In another village there was a wholesale dealer in silkworms'
eggs, imported direct from China. Besides the eggs, he had a host
of Chinese curios to dispose of, besides quaint little objects in
everyday use in China.
Above all there was Grignan, with its huge and woefully
dilapidated chateau, the home of Mme. de Sevigne's daughter, the
Comtesse de Grignan. It was to Grignan that this queen of letter-
writers addressed much of her correspondence to her adored
daughter, between 1670 and 1695, and Mme. de Sevigne herself was
frequently a visitor there.
Occasionally the judges, the Substitut, and I made excursions
further afield by diligence to Orange, Vaucluse, and Avignon,
quite outside our judicial orbit. Orange, a drowsy little spot,
has still a splendid Roman triumphal arch and a Roman theatre in
the most perfect state of preservation. Orange was once a little
independent principality, and gives its name to the Royal Family
of Holland, the sister of the last of the Princes of Orange having
married the Count of Nassau, whence the House of Orange-Nassau.
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