enlarge-imageABBEY of BEC-HELLOVIN
Bourgtheroulde, between Brionne and Rouen, not far to the westward of Rouen, and just on the edge of the forest of Londe, is a chief townof a commune, but a very tiny chief town. It numbers but seven hundred souls, and has a Hôtel de la Corne d’Abondance, which lives up to its name with respect to its fare, which is excellent. Once the town possessed a Renaissance château, which disappeared during the Revolutionary fury. To-day only an entrance pavilion and acolombier, one of those great pigeon-houses which one sees so frequently in Normandy, remain. The church dates from the fifteenth century, and has some good Renaissance glass.
Bourg-Achard is another small town of the neighbourhood, and, while it is in no sense grandly picturesque, it is a charming little town, set amid a most beautiful country. Its Hôtel de la Poste is above the ordinary, and there is a remarkably beautiful fifteenth-century church, once a dependency of an Augustin priory, with an unusual amount of elaborate accessories, including a twelfth-century baptismal font and a prior’s seat in sculptured wood.
To the westward is Bernay, greatly noted for its horse-fair, held annually in the fifth week of Lent. It is the home of the Norman sire, which has been interbred with most of the high-classvarieties throughout Europe and America, always to the advantage of the race.
Locally known as theFoire Fleurie, because of its being held on Palm Sunday, one sees here—as he sees only here—throng upon throng of peasants,—breeders of horses in silk caps and blouses, and horse-dealers in round hats and caps.
One never sees the type in such profusion elsewhere, and if one has an automobile at hand, so that he may get far away from the madding throng when it is all over, a visit to Bernay’s horse-fair will be put down as one of the enjoyable experiences of life.
There is very little direct voicing of yes or no, muchblagueand good humour, and not a little of simulated anger, as is the custom among horse-traders elsewhere. But the Norman traders are keen, and seldom does a year pass but that the tenor of the trading has been satisfactory and profitable to all.
Often there will be very little difference between the offer of the dealer and the demand of the breeder; but a difference of twenty sous is enough to make or break a bargain, not so much for the sum itself, but as matter of principle.
Sooner or later the matter is arranged, andthe interested parties repair to the nearest wine-shop to conclude the bargain. When it is all over, there is the drinking of a great quaff of cider: “La vrai bon bere,” the Norman calls it in his patois.
All this time it is “blowing hot and blowing cold” on other bargainings, and much time is lost over superfluous contentions, but it is all in the day’s work. “Eh! que voulez-vous? L’z’affé sont l’z’affé, maintenant aboulez mé vot’ argent, m’n ami.”
Yes, truly, “business is business,” and no spectacle of its kind is more amusing to the stranger or, apparently, to the participants themselves.
The ancient abbey at Bernay, whose church keeps company with the parish church as the chief ecclesiastical monument of the town, is still standing on the market-place.
The abbey was an ancient conventual establishment for women, and their church is celebrated for its typical characteristic Norman details, though it has practically been desecrated by the untoward uses to which it has been put in our day.
The Château of Broglie and the town of the same name is near Bernay. There is a daintily attractive church, with its façade in brown pudding-stone and a modernflècheof wood. It has also an arcade in the Norman-Romanesque style of the twelfth century.
enlarge-imageInterior of Abbey of BernayInterior of Abbey of Bernay
Interior of Abbey of Bernay
The Château of Broglie has an imposing and pompous façade of the questionable style of Louis XIV., solemn and cold and not appealingto the finer sensibilities. It is framed between two great towers of feudal times, which were originally a part of the stronghold of the ancient fief of Chambrois.
Since the seventeenth century the château has belonged to that illustrious family of Italian origin, the Broglis, who furnished three marshals to France; an ally of the colonists of America in their revolution against the chafing of the English yoke; a prince of the name, who married the daughter of Madame de Staël; and his son, a politician and man of letters, who died as recently as 1901.
Up to the time of the French Revolution, the possessor of this splendid domain spent much care and means on its up-keep and appointments. There is left to-day a great library and a gallery of family portraits, including a brilliantchef d’œuvre, the portrait of Madame de Staël by Gerard. A somewhat gaudily painted chapel is attached to the château, which sits in the midst of a beautiful park of some sixtyhectares.
All these attractions are open to the inspection of visitors under certain conditions; and, if the building and its contents do not rival that other more famous château of the Loire-Chaumont,now belonging to the Brogli family as well, it is at least liberally endowed with interest.
THE END.
Up to 1789, there were thirty-three great governments making up modern France, the twelve governments created by Francis I. being the chief, and sevenpetits gouvernementsas well.
enlarge-imageProvinces of FranceProvinces of France
Provinces of France
In the following table thegrands gouvernementsof the first foundation are indicated in heavy-faced type, those which were taken from the first in italics, and those which were acquired by conquest in ordinary characters.
[1]Under Francis I. the Angoumois was comprised in the Orléanais.
The sevenpetits gouvernementswere:
The following are the names of the principalpaysandpagiof ancient Normandy:
METRICAL AND ENGLISH WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
enlarge-imageComparative Metric ScaleComparative Metric Scale
Comparative Metric Scale
ENGLISH AND METRICAL WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
1. Itinerary of Normandy by Chemin de Fer de l’Ouest, from Paris, Gare St. Lazare.
enlarge-imageFirst-class, 90 frcs.; Second-class, 70 frcs.First-class, 90 frcs.; Second-class, 70 frcs.
First-class, 90 frcs.; Second-class, 70 frcs.
Paris (St. Lazare), Louviers, Rouen, Dieppe, Rouen, Cany, St.-Valery-en-Caux, Fécamp, Le Havre, par chemin de fer ou Rouen, Le Havre, par bateau(1). Honfleur(1) ou Trouville-Deauville(1), Villers-sur-Mer, Beuzeval (Houlgate), Dives-Cabourg, Caen, Isigny-sur-Mer, Cherbourg,
St-Lo
Port-Bail, Carteret(1), Coutances, Granville(1), Bagnoles-de-l’Orne(1), Briouze, Dreux, Paris (Montparnasse).
2. Itinerary of Normandy by Chemin de Fer de l’Ouest, from Paris, Gare St. Lazare.
enlarge-imageFirst-class, 50 frcs.; Second-class, 40 frcs.First-class, 50 frcs.; Second-class, 40 frcs.
First-class, 50 frcs.; Second-class, 40 frcs.
Paris, Les Andelys, Louviers, Rouen, Dieppe, Rouen, Barentin (Caudebec-en-Caux moyennant supplément), Le Havre, Honfleur ou Trouville-Deauville, Villers-sur-Mer, Beuzeval-Houlgate, Dives-Cabourg, Caen, Évreux, Paris.
enlarge-imageProfile Map of NormandyProfile Map of Normandy
Profile Map of Normandy
enlarge-imageTHE COAST OF NORMANDYTHE COAST OF NORMANDY
THE COAST OF NORMANDY
enlarge-imageNATURAL CURIOSITIES of NORMANDYNATURAL CURIOSITIES of NORMANDY
NATURAL CURIOSITIES of NORMANDY
enlarge-imageARCHITECTURAL CURIOSITIES of NORMANDYARCHITECTURAL CURIOSITIES of NORMANDY
ARCHITECTURAL CURIOSITIES of NORMANDY
enlarge-imageROAD MAP NORMANDY COASTROAD MAP NORMANDY COAST
ROAD MAP NORMANDY COAST
enlarge-imageRoad Map The Seine ValleyRoad Map The Seine Valley
Road Map The Seine Valley
enlarge-imageROAD MAP ACROSS NORMANDYROAD MAP ACROSS NORMANDY
ROAD MAP ACROSS NORMANDY
A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,Y