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

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  Speaker 1: Section sixteen 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 Lucy Kempton. Chateau and country
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  Speaker 1: Life in France by Mary King Waddington, Chapter nine A
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  Speaker 1: Norman town Vallongne August. I seemed to have got into
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  Speaker 1: another world, almost another century. In this old town. I
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  Speaker 1: had always promised the Florians I would come and stay
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  Speaker 1: with them, and was curious to see their installation in
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  Speaker 1: one of the fine old hotels of the place. The
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  Speaker 1: journey was rather long, not particularly interesting. We passed Conte,
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  Speaker 1: getting a very good view of the too great Abbaye
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  Speaker 1: footnote the abbe ozonm abbe O Dame, with their towers
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  Speaker 1: and spires quite sharply outlined against the clear blue sky.
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  Speaker 1: The train was full at almost every station. Family parties
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  Speaker 1: got in, crowds of children, all armed with spades, pails,
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  Speaker 1: butterfly nets and racquets, all the paraphernalia of happy, healthy childhood.
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  Speaker 1: For miles after Corn, there were long stretches of green
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  Speaker 1: pasture lands, hundreds of cows and horses, some of them
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  Speaker 1: the big Norman dray horses resting a little before beginning
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  Speaker 1: again their hard work. And quantities of long legged colts
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  Speaker 1: trotting close up alongside of their mothers, none of them
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  Speaker 1: apparently minding the train. We finally arrived at the quiet
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  Speaker 1: little station of Valogne. Countess de Florien was waiting for
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  Speaker 1: me with their big omnibus, and we had a short
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  Speaker 1: drive all through the town to their hotel, which is
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  Speaker 1: quite at one end a real country road running in
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  Speaker 1: front of the house. It is an old hotel, standing
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  Speaker 1: back from the road and shut in with iron gates.
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  Speaker 1: There is a large courtyard with a grass plot in
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  Speaker 1: the middle, enormous flower beds on each side, and a
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  Speaker 1: fine sweep of carriage road to the peron. A great
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  Speaker 1: double stone staircase runs straight up to the top of
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  Speaker 1: the house, and glass doors opposite the entrance lead into
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  Speaker 1: the garden. I had an impression of great space and
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  Speaker 1: height and floods of light. I went straight into the
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  Speaker 1: garden where they gave me tea, which was most refreshing
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  Speaker 1: after the long hot day. They have no house party.
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  Speaker 1: The Dowager Countess Floryen's mother is here, and there was
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  Speaker 1: a cousin, a naval officer, who went off to Cherbourg
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  Speaker 1: directly after dinner. The ground floor is charming. On one
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  Speaker 1: side of the hall there are three or four salons
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  Speaker 1: and a billiard room running directly across the house from
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  Speaker 1: the garden to the courtyard. On the other a good
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  Speaker 1: dining room and two or three guests rooms. The family
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  Speaker 1: all live upstairs. It is a delightful house. My room
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  Speaker 1: is on the ground floor, opening from the corridor, which
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  Speaker 1: is large and bright, paved with flagstones. My windows look
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  Speaker 1: out on the entrance court, so that I see all
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  Speaker 1: that goes on. As soon as my maid has opened
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  Speaker 1: the windows and brought me my putty dejernet, I hear
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  Speaker 1: a tap at the door, and the Countess's maid appears
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  Speaker 1: to ask, with Madame's compliments, if I have all I want,
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  Speaker 1: if I have had a good night, and to bring
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  Speaker 1: me the morning paper. The first person to move is
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  Speaker 1: the dowager Countess, who goes only to mass every morning.
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  Speaker 1: She is a type of the old fashioned French Faubourg
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  Speaker 1: Saint Germain lady, a straight, slender figure, always dressed in black,
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  Speaker 1: devoted to her children and to all her own family,
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  Speaker 1: with the courteous, high bred manner one always finds in
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  Speaker 1: French women of the old school. She doesn't take much
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  Speaker 1: interest in the outside world, nor in anything that goes
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  Speaker 1: on in other countries, but is too polite to show
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  Speaker 1: that when she talks to me, for instance, who have
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  Speaker 1: knocked about so much. She doesn't understand the modern life.
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  Speaker 1: So Saint Jeanne and agitated, and it is funny to
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  Speaker 1: hear her say when talking of people she doesn't quite
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  Speaker 1: approve of. In Saint pard No Romande. Then comes the
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  Speaker 1: young Countess, very energetic and smiling, with her short skirt
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  Speaker 1: and a bag on her arm, going to market. She
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  Speaker 1: sees me at the window and stops to know if
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  Speaker 1: I am going out, will I join her at the market.
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  Speaker 1: All the ladies of Valogne do their own marketing, and
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  Speaker 1: some of the well known fishwomen and farmers wives who
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  Speaker 1: come in from the country with poultry would be quite
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  Speaker 1: hurt if Madame la Comtesse didn't come herself to give
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  Speaker 1: her orders and have a little talk. This morning, I
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  Speaker 1: have been to market with Countess Florien. The women looked
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  Speaker 1: so nice and clean in their short black, heavily pleated skirts,
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  Speaker 1: high white caps and handkerchiefs pinned over their bodices. The
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  Speaker 1: little stalls all down the narrow main street and spread
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  Speaker 1: out on the big square before the church. The church
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  Speaker 1: is large, with a square tower and fine dome. Nothing
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  Speaker 1: very interesting as to architecture. Some of the stalls were
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  Speaker 1: very tempting, and the smiling, red cheeked old women sitting
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  Speaker 1: up behind their wares was so civil and anxious to
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  Speaker 1: sell us something. The fish market was most inviting, quantities
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  Speaker 1: of flat white turbots, shining silver mackerel, and fresh cravettes
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  Speaker 1: piled high on a marble slab with water running over them.
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  Speaker 1: Four or five short skirted, bare legged fisher girls were
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  Speaker 1: standing at the door with baskets of fish on their heads.
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  Speaker 1: Florion joined us there and seemed on the best of
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  Speaker 1: terms with these young women. He made all kinds of
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  Speaker 1: jokes with them, to which they responded with giggles and
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  Speaker 1: a funny little half curtsey half nod. Both Florions spoke
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  Speaker 1: so nicely to all the market people as we passed
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  Speaker 1: from stall to stall. The poultry looked very good, such
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  Speaker 1: fat ducks and chickens. It was funny to see the
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  Speaker 1: bourgeois of Valonne, all armed with the large basket doing
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  Speaker 1: their marketing. They looked at the chickens, poked them, lifted
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  Speaker 1: them so as to be sure of their weight, and
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  Speaker 1: evidently new to a somtine what they had to pay.
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  Speaker 1: I fancy the Norman menager is a pretty sharp customer
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  Speaker 1: and knows exactly what she must pay for everything. The
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  Speaker 1: vegetable stools were very well arranged, the most enormous cabbages
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  Speaker 1: I ever saw. I think the old ladies who presided
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  Speaker 1: there were doing a flourishing business. I did not find
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  Speaker 1: much to buy, some gray knitted stockings that I thought
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  Speaker 1: would be good for my Marae boys. Marais is the
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  Speaker 1: name of the village near our place in France. And
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  Speaker 1: some blue linen blouses with white embroidery that all the
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  Speaker 1: carters were and which the Paris dressmakers transform into very
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  Speaker 1: pretty summer costumes. I bought for myself a paper bag
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  Speaker 1: full of cherries for a few sous, then left the
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  Speaker 1: florion and wandered about the streets a little alone. They
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  Speaker 1: are generally narrow, badly paved, with grass growing in the
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  Speaker 1: very quiet ones. There are many large hotels standing well
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  Speaker 1: back entre court re gardins, the big doors and gateways
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  Speaker 1: generally heavy and much ornamented, a great deal of carving
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  Speaker 1: on the facades and cornices, queer heads and beasts. Vallonne
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  Speaker 1: has not always been the quiet, dull, little provincial town
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  Speaker 1: it is to day. It has had its brilliant moment
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  Speaker 1: when all the hotels were occupied by grand seigneur, handsome
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  Speaker 1: equipage rolled through the streets, and its society prided itself
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  Speaker 1: on its exclusiveness and grand manner. It used to be
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  Speaker 1: said that to rue le carross at Valonne was a
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  Speaker 1: titre de noblesse, and the inhabitants considered their town a putiparis.
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  Speaker 1: In one of the plays of the time, a marquis
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  Speaker 1: very fashionable and a well known courtier was made to say,
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  Speaker 1: in fertoineois de Vallonne, a poor acheveas anon de corps
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  Speaker 1: one conquite image la grande ville de troufois in the
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  Speaker 1: hotel of the Florians. Their garden is enchanting quantities of flowers,
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  Speaker 1: roses particularly. They have made two great borders of tall
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  Speaker 1: pink rose bushes, with dwarf palms from Baudeguera planted between,
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  Speaker 1: just giving the note of stiffness one would expect to
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  Speaker 1: find in an old fashioned garden. On one side is
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  Speaker 1: a large terrace with marble steps and balustrade, and beyond that,
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  Speaker 1: half hidden by a row of fruit trees, a very
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  Speaker 1: good tennis court. We just see the church tower at
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  Speaker 1: one end of the garden, and it is so quiet
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  Speaker 1: one would never dream there was a town near the country.
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  Speaker 1: In every direction is beautiful, real English lanes. The roads
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  Speaker 1: low high banks on each side, with hawthorn bushes on top.
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  Speaker 1: One drives between thick green walls. We have made some
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  Speaker 1: lovely excursions. They have a big omnibus with a bonquete
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  Speaker 1: on top, which seats four people. Also a place by
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  Speaker 1: the coachman, and two great Norman posters who go along
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  Speaker 1: at a good steady trot, taking a little gallop occasionally
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  Speaker 1: up and down hills. Countess and Nadayac, Countess Florent's sister
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  Speaker 1: in law arrived to day with her daughter for a
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  Speaker 1: short visit. We had a pleasant evening with music, billiards
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  Speaker 1: and dominoes, a favorite game in this country. The dowager
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  Speaker 1: Countess always plays two games, and precisely at half past nine,
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  Speaker 1: her old man servant appears and escorts her to her rooms.
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  Speaker 1: We all break up early. The ten o'clock bell is
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  Speaker 1: usually the signal. It rings every night, just as it
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  Speaker 1: has done for hundreds of years. The town likes are
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  Speaker 1: put out, and the inhabitants understand that the authorities are
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  Speaker 1: not responsible for anything that may happen in the streets
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  Speaker 1: of Valogne after such a dangerous hour of the night.
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  Speaker 1: There are some fine places in the neighborhood. We went
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  Speaker 1: to day to schi Va, a large chateau which had
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  Speaker 1: belonged to the Darux, but it has been bought recently
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  Speaker 1: by a rich couple Valogna, people who have made a
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  Speaker 1: large fortune in cheese and butter. It seems their great
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  Speaker 1: market is London. They send over quantities via Cherbourg, which
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  Speaker 1: is only twenty minutes off by rail. It is a
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  Speaker 1: splendid place, with a fine approach by a great avenue
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  Speaker 1: with beautiful old trees. The chateau is a large square house,
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  Speaker 1: looks imposing as one drives up. We didn't see the
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  Speaker 1: master of the house he was away, but Madame received
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  Speaker 1: us in all her best clothes. She was much better
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  Speaker 1: dressed than we were, evidently by one of the good
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  Speaker 1: Paris houses. Countess Florent had written to ask if we
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  Speaker 1: might come, so she was under arms. She was a
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  Speaker 1: little nervous at first, talked a great deal very fast,
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  Speaker 1: but when she got accustomed to us it went more easily,
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  Speaker 1: and she showed us the house with much pride. There
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  Speaker 1: was some good furniture and one beautiful coverlet of old
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  Speaker 1: lace and embroidery which she had found, so were upstairs
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  Speaker 1: in an old chest of drawers. They have no children,
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  Speaker 1: Such a pity, as they are improving and beautifying the
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  Speaker 1: place all the time. The drive home was delightful, facing
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  Speaker 1: the sunset. I was amused with the Florian's old coachman.
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  Speaker 1: He is a curiosity, knows everybody in the country. He
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  Speaker 1: was much interested in our visit and asked if we
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  Speaker 1: had seen La Patronne said he knew her well, had
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  Speaker 1: often seen her on market day at Valloigne, sitting in
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  Speaker 1: her little cart in the midst of her cheeses, and
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  Speaker 1: Butter said that she was a brave fam How strange
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  Speaker 1: it must seem to people like that, just out of
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  Speaker 1: their hard working peasant life, and it is hard work
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  Speaker 1: in France to find themselves owners of a splendid chateau
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  Speaker 1: and estate, receiving the great people of the country. I
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  Speaker 1: dare say, in ten or twelve years they will be
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  Speaker 1: like any one else. And if there were sons or daughters,
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  Speaker 1: the young men would get into parliament or the diplomatic career.
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  Speaker 1: The daughters would marry some impoverished seal of a noble family,
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  Speaker 1: and cheeses and butter would be forgotten. We had one
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  Speaker 1: delightful day at Cherbourg. The prefe Maritime invited us to
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  Speaker 1: breakfast with him at his hotel. We went by rail
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  Speaker 1: to Cherbourg about half an hour and found the admiral's
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  Speaker 1: carriage waiting for us. The Prefecture is a nice, old
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  Speaker 1: fashioned house in the center of the town, with a
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  Speaker 1: big garden. We took off our coats in a large,
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  Speaker 1: handsome room upstairs. The walls were covered with red damask,
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  Speaker 1: and there were pictures of Queen Victoria and Louis Napoleon.
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  Speaker 1: It seems the Queen slept in that room one night
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  Speaker 1: when she came over to France to make her visit
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  Speaker 1: to Louis Philippe. At the Chateau d'Eu we found quite
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  Speaker 1: a party assembled, all the men in uniform and the
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  Speaker 1: women generally in white. We breakfasted in a large dining
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  Speaker 1: room with glass doors opening on to the garden, which
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  Speaker 1: was charming a blaze of bright summer flowers. Journed there
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  Speaker 1: for coffee after breakfast. The trees were big, made a
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  Speaker 1: good shade, and the little groups seated about in the
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  Speaker 1: various bosquay looked pretty and gay. When coffee and liqueurs
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  Speaker 1: were finished, we drove down to the quay where the
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  Speaker 1: Admiral's launch was waiting, and had a delightful afternoon steaming
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  Speaker 1: about the harbor. It is enormous, long jetties and breakwaters
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  Speaker 1: stretching far out, almost closing it in. There was every
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  Speaker 1: description of craft, big Atlantic liners, yachts, fishing boats, iron clads, torpedoes,
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  Speaker 1: and once we very nearly ran over a curious dark
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  Speaker 1: object floating on the surface of the water, which they
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  Speaker 1: told us was a submarine. It did not look comfortable
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  Speaker 1: as a means of transportation, but the young officers told
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  Speaker 1: us it was delightful. We got back to Velgne to
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  Speaker 1: a late dinner, having invited a large party to come
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  Speaker 1: over for tennis and dinner the next day. The Florens
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  Speaker 1: are a god send to Cherbourg. They are most hospitable,
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  Speaker 1: and with automobiles the distance is nothing and one is
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  Speaker 1: quite independent of trains. Yesterday four of our party went
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  Speaker 1: off to Cherbourg to make a cruise in a torpedo boat.
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  Speaker 1: The ladies were warned that they must put on clothes
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  Speaker 1: which would not mind sea water. But I should think
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  Speaker 1: bathing dresses would be the only suitable garments for such
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  Speaker 1: an expedition. They were remarkable objects when they came home.
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  Speaker 1: Mademoiselle de Nadajac's hat a curiosity, also her white blouse
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  Speaker 1: where the red of her hat, ribbons and cravat had run. However,
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  Speaker 1: they had enjoyed themselves immensely. At least the girl, Countess
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  Speaker 1: de Nadaak was not quite so enthusiastic. They got into
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  Speaker 1: dry clothes and played tennis vigorously all the afternoon. We
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  Speaker 1: had a pleasant family evening. Mademoiselle de Nadaiak has a
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  Speaker 1: pretty voice and sang well. Floren and I played some duets.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: I joined in the dowager's game of dominoes, which I
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  Speaker 1: don't seem to have mastered, as I lose regularly. And
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  Speaker 1: after she left us, escorted by her faithful old butler,
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  Speaker 1: a light shawl over his arm to put on her
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  Speaker 1: shoulders when she passed through the corridors. We had rather
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  Speaker 1: an interesting conversation about ways and manners in different countries,
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  Speaker 1: particularly the way young people are brought up. I said
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  Speaker 1: we were a large family, and that mother would never
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  Speaker 1: let us read in the drawing room after dinner. If
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  Speaker 1: we were all absorbed in our books, conversation was impossible.
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  Speaker 1: We were all musical, so the piano and singing helped
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  Speaker 1: us through. Madame de Florion, whose father Marquis and nadayac
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  Speaker 1: is quite of the old school, said they were not
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  Speaker 1: even allowed to work or look at pictures in the
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  Speaker 1: salon after dinner. Her father considered it disrespectful. If any
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  Speaker 1: of his children did anything but listen when he talked,
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  Speaker 1: they might join in the conversation if they had anything
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  Speaker 1: intelligent to say. She told us too, of some of
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  Speaker 1: the quite old fashioned chateau that she stayed in as
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  Speaker 1: a girl and even a young married woman. There was
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  Speaker 1: one fire and one lamp in the drawing room. Any
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  Speaker 1: One who wanted to be warm or to work was
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  Speaker 1: obliged to come into that room. No fires nor lamps
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  Speaker 1: allowed anywhere else in the house. A cup of tea
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  Speaker 1: in the afternoon was an unheard of luxury. If you
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  Speaker 1: were ill, a doctor was sent for and he ordered
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  Speaker 1: a tizan. If you were madly tired or cold, you
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  Speaker 1: waited until dinner time. We have also made a charming
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  Speaker 1: expedition to Quienneville, a small seaside place. About an hour
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  Speaker 1: and a half strive, always through the same green country
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  Speaker 1: and Norman posters galloping up all the hills. We passed
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  Speaker 1: through various little villages, each one with a pretty little, gray,
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  Speaker 1: square towered church. There was plenty of passing, as it
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  Speaker 1: was market day. We met a good many peasant women
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  Speaker 1: carrying milk in those curious old brass bowls one sees
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  Speaker 1: everywhere here. Some of them are very handsome, polished until
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  Speaker 1: they shine like mirrors, with a delicate pattern likely traced
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  Speaker 1: running around the bowl. They balanceants them perfectly on their
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  Speaker 1: heads and walk along at a good swinging pace. They
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  Speaker 1: all look prosperous, their skirts generally black, shoes and stockings
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  Speaker 1: in good condition, and their white caps and handkerchiefs as
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  Speaker 1: clean as possible. Qui Neeville is a very quiet little place,
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  Speaker 1: no hotel and rows of ugly little houses well back
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  Speaker 1: from the sea, but there is a beautiful stretch of
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  Speaker 1: firm white sand. To day it was dead low tide.
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: The sea looked miles away, a long line of dark
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: seaweed marking the water's edge. There were plenty of people about.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: Women and girls with stout, bare legs and a primitive
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  Speaker 1: sort of tool half pitchfork, half shovel, were piling seaweed
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: onto the carts which were waiting on the shore. Children
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: were paddling about in the numerous little pools and making
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  Speaker 1: themselves wreaths and necklaces out of the berries of the seaweed,
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: some of them quite bright colored, pink and yellow. We
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  Speaker 1: wandered about on the beach, sometimes on the side of
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  Speaker 1: a boat, and walking through the little pools and streams.
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  Speaker 1: It was a lonely bit of water. We didn't see
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  Speaker 1: a sail. The sea looked like a great blued plain
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  Speaker 1: meeting the sky. Nothing to break the monotony. We got
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: some very bad coffee at the restaurant. Didn't attempt tea.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: They would certainly have said they had it and would
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  Speaker 1: have made it, probably out of hay from the barn.
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  Speaker 1: The drive home was delicious, almost too cool. As we
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: went at a good pace, the horses, knowing as well
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  Speaker 1: as we did the end of their day was coming.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: We have been again to market this morning. It was
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  Speaker 1: much more amusing than the first time, as it was
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: a horse day and men and beasts were congregated in
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: the middle of the cathedral square. There was a fair show,
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  Speaker 1: splendid big cart horses, and good cobs and ponies. Here
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  Speaker 1: and there a nice saddle horse. There were a good
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: many women driving themselves, and almost all had good stout
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  Speaker 1: little horses. They know just as much about it as
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  Speaker 1: the men, and were much interested in the sales. They
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  Speaker 1: told me. The landlady of the hotel was the best
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  Speaker 1: judge of a horse and a man in Normandy. She
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  Speaker 1: was standing at the entrance of her courtyard as we
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: passed the hotel on our way home, a comely buxom figure,
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: dressed like all the rest in a short black skirt
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: and sabot. She was exchanging smiling greetings and jokes with
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: every one who passed, and keeping order with the crowds
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: of farmers, drivers and horse dealers who were jostling through
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: the big open doors and clamoring for food for themselves
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: and their animals. She was the type of the hard
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: working capable frenchwoman, of whom there are thousands in France.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: Some years ago I was on the committee for a
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: great sale we had in our arrondissement in Paris for
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: the benefit of La Cistance Parle Travaills, an excellent work
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: which we are all much interested in. I was in
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: charge of the buffet and thought it better to apply
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: at once to one of the great caterers, Potel and
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: shap Beau, and see what they could do for us.
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: We made an appointment, and Madame de b and I
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: drove down to the place. The manager was out, but
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: they told us that Madame was waiting for us. In
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: the back shop. We found rather a pretty woman, very
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: well dressed in velvet, with diamond ear rings, and I
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: was put out at first thought that didn't look like business. However,
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: we talked a few minutes. She said her husband was
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: obliged to go to the country, but would certainly come
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: and see me the next day. Then she stepped up
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: to her desk, where there was a big book open,
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: said she understood we wished to give an order for
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: a buffet for a charity sale, and was at once
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: absorbed in sandwiches, tea and coffee or in jade, and
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: all the requirements for such an occasion. She was perfectly
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: practical and gave us some very useful hints. Said she
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: supposed we wanted some of their make for hotel. We
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: thought not our own would do that, she said would
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: be a great mistake. They weren't accustomed to that sort
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: of thing and wouldn't know how to do it. One thing.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: For instance, they would certainly fill all the glasses of
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: orange aide and punch much too full, and would waste
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: a great deal. Their men never filled a glass entirely
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: and consequently gained too on every dozen. She told us
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: how much we wanted, made out the estimate at once,
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: and ended by asking if we would allow them to
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: present the tea as their contribution to the charity. It
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: didn't take more than twenty minutes the whole thing. She
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: then shut up her book, went to the door with us,
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: thanked us for giving them the order, and hoped we
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: would be satisfied. That business capability and thriftiness runs through
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: almost all French women of a certain class. And when
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: I hear, as of course, I often do the frivolous
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: butterfly pleasure loving frenchwomen spoken of that energetic, hard working
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: bourgeoise comes into my mind. We all who live in
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: France know the type well. The whole nation is frugal.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: During the Franco German War, my husband, who had spent
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: all the dreary months of the invasion at his chateau
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: in the country, was elected a member of the assemble
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: Nacional which met at Bordeaux. They were entirely cut off
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: from Paris, surrounded by Prussian troops on all sides, and
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: he couldn't get any money. Whatever he had had at
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: the beginning of the war had been spent sending off
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: recruits for one of the great army corps near his place.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: It was impossible to communicate with his banker or any
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: friends in Paris, and yet he couldn't start without funds.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: He applied to the notary of La Fertemon, the little
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: town nearest the chateau. He asked how much he wanted.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: W said about ten thousand francs. The notary said, give
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: me two days and I will get it for you.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: He appeared three days afterward, bringing ten thousand francs, a
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: great deal of it in large silver five franc pieces,
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: very difficult to carry he had collected the whole sum
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: from small farmers and peasants in the neighborhood, the five
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: franc pieces coming always from the peasants, sometimes fifty sewed
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: up in a mattress or in the woman's thick wadded
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: sunday skirt. He said he could get as much more
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: if w wanted it. It seems impossible for the peasant
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: to part with his money or invest it. He must
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: keep it well hidden, but in his possession. We had
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: a pretty drive this afternoon to one of Floren's farms,
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: down a little green lane, some distance from the high road,
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: and so hidden by the big trees that we saw
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: nothing until we got close to the gate. It was late,
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: all the cows coming home, the great Norman horses drinking
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: at the trough, two girls with bare legs and high caps,
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: calling all the fowl to supper, and the farmer's wife
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: with a baby in her arms, and another child almost
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: a baby, pulling at her skirts. Seated on a stone
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: bench underneath a big apple tree, its branches heavy with fruit.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: She was superintend the work of the farm yard, and
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: seeing that the two girls didn't waste a minute of
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: their time, nor a grain of the seed with which
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: they were feeding the chickens. A little clear, sparkling stream
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: was meandering through the meadows, tall poplars on each side,
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: and quite at the end of the stretch of green
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: fields there was the low blue line of the sea.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: The farm house is a large, old fashioned building with
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: one or two good rooms. It had evidently been a
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: small manor house. One of the rooms is charming with
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: handsome panels of dark carved wood. It seemed a pity
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: to leave them there, and almost a pity that the
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: florion could not have made their home in such a
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: lovely green spot. But they would have been obliged to
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: add to the house enormously, and it would have complicated
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: their lives, being so far away from everything. We have
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: had a last walk and flangeray this morning. We went
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: to the hospice, formerly a Benedictine convent, where there is
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: a fine gateway and courtyard with most extraordinary carving over
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: the doors and gate monstrous heads and beasts and emblems,
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: alongside of cherubs and beautiful saints and angels. One wonders
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: what ideas those old artists had. It seems now such
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: distorted imagination. We walked through some of the oldest streets
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: and passed what had been fine hotels, but they are
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: quite uninhabited now. Sometimes a bric a brac shop on
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: the ground floor and some sort of society on the
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: upper story, but they are all neglected and half tumbling down.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: There is still splendid carving on some of the old
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: gateways and cornices, but bits of stone and plaster are
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: falling off. Grass is growing between the paving stones of
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: the courtyards, and there is an air of poverty and neglect,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: which is a curious contrast to the prosperous look of
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: the country. All around all the little farms and villages
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: look so thriving. The people are smiling and well fed.
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: They're animals too, horses, cows, donkeys, all in good condition.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: I have played my last game of dominoes in this
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: fine old hotel, and had my last cup of tea
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: in the stiff, stately garden, with the delicious salt sea
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: breeze always coming at four o'clock and the cathedral chimes
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: sounding high and clear over our heads. I leave to
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: morrow night for London via Shelbourg and Southampton. End of
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: Section sixteen.