farms, cut by profound gorges ; stormy- 

 looking peaks starred with glaciers ; tiny 

 hamlets nestling among the pines ; milky 

 roads and sky-brushing sierras of needle- 



460 



