Along France's river of romance: . described it as an antique ville ;it announced itself with a certain reasonable assuranceon the map ; it was in the midst of a country that I hadnever heard of anyone visiting; and it was not a placeI had read about in a fat book with illustrations!As the train ran on through the dull, dead, blue-greenlandscape that faded in the distance to a misty blur—so different from the freshness of the hill country—Igrew quite pleasantly excited. I built all sorts of hopeson Feurs ; and after a while I arrived. The station faced down the usual boulevard—broad,new, and l
Along France's river of romance: . described it as an antique ville ;it announced itself with a certain reasonable assuranceon the map ; it was in the midst of a country that I hadnever heard of anyone visiting; and it was not a placeI had read about in a fat book with illustrations!As the train ran on through the dull, dead, blue-greenlandscape that faded in the distance to a misty blur—so different from the freshness of the hill country—Igrew quite pleasantly excited. I built all sorts of hopeson Feurs ; and after a while I arrived. The station faced down the usual boulevard—broad,new, and lined with trees planted by the contractor. so THE LOIRE It continued in a straight line : I with it. Soon weshould come to the antique ville. After half a milesomething, indeed, happened, for this straight roadwas crossed at right angles by another road—^the Alleede Bigny—equally straight and broad, but certainlymore pleasing. You could see in both directions how,as soon as it left the town, it ran into a positive green. At Feurs tunnel of trees. Such a deeply shaded route nationale Icannot recall having noticed anywhere else in France ;it was delicious, but—in either direction—the trees werea long half-mile away. It was Sunday. I had almost forgotten it till Iexamined the two cafes that faced one another in thebroad, deserted place, where the roads crossed. Theywere filled with black-coated men lugubriously drinkingBelgian bottled beer. Such Sabbath stolidity I have IN THE FOREZ 81 seldom seen even in the dullest English provincial muggy atmosphere seemed, through its effect ofdepression, to have left its mark on the type in theseparts. Perhaps I ought to say that it left its mark onthe men, for against Feurs I see I have mentioned in mynotebook buxom flappers. Indeed, the fat girls andthe fat pigeons were the only features of interest in thissingularly dull town. The girls regarded the strangerwith a kind of haughty curiosity (an improvement onmere indi
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidalongfrances, bookyear1913
