Heredity and environment are both important factors in the making of a race, and it may be that the blue skies and sunlit landscapes, with their lovely distant prospects, have had as large a share in moulding the character of the inhabitants of this land to-day as the traits and tendencies inherited from Phoceans, Gauls, and Romans. Whatever may be the cause, there is something about this region that makes an irresistible appeal to strangers from northern lands. Romance is written so plainly on its face that even “he who motors may read,” and every day spent among its towns, villages, and castles is filled with vivid pictures of many of the more illustrious periods of civilisation. CONTENTS Page FOREWORD 5 I. AVIGNON 13 II. VILLENEUVE 75 III. TARASCON 97 IV. LES BAUX 127 V. MONTMAJOUR 159 VI. ARLES 175 VII. NÎMES 219 VIII. ORANGE 253 INDEX (Illustrations) 283 INDEX (Text) 285 LIST OF HALF-TONE ILLUSTRATIONS AVIGNON _Frontispiece_ FACING PAGE INTERIOR OF CHAPEL OF ST. BENEZET, AVIGNON 48 GATEWAY, TARASCON 80 THE POSTERN, LES BAUX 116 MONTMAJOUR 144 THE ALYSCAMPS, ARLES 176 ROMAN THEATRE, ARLES 204 WOMAN OF ARLES 240 _For Index of Illustrations in the text see page 283._ AVIGNON I AVIGNON From whatever direction Avignon is approached, the dignity of its battlements, the profusion of its belfries, and the towering majesty of its remarkable palace, call forth the unstinted admiration of the most surfeited sightseer. But it is from the river that the finest view of the City of the Popes can be obtained. The silent gliding waters of the winding Rhone flow in their fleet course past many a noble town and castle, but in the whole of their long voyage past none to compare with the glorious town of Avignon.