The Tour Neuve of the chateau dates from 1594 and the Tour Bossue from 1425. The main fabric was restored in such a manner that it would seem to have been practically remodelled, if not actually rebuilt, in 1751. It preserves nevertheless the _cachet_ that one expects to see in a castle of its time, albeit that an alien flavour hovers around it still. It is worth continuing in this direction a step farther to Belfort in the "territory," although it is actually beyond the confines of Burgundy's "Free County." Belfort is worth seeing for the sake of its "Lion," though if one is pressed for time he may take a ride in Paris over to the Rive Gauche and see the same thing in the Place de Belfort, or at least a miniature replica of it. In the midst of the great entrenched camp of Belfort rises "La Chateau," as Belfort's citadel is known. It sets broad on its base nearly five hundred metres above sea-level. The chateau and the "Roc" were first fortified in the sixteenth century, since which time each year has added to the strength of the defences until to-day it is perhaps the most strongly fortified of all the frontier posts of France. It is at the base of the massive "Roc" which bears aloft the chateau that is sculptured Bartholdi's celebrated lion. Its proportions are immense, at least seventy-five feet in length and perhaps forty in height. The ancient Tour de la Miotte is all that remains of a fortress of the middle ages, so Belfort's claims rest on something more than its artistic monumental remains, though the silhouette and sky-line of the grouping of its chateau and citadel are imposingly effective and undeniably artistic. CHAPTER XIV THE SWISS BORDER: BUGEY AND BRESSE "La Bresse, le Bugey, le Val-Romey et la Principauté de Dombes" was the high-sounding way in which that hinterland between Burgundy and Savoy was known in old monarchial days. Of a common destiny with the two dukedoms, it was allied first with one and then with the other until the principality was nothing more than a name; independence was a myth, and allegiance, and perhaps something more, was demanded by the rulers of the neighbouring states. In Roman times these four provinces were allied with the I-Lyonnais, but by the Burgundian conquerors forcibly became allied with the stronger power. Bresse of itself belonged to the Sires de Bagé and in 1272 became a countship allied with the house of Savoy, which in 1601 ceded it to the king of France. Local diction perpetuates the following quatrain which well explains the relations of Bresse with the surrounding provinces. "_Pont-de-Veyle et Pont-de-Vaux,_ _Saint Trivier at Romeno_ _Sont quat' villes bien renommo;_ _Mias viv' Mâcon pour beir_ _Et Bourg pour mangi._"