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19 - Chateau and Country Life in France by Mary King Waddington · Chateau and Country Life in France

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  Speaker 1: Section nineteen of Chateau and country Life in France. This
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  Speaker 1: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
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  Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox dot org. Recording by Tatiana Chichilla, Columbus, Ohio. Chateau
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  Speaker 1: and country Life in France by Mary King Waddington, Chapter eleven, Boulogne,
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  Speaker 1: Sir Mayr. Part two, Cap Greece Nez. We made a
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  Speaker 1: lovely excursion one day to Cap Greece Nez, just at
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  Speaker 1: the end of a wild bit of coast, about twenty
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  Speaker 1: five kilometers from Boulogne. The road was enchanting on the
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  Speaker 1: top of a cliff all along the sea. We passed
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  Speaker 1: through Vimereux, a small bathing place four or five miles
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  Speaker 1: from Boulogne, and one or two other villages. Then went
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  Speaker 1: through a wild, desolate tract of sand hills and plains,
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  Speaker 1: and came upon the lighthouse, one of the most important
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  Speaker 1: of the coast, a very powerful light that all inward
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  Speaker 1: bound boats were delighted to see. There are one or
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  Speaker 1: two villas near the top of the cliff. Then the
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  Speaker 1: road turned sharply down to the beach, a beautiful broad
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  Speaker 1: expanse of yellow sand, reaching very far out that day,
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  Speaker 1: as it was dead low time. In the distance we
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  Speaker 1: saw figures. Couldn't distinguish what they were doing, but supposed
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  Speaker 1: they were fishing for shrimps, which was what our party
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  Speaker 1: meant to do. The auto was filled with nets, baskets
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  Speaker 1: and clothes, as well as luncheon baskets. The hotel a
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  Speaker 1: very good, simple one with a broad piazza going all around.
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  Speaker 1: It was half way down the cliff, and the woman
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  Speaker 1: was very complaisant and helpful, said there were plenty of shrimps,
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  Speaker 1: crabs and lobsters, and no one to fish. She and
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  Speaker 1: her husband had been out at four o'clock that morning
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  Speaker 1: and had brought back catchup piants of shrimps. No one
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  Speaker 1: knew what she meant, but it was evidently a measure
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  Speaker 1: of some kind, I suppose an English pint. She gave
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  Speaker 1: us a cabin where the two young matrons dressed, or
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  Speaker 1: rather undressed as they reappeared in their bathing trousers which
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  Speaker 1: stopped a little distance above the knee, very short skirts,
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  Speaker 1: bare legs, espadrils on their feet, and large panama hats
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  Speaker 1: to protect them from the sun, but men had merely
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  Speaker 1: rolled up their trousers. They went out very far. I
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  Speaker 1: could just make them out. They seemed a part of
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  Speaker 1: the sea and sky, moving objects standing out against the horizon.
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  Speaker 1: I made myself very comfortable with rugs and cushions under
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  Speaker 1: the cliff. I had my book, as I knew it
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  Speaker 1: would be a long operation. It was enchanting sitting there
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  Speaker 1: such a beautiful afternoon. We saw the English coast quite distinctly.
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  Speaker 1: There was not a sound, no bathing cabins or tents.
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  Speaker 1: Nobody on the shore, but a few fishermen were spreading
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  Speaker 1: nets on poles to catch the fish. As the tide
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  Speaker 1: came up, the sea was quite blue, and as the
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  Speaker 1: afternoon lengthened, there were lovely soft lights over everything, such
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  Speaker 1: warm tints it might almost have been the Mediterranean in
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  Speaker 1: the Riviera. A few fishing boats passed in the distance,
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  Speaker 1: but there was nothing to break the great stillness, not
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  Speaker 1: even the ripple of the waves, as the sea was
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  Speaker 1: too far out. It was a curious sensation to be
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  Speaker 1: sitting there quite alone, the blue sea at my feet,
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  Speaker 1: and the cliff rising straight up behind me. The bay
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  Speaker 1: is small, two points jutting out on each side, completely
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  Speaker 1: shutting it in. There are a good many rocks. The
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  Speaker 1: water dashes over them. Finally, when the tide is high
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  Speaker 1: and the sea rough, I got rather stiff sitting still,
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  Speaker 1: and walked about a little on the hard beach and
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  Speaker 1: talked to the fishermen. They were looking on, amused and
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  Speaker 1: indulgently at our amateurs, and said there were plenty of
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  Speaker 1: fish of all kinds if one knew how to take them.
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  Speaker 1: They said they made very good hauls with their nets
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  Speaker 1: in certain seasons, but lots of fish came in with
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  Speaker 1: the tide and got stranded couldn't get back through the nets.
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  Speaker 1: One of them had two enormous crabs in his baskets,
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  Speaker 1: which I bought at once, and we brought them home.
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  Speaker 1: In the bottom of They otto wrapped up in very
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  Speaker 1: thick paper, as they were still alive and could give
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  Speaker 1: a nasty pinch. The man said about five, I thought
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  Speaker 1: I made out my party more distinctly. Their faces were
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  Speaker 1: turned homewards, so I went to meet them. As far
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  Speaker 1: as the dry sand lasted. I had a very long walk,
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  Speaker 1: as the tide was at its lowest. They came back
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  Speaker 1: very slowly, stopping at all the little pools and poking
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  Speaker 1: their nets under the rocks to get what they could.
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  Speaker 1: They had made a very fair basket of really big shrimps,
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  Speaker 1: and were very wet, very hungry, and very pleased with
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  Speaker 1: their performance. We had very good tea and excellent bread
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  Speaker 1: and butter at the hotel. They gave us a table
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  Speaker 1: on the piazza, and the sun which finished drying the
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  Speaker 1: garments of the party. I fancy they had gone in
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  Speaker 1: deeper than they thought. However, salt water never gives cold,
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  Speaker 1: and nobody was any the worse of the wedding. The
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  Speaker 1: women of the hotel said we ought to go see
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  Speaker 1: a fisherman's hut on the top of a cliff near
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  Speaker 1: the lighthouse before we went back. The same family of
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  Speaker 1: fishermen had lived there for generations, and it was a
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  Speaker 1: marvel how any one could live in such a place.
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  Speaker 1: We could find our way very easily, as the path
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  Speaker 1: was marked by white stones, so we climbed up the cliff,
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  Speaker 1: and a few minutes walk brought us to one of
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  Speaker 1: the most wretched habitations I have ever seen, a little
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  Speaker 1: low stone hut built so close to the edge of
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  Speaker 1: the cliff. One would think a violent storm must blow
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  Speaker 1: it over. No windows, a primitive chimney, hardly more than
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  Speaker 1: a hole in the roof, A little low door that
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  Speaker 1: one had to stoop to pass through. One room, dark
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  Speaker 1: and cold, the floor of beaten earth, damp and uneven,
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  Speaker 1: almost in ruts. There were two beds, a table, two chairs,
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  Speaker 1: and a stove, nondescript garments hanging on the walls. A
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  Speaker 1: woman with the baby was sitting at the table, another
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  Speaker 1: child on the floor. Both miserable, little, puny, weak eyed,
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  Speaker 1: pale children. The woman told me she had six all
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  Speaker 1: lived there. One man was sitting on the bed mending
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  Speaker 1: a net, another on the floor drinking some black stuff
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  Speaker 1: out of a cup. I think the baby was drinking
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  Speaker 1: the same. Two or three children were stretching big nets
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  Speaker 1: on the top of the cliff. They too looked miserable,
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  Speaker 1: little specimens of humanity, bare legged, unkempt trousers and jackets
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  Speaker 1: and holes. However, the woman was quite cheerful, didn't complain
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  Speaker 1: nor ask for money. The men accepted two francs to
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  Speaker 1: drink our health. One wonders how children ever grow up
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  Speaker 1: in such atmosphere, without light or air or decent food.
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  Speaker 1: The drive home was beautiful, not nearly so lonely peasants
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  Speaker 1: and fishermen were coming back from their work, women and
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  Speaker 1: children driving the cows home. We noticed too a few little, low,
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  Speaker 1: whitewashed cottages in the fields, almost hidden by the sand hills,
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  Speaker 1: which we hadn't seen coming out hardi Low Hardilow was
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  Speaker 1: a great resource to us. It is a fine domain,
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  Speaker 1: beautiful pine woods running down to the sea, a great
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  Speaker 1: stretch of green meadow, and a most picturesque old castle,
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  Speaker 1: quite the type of the Chateau Fort. The castle has
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  Speaker 1: now been transformed into a country club with golf links,
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  Speaker 1: tennis and well kept lawns under big trees which give
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  Speaker 1: a splendid shade in our most resting to the eye
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  Speaker 1: after the glare of the beach. There is no view
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  Speaker 1: of the sea from the castle, but from the top
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  Speaker 1: of the towers on a fine day one just to
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  Speaker 1: use a quiver of light beneath the skyline, which might
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  Speaker 1: be the sea. The chateau has had its history, like
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  Speaker 1: all the old feudal castles on the sea board, and
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  Speaker 1: has changed hands very often, being sometimes French and sometimes English.
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  Speaker 1: It was strongly fortified and resisted many attacks from the
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  Speaker 1: English before it actually came into their possession, part of
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  Speaker 1: the wall and a curious old gateway are all that
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  Speaker 1: remained of the feudal days. The castle is said to
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  Speaker 1: have been built by Charlemagne. Henry the eighth of England
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  Speaker 1: lived in it for some time, and the preliminaries of
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  Speaker 1: a treaty of peace between that monarch and Frands Swathed
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  Speaker 1: First were signed there. The French and English ambassadors, arriving
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  Speaker 1: in a great state with an endless army of retainers,
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  Speaker 1: one wonders where they were all lodged, as the castle
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  Speaker 1: could never have been large, one sees that from the foundations,
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  Speaker 1: But I fancy habits were very simple in those days,
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  Speaker 1: and the suites probably slept on the floor in one
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  Speaker 1: of the halls with all their clothes on, the troopers
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  Speaker 1: keeping on their jack boots so long that they had
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  Speaker 1: to be cut off, sometimes the feet and likes of swollen.
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  Speaker 1: The drive from the club to the plage is charming,
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  Speaker 1: sometimes through pretty narrow roads with high banks on each
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  Speaker 1: side with hedges on top, quite like parts of Devonshire,
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  Speaker 1: and nice little, low whitewashed cottages with green shutters and
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  Speaker 1: red doors, much more like England than France. We stopped
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  Speaker 1: at a cottage called the Dickens House, where Charles Dickens
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  Speaker 1: have lived for some time. It is only one story high,
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  Speaker 1: white with green shutters, stands at the edge of an
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  Speaker 1: old fashioned garden filled with all sorts of ordinary garden flowers, roses, hollyhocks,
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  Speaker 1: lark spurs, pinks, all growing most luxuriantly and making patches
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  Speaker 1: of color in the green surroundings. We saw Dickens's study,
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  Speaker 1: his table still in the window where he always wrote,
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  Speaker 1: looking over the garden to an endless stretch of green fields.
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  Speaker 1: The plash is very new. There is a nice clean
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  Speaker 1: hotel with broad piazzas and balconies directly on the sea,
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  Speaker 1: and a few chalets are already built. But there is
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  Speaker 1: an absolute dearth of trees and shade. There was quite
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  Speaker 1: a strong sea breeze the day we were there, and
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  Speaker 1: the fine white sand was blown high into the air
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  Speaker 1: and circles, getting into our eyes and hair. There is
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  Speaker 1: a splendid beach, miles of sand, not a rock or cliff,
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  Speaker 1: absolutely level. The domain of Heart to Lowe brings to
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  Speaker 1: a company of which mister John Whitley was the president.
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  Speaker 1: He had concessions for a tramway from Long to Heartlow,
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  Speaker 1: which will certainly bring people to the plage and club.
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  Speaker 1: Now there is only an autobus which goes very slowly
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  Speaker 1: and is constantly out of order. Once the club is
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  Speaker 1: organ I think it cannot fail to be a charming resort.
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  Speaker 1: There's plenty of game in the forest. They have a
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  Speaker 1: good piece of it, perfect golf and tennis grounds, as
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  Speaker 1: much deep sea fishing as one wants. We went often
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  Speaker 1: too tea at the chateau. F played golf, and we
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  Speaker 1: walked about and sat under the trees, and the children
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  Speaker 1: were quite happy playing on the lawns where they were
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  Speaker 1: as safe as in their nurseries. End of section nineteen
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  Speaker 1: recording by Tatiana Chichilla, Columbus, Ohio. End of Chateau and
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  Speaker 1: country Life in France by Mary King Waddington