Furthermore to the right of this place we perceived the abbey of Praie, noted for its wealth, its beauty, and its liberal and courteous reception of strangers. M. de Montaigne would not go there, having settled with himself that it behoved him to revisit all these parts, and especially Venice, at his leisure, and that this present visit was as nothing.[20] He had simply gone to see Venice, attracted by the exceedingly great renown of the city, and affirmed that he would tarry neither at Rome nor elsewhere in Italy without having paid another visit to Venice. Reckoning on this event, he left at Padua, in charge of M. François Bourges, a Frenchman, the works of Cardinal Cusan[21] which he had purchased in Venice. From Abano we went to a place called S. Pietro,[22] lying low, and as we went we had the mountains close to us on our right hand. This is a land of meadows and pasturage, but the air is thick in certain spots with the vapour of the hot springs, some boiling hot and some lukewarm: some springs indeed are quite cold. The taste is somewhat flatter and more insipid than that of the other springs, and there is less of the odour of sulphur and the taste of salt. We came upon some traces of ancient buildings, and two or three mean hovels for the lodging of guests; but in truth the place is very barbarous, and I would be sorry to send thither any friend of mine. The report is that the Signiory sets little store by such places, and looks askance at the prospect of an influx thither of gentlefolk from foreign parts. M. de Montaigne said that these last-named baths reminded him of those of Preissac[23] near to Aix. The water thereof leaves a reddish trace, and a deposit like mud on the tongue. He could detect no special taste, and fancied it was charged with iron.