oX' a'^ "^^ -0- -^ ^^\ '^#' :< ^^ V .#^ v'^'^' OO^ 4 -r. ^\V -^^AW/lj/c A^^ •>^, Oo 'Qp .^^^ ^^ v^ ^^i ^ ~xi. 4 - \5* ; L^ -^^ ^^ .<^ ^. ^.<^ .^"^' ^' ^ ^,A '^"■^.^:'ilN'^ 5^ A oc \^ -*-:,. *. ►.r . •> ^ ',.^'' // C- '%ii5^' ^ -^^^ c> 0" M^%.c^ ^^J RAMBLES IN NORMANDY WORKS OF FRANCIS MILTOUN The following, each i vol., library ismo, cloth, gilt top, profusely illustrated. Net, $2.00; postpaid, $2.16 Rambles in Normandy Rambles in Brittany The Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine The followittg, each i vol., library i2mo, . cloth, gilt; top, profusely illustrated. Postpaid, $2 JO The Cathedrals of Northern France The Cathedrals of Southern France L. C. PAGE l^ COMPANY New England Building, Boston, Mass. Mont St. Michel {See page sS3) Rambles in NORMANDY ■■ ' f. By Francis Miltoun^ ^^^^4 With Many Illustrations By Blanche M c M a n u s 7>t.<5u>t.<2.-^^^-'2K' 7>vX6-tA/v^'"T ■'V ^- t4=s- I55« BDNNIEHES I VERNON PARIS : NANTES 270" • — ATTENTfON ! proportions, even though it may be half a hun- dred kilometres distant. French roads are indeed wonderfully well marked ; and these little blue and white plaques^ The Roads of France 29 put up by the roadside or fastened on the wall of some dwelling at the entrance or the exit of a village or town, must number hundreds of thousands. In these days of fast-rushing automobiles a demand has sprung up for a more striking and legible series of special sign-boards along certain roads, in order that he who runs may read. And so the Touring Club of France, on the great road which runs from Paris through Normandy, to Havre and Dieppe, for instance, has erected a series of large-lettered and abbre- viated sign-boards, which are all that could be desired. Besides these, there are other enigmatical symbols and signs erected by paternal societies of road users which will strike a stranger dumb with conjecture as to what they may mean. They are all essentially practical, however, as the following tableau will show. It is very important indeed for an automobilist or other road user to know that a railway-gate (like enough to be shut) awaits him around a sharp curve, or that a steep hill is hidden just be- hind a bank of trees. Still another class of signs met with by road users in France is most helpful. They, too, shoot out a warning which one may read as he 30 Rambles in Normandy virage avec qioDt^e. Croi^meol dangtreux. Dtsfj^Qtedoyfluseavecmsuvaiy vlfajici liails en ulltie 3ur routs. J^ Passage eo dessous. Uiiiffi!inKitii.tr.Hi«rii!Hn:i in Stance The Roads of France 31 rushes by at high speed; printed in great staring letters, one, two, or three words which one dare not, if he values his life, ignore. Truly one who goes astray or contravenes any law of the road in France has only himself to blame. The chief national roads crossing Normandy are as follows : No. 192 rParis to Havre, by the right bank of the and -i Seine, passing Poissy, Melun, La Roche- 14. [^ Guyon, Les Andelys, and Rouen. 190. Paris to Rouen and Honfleur, by the left bank of the Seine. Paris to Cherbourg, via Evreux and Caen. Paris to Fecamp by Yvetot. Paris to Dieppe. bis. Paris to Tr^port. Paris to St. Malo, via Mayenne. bis. Paris to Granville by Verneuil. Paris to Coutances by Bayeux and St. L6. Paris to Vannes, via Plo6rmel. Paris to Quimper, via Rennes and Lorient. Paris to Brest, via Versailles, Alengon, Laval, Rennes, and St. Brieuc. 32 Rambles in Normandy rParis to Nantes and Paimbceuf, via Ver- " ' ■} sailles, Chartres, Le Mans, Angers, and 1^ Nantes. After the fall of the Roman Empire the magnificent roadways which threaded Gaul in every direction all but disappeared, and for a time the horse was employed only with the saddle, the more or less indolent nobles trav- elling mostly by vehicles drawn by oxen. By the middle ages the horse had come to be admired as a noble animal by virtue of his usefulness in war; but the routes of communi- cation were hardly more than simple tracks and by no means replaced the great rivers, which Pascal had called "ces chemins qui marchent." Indeed the " caches d'eau " had not entirely disappeared from the waterways of France until 1830. The first carriages at all approaching the modern fashion were imported from Italy in the sixteenth century, doubtless by the Medicis. In 1550 there were three, only, in Paris, but under Louis XIV. the roads became more carefully guarded and increased greatly in number. The great carrosses and caleches of the early days were ponderous affairs, a caleche known as a litiere, the precursor of the modern sleep- The Roads of France 33 ing-car, it would seem, having a weight of 2,500 kilos. The following lines well describe it: " C'est un embarras strange, Qu'un grand carrosse dans la fange, C'est presque un village roulant. . . ." Under Louis XV. the carrosse became lighter and the chaise on two wheels came in. Then BE-Rv-DA^E. c/e PO$TL followed cabriolets, herlines, and the poste- chaise, and finally the malle-poste and the dili- gence. The most familiar of all, to those of a few generations ago, and to readers of travel litera- ture, is the diligence. These great carriages apparently had a most respectable lease of life, many having been in 34 Rambles in Normandy- service for a great many years. To-day they have mostly disappeared, and in Normandy and Brittany practically exist not at all, so far as the tourist traveller is concerned, though once and again they may be useful on a cross-country road in order to connect with the railroad. It was only as late as 1760, however, that a public service of these diligences was estab- lished. At that time the coaches left Paris on stated days and travelled with unwonted regu- larity. The diligence to Rennes, in the heart of Bretagne, was timed for four days' travelling, and five days was employed for the journey to the old Breton capital of Nantes, on the Loire. These great carriages, commonly known as ^ ' Royales, ' ' were hung on springs and drawn by eight horses. They did not travel as quickly as the malle-poste, but their rates were somewhat less, and they performed the common service before the advent of steam and the rail. There was nothing very luxurious or grand about them, but they were majestic and pictur- esque, and they sometimes carried a load, in- cluding passengers and luggage, of five thou- sand kilos. Closely allied with roads is the general topog- raphy of a country as shown by its maps. No country has such a marvellous series of The Roads of France 35 maps of its soil as has France. The maps of the Minister of the Interior and the Etat Ma- jor are wonders of the art, and no traveller in Normandy or Brittany, or indeed any other part of France, should be without them. They are obtainable at any bookseller's in a large town, and the prices are remarkably low ; rang- ing from thirty centimes a sheet for the map of the Etat Major, printed only in black, to eighty centimes a sheet for the map of the Minister of the Interior, printed in colours. The following conventional signs will show the extreme practicability of the maps of the Etat Major, which are made on four different scales, the most useful being that of 1-80,000. The maps of the Minister of the Interior are made only on the scale of 1-100,000. Now and then on these great highroads of France, of which those of Normandy and Brit- tany are representative, one passes a headquar- ters or a barracks of the gendarmerie, those servitors of the law, the national police, an organization which grew up out of the men-at- arms or gens d'armes of Charles VII. These great barracks are veritable monas- teries, where the religion of faithful duty to the public and the nation reigns supreme. One never passes one of these impressive establish- 36 Rambles in Normandy ments without a full appreciation of the motto of the knightly Bayard, so frequently graven Route nationals Route depa^tementale Chentiin de fer Route encaissee t Route en chaussee.... """•iiibfciJi'S.*' mmrmwimmwimmm Chemin de fer en cutting -^^^ Chemin de fer enbankin^t Ch.de fer, passage beneath Ch.de fer, passage above Ch.de fer, passage a niveau... Village - Chemin ...., C&nal, River* es' Bptdge Ruisseau Sf* Mill ^.„^^^,<,,A__, m i''iii^?f^^it 'f^TtAf Pria mm: mmt Vhyerj^ Zcjidcs et SmiyeT'KS j^^^^0 Jhjjics «.' Jiz^iif Explanation of the Maps of the Etat Major over their doors: "Sans peur et sans re- proche." The Assembly, in 1790, first instituted this The Roads of France 37 almost perfectly organized police force, and Napoleon himself thought so highly of them that he wrote to Berthier in 1812 : ' ' Take not the police with you, but conserve them for the guarding of the country-side. Two or three hundred soldiers are as nothing, but two or three hundred police will assure the tranquillity and good order of the people at large. ' ' To-day, in times of peace, twenty-seven legions of police assure the security of the country-side; an effective force of about twenty-five thousand men and 725 officers, of whom a comparative few only are mounted. A colonel or a lieutenant-colonel is placed at the head of a legion, a company being allotted to each department. The company is com- manded by a major; then comes the district, placed under the orders of a captain or a lieu- tenant; the section, commanded by a junior officer; and finally a squad with a non-com- missioned officer or corporal at its head. Independent of crime and its details, the police are responsible as well for the mainte- nance of order in general. The pay for all this, it is to be regretfully noted, is not at all commensurate. An un- mounted policeman receives but 2 fr. 81 c. per ^ay^ and if he is mounted but 3 fr. 23 c. per day. CHAPTEE III. THE FOEESTS OF FBANCE The forests of France are a source of never- ending interest and pride to the Frenchman, of whatever station in life. They are admirably preserved and cared for, and a paternal ministerial department guards them as jealously as a fond mother guards her children. No cutting of trees is allowed, except accord- ing to a prescribed plan ; and, when a new road is cut through, — and those superlative road- ways of France run straight as the crow flies through many of the finest forest tracts, — as likely as not an old one is replanted. The process of replanting goes on from day to day, and one sees no depleted forests of a former time, which are to-day a graveyard of bare stumps. If there is any regulation as to tree-planting in these great forests, it would seem, to a casual observer, to be that where one tree has grown before two are to be made grow in its place. 38 The Forests of France 39 There is a popular regard among all travel- lers in France for Fontainebleau, Versailles, and perhaps Chantilly, but there are other tree- grown areas, quite as charming, little known to the general traveller: Eambouillet, for in- stance, and Villers-Cotterets, of which Dumas writes so graphically in '* The Wolf Leader." Normandy has more than its share of these splendid forests, some of them of great extent and charm. Indeed, the forest domain of Lyons, in Upper Normandy, one of the most extensive in all France, is literally covered with great beeches and oaks, surrounding small towns and hamlets, and an occasional ruined chateau or abbey, which makes a sojourn within its confines most enjoyable to all lovers of outdoor life. Surrounding the old Norman capital of Eouen are five great tracts which serve the inhabitants of that now great commercial city as a summer playground greatly appreciated. Game of various sorts still exists; deer in plenty, apparently, together with smaller kinds ; and now and then one will hear tales of bears, which are, however, almost unbelievable. In some regions — the forests of Lou\ders, for instance — the wild boar still exists. The chase for the wild boar, with the huntsmen fol- 40 Rambles in Normandy lowing somewhat after the old custom (with a horn-blower, who is most theatrical in his get-up, and his followers, armed with lances and pikes in quite old-time fashion), is, as may be imagined, a most novel sight. The forests of Roumare and Mauny, occupy- ing the two peninsulas formed by the winding Seine just below Rouen, are remarkable, and are like nothing else except the other forests in France. There are fine roadways crossing and recross- ing in all directions, beautifully graded, with overhanging oaks and beeches, and as well kept as a city boulevard. Deer are still abundant, and the whole impres- sion which one receives is that of a genuine wildwood, and not an artificial preserve. In the picturesque forest of Roumare is hidden away the tiny village of Genetey, which has for an attraction, besides its own delightful situation, an ancient Maison de Templiers of the thirteenth century, a well of great depth, and a chapel to St. Grargon, of the sixteenth cen- tury, built in wood, with some fine sculptures and paintings, which was at one time a favourite place for pious pilgrims from Rouen. Not far away is Henouville, with a sixteenth- century church, lighted by five great windows The Forests of France 41 of extraordinary proportions. The choir en- closes the remains of Legendre, the almoner of Louis XIII., who was cure of Henouville, and whose fame as a horticulturist was as great as that brought him by his official position. The near-by Chateau du Belley and its domain is now turned into a farm. La Fontaine, a hamlet situated directly on the Seine bank, is overshadowed by a series of high rocks of most fantastic form, known as the chair, or pulpit, of Gargantua. The forest of La Londe, of 2,154 hectares, on the opposite bank of the Seine from Eouen, is a remarkable tract of woodland, its oaks and beeches quite reminiscent of Fontainebleau. The trees as a whole are the most ancient and grand of those of any of the forests of Normandy. Two which have been given names are known respectively as Bel-Arsene, a magnificent beech 'of eleven great branches, planted in 1773, and the Chene de la Cote Rotie, supposed to have the ripe old age of 450 years; and it looks its age. The forest of Londe is what the French geographer would describe as pittoresque et accidentee. It is all this would lead one to infer ; and, together with the forest of the Rouvray, 42 Rambles in Normandy exceeds any other in Normandy, except the forest domain of Lyons. At the crossing of the Gresil road is the Chene-d-la-Bosse, having a circumference of three and a half metres ; and, near by, one sees the Hetre-a-V Image, a great beech of fantastic form. Amid a savage and entirely unspoiled gran- deur is a series of caves and grottoes, of them- selves of no great interest, but delightfully environed. Near Elbeuf, on the edge of the forest of Londe, are the Roches d'Orival, a series of rock- cut grottoes and caverns, — a little known spot to the majority of travellers in the Seine valley. Practically the formation begins at Elbeuf itself, onward toward Rouen, by the route which follows the highroad to the Norman capital via Grand Couronne. At Port du Gravier, on the bank of the Seine, is a sixteenth-century chapel cut in the rock, like its brethren or sisters at St. Adrien on the opposite bank, and at Haute Isle, just above Vernon. At Roche-Foulon are numerous rock-caverns still inhabited, and at the Roche du Pignon be- gins a series of curiously weathered and crum- bled rocks, most weird and bizarre. On a neighbouring hill are the ruins of Cha- The Forests of France 43 teau Fouet, another of those many riverside fortresses attributed to Richard Coeur de Lion. The forest domain of Lyons is the finest beech-wood in all France, and its 10,614 hectares (rather more than thirty thousand acres) was in the middle ages the favourite hunting-ground of the Dukes of Normandy. It is the most ample of all the forests of Nor- mandy. There are at least three trips which forest- lovers should take if they come to the charm- ing little woodland village of Lyons-le-Foret. It will take quite two days to cover them, and the general tourist may not have sufficient time to spare. Still, if he is so inclined, and wants to know what a really magnificent French forest is like to-day, before it has become spoiled and overrun (as is Fontainebleau), this is the place to enjoy it to the full. The old Chateau of Lyons, and the tiny ham- lets of Taisniers, Hogues, Heron, and the feudal ruins of Malvoisine, are a great source of pleas- ure to those who have become jaded with the rush of cities and towns. The chateau of the Marquis de Pommereu d 'Aligre, in the valley of the Heron, can be seen and visited, or rather the park may be (the park and chateau together are only thrown open to 44 Rambles in Normandy the public on the fete patronale — the first Sunday of September). Croissy-sur-Andelle is another forest village, and the Val St. Pierre, a sort of dry river-bed carpeted with a thick undergrowth, is quite as fine as anything of the kind at Fontainebleau. At Petit Val is a magnificent beech five and a half metres in circumference, and supposed to be four hundred years old. At Le Tronquay there is a great school, over whose entrance doorway one reads on a plaque that it is — '' Commemorative de la delivrance des pa- roissiens du Tronquay admis a porter la fierte de St. Romain de Rouen, le 5 mai, jour de I'ascencion, de I'anne 1644." At the end of a double row of great firs, lie the ruins of the Chateau de Richbourg, built by Charles IX. La Fenille is a small market-town, quite within the forest, where one may get luncheon for the modest price of two francs, cider and coffee included, if he wanders so far from Lyons-le-Foret as this. Here there are the remains of some of the dungeons and the brick walls of a chateau built by Philippe-le-Bel. The tiny church dates from Lyons-le-Foret The Forests of France 45 1293, and in the cemetery is a sculptured cross of the time of Henri IV. In the canton of Catelier are found the most remarkable trees of the whole forest. One great trunk alone, which was recently cut down, gave over thirty steres of wood; which means nothing as a mere staternent, but which looked, as it was piled by the roadside, to be a mass of timber great enough to fill the hold of a ship. At the source of the Levriere, a limpid forest stream, is the manor-house of the Fontaine du Houx, of the sixteenth century, belonging to a M. Hebert. If one is diplomatic he may get permission to enter to view the bedroom of Agnes Sorel, that royal favourite of other days whose reputation is a bit higher than those of some of her contemporaries. The doorkeeper will gladly accept a tip, so the visitor need have no hesitancy in making the demand, though he will have to choose his words. The old manor is a fine representative of a mediaeval house, surrounded by a great moat and garnished with a series of turrets. The chief features, outside of the apartment in which slept the gentle Agnes, are a fine staircase, a tower with a drawbridge over the moat, and, in the vestibule, a fine tapestry from the Cha- teau de la Haie. 48 Rambles in Normandy Eosay, situated in a charming park, where the Lieure falls in a series of tiny cascades, about completes the list of the forest's attractions; but its hidden beauties and yet undiscovered charms are many. Perhaps some day the forest domain of Lyons will have an artist colony, or a number of them, such as are found in the encircling villages of the forest of Fontainebleau, but at present there are none, though it is belief of the writer that the aspect of nature unspoiled is far better here than at the more popular Fontainebleau. NE3 "^^ J06OUR.3 .SMap of JS/brmQ/?dy m Tf^EPOP 5,VALE.R.Y F EC A M P^ vi -'y i.Avr'-i ,' .. 'A;;" W.'!uW> iS Pten BESSIN Le HAVRE> i^ylVcto LXpr9 ^4 d«v m^ f S..MalL '« Pw7«' TROUVIUL Dives, TCamb, ^. ^ X^K/' III" "Vl "Fr'o'.nfe 7 VvW yj /jMoHtci 3+3r^ X ^>iw'yv' NW"'/i;J VV*'ll'"-^'l yCmbi f7/v7;^.<; bi/crv fx-l.il'1 CHAPTER IV, A TRAVEL CHAPTER To those upon whom has fallen the desire to travel amid historic sights and scenes, no part of France offers so much that is so accessible, so economically covered, or as interesting as the coasts and plains and river valleys of Normandy. , If possible they should lay out their journey beforehand, and if time presses make a tour that shall comprise some one distinct region only; as the Seine valley from Havre to La Eoche-Guyon ; the coast from Treport to Caen, or even Granville, or Mont St. Michel ; or follow- ing a line which runs more inland from Rouen by Lisieux, Falaise, and the valley of the Orne, to the famous Mont on the border of Brittany. They may indeed combine this last with a little tour which should take in the north Breton coast and even cross to the Channel Isles ; but if it is the Normandy coast or the Norman country-side of the Seine valley which they de- 49 50 Rambles in Normandy sire to know fully, and if time be limited, they should confine themselves to either one route or the other. Normandy divides itself topographically into the three itineraries mentioned : * ' The Coast, ' ' " The Seine Valley," and the '' Inland Route." They may be combined readily enough, or they may be taken separately; but to nibble a bit at one, a little at another, and still less at a third, and then rush on to Paris and its dis- tractions, or to some seaside place where brass bands and a casino form the principal attrac- tions, is not the way to have an intimate, per- sonal, and wholly delightful experience of '* la belle Normandie." A skeleton plan of each of these itineraries will be found, and further details of a practical nature also, elsewhere in this book. One's expenses may be what they will. By rail, twelve to fifteen francs a day will amply pay the bill, and by road, on bicycle or auto- mobile, they can be made to approximate as much or as little as one's tastes demand; nor will the quality of the accommodation and fare vary to an appreciable degree in either case. Even the automobilist with his sixty-horse Mercedes, while he may be suspected of being a millionaire American or an English lord, will A Travel Chapter 51 not necessarily be adjudged so, and will be charged according to the tariff of the ' ' Touring Club, ' ' or other organization of which he may be a member. If he demands superior accommoda- tion, a sitting-room as well as a bedroom, or a fire and a hot bath, he will pay extra for that, as well as for the vin superieur which he may wish instead of the ordinaire of the table d'hote, or the cafe which he drinks after his meal. The old simile still holds good. The franc in France will usually purchase the value of a shilling in England. There is not much dif- ference with respect to one shilling; but an appalling sum in a land of cheap travel, when one has let a thousand of them pass through his hands. The leading hotels of the great towns and cities of Rouen, Havre, and Cherbourg rise almost to the height of the charges of those of the French capital itself; and those of Trou- ville-Deauville or Dieppe to perhaps even higher proportions, if one requires the best accommodation. The true peripatetic philoso- pher, however, will have naught to do with these, but will seek out for himself — unless some one posts him beforehand — such humble, though excellent inns as the " Trois Mar- chands," or the '' Mouton d 'Argent." 62 Rambles in Normandy These are the real hotels of the country, where one lives bountifully for six to eight francs a day, and eats at the table d'hote with an informative conunercial traveller, or a keenly mindful small landholder of the country- side, who, if it is market-day, will as like as not be dressed in a black blouse. One criticism may justly be made of many of the hotels in Normandy, though mostly this refers only to such tourist establishments as one finds at Dieppe or Trouville. It is that the table wine is often charged for at two francs a bottle, while it ought to be served without extra charge, and is elsewhere in France. In many commercial hotels this is not the custom, but too frequently it is so, and, considering that the hoteliers of Normandy buy their wine in a much more favourable market, by reason of its cheap transport by sea, than their brethren of Lozere or the Cantal, where wine is never thought of as an extra, it seems somewhat of an imposition to one who knows his France well. The beef and mutton of Normandy is of most excellent quality, coming from fine animals who are only used if they are in the best condi- tion. This statement is made with a knowledge based upon some years' residence, to allay the A Travel Chapter 53 all too prevalent opinion that French meat is of inferior quality, and is only palatable be- cause well disguised in the cooking. This is a fetish which ought long ago to have been burned. The fish one gets in Normandy is always fresh and remarkably varied, as well as the shell-fish {crevettes, meaning usually shrimp or prawns). The oysters are of course famous, for no one ever heard of a Courseulles bivalve which had typhoid tendencies. The railway has proved a great civilizer in France, and everywhere is found a system of communicating lines which are almost perfect. The great artery of the Western Railroad reaches out through all Normandy and Brittany, and its trunk lines to Dieppe, Havre, Cher- bourg, and Brest leave nothing to be desired in the way of appointments and expedition. The only objection, that the economical traveller can justify, is that second and third class tickets are often not accepted for distances under a hundred or a hundred and fifty kilo- metres; and, accordingly, he is forced to wait the accommodation train, which, truth to tell, is not even a little brother of the express-train. If it is any relation at all, it is a stepchild merely. At all events, the railway service throughout 54 Rambles in Normandy France is well systematized and efficient, and Ruskin's diatribe against railways in general was most unholy. Lest it may have been for- gotten, as many of his ramblings have, and should be, it is repeated here. '' Railways are to me the loathsomest form of devilry now extant, animated and deliberate earthquakes " (we know what he thought of bicycles, and we wonder with fear what may have been his strictures on the automobile had he lived a few years longer), '' destructive of all wise, social habits and possible natural beauty, car- riages of damned souls on the ridges of their own graves." This, from a prophet and a seer, makes one thank Heaven the tribe was blind. Travel by rail is a simple and convenient process in Normandy, as indeed it is in all France. There is no missing of trains at lone- some junctions, and the time-tables are admi- rably and lucidly planned. In the larger towns all the stations have a bureau of information which will smooth the way for the traveller if he will not take it upon himself to consult that almost perfect series of railway time-tables found in every cafe and hotel throughout France. He registers his bag- gage and gets a receipt for it, like the ' ' checks ' ' of the American railways, by paying two sous ; A Travel Chapter 55 or he may send it by express (not by freight, for there is too little difference in price), or as un- accompanied baggage, which will ensure its being forwarded by the first passenger-train, and at a most reasonable charge. The economical way of travelling in France, and Normandy in particular, is third class; and the carriages, while bare and hard-seated, are thoroughly warmed in winter, and are as clean as those of their kind anywhere; per- haps more so than in England and America, where the stuffy cushions harbour much dirt and other objectionable things. Second class very nearly approaches the first class in point of price, and is very nearly as luxurious; while first class itself carries with it comparative exclusiveness at propor- tionately high charges. More important, to the earnest and conscien- tious traveller, is the fact that often, for short distances between near-by places, a convenient train will be found not to carry third-class pas- sengers ; and to other places, a little less widely separated, not even second class; although third and second class passengers are carried by the same train for longer distances. This is about the only inconvenience one suffers from French railways, and makes necessary a 56 Rambles in Normandy careful survey of the tinie-table, where the idio- syncrasies of individual trains are clearly marked. Excursion trains of whatever class are de- cidedly to be avoided. They depart and return from Paris, Trouville, Dieppe, or some other popular terminus at most inconveniently un- comfortable hours, and are invariably over- crowded and not especially cheap. The attractions of Normandy for the traveller are so many and varied that it would be practically impossible to embrace them all in any one itinerary without extending its limit of time beyond that at the disposal of most travellers. From Treport, on the borders of Picardy, to Arromanches, near Bayeux, is an almost uninterrupted line of little and big seashore towns whose chief industry consists of catering to summer visitors. From Arromanches to Mont St. Michel, the seaside resorts are not so crowded, and are therefore the more enjoyable, unless one de- mands the distractions of great hotels, golf- links, and tea-rooms. In the Seine valley, beginning with La Eoche- Guyon, on the borders of the ancient royal domain, down to the mouth of the mighty river A Travel Chapter 57 at Havre, is one continuous panorama of de- lightful large and small towns, not nearly so well known as one might suppose. Vernon with its tree-bordered quays ; Giverny, and its artists colony ; Les Andelys with their ' ' saucy castle ' ' built by Richard Cceur de Lion; Pont de I'Arche with the florid Gothic church dedicated to Our Lady of the Arts ; the riverside resorts above Rouen ; Elbeuf with its busy factories, but picturesque and historic withal ; Rouen, the an- cient Norman capital; La Bouille-Molineux ; the great abbeys of Jumieges, St. Wandrille and St. Georges de Boscherville ; Caudebec-en- Caux; Lillebonne; Harfleur; Honfleur, and Havre form a compelling array of sights and scenes which are quite irresistible. On the northeastern coast are Etretat, famed of artists of generations ago; Fecamp with the associations of its ancient abbeys Dieppe ; the Petites Dalles; St. Valery-en-Caux ; Eu with its chateau ; and Treport and its attendant little seashore villages. Inland, and southward, through the Pays-de- Caux, are Lyons-le-Foret, which, as its name bespeaks, is a little forest-surrounded town, quite unworldly, and eight kilometres from a railway; Gournay; Forges-les-Eaux, a de- cayed seaport town ; Gisors ; and the charming 58 Rambles in Normandy little villages of the valleys of the Andelle and the Ept. Follow up the Eure from its juncture with the Seine at the Pont de 1 ' Arche, and one enters quite another region, quite different from that on the other side of the Seine. The chief towns are Louviers, a busy cloth- manufacturing centre with an art treasure of the first rank in its beautifully flamboyant church ; and Evreux with its bizarre cathedral, headquarters of the Department of the Eure; while northward and westward, by Conches and Beaumont-le-Roger to Caen and Bayeux, lies a wonderful country of picturesque and historic towns, such as Lisieux ; Bernay, famous for its horse-fair; Falaise, the birthplace of William the Conqueror; and Dives, where he set sail for England's shores, — names which will awaken memories of the past in a most vivid fashion. Westward of the valley of the Orne lies the Cotentin, with the cathedral towns of Avran- ches, Coutances, and St. L6, and Mont St. Michel, which of itself is a sort of boundary stone between Normandy and Brittany. The monumental curiosities of the province and the natural attractions are all noted in the plans which are here given ; and from them, A Travel Chapter 59 ' - — and this descriptive outline, one should be able to map out for himself a tour most suitable to correspond to his inclinations. There is this much to say of Normandy, in ad- dition : it is the most abundantly supplied of all the ancient French provinces with artistic and natural sights and curiosities, and above all is compact and accessible. There is one real regret that will strike one with regard to the journeyings in the valley of the Seine. There is no way of making the trip by water above Rouen. From Havre to Rouen, one may journey in a day on a little steamer, a most enjoyable trip; and at Rouen one finds the little ' ' fly-boats, ' ' — reminiscent of the bateaux mouches of Paris, — which will take one for a half a dozen miles in either direction for astonishingly low fares. . Pont de I'Arche, however, and Muids, and that most picturesquely situated of all northern French towns, Les Andelys, onward to Tosny, and still up-river, by Port Mort to Vernon, there is no communication by water for the passenger, though the great barges and canal- boats pass and repass a given point scores of times in a day, carrying coal, wine, cotton, and other merchandise, through the very finest scenery of the Seine. 60 Rambles in Normandy A few words on the French language are in- evitable with every author of a book of French travel, and so they are given here. There is a current idea that English is the lan- guage for making one's way about. Try it in Normandy or Brittany, in the average automo- bile garage, the post-office, or the railway sta- tion, or on the custodian of some great church or chateau, and you will prove its fallacy. At Eouen, Havre, or Dieppe, and at the great tourist hotels it is different; but in the open country seldom, if ever, will you come across one who can speak or understand a single word of English; save an occasional chauffeur who may have seen service on some titled person's motor-car in England, and knows ^' all right," '' pretty soon," and '' go ahead " to perfec- tion. The writer notes two exceptions. Doubtless there may be others. At the quaint little Seine-side town of Vetheuil, near La Eoche-Guyon, which fits snugly in the southeast corner of Normandy, one enters the tobacco-shop to buy a picture post-card, perhaps, of its quaint little church, so loved by artists, and there he will find an unassuming little man who retails tobacco to A Travel Chapter 61 the natives and souvenir postal cards to stran- gers while chatting glibly in either tongue. At the Hotel Bellevue in Les Andelys is a waitress who speaks excellent English; though you may be a guest of the house for months and talk in English daily with your artist- neighbour across the table, and not know that she understands a word of what you say, — which surely indicates great strength of mind on the part of this estimable woman, though the circumstance has proved embarrassing. In this connection it is curious to note the influx of English words into the Gallic tongue. Most of these words have been taken up by the world of sport and fashion, and have not yet reached the common people. One can, if he is ingenious, carry on quite a conversation with a young man about town, whom one may meet at table d'hote or at a cafe, either at the capital or in the larger towns, with- out knowing a word of French, and without his realizing that he knows English. '' Gentleman," " tennis," and ^' golf " ; " yacht," '' yachting," and " mail-coach " ; " garden-party," " handicap," and " jochey," — all these are equally well-known and under- stood of the modern Frenchman. '* Very 62 Rambles in Normandy smart " is heard once and again of a '' swell " turnout drawn by a pair of " high-steppers/' For clothing the Frenchman of fashion af- fects " waterproofs,^^ " snow-boots,^^ " leg- gings," and " knickerbockers," and he travels in a '^ sleeping-car " when he can afford their outrageously high charges. When it comes to his menu — more's the pity — he too often af- fects the '' mutton-chop " and the " beefsteak " in the '^ grill-room " of a '' music-hall." The fact is only mentioned here as showing a widespread affectation, which, in a former day, was much more confined and restricted. In the wine country, in Touraine and on the coast, you will hear the " black rot " talked of, and in Normandy, at Havre, you will see a crowd of " dockers " discussing vehemently — as only Normans can — the latest " lockout.''^ All this, say the discerning French, is a mad- ness that can be cured. " Allons, parlons frangais! " that is the remedy; and matters have even gone so far as to form an association which should propagate the French tongue to the entire exclusion of the foreign, in the same way as there is a patriotic alliance to prevent the "invasion etrangere." The Norman patois is, perhaps, no more strange than the patois of other parts of A Travel Chapter 63 France. At any rate it is not so difficult to understand as the Breton tongue, which is only- possible to a Welshman — and his numbers are few. The Parisians who frequent Trouville revile the patois of Normandy ; but then the Parisian does not admit that any one speaks the real French but he and his fellows. In Touraine they claim the same for their own capital. Henry Moisy claims the existence, in the Nor- man's common speech of to-day, of more than five thousand words which are foreign to the French language. The Normandy patois, however, is exceedingly amusing and apropos. The author has been told when hurrying down a country road to the railway that there is plenty of time; the loco- motive '^ hasn't laughed yet," meaning it had not whistled. Again at table d'hote, when one has arrived late, and there remains only one small fish for two persons, you may be told that you will have to put up with '* oeufs a la coque " instead, as there is only '^ une souris a treize chats/' It is not an elegant expression, but it is characteristic. Victor Hugo had the following to say con- cerning Norman French: ' ' Oh, you brave Normans ! know you that 64 Rambles in Normandy your patois is venerable and sacred. It is a flower which sprang from the same root as the French. ^' Your patois has left its impress upon the speech of England, Sicily, and Judea, at Lon- don, Naples, and at the tomb of Christ. To lose your speech is to lose your nationality, therefore, in preserving your idiom you are preserving your patriotism." ^' Yes, your patois is venerable and your first poet was the first of poetes frangais: « Je di e dirai ke je suis Wace de Jersuis." The following compilation of Norman idioms shows many curious and characteristic ex- pressions. The definitions are given in French, simply because of the fact that many of them would quite lose their point in translation. Amuseux. — Faineant, qui muse : " C'est pas un mauvais bomme, seulement il est un brin amuseux." A nnuyt. — Aujourd'hui. " J'aime mieux annuyt qu'a de- main." Andouille a treize quiens (chiens). — Petit heritage pour beau- coup d'h^ritiers ; on dit aussi " une souris a treize cats (chats)." Apanage. — Possession embarrassante ; " Ma chere, c'est tout un apanage de maison a tenir." Chibras — Paquet, monceau, fouillis, amas de choses en d^s- ordre. Se trouve dans Rabelais. A Travel Chapter 65 Quant et. — En compagnie de, " j'm'en vais a quant et t6." A queutee — Rang^e a la queue leu leu, " une a queut^e de monde." Assemblee. — Fete villageoise. Assiette faitee. — Assiette dont le contenu s'^leve au-dessus, en faite, litt^ralement en forme de faite : " C'est un faim- vallier, il ne mange que par assiettes fait^es." Du feur. — Fourrage, vieux mot d'origine scandinave, d'oii vient le fourrier. D's'horains Mot honfleurais ; dans I'ancien langage des marins de Honfleur, on appelait des horains les plus gros cables des navires. Far image, le mot est entr6 et rest6 dans le langage usuel, pour amarre. D'oii la tres jolie locution honfleuraise, dont quelques vieilles gens font en- core usage, sans trop en savoir le vrai sens original. " II a queuq'horain." II est amoureux, il a quelques fortes attaches. Et simplement : " Chacun a ses horains." — Chacun a ses habitudes (en mauvaise part). Crassiner. — Pleuvoir d'une petite pluie fine qui a nom crassin ou crachin et ressemble a du crachat qui encrasse les objets. I's ont te el'ves commes trois petits quiens dans un' manne aupres du feu. /' li cause. — D'un amoureux, il lui fait la cour. Ps park. — Se dit d'un paysan qui cherche a parler le langage de la ville. Le temps est au conseil. — Jolie expression maritime pour dire que le temps est incertain. — Le " conseil " d^lib^re s'il fera beau ou vilain. Se dementer. — Se donner du trouble d'esprit, pour quelque chose. A Villerville, les p§cheurs sont tons des maudits monstres et des maudits guenons, termes d'amiti^. — Les femmes sont des " por'ti coeurs." Pouchiner Caresser un enfant comme une poule son poussin. Adirer. — Perdre, 6garer. 66 Rambles in Normandy Esperer quelqu'un. — Atteiidre. Capogner. — Chiffonner avec force, d^former. Se chairer S'asseoir en prenant toute la place, se carrer. Milan. — Le milieu, le centre (tout au mitan). Le coupet Le sommet (au fin coupet de I'arbre). Binder Rebondir. Patinguet. — Saut. Un repaire. — Se dit d'un homme vicieux. " Ne me parlez pas de celui-la, c'est un repaire." A iiser, ratiser. — Corriger par des coups : " j't' vas ratiser." A touratter. — Enrouler autour ; " I'serpent I'atourottit et I'^touf- fit." Attendiment. — En attendant que; "soigne le pot au feu, at- tendiment que jVas queri du bois." A c't'heure. — Maintenant: A cette heure, vieux frangais employ^ dans Montaigne. D'aveuc. — Avec. Barbelotte — Bgte a bon Dieu, coccinelle. Bavoler — Voler pres de terre ; " i va ch6 d'qui (11 va tomber quelque chose), les hirondelles bavolent." Qu'rt — Qu^rir, chercher. D'la partie. — En partant de la, depuis ; " d'la partie de Pont- I'Eveque, j'sommes venus a Honfleur." A Venrait. — A cet endroit. Filer. — Fouler aux pieds ; " ne m'pile pas su le pied." S'commercer sur, s'marchander sur • Faire des affaires ; *' i s'marchande su' les grains." A loser. — Louanger, dire du bien de. Allouvi. — Avoir une fairn de loup: "j'sommes allouvis." Detourber D6ranger, d6tourner. Crepir. — " I's'cr6pit d'su'ses argots." Se dit d'un coq. A ses accords. — A ses ordres. " Si tu cr6 que j'sis a ses ac cords." A ses appoints. — MSme sens. Demoiselle. — Petite mesure de liquids. Ce qu'une demoiselle pent boire d'eau-de-vie ou de cidre. A Travel Chapter 67 Dans par oil. — Laisser tout dans par oil ; commencer un ou- vrage sans I'achever. Gouhlain Revenant, fantSme, diable des matelots; ils ap- paraissent en mer sous la forme des camarades noy6s. En passant " sous Gr^ce " ou quand on fait le signe de la croix, le goublain se jette a I'eau ; Kobold des conteurs du Nord. Decapler — S'en aller, mourir. " Le pauvre bougre est d6- capl6." Terme maritime. Itou. — Aussi. Une hordee. — Compagnie nombreuse. Eclipper. — Eclabousser. C'est un char de guerre. — Se dit d'une personne brutale. Mgme signiiication que Cerbere, porte de pnson. La terre est poignardee La terre est corrompue. Le monde tire a sa fin. — Pour exprimer r^tonnement d'un fait rare, extraordinaire, une d^couverte. Oil Dieu bailie du train, il donne du pain. — Dieu protege les nombreuses families. Cramail. — Le cou, « prendre au cramail." La belle heure. — "Je ne vois pas la belle heure de faire cela ! " Ce ne sera pas commode. J'va pas voule qa. — Oh I mais non, par exemple. Piece — " J'nai piece : " je n'en ai pas. Heurer. — " II est heur6 pour ses repas." II a ses heures r6- gulieres. Heurible. — Pr^coce. Un pommier " heurible." Ingamo. — " Avoir de I'ingamo," avoir de I'esprit. Cceuru. — Qui a du coeur, dru, solide. Faire sa bonne sauce. — Presenter les choses a son avantage. Pas bileux. — Qui ne se fait pas de bile. D'un bibet il fait un elephant. — II exagere tout. En cas qu'fa se. — En cas que cela soit, dubitatif ironique, pour : cela n'est pas vrai. Cousue de chagrin. — Une fille cousue de chagrin, elle ferait pleurait les cailloux du chemin. Suivez le cheu li. — On dit que c'est un brave homme ; avant 68 Rambles in No rmandy de le croire, suivez-le chez lui. Dans rintimit6, Ton se montre ce qu'on est. Plus la haie est basee, plus le monde y passe. — Plus vous etes malheureux, moins on a d'^gards pour vous. Les filles, les pretres, les pigeons, No salt ben d'oii qu'i viennent. No n'sait point ou qu'i vont. N'y a CO qu'se a ses noces. — II n'est rien de tel que soi-mgme pour veiller a ses int6rets. L'ergent pa s'compte deux fe'. — L'argent se compte deux fois. Veux-tu etre hureu un jour ? Saoule t6 ! Veux-tu gtre hureu trois jours ? Marie t6 ! Veux-tu etre hureu huit jours ? Tue tan cochan ! Veux-tu etre hureu toute ta vie ? Fais t6 cur6 ! With the English tourist, at least, the Nor- man patois will not cause dissension, if indeed he notices it at all — or knows what it's all about, if he does notice it. Every intelligent person, of course, is fond of speculating as to the etymology of foreign words and phrases ; and in France he will find many expressions which will make him think he knows nothing at all of the language, pro- vided he has learned it out of school-books. Many a university prize-winner has before now found himself stranded and hungry at a railway buffet because he could not make the waiter understand that he wanted his tea served with milk and his cut of roast beef underdone. French colloquialism and idiom are the stum- A Travel Chapter 69 bling-blocks of the foreigner in France, even if he is college bred. The French are not so prolific in proverbs as the Spanish, and the slang of the boulevards is not the speech of the provincial Frenchman. There are in the French language quaint and pat sayings, how- ever, which now and then crop up all over France, and as an unexpected reply to some simple and grammatically well-formed inquiry are most disconcerting to the foreigner. A Frenchman will make you an off-hand reply to some observation by stating '' C'est vieux comme le Pont Neuf/' meaning '^ it's as old as the hills," and '' bon chat, hon rat," when he means " tit for tat," or *' sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. ' ' If you have had a struggle with your auto- mobile tire, or have just escaped from slipping ,off the gangplank leading from a boat to the shore, you might well say in English, " That was warm work." The Frenchman's comment is not far different; he says, " L' affaire a ete chaude." " Business is business " is much the same in French, " Les affaires sont les af aires," and '' trade is bad " becomes '^ Les affaires ne marchent pas." " He is a dead man," in French, becomes, '' Son a f aire (or son compte) est fait." The Frenchman, when 70 Rambles in Normandy he pawns his watch, does not " put it up " with his uncle, but tells you, " J'ai porte ma montre chez ma tante." '' Every day is not Sunday " in its French equivalent reads, '' Ce n'est pas tous les jours fete." '^ He hasn't an idea in his head " becomes '^ II a jete tout son feu," and, paradoxically, when one gets a receipt from his landlord that individual writes, '^ pour acquit." A fortune, in a small way, awaits the per- son who will evolve some simple method of teaching English-speaking people how to know a French idiom when they meet with it. Truly, idiomatic French is a veritable pitfall of phrase. PART n CHAPTER I. THE PROVINCE AND ITS PEOPLE GTaul in the time of Caesar included Nor- mandy in its general scheme, as is shown by the ancient names, — that of the Lexovii, at Lisieux; the Bajocasses, at Bayeux; the Unelli of the Cotentin; the Ambivariti, at Avranches ; the Veliscasses of Vexin and Eoto- magus (Rouen), and the Caletes of the Pays de Caux. It was many centuries before all these peoples were welded together under one stable govern- ment, the Franks only predominating toward the end of the fifth century, after they had van- quished the Romans at Soissons, in Belgica, in 486. Normandy formed one of the four ancient provinces of transalpine Gaul known to their founder, Augustus, as Lyonnaise. Since it bordered upon the Manche, or what is other- wise known as the English Channel, the '' an- 73 74 Rambles in Normandy cient land of Lyonnese " is known to geolo- gists as forming a fragment of what was one day the mainland of Europe. In our later day the only attempt at the pres- ervation of this ancient name was in the dis- tribution of the ecclesiastical provinces of France previous to the Revolution, when the archbishop who had his throne at Rouen ex- ercised his rights through all the northern province of the Lyonnaise of Augustus. Later ancient Gaul became again divided, so far as the present limits of France are con- cerned, into four great divisions, of which Neustria, a vast triangle between the mouth of the Escaut, the source of the Seine, and Bretagne, which included the whole of Nor- mandy, was one of the most important. The Neustri Kingdom {ne-ost-reich, the king- dom which is not of the east) was fur- ther distinguished from the Ostrasien by man- ners and customs which were climatically influenced to differ from those of the ost reich, which were manifestly Germanic. In 1789 the Assembly reconstructed the map of France — the great rhomboid of France, as the French school geographies put it — into eighty-three departments, when Normandy was dismembered to form the Departments of Cal- The Province and Its People 75 vados, Orne, Manche, Eure, and the Lower Seine. d:^partement8. PEiFECTUBES. sous - PREFECTURES. Lower Seine. Rouen. Havi-e, Yvetot, Dieppe, Neufchatel. Eure. Evreux. Bernay, Pt. Audemer, Louviers, Les Andelys. Manche. St. L6. Cherbourg, Valognes, Coutances, Avranches, Mortain, Orne. Alengon. Domfront, Argentan, Mortagne. Calvados. Caen. Vire, Bayeux, Falaise, Pont r;6veque, Lisieux. Normandy, as a powerful independent state in the middle ages, was greatly helped by its natural advantages. Its great spread of territory, along the Chan- nel coast between the Bresle and the Couesnon, for a matter of six hundred kilometres, has its shore lined with numerous creeks and val- leys and marked by jutting fangs of rock, with here and there a sand-spread shore lying be- neath a chalky cliff. Upper Normandy was the name given to that portion of the province lying to the eastward, and Lower Normandy to that lying to the west- 76 Rambles in Normandy ward; the dividing line being the Pays d'Auge, lying between the valleys of the Touques and the Dives. Upper Normandy is a series of plateaus, not unlike Picardy and Artois. The streams run through deep valleys which divide these plateaus into distinct blocks, each with a strik- ing individuality. To the west is the Pays de Caux, which has for a subdivision a restricted region between the Bresle and Dieppe known as the Petit-Caux. Dieppe, Havre, and Rouen are the three angles of this elevated plain, which, on its west- ern boundary, is bordered by the Seine, where a great promontory known as the Nez de Tan- carville juts out into the river. To a great extent these plateaus are de- prived of water, but the valleys have a super- abundance. Along the coast of Upper Normandy are the famous seaside resorts of Treport-Mers, Dieppe, Veules, St. Valery-en-Caux, Petites Dalles, Fecamp, Yport, and Etretat. In the interior is the curious Pays de Bray, between the valleys of the Ept and the Andelle. This is a part of the ancient Vexin, of which the Isle of France also held a portion as well as Normandy; the old divisions being known The Province and Its People 77 as '* Vexin Frangais," and '* Vexin Nor- mand. ' ' Westward of the Seine is the Plain of St. Andre, and between the Eure, the Avre, and the Iton is the Campagne du Neubourg. The Roumois lies between the Eure, the Iton, and the Risle, and the Pays d'Ouche between the Iton and the Charentonne, while the Lieu- vin borders on the Risle and the Touques. The Pays d'Auge, between the Touques and the Dives, is also a fragment cut from the same plateau which lies to the eastward. Throughout Upper Normandy are innumer- able forests, preserved to-day from reserva- tions of a former time and guarded carefully by a solicitous government. These are principally the forests of Eu, Arques, Bray, Lyons (an enormous tract), Les Andelys, Vernon, Bizy, Louviers, Pont de I'Arche, Londe, Roumare, and Rouvray (op- posite Rouen), Jumieges, Trait-St. Wandrille, Beaumont, Ivry, Evreux, and Touques. In Lower Normandy the topography and configuration change completely. It contains innumerable little streams and rivers, and it is more uniformly elevated than in the east; the plateaus averaging between one and two hundred metres above sea-level. 78 Rambles in Normandy The Orne and the Vire are the chief water- ways among this multitude of rivulets, very few of which, except the two former, are navi- gable to any extent. The chief districts here are : The Campagne de Caen, the Pays du Bessin, the Bocage, the Cotentin, and the Collines de La Perche — whence come the Percherons. The whole region is most delightful, abound- ing in charming river scenery, valleys, and wooded tracts of oak, beech, and pine. The coast of these parts is more sombre and austere than that to the eastward, though none the less delightful, the Nez de Jobourg and Cape de la Hague being as unpeopled and as little known to tourists as if they were in Lab- rador. For the most part the climate of Normandy is the same as that which prevails throughout the lower Seine valley; in general moderate and without extremes of heat or cold, and yet quite different from the climate of America, which Eeclus, the geographer, has apportioned to Brittany. Frequently, in the valley of the Orne, the early mornings are thick with mist which makes those charming views which artists love; while, in the valley of the Auge, and in Bessin, The Province and Its People 79 there is undoubtedly too much rain, as there is in some parts of the Seine valley, while at Les Andelys, thirty miles away, there is a notable absence of it. Generally speaking, it rains more frequently on the coast than in the interior of Normandy. The Cotentin peninsula possesses the mildest climate of all, favouring that of Brittany to a great extent, owing to the proximity of the Gulf Stream. So mild is it here that myrtle, camellias, and fuchsias grow in the open air, which they do not in other parts of the prov- ince, unless well sheltered and cared for. Properly speaking, France has no northern frontier, though the coast which borders the Strait of Calais and the Channel is quite as vulnerable and open to attack as it has been in times past, and as is the German frontier of Alsace and Lorraine. The mementos of war along the shores of the English Channel are numerous indeed. From St. Malo to Dieppe, the corsairs fre- quently attacked. At Dives the JSieet of Will- iam the Conqueror set sail for the shores of England, and Harfleur was the place of land- ing of Edward III. of England in 1346. The English occupied Cherbourg for a long period, and in 1415 Henry V. disembarked at Har- 80 Rambles in Normandy fleur, near the mouth of the Seine, at the begin- ning of that campaign which terminated at Agincourt. At the month of the Seine, Francois I. founded Fran§oisville, later Havre de Grace, which for a time was in the hands of the Eng- lish, and was three times bombarded during the wars of Louis XIV. and Louis XV. St. Malo, Cherbourg, and Dieppe also suffered in the same way. The dividing of the old historical provinces of France into administrative departments, after the Eevolution, was a most ingenious work. The idea was then, and always has been, to foster local pride and love of country, prov- ince, and district, and for this reason the nomenclature of the new departments, carved out of the old provinces, was most convenient and suitable. It could not have been better done, for the names of local, physical, and topographical features, such as rivers, mountains, and pla- teaus were used to distinguish them. Thus, whilst he is a Breton, and a French- man, the native of the Morbihan may have quite different emotions and sentiments from one of Finistere; and the peasant of the Pays de The Province and Its People 81 Caux, known as a Cauchois, is quite a different person from the peasant of the Cotentin. These political divisions are now as famil- iarly impressed upon the French mind as were the old names of the provinces, and a son of the Aube or the Eure will fraternize to-day with none of those jealousies which formerly rankled between the Bourguignon and the Norman. After the division into the old provinces, of which the residents of Normandy and Brit- tany were as proud as any, came the knead- ing together after the Revolution of those widely divergent influences which go to make up modern France. The affairs of the departments — of which the ancient Normandy, as we have seen, made five — are administered by a Prefet appointed by the President on the suggestion of the Minister of the Interior. Each department is made up of many dis- tricts, of which the smallest number is four, if one excepts the poor, rent fragment known as the Territory of Belfort — all that is left of the former Department of the Upper Rhine. The district, of which there are 362 in France, has its affairs administered by a Sous-Prefet. He is nominated by the President of the Re- 82 Rambles in Normandy public and is subordinate to the Prefet of the department. The district is made up of many cantons, the smallest number being eight. The canton com- prehends, usually, many communes, the small- est number being twelve. It forms a group, which, popularly speaking, enjoys a certain form of self-government, under a commis- sioner, who is, of course, directly responsible to the Sous-Prefet of his district. There are, throughout France, 2,865 cantons. The commune represents the smallest ter- ritorial division recognized in the economic conduct of the French governmental affairs. There are in the neighbourhood of 36,000 in France, and they usually comprise a city or large town, with its surrounding villages, ham- lets, isolated dwellings, and farms. The affairs of the commune are adminis- tered by the mayor and common council. In the capitals of the department, district, or can- ton, the mayor is nominated by the President of the Republic, and in the other communes by the Prefet. The city of Paris, however, has a special administration of its own. The ancient province of Normandy, after it had been confiscated and welded to the royal The Province and Its People 83 domain of Philippe- Auguste (1204), enjoyed many unique rights; of which the chief was the privilege of its inhabitants to be judged on appeal to their own supreme court, which sat at Rouen. The peasants of the country-side had always rebelled against royal despotism, for which reason their individuality was most pronounced. Upper Normandy had Rouen for its capital, and Lower Normandy, Caen. This last city possessed a university and long remained the intellectual centre of the province. To-day its five departments, the Lower Seine, Eure, Calvados, Orne, and Manche, have their ecclesiastical metropolis and archbishop at Rouen, with suffragans and bishops at Ev- reux, Bayeux, Sees, and Coutances. From ' ' The French Drawn by Themselves, ' ' of Bedolliere, one learns that ' ' the Normans are the Anglais of France, but in industry only." Jal says briefly: " The peasants of Nor- mandy have a great love for the bonnet of cotton." Bedolliere continues with the statement that ** the costume of the Norman women is varied to the infinite, but all, down to the fille d'au- herge, have the instructive science of coquef- terie.^^ 84 Rambles in Normandy " The Norman will never answer you di- rectly," says another; '' yes and no are dif- ficult replies for him to make to one's question." " The Norman is the Gascon of the north and the Gascon is the Norman of the Midi," one reads, also. La Fontaine carried the simile still further, though it is difficult to follow his argument ex- actly : " Les serments des Gascons et des Normands passent peu pour mots d'Evangile." A similar vein is the following Norman sup- plication which some cynical Frenchman has invented or unearthed from a hidden source: " Lord, I ask you not to favour me with good things. I merit not that which thou would 'st give; but tell me only where they are and I will go and take them. ' ' The inhabitants of Normandy have unques- tionably a strong individuality, " above all," says a local chronicler, " good sense and good judgment." The one would seem to include the other, but that is the way it is put. The Norman is always serious and always practical. Some call him an evil-doer, but he is hardly that. He is, however, exceedingly economical. He deplores exaggeration of all sorts; is seldom or ever gay with that aban- ■-^'^I^^Sr" A Woman of Normandy The Province and Its People 85 don one sees in the Midi or even in Touraine; he adores the sentiments of the old regime, even though it may have been his grandfather who lived under them; and he never ceases to struggle to defend the reputation of his country in all things. To-day he lives in a polit- ical hatred of change, something akin to the spirit which feared not Eichelieu when provin- cial liberties were in danger. « Est ce le loyer attendu Pour avoir si bien d^fendu La couronne des rois de France, Et pour avoir par taut de fois Remis et lys en assurance Centre I'Espagnole et I'Anglais ? " With the Revolution it was much the same. Whatever may have been Norman sympathies, she demanded less of those responsible for the overthrow than any other of the old provinces of France. All that Normandy stood for in the past, liberty and equal rights, were offered; but the province remained faithful in spirit during the sombre days of the Terror — and to-day the native will emphasize the fact by recalling to your memory the heroism of the young girl of Caen who stabbed Marat. 86 Rambles in Normandy ** The Normans," it has been said, — by a Parisian, of course, — ' ' are tolerant ; the Bre- tons fanatical; " and in a way this describes the two peoples very well. Most geographies, and many guide-books and histories, omit all mention of the etymology of place-names. This is greatly to be regretted ; from the former and the latter they ought never to be omitted, and they should be included in the guide-books as well. In a work like the present it is interesting to know something of the early nomenclature of a place whose present name bears at least some resemblance to its former appellation. Not always has such information been in- cluded, from lack of space. But it might well be made a part of every work which attempts to purvey topographical or historical infor- mation. Every one knows, or maybe supposed to know, that the Breton is from Brittany, and the Gas- con from Gascony; but how many among the untravelled can put their finger on that spot on the map of France where live the Cevenoles, the Tricastins, or Cauchois; or, for that mat- ter, can locate with exactness the country of the Comminges, the Caux, or the Cotentin? With France, more perhaps than any other The Province and Its People 87 nation on the globe, names of places have a great romantic and patriotic significance. Little by little geography and history have given circulation to some which perhaps are indissolubly impressed upon the mind; but the foreigner — meaning, of course, those who are not of France — never, until he has delved below the surface, knows a tithe of the mean- ing of the well-nigh sacred devotion which the native has for these glorious titles which have become so identified with the national and life history of the people of France. With the Frenchman it is something more than local pride and patriotism. It is the country first, his town or place of birth next, then his present domicile, and, lastly, his own person. As with the topographical aspect, so with the inhabitants themselves. Great diversity obtains; and, in '' these little lands of strangers," as it has been delicately and sug- gestively put, the Frenchman of one locality is, except for a general likeness of speech and manner, almost as much of a stranger as the foreigner in race. The Norman has little or nothing in common with the Provencal; the native of French Flanders still less with the men of the Midi; 88 Eambles in Normandy and those of the north not much of the feeling and spirit which actuates the life of those in the south. This is, perhaps, unique among modern na- tions; and, while to-day this diversity does not exist on such lines of stringent demarca- tion as formerly, the difference is still there in a lesser degree. Even though all are Frenchmen, they still pride themselves in proudly asserting their right to be called a Norman, a Gascon, a Bour- guignon, or a Languedocian ; without confound- ing, at the same time, their love of France, the great mother country. It is interesting to note that it is perhaps a survival, rather than a modern interpolation, which accounts for most peculiar local customs met with in a journey across the country. Normandy has two neighbours which in former warlike times loved her but little, the Pari- sian and the Breton. To-day the Parisian no longer fears that Eouen may become the capi- tal of France, but the Breton still feels some of the old rancour of contempt for him he calls the " wicked Norman." Furthermore, the peoples of the two neighbouring provinces of Normandy and Brittany resemble each The Province and Its People 89 other not at all; nor ever will so long as old customs and traditions endure. Normandy was divided into Upper Nor- mandy and Lower Normandy. There were formerly many separate districts, and are still, for tradition has by no means wholly left these parts. The country of Caux, between Eouen and Dieppe, which took its name from its first in- habitants, is the chief. The etymology of the word is considerably mixed. Caex, Cauex, and the Celtic Kalet all come to the fore. The earliest inhabitants were known as Caletes, which in later times became Cauchois. To-day one mostly sees the Cauchoises in their quaint cloaks and head-dresses on the quays at Cau- debec, or in the markets at Yvetot or Duclair. A physiological memorandum is found in the fact that the Cauchoises of eighteen years, when they open their mouths, show very bad teeth; which in all other lands is an indica- tion of decrepitude. Here in Caux, however, it is supposed to come from the abundant indulgence in cidre, which, by its corrosive properties, attacks the enamel of the teeth. France has never been considered a prolific country, but here in this corner of Normandy 90 Rambles in Normandy the contrary seems to be the case. A Rouen daily journal published recently a notice of a matter which was just then attracting the at- tention of the Society for the Protection of Children. It seems among eight mothers of Yvetot, whom in recent years it had helped, there were forty-nine children. "When inter- viewed, one fond mother made the following statement : " Yes, monsieur, I have eleven children all brought up by myself and all living. I ex- pect a twelfth ! As you see, they are all blonds. Here is my eldest. Eighteen in the month of May. Is it not fine? She works with me in the fields. The three boys work at the forge with their father. There is another an appren- tice to a saddle-maker, and there are six at school." The society makes a gift of forty francs upon each birth. Surely a patriotic encour- agement. The chief of the separate districts of Lower Normandy is the peninsula of the Cotentin. The Cotentin was the ancient pagus Constan- tinus. Its capital was Constancia, which by process of evolution readily became Coutances. It is celebrated for its rich pasturage and the The Province and Its People 91 fine cattle which it breeds. The inhabitants are known as Cotentins or Cotentines. " The Cotentin race with regard for all reason is the type laitier par excellence,^ ^ wrote Arthur Young in 1789, who was mostly taken with the milk-giving qualities of the Cotentin cow, but who was an astute observer of many things, nevertheless. The Avranchin is another district of Lower Normandy, known anciently as the pagus Ab- rincatinus. Its inhabitants are known as Av- ranchais. They were further qualified by the sobriquets of Bouiderots and Bouilieux, prob- ably because they were employed for the most part in the salt-works built on the shores of the bay of Avranches, where they boiled the salt water dry of its moisture and recovered the salt from great cauldrons of copper. There is an old proverb which says : ' ' Let the Auvergnats return to their pastures, the Normans to their fishing, the soldiers to their warfare, and the children to their games." Bocage is a separate district in the Depart- ments of the Orne and Calvados. Its capital was Vire. Bocage took its name in a round- about way from the German word Busch, which in Norman French is hose, which comes from hois, meaning, in this case, a forest, from which 92 Rambles in Normandy in turn becomes hosquet (sort of arbour), bu- cheron (a wood-chopper), and finally Socage. From a French source one learns that Bocage is the least productive part of all Normandy, and its workmen and peasants, known as Bo- cains, are the most laborious. There is a charming little tale of the Bocage, by Anatole France, called '' The Cure's Mi- gnonette, ' ' which tells the story of a dove who came to a cure and brought untold blessings upon his parish. It is but a slight tale, but quite worth looking up for its charming senti- ment. Of the women of this part of Normandy the following remark by Arthur Young, the agri- culturist, who wrote a century and a quarter ago, is pertinent. Writing from Caen, he says : ' ' I could not but remark an uncommon num- ber of pretty women. Is there no antiquarian that deduces English beauty from the mixture of Norman blood? " He was a profound agri- culturist, Arthur Young, and he wrote mostly of cabbages, departing occasionally into the realms of kings, but pretty women seem to have pursued him, or he them, for a bit farther on in his delightful " Travels in France," he says: '' Supped at the Marquis d'Ecougal's at his The Province and Its People 93 chateau La Frenaye " (Calvados). " If that French marquis cannot show me as good crops of corn and turnips as I would wish, there is a noble one of something else — of beautiful and elegant daughters, the charming copies of agreeable mothers." Robert Wace, the Norman poet (1120-80), put the following words into the mouth of Will- iam the Conqueror as he lay on his death-bed. They characterize the Norman of those times as faithfully as do the romances of Flaubert and the contes of Maupassant to-day. « En Normandie e gent moult fiere, Je ne sai gent de tel manieve Normant ne sunt proz saint justise Foler et plaisier lor convient ; Se reis soz piez toz terns les tient, E ki bien les def alt et poigne, D'els parra fare sa besoigne. Orgueillos sunt Normant 6 fier Evant^or 6 bombancier ; Toz terns les devreit Ten piaisier Kar mult sunt fort a justisier." The gent moult fiere of Normandy proved his ancient strength eight hundred years later at Bernay, when three hundred of the National Guard stopped the advance-guard of the Prus- sian army under General Bredow three leagues 94 Rambles in Normandy from the town. It was a daring thing to have done, since the Prussians were in overwhelming numbers, and the town was mulcted to the tune of a hundred thousand francs for the valour of its citizens, as a contribution of war. The French coast is ever a source of joy and pride to the Frenchman; and no part in all its twenty-nine hundred kilometres is more fre- quented by summer dwellers by the sea than the strip along the Channel and the Strait of Calais from Dunkerque to Brest. Picardy, Normandy, and Brittany all have their partisans; but the shores of Normandy and Brittany are the ideal spots wherein the Frenchman loves to while away a summer's day. No country of Europe, unless it be Greece, has its coast-line more deeply serrated than France. Brittany is rocky, Normandy high with its chalk cliffs, and Picardy populous with wind-swept dunes of sand and shingle. Each presents a distinct variety of attractions. The downs of the north are the real lower country; but all this changes as one comes up with the Norman border. Then come great chalk cliffs, grass-crowned, and at their feet a pebbly strand. Occasionally granite ledges crop out, as they do in Brittany, until one The Province and Its People 95 reaches the Bay of Mont St. Michel, where the real Breton coast-line begins. Cap de la Heve, which shelters Havre on the northeast, is one of those freaks of nature which have a great interest for the geologist and the geographers. It is the same great chalky cliff that we find on the south coast of England, and eastward toward Etretat, where are those wonderfully carved picture-rocks, so loved of painters of a former day. Here on the northern edge of the ancient district of Caux, the vociferous waves and cur- rents of the British Channel eat up the coast- line at the rate of a couple of metres a year, sometimes in one place and sometimes in an- other. These great, chalky cliffs continue westward to the Cotentin peninsula; or would continue did not the Seine estuary rend them in twain with its mighty flow. At Trouville advantage has been taken of the formation, and a modern roadway built which, in its way, quite rivals the celebrated arch of the Riviera. At present it serves merely the purpose of the gay life of Trouville, and automobiles, omnibuses, and motor-cycles rush around its death-dealing curves and sharp de- 96 Rambles in Normandy scents, to their great risk, and causing an oc- casional death. There is a flaring red danger-board, a guide- post and telephonic communication with a red cross hospital plainly set out in view, but even this does not check the recklessness of the road- users in these parts. Just beyond Trouville is Dives, from whence departed the fleet of the Conqueror in his de- scent upon England. To-day, the port is choked by the debris thrown into it by the sea. Gradually the chalk cliffs give way to sand- dunes or high-rolling greensward, until Gran- ville is reached on the other side of the pen- insula. Throughout all this extent the coast-line is dotted here and there with long stretches of sand and pebbles, which once and again have been turned into popular resorts, where inland France comes to enjoy the sea-breezes. How many French affect this sort of a holi- day it is impossible to say; but they seem to have a decided preference for the northern shore, and are quite as great devotees to the seaside — as it is known to Americans, and watering-places, as the English call it — as those of other nationalities. Trouville and Deauville, with perhaps Co- The Province and Its People 97 boiirg, are the most brilliant and fashionable of these resorts in Normandy, though there are many others of lesser repute and decidedly quieter. The western coast of the Cotentin peninsula has for its chief centre the picturesque old and new towns of Granville, which face the great islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, and Sark, the Channel Isles of the English, and the lies Normandes of the French. This western shore-line of the peninsula marks the boundary between Normandy and Brittany at Pontorson, the gateway to Mont St. Michel; of blessed memory to tourists for its old fortress-abbey — and Madame Pou- lard 's chickens and omelets. a Tjig granite isles of La Manche," as the French geologists call them, comprise the Chan- -nel Islands, which belong to Great Britain, and the lies Chausey, a hideously terrible forma- tion of jagged toothlike rocks which would prove a veritable ocean graveyard, were they but in a line of direct travel. A few miserable fishermen's huts are the sole habitations on this bleak, wind-swept island; but the pictur- esque desolation of it all will quite make up for the lack of other features, if one is ven- turesome enough to make the journey by sail- 98 Rambles in Normandy / boat from Granville, and is prepared to rough it in the same manner as do the Cotentin fishermen themselves. The Rocher des Moines and the Roches dn Rhinoceros are quaint and gaunt indeed, but one wonders — as usual with regard to such fantastically named topographical features — where the resemblance comes in. The coast-line of Normandy is generally high, cut once and again into canyon-like val- leys, the chief of which are those of the Ault, Bresle, Arques, St. Valery-en-Caux, Fecamp, and Etretat. Treport lies at the mouth of the Bresle, and Dieppe at the mouth of the Arques. To-day the commerce of other days on this coast is threatened. Dieppe has held its own as a fishing port, perhaps, and in a way, so has Treport; but there is no deep-sea traffic now of any size between Havre and Boulogne, save the cross-channel passenger traffic be- tween Dieppe and New Haven, and the Terre Neuve fisheries of Fecamp. There have been rumours from time to time of the establishing of a deep-sea canal between Dieppe and Paris, but the project is too vision- ary for serious consideration, and the great waterway of the Seine is certainly all-sufficient. The Province and Its People 99 From the Cape of the Heve to Cape Barfleur extends the delta of the Seine, or the Bay of Calvados as it is sometimes known, — the vast delta of the Seine. The Bresle is a lively little river which purls away the seventy kilometres of its length be- tween the hills of Picardy and Normandy, and passes Aumale and Eu, to finish its course in the Channel at Treport. The Arques flows gently down fifty kilometres of one of the richest valleys of Normandy, and enters the sea at the busy cross-channel port of Dieppe. Its confluence is made up of the streams of the Varenne, Bethune, and Eaulne. Between the mouth of the Seine and Cape of the Hague is the Touques, which comes down by Lisieux and Pont I'Eveque, for a hundred kilometres, and finishes at Trouville ; the Dives, 'with a waterway of a hundred kilometres also ending on the coast at Dives; the Orne, which comes to the sea at Caen, after 150 kilometres through rich pasture-lands ; the Seniles and the Drome, two tiny rivers of Calvados, and the Vire, of 130 kilometres ; the Douves ; the Taute ; the Divette ; and the See and the Selune of the Cotentin. From St. Malo, eastward to the north of the Somme, is a particularly vulnerable coast-line. 100 Rambles in Normandy which, in times past, was frequently attacked by the cross-channel brethren of the Normans. To-day, however, with strong defences at Cher- bourg and the forts at Hogue and Havre, and others at Dieppe, there is little likelihood of its being again invaded without warning, though the memories of Gisors (1119), Crecy, (1346), and Agincourt (1415) die hard. The gateways to the rich Norman country- side are both numerous and ample, however; and it may be depended upon that the dis- tribution of the French army is such that ample protection is afforded to such important en- trances as Granville, Caen, the little rivers Dives and Touques, and the galaxy of towns and cities lying above and below the cliffs at the mouth of the Seine, to say nothing of Dieppe and Fecamp, and the cities of the Seine valley itself. CHAPTEE II. NORMAN INDUSTRIES Normandy is still a land fertile and rich, as well by nature and the product of the soil, as by the industry of her people. The following charming lines by Frederic Berat are appreciative. « J'ai vu les champs de I'Helv^tie, Et ses chalets et ses glaciers ; J'ai vu le ciel de I'ltalie Et Venise et ses gondoliers ! En saluant chaque patrie Je me disais : aucun s^jour N'est plus beau que ma Normand C'est le pays qui m'a donn6 le jour." Not alone from this does one infer the prom- inence which the province holds, and has held in industrial and economic affairs since the time when Henry II. really broke the power of the Norman barons ; but there are self-evident intimations at every turn of one's footsteps, l?p:hether by the highroads or by the by-roads. 101 102 Rambles in Normandy ■ ' It is difficult to imagine what France would have been to-day had it not been for the dis- aster of the Franco-Prussian war, the rebuff of Fashoda, and the unrest attendant upon the Dreyfus affair. France has held her own remarkably, when one considers the depression which periodically falls upon other European nations. Still, there is a great influx of foreign influ- ences to France which, in all but individual manners and customs, is making itself felt. The English who have settled here in the great woollen industries in Normandy, at Lou- viers, Elbeuf, and in the neighbourhood of Rouen, are a notable indication of outside in- fluence; but still more so is the recent advent of things American, to say nothing of the forty thousand persons who form the permanent American population of Paris. American farming machinery is seen every- where, and if the American automobile has found no place in France, American machine tools are greatly in use in the manufacture of the horseless carriages of France. The French are to-day wearing and copying the fashions in American boots and shoes almost exclu- sively, and are imitating the Americans in their habits and customs of travel. Norman Industries 103 A universal English innovation one sees everywhere is tea; but it is not the afternoon variety, except in the case of the " five o' clocks " of the Paris boulevards. Your Frenchman drinks his tea — and likes it very much, apparently — after his dinner. Other folk have the idea that this tends to sleepless- ness, but not so the French. In a recent number of a French journal de- voted to travel an admiring and appreciative Frenchman says: " The English and Americans come in great numbers to our land, and travel hither and thither over our great railway lines. They spend their money liberally, and to them we owe the opportunity of doing all that we can to facilitate not only their travel, but to make pleasant their stay amongst us. We should re- construct the sanitary arrangements of our hotels, and encourage the circulation of in- formation with regard to places of interest." And all this the French are doing, and if it is coming but slowly, so far as the country-side is concerned, it is most surely coming, and to- day no more delightful travel-ground is to be found in all the world than France, and Nor- mandy and Brittany and Touraine in particu- lar. 104 Rambles in Normandy This, then, is one of the industries that is an important one in France, and the coming of the automobile and the revival of travel by road will do much for the increased prosperity of the genuine market-town inns of Normandy. In the Seine valley, in the heart of Nor- mandy, has sprung up a cotton and woollen manufacturing industry of immense propor- tions. Much of the wool is a local product, but large quantities of it in the raw state are brought from the river Plata; while at the wharves of Rouen are vast warehouses filled with cotton from the Southern States of Amer- ica, ready to be worked into cloth by the busy looms of France. The woollen mills of Elbeuf and Louviers are now turning out worsteds and cloth for men and women's clothing of a quality and quantity quite rivalling that of Bradford, in England, in the olden times. As far back as 1780-90 Arthur Young wrote of a visit to a great woollen manufac- turer of Louviers, where he saw '' a fabric un- questionably the first woollen in the world, if success, beauty of fabric, and an inexhaustible invention to supply with taste all the cravings of fancy can give the merit of such superiority. Perfection goes no farther than the Vigonia Norman Industries 105 cloths of M. Decretot." This, from an Eng- lishman born and bred in the Midlands, is praise indeed. The country to the west of Evreux forms the very heart of Normandy. It is a region of rich farms, great prairies, and apple orchards, in which apple-trees are set out twenty-five or thirty to the acre. Nowhere more than in the Plain of St. Andre and the country district of Neubourg, which immediately environs Evreux, is there to be found anything more character- istically Norman. Little by little great pasture-lands have been made into tilled fields, to the prosperity of the individual and the nation as well. Were the English farming peasants able and willing to work small holdings in England in the same way, who knows but what prosperity might come to the small farmer there? Through these rich lands of the Departments of the Eure, Orne, and Calvados flow the Eure, the Iton, the Eisle, the Touques, the Dives, and the Orne, which nourish them abundantly, and give a thriving aspect to the towns and coun- try-side alike. That Normandy is so plentifully watered, accounts for its bountiful pasture- lands and prairies ; which, by a process known to all the world, produces most abundant 106 Rambles in Normandy supplies of butter and cheese, to say nothing of such by-products as the cattle themselves. It is doubtful if the cattle-raising industry of itself has a tithe of the economic value and importance of the trade in milk products, which in some parts of Normandy is of tre- mendous proportions. The butter of Gournay (Lower Seine), of St. L6, and Isigny is famous throughout England and France, while the savoury cheeses — above all the Camembert and the Pont 1 'Eveque — are exported to all ends of the earth. A good cow in the Pont 1 'Eveque country produces cheese to the value of 350 francs a year; and at Li- sieux, the centre of the Camembert industry, as much as five hundred francs worth in value. Agricultural machinery is coming fast into use, and increased crops are the result. In 1862 there were but 10,850 reaping-machines in France, but their number is now more than quadrupled. In a country where nearly fifty per cent, of its inhabitants follow agricultural pursuits, this may be considered as of some significance. The Cotentin cow gives as much as twenty- five litres of milk per day. With the cows of the Cotentin and the horses of La Perche lies the chief glory of the product of Normandy *^— ,^ V ^v.'' \ •"* - A r J- "• u 5&;. i 1 ■£\^„^m^^\f^ ' , '^^ ^■.■^^.-aihi. jVl.llgi^CP'^^ii', 4 ^^^^M^SEki ^ 1 p^^^Kp^^- ^MBl^^/iv^^^^^B^siP'^^^' !'> ^9^^^^Hi< 't/^^H^^P'^^^'l^ ^Mi ^PPr\ ^|^Bm»B^^^ '^ Jf' - 1 r ^^^■B^^^9SSSl i''! % J]'' - ^9 ,1 ^^^^^^UWMrSi^^'^^!^ .l^Si. r' 1 1^ "'^IBS l^^ft' 1 /I Xgf.\E^ ^iiIMBB^ irmifiTi 1 ^ KIv''' ^^^V^^^'^ ' ^^c' , '-s^ 1^ ^^^^'":;j^: :;^^3| \J ^ 3\i| 1 L ^^ ^HB^!^^^^^.-jiini[SiSii!i gji/ ^ ■ 1 \ Nonnan Industries 107 to-day. The industry of horse-raising in Nor- mandy is most prosperous in the valley and Department of the Orne. Northwestern France produces three races of horses, the Percheron, the Merlerault, and the Breton. The Percheron is mostly raised in La Perche, the Merlerault is a crossing of the Norman with English stock ; and the Breton is a hardy little animal, not at all beautiful to look at, but, nevertheless, a most useful and economical animal to own, which is saying a good deal in its favour. The chief horse-trading centres in Normandy are Alen§on, Vernon, Bernay, and Mortagne. In general, the cattle of Normandy are fa- mous for the quality and richness of their flesh none the less than for their products, and the Norman beef and mutton are much in de- mand in the markets of Paris. The market-towns of Normandy are very numerous and important, but they are by no means so picturesque as are those of the south of France, or even of the cities and towns along the Loire, or in Brittany. Market-day is more of a matter-of-fact, hard-headed com- merce, with the Norman peasant, than it is an opportunity for a day in town. To the market the Norman peasant and his wife come to sell and to buy, in a tilt-cart, 108 Rambles in Normandy usually attached to an ancient-looking, though not decrepit, white horse, who is used to only moderately long journeys. As a matter of business the peasant leaves his home by nine in the morning — the height of the market usually being just before midday. By nine, then, all is ready, — the eggs in the pannier, the chickens in their baskets, and the cheeses and butter between crisp, cool leaves of beet-root or cabbage. Crossing the courtyard, a door is opened, disclosing the old harness hung on its iron nail. Soon it is on the back of the old white horse, and he is marched forth to be at- tached to the shafts of the great, high, two- wheeled tilt-cart, which seems very unsteady. When the baskets are all finally disposed, and the peasant and his wife are seated, it seems even more so; but as no one has ever seen it overturned, the Norman peasant's cart must be a most satisfactory vehicle. There is one event which comes off period- ically in Normandy, which has never had much prominence given to it from the outside, and that is the fair at Guibray, — a suburb of Fa- laise, the birthplace of the Conqueror. Next to the great fair at Beaucaire, of which Dumas writes in ' ' Monte Cristo, ' ' the fair at Guibray is the greatest in all France ; and is of the pop- Norman Industries ' 109 ular order of the trading-fair at Nijni-Nov- gorod in Russia. At Guibray the event has been held for many, many years, though of late its importance has fallen somewhat away. A hundred years ago merchandise was sold to the value of 100,000,- 000 francs, while at Beaucaire the sales some- times totalled 500,000,000. Besides this, Normandy has the great horse- fair of Bernay, held at the Fete des Rameaux (Palm Sunday), the most famous and largest of its kind in France. These great fairs of Normandy are one of the most interesting of all the attractions to the stranger. No one should expect to find a town at its normal aspect on one of these occasions, and sightseeing of the conventional order is out of the question at such times ; but, on the other hand, one's gain is great, if he is a lover of such assemblages. Oftentimes the whole town will be found to be given over to the great local event, with the churches and musees closed, and the tables d 'botes overcrowded. Artists and lovers of new sensations, es- pecially, will not mind this, for these local fairs and holidays will furnish much amusement and edification that would otherwise be missed. 110 Rambles in Normandy Colour and noise and life is everywhere. Everything smacks of gaiety and good nature, and for the most part it is distinctly local. Parisian costumes and manners have no place here, and one must be prepared to take things as he finds them. The almanacs and local journals will give particulars of these events, and one can avoid them or not as is his mood. One cannot, how- ever, claim to have really seen Normandy un- less he has attended at least one fair. Normandy is one of the greatest wheat- growing sections of France. Every plain, valley, and hillside is literally covered with it. In the midst of all this agrarian industry are set many towns and villages alive with an in- dustry of another sort. On the Avre, at No- nancourt, are the great spinning mills of M. Waddington, whose name and fame as a natu- ralized Frenchman are world-wide. At Evreux are great establishments which manufacture linen, cotton-stuffs, hosiery, and kindred prod- ucts in vast quantities ; while at Bayeux, Alen- Qon, Argenton, and Caen lace is manufactured on a large scale. Again, cotton and woollen stuffs are produced at Elbeuf, Louviers, and Rouen; leather at Pont Audemer and Evreux; yarn and thread at Bernay, Alengon, Mortagne, Norman Industries 111 Lisieux, and Vire, and pins and needles at Rugles and Laigle. In addition, the fisheries and oyster cultures of Normandy are very great; likewise the coastwise shipping, to say nothing of the trans- atlantic traffic of the great liners from the ports of Havre and Cherbourg. Out of Fecamp go many deep-sea fishermen ^ J/f ^i ■v.-''