5. From the Louvre to the Place de la Bastille.

The E. part of the Rue de Rivoli (p. 90). beyond the Rue du
Louvre, traversing a congeries of narrow streets, was constructed by
Napoleon III., who desired to facilitate the access of his troops to
the Hôtel de Ville. It intersects the Rue du Pont-Neuf, leading from
the bridge of that name to the Halles Centrales (p. 188), then the
Rue des Halles and the Rue St. Denis, and, finally, the Boulevard de
Sébastopol (p. 84). The Station du Châtelet on the Métropolitain is at
the corner of the Rue des Lavandières-Ste-Opportune (see Appx.,
p. 36).

At No. 144, at the corner of the Rue de l'Arbre-Sec (Pl. R, 20; III), an
inscription records that the Hôtel de Montbazon, where Admiral de Coligny
was killed, once stood there. Here also lived C. Van Loo, the
painter, and the Duchess of Montbazon, mistress of Rancé (d. 1700), who
retired at the death of the duchess and reformed the Order of the Trappists.

In the square at the S.E. corner of the Rue de Rivoli and the
Boulevard de Sébastopol rises the Tour St. Jacques (Pl. R, 23 ;
IV), a handsome square Gothic tower, 175 ft. in height, erected in
1508-22. This is a relic of the church of St. Jacques-la-Boucherie,
first mentioned in a Papal bull of Calixtus II. in 1119, which was
completed under Francis I., and sold and taken down in 1789. The
church was a place of refuge for criminals. The tower is now used
as an observatory. In the hall on the groundfloor is a statue (by Cave-
lier) of the philosopher Pascal (1623-62), who is said to have
repeated from the summit of this tower (or, according to other author-
ities, from the tower of St. Jacques-du-Haut-Pas, p. 321) his ex-
periments with regard to atmospheric pressure. A statue of St. James
the Great crowns the summit. The View from the top of the Tour
St. Jacques is one of the finest in Paris, as the tower occupies a very
central position, but the public are not allowed to ascend except
with a permit obtained gratis at the Hôtel de Ville (daily 11-5). A
fee to one of the keepers of the square will, however, usually secure
admission (preferably between 12 and 3). The spiral staircase has
291 steps. — The Square de la Tour-St-Jacques is embellished
with bronze sculptures of the Rreadbearer, 'Ducks and Drakes' ('Le
Ricochet'), and Cyparissus, by Coutan, Vital Cornu, and H. Plé.

The Squares of Paris, like the great majority of the other promenades
of the city, are both useful and ornamental. Though they have been con-
structed on the model of the London squares, the enjoyment of the gardens
with which they are laid out is by no means confined to a few privileged
individuals, but is free to all-comers. The formation of squares of this sort
has been a prominent feature of the modern street improvements of Paris.

In the Rue St. Martin, a little to the N.E. of the Tour St. Jacques, rises
the church of St. Merri (Pl. R, 23; III), formerly St. Médéric, in the be.'t
Gothic style, although dating from 1520-1612. It possesses a beautiful though
unfinished portal in the Flamboyant style. The interior was disfigured in
a pseudo-classical style by Boffrand (,17th cent.), who was also the architect
of the large chapel on the right. Among the most noteworthy contents
are a large marble crucifix, by P. Dubois, at the high-altar ; two good pictures