Notre Dame de Dijon is another example of the same early and elegant age, but possessing the Burgundian peculiarity of a deeply recessed porch or narthex, surmounted by a façade of two open galleries, one over the other, exactly in the manner of the churches of Pisa and Lucca of the 11th and 12th centuries, of which it may be considered an imitation. It is, however, as unsatisfactory in pointed Gothic, even with the very best details, as it is in the pseudo-classical style of Pisa, forming in either case a remarkably unmeaning mode of decoration. [Illustration: 635. Lady Chapel, Auxerre. (From Chapuy.)] The cathedrals of Sens and Auxerre are pure examples of pointed architecture. The latter (A.D. 1213) internally rivals perhaps even Coutances. Nothing can be more elegant than the junction of the lady chapel here with the chevet; for though this is almost always pleasingly arranged, the design has been unusually successful in this instance. The two slender shafts, shown in the Woodcut No. 635, just suffice to give it pre-eminence and dignity, without introducing any feature so large as to disturb the harmony of the whole. In the great church of St. Quentin, the five chapels of the chevet have each two pillars, arranged similarly to these of the lady chapel at Auxerre; and though the effect is rich and varied, the result is not quite so happy as in this instance. Taken altogether, however, few chevets in France are more perfect and beautiful than this almost unknown example. The cathedral of Troyes, commenced in 1206, and continued steadily for more than three centuries, is one of the few in France, designed originally with five aisles and a range of chapels. The effect, however, is far from satisfactory. The great width thus given makes the whole appear low, and the choir wants that expansion and dignity which is so pleasing at Rheims and Chartres. Still the details and design of the earlier parts are good and elegant; and the west front (Woodcut No. 637), though belonging wholly to the 16th century, is one of the most pleasing specimens of flamboyant work in France, being rich without exuberance, and devoid of the bad taste that sometimes disfigures works of this class and age. The cathedral at Soissons is one of the most pleasing of all these churches. Nothing can surpass the justness of the proportions of the central and side aisles both in themselves and to one another. Though the church is not large, and principally of that age—the latter half of the 13th century—in which the effect depended so much on painted glass, now destroyed or disarranged, it still deserves a place in the first rank of French cathedrals. [Illustration: 636. Plan of Cathedral at Troyes. (From Arnaud, ‘Voyage dans le Département de l’Aube.’) Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.]