Serquigny (38 miles), at the junction of the Rille and Charentonne, is said to have taken its name from Serquinius, a Roman. A camp is traceable. The Marquis de Croise owns three cotton factories here. The church is ancient. Bernay (5) miles), has a buffet, and is a souspréfecture in department Eure, in a hollow on the Charentonne, with 7,000 pop., who manufacture linens, flannels, cotton, &c. Besides some old houses (in Rue aux Févres), and two churches of the 15th cent., it has, at the corn hall, part of a Benedictine abbey, founded 1018, in the Norman style. Here was born, ín 1150, Alexandre de Bernay, from whose productions the French heroic measure of twelve syllables is called Alexandrine. A cattle fair in March is attended by great numbers. and museum, &c.; and it has manufactures of coarse woollens, flannels, cotton, and other goods. St. Peter's cathedral Church is mostly early Gothic (with some Norman portions as old as 1022), and has a good west front with two towers; besides a Lady chapel, built in the 15th cent., by Bishop Cauchon, to atone for the share he took in condemning Joan of Arc. Pop.. 12,000. Hotel.-de France. A branch rail to Pont l'Evêque turns off here. (see Route 12). Several old Châteaux may be examined round Lisieux, as Fumichon, d'Herminal, Ouilly-la-Ribaude, Beuvilliers, Mesnil-Guillaume, and Mailloc, whose last Marquis, died, an exile in England, in 1802. An old half-feudal structure, called the Pavements, on the road to Orbec, should Hotels.-Le Cheval Blanc (White Horse); le Lion not be omitted. When the Bishop of Lisieux lived d'Or (Golden Lion). in this neighbourhood, he used always to date from [About 10 kil. to the south-west is Broglie, with its the "Chambre du Pavement." old church, and seat of the Duc de Broglie. About 8 miles north-east is BRIONNE, in a pretty spot on the Rille, with good fishing. A council was held here, 1050. A little below it is Bec Abbey, with the church tower (150 feet high), arches, and other remains of a famous religious house, founded 1034, by Hellouin (or Harlowyn), and used by the Benedictines of St. Maur, before the Revolution. An inscription records that it was partially restored in 1854, by the Society of Antiquaries of Normandy. It produced Archbishops Lanfranc, Anselm, Theobald, and Hubert, besides many bishops successively transferred to England by its Norman kings.] St. Mards Orbec (8 miles), a village of 1,200 pop., is 17 kil. from Orbec, which possesses a church and an old cháteau, in a charming situation. Here we leave department Eure, and enter that of Calvados, so christened by the Constituent Assembly, after a ship of the Armada, which had been lost on its rocky coast. [At 18 kil. to the south is Livarot, which is noted for its cheese; and 10 kil. beyond it, VIMOUTIERS, where large manufactures of coarse linens employ 20,000 people in and around the town.] Leaving Lisieux, the railway runs through the valley of Auge, the seat of an ancient county; and then through Motte tunnel, 7,759 feet long, and comes out at Houblonnière, where Cervoise beer is made. Its castle belonged to the Knights Templars, and is opposite Val-Richer Abbey, lately the seat of M. Guizot. This was a Bernardine house, now partly restored. Mesnil-Mauger (11 miles), on the Vie and Viette, near Capo-Mesnil château. Further on, near the Dive, is Plainville château. Here was the abbey of St. Barbe-en-Auge, which belonged to Tankerville, the Conqueror's chamberlain. Mezidon (4 miles), is near Breuil (and its church), where a junction with the Mans and Alençon line was effected in Feb. 1859 (see Route 16). Pass Canon, the seat of Élie de Beaumont, the geologist, to Lisieux (13 kil.), a sous-préfecture in department Calvados, on the Touques, where the Orbec Moult-Argences (5) miles), on the Muance, joins it, in a rich valley. It was the Roman Lexovii, under a hill, on which is La Hogue camp, supposed to whence this part is still called Pays de Lieuvain.be Roman. Argences still produces a little wine-the Henry II. of England married Eleanor here, 1152; and here his rebellious subject, Becket, came when exiled, 1169. Grand Rue is the best built street; the others are narrow and winding, with many curious timbered houses, which are disappearing before modern improvements. There are eight Places, four halls, eleven fountains, three churches, an old bishop's palace (with good gardens), public library only wine in Normandy, and as acid as vinegar. Its an old abbey church, founded 1046, by a com- Further on, the line passes within view of the plain (bordered by the Muance and the Laison), where the battle of Val des Dunes was fought, 1047, between the Normans and French. Wace, in the ancient poem | having low towers, and a monument of Queen Maof the Roman de Rou, describes it as "Valedunes est en Oismeiz Entre Argences è Cingueleiz." Then comes Mondeville and its caves, from which the stone used in building the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey was quarried. tilda, its foundress. The buildings attached are now included in the Hôtel Dieu, or general Hospital (built 1726). St. Pierre (Peter) has a beautiful light spire (built 1308), 240 feet high, and a good vaulted roof. St. Etienne-le-Vieil, a fine pointed church, in a state At 8 miles from Moult is the old capital of Nor- of decay, and serving as a corn market, has a soimandy, CAEN, 142 miles from Paris, 95 from Cherbourg. HOTEL.-De Victoire. English Vice-Consul, P. Barrow, Esq. Service in English at the French Protestant Church, in Rue de la Geôle. Rev. C. Olive and E. Mellon are resident pastors. AT OBJECTS OF NOTICE.-Churches of St. Etienne, Trinity, St. Pierre, &c.--Castle-Cour des HallesCharlotte Corday's house-Museum. Pop., 44.000; many being English settlers. A fine old town, both historically, and in an antiquarian point of view; capital of department Calvados, head of a military division, &c., in a fertile corn country, on the Orne, where the Odon joins it, three leagues from the Channel. It was called Cathein about the time (1066), that the Conqueror, whose favourite seat it was, founded St. Etienne's Abbey, in which he was buried; his wife Matilda having founded a nunnery at the same time. The English, under Edward III., plundered it, 1346, and again, 1417, from which year they held it till 1450. Only the remains of its walls and 21 towers are now left. It looks to great advantage as you approach it. The streets are wide, and the houses of stone-the Caen stone-which was used formerly in England; several old wooden gable-fronted buildings, with carvings, are seen. The best promenades are at Grand Cours, Place St. Sauveur, Place Royale (which has a statue of Louis XIV.), and the Quais, to which vessels of 150 tons come up. Of its 10 or 12 churches, the most remarkable are disant figure of the Conqueror. That of St. Nicholas, which he built, 1066, in the Norman style, is a cavalry stable. At the old Castle, now used as a barrack, is another Norman chapel. St. Jean's church has two unequal towers; and St. Michael's is a mixture of Norman and other styles. The Manoir de Pollent, called also, the Château de Calix, or Gendarmerie, has some curious carving about it. Hotel de Valois, now the Bourse or exchange, is also ornamented with statues, &c. The Cour des Halles, or de Monnaie, deserves notice, as does the Hôtel de Than, in Rue St. Jean. Charlotte Corday's house is in the same street. Other buildings are, the Hôtel de la Préfecture; the Palais de Justice, with a colonnade round it; large Public Library of 48,000 volumes, besides MSS., the history of which has been published by its curator, M. Trebutier; and the Museum, having several good pictures, and a cabinet of natural history, which includes fossils of the oolite rocks, as the ichthyosaurus, &c. There are also Schools of Medicine, Architecture, Navigation, &c., with Antiquarian and other Societies. Botanic Gardens, Deaf and Dumb School, Le Bon Sauveur Lunatic Asylum, &c. They show the house (corner of Rue Nôtre Dame) where Malherbe the poet was born; Bishop Huet was also a native, and wrote an account of the town. Galland, the translator of the Arabian Nights, was another. The unfortunate Beau Brummel died here, in a madhouse. Manufactures of millinery, hose, yarn, oil, paper, sugar, linen, &c., but especially lace, which the people in and around the town make all day long. Trade in oil, grain, cider, eaux-de-vie, fish, horses, &c. Coaches to Granville, St. Lo, Avranches, St. Malo, Vire, &c.; by steam, daily, to Havre in 3 or 4 hours. Several good village churches are seen in the St. Etienne's (Stephen's), or the Abbaye Aux Hommes, in the Norman style, built 1066-77, and 370 feet long; with three towers and two turrets, a fine west front, and a black marble slab before the altar, mark-neighbourhood; and within a distance of 6 or 8 ing where the bones of the Conqueror once rested. An inscription describes him as "Invictissimus Gulielmus Conquestor, &c." The abbey buildings, in the early pointed style, near it, belong to the high school or College of Henry VI., which was founded as a university by the Regent Bedford. Holy Trinity, or Abbaye Aux Dames, is also a large and excellent Norman specimen, cross-shaped, miles are Ardaine old abbey, the Norman chapel of Notre Dame de la Delivrande (near Douvres, visited by Louis XI., in 1571), a great resort of pilgrims, on the road to the bathing place of Courseulles, and the castles of Creuilly and FontaineHenri. Falaise is 39 kil. to the south-east (see Route Maladrerie (1 kil.) or Beaulieu, a house of detention, on the site of a lepers' hospital, founded by Henry II., of England. Bretteville (91) with a good church spire, is near that of Norrey, in the pure early-pointed style. Audrieu (3 miles). Bayeux (6 miles), an old-looking place, the ancient Civitas Bajocassium, a sous-préfecture, and seat of a bishopric, with 9,800 souls, on the Aure, in a fertile spot, is noted for its Tapestry, or piece of worsted work on coarse linen, about 230 feet long and 20 inches wide, worked by Queen Matilda, to represent the Conquest of England by her husband. It is shown at the public library (7,000 vols.); and a copy of it has been made by the Antiquarian Society of London. The Cathedral, on the site of that built 1077, by the Conqueror's brother, Bishop Odo, is of the 12th cent., and has three carved porches, two towers, 246 feet high, with good oak stalls, and a crypt under the choir; it is 334 feet long. At the Bishop's Palace is a series of portraits. The Hôtel Dieu was a chapel, built 1206; the Hôtel de Ville is ancient. There are two other churches, a museum, public baths, a new corn-market, college, &c., and a house in Rue St. Malo, where A. Chartier, the poet, and his brothers, were born in the 15th cent. Trade, in cattle, sheep, butter, cider, &e. Hotel.-Du Luxembourg. The road to St. Lo turns off here (see Route 14), but the nearest station is Lison. The Bocage, or woodland, between this and Isigny, is very fine. La Molay-Littry (9 miles) is near Formigny, 12 kil.), where the English were beaten in 1405, and obliged, finally, to give up Normandy. in grain, butter, and cattle. About 10 kil. northeast of it, is the Grand Cheminée of Quineville on the coast, a singular rock 27 feet high. [About 17 kil. to the west, at St. Sauveur, on the Douve, is a ruined abbey, founded by the Harcourts, with an old castle, which Edward III. gave to John Chandos.] Montebourg (5 miles). Valognes (17 miles), a sous-préfecture of 6,400 souls, on the Merderet, near the site of the Roman Alauna or Lonia. It has a college of some pretensions, and a library of 15,000 vols. Traces of a Roman temple, aqueduct, &c., were seen till lately, and it had a castle of William the Conqueror's. [About 12 kil, west-south-west is Briquebec castle, with a keep 100 feet high. Near this are the Grosses Roches (Druid stones), and a Trappist convent. At 16 kil. north-east is St. Waast-laHogue, mentioned below.] Then follow Sottevast (5 miles), . Couville (4 miles), and Martinvast (3 miles); and 4 miles further, at the end of the peninsula of Cotentin, is CHERBOURG, 242 miles from Paris. HOTELS-D'Angleterre (on the Quai); Du Commerce; De France; Du Louvre. Protestant Chapel, in Rue du Vieux Quai, opened 1835. Rev. M. Robineau, is the resident French Protestant pastor. Post-office, on the Quai. Pop., 27,000. A strong naval station and fortress of the first-class, seat of a maritime préfect, &c., on Lison (7 miles). From this a branch rail is the cliffs, at the mouth of the Divette, which spreads making to St. Lo, via Airel, and Pout Hébert. Isigny (53 miles), a pretty little port, in the bay of Isigny, at the mouth of the Vire and Aure, on the Channel. It is noted for its fresh and salt butter, in which it carries on a large trade, and its cider. Carentan (52 miles), a fortified town in a marshy spot, at the top of a creek, which runs up from the east side of the Cotentin peninsula. It has a good church, and a ruined château fort. Coach to Coutances (Route 14). [About 20 kil. west is the Abbey of Blancheland, founded in the 12th cent. On the coast, 10 kil. west-south-west, is the fine Abbey Church of Lessay, in the Norman style. Jersey is in the distance.] Chef-du-Pont (7 miles), is not far from St. Mère Eglise, which has a good church, and a trade into a wide road or bay, with the great breakwater called the Digue, in front. A circle of heights, crowned with strong fortifications, commands every part of the town and Road; so that a vessel, on entering, is exposed to the fire of above 100 of the heaviest ordnance, while the arsenal and forts are safe from shot. It is about 60 miles due south of the Needles. The town is a collection of narrow streets, and houses of stone and slate. A quay lines the commercial dock, or Port du Commerce, at the gap of the river. This port extends inward to the junction of the Trottebec, where the Roule, a steep rock, with a fortress on the summit, rises up 391 feet high. It was ascended by the Queen, at her visit in 1858. A floating basin, or avant port, is kept clear by means of a canal de reténue or sluice in its rear. The Hôtel de Ville has Vauban's original plan of the arsenal, a gallery of pictures, &c., chiefly French and Flemish, bequeathed by a native, T. Henry, whose bust is here; with a library of 2,400 volumes, a museum, &c. In front is a pillar to the Duc de Berri, with a fountain cut out of a single block of granite. St. Trinité Church near the sea and an old tower, was built 1450, except the spire, added 1825; it is 151 feet long. The chapel of Nôtre Dame du Vou (i. e. of the Vow) in Chantier de Chantereine, and only 49 feet long, replaces one built by Queen Maude, who landed here in a storm. It is now the maritime hospital. Another church, in the Gothic style, was built in 1831. There are a college, theatre, navigation school, baths, fountains, &c. The Naval Dock and Arsenal, to the north-west, was begun by Napoleon I. in 1803, and is now nearly complete. Three magnificent basins or docks are opened-respectively named Napoléon, Charles X., and Louis Philippe, each about 950 feet long, and nearly as broad; they have been excavated out of the slaty cliffs by gunpowder. They are large and deep enough (60 to 70 feet) to hold any number of line-of-battle ships required for instant service. They were opened in form by the Emperor Louis Napoleon, in the presence of Queen Victoria, in the summer of 1858; on which occasion the roads were crowded with English and French men-of-war, and the vessels of the Yacht Clubs. A fine granite statue of Napoléon was also set up, with an inscription from one of his speeches"J'ai résolu de renouveler à Cherbourg les merveilles d'Egypt," I have determined to revive at Cherbourg the wonders of Egypt-which these vast triumphs of engineering skill fairly rival. Around are six build ing slips (cales de construction) on granite piers; dry dock (forme de radoub); blacksmiths' shops (ateliers des forges); timber shed (hangar aux bois), 960 feet long; machine shops (ateliers des machines); with magazines, park of artillery, museum (salle des modèles), large barracks for seamen and soldiers, telegraph office, &c. Entrance to the Arsenal is granted only by special permission from the authorities. The Digue, or Dyke, off the town, is a breakwater 3,760 metres, or 4,711 yards long (2 times longer than that at Plymouth), and 31 broad at top. It was begun 1782, carried on by Napoleon and Louis Philippe, and completed 1851; the stones being supplied in making the docks, and sunk in great cones. It was upon one of these cones that Captain Brenton grounded in the Minerve, 1803, and was taken after a struggle of 36 hours to escape. The breakwater is strengthened by Fort du Hommet, near the middle, which carries a light; other forts and lights are placed on Ile Pelée near the east corner, where the way in is 1 miles broad, and on Point Querqueville, on the main land, to the west, where the fair way is of a mile broad. There are from 6 to 7 fathoms at low water, inside, and room for 30 or 40 sail. High water at moon's full and change, 7 hours 45 min. The English held this town 1418-50, and again in 1758, when General Bligh burnt the old dockyard, &c. James II. was here at the battle of La Hogue; Charles X. embarked here, 1830; and Don Pedro landed here, 1831. A little lace and coarse cloth are made; and eggs, &c., sent to England. Conveyances by coach, to Barfleur and St. Waast; by steam, to Havre, twice a-week, in 10 hours,-10 and 12 fr. In summer a steamer to Guernsey and Weymouth. Tourlaville castle, now a farm, or glass factory, lies to the south-east. From Cherbourg, to the east, you pass Maupertuis (10 kil.;) St. Pierre, (13 kil.) near Château de Tocqueville; and then at about 22 kil. you come to [BARFLEUR, a decayed port, which Edward III. plundered, 1346, but which, in Norman times, was the starting point for England. Upon the rocks, near this, Henry the First's son, William, was lost in the Blanche Nef,-a loss which struck such a blow to the king's heart that it is said he never smiled afterwards. To the north of it is Cape Barfleur, or Cape de Gatteville, which has a granite lighthouse, 236 feet high, with an intermittent flash, seen seven leagues off. About eight miles south of it is St. Waast, or Waast La Hogue, which gives name to the naval action of 1692, when Rooke burnt the French fleet, under Tourville. From Cherbourg, to the west, you come to Beaumont (14 kil.), and then to CAPE LA HAGUE (21 kil.), which is sometimes ROUTE 12. By branch rail, to Pont l'Evêque; thence by road and steamer. Distance to Pont l'Evêque, 11 miles; three trains daily. The line is to be continued to Honfleur. Lisieux, as in Route 11. Le Breuil (6 miles). Then Pont L'Eveque (4) miles), a small sous -préfecture of 2,200 souls, in the valley of the Touques, where they make lace and good cheese. The fertile meadows of the Pays d'Auge send large numbers of cattle to the Paris market. Formerly it was called Pont à la Vache, changed to l'Evêque, by a bishop of Lisieux, who rebuilt the bridge. At the mouth of the river, 11 kil. lower, is the now fashionable bathing place and fishing village of Trouville-sur-Mer, under the cliffs of the Channel, which is frequented from June to September, when steamers run to Havre. The population has risen to 3,000, since the time when Alexandre Dumas first brought it into notice. There are many points of attraction round it, exclusive of the marine scenery;-such as the seats of Comte d'Hautpool, Baron Clary, the Duchesse de Kozan, M. Cordier, exmember of the Assembly, &c. [Within a few miles is DIVES (to the west), at the mouth of a river remarkable as that where the Conqueror collected part of his fleet, for invading England, in 1066. Its rocks, flowers, and fossils, are rather noted. Château d'Aguesseau is now the seat of Prince Murat. At Beaumontpar-Ronchville, Laplace, the mathematician was born.] From Pont l'Evêque, the road to Honfleur, through this part of Lower Normandy passes the old castle of Bonneville, a favourite seat of the Conqueror's; Canapville, and the old church of Toques, and the old church and château of Criqueboeuf; thence, between the heights which overlook the town, to HONFLEUR (16 kil.), a port of 10,000 souls, in department Calvados, with three basins, and building slips, whence frigates have been launched. It has several old streets and houses. St. Catherine's Church, which at first was built in the 5th cent., of wood, has two pictures by Rubens' pupils, Jordaens and Quellin. St. Leonard's is as old as the 12th cent. From the little fishermen's chapel of Notre Dame de Grace, on the Côte de Grace, 326 feet high, outside the town, there is a fine sea view, which embraces Havre, Le Hêve Lights, Tankarville Castle, Quilleboeuf, &c. The present chapel, which is favorite resort, dates from 1606; but the first one was built by Robert I., of Normandy, in fulfilment of a vow made in a storm. An excellent prospect may be got from La Roque, up the river. It was at Croix Rouge, near this town, that Louis Philippe embarked in the Express, for England, 1848, after an unsuccessful attempt at Trouville. The rocks about Honfleur correspond in character to those of the Isle of Wight and the Dorsetshire coast. Various manufactures thrive here; eggs, fruit, butter, &c., are sent to England, and there is a trade in honey, cider, and fish, &c. High water at moon's change, about 10h. Hotel.-Le Cheval Blanc (White Horse). ROUTE 13. Rouen to Honfleur. Distance, 68 kil., or 43 miles. A rail is proposed in this direction. Rouen, as in Route 8. PETIT QUEVILLY (3 kil.), on the south side of the Seine, so called, they say, after the fence (cheville) made by the Norman dukes round their hunting grounds. It has St. Julien's Norman chapel (now a barn), built by Henry II. of England. A little further is Grand Quevilly, which had an immense Protestant church in Henry IV.'s time pulled down in 1686. The Princesse de Montmorency's château is near. MOULINEAUX (3 kil.), in a fine spot, opposite the little spire church of Sahur, has, on a hill, the picturesque remains of the Castle of a fierce soldier, Robert le Diable (of Pepin's time), the hero of Meyerbeer's opera. It was destroyed by King John, who, according to some authorities, killed his nephew, Arthur, here. BOUILLE (4 kil.), to which steamers from Rouen come, stands under the cliffs, and is a favourite trip of the citizens. Le Londe forest, Caumont quarries, and Jacqueline grotto, are near. BOURZARCHARD (7 kil.) PONT AUDEMER (23 kil.), a sous-prefecture, of 6,860 pop., in the fertile valley of the Rille, called after one Odomar, who founded it in the 5th cent. It suffered in the English and civil wars. It has three or four churches. Trade in leather (for which it is noted), corn, cider, wool, &c. Hotels-De l'Image de St. Pierre; du Lion d'Or (Golden Lion). Coach to Bernay on the Cherbourg line. [At 12 kil, north-east, is Quillebauf, a pilot station, on a point of the Seine, which the Norman dukes gave to Jumièges Abbey, and the walls of which were reduced by Louis XIV. Population, 1350, The Seine is full of shifting sands here, and the tide frequently rushes in with a bore six feet higli, at some risk to the shipping.] |