Chateau and Country Life in France

off the horses who were almost maddened by the sting. They were so persistent that we had to take them off with a sharp stick. They stuck like leeches. We generally wen

ese. When the young ones succeed, there is always a tendency to modify and change, and it is not easy to mix the elaborate luxurious furniture of our times with the s

the Royal Family, Madame de Tourzel retired to her chateau d'Abondant and remained there all through the Revolution. The village people and peasants adored her and she lived there peacefully through all those terrible days. Neither chateau nor park was damaged in any way, although she was known to be a devoted friend

large corner room on the ground-floor, with four windows. The ceiling (which was very high) and walls covered with toiles d

ey gave her the Duchesse de Tourzel's room, thinking it would interest her as a chambre historique. She was already nervous at sleeping alone on the ground-floor, far from all the other inmates of the chateau. The room was enormous-walls nearly five metres high-the bed looked lik

patches, and the hundred accessories for a fine lady's toilette in those days, were in Vernis Martin absolutely intact. The drawing-rooms still had their old

a village in Belgium

oved when the chateau was sold. After the death of the Duchesse de Tourzel the chateau went to her niece, the Duchesse des Cars-who left it to her n

is house of a member of that family. The park was very large and be

hape, to represent green walls, a marble group of allegorical figures at the back. It was most carefully preserved-the seats of the amphitheatre looked like green velvet and the trees were always cut

t becomes more and more difficult to keep up the large places. Life gets dearer every day-fortunes don't increase-very few young Frenchmen of the upper

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own to the garden on one side. The park is delightful-many splendid old trees. Until a few years ago there were still some that dated since Louis XIV. The last one of that age-a fine oak, with wide spreading branches-died about two years ago, but

terrace, a great expanse of green valley looking toward Falaise-on the oth

p of the Houlgate Hill. We went through countless little Norman lanes, quite narrow, sometimes-between high green banks with a hedge on top, and the trees meeting over our heads-so narrow that I wondered what would happen if we met another auto. We left the sea behind us, and plunged into the lovely green valley that runs along back of the coast line. We came suddenly

shallow steps) to an end room, with a beautiful view over the park, where we got out of all the wraps, veils, and glasses that one must

look like the wall-runs straight around the room with all sorts of curious figures: soldiers, horses, and boats, copied exactly from the famous Bayeux tapestries, the most striking episodes-the departure of the Conqueror from Dives-the embarkation of his army (the cavalry-most extraordinary long queerly shaped horses with faces like people)-the death of Harold-the fighting Bishop Odo-brother of the Conqueror,

erything teems with legends and traditions of the great Duke. They see Falaise, where he was born, from their terrace, someti

he tour of the park-passing a pretty lodge with roses and creepers all over it and "Mairie" put upon a sign; d'Y--is mayor of his little village and finds it convenient to have the Mairie at his own gate. We rested a little in the drawing-room before going back, and he showed us various portraits and miniatures of his family which were most interesting. Some of the miniatures are exactly like one we have of

ll; a beautiful blue sea at our feet and the turrets and pointed roofs o

had taken out all the furniture, and the parents and older people sat about on the terrace where there were plenty of seats and little tea-tables. The dining-room-with an abundant buffet-was always full; one arrives with a fine appetite after whirling for two or three hours through the keen salt air. The girls all looked charming-the white dresses, bright sashes, and big

ge was really a curiosity. There is a splendid stretch of sand beach-at low tide one can walk, by the shore, to Trouville or Houlgate on perfectly firm, dry sand. There are hundreds of cabins and tents, striped red and white, and umbrellas on the beach, and all day long whole families sit there. They all bathe, and a curious fashion at Villers is that you put on your bathing dress in your own house-over that a peignoir, generally of red and white striped cotton, and walk quite calmly through the

es, dinners, dressing, etc. They get all the sea air and out-of-door life that they can crowd into one month. One lady said to me one day, "I c

ing. There was a pretty Norman farm-just over the plage-at the top of the falaise where we went sometimes for tea. They gave us very good tea, milk, and cider, and excellent bread and butter and cheese. We sat out of doors in an apple orchard at little tables-all the be

ld Norman town, with a fine cathedral and curious houses with gables and towers-one street most picturesque, very narrow, with wooden houses, their projecting roofs coming so far over the street one could hardly see the sky in some places. There were all kinds of balconies and cornices most elaborately carved-the wood so dark one could sc

turday-market day-and the town was crowded-every description of vehicle in the main street and before the hotel, two enormous red 60-horse-power Mercedes-farmers' gigs and donkey carts with cheeses and butter-a couple generally inside-the man with his blue smock and broad

ds from Trouville-Deauville, most of them in autos-some in light carriages. We tried to make a rendezvous for tea at the famous patissier's (who sends his cakes and bonbons over half the department), but that was not very practical, as they had all finished what they had to do and we had not even be

the houses are much too near. It should have more space around it. There was a market going on, on the other side of the squ

there. It is very grand-quite simple, but splendid proportions-a fitting resting-place for the great soldier, who, however, was not allowed to sle

tomb with an inscription in Latin. There was at one time a very handsome monument, but it was destroyed, like so many others, during the Revolution, and the remains placed, some years after, in the stone coffin where they now rest. We hadn't time to see the many interesting things in the churches and in the town, as it was getting late and we wanted some tea before we started back. We found our way to the patissier's quite easily, but certainly couldn't have had

e specimens of Norman dray horses and mares with long-legged colts running alongside of them. It was late when we got home. The lighthouses

columns are very grand-every capital exquisitely carved and no two alike. Our guide, a very talkative person-unlike the generality of Norman peasants, who are usually taciturn-was very an

if they had been painted yesterday. I hadn't seen them for years and had forgotten the curious shapes and vivid colouring. We went to one of the lace shops. The Bayeux lace is very pretty, made with the "fuseau", very fine-a mi

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has his "haras" on his place. The park is all cut up into paddocks, each one separated from the other by a hedge and all connected by green paths. F. said the effect from the terrace was quite charming; one saw nothi