Rambles in Normandy

¿ONE doubles his span of life,¿ says George Moore, ¿by knowing well a country not his

own.¿

is a good friend, indeed, to whom one may turn in time of strife, and none other than

Normandy¿unless it be Brittany¿has proved itself a more safe and pleasant land for

travellers.

When one knows the country well he recognizes many things which it has in common with

England. Its architecture, for one thing, bears a marked resemblance; for the Norman

builders, who erected the magnificent ecclesiastical edifices in the Seine valley during the

middle ages, were in no small way responsible for many similar works in England.

It is possible to carry the likeness still further, but the author is not rash enough to do so. The

above is doubtless sufficient to awaken any spirit of contention which might otherwise be

latent.

Some one has said that the genuine traveller must be a vagabond; and so he must, at least to

the extent of taking things as he finds them. He may have other qualities which will endear

him to the people with whom he comes in contact; he may be an artist, an antiquarian, or a

mere singer of songs;¿even if he be merely inquisitive, the typical Norman peasant makes

no objection.

One comes to know Normandy best through the real gateway of the Seine, though not many

distinguish between Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy. Indeed, not every one knows

where Normandy leaves off and Brittany begins, or realizes even the confines of the ancient

royal domain of the kings of France.