HISTORY OF A SIX WEEKS' TOUR THROUGH A PART OF FRANCE, SWITZERLAND, GERMANY, AND HOLLAND; WITH LETTERS, DESCRIPTIVE OF A SAIL ROUND THE LAKE OF GENEVA, PREFACE. and beauty which invests this visible world, will perhaps find some entertainment in following the author, with her husband and friend, on foot, through part of France and Switzerland, and in sailing with her down the castled Rhine, through scenes beautiful in themselves, but which, since she visited them, a great poet has clothed with the freshness of a diviner nature. They will be interested to hear of one who has visited Meillerie, and Clarens, and Chillon, and Vevai-classic ground, peopled with tender and glorious imaginations of the present and the past. NOTHING can be more unpresuming than this little volume. It contains the account of some desultory visits by a party of young people to scenes which are now so familiar to our countrymen, that few facts relating to them can be expected to have escaped the many more experienced and exact observers, who have sent their journals to the press. In fact, they have done little else than arrange the few materials which an imperfect journal, and two or three letters to their friends in England afforded. They regret, since They have perhaps never talked with one who their little History is to be offered to the public, has beheld, in the enthusiasm of youth, the glaciers, that these materials were not more copious and and the lakes, and the forests, and the fountains of complete. This is a just topic of censure to those the mighty Alps. Such will perhaps forgive the who are less inclined to be amused than to con- imperfections of their narrative for the sympathy demn. Those whose youth has been past as theirs which the adventures and feelings which it re(with what success it imports not) in pursuing, counts, and a curiosity respecting scenes already like the swallow, the inconstant summer of delight | rendered interesting and illustrious, may excite. JOURNAL. Ir is now nearly three years since this journey | agreed very ill with me, till, on arriving at Dover, took place, and the journal I then kept was not very copious; but I have so often talked over the incidents that befel us, and attempted to describe the scenery through which we passed, that I think few occurrences of any interest will be omitted. We left London, July 28th, 1814, on a hotter day than has been known in this climate for many years. I am not a good traveller, and this heat I was refreshed by a sea-bath. As we very much wished to cross the Channel with all possible speed, we would not wait for the packet of the following day (it being then about four in the afternoon) but hiring a small boat, resolved to make the passage the same evening, the seamen promising us a voyage of two hours. The evening was most beautiful; there was but little wind, and the sails flapped in the flagging breeze the moon rese, and night came on, and with the night a slow, heavy swell, and a fresh breeze, which soon produced a sea so violent as to toss the boat very much. I was dreadfully seasick, and as is usually my custom when thus affected, I slept during the greater part of the night, awaking only from time to time to ask where we were, and to receive the dismal answer each time-"Not quite half way." The wind was violent and contrary; if we could not reach Calais, the sailors proposed making for Boulogne. They promised only two hours' sail from shore, yet were still far dist red and stormy lightning became We were proc when suddenly a and the waves r sailors acknowled ous; but they s the wind was no the gale directly harbour I awoke the sun rise broad FRANCE. the sides; the fi passengers. The t the tallest in the formidable by the article of harness wings fastened to of rope; and the fellow with a lon clattered on, while cocked hat gazed EXHAUSTED with sickness and fatigue, I walked | wheels, and conse over the sand with my companions to the hotel. I heard for the first time the confused buzz of voices speaking a different language from that to which I had been accustomed; and saw a costume very unlike that worn on the opposite side of the Channel; the women with high caps and short jackets; the men with ear-rings; ladies walking about with high bonnets or coiffures lodged on the top of the head, the hair dragged up underneath, without any stray curls to decorate the temples or cheeks. There is, however, something very pleasing in the manners and appearance of the people of Calais, that prepossesses you in their favour. A national reflection might occur, that when Edward III. took Calais, he turned out the old inhabitants, and peopled it almost entirely with our own countrymen; but, unfortunately, the manners are not English. We remained during that day and the greater part of the next at Calais: we had been obliged to leave our boxes the night before at the English custom-house, and it was arranged that they should go by the packet of the following day, which, detained by contrary wind, did not arrive until night. S*** and I walked among the fortifications on the outside of the town; they consisted of fields where the hay was making. The aspect of the country was rural and pleasant. On the 30th of July, about three in the afternoon, we left Calais, in a cabriolet drawn by three horses. To persons who had never before seen anything but a spruce English chaise and post-boy, there was something irresistibly ludicrous in our equipage. Our cabriolet was shaped somewhat ike a post-chaise, except that it had only two The roads are tense, and I suffer Boulogne the first but remarkably go This made us, for ence which exists b France and in En they are prudish, a degree familiar, t orders in France H of the most wellunaffectedly as thei is no scope for inso We had ordered night, but we were them. The man i whole post. Ah! chambre, pensez-y ; pauvres chevaux d' A joke from an Eng been quite another The first appear eyes was the want were flourishing w observed no vines or The weather still continued very hot, and travelling produced a very bad effect upon my health; my companions were induced by this circumstance to hasten the journey as much as possible; and accordingly we did not rest the following night, and the next day, about two, arrived in Paris. In this city there are no hotels where you can reside as long or as short a time as you please, and we were obliged to engage apartments at an hotel for a week. They were dear, and not very pleasant. As usual, in France, the principal apartment was a bed-chamber; there was another closet with a bed, and an ante-chamber, which we used as a sitting-room. The heat of the weather was excessive, so that we were unable to walk except in the afternoon. On the first evening we walked to the gardens of the Tuileries; they are formal and uninteresting, in the French fashion, the trees cut into shapes, and without any grass. I think the Boulevards infinitely more pleasant. This street nearly surrounds Paris, and is eight miles in extent; it is very wide, and planted on either side with trees. At one end is a superb cascade which refreshes the senses by its continual splashing: near this stands the gate of St. Denis, a beautiful piece of sculpture. I do not know how it may at present be disfigured by the Gothic barbarism of the conquerors of France, who were not contented with retaking the spoils of Napoleon, but, with impotent malice, destroyed the monuments of their own defeat. When I saw this gate, it was in its splendour, and made you imagine that the days of Roman greatness were transported to Paris. After remaining a week in Paris, we received a small remittance that set us free from a kind of imprisonment there, which we found very irksome. But how should we proceed? After talking over and rejecting many plans, we fixed on one eccentric enough, but which, from its romance, was very pleasing to us. In England we could not have put it in execution without sustaining continual insult and impertinence; the French are far more tolerant of the vagaries of their neighbours. We resolved to walk through France; but as I was too weak for any considerable distance, and as C- could not be supposed to be able to walk as far as Seach day, we determined to purchase an ass, to carry our portmanteau and one of us by turns. Early, therefore, on Monday, August 8th, Sand C went to the ass market, and purchased an ass, and the rest of the day, until four in the afternoon, was spent in preparations for our departure; during which, Madame l'hôtesse paid us a isit, and attempted to dissuade us from our design. She represented to us that a large army had been recently disbanded, that the soldiers and officers wandered idle about the country, and that les dames seroient certainement enlevées. But we were proof against her arguments, and packing up a few necessaries, leaving the rest to go by the diligence, we departed in a fiacre from the door of the hotel, our little ass following. We dismissed the coach at the barrier. It was dusk, and the ass seemed totally unable to bear one of us, appearing to sink under the portmanteau, although it was small and light. We were, however, merry enough, and thought the leagues short. We arrived at Charenton about ten. Charenton is prettily situated in a valley, through which the Seine flows, winding among banks variegated with trees. On looking at this scene, C- - exclaimed, "Oh! this is beautiful enough ; let us live here." This was her exclamation on every new scene, and as each surpassed the one before, she cried, "I am glad we did not stay at Charenton, but let us live here." Finding our ass useless, we sold it before we proceeded on our journey, and bought a mule for ten napoleons. About nine o'clock we departed. We were clad in black silk. I rode on the mule, which carried also our portmanteau; Sand C followed, bringing a small basket of provisions. At about one we arrived at Gros-Bois, where, under the shade of trees, we ate our bread and fruit, and drank our wine, thinking of Don Quixote and Sancho. The country through which we passed was highly cultivated, but uninteresting; the horizor scarcely ever extended beyond the circumference of a few fields, bright and waving with the golden harvest. We met several travellers; but our mode, although novel, did not appear to excite any curiosity or remark. This night we slept at Guignes, in the same room and beds in which Napoleon and some of his generals had rested during the late war. The little old woman of the place was highly gratified in having this little story to tell, and spoke in warm praise of the Empress Josephine and Marie Louise, who had at different times passed on that road. As we continued our route, Provins was the first place that struck us with interest. It was our stage of rest for the night; we approached it at sunset. After having gained the summit of a hill, the prospect of the town opened upon us as it lay in the valley below; a rocky hill rose abruptly on one side, on the top of which stood a ruined citadel, with extensive walls and towers; lower down, but beyond, was the cathedral, and the whole formed a scene for painting. After having G We quented the rat route sor - we had eft Nogent 10 strikt arrows the country a 7 y About In the evening we arved at St-Aubi.. ▲ dovely vilinge emtesoned in trees; but, on n nearer view, we found the cottages ruufi-86, The rafters black, and the walls diapudated :—a few mhabetarts remained. We asked for mis-they had none to give; all their cows had been talen by the Cossars. We had still some leagues to travel that night, but we found that they were not post leagues, but the measurement of the inhabitants, and nearly double the distance. The road lay I over a desert plain, and, as might advanced, we were often in danger of losing the track of wheels, which was our only guide. Night closed in, and | we suddenly lost all trace of the road; but a few trees, indistinctly seen, seemed to indicate the position of a village. About ten we arrived at Trois-Maisons, where, after a supper on milk and Sour bread, we retired to rest on wretched beds: but sleep is seldom denied, except to the indolent; and after the day's fatigue, although my bed was nothing more than a sheet spread upon straw, I slept soundly until the morning was considerably advanced, N had hurt his ankle so considerably the proooding evening, that he was obliged, during the whole of the following day's journey, to ride on our mulo, Nothing could be more barren and wrotched than the tract through which we now passed the ground was chalky and uncovered even by grass, and where there had been any attempts made towards cultivation, the straggling As we p that the sagit our aṛq»«t'te, arvamd us, sn extressing eve They seemed, rest of the w passing in it. between the var hand. The use this: these pei nt rebuild thei was deposed; så were afraid tha again upon their this village) is in place I ever met Two leagues be to the village of that we might h cleanliness and hi quarter of the g in repairing thema were destroyed, bi a difference! country, and our Still our road la nothing but a whit bramble or stunte Towards evening vines it appeared dure that are met of Libya, but the g was totally incapab were very tired bef We rested here following day to a consideration of the manner in nearly three days through plains, where the country The suburbs of Troyes were destroyed, and the town itself dirty and uninviting. I remained at the inn writing letters, while S and C-arranged this bargain and visited the cathedral of the town; and the next morning we departed in our voiture for Neufchâtel. A curious instance of French vanity occurred on leaving this town. Our voiturier pointed to the plain around, and mentioned, that it had been the scene of a battle between the Russians and the French. "In which the Russians gained the victory ?"-" Ah no, madame," replied the man, "the French are never beaten."-" But how was then," we asked, "that the Russians had entered Troyes soon after?"-"Oh, after having been defeated, they took a circuitous route, and thus entered the town." Vandeuvres is a pleasant town, at which we rested during the hours of noon. We walked in the grounds of a nobleman, laid out in the English taste, and terminated in a pretty wood; it was a scene that reminded us of our native country. As we left Vandeuvres the aspect of the country suddenly changed; abrupt hills, covered with vineyards, intermixed with trees, inclosed a narrow valley, the channel of the Aube. The view was interspersed by green meadows, groves of poplar and white willow, and spires of village churches, which the Cossacs had yet spared. Many villages, ruined by the war, occupied the most romantic spots. In the evening we arrived at Bar-sur-Aube, a beautiful town. placed at the opening of the vale where the hills terminate abruptly. We climbed the highest of these, but scarce had we reached the top, when a mist descended upon everything, and the rain began to fall: we were wet through before we could reach our inn. It was evening, and the laden clouds made the darkness almost as deep as that of midnight; but in the west an unusually brilliant and fiery redness occupied an opening in the vapours, and added to the interest of our little expedition: the cottage lights were reflected in the tranquil river, and the dark hills behind, dimly seen, resembled vast and frowning mountains. As we quitted Bar-sur-Aube, we at the same time bade a short farewell to hills. Passing through the towns of Chaumont, Langres, (which was situated on a hill, and surrounded by ancient fortifications), Champlitte, and Gray, we travelled for Hills had appeared in the distance during the whole day, and we had advanced gradually towards them, but were unprepared for the scene that broke upon us as we passed the gate of this city. On quitting the walls, the road wound underneath a high precipice; on the other side, the hills rose more gradually, and the green valley that intervened between them was watered by a pleasant river; before us arose an amphitheatre of hills covered with vines, but irregular and rocky. The last gate of the town was cut through the precipitous rock that arose on one side, and in that place jutted into the road. This approach to mountain scenery filled us with delight; it was otherwise with our voiturier: he came from the plains of Troyes, and these hills so utterly scared him, that he in some degree lost his reason. After winding through the valley, we began to ascend the mountains which were its bound. ary: we left our voiture, and walked on, delighted with every new view that broke upon us. When we had ascended the hills for about a mile and a half, we found our voiturier at the door of a wretched in, having taken the mule from the voiture, and obstinately determined to remain for the night at this miserable village of Mort. We could only submit, for he was deaf to all we could urge, and to our remonstrances only replied, Je ne puis plus. Our beds were too uncomfortable to allow a thought of sleeping in them: we could only procure one room, and our hostess gave us to understand that our voiturier was to occupy the same apartment. It was of little consequence, as we had previously resolved not to enter the beds. The evening was fine, and after the rain the air was perfumed by many delicious scents. We climbed to a rocky seat on the hill that overlooked the village, where we remained until sunset. The night was passed by the kitchen fire in a wretched manner |