Breakfast
Not At Azay-Le-Rideau, Therefore, Too Trustful Traveller;
Or If You Do So, Be Either Very Meek Or Very Bold.
Breakfast Not, Save Under Stress Of Circumstance; But
Let No Circumstance Whatever Prevent You From Going
To See The Admirable Chateau, Which Is Almost A Rival
Of Chenonceaux.
The village lies close to the gates,
though after you pass these gates you leave it well
behind.
A little avenue, as at Chenonceaux, leads to
the house, making a pretty vista as you approach the
sculptured doorway. Azay is a most perfect and
beautiful thing; I should place it third in any list of
the great houses of this part of France in which these
houses should be ranked according to charm. For
beauty of detail it comes after Blois and Chenon-
ceaux; but it comes before Amboise and Chambord.
On the other hand, of course, it is inferior in majesty
to either of these vast structures. Like Chenonceaux,
it is a watery place, though it is more meagrely
moated than the little chateau on the Cher. It consists
of a large square _corps de logis_, with a round tower
at each angle, rising out of a somewhat too slumberous
pond. The water - the water of the Indre - sur-
rounds it, but it is only on one side that it bathes its
feet in the moat. On one of the others there is a
little terrace, treated as a garden, and in front there
is a wide court, formed by a wing which, on the right,
comes forward.
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