Produced by Melissa McDaniel, Juliet Sutherland and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net Transcriber's note: Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. [Illustration: THE WESTERN FACADE OF AMIENS CATHEDRAL.] FRANCE BY GORDON HOME WITH 32 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR LONDON ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK 1914 CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY 1 CHAPTER II THE GENESIS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FRENCH 6 CHAPTER III FAMILY LIFE--MARRIAGE AND THE BIRTH-RATE 23 CHAPTER IV HOW THE FRENCH GOVERN THEMSELVES 49 CHAPTER V ON EDUCATION AND RELIGION 67 CHAPTER VI SOME ASPECTS OF PARIS AND OF TOWN LIFE IN GENERAL 86 CHAPTER VII OF RURAL LIFE IN FRANCE 114 CHAPTER VIII THE RIVERS OF FRANCE 143 CHAPTER IX OF THE WATERING-PLACES 169 CHAPTER X ARCHITECTURE--ROMAN, ROMANESQUE, AND GOTHIC--IN FRANCE 193 CHAPTER XI THE NATIONAL DEFENCES 205 INDEX 213 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. THE WESTERN FACADE OF AMIENS CATHEDRAL _Frontispiece_ FACING PAGE 2. COMBOURG, A TYPICAL _CHATEAU_ OF THE MEDIAEVAL TYPE 8 3. IN THE CAFE ARMENONVILLE IN THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE, PARIS 17 4. IN THE PLACE DU THEATRE FRANCAIS, PARIS 24 5. EVENING IN THE PLACE D'IENA, PARIS 31 6. IN THE CENTRE OF PARIS 40 7. THE MARKET-PLACE AND CATHEDRAL AT ABBEVILLE 48 8. FIVE-O'CLOCK TEA IN PARIS 64 9. CHILDREN OF PARIS IN THE LUXEMBOURG GARDENS 71 10. LE PUY-EN-VELAY IN THE AUVERGNE COUNTRY 75 11. LA ROCHE, A VILLAGE OF HAUTE SAVOIE 78 12. A TYPICAL _COCHER_ OF PARIS 90 13. AUTUMN IN THE CHAMPS ELYSEES, PARIS 95 14. A BRETON _CALVAIRE_: THE ORATORY OF JACQUES CARTIER 122 15. A PEASANT CHILD OF NORMANDY 126 16. THE CATHEDRAL AND PART OF THE OLD CITY OF CHARTRES 136 17. THE CHATEAU OF AMBOISE ON THE LOIRE 144 18. CHATEAU GAILLARD AND A LOOP OF THE SEINE 150