Descending the Rue Mabillon a few paces, we come to the Market St. Germains, where formerly flourished the great fair under the same name.  It was built in 1811 on a most commodious plan, and has every requisite that can be thought of for the convenience of a market, with an extremely handsome fountain in the middle, which the visiter should not omit to observe.  Quitting the Market by the Rue Montfaucon brings us in front of the prison of the Abbaye, in the Rue St. Marguerite, now only used for confining military offenders; here it was that some of the greatest horrors were committed during the Revolution, it has a small turret at each corner, and seems to be a building of about two hundred years standing.  Not many yards off is the very ancient church of St. Germain des Pres (vide page 61), which has often been pillaged, burnt, and otherwise injured, but the lower part of the tower is coeval with the foundation, 558.  The document relative to the establishment of the monastery and church is still preserved amongst the archives of the kingdom, and bears the date 561.  The nave is simple and of the time of Abbot Modardus, in the year 900; additions and repairs have been made at different periods, but in many instances the style of architecture displays its early date, the capitals of the pillars are remarkable for the grotesqueness of the devices.  There are some pictures of merit, and many interesting tombs, one of Casimir, the King of Poland, who abdicated his throne in 1668, and died abbot of the monastery attached to the church in 1672, also of the Duke and Earls of Douglas and Angus.  The Abbot’s palace still stands at the east of the church, in the Rue de l’Abbaye, directly facing the Rue Furstemberg; it was built in the year 1586 by Cardinal Bourbon.  It is a large heavy-looking red brick building faced with stone, with a large garden behind; it is at present let out to different tenants.

We shall now descend the Rue Furstemberg, and taking the Rue Jacob, to the right shall get into the Rue de Seine, and mounting the little Passage du Pont-Neuf, one of the oldest in Paris, we find ourselves opposite the Rue Guenegaud cited by Sterne, as also the Quai Conti, on which stands the Mint or Hotel des Monnaies, a very extensive building and rather handsome; it was built in the reign of Louis XV in 1771, after designs furnished by M. Antoine; an entablature supported by ionic columns forms the principal front, with six statues of Peace, Commerce, Prudence, Fortitude, Plenty and Law.  On the right is a noble staircase ascending to apartments fitted up with the splendour of a palace.  The collection of coins and medals here are extremely interesting, the first are two of Childebert, the dates being 511-568, and they are nearly complete of the respective kings up to the present day, amongst others are some of the gold pieces of 10 louis, each of the reign of Louis XIII, very large and beautiful.  A medal of Charlemagne of most exquisite execution,