The Church of Ste. Marthe, with its crocketed spire, was built on the site of a Roman temple in the twelfth century, and rebuilt between 1379 and 1449. It retains the magnificent south portal of the earlier church. The saint to whom the church is dedicated is said to have been buried under the marble effigy one may see. A legend tells how St. Martha found the district ravaged by a hideous dragon, which she killed or tamed, and thus earned the gratitude of the people of Tarascon. The memory of this deliverance was kept alive until recent years by a fête held on the second Sunday after Pentecost, when a huge representation of the dragon was taken through the streets. The castle of Tarascon is a complete and most imposing pile, standing four square, with one side washed by the Rhone. It was begun by Louis II. of Provence in the fourteenth century, and finished by the good King Réné of Anjou. Being now used as a prison, it is not easy to obtain permission to enter. The town still preserves a good gateway, flanked by round towers, and some of the old streets are picturesquely arcaded. Beaucaire is a rather squalid little town, and it is far better to look from the Tarascon side at the fine ruined castle of Montmorency standing on its mass of white rock. The road to Avignon goes through a baked and dusty country, with arid, bleached hills and endless groves of cypresses. [Illustration: AN ARCHED STREET IN APRICALE, NEAR DOLCEACQUA. A good example of the rock villages of the Italian Riviera.] SECTION XX AVIGNON TO VALENCE, 94½ MILES (152 KILOMETRES) DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE Kil. Miles. =Avignon= to Sorgues =10= 6¼ =Sorgues= to Orange =17= 10½ Avignon to Orange through Villeneuve and Roquemaure is a little longer. =Orange= to Pierrelatte =31= 19¼ =Pierrelatte= to Montélimar =22= 13¾ =Montélimar= to Loriol =23= 14¼ =Loriol= to Valence =22= 13¾ NOTES FOR DRIVERS A level road in the Rhone Valley all the way, except about 6 kilometres north of Donzère. The shallow drains called _cassis_ or _caniveaux_ are very frequent. They are all marked with warning-boards. PLACES OF INTEREST ON THE ROUTE =Avignon.=--A picturesque walled city on the Rhone: (1) The Popes transferred their seat there between 1305 and 1411--their palace, a huge fortress, dominates the city; (2) Cathedral of Notre Dame des Doms, an interesting Romanesque building; (3) Archbishop’s Palace, now a seminary; (4) Bridge of St. Bénézet, with Romanesque chapel; (5) fourteenth-century walls and gateways; churches of--(6) St. Pierre; (7) St. Didier; (8) St. Agricol.