[Illustration: GABLE OF THE LEFT-HAND DOOR, WITH CRUCIFIXION (_Cliché LL._)] [Illustration: FIRST STOREY OF THE WEST FRONT] =The First Storey= In the centre is the great rose-window, best seen from the interior of the nave. The stained-glass is broken. On either side, against the arching which surmounts it, were two large statues. One of them, _David as a youth in shepherd's garb_ (also known as the _Pilgrim_), was destroyed by the bombardments. The other very fine statue is variously said to be _Saul_, _Solomon_ and _St. James_. The arching which begins above these statues was adorned with small groups of figures representing scenes from the life of Solomon. Most of them were destroyed at the same time as the Pilgrim statue. Above the arching, a gigantic statue (twice restored) represents _David challenging Goliath_. The bombardments of 1914 destroyed a similar statue on the left representing _David slaying Goliath with a stone from his sling_. The first storey of the towers flanking the rose-window is broken by lofty twin bays crowned with gables. The niches and pinnacles of the buttresses are identical with those of the nave, but the style of their decoration denotes a more recent period (early 14th century). The northern tower was badly damaged by the bombardment of September 19, 1914, which fired the scaffolding around it (_see photo, p. 9_). Two of the pinnacled niches surmounting the buttresses were decapitated, while the flames completely disfigured the statues, including that of Christ. A large calibre shell burst in the southern tower on April 19, 1917, causing very serious damage. [Illustration: SECOND STOREY AND UPPER STOREY OF THE TOWERS] =The Second Storey= The second storey comprises a series of niches, surmounted by sharply pointed gables and adorned with gigantic statues, known as the _Kings' Gallery_. The central group, consisting of seven figures, commemorates the _Baptism of Clovis_. Clovis, standing in the baptismal font; between Saint Remi, receiving the Sacred Ampulla, and Clotilda. The balcony in front of the _Baptism of Clovis_ was formerly called the _Gloria Gallery_, as it was the custom for the choir-boys to sing the _Gloria_ there on Palm Sunday. =The Upper Portion of the Towers= The upper storey of the towers, built on an octagonal plan, is flanked with four open-work turrets, one of which contains stairs leading to the platforms. The northern tower, badly damaged by the fire of 1914, lost several of the fine colonnettes of its corner turrets in 1918. In the same year, the pierced staircase of the southern tower was almost entirely destroyed. At the time of the last restorations, the foundations of the spires provided for in the original plans, but which have never been built, were laid.