to Spa. SPA. 29. Route. 165
71/2 M. Spa. Hotels. Hotel d'Orange, Rue Royale; Hotel de
Flandre, Rue du Vauxhall; Hotel des Pats Bays, Rue du Marche; Grand
Hotel Bkitannique, Rue de la Sauvenifire; Hotel de York, same street;
Hotel de Bellevue, Avenue du Marteau; Hotel de l'Europe, Rue d'Entre
les Ponts; Hotel Baas, Place Royale; Hotel du Midi, Avenue du Mar¬
teau; Hotel de la Poste, Rue du Marche; Grand Hotel des Bains (with
the Rocher de Cancale restaurant), and Hotel de Portugal, both in the
Place Royale; Hotel de Limbocrg, Place Royale; Hotel des Etrangebs,
and many others. Table d'hote generally at 5 o'clock. — Omnibuses
from the principal hotels are in waiting at the station.
Restaur. Cafi de la Redoute, see below; Rocher de Cancale, Place Royale;
others at the Gironslere, the Sauveniere, and the Barisart, all dear.
Carriages and Horses. Ponies ('bidets') are much used. The following
are the usual charges: 'Tour des Fontaines' (a visit to the different
springs) pony 5,» one-horse carr. 6, two-horse carr. 8 fr.; Grotte de Re-
mouchamps 10, 15, 25 fr.; Cascade de Coo 10, 15, 25 fr., etc. — Omnibus
from the station to the town '|2 fr.
English Church Service during the season ; Rev. James Barrison, M. A.,
chaplain; Sunday services at 8. 30, 11. 30, and 7; daily at 8. 30 a. m. —
Handsome new English church to be opened in 1875.
Spa (820—1080 ft. above the sea-level), a small, attractive
looking town with 6000 inhab., prettily situated at the S. base of
wooded heights, consists, like other watering-places, chiefly of
hotels and lodging-houses, while numerous shops and bazaars with
tempting souvenirs and trinkets, a pleasure-seeking throng in
the promenades, and numbers of importunate valets-de-place
and others of a similar class, all combine to indicate that
character which occasioned the introduction of its name into
the English language as a generic term. This, the original
and genuine 'Spa', the oldest European watering-place of any
importance, has flourished for a century and a half, and was
the Baden-Baden of the 18th century, the fashionable resort of
crowned heads and nobles from every part of Europe. Peter the
GTeat was a visitor here in 1717, Gustavus III. of Sweden in 1780,
the Emp. Joseph II. and Prince Henry of Prussia in 1781, and the
Emp. Paul, when crown-prince in 1782; to whom might be added
a long list of members of the noble families of England, France,
Germany, and still more distant countries, who have patronised
Spa and benefited by its waters. After the French Revolution its
prosperity began to decline, but it has of late regained much of its
popularity, and many new buildings have accordingly sprung up.
It is now frequented by upwards of 20,000 visitors annually, nearly
half of whom are Belgians. The pretty painted and varnished
woodwares offered for sale everywhere aTe a speciality of Spa
('bois de Spa').
The town is entered from the station by the Avenue du Marteau
(p. 167), which leads to the Place Royale. The new and imposing
Etablissement de Bains situated here is admirably fitted up (open
from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.). Near it, in the Rue Royale, is the Re¬
doute, corresponding to the 'Cursaal' of German baths, containing
ball, concert, reading, and dining rooms.
Permalink: http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/kbz4q
