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THE MOTOR ROUTES
OF FRANCE
TO THE CHÂTEAUX OF TOURAINE, BIARRITZ, THE
PYRENEES, THE RIVIERA, AND THE
RHONE VALLEY
ALREADY PUBLISHED IN THE
SAME SERIES
MOTOR ROUTES
OF ENGLAND
SOUTHERN SECTION
(South of the Thames)
With 24 Illustrations in Colour
Cloth, =5s. net= (by post, 5s. 4d.)
Leather, =7s. 6d. net= (by post, 7s. 10d.)
“The touring motorist ... will find Mr. Home exactly the sort of
companion who will add sensibly to the pleasures of the day’s run.
All along the main roads he gossips brightly of history,
architecture, and archæology, and manages to convey a large amount
of information without being unpleasantly didactic.”--_Pall Mall
Gazette._
TO BE PUBLISHED SHORTLY
MOTOR ROUTES
OF ENGLAND
WESTERN SECTION
A. AND C. BLACK, SOHO SQUARE, LONDON
AGENTS
AMERICA THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
64 & 66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK
AUSTRALASIA OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
205 FLINDERS LANE, MELBOURNE
CANADA THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LTD.
27 RICHMOND STREET WEST, TORONTO
INDIA MACMILLAN & COMPANY, LTD.
MACMILLAN BUILDING, BOMBAY
309 BOW BAZAAR STREET, CALCUTTA
[Illustration: CHARTRES.
The Cathedral towering above the old roofs of the city from near the
Porte Guillaume.]
THE
MOTOR ROUTES
OF FRANCE
TO THE CHÂTEAUX OF TOURAINE,
BIARRITZ, THE PYRENEES, THE
RIVIERA, & THE RHONE VALLEY
BY
GORDON HOME
WITH
16 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR, 16 IN
BLACK AND WHITE, AND 60 MAPS & PLANS
[Illustration]
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK
SOHO SQUARE, LONDON · MCMX
‘O’er the Flaminian way he bade the axle glow--
For there, our young Antomedon first tried
His powers, there loved the rapid car to guide.’
JUVENAL.
PREFACE
The fascination of a motor tour through France can scarcely be
exaggerated. It is a country eminently suited to the new method of road
travel, for with the spaces between the towns traversed by wide national
ways going to their objectives as straight as the contours of the
country will permit, no one feels that the presence of a rapid car is
destroying the peace or beauty of the neighbourhood. And yet in the tour
described in this book there is a huge diversity of scenery, from the
wheat plains of the North to the mountains and sea of the South.
Great pains have been taken to embody in the small compass of a book
that will easily slip into an overcoat pocket all that is essential for
the motorist to know both before and during the tour. At the same time,
the large clear type of the first volume of this series has been
retained in order that there may be no difficulty in reading while the
car is in motion.
Dr. Kirk’s practical notes are the result of much experience, and they
need only be supplemented by a word as to hotel charges. In _every_ case
the wise tourist discusses prices with the manager or proprietor before
he takes his car into the courtyard or garage. By doing so he knows
exactly what his bill will amount to in the morning, and he is quite
sure of no overcharge. If no arrangement is made on arrival, one must be
prepared for any charge, _notwithstanding the prices given in guides or
the hotel books published by the Touring Club de France_.
For those who either do not possess cars or do not wish to take their
own abroad, the simplest method is to hire a car in England. The
author’s experience of hiring from the Daimler Company has been so
satisfactory that he is glad of this opportunity of recommending their
cars. To Mr. A. H. Hallam Murray the author is greatly indebted for
permission to reproduce four of his delightful pictures from ‘On the Old
Road through France to Florence.’
As in the previous volume of this series, a list of dates of prominent
events in French history and of the Kings of France is given in the
Appendix.
The author would greatly appreciate any suggestions for improving the
book, and would much like to hear of any inaccuracies which may have
crept in.
GORDON HOME.
_43, Gloucester Street,
London, S. W._
CONTENTS
SECTION PAGE
I. HAVRE TO ROUEN, DIEPPE TO ROUEN, AND CALAIS
AND BOULOGNE TO ROUEN 1
II. ROUEN TO EVREUX 27
III. EVREUX TO CHARTRES 50
IV. CHARTRES TO ORLEANS 62
V. ORLEANS TO TOURS 80
VI. TOURS TO POITIERS 116
VII. POITIERS TO ANGOULÊME 138
VIII. ANGOULÊME TO BERGERAC 152
IX. BERGERAC TO MONT-DE-MARSAN 167
X. MONT-DE-MARSAN TO BIARRITZ 175
XI. BIARRITZ TO PAMPLONA AND SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN 193
XII. BIARRITZ TO PAU 218
XIII. PAU TO ST. GAUDENS 227
XIV. ST. GAUDENS TO CARCASSONNE 241
XV. CARCASSONNE TO MONTPELLIER 254
XVI. MONTPELLIER TO AIX-EN-PROVENCE 272
XVII. AIX-EN-PROVENCE TO CANNES 292
XVIII. CANNES TO SAN REMO 305
XIX. AIX-EN-PROVENCE TO AVIGNON 324
XX. AVIGNON TO VALENCE 320
XXI. VALENCE TO ST. ÉTIENNE 346
XXII. ST. ÉTIENNE TO MOULINS 356
XXIII. MOULINS TO BRIARE 364
XXIV. BRIARE TO MELUN 375
XXV. MELUN TO ST. GERMAIN-EN-LAYE 383
XXVI. ST. GERMAIN-EN-LAYE TO GISORS 390
XXVII. GISORS TO ROUEN 400
XXVIII. GISORS TO DIEPPE 417
HINTS ON TOURING IN FRANCE, BY JOHN L. KIRK 420
FRENCH AND ITALIAN ROAD WARNINGS 426
A TABLE OF THE DATES OF THE CHIEF EVENTS IN FRENCH
HISTORY 430
INDEX 435
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
IN COLOUR
1. Chartres _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
2. Caudebec-en-Caux 12
3. The Towers of St. Ouen, Rouen 40
4. The Road near Rouen 49
5. Amboise 105
6. The Château of Chenonceaux 112
7. The Limestone Cavern on the Road near Mas d’Azil 248
8. The Pyrenees in Spring 257
9. Narbonne 265
10. The Castle at Tarascon 272
11. On the Coast of the Estérels 305
12. Cap Martin 312
13. The Mouth of the Roya at Ventimiglia 321
14. An Arched Street in Apricale, Italy 328
15. The Roman Arch at Orange 344
16. Château Gaillard, Normandy 412
IN BLACK AND WHITE
1. Rouen Cathedral from the South 57
2. Approaching Chartres 64
3. Old Gabled Houses at Tours 121
4. The Street of Narvate 128
5. Shoeing a Bullock in the Basque Country 201
6. One of the Gates of Pamplona 208
7. The Limestone Gorge in the Pyrenees between
Pamplona and Tolosa 217
8. The Fortified Bridge at Orthez 224
9. A picturesque Corner of St. Lizier 243
10. The Cloisters at St. Lizier 246
11. On the Ramparts of the Cité of Carcassonne 259
12. The Arcaded Square of Mirepoix 262
13. The Greek Theatre at Arles 289
14. The Romanesque Bridge at Avignon 296
15. The Tour de l’Horloge at Moulins 361
16. The Fifteenth Century Fireplace in the Hôtel du
Grand Cerf at Le Grand Andely 368
IN THE TEXT
Plan of the Château of Blois, p. 95.
How Biarritz was visited in 1813, p. 188.
Twenty-eight Route Maps.
Thirty-one Town Plans.
AT END OF BOOK
Folding Map of France, showing all the routes described and other
alternative routes to which some reference is given.
THE MOTOR ROUTES OF FRANCE
ERRATA
The amount of ‘£48 10s. 0d.’ on page 420 _should read_ ‘£89 3s. 4d.’;
and the grand total at the foot of the page _should be_ ‘£102 16s. 4d.’
(OMITTING JUMIÈGES, 89 KILOMETRES)
DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE
Kil. Miles.
=Havre= to Harfleur =7= 4½
=Harfleur= to Lillebonne via
St. Romain de Colbosc =29= 18
=Lillebonne= to Caudebec =16= 10
=Caudebec= to Jumièges =14½= 9
=Jumièges= to Duclair =7= 4½
=Duclair= to St. Martin Boscherville =9= 5½
=St. Martin Boscherville= to Rouen =11= 6¾
THE MOTOR ROUTES OF FRANCE
TO THE CHÂTEAUX OF TOURAINE, BIARRITZ, THE PYRENEES, THE RIVIERA, AND
THE RHONE VALLEY
SECTION I
HAVRE TO ROUEN, 58¼ MILES
(93½ KILOMETRES)
(_OMITTING JUMIÈGES, 89 KILOMETRES_)
DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE
Kil. Miles.
=Havre= to Harfleur =7= 4½
=Harfleur= to Lillebonne via
St. Romain de Colbosc =29= 18
=Lillebonne= to Caudebec =16= 10
=Caudebec= to Jumièges =14½= 9
=Jumièges= to Duclair =7= 4½
=Duclair= to St. Martin Boscherville =9= 5½
=St. Martin Boscherville= to Rouen =11= 6¾
DIEPPE TO ROUEN, 36 MILES
(58 KILOMETRES)
DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE
Kil. Miles.
=Dieppe= to Tôtes =29= 18
=Tôtes= to Maromme =24= 15
=Maromme= to Rouen =5= 3
BOULOGNE TO ROUEN, 109½ MILES
(176 KILOMETRES)
DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE
Kil. Miles.
=Boulogne= to Montreuil (via Samer) =35= 21½
=Montreuil= to Abbeville =40= 25
=Abbeville= to Neufchâtel =56= 35
=Neufchâtel= to Rouen =45= 28
CALAIS TO BOULOGNE
1. By the coast =39= 24
2. By Marquise =36= 22
NOTES FOR DRIVERS
=Harfleur.=--On the way to St. Romain, a long ascent, with four
turns.
=St. Romain de Colbosc.=--Steam tramway.
=Lillebonne.=--After leaving the town, a steep ascent, with sharp
bends.
=Caudebec-en-Caux.=--A long, winding descent; 5 kilometres farther, a
dangerous level crossing (_passage à niveau_).
=Canteleu.=--Steep, winding descent into Rouen for 3 kilometres.
=In bad weather=, when the roads are likely to be sticky and greasy,
the route by the Seine described here is often troublesome to
motorists, and those who wish to avoid such inconvenience, and have
perhaps travelled through Caudebec before, are advised to go
through Bolbec and Yvetot to Rouen.
PLACES OF INTEREST ON THE ROUTE
=Havre.=--Second port of France; founded in 1514 by order of François
I. Church of Notre Dame, Early Renaissance.
=Graville.=--Suburb of Havre; eleventh century church of the Abbey of
Ste. Honorine.
=Harfleur.=--Picturesque old town; flamboyant church, with fine spire
and north porch; old houses.
=Lillebonne.=--Small town in a pretty valley; Roman theatre; castle,
thirteenth century, with slight remains of the Norman predecessor,
in which the Conqueror held his council for the invasion of
England.
=Caudebec-en-Caux.=--Extremely picturesque old town on the Seine;
streets full of old timber houses and a rich flavour of
medievalism. Church commenced in 1426; exceedingly rich in
sculpture; magnificent spire.
=St. Wandrille.=--Ruins of a Norman abbey in a beautiful valley.
=Jumièges.=--Stately ruins of the Norman abbey church; museum in the
abbey grounds.
=St. Martin Boscherville.=--A picturesquely situated village on
sloping ground, with a great church built in the eleventh century;
it is considered the finest and most complete Norman church in
France.
In spite of the fact that Havre is a port of such magnitude, and that
its tonnage approximates to a quarter of that possessed by France, one
is dependent on the state of the tide for disembarking a car when, after
the night crossing, one finds the ship tied up to the Grand Quai.
Instead of the ranges of dock-sheds and the giant cranes of Southampton,
the ship seems to be lying along the side of a second-rate French
street, and one looks in vain for the great steel arm that should
silently let down a hook to lift the car like a toy from the ship’s
lower deck. So if the tide should be low, one must wait until the deck
is level with the quay--a delay more often than otherwise a boon to a
party adjusting itself and its luggage for a long tour.
Although Havre is an infant port when compared to Marseilles, with its
founding by the Greeks, there are things worth remembering about the
place. When Rollo with his Norsemen in their black-sailed ships hovered
at the mouth of the Seine in preparation for their attack upon Rouen,
there was no Havre, and it was not until six centuries had passed that
François I. gave the order to Guillon le Roy, the Commandant of
Harfleur, on the opposite shore of the estuary of the Seine, to
construct a port for great ships, owing to the necessity for an ocean
seaport after the discovery of America. In 1514 the making of the port
began, and its growth has been continued up to the present day.
[Illustration: TOWN PLAN NO. 1--HAVRE.
_Walker & Boutall sc._]
Of the original town and its defences nothing is left, for even the old
tower of the château in which Cardinal Mazarin imprisoned the Princes of
Condé and of Conti, and the Duke of Longueville, has gone, and the only
relic of the century that saw the birth of the city is the Church of
Notre Dame. It stands in the Rue de Paris, near the Grand Quai, and is a
mixture of the last flicker of Gothic and of Renaissance architecture.
The building would appear to be the successor of the original Church of
Notre Dame de Grâce, founded for the sailors of the port, which then
bore the title of Le Havre-de-Grâce. In 1562 the Huguenots invited the
English to enter the town, and the church tower was used as a gun
platform, so that an effective fire on the royal camp could be
maintained. But the townsmen paid for this by having the spire and walls
of their church taken down. The rebuilding began in 1574, and the
completion of the aisles and chapels took place in the following
century.
Henri IV., Richelieu, and Colbert, who employed Vauban, not only
improved the harbours, but added to the defences of the town, which in
1694 and 1759 resisted English bombardments. In 1856 the walls were
removed, and the town now relies on three forts.
LEAVING HAVRE FOR ROUEN
The road to Rouen is through the Rue de Normandie, and this rapidly
brings one to the suburb of Graville, where, on the left side of the
road, on a hill above the Town Hall, stands the church of the Abbey of
Ste. Honorine. It is an interesting building of the eleventh century,
with curiously carved corbels outside, and within capitals as
grotesque, and the sarcophagus which contained the remains of St.
Honoria. Pilgrims, it is said, were just as numerous at Graville after
the relics of the saint had been removed to Conflans for safety at the
time of the Norman invasion!
The view over the Seine from the abbey church is exceedingly fine, and
on sunny mornings the broad river shimmers in a silvery light.
HARFLEUR,
to which the tramway comes, is a quaint town, with narrow streets and a
flamboyant church, whose highly enriched spire and curiously tall north
porch, recessed in the wall and full of elaborate carving, give one a
foretaste of that wealth of detail and medieval charm which a tour
through Normandy offers to the stranger.
Either the walls of Harfleur must in 1415 have been exceedingly strong
or their defenders of exceptional resource and courage, for in that year
Henry V., with 30,000 English, besieged the town when the garrison
numbered only 400, and yet for no less than forty days did they maintain
the defence. It was 75 Englishmen to 1 Frenchman; but it generally took
a few weeks to get through medieval walls, unless treachery or hunger
came to the help of the attackers. Harfleur languished as a port owing
to the shifting sand of the river-mouth, and the growth of Havre put an
end to its commercial importance.
[Illustration: No. 1 HAVRE AND DIEPPE TO ROUEN]
Bending to the left after passing the church, and going to the right
almost immediately at a fork, Harfleur is soon left behind, as the road
ascends the side of a green valley containing one or two large country
houses.
The farms stand compactly inside a hedge of trees, which almost hides
the buildings, and suggests the _tun_, or hedge, of the villages of our
Saxon ancestors. A straight poplar-bordered road leads past pretty
thatched farmyards, with timber-framed barns, to St. Romain de Colbosc.
Besides the sixteenth-century cross in the cemetery there is a
twelfth-century lepers’ chapel, with paintings inside, but it has for
long been reduced to a mere farm-building.
In St. Romain one turns to the right for Lillebonne, and soon afterwards
the road bears nearly due east, and runs straight for Lillebonne,
descending into the picturesque wooded valley of the Bolbec River with
several turns.
LILLEBONNE
If there was reason to complain of the juvenility of Havre, there is
sufficient antiquity at Lillebonne to satisfy the most exacting, for the
presence of a Roman theatre indicates the former existence of an
important Roman city, and there is some reason for believing that this
_Julia Bona_ of the Romans was built where the chief town of the tribe
of the Caletes stood. The heavy squared stones that formed the seats
were to a great extent carried away to the other side of Caudebec to
build the Abbey of St. Wandrille, and one can only get a small idea of
the perfect building from the rough inner stonework of the two lowest
tiers. Even these were only revealed through the excavations which took
place between 1812 and 1840. Many of the discoveries made in the
excavations are to be seen in the museum at Rouen.
Of exceptional interest to Englishmen is the castle of Lillebonne, for
in the great Norman hall--now also demolished--William the Conqueror
gathered together a great assemblage of his viscounts, his warrior
bishops, and men of lesser potency, and before them all announced his
intention of invading England. The reception of this portentous
declaration was mixed, many of the barons being unwilling to consent to
so hazardous an enterprise, in spite of the enthusiasm of the Duke’s
particular friends. Notwithstanding this lukewarmness, William’s
determination eventually carried away all opposition, and the invasion
‘scare’ became an accomplished fact. That the historic hall should have
survived until a wealthy cotton-spinner, who had purchased the castle,
destroyed it in cold blood is distressing to the visitor who longs to
feast his eyes on the building that once held that stirring council.
What he sees to-day is the ruins of the thirteenth-century castle built
on the site of the Conqueror’s stronghold, and the great round donjon
did not come into existence until long after William had been gathered
to his fathers. The church has a beautiful crocketed spire of the
fifteenth century, similar to the one seen at Harfleur.
As one climbs out of the valley the road winds in different directions,
and gives charming views over the Seine, with its passing steamers, and
the distant green country beyond.
Two pretty villages, La Frenaye and St. Arnoult, are passed, each with
its mossy thatched roofs and quaint little church, its particularly
attractive half-timbered houses, and here and there an outside wooded
staircase; then follows a winding descent into that most romantic of
towns--
CAUDEBEC-EN-CAUX
Although artists have painted the church, the river, and the old streets
and waterway for years, there are still many of the most appealing
aspects of the place that seem to remain outside the attainments of the
painters and sketchers who reveal the results of their work there. There
is one particular old street of houses, with romantic frontages on one
side rising from the green water of a narrow canal, which is not easy
to forget. Not only are the greens and greys and reds and ochres a
delight to the eye, and the detail of the windows, overhanging eaves,
and timber framing of the walls and gables particularly attractive, but
one also gets peeps into interiors, where one can see old folk seated by
windows with faces and curious black headgears such as Holbein and
Rembrandt painted.
Even Lisieux cannot eclipse Caudebec in the completeness of its antique
streets, for here there have been few attempts to hide the picturesque
timber fronts with stucco, and there are half a dozen narrow streets by
the church where the buildings, with the passage of the centuries, have
let their time-worn gables nod towards one another until the strip of
sky that the builders left has been appreciably narrowed. Then, in
wandering through these ancient ways one is suddenly confronted with a
wealth of the most delicately carved stone, and looking up, one sees the
exquisitely graceful tower of the church, with its profusion of ornament
and its crocketed and coroneted spire rising above. The western entrance
is often open, so that the passer-by may see the lacelike ornament of
the doorway thrown out against the velvet blackness
[Illustration: CAUDEBEC-EN-CAUX.
One of the most picturesque towns in Normandy.]
of the interior, a darkness relieved by the brilliant fifteenth and
sixteenth century stained glass of the Flamboyant windows.
Henri IV., when he stayed at Caudebec, said that the town had _la plus
jolie chapelle que j’ai jamais vue_, but added that the jewel was badly
set. The building was commenced in 1426, and in 1484 Guillaume Le
Tellier, the master mason, died, and was buried in the Lady-chapel of
the glorious building he had created.
There existed in the sixteenth century an island in the Seine opposite
Caudebec, and it is stated by Mrs. Macquoid that there were ‘three
beautiful churches’ on it until the _mascaret_, a tidal bore, which at
certain full moons in the spring and autumn equinoxes comes up the river
with tremendous force, swept the whole island away. By 1641 the island
had appeared again, but the _mascaret_ again demolished it. The wall of
water that rushes up the narrowing river-mouth varies from 6 to 12 feet
in height, and its force is sufficient to dislodge and carry away great
stones.
Caudebec began its existence as a fishing village under the control of
the Abbey of St. Wandrille, and, with its convenient quay, soon grew
prosperous. When Henry V. besieged the town, it held out for six
months.
During the Franco-Prussian War the Germans occupied the old town, but
fortunately did no damage to it.
It is with keen reluctance that one leaves the sunny quay of Caudebec,
with its busy market scenes, its steam ferry-boat, and the lovely views
up and down the curving river. However, the road follows the Seine, and
one enjoys for mile after mile lovely views across the wide belt of
silvery water, backed by sweeping green forests.
ST. WANDRILLE
About two kilometres from Caudebec a turning to the left leads up in a
few minutes to St. Wandrille, where the ruins of the Norman abbey stand
in a pretty valley. The conventual buildings are now the residence of M.
Maurice Maeterlinck, the dramatist and author, who recently performed an
historical play in the refectory and cloisters of the abbey, the
audience moving from one part of the buildings to another for each
successive scene.
The abbey was originally called Fontenelle, after the stream that flows
through the valley. It was founded in the middle of the seventh century
by a pupil of St. Columba, and the early buildings fell a prey to the
harrying Norsemen, who left the place in ruins. In 1033, having been
rebuilt, the abbey was dedicated to St. Wandrille, but a fire did much
destruction in the thirteenth century, and in 1631 the tower and spire
of the church fell, and smashed down the nave and aisles, the
Lady-chapel, and the choir-stalls. What remains of the church is not so
remarkable as the ornate cloisters of the fourteenth and sixteenth
centuries, and the imposing Norman refectory, with its vaulted roof of
the fifteenth century and its fine Flamboyant windows.
Returning to the main road, and continuing towards Rouen, one soon
catches sight of the two towers of the abbey of Jumièges rising above
trees beyond a bend of the winding river. At the small village of
Yainville, with a Norman church, the road to Jumièges goes to the right,
and the singular beauty of this stately ruin justifies the détour.
JUMIÈGES
The entrance to the abbey is at a lodge gate on the left side of the
road in the pleasant village, and the _concierge_--a quite charming type
of country-woman--accompanies one through the admirably-kept ruins, and
afterwards to the museum adjoining, where is preserved, among other
carved stones from the ruined buildings, the slab of black marble under
which was buried the heart of Agnes Sorel, the beautiful mistress of
Charles VII. She died near Jumièges in 1449, after the birth of her
fourth daughter, and her body was buried at Loches, which is passed
through on the way southwards from Tours (see Section VI.).
The impressiveness of the twin towers of the west end of the great
church is due in part to the extreme simplicity of the Norman work--for
the buildings were completed just before the Norman Conquest--and also
to their great height of 328 feet. On entering it is hard to believe
that until 1790 the abbey and its great church were in a perfect state
of preservation, for the roofs have gone except in the aisles, where the
stones of the vault have been in some places so disturbed by roots and
frosts that collapses are imminent. There are traces of orange-coloured
painting on the arches, and the stone is of a warm cream, which looks
singularly beautiful when afternoon shadows are falling from arches and
pillars. There are only the foundations of the semicircular apse, with
its nine chapels, and the gaps in the east end of the church are
beautified by the presence of tall larches that droop their graceful
branches over the broken moss-grown walls. The fourteenth-century chapel
on the south side, dedicated to St. Pierre, is also in a state of ruin.
St. Philibert founded Jumièges in 654, about the same time as St.
Wandrille was begun, and it also suffered terribly at the hands of the
Northmen, who tortured and massacred without mercy, and left the once
prosperous abbey a shattered ruin.
The rebuilding was encouraged by William Longsword, the son of Rollo;
but the builder of the Norman church which stands to-day was Abbot
Robert of Jumièges, who was afterwards appointed Archbishop of
Canterbury by Edward the Confessor, who had been educated at Jumièges
under his care. The buildings, completed and consecrated in 1067,
remained in use until 1793, the date of the Suppression, so that, with
an interval of about a century in its early history, Jumièges existed as
a monastery for 1,139 years, and in that period was ruled by eighty-two
abbots.
It is interesting to know that, although the Benedictines of Jumièges
contributed a very large sum towards the ransom of Richard I. after his
capture on the way home from the Holy Land, the monastery was twice
plundered by English armies, and the first occasion was in Edward
III.’s reign, when the generosity of the monks seems to have been quite
forgotten!
A portion of the buildings belonging to William Longsword’s church is to
be seen in the Chapel of St. Pierre already mentioned.
An interesting legend of the founder of the abbey explains the presence
of a wolf at the feet of the saint on a carved stone boss. St. Philibert
had given to a convent four leagues from Jumièges the laundry work of
his abbey, and the Abbess and her nuns washed the linen which was sent
to them. One day a wolf ate the ass that carried the washing, but the
holy Abbess induced the wicked wolf to carry the baskets, which he did,
we read, until the end of his life.
The greatness and power of the abbey declined very much after the
Reformation, and at the time of the Revolution the religious who were
dispersed were not numerous.
The short distance from Yainville has to be retraced, and then, going to
the right through a belt of forest, one reaches the banks of the Seine
once more, and passes through the little town of Duclair, with its sunny
quay and its ferry-boat. There are beautiful views over the river, and
as the car runs along the level road one may overtake a steamer that is
sliding along with a little pile of water pushed up in front of its bow,
and note the contrast of its stained red funnel with the soft green
landscape beyond. On the left curious little chambers are cut out of the
cliff of chalk, and several form complete cottages. So even and
horizontal are the layers of chalk, with bands of flint at different
heights, that the cliff has often an exceedingly artificial appearance.
Soon afterwards the road cuts across the neck of another peninsula
formed by one of the deep windings of the Seine, and on reaching the
foot of the rising ground a turning to the right leads to the hamlet of
St. Martin Boscherville, whose noble Church of St. Georges rears its
great bulk on the hillside. The hurried tourist might be inclined to
pass this by, thinking that of ecclesiastic architecture he has seen
enough in this neighbourhood; but throughout the whole of France he will
not find another Norman church so perfect as that of St. Georges de
Boscherville. The abbey was founded and built in the eleventh century by
the Grand Chamberlain of William the Conqueror, Raoul de Tancarville, a
fact proclaimed in an inscription above the chief portal; and the great
church, built at the time when England was newly subjected to the
Norman, stands to-day, with the exception of the western turrets,
exactly as the original builders left it.
The transepts are remarkable for their galleries, similar to those in
Winchester Cathedral; and the chapter-house, which is later than the
church, being Transitional in style, should also be seen. The
sixteenth-century tomb of Le Roulx, the last Abbot, is in front of the
altar.
On resuming the journey, the hill just mentioned is negotiated with some
considerable winding, which enables one to get especially fine views
over the wooded country to the west, with the big church in the middle
distance, and the gleaming river showing its snaky windings on either
side.
After passing through a belt of typical French forest, composed of thin
trees without beauty or individuality, one begins the long curving
descent to Rouen, the historic capital of Normandy. The city appeals so
much to the student of history that this first view of the place as a
whole, threaded by its broad river, and dominated by the fretted spire
and beautiful towers of cathedral and churches, is one that stands out
vividly in the memory when other impressions have faded.
DIEPPE TO ROUEN (36 miles--58 kilometres)
This is a direct road, with a few hills, the ascent from the river at
Sanqueville and the winding descent at Malaunay being the only ones
worth mentioning.
[Illustration: TOWN PLAN NO. 2--DIEPPE.
_Walker & Boutall sc._]
BOULOGNE TO ROUEN (109½ miles--176 kilometres)
This road is through the little town of Samer, where there is an
interesting fifteenth-century church and the ruins of the Abbey of St.
Wulmer. Soon afterwards there is a steep hill.
Montreuil-sur-Mer has a Palais de Justice, which was formerly part of a
Carmelite convent, and the college and École d’Infanterie occupy the
buildings of the Abbey of Ste. Austreberthe. The chapel of the Gothic
Hôtel Dieu has a curious altar-screen, and the very interesting Church
of St. Saulve dates from the twelfth century. The view seawards down the
Canche from the citadel, which is surrounded by towers and walls of the
Middle Ages, is remarkably fine.
On the road to Abbeville there is a steep ascent at Nampont St. Martin,
and a steep descent to Bernay-en-Ponthieu. The forest of Crécy lies to
the left of the road, and on the farther side of it is the medieval
battlefield, where the English army, under Edward III., crushingly
defeated the French in 1346.
Abbeville is an interesting old town, still possessing some very good
specimens of its domestic architecture of the thirteenth, fifteenth, and
sixteenth centuries. The best are the Maison François I., with richly
carved woodwork, at 29, Rue de la Tannerie; No. 2 in the same street
(sixteenth century); 7, Rue du Pont de Boulogne; 3 and 5, Rue de l’Hôtel
de Ville; 41, Rue de la Boucherie; and, besides these, several others
will be noticed in a walk through the town. There are also some good
town houses, or _hôtels_, in the Rue St. Gilles. The Church of St.
Vulfran belongs to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and is
remarkable for its fine restored façade, with beautifully sculptured
doorways. The interior is not remarkable, except for two curved
altar-screens.
The Hôtel de Ville has a bell-tower dating from the beginning of the
thirteenth century, and the library in the Jardin Public d’Emonville
contains a Gospel which belonged to Charlemagne.
Neufchâtel-en-Bray is famous for its cheeses, and is the chief town of
the district, which has been called ‘the dairy of Paris.’ It was at one
time called Driencourt, the name having been altered when a new castle
was built by Henri Beauclerc. The Church of Notre Dame, of various
periods from the twelfth century, has a sixteenth-century tower. A
passage from the Grand Rue leads to the Maison des Templiers, a most
picturesque timber-framed building, with much carved woodwork.
From Neufchâtel to above the River Arques the road climbs, dropping
steeply down to that river at St. Martin Omonville. After leaving the
valley the road is comparatively level to Rouen.
CALAIS TO BOULOGNE
Along the coast, 22 miles--35 kilometres
By Marquise, 20 miles--32 kilometres
The coast route is the most interesting, as it gives splendid views of
the Straits of Dover and the white cliffs of England. Sangatte (7½
kilometres from Calais) is famous in connection with M. Blériot’s
cross-Channel flight, and for the abandoned workings of the Channel
tunnel.
[Illustration: TOWN PLAN NO. 3--CALAIS.
_Walker & Boutall sc._]
Four miles before passing over Cape Grisnez one passes the little town
of Wissant, associated with the Roman _Portus Itius_, from which Julius
Cæsar sailed when he made his first reconnaissance of the coast of
Britain. Beyond the great headland is Ambleteuse, the landing-place of
the fugitive James II. at 3 a.m. on Christmas Day, 1688. The King had
left Rochester on the night of the 23rd, and had passed by a back-door
on to the Medway, where he boarded the smack which brought him to the
French coast.
[Illustration: TOWN PLAN NO. 4--BOULOGNE.]
At the next river-mouth is Wimereux Harbour, the landing-place of
Prince Louis Napoleon in August, 1840. Having received no support, the
Prince and his followers were easily captured, and in Boulogne one can
see the thirteenth-century château, now converted into barracks, where
he was imprisoned.
[Illustration: No. 2. CALAIS TO BOULOGNE AND ROUEN.]
Boulogne Cathedral was erected in 1869 on the site of the original
Norman church, built in 1104 by Ida, the mother of Geoffrey de
Bouillon.