The interior of the choir is imposing. The apse is six-sided--rather an uncommon arrangement. In the “Chapelle des Morts,” which opens off the northern nave, near the transept, there is a Renaissance tomb with a remarkable bas-relief; below is depicted a nude body lying in a grave, being devoured by worms; above, three successive panels represent the Weighing of Souls, the Mirror of Death, and Purgatory. Each subject is accompanied by an inscription in French verse carved in fine black Gothic characters. There are few sculptural representations of Purgatory earlier than the 16th century, and this is one of the earliest examples to be found. =The Presbytery.=--The Presbytery, standing in a narrow street which runs along the south side of the church, is an old wooden building, the interior of which is in a perfect state of preservation. In it is kept an earthenware model dating from 1530, which was brought from the Chapel of St. Anne. This model, attributed to Ligier Richier, represents the Virgin receiving the body of Christ after it had been taken down from the Cross. It has been imperfectly restored and painted. [Illustration: CLERMONT-EN-ARGONNE. SOUTH-EAST FRONT OF CHURCH] [Illustration: CLERMONT-EN-ARGONNE. 15TH CENTURY CHURCH. RENAISSANCE PORTAL] =Chapel of St. Anne.=--Above the church, on the top of the St. Anne Plateau, where the fortress used to stand, there now remains only an unpretending chapel, much frequented by pilgrims. The building has a wooden front, surmounted by a small steeple, and a stone choir with pointed vaulting, the flamboyant ornament being in the same style as that of the St. Didier Church. Four ancient elms give shade to the parvis and rise high above the steeple. Inside is a sepulchre with six almost life-size statues, acquired in 1829 when the Church of the Minimes of Verdun was pulled down. Three only of these statues, the three Maries, all painted, are late 16th century. The finest, which is in the centre, is attributed by some to Ligier Richier, but this appreciation is open to question. Near by there is a hermitage, which at the beginning of the 17th century belonged to the Benedictines, and later to the Franciscans. In 1845, the town of Clermont acquired the whole plateau, the promenade, hermitage, and the chapel. From the plateau--the highest point in the Argonne--there is a fine and very extensive view over the Forest of Argonne on the left, and the Forest of Hesse on the right, while the Vauquois-Montfaucon ridge appears in the distance. [Illustration: CLERMONT-EN-ARGONNE. CHURCH NAVE, SEEN FROM NORTH AISLES] [Illustration: CLERMONT-EN-ARGONNE. THE ENTOMBMENT IN THE CHAPEL OF ST. ANNE, ON THE PLATEAU OVERLOOKING ST. MENEHOULD] _Return to and follow the Grand Rue which, outside the town, becomes N. 3 and runs alongside the railway to_ =Les Islettes= (_5 km. 800_).