Suddenly it appears, the towered and embattled mass, lying so low
that the crest of its defences seems to rise straight out of the ground;
and it is not till the train stops, close before them that you are able to
take the full measure of its walls.
Aigues-Mortes stands on the edge of a wide etang, or shallow inlet of the
sea, the further side of which is divided by a narrow band of coast from
the Gulf of Lyons. Next after Carcassonne, to which it forms an admirable
pendant, it is the most perfect thing of the kind in France. It has a
rival in the person of Avignon, but the ramparts of Avignon are much less
effective. Like Carcassonne, it is completely surrounded with its old
fortifications; and if they are far simpler in character (there is but one
circle), they are quite as well preserved. The moat has been filled up,
and the site of the town might be figured by a billiard-table without
pockets. On this absolute level, covered with coarse grass, Aigues-Mortes
presents quite the appearance of the walled town that a school-boy draws
upon his slate, or that we see in the background of early Flemish
pictures--a simple parallelogram, of a contour almost absurdly bare,
broken at intervals by angular towers and square holes.
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