In the immediate foreground, on the
bridge itself, which was not encumbered with a double row of houses,
like the Pont au Change and the Pont Saint Michel, was the fine
equestrian statue of that great and good king, Henri IV, rivalling in
its calm majesty the famous one of Marcus Aurelius, on the Capitoline
Hill at Rome. A high railing, richly gilded, protected its pedestal from
injury by mischievous street arabs, and the deep, strong tints of the
bronze horse and rider stood out vigorously against the appropriate
background formed by the distant hill-sides beyond the Pont Rouge. On
the left bank of the river the spire of the venerable old church
of Saint Germain des Pres pointed upwards from amid the houses that
completely hemmed it in, and the lofty roof of the unfinished Hotel
de Nevers towered conspicuously above all its surroundings. A little
farther on was the only tower still standing of the famous, and
infamous, Hotel de Nesle, its base bathed by the river, and though it
was in a ruinous condition it still lifted itself up proudly above the
adjacent buildings. Beyond it lay the marshy Grenouillere, and in the
blue, hazy distance could be distinguished the three crosses on the
heights of Calvary, or Mont-Valerien. The palace of the Louvre occupied
the other bank right royally, lighted up by the brilliant winter
sunshine, which brought out finely all the marvellous details of its
rich and elaborate ornamentation.
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