. A summer voyage on the river Saône. With a hundred and forty-eight illustrations. the evening and had been enchanted. The mellow light aftersunset, the mysterious twilight slowly increasing, gave an in-describable charm to our exploration. Everything in the placeseemed part of one beautifully coherent rural poem. It was aSunday evening, and the people were seated in groups abouttheir doors. We noticed especially one group of women, com-posed like a picture, their sun-browned handsome faces enlivenedby their talk. I asked them some trivial question, and theyreceived me with such easy politene
. A summer voyage on the river Saône. With a hundred and forty-eight illustrations. the evening and had been enchanted. The mellow light aftersunset, the mysterious twilight slowly increasing, gave an in-describable charm to our exploration. Everything in the placeseemed part of one beautifully coherent rural poem. It was aSunday evening, and the people were seated in groups abouttheir doors. We noticed especially one group of women, com-posed like a picture, their sun-browned handsome faces enlivenedby their talk. I asked them some trivial question, and theyreceived me with such easy politeness that we thought the placemust be a little centre of civilisation. And all the buildings H 2 IOO The Sao>ii\ around us were so picturesque! The houses were delightfullyvarious, a few of them had turrets and balconies, or loggie, andprojecting roofs. The oppositions of advancing and retiringmasses, of light and dark spaces, of warm and cooler colour,were all that an artist could desire. Besides this picturesquematerial, there were two edifices of greater severity, the public. Ovanches—the Cross. washing-place and the church. The washing-place had evidentlybeen designed by an educated architect ; it was a little classicaledifice, carefully and regularly composed, with its columnsmirrored in its own oblong basin, dark masses alternating withthe golden glow of the reflected evening sky. The church, agrey and simple edifice, stood near, occupying with perfect A Summer Voyage. 101 dignity the finest site in the village. Everything was as it oughtto be in such a place, and there was not a discordant note. We decided that, on the return voyage, we would both workat least for a whole day at Ovanches, so after a nights rest onthe canal Mr. Pennell rose betimes in the morning and wentthere to his work. I was too much occupied with writing toquit my study on the Boussemroum. About eight oclock Mr. Pennell re-appeared with an expressionof the blankest disappointment on his face. Wha
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidsummervoyageonri00hame
