The potato was tenderly
cared for and grown as a great novelty and delicacy long before its
introduction to general cultivation by Parmentier. The tomato was
imported from Mexico, and even tobacco was grown....
In 1793 all the symbols and emblems of royalty were removed from
the chateau and destroyed. The celebrated bust of Gaston, the chief
artistic attribute of that part of the edifice built by him, was
decapitated, and the statue of Louis XII. over the entrance gateway
was overturned and broken up. Afterward the chateau became the
property of the "domaine" and was turned into a mere barracks. The
pavilion of Queen Anne became a military magazine, the Tour de
l'Observatoire, a powder-magazine, and all the indignities imaginable
were heaped upon the chateau.
In 1814 Blois became the last capital of Napoleon's empire, and the
chateau walls sheltered the prisoners captured by the imperial army.
CHAMBORD[A]
[Footnote A: From "Old Touraine." Published by James Pott & Co.]
BY THEODORE ANDREA COOK
The road that leads from Blois to Chambord crosses the Loire by a fine
stone bridge, which the inscription sets forth to be the first public
work of Louis Philippe.
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