Jo!-jayIno GodgiI LiIJnIy IlIImmDlDIIlD1IImlD GIPE-P1JNE..OO2273 Journeys Through France j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j .lE IlASS. TOE HOCSB OF OUED mEXGl..1t£. j j j j j j j j j Journeys Through France BEING ItMPRESSIONS OF THE PROYINCES LONDON T. F ISH E RUN WIN MDCCQ<CVII 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 [All Ric'lds RunPd.) 1 1 1 1 1 PREFACE. TAINE'S Carnets de Voyage were written by him in three successive years, during the journeys which he made as Examiner for admission to the Military School of Saint-Cyr. They were casual entries in a number of small note-books, generally written with a pencil, and rarely corrected or modified. He frequently stated in his letters that he intended to publish them. If he had done so, he would doubtless have re-cast the text, supplied further particulars, and . re-written certain portions, as he did with his Notes su" Pa,.is and Notes SUr' f Angkt""e, which were based on similar Camels. Meanwhile he utilised a few passages in volumes produced soon afterwards, as in the Voyage en Italie (1866), the Notes su,. Paris (1867), and the brochure on Goethe's1phigen.a. But in 1867 he set to work on his treatise De "Intenigence, a long work which he had contemplated ever since he left the Ecole N ormaIe. The, war viii PREFACE followed, with the downfall of the Empire, and, out of the political and social revolution which these events brought to pass, there arose a France which differed in some respects from that which is described in the Carnels. Thenceforward Taine devoted him­ self entirely to his Orig-fnes de fa France ContemptJYaine, at which he worked without intermission to the end of his life. Thus the little note-books on provincial France remained in the form in which they had been written. The reader must fix the precise dates of these notes for himself. Neither their form nor their substance has been altered; the Author alone could have undertaken such a task. He has himself said: " Ordinairement, on n'a que des commencements de sensations. Pour les avoir parfaites, it faut les corriger, less completer." In the following pages the reader will find imperfect and incomplete im­ pressions; but, such as they are, even where most rudimentary, they will give him some idea as to the quality of the metal and the richness of the vein. CONTENTS. - PART I ..... DOUAI LE MANS 14 LA FLECHE 20 SOLESMES • ~ FROM LE MANS TO &ENNES 33 &ENNES 35 THE MUSEUM AT &ENNES 40 FROM RENNES TO LE MANS AND TOURS 54 BORDEAUX 60 FROM BORDEAUX TO TOULOUSE 66 TOULOUSE. 68 STROLLS IN TOULOUSE • 6<} FROM TOULOUSE TO CEnE 85 CETTE 87 FROM CETTE TO MARSEILLES 92 MARSEILLES 96 FROM MARSEILLES TO LYONS 107 FROM LYONS TO BESANc;ON 117 BESANc;0N. '119 FROM BESANc;ON TO STRASBOt1RG 127 STRASBOt1RG 129 x CONTENTJ. PART II .AGII DOUM REVISITED 13S AKIElfs 138 AN EXCURSION TO SAINT MALO 140 POITIERS • 142 ARCACHON 154 TOULOUSE 1M MOHTPELUER 166 MARSEILLES 171 PROVENCE. 179 BoURG Elf BRESSE: THE CHURCH or BROU 182 BESAH\X>N. 186 NANCY 189 RHEIMS 196 CONTEJo'TS. xi PART III PAGB DOUAI AGAIN 205 LA Ft.EcHE 211 FROM RENNES TO REDON 214 VANNES 2 17 FROM AURAY TO CARNAC 225 THE CATHEDRAL OF NANTES 232 FROM NANTES TO ANGERS 234 THE PICTURE-GALLERY AT ANGERS 235 TOULOUSE. 238 CARCASSONNE 247 C£TrE 252 A VISIT TO AlGUES MORTES 255 FROM ARLES TO MARSEILLES 259 BERRE 270 ORANGE 276 LYONS 280 CROSSING THE JURA 283 STRASBOURG 285 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. I. LE MANS-THE HOUSE OF QUEEIf BtRElfGERE F rt"'ti.rpiece 2. LA FLEcHE Olf THE LoIR Facj"gpage 22 3- THEATRE AT BORDEAUX " 60 ... THE BELFRY AT DOUAI " 136 s. TOULOUSE 162 " 6. MARSEILLES CATHEDRAL " 174 7. RElflfES " 214 8 CETTE " 252 PA.RT I JOURNEYS THROUGH FRANCE. DOUAI. August 20, 1863.-Here are some of the impressions borne in upon me during an after-dinrier walk. Over all there is a distinct sense of comfort, not unlike what one feels in Flanders and in England. Nowhere is one reminded of the petty respectability of the midland towns, with their fussing and over­ reaching activity. Before I left Paris I had witnessed the illuminations of August I S, the crowds in the squares and dusty streets, the white walls, the eager and contorted faces, the sight-seers, domestic servants and working­ men, gathered together for their draught of miscalled pleasure, which cheated them like a cup of adulterated cocoa. I had absorbed the all-pervading odour, the dust and steam of life, the inferno of feverish hurry, the plague of unsatisfied cupidity. But here I found less heat; and on the following day there was rain. The brick-built; steep-roofed houses, in the style of A 2 JOURNEYS THROUGH FRANCE Louis XIII., have solid and lofty chimneys, and vaulted windows with leaden lattice and small panes of glass. Nothing was casual, nothing for mere show, but all for lasting enjoyment There were a few people walking in the streets; a hum of life was just audible; here and there I saw a tradesman in his shop, or a woman reading or gazing about her, dressed in her Sunday frock. She was quite content to adorn herself and rest Everything was clean, and there were frequent signs of good taste; everywhere space and elbow-room, and nb hint of over-crowding. Many houses have something to attract you in their fronts or in their roofs, such as you never see in the regulated mono­ tony of the Rue de Rivoli. These folk may be half asleep, but they are "wann," and their great­ grandfathers were artists. The Scarpe meanders through the town, and creates many a miniature Venice. There were ducks paddling about at their ease; an old lady was watching them from her window, as she sat amongst her flowers. It was a Sunday evening picture. These high rooms and venerable houses present much that is picturesque. Some are reached by steps from the water below; some rise sheer from the canal, which winds about them in curious sort, reflecting their bright red tiles j now and then they DOU..4I 3 are severed by a fringe of garden, and we are refreshed by the sight of a tree. Next day, as I said, there was rain, and at once we had the familiar north-country landscape, with its wan or dissolving mists, snow-white or black as soot, rolling over the red roofs and the masses of green foliage. As soon as the rain has ceased, the indented roof cuts clear into the lightened air, ·and the eye is gladdened by the honest hues of bright uncompromising red. Seen from the ramparts, a score of subjects for Flemish pictures meet the eye. Every house has a tongue; whereas in Paris you have but business streets, ornamental fa~ades, and lodging-houses. What pleased me most was the Scarpe, as it passed through the town like a broad canal. Fresh water always puts new life into me, especially when it flows full between its banks, and is green, and ripples with little waves. The glazed walls, the pretty painted houses, capriciously and irregularly built, glimmer in the water, and put on a new charm of brightness and gaiety. Very welcome to me, fresh from the dust of Paris, was this long clean road, beside the wholesome stream, with scarcely a soul passing by, and in all but complete silence. Still more to my mind is the Scarpe outside the town. Tufted .reeds, the most luxuriant I have ever 4 JOURNEYS THROUGH FRANCE seen, crowd and jostle each other in the ditches beneath the ramparts; the quiet river curves in and out, with long dark sweeps between the double row of poplars, under the big peaceful boats. The river has been turned into a canal, and its tranquillity earned for it that distinction. As I went indoors the setting sun displayed its beauty, and a pink flush spread itself with exultant joy over all the shadowed green. Douai is an old Catholic city, once the seat of a Parliament and a University; they used to call it the Athens of the North. More than one wealthy magistrate, living on his estate in arrogance and ease, invite you to excellently-appointed dinners. Ten or a dozen families give balls every winter. There is no mean economy; many keep their carriage, own land, and live in settled comfort. The younger folk attend classes and lectures. I heard of one professor who lectured to two or three hundred in the winter months, and to a hundred in summer. Here I came across several of myoId friends, X. amongst the number. He occupied a house to himself, with a garden, a gate opening on the river, and out-buildings, at a rent of twelve hundred francs. His wife came from Bordeaux, and they married for love. She had begun to lose her health, but recovered it twice as quickly as she might have done when she obtained permission to many as soon as she was ·/JOUAt 5 well. She received me in a coloured apron, having come straight from the kitchen. She had all the southern volubility. "I live my life indoors. My husband scolds me for it, but I tell him that he likes his food well cooked.