Royal Palaces and Parks of France

Royal Palaces and Parks of France

It was this old account of fact, or legend, that led the author and illustrator of this book to a full realization of the wealth of historic and romantic incidents connected with the French royal parks and palaces, incidents which the makers of guidebooks have passed over in favour of the, presumably, more important, well authenticated facts of history which are often the bare recitals of political rises and falls and dull chronologies of building up and tearing down. Much of the history of France was made in the great national forests and the royal country-houses of the kingdom, but usually it has been only the events of the capital which have been passed in review. To a great extent this history[Pg ii] was of the gallant, daring kind, often written in blood, the sword replacing the pen. At times gayety reigned supreme, and at times it was sadness; but always the pageant was imposing. The day of pageants has passed, the day when lords and ladies moved through stately halls, when royal equipages hunted deer or boar on royal preserves, when gay cavalcades of solemn cortges thronged the great French highways to the uttermost frontiers and ofttimes beyond. Those days have passed; but, to one who knows the real France, a ready-made setting is ever at hand if he would depart a little from the beaten paths worn smooth by railway and automobile tourists who follow only the lines of conventional travel. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 25842
Author: Mansfield, M. F. (Milburg Francisco)
Release Date: Jun 19, 2008
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Illustrator: McManus, Blanche, 1869-1935