in the variety of form and colour of the old buildings, and in the
costume of the people; and we cannot imagine a more pleasant and
complete change from the heat and pressure of a London season than to
drop down (suddenly, as it were, like a bird making a swoop in the air),
into the midst of the quiet, primitive population of a town like Pont
Audemer, not many miles removed from the English coast, but at least a
thousand in the habits and customs of the people. An artist of any
sensibility could scarcely do it, the shock would be too great, the
delight too much to be borne; but the ordinary reader, who has prepared
his mind to some extent by books of travel, or the tourist, who has come
out simply for a holiday, may enjoy the change as he never enjoyed
anything before.

In the following pages we do not profess to describe each place on the
route we have suggested, but rather to record a few notes, made at
various times during a sojourn in Normandy; notes--not intended to be
exhaustive, or even as complete and comprehensive in description, as
ordinary books of travel, but which--written in the full enjoyment of
summer time in this country, in sketching in the open air, and in the
exploration of its mediæval towns--may perchance impart something of the
author's enthusiasm to his unknown readers, when scattered upon the
winds of a publisher's breeze.




[Illustration]

CHAPTER II.