eleven o’clock in summer
These ridiculous fortifications , preyed upon by ivy and crowned with wild gillyflowers , are about as high and as thick as the walls of a convent , and could be demolished by gunshot . They have several openings , the principal of which , the Porte de Rome and the Grand ' - Porte , afford access to the Nice road and the Lyons road , at the other end of town . Until 1853 these openings were furnished with huge wooden two-leaved gates , arched at the top , and strengthened with bars of iron . These gates were double-locked at eleven o'clock in summer , and ten o'clock in winter . The town having thus shot its bolts like a timid girl , went quietly to sleep . A keeper , who lived in a little cell in one of the inner corners of each gateway , was authorised to admit belated persons . But it was necessary to stand parleying a long time .