Normandy which used to be known as the Cotentin. At first the country is
full of deep valleys and smiling hills covered with rich pastures and
woodland, but as you approach Lessay at the head of an inlet of the sea the
road passes over a flat heathy desert. The church at Lessay is a most
perfect example of Norman work. The situation is quite pretty, for near by
flows the little river Ay, and the roofs are brilliant with orange lichen.
The great square tower with its round-headed Norman windows, is crowned
with a cupola. With the exception of the windows in the north aisle the
whole of the interior is of pure Norman work. There is a double triforium
and the round, circular arches rest on ponderous pillars and there is also
a typical Norman semi-circular apse. The village, which is a very ancient
one, grew round the Benedictine convent established here by one Turstan
Halduc in 1040, and there may still be seen the wonderfully picturesque
castle with its round towers.

Following the estuary of the river from Lessay on a minor road you come to
the hamlet of St Germain-sur-Ay. The country all around is flat, but the
wide stretches of sand in the inlet have some attractiveness to those who
are fond of breezy and open scenery, and the little church in the village
is as old as that of Lessay. One could follow this pretty coast-line
northwards until the seaboard becomes bold, but we will turn aside to the
little town of La Haye-du-Puits. There is a junction here on the railway
for Carentan and St Lo, but the place seems to have gone on quite unaltered
by this communication with the large centres of population. The remains of
the castle, where lived during the eleventh century the Turstan Halduc just
mentioned, are to be seen on the railway side of the town. The dungeon
tower, picturesquely smothered in ivy, is all that remains of this Norman
fortress. The other portion is on the opposite side of the road, but it
only dates from the sixteenth century, when it was rebuilt. Turstan had a
son named Odo, who was seneschal to William the Norman, and he is known to