endowed with them. In the little hillside town of Joigny, near Auxerre, is an astonishing affair; a house whose principal facade is bent around a street corner and covered with an elaborate network of carved, grimacing timbers that take the form of the Tree of Jesse. The brickwork and the carving on this house merit all the available superlatives, and were not the writer a timid and
cautious correspondent, it would here be set down, save for its fanciful framework which is open to criticism, as just about the finest example of timber and brick construction in France.
A varied few houses are here shown, with an attempt to reveal some of the differences in construction. The antique shop in Compiegne is a surprisingly complete affair. There seems to be
no discordant note anywhere. The red and white checkered curtains, drawn in at the middle with a broad strip of ribbon, the rather banal wood carving, the spreading old wrought iron shop sign, even the lettering carved and gilded on the lintels, all were in a state of perfect, too perfect, preservation. There had to be some explanation, and a camouflaged interview with the portly “patron”
revealed it. The movies had restored all the ailing portions to make an authentic background for some of the lively scenes in the French version of “The Three Musketeers. ”
One spot in Beauvais, the sunny Place Jeanne Hachette, has been appreciated and zealously cared for by the natives, with the result that one obtains a very fair idea of how a medieval public square
FROM ORIGINAL SKETCHES BY SAMUEL CHAMBERLAIN