A marble tomb of a former bishop,--Plantavit de la Pause,--a distinguished prelate and bibliophile, is also in the choir. This monument is a most worthy artistic effort, and shows two lions lying at the foot of a full-length figure of the churchman. It dates from 1651, and, though of Renaissance workmanship, its design and sculpture--like most monumental work of its era--are far ahead of the quality of craftsmanship displayed by the builders and architects of the same period. The one-time episcopal residence is now occupied by the _hôtel de ville_, the _tribunal_, and the _caserne de gendarmerie_. As a shelter for civic dignity this is perhaps not a descent from its former glory, but as a _caserne_ it is a shameful debasement; not, however, as mean as the level to which the papal palace at Avignon has fallen. The guide-book information--which, be it said, is not disputed or reviled here--states that the city's manufactories supply _surtout des draps_ for the army; but the church-lover will get little sustenance for his refined appetite from this kernel of matter-of-fact information. Lodève is, however, a charming provincial town, with two ancient bridges crossing its rivers, a ruined château, _Montbrun_, and a fine promenade which overlooks the river valleys round about. _PART III The Rhône Valley_ I INTRODUCTORY The knowledge of the geographer Ptolemy, who wrote in the second century with regard to the Rhône, was not so greatly at fault as with respect to other topographical features, such as coasts and boundaries. Perhaps the fact that Gaul had for so long been under Roman dominion had somewhat to do with this. He gives, therefore, a tolerably correct account as to this mighty river, placing its sources in the Alps, and tracing its flow through the lake _Lemannus_ (Leman) to _Lugdunum_ (Lyon); whence, turning sharply to the southward, it enters the Mediterranean south of Arles. Likewise, he correctly adds that the upper river is joined with the combined flow of the Doubs and Saône, but commits the error of describing their source to be also in the Alps. Philip Gilbert Hamerton, who knew these parts well,--his home was near Autun,--has described the confluence of the Saône and Rhône thus: "The width and depth of the two rivers are equal, but the swift-flowing Rhône discharges twice the volume of water of the slow-running Saône. They also differ remarkably in colour. The Saône is emerald-green and the Rhône blue-green. Here the minor river loses its name and character, and, by an unusual process, the slowest and most navigable stream in Europe joins the swiftest and least navigable. The _Flumen Araris_ ceases and becomes the _Rhodanus_." The volume of water which yearly courses down the Rhône is perhaps greater than would first appear, when, at certain seasons of the year, one sees a somewhat thin film of water gliding over a wide expanse of yellow sand and shingle.