But it would be a great mistake to imagine that baths were taken during the Carlovingian period in splendidly decorated halls like those of the Romans; statues, paintings, and mosaics were alike absent. The thermæ of Julian on the left bank of the Seine, of which the ruins remain to this day in the Hôtel de Cluny on the Boulevards St. Michel and St. Germain, included gardens, porticoes, nay, even an immense palace, in which many kings and queens of the earliest race took up their abode, and in all probability made use of its baths. Childebert, for instance, set up his court there with Ultrogothe and his daughters. But with these exceptions no Merovingian or Carlovingian king has possessed baths of such size. It is almost certain that the great lords and ladies built no large bathing establishments in connexion with their private dwellings; on the other hand, their toilet apparatus, plate, brushes, fine towels, and other articles were often of very great value. The bath itself was of wood, marble, or stone. The public baths served as a place of meeting, where the news of the day might be ascertained, and business and pleasure discussed. [Illustration] [Illustration: CAPETIAN COSTUMES Second half of the 10th Century CAPETIAN COSTUMES 11th Century] CHAPTER IV. THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 987 TO 1270. Earliest times of the Carlovingian period—Variety of costume in the provinces—Fashions in the Duchy of France—French taste dating from the eleventh century—Luxury increases with each generation—The dominical—The “bliaud”—Canes of apple-wood—Women in the twelfth century—Head-dresses—“Afiche”—Serpent-tails—Pelisses—The thirteenth century—“Grèves” and veils are in fashion—The “couvre-chef” in the fourteenth century—The skirt, or “cotte-hardie,” surcoat, or overall, or over-skirt, cape, trained skirt, and “gauzape”—Accessories—Emblazoned gowns—Various kinds of stuffs. By degrees, according as the nation acquired unity, and France was in process of self-construction, dress became more original and more special. The remembrance of the Roman occupation and the influences of the barbaric invasion were visibly fading away. Gallo-Roman, Frankish, and German women no longer dwelt on the soil of our country, their place was taken by Frenchwomen of feudal times and of the middle ages, whose nationality became every day more decided. These were our real ancestresses, who neither in their dress nor in their homes were content to follow the fashions of antiquity.