initial commit of ebook 26030HEADmain

104 files changed, 28051 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/26030-8.txt b/26030-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c82c0d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,9104 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Automobilist Abroad, by M. F. (Milburg
+Francisco) Mansfield, Illustrated by Blanche McManus
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Automobilist Abroad
+
+
+Author: M. F. (Milburg Francisco) Mansfield
+
+
+
+Release Date: July 11, 2008  [eBook #26030]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AUTOMOBILIST ABROAD***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Jeff Bennett
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 26030-h.htm or 26030-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/6/0/3/26030/26030-h/26030-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/6/0/3/26030/26030-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+THE AUTOMOBILIST ABROAD
+
+by
+
+FRANCIS MILTOUN
+
+Author of "Rambles in Normandy," "Rambles in Brittany," "Rambles on
+the Riviera," "The Cathedrals of Northern France," "The Cathedrals
+of Southern France," "The Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine," etc.
+
+_With many illustrations from photographs, decorations, maps
+and plans_
+by Blanche McManus
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+L.C. Page & Company
+Boston MDCCCCVII
+
+
+
+
+Preface
+
+_The general plan of this book is not original. It tells of some
+experiences not altogether new, and contains observations and facts
+that have been noted by other writers; but the author hopes that,
+from the viewpoint of an automobilist at least, its novelty will
+serve as a recommendation. As a pastime automobile touring is still
+new and is not yet accomplished without some considerable annoyance
+and friction. The conventional guides are of little assistance; and
+the more descriptive works on travel fail too often to note the
+continually changing conditions which affect the tourist alike by
+road and rail._
+
+[Illustration: Hotel Bellevue les Andelys]
+
+Contents
+
+Part 1     General Information--The Grand Tour
+Chapter 1  An Appreciation Of The Automobile
+Chapter 2  Travel Talk
+Chapter 3  Roads And Routes
+Chapter 4  Hotels And Things
+Chapter 5  The Grand Tour
+
+Part 2     Touring In France
+Chapter 1  Down Through Tourane: Paris To Bourdeaux
+Chapter 2  A Little Tour In The Pyrenees
+Chapter 3  In Languedoc And Old Provence
+Chapter 4  By Rhône And Saône
+Chapter 5  By Seine And Oise--A Cruise In A Canot-Automobile
+Chapter 6  The Road To The North
+
+Part 3     On Britain's Roads
+Chapter 1  The Bath Road
+Chapter 2  The South Coast
+Chapter 3  Land's End To John O'Groats
+
+Part 4     In Belgium, Holland, And Germany
+Chapter 1  On The Road To Flanders
+Chapter 2  By Dykes And Windmills
+Chapter 3  On The Road By The Rhine
+
+Appendices
+Index
+
+
+Part I
+General Information--The Grand Tour
+
+Chapter I
+An Appreciation of the Automobile
+
+[Illustration: An Appreciation of the Automobile]
+
+We have progressed appreciably beyond the days of the old horseless
+carriage, which, it will be remembered, retained even the dashboard.
+
+To-day the modern automobile somewhat resembles, in its outlines,
+across between a decapod locomotive and a steam fire-engine, or at
+least something concerning the artistic appearance of which the
+layman has very grave doubts.
+
+The control of a restive horse, a cranky boat, or even a trolley-car
+on rails is difficult enough for the inexperienced, and there are
+many who would quail before making the attempt; but to the novice in
+charge of an automobile, some serious damage is likely enough to
+occur within an incredibly short space of time, particularly if he
+does not take into account the tremendous force and power which he
+controls merely by the moving of a tiny lever, or by the depressing
+of a pedal.
+
+Any one interested in automobiles should know something of the
+literature of the subject, which, during the last decade, has already
+become formidable.
+
+In English the literature of the automobile begins with Mr. Worby
+Beaumont's Cantor Lectures (1895), and the pamphlet by Mr. R. Jenkins
+on "Power Locomotion on the Highways," published in 1896.
+
+In the library of the Patent Office in London the literature of motor
+road vehicles already fills many shelves. The catalogue is
+interesting as showing the early hopes that inventors had in
+connection with steam as a motive power for light road vehicles, and
+will be of value to all who are interested in the history of the
+movement or the progress made in motor-car design.
+
+In France the Bibliothèque of the Touring Club de France contains a
+hundred entries under the caption "Automobiles," besides complete
+files of eleven leading journals devoted to that industry. With these
+two sources of information at hand, and aided by the records of the
+Automobile Club de France and the Automobile Club of Great Britain
+and Ireland, the present-day historian of the automobile will find
+the subject well within his grasp.
+
+There are those who doubt the utility of the automobile, as there
+have been scoffers at most new things under the sun; and there have
+been critics who have derided it for its "seven deadly sins," as
+there have been others who have praised its "Christian graces." The
+parodist who wrote the following newspaper quatrain was no enemy of
+the automobile in spite of his cynicism.
+
+  "A look of anguish underneath the car,
+  Another start; a squeak, a grunt, a jar!
+  The Aspiration pipe is working loose!
+  The vapour can't get out! And there you are!"
+
+  "Strange is it not, that of the myriads who
+  Have Empty Tanks and know not what to do,
+  Not one will tell of it when he Returns.
+  As for Ourselves, why, we deny it, too."
+
+The one perfectly happy man in an automobile is he who drives,
+steers, or "runs the thing," even though he be merely the hired
+chauffeur. For proof of this one has only to note how readily
+others volunteer to "spell him a bit," as the saying goes.
+Change of scene and the exhilaration of a swift rush through space
+are all very well for friends in the _tonneau_, but for real
+"pleasure" one must be the driver. Not even the manifold
+responsibilities of the post will mar one's enjoyment, and there is
+always a supreme satisfaction in keeping one's engine running
+smoothly.
+
+"Nothing to watch but the road," is the general motto for the
+automobile manufacturer, but the enthusiastic automobilist goes
+farther, and, for his motto, takes "stick to your post," and, in case
+of danger, as one has put it, "pull everything you see, and put your
+foot on everything else."
+
+The vocabulary of the automobile has produced an entirely new
+"jargon," which is Greek to the multitude, but, oh, so expressive and
+full of meaning to the initiated.
+
+An automobile is masculine, or feminine, as one likes to think of it,
+for it has many of the vagaries of both sexes. The French Academy has
+finally come to the fore and declared the word to be masculine, and
+so, taking our clue once more from the French (as we have in most
+things in the automobile world), we must call it _him_, and speak of
+it as _he_, instead of _her_, or _she_.
+
+That other much overworked word in automobilism, _chauffeur_, should
+be placed once for all. The driver of an automobile is not really a
+_chauffeur_, neither is he who minds and cares for the engine; he is
+a _mécanicien_ and nothing else--in France and elsewhere. We needed a
+word for the individual who busies himself with, or drives an
+automobile, and so we have adapted the word _chauffeur_. Purists may
+cavil, but nevertheless the word is better than _driver_, or
+_motor_-_man_ (which is the quintessence of snobbery), or
+_conductor_.
+
+The word, _chauffeur_, the Paris _Figaro_ tells us, was known long
+before the advent of automobiles or locomotives. History tells that
+about the year 1795, men strangely accoutred, their faces covered
+with soot and their eyes carefully disguised, entered, by night,
+farms and lonely habitations and committed all sorts of depredations.
+They garroted their victims, or dragged them before a great fire
+where they burned the soles of their feet, and demanded information
+as to the whereabouts of their money and jewels. Hence they were
+called _chauffeurs_, a name which frightened our grandfathers as much
+as the scorching _chauffeur_ to-day frightens our grandchildren.
+
+A motor-car is a fearsome thing,--when it goes, it goes; and when it
+doesn't, something, or many things, are wrong. A few years ago this
+uncertainty was to be expected, for, though the makers will not
+whisper it in Gath, we are only just getting out of the bone-shaker
+age of automobiles.
+
+Every one remembers what a weirdly ungraceful thing was the first
+safety bicycle, and so was the gaudy painted-up early locomotive--and
+they are so yet on certain English lines where their early Victorian
+engines are like Kipling's ocean tramp, merely "puttied up with
+paint." So with the early automobiles, they jarred and jerked and
+stopped--that is, under all but exceptional conditions. Occasionally
+they did wonderful things,--they always did, in fact, when one took
+the word of their owners; but now they really do acquit themselves
+with credit, and so the public, little by little, is beginning to
+believe in them, even though the millennium has not arrived when
+every home possesses its own runabout.
+
+All this proves that we are "getting there" by degrees, and meantime
+everybody that has to do with motor-cars has learned a great deal,
+generally at somebody else's expense.
+
+To-day every one "motes," or wants to, and likewise a knowledge of
+many things mechanical, which had heretofore been between closed
+covers, is in the daily litany of many who had previously never known
+a clutch from a cam-shaft, or a sparking plug from a fly-wheel.
+
+Most motor enthusiasts read all the important journals devoted to the
+game. The old-stager reads them for their hints and suggestions,--
+though these are bewildering in their multiplicity and their
+contradictions,--and the ladies of the household look at them for the
+sake of their pretty pictures of scenery and ladies and veils and
+furry garments pertaining to the sport.
+
+Catalogues are another bane of the motorist's life. He may have just
+become possessed of the latest thing in a Mercédès (and paid an
+enhanced price for an early delivery), yet upon seeing some new make
+of car advertised, he will immediately send for a catalogue and
+prospectus, and make the most absurd inquiries as to what said car
+will or will not do.
+
+[Illustration: Types of Cars]
+
+Since the pleasures of motoring have found their champions in
+Kipling, Maeterlinck, and the late W. E. Henley, the delectable
+amusement has, besides entering the daily life of most of us,
+generously permeated literature--real literature as distinct from
+recent popular fiction; "The Lighting Conductor" and "The Princess
+Passes," by Mrs. Williamson, and more lately, "The Motor Pirate," by
+Mr. Paternoster. "A Motor Car Divorce" is the suggestive title of
+another work,--presumably fiction,--and one knows not where it may
+end, since "The Happy Motorist," a series of essays, is already
+announced.
+
+A Drury Lane melodrama of a season or two ago gave us a "_thrillin'
+hair-bre'dth 'scape_," wherein an automobile plunged precipitately--
+with an all too-true realism, the first night--down a lath and canvas
+ravine, finally saving the heroine from the double-dyed villain who
+followed so closely in her wake.
+
+The last entry into other spheres was during the autumn just past,
+when Paris's luxurious opera-house was given over to the fantastic
+revels of the ballet in an attempt to typify the _apotheosis of the
+automobile_. This was rather a rash venture in prognostication, for
+it may be easy enough to "apotheosize" the horse, but to what idyllic
+heights the automobile is destined to ultimately reach no one really
+knows.
+
+The average scoffer at things automobilistic is not very sincerely a
+scoffer at heart. It is mostly a case of "sour grapes," and he only
+waits the propitious combination of circumstances which shall permit
+him to become a possessor of a motor-car himself. This is not a very
+difficult procedure. It simply means that he must give up some other
+fad or fancy and take up with this last, which, be it here
+reiterated, is no _fad_.
+
+The great point in favour of the automobile is its sociability. Once
+one was content to potter about with a solitary companion in a buggy,
+with a comfortable old horse who knew his route well by reason of
+many journeys. To-day the automobile has driven thoughts of solitude
+to the winds. Two in the tonneau, and another on the seat beside you
+in front--a well-assorted couple of couples--and one may make the
+most ideal trips imaginable.
+
+Every one looks straight ahead, there is no uncomfortable twisting
+and turning as there is on a boat or a railway train, and each can
+talk to the others, or all can talk at once, which is more often the
+case. It is most enjoyable, plenty to see, exhilarating motion, jolly
+company, absolute independence, and a wide radius of action. What
+mode of travel can combine all these joys unless it be ballooning--of
+which the writer confesses he knows nothing?
+
+On the road one must ever have a regard for what may happen, and
+roadside repairs, however necessary, are seldom more than makeshifts
+which enable one to arrive at his destination.
+
+If you break the bolt which fastens your cardan-shaft or a link of
+your side-chains, you and your friends will have a chance to harden
+your muscles a bit pushing the machine to the next village, unless
+you choose to wait, on perhaps a lonely road, for a passing cart
+whose driver willing, for a price, to detach his tired horse to haul
+your dead weight of a ton and a half over a few miles of hill and
+dale. This is readily enough accomplished in France, where the
+peasant looks upon the procedure as a sort of allied industry to
+farming, but in parts of England, in Holland, and frequently in
+Italy, where the little mountain donkey is the chief means of
+transportation, it is more difficult.
+
+The question of road speed proves nothing with regard to the worth of
+an individual automobile, except that the times do move, and we are
+learning daily more and more of the facility of getting about with a
+motor-car. A locomotive, or a marine engine, moves regularly without
+a stop for far greater periods of time than does an automobile, but
+each and every time they finish a run they receive such an
+overhauling as seldom comes to an automobile.
+
+In England the automobilist has had to suffer a great deal at the
+hands of ignorant and intolerant road builders and guardians. Police
+traps, on straight level stretches miles from any collection of
+dwellings, will not keep down speed so long as dangerous cobblestoned
+alleys, winding through suburban London towns, have no guardian to
+regulate the traffic or give the stranger a hint that he had best go
+slowly.
+
+The milk and butchers' carts go on with their deadly work, but the
+police in England are too busy worrying the motorist to pay any
+attention.
+
+Some county boroughs have applied a ten-mile speed limit, even though
+the great bulk of their area is open country; but twenty miles an
+hour for an automobile is far safer for the public than is most other
+traffic, regardless of the rate at which it moves.
+
+[Illustration: "Speed" painting, Louis de Schryver]
+
+Speed, so far as the bystander is concerned, is a very difficult
+thing to judge, and the automobilist seldom, if ever, gets fair
+treatment if he meets with the slightest accident.
+
+Most people judge the speed of an automobile by the noise that it
+makes. This, up to within a few years, put most automobiles going at
+a slow speed at a great disadvantage, for the slower they went the
+noisier they were; but matters of design and control have changed
+this somewhat, and the public now protests because "a great
+death-dealing monster crept up silently behind--coming at a terrific
+rate." You cannot please every one, and you cannot educate a
+non-participating public all at once.
+
+As for speed on the road, it is a variable thing, and a thing
+difficult to estimate correctly. Electric cars run at a speed of from
+ten to twenty-two miles an hour in England, even in the towns, and no
+one says them nay. Hansoms, on the Thames Embankment in London, do
+their regular fifteen miles an hour, but automobiles are still held
+down to ten.
+
+The official timekeeper of the Automobile Club of Great Britain and
+Ireland took the following times (in 1905) in Piccadilly, one of the
+busiest, if not the most congested thoroughfare in London.
+
+Holloway horse-drawn bus  11.3 miles per hour
+Cyclist                   15.85  "    "   "
+Private trap              13.08  "    "   "
+Private buggy             13.55  "    "   "
+Private brougham          14.80  "    "   "
+
+When one considers how difficult to control, particularly amid
+crowded traffic, a horse-drawn vehicle is, and how very easy it is to
+control an up-to-date automobile, one cannot but feel that a little
+more consideration should be shown the automobilist by those in
+authority.
+
+The road obstructions, slow-going traffic which will not get out of
+one's way, carts left unattended and the like, make most of the real
+and fancied dangers which are laid to the door of the very mobile
+motor-car.
+
+[Illustration: London and Paris traffic]
+
+In Holland and Belgium dogs seem to be the chief road obstructions,
+or at least dangers, not always willingly perhaps, but still
+ever-present. In England it is mostly children.
+
+In France not all the difficulties one meets with _en route_ are
+willful obstructors of one's progress. In La Beauce the geese and
+ducks are prudent, in the Nivernais the oxen are placid, and in
+Provence the donkeys are philosophical; but in Brittany the horses
+and mules and their drivers take fright immediately they suspect the
+coming of an automobile, and in the Vendée the market-wagons, and
+those laden with the product of the vine, career madly at the
+extremities of exceedingly lusty examples of horse flesh to the
+pending disaster of every one who does not get out of the road.
+
+Sheep and hens are everywhere that they ought not to be, and there
+seems no way of escaping them. One can but use all his ingenuity and
+slip through somehow. Dogs are bad enough and ought to be
+exterminated. They are the silliest beasts which one finds
+uncontrolled on the roadways. Children, of course, one defers to, but
+they are outrageously careless and very foolish at times, and in
+short are the greatest responsibility for the driver in the small
+towns of England and France. In France some effort is being made in
+the schools to teach them something about a proper regard for
+automobile traffic, and with good results; but no one has heard of
+anything of the sort being attempted in England.
+
+
+Chapter II
+Travel Talk
+
+[Illustration: Travel Talk]
+
+Touring abroad is nothing new, but, as an amusement for the masses,
+it has reached gigantic proportions. The introduction of the railroad
+gave it its greatest impetus, and then came the bicycle and the
+automobile.
+
+With the railway as the sole means of getting about one was more or
+less confined to the beaten track of travel in Continental Europe,
+but the automobile has changed all this.
+
+To-day, the Cote d'Azur, from St. Raphael to Menton, as well as the
+strip of Norman coast-line around Trouville, in summer, is scarcely
+more than a boulevard where the automobile tourist strolls for an
+hour as he does in the Bois. The country lying back and between these
+two widely separated points is becoming known, and even modern taste
+prefers the idyllic countryside to a round of the same dizzy
+conventions that one gets in season at Paris, London, or New York.
+
+France is the land _par excellence_ for automobile touring, not only
+from its splendid roads, but from the wide diversity of its sights
+and scenes, and manners and customs, and, last but not least, its
+most excellent hotels strung along its highways and byways like
+pearls in a collarette.
+
+This is not saying that travel by automobile is not delightful
+elsewhere; certainly it is equally so in many places along the Rhine,
+in Northern Italy, and in England, where the chief drawback is the
+really incompetent catering of the English country hotel-keeper to
+the demands of the traveller who would dine off of something more
+attractive than a cut from a cold joint of ham, and eggs washed down
+with stodgy, bitter beer.
+
+The bibliography of travel books is long, and includes many famous
+names in literature. Marco Polo, Froissart, Mme. de Sévigné, Taine,
+Bayard Taylor, Willis, Stevenson, and Sterne, all had opportunities
+for observation and made the most of them. If they had lived in the
+days of the automobile they might have sung a song of speed which
+would have been the most melodious chord in the whole gamut.
+
+A modern writer must be more modest, however. He can hardly hope to
+attract attention to himself or his work by describing the usual
+sights and scenes. The most he can do is to set down his method of
+travel, his approach, and his departure, and, for example, to tell
+those who may come after that the great double spires of Notre Dame
+de Chartres are a beacon by land for nearly twenty kilometers in any
+direction, as he approaches them by road across the great plain of La
+Beauce, the granary of France, rather than give a repetition of the
+well-worn guidebook facts concerning them.
+
+[Illustration: Ideal Car]
+
+Chartres is taken as an example because it is one of those "stock"
+sights, before mentioned, which any itinerary coming within the scope
+of the _grand tour_ is bound to include.
+
+Almost the same phenomenon is true of Antwerp's lacelike spire, the
+great Gothic wonder of Cologne and, to a lesser extent, that of
+Canterbury in England; thus the automobilist _en route_ has his
+beacons and landmarks as has the sailor on the seas.
+
+Man is an animal essentially mobile. He moves readily from place to
+place and is not tied down by anything but ways and means and,
+perhaps, confinement at laborious affairs. Even in the latter case he
+occasionally breaks away for a more or less extended period, and
+either goes fishing in Canada, shooting in Scotland, or automobiling
+in France, with perhaps a rush over a Swiss pass or two, and a dash
+around the Italian lakes, and back down the Rhine for a little tour
+in Great Britain.
+
+This is as delightful a holiday as one could imagine, and the foreign
+tour--which has often been made merely as a succession of nights of
+travel in stuffy sleeping-cars or a round of overfeeding orgies at
+Parisian hotels and restaurants--has added charms of which the
+generation before the advent of automobiles knew nought.
+
+The question of comfortable travel is a never-ending one. The
+palanquin, the sedan-chair, the rickshaw, even the humble horse-drawn
+buggy have had their devotees, but the modern touring automobile has
+left them all far behind, whether for long-distance travel or
+promenades at Fontainebleau, in the New Forest or the Ardennes.
+
+There is no question but that, when touring in an automobile, one has
+an affection for his steel-and-iron horse that he never felt for any
+other conveyance. The horse had some endearing qualities, no doubt,
+and we were bound to regard his every want; but he was only a part of
+the show, whereas the automobile, although it is nought but an
+inanimate combination of wheels and things, has to be humoured and
+talked to, and even cursed at times, in order to keep it going. But
+it works faithfully nevertheless, and never balks, at least not with
+the same crankiness as the horse, and always runs better toward night
+(this is curious, but it is a fact), which a horse seldom does. All
+the same an automobile is like David Balfour's Scotch advocate: hard
+at times to ken rightly--most of the time, one may say without undue
+exaggeration. Often an automobile is as fickle as a stage fairy, or
+appears to be, but it may be that only your own blind stupidity
+accounts for the lack of efficiency. Once in awhile an automobile
+gets uproariously full of spirits and runs away with itself, and
+almost runs away with you, too, simply for the reason that the
+carburetion is good and everything is pulling well. Again it is as
+silent and immovable as a sphinx and gives no hint of its present or
+expected ailments. It is most curious, but an automobile invents some
+new real or fancied complaint with each fresh internal upheaval, and
+requires, in each and every instance, an entirely new and original
+diagnosis.
+
+With all its caprices, however, the automobile is the most efficient
+and satisfactory contrivance for getting about from place to place,
+for business or pleasure, that was ever devised.
+
+Comparatively speaking, the railway is not to be thought of for a
+moment. It has all the disadvantages of the automobile (for indeed
+there are a few, such as dust and more or less cramped quarters, and,
+if one chooses, a nerve-racking speed) and none of its advantages,
+and, whether you are a mere man or a millionaire, you are tied down
+to rails and a strict itinerary, whereas you may turn the bonnet of
+your automobile down any by-road that pleases your fancy, and arrive
+ultimately at your destination, having made an enjoyable detour which
+would not otherwise have been possible.
+
+Too great a speed undoubtedly detracts from the joy of travel, but a
+hundred and fifty, two hundred and fifty, or three hundred kilometres
+a day on the fine roads of France, or a hundred or a hundred and
+fifty miles on the leafy lanes of England's southern counties will
+give the stranger more varied impressions and a clearer understanding
+of men and matters than the touring of a country from end to end in
+express-trains which serve your meals _en route_, and whisk you from
+London to Torquay between tea and dinner, or from Paris to the Cote
+d'Azur between breakfast and nightfall.
+
+Just how much pleasure and edification one can absorb during an
+automobile tour depends largely upon the individual--and the mood.
+Once the craving for speed is felt, not all the historic monuments in
+the world would induce one to stop a sweetly running motor; but again
+the other mood comes on, and one lingers a full day among the charms
+of the lower Seine from Caudebec to Rouen, scarce thirty miles.
+
+Les Andelys-sur-Seine, your guide-book tells you, is noted for its
+magnificent ruins of Richard Coeur de Lion's Château Gaillard, and
+for the culture of the sugar-beet, and so, often, merely on account
+of the banal mention of beet-roots, you ignore the attractions of
+Richard's castle and make the best time you can Parisward by the
+great Route Nationale on the other side of the Seine. This is wrong,
+of course, but the mood was on, and the song of speed was ringing in
+your ears and nothing would drive it out.
+
+Our fathers and grandfathers made the grand tour, in a twelvemonth,
+as a sort of topping-off to their early education, before they
+settled down to a business or professional life.
+
+They checked off in their guide-books Melrose Abbey, the Tower of
+London, the Cathedral of Canterbury, and those of Antwerp, Cologne,
+Rome, Venice, and Paris, as they did the Cheshire Cheese, Mont Blanc,
+and the ruins of Carnac. It was all a part of the general scheme of
+travel, to cover a lot of ground and see all they could, for it was
+likely that they would pass that way but once. Why, then, should one
+blame the automobilist--who really travels very leisurely in that he
+sees a lot of the countryside manners and customs off the beaten
+track--if he rushes over an intermediate stretch of country in order
+to arrive at one more to his liking?
+
+One sees the thing every day on any of the great highroads in France
+leading from the Channel ports. One's destination may be the
+Pyrenees, the Cote d'Azur, Italy, or even Austria, and he does the
+intermediate steps at full speed. The same is true if he goes to
+Switzerland by the Rhine valley, or to Homburg by passing through
+Belgium or Holland. He might be just as well pleased with a fortnight
+in the Ardennes, or even in Holland or in Touraine, but, if his
+destination is Monte Carlo or Biarritz, he is not likely to linger
+longer by the way than the exigencies of food, drink, and lodging,
+and the care of his automobile demand.
+
+When he has no objective point he loiters by the way and no doubt
+enjoys it the more, but it is not fair to put the automobilist down
+as a scorcher simply because he is pushing on. The best guide-books
+are caprice and fantasy, if you are hot pressed for time.
+
+Mile-stones, or rather _bornes kilométriques_, line the roadways of
+Continental military Europe mercilessly, and it's a bad sign when the
+chauffeur begins to count them off. All the same, he knows his
+destination a great deal better than does some plodding tourist by
+rail who scorns him for rushing off again immediately after lunch.
+
+One of the charms of travel, to the tried traveller, is, just as
+in the time of the Abbé Prévost, the ability to exchange remarks
+on one's itinerary with one's fellow travellers. In France it
+does not matter much whether they are automobilists or not. The
+_commis-voyageur_ is a more numerous class here, apparently, than in
+any other country on the globe, and the detailed information which he
+can give one about the towns and hotels and sights and scenes _en
+route_, albeit he is more familiar with travel by rail than by road,
+is marvellous in quantity and valuable as to quality.
+
+The automobile tourist, who may be an Englishman or an American, has
+hitherto been catered to with automobile novels, or love stories, or
+whatever one chooses to call them, or with more or less scrappy,
+incomplete, and badly edited accounts of tours made by some
+millionaire possessor of a motor-car, or the means to hire one. Some
+of the articles in the press, and an occasional book, have the merit
+of having been "good stuff," but often they have gone wrong in the
+making.
+
+The writer of this book does not aspire to be classed with either of
+the above classes of able writers; the most he would like to claim is
+that he should be able to write a really good handbook on the
+subject, wherein such topographical, historical, and economic
+information as was presented should have the stamp of correctness.
+Perhaps four years of pretty constant automobile touring in Europe
+ought to count for something in the way of accumulated pertinent
+information concerning hotels and highways and by-ways.
+
+Not all automobilists are millionaires. The man of moderate means is
+the real giver of impetus to the wheels of automobile progress. The
+manufacturers of motor-cars have not wholly waked up to this fact as
+yet, but the increasing number of tourists in small cars, both in
+England and in France, points to the fact that something besides the
+forty, sixty, or hundred horse-power monsters are being manufactured.
+
+Efficiency and reliability is the great requisite of the touring
+automobile, and, for that matter, should be of any other. Efficiency
+and reliability cover ninety-nine per cent. of the requirements of
+the automobilist. Chance will step in at the most inopportune moments
+and upset all calculations, but, with due regard given to these two
+great and fundamental principles, the rest does not much matter.
+
+It is a curious fact that the great mass of town folk, in France and
+probably elsewhere, still have a fear and dread of the mechanism of
+the automobile. "_C'est beau la mécanique, mais c'est tout de même un
+peu compliqué_," they say, as they regard your labours in posing a
+new valve or tightening up a joint here and there.
+
+The development of the automobile has brought about a whole new
+development of kindred things, as did the development of the
+battle-ship. First there was the battle-ship, then the cruiser, and
+then the torpedo-boat, and then another class of boats, the
+destroyers (destined to catch torpedo-boats), and finally the
+submarine. With the automobile the evolution was much the same; first
+it was a sort of horseless carriage, for town use, then something a
+little more powerful that would climb hills, so that one might
+journey afield, and then the "touring-car," and then the racing
+machine, and now we have automobile omnibuses, and even automobile
+ambulances to pick up any frightened persons possessed of less
+agility than a kangaroo or a jack-rabbit might inadvertently have
+been bowled over. These disasters are seldom the automobilist's
+fault, and, happily, they are becoming fewer and fewer; but the
+indecision that overcame the passer-by, in the early days of the
+bicycle, still exists with many whenever an automobile comes in
+sight, and they back, and fill, and worry the automobilist into such
+a bad case of nerves that, in spite of himself, something of the
+nature of an accident, for which he is in no way responsible, really
+does happen.
+
+Once the writer made eleven hundred kilometres straight across
+France, from the Manche to the Mediterranean, and not so much as a
+puncture occurred. On another occasion a little journey of half the
+length resulted in the general smashing up, four times in succession,
+of a little bolt (no great disaster in itself), within the interior
+arrangements of the motor, which necessitated a half a day's work on
+each occasion in taking down the cylinder and setting it up again,
+and each time in a small town far away from any properly equipped
+machine-shop, and with the assistance only of the local locksmith.
+It's astonishing how good a job a locksmith in France can do, even on
+an automobile, the mechanism of which he perhaps has never seen
+before. Officially the locksmith in France is known as a _serrurier_,
+but in the slang of the land he is the _cambrioleur du pays_, a name
+which is expressive, but which means nothing wicked. He can put a
+thread on a bolt or make a new nut to replace one that has
+mysteriously unscrewed itself, which is more than many a mere bicycle
+repairer can do.
+
+The automobilist touring France should make friends with the nearest
+_cambrioleur_ if he is in trouble. In England this is risky, a
+"gas-pipe thread" being the average lay workman's idea of "fixing you
+up."
+
+Away back in Chaucer's day folk were "longen to gon on pilgrimages,"
+and it does not matter in the least what the ways and means may be,
+the motive is ever the same: a change of scene.
+
+This book is no unbounded eulogy of the automobile, although its many
+good qualities are recognized. There are other methods of travel
+that, in their own ways, are certainly enjoyable, but none quite
+equal the automobile for independence of action, convenience, and
+efficiency. It is well for all motor-car users, however, to realize
+that they are not the only road users, and to have a due regard for
+others,--not only their rights, but their persons. This applies even
+more forcibly, if possible, to the automobilist _en tour_.
+
+One must in duty bound regulate his pace and his actions by the
+vagaries of others, however little he may want to, or unfortunate
+consequences will many times follow. Always he must have a sharp look
+ahead and must not neglect a backward glance now and then. He must
+not dash through muddy roads and splash passers-by (a particularly
+heinous offence in England), and in France he must observe the rule
+of the road (always to the right in passing,--no great difficulty for
+an American, but very puzzling to an Englishman), or an accident may
+result which will bring him into court, and perhaps into jail, unless
+he can assuage the poor peasant's feelings for the damaged forelegs
+of his horse or donkey by a cash payment on the spot.
+
+Maeterlinck's "wonderful, unknown beast" is still unknown (and
+feared) by the majority of outsiders, and the propaganda of education
+must go on for a long time yet. Maeterlinck's great tribute to the
+automobile is his regard for it as the conqueror of space. Never
+before has the individual man been able to accomplish what the
+soulless corporations have with railway trains. In steamboat or train
+we are but a part and parcel of the freight carried, but in the
+automobile we are stoker, driver, and passenger in one, and regard
+every road-turning and landmark with a new wonder and appreciation.
+
+We are the aristocrats of tourists, and we are bound therefore to
+have a kindly regard for other road users or a revolution will spring
+up, as it did in feudal times.
+
+Take Maeterlinck's wise sayings for your guide, and be tolerant of
+the rights of others. This will do automobilism more good than can be
+measured, for it has come to stay, and perhaps even advance. The days
+of the horse are numbered.
+
+"In accord with the needs of our insatiable, exacting soul, which
+craves at once for the small and the mighty, the quick and the slow;
+here it is of us at last, it is ours, and offers at every turn
+glimpses of beauty that, in former days, we could only enjoy when the
+tedious journey was ended."
+
+The "tour abroad" has ever been the lodestone which has drawn
+countless thousands of home-loving English and Americans to
+Continental Europe. Pleasure--mere pleasure--has accounted for many
+of these pilgrims, but by far the largest proportion have been those
+who seek education and edification combined.
+
+One likes to be well cared for when he journeys, whether by road or
+rail, and demands accordingly, if not all the comforts of home, at
+least many things that the native knows or cares little of. A
+Frenchman does not desire a sitting-room, a reading-room, or a fire
+in his sleeping-room, and, according to his lights, he is quite
+right. He finds all this at a café, and prefers to go there for it.
+The steam-heated hotel, with running water everywhere, is a rarity in
+France, as indeed it is in England.
+
+Outside Paris the writer has found this combination but seldom in
+France; at Lyons, Marseilles, Moulins in the Allier, and at
+Chatellerault in Poitou only. Modernity is making its way in France,
+but only in spots; its progress is steady, but as yet it has not
+penetrated into many outlying districts. Modern _art nouveau_ ideas
+in France, which are banal enough, but which are an improvement over
+the Eastlake and horsehair horrors of the Victorian and
+Louis-Philippe periods, are tending to eliminate old-fashioned ideas
+for the benefit of the traveller who would rather eat his meals in a
+bright, airy apartment than in stuffy, dark hole known in England as
+a coffee-room.
+
+In France, in particular, the contrast of the new and old that one
+occasionally meets with is staggering. It is all very well in its
+way, this blending of antiquity and modernity, and gives one
+something of the thrill of romance, which most of us have in our
+make-up to a greater or lesser extent; but, on the other hand,
+romance gets some hard knocks when one finds a Roman sarcophagus used
+as a watering-trough; or a chapel as an automobile garage, as he
+often will in the Midi.
+
+One thing the American, and the Britisher to a lesser extent, be he
+automobilist or mere tourist, must fully realize, and that is that
+the tourist business is a more highly developed industry in
+Continental Europe than it is anywhere else. In Switzerland one may
+well say that it is a national industry, and in some parts of France
+(always omitting Paris, which is not France) it is practically the
+same thing; Holland and Belgium are not far behind, and neither is
+the Rhine country; so that the tourist in Europe finds that creature
+comforts are always near at hand. The automobilist does not much care
+whether they are near at hand or not. If he doesn't find the
+accommodations he is looking for on the borders of Dartmoor, he can
+keep on to Exmoor, and if Nevers won't suit his purpose for the night
+he can get to Moulins in an hour.
+
+A hotel that is full and overflowing is no more a fear or a
+dread; the automobilist simply takes the road again and drops
+in on some market-town twenty, thirty, or fifty miles away and
+finds accommodations that are equally satisfactory, with the
+possibility--if he looks in at some little visited spot like Meung
+or Beaugency in Touraine, Ecloo in Holland, or Reichenberg on the
+Rhine--that he will be more pleased with his surroundings than he
+would be in the large towns which are marked in heavy-faced type in
+the railway guides, and whose hotels are starred by Baedeker.
+
+In most countries the passport is no longer a necessary document in
+the traveller's pocketbook, though the Britisher still fondly arms
+himself with this "protection," and the American will, if it occurs
+to him, be only too glad to contribute his dollars to the fees of his
+consulate or embassy in order to possess himself of a gaudy thing in
+parchment and gold which he can wave in front of any one whom he
+thinks transgresses his rights as an American citizen: "from the land
+of liberty, and don't you forget it."
+
+This is all very well and is no doubt the very essence of a proper
+patriotism, but the best _pièce d'identité_ for the foreigner who
+takes up his residence in France for more than three months is a
+simple document which can be obtained from the commissaire de police.
+It will pass him anywhere in France that a passport will, is more
+readily understood and accepted by the banker or post-office clerk as
+a personal identification, and will save the automobile _chauffeur_
+many an annoyance, if he has erred through lack of familiarity with
+many little unwritten laws of the land.
+
+The automobilist _en tour_ always has the identification papers of
+his automobile; in England his "License," and in France his
+"Certificat de Capacité" and "Récépisse de Déclaration," which will
+accomplish pretty much all the passport of other days would do if one
+flourished it to-day before a stubborn octroi official or the
+caretaker of a historical monument.
+
+The membership card of the Italian, Swiss, or French touring clubs
+will do much the same thing, and no one should be without them, since
+membership in either one or all is not difficult or costly. (See
+Appendix.)
+
+France is the land _par excellence_ for the tourist, whether by road
+or rail. The art of "_le tourisme_" has been perfected by the French
+to even a higher degree than in Switzerland. There are numerous
+societies, clubs, and associations, from the all-powerful Touring
+Club de France downward, which are attracting not only the French
+themselves to many hitherto little-known corners of "_la belle
+France_," but strangers from over the frontiers and beyond the seas.
+These are not the tourists of the conventional kind, but those who
+seek out the little-worn roads. It is possible to do this if one
+travels intelligently by rail, but it is a great deal more
+satisfactorily done if one goes by road.
+
+Here and there, scattered all over France, in Dauphiné, in Savoie,
+and in the Pyrenees, one finds powerful "Syndicats d'Initiative,"
+which not only care for the tourist, but bring pressure to bear on
+the hotel-keeper and local authorities to provide something in the
+way of improvements, where they are needed, to make a roadway safe,
+or to restore a historical site or monument.
+
+In the Pyrenees, and in the Alps of Savoie and Dauphiné, one finds
+everywhere the insignia of the "Club-Alpin Français," which caters
+with information, etc., not only to the mountain-climber, but to the
+automobilist and the general tourist as well.
+
+More powerful and effective than all--more so even than the famous
+Automobile Club de France--is the great Touring Club de France,
+which, with the patronage of the President of the Republic, and the
+influence of more than a hundred thousand members, is something more
+than a mere touring club.
+
+In the fourteen years of its existence not only has the Touring Club
+de France helped the tourist find his way about, but also has taken a
+leading part in the clearing away of the debris in many a moss-grown
+ruin and making of it a historical monument as pleasing to view as
+Jumièges on the Seine, or world-famed Les Baux in Provence.
+
+It has appointed itself the special guardian of roads and roadways,
+so far as the placing of signboards along the many important lines of
+communication is concerned; it has been the means of having dug up
+untold kilometres of Renaissance pavement; has made, almost at its
+own expense, a magnificent forty-kilometre road known as the Corniche
+de l'Esterel; and has given the backward innkeeper such a shock that
+he has at last waked up to the needs of the twentieth-century
+traveller. All this is something for a touring organization to have
+accomplished, and when one can become a part and parcel of this great
+organization, and a sharer in the special advantages which it has to
+offer to its members for the absurdly small sum of five francs per
+annum, the marvel is that it has not half a million members instead
+of a hundred thousand.
+
+
+Chapter III
+Roads & Routes
+
+[Illustration: Roads & Routes]
+
+  "Chacun suit dans ce monde une route incertaine,
+  Selon que son erreur le joue et le promene."--Boileau
+
+The chief concern of the automobilist to-day, after his individual
+automobile, is the road question, the "Good Roads Question," as it
+has become generally known. In a new country, like America, it is to
+be expected that great connecting highways should be mostly in the
+making. It is to be regretted that the development should be so slow,
+but things have been improving in the last decade, and perhaps
+America will "beat the world" in this respect, as she has in many
+others, before many future generations have been born.
+
+In the excellence and maintenance of her roads France stands
+emphatically at the head of all nations, but even here noticeable
+improvement is going on. The terrific "Louis Quatorze pavé," which
+one finds around Paris, is yearly growing less and less in quantity.
+The worst road-bed in France is that awful stretch from Bordeaux, via
+Bazas, to Pau in Navarre, originally due to the energy of Henri IV.,
+and still in existence for a space of nearly a hundred kilometres.
+One avoids it by a détour of some twenty odd kilometres, and the
+writer humbly suggests that here is an important unaccomplished work
+for the usually energetic road authorities of France.
+
+After France the "good roads" of Britain come next, though in some
+parts of the country they are woefully inadequate to accommodate the
+fast-growing traffic by road, notably in London suburbs, while some
+of the leafy lanes over which poets rhapsodize are so narrow that the
+local laws prevent any automobile traffic whatever. As one
+unfortunate individual expressed it, "since the local authorities
+forbid automobiles on roadways under sixteen feet in width, I am
+unable to get my motor-car within nine miles of my home!"
+
+In England something has been done by late generations toward roads
+improvement. The first awakening came in 1820, and in 1832 the
+London-Oxford road had been so improved that the former time of the
+stage-coaches had been reduced from eight to six hours. Macadam in
+1830, and Stevenson in 1847, were the real fathers of the "Roads
+Improvement Movement" in England. The great faults of English roads
+are that they are narrow and winding, almost without exception. There
+are 38,600 kilometres of highways (the figures are given on the
+metric scale for better comparison with Continental facts and
+figures) and 160,900 of by-roads. There are sixty-six kilometres of
+roads to the square kilometre _(kilometre carré)_.
+
+In Germany the roads system is very complex. In Baden, the
+Palatinate, and the Grand Duchy of Hesse they cede nothing to the
+best roads anywhere, but in the central and northern provinces they
+are, generally speaking, much poorer. There are fifty-four kilometres
+of roads of all grades to the kilometre _carré_.
+
+In Belgium the roads are greatly inferior to those of France, and
+there are immeasurable stretches of the vilest pavement the world has
+known, not only near the large towns, but great interior stretches as
+well. There are 17,500 kilometres of Chemins Vicinaux and 6,990
+kilometres of Chemins de Grands Communications. They average, taken
+together, eighty-three kilometres to the kilometre _carré_.
+
+In Switzerland the roads are thoroughly good everywhere, but many,
+particularly mountain-roads, are entirely closed to automobile
+traffic, and the regulations in many of the towns are so onerous that
+it is anything but agreeable to make one's way through them. There
+are thirty-two kilometres to the kilometre _carré_. The Simplon Pass
+has only recently (1906) been opened to automobile traffic. No
+departure can be made from Brigue, on the Swiss side, or from Gondo,
+in Italy, after three P.M. Speed _(vitesse)_ must not exceed ten
+kilometres on the stretches, or two kilometres around the corners.
+Fines for infringement of the law run from twenty to five hundred
+francs.
+
+Italy, with a surface area one-half that of France, has but a quarter
+of the extent of the good roads. They are of variable quality, but
+good on the main lines of travel. In the ancient kingdom of Sardinia
+will be found the best, but they are poor and greatly neglected
+around Naples, and, as might be expected, in Sicily.
+
+In Austria the roads are very variable as to surface and maintenance,
+and there are numerous culverts or _canivaux_ across them. There are
+21,112 kilometres of national roads, 66,747 kilometres of provincial
+roads, and 87,859 of local roads. They average fourteen kilometres to
+the kilometre _carré_.
+
+The history of the development of the modern roadway is too big a
+subject to permit of its being treated here; suffice it to recall
+that in England and France, and along the Rhine, the lines of the
+twentieth-century main roads follow the Roman roads of classic times.
+
+In France, Lyons, in the mid-Rhône valley, was a great centre for the
+radiating roadways of Gaul. Strategically it was important then as it
+is important now, and Roman soldiery of the past, as the automobilist
+of to-day, had here four great thoroughfares leading from the city.
+The first traversed the valleys of the Rhine and the Meuse; the
+second passed by Autun, Troyes, Chalons, Reims, Soissons, Noyon, and
+Amiens; the third branched in one direction toward Saintes, and in
+another to Bordeaux; while the fourth dropped down the Rhône valley
+direct to Marseilles.
+
+More than thirty thousand kilometres of roadways were in use
+throughout Gaul during the Roman occupation, of which the four great
+routes _(viæ publicæ)_ formed perhaps four thousand.
+
+Of the great highways of France, the _Grandes Routes Nationales_, of
+which all travellers by road have the fondest and most vivid
+memories, it is well to recall that they were furthered, if not
+fathered, by none other than Napoleon, who, for all he laid waste,
+set up institutions anew which more than compensated for the
+destructions.
+
+The great roadways of France, such as the Route de Bretagne, running
+due west from the capital, and those leading to Spain, Switzerland,
+Italy, and the Pays Bas, had their origin in the days of
+Philippe-Auguste. His predecessors had let the magnificently traced
+itineraries of the Romans languish and become covered with grass--if
+not actually timber-grown.
+
+The arrangement and classification laid down by Philippe-Auguste have
+never been changed, simply modified and renamed; thus the _Routes
+Royales_--such as followed nearly a straight line from Paris by the
+right bank of the Loire to Amboise and to Nantes--became the _Routes
+Nationales_ of to-day.
+
+Soon wheeled traffic became a thing to be considered, and royal
+cortèges moved about the land with much the same freedom and
+stateliness of the state coaches which one sees to-day in pageants,
+as relics of a past monarchical splendour.
+
+Louis XI. created the "_Service des Postes_" in France, which made
+new demands upon the now more numerous routes and roadways, and Louis
+XII., François I., Henri II., and Charles IX., all made numerous
+ordinances for the policing and maintenance of them.
+
+Henri IV., and his minister Sully, built many more of these great
+lines of communication, and thus gave the first real and tangible aid
+to the commerce and agriculture of the kingdom. He was something of
+an aesthetic soul too, this Henri of Bearn, for he was the originator
+of the scheme to make the great roadways of France tree-shaded
+boulevards, which in truth is what many of them are to-day. This
+monarch of love, intrigues, religious reversion, and strange oaths
+passed the first (and only, for the present is simply a continuance
+thereof) _ordonnance_ making the planting of trees along the national
+highroads compulsory on the local authorities.
+
+Under Louis XIV., Colbert continued the good work and put up the
+first mile-stone, or whatever its equivalent was in that day,
+measuring from the Parvis de Notre Dame at Paris. Some of these Louis
+XIV. _bornes_, or stones, still exist, though they have, of course,
+been replaced throughout by kilometre stones.
+
+The foregoing tells in brief of the natural development of the
+magnificent roads of France. Their history does not differ greatly
+from the development of the other great European lines of travel,
+across Northern Italy to Switzerland, down the Rhine valley and,
+branching into two forks, through Holland and through Belgium to the
+North Sea.
+
+[Illustration: On French Roads]
+
+In England the main travel routes run north, east, south, and west
+from London as a radiating centre, and each took, in the later
+coaching days, such distinctive names as "The Portsmouth Road," "The
+Dover Road," "The Bath Road," and "The Great North Road." Their
+histories have been written in fascinating manner, so they are only
+referred to here.
+
+It is in France, one may almost say, that automobile touring begins
+and ends, in that it is more practicable and enjoyable there; and so
+_la belle France_ continually projects itself into one's horizon when
+viewing the subject of automobilism.
+
+It may be that there are persons living to-day who regret the passing
+of the good old times when they travelled--most uncomfortably, be it
+remarked--by stage-coach and suffered all the inclemencies of bad
+weather _en route_ without a word of protest but a genial grumble,
+which they sought to antidote by copious libations of anything liquid
+and strong. The automobile has changed all this. The traveller by
+automobile doesn't resort to alcoholic drinks to put, or keep, him in
+a good humour, and, when he sees a lumbering van or family cart
+making its way for many miles from one widely separated region to
+another, he accelerates his own motive power and leaves the good old
+ways of the good old days as far behind as he can, and recalls the
+words of Sidney Smith:
+
+  "The good of other times let others state,
+  I think it lucky I was born so late."
+
+A certain picturesqueness of travel may be wanting when comparing the
+automobile with the whirling coach-and-four of other days, but there
+is vastly more comfort for all concerned, and no one will regret the
+march of progress when he considers that nothing but the means of
+transportation has been changed. The delightful prospects of hill and
+vale are still there, the long stretches of silent road and, in
+France and Germany, great forest routes which are as wild and
+unbroken, except for the magnificent surface of the roads, as they
+were when mediæval travelers startled the deer and wild boar. You may
+even do this to-day with an automobile in more than one forest tract
+of France, and that not far from the great centres of population
+either.
+
+The invention of carriage-springs--the same which, with but little
+variation, we use on the automobile--by the wife of an apothecary in
+the Quartier de St. Antoine at Paris, in 1600, was the prime cause of
+the increased popularity of travel by road in France.
+
+In 1776, the routes of France were divided into four categories:
+1. Those leading from Paris to the principal interior cities and
+seaports.
+
+2. Those communicating directly between the principal cities.
+
+3. Those communicating directly between the cities and towns of one
+province and those of another.
+
+4. Those serving the smaller towns and bourgs.
+
+Those in the first class were to be 13.35 metres in width, the second
+11.90, the third 10, the fourth 7.90. The road makers and menders of
+England and America could not get better models than these.
+
+The advent of the automobile has brought a new factor into the matter
+of road making and mending, but certainly he would be an ignorant
+person indeed who would claim that the automobile does a tithe of the
+road damage that is done by horse-drawn traffic.
+
+At a high rate of speed, however, the automobile does raise a fine
+sandy dust, and exposes the macadam. A French authority states that
+up to twenty to twenty-five kilometres an hour the automobile does
+little or no harm to the roads, but when they increase to over fifty
+kilometres an hour they do damage the surface somewhat. Just what the
+ultimate outcome of it will be remains to be seen, but France is
+unlikely to do anything which will work against the interests of the
+automobilist.
+
+In consequence of this newer and faster mode of travelling, it is
+being found that on some parts of the roads the convexity of the
+surface is too great, and especially at curves, where fast motors
+frequently skid on the rounded surface. To obviate this a piece of
+road near the Croix d'Augas in the Orleannais has had the outer side
+of the curve raised eight centimetres above the centre of the road,
+in somewhat the same manner as on the curve of a railway. Since this
+innovation has proved highly successful and pleasing to the devotees
+of the new form of travel, it is likely to be further adopted.
+
+In the early period of the construction of French roads the earth
+formation was made horizontal, but Trésaguet, a French engineer,
+introduced the rounded form, or camber, and this is the method now
+almost generally adopted, both in France and England. Only some
+14,000 kilometres of the national routes have a hand-set foundation,
+the others being what are termed broken-stone roads--the stone used
+is broken in pieces and laid on promiscuously, after the system
+introduced by Macadam. Some of the second and third class, roads are
+constructed of gravel, and others, of earth.
+
+From the official report of 1893 it appears that the cost of
+maintenance of roads in France was as follows:
+
+COST OF LABOUR AND MATERIALS
+                        Annual Total      Annual Cost
+                        Cost            per Kilometre
+                                           (AV.)
+Routes Nationales       22,570,300 fcs.     775 fcs.
+Routes Départmentales   14,555,850          600
+Chemins Communication   82,474,450          423
+Chemins Vicinaux        44,211,125          200
+
+
+The above is for materials and labour on the roadways only, and
+something between 33 1/3 per cent, and 50 per cent. is added for the
+maintenance of watercourses and sidewalks, the planting of trees, and
+for general administrative expenses.
+
+[Illustration: Kilometre Stones in France]
+
+Excepting for twenty kilometres or so around Paris, the vehicular
+traffic on the country roads of France does not seem to be in any way
+excessive. The style of vehicles in France that carry into the cities
+farm and garden produce, wood, stone, etc., are large wagons with
+wheels six to seven feet in diameter. These wagons are more easily
+hauled and naturally do less damage to the roads than narrow-tired,
+low-wheeled trucks or drays. The horses in Paris, and in the country,
+are nearly all plain shod, with no heels or toes to act like a pick
+to break up the surface. Sometimes even one sees draught-horses with
+great flat, iron shoes extending out beyond the hoof in all
+directions.
+
+The question of the speed of the automobile on the roads, in France
+and England, as indeed everywhere else, has been the moot point in
+all legislation that has been attempted.
+
+The writer thinks the French custom the best. You may legally go at
+thirty kilometres an hour, and no more. If you exceed this you do it
+at your own risk. If an accident happens it _may_ go hard with you,
+but if not, all is well, and you have the freedom of the road in all
+that the term implies. In the towns you are often held down to ten,
+eight, or even six kilometres an hour, but that is merely a local
+regulation, for your benefit as much as for the safety of the public,
+for many a French town has unthought-of possibilities of danger in
+its crooked streets and unsafe crossings.
+
+Good roads have much to do with the pleasure of automobilism, and
+competent control and care of them will do much more. Where a picked
+bit of roadway has been chosen for automobile trials astonishing
+results have been obtained, as witness the Gordon-Bennett Cup records
+of the last six years, where the average speed per hour consistently
+increased from thirty-eight miles to nearly fifty-five, and this for
+long distances (three hundred and fifty miles or more).
+
+To meet the new traffic conditions the authorities must widen the
+roads here and there, remove obstructions at corners, make encircling
+boulevards through narrowly laid out towns, and erect warning signs,
+like the following, a great deal more numerously than they have as
+yet.
+
+They have very good automobile laws in France in spite of their
+anomalies. You agree to thirty-seven prescribed articles, and go
+through sundry formalities and take to the road with your automobile.
+In the name of the President of the Republic and the "_peuple
+français,_" you are allowed thirty kilometres an hour in the open
+country, and twenty in the towns. You can do anything you like beyond
+this--at your own risk, and so long as no accident happens nothing
+will be said, but you must pull up when you come to a small town
+where M. le Maire, in the name of his forty-four electors, has
+decreed that his village is dangerously laid out for fast
+traffic,--and truth to tell it often is,--and accordingly you are
+limited to a modest ten or even less. It is annoying, of course, but
+if you are on a strange itinerary you had best go slow until you know
+what trouble lies ahead.
+
+In theory _la vitesse_ is national in France, but in practice it is
+communal, and the barriers rise, in the way of staring warnings
+posted at each village-end, like the barriers across the roads in the
+times of Louis XI.
+
+Except in Holland, where some "private roads" still exist, and in
+certain parts of England, the toll-gate keeper has become almost an
+historical curiosity. It is true, however, that in England one does
+meet with annoying toll-bridges and gates, and in France one has
+equally annoying _octroi_ barriers.
+
+One recognizes the vested proprietary rights, many of which, in
+England, are hereditary, of certain toll-gates and bridges, but it is
+hard in these days, when franchises for the conduct of public
+services are only granted for limited periods, that legislation, born
+of popular clamour, should not confiscate, or, better, purchase at a
+fair valuation, these "rights," and make all roads and bridges free
+to all.
+
+In France there are no toll-gates or bridges, or at least not many
+(the writer recalls but one, a bridge at La Roche-Guyou on the Seine,
+just above Vernon), but there are various state ferries across the
+Seine, the Rhône, the Saône, and the Loire, where a small charge is
+made for crossing. These are particularly useful on the lower Seine,
+in delightful Normandy, as there are no bridges below Rouen.
+
+In France one's chief delays on the road are caused by the _octroi_
+barriers at all large towns, though only at Paris and, for a time, at
+St. Germain do they tax the supplies of _essence_ (gasoline) and oil,
+which the automobilist carries in his tanks.
+
+The _octroi_ taxes are onerous enough in all conscience, but it is a
+pity to annoy automobilists in the way the authorities do at the
+gates of Paris, and it's still worse for a touring automobile to be
+stopped at the barrier of a town like Evreux in Normandy, or Tarare
+in the Beaujolais. Whatever does the humble (and civil, too) guardian
+do it for, except to show his authority, and smile pleasantly, as he
+waves you off after having brought you to a full stop at the bottom
+of a twisting cobble-stoned, hilly street where you need all the
+energy and suppleness of your motor in order to reach the top.
+
+There are not many of these abrupt stops, outside the large towns,
+and nowhere do they tax you on your oil or _essence_ except at
+Paris--where you pay (alas!) nearly as much as the original cost.
+
+At Rouen the guardian comes up, looks in your tonneau to see if you
+have a fish or a partridge hidden away, and sends you on your way
+with a bored look, as though he disliked the business as much as you
+do. At Tours, if you come to the barrier just as the official has
+finished a good lunch, he simply smiles, and doesn't even stop
+you. At Marseilles you get up from your seat and let the official
+poke a bamboo stick down among your _chambres d'air_, and say
+nothing--provided he does not puncture them; if he does, you say a
+good deal, but he replies by saying that he was merely doing his
+duty, and meant no harm.
+
+At Nantes, at Rennes, at Orleans, and Bordeaux, all of them _grandes
+villes_, every one is civil and apologetic, but still the procedure
+goes on just the same.
+
+At Lyons the _octroi_ tax has been abolished. Real progress this!
+
+In the old coaching days road speeds fell far behind what they are
+to-day in a well-constructed and capable automobile, but, as they put
+in long hours on the road, they certainly did get over the ground in
+a fairly satisfactory manner. Private conveyances, with private
+horses, could not hope to accomplish anything like it, simply because
+there is a limit to the working powers and hours of the individual
+horse. With the old mail-coaches, in England, and the _malle-poste_
+and the _poste-chaise_, in France, things were different, for at
+every _poste_, or section, was a new relay; and on the coach went at
+the same pace as before.
+
+[Illustration: Days Gone By]
+
+The London-Birmingham coaches in 1830 covered the 109 miles between
+the two points at an average speed of 15.13 miles per hour, the
+highest speed being eighteen, and the lowest eleven miles.
+
+In France the speeds were a little better. From Lyons the old
+mail-coaches used to make the journey to Paris in four days by way of
+Auxerre, and in five by Moulins, though the distance is the same, one
+hundred and twenty leagues. To-day the automobile, which fears not
+hills, take invariably the Moulins road, and covers the distance
+between breakfast and dinner; that is, if the driver is a "scorcher;"
+and there are such in France.
+
+In 1834 there were thirteen great lines of _malle-postes_ in France
+as follows:
+
+To Calais. By Clermont, Amiens, and Abbeville.
+To Lille. By Senlis, Noyon, St. Quentin, Cambrai, and Douai.
+To Mezières. By Soissons, Reims, and Rhetel.
+To Strasbourg. By Chalons-sur-Marne, Metz, and Sarrebourg.
+To Besançon. By Troyes and Dijon.
+To Lyon. By Melun, Auxerre, Autun, and Macon.
+To Clermont-Ferrand. By Fontainebleau, Briare, Nevers, and Moulins.
+To Toulouse. By Orleans, Chateauroux, Limoges, and Cahors.
+To Bordeaux. By Orleans, Blois, Tours, Poitiers, and Angoulême.
+To Nantes. By Chartres, Le Mans, La Fleche, and Angers.
+To Brest. By Alençon, Laval, Rennes, and St. Brieuc.
+To Caen. By Bonnières, Evreux, and Lisieux.
+To Rouen. By Neuilly-sur-Seine, Pontoise, Gisors, Ecouis, and
+Fleury-sur-Andelle.
+
+Besides the _malle-poste_ there was another organization in France
+even more rapid. The following is copied from an old advertisement:
+
+AVIS AU PUBLIC
+"_Messageries Royales--Nouvelles Diligences_
+
+"Le Public est averti:
+
+"Il partira de Paris toutes les semaines, pour Dunkerque, passant par
+Senlis, Compiègne, et Noyon, une diligence le lundi à 6 heures du
+matin. Elle repartira de Dunkerque à Paris, le mercredi à 6 heures du
+matin. Il partira aussi dans chaque sens une voiture pour les gros
+bagages et objets fragiles, le jeudi de chaque semaine.
+
+"Les bureaux de ces diligences sont établis à Paris, rue St. Denis,
+vis-à-vis les Filles-Dieu."
+
+From Paris to Bordeaux, 157 leagues, the Messageries Royales made the
+going at an easy pace in five days. To-day the express-trains do it
+in six and one-half hours, and the ever-ready automobile has knocked
+a half an hour off that, just for a record. "_Tempus fugit._"
+
+The subject of roads and roadmaking is one that to-day more than ever
+is a matter of deep concern to those responsible for a nation's
+welfare.
+
+It might seem, in these progressive days, that it was in reality a
+matter which might take care of itself, at least so far as originally
+well-planned or well-built roads were concerned. This, however, is
+not the case; the railway has very nearly reached the limit of its
+efficiency (at any rate in thickly settled parts), and the electric
+roads have merely stepped in and completed its functions.
+
+It is certain that an improved system of road administration or
+control is needed. The turnpike or the highroad served its purpose
+well enough in coaching days as the most direct and quickest way
+between important towns. To-day, in many respects, conditions are
+changed. Certain centres of population and commercial activity have
+progressed at the expense of less fortunate communities, and the
+one-time direct highroads now deviate considerably, with the result
+that there is often an unnecessary prolongation of distance and
+expenditure of time.
+
+Examples of this sort are to be found all over Britain, but a great
+deal less frequently in France, where the communication is by a more
+direct line between important centres, often leaving the small and
+unimportant towns out of the itinerary altogether.
+
+In England, centralization or nationalization of the road-building
+authority should remedy all this. Cuts and deviations from existing
+lines, for the general good, would then be made without local
+jealousy or misapplied influence being brought to bear, and the
+general details of width and surface be carried on throughout the
+land, under one supreme power, and not, as often now is the case, by
+various local district and urban councils and county surveyors.
+
+"The Great North Road" and "The Famous Bath Road" vary greatly
+throughout their length as to width and excellence; and yet popular
+opinion in the south of England would seem to indicate that these
+roads, to single them out from among others, are idyllic, both in
+character of surface and skill of engineering, throughout their
+length. This is manifestly not so. The "Bath Road," for example, in
+parts, is as flat and well-formed a surface as one could hope to
+find, even in France itself, but at times it degenerates into a mere
+narrow, guttery alley, especially in its passage through some of the
+Thames-side towns, where the surface is never of that excellence that
+it should be; throughout its entire length of some hundred odd miles
+to Bath there are ever-recurring evidence of bad road-making and
+worse engineering.
+
+One is bound to take into consideration that it is the automobile,
+and the general increase in automobile traffic, that, in all
+countries, is causing the wide-spread demand for improved roads.
+
+To illustrate the growth of the use of the automobile on the public
+highway, and taking France as an example, the following statistics
+are given from the _Journal des Débats:_
+
+In 1900 there were taxed in France 1,399 _voitures-automobiles_ of
+more than two places, and 955 of one or two places. In 1903 the
+figures had risen to 7,228 and 2,694 respectively. These figures may
+seem astonishingly small at first glance, but their percentage of
+growth is certainly abnormally large. These _voitures-automobiles_,
+be it recalled, are all pleasure carriages, and displaced in the same
+time (according to the same authority) 10,000 horse-drawn vehicles.
+At the same period Paris alone claimed 1,845 _voitures-automobiles_
+and 6,539 horse-drawn pleasure carriages.
+
+Road reformers, wherever found, should agitate for two things: the
+efficient maintenance of existing roads and the laying out of new and
+improved thoroughfares where needed.
+
+In England and America the roadways are under the care of so many
+controlling bodies that they have suffered greatly. In England, for
+example, there is one eighteen-mile strip of road which is under the
+control of twelve different highway authorities, while the "Great
+North Road" from London to Edinburgh, is, in England alone, subject
+to seventy-two separate authorities. Local jealousies, rivalry and
+factions, and the quarrels of various road authorities interfere
+everywhere with good roads. The greatest good of the greatest number
+is sacrificed to village squabbles and to the advice of the local
+squire, who "detests motor-cars," as he does most other signs of
+progress. The roads of the future must be under some general control.
+At present, affairs in England are pretty bad; let America take heed
+in her new provisions for road supervision and government.
+
+There is at present an almost Chinese jumble in the distribution of
+authority over roads in England and Wales. There are in London alone
+twenty-nine highway authorities, and 1,855 throughout the rest of the
+country.
+
+In view of the fact that through motor traffic of all kinds will
+increase every year, it has been suggested that new loop roads should
+be constructed round towns on the chief roads, private enterprise
+being enlisted by the expectation of improved land value. This
+certainly would be a move in the right direction.
+
+[Illustration: Milestone pictures]
+
+Mile-stone reform is another thing which is occupying the serious
+attention of the road user. In Continental Europe this matter is
+pretty well arranged, though there is frequently a discrepancy of
+two, three, or even five kilometres between the national mile-stones
+_(bornes kilométriques)_ and the sign-boards of the various local
+authorities and touring clubs.
+
+France has the best system extant of sign-boards and mile-stones. One
+finds the great national, departmental, and communal signs and stones
+everywhere, and at every hundred metres along the road are the
+intermediate little white-numbered stones, from which you may take
+your bearings almost momentarily, with never a fear that you are off
+your track.
+
+In addition to this the sign-boards of the Touring Club de France,
+the Automobile Club de France, and the Association Générale
+Automobile satisfy any further demands that may be made by the
+traveller by automobile who wants to read as he runs. No such legible
+signs and warnings are known elsewhere.
+
+There is uniformity in all the kilometre and department boundary
+stones in France; but in England "mile-stones" of all shapes, sizes,
+materials, and degrees of legibility are found.
+
+There are some curious relics in the form of ancient mile-stones
+still in use, which may please the antiquarian, but are of no value
+to the automobilist. There is the "eightieth mile-stone on the
+Holyhead Road" in England, which carries one back through two
+centuries of road travel; and there is a heavy old veteran of perhaps
+a thousand years, which at one time marked the "_Voie Aurelian,_" as
+it crossed Southern Gaul. It is found in Provence, in the
+Bouches-du-Rhône, near Salon, and is a sight not to be missed by
+those curiously inclined.
+
+The question of dust is one of the chief problems yet to be solved
+for the benefit of automobilists and the general public alike. A good
+deal of the "dust nuisance" is due to badly made and badly kept
+roads, but we must frankly admit that the automobile itself is often
+the cause. "La Ligue Contre la Poussière," in France, has made some
+interesting experiments, with the below enumerated results, as
+related to automobile traffic. Road-builders and manufacturers of
+automobiles alike have something here to make a note of.
+
+(1) Sharp corners and excessive road cambers lead to slip, and,
+therefore, to dust.
+
+(2) More dust is raised on a rough road than on an equally dusty
+smooth road.
+
+(3) Watering the road moderately diminishes the dust.
+
+(4) The spreading on the road of crude oil, or of oil emulsions in
+water, is an important palliative.
+
+(5) Wood, asphalt, cobblestones, and square pavings are not dusty
+save after use by horse traffic.
+
+(6) Cars with smooth, boat-shaped under surfaces are less dusty than
+others.
+
+(7) Cars with large mud-guards and leather flaps near the road are
+more dusty.
+
+(8) Cars on high wheels well away from the ground are less dusty.
+
+(9) Cars with large tool-boxes at the back reaching low down between
+the back wheels are dusty.
+
+(10) Large car bodies are often dustier than small ones.
+
+(11) Blowing the exhaust near the ground increases the dust.
+
+(12) Cars fitted with engines having an insufficient fly-wheel or a
+non-uniform turning effort from any cause are more dusty.
+
+(13) A car mounted on very easy springs having a large up-and-down
+play will suck up the dust with each rise and fall of the body on
+rough roads.
+
+(14) Front wheels--or rolling wheels--raise less dust than back
+wheels or driving wheels.
+
+(15) Smooth pneumatic tires are dusty.
+
+(16) Solid or pneumatic rubber tires are more dusty at higher speeds,
+and with high-powered engines.
+
+(17) Non-skid devices, such as small steel studs, etc., do not
+increase the dust.
+
+A writer on automobilism and roads cannot leave the latter subject
+without a reference to some of the obstructions and inconveniences to
+which the automobilist has to submit. If the automobilist proved
+himself a "road obstruction" like any of the following he would soon
+be banished and the industry would suffer.
+
+A correspondent in the _Auto_, the chief Parisian daily devoted to
+automobilism, gave the following list of obstructions encountered in
+a journey of a thousand kilometres:
+
+1. Drivers having left their horses entirely unattended - 75
+
+2. Drivers who would not make way to allow one to pass - 86
+
+3. Driver is asleep - 8
+
+4. Drivers not holding the reins - 12
+
+5. Drivers in carriages, or carts, without lights at night - 81
+
+6. Drivers stopping their horses in the middle of the road or at
+dangerous turnings - 2
+
+7. Drivers allowing their horses to descend hills unattended while
+they walked behind - 18
+
+8. Dogs throwing themselves in front of one - 35
+
+9. Flocks of sheep met without guardians near by - 8
+
+10. Cattle straying unattended - 10
+
+11. Geese, hens and children in the middle of the road - 30
+
+Instead of seven sins, any of which might be deadly, there are
+eleven. Legislation must sooner or later protect the automobilist
+better than it does to-day.
+
+
+Chapter IV
+Hotels & Things
+
+[Illustration: Hotels & Things]
+
+In all the literature of travel, that which is devoted to hotels has
+been conspicuously neglected. Certainly a most interesting work could
+be compiled.
+
+Among the primitive peoples travellers were dependent upon the
+hospitality of those among whom they came. After this arose a species
+of hostelry, which catered for man and beast in a more or less crude
+and uncomfortable manner; but which, nevertheless, was a great deal
+better than depending upon the generosity and hospitality of
+strangers, and vastly more comfortable than sleeping and eating in
+the open.
+
+In the middle ages there appeared in France the _cabaret_, the
+_gargot_, the _taverne_, and then the _auberge_, many of which,
+endowed with no more majestic name, exist even to-day.
+
+ICI ON LOGE à PIED ET à CHEVAL
+
+is a sign frequently seen along the roadways of France, and even in
+the villages and small towns. It costs usually ten sous a night for
+man, and five sous for his beast, though frequently there is a
+fluctuating price.
+
+The _aubergiste_ of other days, on the routes most frequented, was an
+enterprising individual, if reports are to be believed. Frequently he
+would stand at his door and cry out his prices to passers-by. "_Au
+Cheval Blanc! On dine pour douze sous. Huit sous le cocher. Six
+liards l'écurie._"
+
+With the era of the diligences there came the Hôtels de la Poste,
+with vast paved courtyards, great stables, and meals at all hours,
+but the chambers still remained more or less primitive, and in truth
+have until a very recent date.
+
+There is absolutely no question but that automobilism has brought
+about a great change in the hotel system of France. It may have had
+some slight effect elsewhere, but in France its influence has been
+enormous. The guide-books of a former generation did nothing but put
+an asterisk against the names of those hotels which struck the fancy
+of the compiler, and it was left to the great manufacturers of
+"_pneumatiques_" for automobiles to carry the scheme to a
+considerably more successful issue. Michelin, in preparing his
+excellent route-book, bombarded the hotel-keeper throughout the
+length and breadth of France with a series of questions, which he
+need not answer if he did not choose, but which, if he neglected, was
+most likely taken advantage of by his competitor.
+
+Given a small _chef-lieu_, a market-town in France, with two
+competing establishments, the one which was marked by the compiler of
+this excellent road-book as having the latest sanitary arrangements,
+with perhaps a dark room for photographers, stood a much better
+chance of the patronage of the automobile traveller than he who had
+merely a blank against the name of his house. The following selection
+of this appalling array of questions, used in the preparation of the
+Guide-Michelin, will explain this to the full:
+
+Is your hotel open all the year?
+
+What is the price per day which the automobilist _en tour_ may count
+on spending with you? (This is purposely noncommittal so far as an
+ironbound statement is concerned, being more particularly for
+classification, and is anyway a much better system of classification
+than by a detailed price-list of _déjeuner, dîner_, etc.)
+
+What is the price of an average room, with service and lights? (Be
+it noted that only in avowed tourist resorts, or in the case of
+very new travellers, are the ridiculous items of "_service et
+bougie_"--service and lights--ever charged in France.)
+
+Is wine included in your regular charges? (And it generally is except
+in the two above-mentioned instances.)
+
+Have you a sign denoting adherence or alliance to the A. G. A.?
+
+Have you a sign denoting adherence or alliance to the A. C. F.?
+
+Have you a sign denoting adherence or alliance to the T. C F.?
+
+Have you an arrangement with the Touring Club de France allowing
+members a discount of ten per cent.? (Some four thousand country
+hotels of France have.)
+
+Have you a bath-room?
+
+Have you modernized hygienic bedrooms?
+
+Have you water-closets with modern plumbing? (Most important this.)
+
+Have you a dark room for photographers?
+
+Have you a covered garage for automobiles? (This must be free of
+charge to travellers, for two days at least, or a mention of the
+hotel does not appear.)
+
+How many automobiles can you care for?
+
+Have you a telephone and what is its number?
+
+What is your telegraphic address?
+
+What are the chief curiosities and sights in your town?
+
+What interesting excursions in the neighbourhood?
+
+This information is afterwards compiled and most clearly set forth,
+with additional information as to population, railway facilities,
+etc.
+
+The annual of the Automobile Club de France marks with a little
+silhouetted knife and fork those establishments which deserve mention
+for their _cuisine_, and even marks good beds in a similar fashion.
+Clearly the makers of old-time guide-books must wake up, or everybody
+will take to automobiling, if only to have the right to demand one of
+these excellent guides. To be sure the same information might to a
+very considerable extent be included in the recognized guide-books;
+indeed Joanne's excellent series has in one or two instances added
+something of the sort in recent editions of their "Normandie" and
+"Provence," but each volume deals only with some special locality,
+whereas the Guide-Michelin deals with the whole of France, and the
+house also issues another covering Belgium, Holland, and the Rhine
+country.
+
+The chief concern of the touring automobilist, after the pleasures of
+the road, is the choice of a hotel. The days when the diligences of
+Europe drew up before an old-time inn, with the sign of a pewter
+plate, an _écu d'or_, a holly branch, or a prancing white horse, have
+long since disappeared. The classic good cheer of other days, a fowl
+and a bottle of Beaune, a baron of beef and porter, or a carp and
+good Rhine wine have gone, too. The automobile traveller requires, if
+not a stronger fare, at least a more varied menu, as he does a more
+ample supply of water for washing.
+
+These quaint old inns of other days, with fine mullioned windows,
+galleried courtyards, and vine-trellised façades, still exist here
+and there, but they have been much modernized, else they would not
+exist at all. There is not much romance in the make-up of the modern
+traveller, at least so far as his own comfort is concerned, and the
+tired automobilist who has covered two hundred kilometres of road,
+between lunch and dinner, requires something more heroic in the way
+of a bath than can be had in a tiny porcelain basin, and a more
+comfortable place to sit in than the average bar-parlour, such as he
+finds in most country inns in England.
+
+As Sterne said: "They do things better in France," and the
+accommodation supplied the automobilist is there far ahead of what
+one gets elsewhere.
+
+The hotel demanded by the twentieth-century traveller need not
+necessarily be a palace, but it must be something which caters to the
+advancing needs of the time in a more efficient manner than the
+country inn of the eighteenth century, when the only one who
+travelled in comfort was he who thrust himself upon the hospitality
+of friends.
+
+We are living in a hygienic age, and to-day we are particular about
+things that did not in the least concern our forefathers. In England
+there is no public-spirited body which takes upon itself the task of
+pointing out the virtuous path to the country Boniface. The
+Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland has not succeeded very
+well with its task as yet and has not anything like the influence of
+its two sister organizations in France, or the very efficient Touring
+Club Italiano.
+
+Hygiene does not necessarily go so far as to demand a doctor's
+certificate as to the health of the birds and animals which the
+_chef_ presents so artistically in his celebrated _plats du jour_,
+and one need not take the _journaux comiques_ too seriously, as once
+did a gouty _milord_, who insisted that his duckling Rouennais
+should, while alive, first be certificated as to the health of its
+_bronches_ and _poumons_. All the same one likes to know that due
+regard is given to the proprieties and necessities of his bedroom,
+and to know that the kitchen is more or less a public apartment where
+one can see what is going on, which one can almost invariably do in
+France, in the country, at any rate. Therein lies one of the great
+charms of the French hotel.
+
+One of the latest moves of the Automobile Club de France is to call
+attention to the mountainous districts of France, the Pyrenees, and
+the Jura, and to exploit them as rivals to Switzerland. Further, a
+competition among hotel-keepers has been started throughout France,
+and a prize of ten thousand francs is offered yearly to that
+hotel-keeper who has added most to the attractions of his house. The
+club authorities furnish expert advice and recommendations as to
+hotel reforms to any hotel-keeper who applies. In England the newly
+established "Road Club" might promote the interests of British motor
+tourists, and the large numbers of Americans and foreigners, by
+undertaking a similar work.
+
+To a great extent the tourist, by whatever means of travel, must find
+his hotels out for himself. He cannot always follow a guide-book, and
+if he does he may find that the endorsement of an old edition is no
+longer merited.
+
+By far the best hotel-guides for France, Belgium, and Holland, the
+Rhine, Switzerland, and Italy are the excellent _annuaires_ of the
+Automobile Clubs and Touring Clubs, and the before-mentioned
+Guide-Michelin and "Guide-Routiere Continental," issued by the great
+pneumatic tire companies.
+
+Hotel-finding abroad, for the stranger, is a more or less difficult
+process, or he makes it such. The crowded resorts do not give one a
+tithe of the character or local colour to be had from a stay in some
+little market-town inn of France or Germany. In the former, hotels
+are simply bad imitations of Parisian establishments, while the best
+are often off the beaten track in the small towns.
+
+The question of tipping is an ever present one for the European
+traveller. It exists in Britain and Continental Europe to an
+increasing and exasperating extent, and the advent of the automobile
+has done nothing to lessen it.
+
+There is no earthly, sensible logic which should induce a _garçon_ in
+a hotel or restaurant to think that because one arrives in an
+automobile he wishes to dine in a special room off of rare viands and
+drink expensive wines, but this is his common conception of the
+automobile tourist. One fights up or down through the scale of hotel
+servants, and does his best to allay any false ideas they may have,
+including those of the hostler, who has done nothing for you, and
+expects his tip, too. It's an up-hill process, and the idea that
+every automobilist is a millionaire is everywhere dying hard.
+
+The traveller demands not so much elegance as comfort, and, above
+all, fit accommodation for his automobile. Some sort of a light,
+airy, and clean closed garage is his right to demand, and the hotel
+that supplies this, as contrasted with the one that does not, gets
+the business, even if other things be _not_ equal.
+
+The requirements of an automobile _en tour_ are almost as numerous
+and varied as those of its owner. Hence the hotel proprietor must, if
+he values this clientele, provide something a great deal better than
+a mere outhouse, an old untidy stable-yard, or a lean-to.
+
+Small concern is it to mine host of the local inn, who is somewhat
+off the beaten track of motorcars, as to what really constitutes a
+garage. He usually does not even know what the word means. Any
+roofed-over shed or shack, with doors or not, is what one generally
+has to put up with to-day, for housing his resplendent brassy and
+varnishy automobile.
+
+Once the writer remembers being turned into an old stable (in
+England), the floor of which was strewn with the broken bottles of a
+defunct local mineral water industry, and again into another, used as
+a carpenter's shop, the floor strewn with the paraphernalia and tools
+of the trade.
+
+If the English hotel-keeper (again they do things better on the
+Continent) only would discriminate to the extent of believing that
+there is nothing harmful or indecent about an automobile, and let it
+live in the coach-house like a respectable dog-cart or the orthodox
+brougham, all would be well, and we should save our tempers and a
+vast lot of gray matter in attempting to show a conservative landlord
+how far he is behind the times.
+
+One other very important demand the automobilist makes of the hotel,
+and that is the possibility of being supplied with his coffee at any
+time after five in the morning. The automobile tourist, not of the
+butterfly order, is almost invariably an early bird.
+
+Without question the Continental hotel of all ranks is vastly
+superior to similar establishments in Britain. The inferiority of the
+British inns may be due to tardiness and slothfulness on the part of
+the landlords, or long suffering and non-complaining on the part of
+their guests. It is either one or the other, or both, of these
+reasons, but the fact is the hotel-keeper, and his establishment as
+well, are each far inferior to those of Continental Europe.
+
+Perhaps the real reason of the conservatism of the British
+hotel-keeper is yet to be fathomed, but it probably starts from the
+fact that he does not travel to learn. The young Swiss serves his
+apprenticeship, and learns French, as a waiter at Nice, just as he
+learns Italian at San Remo. Ten years later you may find him as the
+manager of a big hotel at home. He has learned his business by hard,
+disagreeable work. How many English hotel-keepers have imitated him?
+Another cause of backwardness in England is the "license" system,
+with its artificial augmentation of the value of all premises where
+alcoholic refreshment is provided. This tends to make the landlord
+look upon it as his chief, if not his sole, source of profit. Even if
+he serves meals at a fair price, he looks to the accompanying, or
+casual, drinks to pay him best. This results in indifferent and
+slovenly food-catering. The public bar, with its foul-mouthed
+loafers,--there seems to be an idea that one can talk in an English
+tavern as one would not in an English street,--is often within
+ear-shot of the dining-room. This is one of the great defects of the
+English hotel system, in all but the largest towns, and even there it
+is not wholly absent.
+
+This is how the facts strike a foreigner, the Frenchman, the
+Dutchman, the Belgian, and the German, whose hotels and restaurants
+are, first of all, for quiet, ordinary guests, and only secondarily
+as places where liquid refreshment--alcoholic or otherwise--is served
+with equal alacrity, but without invidious distinction.
+
+The old-time inns of England, and their very names, have a peculiar
+fascination for the stranger. Some of us who know them intimately,
+and who how what discomfort and inefficient catering may lurk behind
+such a picturesque nomenclature as the "Rose and Crown" or the
+"Hawthorne Inn," have a certain disregard for the romance of it all.
+If one is an automobilist he has all the more reason to take
+cognizance of their deficiencies.
+
+All the same the mere mention of the old-time posting-houses of the
+"Bath Road," the "Great North Road" (particularly that portion
+between London and Cambridge along which Dick Turpin took his famous
+ride) have a glamour for us that even the automobile will not wholly
+extinguish. According to story it was at one of the many inns along
+the "Great North Road" that Turpin procured a bottle of wine, which
+once having passed down the throat of his famous "Black Bess" enabled
+the rascal to escape his pursuers. The automobilist will be fortunate
+if he can find gasoline along here to-day as easily as he can that
+peculiarly vile brand of beer known as "bitter."
+
+Buntingford on the "North Road" has an inn, which, in a way, is
+trying to cope with the new conditions. The landlord of the "George
+and the Dragon" has come to a full realization that the motor-car has
+well-nigh suppressed all other forms of road traffic for pleasure,
+and, more or less incompletely, he is catering for the wants of
+motorists, as did his predecessors for the traveller by
+posting-carriage or stage-coach. This particular landlord, though he
+looks like one of the old school, should be congratulated on a
+perspicuity which few of his confreres in England possess.
+
+There are two other inns which travellers on the "North Road" will
+recognize as they fly past in their automobiles, or stop for tea or a
+bite to eat, for, in spite of their devotion to the traffic in beer,
+these "North Road" inns, within a radius of seventy-five or a hundred
+miles of London, seem more willing to furnish solid or non-alcoholic
+refreshment than most of their brethren elsewhere. The "Bell Inn" and
+the "Red, White, and Blue" (and the George and the Dragon) of the
+North Road in England deserve to linger in the memory of the
+automobilist, almost to the exclusion of any other English inns of
+their class.
+
+With regard to hotel charges for all classes of travellers, as well
+in England as on the Continent, there is an undoubted upward tendency
+which the automobile has done absolutely nothing to allay. One good
+is coming to pass, however, and that is uniformity of price for the
+class of accommodation offered, and (in France and most other
+Continental countries) the absolute abolition of the charge for
+"lights and service," an abominable and outrageous practice which
+still lingers in England--and for that matter Scotland and Ireland.
+
+The discussion of the subject has been worn threadbare, and it is
+useless to enter further into it here, save to remark that since the
+automobile is bringing about so many reforms and improvements perhaps
+the abolition of this species of swindling on the part of the British
+hotel-keeper will disappear along with antiquated sanitary
+arrangements and uncomfortable closed-in beds.
+
+In France--thanks again to the indefatigable Touring Club de
+France--they have eliminated this charge for service and lights
+entirely, and one generally finds hanging behind the door the little
+card advocated by the Touring Club, stating clearly the charge for
+that particular room and the price of the various things offered in
+the way of accommodation. This ought to be demanded, by law, of every
+hotel-keeper. Not every hotel in France has fallen in line, but those
+that have are reaping the benefit. The automobilist is a good
+advertiser of what he finds _en route_ that pleases him, and scores
+pitilessly--to other automobilists--everything in the nature of a
+swindle that he meets with, and they are not few, for in many places
+the automobilist is still considered fair game for robbery.
+
+As to the fare offered in English inns, as compared with that of the
+Continental hotel, the least said the better; the subject has been
+gone over again and again, so it shall not be reiterated here, save
+to quote Pierre Loti on what one eats for an English dinner.
+
+"We were assembled round a horrible bill of fare, which would not be
+good enough for one of our humblest cook-shops. But the English are
+extraordinary folk. When I saw the reappearance, for the fourth time,
+of the fatal dish of three compartments, for badly boiled potatoes,
+for peas looking poisonously green, and for cauliflower drenched with
+a glue-like substance, I declined, and sighed for Poledor, who
+nourished my studious youth on a dainty repast at a shilling per
+day."
+
+The modern tourist, and especially the tourist by automobile, has
+done more for the improved conduct of the wayside hotel, and even
+those of the large towns, than whole generations of travellers of a
+former day.
+
+Once the hotel drew its income from the hiring-out of posting-horses,
+and the sale of a little food and much wine. As the old saying goes:
+"Four horses and four bottles of port went together in the account of
+every gentleman." Travellers of those days, if comparatively few,
+were presumably wealthy. To-day no one, save the vulgar few, ever
+cares that the innkeeper, or the servants, should suspect him of
+being wealthy.
+
+It's a failing of the Anglo-Saxon race, however, to want to be taken
+for bigger personages than they really are, and often enough they pay
+for the privilege. This is only natural, seeing that even an
+innkeeper is human. Charges suitable for a _milord_ or a millionaire
+have been inflicted on Browns, Joneses, and Robinsons simply because
+they demanded such treatment--for fear they would not be taken for
+"gentlemen." Such people are not numerous among real traveling
+automobilists; they are mostly found among that class who spend the
+week-end at Brighton, or dine at Versailles or St. Germain or "make
+the fête" at Trouville. They are known instinctively by all, and are
+only tolerated by the hotel landlord for the money they spend.
+
+The French cook's "_batterie de cuisine_" is a thing which is
+fearfully and wonderfully displayed in all the splendour of polished
+steel and copper; that is, it is frequently so displayed in the
+rather limited acquaintance which the general public has with the
+_cuisine_ of a great hotel or restaurant, whether it be in Paris,
+London, or New York.
+
+[Illustration: In French Hotels]
+
+In provincial France it is quite another thing. The _chef-patron_ of
+a small hotel in a small town may be possessed of an imposing battery
+of pots and pans, but often, since he buys his _pâtisserie_ and
+sweetmeats of the local pastry-cook, and since his guests may
+frequently not number a dozen at a time, he has no immediate use for
+all of his _casseroles_ and _marmites_ and _plats ronds_ and
+_sauteuses_ at one time, and accordingly, instead of being
+picturesquely hung about the wall in all their polished brilliancy,
+they are frequently covered with a coating of dull wax or, more banal
+yet, enveloped in an ancient newspaper with only their handles
+protruding. It's a pity to spoil the romantically picturesque idea
+which many have of the French _batterie de cuisine_, but the
+before-mentioned fact is more often the case than not.
+
+Occasionally, on the tourist-track, there is a "show hotel," like the
+Hôtel du Grand Cerf at Louviers (its catering in this case is none
+the worse for its being a "show-place," it may be mentioned) where
+all the theatrical picturesqueness of the imagination may be seen.
+There is the timbered sixteenth-century house-front, the heavily
+beamed, low ceiling of the _cuisine_, the great open-fire chimney
+with its _broche_, and all the brave showing of pots and pans,
+brilliant with many scrubbings of _eau de cuivre_, to present quite
+the ideal picture of its kind to be seen in France--without leaving
+the highroads and searching out the "real thing" in the byways.
+
+On the other hand, in the same bustling town, is the Mouton d'Argent,
+equally as excellent in its catering (perhaps more so), where the
+kitchen is about the most up-to-date thing imaginable, with a modern
+range, mechanical egg-beaters, etc. This last is nothing very
+wonderful to an American, but is remarkable in France, where the
+average cook usually does the work quite as efficiently with a
+two-tined fork, or something which greatly resembles a chop-stick.
+
+In the _cuisine_ electric lights are everywhere, but the
+up-to-dateness here stops abruptly; the _salle à manger_ is bare and
+uninviting, and the rooms above equally so, and the electric light
+has not penetrated beyond the ground floor. Instead one finds ranged
+on the mantel, above the cook-stove in the kitchen, a regiment of
+candlesticks, in strange contrast to the rest of the furnishings.
+Electric bells, too, are wanting, and there is still found the row of
+jangling _grelots_, their numbers half-obliterated, hanging above the
+great doorway leading to the courtyard.
+
+The European waiter is never possessed of that familiarity of speech
+with those he serves, which the American negro waiter takes for
+granted is his birthright. It's all very well to have a
+cheerful-countenanced waiter bobbing about behind one's chair, indeed
+it's infinitely more inspiring than such of the old brigade of
+mutton-chopped English waiters as still linger in some of London's
+City eating-houses, but the disposition of the coffee-coloured or
+coal-black negro to talk to you when you do not want to be talked to
+should be suppressed.
+
+The genuine French, German, or Swiss waiter of hotel, restaurant, or
+café is neither too cringingly servile, nor too familiar, though
+always keen and agile, and possessed of a foresight and initiative
+which anticipates your every want, or at any rate meets it promptly,
+even if you ask for it in boarding-school French or German.
+
+There is a keen supervision of food products in France, by
+governmental inspection and control, and one is certain of what he is
+getting when he buys his _filet_ at the butcher's, and if he
+patronizes hotels and restaurants of an approved class he is equally
+sure that he is eating beef in his _bouille_ and mutton in his
+_ragoût_.
+
+Horse-meat is sold largely, and perhaps certain substitutes for
+rabbit, but you only buy horsemeat at a horse butcher's, so there is
+no deception here. You buy horse-meat as horse-meat, and not as beef,
+in the same way that you buy oleomargarine as oleomargarine, and not
+as butter, and the French law deals hardly with the fraudulent seller
+of either.
+
+The law does not interfere with one's private likes and dislikes, and
+if you choose to make your breakfast off of oysters and Crême
+Chantilly--as more than one American has been known to do on the
+Paris boulevards--there is no law to stop you, as there is in
+Germany, if you want beer and fruit together. Doubtless this is a
+good law; it sounds reasonable; but the individual should have sense
+enough to be able to select a menu from non-antagonistic ingredients.
+
+Foreigners, by which English and Americans mean people of Continental
+Europe, know vastly more of the art of catering to the traveller than
+do Anglo-Saxons. This is the first, last, and intermediate verse of
+the litany of good cheer. We may catch up with our Latin and Teuton
+brothers, or we may not. Time will tell, if we don't expire from the
+over-eating of pie and muffins before that time arrives.
+
+[Illustration: Road Map of France]
+
+
+Chapter V
+The Grand Tour
+
+[Illustration: Grand Tour]
+
+The advantages of touring by automobile are many: to see the country,
+to travel agreeably, to be independent of railways, and to be an
+opportunist--that is to say to be able to fly off at a tangent of
+fifty or a hundred kilometres at a moment's notice, in order to take
+in some fête or fair, or celebration or pilgrimage.
+
+"_Le tourisme en automobile_" is growing all over the world, but
+after all it is generally only in or near the great cities and towns
+that one meets an automobile on the road. They hug the great towns
+and their neighbouring resorts with astonishing persistency. Of the
+one thousand automobiles at Nice in the season it is certain that
+nine-tenths of the number that leave their garages during the day
+will be found sooner or later on the famous "Corniche," going or
+coming from Monte Carlo, instead of discovering new tracks for
+themselves in the charming background of the foot-hills of the
+Maritime Alps.
+
+In England, too, the case is not so very different. There are a
+thousand "week-enders" in automobiles on the way to Brighton,
+Southsea, Bournemouth, Scarborough, or Blackpool to ten genuine
+tourists, and this even though England and Wales and Scotland form a
+snug little touring-grounds with roads nearly, if not always,
+excellent, and with accommodations--of a sort--always close at hand.
+
+In Germany there seems to be more genuine touring, in proportion to
+the number of automobiles in use, than elsewhere. This may not prove
+to be wholly the case, as the author judges only from his
+observations made on well-worn roads.
+
+Switzerland is either all touring, or not at all; it is difficult to
+decide which. At any rate most of the strangers within its frontiers
+are tourists, and most of the tourists are strangers, and many of
+them take their automobiles with them in spite of the "feeling"
+lately exhibited there against stranger automobilists.
+
+Belgium and Holland, as touring-grounds for automobilists, do not
+figure to any extent. This is principally from the fact that they are
+usually, so far as foreign automobilists are concerned, included in
+more comprehensive itineraries. They might be known more intimately,
+to the profit of all who pass through them. They are distinctly
+countries for leisurely travel, for their areas are so restricted
+that the automobilist who covers two or three hundred kilometres in
+the day will hardly remember that he has passed through them.
+
+Northern Italy forms very nearly as good a touring-ground as France,
+and the Italian engineers have so refined the automobile of native
+make, and have so fostered automobilism, that accommodations are
+everywhere good, and the tourist to-day will not lack for supplies of
+_benzina_ and _olio_ as he did a few years ago.
+
+The bulk of the automobile traffic between France and Italy enters
+through the gateway of the Riviera, and, taken all in all, this is by
+far the easiest, and perhaps the most picturesque, of routes.
+Alternatives are through Gap and Cuneo, Briançon and Susa, Moutiers
+and Aosta, or by the Swiss passes, the latter perhaps the most
+romantic of routes in spite of their difficulties and other
+objections.
+
+[Illustration: On English Roads]
+
+Automobiling in Spain is a thing of the future, and it will be a big
+undertaking to make the highroads, to say nothing of the by-roads,
+suitable for automobile traffic. The present monarchs' enthusiasm for
+the sport may be expected, however, to do wonders. The most that the
+average tourist into Spain by automobile will want to undertake is
+perhaps the run to Madrid, which is easily accomplished, or to
+Barcelona, which is still easier, or to just step over the border to
+Feuntarabia or San Sebastian, if he does not think overrefined
+Biarritz will answer his purpose.
+
+More than one hardy traveller, before the age of automobiles, and
+even before the age of steam, has made "the grand tour," and then
+come home and written a book about it until there seems hardly any
+need that a modern traveller should attempt to set down his
+impressions of the craggy, castled Rhine, the splendid desolation of
+Pompeii, or the romantic reminders still left in old Provence to tell
+the story of the days of the troubadours and the "Courts of Love."
+
+It is conceivable that one can see and enjoy all these classic
+splendours from an automobile, but automobilists from overseas have
+been known to rush across France in an attempt to break the record
+between some Channel port and Monte Carlo, or dash down the Rhine and
+into Switzerland for a few days, and so on to Rome, and ultimately
+Naples, where ship is taken for home in the western world.
+
+This is, at any rate, the itinerary of many a self-made millionaire
+who thinks to enjoy himself between strenuous intervals of
+international business affairs. It is a pity he does not go slower
+and see more.
+
+The real grand tour, or, as the French call it, the "_Circuit
+Européen,_" may well begin at Paris, and descend through Poitou to
+Biarritz, along the French slope of the Pyrenees, finally skirting
+the Mediterranean coast by Marseilles and Monte Carlo, thence to
+Genoa, in Italy, and north to Milan, finally reaching Vienna. This
+city is generally considered the outpost of comfortable automobile
+touring, and rightly so, for the difficulty of getting gasoline and
+oil, along the route, and such small necessities as an automobile
+requires, continually oppresses one, and dampens his enthusiasm for
+the beauties of nature, the fascination of historic shrines, or the
+worship of art, the three chief things for which the most of us
+travel, unless we be mere vagabonds, and journey about for the sheer
+love of being on the move. From Vienna to Prague, to Breslau, to
+Berlin, Hanover, and Cologne, and finally to Paris via Reims finishes
+the "_circuit,_" which for variety and excellence of the roads cannot
+elsewhere be equalled.
+
+This, or something very near to it, would be the very best possible
+course for a series of reliability trials, and certainly nothing
+quite so suitable or enjoyable for the participants could otherwise
+be found. It is much better than a mere pegging away round and round
+a two hundred and fifty kilometre circuit, as some trials and races
+have been run. In all the distance is something like five thousand
+kilometres, which easily divides itself into stages of two hundred
+kilometres daily, and gives one an enjoyable twenty-five days or a
+month of travel, which, in all its illuminating variety, is far and
+away ahead of the benefits our forefathers derived from the box seat
+of a diligence or a post-chaise.
+
+On this trip one runs the whole gamut of the European climate, and
+eats the food of Paris, of the Midi, of Italy, Austria, and Germany,
+and wonders why it is that he likes the last one partaken of the
+best. Given a faultlessly running automobile (and there are many
+today which can do the work under these conditions) and no tire
+troubles, and one could hardly improve upon the poetry of motion
+which enables one to eat up the long silent stretches of roadway in
+La Beauce or the Landes, to climb the gentle slopes skirting the
+Pyrenees, or the ruder ones of Northern Italy, until finally he makes
+that bee-line across half of Europe, from Berlin to Paris. One's
+impressions of places when touring _en automobile_ are apt to be
+hazy; like those of the energetic American who, when asked if he had
+been to Rome, replied, "Why, yes; that's where I bought my panama
+_(sic)_ hat!"
+
+Such a "grand tour" as outlined by the "_Circuit Européen_" presents
+a variety which it is impossible to equal. It is a tour which
+embraces country widely differing in characteristics--one which takes
+in both the long, broad, ribbon-like roads of Central France, flanked
+by meadows, orchards, and farmsteads, and lofty mountains from the
+peaks of which other peaks capped with glistening snow may be gazed
+upon, sunlit valleys and sparkling lakes. It is a tour which no man
+could possibly make without a good machine, and yet it is a tour
+which, with a good machine, can be considered easy and comparatively
+inexpensive.
+
+One does not require a car with excessive horsepower for the trip,
+though he does need a machine which has been carefully constructed
+and adjusted, and above all he must guard carefully that his motor
+does not overheat, for the hills are stiff for the most part.
+
+When touring on an itinerary as varied as that here indicated one
+should have anti-skidding tires on the rear wheels, take descents
+with care, and, if you be the owner of a powerful machine, do not
+make that an excuse for rushing up the tortuous, twisting, and
+frightfully dangerous roads, banked by a cliff on one hand, and by a
+precipice on the other, which abound in all mountainous regions.
+
+In taking turnings on such roads also always keep to the right, even
+if this necessitates slowing down at the bends. One never knows what
+is descending, and in such parts slow-moving carts drawn by cattle
+are numerous, and generally keep the middle of the road. Most of the
+automobile accidents which take place on mountain roads are due to
+this swishing round bends, heedless of what may be on the other side,
+and in allowing one's machine to gather too much speed on the long
+descents. This is gospel! There is both sport and pleasure to be had
+from such an itinerary as this, but it is a serious affair, for one
+has to have a lookout for many things that are unthought of in a two
+hours' afternoon suburban promenade. The _chauffeur_, be he
+professional or amateur, who brings his automobile back from the
+_Circuit Européen_ under its own power is entitled to be called
+expert.
+
+As for the value to automobilism of this great trial one can hardly
+overestimate it. There is no place here for the freak machine or
+scorching _chauffeur_, such as one has found in many great events of
+the past. A great touring contest over such a course would be bound
+to have important results in many ways. The ordinary class of
+_circuit_ is a very close approach to a racing-track, with gasoline
+and tire stations established at many points of the course. On the
+European Circuit such advantages would be out of the question,
+everything would have to be taken as it exists naturally. In a sense,
+such a competition would be a return to the contests organized in the
+early days of the automobile, the Paris-Bordeaux and Paris-Berlin
+races, when the driver had ever to be on the alert for unforeseen
+difficulties unknown on the racing-circuit as understood in recent
+years.
+
+To follow the _Circuit Européen_ one traverses France, Italy,
+Austria, Germany, and Belgium; and one may readily enough, if time
+and inclination permit, get also a glimpse of Spain, Switzerland, and
+Holland. Generally the automobile tourist has confined his trip to
+France, as properly he might, but, if he would go further afield, the
+European Circuit, as it has become classically known, is an itinerary
+vouched for as to its practicability and interest by the allied
+automobile and touring clubs of many lands.
+
+France is still far in the lead in the accommodation which it offers
+to the automobilist, but Germany has made great strides of late, and
+the other frontier boundary states have naturally followed suit.
+Roads improvement in Germany has gone on at a wonderful rate of late,
+due, it is said, to the interest of the German emperor in the
+automobile industry, both from a sportive and a very practical side.
+
+From Paris to the Italian frontier one finds the roads uniformly
+excellent; but, as one enters Italy, they deteriorate somewhat,
+except along the frontiers, where, curiously enough, nations seem to
+vie with each other in a careful maintenance of the highroads, which
+is, of course, laudable. This is probably due to strategic military
+reasons, but so long as it benefits the automobilist he will not cry
+out for disarmament.
+
+The Austrian roads are fair--near Vienna and Prague they are quite
+good; but they are dangerous with deep ditches and gullies which the
+French know as _canivaux_, the Austrians by some unpronounceable
+name, and the Anglo-Saxon as "thank-you-marms." From Prague to
+Breslau the roads are twisting and turning, and large stones jut here
+and there above the actual road level. This is a real danger, a very
+considerable annoyance. From Breslau to Potsdam one gets as dusty a
+bit of road travelling as he will find in all Europe. One side of the
+road only is stone-rolled, the other apparently being merely loose
+sand, or some variety of dust which whirls up in clouds and even
+penetrates one's tightly closed bags and boxes. Hanover, the home of
+Continental tires, is surrounded in every direction with execrable
+cobblestones, or whatever the German equivalent is--"pflaster," the
+writer thinks. Probably the makers of the excellent tires for
+automobiles have nothing to do with the existence of this awful
+_pavé_, and perhaps if you accused them of it they would repair your
+tires without charge! The writer does not know.
+
+From Hanover to Minden the roads improve, and when one actually
+strikes the trail of Napoleon he finds the roads better and better.
+Napoleon nearly broke up Europe, or saved it--the critics do not
+agree, but he was the greatest road-builder since the Romans.
+
+Finally, crossing the Rhine at Cologne and passing through Belgium,
+one enters France by the valley of the Meuse.
+
+One of the most remarkable tours was that undertaken in 1904 by
+Georges Cormier, in a tiny six horse-power De Dion Populaire. He left
+the Automobile Club de France in mid-October for Sens, his first
+stop, 101 kilometres from Paris. His route thenceforth was by Dijon,
+Les Rousses, and the Col de la Faucille, whence he reached Geneva,
+after crossing the Swiss frontier, in a torrential rain.
+
+From Geneva he reentered France by the Pont de la Caille, then to
+Aiguebelle and St. Jeanne de Maurienne, where the women wear the most
+theatrical picturesque costumes to be seen in France.
+
+After passing Modane and Lanslebourg he followed the ascent of Mont
+Cenis for ten kilometres before he reached the summit of the pass.
+Within three kilometres he struck the snow-line, and the falling snow
+continued to the summit. Here he found two _douaniers_ and two
+_gendarmes_, who appeared glad enough to have the monotony of their
+lonely vigil relieved by the advent of an automobile, quite unlooked
+for at this season of the year.
+
+The descent to Susa and the great plain of the Po was long and
+dangerous. It is sixty-two kilometres from Modane to Susa, either
+up-hill or down-hill, with the descent by far the longest. It is one
+of the most enjoyable routes between France and Italy. Once on the
+Italian side the whole climatic aspect of things changes. The towns
+are highly interesting whenever met with, and the panoramas superb,
+but there is a marked absence of that active life of the fields, of
+cattle and human labourers that one remarks in France.
+
+From Turin the route of this energetic little car passed Plaisance,
+crossed the Appenines between Bologna and Florence, and so to Venice,
+or rather to Mestre, where the car was put in a garage while the
+conductor paid his respects to the Queen of the Adriatic.
+
+From Mestre the route lay by Udine, Pontebba, Pontafel, Villac
+Judenburg, and Murzzuschlag, through Styria to Vienna, with the
+roadways continually falling off in excellence. Here are M. Cormier's
+own words: "_Mais, par exemple, comme routes, Dieu que c'est mauvais!
+Malgré cela, j'y retournerai; le pays vaut la peine que l'on affronte
+les cailloux, les ornières, les dos d'âne at les dérapages sur le sol
+mouillé, comme je l'ai trop trouvé, hélas!_"
+
+Of the road from Vienna, through Moravia and Bohemia, the tourist
+wrote also feelingly. "May I never see those miserable countries
+again," he said. Things must have improved in the last two or three
+years, but the cause of the little De Dion's troubles was the
+frequent recurrence of culverts or _canivaux_ across the road. Five
+hundred in one day nearly did for the little De Dion, or would have
+done so had not it been carefully driven.
+
+From Prague the German frontier was crossed at Zinnwalo, a tiny
+hamlet well hidden on a mountain-top, beyond which is a descent of
+fifty kilometres to Dresden. From Dresden to Berlin the way lay over
+delightful forest roads, little given to traffic, and most enjoyable
+at any season of the year, unless there be snow upon the ground.
+
+From Berlin the route was by Magdebourg, Hanover, Munster, and Wesel,
+and Holland was entered at Beek, a little village ten kilometres from
+Nymegen. At Nymegen the Waal was crossed by a steam ferry-boat, and
+at Arnhem the Rhine was passed by a bridge of boats, a surviving
+relic in Continental Europe still frequently to be found, as at Wesel
+and Dusseldorf in Germany, and even in Italy, near Ferrara on the Po.
+
+Utrecht came next, then Amsterdam--"a little tour of Holland," as the
+De Dion's conductor put it. In the suburbs of the large Dutch towns,
+notably Utrecht, one makes his way through miles and miles of garden
+walls, half-hiding coquettish villas. The surface of the roads here
+is formed of a peculiar variety of paving that makes them beloved of
+automobilists, it being of small brick placed edgewise, and very
+agreeable to ride and drive upon.
+
+From Utrecht the route was more or less direct to Antwerp. At the
+Belgian frontier acquaintance was made with that horrible
+granite-block road-bed, for which Belgium is notorious. After
+Antwerp, Brussels, then forty-five kilometres of road even worse--if
+possible--than that which had gone before. (The Belgian _chauffeurs_
+call that portion of the route between Brussels and Gemblout a
+disgrace to Belgium.) The French frontier was gained, through Namur,
+at Rocroi, and Paris reached, via Meaux, thirty-nine days after the
+capital had previously been quitted.
+
+[Illustration: How Not To Travel]
+
+This was probably the most remarkable "grand tour" which had been
+made up to that time, and it was done with a little six horse-power
+car, which suffered no accidents save those that one is likely to
+meet with in an afternoon's promenade. The automobile itself weighed,
+with its baggage and accessories, practically six hundred kilos, and
+with its two passengers 760 kilos. The distance covered was 4,496
+kilometres.
+
+
+Part II
+Touring In France
+
+[Illustration: Touring France]
+
+
+Chapter I
+Down Through Touraine: Paris To Bordeaux
+
+As old residents of Paris we, like other automobilists, had come to
+dread the twenty-five or thirty kilometres which lead from town out
+through Choisy-le-Roi and Villeneuve St. Georges, at which point the
+road begins to improve, and the execrable suburban Paris pavement,
+second to nothing for real vileness, except that of Belgium, is
+practically left behind, all but occasional bits through the towns.
+
+At any rate, since our automobile horse was eating his head off in
+the garage at St. Germain, we decided on one bright May morning to
+conduct him forthwith by as comfortable a road as might be found from
+St. Germain around to Choisy-le-Roi.
+
+Getting across Paris is one of the dreaded things of life. For the
+traveller by train who, fleeing from the fogs of London, as he
+periodically does in droves from November to February of each year,
+desires to make the south-bound connection at the Gare de Lyon, it is
+something of a problem. He may board the "_Ceinture_" with a distrust
+the whole while that his train may not make it in time, or he may go
+by cab, provided he will run the risk of some of his numerous
+impedimenta being left behind, for--speak it lightly--the Englishman
+is still found who travels with his bath-tub, though, if he is at all
+progressive, it may be a collapsible india-rubber affair which you
+blow up like the tires of an automobile.
+
+For the automobilist there is the same dread and fear. To avoid this
+one has simply to make his way carefully from St. Germain, via Port
+Marly, or Marly-Bailly, to St. Cyr (where is the great military
+school), to Versailles, thence to Choisy-le-Roi via the _Route
+Nationale_ which passes to the south of Sceaux. The route is not,
+perhaps, the shortest, and it takes something of the skill of the old
+pathfinders to worry it out, but it absolutely avoids the pavements
+between St. Germain and Versailles and equally avoids the drive
+through Paris with its attendant responsibilities.
+
+The automobilist, once clear of Paris, has only to think of the open
+road. There will be little to bother him now, save care in
+negotiating the oft-times narrow, awkward turnings of an occasional
+small town where, if it is market-day, untold disaster may await him
+if he does not look sharp.
+
+On the occasion of our flight south, nothing on the whole journey
+happened to give us any concern, save at Pithiviers, where a
+market-wagon with a staid old farm-horse--who did not mean any
+harm--charged us and lifted off the right mud-guard, necessitating an
+hour's work or more at the blacksmith's to straighten it out again.
+
+[Illustration: Wayside Inn in France]
+
+At any rate, we had covered a trifle over a hundred kilometres from
+Paris, and that was something. We lunched well at the Hôtel de la
+Poste, and sent off to city-bound friends in the capital samples of
+the lark patties for which the town is famous.
+
+Nearly every town in France has its specialty; Pithiviers its _pâté
+des allouettes;_ Montélimar its _nougat_; Axat its _mousserons_;
+Perigueux its _truffes_, and Tours its _rillettes_. When one buys
+them away from the land of their birth he often buys dross, hence it
+is a real kindness to send back eatable souvenirs of one's round,
+much more kind than would be the tawdry jugs and plates emblazoned in
+lurid colours, or white wood napkin-rings and card-cases, usually
+gathered in as souvenirs.
+
+It is forty-two kilometres to Orleans, one of the most historic and,
+at the same time, one of the most uninteresting cities in France, a
+place wholly without local dignity and distinction. Its hotels,
+cafés, and shops are only second-rate for a place of its rank, and
+the manners and customs of its people but weak imitations of those of
+Paris. You can get anything you may need in the automobile line most
+capably attended to, and you can be housed and fed comfortably enough
+in either of the two leading hotels, but there is nothing inspiring
+or even satisfying about it, as we knew from a half-dozen previous
+occasions.
+
+We slept that night beneath the frowning donjon walls of Beaugency's
+L'Ecu de Bretagne, for something less than six francs apiece for
+dinner, lodging, and morning coffee, and did not regret in the least
+the twenty-five kilometres we had put between us and Orleans.
+
+At one time it was undecided whether we should come on to Beaugency,
+or put in at Meung, the attraction of the latter place being, for the
+sentimentalist, that it is the scene of the opening pages of Dumas's
+"Trois Mousquetaires," and, in an earlier day, the cradle of Jehan de
+Meung, the author of the "Roman de la Rose." No evidences of Dumas's
+"Franc Meunier" remained, and, as there was no inn with as romantic a
+name as that at Beaugency, we kept on another seven kilometres.
+
+We had made it a rule, while on the trip, not to sleep in a large
+town when we could do otherwise, and that is why Orleans and Blois
+and Bordeaux are mere guide-posts in our itinerary.
+
+From Beaugency to Blois is thirty odd kilometres only, along the
+flat, national highway, with glimpses of the broad, shining ribbon of
+the Loire here and there gleaming through the trees.
+
+Blois is the gateway of the châteaux country; a score of them are
+within a day's compass by road or rail; but their delights are worthy
+of a volume, so they are only suggested here.
+
+The châteaux of Blois, Chambord, Cheverny, Amboise, Chaumont,
+Chenonceaux, Loches, Azay le Rideau, Luynes, and Langeais, at any
+rate, must be included in even a hurried itinerary, and so we paid a
+hasty visit to them all in the order named, and renewed our
+acquaintance with their artistic charms and their historical memories
+of the days of François and the Renaissance. For the tourist the
+châteaux country of the Loire has no beginning and no end. It is a
+sort of circular track encompassing both banks of the Loire, and is,
+moreover, a thing apart from any other topographical division of
+France.
+
+Its luxuriant life, its splendidly picturesque historical monuments,
+and the appealing interest of its sunny landscape, throughout the
+length and breadth of old Touraine, are unique pages from a volume of
+historical and romantic lore which is unequalled elsewhere in all the
+world.
+
+The climate, too, combines most of the gentle influences of the
+southland, with a certain briskness and clearness of atmosphere
+usually found in the north.
+
+By road the Loire valley forms a magnificent promenade; by rail,
+even, one can keep in close and constant touch with its whole length;
+while, if one has not the time or inclination to traverse its entire
+course, there is always the delightful "tour from town," by which one
+can leave the Quai d'Orsay by the Orleans line at a comfortable
+morning hour and, before lunch-time, be in the midst of the splendour
+and plenty of Touraine and its châteaux.
+
+We made our headquarters at Blois, and again at Tours, for three days
+each, and we explored the châteaux country, and some other more
+humble outlying regions, to our hearts' content.
+
+Blois is tourist-ridden; its hotels are partly of the tourist orders,
+and its shopkeepers will sell you "American form" shoes and "best
+English" hats. It is really too bad, for the overpowering splendours
+of the château, the quaint old Renaissance house-fronts, the streets
+of stairs, and the exceedingly picturesque and lively congregation of
+countryside peasants on a market-day would make it a delightful
+artists' sketching-ground were one not crowded out by "bounders" in
+bowler hats and others of the genus tripper.
+
+The Hôtel d'Angleterre et de Chambord is good, well-conducted, and
+well-placed, but it is as unsympathetically disposed an hostelry as
+one is likely to find. Just why this is so is inexplicable, unless it
+be that it is a frankly tourist hotel.
+
+At Tours we did much better. The praises of the Hôtel de l'Univers
+are many; they have been sung by most latter-day travellers from
+Henry James down; and the Automobile Club de France has bestowed its
+recommendation upon it--which it deserves. For all this one is not
+wholly at his ease here. We remembered that on one occasion, when we
+had descended before its hospitable doors, travel-worn and weary, we
+had been pained to find a sort of full-dress dinner going on where we
+expected to find an ordinary _table d'hôte_. For this reason alone we
+passed the hotel by, and hunted out the quaintly named Hotel du
+Croissant, in a dimly lighted little back street, indicated by a
+flaring crescent of electric lights over its _porte-cochère_.
+
+[Illustration: In Touraine]
+
+We drove our automobile more or less noisily inside the little
+flagged courtyard, woke up two dozing cats, who were lying
+full-length before us, and disturbed a round dozen of sleek French
+commercial travellers at their evening meal.
+
+They treated us remarkably well at Tours's Hôtel du Croissant.
+"Follow the _commis-voyageur_ in France and dine well (and cheaply)"
+might readily be the motto of all travellers in France. The bountiful
+fare, the local colour, the hearty greeting, and equally hearty
+farewell of the _patronne_, and the geniality of the whole personnel
+gave us an exceedingly good impression of the contrast between the
+tourist hotel of Blois and the _maison bourgeois_ of Tours, always to
+the advantage of the latter.
+
+The banks of the Loire immediately below Tours grow the only grape in
+France--perhaps in all the world--which is able to produce a
+satisfactory substitute for champagne.
+
+Vineyard after vineyard line the banks for miles on either side and
+give great crops of the celebrated _vin mosseaux_, the most of which
+finds its way to Paris, to be sold by second-rate dealers as the
+"vrai vin de champagne." There's no reason why it shouldn't be sold
+on its own merits; it is quite good enough; but commerce bows down to
+American millionaires, English dukes, and the German emperor, and the
+king of wines of to-day must be labelled champagne.
+
+From Tours to Niort is 170 kilometres, and we stopped not on the way
+except to admire some particularly entrancing view, to buy gasoline
+for the automobile, and for lunch at Poitiers.
+
+The whole aspect of things was changing; there was a breath of the
+south already in the air; and there was an unspeakable tendency on
+the part of everybody to go to sleep after the midday meal.
+
+We passed Chatellerault and its quaint old turreted and bastioned
+bridge at just the hour of noon, and were tempted to stop, for we had
+just heard of the latest thing in the way of a hotel which was
+brand-new, with steam heat, and hot and cold water, electric lights,
+baths, etc. Nothing was said about the bill of fare, though no doubt
+it was equally excellent. The combination didn't appeal, however; we
+were out after novelty and local colour, and so we rolled on and into
+Poitiers's Hôtel de l'Europe and lunched well in the most charmingly
+cool garden-environed dining-room that it were possible to conceive.
+We had made a wise choice, though on a hit-or-miss formula, and we
+were content.
+
+Here at least the dim echo of the rustle and bustle of Paris, which
+drifts down the valley of the Loire from Orleans to the sea, was left
+behind; a whole new chromatic scale was being built up. No one
+hurried or rushed about, and one drank a "_tilleuil_" after _déjeuner_,
+instead of coffee, with the result that he got sleepy forthwith.
+
+There are five magnificent churches at Poitiers, dating from Roman
+and mediæval times, but we saw not one of them as we passed through
+the town. Again we had decided we were out after local manners and
+customs, and, for the moment, churches were not in the category of
+our demands.
+
+We had only faint glimmerings as to where Niort was, or what it stood
+for, but we were bound thither for the night. We left Poitiers in
+mid-afternoon, gaily enough, but within five kilometres we had
+stopped dead. The sparking of course; nothing else would diagnose the
+case! It took three hours of almost constant cranking of the unruly
+iron monster before the automobile could be made to start again.
+
+Once started, the automobile ran but fitfully the seventy-five
+kilometres to Niort, the whole party, with fear and trembling,
+scarcely daring to turn sidewise to regard the landscape, or take an
+extra breath. There was no assistance to be had this side of Niort,
+and should the sparking arrangements go back on us again, and we were
+not able to start, there was no hope of being towed in at the back of
+a sturdy farm-horse; the distance was too great. Once we thought we
+had nearly lost it again, but before we had actually lost our
+momentum the thing recovered itself, and we ran fearingly down the
+broad avenue into Niort, and asked anxiously as to whether there
+might be a _grand maison des automobiles_ in the town.
+
+Indeed there was, and in the twinkling of an eye we had shunted our
+poor lame duck into the courtyard of a workshop which gave employment
+to something like seventy-five hands, all engaged in the manufacture
+of automobiles which were exported to the ends of the earth.
+
+Here was help surely. Nothing could be too great or too small for an
+establishment like this to undertake, and so we left the machine with
+an easy heart and hunted out the excellent Hôtel de France--the best
+hotel of its class between Paris and Bordeaux. We dined sumptuously
+on all the good things of the north and the south, to say nothing of
+fresh sardines from La Rochelle, not far distant, and we gave not a
+thought to the automobile again that night, but strolled on the quay
+by the little river Sêvre-Niortaise, and watched the moon rise over
+the old château donjon, and heard the rooks caw, and saw them circle
+and swing around its battlement in a final night-call before they
+went to rest. It was all very idyllic and peaceful, although Niort
+is, as may be inferred, an important centre for many things.
+
+We had planned to be on the road again by eight the next morning,
+but, on arrival at the garage, or more correctly stated, the _usine_,
+where we had left the automobile the night before, we found it the
+centre of a curious group who were speculating--and had been since
+six o'clock that morning--as to what might be the particular new
+variety of disease that had attacked its vital parts so seriously
+that it still refused to go.
+
+It was twelve o'clock, high noon, before it was discovered--with the
+aid of the electrician from the electric light works--that two tiny
+ends of copper wire, inside the coil (which a Frenchman calls a
+_bobine_), had become unsoldered, and only when by chance they
+rattled into contact would the sparking arrangements work as they
+ought.
+
+This was something new for all concerned. None of us will be likely
+to be caught that way again. The cost was most moderate. It was not
+the automobile owner who paid for the experience this time, a thing
+which absolutely could not have happened outside of France. Pretty
+much the whole establishment had had a hand in the job, and, if the
+service had been paid for according to the time spent, it might have
+cost anything the establishment might have chosen to charge.
+
+Ten francs paid the bill, and we went on our way rejoicing, after
+having partaken of a lunch, as excellent as the dinner we had eaten
+the night before, at the Hôtel de France.
+
+La Rochelle, the city of the Huguenots, and later of Richelieu, was
+reached just as the setting sun was slanting its red and gold over
+the picturesque old port and the Tour de Richelieu. If one really
+wants to know what it looked like, let him hunt up Petitjean's "Port
+de la Rochelle" in the Musée de Luxembourg at Paris. Words fail
+utterly to describe the beauty and magnifycence of this hitherto
+unoverworked artists' sketching-ground.
+
+[Illustration: La Rochelle]
+
+We threaded our way easily enough through the old sentinel gateway
+spanning the main street, lined with quaint old arcaded,
+Spanish-looking houses, and drew up abreast of the somewhat
+humble-looking Hôtel du Commerce, on the Place d'Armes, opposite the
+ugly little squat cathedral, once wedded to the haughty Richelieu
+himself.
+
+The Hôtel du Commerce at La Rochelle is the equal of the Hôtel de
+France at Niort, and has the added attraction of a glass-covered
+courtyard, where you may take your coffee and watch the household
+cats amusing themselves with the goldfish in the pool of the fountain
+which plays coolingly in the centre.
+
+La Rochelle and its Hôtel du Commerce are too good to be treated
+lightly or abruptly by any writer; but, for fear they may both become
+spoiled, no more shall be said here except to reiterate that they are
+both unapproachable in quaintness, comfort, and charm by anything yet
+found by the writer in four years of almost constant wanderings by
+road and rail up and down France.
+
+Offshore four kilometres is the Ile de Ré, an isle thirty kilometres
+long, where the inhabitants wear the picturesque _coiffe_ and costume
+which have not become contaminated with Paris fashions. The one thing
+to criticize is the backwardness of the lives of the good folk of the
+isle and their enormous _pieds plats_.
+
+Northward from La Rochelle is a region, almost within sight of the
+Ile de Ré, where the women wear the most highly theatrical costumes
+to be seen anywhere in modern France, not even excepting the peasants
+of Brittany. The chief distinction of the costume is a sort of tiny
+twisted bandanna over the head, a tight-fitting or folded fichu, a
+short ballet sort of a skirt, black stockings, and a gaily bordered
+apron and dainty, high-heeled, tiny shoes--in strong contrast in size
+and form to the ungainly feet of the women of the Ile de Ré.
+
+We left La Rochelle with real regret, passed the fortified town of
+Rochefort without a stop, and, in something over two hours, reeled
+off some sixty-eight kilometres of sandy, marshy roadway to Saintes.
+
+Saintes is noted for many things: its antiquity, its religious
+history, its Roman remains, and the geniality of its toddling old
+dealer in sewing-machines (of American make, of course), who, as a
+"side" line, sells gasoline and oil at considerably under the
+prevailing rates elsewhere. Truly we were in the ideal touring-ground
+for automobilists.
+
+To Cognac is sixty-seven kilometres. If we had ever known that Cognac
+was the name of a town we had forgotten it, for we had, for the
+moment, at any rate, thought it the name of the region where were
+gathered the grapes from which cognac was made.
+
+Cognac is famous for the subtle spirit which is sold the world over
+under that name, and from the fact that it was the birthplace of the
+art-loving monarch, François Premier.
+
+For these two reasons, and for the bountiful lunch of the Hôtel
+d'Orleans, and incidentally for the very bad cognac which we got at a
+café whose name is really and truly forgotten, Cognac is writ large
+in our note-books.
+
+The house where was born François Premier is easily found, sitting by
+the river's bank. To-day it is the counting-house of one of the great
+brandy shippers whose name is current the world over. Its
+associations have changed considerably, and where once the new art
+instincts were born, in the person of the gallant François, is now
+the cradle of commercialism.
+
+The question as to what constitutes good brandy has ever been a
+favourite one among possessors of a little knowledge. The same class
+has also been known to state that there is no good brandy nowadays,
+no _vrai cognac_. This is a mistake, but perhaps a natural one, as
+the cognac district in the Charente was almost wholly devastated in
+the phylloxera ravages of half a century ago.
+
+Things have changed, however, and there is as good cognac to-day as
+there ever was, though there is undoubtedly much more poor stuff
+being sold.
+
+Down through the heart of the cognac region we sped, through Blaye to
+Bordeaux and all the busy traffic of its port.
+
+Bordeaux is attractive to the automobilist in that one enters, from
+any direction, by wide, broad avenues. It is one of the great
+provincial capitals of France, a great gateway through which much of
+the intercourse with the outside world goes on.
+
+It is not so cosmopolitan as Marseilles, nor so historically or
+architecturally interesting as Rouen, but it is the very ideal of an
+opulent and well-conducted city, where one does not need to await the
+arrival of the daily papers from Paris in order to know what has
+happened during the last round of the clock.
+
+Hotels? The town is full of them! You may put up your automobile in
+the garage of the Hôtel du Chapon-Fin, along with forty others, and
+you yourself will be well cared for, according to city standards, for
+twelve or fifteen francs a day,--which is not dear. On the other
+hand, Bordeaux possesses second-class hotels where, all found, you
+may sleep and eat for the modest sum of seven francs a day. One of
+these is the Hôtel Français, a somewhat extensive establishment in a
+tiny back street. It is the cheapest _city_ hotel the writer has
+found in France. There was no garage at the Hotel Français, and we
+were forced to house our machine a block or two away, where, for the
+moderate sum of two francs, you might leave it twenty-four hours, and
+get it back washed and rubbed down, while for another fifty centimes
+they would clean the brass work,--a nasty job well worth the price.
+Yes! Bordeaux is pleasant for the automobilist!
+
+[Illustration: Bourdeaux, the Gateway to the Landes]
+
+Two things the stranger, who does not want to go too far back into
+antiquity, will remark upon at Bordeaux, the exceeding ampleness,
+up-to-date-ness, and cleanliness of the great open space in front of
+the Opera, and the imposing and beautifully laid out Place des
+Quinconces, with its sentinel pillars and its waterside traffic of
+railway and shipping, blending into a whole which inspired one of the
+world's greatest pictures of the feverish life of modern activity,
+the painting by Eugene Boudin, known as the "Port de Bordeaux," in
+the Luxembourg.
+
+You may find a good low-priced hotel at Bordeaux, but you pay
+inflated prices for your refreshments in the cafés; a _café-glacê_
+cost fifteen sous and a _glace à café_ twenty-five on the terrace of
+the magnificent establishment opposite the Opera.
+
+[Illustration: Map of Pyrenees]
+
+
+Chapter II
+A Little Tour In The Pyrenees
+
+[Illustration: The Pyrenees]
+
+We had been touring France _en automobile_ for many months--for
+business purposes, one might say, and hence had followed no schedule
+or itinerary, but had lingered by the way and made notes, and the
+artist made sketches, and in general we acquired a knowledge of
+France and things French that otherwise might not have been our lot.
+
+The mere name of the Pyrenees had long had a magic sound for us. We
+had seen them at a distance, from Carcassonne and Toulouse and Pau,
+when we had made the conventional tour years ago, and had admired
+them greatly, to the disparagement of the Swiss Alps. This may be
+just, or unjust, but it is recorded here as a fact.
+
+To climb mountains in an automobile appealed to us as a sport not yet
+banal or overdone, and since Switzerland--so hospitable to most
+classes of tourists--was treating automobilists badly just at the
+time, we thought we would begin by making the itinerary of the
+"_Coupe des Pyrénées;_" then, if we liked it, we could try the French
+Alps in Dauphiné and Savoie, delightful and little-known French
+provinces which have all the advantages of Switzerland and few of its
+disadvantages, inasmuch as the inhabitants of the valley hamlets and
+mountain towns have not become so _commerçant_ as their Swiss
+brothers.
+
+In August, 1905, was organized, by _La Vie en Grand Air_ and _La
+Dépêche de Toulouse_, a great contest for touring automobiles, for an
+award to be known as the "_Coupe des Pyrénées._"
+
+As a work of art the "_Coupe des Pyrénées_" is far and away ahead of
+most "cups" of the sort. It was the work of the sculptor, Ducuing,
+and the illustration herewith will show some of its charm. The
+"_coupe_" itself has disappeared from mortal view, it having been
+stolen from an automobile exposition in London.
+
+The trials was intended to develop that type of vehicle best suited
+to touring, and in every way the event was a great success. The
+itinerary covered the lovely mountain roads from the Mediterranean to
+the Atlantic, and was the immediate inspiration for the author of
+this book to follow along the same trail. It is one of the most
+delightful excursions to be made in all France, which is saying that
+it is one of the most delightful in all the world.
+
+We took our departure from Toulouse, as did the participants in this
+famous trial of the year before. Toulouse, the gay capital of the gay
+province of old Languedoc, has abounding attractions for the tourist
+of all tastes, though it is seldom visited by those who, with the
+first swallows of spring-time, wing their way from the resorts of the
+Riviera to Biarritz.
+
+[Illustration: Coupe de Pyrenees]
+
+Toulouse has many historic sights and monuments, and a _cuisine_
+which is well worth a trip across France. What with truffles and the
+famous _cassoulet_ and the _chapons fins de Toulouse_ one forgets to
+speak of anything else on the menu, though the rest will be
+sufficiently marvellous.
+
+There are three "leading" hotels in Toulouse catering for the
+automobile tourist. According to report they are all equally good. We
+chose the Capoul, on the Square Lafayette, and had no cause to regret
+it. We dined sumptuously, slept in a great ducal sort of an apartment
+with a _hygiénique_ bedstead (a thing of brass openwork and iron
+springs) tucked away in one corner, full fifteen paces from the door
+by which one entered--"_Un bon kilomètre encore,_" said the _garçon
+de chambre_, facetiously, as he showed us up. It promised airiness,
+at any rate, and if we were awakened at four in the morning by the
+extraordinarily early traffic of the city what did it matter, since
+automobiles invariably take early to the road.
+
+It's worth stating here that the _café au lait_ at six A. M. at the
+Hôtel Capoul was excellent. Frequently hotel coffee in the morning in
+France (at no matter what hour) is abominable. Usually it is warmed
+over from the night before. No wonder it is bad!
+
+Toulouse delayed us not on this occasion. We had known it of old; so
+we started a little before seven on a brilliant September morning,
+just as the sun was rising over the cathedral towers and
+strengthening the shadows on the tree-lined boulevard which leads
+eastward via Castlemaudry to the walled city of Carcassonne,
+ninety-six kilometres away. The road-books say of this route;
+
+"_Pl. Roul. puis Ond Tr. Pitt._" This freely translated means that
+the road is at first flat, then rolling and hilly, but very
+picturesque throughout. Castlemaudry delayed us not a moment, except
+to extricate ourselves from a troop of unbridled, unhaltered little
+donkeys being driven to the market-place, where there was a great
+sale of these gentle little beasts of burden. _Pas méchant_, these
+little donkeys, but stubborn, like their brethren elsewhere, and it
+was exceedingly difficult to force our way through two hundred of
+them, all of whom wiggled their ears at us and stood their ground
+until their guardians actually came and pushed them to one side. "You
+can often push a donkey when you can't pull him," they told us, a
+fact which was most apparent, though unknown to us previously. We
+arrived at Carcassonne in time for lunch, which we had always
+supposed was called _déjeuner_ in France, but which we learned was
+here called _dîner_, the evening meal (at the fashionable hour of
+eight) being known as _souper_, though in reality it is a five-course
+dinner.
+
+Carcassonne was a disappointment. Imagine a puffed-up little
+metropolis of twenty-five thousand souls with all the dignity that
+half a dozen pretentious hotels and gaudy cafés can give it; not very
+clean, nor very well laid out, nor very ancient-looking, nor very
+picturesque. Where was the Carcassonne of the frowning ramparts, of
+the gem of a Gothic church, and of the romance and history of which
+all school-books are filled?
+
+"Oh! You mean _la Cité,_" said the buxom hostess of our hotel. (They
+are always buxom hostesses in books, but this was one in reality.)
+Well, yes, we did mean _la Cité_, if by that name the referred to the
+old walled town of Carcasonne, _la ville la plus curieuse de France,
+un monument unique au mond._
+
+It is but a short kilometre to reach _la Cité_ from the _Ville
+Basse_, as the modern city of Carcassonne is known. Once within the
+double row of walls, flanked by more than fifty towers, any
+preconceived ideas that one may have had of what it might be like
+will be dispelled in air. It is the most stupendously theatrical
+thing yet on top of earth, unless it be the sad and dismal Pompeii or
+poor rent Les Baux, in Provence.
+
+The history of this wonder-work cannot be compressed into a few
+lines. One can merely emphasize its marvellous attractions, so that
+those who are in the neighbourhood may go and study it all out for
+themselves. It will be worth whole volumes on history and
+architecture for the earnest student to see these things. Among all
+the authorities who have proclaimed the magnificent attractions of
+Carcassonne the words of Viollet-le-Duc are as convincing as any. He
+says: "In no part of Europe is there anything so formidable, nor at
+the same time so complete, as the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth
+century fortifications of Carcassonne."
+
+We stayed a full day at Carcassonne, and reached the frowning
+battlements of the Eglise St. Nazaire, at Béziers, at just two by the
+clock. This is the hour when all the _commis-voyageurs_, who may have
+taken lunch at the Hôtel du Nord, are dozing over their _café_ and
+_petites verres_, and the _patron_ and _patronne_ of the hotel are
+making preparations for their early afternoon siesta, an attribute of
+all the Midi of France, as it is of Spain.
+
+Nothing loath, the kitchen staff, spurred on by the _patron_ (all
+thoughts of his siesta having vanished), turned out a most excellent
+lunch, _hors d'oeuvres_, fresh sardines, omelette, _cotelette
+d'agneau_ with _pommes paille_, delicious grapes, and all you wish of
+the red or white _vin du pays_. All for the absurd sum (considering
+the trouble they were put to) of three francs each. No "_doing_" the
+automobilist here; let other travellers make a note of the name!
+
+Béziers is altogether one of the most remarkably disposed large towns
+of the south of France. Its storied past is lurid enough to please
+the most bloodthirsty, as is recalled by the history of its
+fortress-church of St. Nazaire, now the cathedral. For the rest the
+reader must hunt it out in his guide-book. We were doing no lightning
+tour, but we were of a mind to sleep that night at Perpignan,
+approximately a hundred kilometres farther on.
+
+Southward our road turned again, through Narbonne, which, both from
+its history and from its present-day importance, stands out as one of
+the well-remembered spots in one's itinerary of France. It is full of
+local colour; its bridge of houses over its river is the delight of
+the artistic; its Hôtel de Ville and its cathedral are wonders of
+architectural art; and, altogether, as the ancient capital of an
+ancient province, one wonders that a seventeenth-century traveller
+had the right to call it "_cette vilaine ville de Narbonne._"
+
+All the way to Perpignan the roads were terrifically bad, being cut
+up into great dusty ruts by many great carts and drays hauling
+wine-pipes to the railway stations. The traffic is enormous, for it
+is the wines of Roussillon that are shipped all over France for
+blending with and fortifying the weaker vintages, even those of the
+Gironde.
+
+Dusty in dry weather, and chalky mud in wet, are the characteristic
+faults of this hundred kilometres or more of Herault roadway which
+one must cross to gain the shadow of the Pyrenees. There seems to be
+no help for it unless cobblestones were to be put down, which would
+be a cure worse than the disease.
+
+Perpignan is the most entrancing city between Marseilles and
+Barcelona. It has many of the characteristics of both, though of only
+thirty thousand inhabitants. The old fortifications, which once gave
+it an aspect of mediævalism, are now (by decree of 1903) being torn
+down, and only the quaintly picturesque Castillet remains. The rest
+are--at the present writing--a mere mass of crumbled bricks and
+mortar, and a real blemish to an otherwise exceedingly attractive,
+gay little city. The automobile garages are all side by side on a
+new-made street, on the site of one line of the old fortifications,
+and are suitable enough when found, but no directions which were
+given us enabled us to house our machine inside of half an hour's
+time after we had entered the town. Our hotel, unfortunately, was one
+of the few that did not have a garage as an adjunct of the
+establishment. In other respects the Hôtel de la Poste was a marvel
+of up-to-dateness. The sleeping-rooms were of that distinction known
+in France as _hygiénique_, and the stairways and walls were
+fire-proof, or looked it. One dined in a great first-floor apartment
+with a marble floor, and dined well, and there was ice for those who
+wanted it. (The Americans did, you may be sure.)
+
+Perpignan is possessed of much history, much character, and much
+local colour of the tone which artists love, and above all a certain
+gaiety and brilliancy which one usually associates only with Spain.
+
+There is what might be called a street of cafés at Perpignan, not far
+from the Castillet. They are great, splendid establishments, with
+wide, overhung, awninged terraces, and potted plants and electric
+lights and gold and tinsel, and mixed drinks and ices and sorbets,
+and all the epicurean cold things which one may find in the best
+establishment in Paris. These cafés are side by side and opposite
+each other, and are as typical of the life of the town as is the
+Rambla typical of Barcelona, or the Cannebière of Marseilles. They
+are dull enough places in the daytime, but with the hour of the
+_apéritif_, which may be anywhere between five and eight in the
+afternoon, they wake up a bit, then slumber until nine or
+nine-thirty, when gaiety descends with all its forces until any hour
+you like in the morning. They won't think of such a thing as turning
+the lights out on you in the cafés of Perpignan.
+
+From Perpignan we turned boldly into the cleft road through the
+valley of the Têt, via Prades and Mont Louis to Bourg-Madame, the
+frontier town toward Spain, and the only decent route for entering
+Spain by automobile via the Mediterranean gateway.
+
+Bourg-Madame is marked on most maps, but it is all but unknown of
+itself; no one thinks of going there unless he be touring the
+Pyrenees, or visiting Andorra, one of the unspoiled corners of
+Europe, as quaint and unworldly to-day as it ever was; a tiny
+republic of very, very few square kilometres, whose largest city or
+town, or whatever you choose to call it, has but five hundred
+inhabitants.
+
+If one is swinging round the Pyrenean circle he goes on to Porte,
+where, at the Auberge Michette, he will learn all that is needful for
+penetrating into the unknown darkest spot in Europe. We thought to do
+the journey "_en auto,_" but on arrival at Porte learned it was not
+to be thought of. A sure-footed little Pyrenean donkey or mule was
+the only pathfinder used to the twistings and turnings and blind
+paths of this little mountain republic, where the people speak
+Spanish, and religion and law are administrated by the French and
+Spanish authorities in turn.
+
+It's a week's travel properly to visit Andorra and view all its wild
+unworldliness, so the trip is here only suggested.
+
+[Illustration: Some Snap-shots in the Pyrenees]
+
+We took up our route again, crossing the Col de Puymorans (1,781
+metres), and dropped down on Hospitalet, which also is printed in
+large black letters on the maps, but which contains only 148
+inhabitants, unless there have been some births and no deaths since
+this was written.
+
+From Hospitalet we were going down, down, down all of the time, the
+valley road of the Ariége, dropping with remarkable precipitation.
+
+In eighteen kilometres we were at Aix-les-Thermes. The guide-books
+call it "_une jolie petite ville,_" and no one will dispute it,
+though it had no charms for us; we were more interested in routes and
+roads than in mere watering-places, and so, beyond a stop for
+gasoline for the motor, not having been able to get any for the last
+fifty kilometres, still following the valley of the Ariége, we
+arrived at Foix for lunch, at the most excellent Hôtel Benoit, just
+as the ice was being brought on the table and the _hors d'oeuvres_
+were being portioned out.
+
+Taken all in all, Foix was one of the most delightful towns we found
+in all the Pyrenean itinerary. It is quite the most daintily and
+picturesquely environed town imaginable, its triple-towered château
+and its _rocher_ looming high above all, and sounding a dominant note
+which carries one back to the days when Gaston Phoebus was the
+seigneur of Foix.
+
+We planned to spend the night at the Hôtel de France at St. Girons,
+for it was marked down in the Guide-Michelin as being fitted with
+those modern refinements of travel which most of us appreciate, and
+there was furthermore a garage and a _fosse_, or inspection pit. We
+had need of the latter, for something was going wrong beneath the
+body of our machine which manifestly require being attended to
+without delay.
+
+We took the long way around, twenty kilometres more out of our direct
+road, for novelty of driving our automobile through the Grotto of Mas
+D'Azil. We had been through grottoes before, the Grotte de Han in the
+north of France, the caves where they ripen Rochefort cheeses, the
+Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, and some others, but we had never expected
+to drive an automobile through one. The Grotte de Mas-D'Azil is much
+like other dark, damp holes elsewhere, and the only novelty is the
+magnificent road which pierces it. The sensation of travelling over
+this road is most weird, and it was well worth the trouble of making
+the experiment.
+
+From St. Girons to St. Gaudens and Montrejeau is sixty odd
+kilometres. Nothing happened on the way except that the road was
+literally thronged with great slow-moving ox-teams transporting great
+logs down the mountainside to the sawmills in the lower valley.
+
+Montrejeau was a surprise and a disappointment. It was a surprise
+that we should find such a winsome little hill-town, and such a very
+excellent hotel as was the Grand Hôtel du Parc, which takes its name
+from a tiny hanging garden at the rear; but we were disappointed in
+that for a mortal half-hour we tried to make our usually willing
+automobile climb up on to the plateau upon which the town sits. Three
+separate roads we tried, each three separate times, but climb the
+machine would not. No one knew why, the writer least of all, and he
+had been _chauffeur_ and driver of that automobile for many long
+months, and had never found a hill, great or small, that it would not
+climb. Automobiles are capricious things, like women, and sometimes
+they will and sometimes they will not. At last, after the natives had
+had sufficient amusement, and had told us that they had seen many an
+automobile party go without lunch because they could not get up that
+steep little kilometre, we found a sort of back-door entrance which
+looked easy, and we went up like the proverbial bird. It was not the
+main road into town, and it took some finding. The writer hopes that
+others who pass this way will be as successful. Montrejeau, with its
+three steep streets, its excellent hotel (when you finally got in
+touch with it), its old-world market-house, and its trim little
+café-bordered square, will be long remembered.
+
+We debated long as to whether we should drop down to Luchon, and come
+around by Bagnerres-de-Bigorre or not, but since they were likely to
+be full of "five-o'-clockers" at this season we thought the better of
+it, and left them entirely out of our itinerary. When one wants it he
+can get the same sort of conventionality at Ermenonville, and need
+not go so far afield to find it.
+
+We arrived at Tarbes, at the Hôtel des Ambassadeurs, late on Sunday
+afternoon. The name of the hotel augured well for good cheer, and on
+the whole we found it satisfactory enough. One of its most appealing
+features is the fact that the kitchens and the garage were once a
+convent. It has undergone a considerable change since then, but it
+lent a sort of glamour to things to know that you were stabling your
+automobile in such a place.
+
+Tarbes is a great busy, overgrown, unlovely big town, which flounders
+under the questionable dignities of being a station of an army corps
+and a préfecture: Bureaucracy and Officialdom are writ large all over
+everything, and a poor mortal without a handle to his name, or a
+ribbon in his buttonhole, is looked upon as a sort of outcast when he
+enters a café, and accordingly he waits a long time to be served.
+
+We got out of Tarbes at a _très bonne heure_ the next morning without
+a regret, headed for Pau. All of us had always had an affection for
+Pau, because, in a way, we admired old Henri Quatre, even his
+rascality.
+
+We found Pau, too, a great, overgrown, fussy town, a bit more
+delightfully environed than Tarbes, but still not at all what we had
+pictured it. We knew it to be a tourist resort, but we were hardly
+prepared for the tea-shops and the "bars" and the papers--in English
+and "American," as a local newsdealer told us when we went to him to
+buy the inevitable picture postcards.
+
+We found out, too, that Pau has long held a unique position as the
+leading hunting centre on the Continent. It costs sixty francs a day
+for the hire of a saddle-horse, and from 350 francs to four hundred
+francs for the month--certainly rather dear. There are, as a rule,
+from thirty to forty hunters available for hire each year, but many
+of them are reserved by old stagers. Of privately owned horses
+following the hunt, the number would usually somewhat exceed two
+hundred. The hounds meet three times a week, and the municipality of
+Pau shows its appreciation of the good that hunting does for the
+Pyrenees resort by voting a subsidy of five thousand francs.
+
+What history and romance there is about Pau is pretty well blotted
+out by twentieth-century snobbism, it would seem.
+
+One learns that Pau was the seat of a château of the princes of Béarn
+as early as the tenth century. Its great splendour and importance
+only came with the establishment here of the residence of Gaston IV.,
+Comte de Foix, the usurper of the throne of Navarre in 1464. In his
+train came a parliament, a university, an academy, and a mint.
+Finally came the birth of Henri Quatre, and one may yet see the great
+turtle-shell used by the afterwards gay monarch for a cradle. These
+were gay times for Pau, and the same gaiety, though of a forced
+nature, exists to-day with the throngs of English and Americans who
+are trying hard to make of it a social resort. May they not succeed.
+One thing they have done is to raise prices for everything to
+everybody. This is bad enough to begin with, and so with this parting
+observation Pau is crossed off the list.
+
+There are eight highroads which cross the frontier passes from France
+into Spain, and two lines of railway, one along the border of the
+Atlantic and Hendaye, and the other following the Mediterranean coast
+to Barcelona.
+
+"_Il n'y a plus de Pyrénées,_" we were told as we were leaving Pau.
+It seemed that news had just been received that in fourteen hours a
+Spanish aeronaut had covered the 730 kilometres from Pau to Grenada
+"_comme les oiseaux._" Truly, after this, there are no more
+frontiers.
+
+After Pau our route led to Mauléon (seventy-two kilometres) via
+Oloron, straight across Béarn, where the peasants are still of that
+picturesque mien which one so seldom sees out of the comic-opera
+chorus. One reads that the Béarnais are "irascible, jealous, and
+spirituel."
+
+This is some one's opinion of times long passed, but certainly we
+found nothing of the kind; nothing indeed different from all the folk
+of the South who dawdle at their work and spend most of their leisure
+energetically dancing or eating.
+
+Mauléon, known locally as Mauléon-Licharre to distinguish it from
+Mauléon-Barousse, is the _douane_ station for entering France from
+Spain (Pampelune) via St. Jean-Pied-de-Port and St. Beat, neither of
+the routes much used, and not at all by automobiles.
+
+A typical little mountain town, Mauléon is the _chef-lieu_ of the
+Arrondissement, and the ancient capital of the Vicomté de Soule. It
+has an excellent hotel, allied to the Touring Club de France (Hôtel
+Saubidet), where one dines well off the fare of the country with no
+imitation Parisian dishes. There is a sort of a historical monument
+here, the Château de Mauléon (Malo-Leone--Mauvais Lion--Wicked Lion:
+the reader may take his choice) of the fifteenth century, which
+surrounds itself accommodatingly with a legend which the native will
+tell you, if asked.
+
+There is no great accommodation for automobiles at Mauléon, and one
+can only buy oil and gasoline by going to a man named Etcheberrigary
+for it. His address is not given, but any one will tell you where he
+lives. They may not recognize your pronunciation, but they will
+recognize your dilemma at once and point the way forthwith.
+
+It was forty-one kilometres to St. Jean-Pied-de-Port, over an
+"all-up-and-down-hill" road, if there ever was one--up out of one
+river valley and down into another all the way until we struck the
+road by the banks of the Nive and approached the town.
+
+St. Jean-Pied-de-Port takes its name from its proximity to one of the
+Franco-Spanish gateways through the Pyrenees.
+
+It is in danger of becoming a resort, since the guide-books already
+announce it as a _station climatique_. Its Basque name of
+_Donajouana_, or _Don Ilban-Garici_, ought, however, to stop any
+great throng from coming.
+
+It lies directly at the foot of the Col de Roncevalles leading into
+Spain (1,057 metres). The pass has ever been celebrated in the annals
+of war, from the days of the Paladin Roland to those of Maréchal
+Soult's attack on the English at Pampelune.
+
+Considering that St. Jean-Pied-de-Port boasts of only fourteen
+hundred inhabitants, and is almost hidden in the Pyrenean fastness,
+one does very well within its walls. There is a railway to Bayonne,
+the post, telegraph, a pharmacy, and a Red Cross station, and the
+wants of the automobilist are attended to sufficiently well by the
+local locksmith. The Hôtel Central, on the Place du Marché, is
+vouched for by the Touring Club. It has a _salle des bains_ and other
+useful accessories often wanting in more pretentious establishments,
+a dark room for camera fiends, a pit for automobiles, and electric
+lights. For all this you pay six franc a day. "_Pas cher!_"
+
+Bayonne, through the Basque country, is fifty odd kilometres distant,
+a gentle descent all the way, down the valley of the Nive.
+
+The Basques are a picturesque and lovable people, and they have kept
+their characteristics and customs bright and shining through many
+centuries of change round about them.
+
+They love the dance, all kinds of agile games like the _jeu de paume_
+and _pelota_, and will dance for three days at a fête with a passion
+which does not tire. Even to-day the Basque thinks more of a local
+fête than he does of anything else, and will journey fifteen or
+twenty kilometres afoot--if he can't get a ride--to form a part of
+some religious procession or a _tournée de paume_.
+
+Cambo, midway between St. Jean-Pied-de-Port and Bayonne, is a tiny
+spring and bath resort trying hard to be fashionable. There are many
+villas near-by of wealthy "Basques-Americains," from the Argentine.
+
+The Basques, at least the Basques-Français, are a disappearing factor
+in the population of Europe. It is said there are more Basques in the
+Argentine Republic than in the Republic of France, and all because of
+the alienation of the Basques by Louis XIV. when he married
+Marie-Thérèse and her 500,000 écus of _dot_. Since 1659 the real
+Basque, he or she of the fine teeth, has been growing beautifully
+less in numbers, both in France and in Spain.
+
+A certain fillip was given to Cambo by the retreat here of Edward
+Rostand, the author of "Cyrano" and "L'Aiglon." In his wake followed
+litterateurs and journalists, and the fame of the hitherto unworldly
+little spot--sheltered from all the winds that blow--was bruited
+abroad, and the Touring Club de France erected a pavilion; thus all
+at once Cambo became a "resort," in all that the name implies.
+
+A _mécanicien_ has not yet come to care for the automobilist in
+trouble, but the locksmith _(serrurier)_ will do what he can and
+charge you little for it. Gasoline is high-priced, fifty sous a
+_bidon_.
+
+Bayonne, with its tradition, its present-day prosperity, and its
+altogether charming situation, awaited us twenty odd kilometres away,
+and we descended upon its excellent, but badly named, Grand Hotel
+just at nightfall. There's another more picturesquely named near by,
+and no doubt as excellent, called the Panier-Fleuri. We would much
+rather have stopped at the latter,--if only on account of its
+name,--but there was no accommodation for the automobile. M.
+Landlord, brace up!
+
+Bayonne is a fortress of the first class, and commands the western
+gateway into Spain. Its brilliant aspect, its cosmopolitanism, and
+its storied past appealed to us more than did the attractions of its
+more fastidious neighbour, Biarritz. One can see a better bull-fight
+at Bayonne than he can at Biarritz, where his sport must consist
+principally of those varieties of gambling games announced by
+European hotel-keepers as having "all the diversions of Monte Carlo."
+Bull-fighting is forbidden in France, but more or less mysteriously
+it comes off now and then. We did not see anything of the sort at
+Bayonne, but we had many times at Arles, and Nimes, and knew well
+that when the southern Frenchman sets about to provide a gory
+spectacle he can give it quite as rosy a hue as his Spanish brother.
+
+Biarritz called us the next day, and, not wishing to be taken for
+dukes, or millionaires, or _chauffeurs_ and their friends out on a
+holiday, we left the automobile _en garage_, and covered the seven
+kilometres by the humble tramway. Be wise, and don't take your
+automobile to a resort like Biarritz unless you want to pay.
+
+It's a long way from the Pont Saint-Esprit at Bayonne to the _plage_
+at Biarritz, in manners and customs, at any rate, and the seeker
+after real local colour will find more of it at Bayonne than he will
+at its seaside neighbour, where all is tinged with Paris, St.
+Petersburg, and London.
+
+The Empress Eugénie, or perhaps Napoleon III., "made" Biarritz when
+he built the first villa in the little Basque fishing-village, which
+had hitherto known neither courts nor coronets. There's no doubt
+about it; Biarritz is a fine resort of its class, as are Monte Carlo
+and Ostende. One can study human nature at all three, if that is what
+he is out for; so, too, he can--the same sort--on Paris's boulevards.
+
+[Illustration: On the Road in the Pyrenees]
+
+The month of October is time for the gathering of the fashionables
+and elegants of all capitals at Biarritz. All the world bathes
+together in the warm waters of the Plage des Basques, and the sublime
+contrast of the Pyrenees on one hand, and the open sea and sky on the
+other, give a panorama of grandeur that few of its competitors have.
+
+The visitors to Biarritz daily augment in numbers, and, since it had
+been a sort of neutral trysting-ground for the King and Queen of
+Spain before their marriage, and since the seal of his approval has
+been given to it by Edward VII. of England (to the great disconcern
+of the Riviera hotel-keepers), it bids fair to become even more
+popular.
+
+From Bayonne to the Spanish frontier it is thirty kilometres by the
+road which runs through the Basque country and through St.
+Jean-de-Luz, a delightful little seaside town which has long been a
+"resort" of the mildly homeopathic kind, and which, let us all hope,
+will never degenerate into another Nice, or Cannes, or Menton. The
+great event of its historic past was the marriage here of Louis XIV.
+with the Infanta Marie-Thérès on the sixth of June, 1660, but to-day
+everything (in the minds of the inhabitants) dates from the arrival
+of the increasing shoals of visitor from "_brumeuse Angleterre_" in
+the first days of November, with the added hope that this year's
+visitors will exceed in numbers those of the last--which they
+probably will.
+
+Those who know not St. Jean-de-Luz and its charms had best hurry up
+before they entirely disappear. The Automobile Club de France
+endorses the Hôtel d'Angleterre of St. Jean as to its beds and its
+table, and also notes the fact that you may count on spending
+anything you like from thirteen francs a day upward for your
+accommodation. The Touring Club de France swears by the Hôtel
+Terminus-Plage (equally unfortunately named), and here you will get
+off for ten francs or so per day, and probably be cared for quite as
+well as at the other. In any case they both possess a _salle des
+bains_ and a shelter for your automobile.
+
+We stopped only for lunch, and found it excellent, at the Hôtel de la
+Poste, with _vin compris_--which is not the case at the great hotels.
+_En passant_, let the writer say that the average "tourist" (not the
+genuine vagabond traveller) will not drink the _vin de table_, but
+prefers the same thing--at a supplementary price--for the pleasure of
+seeing the cork drawn before his eyes. The "_grands hôtels_" of the
+resorts recognize this and cater for the tourist accordingly.
+
+We were bound for Fontarabia that night, just over the Spanish
+border. The Spanish know it as Feuntarabia, and the Basques as
+Ondarriba. For this reason one's pronunciation is likely to be
+understood, because no two persons pronounce it exactly alike, and
+the natives' comprehensions have been trained in a good school.
+
+Fontarabia is gay, is ancient, and is very _foreign_ to anything in
+France, even bordering upon the Spanish frontier. We left the
+automobile at Hendaye, not wishing to put up with the customs duties
+of eighteen francs a hundred kilos for the motor, and a thousand
+francs for the _carrosserie_, for the privilege of riding twenty
+kilometres out and back over a sandy, dreary road.
+
+We dined and slept that night at a little Spanish hotel half built
+out over the sea, Concha by name, and left the Grand Hôtel de Palais
+Miramar to those who like grand hotels. We lingered a fortnight at
+Fontarabia, and did much that many tourists did not. One should see
+Fontarabia and find out its delights for oneself. There is a
+quaintness and unworldliness about its old streets and wharves, which
+is indescribable in print; there is a wonderfully impressive expanse
+of sea and sky on the Bay of Bidassoa, a couple of kilometres away,
+and all sorts and conditions of men may find an occupation here for
+any passing mood they may have.
+
+We just missed the great fête of the eighth of September, when
+processions, and bull-fights, and all the movement of the sacred and
+profane rejoicings of the Latins yearly astonish the more phlegmatic
+northerner.
+
+Another great fête is that of Vendredi-Saint (Good Friday). Either
+one or the other should be seen by all who may be in these parts at
+these times.
+
+Near by, in the middle of the swift-flowing current of the Bidassoa,
+is the historically celebrated Ile des Faisans, on which the
+conferences were held between the French minister Mazarin and the
+Spanish Don Louis de Haro, which led to the famous Treaty of the
+Pyrenees, 1659, and the marriage of Louis XIV. with the daughter of
+Philip IV. The representative of each sovereign advanced from his own
+territory, by a temporary bridge, to this bit of neutral ground,
+which then reached nearly up to the present bridge. The piles which
+supported the cardinal's pavilion were visible not many years ago.
+The death of Velasquez, the painter, was caused by his exertions in
+superintending these constructions; duties more fitting to an
+upholsterer than a painter.
+
+We finished our tour of the Pyrenees at Fontarabia, having followed
+along the shadow of these great frontier mountains their entire
+length; not wholly unknown ground, perhaps, but for the most part
+entirely unspoiled, and, as a touring-ground for the automobilist,
+without a peer.
+
+
+Chapter III
+In Languedoc And Old Provence
+
+[Illustration: Languedoc & Provence]
+
+The dim purple curtain of the Pyrenees had been drawn behind, us, and
+we were passing from the patois of Languedoc to the patois of
+Provence, where the peasants say _pardie_ in place of _pardou_ when
+an exclamation of surprise comes from their lips.
+
+Cast your eyes over the map of ancient France, and you will
+distinguish plainly the lines of demarcation between the old
+political divisions which, in truth, the traveller by road may find
+to exist even to-day, in the manners and customs of the people at
+least.
+
+Unconsciously we drew away from the sleepy indolence of Perpignan and
+Roussillon, and before we knew it had passed Narbonne, and on through
+Béziers to Agde, where we proposed stopping for the night.
+
+Quite as Spanish-looking as Perpignan, Agde was the very antithesis
+of the gay and frivolous Catalan city. The aspect of its purple-brown
+architecture, the bridge-piers crossing the Herault, and the very
+pavements themselves were a colour-scheme quite unlike anything we
+had seen elsewhere. Brilliant and warm as a painting of Velasquez,
+there was nothing gaudy, and one could only dream of the time when
+the Renaissance house-fronts sheltered lords and ladies of high
+degree instead of itinerant automobilists and travelling salesmen.
+
+The Hôtel du Cheval Blanc was one of these. It is not a particularly
+up-to-date hostelry, and there is a scant accommodation for
+automobiles, but for all that it is good of its kind, and one dines
+and sleeps well to the accompaniment of the rushing waters of the
+river, at its very dooryard, on its way to the sea.
+
+From Agde to Montpellier is fifty odd kilometres over the worst
+stretch of roadway of the same length to be found in France, save
+perhaps that awful paved road of Navarre across the Landes.
+
+Montpellier is one of the most luxurious and well-kept small cities
+of France. It is the seat of the préfecture, the assizes, and a
+university--whose college of medicine was famous in the days of
+Rabelais. It has the modern attributes of steam-heated,
+electric-lighted hotels and restaurants, a tramway system that is
+appalling and dangerous to all other traffic by reason of its
+complexity, and an Opera House and a Hôtel de Ville that would do
+credit to a city ten times its size.
+
+We merely took Montpellier _en route_, just as we had many other
+places, and were really bound for Aigues-Mortes, where we proposed to
+lunch: one would not willingly sleep in a place with a name like
+that.
+
+Of Aigues-Mortes Ch. Lentherie wrote, a quarter of a century ago:
+
+"The country round about is incomparably melancholy, the sun
+scorches, and the sandy soil gives no nourishment to plants, flowers,
+vines, or grain. Cultivated land does not exist, it is a desert:
+ugly, melancholy, and abandoned. But Aigues-Mortes cannot, nay, must
+not perish, and will always remain the old city of St. Louis, a
+magnificent architectural diadem, with its deserted _plage_ an _aureole_
+most radiant, a glorious yet touching reminder."
+
+One other imaginative description is the poem of Charles Bigot on _La
+Tour de Constance_, in which the Huguenot women were many long years
+imprisoned. It is written in the charming Nimois patois, and runs
+thus in its first few lines:
+
+  "Tour de la simple et forte,
+  Simbol de glorie et de piété,
+  Tour de pauvres femmes mortes
+  Pour leur Dieu et la liberté."
+
+These few introductory lines will recall to the memory of all who
+know the history of the Crusades and of St. Louis the part played by
+this old walled city of Aigues-Mortes.
+
+More complete, and more frowning and grim, than Carcassonne, it has
+not a tithe of its interest, but, for all that, it is the most
+satisfying example of a walled stronghold of mediæval times yet
+extant.
+
+With all its gloom, its bareness, and the few hundreds of shaking
+pallid mortals which make up its present-day population, the marsh
+city of Aigues-Mortes is a lively memory to all who have seen it.
+
+One comes by road and drives his automobile in through the
+battlemented gateway over the cobbled main street, or struggles up on
+foot from the station of the puny and important little railway which
+brings people down from Arles in something over an hour's time.
+Ultimately, one and all arrive at the excellent Hôtel St. Louis, and
+eat bountifully of fresh fish of the Mediterranean, well cooked by
+the _patron-chef_, and well served by a dainty Arlésienne maiden of
+fifteen summers, who looks as though she might be twenty-two.
+
+"_C'est un chose à voir_" every one tells you in the Bouches-du-Rhône
+when you mention Aigues-Mortes; and truly it is. As before suggested,
+you will not want to sleep within its dreary walls, but "it's a thing
+to see" without question, and to get away from as soon as possible,
+before a peculiarly vicious breed of mosquito inoculates you with the
+toxic poison of the marshes.
+
+Now we are approaching the land of the poet Mistral, the most
+romantic region in all modern France, where the inhabitant in his
+repose and his pleasure still lives in mediæval times and chants and
+dances himself (and herself) into a sort of semi-indifference to the
+march of time.
+
+The Crau and the Camargue, lying south of Arles between Aigues-Mortes
+and the Etang de Berre, is the greatest fête-making _pays_, one might
+think, in all the world.
+
+How many times, from January to January, the Provençal "makes the
+fête" it would be difficult to state--on every occasion possible, at
+any rate.
+
+The great fête of Provence is the day of the _ferrande_, a sort of a
+cattle round-up held on the Camargue plain, something like what goes
+on in "_le Far West,_" as the French call it, only on not so grand a
+scale.
+
+Mistral describes it of course:
+
+  "On a great branding-day came this throng,
+  A help for the mighty herd-mustering,
+  Li Santo, Aigo Marto, Albaron,
+  And from Faraman, a hundred horses strong
+  Came out into the desert."
+
+Here we were in the midst of the land of fêtes, and if we could not
+see a _ferrande_ in all its savage, unspoiled glory, we would see
+what we could.
+
+We were in luck, as we learned when we put into St. Gilles for the
+night, and comfortably enough housed our auto in the _remise_ of the
+company, or individual, which has the concession for the stage line
+across the Camargue, which links up the two loose ends of a toy
+railway, one of which ends at Aigues-Mortes, and the other at Stes.
+Maries-de-la-Mer.
+
+Our particular piece of luck was the opportunity to be present at the
+pilgrimage to the shrine of the three Marys of Judea, which took
+place on the morrow.
+
+The poet Mistral sets it all out in romantic verse in his epic
+"Mirèio," and one and all were indeed glad to embrace so fortunate an
+opportunity of participating in one of the most nearly unique
+pilgrimages and festivals in all the world.
+
+We entered the little waterside town the next morning soon after
+sunrise, _en auto_. Others came by rail, on foot, on horseback, or by
+the slow-going _roulotte_, or caravan; pilgrims from all corners of
+the earth, the peasant folk of Provence, the Arlésiens and
+Arlésiennes, and the dwellers of the great Camargue plain.
+
+The picture is quite as "Mirèio" saw it in the poem: the vision of
+the lone sentinel church by the sea, which rises above the dunes of
+the Camargue to-day, as it did in the olden time.
+
+"'It looms at last in the distance dim,
+She sees it grow on the horizon's rim,
+The Saintes' white tower across the billowy plain,
+Like vessel homeward bound upon the main."
+
+On the dunes of the Camargue, between the blue of the sky and the
+blue of the Mediterranean waves, sits the gaunt, grim bourg of
+fisherfolk and herders of the cattle and sheep of the neighbouring
+plain. The lone fortress-church rises tall and severe in its
+outlines, and the whole may be likened to nothing as much as a desert
+mirage that one sees in his imagination.
+
+At the foot of the crenelated, battlemented walls of the church are
+the white, pink, and blue walled houses of the huddling population,
+and the dory-like boats of the fishers.
+
+Officially the town is known as Stes. Maries-de-la-Mer, but the
+_reliques_ of the three Marys, who fled from Judea in company with
+Sts. Lazare, Maxim, and Trophime, and other followers, including
+their servant Sara, have given it the popular name of "Les Saintes."
+
+The exiles, barely escaping death by drowning, came to shore here,
+and, thankful for being saved from death, thereupon celebrated the
+first mass to be said in France, the saints Maxim and Lazare
+officiating.
+
+Maxim, Lazare, Sidoine, Marthe, and Madeleine immediately set out to
+spread the Word throughout Provence in the true missionary spirit,
+but the others, the three Marys, St. Trophime, and Sara, remained
+behind to do what good they might among the fishers.
+
+The pilgrimage to this _basilique_ of "Les Saintes" has ever been one
+of great devotion. In 1347 the Bishops of Paris and of Coutances, in
+Normandy, accorded their communicants many and varied indulgences for
+having made "_la feste S. Mari Cléophée qui est le XXVe Mai, et la
+feste S. Marie Salomé, XXIIe Octobre, festeront, O l'histoire d'elles
+prescherent, liront ou escouteront attentilment et devotement._"
+
+In the fourteenth century three thousand or more souls drew a
+livelihood from the industries of "Les Saintes" and the
+neighbourhood, and its civic affairs were administered by three
+consuls, who were assisted in their duties by three classes of
+citizen office-holders--_divities_, _mediocres_, and _paupers_, the
+latter doubtless the "_povres gens_" mentioned in the testament of
+Louis I. of Provence, he who bequeathed the guardianship of his soul
+to "_Saintes Maries Jacobé et Salomé, Catherine, Madeleine et
+Marthe._"
+
+The first day's celebration was devoted to the further gathering of
+the throng and the "Grand Mess." At the first note of the
+"Magnificat" the _reliques_ were brought forth from the upper chapel
+and the crowd from within and without broke into a thunderous
+"_Vivent les Saintes Maries!_" Then was sung the "_Cantique des
+Saintes:_"
+
+  "O grandes Saintes Maries
+  Si chéries
+  De notre divin Sauveur," etc.
+
+On the second day a procession formed outside the church for the
+descent to the historic sands, upon which the holy exiles first made
+their landing, the men bearing on their shoulders a representation of
+the barque which brought the saints thither. There were prelates and
+plebeians and tourists and vagabond gipsies in line, and one and all
+they entered into the ceremony with an enthusiasm--in spite of the
+sweltering sun--which made up for any apparent lack of devoutness,
+for, alas! most holy pilgrimages are anything but holy when taken in
+their entirety.
+
+The church at "Les Saintes" is a wonder-work. As at Assisi, in Italy,
+there are three superimposed churches, a symbol of the three states
+of religion; the crypt, called the catacombs, and suggestive of
+persecution; the fortified nave, a symbol of the body which prays,
+but is not afraid to fight; and the _chapelle supérieure_, the holy
+place of the saints of heaven, the Christian counsellors in whose
+care man has been confided. This, at any rate, is the professional
+description of the symbolism, and whether one be churchman or not he
+is bound to see the logic of it all.
+
+Deep down in the darkened crypt are the _reliques_ of the dusky Sara,
+the servant of the holy Marys. She herself has been elevated to
+sainthood as the _patronne_ of the vagabond gipsies of all the world.
+On the occasion of the Fête of Les Saintes Maries the nomads,
+Bohemians, and Gitanos from all corners of the globe, who have been
+able to make the pilgrimage thither, pass the night before the shrine
+of their sainted _patronne_, as a preliminary act to the election of
+their queen for the coming year.
+
+The gipsy of tradition is supposed to be a miserly, wealthy,
+sacrilegious fellow who goes about stealing children and dogs and
+anything else he can lay his hands upon. He may have his faults, but
+to see him kneeling before the shrine of his "_patronne reine Sara,_"
+ragged and travel-worn and yet burning costly candles and saying his
+_Aves_ as piously and incessantly as a praying-machine of the East,
+one can hardly question but that they have as much devoutness as most
+others.
+
+The hotels of "Les Saintes" offer practically nothing in the way of
+accommodation, and what there is, which costs usually thirty sous a
+night, has, during the fête, an inflated value of thirty or even
+fifty francs, and, if you are an automobilist, driving the most
+decrepit out-of-date old crock that ever was, they will want to
+charge you a hundred. You will, of course, refuse to pay it, for you
+can eat up the roadway at almost any speed you like,--there is no one
+to say you nay on these lonesome roads,--and so, after paying fifty
+centimes a pailful for some rather muddy water to refresh the water
+circulation of your automobile, you pull out for some other place--at
+least we did. One must either do this, or become a real nomad and
+sleep in the open, with the stars for candles, and a bunch of
+beach-grass for a pillow. If you were a _Romany cheil_ you would
+sleep in, or under, your own _roulotte_, on a mattress, which, in the
+daytime, is neatly folded away in the rear of your wagon, or hung in
+full view, temptingly spread with a lace coverlet. This in the hope
+that some passing pilgrim will take a fancy to the lace spread and
+want to buy it; when will come a trading and bargaining which will
+put horse-selling quite in the shade, for it is here that the woman
+of the establishment comes in, and the gipsy woman on a trade is a
+Tartar.
+
+Finally, on the last day, came the "_Grande Entrée des Tauraux,_"
+which, it would seem, was the chief event which drew the Camargue
+population thither. They came in couples, a man and a woman on the
+back of a single Camargue pony, whole families in a Provençal cart,
+on foot, on bicycles, and in automobiles.
+
+[Illustration: Peasants of the Crau]
+
+Six Spanish-crossed bulls, were brought up in a great closed van and
+loosed in an improvised bull-ring, of which the church wall formed
+one side, and the roof a sort of a tribune. What the curé thought of
+all this is not clear, but as the alms-coffers of the church were
+already full to the lids, and the parish depends largely upon the
+contributions of visitors to replenish its funds, any seeming
+sacrilege was winked at.
+
+For three days we had "made the fête" and saw it all, and did most of
+the things that the others did, except that we always slept at St.
+Gilles, far away by the long flat road which winds in and out among
+the marshes, flamingo nests, and rice-fields of the Camargue.
+
+The "bull-fight," so called, was nothing so very bloodthirsty or
+terrifying; merely the worrying by the "amateurs" of a short-legged,
+little black bull, about the size of a well-formed Newfoundland dog,
+or perhaps a little larger--appearances are often deceptive when one
+receives a disappointment.
+
+Truly, as Mistral says, Provence is a land of joy and, laughter, and
+fêtes followed close on one another, it seemed.
+
+We had seen the announcements in the local journals of a "_Mis à
+Mort_" at Nîmes, and a "_Corrida de Meurte_"--borrowing the phrase
+from the Spanish--at Arles, each to take place in the great Roman
+arenas, which had not seen bloodshed for centuries; not since the
+days when the Romans matched men against each other in gladiatorial
+combat, and turned tigers loose upon captive slaves.
+
+The "to-the-death" affairs of Arles and Nîmes appealed to us only
+that we might contrast the modern throngs that crowd the benches with
+those which history tells us viewed the combats of old. Doubtless
+there is little resemblance, but all the same there is a certain gory
+tradition hanging about the old walls and arches of those great
+arenas which is utterly lacking in the cricket-field, tawdry plazas
+of some of the Spanish towns. The grim arcades of these great Roman
+arenas are still full of suggestion.
+
+We did not see either the "_Mis à Mort_" at Arles, or the "_Corrida
+de Meurte_" at Nîmes; the automobile got stalled for a day in the
+midst of the stony Crau, with a rear tire which blew itself into
+pieces, and necessitated a journey by train into Arles in order to
+get another to replace it. Owing to the slowness of this apology for
+a railway train, and the awkwardness of the timetable, the great
+"_Mis à Mort_" at Arles was long over ere we had set out over the
+moonlit Crau for Martigues on the shores of the Etang de Berre.
+
+[Illustration: Les Saintes]
+
+We knew Martigues of old, its _bouillabaisse_, the _Père Chabas_ and
+all the cronies of the Café du Commerce where you kept your own
+special bottle, of whatever _apéritif_ poison you fancied, in order
+that you might be sure of getting it unadulterated.
+
+"_La Venise de Provence,_" Martigues, is known by artists far and
+wide. Chabas and his rather grimy little hotel, which he calls the
+Grand Hotel something or other, has catered for countless hundreds of
+artist folk who have made the name and fame of Martigues as an
+artist's sketching-ground. After a three weeks' pretty steady
+automobile run the artist of the party craved peace and rest and an
+opportunity of putting Martigues's glorious sunsets on canvas, and so
+we camped out with Chabas, and ate _bouillabaisse_ and the _beurre de
+Provence_ and _langouste_ and Chabas's famous straw potatoes and rum
+omelette for ten days, and were sorry when it was all over.
+
+
+Chapter IV
+By Rhône And Saône
+
+[Illustration: Rhone & Saone]
+
+It is the dream of the Marseillais that some day the turgid Rhône may
+be made to empty itself at the foot of the famous Cannebière, and so
+add to the already great prosperity of the most cosmopolitan and
+picturesque of Mediterranean ports.
+
+The idea has been thought of since Roman times, and Napoleon himself
+nearly undertook the work. In later days radical and vehement
+candidates for senatorships and deputyships have promised their
+Marseilles and Bouches-du-Rhône constituencies much more, with regard
+to the same thing, than the hand of man is ever likely to be able to
+accomplish.
+
+The Rhône still pushes its way through the Crau and the Camargue and
+comes to the sea many kilometres west of the Planier light and
+Château d'If, which guard the entrance to Marseilles's Old Port.
+
+We had backed and filled many times between Martigues and Marseilles
+during the interval which we so enjoyably spent _chez Chabas_, and we
+had come to know this unknown little corner of old Provence
+intimately, and to love it.
+
+Marseilles was our great dissipation, its hotels, its cafés and
+restaurants, its cosmopolitan life and movement, its gaiety and the
+picturesqueness of its old streets and wharves. Marseilles is a
+neglected tourist point; it should be better known; but it is no
+place for automobilists, unless they are prepared for ten kilometres,
+in any direction, of the most villainous suburban roadway in France.
+The roadways themselves are good enough; it is the abnormal and the
+peculiar nature of the traffic that makes them so disagreeable; great
+hooting tramways, _charettes_ loaded with all the products of the
+earth and the hands of man, and drawn by long tandem lines, three,
+four, five, and even six horses to a single cart. Added to this, the
+exits and entrances are all up and down hill, and, accordingly, the
+roadways of suburban Marseilles are a terror to stranger
+automobilists and an eternal regret to those who live near-by.
+
+We went up the Rhône in a howling mistral, against it, mark you, for
+it pleases the Ruler of the universe to have that cyclonic breeze of
+the Rhône valley, one of the three plagues of Provence, blow always
+from the north.
+
+We left Martigues in an extraordinary and unusual fog, reminiscent of
+London, except that it was not black and sooty. It was dense,
+however; dense as if it were enshrouding the Grand Banks, and of the
+same impenetrable, milky consistency. To be sure the morning sun had
+not had an opportunity as yet to burn it off--automobilists on tour
+are early birds, and the autumn sun rises late.
+
+Up around the eastern shore of the Etang de Berre we went, and,
+crossing the Tête Noire, passed Salon just as a pale yellow light
+struggled through the rifts just topping the Maritime Alps off to the
+eastward. We could not see the mountains, but we knew they were
+there, for we still had lingering memories of a long pull we once
+made off in that direction, with an old crock of an automobile of
+primitive make in the early days of the sport, or the art, whichever
+one chooses to call it, though it unquestionably was an art then to
+keep an automobile going at all.
+
+By the time Arles was reached the sun was burning with a midsummer
+glare, as it does here for three hundred or more days in the year.
+
+At Arles one is in the very cauldron of the atmosphere of things
+Provençal, art, letters, history, and romance, all of which are kept
+alive by the _Félibres_ and their fellows.
+
+Mistral, the poet, is the master-singer of them all, and whether he
+chants of his "Own glad Kingdom of Provence," at Maillane among the
+olive-trees, far inland, or of:
+
+  "The peace which descends upon the troubled ocean
+  And he his wrath forgets,
+  Flock from Martigues the boats with wing-like motion,
+  And fishes fill their nets,"
+
+it is all the same; the subtle, penetrating atmosphere and sentiment
+of Provence is over all.
+
+Arles is the head centre. It is a city of monumental and celebrated
+art, and one may spend a day, a week, or a month, wandering in and
+out and about its old Roman arena (still so well preserved that it
+presents its occasional bull-fight for the delectation of the
+bloodthirsty), its antique theatre, its museums, its cathedral and
+its cloister, or among the tombs of the Aliscamps.
+
+We did all these things, indeed we had done them before, but they
+were ever marvellous just the same, and in the museum we were always
+running on Mistral himself, who, in his waning years, finds his
+greatest delight in arranging and rearranging the exhibits of his
+newly founded Musée Arletan.
+
+The hotels of Arles are a disappointment. The Hôtel du Nord, with a
+portico of the old Forum built into its walls, and the Hôtel du
+Forum, on the Place du Forum, are well enough in their way,--they are
+certainly well conducted,--but they lack "atmosphere," and instead of
+the _cuisine du pays_, you get ham and eggs and _bifteck_ served to
+you. This is wrong and bad business, if the otherwise capable
+proprietors only knew it.
+
+One does better in the environs. At St. Rémy, at the Grand Hôtel de
+Provence, you will get quite another sort of fare: _hors d'oeuvres_
+of a peculiarly pungent variety, not forgetting the dark purple,
+over-ripe olives, a _ragoût en casserole_, a _filet d'agneau_ with a
+_sauce Provençale_, and a _poulet_ and a salad which will make one
+dream of the all but lost art of Brillat-Savarin. They are good
+cooks, the _chefs_ of Provence, of the small cities and large towns
+like St. Rémy, Cavaillon, Salon, and Carpentras, but everybody will
+not like their liberal douches of oil any more than they will the
+penetrating garlic flavour in everything.
+
+We took a turn backward on our route from Arles and went to Les Baux,
+the now dismal ruin of a once proud feudal city whose seigneurs held
+sway over some sixty cities of Provence.
+
+To-day it is a Pompeii, except it is a hill town worthy to rank with
+those picturesque peaks of Italy and Dalmatia. Its château walls have
+crumbled, but its subterranean galleries, cut three stories down into
+the rock itself, are much as they always were. Everywhere are grim,
+doleful evidences of a glory that is past and a population that is
+dead or moved away. The sixteen thousand souls of mediæval times have
+shrunk to something like two hundred to-day--most of them shepherds,
+apparently, and the others picture post-card sellers.
+
+It is a very satisfactory little mountain climb from the surrounding
+plain up to the little plateau just below the peak at Les Baux,
+though the entire distance from Arles is scarcely more than fifteen
+kilometres, and the actual climb hardly more than four. The
+razor-back mountain chain, upon one peak of which Les Baux sits, is
+known as the Alpilles.
+
+All of the immediate neighbourhood (scarce a dozen kilometres from
+where the beaten track passes through Arles) is a veritable museum of
+relics of the glory of the heroic age. Caius Marius entrenched
+himself within these walls of rock and two thousand years ago planted
+the foundations of the Mausoleum and Arc de Triomphe which are the
+pride of the inhabitant of St. Rémy and the marvel of what few
+strangers ever come. They are veritable antiques--"Les Antiquités,"
+as the people of St. Rémy familiarly call them, and rise to-day as
+monuments of the past, gilded by the Southern sun and framed with all
+the brilliancy of a Provençal landscape.
+
+We slept at St. Rémy, and made the next morning for Tarascon, with
+memories of Dumas and Daudet and Tartarin and the Tarasque pushing us
+on.
+
+Tarascon has a real appeal for the stranger; at every step he will
+picture the _locale_ of Daudet's whimsical tale, and will well
+understand how it was that the prisoners' view from the narrow-barred
+window of the Château at Tarascon was so limited.
+
+There is a fine group of Renaissance architectural monuments at
+Tarascon, and a street of arcaded house-fronts which will make the
+artist of the party want to settle down to work.
+
+Across the river is Beaucaire, famous for its great fair of ages
+past, the greatest trading fair of mediæval times, when merchants and
+their goods came from Persia, India, and Turkey, and all corners of
+the earth. The Château of Beaucaire is a fine ruin, but no more; it
+is not worth the climbing of the height to examine it.
+
+A little farther on is Bellegarde, where Dumas placed Caderousse's
+little inn, the unworthy Caderousse and his still more unworthy wife,
+who finished the career of Edmond Dantès while he was masquerading as
+the Abbé. There is no inn here to-day which can be identified as that
+of the romance, but Dumas's description of its sun-burnt
+surroundings, the canal, the scanty herbage, and the white, parched
+roadway, is much the same as what one sees today, and there is a tiny
+_auberge_ beside the canal, which might satisfy the imaginative.
+
+Avignon, the city of the seven French popes, who reigned seventy
+years, was the next stopping-place on our itinerary.
+
+We put up at the Hôtel Crillon and fared much as one fares in any
+provincial large town. We were served with imitation Parisian
+repasts, and were asked if we would like to read the London _Times_.
+Why the London _Times_ no one knew: why not the New Orleans
+_Picayune_ and be done with it?
+
+We did not want to do anything of the sort, we merely wanted to "do"
+the town, to see the tomb of Pope Jean XXII. in the cathedral, to
+walk, if possible, upon the part left standing of St. Benezet's old
+Pont d'Avignon, a memory which was burned into our minds since our
+schooldays, when we played and sang the French version of "London
+Bridge is falling down"--"_Sur le pont d'Avignon._"
+
+The greatest monument of all is the magnificent Palais des Papes, its
+crenelated walls and battlements vying with the city walls and
+ramparts as a splendid example of mediæval architecture. We saw all
+these things and the museum with its excellent collections, and the
+library of thirty thousand volumes and four thousand manuscripts.
+
+One thing we nearly missed was Villeneuve-les-Avignon, a ruined
+wall-circled town on the opposite bank of the Rhône. Its machicolated
+crests glistened in the brilliant Southern sunlight like an exotic of
+the Saharan country. It is quite the most foreign and African-looking
+jumble of architectural forms to be seen in France. It took us three
+hours to cross the river and stroll about its debris-encumbered
+streets and get back again and start on our way northward, but it was
+worth the time and trouble.
+
+From St. Rémy to Orange, perhaps sixty kilometres, was not a long
+daily run by any means, and we would not have stopped at Orange for
+the night except that it was imperative that we should see the fine
+antique theatre, the most magnificent, the largest, and the best
+preserved of all existing Roman theatres.
+
+We saw it, and seeing it wondered, though, when one tries to project
+the mind back into the past and picture the scenes which once went on
+upon its boards, the task were seemingly impossible.
+
+[Illustration: Avignon and Tournon]
+
+The Roman Arc de Triomphe, too, at Orange, which spans the roadway to
+the North--the same great natural road which all its length froth
+Paris to Antibes is known as the Route d'Italie--is a monument more
+splendid, as to its preservation, than anything of the kind outside
+Italy itself.
+
+There is ample and excellent accommodation for the automobilist at
+Orange, at the Hôtel des Princes, which sounds good and is good. They
+have even a writing-room in the hotel, a silly, stuffy little room
+which no one with any sense ever enters. One simply follows a
+well-fed _commis-voyageur_ to the nearest popular café and writes his
+letters there, as a well-habituated traveller should do.
+
+Once on the road again we passed Montelimar--"_le pays du nougât
+et de M. l'ex-President Loubet,_" we were told by the _octroi_
+official who held us up at the barrier of this self-sufficient,
+dead-and-alive, pompous little town. We didn't know M. Loubet and we
+didn't like _nougât_, so we did not stop, but pushed on for Tournon.
+There, at the little Hôtel de la Poste, beneath the donjon tower of
+the old _château_, we ate the most marvellously concocted _déjeuner_
+we had struck for a long time. There's no use describing it; it won't
+be the same the next time; though no doubt it will be as excellent.
+It cost but two francs fifty centimes, including _vin du St. Peray_,
+the rich red wine of the Rhône, a rival to the wines of Burgundy.
+
+We might have done a good deal worse had we stopped at progressive,
+up-to-date Valence, where automobile tourists usually do stop, but we
+took the offering of the small town instead of the large one, and
+found it, as usual, very good.
+
+We had passed La Voute-sur-Rhône, that classic height which has been
+pictured many times in old books of travel. It, and Tournon, and
+Valence, and Viviers, and Pont St. Esprit were once riverside
+stations for the _coches d'eau_ which did a sort of omnibus service
+with passengers on the Rhône, between Lyons and Avignon. There is a
+steamboat service to-day which also carries passengers, but it is not
+to be recommended if one has the means of getting about by road.
+
+This town, too, and Valence, were directly on the route of the
+_malle-poste_ from Lyons to Marseilles. The different _postes_ or
+relays were marked on the maps of the day by little twisted
+hunting-horns. For the most part an old-time route map of the great
+trunk lines of the _malle-poste_ and the _messageries_ would, serve
+the automobilist of to-day equally as well as a modern road map.
+
+The _malle-poste_, and the hiring out of post-horses, in France was
+an institution more highly developed than elsewhere.
+
+Post-horses were only delivered one in France upon the presentation
+of a passport and payment, in advance, according to the following
+tariff. The price was fixed by law, being the same throughout all
+France.
+
+1   Poste (about 15 miles)        1 franc 50 centimes
+1/2   "                                   75    "
+1/4   "                                   38    "
+
+The postilion usually got one franc fifty per _poste_, but could only
+demand seventy-five centimes.
+
+Certain carriages (chaises and cabriolets) would carry only
+portmanteaux (_vaches_), but _voitures fermées_, _calèches_, and the
+like might carry also a trunk (_malle_).
+
+As one goes north, sunburnt Provence, its olive groves and its oil
+and garlic-seasoned viands are left behind, until little by little
+one draws upon the Burgundian opulence of the Côte d'Or, a land where
+the native's manner of eating and drinking makes a full life and a
+merry one.
+
+We were not there yet; we had many kilometres yet to go, always by
+the banks of the Rhône until Lyons was reached.
+
+Near Givors, at eight o'clock at night, within twenty kilometres of
+Lyons, the motor gave a weak asthmatic gasp, and stopped short. Like
+the foolish virgins, we had no oil in our lamps, and dusk had already
+fallen, and no amount of coaxing after the habitual manner would
+induce the thing to move a yard.
+
+There was nothing for it but to get out the tow-ropes and wait--for a
+_remorqueur_, as the French call any four-footed beast strong enough
+to tow an automobile at the end of a line. (They also call a tug-boat
+the same thing, but as an automobile is not an amphibious animal it
+was a land _remorqueur_ that we awaited.)
+
+We did not get to Lyons that night. There are always uncalled for
+"possibilities" rising up in automobiling that will upset the best
+thought-out schedule. This was one of them.
+
+What had happened to the machine no one yet really knows, but we had
+to be ignominiously towed, to the great amusement of the natives, at
+the end of a long rope by the power of a diminutive donkey which
+finally came along. The beast did not look as though he could draw a
+perambulator, but he buckled down to it with a will, and brought us
+safely through the half-kilometre or so of crooked streets which led
+to the centre of Givors.
+
+Finally, we, or the car rather, was pushed into an old wash-house,
+once a part of an ancient château, the _remise_ of the hotel itself,
+a dependance of the château of other days, having been preempted by
+an itinerant magic-lantern exhibittion ("La Cinémetographe
+Americaine," it was called on the bills), which proposed to show the
+good people of Givors--"for one night only, and at ten sous
+each"--moving pictures of Coney Island, Buffalo Bill's Wild West,
+Niagara Falls, New York's "Flat Iron" building, and other exotics
+from the New World.
+
+We dined and slept well at Givors in spite of our accident, and were
+"up bright and early," as Pepys might have said (Londoners to-day do
+not get up bright and early, however!), to find out, if possible,
+what was the matter with the digestive apparatus of the automobile.
+Nothing was the matter! The human, obstinate thing started off at the
+first trial, and probably would have done the same thing last night
+had we given the starting-crank one more turn. Such is automobiling!
+
+We made our entrance into Lyons _en pleine vitesse_, stopping not
+until we got to the centre of the city. The _octroi_ regulations had
+just been revised, and the gates were open to passing traffic without
+the obligation of having to declare one's possessions. Progressive
+Lyons!
+
+Lyons is truly progressive. It is beautifully laid out and kept. It
+is nothing like as filthy as a large city usually is, on the
+outskirts, and its island faubourg, between the Saône and the Rhône,
+is the ideal of a well-organized and planned centre of affairs.
+
+Lyons has, moreover, two up-to-date hotels, the very latest things,
+one might say, in the hotel line: the Terminus Hotel, which well
+serves travelers by rail, and the Hôtel de l'Univers et de
+l'Automobilisme--rather a clumsy name, but that of a good,
+well-meaning hotel. Its progressiveness consists in having abolished
+the _pourboire_. You have ten per cent. added on to your bill,
+however. This looks large when it comes to figures,--paying something
+for nothing,--but at least one knows where he stands, and he fears no
+black looks from chambermaid or boots. The thing is announced, by a
+little placard placed in every room, as an "innovation." It remains
+to be seen if it will prove successful.
+
+From Lyons to Dijon, 197 kilometres between breakfast and lunch, was
+not bad. Now, at last, we were in that opulent land of good living
+and good drinking, where the food and wine are alike both rich.
+
+He's a contented, fat, sleek-looking type, the native son of the Côte
+d'Or, and he looks with contempt on the cider-nourished Norman and
+Breton, and does not for a moment think that cognac is to be compared
+with the _eau de vie de marc_ of his own vineyards.
+
+The Côte d'Or is the richest wine-growing region of all the world.
+Every direction-post and sign-board is like a review of the names on
+a wine card,--Beaune, Chambertin, St. Georges, Clos Vougeot,--and of
+these the Clos Vougeot wines are the most renowned.
+
+A line drawn across France, just north of the confines of ancient
+Burgundy, divides the region of the _vins ordinaires_--the light
+wines of the _tables d'hote_--and that of those vintages which have
+no price. This, at least, is the way the native puts it, and to some
+extent the simile is correct enough.
+
+The Côte begins and the plain ends; the hillsides rise and the
+river-bottoms dwindle away in the distance: such is the feeling that
+one experiences as he climbs these vine-clad slopes from either the
+Rhône, the Loire, or the Seine valleys, and here it is that the
+imaginary line is drawn between the _vins ordinaires_ and the _vins
+sans prix_.
+
+Since there is no possibility of increasing the quantity of these
+rich, red Burgundian wines, the highly cultured area being of but
+small extent, and because their quality depends upon the peculiar
+nature of the soil of this restricted tract, there is no question but
+that the monopoly of Burgundian wines will remain for ever with the
+gold coast of France, whatever Australian and Californian patriots
+may claim for their own imitations.
+
+The phylloxera here, as elsewhere in France, caused a setback to the
+commerce in wines, as serious in money figures as the losses
+sustained during the Franco-Prussian War, but the time has now passed
+and the famous Côte d'Or has once more attained its time-honoured
+opulence and prosperity.
+
+  "_Le vin de Bourgogne
+  Met la bonne humeur
+  Au coeur._"
+
+Still northward, across the plateau of Langres, we set a roundabout
+course for Paris. There is one great pleasure about automobiling that
+is considerably curtailed if one sets out to follow precisely a
+preconceived itinerary, and for that reason we were, in a measure,
+going where fancy willed.
+
+We might have turned westward, via Moulins, Nevers, and Montargis,
+from Lyons, and followed the old coaching road into Paris, entering
+by the same gateway through which we set out, but we had heard of the
+charms of the valley of the Marne, and we wanted to see them for
+ourselves.
+
+Our first acquaintance with it was at Bar le Duc, which is not on the
+Marne at all, but on a little confluent some twenty or thirty miles
+from its junction.
+
+For a day we had been riding over corkscrew roads with little peace
+and comfort for the driver, and considerable hard work for the motor.
+The hills were numerous, but the surface was good and the scenery
+delightful, so, since most of us require variety as a component of
+our daily lives, we were getting what we wanted and no one
+complained.
+
+It was easy going by Château Thierry and the episcopal city of Meaux,
+retracing almost the itinerary of the fleeing Louis XVI., and, as we
+entered Paris by the Porte de Vincennes,--always by villainous
+roadways, this getting in and out of Paris,--we red-inked another
+twelve hundred kilometre stretch of roadway on our record map of
+France.
+
+
+Chapter V
+By Seine And Oise--A Cruise In A Canot-Automobile
+
+[Illustration: By Seine and Oise]
+
+If automobiling on land in France is a pleasure, a voyage up a
+picturesque and historic French river in a _canot-automobile_ is a
+dream, so at least we thought, four of us--and a boy to clean the
+engine, run errands, and to climb overboard and push us off when we
+got stuck in the mud.
+
+Our "home port" was Les Andelys on the Seine, and we meet in the
+courtyard of the Hôtel Bellevue at five o'clock one misty, gray
+September morning for a fortnight's voyage up the Oise, which joins
+the Seine midway between Les Andelys and Paris.
+
+There is nothing mysterious about an automobile boat any more than
+there is about the land automobile. It has its moods and vagaries,
+its good points _and some bad ones_. It is not as speedy as an
+automobile on shore, but it is more comfortable, a great deal more
+fun to steer, and less dangerous, and there is an utter absence of
+those chief causes of trouble to the automobile, punctures and what
+not happening to your tires. Then again there is, generally speaking,
+no crowd of traffic to run you into danger, and there is an absence
+of dust, to make up for which, when you are lying by waiting to go
+through a lock, you have mosquitoes of a fierce bloodthirsty kind
+which even the smoke from the vile tobacco of French cigarettes will
+not keep at a distance.
+
+Our facile little automobile boat was called the "_Cà et Là._"
+Rightly enough named it was, too. The French give singularly pert and
+appropriate names to their boats. "_Va t'on,_" "_Quand même,_" and
+"_Cà et Là_" certainly tell the stories of their missions in their
+very names.
+
+The boat itself, and its motor, too, was purely a French production,
+and, though of modest force and dimensions, would do its dozen miles
+an hour all day long.
+
+We got away from the landing-stage of the Touring Club de France at
+Les Andelys in good time, our provisions, our gasoline and oil, our
+river charts, our wraps and ourselves all stowed comfortably away in
+the eight metres of length of our little boat. Our siren gave a hoot
+which startled the rooks circling about the donjon walls of Château
+Gaillard over our heads, and we passed under the brick arches of the
+bridge for a twelve-mile run to the first lock at Courcelles.
+
+The process of going through a river lock in France is not far
+different from the same process elsewhere, except that the
+all-powerful Touring Club de France has secured precedence for all
+pleasure boats over any other waiting craft. It really costs nothing,
+but you give a franc to the _éclusier_, and the way is thereby made
+the easier for the next arrival. The objection to river-locks is
+their frequency in some parts. There is one stretch of thirty or
+forty kilometres on the Marne with thirty-three locks. That costs
+something, truly.
+
+We knew the Seine valley intimately, by road along both its banks, at
+any rate, and we were hopeful of reaching Triel that night, near the
+junction of the Seine and Oise.
+
+We passed our first lock at Courcelles, just before seven o'clock,
+and had a good stretch of straight water ahead of us before Vernon
+was reached.
+
+You cannot miss your way, of course, when travelling by river, but
+you can be at a considerable loss to know how far you have come since
+your last stopping-place, or rather you would be if the French
+government had not placed little white kilometre stones all along the
+banks of the "_navigable_" and "_flottable_" rivers, as they have
+along the great national roads on land. Blessed be the paternal
+French government; the traveller in _la belle France_ has much for
+which to be grateful to it: its excellent roadways, its sign-boards,
+and its kilometre stones most of all. The motor-boat is highly
+developed in France from the simple fact that you can tour on it. You
+can go all over France by a magnificent system of inland waterways;
+from the Seine to the Marne; from the Oise to the Sambre--and so to
+Antwerp and Ghent; from the Loire to the Rhône; and even from the
+Marne to the Rhine; and from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic.
+France is the touring-ground par excellence for the automobile boat.
+
+Here's a new project of travel for those who want to do what others
+have not done to any great extent. Africa and the Antartic continent
+have been explored, and the North Pole bids fair to be discovered by
+means of a flying-machine ere long, so, with no new worlds to
+conquer, one might do worse in the way of pleasurable travel than to
+explore the waterways of France.
+
+Maistre wrote his "Voyage Autour de Ma Chambre" and Karr his "Voyage
+Autour de Mon Jardin," hence any one who really wants to do something
+similar might well make the tour of the Ile de France by water. It
+can be done, and would be a revelation of novelty, if one would do it
+and write it down.
+
+For the moment we were bound up the Oise; we had passed Vernon and
+Giverny, sitting snug on the hillside by the mouth of the Ept, where
+we knew there were countless Americans, artists _and others_, sitting
+in Gaston's garden or playing tennis on a sunburnt field beside the
+road. Foolish business that, with a river like the Seine so near at
+hand, and because it was the custom at Giverny, a custom grown to be
+a habit, which is worse, we liked not the place, in spite of its
+other undeniable charms.
+
+We put in for lunch at La Roche-Guyon, a trim little town lying close
+beneath the Renaissance château of the La Rochefoucauld's. There are
+two waterside hotels at La Roche-Guyon, beside the ugly wire-rope
+bridge, but we knew them of old, and knew they were likely to be full
+of an unspeakable class of Parisian merrymakers. There may be others
+who patronize these delightfully situated riverside inns, but the
+former predominate in the season. Out of season it may be quite
+different.
+
+We hunted out a little café in the town, whose _patron_ we knew, and
+prevailed upon his good wife to give us our lunch _en famille_, which
+she did and did well.
+
+It was _très bourgeois_, but that was what we wanted, and, after a
+couple of hours eating and lolling about and playing with the cats
+and talking to the parrot,--a Martinique parrot who knew some
+English,--we took to the river again, and, after passing the locks at
+Bonnières, arrived at Mantes at five o'clock.
+
+The nights draw in quickly, even in the early days of September, and
+we were bound to push on, if we were to reach Triel that night. We
+could have reached it, but were delayed at a lock, while it emptied
+itself and half a score of downriver barges, and, spying a gem of a
+riverside restaurant at Meulan, overhanging the very water itself,
+and hung with great golden orange globes of light (so-called Japanese
+lanterns, and nothing more), we were sentimentally enough inclined to
+want to dine with such Claude Melnotte accessories. This we did, and
+hunted up lodgings in the town for the night, vowing to get an extra
+early start in the morning to make up for lost time.
+
+The Seine at Meulan takes on a certain luxuryous aspect so far as
+river-boating goes. There is even a "Cercle à la Voile," with yachts
+which, in the narrow confines of the river, look like the real thing,
+but which after all are very diminutive members of the family.
+
+From this point the course of the Seine is a complicated winding
+among _iles_ and _ilots_, which gives it that elongation which makes
+necessary hours of journeying by boat as against a quarter of the
+time by the road--as the crow flies--to the lower fortifications of
+Paris.
+
+On either side, however, are _chemins vicinales_, which continually
+produce unthought-of vistas which automobilists who are making a
+record from Trouville to Paris know nothing of.
+
+Triel possesses an imposing thirteenth-century Gothic church and an
+abominably ugly suspension-bridge of wire rope. It is a good place to
+buy a boat or a cargo of gypsum, which we know as "plaster of Paris;"
+otherwise the town is not remarkable, though charmingly situated.
+
+The Oise is the first really great commercial tributary of the Seine.
+There is a mighty flow of commerce which ascends and descends the
+bosom of the Oise, extending even to the Low Countries and the German
+Ocean, through the Sambre to Antwerp and the Scheldt.
+
+The Oise is classed as _flottable_ from Beautor to Chauny, a distance
+of twenty kilometres, and _navigable_ from Chauny to the Seine.
+Mostly it runs through the great plain of Picardie and forms the
+natural northern boundary to the ancient Ile de France. The
+_navigable_ portion forms two sections. One, of fifty-five
+kilometres, extends between Chauny and Janville, and has been
+generally abandoned by water-craft because of the opening of the
+Canal Lateral à la Oise; the other section, of one hundred and four
+kilometres, is canalized in that it has been straightened here and
+there at sharp corners, dredged and endowed with seven locks.
+
+The barge traffic of the Oise is mostly towed in convoys of six, but
+there is a _chemin de halage_, a tow-path, throughout the river's
+length. In general, the boats are of moderate size, the _péniches_
+being perhaps a hundred and twenty feet in length, the _bateaux
+picards_ somewhat longer, and the _chalands_ approximating one
+hundred and sixty to one hundred and seventy-five feet.
+
+While, as stated above, the traction is generally by steam towboat,
+the more picturesque, if slower and more humble, tow-horse is more
+largely in evidence here than elsewhere in France.
+
+The environs of Conflans-fin-d'Oise are of a marvellous charm, but
+the immediate surroundings, great garages of coal boats and barges,
+coal-yards where towboats are filling up, and all the grime of an
+enormous water-borne traffic which here divides, part to go Parisward
+and part down-river, make it unlovely enough.
+
+Three kilometres up-river is a little riverside inn called the
+"Goujon de l'Oise." It is a pleasant place to lunch, but otherwise
+"fishy," as might be supposed.
+
+Back toward Meulan and on the heights above Triel are nestled a
+half-dozen picturesque little red-roofed villages which are not known
+at all to travellers from Paris by road or rail. It is curious how
+many sylvan spots one can find almost within plain sight of Paris.
+There are wheat-fields within sight of Montmartre and haystacks
+almost under the shadow of Mont Valerian.
+
+At Evequemont, just back of Conflans, some eight hundred souls eke
+out an existence on their small farms and live the lives of their
+grandfathers before them, with never so much as a thought as to what
+may be happening at the capital twenty kilometres away.
+
+Boisemont is another tiny village, with an eighteenth-century château
+which would form an idyllic retreat from the cares of city ways.
+Courdimanche, a few miles farther on, is unknown and unspoiled. It
+crowns a hilltop, with its diminutive and unusual red-roofed church
+overtopping all and visible from the river, or from the rolling
+country round about, for many miles. Here the Oise makes a long
+parallelogram-like turn from Maurecourt around to Eragny, perhaps two
+miles in a bee-line, but seemingly twenty by the river's course.
+
+The land automobile has a distinct advantage here in speed over the
+_canot_, but one's point of view is not so lovely. It is only twelve
+kilometres to Pontoise, where one passes the _barrage_ just below the
+town and saunters on shore for a spell, just to get acquainted with
+the place that Parisians know so well by name, and yet so little in
+reality.
+
+Pontoise is the metropolis of the Oise, though it, too, is a
+veritable French country town, such as one would hardly expect to
+find within twenty kilometres of Paris. The islands of the river are
+dotted with trees and _petit maisons de campagne_, and the right bank
+is bordered with great chalky cliffs, as is the Seine in Normandy.
+
+The general appearance of Pontoise is most pleasing. At first glance
+it looks like a mediæval Gothic city, and again even Oriental. At any
+rate, it is an exceedingly unworldly sort of a place, with here and
+there remains of its bold ramparts and its zigzag and tortuous
+streets, but with no very great grandeur anywhere to be remarked,
+except in the Eglise St. Maclou.
+
+The history of Pontoise is long and lurid, beginning with the times
+of the Gauls when it was known as _Briva Isaroe_. It is a long time
+since the ramparts protected the old Château of the Counts of
+Vexin--literally the land dedicated to Vulcan _(pagus Vulcanis)_
+--where many French kings often resided. Many religious
+establishments flourished here, too, all more or less under royal
+patronage, including the Abbeys of St. Mellon and St. Martin, and the
+Couvent des Cordeliers, in whose splendid refectory the exiled
+Parlement held its sessions in 1652, 1720, and 1753. Out of this
+circumstance grew the proverb or popular saying, "_Avoir l'air de
+revenir de Pontoise._" The domain of Pontoise belonged in turn to
+many seigneurs, but up to the Revolution it was still practically
+_une ville monastique_.
+
+As one comes to the lower streets of the town, near the station, and
+between it and the river, the resemblance to a little corner of the
+Pays Bas is remarkable, and therein lies its picturesqueness, if not
+grandeur. Artists would love the narrow Rue des Attanets, with its
+curious flanking houses of wood and stone, and the Rue de Rouen,
+which partakes of much the same characteristics. Along the river are
+great flour-mills, with wash-houses and red-armed, blue-bloused women
+eternally washing and rinsing. All this would furnish studies
+innumerable to those who are able to fabricate mouldy walls and
+tumble-down picturesqueness out of little tubes of colour and gray
+canvas. Here, too, at Pontoise, in its little port, none too cleanly
+because of the refuse and grime of ashes and coal soot, one sees the
+first of the heavy _chalands_ loaded with iron ore from the Ardennes,
+or coal from Belgium, making their way to the wharves of Paris via
+the Canal St. Denis.
+
+More distant, and more pleasing to many, is that variety of landscape
+made famous, and even popular, by Dupré and Daubigny. So, on the
+whole, Pontoise, and the country round about, should properly be
+classed among the things to which few have ever given more than a
+passing glance, but which have a vast reserve fund of attractions
+hidden behind them, needing only to be sought out to be admired.
+
+St. Ouen l'Aumône, a tiny little town of a couple of thousand souls,
+opposite Pontoise, has two remarkable attractions which even a bird
+of passage might well take the time to view. One is the very
+celebrated Abbaye de Maubisson, indeed it might be called notorious,
+if one believed the chronicles relating to the proceedings which took
+place there under Angelique d'Estrees, sister of the none too saintly
+Gabrielle.
+
+It was founded in 1236 by Blanche of Castile, for the former
+_religieuses_ of Citeaux, and was justly celebrated in the middle
+ages for the luxuriousness of its appointments and the excellence of
+its design.
+
+The other feature of St. Ouen l'Aumône, which got its name, by the
+way, from a former Archbishop of Rouen, is a remarkable example of
+one of those great walled farmyards in which the north of France,
+Normandy in particular, formerly abounded. It is all attached to what
+was known as the Parc de Maubisson, which itself is closed by a high,
+ancient wall with two turrets at the corners. This wall is supposed
+to date from the fourteenth century, and within are the remains of a
+vast storehouse or _grange_ of the same century. The only building at
+all approaching this great storehouse is the Halle au Blé at Rouen,
+which it greatly resembles as to size. It is now in the hands of a
+grain merchant who must deal on a large scale, as he claims to have
+one hundred thousand _gerbes_ (sheaves) in storage at one time. The
+interior is divided into three naves by two files of monocylindrical
+columns, though the eastern aisle has practically been demolished.
+
+At Auvers, just above Pontoise, which is bound to Méry by an ugly
+iron bridge across the Oise, is a fine church of the best of twelfth
+and thirteenth century Gothic, with a series of Romanesque windows in
+the apse. Here, too, the country immediately environing Auvers and
+Méry is of the order made familiar by Daubigny and his school. French
+farmyards, stubble-thatched cottages, and all the rusticity which is
+so charming in nature draws continually group after group of artists
+from Paris to this particular spot at all seasons of the year. The
+homely side of country life has ever had a charm for city dwellers.
+Auvers is somewhat doubtfully stated as being the birthplace of
+François Villon--that prince of vagabonds. Usually Paris has been
+given this distinction.
+
+[Illustration: Vernon]
+
+Mêry is an elevated little place of something less than fifteen
+hundred souls. It has a church of the thirteenth, sixteenth, and
+eighteenth centuries, and a château which was constructed at the end
+of the fourteenth century by the Seigneur de Méry, Pierre d'Orgemont,
+grand chancellor of France. The domain was created a _marquisat_ in
+1665. The famous banker, Samuel Bernard, it seems, became the
+occupant, of the château in the reign of Louis XIV., and there
+received king and court.
+
+On a certain occasion, as the season had advanced toward the chill of
+winter, the opulent seigneur made great fires of acacia wood. The
+king, who was present, said courteously to his host: "Know you well,
+Samuel, it is not possible for me to do this in my palace;" from
+which we may infer that it was a luxury which even kings appreciated.
+
+There were no river obstructions to the free passage of our little
+craft between Pontoise and L'Isle-Adam, above Auvers. We were going
+by easy stages now, even the long tows of grain and coal-laden barges
+were gaining on us, for we were straggling disgracefully and stopping
+at almost every kilometre stone.
+
+We tied up at Auvers, "Daubigny's Country," as we called it, and
+stayed for the night at the Hostellerie du Nord, a not very splendid
+establishment, but one with a character all its own. Auvers, and its
+neighbour Méry, together form one of the most delightful settlements
+in which to pass a summer, near to Paris, that could be possibly
+imagined, but with this proviso, that on Sunday one could take a day
+in town, for then _tout le monde_, the proprietor of the Hostellerie
+du Nord tells you, comes out to breathe the artistic atmosphere of
+Daubigny. How much they really care for Daubigny or his artistic
+atmosphere is a question.
+
+At such times the tiny garden and the dining-room of the Hostellerie
+attempt to expand themselves to accommodate a hundred and fifty
+guests, whereas their capacity is perhaps forty. Something very akin
+to pandemonium takes place; it is amusing, no doubt, but it is not
+comfortable. Nothing ever goes particularly awry here, however; M.
+T--, the _patron_, is too good a manager for that, and a popular one,
+too, to judge from his _Salon d'Exposition_, which is hung about with
+a couple of hundred pictures presented by his admiring painter guests
+from time to time. The viands are bountiful and splendidly garnished
+and the _consommations au premier choix_. Then there are the
+occupants of "_les petits ménages_" to swoop down on your table for
+crumbs,--pigeons only,--and in cages a score or more of canary-birds,
+and, as a sort of contrast, dogs and cats and fowls of all varieties
+of breed.
+
+It sounds rather uncomfortable, but we did not find it so at all,
+and, speaking from experience, it is one of the most enticing of the
+various "artists' resorts" known.
+
+[Illustration: At a French Inn]
+
+It is but a short six kilometres to L'Isle-Adam, and it was ten the
+next morning before we embarked. It is a small town mostly given over
+to suburban houses of Paris brokers and merchants. It is an
+attractive enough town as a place of residence, but of works of
+artistic worth it has practically none, if we except the not very
+splendid fifteenth-century church.
+
+The largest of the islands here, just above the lock, was formerly
+occupied by the château of the Prince de Conti. It was destroyed at
+the Revolution but its place has been taken by a modern villa whose
+gardens are kept up with remarkable skill and care, albeit it is
+nothing but a villa _coquette_ on a large scale. L'Isle-Adam received
+its name from the Connetable Adam who first built a château here in
+1069.
+
+The Forêt de l'Isle-Adam is one of those noble woods in which the
+north of France abounds. Like the Forêt de Ermenonville, Compiègne,
+and Chantilly it is beautifully kept, with great roads running
+straight and silent through avenues of oaks.
+
+The Château de Cassan, but a short distance into the Forêt, has a
+wonderful formal garden, laid out after the English manner and
+ranking with the parks of the Trianon and Ermenonville.
+
+After L'Isle-Adam we did not stop, except for the lock at Rougemont,
+till the smoke-stacks and factory-belchings of Creil loomed up before
+us thirty kilometres beyond.
+
+Creil is commercial, very commercial, and is a railway junction like
+Clapham Junction or South Chicago,--no, not quite; nowhere else, on
+top of the green earth, are there quite such atrocious monuments to
+man's lack of artistic taste. It is a pity Creil is so banal on close
+acquaintance, for it is bejewelled with emerald hills and a tiny belt
+of silvery water which, in the savage days of long ago, must have
+given it preeminence among similar spots in the neighbourhood.
+
+Just above is Pont St. Maxence, delightfully named and delightfully
+placed, with a picture church of the best of Renaissance architecture
+and an atmosphere which made one want to linger within the confines
+of the town long after his allotted time. We stayed nearly half a
+day; we ate lunch in a little restaurant in the shadow of the bridge;
+we bought and sent off picture postcards, and we took snap-shots and
+strolled about and gazed at the little gem of a place until all the
+gamins in town were following in our wake.
+
+Compiègne was next in our itinerary. We knew Compiègne, from the
+shore, as one might say, having passed and repassed it many times,
+and we knew all its charms and attractions, or thought we did, but we
+were not prepared for the effect of the rays of the setting sun on
+the quaintly serrated sky-line of the roof-tops of the city, as we
+saw it from the river.
+
+It was bloody red, and the willows along the river's bank were a dim
+purply mélange of all the refuse of an artist's palette. Compiègne
+has many sides, but its picturesque sunset side is the most
+theatrical grouping of houses and landscape we had seen for many a
+long day.
+
+Here at Compiègne the vigour of the Oise ends. Above it is a weakly,
+purling stream, the greater part of the traffic going by the Canal
+Lateral, while below it broadens out into a workable, industrial sort
+of a waterway which is doing its best to contribute its share to the
+prosperity of France.
+
+We learn here, as elsewhere, where it has been attempted, that the
+hand of man cannot irretrievably make or reclaim the course of a
+river. Deprived of its natural bed and windings, it will always form
+new ones of its own making in conformity to the law of nature. The
+attempt was made to straighten the course of the Oise, but in a very
+short time the latent energies of the stream, more forceful than were
+supposed, made fresh windings and turnings, the ultimate development
+of which was found to very nearly approximate those which had
+previously been done away with, and so the Canal Lateral, which
+commences at Compiègne, was built.
+
+Compiègne's attractions are many, its generally well-kept and
+prosperous air, its most excellent hôtels (two of them, though we
+bestowed our august patronage on the Hôtel de France), its château of
+royal days of Louis XV., and its Hôtel de Ville.
+
+Stevenson, in his "Inland Voyage," has said that what charmed him
+most at Compiègne was the Hôtel de Ville. Truly this will be so with
+any who have a soul above electric trams and the _art nouveau_; it is
+the most dainty and lovable of Renaissance Hôtels de Ville anywhere
+to be seen, with pignons, and gables, and niches with figures in them
+jutting out all over it.
+
+Then there is the novel and energetic little _jaquemart_, the little
+bronze figures of which strike the hours and even the halves and
+quarters. There is not a detail of this charming building, inside or
+out, which will not be admired by all. It is far and away more
+interesting in its appeal than the château itself.
+
+Our next day's journey was to Noyon. We were travelling by boat, to
+be sure, but a good part of the personnel of the hôtel, including the
+hostler, and the bus-driver, whose business was at the station, came
+down to see us off. Like a bird in a cage he gazed at us with longing
+eyes, and once let fall the remark that he wished he had nothing else
+to do but sit in the bow of a boat and "twiddle a few things" to make
+it go faster. He overlooked entirely the things that might happen,
+such as having to pull your boat up on shore and pull out the weeds
+and rubbish which were stopping your intake pipe, or climb overboard
+yourself and disentangle water-plants from your propeller, if indeed
+it had not lost a blade and you were forced to be ignominiously towed
+into the next large town.
+
+It looks all very delightful travelling about in a dainty and facile
+little _canot-automobile_, and for our part we were immensely pleased
+with this, our first, experience of so long a voyage. Nothing had
+happened to disturb the tranquillity of our journey, not a single
+mishap had delayed us, and we had not a quarrel with a bargeman or an
+_éclusier_, we had been told we should have. We were in luck, and
+though we only averaged from fifty to sixty kilometres a day, we were
+all day doing it, and it seemed two hundred.
+
+We lunched at Ribecourt and struck the most ponderously named hotel
+we had seen in all our travels, and it was good in spite of its
+weight. "Le Courrier des Pays et des Trois Jambons," or something
+very like it, was its name, and its _patronne_ was glad to see us,
+and killed a fowl especially on our account, culled some fresh
+lettuce in the garden, and made a dream of a rum omelette, which she
+said was the national dish of America. It isn't, as most of us know,
+but it was a mighty good omelette, nevertheless, and the rum was
+sufficiently fiery to give it a zest.
+
+We spent that night at Noyon of blessed memory. Noyon is not down in
+the itineraries of many guide-book tourists, which is a pity for
+them. It is altogether the most unspoiled old-world town between the
+Ile de France and the Channel ports of Boulogne and Calais through
+which so many Anglo-Saxon travellers enter. It is off the beaten
+track, though, and that accounts for it. Blessed be the tourist
+agencies which know nothing beyond their regular routes, and thus
+leave some forgotten and neglected tourist-points yet to be
+developed.
+
+The majesty of Noyon's cathedral of Notre Dame is unequalled in all
+the world. The grim towers rise boldly without ornament or decoration
+of any kind, and are cowled by a peculiarly strange roofing. The
+triple porch is denuded of its decorative statues, and there is a
+rank Renaissance excrescence in the rear which is unseemly, but for
+all that, as a mediæval religious monument of rank, it appeals to all
+quite as forcibly as the brilliantly florid cathedral at Beauvais, or
+the richly proud Amiens, its nearest neighbours of episcopal rank.
+
+We did not sit in front of the Hôtel du Nord at Noyon, as did
+Stevenson, and hear the "sweet groaning of the organ" from the
+cathedral doorway, but we experienced all the emotions of which he
+wrote in his "Inland Voyage," and we were glad we came.
+
+The Hôtel de France and the Hôtel du Nord share the custom of the
+ever-shifting traffic of _voyageurs_ at Noyon. The latter is the
+"automobile" hotel, and accordingly possesses many little accessories
+which the other establishment lacks. Otherwise they are of about the
+same value, and in either you will, unless you are a very heavy
+sleeper, think that the cathedral-bells were made to wake the dead,
+so reverberant are their tones and so frequent their ringing.
+
+It was Stevenson's wish that, if he ever embraced Catholicism, he
+should be made Bishop of Noyon. Whether it was the simple magnitude
+of its quaint, straight-lined cathedral, or the generally charming
+and _riant_ aspect of the town, one does not know, but the sentiment
+was worthy of both the man and the place.
+
+"Les affaires sont les affaires," as the French say, and business
+called us to Paris; so, after a happy ten days on the Seine and Oise,
+we cut our voyage short with the avowed intention of some day
+continuing it.
+
+
+Chapter VI
+The Road To The North
+
+[Illustration: The Road North]
+
+We left Paris by the ghastly route leading out through the plain of
+Gennevilliers, where Paris empties her sewage and grows asparagus,
+passing St. Denis and its royal catacombs of the ancient abbey, and
+so on to Pontoise, all over as vile a stretch of road as one will
+find in the north of France, always excepting the suburbs of St.
+Germain.
+
+Pontoise is all very well in its way, and is by no means a dull,
+uninteresting town, but we had no thoughts for it at the moment;
+indeed, we had no thoughts of anything but to put the horrible
+suburban Paris _pavé_ as far behind us as we could before we settled
+down to enjoyment.
+
+At Pontoise we suddenly discovered that we were on the wrong road. So
+much for not knowing our way out of town--twenty-five kilometres of
+axle-breaking cobblestones!
+
+We had some consolation in knowing that it was equally as bad by any
+northern road out of Paris, so we only had the trouble of making a
+twenty-kilometre detour through the valley of the Oise, by our old
+haunts of Auvers and L'Isle-Adam to Chantilly and Senlis.
+
+We got our clue to the itinerary of the road to the north from a view
+of an old poster issued by the "_Messageries Royales_" just previous
+to the Revolution (a copy of which is given elsewhere in this book).
+
+Many were the times we, and all well-habituated travellers in France,
+had swung from Calais to Paris by train, with little thought indeed
+as to what lay between. True, we had, more than once, "stopped off"
+at Amiens and Abbeville to see their magnificent churches, and we had
+spent a long summer at Etaples and Montreuil-sur-Mer, two "artists'
+haunts" but little known to the general traveller; but we never
+really knew the lay of the land north of Paris, except as we had got
+it from the reading of Dumas, Stevenson's "Inland Voyage," and the
+sentimental journeyings of the always delightful Sterne.
+
+We made Chantilly our stop for lunch, _en route_ to Senlis. We ought
+not to have done this, for what with the loafing horse-jockeys in the
+cafés, and the trainers and "cheap sports" hanging about the hotels,
+Chantilly does not impress one as the historical shrine that it
+really is.
+
+Chantilly is sporty, _très sportive_, as the French call it, as is
+inevitable of France's most popular race-track, and there is an odour
+of America, Ireland, and England over all. How many jockeys of these
+nationalities one really finds at Chantilly the writer does not know,
+but, judging from the alacrity with which the hotels serve you ham
+and eggs and the café waiters respond to a demand for whiskey
+(Scotch, Irish, or American), it may be assumed that the alien
+population is very large.
+
+We had our lunch at the Hôtel du Grand Condé, which is marked with
+three stars in the automobile route-books. This means that it is
+expensive,--and so we found it. It was a good enough hotel of its
+kind, but there was nothing of local colour about it. It might have
+been at Paris, Biarritz, or Monte Carlo.
+
+The great attractions of Chantilly are the château and park and the
+collections of the Duc d'Aumale, famed alike in the annals of history
+and art. We were properly appreciative, and only barely escaped being
+carried off by our guide to see the stables--as if we had not
+suffered enough from the horse craze ever since we had struck the
+town.
+
+The most we would do was to admire the park and the ramifications of
+its paths and alleys which dwindled imperceptibly into the great
+Forêt de Chantilly itself. The forest is one of those vast tracts of
+wildwood which are so plentifully besprinkled all over France. Their
+equals are not known elsewhere, for they are crossed and recrossed in
+all directions by well-kept carriage roads where automobilists will
+be troubled neither by dust nor glaring sunlight. They are the very
+ideals of roads, the forest roads of France, and their length is many
+thousands of kilometres.
+
+Senlis is but eight kilometres from Chantilly. We had no reason for
+going there at all, except to have a look at its little-known, but
+very beautiful, cathedral, and to get on the real road to the north.
+
+We spent the night at Senlis, for we had become fatigued with the
+horrible _pavé_ of the early morning, the sightseeing of the tourist
+order which we had done at Chantilly, and the eternal dodging of
+race-horses being exercised all through the streets of the town and
+the roads of the forest.
+
+"_Monsieur descend-il à l'Hôtel du Grand Monarque?_" asked a butcher's
+boy of us, as we stopped the automobile beneath the cathedral tower
+to get our bearings. He was probably looking for a little commission
+on our hotel-bill for showing us the way; but, after all, this is a
+legitimate enough proposition. We told him frankly no; that we were
+looking for the Hôtel des Arènes; but that he knew nothing of.
+Another, more enterprising, did, and we drove our automobile into the
+court of a tiny little commercial-looking hotel, and were soon
+strolling about the town free from further care for the day. The
+hotel was ordinary enough, neither good nor bad, _comme 'ci, comme
+ça_, the French would call it,--but they made no objection to getting
+up at six o'clock the next morning and making us fresh coffee which
+was a dream of excellence. This is a good deal in its favour, for the
+coffee of the ordinary French country hotel--in the north, in
+particular--is fearfully and wonderfully made, principally of
+chicory.
+
+Sentiment would be served, and from Senlis we struck across forty
+kilometres to what may be called the Dumas Country, Crépy-en-Valois
+and Villers-Cotterets. Here was a little-trodden haunt which all
+lovers of romance and history would naturally fall in love with.
+
+Crépy is a snug, conservative little town where life goes on in much
+the same way that it did in the days when Alexandre Dumas was a clerk
+here in a notary's office, before he descended upon the Parisian
+world of letters. His "Mémoires" tell the story of his early
+experiences here in his beloved Valois country. It is a charming
+biographical work, Dumas's "Mémoires," and it is a pity it is not
+better known to English readers. Dumas tells of his journey by road,
+from the town of his birth, Villers-Cotterets, to Crépy, with his
+world's belongings done up in a handkerchief on a stick, "in bulk not
+more grand than the luggage of a Savoyard when he leaves his native
+mountain home."
+
+Crépy has a delightfully named and equally excellent hotel in the
+"Trois Pigeons," and one may eat of real country fare and be happy
+and forget all about the ham and eggs and bad whiskey of Chantilly in
+the contemplation of omelettes and chickens and fresh, green salads,
+such as only the country innkeeper in France knows how to serve.
+Crépy has a château, too, a relic of the days when the town was the
+capital of a _petit gouvernement_ belonging to a younger branch of
+the royal family of France in the fourteenth century. The château is
+not quite one's ideal of what a great mediæval château should be, but
+it is sufficiently imposing to give a distinction to the landscape
+and is in every way a very representative example of the construction
+of the time.
+
+The great _Route Nationale_ to the north runs through Crépy to-day,
+as did the _Route Royale_ of the days of the Valois. It is eighteen
+kilometres from Crépy to Villers-Cotterets, Dumas's birthplace. The
+great romancer describes it with much charm and correctness in the
+early pages of "The Taking of the Bastile." He calls it "a little
+city buried in the shade of a vast park planted by François I. and
+Henri II." It is a place ever associated with romance and history,
+and, to add further to its reputation, it is but a few kilometres
+away from La Ferte-Milon, where Racine was born, and only eight
+leagues from Château-Thierry, the birthplace of La Fontaine.
+
+We had made up our minds to breathe as much of the spirit and
+atmosphere of Villers-Cotterets as was possible in a short time, and
+accordingly we settled down for the night at the Hôtel Alexandre
+Dumas. The name of the hotel is unusual. There may be others similar,
+but the writer does not recall them at this moment. It was not bad,
+and, though entitled to be called a grand establishment, it was not
+given to pomposity or pretence, and we parted with regret, for we had
+been treated most genially by the proprietor and his wife, and served
+by a charming young maid, who, we learned, was the daughter of the
+house. It was all in the family, and because of that everything was
+excellently done.
+
+There are fragments of a royal château here, begun by François I. in
+one of his building manias. His salamanders and the three crescents
+of Diane de Poitiers still decorate its walls, and accordingly it is
+a historical shrine of the first rank, though descended in these
+later days to use as a poorhouse.
+
+The château and forest of Villers-Cotterets were settled upon
+Monsieur le Grand by Louis XIV., after they had sheltered many
+previous royal loves, but in the days of the later monarchy, that of
+Philippe Egalité, the place was used merely as a hunting rendezvous.
+
+The Dumas birthplace is an ordinary enough and dismal-looking
+building from the street. As usual in France, there is another
+structure in the rear, the real birthplace, no doubt, but one gets
+only a glimpse through the open door or gate. Carrier-Belleus's fine
+statue of Dumas, erected here in 1885, is all that a monument of its
+class should be, and is the pride of the local inhabitant, who, when
+passing, never tires of stopping and gazing at its outlines. This may
+be a little exaggeration, but there is a remarkable amount of
+veneration bestowed upon it by all dwellers in the town.
+
+We went from Villers-Cotterets direct to Soissons, the home of the
+beans of that name. We do not know these medium-sized flat beans as
+_soissons_ in America and England; to us they are merely beans; but
+to _soissons_ they are known all over France, and in the mind and
+taste of the epicure there is no other bean just like them. This may
+be so or not, but there is no possible doubt whatever but that
+"_soissons au beurre_" is a ravishing dish which one meets with too
+infrequently, even in France, and this in spite of the millions of
+kilos of them which reach the markets through the gateway of the town
+of Soissons.
+
+Soissons undoubtedly has a good hotel. How could it be otherwise in
+such a food-producing centre? We were directed, however, by a
+_commis-voyageur_ whom we had met at Villers-Cotterets, not to think
+of a hotel at Soissons, if we were only to stop for lunch, but to go
+to the railway restaurant. Of all things this would be the most
+strange for an automobilist, but we took his advice, for he said he
+knew what he was talking about.
+
+The "Buffet" at the railway station at Soissons is not the only
+example of a good railway eating-house in France, but truly it is one
+of the best. It is a marvellously conducted establishment, and you
+eat your meals in a beautifully designed, well-kept apartment, with
+the viands of the country of the best and of great variety. _Soissons
+au beurre_ was the _pièce de résistance_, and there was _poulet au
+casserole_, an _omelette au rhum_, a crisp, cold lettuce salad, and
+fruits and "biscuits" galore to top off, with wine and bread _à
+discrétion_ and good coffee and cognac for ten sous additional, the
+whole totalling three francs fifty centimes. We were probably the
+first automobilists on tour who had taken lunch at the railway
+restaurant at Soissons. Perhaps we may not be the last.
+
+It was but a short detour of a dozen or fifteen kilometres to visit
+the romantic Château de Coucy, one of the few relics of mediævalism
+which still look warlike. It is more or less of a ruin, but it has
+been restored in part, and, taken all in all, is the most formidable
+thing of its kind in existence. It rises above the old walled town of
+Coucy-le-Château in quite the fashion that one expects, and, from the
+platform of the donjon, there spreads out a wonderful view over two
+deep and smiling valleys which, as much as the thickness of the
+château walls, effectually protected the occupants from a surprise
+attack.
+
+The thirteenth century saw the birth of this, perhaps the finest
+example still remaining of France's feudal châteaux, and, barring the
+effects of an earthquake in 1692, and an attempt by Richelieu to blow
+it up, the symmetrical outlines of its walls and roofs are much as
+they always were.
+
+Its founder was Enguerrand III. de Coucy, who took for his motto
+these boastful words--which, however, he and his descendants
+justified whenever occasion offered:
+
+  _"Roi je ne suis,
+  Prince, ni Comte aussi,
+  Je suis le Sire de Coucy."_
+
+We left Coucy rejoicing, happy and content, expecting to reach Laon
+that night. We had double-starred Laon in our itinerary, because it
+was one of those neglected tourist-points that we always made a point
+of visiting when in the neighbourhood.
+
+Laon possesses one of the most remarkable cathedrals of Northern
+France, but its hotels are bad. We tried two and regretted we ever
+came, except for the opportunity of marvelling at the commanding site
+of the town and its cathedral. The long zigzag road winding up the
+hill offers little inducement to one to run his automobile up to the
+plateau upon which sits the town proper. It were wiser not to attempt
+to negotiate it if there were any way to avoid it. We solved the
+problem by putting up at a little hotel opposite the railway station
+(its name is a blank, being utterly forgotten) where the
+_commis-voyageur_ goes when he wants a meal while waiting for the
+next train. He seems to like it, and you do certainly get a good
+dinner, but, not being _commis-voyageurs_, merely automobilists, we
+were charged three prices for everything, and accordingly every one
+is advised to risk the dangerous and precipitous road to the upper
+town rather than be blackmailed in this way.
+
+Laon's cathedral, had it ever been carried out according to the
+original plans, would have been the most stupendously imposing
+ecclesiastical monument in Northern France. Possibly the task was too
+great for accomplishment, for its stones and timbers were laboriously
+carried up the same zigzag that one sees to-day, and it never grew
+beyond its present half-finished condition. The year 1200 probably
+saw its commencement, and it is as thoroughly representative of the
+transition from Romanesque to Gothic as any other existing example of
+church building.
+
+On the great massive towers of Laon's cathedral is to be seen a most
+curious and unchurchly symbolism in the shape of great stone effigies
+of oxen, pointing north, east, south, and west. There is no religious
+significance, we are told, but they are a tribute to the faithful
+services of the oxen who drew the heavy loads of building material
+from the plain to the hilltop.
+
+We had taken a roundabout road to the north, via Laon, merely to see
+the oxen of the cathedral and to get swindled for our lunch at that
+unspeakable little hotel. The one was worth the time and trouble, the
+other was not. We left town the same night headed north, in the
+direction of Arras, via St. Quentin, anciently one of the famous
+walled towns of France, but now a queer, if picturesque,
+conglomeration of relics of a historical past and modern business
+affairs.
+
+It was Sunday, and well into the afternoon, when we got away from
+Laon, but the peasant, profiting by the fair harvest days, was
+working in the fields as if he never had or would have a holiday.
+Unquestionably the peasant and labouring class in France is
+hard-working at his daily task and at his play, for when he plays he
+also plays hard. This, the eternal activity of the peasant or
+labourer, whatever his trade, and the worked-over little
+farm-holdings, with their varied crops, all planted in little
+bedquilt patches, are the chief characteristics of the French
+countryside for the observant stranger.
+
+We crossed the Oise at La Fere, La Fere of wicked memory, as readers
+of Stevenson will recall. Nothing went very badly with us, but all
+the same the memory of Stevenson's misadventure at his hotel made us
+glad we were not stopping there.
+
+We passed now innumerable little towns and villages clinging to red,
+brown, and green hillsides, with here and there a thatched cottage of
+other days, for, in the _agglomérations_, as the French government
+knows the hamlets and towns, it is now forbidden to thatch or
+rethatch a roof; you must renew it with tiles or slates when the
+original thatch wears out.
+
+Soon after passing La Fere one sees three hilltop forts, for we are
+now in more or less strategic ground, and militarism is rampant.
+
+St. Quentin has been the very centre of a warlike maelstrom for ages,
+and the memory of blood and fire lies over all its history, though
+to-day, as we entered its encumbered, crooked streets, things looked
+far from warlike.
+
+We had our choice of the Hôtel du Cygne or the Hôtel du Commerce at
+St. Quentin, and chose the latter as being nearer the soil, whereas
+the former establishment is blessed with electric lights, a
+_calorifère_, and a "bar"--importing the word and the institution
+from England or America.
+
+We found nothing remarkable in the catering of the Hôtel du Commerce.
+It was good enough of its kind, but not distinctive, and we got beer
+served with our dinner, instead of wine or cider. If you want either
+of the latter you must pay extra. We were in the beer region, not the
+cider country or the wine belt. It was the custom, and was not being
+"sprung" on us because we were automobilists. This we were glad to
+know after our experience at Laon.
+
+St. Quentin possesses a famous Gothic church, known to all students
+of Continental architecture, and there is a monument of the siege of
+1557, which is counted another "sight," though strictly a modern
+work.
+
+At St. Quentin one remarks the Canal de St. Quentin, another of those
+inland waterways of France which are the marvel of the stranger and
+the profit of the inhabitant. This particular canal connects France
+with the extraterritorial commerce of the Pays Bas, and runs from the
+Somme to the Scheldt, burrowing through hillsides with tunnels, and
+bridging gaps and valleys with viaducts. One of these canal-tunnels,
+at Riqueval, has a length of nearly four miles.
+
+We worried our way out through the crooked streets of St. Quentin at
+an early hour the next morning, _en route_ for Arras, via Cambrai.
+Forty-two kilometres of "_ond. dure._," but otherwise excellent
+roadway, brought us to Cambrai. (For those who do not read readily
+the French route-book directions the above expression is translated
+as "rolling and difficult.")
+
+It matters little whether the roadways of France are marked rolling
+and serpentine, or hilly and winding, the surfaces are almost
+invariably excellent, and there is nothing met with which will annoy
+the modern automobile or its driver in the least, always excepting
+foolish people, dogs, and children. For the last we sometimes feel
+sorry and take extra precautions, but the others are too intolerant
+to command much sympathy.
+
+Cambrai was burned into our memories by the recollection that Fénélon
+was one-time bishop of the episcopal see, and because it was the city
+of the birth and manufacture of cambric, most of which, since its
+discovery, has gone into the making of bargain-store handkerchiefs.
+
+Cambrai possessed twelve churches previous to the Revolution, but
+only two remain at the present day, and they are unlovely enough to
+belong to Liverpool or Sioux City.
+
+We had some difficulty in finding a hotel at Cambrai. Our excellent
+"Guide-Michelin" had for the moment gone astray in the tool-box, and
+there was nothing else we could trust. We left the automobile at the
+shop of a _mécanicien_ for a trifling repair while we hunted up
+lunch. (Cost fifteen sous, with no charge for housing the machine.
+Happy, happy automobilists of France; how much you have to be
+thankful for!)
+
+The Mouton Blanc, opposite the railway station at Cambrai, gave us a
+very good lunch, in a strictly _bourgeois_ fashion, including the
+sticky, bitter _bière du Nord_. We paid two francs fifty centimes for
+our repast and went away with a good opinion of Cambrai, though its
+offerings for the tourist in the way of remarkable sights are few.
+
+Cambrai to Arras was a short thirty kilometres. We covered them in an
+hour and found Arras all that Cambrai was not, though both places are
+printed in the same size type in the railway timetables and
+guide-books.
+
+Arras has a combined Hôtel de Ville and belfry which puts the
+market-house and belfry of Bruges quite in the shade from an
+impressive architectural point of view. There is not the quiet,
+splendid severity of its more famous compeer at Bruges, but there is
+far more luxuriance in its architectural form, and, at any rate, it
+was a surprise and a pleasure to find that any such splendid monument
+were here.
+
+The Spanish invasion of other days has left its mark all through
+Flanders, and here at Arras the florid Renaissance architecture of
+the Hôtel de Ville and the vaults and roofs of the market-square are
+manifestly exotics from a land strange to French architectural ways.
+
+Arras, with its quaint old arcaded market-place, is a great
+distributing-point for cereals. A million of francs' worth in value
+changes hands here in a year, and the sale, in small lots, out in the
+open, is a survival of the _moyen âge_ when the abbés of a
+neighbouring monastery levied toll for the privilege of selling on
+the market-place. Today the toll-gatherer, he who collects the small
+fee from the stall-owners, is still known as the Abbé.
+
+Arras is quaint and interesting, and withal a lively, progressive
+town, where all manner of merchandizing is conducted along very
+businesslike lines. You can buy sewing-machines and agricultural
+machinery from America at Arras, and felt hats and orange marmalade
+(which the Frenchman calls, mysteriously, simply, "Dundee") from
+Britain.
+
+To Douai, from Cambrai, was another hour's run. Douai has a Hôtel de
+Ville and belfry, too, which were entirely unlooked for. Quaint,
+remarkable, and the pet and pride of the inhabitant, the bells of the
+belfry of Bible-making Douai ring out rag-time dances and Sousa
+marches. Such is the rage for up-to-dateness!
+
+There is a goodly bit to see at Douai in the way of ecclesiastical
+monuments, but the chief attraction, that which draws strangers to
+the place, is the July "Fête de Gayant," at which M. and Mme. Gayant
+(giant), made of wickerwork and dressed more or less _à la mode_, are
+promenaded up and down the streets to the tune of the "Air de
+Gayante." All this is in commemoration of an unsuccessful attempt to
+capture the city by Louis XI. in 1479. The fête has been going on
+yearly ever since, and shows no signs of dying out, as does the Guy
+Fawkes celebration in England.
+
+We were now going through France's "black country," the coal-fields
+of the north, and the gaunt scaffolds of the mine-pits dotted the
+landscape here and there, as they do in Pennsylvania or the Midlands
+of England. They did not especially disfigure the landscape, but gave
+a modern note of industry and prosperity which was as marked as that
+of the farmyards of the peasants and high-farmers of Normandy or La
+Beance. France is an exceedingly wealthy, and, what is more, a
+"self-contained" nation; and this fact should not be forgotten by the
+critics of what they like to call _effete Europe_.
+
+Bethune is in the heart of the coal country, and is not a
+particularly lovely town. It has a dream of an old-world hotel,
+though, and one may go a great deal farther and fare a great deal
+worse than at Bethune's Hôtel du Nord, a great rambling, stone
+Renaissance building, with heavy decorated window-frames, queer
+rambling staircases, and ponderous, beamed ceilings.
+
+[Illustration: Villiers-Cotterets]
+
+It sits on a little _Place_, opposite an isolated belfry, from whose
+upper window there twinkles, at night, a little star of light, like a
+mariner's beacon. What it is all supposed to represent no ones seems
+to know, but it is an institution which dies hard, and some one pays
+the expense of keeping it alight. A belfry is a very useful adjunct
+to a town. If the writer ever plans a modern city he will plant a
+belfry in the very centre, with four clock-faces on it, a sun-dial, a
+thermometer, and a peal of bells. You find all these things on the
+belfry of Bethune, and altogether it is the most picturesque,
+satisfying, and useful belfry the writer has ever seen.
+
+The food and lodging of the Hôtel du Nord at Bethune are as
+satisfactory as its location, and we were content indeed to remain
+the following day in the dull little town, because of a torrential
+downpour which kept us house-bound till four in the afternoon. If one
+really wants to step back into the dark ages, just let him linger
+thirty-six hours as we did at Bethune. More would probably drive him
+crazy with ennui, but this is just enough.
+
+The road to the north ended for us at Calais. How many know Calais as
+they really ought? To most travellers Calais is a mere guide-post on
+the route from England or France.
+
+Of less interest to-day, to the London tripper, than Boulogne and its
+debatable pleasures, Calais is a very cradle of history and romance.
+
+It was in October, 1775, that Sterne set out on his immortal
+"sentimental journey." He put up, as the tale goes, at Dessein's
+Hôtel at Calais (now pulled down), and gave it such a reputation
+among English-speaking people that its proprietor suddenly grew rich
+beyond his wildest hopes. So much for the publicity of literature,
+which, since Sterne's days, has boomed soap, cigars, and automobiles.
+
+Sterne's familiarity with France was born of experience. He had
+fallen ill in London while supervising the publication of some of his
+literary works and was ordered to the south of France by his
+physicians. He obtained a year's absence from his curacy, and
+borrowed twenty pounds from his friend Garrick (which history, or
+rumour, says he never repaid) and left for--of all places--Paris,
+where a plunge into the whirl of social dissipation nearly carried
+him off his feet.
+
+Sterne and Stevenson have written more charmingly of France and
+things French than any others in the English tongue, and if any one
+would like to make three little pilgrimages off the beaten track, by
+road or rail, by bicycle or automobile, let him follow the trail of
+Sterne in his "Sentimental Journey," or Stevenson in his "Inland
+Voyage" and his "Travels with a Donkey." They do not follow the
+"personally conducted" tourist routes, but they give a much better
+idea of France to one who wants to see things for himself.
+
+Charles Dibdin, too, "muddled away five months at Calais," to quote
+his own words. He arrived from England after a thirteen-hours'
+passage in a gale of wind, in which he composed his most famous
+sea-song, "Blow High, Blow Low." Travellers across the channel have
+been known to occupy thirteen hours on the passage since Dibdin's
+time, and seemingly, in the experience of the writer, there is not a
+time when the words of the song might not apply.
+
+We had come to Calais for the purpose of crossing the Channel for a
+little tour awheel amid the natural beauties and historic shrines of
+Merry England.
+
+It takes fifty-five minutes, according to the Railway-Steamship
+time-cards, to make the passage from Calais to Dover, but the writer
+has never been able to make one of these lightning passages.
+
+Automobiles are transported by the mail-boats only upon "special
+arrangements," information upon which point is given so vaguely that
+one suspects bribery and craft.
+
+We did not bite, but went over by the night cargo-boat, at least the
+automobile did, at a cost of a hundred francs. This is cheap or dear,
+according to the way you look at it. For the service rendered it is
+dear, for the accommodation to you it is, perhaps, cheap enough. At
+any rate, it is cheap enough when you want to get away _from_ England
+again, its grasping hotel-keepers, and its persecuting police.
+
+Why do so many English automobilists tour abroad, Mr. British
+Hotel-keeper and Mr. Police Sergeant? One wonders if you really
+suspect.
+
+
+Part III
+On Britain's Roads
+
+Chapter I
+The Bath Road
+
+[Illustration: The Bath Road]
+
+The Bath Road is in many ways the most famed main road out of London.
+Visions as varied as those of highwaymen on Hounslow Heath, boating
+at Maidenhead, the days of the "dandies" at Bath, and of John Cabot
+at Bristol flashed through our minds whenever we heard the Bath road
+mentioned, so we set out with a good-will on the hundred and eighteen
+mile journey to Bath.
+
+To-day the road's designation is the same as of yore, though Palmer's
+coaches, that in 1784 left London at eight in the morning and arrived
+at Bristol at eleven at night, have given way to automobiles which
+make the trip in three hours. You can be three hours or thirty, as
+you please. We figured it out for thirty-six and lunched, dined,
+slept, and breakfasted _en route_, and felt the better for it.
+
+The real popularity of the Bath road and its supremacy in coaching
+circles a century and a quarter ago--a legacy which has been handed
+down to automobilists of to-day--was due to the initiative of one
+John Palmer, a gentleman of property, who had opened a theatre at
+Bath, and was sorely annoyed at the delays he had to submit to in
+obtaining star actors from London to appear on particular nights.
+Palmer was a man with a grievance, but he was also a man with ability
+and purpose. He travelled about, and made notes and observations, and
+organized a scheme by which coaching might be brought into a complete
+system; he memorialized the government, was opposed by the
+post-office authorities, abused, sneered at, laughed at, but not
+beaten; finally he gained the ear of William Pitt, who saw that there
+was more in the proposed plan than a mere experiment. On the 8th of
+August, 1784, Palmer ran his first mail-coach from London to Bristol,
+and made the journey in fifteen hours. That was the turning-point.
+The old lumbering coaches, the abominable roads, the irresponsible
+drivers, the wretched delay, misery, and uncertainty rapidly gave
+place to lighter, stronger, and more commodious vehicles, better
+horses, more experienced drivers, careful guards, regular stages,
+marked by decent inns and comfortable hostelries, and improved roads.
+The post-office made a contract with the coaching speculator--a very
+safe contract indeed--by which he was to have two and one-half per
+cent of the money saved in the conveyance of letters. This would have
+yielded twenty thousand pounds a year; so the government broke its
+agreement, refused to vote the payment, and compromised with Mr.
+Palmer and its own conscience, after the fashion of politicians of
+all time, by a grant of fifty thousand pounds.
+
+[Illustration: On The Bath Road]
+
+The Bath road traverses a section of England that is hardly as varied
+as would be a longer route from north to south, but, on the whole, it
+is characteristically English throughout, and is as good an itinerary
+as any by which to make one's first acquaintance with English days
+and English ways.
+
+Via Hammersmith, Kew Bridge, Brentford, and Hounslow was our way out
+of town, and a more awful, brain-racking, and discouraging start it
+would have been impossible to make. London streets are ever difficult
+to thread with an automobile, and when the operation is undertaken on
+a misty, moisty morning with what the Londoner knows as _grease_
+thick under foot and wheel, the process is fraught with the
+possibility of adventure.
+
+Out through Piccadilly and Knightsbridge was bad enough, but, by the
+time Hammersmith Broadway, its trams and tram-lines and its butchers'
+and bakers' and milk carts, was reached and passed, it was as if one
+had been trying to claw off a lee shore in a gale, and driver and
+passengers alike felt exceeding limp and sticky. The Londoner who
+drives an automobile thinks nothing of it, and covers the intervening
+miles with a cool clear-headedness that is marvellous. We were new to
+automobiling in England, but we were fast becoming acclimated.
+
+On through Chiswick there were still the awful tram-lines, but the
+roadway improved and was wider and free from abrupt turns and twists.
+We congratulated ourselves that at last we had got clear of town, but
+we had reckoned beyond our better judgment, for we had forgotten that
+we had been told that Brentford was the most awful death-trap that
+the world has known for automobilists, cyclists, and indeed
+foot-passers as well. We should have kept a little of our nerve by
+us, for we needed it when we got shut in between a brewer's dray, an
+omnibus, and an electric tram-car in Brentford's sixteen-foot "main
+road." It was like an interminable canyon, gloomy, damp, and
+dangerous for all living things which passed its portals, this main
+street of Brentford. For some miles, apparently, this same congestion
+of traffic continued, a tram-car ahead and behind you, drays, trucks,
+and carts all around you, and fool butchers' cart and milk cart
+drivers turning unexpected corners to the likely death of you and
+themselves. Here is an automobile reform which might well attract the
+attention of the authorities in England. The automobile has as much
+right to be a road user as any other form of traffic, and, if the
+automobile is to be regulated as to its speed and progress, it is
+about time that the same regulations were applied also to other
+classes of traffic.
+
+We finally got out of Brentford and came to Low, where suburban
+improvement has gone to widen the roadway and put the two lines of
+tramway in the middle, allowing a free passage on either side. The
+wood pavement, which we had followed almost constantly since leaving
+London, soon disappeared, and, finally, so did the tramway. After
+perhaps fifteen miles we were at last approaching open country; at
+least Suburbia and perambulators had been left behind; and
+truck-gardens and market-wagons, often with sleepy drivers, had
+entered on the scene. Here was a new danger, but not so terrible as
+those we had left behind, and the poor, docile horse usually had
+sense enough to draw aside and let us pass, even if the beer-drowsy
+driver had not.
+
+We soon reached the top of Hounslow Heath, but there was scarcely a
+suggestion of the former romantic aspect which we had always
+connected with it.
+
+We made inquiries and learned that there was one old neighbouring
+inn, the "Green Man," lying between the Bath and Exeter roads, which
+was a true relic of the past, and musty with the traditions of
+turnpike travellers and highwaymen of old. We found the "Green Man"
+readily enough, with a country yokel to point the way, for which he
+expected the price of a beer. In the palmy days of the robbing and
+murdering traffic of Hounslow Heath it was a convenient refuge for
+the Duvals and Turpins, and they made for it with a rush on occasion,
+secreting themselves in a hiding-place which can still be seen.
+
+This is in a little room on the left of the front door, and the
+entrance lies at the back of an old-fashioned fireplace. A hole leads
+to a passage which opens into a cavernous recess beneath, to which
+there is ample room for anybody to descend. The local wiseacres
+declare that there is, or was, a communication between this secret
+chamber and another famous highwayman's inn, the old "Magpie"
+directly on the Bath road, and that those who preyed on travellers
+used to bolt from one house to the other like hunted rabbits. No one
+seemingly has himself ever explored this mysterious subterranean
+passage. Beyond Hounslow, on the Bath road, one passes through
+Slough, leaving Windsor, Runnymede, and Datchet on the left, as
+properly belonging to the routine tours which one makes from London
+and calls simply excursions.
+
+The Thames is reached at Maidenhead, where up-river society plays a
+part which reminds one of the stage melodramas, except that there is
+real water and real boat-races. It is a pretty enough aspect up and
+down the river from the bridge at Maidenhead, but it is stagey and
+artificial.
+
+The hotels and restaurants of Maidenhead make some pretence of
+catering to automobilists, and do it fairly well, after a suburban
+fashion, but there is nothing of the flavour or sentiment of the old
+inn-keeping days, neither are any of the establishments at all what
+the touring automobilist (as distinct from the promenading, or
+half-day excursion variety) expects and demands.
+
+[Illustration: The Road By The Thames]
+
+The Bath road runs straight on through Twyford to Reading, but we
+made a detour via Great Marlow and Henley, merely for the
+satisfaction of lunching at the "Red Lion Inn" at the latter place.
+The great social and sporting attractions of the Thames, the annual
+Henley regatta, had drawn us thither years ago, and we had enjoyed
+ourselves in the conventional manner, shouting ourselves hoarse over
+rival crews, lunching, picnic fashion, from baskets under the trees,
+and making our way back to town by the railway, amid a terrifying
+crush late at night. It was all very enjoyable, but once in a
+lifetime was quite enough. Now we were taking things easier.
+
+The traditions hanging around the old "Red Lion Inn," beside the
+bridge, probably account for its popularity, for certainly its
+present-day accommodations and catering are nothing remarkable, and
+the automobilist is looked upon with disfavour. Why? This is hard to
+state. He is a good spender, the automobilist, and he comes
+frequently. All the same, the "Red Lion Inn" at Henley is one of
+those establishments marked down in the guide-books as "comfortable,"
+and if its luncheon is a bit slow and stodgy, it is wholesome enough,
+and automobilists are generally blessed with good appetites.
+
+The Shenstone legend and the window-pane verses about finding "one's
+warmest welcome at an inn" were originally supposed to apply to this
+inn at Henley. Later authorities say that they referred to an inn at
+Henley-in-Arden. Perhaps an automobilist, even, would find the latter
+more to his liking. The writer does not know.
+
+To Reading from Henley is perhaps a dozen miles, by a pretty river
+road which shows all the characteristic loveliness of the Thames
+valley about which poets have raved. By Shiplake Mill, Sonning, and
+Caversham Bridge one finally enters Reading. Reading is famous for
+the remains of an old abbey and for its biscuits, but neither at the
+time had any attractions for us.
+
+We made another detour from our path and followed the river-road to
+Abingdon. Pangborne (better described as Villadom) was passed, as was
+also Mapledurham, which Dick of William Morris's "Utopia" thought "a
+very pretty place." In fine it is a very pretty place, and the river
+hereabouts is quite at its prettiest.
+
+Since we had actually left towns and trams behind us we found the
+roadways good, but abominably circuitous and narrow, not to say
+dangerous because of it.
+
+Soon Streatley Hill rose up before us. Streatley is one of those
+villages which have been pictured times innumerable. One often sees
+its winding streets, its picturesque cottages, its one shop, its old
+mill, "The Bull Inn," or its notorious bridge over the river to
+Goring.
+
+To cross this bridge costs six pence per wheel, be your conveyance a
+cart, carriage, bicycle, or motor-car, so that if an automobile
+requires any slight attention from the machinist, who quarters
+himself at Goring boat-house, it is appreciably cheaper to bargain
+with him to come to Streatley. Thus one may defeat the object of the
+grasping institution which, the _lady_ toll-taker tells you, is
+responsible for the outrage, and not she herself. You may well
+believe her; she hardly looks as though she approved of the means
+which serve to keep her in her modest position.
+
+[Illustration: On The Thames At Henley]
+
+Streatley Hill, or rather the view from it, like the village itself,
+is famed alike by poet and painter. The following quatrain should be
+eulogy enough to warrant one's taking a rather stiff climb in the
+hope of experiencing, to a greater or a lesser degree, the same
+emotions:
+
+  "When you're here, I'm told that you
+  Should mount the Hill and see the view;
+  And gaze and wonder, if you'd do
+  Its merits most completely."
+
+The poetry is bad, but the sentiment is sound.
+
+Goring is more of a metropolis than Streatley, but we did not visit
+the former town because of the atrocious toll-bridge charge. We were
+willing enough to make martyrs of ourselves in the good cause of the
+suppression of all such excessive charges to automobilists.
+
+On through Abingdon, and still following the valley of the Thames, we
+kept to Faringdon and Lechlade, where, at the latter place, at the
+subtly named "Trout Inn," we proposed passing the night.
+
+We did pass the night at the "Trout Inn," which has no accommodation
+for automobiles, except a populated hen-house, the general
+sleeping-place of most of the live stock of the landlord, dogs, cats,
+ducks, and geese; to say nothing of the original occupants--the hens.
+How much better they do things in France!
+
+At any rate there is no pretence about the "Trout Inn" at Lechlade.
+We slept in a stuffy, diamond-paned little room with chintz curtains
+to windows, bed, and mantelpiece. We dined off of trout, beefsteak,
+and cauliflower, and drank bitter beer until midnight in the
+bar-parlour with a half-dozen old residents who told strange tales of
+fish and fishing. Here at least was the real thing, though the
+appointments of the inn were in no sense picturesque, and the
+landlord, instead of being a rotund, red-faced person, was a tall,
+thin reed of a man with a white beard who, in spite of his eighty odd
+years, is about as lively a proposition as one will find in the
+business in England.
+
+Mine host of "The Trout," silvered as the aspen, but straight as the
+pine, bears his eighty-two years lightly, and will tell you that he
+is still able to protect his fishing rights, which he owns in
+absolute fee on four miles of river-bank, against trespassers--and
+they are many. He sleeps, he says, with one eye open, and his gun by
+his side, and thinks nothing of a sally forth in the dark hours of
+night and exploding a charge in the direction of a marauder. He and
+his cronies of the tap-room, of an evening, before a glowing fire of
+logs, above which is the significant gun-rack (quite in old
+picture-book fashion), will give a deal of copy to an able writer who
+seeks atmosphere and local colour.
+
+Kelmscott, so identified with William Morris, is even less of the
+world of to-day than is its neighbour, Lechlade, and was one of the
+reasons for our coming here at all.
+
+The topographical surveys and books of reference will tell on that it
+is a "chapelry, in the parish of Broadwell, Union of Faringdon,
+hundred of Bampton, county of Oxford;" that it is "two miles east of
+Lechlade and contains 179 inhabitants;" and that "by measurement it
+contains 1,020 acres, of which 876 are arable and 153 meadow and
+pasture." It is unlikely that the population has increased since the
+above description; the best authority claims that it has actually
+decreased, like so many of the small towns and villages of the
+countryside in England.
+
+Kelmscott Manor House was advertised for sale in 1871, a fact which
+Morris discovered quite by accident. Writing to his friend Faulkner
+he says:
+
+  "I have been looking about for a house...
+  my eye is turned now to Kelmscott, a little village
+  two miles above Radcott Bridge--a Heaven on
+  earth."
+
+The house is thirty miles or more from Oxford, by water, approached
+by a lane which leads from Lechlade just over St. John's Bridge, by
+the "Trout Inn." The railway now reaches Lechlade but this was not
+the case when Morris first found this "_Heaven._" Most likely he
+reached it by carriage from Faringdon, "by the grand approach over
+the hills of Berkshire."
+
+We regained the Bath road at Marlborough, after our excursion into
+the realms of Utopia, intending to reach Bath for lunch. The best
+laid plans of mice and mere motor-men ofttimes go awry, and we did
+_not_ get to Bath until well on into the night. There was really no
+reason for this except an obstinate _bougie_ (beg pardon,
+sparking-plug in English) which sparked beautyfully in the open air,
+but which refused positively to give a glimmer when put in its proper
+place. We did not know this, or even suspect it at first, but this
+was what delayed us four hours, just before we reached Chippenham,
+where we stopped and lunched, through no choice of our own, for it
+was a bad lunch in every particular, and cost three shillings and
+sixpence a head. To add to the indignity, the local policemen came
+along and said we were making an obstruction, and insisted that we
+push the machine into the stable-yard, as if we were committing a
+breach of the law, when really it was only an opportunity for a
+"bobby" to show his authority. Happy England!
+
+All the morning we had been running over typical English roads and
+running well. There is absolutely no question but that the
+countryside of England is unequalled for that unique variety of
+picturesqueness which is characteristic of the land, but it lacks the
+grandeur that one finds in France, or indeed in most countries of
+Continental Europe.
+
+Crossing England thus, one gets the full force of Rider Haggard's
+remarks about the small farmer; how, because he cannot get a small
+holding, that can be farmed profitably, for his very own, he becomes
+a tenant, or remains always a labourer, never rising in the social
+scale.
+
+The peasant of Continental Europe may be poor and impoverished, may
+eat largely of bread instead of meat, and be forced to drink "thin
+wine" instead of body-building beer,--as the economists in England
+put it,--but he has much to be thankful for, nevertheless.
+
+We stopped just before Beckhampton, at a puzzling crossroads, and
+asked a labourer of the fields if we were "right" for Chippenham. He
+stared blankly, doffed his hat with humility, but for a time answered
+never a word. He knew Calne, a town half a dozen miles away, for he
+occasionally, walked in there for a drinking-bout on a heavier brand
+of beer than he could buy locally, but, though he had always heard of
+Chippenham, he did not know whether it lay north, east, south, or
+west. This is deplorable, of course, for it was within a twenty-mile
+radius, but it is astonishing the frequency with which one meets this
+blankness in England when looking for information. There are tens of
+thousands like this poor fellow, and one may well defy Rider Haggard
+to make a "landed proprietor" out of such poor stuff.
+
+You do not always get what you ask for in France, but the peasant at
+least knows enough to tell you, "Oh! that's down in the Eure" or
+"_Plus loin, par là,_" and at any rate, you feel that he is a
+broad-gauge Frenchman through and through, whereas the English
+labourer of the fields is a very "little Englander" indeed.
+
+It is hard to believe on a bright May morning that here, in this
+blossoming, picturesque little village of Chippenham, on one bitterly
+cold morning in the month of _April_, 1812, when the Bath coach
+reached its posting-house (the same, perhaps, Mr. Up-to-Date
+Automobilist, at which you have slept the night--worse luck), two of
+its outside passengers were found frozen to death, and a third all
+but dead. The old lithographs which pictured the "Royal Mail" stuck
+in a snow-drift, and the unhappy passengers helping to dig it out,
+are no longer apocryphal in your mind after you have heard this bit
+of "real history," which happened, too, in one of England's southern
+counties. The romance of other days was often stern and uncomfortable
+reality of a most bitter kind.
+
+We left Chippenham, finally, very late in the day, lost our way at
+unsign-boarded and puzzling crossroads, had two punctures in a half a
+dozen miles, and ultimately reached the centre of Bath, over the
+North Parade Bridge--for which privilege we paid three pence, another
+imposition, which, however, we could have avoided had we known the
+devious turnings of the main road into town.
+
+In two days we had covered something like two hundred and fifty miles
+in and out of highways and byways, had followed the Thames for its
+entire boatable length, and had crossed England,--not a very great
+undertaking as automobile tours go, but a varied and enjoyable one in
+spite of the restrictions put upon the free passage of automobiles by
+the various governing bodies and the indifferent hotel-keepers.
+
+Bath and its attractions for visitors are quite the best things of
+their kind in all England, in spite of the fact that the attractions,
+the teas, the concerts, and the lectures--to say nothing of drinking
+and bathing in the waters--lack individuality.
+
+We stayed the round of the clock at Bath, two rounds and a half, in
+fact, in that we did not leave until the second morning after our
+arrival, and absorbed as much of the spirit and association of the
+place as was possible, including sundry gallons of the bubbling
+spring-water.
+
+Bath has pleased many critical souls, James McNeill Whistler for one,
+who had no patience with other English resorts. It pleased us, too.
+It was so different.
+
+From Bath to Bristol is a dozen miles only, and the topographical
+characteristics change entirely, following the banks of the little
+river Avon. Bristol was a great seaport in days gone by, but today
+only coasters and colliers make use of its wharves. The town is
+charmingly situated, but it is unlovely, and, for the tourist, is
+only a stepping-stone to somewhere else. The Automobile Club of Great
+Britain and Ireland directs one to the suburb of Clifton, or rather
+to Clifton Down, for hotel accommodation, but you can do much better
+than that by stopping at the Half Moon Hotel in the main street, a
+frankly commercial house, but with ample garage accommodation and
+good plain fare, of which roast little pig, boiled mutton,
+cauliflower, and mashed potatoes, with the ever recurring apple tart,
+form the principal items.
+
+
+Chapter II
+The South Coast
+
+[Illustration: The South Coast]
+
+The south coast of England is ever dear to the Londoner who spends
+his week's end out of town. Here he finds the nearest whiff of
+salt-water breeze that he can call his own. He may go down the Thames
+on a Palace steamer to Southend, and he will have to content himself
+most of the way with a succession of mud-flats and eat winkles with a
+brassy pin when he gets there; he may even go on to Margate and find
+a fresh east wind which will blow the London fog out of his brain;
+but, until he rounds the Foreland, he will find nothing that will
+remind him in the least of his beloved Eastbourne, Brighton, and
+Worthing.
+
+The most popular south coast automobile run from London is to
+Brighton, fifty-two miles, via Croyden, Redhill, and Crawley. Many
+"weekenders" make this trip nearly every Saturday to Monday in the
+year, and get to know every rut and stone in the roadway and every
+degenerate policeman of the rapacious crew who hide in hedges and lie
+in wait for poor unfortunate automobilists who may have slipped down
+a sloping bit of clear roadway at a speed of twenty and one-tenth
+miles per hour (instead of nineteen and nine-tenths), all figured out
+by rule of thumb and with the aid of a thirty-shilling stop-watch.
+
+"_Ils sont terribles, ces bétes des gendarmes on trouve en
+Angleterre,_" said a terror-stricken French friend of ours who had
+been held up beyond Crawley for a "technical offence." Nothing was
+said against a drunken drayman who backed his wagon up against our
+friend's mudguard ten miles back, and smashed it beyond repair.
+Justice, thy name is not in the vocabulary of the English policeman
+sent out by his sergeant to keep watch on automobilists!
+
+Our road to the sea was by Rochester, Canterbury, and Dover, in the
+first instance, following much the itinerary of Chaucer's pilgrims.
+
+Southwark's Tabard Inn exists to-day, in name if not in spirit, and
+it was easy enough to take it for our starting-point. Getting out of
+London to the southeast is not as bad as by the northwest, but in all
+conscience it is bad enough, through Deptford and its docks, and
+Greenwich and Woolwich, and over the Plumstead marshes. There are
+variants of this itinerary, we were told, but all are equally smelly
+and sooty, and it was only well after we had passed Gravesend that we
+felt that we had really left town behind, and even then we could see
+the vermilion stacks of great steamships making their way up London's
+river to the left, and the mouse-brown sails of the barges going
+round the coast to Ipswich and Yarmouth.
+
+At last a stretch of green unsmoked and unspoiled country, that via
+Stroud to Rochester, came into view.
+
+Rochester on the Medway, with its memories of Mr. Pickwick and the
+Bull Inn (still remaining), the cathedral and Gad's Hill, Dickens's
+home near by, is a literary shrine of the first importance. We
+stopped _en route_ and did our duty, but were soon on our way again
+through the encumbered main street of Chatham and up the long hill to
+Sittingbourne, itself a dull, respectable market-town with a boiled
+mutton and grilled kipper inn which offers no inducements to a
+gormand to stop for lunch.
+
+We kept on to Canterbury and didn't do much better at a hotel which
+shall be nameless. The hotels are all bad at Canterbury, according to
+Continental standards, and there is little choice between them.
+
+It is said that the oldest inn in England is "The Fountain" at
+Canterbury. "The Fountain" claims to have housed the wife of Earl
+Godwin when she came to meet her husband on his return from Denmark
+in the year 1029, and to have been the temporary residence of
+Archbishop Lanfranc whilst his palace was being rebuilt in 1070.
+There is a legend, too, that the four knights who murdered Thomas à
+Becket made this house their rendezvous. Moreover, "The Fountain" can
+boast of a testimonial to its excellence as an inn written six
+hundred years ago, for, when the marriage of Edward the First to his
+second queen, Margaret of France, was solemnized at Canterbury
+Cathedral on September 12, 1299, the ambassador of the Emperor of
+Germany, who was among the distinguished guests, wrote thus to his
+master: "The inns in England are the best in Europe, those of
+Canterbury are the best in England, and 'The Fountain,' wherein I am
+now lodged as handsomely as I were in the king's palace, the best in
+Canterbury." Times have changed since the days of Edward I.!
+
+Canterbury is a very dangerous town to drive through. Its streets are
+narrow and badly paved, and there are unexpected turnings which bring
+up a lump in one's throat when he is driving at his most careful gait
+and is suddenly confronted with a governess's cart full of children,
+a perambulator, and a bath-chair, all in the middle of the road,
+where, surely, the two latter have no right to be.
+
+The grand old shrine of Thomas à Becket, the choir built by
+Lanfranc's monks, and the general _ensemble_ of the cathedral close
+are worth all the risk one goes through to get to them. The cathedral
+impresses one as the most thoroughly French of all the Gothic
+churches of Britain, and because of this its rank is high among the
+ecclesiastical architectural treasures of the world. Its history is
+known to all who know that of England, of the church, and of
+architecture, and the edifice tells the story well.
+
+The distant view from the road, as one approaches the city, is one
+that can only be described as grand. The fabric of the great
+cathedral, the rooftops of the houses, the sloping hills rising from
+the water's edge, and again falling lightly down to the town, form a
+grandly imposing view, the equal of which one seldom sees on the main
+travelled roads of England.
+
+Between Canterbury and Winchester ran one of the oldest roads in
+England, the "Pilgrim's Way." Many parts of it still exist, and it is
+believed by many to be the oldest monument of human work in these
+islands. About two-thirds of the length of the road is known with
+certainty, and to some extent the old itinerary forms the modern
+highway. Its earliest route seems to have been from Stonehenge to
+Canterbury, but later the part from Stonehenge to Alton was abandoned
+in favour of that from Winchester to Alton. Guildford and Dorking
+were places that it touched, though it was impossible to say with
+certainty where it crossed the Medway.
+
+Margate, Ramsgate, and the Isle of Thanet lay to the left of us, but
+we struck boldly across the downs to Dover's Bay, under the shadow of
+the Shakespeare Cliff, made famous in the scenic accessories of _The
+Tempest_.
+
+Dover, seventy-two miles by road from London, has a good hotel,
+almost reaching the Continental standard, though it is not an
+automobile hotel and you must house your machine elsewhere. It is
+called the Lord Warden Hotel, and is just off the admiralty pier
+head. It suited us very well in spite of the fact that the old-school
+Englishman contemptuously refers to it as a place for brides and for
+seasick Frenchmen waiting the prospect of a fair crossing by the
+Calais packet.
+
+The descent into Dover's lower town from the downs above is fraught
+with considerable danger for the automobilist. It is steep, winding,
+and narrow, and one climbs out of it again the next morning by an
+equally steep, though less narrow, road up over the Shakespeare Cliff
+and down again abruptly into Folkestone.
+
+Dover is not fashionable as a resort, and its one pretentious
+sea-front hotel is not a lovely thing--most sea-front hotels are not.
+In spite of this there is vastly more of interest going on, with the
+coming and going of the great liners and the cross-channel boats of
+the harbour, than is to be found in a mere watering-place, where band
+concerts, parade-walks, "nigger minstrels," tea fights, and
+excursions in the neighbourhood are the chief attractions which are
+advertised, and are fondly believed by the authorities to be
+sufficient to draw the money-spending crowds.
+
+Dover is a very interesting place; the Shakespeare Cliff dominates
+it on one side and the old castle ruin on the other, to-day as they
+did when the first of the Cinq-Ports held England's destiny in the
+hollow of her hand. Sir Walter Raleigh prayed his patron Elizabeth to
+strengthen her fortifications here and formulate plans for a great
+port. Much was done by her, but a fitting realization of Dover's
+importance as a deep-water port has only just come to pass, and then
+only because of a significant hint from the German emperor.
+
+Shakespeare's, or Lear's, Cliff at Dover is one of the first things
+to which the transatlantic up-channel traveller's attention is
+called. Blind old Gloster has thus described it:
+
+  "There is a cliff whose high and bending head
+  Looks fearfully into the confined deep."
+
+The English War Department of today, it is rumoured, would erase this
+landmark, because the cliff obstructs the range of heavy guns, thus
+jeopardizing the defence of Dover; but there are those who, knowing
+that chalk is valuable, suggest that commercialism is at the
+foundation of the scheme for destroying the cliff. The Dover
+corporation has accordingly passed a resolution of remonstrance
+against the destruction of what they claim "would rob the English
+port of one of its most thrilling attractions."
+
+Folkestone is more sadly respectable than Dover; more homeopathic,
+one might say. The town is equally difficult for an automobile to
+make its way through, but as one approaches the water's edge things
+somewhat improve. Wampach's Hotel at Folkestone is not bad, but B. B.
+B., as the "Automobile Club's Hand Book" puts it (bed, bath, and
+breakfast), costs eight shillings and sixpence a day. This is too
+much for what you get.
+
+We followed the shore road to Hythe, Dymchurch, New Romney, and Rye,
+perhaps thirteen miles all told, along a pebble-strewn roadway with
+here and there a glimpse of the shining sea and the smoke from a
+passing steamer.
+
+To our right was Romney Marsh, calling up memories of the smuggling
+days of old, when pipes of port and bales of tobacco mysteriously
+found their way inland without paying import duties.
+
+Rye is by no means a resort; it is simply a dull, sleepy, red-roofed
+little seaside town, with, at sunset, a riot of blazing colour
+reflected from the limpid pools left by the retreating waters of the
+Channel, which now lies five miles away across a mud-flat plain,
+although coastwise shipping once came to Rye's very door-step.
+
+The entrance to the town, by an old mediæval gateway, is easily
+enough made by a careful driver, but an abrupt turn near the top of
+the slight rise cost us a mud-guard, it having been ripped off by an
+unexpected and most dangerous hitching-post. This may be now removed;
+it certainly is if the local policeman did his duty and reported our
+really atrocious language to the authorities. Of all imbecilic and
+unneedful obstructions to traffic, Rye's half-hidden hitching-post is
+one of the most notable seen in an automobile tour comprising seven
+countries and several hundreds, perhaps thousands, of large and small
+towns.
+
+The chief curiosities of Rye are its quaint hilltop church, the town
+walls, and the Ypres tower, all quite foreign in motive and aspect
+from anything else in England.
+
+Those interested in literary shrines may well bow their heads before
+the door of the dignified Georgian house near the church, in which
+resides the enigmatic Henry James. There may be other literary lights
+who shed a glow over Rye, but we did not learn of them, and surely
+none could be more worthy of the attention of literary lion-hunters
+than the American who has become "more English" than the English
+themselves.
+
+We left Rye by a toll-gate road over the marshes, bound for
+Winchelsea, and, passing through the ivy-clad tower which spans the
+roadway, stopped abruptly, like all hero or heroine worshippers,
+before the dainty home of Ellen Terry. The creeper-clung little brick
+cottage is a reminiscence of old-world peace and quiet which must be
+quite refreshing after an active life on the stage.
+
+Hastings saw us for the night. Hastings and St. Leonards, twin
+sea-front towns, are what, for a better description, might be called
+snug and smug. They are simply the most depressing, unlovely resorts
+of sea-front and villas that one will see in a round of all the
+English resorts.
+
+As a pompous, bustling, self-sufficient little city, Hastings, with
+its fisher men and women, its fish-market and the ruined
+castle-crowned height, has some quaintness and character; but as a
+resort where the chief amusements are scrappy, tuneless
+hurdy-gurdies, blatant brass bands, living picture shows, or
+third-rate repetitious of a last year's London theatrical successes,
+it is about the rankest boring proposition which ever drew the unwary
+visitor.
+
+We had our "B. B. B." that night at the Queen's Hotel, a vast
+barracks of a place near the end of the Parade. The best thing about
+it was the view from the windows of our sleeping-rooms, and the fact
+that we could stable our automobile under the same roof.
+
+We made a little run inland from Hastings the next morning to view
+old Battle Abbey. The battlement-crowned gateway is still one of the
+architectural marvels of England. It took us a dozen miles out of our
+way, but always among the rolling downs which dip down to the sea,
+chalk-faced and grass-grown in a manner characteristic only of the
+south coast of England.
+
+We came to Eastbourne through Pevensey, famed for its old ruined
+castle and much history. A low-lying marsh-grown fishing-port of
+olden times, Pevensey was the landing-place of the Conqueror when he
+came to lay the foundation-stones of England's greatness. It is a
+shrine that Britons should bow down before, and reverently.
+
+Eastbourne is a vast improvement, as a resort, over any south coast
+town we had yet seen. It is not gay, it is rather sedate, and
+certainly eminently respectable and dignified. Giant wheels,
+hurdy-gurdies, and quack photographers are banished from its beach
+and esplanade, and one may stroll undisturbed by anything but
+perambulators and bath-chairs. Its sea-front walk of a couple of
+miles or more is as fine as any that can be found from the Foreland
+to the Lizard.
+
+Most energetically we climbed to the top of Beachy Head, gossiped
+with the coast-guard, stole a peep through the telescope by which
+Lloyd's observer at the signal-station picks out passing ships, and
+got down the great hill again in time for lunch at the Burlington
+Hotel. We lunched in more or less stately fashion, well, if not
+luxuriously, in a great dining-room whose sole occupant, besides
+ourselves, was England's laureate.
+
+He is herein endorsed as possessing a good taste in seaside hotels,
+whatever one may think of the qualities of his verse. The Burlington
+seemed to us the best conducted and most satisfactory hotel on all
+the south coast, except perhaps the Lord Warden at Dover.
+
+It was a more or less rugged climb, by a badly made road, up over the
+downs from Eastbourne, only to drop down again as quickly through
+Eastdean to Newhaven, a short ten miles, but a trying one.
+
+Newhaven is a sickly burg sheltered well to the west of Beachy Head.
+Its only excitements are the comings and goings of the Dieppe
+steamers and a few fishing-boats. It is one of the best ports for
+shipping one's automobile to France, and one of the cheapest. In no
+other respect is Newhaven worth a glance of the eye, and English
+travelers themselves have no good word for the abominable tea and
+coffee served to limp, half-famished travellers as they get off the
+Dieppe boat. This well-worn and well-deserved reputation was no
+inducement for us to stop, so we made speed for Brighton via
+Rottingdean.
+
+Rottingdean will be famous in most minds as being the rival of
+Brattleboro, Vt., as the home of Rudyard Kipling. Sightseers came
+from Brighton in droves and stared the author out of countenance, as
+they did at Brattleboro, and he removed to the still less known, _and
+a great deal less accessible_, village of Burwash in Kent. Thus
+passed the fame of Rottingdean.
+
+Brighton has been called London-on-Sea, and with some truth, but as
+the sun shines here with frequency it differs from London in that
+respect.
+
+Brighton is a brick and iron built town, exceedingly unlovely, but
+habitable. Its two great towering sea-front hotels look American, but
+they are a great deal more substantially built. There are two rivals
+for popular favour, the Grand and the Metropole. They are much alike
+in all their appointments, but there are fewer tea-drinkers and
+after-dinner sleepers (and snorers) at the Metropole. There is also a
+famous old coaching house, the Ship Hotel (most curiously named),
+which caters particularly for automobilists.
+
+Brighton is the typical seaside resort of Britain. It is like nothing
+on the Continent; it is not even as attractive a place as most
+Continental resorts; but it is the best thing in Britain.
+
+Brighton and Hove have a sea-front of perhaps three miles. Houses and
+hotels line the promenade on one side, a pebbly beach and the sea on
+the other.
+
+The attractions of Brighton are conventional and an imitation of
+those in London. In addition one bathes, in summer, in the lapping
+waves, and in winter sits in a glass shelter which breaks the wind,
+and gazes seaward.
+
+There are theatrical attractions and operas in the theatre, and vocal
+and instrumental concerts on the pier, all through the year. There
+are also various sorts of functions which go on in the turnip-topped
+Royal Pavilion of the Georges, which once seen will ever afterward be
+avoided.
+
+It is not always bright and sunny at Brighton. We were storm-bound at
+the Metropole for two days, and the Channel waves dashed up over the
+pier and promenade and drowned out the strollers who sought to take
+their constitutional abroad.
+
+We sat tight in the hotel and listened to Sousa marches, "Hiawatha,"
+and "The Belle of New York" strummed out by a none too competent
+band. A genial fat-faced old lady of uncertain age tried to inveigle
+us into a game of bridge, but that was not what we came for, so we
+strenuously refused.
+
+The flood-tide of holiday trippers at Brighton is in August. This is
+the month when, at certain periods of the day, the mile length of
+roadway from railway station to sea is a closely packed crowd of
+excursionists; when the long expanse of sea-front and sand presents
+its most animated spectacle of holiday-keeping people; when the
+steamers plying along the Sussex coast, or to France, the
+white-sailed yachts, the rowing-boats, and motor-boats are the most
+numerous; and when the hundred and one entertainers and providers of
+all kinds do their busiest trade.
+
+There is a public bathing-station at the eastern end of the
+sea-front. A large marquee is provided, and a worthy lady, the
+incarnation of the British matron, sees to it that the curtains are
+properly drawn and that inquisitive small boys keep their distance.
+But it is rather a long walk from the marquee to the water when the
+tide is low, and one often hears the camera click on the irresistible
+charms of some swan-like creature ambling down to deep water. The
+authorities have promised to put a stop to such liberties. Can they?
+
+We left Brighton with a very good idea indeed of what it was like. It
+has a place to fill and it fills it very well, but the marvel is that
+the Britisher submits to it, when he can spend his weekends, or his
+holiday, at Boulogne or Dieppe for practically the same expenditure
+of time and money, and get real genuine relaxation and a gaiety which
+is not forced. So much for Brighton.
+
+The Brighton police authorities have heeded the words of admonition
+of the tradesmen and hotel-keepers, and the automobilist has an easy
+time of it. It is an example which it is to be hoped will be
+far-reaching in its effects.
+
+The road by the coast runs along by New Shoreham to Worthing, where
+the automobilist is catered for in really satisfactory fashion at
+Warne's Hotel, which possesses what is called a motor dépôt, a name
+which describes its functions in an obvious manner. It is a good
+place to lunch and a good place to obtain gasoline and oil. What more
+does the touring automobilist want? Not much but good roads and ever
+varying scenery.
+
+Worthing has a population of twenty-five thousand conservative souls,
+and a mild climate. Its popularity is only beginning, but it boasts
+1,748 hours of sunshine, an exceedingly liberal allowance for an
+English resort. It has also a "school of cookery;" this may account
+for the fare being as excellent as it is at "Warne's," though the
+proprietors are silent on this point.
+
+Littlehampton came next in our itinerary. It almost equals Rye as one
+of the picture spots of England's south coast. It may develop some
+day into an artist's sketching ground which will rival the Cornish
+coast. It has a tidal river with old boats and barges lying
+picturesquely about, and it permits "mixed bathing," a rarity in
+England. In spite of this there appears to be no falling off in
+morals, and when other English seaside resorts adopt the same
+procedure they will be falling out of the conservatism which is
+keeping many of them from developing at the rate of Littlehampton.
+
+We left the coast here to visit Arundel and its castle, the seat of
+the Duke of Norfolk. It was a Friday and the keep and park were open
+to the public.
+
+Arundel is an ancient town which sleeps its life away and lives up to
+the traditions of mediævalism in truly conservative fashion. The
+Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland makes no recommendation
+as to the hotels of Arundel, and presumably the Norfolk Arms cares
+nothing for the automobile traffic. We did not stop at any hotel, but
+left our machine outside the castle gate, enjoyed the conventional
+stroll about inside the walls and in an hour were on the way to
+Chichester.
+
+Sussex is a county which, according to some traditions possesses four
+particular delicacies. Izaak Walton, in 1653, named them as follows:
+a Selsea cockle, a Chichester lobster, an Arundel mullet, and an
+Amberley trout. Another authority, Ray, adds to these three more: a
+Pulborough eel, a Rye herring, and a Bourn wheatear, which, he says,
+"are the best in their kind, understand it, of those that are taken
+in this country."
+
+Chichester is a cathedral town not usually included in the itinerary
+of stranger-tourists. Its proud old cathedral and its detached
+bell-tower are remarkable for many things, but the strangeness of the
+belfry, entirely unconnected with the church fabric itself, will
+strike the natives of the land of skyscrapers most of all.
+
+Chichester is conservative in all things, and social affairs, said a
+public-house habitué, are entirely dominated by the cathedral clique.
+He may have been a bad authority, this doddering old septuagenarian,
+mouthing his pint of beer, but he entertained us during the half-hour
+of a passing shower with many plain-spoken opinions about many
+things, including subjects as wide apart as clericalism and
+submarines.
+
+Our route from Chichester was to Portsmouth and Southsea, neither of
+which interested us to any extent. The former is warlike in every
+turn of its crooked streets and the latter is full of retired
+colonels and majors, who keep always to the middle of the footpath
+across Southsea Common, and will not turn the least bit to one side,
+for courtesy or any other reason. Too much curry on their rice or
+port after dinner probably accounts for it.
+
+We stopped at the George at Portsmouth. It offers no accommodation
+for automobiles, but a garage is near by. The halo of sentiment and
+romance hung over the more or less dingy old hotel, dingy but clean,
+and possessed of a parlour filled with a collection of old furniture
+which would make the connoisseur want to carry it all away with him.
+
+This was the terminus of old-time travel from London to Portsmouth.
+The Portsmouth road, in coaching days as in automobile days, ran
+through England's fairest counties down to her emporium of ships. Its
+beginnings go back to the foundations of England's naval power.
+
+Edward IV. made Portsmouth a strong place of defence, but the road
+from town only became well travelled in later centuries.
+
+Along the old Portsmouth road were, and are still, any number of
+nautically named inns. At Liphook is the Anchor--where Pepys put up
+when on his way to England's chief naval town--and the Ship; there is
+another Anchor at Ripley; at Petersfield stands the Dolphin, and near
+Guildford is the Jovial Sailor. All these, and other signs of a like
+nature, suffice to tell the observant wayfarer that he is on the road
+which hordes of seamen have trod on their way to and from London, and
+that it was formerly deemed well worth while to hang out invitations
+to them.
+
+In 1703 Prince George of Denmark made nine miles in six hours on this
+road, an indication that the good roads movement had not begun. In
+1751 Doctor Burton suggested that all the animals in Sussex,
+including the women, were long-legged because of "the difficulty of
+pulling their feet out of the mud which covers the roads hereabouts."
+
+A hundred or more years ago Nelson came by post by this road to
+Portsmouth to hoist his flag upon the _Victory_. He arrived at the
+George, the same which was sheltering our humble selves, at six in
+the morning, as the records tell, having travelled all night. The
+rest is history, but the old _Victory_ still swings at her moorings
+in Portsmouth harbour, a shrine before which all lovers of the sea
+and its tales may worship. Portsmouth is the great storehouse of
+Britain's battleships, and the Solent from Spithead to Stokes Bay is
+a vast pool where float all manner of warlike craft.
+
+[Illustration: Ryde]
+
+The Isle of Wight was the immediate attraction for us at Portsmouth.
+One makes the passage by boat in thirty minutes, and when one gets
+there he finds leafy lanes and well-kept roads that will put many
+mainland counties to shame. The writer does not know the length of
+the roadways of the Isle of Wight, but there are enough to give one a
+good three days of excursions and promenades.
+
+We made our headquarters at Ryde and sallied out after breakfast and
+after lunch each day, invariably returning for the night.
+
+[Illustration: Road Map of Wight]
+
+The beauties of the Isle of Wight are many and varied, with all the
+charms of sea and shore. For a literary shrine it has Tennyson's
+Freshwater and the Tennyson Beacon high up on the crest of the downs
+overlooking the Needles, Freshwater Bay, and the busy traffic of the
+English Channel, where the ships make landward to signal the
+observers at St. Catherine's Point.
+
+Cowes and "Cowes week" are preeminent annual events in society's
+periodical swing around the circle.
+
+The real development of Cowes, the home of the Royal Yacht Squadron,
+has been the evolution of week-end yachting in the summer months.
+City men, and jaded legislators, held to town by the Parliamentary
+duties of a long summer session, rush down to Southampton every
+Saturday and each steps off his train or motor-car on to the deck of
+his yacht, and then, after a spin westward to the Needles or eastward
+to the Nab or Warner Lightship, soothed by the lapping of the waters,
+and refreshed by the pure sea air, returns on the Monday to face
+again the terrors of London heat and "fag."
+
+Taken all in all, we found the Isle of Wight the most enjoyable
+region of its area in all England. It is quite worth the trouble of
+crossing from the mainland with one's automobile in order to do it
+thoroughly; for what one wants is green fields and pastures new and a
+breadth of sea and sky.
+
+
+Chapter III
+Land's End To John O'Groats
+
+[Illustration: Land's End]
+
+We had already done a bit of conventional touring in England, and we
+thought we knew quite all of the charms and fascinations of the
+idyllic countryside of most of Britain, not omitting even Ireland.
+
+The cathedral towns had appealed to us in our youthful days, and we
+had rediscovered a good portion of Dickens's England on another
+occasion, had lived for a fortnight on a house-boat on the Thames,
+and had cruised for ten days on the Norfolk Broads, and besides had
+played golf in Scotland, and _attempted_ to shoot grouse on a
+Scottish moor. All this had furnished at least variety, and, when it
+came to automobiling through Britain, it was merely going over
+well-worn ground that we had known in our cycling days, and usually
+we went merely where fancy willed.
+
+Conditions had changed considerably, in fact all things had changed,
+we ourselves no less than certain aspects of the country which we had
+pictured as always being (in England) of that idyllic tenor of which
+the poet sings. This comes of living too much in London, and with too
+frequent week-ends at Brighton, Bournemouth, or Cromer.
+
+For years, ever since we had first set foot in England in the days
+when cycling _en tandem_ (and even touring in the same manner) was in
+vogue, if not the fashion, we had heard of John O'Groat's house, and
+we had seen Land's End many a time coming up Channel. We knew, too,
+that among scorching cyclists "Land's End to John O'Groat's" was a
+classic itinerary for those who would boast of their prowess and
+their grit.
+
+All this passed and then came the automobile. "Land's End to John
+O'Groat's" is nothing for an automobile, though it is the longest
+straightaway bit of road in all Britain, 888 miles, to be exact. If
+you are out for a record on an automobile you do it as a "non-stop"
+run. It's dull, foolhardy business that, and it proves nothing except
+your ability to keep awake for anything between thirty-six and
+forty-eight hours, which you can do just as well sitting up with a
+sick friend.
+
+In spite of the banal sound that the very words had for us, "Land's
+End to John O'Groat's" had a perennial fascination, and so we set out
+with our automobile to cover this much, talked of itinerary, with all
+its varied charms and deficiencies, for, taking it all in all, it is
+probably one of the hilliest roads in Britain, rising as it does over
+eight distinct ranges of what are locally called mountains, and
+mountains they virtually are when it comes to crossing them by road.
+
+[Illustration: Map of Land's End to John O'Groats]
+
+There is nothing very exciting to be had from a tour such as this,
+though it is nearly a nine hundred mile straight-away promenade. For
+the most part one's road lies through populous centres, far more so
+than any American itinerary for a reliability trial for automobiles
+that was ever conceived. Many are the "_events_" which have been run
+over this "Land's End--John O'Groat's" course, and the journey has
+proved the worth or worthlessness of many a new idea in automobilism.
+
+The modern automobile is getting complicated, but it is also becoming
+efficient, if not exactly approaching perfection as yet. The early
+days of automobiling were not fraught with so many technicalities as
+to-day, when the last new thing may be a benzine bus or a turbine
+trailer; formerly everything was simple and crude,--and more or less
+inefficient. To-day many cars are as complicated as a chronometer and
+require the education of an expert who has lived among their
+intricacies for many months in order to control their vagaries and
+doctor their ills, which, if not chronic, are as varied as those of
+an old maid of sixty.
+
+Four of us started on our road to the north as fit as possible, and
+we were courageous enough to think our automobile was likewise, as it
+was a tried and trusty friend with some twenty thousand miles to its
+credit, and with never a breakage so far as its mechanism was
+concerned.
+
+[Illustration: St. Michael's Mount]
+
+We had stayed a few days at Penzance and got to knew something of
+Cornwall and things Cornish. Unquestionably Cornwall is the least
+spoiled section of Southern Britain; its coastline is rocky and
+serrated, and its tors and hills and rills are about as wild and
+unspoiled by the hand of man as can be imagined. There is a vast
+literature on the subject if one cares to read it, and the modern
+fictionists (like the painter-men) have even developed a "Cornish
+school." However, there need be no discussion of its merits or
+demerits here.
+
+In Mount's Bay is the Cornish counterpart of Normandy's St. Michel's
+Mount. It is by no means so great or imposing, or endowed with such a
+wealth of architectural charm as the cross-channel Mont St. Michel,
+but the English St. Michael's Mount, a granite rock rising from the
+sea two hundred and fifty or more feet, was sufficient of an
+attraction to draw us to Penzance for our headquarters and to keep us
+till we had visited its castle of the days of Charles II. There is no
+question of the age of St. Michael's Mount, for Ptolemy charted it in
+Roman days, and the Roman warriors, who battled with the Britons,
+made spear-heads and hatchets of the tin and iron which they dug from
+its rocky defences.
+
+The grim, unlovely little hotel at Land's End sheltered us the night
+before the commencement of our journey north, and the Longships
+Lighthouse flashed its warning in through our open bedroom window all
+the night long and made us dream of wicked and unworldly monster
+automobiles bearing down upon us with a great blazing _phare_ which
+blotted out all else.
+
+The nightmare passed, we got ourselves together at five in the
+morning, drank tepid tea, and ate the inevitable bacon and eggs
+furnished one for breakfast in England, and, before lunch, had passed
+Bodmin, crossed Bodmin moor (a little Exmoor), and skirted Dartmoor,
+just north of Great Links Tor, arriving at Exeter at high noon.
+
+Pople's New London Hotel at Exeter is the headquarters of the
+Automobile Club, is patronized by Royalty (so the advertisements
+say), and is a very satisfactory-looking old-century inn which has
+not wholly succumbed to modern improvement, nor yet is it wholly
+backward. It is "fair to middling" only, so far as the requirements
+of the automobilist go (what Royalty may think of it the writer does
+not know), but its proprietor ought to take a trip abroad and find
+out what his house lacks.
+
+The wonder of Exeter for us was the carved west porch of its
+cathedral, not very good carving, we were told, but undeniably
+effective, peopled as it was with a whole regiment of sculptured
+effigies.
+
+Exeter has a ruined castle, too, called Rougement, a name which
+preserves the identity of its Norman origin. Exeter's High Street is
+a curious stagy affair, with great jutting house gables, pillars, and
+pignons, undeniably effective, but a terror to automobilists because
+of its narrowness and the congestion of its traffic.
+
+The road turns north after leaving Exeter and passes Taunton, "one of
+the nicest towns in the west of England," as we were told by the
+landlord's daughter on leaving Exeter. Not knowing what her standard
+was for judgment, but suspecting it was tea and buns, we delved away
+into the county of Somerset and reached Wells, on the edge of the
+Mendip Hills, before dinner.
+
+Somerset is reputed to be one of the loveliest counties in the west
+of England and one of the most countrified of all Britain. It is a
+region of farming lands, of big and little estates, with the big ones
+predominating, which the land reformers, and all others who give it a
+thought, claim must some day be divided among the people. When that
+millennium comes Somerset will be a paradise for the people. In spite
+of its productiveness and its suitability for farming, the great
+estates of the wealthy are used for the purposes of pleasure and not
+of profit, for the hunting of foxes and for the shooting of
+pheasants.
+
+Wells is an episcopal city with a bishop who presides also over Bath.
+Wells is essentially ecclesiastical; never had it a momentous or
+warlike history; it is bare of romance; it has no manufactures and no
+great families. Wells Cathedral takes high rank for the originality
+of its architecture, its general constructive excellence, and its
+sculptures.
+
+[Illustration: Taunton]
+
+There are three picturesquely named hotels, the Swan, the Mitre, and
+the Star. They are all equally dull, respectable, and conservative,
+and they stick to tradition and conventional English fare. You will
+probably arrive on boiled-mutton night; we did, and suspect that it
+recurs about three times a week, but it was good mutton, though it
+would have been a great deal better roasted, instead of boiled.
+
+Via Cheddar, where the cheeses come from, we made our way to Bristol.
+Bristol is one of the most progressive automobile towns in England.
+You may see all sorts and conditions of automobiles at Bristol, even
+American automobiles, which are more or less of a rarity in Europe,
+even in England.
+
+From Bristol to Gloucester, another cathedral town, we passed over
+good roads and pleasant ones, rounding meanwhile the Cotswolds and
+passing direct to Worcester, where we lunched.
+
+It is useless to attempt to describe a complete trip in pages such as
+these, and, beyond commenting on changing conditions and novel
+scenes, it is not attempted. Generally speaking the road surfaces
+were excellent throughout, but the grades of the hills were ofttimes
+abnormal, and the narrowness of main roads, and the hedge-hidden
+byroads which crossed them, made travelling more or less of a danger
+for the stranger, particularly if he was not habituated to England's
+custom of "meeting on the left and passing on the right."
+
+Following the valley of the Severn, by Shrewsbury and Whitechurch, we
+crossed the great Holyhead Road, "the king's highway," from London to
+Holyhead.
+
+From Ogilby's Road Book, an old book-stall find of one of our party
+at Shrewsbury, we learned that in days gone by the coach "Wonder"
+left the Bull and Mouth, at St. Martin's-le-Grand in London, at 6.30
+A. M., and was at Shrewsbury at 10.30 the same night. Good going
+indeed for those days!
+
+At Shrewsbury one is within easy reach of the Welsh border, but, in
+spite of the novelty promised us, we kept on our way north. This was
+not because we feared the "evil character" of the Welsh (as an old
+writer put it), but because we feared their language.
+
+We left Liverpool and its docks, and Manchester and its cotton
+factories, to the left, and, passing through Warrington and Preston,
+arrived at Lancaster for the night. It was the longest day's driving
+we had done in England, something over two hundred miles. All the
+ordinary characteristics of the southern counties had been left far
+behind. The _prettiness_ of conventional English scenery had made way
+for something more of _character_ and severity of outline. For the
+morrow we had to look forward to the climb over Shap Fell, one of
+England's genuine mountain roads, or as near like one as the country
+has.
+
+Lancaster was perhaps not the best place we could have chosen for the
+night, but everything had been running well and we had pushed on
+simply for the joy of the running. The County Hotel at Lancaster was
+like other county hotels in England. _Verb. sap._ They had the
+audacity to charge two shillings for housing our automobile for the
+night, and pointed out the fact that this was the special rate given
+members of the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland.
+
+Well! It was the most awful "roast" we found in England! They must
+have some grudge against the Club! "B. B. B." cost seven shillings
+and sixpence, and dinner four shillings more, a bottle of Bordeaux
+five shillings, etc. Four of us for the night (including a hot bath
+for each--which cost the hotel practically nothing) paid something
+like £3 for our _accommodation_. It wasn't worth it!
+
+We passed the "Lake District" to the left the next morning, where it
+always rains, we are told. Perhaps it always does rain in some parts
+of Westmoreland, but it was bright and sunny when we crossed Shap
+Fell, at a height of something like twelve hundred feet above
+sea-level. The railway station of Shap Summit is itself at an
+elevation of a thousand feet. We had crossed nothing like this
+previously in England, although it is not so very high after all, nor
+is it so very terrifying in the ascent or descent. The Castle of
+Comfort Inn in the Mendip Hills was only seven hundred feet, but here
+we were five hundred feet above it, and the neighbouring Fells,
+Helvellyn and Scafell in particular, raised their regular, rounded
+peaks to something over thirty-two hundred feet in the air.
+
+Carlisle is commonly called the border town between England and
+Scotland; at any rate it was a vantage-ground in days gone by that
+was of a great value to one faction and a thorn in the side to the
+other. The conquering and unconquered Scots are the back-bone of
+Britain, there's no denying that; and Carlisle is near enough to the
+border to be intimately acquainted with their virtues.
+
+We inspected Carlisle's cathedral, its ugly castle, and the County
+Hotel,--and preferred the two former. One thing in Carlisle struck us
+as more remarkable than all else, and that was that the mean annual
+temperature was stated to be 48° F. It was just that, when we were
+there, though cloudy and unpromising as to weather. In our opinion
+Carlisle is an unlovely, disagreeable place.
+
+Gretna Green, with its famous, or infamous, career as a marriage
+mart, had little to offer a passing tourist beyond some silly, vulgar
+postcards on sale at a newsdealer's.
+
+Across the border topographical characteristics did not greatly
+change, at least not at once, from what had gone immediately before,
+and it was not until Lockerbie was reached that we fully realized
+that we were in Scotland.
+
+It was a long, long pull, and a hard, hard pull of seventy miles from
+Lockerbie to Edinburgh, via Moffat, Biggar, and Penicuik, skirting
+the Fells of Peebleshire and running close beneath the Pentland
+Hills, with memories of Stevenson's tales ever uppermost in our
+minds.
+
+Via Dalkeith the entrance into Edinburgh is delightful, but via
+Rosslyn it is unbeautiful enough until one actually drops down into
+world-famed Princes' Street.
+
+Romantic Edinburgh is known by European travellers as one of the
+sights never omitted from a comprehensive itinerary. It is quaint,
+picturesque, grand, squalid, and luxurious all rolled into one. Its
+castle crowns the height above the town on one side, and Arthur's
+Seat does the same on the other, with gloomy old Holyrood in the gulf
+between, the whole softened and punctuated with many evidences of
+modern life, the smoke and noise of railways, trams, and factories.
+There are many guide-books to Edinburgh, but there are none so
+satisfactory as Stevenson's tales dealing with the town. In
+"Kidnapped," "The Master of Ballantrae," and "Catriona," he pictures
+its old streets and "stairs," its historic spots, its very stones and
+flags, and the charming countryside around in incomparable fashion.
+
+The Carlton Hotel at Edinburgh is _the_ automobile hotel of Britain.
+There is nothing quite so good either in England or Scotland. The
+proof of this is that the _Automobile Club de France_ have given it
+distinctive marks in its "_Annuaire de l'Etranger._" There is the
+tiny silhouette of a knife and fork, and four-poster bed, indicating
+that the tables and beds are of an agreeable excellence. This is a
+great deal more satisfying as a recommendation than Baedeker's.
+
+We crossed the Firth of Forth via the Granton Ferry, from Granton to
+Burntisland,--pronounced Burnt Island--a fact that none of us knew
+previously.
+
+Via Kinross and Loch Leven we arrived at Perth for lunch. We went to
+the Salutation Hotel, because of its celebrated "Prince Charlie
+Room," and had no reason to regret the lunch that was given us, or
+the price paid for it. Scottish hotels have had a reputation of not
+being as good as those of England and much more costly. We were
+finding things just the reverse. Automobilism is an industry in
+Scotland, not a fad, and the automobilist is catered for accordingly,
+at least so it seemed to us, and, since the leading British
+automobile is a Scotch production, who can deny that the Scot has
+grasped the salient points of the whole scheme of affairs in a far
+better manner than the Sassenach.
+
+From Perth, through the very heart of the Scotch Highlands, we passed
+through Glen Garry and the Valley of the Spey. Cairn Gorm rose
+something over four thousand feet immediately on our right, when,
+turning abruptly northwest, we came into Inverness just at nightfall.
+It had been another long, hard day, and, since Perth, over
+indifferent roads.
+
+The capital of the Highlands, Inverness, treated us very well at the
+Alexandra Hotel. As a summer or autumn resort Inverness has scarcely
+its equal in Britain. It is a lively, interesting, and picturesque
+town, and day lingers far on into the night by reason of its northern
+situation. Its temperature, moreover, for the most part of the year,
+is by no means as low as in many parts farther south.
+
+[Illustration: The Highlands]
+
+From Inverness, via Dingwall, Tain, and Bonar Bridge, the roads
+improved, lying almost at sea-level. Here was a long sweep westward
+and then eastward again, around the Moray Firth, and it was not until
+we stopped at Helmsdale for lunch, 102 miles from Inverness, that we
+left the coastline road, and then only for a short distance.
+
+Again at Berriedal we came to the coast, the surging, battering North
+Sea waves carving grimly every foot of the shore line. Lybster,
+Albster, and Thrumster were not even names that we had heard of
+previously, and we dashed through them at the legal limit, with only
+a glance of the eye at their quaintness and unworldliness.
+
+Caithness is the most northern county of Scotland, and its metropolis
+is Wick, where one gets the nearest approach to the midnight sun that
+can be found with civilized, modern, and up-to-date surroundings.
+
+The Scottish Automobile Club vouched for the accommodation of the
+Station Hotel, at Wick, and we had no occasion to question their
+judgment. (B. B. B., six shillings; which is cheap--though it costs
+you two shillings to stable your machine at a neighbouring garage.)
+
+From Wick to John O'Groat's is thirty-six miles, out and back. We
+were all day doing it, loafing along over a heather-strewn plain and
+lunching at the Hotel Huna (the significance of which name we forgot
+to ask.)
+
+[Illustration: Wick, Inverness and John O'Groats]
+
+This ended our run to the North, five days in all, not a very
+terrific speed or a very venturesome proceeding, but as good a test
+of one's knowledge of how to keep his machine running as can be got
+anywhere. It was a sort of rapid review of many things of which we
+had hitherto only a scrappy, fragmentary knowledge, and is a trip
+which should not be omitted from any one's grand European itinerary
+if one has the time and means of covering it.
+
+
+Part IV
+In Belgium, Holland, And Germany
+
+Chapter I
+On The Road In Flanders
+
+[Illustration: Flanders]
+
+There has been a noticeable falling off in touring in Belgium. There
+is no reason for this except the caprice of fashion, and the
+automobile and its popularizing influence will soon change all this,
+in spite of the abominable stretches of paved highroads, which here
+and there and everywhere, and most unexpectedly, crop up and shake
+one almost to pieces, besides working dire disaster to the mechanical
+parts of one's automobile. The authorities are improving things, but
+it will be some time yet before Belgium is as free from _pavé_ as is
+France.
+
+The good roads of Belgium are as good as those anywhere to be found,
+and it is only the unlooked for and distressingly frequent stretches
+of paved highway which need give any concern.
+
+The natives speak French--of a sort--here and there in Belgium, but
+they also speak Flemish and Walloon.
+
+We left Paris by the Route de Belgique, crossed the frontier at
+Givet, and made our first stop at Rethel, 193 kilometres away, where
+we passed the night, at the Hôtel de France. For a town of less than
+six thousand people Bethel is quite a metropolis. It has a grand
+establishment known as the Société d'Automobiles Bauchet, which will
+cater for any and every want of the automobilist, and has a
+half-dozen sights of first rank, from the old Hôtel Dieu to the
+bizarre doubled-up Eglise St. Nicolas and the seventeenth-century,
+wood-roofed market-house.
+
+Sorbon, four kilometres away, is the birthplace of Robert Sorbon, the
+founder of the Sorbonne at Paris, and is a classic excursion which is
+never omitted by true pilgrims who come to Rethel.
+
+Fifty-three kilometres from Rethel is Rocroi, a name which means
+little to most strangers in France. It is near the Belgian frontier
+and saw bloody doings in the Franco-Prussian war.
+
+Rocroi is a pompous little fortified place reached only by one road
+and a narrow-gauge railway--literally two streaks of iron rust--which
+penetrate up to the very doors of a pretentious Hôtel de Ville with a
+Doric façade, and not much else that is remarkable.
+
+The town has a population of but two thousand, is surrounded by
+fortifications, contains a Caserne, a Sous-Préfecture, a Prison, and
+a Palais de Justice. All this officialdom weights things down
+considerably, and, what with the prospect of the custom-house
+arrangements at Givet, and the necessity of demonstrating to an
+over-zealous _gendarme_ at Rocroi that we really had a "Certificat de
+Capacité," and that the photograph which it bore (which didn't look
+the least like us) was really ours, we were considerably angered and
+delayed on our departure the next morning, particularly as we had
+already been three days _en route_ and the frontier was still thirty
+odd kilometres away.
+
+As one passes Rocroi, Belgium and France blend themselves into an
+indistinguishable unit so far as characteristics go. Manners and
+customs here change but slowly, and the highroad must be followed
+many kilometres backward toward Paris before one gets out of the
+influence of Flemish characteristics.
+
+We finally got across the Belgium frontier at Givet, at least we got
+our _passavant_ here, though the Belgian customs formalities took place
+at Heer-Agimont, formalities which are delightfully simple, though
+evolving the payment of a fee of twelve per cent. of the declared
+value of your automobile. You get your receipt for money paid, which
+you present at the frontier station by which you leave and get it
+back again--if you have not lost your papers. If you have you might
+as well prepare to live in Belgium the rest of your life, as a friend
+of ours told us he had done, when we met him unexpectedly on a café
+terrace at Ostende a week later.
+
+There be those who are content to grovel in dark alleys, among a
+sordid picturesqueness, surrounded by a throng of garlic-sodden
+natives, rather than while their time away on the open mountainside
+or wide-spread lake or plain. All such are advised to keep away from
+Southern Belgium, the Ardennes, and the valley of the Meuse at Dinant
+and Namur.
+
+We lunched at the Hôtel des Postes at Dinant on the Meuse, and so
+lovely was the town and its environs, and the twenty-eight kilometres
+of valley road to Namur (no _pavé_ here), that it took us eight hours
+of a long summer's day to get away from Dinant and get settled down
+again for the night in the Hôtel d'Harscamp at Namur.
+
+The native declares there is nothing to equal the view from the
+fortress-height of the citadel of Namur, neither in Switzerland nor
+the Pyrenees; but though we climbed the three twisting kilometres to
+the fort, there was nothing more than a ravishing view of the
+charming river valley at our feet. The majesty of it all was in the
+imagination of the inhabitant, but all the same it was of a
+loveliness that few artists can describe in paint, few authors
+picture in words, and no kodakist reproduce satisfactorily in print.
+There is but one thing for the curious to do, and that is to go and
+see it for himself.
+
+The rest of the journey across Belgium to Brussels the writer would
+like to forget. Oh, that terrible next day! Sixty kilometres of one
+of the worst and most destructive roads, for an automobile, in
+Europe, and through a most uninteresting country. Perhaps, if the
+road had been better, the landscape might not have had so oppressive
+an effect. As it was, an automobilist journeys along the road--which
+is practically across the kingdom--his eyes glued to it, his heart in
+his mouth, and he bumps and slides over the wearying kilometres until
+he all but forgets the beauties of the Meuse now so far behind.
+Kilometre after kilometre of this vile road is paved with blocks of
+stone as big as one's head, half of which are out of place. And when
+one's automobile sinks into the holes one can but shudder. One hears
+of a road that is paved with good intentions. It does not enjoy a
+good reputation, but it can't be worse than the road from Namur to
+Brussels!
+
+We passed through what, for the want of a better and more distinctive
+name, may be called the Waterloo region; but, for the moment, we
+cared not a jot for battle-fields. Our battle with the ugly roads of
+Belgium was all-sufficient.
+
+Southey's verses are so good, though, that they are here given in
+order that the writer may arrive the quicker at Brussels and take his
+well-earned rest:
+
+  "Southward from Brussels lies the field of blood,
+  Some three hours' journey for a well-girt man;
+  A horseman who in haste pursued his road
+  Would reach it as the second hour began.
+  The way is through a forest deep and wide,
+  Extending many a mile on either side."
+
+  "No cheerful woodland this of antique trees,
+  With thickets varied and with sunny glade;
+  Look where he will, the weary traveller sees
+  One gloomy, thick impenetrable shade
+  Of tall straight trunks, which move before his sight,
+  With interchange of lines of long green light."
+
+  "Here, where the woods receding from the road
+  Have left on either hand an open space
+  For fields and gardens, and for man's abode,
+  Stands Waterloo; a little lowly place,
+  Obscure till now, when it hath risen to fame,
+  And given the victory its English name."
+
+Finally we reached Brussels, still over cobblestones, the road
+growing worse every minute, and stopped at the Grand Central Hotel,
+in the Place de la Bourse, the correspondent of the Touring Club de
+France, and the only hotel of its class which serves its _table
+d'hôte_ "_vin compris._"
+
+Brussels has ever been put down in the notebooks of conventional
+travellers as a little Paris; but this is by no means the case. It
+resembles Paris not at all, except that French francs pass current in
+its shops and the French tongue is the language of commerce and
+society.
+
+What has less frequently been remarked is that Brussels has two
+contrasting elements of life, which, lying close, one upon the other,
+strongly exaggerate the French note of it all, and make the hotels,
+cafés, restaurants, etc., take on that boulevard aspect which we
+fondly think is Parisian.
+
+French Brussels and Flemish Brussels are as distinct elements in the
+make-up of this doubleheaded city as are the ingredients of oil and
+water, and like the latter they do not mix.
+
+When one descends from the hilltop on which is modern Brussels, past
+the cathedral of Ste. Gudule, he leaves the shops, the cafés, and the
+boulevards behind him and enters the past.
+
+The small shopmen, and the men and women of the markets, all look and
+talk Flemish, and the environment is everywhere as distinctly Flemish
+as if one were standing on one of the little bridges which cross the
+waterways of Ghent or Bruges.
+
+The men and women are broad-bodied and coarse-featured,--quite
+different from the Dutch, one remarks,--and they move slowly and with
+apparent difficulty in their clumsy _sabots_ and heavy clothing. The
+houses round about are tall and slim, and mostly in that state of
+antiquity and decay which we like to think is artistic.
+
+Such is Flemish Brussels. Even in the Flemish part, the city has none
+of that winsome sympathetic air which usually surrounds a quaint
+mediæval bourg. Rather it gives one the impression that old
+traditions are all but dead and that it is mere improvidence and
+_laisser-aller_ that allows them to exist.
+
+Flemish Brussels is picturesque enough, but it is squalid, except for
+the magnificent Hôtel de Ville, which stands to-day in all the glory
+that it did when Charles V. of Spain ruled the destinies of the
+country.
+
+It was in the square in front of the Hôtel de Ville that Alva gloated
+over the flowing blood of his victims as it ran from the scaffold.
+
+The churches of Brussels, as might be supposed from the historical
+importance of the city in the past, are numerous and celebrated, at
+least they are characteristically Flemish in much of their
+belongings, though the great cathedral of Ste. Gudule itself is
+Gothic of the unmistakable French variety.
+
+Brussels, its cathedrals, its Hôtel de Ville, its Cloth Hall, and its
+Corporation or Guild Houses, and many more splendid architectural
+sites and scenes are all powerful attractions for sightseers.
+
+We went from Brussels to Ghent, forty-eight kilometres, and still
+over _pavé_. The bicyclist is better catered for, he has cinder
+side-paths almost all over Belgium and accordingly he should enjoy
+his touring in occidental and oriental Flanders even more than the
+automobilist.
+
+Ghent was one day a seaport of rank, much greater rank than that of
+to-day, for only a sort of sea-going canal-boat, a _chaland_ or a
+_caboteur_, ever comes up the canals to the wharves.
+
+Ghent is a great big town, but it does not seem in the least like a
+city in spite of its hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants. Its
+churches, its belfry, its château, and its museum are the chief
+sights for tourists--automobilists and others. We visited them all
+after lunch, which was eaten (and paid for at Paris prices) at the
+Hôtel de la Poste, and covered another forty-six kilometres of
+_pavé_, before we turned in for the night at Bruges' Hôtel du Sablon.
+There are others, but the Hôtel du Sablon at Bruges was modest in its
+price, efficient in its service, and excellent in its catering. The
+chief delicacy of the menu here is the _mossel_. One eats mussels
+_(mossels)_ in Belgium--if he will--and it's hard for one to escape
+them. They are _moules_ in France, _mossels_ in Belgium and Holland,
+and mussels in England. They are a sea food which has never tickled
+the American palate; but, after many refusals and much resentment, we
+ate them--and found them good.
+
+Bruges' sights are similar to those of Ghent, except that its belfry
+is more splendid and more famous and the Memlings of the Hôpital St.
+Jean draw crowds of art lovers to Bruges who never even stop at
+Ghent.
+
+Our little run around Belgium, a sort of willy-nilly blowing about by
+the North Sea winds, drew us next to Ostende. If there is one place
+more splendidly _chic_ than Ostende it is Monte Carlo. The palm is
+still with Monte Carlo, but, for August at any rate, Ostende, with
+its Digue, its hotels and terrace cafés and restaurants, is the very
+glass of fashion and fashionables.
+
+It was only on entering Ostende, over the last few kilometres of the
+road from Bruges, just where it borders the Slykens Canal, that we
+met anything deserving to be called a good road since leaving the
+neighbourhood of Namur. The roads of Belgium served a former
+generation very well, but _tempus fugit_, and the world advances, and
+really Belgium's highways are a disgrace to the country.
+
+The chief attraction of Ostende--after the great hotels--is its
+Digue, or Dyke, a great longdrawn-out breakwater against whose
+cemented walls pound the furies of the North Sea with such a
+virulence and force as to make one seasick even on land. "See our
+Digue and die," say the fisherfolk of Ostende,--those that have not
+been crowded out by the palace hotels,--"See our Digue and eat our
+oysters."
+
+Ostende is attractive, save on the August bank holiday, when the
+trippers come from London; then it looks like Margate or Southend so
+far as its crowds are concerned, and accordingly is frightful.
+
+One should not leave Belgium without visiting Ypres, that is if he
+wants to know what a highly respectable and thriving small city of
+Belgium is like.
+
+Ypres is typical of the best, though unfortunately, by whichever road
+you approach, you still make your way over granite blocks, none too
+well laid or cared for. The best and almost only way to avoid them is
+to take to the by-roads and trust to finding your way about. This is
+not difficult with the excellent map of the Automobile Club de
+Belgique, but it requires some ingenuity to understand the native who
+answers your inquiry in bad French and worse Walloon or Flemish.
+
+At Ypres the Hôtel de la Chatellenie will care for you and your
+automobile very well, though its garage is nothing to boast of. Both
+meals and beds are good, and the rates are cheap, something less than
+nine francs a day for birds of passage. You must pay extra for wine,
+but beer is thrown in, thick, sticky, sugary beer, but it's better
+than England's "bitter," or the lager of Rotterdam.
+
+[Illustration: Things Seen in Flanders]
+
+Ypres is full of interesting buildings, but its Hôtel de Ville and
+its Cloth Hall, with its lacelike façade, are easily the best. Ypres
+has a museum which, like most provincial museums, has some good
+things and some bad ones, a stuffed elephant, some few good pictures,
+sea-shells, the instruments which beheaded the Comte d'Egmont, and
+some wooden sculptures; variety enough to suit the most catholic
+tastes.
+
+From Ypres we continued our zigzag through Belgium, following most of
+the time dirt roads which, though not of superlative excellence, were
+an improvement on stone blocks. It took us practically all day to
+reach Antwerp, a hundred and thirty kilometres away.
+
+Belgium is everywhere quaint and curious, a sort of a cross between
+Holland and France, but more like the former than the latter in its
+mode of life, its food and drink and its industries, except perhaps
+in the country between Tournai and Liège.
+
+The country between Antwerp and Brussels affords a good general idea
+of Belgium. Its level surface presents, in rapid succession, rich
+meadows, luxuriant corn-fields, and green hedgerows, with occasional
+patches of woodland. The smallness of the fields tells amongst how
+many hands the land is divided, and prepares one for the knowledge
+that East Flanders is the most thickly peopled corner of Europe. The
+exception to this general character of the scenery is found in the
+valley of the Meuse, where the fruitful serenity of fertile meadows
+and pastoral hamlets is varied by bolder, more irregular, and move
+striking natural features. Hills and rocks, bluff headlands and
+winding valleys, with beautiful stretches of river scenery, give a
+charm to the landscape which Belgium in general does not display.
+
+The geographical description of Antwerp is as follows:
+
+Antwerp, in Flemish _Antwerpen_, the chief town of the province of
+that name, is situated in a plain 51° 13' 16" north latitude, and 2°
+3' 55" east longitude, twenty leagues from the sea, on the right bank
+of the Scheldt.
+
+The Hôtel du Grand-Laboureur was marked out for us as the automobile
+hotel of Antwerp. There was no doubt about this, when we saw the A.
+C. F., the A. C. B., and the M. C. B. signs on its façade. It is a
+very excellent establishment, but you pay extra for wine, or you
+drink beer instead.
+
+[Illustration: Antwerp Street]
+
+The sights of Antwerp are too numerous to be covered in the short
+time that was at our disposal on this occasion, but we gave some time
+to the works and shrine of the master Rubens, and the wonderful
+cathedral spire, and the Hôtel de Ville and the Guild Houses and all
+the rest, not forgetting Quentin Matsys's well. We were, however, a
+practical party, and the shipping of the great port, the gay cafés,
+and the busy life of Antwerp's marts of trade also appealed to us.
+
+Antwerp is a wonderful storehouse of many things. "It is in the
+streets of Antwerp and Brussels," said Sir Walter Scott, "that the
+eye still rests upon the forms of architecture which appear in
+pictures of the Flemish school."
+
+"This rich intermixture of towers and battlements and projecting
+windows highly sculptured produces an effect as superior to the tame
+uniformity of a modern street as the casque of the warrior exhibits
+over the slouch-brimmed beaver of a Quaker." This was true of Sir
+Walter Scott's time, and it is true to-day.
+
+
+Chapter II
+By Dykes And Windmills
+
+[Illustration: Dykes and Windmills]
+
+Holland for automobilists is a land of one hill and miles and miles
+of brick-paved roads, so well laid with tiny bricks, and so straight
+and so level that it is almost an automobilist's paradise.
+
+We had come from Belgium to Holland, from Antwerp to Breda, a little
+short of fifty kilometres, to make a round of Dutch towns by
+automobile, as we had done in the old days by the humble bicycle.
+
+Custom-house regulations are not onerous in Holland. The law says you
+must pay five per cent. duty on entering the country, or _at the
+discretion of the authorities_, bona-fide tourists will be given a
+temporary permit to "circulate" free. There are no speed limits in
+Holland, but you must not drive to the common danger. The first we
+were glad to know, the second we did not propose to do.
+
+As we passed the frontier the _douaniers_ returned to their fishing
+opposite the little _cabaret_ where we had some needed refreshment.
+It is curious what satisfaction middle-class officialdom in
+Continental Europe gets out of fishing. It is their one passion,
+apparently, if their work lies near a well-stocked stream. The _chef
+de bureau_ goes fishing, the _commissionnaire_ goes fishing, and
+everybody goes fishing. A peaceful and innocent exercise for those
+who like it, but one which is inexplicable to an outsider.
+
+Soon we are stopped at a toll-gate. The toll-gate keeper still exists
+in Holland, chiefly on private bridges. He loses a good deal of his
+monetary return, however, as he has a lazy habit of putting out a
+great wooden _sabot_ to collect the fees, he, meanwhile, fishing or
+dozing some distance away.
+
+If you are a bad shot your coin sometimes goes overboard, or being an
+automobilist, and therefore down on all impositions, you simply do
+not put any more coins in the _sabots_ and think to depend on your
+speed to take you out of any brewing trouble. This old relic of the
+middle ages is sure to decrease in Holland with the progress of the
+automobile.
+
+[Illustration: "As Far As We Go"]
+
+Holland is a beautiful country, one of Nature's daintiest creations,
+where the sun and the moon and the sky seem to take the greatest
+delight in revealing their manifold charms, where the green fields
+and the clear-cut trees and the rushing rivers and the sluggish
+canals all seem to have been put in their place to conform to an
+artistic landscape design--for, truly, Holland is a vast picture. Its
+cattle are picture cattle, its myriad windmills seem to stand as
+alluring models to attract the artist, its sunsets, the haze that
+rests over its fields, its farms, its spick and span houses, its
+costumes--all seem to belong to the paraphernalia of pictorial art.
+It is a paradise for motorists who behave themselves, and do not
+rouse the ire of the Dutchman. The regulations are exceedingly
+lenient, but the laws against fast speeding must not be disregarded,
+and the loud blowing of horns, on deserted streets in the middle of
+the night, is entirely forbidden.
+
+When tourists have scaled every peak and trodden every pass, let them
+descend once again to the lowlands and see if they cannot find
+pleasurable profit in a land whose very proximity to the borders of
+the sea gives it a character all its own. This is Holland, and this
+is the attitude with which a party of four faced it, at Breda and
+planned the tour outlined in the following pages.
+
+We stopped at Breda to take breath and to reconnoitre a little. Breda
+has a population of twenty thousand, and a good hotel, "Der Kroon,"
+which knows well how to care for automobilists. Breda to Dordrecht is
+perhaps twenty-five kilometres in a straight line, but by the
+highroad, via Gorinchem it is sixty-eight. Since there are no
+amphibious automobiles as yet, and there are no facile means of
+crossing the Hollandsch Diep, the détour must be made.
+
+A stroll round Breda, to brush up our history of the siege, a view of
+the château inside and out, including the reminders of Count Henry of
+Nassau and William III. of England, and we were on the road again by
+three in the afternoon.
+
+Dordrecht and its Hôtel Belle-Vue, on the Boomstraat saw us for
+dinner that night. The trip had been without incident, save for the
+eternal crossing of canals by high-peaked donkeytack bridges which
+demanded careful driving till you found out what was on the other
+side of the crest, and the continual dodging from one side of the
+road to the other to avoid running over children at play. Clearly
+Holland, in this respect, was not far different from other countries.
+
+Dordrecht is delightful and is as nearly canal-surrounded as
+Amsterdam or Venice, only it is not so large, and automobilists, must
+look out or they will tumble overboard when taking a sharp corner.
+
+You may eat, if you like, on the balcony of the Hôtel Belle-Vue, and
+you may watch the throng of passers-by strolling through the
+courtyard of the hotel, from one street to another, as if it were a
+public thoroughfare. The only objection to it is that you fear for
+the safety of the loose things which you left in your automobile, but
+as you pay a franc for housing it the responsibility falls on the
+proprietor. No one ever heard of anything going astray, which argues
+well for the honesty of the people of Dordrecht.
+
+The distant view of Dordrecht, with a few spotted cattle in the
+foreground, might well pass for a tableau of Cuyps, but as all Dutch
+landscapes look more or less alike, at least they all look Dutch,
+this description of Dordrecht perhaps does not define it very
+precisely.
+
+Of course Dordrecht itself is typically Dutch; one would not expect
+anything else of a place with a name like that. The tree-covered
+wharves and the typical Dutch crowds, the dog-drawn little carts and
+the "morning waker," are all there. Above all, almost in Venetian
+splendour, looms the great lone tower of the church of St. Mary, the
+Groote Kerk of the town. For six hundred years it has been a faithful
+guardian of the spiritual welfare of the people, and the ruggedness
+of its fabric has well stood the test of time, built of brick though
+it is.
+
+Dordrecht is vulgarly and colloquially known as Dordt, or Dort, and,
+as such, is referred to in history and literature in a manner, which
+often puzzles the stranger. It is one of the most ancient cities of
+Holland, and, in the middle ages, the most busy in its intercourse
+with the outside world.
+
+We left Dordrecht in the early morning, expecting to cover quickly
+the twenty-seven kilometres to Rotterdam. Ever and ever the thin
+wisps of black smoke streaked into the sky from the flat directly
+ahead, but not until we had almost plumped down on the Boompjes
+itself did things take material shapes and forms.
+
+There are many things to do and see at Rotterdam, but the great,
+ceaseless commerce of the great world-port is one of the marvels
+which is often sniffed at and ignored; yet nowhere in any port in
+Europe or America, unless it be at Antwerp, is there to be seen such
+a ship-filled river as at Rotterdam on the Maas.
+
+The Hotel Weimar on the Spanishkade, and the Maas Hotel on the
+Boompjes, cater for the automobilist at rather high prices, but in an
+intelligent fashion, except that they charge a franc for garaging
+your machine overnight. We found the same thing at Dordrecht; and in
+general this is the custom all over Holland.
+
+We left the automobile to rest a day at Rotterdam while we took a
+little trip by water, to Gouda, famed for its cheeses. It is an
+unworldly sleepy place, though its commerce in cheeses is enormous.
+Its population, when it does travel, goes mostly by boat on the Maas.
+You pay an astonishingly small sum, and you ride nearly half a day,
+from Rotterdam to Gouda, amid a mixed freight of lovable fat little
+Dutch women with gold spiral trinkets in their ears, little calves
+and cows, pigs, ducks, hens, and what not, and on the return trip
+amid a boat-load of pungent cheeses.
+
+We got back to Rotterdam for the night, having spent a tranquil,
+enjoyable day on one of the chief waterways of Holland, a foretaste
+of a projected tour yet to come, to be made by automobile boat when
+the opportunity comes.
+
+No one, not even the most naïve unsophisticated and gushing of
+travellers, has ever had the temerity to signalize Rotterdam as a
+city of celebrated art. But it is a fondly interesting place
+nevertheless, far more so indeed than many a less lively mart of
+trade.
+
+As we slowly drifted our way into the city at dusk of a long June
+evening, on board that little slow-going canal and river-craft from
+Gouda--known by so few casual travellers, but which are practically
+water stage-coaches to the native--it was very beautiful.
+
+The brilliant crimson sun-streaks latticed the western sky, the
+masts, spars, and sails of the quay-side shipping silhouetted
+themselves stereoscopically against this gleaming background, and the
+roar and grime of the city's wheels of trade blended themselves into
+a mélange which was as intoxicating to the artist and rhapsodist as
+would have been more hallowed ground.
+
+We left Rotterdam at eight-thirty on a misty morning which augured
+that we should be deluged with rain forthwith; but all signs fail in
+Holland with regard to weather, for we hardly passed the Delftsche
+Poort, the great Renaissance gateway through which one passes to
+Delft, Schiedam, The Hague, and all the well-worn place names of
+Dutch history, before a rift of sunlight streaked through the clouds
+and framed a typical Holland landscape in as golden and yellow a
+light as one might see in Venice. It was remarkable, in every sense
+of the word, and we had good weather throughout a week of days when
+storm was all around and about us.
+
+Schiedam, with its windmills, is well within sight of Rotterdam. We
+had all of us seen windmills before, but we never felt quite so
+intimately acquainted with any as with these. Don Quixote's was but a
+thing of the imagination, and Daudet's, in Provence, was but a
+dismantled, unlovely, and unromantic ruin. These windmills of
+Schiedam were very sturdy and practical things, broad of base and
+long of arm, and would work even in a fog, an ancient mariner-looking
+Dutchman with _sabots_ and peg-top trousers told us.
+
+The windmills of Holland pump water, grind corn, make cheese and
+butter, and have recently been adopted in some instances to the
+making of electricity. It has been found that with a four-winged
+mill, and the wind at a velocity of from twelve to thirty feet a
+second, four to five horsepower can be obtained with the loss of only
+fourteen per cent., caused by friction.
+
+A plant has been constructed in Holland which lights 450 lamps,
+earning about twelve per cent. interest on the capital invested. Of
+course it is necessary to keep an oil-motor to provide for windless
+days or nights and also to keep a reserve of electrical power on
+hand, but this is but another evidence of the practicality and the
+extreme cleverness of the Dutch. The cows that browse around the
+windmills of Schiedam are of the same spotted black and white variety
+that one sees on the canvasses of the Dutch painters. If you are not
+fortunate enough to see Paul Potter's great Dutch bull in the gallery
+at The Hague, you may see the same sort of thing hereabouts at any
+glance of the eye--the real living thing.
+
+From Rotterdam to Delft, all the way by the canal, allowing for the
+détour via Schiedam, is less than twenty kilometres, and the journey
+is short for any sort of an automobile that will go beyond a snail's
+pace.
+
+Visions of blue and white delftware passed through our minds as we
+entered the old town, which hardly looks as though worldly
+automobilists would be well received. Delftware there is, in
+abundance, for the delectation of the tourist and the profit of the
+curio merchant, who will sell it unblushingly as a rare old piece,
+when it was made but a year ago. If you know delftware you will know
+from the delicate colouring of the blues and whites which is old and
+which is not.
+
+Delft and Delftshaven, near Schiedam, in South Holland, have a
+sentimental interest for all descendants of the Puritans who fled to
+America in 1620. Delftshaven is an unattractive place enough to-day,
+but Delft itself is more dignified, and, in a way, takes on many of
+the attributes of a metropolis. Nearly destroyed by a fire in 1526,
+the present city has almost entirely been built up since the
+sixteenth century.
+
+The old Gothic church of the fifteenth century, one of the few
+remains of so early a date, shelters the tomb of the redoubtable Van
+Tromp, the vanquisher of the English.
+
+It was easy going along the road out of Delft and we reached The
+Hague in time for lunch at the Hôtel des Indes, where, although it is
+the leading hotel of the Dutch capital, everything is as French as it
+would be in Lyons, or at any rate in Brussels. You pay the
+astonishingly outrageous sum of five francs for housing your machine
+over night, but nothing for the time you are eating lunch. We got
+away from the gay little capital, one of the daintiest of all the
+courts of Europe, as soon as we had made a round of the stock sights
+of which the guide-books tell, not omitting, of course, the paintings
+of the Hague Gallery, the Rubens, the Van Dycks and the Holbeins.
+
+The Binnenhof drew the romanticist of our party to it by reason of
+the memories of the brothers De Witt. It is an irregular collection
+of buildings of all ages, most of them remodeled, but once the
+conglomerate residence of the Counts of Holland and the Stadtholders.
+
+The Binnenhof will interest all readers of Dumas. It was here that
+there took place the culminating scenes in the lives of the brothers
+De Witt, Cornelius and John. Dumas unquestionably manufactured much
+of his historical detail, but in the "Black Tulip" there was no
+exaggeration of the bloody incidents of the murder of these two noble
+men, who really had the welfare of Holland so much at heart.
+
+We headed down the road to the sea, by the Huis-ten-Bosch (the House
+in the Wood), the summer palace of Dutch royalty, for the Monte Carlo
+of Holland, Scheveningen. It has all the conventional marks of a
+Continental watering-place, a _plage_, a kursaale, bath houses,
+terraces, esplanades, chic hotels and restaurants, and a whole
+regiment of mushroom chairs and windshields dotting its wide expanse
+of North Sea sand.
+
+[Illustration: The Polders]
+
+In the season the inhabitants live off of the visitors, and out of
+season live on their fat like the ground-hog, and do a _little_
+fishing for profitable amusement. It is a thing to see, Scheveningen,
+but it is no place for a prolonged stay unless you are a gambler or a
+blasé boulevardier who needs bracing up with sea air.
+
+There are good hotels, if you want to linger and can stand the
+prices, the best of which is called the Palace Hotel, but we had
+another little black coffee on the gayest-looking terrace café we
+could find, and made wheel-tracks for Leyden, twenty kilometres
+distant.
+
+The distances in Holland are mere bagatelles, but there is so much
+that is strange to see, and the towns of historical interest are so
+near together, that the automobilist who covers his hundred
+kilometres a day must be a scorcher indeed.
+
+We passed the night at the Gouden-Leuw, which a Frenchman would call
+the Lion d'Or, and an Anglo-Saxon the Golden Lion. It was a most
+excellent hotel in the Breestraat, and it possessed what was called a
+garage, in reality a cubby-hole which, on a pinch, might accommodate
+two automobiles, if they were small ones.
+
+Leyden is a city of something like fifty-five thousand people. It has
+grown since the days when they chained down Bibles in its churches,
+and books in the library of its university. The chief facts that
+stand out in Leyden's history, for the visitor, are those referring
+to the exile of the Puritans here, fleeing from persecution in
+England, and before they descended upon the New World.
+
+The famous university was founded by the government as a reward for
+the splendid defence made by the city against the Spaniards in 1574.
+It was a question as to whether the city should be exempted from
+future taxation or should be endowed with a university. The citizens
+themselves chose the latter dignity.
+
+Leaving Leyden and following the flat roadway by the glimmering
+canals, which chop the _polders_, and tulip gardens off into
+checker-board squares, one reaches Haarlem, less than thirty
+kilometres away.
+
+The country was becoming more and more like what one imagines Holland
+ought to be; the whole country practically a vast, sandy, sea-girt
+land of dykes and canals, and dunes and sunken gardens.
+
+Holland has an area of about twenty thousand square miles, and
+something over five million inhabitants, with the greatest density of
+population on the coast between Amsterdam, in the north, and
+Rotterdam, in the south, and the fewest in numbers in the region
+immediately to the northward of the Zuyder-Zee.
+
+Wherever in Holland one strikes the brick roads, made from little red
+bricks standing on end, he is happy. There is no dust and there are
+no depressions in the surface which will upset the carburation and
+jar the bolts off your machine. It is an expensive way of
+road-building, one thinks, but it is highly satisfactory. Near
+Haarlem these brick roadways extend for miles into the open country
+in every direction.
+
+Haarlem is the centre of the bulb country, the gardens where are
+grown the best varieties of tulips and hyacinths known over all the
+world as "Dutch bulbs." The tulip beds of the _polders_ and sunken
+gardens of the neighbourhood of Haarlem are one of the great sights
+of Holland.
+
+Besides bulbs, Haarlem is noted for its shiphung church, and the
+pictures by Franz Hals in the local gallery. There are other good
+Hals elsewhere, but the portraits of rotund, jolly men and women of
+his day, in the Haarlem Town Hall, are unapproached by those of any
+of his contemporaries. Fat, laughing burghers, roystering,
+knickerbockered Dutchmen and _vrous_ gossiping, smoking, laughing, or
+drinking, are human documents of the time more graphic than whole
+volumes of fine writing or mere repetitions of historical fact. All
+these attributes has Haarlem's collection of paintings by Franz Hals.
+
+There are all sorts of ways of getting from Haarlem to Amsterdam, by
+train, by boat, by electric tram, or by automobile over an idyllic
+road, tree-shaded, canal-bordered, and dustless. It is sixteen
+kilometres only, and it is like running over a causeway laid out
+between villas and gardens. Nothing quite like it exists elsewhere,
+in Holland or out of it. An automobile can be very high-geared, for
+there are no hills except the donkey-back bridges over the canals.
+
+Amsterdam may properly enough be called the Venice of the North, and
+the automobilist will speedily find that an automobile boat will do
+him much better service in town than anything that runs on land.
+
+There are half a million souls in Amsterdam, and hotels of all ranks
+and prices. The Bible Hotel is as good as any, but they have no
+garage, nor indeed have any of the others. There are half a dozen
+"Grands Garages" in the city (with their signs written in French--the
+universal language of automobilism), and the hotel porter will jump
+up on the seat beside you and pilot you on your way, around sharp
+corners, over bridges, and through arcades until finally you plump
+down in as up-to-date and conveniently arranged an establishment for
+housing your machine as you will find in any land.
+
+Amsterdam's sights will occupy the visitor for a couple of days, and
+its art gallery for a day longer. We were taking only a bird's-eye
+view, or review, and stayed only over one night, not making even the
+classic excursion to those artists' haunts of Volendam, Monnikendam,
+and Marken, of which no book on Holland should fail to make mention.
+
+[Illustration: Pictures of Amsterdam]
+
+These old Dutch towns of the Zuyder-Zee are unique in all the world,
+and Amsterdam is the gateway to them. An automobile is useless for
+reaching them. The best means are those offered by existing boat and
+tram lines.
+
+For Utrecht one leaves Amsterdam via the Amstel Dyke and the
+Utrechtsche Zyde, and after forty kilometres of roadway, mostly
+brick-paved like that between Haarlem and Amsterdam, he reaches
+suburban Utrecht. Utrecht, with but a hundred thousand inhabitants,
+has suburbs, reaching out in every direction, that would do justice
+to a city five times it size. Most of Utrecht's population is
+apparently suburban, and is housed in little brick houses and villas
+with white trimmings and door-steps, a bulb garden, an iron fence,
+and a miniature canal flowing through the back yard. This is the
+formula for laying out a Utrecht suburban villa.
+
+The Het Kasteel van Antwerpen, on the Oude Gracht, is a hotel which
+treats you very well for five or six florins a day, and allows you
+also to put your automobile under roof, charging nothing for the
+service. This is worth making a note of in a country where it usually
+costs from one to five francs a night for your automobile.
+
+The chief sight of Utrecht is its cathedral, with a fine Gothic tower
+over a hundred metres in height. It is the proper thing to mount to
+its highest landing, whence one gets one of the most remarkable
+bird's-eye views imaginable. In a flat country like Holland, the
+wide-spread panoramas, taken from any artificial height, embrace an
+extent of the world's surface not elsewhere to be taken in by a
+glance of the eye. The Zuyder-Zee and the lowlands of the north
+stretch out to infinity on one side; to the east the silver-spreading
+streaks of the Waal and the Oude Rijn (later making the Rhine) lead
+off toward Germany. To the south are the green-grown prairies and
+windmill-outlined horizons of South Holland; and westward are the
+_polders_ and dunes of the region between Amsterdam and Rotterdam,
+and even a glimpse, on a clear day, of the North Sea itself.
+
+Our one long ride in Holland was from Utrecht to Nymegen, seventy-two
+kilometres. We left Utrecht after lunch and slowly made our way along
+the picture landscapes of the Holland countryside, through Hobbema
+avenues, and under the shadow of quaint Dutch church spires.
+
+One does not go to a foreign land to enjoy only the things one sees
+in cities. Hotels, restaurants, and cafés are very similar all over
+Europe, and the great shops do not vary greatly in Rotterdam from
+those in Liverpool. It is with the small things of life, the doings
+of the butcher, the baker and the candlestick-maker that the change
+comes in. In Holland the housekeeper buys her milk from a little
+dog-drawn cart and can be waked at three in the morning, without
+fail, by leaving an order the night before with the "morning waker."
+If you do not have a fire going all the time, and want just enough to
+cook your dinner with, you go out and buy a few lumps of blazing
+coals. If it is boiling water you want for your coffee, you go out
+and buy it too. Holland must be a housekeeper's paradise.
+
+Nymegen, on the Waal, cared for us for the night. On the morrow we
+were to cross the frontier and enter Germany and the road by the
+Rhine.
+
+Nymegen and its Hotel Keizer Karel, on the Keizer Karel Plain, was a
+vivid memory of what a stopping-place for the night between two
+objective points should be.
+
+The city was delightful, its tree-grown boulevards, its attractive
+cafés, the music playing in the park, and all the rest was an
+agreeable interlude, and the catering--if an echo of things
+Parisian--was good and bountiful. There was no fuss and feathers when
+we arrived or when we left, and not all the _personnel_ of the hotel,
+from the boots to the manager, were hanging around for tips. The head
+waiter and the chambermaid were in evidence; that was all. The rest
+were discreetly in the background.
+
+
+Chapter III
+On The Road By The Rhine
+
+[Illustration: Rhine]
+
+We had followed along the lower reaches of the Rhine, through the
+little land of dykes and windmills, when the idea occurred to us: why
+not make the Rhine tour _en automobile_? This, perhaps, was no new and
+unheard-of thing, but the Rhine tour is classic and should not be
+left out of any one's travelling education, even if it is
+old-fashioned.
+
+At Nymegen we saw the last of Holland and soon crossed the frontier.
+There were no restrictions then in force against the entrance of
+foreign automobiles, though we were threatened with new and stringent
+regulations soon to be put in force. (1906. A full résumé of these
+new regulations will be found in the appendix.) Legally Germany could
+demand eight marks a hundred kilos for the weight of our machine, but
+in practice all tourists were admitted free, provided one could
+convince the official that he intended to return across the frontier
+within a reasonable time.
+
+As we crossed the railway line we made our obeisance to the German
+customs authorities, saluted the black and white barber's-pole
+stripes of the frontier post, and filled up our tanks with gasoline,
+which had now assumed the name of _benzin_, instead of _benzine_, as
+in Holland.
+
+Emmerich, Cleves, Wesel, and Xanten are not tourist points, and in
+spite of the wealth of history and romance which surrounds their very
+names, they had little attraction for us. For once were going to make
+a tour of convention.
+
+It is a fairly long step from Nymegen to Düsseldorf, one hundred and
+one kilometres, but we did it between breakfast and lunch, in spite
+of the difficulty of finding our way about by roads and regulations
+which were new to us.
+
+The low, flat banks of the Rhine below Düsseldorf have much the same
+characteristics that they have in Holland, and, if the roadways are
+sometimes bad as to surface--and they are terrible in the
+neighbourhood of Crefield--they are at least flat and otherwise
+suited to speed, though legally you are held down to thirty
+kilometres an hour.
+
+You may find anything you like in the way of hotel accommodation at
+Düsseldorf, from the Park Hotel on the Cornelius Platz, at Waldorf
+prices, to the modest and characteristic little German inn by the
+name of Prince Alexanders Hof, which is as cheap as a French hotel of
+its class, and about as good.
+
+[Illustration: The Road By The Rhine]
+
+It is at Düsseldorf that one comes first into touch with the German
+institutions in all their completeness. Immediately one comes to the
+borders of the Rhine he comes into the sphere of world politics. The
+peace of Europe lies buried at the mouth of the Scheldt where the
+Rhine enters the sea, and not on the Bosphorus. "The Rhine is the
+King of Rivers," said a German politician, "and it is our fault if
+its mouth remains in the hands of foreigners." This is warlike talk,
+if you like, but if a German prince some day rises on the throne of
+Holland, there may be a new-made map of Europe which will upset all
+existing treaties and conventions.
+
+Düsseldorf is a veritable big town, for, though it shelters two
+hundred and twenty-five thousand inhabitants, it is not "citified."
+It is one of the most lovely of Rhine towns, and is the headquarters
+of the Rhenish Westphalian Automobile Club.
+
+To Cologne is thirty-seven kilometres, with the roads still
+bad,--shockingly so we found them, though we were assured that this
+is unusual and that even then they were in a state of repair. This
+was evident, and in truth they needed it.
+
+The twin Gothic splendours of Cologne's cathedral rise high in air
+long before one reaches the confines of the city. Cologne is the
+metropolis of the Rhine country, and besides its four hundred
+thousand inhabitants possesses many institutions and industries which
+other Rhine cities lack.
+
+Of hotels for automobilists at Cologne there are five, all of which
+will treat you in the real _tourist_ fashion, and charge you
+accordingly,--overcharge you in fact. We did not have time to hunt up
+what the sentimentalist of the party always called "a quaint little
+inn," and so we put into one almost under the shadow of the cathedral
+(purposely nameless).
+
+The sights of Cologne are legion. "Numerous churches, all very
+ancient" describes them well enough for an itinerary such as this;
+the guide-books must do the rest. The Kolner Automobile Club will
+supply the touring automobilist graciously and gratuitously with
+information. A good thing to know!
+
+The beer and concert gardens of Cologne's waterside are famous,
+almost as famous as the relics of the "three kings" in the cathedral.
+
+At Cologne the pictured, storied Rhine begins. A skeleton itinerary
+is given at the end of this chapter which allows some digression here
+for observations of a pertinent kind.
+
+Let the traveller not be disappointed with the first glance at the
+river as he sees it at Cologne. He is yet a few miles below the banks
+which have gained for the stream its fame for surpassing beauty, but
+higher up it justifies the rhapsodies of the poet.
+
+  "A blending of all beauties; streams and dells,
+  Fruit, foliage, crag, wood, corn-field, mountain, vine,
+  And chiefless castles breathing stern farewells
+  From gray but leafy walls, where Ruin greenly dwells.
+
+  "And there they stand, as stands a lofty mind,
+  Worn, but unstooping to the baser crowd,
+  All tenantless, save to the crannying wind,
+  Or holding dark communion with the cloud.
+  There was a day when they were young and proud,
+  Banners on high, and battles passed below:
+  But they who fought are in a bloody shroud,
+  And those which wav'd are shredless dust ere now,
+  And the bleak battlements shall bear no future blow.
+
+  "Beneath battlements, within those walls,
+  Power dwelt amidst her passions: in proud state,
+  Each robber chief upheld his armed halls,
+  Doing his evil will, nor less elate
+  Than mightier heroes of a longer date.
+  What want these outlaws conquerors should have?
+  But History's purchas'd page to call them great?
+  A wider space, an ornamented grave?
+  Their hopes were not less warm, their souls were full as brave."
+
+The scenery, the history and legend, and the wines of the Rhine make
+up the complete list of the charms of the river for the enthusiastic
+voyager on its bosom or on its banks.
+
+It is enjoyable enough when one is on the deck of a Rhine steamboat,
+or would be if one were not so fearfully crowded, but it is doubly so
+when one is travelling along its banks by roadways which, from here
+on, improve greatly.
+
+The history and legend of the Rhine are too big a subject to handle
+here, but some facts about Rhine wine, picked up on the spot, may be
+of interest.
+
+The true German is not only eloquent when speaking of the _quality_
+of the Rhine wines, but he claims for them also the honours of
+antiquity. One may be content to date their history back merely to
+the days of Probus, but others declare that Bacchus only could be the
+parent of such admirable liquor, and point to Bacharach as the
+resting-place of the deity when he came to taste the Rhine grapes,
+and set an example to all future tipplers. It would not have been out
+of place to call the Rhine the country of Bacchus. The Rhine,
+Moselle, Neckar, and Main are gardens of the vine; but the Germans
+have not been content with cultivating the banks of rivers alone, for
+the higher lands are planted as well. From Bonn to Coblenz, and from
+the latter city to Mayence, the country is covered with vineyards.
+The Johannisberger of "father" Rhine, the Gruenhauser or the
+Brauneberger of the Moselle, and the Hochheimer of the Main, each
+distinguish and hallow their respective rivers in the eyes of the
+connoisseur in wine.
+
+The vineyards of the Rhine are a scene of surpassing beauty; Erbach,
+enthroned among its vines; Johannisberg, seated on a crescent hill of
+red soil, adorned with cheering vegetation; Mittelheim, Geisenheim,
+and Rüdesheim with its strong, fine-bodied wine, the grapes from
+which bask on their promontory of rock, in the summer sun, and imbibe
+its generous heat from dawn to setting; then again, on the other
+side, Bingen, delightful, sober, majestic, with its terraces of
+vines, topped by the château of Klopp. The river and its riches, the
+corn and fruit which the vicinity produces, all remind the stranger
+of a second Canaan. The Bingerloch, the ruins, and the never-failing
+vines scattered among them, like verdant youth revelling amid age and
+decay, give a picture nowhere else exhibited, uniting to the
+joyousness of wine the sober tinge of meditative feeling. The hills
+back the picture, covered with feudal relics or monastic remains,
+mingled with the purple grape. Landscapes of greater beauty, joined
+to the luxuriance of fruitful vine culture, can nowhere be seen.
+
+The glorious season of fruition--the _Vintage_--is the time for the
+visit of a wine-lover to the Rhine. It does not take place until the
+grapes are perfectly mature; they are then carefully gathered, and
+the bad fruit picked out, and, with the stalks, put aside. The wine
+of the pressing is separated, _most vom ersten druck, vom nachdruck_.
+The more celebrated of the wines are all fermented in casks; and
+then, after being repeatedly racked, suffered to remain for years in
+large _fudders_ of 250 gallons, to acquire perfection by time. The
+wines mellow best in large vessels; hence the celebrated Heidelberg
+tun, thirty-one feet long by twenty-one high, and holding one hundred
+and fifty _fudders_, or six hundred hogsheads. Tübingen, Grüningen,
+and Königstein (the last 3,709 hogsheads) could all boast of their
+enormous tuns, in which the white wines of the country were thought
+to mellow better than in casks of less dimensions. These tuns were
+once kept carefully filled. The Germans always had the reputation of
+being good drinkers, and of taking care of the "liquor they loved."
+Misson says in his "Travels," that he formerly saw at Nuremberg the
+public cellar, two hundred and fifty paces long, and containing
+twenty thousand _ahms_ of wine.
+
+The names and birthplaces of the different German wines are
+interesting. The Liebfrauenmilch is a well-bodied wine, grown at
+Worms, and generally commands a good price. The same may be said of
+the wines of Koesterick, near Mayence; and those from Mount
+Scharlachberg are equally full-bodied and well-flavoured. Nierstein,
+Oppenheim, Laubenheim, and Gaubischeim are considered to yield first
+growths, but that of Deidesheim is held to be the best.
+
+The river Main runs up to Frankfort close to Mayence; and on its
+banks the little town of Hochheim, once the property of General
+Kellerman, stands upon an elevated spot of ground, in the full blaze
+of the sun. From Hochheim is derived the name of Hock, too often
+applied by the unknowing to all German wines. There are no trees to
+obstruct the genial fire from the sky, which the Germans deem so
+needful to render their vintages propitious. The town stands in the
+midst of vineyards.
+
+The vineyard which produces the Hochheimer of the first growth is
+about eight acres in extent, and situated on a spot well sheltered
+from the north winds. The other growths of this wine come from the
+surrounding vineyards. The whole eastern bank of the Rhine to Lorich,
+called the Rheingau, has been remarkable centuries past for its
+wines. It was once the property of the Church. Near this favoured
+spot grows the Schloss-Johannisberger, once the property of the
+Church, and also of the Prince of Orange. Johannisberg is a town,
+with its castle (schloss) on the right bank of the Rhine below Mentz.
+The Johannisberger takes the lead in the wines of the Rhine. The
+vines are grown over the vaults of the castle, and were very near
+being destroyed by General Hoche. The quantity is not large.
+
+Rüdesheim produces wines of the first Rhine growths; but the
+Steinberger, belonging to the Duke of Nassau, takes rank after the
+Schloss Johannisberger among these wines. It has the greatest
+strength, and yet is one of the most delicate, and even sweetly
+flavoured. That called the "Cabinet" is the best. The quantity made
+is small, of the first growth. Graefenberg, which was once the
+property of the Church, produces very choice wines which carries a
+price equal to the Rüdesheim.
+
+Marcobrunner is an excellent wine, of a fine flavour, especially when
+the vintage has taken place in a warm year. The vineyards of Roth and
+Königsbach grow excellent wines. The wine of Bacharach was formerly
+celebrated, but time produces revolutions in the history of wines, as
+well as in that of empires.
+
+On the whole the wines of Bischeim, Asmannshäusen, and Laubenheim are
+very pleasant wines; those of the most strength are Marcobrunner,
+Rüdesheimer, and Niersteiner, while those of Johannisberg,
+Geisenheim, and Hochheim give the most perfect delicacy and aroma.
+The Germans themselves say, "_Rhein-wein, fein wein; Necker-wein,
+lecker wein; Franken-wein tranken wein; Mosel-wein, unnosel wein_"
+(Rhine wine is good; Neckar pleasant; Frankfort bad; Moselle
+innocent).
+
+The red wines of the Rhine are not of extraordinary quality. The
+Asmannshäuser is the best, and resembles some of the growths of
+France. Near Lintz, at Neuwied, a good wine, called Blischert, is
+made. Keinigsbach, on the left bank of the Rhine, Altenahr, Rech, and
+Kesseling, yield ordinary red growths.
+
+The Moselle wines are secondary to those of the Rhine and Main. The
+most celebrated is the Brauneberger. The varieties grown near Treves
+are numerous. A Dutch merchant is said to have paid the Abbey of
+Maximinus for a variety called Gruenhauser in 1793, no less than
+eleven hundred and forty-four florins for two hundred and ninety
+English gallons in the vat. This wine was formerly styled the "Nectar
+of the Moselle."
+
+These wines are light, with a good flavour. They will not keep so
+long as the Rhine wines, but they are abundant and wholesome. Near
+Treves are grown the wines of Brauneberg, Wehlen, Graach, Zeitingen,
+and Piesport. The wines of Rinsport and Becherbach are considered of
+secondary rank. The wines of Cusel and Valdrach, near Treves, are
+thought to be possessed of diuretic properties. In about five years
+these wines reach the utmost point of perfection for drinking. They
+will not keep more than ten or twelve in prime condition.
+
+The wines called "wines of the Ahr" resemble those of the Moselle,
+except that they will keep longer.
+
+The "wines of the Neckar" are made from the best French, Hungarian,
+and even Cyprus vines. The most celebrated are those of Bessingheim.
+They are of a light red colour, not deep, and of tolerable flavour
+and bouquet.
+
+Wiesbaden grows some good wines at Schierstein, and Epstein, near
+Frankfort. The best wines of Baden are produced in the seigniory of
+Badenweiler, near Fribourg. At Heidelberg, the great tun used to be
+filled with the wine of that neighbourhood, boasted to be a hundred
+and twenty years old, but it gave the wine no advantage over other
+Neckar growths. Some good wines are produced near Baden. The red
+wines of Wangen are much esteemed in the country of Bavaria, but they
+are very ordinary. Würzburg grows the Stein and Liesten wines. The
+first is produced upon a mountain so called, and is called "wine of
+the Holy Spirit" by the Hospital of Würzburg, to which it belongs.
+The Liesten wines are produced upon Mount St. Nicholas. Straw wines
+are made in Franconia. A _vin de liqueur_, called Calmus, like the
+sweet wines of Hungary, is made in the territory of Frankfort, at
+Aschaffenburg. The best vineyards are those of Bischofsheim. Some
+wines are made in Saxony, but they are of little worth. Meissen, near
+Dresden, and Guben, produce the best. Naumberg makes some small
+wines, like the inferior Burgundies.
+
+With these pages as a general guide the touring automobilist must
+make his own itinerary. He will not always want to put up for the
+night in a large town, and will often prefer the quietness and the
+romantic picturesqueness of some little half-mountain-hidden townlet
+and its simple fare to a _table d'hôte_ meal, such as he gets at
+Cologne or Coblenz, which is simply a poor imitation of its Parisian
+namesake.
+
+The following skeleton gives the leading points.
+
+Cologne     to Bonn          (Hotel Rheinfeck)     27 Kilometres
+Bonn        to Godesberg     (Hotel Blinzer)        7     "
+Godesberg   to Andernach     (Hotel Schafer)       28     "
+Andernach   to Coblenz       (Hotel Metropole)     18     "
+Coblenz     to St. Goar      (Hotel Rheinfels)     46     "
+St. Goar    to Bingen        (Stakenburger Hof)    29     "
+Bingen      to Mayence       (Pfalzer Hof)         27     "
+Mayence     to Frankfort     (Savoy Hotel)         33     "
+Frankfort   to Worms         (Europaischer Hof)    52     "
+Worms       to Mannheim      (Pfalzer Hof)         41     "
+Mannheim    to Heidelberg    (Hotel Schrieder)     22     "
+Heidelberg  to Spire         (Pfalzer Hof)         28     "
+Spire       to Carlsruhe     (Hotel Erbprinz)      52     "
+Carlsruhe   to Baden         (Hotel Stephanie)     26     "
+Baden       to Strasburg     (Hôtel de l'Europe)   60     "
+
+Generally speaking, none of the hotels above mentioned include wine
+with meals. The trail of the tourist accounts for this. All have
+accommodation for the automobilist.
+
+[Illustration: Heidelburg and Strasburg]
+
+From Strasburg one may continue to Bagel, if he is bound Italyward
+through Switzerland, but the chief distinctive features of the Rhine
+tour end at Strasburg.
+
+From Strasburg one may enter France by St. Dié, in the Vosges, via
+the Col de Saales, the _douane_ (custom-house) station for which is
+at Nouveau Saales.
+
+The following are some of the signs and abbreviations met with in
+German hotels catering for stranger automobilists.
+
+Ohne Wein    Wine not included
+A. C. B.     Automobile Club de Belgique
+M. C. B.     Moto-Club de Belgique
+T. C. B.     Touring Club de Belgique
+T. C. N.     Touring Club Néerlandais
+A. C. F.     Automobile Club de France
+T. C. F.     Touring Club de France
+Bade-Raum    Bathroom
+Grube        Fosse or Inspection Pit
+
+THE END.
+
+
+Appendices
+
+Appendix I
+
+[Illustration: Road Warning Signs]
+
+Appendix II
+
+A SHORT ACCOUNT OF SOME FAMOUS EUROPEAN ROAD RACES AND TRIALS
+
+In December, 1893, _Le Petit Journal_ of Paris proposed a trial of
+self-propelled road-vehicles, to end with a run from Paris to Rouen.
+The distance was 133 kilometres and the first car to arrive at Rouen
+was a steam-tractor built by De Dion, Bouton et Cie, to-day perhaps
+the largest manufacturers of the ordinary gasoline-motor. A Peugot
+carriage, fitted with a Daimler engine, followed next, and then a
+Panhard. There were something like a hundred entries for this trial,
+of which one was from England and three from Germany, but most of
+them did not survive the run.
+
+On the 11th of June, 1895, was started the now historic
+Paris-Bordeaux race. Sixteen gasoline and half a dozen steam cars
+started from the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris, for the journey to
+Bordeaux and back. It was a Panhard-Levassor that arrived back in
+Paris first, but the prize was given to a Peugot which carried four
+passengers, whereas the Panhard carried but two.
+
+In the following year the new locomotion was evidently believed to
+have come to stay, for the first journal devoted to the industry and
+sport was founded in Paris, under the name of _La Locomotion
+Automobile_, soon to be followed by another called _La France
+Automobile_.
+
+In 1896 was held the Paris-Marseilles race, divided into five stages
+for the outward journey, and five stages for the homeward.
+Twenty-four gasoline-cars started, and three propelled by steam, and
+there were five gasoline-tricycles. Bolée's tandem tricycle was the
+sensation during the first stage, averaging twenty miles an hour. The
+itinerary out and back, of something like sixteen hundred kilometres,
+was covered first by a Panhard-Levassor, in sixty-seven hours,
+forty-two minutes, and fifty-eight seconds. The average speed of the
+winner was something like twenty-two kilometres an hour.
+
+In England a motor-car run was organized from London to Brighton in
+1896, including many of the vehicles which had started in the
+Paris-Marseilles race in France. The first vehicles to arrive in
+Brighton were the two Bolée tricycles; a Duryea was third, and a
+Panhard fourth.
+
+In 1897 there was a race in France, on a course laid out between
+Marseilles, Nice, and La Turbie. The struggle was principally between
+the Comte Chasseloup-Laubat in a steam-car, and M. Lemaitre in a
+Panhard, with a victory for the former, showing at least that there
+were possibilities in the steam-car which gasoline had not entirely
+surpassed.
+
+Pneumatic tires were used on the Paris-Bordeaux race in 1895, but
+solid tires were used on the winning cars in 1894, 1895, and 1896.
+
+Another affair which came off in 1897 was a race from Paris to
+Dieppe, organized by two Paris newspapers, the _Figaro_ and _Les
+Sports_.
+
+The event was won by a three-wheeled Bolée, with a De Dion second,
+and a six-horse-power Panhard third.
+
+In 1898 there took place the Paris-Amsterdam race. It was won by a
+Panhard, driven by Charron, and the distance was approximately a
+thousand miles, something like sixteen hundred kilometres.
+
+The "Tour de France" was organized by the _Matin_ in 1898. The
+distance was practically two thousand kilometres. Panhards won the
+first, second, third, and fourth places, though they were severely
+pressed by Mors.
+
+[Illustration: Evolution of the Racing Car]
+
+The first Gordon-Bennett cup race was held in 1900, between Paris and
+Lyons. The distance was not great, but the trial was in a measure
+under general road conditions, though it took on all the aspects of a
+race. It was won by Charron in a Panhard.
+
+In 1901 the Gordon-Bennett race was run from Paris to Bordeaux,
+perhaps the most ideal course in all the world for such an event. It
+was won by Girardot in a forty-horse Panhard.
+
+The Paris-Berlin race came in the same year, with Fournier as winner,
+in a Mors designed by Brazier.
+
+In 1902 the Gordon-Bennett formed a part of the Paris-Vienna
+itinerary, the finish being at Innsbruck in the Tyrol. De Knyff in a
+Panhard had victory well within his grasp when, by a misfortune in
+the parting of his transmission gear, he was beaten by Edge in the
+English Napier. Luck had something to do with it, of course, but Edge
+was a capable and experienced driver and made the most of each and
+every opportunity.
+
+Through to Vienna the race was won by Farman in a seventy-horse-power
+Panhard, though Marcel Renault in a Renault "_Voiture Legere_" was
+first to arrive.
+
+It was in 1901 that the famous Mercédès first met with road
+victories. A thirty-five-horse power Mercédès won the Nice-Salon-Nice
+event in the south of France, and again in the following year the
+Nice-La Turbie event.
+
+In the Circuit des Ardennes event in 1902, Jarrot, in a seventy-horse
+Panhard, and Gabriel in a Mors, were practically tied until the last
+round, when Jarrot finally won, having made the entire distance
+(approximately 450 kilometres) at an average speed of fifty-four and
+a half miles per hour. There were no _controles_.
+
+In 1903 the Gordon-Bennett cup race was held in Ireland, over a
+course of 368 miles, twice around a figure-eight track. Germany won
+with a Mercédès with Jenatzy at the wheel, with De Knyff in a Panhard
+only ten minutes behind.
+
+In 1903 was undertaken the disastrous Paris-Madrid road race. Between
+Versailles and Bordeaux the accidents were so numerous and terrible,
+due principally to reckless driving, that the affair was abandoned at
+Bordeaux. Gabriel in a Mors car made the astonishing average of
+sixty-two and a half miles per hour, hence may be considered the
+winner as far as Bordeaux.
+
+In 1904 the Gordon-Bennett race was run over the Taunus course in
+Germany, with Thèry the winner in a Richard-Brazier car.
+
+In 1905 Thèry again won on the Circuit d'Auvergne in the same make of
+car, making a sensational victory which--to the French at least--has
+apparently assured the automobile supremacy to France for all time.
+
+The 1906 event was the Grand Prix of the Automobile Club de France on
+the Circuit de la Sarthe. The astonishing victories of the Renault
+car driven by Szisz, which made the round of 680 kilometres in two
+days at the average rate of speed of 108 kilometres an hour, has
+elated all connected with the French automobile industry. It was a
+victory for removable rims also, as had Szisz not been able to
+replace his tattered tires almost instanteously with others already
+blown up, he would certainly have been overtaken by one or more of
+the Brazier cars, which suffered greatly from tire troubles.
+
+In 1906 another event was organized in France by the _Matin_. It was
+hardly in the nature of a race, but a trial of over six thousand
+kilometres, an extended _tour de France_.
+
+Forty-two automobiles of all ranks left the Place de la Concorde at
+Paris on the 2d of August, and thirty-three arrived at Paris on the
+28th of the same month, twenty of them without penalization of any
+sort. No such reliability trial was ever held previously, and it
+showed that the worth of the comparatively tiny eight and ten horse
+machines for the work was quite as great as that of the forty and
+sixty horse monsters.
+
+The following tables show plainly the value of this great trial.
+
+COUPE DU MATIN
+LIST OF AUTOMOBILES ENGAGED
+
+CLASS "ROUES" (SPRING WHEELS AND ANTI-SKIDS)
+1.  Antidérapant       Néron          de Deitrich
+2.      "              Vulcain I.     de Dion-Bouton
+3.      "              Vulcain II.    Corre
+33. Roues Élastiques   Soleil         Rochet-Schneider
+38.   "       "        Garchey I.     de Dion-Bouton
+39.   "       "        Garchey II.    Mieusset
+42.   "       "        E. L.          Delauney-Belleville
+
+CLASS ENDURANCE
+1st Category
+Motocyclettes, vitesse maxima, 25 kilomètres à l'heure
+35. Motocycletto       Lurquin-Coudert
+64.      "             Albatross (Motor Buchet)
+67.      "             René Gillet
+
+2d Category
+Tri-cars, vitesse maxima, 25 kilomètres à l'heure
+4. Mototri Contal I.             5. Mototri Contal II.
+
+3d Category
+Voiturette 1 cylindre, alésage maximum 110 millimètres
+6.  Fouillaron                  34. Voiturette Darracq II.
+8.  De Dion-Bouton et Cie I.    47. Voiturette Lacoste &
+9.  Darracq et Cie                    Battmann I.
+12. De Dion-Bouton et Cie II.   48. Voiturette Lacoste &
+18. Cottereau I.                      Battmann II.
+25. Voiturette Roy              49. Voiturette Lacoste &
+30. Voiturette G. R. A. R.            Battmanu III.
+                                59. Voiturette Alcyon
+
+4th Category
+Voitures 2 cylindres, alésage maximum 130 millimètres, ou
+4 cylindres, alésage maximum 85 millimètres
+10. Darracq II.                 21. Cottereau IV.
+11. Darracq                     22. Kallista I.
+13. De Dion-Bouton et Cie III.  23. Kallista II.
+15. D. Thuault                  44. Panhard et Levassor
+19. Cottereau II.               46. Corre
+20. Cottereau III.              51. X.
+
+5th Category
+Voitures 4 cylindres, alésage maximum 105 millimètres
+7.  C. V. R. I.                 43. Darracq V.
+16. De Dion-Bouton et Cie IV.   50. Herald
+17. De Dion-Bouton et Cie V.    57. Panhard
+28. Renault Frères              60. De Dion-Bouton et Cie VI.
+29. C. I. A.                    61. Bayard Clèment I.
+31. C. V. R. II.                65. Corre
+                                66. Berliet
+
+6th Category
+Voitures 4 cylindres, alésage maximum 126 millimètres
+14. Mercédès I.                 52. Mors.
+24. Scrive                      53. Mercédès II.
+26. Pilain I.                   55. Clément
+27. Pilain II.                  58. Darracq IV.
+32. C. V. R. III.               62. Bayard-Clément II.
+45. Gobron                      63. C. V. R. IV.
+                                68. Mercédès III.
+
+7th Category
+Voitures 4 cylindres, alésage maximum 140 millimètres
+86. Siddely                     37. Siddely
+                                56. Fiat
+
+Appendix III
+
+[Illustration: Route Maps for Famous Races]
+
+Appendix IV
+
+[Illustration: Average Speed of Racing Cars]
+
+Appendix V
+
+SOME FAMOUS HILL CLIMBS ABROAD
+
+ENGLAND
+
+
+Birdlip Hill.--Near Gloucester. Length, 2 miles; average gradient, 1
+in 8; steepest gradient, 1 in 7
+
+Dashwood Hill.--Near High Wycombe. Length, 1,180 yards; average
+gradient, 1 in 16; steepest gradient, 1 in 10.9.
+
+Hindhead.--Near Guildford. Length, 2 3/4 miles, rise, 520 feet;
+average gradient, 1 in 24.4; steepest gradient, 1 in 13.
+
+Porlock Hill.--North Devon. Length, 3 miles; rise, 1,365 feet;
+gradient, 1 in 6 to 1 in 8.
+
+Shap Fell.--Near Penrith. Rise, 1,886 feet, gradients, 1 in 11, 1 in
+15, 1 in 16, and 1 in 20.
+
+Snowdon.--Mountain in Wales. Steepest gradient, 1 in 7.
+
+Westerham.--Length, 2,940 feet; average gradient, 1 in 9.4.
+
+
+
+FRANCE
+
+
+Château Thierry.--Near Meaux. Length, 1,098 yards.
+
+Côte de Gaillon.--Near Rouen. The scene of the most famous hill
+climbs in France. Length, 3 kilometres, rise, 10 per cent. for the
+greater part of the distance.
+
+Côte de Laffray.--Near Grenoble. Length, 4.13 miles; gradients, 1 in
+15, 1 in 11, 1 in 10, and 1 in 8; average, 9.3 per cent; many bad
+turns.
+
+La Turbie.--A rude foot-hill climb in the Maritime Alps just back of
+Monte Carlo.
+
+Mont Ventoux.--Near Avignon. Length, 20 kilometres; rise 1,600
+metres.
+
+Mont Cenis.--Near Turin. The "climb" begins at Susa, on the Italian
+side of the mountain, at the 596 metre level, and continues for 22
+kilometres to the 2,087 metre level, a 100 h.p. Fiat climbed this in
+1905 in 19 minutes, 18 3/5 seconds.
+
+Appendix VI
+
+[Illustration: Metric System]
+
+Appendix VII
+
+THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY IN FRANCE
+
+            Number                   Value
+            of Cars     Value        Exported
+Year.       Built.      Fcs.         Fcs.
+1898        1,850      8,300,000     1,749,350
+1899        2,200     11,000,000     4,259,330
+1900        4,100     23,000,000     6,617,360
+1901        6,300     39,000,000    15,782,290
+1902        7,800     47,000,000    30,219,380
+1903       11,500     81,000,000    50,837,140
+1904       13,400    106,000,000    71,035,000
+1905       20,500    140,000,000   100,265,000
+
+
+Appendix VIII
+
+HOURS OF MOONLIGHT
+Moon  5 days old shines till  11 PM (approx.)
+ "    6  "    "    "     "    12 PM
+ "    7  "    "    "     "     1 AM
+Moon 15 days old rises at      6 PM (approx.)
+ "   16  "    "    "   "       7 PM
+ "   17  "    "    "   "       8 PM
+ "   18  "    "    "   "    9-10 PM
+
+Appendix IX
+
+[Illustration: The Length of Days]
+
+Appendix X
+
+THE TOURING CLUB DE FRANCE
+
+The Touring Club de France is the largest and most active national
+association for the promotion of touring. It is under the direct
+patronage of the President of the French Republic, and the interests
+and wants of its members are protected and provided for in a full and
+practical manner by an excellent organization, whose influence is
+felt in every part of France and the adjacent countries.
+
+The membership is over 100,000 and is steadily growing. It includes a
+very considerable body of foreign members, those from the United
+Kingdom and America alone numbering 5,000, a circumstance which may
+be accepted, perhaps, as the best possible proofs of the value of the
+advantages which the club offers to tourists from abroad visiting
+France.
+
+The annual subscription is 6 francs (5s.) for foreign members. There
+is no entrance fee and the election of candidates generally follows
+within a few days after the receipt of the application at the offices
+of the club in Paris.
+
+The club issues a number of publications specially compiled for
+cyclists, comprising: a Yearbook (Annuaire) for France divided in two
+parts (North and South) with a list of over three thousand selected
+club hotels, at which members enjoy a privileged position as to
+charges; an admirable volume of skeleton tours covering the whole of
+France, from each large centre, and by regions, and supplemented by
+some three hundred card itineraries with sketch maps; a specially
+drawn cyclist's map of France, and a monthly club gazette, all
+designed to facilitate the planning and carrying out of interesting
+tours with comfort and economy.
+
+INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES
+Fill in the application form and enclose
+it with the subscription (6 francs) to M. le Président du T. C. F.,
+65, Avenue de la Grande-Armée, Paris. _The applications of lady
+candidates should be signed by a male relative_--brother, father,
+husband--whether a member of the club or not.
+
+Notice of resignation of membership must reach the Paris office of
+the club not later than November 30th, failing which the member is
+liable for the following year's subscription. Those who join after
+October 1st are entitled to the privileges of membership until the
+close of the following year for one subscription.
+
+Post-office money orders should be made payable to M. le Trésorier du
+T. C. F., 65, Avenue de la Grande-Armée, Paris, France.
+
+The addresses of the representatives of the Touring Club de France in
+England and America are as follows; further information concerning
+this admirable institution for _all travellers_ whether by train,
+bicycle, or automobile will be gladly furnished. They can also supply
+forms for application for membership.
+
+DELEGATES
+New York City     Ch. Dien       38-40 West 33d St.
+Boston            F. Hesseltine  10 Tremont St.
+Washington        H. Lazard      1453 Massachusetts Ave.
+London            C. F. Just     17 Victoria St. S. W.
+Edinburgh         Dr. D. Turner  37 George Square.
+Dublin            G. Fottereil   46 Fleet St.
+
+Appendix XI
+
+MOTOR-CAR REGULATIONS AND CUSTOMS DUTIES IN EUROPE
+
+GREAT BRITAIN
+
+Certain regulations are compulsory even for tourists. You may obtain
+a license to drive a motor-car in Britain if you are over seventeen
+years of age (renewable every twelve months) at a cost of five
+shillings.
+
+You must register your motor-car at the County or Borough Council
+offices where you reside, fee £1.0.0. You must pay a yearly "male
+servant" tax of fifteen shillings for your chauffeur. In case of
+accident, en route, you must stop and, if required, give your name
+and address, also name and address of the owner of the car and the
+car number.
+
+Every car must bear two number plates (the number is assigned you on
+registration), one front and one rear. The latter must be lighted at
+night.
+
+Speed limit is twenty miles an hour except where notice is posted to
+the effect that ten miles an hour only is allowed, or that some
+particular road is forbidden to automobiles.
+
+In England one's car can be registered at any port on arrival, or, by
+letter addressed to any licensing authority, before arrival. The
+regulation as to driving licenses is as follows:
+
+"If any person applies to the Council of a county or county borough
+for the grant of a license and the Council are satisfied that he has
+no residence in the United Kingdom, the Council shall, if the
+applicant is otherwise entitled, grant him a license, notwithstanding
+that he is not resident within their county or county borough."
+
+As regards the Inland Revenue Carriage License, however, it may be
+noted that twenty-one days' grace is allowed--in other words, that
+licenses must be obtained within twenty-one days after first becoming
+liable to the duty.
+
+There are no customs duties on automobiles entering Great Britain.
+
+
+FRANCE
+CERTIFICAT DE CAPACITé AND RéCéPISSé DE DéCLARATION
+
+Before taking an automobile upon the road in France all drivers must
+procure the Certificat de Capacité, commonly known as the "Carte
+Rouge."
+
+The following letter should be addressed to the nearest préfecture,
+or sous-préfecture, written on stamped paper (papier timbré, 60
+centimes) and accompanied by two miniature photographs.
+
+"Monsieur:--J'ai l'honneur de vous demander de me faire convoquer
+pour subir l'examen nécessaire à l'obtention d'un certificat de
+capacité pour la conduite d'une voiture... (indiquer la marque) mue
+par un moteur à petrole.
+
+"Veuillez agréer, etc."
+
+[Illustration: Certificat de Capacite]
+
+At the same time another letter should be addressed to the same
+authority requesting a Récépissé de Déclaration. These applications
+must be quite separate and distinct; each on its own papier timbre,
+which you buy at any bureau de tabac.
+
+"Monsieur Le Préfet:--Je soussigné ... (nom, prénom, domicile)
+propriétaire d'une voiture automobile actionnée par un moteur à
+pétrole système (type et numéro du type), ai l'honneur de vous
+demander un permis de circulation.
+
+"Vous trouverez sons ce pli le procès-verbal de réception délivré par
+le constructeur.
+
+"Veuillez agréer, etc."
+
+[Illustration: Recepisse de Declaration]
+
+NAMES OF ARRONDISSEMENTS AND DISTINGUISHING LETTERS BORNE BY
+AUTOMOBILES IN FRANCE
+
+Alais,                        A
+Arras,                        R
+Bordeaux,                     B
+Chalon-sur-Saône,             C
+Chambéry,                     H
+Clermont-Ferrand,             F
+Douai,                        D
+Le Mans,                      L
+Marseille,                    M
+Nancy,                        N
+Poitiers,                     P
+Rouen,                        Y ou Z
+Saint-Etienne,                S
+Toulouse,                     T
+Paris,                        E, G, I, U, X
+
+CUSTOMS DUTIES IN FRANCE.
+
+Fifty francs per 100 kilos on all motor vehicles weighing more than
+125 kilos. Automobiles (including motor-cycles) weighing less than
+125 kilos pay a flat rate of 120 francs.
+
+Members of most cycling touring clubs can arrange for the entry of
+motor-cycles free of duty.
+
+All customs duties paid, in France may be reimbursed upon the
+exportation of the automobile. The formalities are very simple.
+Inquire at burèau of entry.
+
+
+BELGIUM
+
+Customs Dues. 12 1/2 per cent. ad valorem (owners' declaration as to
+value), but the authorities reserve the right to purchase at owners
+valuation if they think it undervalued. This is supposed to prevent
+fraud, and no doubt it does.
+
+A driving certificate is not required of tourists, but a registered
+number must be carried. Plates and a permit are supplied at the
+frontier station by which one enters, or they may be obtained at
+Brussels from the chef de police.
+
+Speed limit: 30 kilometres per hour in the open country and 10
+kilometres per hour in the towns, except, generally speaking, the
+larger cities hold down the speed to that of a trotting horse.
+
+
+HOLLAND
+
+Customs Dues are five per cent, ad valorem, but in practice nothing
+is demanded of genuine tourists and a permit is now given (1906) for
+eight days with a right of extension for a similar period.
+
+Foreign number plates, once recorded by the Dutch customs officials,
+will supplant the need of local number plates.
+
+
+SWITZERLAND
+
+Customs Dues are 60 francs per 100 kilos. This amount, deposited on
+entering the country, will be refunded upon leaving and complying
+with the formalities.
+
+Legally a driving and "circulation" permit may be demanded, but often
+this is waived.
+
+In the Canton Valais only the main road from St. Maurice to Brigue is
+open for automobile traffic. Many other roads are entirely closed.
+
+N.B. Traffic regulations in many parts are exceedingly onerous and
+often unfair to foreigners.
+
+A recent conference of the different cantons has been held at Berne
+to consider the question of automobile traffic in the country. It was
+decided to fix a blue sign on the roads where motorists must slacken
+speed, and a yellow sign where motoring is not allowed. The
+Department of the Interior was deputed to draw up a uniform code of
+rules for the guidance of police deputed to take charge of the roads.
+No decision was arrived at as regards uniformity in fines for
+infraction of the regulations, but steps are to be taken to put an
+end to the abuses to which it is alleged the police have subjected
+motorists. A resolution was furthermore adopted to the effect that no
+road is to be closed to motor-cars without an agreement between the
+authorities of all the cantons concerned, and that all foreign
+motorists shall be given a copy of the regulations on entering the
+country.
+
+The above information is given here that no one may be unduly
+frightened, but there is no question but that Switzerland has not
+been so hospitable to automobile tourists as to other classes.
+
+The Simplon Pass, under certain restrictions has recently been opened
+to automobiles. Open from June 1st to October 15th, except on
+Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, but no departure can be made from
+either Brigue or Gondo after three P. M. Apply for pass at the
+Gendarmerie. Speed 10 kilometres on the open road, and 3 kilometres
+on curves and in tunnels.
+
+
+ITALY
+
+Customs Dues are according to weight.
+500 kilos           200 fcs.
+500-1000 kilos      400 fcs.
+above 1000 kilos    600 fcs.
+motor cycles        42  fcs.
+
+A certificate for importation temporaire is given by the customs
+officers on entering, and the same must be given up on leaving the
+country, when the sum deposited will be reimbursed.
+
+Since January 8, 1905, a driving certificate is compulsory, but the
+authorities will issue same readily to tourists against foreign
+certificates or licenses.
+
+Speed during the day must be limited to 40 kilometres an hour in the
+open country and 12 kilometres in the towns.
+
+At night the speed (legally) may not exceed 15 kilometres an hour.
+Lamps white on the right, green on the left. There are special
+regulations for Florence.
+
+
+LUXEMBOURG
+
+Customs Dues.--One hundred and fifty marks per automobile. A pièce
+d'identité will be given the applicant on entering, and upon giving
+this up on leaving the duties will be reimbursed.
+
+German, French, and Belgian coins all pass current (except bronze
+money).
+
+
+GERMANY
+
+Customs Dues.--Temporary importation by tourists 150 marks per auto.
+Oil and gasoline in the tanks also pay duty under certain rulings. A
+small matter, this, anyway.
+
+According to recent regulations tourists are permitted to introduce
+motor-vehicles into Germany for a temporary visit, free of customs
+duty, but it has been left to the discretion of the official to give
+motorists the benefit of this arrangement, or to charge the ordinary
+duty, with the result that some have had to make a deposit, and
+others have succeeded in passing their cars into the country free.
+
+Uniform driving or tax regulations are wanting in Germany, but
+something definite is evidently forthcoming from the authorities
+shortly (1906-7), with, the probability that even visitors will have
+to pay a revenue tax.
+
+Rule of the road is keep to the right and pass on the left, as in
+most Continental countries.
+
+Speed limits, during darkness, or in populous districts, vary from 9
+to 15 kilometres per hour, but "driving to the common danger" is the
+only other cause which will prevent one making any speed he likes in
+the open country.
+
+Foreigners should apply to the police authorities immediately on
+having entered the country for information as to new rules and
+regulations.
+
+
+SPAIN
+
+Customs Dues vary greatly on automobiles. The motor pays 18 francs,
+50 centimes per hundred kilos., and the carrosserie according to its
+form or design. Ordinary tonneau type four places, 1,000 pesetas. For
+temporary importation receipts are given which will enable one to be
+reimbursed upon exportation of the vehicle. In general the road
+regulations of France apply to Spain.
+
+Speed limit, 28 kilometres per hour in open country down to 12
+kilometres in the towns.
+
+A circulation permit and driving certificate should be obtained.
+
+M. J. Lafitte, 8 Place de la Liberté, Biarritz, can "put one through"
+(at an appropriate fee), in a manner hardly possible for one to
+accomplish alone.
+
+A special "free-entry" permit is sometimes given for short periods.
+
+Appendix XII
+
+Some Notes On Map--Making
+
+The most fascinating maps for tried traveller are the wonderful
+Cartes d'Etat Major and of Ministre de l'Intérieur in France. The
+Ordnance Survey maps in England are somewhat of an approach thereto,
+but they are in no way as interesting to study.
+
+One must have a good eye for distances and the lay of the land, and a
+familiarity with the conventional signs of map-makers, in order to
+get full value from these excellent French maps, but the close
+contemplation of them will show many features which might well be
+incorporated into the ordinary maps of commerce.
+
+The great national roads are distinctly marked with little dots
+beside the road, representing the tree-bordered "Routes Nationales,"
+but often there is a cut-off of equally good road between two points
+on one's itinerary which of course is not indicated in any special
+manner. For this reason alone these excellent maps are not wholly to
+be recommended to the automobilist who is covering new ground. For
+him it is much better that he should stick to the maps issued by the
+Touring Club de France or the cheaper, more legible, and even more
+useful Cartes Taride.
+
+In England, as an alternative to the Ordnance Survey maps, there are
+Bartholemew's coloured maps, two miles to the inch, and the Half Inch
+Map of England and Wales.
+
+Belgium is well covered by the excellent "Carte de Belgique" of the
+Automobile Club de Belgique, Italy by the maps of the Italian Touring
+Club, and Germany by the ingenious profile map known as
+"Strassenprofilkarten," rather difficult to read by the uninitiated.
+
+One of the great works of the omnific Touring Club de France is the
+preparation of what might be called pictorial inventories of the
+historical monuments and natural curiosities of France made on the
+large-scale maps of the Etat Major. Primarily these are intended to
+be filed away in their wonderful "Bibliothèque," that all and sundry
+who come may read, but it is also further planned that they shall be
+displayed locally in hotels, automobile clubs, and the like. The mode
+of procedure is astonishingly simple. These detailed maps of the War
+Department are simply cut into strips and mounted consecutively, and
+the "sights" marked on the margin (with appropriate notes) after the
+manner of the example here given.
+
+There seems no reason why one could not make up his own maps
+beforehand in a similar fashion, of any particular region or
+itinerary that he proposed to "do" thoroughly. One misses a great
+deal en route that is not marked clearly on the map before his eyes.
+
+Appendix XIII
+
+A List Of European Map And Road Books
+
+Great Britain and Ireland
+
+The Contour Road Books
+
+Vol. I. North England, including part of Wales.
+Vol. II. West England
+Vol. III. Southeastern England.
+
+Very useful books, including about five hundred maps and plans,
+showing gradients and road profiles.
+
+Bartholemew's Revised Map of England and Wales.--Complete in 87
+sheets, 2 miles to the inch.
+
+Half Inch Map of England, Wales, and Scotland.--Published by Gall and
+Inglis (Edinburgh). Complete in 47 sheets (England and Wales).
+
+"Strip" Maps.--Published by Gall and Inglis (Edinburgh); 2 miles to
+the inch.
+
+1.  Edinburgh to Inverness.
+2.  Inverness to John O'Groat's.
+3.  "Brighton Road," London to Brighton; "Portsmouth Road," London to
+Portsmouth.
+4.  "Southampton Road," London to Bournemouth.
+5.  "Exeter Road," London to Exeter.
+6.  "Bath Road," London to Bristol.
+10. "Great North Road," in two parts: London to York, Leeds, or
+Harrogate; York to Edinburgh.
+15. "Land's End Road," Bristol to Land's End.
+16. "Worcester Road," Bristol to Birmingham, Worcester to Lancashire.
+18.  The North Wales Road: Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham to
+Holyhead.
+19.  London to Birmingham, Manchester, and Liverpool.
+20. "Great North Road," Edinburgh to York.
+21. "Carlisle Road," Edinburgh to Lancashire.
+28. "Highland Road," Edinburgh to Inverness.
+28. "John O'Groat's Road," Inverness to Caithness. Excellent for
+tours over a straightaway itinerary.
+
+
+The Cyclist's Touring Club Road Books
+Vol. I. deals with the Southern and Southwestern Counties south of
+the main road from London to Bath and Bristol.
+Vol. II. embraces the Eastern and Midland Counties, including the
+whole of Wales.
+Vol. III. covers the remainder of England to the Scottish Border.
+Vol. IV. includes the whole of Scotland.
+Vol. V. Southern Ireland, deals with the country south of the main
+road from Dublin to Galway.
+Vol. VI., Northern Ireland, deals with the country north of the main
+road froth Dublin to Galway.
+
+
+Ordnance Survey Map of England and Wales.--New series, complete in
+354 sheets, 21 x 16 inches. One mile to the inch.
+Bartholemew's Map of Scotland.--Complete in 29 sheets, 2 miles to the
+inch.
+
+
+IRELAND
+Mecredy's Road Maps
+
+1. Dublin and Wicklow.
+2. Kerry.
+3. Donegal.
+4. Connemara.
+5. Down.
+6. East Central Ireland.
+
+
+Mecredy's Road Book
+2 Volumes
+
+Vol.  I. South of Dublin and Galway.
+Vol. II. North of Dublin and Galway.
+
+
+The Continental Road Book for Great Britain--Published by the
+Continental Gutta-Percha Co. Excellent information on British roads,
+distances, hotels, etc., with a general map.
+
+The Automobile Hand Book.--The official year book Automobile Club of
+Great Britain and Ireland. Contains all the "official" information
+concerning automobileism in Britain. Rules and regulations,
+statistics, a few routes and plans of the large towns, and a list of
+"official" hotels, repairers, etc.
+
+
+Continental Maps and Road Books
+
+FRANCE
+Cartes Taride.--Excellent road maps of all France in 25 sheets can be
+had everywhere, mounted on paper at 1 franc, cloth 2 fcs. 50
+centimes. All good roads marked in red; dangerous hills are marked,
+also railways. Kilometres are also given between towns en route. The
+most useful and readable maps published of any country. A. Taride, 20
+Boulevard St. Denis, Paris, also publishes The Rhine, North and South
+Italy, and Switzerland, each at the same price.
+
+Guide Taride (Les Routes de France).--4,000 itineraries throughout
+France and 150 itineraries from Paris to foreign cities and towns.
+Contains notes as to nature of roads, kilometric distances, etc.
+
+L'Annuaire de Route.--The year book of the Automobile Club de France
+contains hotel, garage, and mècanicien list, charging-stations for
+electric apparatus and vendors of gasoline.
+
+C. T. C. Road Book of France (in English).--Two volumes of road
+itineraries and notes.
+
+Cartes de l'Etat Major.--Published by the Service Géographique de
+l'Armée and sold or furnished by all booksellers. Can best be
+procured through the Touring Club de France, 65 Ave. de la Grande
+Armée, Paris. Scale 1-80,000, 30 centimes per sheet. Another scale
+1-50,000.
+
+Carte de la Ministre d'Intérieur.--Scale 1-100,000 and 1-80,000.
+Printed in three colours.
+
+Carte de France au 200,000 cq.--Published by the Service Géographiqué
+and reproduced from the 1-80,000 carte by photolithography. Useful,
+but not so clear as the original.
+
+Cartes du Touring Club de France.--Scale 1-400,000. Indicating all
+routes with remarks as to their surfaces, hills, culverts, railway
+crossings, etc. Printed in five colours. 15 sheets, 63 x 90 cm. These
+cartes lap over somewhat into Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Spain, and
+are very good.
+
+Le Guide-Michelin--Issued by Michelin et Cie, the tire manufacturers.
+The most handy and useful hotel and mécanicien list, with kilometric
+distances between French towns and cities. Many miniature plans of
+towns and large map of France.
+
+Guide-Routiere Continental.--Issued by the manufacturers of
+Continental tires. Gives plans of towns and cities, detailed
+itineraries and hotel lists, etc., throughout France. Equally useful
+as the Guide-Michelin, but more bulky.
+
+La Carte Bécherel.--Reproduced from that of the Etat Major 1-200,000.
+Price 2 fcs., 50c.
+
+Cartes de Dion--Excellent four-colour maps of certain sections
+environing the great cities. Published and sold by De Dion, Bouton et
+Cie.
+
+Sur Route (Atlas-Guide de Poche pour Cyclistes et Automobilists).
+--Published by Hatchette & Cie, 3 fcs., 50c. A most useful condensed
+and abbreviated gazetteer of France, with a series of handy
+four-colour maps showing main roads sufficiently clearly for real use
+as an automobile route-book.
+
+Annuaire Général du Touring Club de France--Hotel list, mécaniciens,
+etc., and prices of same throughout France.
+
+The Touring Club de France also issues an Annuaire pour l'Etranger,
+containing similar information of the neighbouring countries.
+
+Guides-Joanne.--The most perfectly compiled series of guidebooks in
+any language. The late editions of Normandie, Bretagne, etc., have
+miniature profile road maps and much other information of interest
+and value to automobile tourists. Seventeen volumes, covering France,
+Algeria, and Corsica.
+
+
+ITALY
+The Touring Club Italiano issues a series of five excellent maps
+covering the whole of Italy.
+
+1. Lombardia, Piemonte, and Ligurie.
+2. Veneto.
+3. Central Italy.
+4. Southern Italy.
+5. Calabria and Sicily.
+
+
+Strade di Grande-Comunicazione--Italia--(Main Roads of Italy). An
+excellent profile road book of all of Italy; miniature plans of all
+cities and large towns, with gradients of roads, population, etc.
+
+Carte Taride--Italie, Section Nord.--Published by A. Taride, 20 Bvd.
+St. Denis, Paris. Comprises Aoste, Bologne, Come, Florence, Livourne,
+Milan, Nice, Padoua, Parma, Pise, Sienne, Trente, Turin, Venise. 1
+fc. on paper, 2 fcs., 50c. cloth.
+
+Carte Taride--Italie, Section Centrale.--Uniform with above.
+
+
+SWITZERLAND
+Carte Routière.--Published by the Touring Club de Suisse; is issued
+in four sheets.
+
+L'Annuaire de Route.--Published by the Automobile Club de Suisse;
+contains a small-scale road map, hotel list, etc.
+
+Cyclist's Touring Club (London) Road Book for South and Central
+Europe includes Switzerland.
+
+Carte Taride pour la Suisse.--A continuation of the excellent series
+of Cartes Tarides (Paris, 30 Bvd. St. Denis) 1 fc., 50c. paper, 3
+fcs. on cloth.
+
+
+BELGIUM
+The Cartes Tarides (Paris, A. Taride, 20 Boulevard St. Denis) include
+Belgium under the Nos. 1 and 1 Bis.
+
+Cyclist's Touring Club (London) Road Book for Northern and Central
+Europe includes Belgium.
+
+Carte de Belgique, issued by the Touring Club de Belgique, covers all
+of Belgium in one sheet.
+
+Guide-Michelin pour la Belgique, Hollande, et aux Bords du Rhin
+contains Belgian hotel-list, plans of towns, etc.
+
+
+HOLLAND
+Road Atlas--Published by the Touring Club of Holland, which also
+issues many detailed road and route books for the Pays Bas.
+
+Cyclists Touring Club (London) Road Book for North and Central Europe
+includes Holland.
+
+Guide-Michelin pour La Belgique includes Holland, Luxembourg, and the
+Banks of the Rhine, with information after the same manner as in the
+"Guide-Michelin" for France.
+
+Afstandskaart van Nederland.--An admirable road map of all Holland in
+two sheets, showing also all canals and waterway.
+
+
+GERMANY
+
+Ravenstein's Road Maps of Central Europe. Scale about 4 miles to the
+inch.
+
+Taride's Bord du Rhin.--Excellent maps in three colours, main routes
+in red, with kilometric distances, towns, and picturesque sites
+clearly marked.
+
+Ravenstein's Road Book for Germany.--Two vols., North and South
+Germany.
+
+Cyclist's Touring Club (London) Road Book for Germany.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AUTOMOBILIST ABROAD***
+
+
+******* This file should be named 26030-8.txt or 26030-8.zip *******
+
+
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/6/0/3/26030
+
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://www.gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit:
+https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
diff --git a/26030-8.zip b/26030-8.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..339c0bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-8.zip
diff --git a/26030-h.zip b/26030-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a987741
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h.zip
diff --git a/26030-h/26030-h.htm b/26030-h/26030-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1f99349
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/26030-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,9827 @@
+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
+<html>
+<head>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Automobilist Abroad, by M. F. (Milburg Francisco) Mansfield</title>
+<style type="text/css">
+   body  {background:#fdfdfd;
+          color:black;
+          font-family: "Times-Roman", serif;
+          margin-top:100px;
+          margin-left:10%;
+          margin-right:10%;
+          text-align:justify; }
+   hr.narrow { width: 40%; }
+
+   blockquote   { font-size: small; }
+   blockquote.med   { font-size: medium; }
+   p {text-indent: 4%; }
+   p.noindent { text-indent: 0%; }
+   .xs       {font-size: x-small; }
+   a:link    {color:#0000ff;
+              text-decoration:none; }
+   link      {color:#0000ff;
+              text-decoration:none; }
+   a:visited {color:#0000ff;
+              text-decoration:none; }
+   a:hover   {color:#ff0000;
+              text-decoration: underline; }
+    hr.full { width: 100%;
+             height: 5px; }
+	pre		{font-size: 85%; }
+</style>
+</head>
+<body>
+<h1 align="center">The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Automobilist Abroad, by M. F. (Milburg
+Francisco) Mansfield, Illustrated by Blanche McManus</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: The Automobilist Abroad</p>
+<p>Author: M. F. (Milburg Francisco) Mansfield</p>
+<p>Release Date: July 11, 2008  [eBook #26030]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AUTOMOBILIST ABROAD***</p>
+<br><br><center><h3>E-text prepared by Jeff Bennett</h3></center><br><br>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" noshade>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<center>
+<h1>The Automobilist Abroad</h1>
+
+<h2>By Francis Miltoun</h2>
+
+<h4>Author of "Rambles in Normandy," "Rambles in Brittany," "Rambles on the Riviera,"<br>
+"The Cathedrals of Northern France," "The Cathedrals of Southern France,"<br>
+"The Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine," etc.
+<br>
+<br>
+<i>With many illustrations from photographs, decorations, maps and plans</i></h4>
+
+<h3>By Blanche McManus</h3>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<h4>L.C. Page &amp; Company<br>
+Boston MDCCCCVII</h4>
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<hr class="narrow">
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<h3>Preface</h3>
+</center>
+
+<p><i>The general plan of this book is not original. It tells of some
+experiences not altogether new, and contains observations and facts
+that have been noted by other writers; but the author hopes that,
+from the viewpoint of an automobilist at least, its novelty will
+serve as a recommendation. As a pastime automobile touring is still
+new and is not yet accomplished without some considerable annoyance
+and friction. The conventional guides are of little assistance; and
+the more descriptive works on travel fail too often to note the
+continually changing conditions which affect the tourist alike by
+road and rail.</i></p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Picture1.jpg">
+<img src="images/Picture1.jpg" alt="Hotel Bellevue les Andelys"
+height=400 border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>Hotel Bellevue les Andelys</b>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center>
+<h3>Contents</h3>
+
+<table cellpadding="2">
+  <tr><td align="left"><b>Part 1</b></td><td><b>General Information&mdash;The Grand Tour</b></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Chapter 1&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#1-1">An Appreciation Of The Automobile</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Chapter 2&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#1-2">Travel Talk</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Chapter 3&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#1-3">Roads And Routes</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Chapter 4&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#1-4">Hotels And Things</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Chapter 5&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#1-5">The Grand Tour</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="left"><b>Part 2</b></td><td><b>Touring In France</b></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Chapter 1&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#2-1">Down Through Touraine: Paris To Bourdeaux</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Chapter 2&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#2-2">A Little Tour In The Pyrenees</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Chapter 3&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#2-3">In Languedoc And Old Provence</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Chapter 4&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#2-4">By Rh&ocirc;ne And Sa&ocirc;ne</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Chapter 5&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#2-5">By Seine And Oise&mdash;A Cruise In A Canot-Automobile</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Chapter 6&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#2-6">The Road To The North</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="left"><b>Part 3</b></td><td><b>On Britain's Roads</b></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Chapter 1&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#3-1">The Bath Road</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Chapter 2&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#3-2">The South Coast</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Chapter 3&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#3-3">Land's End To John O'Groats</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="left"><b>Part 4</b></td><td><b>In Belgium, Holland, And Germany</b></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Chapter 1&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#4-1">On The Road To Flanders</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Chapter 2&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#4-2">By Dykes And Windmills</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Chapter 3&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#4-3">On The Road By The Rhine</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="left"><b>Appendices</b></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Appendice 1&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#5-1">Warning Road Signs</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Appendice 2&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#5-2">A Short Account Of Some Famous European Road Races And Trials</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Appendice 3&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#5-3">Route Maps Of Three Great European Events</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Appendice 4&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#5-4">Increase In Average Speed In Automobile Events Of The Last Five Years</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Appendice 5&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#5-5">Some Famous Hill Climbs Abroad</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Appendice 7&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#5-7">The Automobike Industry In France</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Appendice 8&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#5-8">Hours Of Moonlight</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Appendice 9&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#5-9">The Length Of Days</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Appendice 10&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#5-10">The Touring Club De France</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Appendice 11&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#5-11">Motor Car Regulations And Customs Duties In Europe</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Appendice 12&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#5-12">Some Notes On Map-Making</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="right">Appendice 13&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#5-13">A List Of European Map And Road Books</a></td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="left"><b>Index</b></td></tr>
+</table>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<a name="1-1"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center>
+<h3>Part I<br>
+General Information&mdash;The Grand Tour</h3>
+<br>
+<h3>Chapter I</h3>
+<h3>An Appreciation of the Automobile</h3>
+<br>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Appreciation.png">
+<img src="images/Appreciation.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>We have progressed appreciably beyond the days of the old horseless
+carriage, which, it will be remembered, retained even the dashboard.</p>
+
+<p>To-day the modern automobile somewhat resembles, in its outlines,
+across between a decapod locomotive and a steam fire-engine, or at
+least something concerning the artistic appearance of which the
+layman has very grave doubts.</p>
+
+<p>The control of a restive horse, a cranky boat, or even a trolley-car
+on rails is difficult enough for the inexperienced, and there are
+many who would quail before making the attempt; but to the novice in
+charge of an automobile, some serious damage is likely enough to
+occur within an incredibly short space of time, particularly if he
+does not take into account the tremendous force and power which he
+controls merely by the moving of a tiny lever, or by the depressing
+of a pedal.</p>
+
+<p>Any one interested in automobiles should know something of the
+literature of the subject, which, during the last decade, has already
+become formidable.</p>
+
+<p>In English the literature of the automobile begins with Mr. Worby
+Beaumont's Cantor Lectures (1895), and the pamphlet by Mr. R. Jenkins
+on "Power Locomotion on the Highways," published in 1896.</p>
+
+<p>In the library of the Patent Office in London the literature of motor
+road vehicles already fills many shelves. The catalogue is
+interesting as showing the early hopes that inventors had in
+connection with steam as a motive power for light road vehicles, and
+will be of value to all who are interested in the history of the
+movement or the progress made in motor-car design.</p>
+
+<p>In France the Biblioth&egrave;que of the Touring Club de France contains a
+hundred entries under the caption "Automobiles," besides complete
+files of eleven leading journals devoted to that industry. With these
+two sources of information at hand, and aided by the records of the
+Automobile Club de France and the Automobile Club of Great Britain
+and Ireland, the present-day historian of the automobile will find
+the subject well within his grasp.</p>
+
+<p>There are those who doubt the utility of the automobile, as there
+have been scoffers at most new things under the sun; and there have
+been critics who have derided it for its "seven deadly sins," as
+there have been others who have praised its "Christian graces." The
+parodist who wrote the following newspaper quatrain was no enemy of
+the automobile in spite of his cynicism.</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="noindent">"A look of anguish underneath the car,<br>
+Another start; a squeak, a grunt, a jar!<br>
+The Aspiration pipe is working loose!<br>
+The vapour can't get out! And there you are!"</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">"Strange is it not, that of the myriads who<br>
+Have Empty Tanks and know not what to do,<br>
+Not one will tell of it when he Returns.<br>
+As for Ourselves, why, we deny it, too."</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>The one perfectly happy man in an automobile is he who
+drives, steers, or "runs the thing," even though he be merely
+the hired chauffeur. For proof of this one has only to note how
+readily others volunteer to "spell him a bit," as the saying goes.
+Change of scene and the exhilaration of a swift rush through space
+are all very well for friends in the <i>tonneau</i>, but for real "pleasure"
+one must be the driver. Not even the manifold responsibilities of the
+post will mar one's enjoyment, and there is always a supreme
+satisfaction in keeping one's engine running smoothly.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing to watch but the road," is the general motto for the
+automobile manufacturer, but the enthusiastic automobilist goes
+farther, and, for his motto, takes "stick to your post," and, in case
+of danger, as one has put it, "pull everything you see, and put your
+foot on everything else."</p>
+
+<p>The vocabulary of the automobile has produced an entirely new
+"jargon," which is Greek to the multitude, but, oh, so expressive and
+full of meaning to the initiated.</p>
+
+<p>An automobile is masculine, or feminine, as one likes to think of it,
+for it has many of the vagaries of both sexes. The French Academy has
+finally come to the fore and declared the word to be masculine, and
+so, taking our clue once more from the French (as we have in most
+things in the automobile world), we must call it <i>him</i>, and speak of it
+as <i>he</i>, instead of <i>her</i>, or <i>she</i>.</p>
+
+<p>That other much overworked word in automobilism, <i>chauffeur</i>, should be
+placed once for all. The driver of an automobile is not really a
+<i>chauffeur</i>, neither is he who minds and cares for the engine; he is a
+<i>m&eacute;canicien</i> and nothing else&mdash;in France and elsewhere. We needed a
+word for the individual who busies himself with, or drives an
+automobile, and so we have adapted the word <i>chauffeur</i>. Purists may
+cavil, but nevertheless the word is better than <i>driver</i>, or <i>motor</i>-<i>man</i>
+(which is the quintessence of snobbery), or <i>conductor</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The word, <i>chauffeur</i>, the Paris <i>Figaro</i> tells us, was known long before
+the advent of automobiles or locomotives. History tells that about
+the year 1795, men strangely accoutred, their faces covered with soot
+and their eyes carefully disguised, entered, by night, farms and
+lonely habitations and committed all sorts of depredations. They
+garroted their victims, or dragged them before a great fire where
+they burned the soles of their feet, and demanded information as to
+the whereabouts of their money and jewels. Hence they were called
+<i>chauffeurs</i>, a name which frightened our grandfathers as much as the
+scorching <i>chauffeur</i> to-day frightens our grandchildren.</p>
+
+<p>A motor-car is a fearsome thing,&mdash;when it goes, it goes; and when it
+doesn't, something, or many things, are wrong. A few years ago this
+uncertainty was to be expected, for, though the makers will not
+whisper it in Gath, we are only just getting out of the bone-shaker
+age of automobiles.</p>
+
+<p>Every one remembers what a weirdly ungraceful thing was the first
+safety bicycle, and so was the gaudy painted-up early locomotive&mdash;and
+they are so yet on certain English lines where their early Victorian
+engines are like Kipling's ocean tramp, merely "puttied up with
+paint." So with the early automobiles, they jarred and jerked and
+stopped&mdash;that is, under all but exceptional conditions. Occasionally
+they did wonderful things,&mdash;they always did, in fact, when one took
+the word of their owners; but now they really do acquit themselves
+with credit, and so the public, little by little, is beginning to
+believe in them, even though the millennium has not arrived when
+every home possesses its own runabout.</p>
+
+<p>All this proves that we are "getting there" by degrees, and meantime
+everybody that has to do with motor-cars has learned a great deal,
+generally at somebody else's expense.</p>
+
+<p>To-day every one "motes," or wants to, and likewise a knowledge of
+many things mechanical, which had heretofore been between closed
+covers, is in the daily litany of many who had previously never known
+a clutch from a cam-shaft, or a sparking plug from a fly-wheel.</p>
+
+<p>Most motor enthusiasts read all the important journals devoted to the
+game. The old-stager reads them for their hints and
+suggestions,&mdash;though these are bewildering in their multiplicity and
+their contradictions,&mdash;and the ladies of the household look at them
+for the sake of their pretty pictures of scenery and ladies and veils
+and furry garments pertaining to the sport.</p>
+
+<p>Catalogues are another bane of the motorist's life. He may have just
+become possessed of the latest thing in a Merc&eacute;d&egrave;s (and paid an
+enhanced price for an early delivery), yet upon seeing some new make
+of car advertised, he will immediately send for a catalogue and
+prospectus, and make the most absurd inquiries as to what said car
+will or will not do.</p>
+
+
+<center>
+<a href="images/typesofcars.png">
+<img src="images/typesofcars.png" alt="Types of Touring-Cars"
+height=400 border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>Types of Touring-Cars</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>Since the pleasures of motoring have found their champions in
+Kipling, Maeterlinck, and the late W. E. Henley, the delectable
+amusement has, besides entering the daily life of most of us,
+generously permeated literature&mdash;real literature as distinct from
+recent popular fiction; "The Lighting Conductor" and "The Princess
+Passes," by Mrs. Williamson, and more lately, "The Motor Pirate," by
+Mr. Paternoster. "A Motor Car Divorce" is the suggestive title of
+another work,&mdash;presumably fiction,&mdash;and one knows not where it may
+end, since "The Happy Motorist," a series of essays, is already
+announced.</p>
+
+<p>A Drury Lane melodrama of a season or two ago gave us a "<i>thrillin'
+hair-bre'dth 'scape</i>," wherein an automobile plunged
+precipitately&mdash;with an all too-true realism, the first night&mdash;down a
+lath and canvas ravine, finally saving the heroine from the
+double-dyed villain who followed so closely in her wake.</p>
+
+<p>The last entry into other spheres was during the autumn just past,
+when Paris's luxurious opera-house was given over to the fantastic
+revels of the ballet in an attempt to typify the <i>apotheosis of the
+automobile</i>. This was rather a rash venture in prognostication, for it
+may be easy enough to "apotheosize" the horse, but to what idyllic
+heights the automobile is destined to ultimately reach no one really
+knows.</p>
+
+<p>The average scoffer at things automobilistic is not very sincerely a
+scoffer at heart. It is mostly a case of "sour grapes," and he only
+waits the propitious combination of circumstances which shall permit
+him to become a possessor of a motor-car himself. This is not a very
+difficult procedure. It simply means that he must give up some other
+fad or fancy and take up with this last, which, be it here
+reiterated, is no <i>fad</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The great point in favour of the automobile is its sociability. Once
+one was content to potter about with a solitary companion in a buggy,
+with a comfortable old horse who knew his route well by reason of
+many journeys. To-day the automobile has driven thoughts of solitude
+to the winds. Two in the tonneau, and another on the seat beside you
+in front&mdash;a well-assorted couple of couples&mdash;and one may make the
+most ideal trips imaginable.</p>
+
+<p>Every one looks straight ahead, there is no uncomfortable twisting
+and turning as there is on a boat or a railway train, and each can
+talk to the others, or all can talk at once, which is more often the
+case. It is most enjoyable, plenty to see, exhilarating motion, jolly
+company, absolute independence, and a wide radius of action. What
+mode of travel can combine all these joys unless it be ballooning&mdash;of
+which the writer confesses he knows nothing?</p>
+
+<p>On the road one must ever have a regard for what may happen, and
+roadside repairs, however necessary, are seldom more than makeshifts
+which enable one to arrive at his destination.</p>
+
+<p>If you break the bolt which fastens your cardan-shaft or a link of
+your side-chains, you and your friends will have a chance to harden
+your muscles a bit pushing the machine to the next village, unless
+you choose to wait, on perhaps a lonely road, for a passing cart
+whose driver willing, for a price, to detach his tired horse to haul
+your dead weight of a ton and a half over a few miles of hill and
+dale. This is readily enough accomplished in France, where the
+peasant looks upon the procedure as a sort of allied industry to
+farming, but in parts of England, in Holland, and frequently in
+Italy, where the little mountain donkey is the chief means of
+transportation, it is more difficult.</p>
+
+<p>The question of road speed proves nothing with regard to the worth of
+an individual automobile, except that the times do move, and we are
+learning daily more and more of the facility of getting about with a
+motor-car. A locomotive, or a marine engine, moves regularly without
+a stop for far greater periods of time than does an automobile, but
+each and every time they finish a run they receive such an
+overhauling as seldom comes to an automobile.</p>
+
+<p>In England the automobilist has had to suffer a great deal at the
+hands of ignorant and intolerant road builders and guardians. Police
+traps, on straight level stretches miles from any collection of
+dwellings, will not keep down speed so long as dangerous cobblestoned
+alleys, winding through suburban London towns, have no guardian to
+regulate the traffic or give the stranger a hint that he had best go
+slowly.</p>
+
+<p>The milk and butchers' carts go on with their deadly work, but the
+police in England are too busy worrying the motorist to pay any
+attention.</p>
+
+<p>Some county boroughs have applied a ten-mile speed limit, even though
+the great bulk of their area is open country; but twenty miles an
+hour for an automobile is far safer for the public than is most other
+traffic, regardless of the rate at which it moves.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/speedpainting.png">
+<img src="images/speedpainting-t.png"
+alt="'Speed', From a Painting by Louis de Schryver,
+Paris Salon, 1906" border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>"Speed", From a Painting by Louis de Schryver, Paris Salon, 1906</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>Speed, so far as the bystander is concerned, is a very difficult
+thing to judge, and the automobilist seldom, if ever, gets fair
+treatment if he meets with the slightest accident.</p>
+
+<p>Most people judge the speed of an automobile by the noise that it
+makes. This, up to within a few years, put most automobiles going at
+a slow speed at a great disadvantage, for the slower they went the
+noisier they were; but matters of design and control have changed
+this somewhat, and the public now protests because "a great
+death-dealing monster crept up silently behind&mdash;coming at a terrific
+rate." You cannot please every one, and you cannot educate a
+non-participating public all at once.</p>
+
+<p>As for speed on the road, it is a variable thing, and a thing
+difficult to estimate correctly. Electric cars run at a speed of from
+ten to twenty-two miles an hour in England, even in the towns, and no
+one says them nay. Hansoms, on the Thames Embankment in London, do
+their regular fifteen miles an hour, but automobiles are still held
+down to ten.</p>
+
+<p>The official timekeeper of the Automobile Club of Great Britain and
+Ireland took the following times (in 1905) in Piccadilly, one of the
+busiest, if not the most congested thoroughfare in London.</p>
+
+<table cellpadding="2">
+  <tr><td>Holloway horse-drawn 'bus</td><td>11.30</td><td>miles per hour</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Cyclist</td><td>15.85</td><td align="center">&nbsp;"&nbsp;"&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Private trap</td><td>13.08</td><td align="center">&nbsp;"&nbsp;"&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Private buggy</td><td>13.55</td><td align="center">&nbsp;"&nbsp;"&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Private brougham</td><td>14.80</td><td align="center">&nbsp;"&nbsp;"&nbsp;"</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>When one considers how difficult to control, particularly amid
+crowded traffic, a horse-drawn vehicle is, and how very easy it is to
+control an up-to-date automobile, one cannot but feel that a little
+more consideration should be shown the automobilist by those in
+authority.</p>
+
+<p>The road obstructions, slow-going traffic which will not get out of
+one's way, carts left unattended and the like, make most of the real
+and fancied dangers which are laid to the door of the very mobile
+motor-car.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/LondonParistraffic.png">
+<img src="images/LondonParistraffic-t.png" alt="" border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>In Holland and Belgium dogs seem to be the chief road obstructions,
+or at least dangers, not always willingly perhaps, but still
+ever-present. In England it is mostly children.</p>
+
+<p>In France not all the difficulties one meets with <i>en route</i> are
+willful obstructors of one's progress. In La Beauce the geese and
+ducks are prudent, in the Nivernais the oxen are placid, and in
+Provence the donkeys are philosophical; but in Brittany the horses
+and mules and their drivers take fright immediately they suspect the
+coming of an automobile, and in the Vend&eacute;e the market-wagons, and
+those laden with the product of the vine, career madly at the
+extremities of exceedingly lusty examples of horse flesh to the
+pending disaster of every one who does not get out of the road.</p>
+
+<p>Sheep and hens are everywhere that they ought not to be, and there
+seems no way of escaping them. One can but use all his ingenuity and
+slip through somehow. Dogs are bad enough and ought to be
+exterminated. They are the silliest beasts which one finds
+uncontrolled on the roadways. Children, of course, one defers to, but
+they are outrageously careless and very foolish at times, and in
+short are the greatest responsibility for the driver in the small
+towns of England and France. In France some effort is being made in
+the schools to teach them something about a proper regard for
+automobile traffic, and with good results; but no one has heard of
+anything of the sort being attempted in England.</p>
+
+
+<a name="1-2"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center>
+<h3>Chapter II</h3>
+<h3>Travel Talk</h3>
+<br>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/traveltalk.png">
+<img src="images/traveltalk.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>Touring abroad is nothing new, but, as an amusement for the masses,
+it has reached gigantic proportions. The introduction of the railroad
+gave it its greatest impetus, and then came the bicycle and the
+automobile.</p>
+
+<p>With the railway as the sole means of getting about one was more or
+less confined to the beaten track of travel in Continental Europe,
+but the automobile has changed all this.</p>
+
+<p>To-day, the Cote d'Azur, from St. Raphael to Menton, as well as the
+strip of Norman coast-line around Trouville, in summer, is scarcely
+more than a boulevard where the automobile tourist strolls for an
+hour as he does in the Bois. The country lying back and between these
+two widely separated points is becoming known, and even modern taste
+prefers the idyllic countryside to a round of the same dizzy
+conventions that one gets in season at Paris, London, or New York.</p>
+
+<p>France is the land <i>par excellence</i> for automobile touring, not only
+from its splendid roads, but from the wide diversity of its sights
+and scenes, and manners and customs, and, last but not least, its
+most excellent hotels strung along its highways and byways like
+pearls in a collarette.</p>
+
+<p>This is not saying that travel by automobile is not delightful
+elsewhere; certainly it is equally so in many places along the Rhine,
+in Northern Italy, and in England, where the chief drawback is the
+really incompetent catering of the English country hotel-keeper to
+the demands of the traveller who would dine off of something more
+attractive than a cut from a cold joint of ham, and eggs washed down
+with stodgy, bitter beer.</p>
+
+<p>The bibliography of travel books is long, and includes many famous
+names in literature. Marco Polo, Froissart, Mme. de S&eacute;vign&eacute;, Taine,
+Bayard Taylor, Willis, Stevenson, and Sterne, all had opportunities
+for observation and made the most of them. If they had lived in the
+days of the automobile they might have sung a song of speed which
+would have been the most melodious chord in the whole gamut.</p>
+
+<p>A modern writer must be more modest, however. He can hardly hope to
+attract attention to himself or his work by describing the usual
+sights and scenes. The most he can do is to set down his method of
+travel, his approach, and his departure, and, for example, to tell
+those who may come after that the great double spires of Notre Dame
+de Chartres are a beacon by land for nearly twenty kilometers in any
+direction, as he approaches them by road across the great plain of La
+Beauce, the granary of France, rather than give a repetition of the
+well-worn guidebook facts concerning them.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Idealcar.png">
+<img src="images/Idealcar.png" width=500
+alt="Sectional Elevation of Ideal Touring Car
+Exhibited at the Paris Salon by the
+Touring Club de France" border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>Sectional Elevation of Ideal Touring Car Exhibited at the Paris Salon
+by the Touring Club de France</b>
+<br>
+<table>
+<tr><td><b>A. Front seat cushions</b></td><td><b>I. Luggage platform</b></td><td><b>S. Shield from hood</b></td>
+<tr><td><b>B. Rear seat cushions</b></td><td><b>J. Trunk</b></td><td><b>T. Filling pipe for petrol tank</b></td>
+<tr><td><b>C. Pockets on doors</b></td><td><b>K. Trunk on steps</b></td><td><b>U. Filling pipe for water tank</b></td>
+<tr><td><b>D. Cape hood</b></td><td><b>L. Side lamps</b></td><td><b>W. Lamp covers</b></td>
+<tr><td><b>E. Glass shield</b></td><td><b>M. Head lights</b></td><td><b>X. Portable electric light</b></td>
+<tr><td><b>F. Chest under seat</b></td><td><b>N. Tail lights</b></td><td></td>
+<tr><td><b>G. Tank</b></td><td><b>O. Extra tire with cover</b></td><td></td>
+<tr><td><b>H. Chest inside of Car&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</b></td><td><b>P. Leather extension top&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</b></td><td></td>
+</table>
+</center>
+
+<p>Chartres is taken as an example because it is one of those "stock"
+sights, before mentioned, which any itinerary coming within the scope
+of the <i>grand tour</i> is bound to include.</p>
+
+<p>Almost the same phenomenon is true of Antwerp's lacelike spire, the
+great Gothic wonder of Cologne and, to a lesser extent, that of
+Canterbury in England; thus the automobilist <i>en route</i> has his beacons
+and landmarks as has the sailor on the seas.</p>
+
+<p>Man is an animal essentially mobile. He moves readily from place to
+place and is not tied down by anything but ways and means and,
+perhaps, confinement at laborious affairs. Even in the latter case he
+occasionally breaks away for a more or less extended period, and
+either goes fishing in Canada, shooting in Scotland, or automobiling
+in France, with perhaps a rush over a Swiss pass or two, and a dash
+around the Italian lakes, and back down the Rhine for a little tour
+in Great Britain.</p>
+
+<p>This is as delightful a holiday as one could imagine, and the foreign
+tour&mdash;which has often been made merely as a succession of nights of
+travel in stuffy sleeping-cars or a round of overfeeding orgies at
+Parisian hotels and restaurants&mdash;has added charms of which the
+generation before the advent of automobiles knew nought.</p>
+
+<p>The question of comfortable travel is a never-ending one. The
+palanquin, the sedan-chair, the rickshaw, even the humble horse-drawn
+buggy have had their devotees, but the modern touring automobile has
+left them all far behind, whether for long-distance travel or
+promenades at Fontainebleau, in the New Forest or the Ardennes.</p>
+
+<p>There is no question but that, when touring in an automobile, one has
+an affection for his steel-and-iron horse that he never felt for any
+other conveyance. The horse had some endearing qualities, no doubt,
+and we were bound to regard his every want; but he was only a part of
+the show, whereas the automobile, although it is nought but an
+inanimate combination of wheels and things, has to be humoured and
+talked to, and even cursed at times, in order to keep it going. But
+it works faithfully nevertheless, and never balks, at least not with
+the same crankiness as the horse, and always runs better toward night
+(this is curious, but it is a fact), which a horse seldom does. All
+the same an automobile is like David Balfour's Scotch advocate: hard
+at times to ken rightly&mdash;most of the time, one may say without undue
+exaggeration. Often an automobile is as fickle as a stage fairy, or
+appears to be, but it may be that only your own blind stupidity
+accounts for the lack of efficiency. Once in awhile an automobile
+gets uproariously full of spirits and runs away with itself, and
+almost runs away with you, too, simply for the reason that the
+carburetion is good and everything is pulling well. Again it is as
+silent and immovable as a sphinx and gives no hint of its present or
+expected ailments. It is most curious, but an automobile invents some
+new real or fancied complaint with each fresh internal upheaval, and
+requires, in each and every instance, an entirely new and original
+diagnosis.</p>
+
+<p>With all its caprices, however, the automobile is the most efficient
+and satisfactory contrivance for getting about from place to place,
+for business or pleasure, that was ever devised.</p>
+
+<p>Comparatively speaking, the railway is not to be thought of for a
+moment. It has all the disadvantages of the automobile (for indeed
+there are a few, such as dust and more or less cramped quarters, and,
+if one chooses, a nerve-racking speed) and none of its advantages,
+and, whether you are a mere man or a millionaire, you are tied down
+to rails and a strict itinerary, whereas you may turn the bonnet of
+your automobile down any by-road that pleases your fancy, and arrive
+ultimately at your destination, having made an enjoyable detour which
+would not otherwise have been possible.</p>
+
+<p>Too great a speed undoubtedly detracts from the joy of travel, but a
+hundred and fifty, two hundred and fifty, or three hundred kilometres
+a day on the fine roads of France, or a hundred or a hundred and
+fifty miles on the leafy lanes of England's southern counties will
+give the stranger more varied impressions and a clearer understanding
+of men and matters than the touring of a country from end to end in
+express-trains which serve your meals <i>en route</i>, and whisk you from
+London to Torquay between tea and dinner, or from Paris to the Cote
+d'Azur between breakfast and nightfall.</p>
+
+<p>Just how much pleasure and edification one can absorb during an
+automobile tour depends largely upon the individual&mdash;and the mood.
+Once the craving for speed is felt, not all the historic monuments in
+the world would induce one to stop a sweetly running motor; but again
+the other mood comes on, and one lingers a full day among the charms
+of the lower Seine from Caudebec to Rouen, scarce thirty miles.</p>
+
+<p>Les Andelys-sur-Seine, your guide-book tells you, is noted for its
+magnificent ruins of Richard C&oelig;ur de Lion's Ch&acirc;teau Gaillard, and
+for the culture of the sugar-beet, and so, often, merely on account
+of the banal mention of beet-roots, you ignore the attractions of
+Richard's castle and make the best time you can Parisward by the
+great Route Nationale on the other side of the Seine. This is wrong,
+of course, but the mood was on, and the song of speed was ringing in
+your ears and nothing would drive it out.</p>
+
+<p>Our fathers and grandfathers made the grand tour, in a twelvemonth,
+as a sort of topping-off to their early education, before they
+settled down to a business or professional life.</p>
+
+<p>They checked off in their guide-books Melrose Abbey, the Tower of
+London, the Cathedral of Canterbury, and those of Antwerp, Cologne,
+Rome, Venice, and Paris, as they did the Cheshire Cheese, Mont Blanc,
+and the ruins of Carnac. It was all a part of the general scheme of
+travel, to cover a lot of ground and see all they could, for it was
+likely that they would pass that way but once. Why, then, should one
+blame the automobilist&mdash;who really travels very leisurely in that he
+sees a lot of the countryside manners and customs off the beaten
+track&mdash;if he rushes over an intermediate stretch of country in order
+to arrive at one more to his liking?</p>
+
+<p>One sees the thing every day on any of the great highroads in France
+leading from the Channel ports. One's destination may be the
+Pyrenees, the Cote d'Azur, Italy, or even Austria, and he does the
+intermediate steps at full speed. The same is true if he goes to
+Switzerland by the Rhine valley, or to Homburg by passing through
+Belgium or Holland. He might be just as well pleased with a fortnight
+in the Ardennes, or even in Holland or in Touraine, but, if his
+destination is Monte Carlo or Biarritz, he is not likely to linger
+longer by the way than the exigencies of food, drink, and lodging,
+and the care of his automobile demand.</p>
+
+<p>When he has no objective point he loiters by the way and no doubt
+enjoys it the more, but it is not fair to put the automobilist down
+as a scorcher simply because he is pushing on. The best guide-books
+are caprice and fantasy, if you are hot pressed for time.</p>
+
+<p>Mile-stones, or rather <i>bornes kilom&eacute;triques</i>, line the roadways of
+Continental military Europe mercilessly, and it's a bad sign when the
+chauffeur begins to count them off. All the same, he knows his
+destination a great deal better than does some plodding tourist by
+rail who scorns him for rushing off again immediately after lunch.</p>
+
+<p>One of the charms of travel, to the tried traveller, is, just as in
+the time of the Abb&eacute; Pr&eacute;vost, the ability to exchange remarks on
+one's itinerary with one's fellow travellers. In France it does not
+matter much whether they are automobilists or not. The
+<i>commis-voyageur</i> is a more numerous class here, apparently, than in
+any other country on the globe, and the detailed information which he
+can give one about the towns and hotels and sights and scenes <i>en
+route</i>, albeit he is more familiar with travel by rail than by road,
+is marvellous in quantity and valuable as to quality.</p>
+
+<p>The automobile tourist, who may be an Englishman or an American, has
+hitherto been catered to with automobile novels, or love stories, or
+whatever one chooses to call them, or with more or less scrappy,
+incomplete, and badly edited accounts of tours made by some
+millionaire possessor of a motor-car, or the means to hire one. Some
+of the articles in the press, and an occasional book, have the merit
+of having been "good stuff," but often they have gone wrong in the
+making.</p>
+
+<p>The writer of this book does not aspire to be classed with either of
+the above classes of able writers; the most he would like to claim is
+that he should be able to write a really good handbook on the
+subject, wherein such topographical, historical, and economic
+information as was presented should have the stamp of correctness.
+Perhaps four years of pretty constant automobile touring in Europe
+ought to count for something in the way of accumulated pertinent
+information concerning hotels and highways and by-ways.</p>
+
+<p>Not all automobilists are millionaires. The man of moderate means is
+the real giver of impetus to the wheels of automobile progress. The
+manufacturers of motor-cars have not wholly waked up to this fact as
+yet, but the increasing number of tourists in small cars, both in
+England and in France, points to the fact that something besides the
+forty, sixty, or hundred horse-power monsters are being manufactured.</p>
+
+<p>Efficiency and reliability is the great requisite of the touring
+automobile, and, for that matter, should be of any other. Efficiency
+and reliability cover ninety-nine per cent. of the requirements of
+the automobilist. Chance will step in at the most inopportune moments
+and upset all calculations, but, with due regard given to these two
+great and fundamental principles, the rest does not much matter.</p>
+
+<p>It is a curious fact that the great mass of town folk, in France and
+probably elsewhere, still have a fear and dread of the mechanism of
+the automobile. "<i>C'est beau la m&eacute;canique, mais c'est tout de m&ecirc;me un
+peu compliqu&eacute;</i>," they say, as they regard your labours in posing a new
+valve or tightening up a joint here and there.</p>
+
+<p>The development of the automobile has brought about a whole new
+development of kindred things, as did the development of the
+battle-ship. First there was the battle-ship, then the cruiser, and
+then the torpedo-boat, and then another class of boats, the
+destroyers (destined to catch torpedo-boats), and finally the
+submarine. With the automobile the evolution was much the same; first
+it was a sort of horseless carriage, for town use, then something a
+little more powerful that would climb hills, so that one might
+journey afield, and then the "touring-car," and then the racing
+machine, and now we have automobile omnibuses, and even automobile
+ambulances to pick up any frightened persons possessed of less
+agility than a kangaroo or a jack-rabbit might inadvertently have
+been bowled over. These disasters are seldom the automobilist's
+fault, and, happily, they are becoming fewer and fewer; but the
+indecision that overcame the passer-by, in the early days of the
+bicycle, still exists with many whenever an automobile comes in
+sight, and they back, and fill, and worry the automobilist into such
+a bad case of nerves that, in spite of himself, something of the
+nature of an accident, for which he is in no way responsible, really
+does happen.</p>
+
+<p>Once the writer made eleven hundred kilometres straight across
+France, from the Manche to the Mediterranean, and not so much as a
+puncture occurred. On another occasion a little journey of half the
+length resulted in the general smashing up, four times in succession,
+of a little bolt (no great disaster in itself), within the interior
+arrangements of the motor, which necessitated a half a day's work on
+each occasion in taking down the cylinder and setting it up again,
+and each time in a small town far away from any properly equipped
+machine-shop, and with the assistance only of the local locksmith.
+It's astonishing how good a job a locksmith in France can do, even on
+an automobile, the mechanism of which he perhaps has never seen
+before. Officially the locksmith in France is known as a <i>serrurier</i>,
+but in the slang of the land he is the <i>cambrioleur du pays</i>, a name
+which is expressive, but which means nothing wicked. He can put a
+thread on a bolt or make a new nut to replace one that has
+mysteriously unscrewed itself, which is more than many a mere bicycle
+repairer can do.</p>
+
+<p>The automobilist touring France should make friends with the nearest
+<i>cambrioleur</i> if he is in trouble. In England this is risky, a "gas-pipe
+thread" being the average lay workman's idea of "fixing you up."</p>
+
+<p>Away back in Chaucer's day folk were "longen to gon on pilgrimages,"
+and it does not matter in the least what the ways and means may be,
+the motive is ever the same: a change of scene.</p>
+
+<p>This book is no unbounded eulogy of the automobile, although its many
+good qualities are recognized. There are other methods of travel
+that, in their own ways, are certainly enjoyable, but none quite
+equal the automobile for independence of action, convenience, and
+efficiency. It is well for all motor-car users, however, to realize
+that they are not the only road users, and to have a due regard for
+others,&mdash;not only their rights, but their persons. This applies even
+more forcibly, if possible, to the automobilist <i>en tour</i>.</p>
+
+<p>One must in duty bound regulate his pace and his actions by the
+vagaries of others, however little he may want to, or unfortunate
+consequences will many times follow. Always he must have a sharp look
+ahead and must not neglect a backward glance now and then. He must
+not dash through muddy roads and splash passers-by (a particularly
+heinous offence in England), and in France he must observe the rule
+of the road (always to the right in passing,&mdash;no great difficulty for
+an American, but very puzzling to an Englishman), or an accident may
+result which will bring him into court, and perhaps into jail, unless
+he can assuage the poor peasant's feelings for the damaged forelegs
+of his horse or donkey by a cash payment on the spot.</p>
+
+<p>Maeterlinck's "wonderful, unknown beast" is still unknown (and
+feared) by the majority of outsiders, and the propaganda of education
+must go on for a long time yet. Maeterlinck's great tribute to the
+automobile is his regard for it as the conqueror of space. Never
+before has the individual man been able to accomplish what the
+soulless corporations have with railway trains. In steamboat or train
+we are but a part and parcel of the freight carried, but in the
+automobile we are stoker, driver, and passenger in one, and regard
+every road-turning and landmark with a new wonder and appreciation.</p>
+
+<p>We are the aristocrats of tourists, and we are bound therefore to
+have a kindly regard for other road users or a revolution will spring
+up, as it did in feudal times.</p>
+
+<p>Take Maeterlinck's wise sayings for your guide, and be tolerant of
+the rights of others. This will do automobilism more good than can be
+measured, for it has come to stay, and perhaps even advance. The days
+of the horse are numbered.</p>
+
+<p>"In accord with the needs of our insatiable, exacting soul, which
+craves at once for the small and the mighty, the quick and the slow;
+here it is of us at last, it is ours, and offers at every turn
+glimpses of beauty that, in former days, we could only enjoy when the
+tedious journey was ended."</p>
+
+<p>The "tour abroad" has ever been the lodestone which has drawn
+countless thousands of home-loving English and Americans to
+Continental Europe. Pleasure&mdash;mere pleasure&mdash;has accounted for many
+of these pilgrims, but by far the largest proportion have been those
+who seek education and edification combined.</p>
+
+<p>One likes to be well cared for when he journeys, whether by road or
+rail, and demands accordingly, if not all the comforts of home, at
+least many things that the native knows or cares little of. A
+Frenchman does not desire a sitting-room, a reading-room, or a fire
+in his sleeping-room, and, according to his lights, he is quite
+right. He finds all this at a caf&eacute;, and prefers to go there for it.
+The steam-heated hotel, with running water everywhere, is a rarity in
+France, as indeed it is in England.</p>
+
+<p>Outside Paris the writer has found this combination but seldom in
+France; at Lyons, Marseilles, Moulins in the Allier, and at
+Chatellerault in Poitou only. Modernity is making its way in France,
+but only in spots; its progress is steady, but as yet it has not
+penetrated into many outlying districts. Modern <i>art nouveau</i> ideas in
+France, which are banal enough, but which are an improvement over the
+Eastlake and horsehair horrors of the Victorian and Louis-Philippe
+periods, are tending to eliminate old-fashioned ideas for the benefit
+of the traveller who would rather eat his meals in a bright, airy
+apartment than in stuffy, dark hole known in England as a coffee-room.</p>
+
+<p>In France, in particular, the contrast of the new and old that one
+occasionally meets with is staggering. It is all very well in its
+way, this blending of antiquity and modernity, and gives one
+something of the thrill of romance, which most of us have in our
+make-up to a greater or lesser extent; but, on the other hand,
+romance gets some hard knocks when one finds a Roman sarcophagus used
+as a watering-trough; or a chapel as an automobile garage, as he
+often will in the Midi.</p>
+
+<p>One thing the American, and the Britisher to a lesser extent, be he
+automobilist or mere tourist, must fully realize, and that is that
+the tourist business is a more highly developed industry in
+Continental Europe than it is anywhere else. In Switzerland one may
+well say that it is a national industry, and in some parts of France
+(always omitting Paris, which is not France) it is practically the
+same thing; Holland and Belgium are not far behind, and neither is
+the Rhine country; so that the tourist in Europe finds that creature
+comforts are always near at hand. The automobilist does not much care
+whether they are near at hand or not. If he doesn't find the
+accommodations he is looking for on the borders of Dartmoor, he can
+keep on to Exmoor, and if Nevers won't suit his purpose for the night
+he can get to Moulins in an hour.</p>
+
+<p>A hotel that is full and overflowing is no more a fear or a dread;
+the automobilist simply takes the road again and drops in on some
+market-town twenty, thirty, or fifty miles away and finds
+accommodations that are equally satisfactory, with the
+possibility&mdash;if he looks in at some little visited spot like Meung or
+Beaugency in Touraine, Ecloo in Holland, or Reichenberg on the
+Rhine&mdash;that he will be more pleased with his surroundings than he
+would be in the large towns which are marked in heavy-faced type in
+the railway guides, and whose hotels are starred by Baedeker.</p>
+
+<p>In most countries the passport is no longer a necessary document in
+the traveller's pocketbook, though the Britisher still fondly arms
+himself with this "protection," and the American will, if it occurs
+to him, be only too glad to contribute his dollars to the fees of his
+consulate or embassy in order to possess himself of a gaudy thing in
+parchment and gold which he can wave in front of any one whom he
+thinks transgresses his rights as an American citizen: "from the land
+of liberty, and don't you forget it."</p>
+
+<p>This is all very well and is no doubt the very essence of a proper
+patriotism, but the best <i>pi&egrave;ce d'identit&eacute;</i> for the foreigner who takes
+up his residence in France for more than three months is a simple
+document which can be obtained from the commissaire de police. It
+will pass him anywhere in France that a passport will, is more
+readily understood and accepted by the banker or post-office clerk as
+a personal identification, and will save the automobile <i>chauffeur</i>
+many an annoyance, if he has erred through lack of familiarity with
+many little unwritten laws of the land.</p>
+
+<p>The automobilist <i>en tour</i> always has the identification papers of his
+automobile; in England his "License," and in France his "Certificat
+de Capacit&eacute;" and "R&eacute;c&eacute;pisse de D&eacute;claration," which will accomplish
+pretty much all the passport of other days would do if one flourished
+it to-day before a stubborn octroi official or the caretaker of a
+historical monument.</p>
+
+<p>The membership card of the Italian, Swiss, or French touring clubs
+will do much the same thing, and no one should be without them, since
+membership in either one or all is not difficult or costly. (See
+Appendix.)</p>
+
+<p>France is the land <i>par excellence</i> for the tourist, whether by road or
+rail. The art of "<i>le tourisme</i>" has been perfected by the French to
+even a higher degree than in Switzerland. There are numerous
+societies, clubs, and associations, from the all-powerful Touring
+Club de France downward, which are attracting not only the French
+themselves to many hitherto little-known corners of "<i>la belle
+France</i>," but strangers from over the frontiers and beyond the seas.
+These are not the tourists of the conventional kind, but those who
+seek out the little-worn roads. It is possible to do this if one
+travels intelligently by rail, but it is a great deal more
+satisfactorily done if one goes by road.</p>
+
+<p>Here and there, scattered all over France, in Dauphin&eacute;, in Savoie,
+and in the Pyrenees, one finds powerful "Syndicats d'Initiative,"
+which not only care for the tourist, but bring pressure to bear on
+the hotel-keeper and local authorities to provide something in the
+way of improvements, where they are needed, to make a roadway safe,
+or to restore a historical site or monument.</p>
+
+<p>In the Pyrenees, and in the Alps of Savoie and Dauphin&eacute;, one finds
+everywhere the insignia of the "Club-Alpin Fran&ccedil;ais," which caters
+with information, etc., not only to the mountain-climber, but to the
+automobilist and the general tourist as well.</p>
+
+<p>More powerful and effective than all&mdash;more so even than the famous
+Automobile Club de France&mdash;is the great Touring Club de France,
+which, with the patronage of the President of the Republic, and the
+influence of more than a hundred thousand members, is something more
+than a mere touring club.</p>
+
+<p>In the fourteen years of its existence not only has the Touring Club
+de France helped the tourist find his way about, but also has taken a
+leading part in the clearing away of the debris in many a moss-grown
+ruin and making of it a historical monument as pleasing to view as
+Jumi&egrave;ges on the Seine, or world-famed Les Baux in Provence.</p>
+
+<p>It has appointed itself the special guardian of roads and roadways,
+so far as the placing of signboards along the many important lines of
+communication is concerned; it has been the means of having dug up
+untold kilometres of Renaissance pavement; has made, almost at its
+own expense, a magnificent forty-kilometre road known as the Corniche
+de l'Esterel; and has given the backward innkeeper such a shock that
+he has at last waked up to the needs of the twentieth-century
+traveller. All this is something for a touring organization to have
+accomplished, and when one can become a part and parcel of this great
+organization, and a sharer in the special advantages which it has to
+offer to its members for the absurdly small sum of five francs per
+annum, the marvel is that it has not half a million members instead
+of a hundred thousand.</p>
+
+<a name="1-3"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center>
+<h3>Chapter III</h3>
+<h3>Roads &amp; Routes</h3>
+<br>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/RoadsRoutes.png">
+<img src="images/RoadsRoutes.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<blockquote>
+"Chacun suit dans ce monde une route incertaine,<br>
+Selon que son erreur le joue et le promene."&mdash;Boileau
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>The chief concern of the automobilist to-day, after his individual
+automobile, is the road question, the "Good Roads Question," as it
+has become generally known. In a new country, like America, it is to
+be expected that great connecting highways should be mostly in the
+making. It is to be regretted that the development should be so slow,
+but things have been improving in the last decade, and perhaps
+America will "beat the world" in this respect, as she has in many
+others, before many future generations have been born.</p>
+
+<p>In the excellence and maintenance of her roads France stands
+emphatically at the head of all nations, but even here noticeable
+improvement is going on. The terrific "Louis Quatorze pav&eacute;," which
+one finds around Paris, is yearly growing less and less in quantity.
+The worst road-bed in France is that awful stretch from Bordeaux, via
+Bazas, to Pau in Navarre, originally due to the energy of Henri IV.,
+and still in existence for a space of nearly a hundred kilometres.
+One avoids it by a d&eacute;tour of some twenty odd kilometres, and the
+writer humbly suggests that here is an important unaccomplished work
+for the usually energetic road authorities of France.</p>
+
+<p>After France the "good roads" of Britain come next, though in some
+parts of the country they are woefully inadequate to accommodate the
+fast-growing traffic by road, notably in London suburbs, while some
+of the leafy lanes over which poets rhapsodize are so narrow that the
+local laws prevent any automobile traffic whatever. As one
+unfortunate individual expressed it, "since the local authorities
+forbid automobiles on roadways under sixteen feet in width, I am
+unable to get my motor-car within nine miles of my home!"</p>
+
+<p>In England something has been done by late generations toward roads
+improvement. The first awakening came in 1820, and in 1832 the
+London-Oxford road had been so improved that the former time of the
+stage-coaches had been reduced from eight to six hours. Macadam in
+1830, and Stevenson in 1847, were the real fathers of the "Roads
+Improvement Movement" in England. The great faults of English roads
+are that they are narrow and winding, almost without exception. There
+are 38,600 kilometres of highways (the figures are given on the
+metric scale for better comparison with Continental facts and
+figures) and 160,900 of by-roads. There are sixty-six kilometres of
+roads to the square kilometre <i>(kilometre carr&eacute;)</i>.</p>
+
+<p>In Germany the roads system is very complex. In Baden, the
+Palatinate, and the Grand Duchy of Hesse they cede nothing to the
+best roads anywhere, but in the central and northern provinces they
+are, generally speaking, much poorer. There are fifty-four kilometres
+of roads of all grades to the kilometre <i>carr&eacute;</i>.</p>
+
+<p>In Belgium the roads are greatly inferior to those of France, and
+there are immeasurable stretches of the vilest pavement the world has
+known, not only near the large towns, but great interior stretches as
+well. There are 17,500 kilometres of Chemins Vicinaux and 6,990
+kilometres of Chemins de Grands Communications. They average, taken
+together, eighty-three kilometres to the kilometre <i>carr&eacute;</i>.</p>
+
+<p>In Switzerland the roads are thoroughly good everywhere, but many,
+particularly mountain-roads, are entirely closed to automobile
+traffic, and the regulations in many of the towns are so onerous that
+it is anything but agreeable to make one's way through them. There
+are thirty-two kilometres to the kilometre <i>carr&eacute;</i>. The Simplon Pass
+has only recently (1906) been opened to automobile traffic. No
+departure can be made from Brigue, on the Swiss side, or from Gondo,
+in Italy, after three P.M. Speed <i>(vitesse)</i> must not exceed ten
+kilometres on the stretches, or two kilometres around the corners.
+Fines for infringement of the law run from twenty to five hundred
+francs.</p>
+
+<p>Italy, with a surface area one-half that of France, has but a quarter
+of the extent of the good roads. They are of variable quality, but
+good on the main lines of travel. In the ancient kingdom of Sardinia
+will be found the best, but they are poor and greatly neglected
+around Naples, and, as might be expected, in Sicily.</p>
+
+<p>In Austria the roads are very variable as to surface and maintenance,
+and there are numerous culverts or <i>canivaux</i> across them. There are
+21,112 kilometres of national roads, 66,747 kilometres of provincial
+roads, and 87,859 of local roads. They average fourteen kilometres to
+the kilometre <i>carr&eacute;</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The history of the development of the modern roadway is too big a
+subject to permit of its being treated here; suffice it to recall
+that in England and France, and along the Rhine, the lines of the
+twentieth-century main roads follow the Roman roads of classic times.</p>
+
+<p>In France, Lyons, in the mid-Rh&ocirc;ne valley, was a great centre for the
+radiating roadways of Gaul. Strategically it was important then as it
+is important now, and Roman soldiery of the past, as the automobilist
+of to-day, had here four great thoroughfares leading from the city.
+The first traversed the valleys of the Rhine and the Meuse; the
+second passed by Autun, Troyes, Chalons, Reims, Soissons, Noyon, and
+Amiens; the third branched in one direction toward Saintes, and in
+another to Bordeaux; while the fourth dropped down the Rh&ocirc;ne valley
+direct to Marseilles.</p>
+
+<p>More than thirty thousand kilometres of roadways were in use
+throughout Gaul during the Roman occupation, of which the four great
+routes <i>(vi&aelig; public&aelig;)</i> formed perhaps four thousand.</p>
+
+<p>Of the great highways of France, the <i>Grandes Routes Nationales</i>, of
+which all travellers by road have the fondest and most vivid
+memories, it is well to recall that they were furthered, if not
+fathered, by none other than Napoleon, who, for all he laid waste,
+set up institutions anew which more than compensated for the
+destructions.</p>
+
+<p>The great roadways of France, such as the Route de Bretagne, running
+due west from the capital, and those leading to Spain, Switzerland,
+Italy, and the Pays Bas, had their origin in the days of
+Philippe-Auguste. His predecessors had let the magnificently traced
+itineraries of the Romans languish and become covered with grass&mdash;if
+not actually timber-grown.</p>
+
+<p>The arrangement and classification laid down by Philippe-Auguste have
+never been changed, simply modified and renamed; thus the <i>Routes
+Royales</i>&mdash;such as followed nearly a straight line from Paris by the
+right bank of the Loire to Amboise and to Nantes&mdash;became the <i>Routes
+Nationales</i> of to-day.</p>
+
+<p>Soon wheeled traffic became a thing to be considered, and royal
+cort&egrave;ges moved about the land with much the same freedom and
+stateliness of the state coaches which one sees to-day in pageants,
+as relics of a past monarchical splendour.</p>
+
+<p>Louis XI. created the "<i>Service des Postes</i>" in France, which made new
+demands upon the now more numerous routes and roadways, and Louis
+XII., Fran&ccedil;ois I., Henri II., and Charles IX., all made numerous
+ordinances for the policing and maintenance of them.</p>
+
+<p>Henri IV., and his minister Sully, built many more of these great
+lines of communication, and thus gave the first real and tangible aid
+to the commerce and agriculture of the kingdom. He was something of
+an aesthetic soul too, this Henri of Bearn, for he was the originator
+of the scheme to make the great roadways of France tree-shaded
+boulevards, which in truth is what many of them are to-day. This
+monarch of love, intrigues, religious reversion, and strange oaths
+passed the first (and only, for the present is simply a continuance
+thereof) <i>ordonnance</i> making the planting of trees along the national
+highroads compulsory on the local authorities.</p>
+
+<p>Under Louis XIV., Colbert continued the good work and put up the
+first mile-stone, or whatever its equivalent was in that day,
+measuring from the Parvis de Notre Dame at Paris. Some of these Louis
+XIV. <i>bornes</i>, or stones, still exist, though they have, of course,
+been replaced throughout by kilometre stones.</p>
+
+<p>The foregoing tells in brief of the natural development of the
+magnificent roads of France. Their history does not differ greatly
+from the development of the other great European lines of travel,
+across Northern Italy to Switzerland, down the Rhine valley and,
+branching into two forks, through Holland and through Belgium to the
+North Sea.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Frenchroads.png">
+<img src="images/Frenchroads-t.png" alt="" border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>In England the main travel routes run north, east, south, and west
+from London as a radiating centre, and each took, in the later
+coaching days, such distinctive names as "The Portsmouth Road," "The
+Dover Road," "The Bath Road," and "The Great North Road." Their
+histories have been written in fascinating manner, so they are only
+referred to here.</p>
+
+<p>It is in France, one may almost say, that automobile touring begins
+and ends, in that it is more practicable and enjoyable there; and so
+<i>la belle France</i> continually projects itself into one's horizon when
+viewing the subject of automobilism.</p>
+
+<p>It may be that there are persons living to-day who regret the passing
+of the good old times when they travelled&mdash;most uncomfortably, be it
+remarked&mdash;by stage-coach and suffered all the inclemencies of bad
+weather <i>en route</i> without a word of protest but a genial grumble,
+which they sought to antidote by copious libations of anything liquid
+and strong. The automobile has changed all this. The traveller by
+automobile doesn't resort to alcoholic drinks to put, or keep, him in
+a good humour, and, when he sees a lumbering van or family cart
+making its way for many miles from one widely separated region to
+another, he accelerates his own motive power and leaves the good old
+ways of the good old days as far behind as he can, and recalls the
+words of Sidney Smith:</p>
+
+<blockquote>"The good of other times let others state,<br>
+I think it lucky I was born so late."</blockquote>
+
+<p>A certain picturesqueness of travel may be wanting when comparing the
+automobile with the whirling coach-and-four of other days, but there
+is vastly more comfort for all concerned, and no one will regret the
+march of progress when he considers that nothing but the means of
+transportation has been changed. The delightful prospects of hill and
+vale are still there, the long stretches of silent road and, in
+France and Germany, great forest routes which are as wild and
+unbroken, except for the magnificent surface of the roads, as they
+were when medi&aelig;val travelers startled the deer and wild boar. You may
+even do this to-day with an automobile in more than one forest tract
+of France, and that not far from the great centres of population
+either.</p>
+
+<p>The invention of carriage-springs&mdash;the same which, with but little
+variation, we use on the automobile&mdash;by the wife of an apothecary in
+the Quartier de St. Antoine at Paris, in 1600, was the prime cause of
+the increased popularity of travel by road in France.</p>
+
+<p>In 1776, the routes of France were divided into four categories:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<ol>
+<li>Those leading from Paris to the principal interior cities
+and seaports.</li>
+<li>Those communicating directly between the principal cities.</li>
+<li>Those communicating directly between the cities and towns of one
+province and those of another.</li>
+<li>Those serving the smaller towns and bourgs.</li>
+</ol>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>Those in the first class were to be 13.35 metres in width, the second
+11.90, the third 10, the fourth 7.90. The road makers and menders of
+England and America could not get better models than these.</p>
+
+<p>The advent of the automobile has brought a new factor into the matter
+of road making and mending, but certainly he would be an ignorant
+person indeed who would claim that the automobile does a tithe of the
+road damage that is done by horse-drawn traffic.</p>
+
+<p>At a high rate of speed, however, the automobile does raise a fine
+sandy dust, and exposes the macadam. A French authority states that
+up to twenty to twenty-five kilometres an hour the automobile does
+little or no harm to the roads, but when they increase to over fifty
+kilometres an hour they do damage the surface somewhat. Just what the
+ultimate outcome of it will be remains to be seen, but France is
+unlikely to do anything which will work against the interests of the
+automobilist.</p>
+
+<p>In consequence of this newer and faster mode of travelling, it is
+being found that on some parts of the roads the convexity of the
+surface is too great, and especially at curves, where fast motors
+frequently skid on the rounded surface. To obviate this a piece of
+road near the Croix d'Augas in the Orleannais has had the outer side
+of the curve raised eight centimetres above the centre of the road,
+in somewhat the same manner as on the curve of a railway. Since this
+innovation has proved highly successful and pleasing to the devotees
+of the new form of travel, it is likely to be further adopted.</p>
+
+<p>In the early period of the construction of French roads the earth
+formation was made horizontal, but Tr&eacute;saguet, a French engineer,
+introduced the rounded form, or camber, and this is the method now
+almost generally adopted, both in France and England. Only some
+14,000 kilometres of the national routes have a hand-set foundation,
+the others being what are termed broken-stone roads&mdash;the stone used
+is broken in pieces and laid on promiscuously, after the system
+introduced by Macadam. Some of the second and third class, roads are
+constructed of gravel, and others, of earth.</p>
+
+<p>From the official report of 1893 it appears that the cost of
+maintenance of roads in France was as follows:</p>
+
+<table cellpadding="2" border="1">
+  <tr><td align="center">COST OF LABOUR AND MATERIALS</td><td align="center">Annual Total Cost</td><td align="center">Annual Cost per Kilometre (AV.)</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Routes Nationales</td><td align="center">22,570,300 fcs.</td><td align="center">775 fcs.</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Routes D&eacute;partmentales</td><td align="center">14,555,850</td><td align="center">600</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Chemins Communication</td><td align="center">82,474,450</td><td align="center">423</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Chemins Vicinaux</td><td align="center">44,211,125</td><td align="center">200</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>The above is for materials and labour on the roadways only, and
+something between 33 1/3 per cent, and 50 per cent. is added for the
+maintenance of watercourses and sidewalks, the planting of trees, and
+for general administrative expenses.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/milestones.png">
+<img src="images/milestones.png" alt="Kilometre Stones in France"
+height=400 border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>Kilometre Stones in France</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>Excepting for twenty kilometres or so around Paris, the vehicular
+traffic on the country roads of France does not seem to be in any way
+excessive. The style of vehicles in France that carry into the cities
+farm and garden produce, wood, stone, etc., are large wagons with
+wheels six to seven feet in diameter. These wagons are more easily
+hauled and naturally do less damage to the roads than narrow-tired,
+low-wheeled trucks or drays. The horses in Paris, and in the country,
+are nearly all plain shod, with no heels or toes to act like a pick
+to break up the surface. Sometimes even one sees draught-horses with
+great flat, iron shoes extending out beyond the hoof in all
+directions.</p>
+
+<p>The question of the speed of the automobile on the roads, in France
+and England, as indeed everywhere else, has been the moot point in
+all legislation that has been attempted.</p>
+
+<p>The writer thinks the French custom the best. You may legally go at
+thirty kilometres an hour, and no more. If you exceed this you do it
+at your own risk. If an accident happens it <i>may</i> go hard with you, but
+if not, all is well, and you have the freedom of the road in all that
+the term implies. In the towns you are often held down to ten, eight,
+or even six kilometres an hour, but that is merely a local
+regulation, for your benefit as much as for the safety of the public,
+for many a French town has unthought-of possibilities of danger in
+its crooked streets and unsafe crossings.</p>
+
+<p>Good roads have much to do with the pleasure of automobilism, and
+competent control and care of them will do much more. Where a picked
+bit of roadway has been chosen for automobile trials astonishing
+results have been obtained, as witness the Gordon-Bennett Cup records
+of the last six years, where the average speed per hour consistently
+increased from thirty-eight miles to nearly fifty-five, and this for
+long distances (three hundred and fifty miles or more).</p>
+
+<p>To meet the new traffic conditions the authorities must widen the
+roads here and there, remove obstructions at corners, make encircling
+boulevards through narrowly laid out towns, and erect warning signs,
+like the following, a great deal more numerously than they have as
+yet.</p>
+
+<p>They have very good automobile laws in France in spite of their
+anomalies. You agree to thirty-seven prescribed articles, and go
+through sundry formalities and take to the road with your automobile.
+In the name of the President of the Republic and the "<i>peuple
+fran&ccedil;ais,</i>" you are allowed thirty kilometres an hour in the open
+country, and twenty in the towns. You can do anything you like beyond
+this&mdash;at your own risk, and so long as no accident happens nothing
+will be said, but you must pull up when you come to a small town
+where M. le Maire, in the name of his forty-four electors, has
+decreed that his village is dangerously laid out for fast
+traffic,&mdash;and truth to tell it often is,&mdash;and accordingly you are
+limited to a modest ten or even less. It is annoying, of course, but
+if you are on a strange itinerary you had best go slow until you know
+what trouble lies ahead.</p>
+
+<p>In theory <i>la vitesse</i> is national in France, but in practice it is
+communal, and the barriers rise, in the way of staring warnings
+posted at each village-end, like the barriers across the roads in the
+times of Louis XI.</p>
+
+<p>Except in Holland, where some "private roads" still exist, and in
+certain parts of England, the toll-gate keeper has become almost an
+historical curiosity. It is true, however, that in England one does
+meet with annoying toll-bridges and gates, and in France one has
+equally annoying <i>octroi</i> barriers.</p>
+
+<p>One recognizes the vested proprietary rights, many of which, in
+England, are hereditary, of certain toll-gates and bridges, but it is
+hard in these days, when franchises for the conduct of public
+services are only granted for limited periods, that legislation, born
+of popular clamour, should not confiscate, or, better, purchase at a
+fair valuation, these "rights," and make all roads and bridges free
+to all.</p>
+
+<p>In France there are no toll-gates or bridges, or at least not many
+(the writer recalls but one, a bridge at La Roche-Guyou on the Seine,
+just above Vernon), but there are various state ferries across the
+Seine, the Rh&ocirc;ne, the Sa&ocirc;ne, and the Loire, where a small charge is
+made for crossing. These are particularly useful on the lower Seine,
+in delightful Normandy, as there are no bridges below Rouen.</p>
+
+<p>In France one's chief delays on the road are caused by the <i>octroi</i>
+barriers at all large towns, though only at Paris and, for a time, at
+St. Germain do they tax the supplies of <i>essence</i> (gasoline) and oil,
+which the automobilist carries in his tanks.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>octroi</i> taxes are onerous enough in all conscience, but it is a
+pity to annoy automobilists in the way the authorities do at the
+gates of Paris, and it's still worse for a touring automobile to be
+stopped at the barrier of a town like Evreux in Normandy, or Tarare
+in the Beaujolais. Whatever does the humble (and civil, too) guardian
+do it for, except to show his authority, and smile pleasantly, as he
+waves you off after having brought you to a full stop at the bottom
+of a twisting cobble-stoned, hilly street where you need all the
+energy and suppleness of your motor in order to reach the top.</p>
+
+<p>There are not many of these abrupt stops, outside the large towns,
+and nowhere do they tax you on your oil or <i>essence</i> except at
+Paris&mdash;where you pay (alas!) nearly as much as the original cost.</p>
+
+<p>At Rouen the guardian comes up, looks in your tonneau to see if you
+have a fish or a partridge hidden away, and sends you on your way
+with a bored look, as though he disliked the business as much as you
+do. At Tours, if you come to the barrier just as the official has
+finished a good lunch, he simply smiles, and doesn't even stop you.
+At Marseilles you get up from your seat and let the official poke a
+bamboo stick down among your <i>chambres d'air</i>, and say
+nothing&mdash;provided he does not puncture them; if he does, you say a
+good deal, but he replies by saying that he was merely doing his
+duty, and meant no harm.</p>
+
+<p>At Nantes, at Rennes, at Orleans, and Bordeaux, all of them <i>grandes
+villes</i>, every one is civil and apologetic, but still the procedure
+goes on just the same.</p>
+
+<p>At Lyons the <i>octroi</i> tax has been abolished. Real progress this!</p>
+
+<p>In the old coaching days road speeds fell far behind what they are
+to-day in a well-constructed and capable automobile, but, as they put
+in long hours on the road, they certainly did get over the ground in
+a fairly satisfactory manner. Private conveyances, with private
+horses, could not hope to accomplish anything like it, simply because
+there is a limit to the working powers and hours of the individual
+horse. With the old mail-coaches, in England, and the <i>malle-poste</i> and
+the <i>poste-chaise</i>, in France, things were different, for at every
+<i>poste</i>, or section, was a new relay; and on the coach went at the same
+pace as before.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/daysgoneby.png">
+<img src="images/daysgoneby-t.png" alt="" border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>The London-Birmingham coaches in 1830 covered the 109 miles between
+the two points at an average speed of 15.13 miles per hour, the
+highest speed being eighteen, and the lowest eleven miles.</p>
+
+<p>In France the speeds were a little better. From Lyons the old
+mail-coaches used to make the journey to Paris in four days by way of
+Auxerre, and in five by Moulins, though the distance is the same, one
+hundred and twenty leagues. To-day the automobile, which fears not
+hills, take invariably the Moulins road, and covers the distance
+between breakfast and dinner; that is, if the driver is a "scorcher;"
+and there are such in France.</p>
+
+<p>In 1834 there were thirteen great lines of <i>malle-postes</i> in France as
+follows:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+To Calais. By Clermont, Amiens, and Abbeville.<br>
+To Lille. By Senlis, Noyon, St. Quentin, Cambrai, and Douai.<br>
+To Mezi&egrave;res. By Soissons, Reims, and Rhetel.<br>
+To Strasbourg. By Chalons-sur-Marne, Metz, and Sarrebourg.<br>
+To Besan&ccedil;on. By Troyes and Dijon.<br>
+To Lyon. By Melun, Auxerre, Autun, and Macon.<br>
+To Clermont-Ferrand. By Fontainebleau, Briare, Nevers, and Moulins.<br>
+To Toulouse. By Orleans, Chateauroux, Limoges, and Cahors.<br>
+To Bordeaux. By Orleans, Blois, Tours, Poitiers, and Angoul&ecirc;me.<br>
+To Nantes. By Chartres, Le Mans, La Fleche, and Angers.<br>
+To Brest. By Alen&ccedil;on, Laval, Rennes, and St. Brieuc.<br>
+To Caen. By Bonni&egrave;res, Evreux, and Lisieux.<br>
+To Rouen. By Neuilly-sur-Seine, Pontoise, Gisors, Ecouis, and
+Fleury-sur-Andelle.
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>Besides the <i>malle-poste</i> there was another organization in France even
+more rapid. The following is copied from an old advertisement:</p>
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<p>AVIS AU PUBLIC<br>
+"<i>Messageries Royales&mdash;Nouvelles Diligences</i></p>
+</center>
+<p>"Le Public est averti:</p>
+<p>"Il partira de Paris toutes les semaines, pour Dunkerque, passant par
+Senlis, Compi&egrave;gne, et Noyon, une diligence le lundi &agrave; 6 heures du
+matin. Elle repartira de Dunkerque &agrave; Paris, le mercredi &agrave; 6 heures du
+matin. Il partira aussi dans chaque sens une voiture pour les gros
+bagages et objets fragiles, le jeudi de chaque semaine.</p>
+
+<p>"Les bureaux de ces diligences sont &eacute;tablis &agrave; Paris, rue St. Denis,
+vis-&agrave;-vis les Filles-Dieu."</p>
+
+<p>From Paris to Bordeaux, 157 leagues, the Messageries Royales made the
+going at an easy pace in five days. To-day the express-trains do it
+in six and one-half hours, and the ever-ready automobile has knocked
+a half an hour off that, just for a record. "<i>Tempus fugit.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>The subject of roads and roadmaking is one that to-day more than ever
+is a matter of deep concern to those responsible for a nation's
+welfare.</p>
+
+<p>It might seem, in these progressive days, that it was in reality a
+matter which might take care of itself, at least so far as originally
+well-planned or well-built roads were concerned. This, however, is
+not the case; the railway has very nearly reached the limit of its
+efficiency (at any rate in thickly settled parts), and the electric
+roads have merely stepped in and completed its functions.</p>
+
+<p>It is certain that an improved system of road administration or
+control is needed. The turnpike or the highroad served its purpose
+well enough in coaching days as the most direct and quickest way
+between important towns. To-day, in many respects, conditions are
+changed. Certain centres of population and commercial activity have
+progressed at the expense of less fortunate communities, and the
+one-time direct highroads now deviate considerably, with the result
+that there is often an unnecessary prolongation of distance and
+expenditure of time.</p>
+
+<p>Examples of this sort are to be found all over Britain, but a great
+deal less frequently in France, where the communication is by a more
+direct line between important centres, often leaving the small and
+unimportant towns out of the itinerary altogether.</p>
+
+<p>In England, centralization or nationalization of the road-building
+authority should remedy all this. Cuts and deviations from existing
+lines, for the general good, would then be made without local
+jealousy or misapplied influence being brought to bear, and the
+general details of width and surface be carried on throughout the
+land, under one supreme power, and not, as often now is the case, by
+various local district and urban councils and county surveyors.</p>
+
+<p>"The Great North Road" and "The Famous Bath Road" vary greatly
+throughout their length as to width and excellence; and yet popular
+opinion in the south of England would seem to indicate that these
+roads, to single them out from among others, are idyllic, both in
+character of surface and skill of engineering, throughout their
+length. This is manifestly not so. The "Bath Road," for example, in
+parts, is as flat and well-formed a surface as one could hope to
+find, even in France itself, but at times it degenerates into a mere
+narrow, guttery alley, especially in its passage through some of the
+Thames-side towns, where the surface is never of that excellence that
+it should be; throughout its entire length of some hundred odd miles
+to Bath there are ever-recurring evidence of bad road-making and
+worse engineering.</p>
+
+<p>One is bound to take into consideration that it is the automobile,
+and the general increase in automobile traffic, that, in all
+countries, is causing the wide-spread demand for improved roads.</p>
+
+<p>To illustrate the growth of the use of the automobile on the public
+highway, and taking France as an example, the following statistics
+are given from the <i>Journal des D&eacute;bats:</i></p>
+
+<p>In 1900 there were taxed in France 1,399 <i>voitures-automobiles</i> of more
+than two places, and 955 of one or two places. In 1903 the figures
+had risen to 7,228 and 2,694 respectively. These figures may seem
+astonishingly small at first glance, but their percentage of growth
+is certainly abnormally large. These <i>voitures-automobiles</i>, be it
+recalled, are all pleasure carriages, and displaced in the same time
+(according to the same authority) 10,000 horse-drawn vehicles. At the
+same period Paris alone claimed 1,845 <i>voitures-automobiles</i> and 6,539
+horse-drawn pleasure carriages.</p>
+
+<p>Road reformers, wherever found, should agitate for two things: the
+efficient maintenance of existing roads and the laying out of new and
+improved thoroughfares where needed.</p>
+
+<p>In England and America the roadways are under the care of so many
+controlling bodies that they have suffered greatly. In England, for
+example, there is one eighteen-mile strip of road which is under the
+control of twelve different highway authorities, while the "Great
+North Road" from London to Edinburgh, is, in England alone, subject
+to seventy-two separate authorities. Local jealousies, rivalry and
+factions, and the quarrels of various road authorities interfere
+everywhere with good roads. The greatest good of the greatest number
+is sacrificed to village squabbles and to the advice of the local
+squire, who "detests motor-cars," as he does most other signs of
+progress. The roads of the future must be under some general control.
+At present, affairs in England are pretty bad; let America take heed
+in her new provisions for road supervision and government.</p>
+
+<p>There is at present an almost Chinese jumble in the distribution of
+authority over roads in England and Wales. There are in London alone
+twenty-nine highway authorities, and 1,855 throughout the rest of the
+country.</p>
+
+<p>In view of the fact that through motor traffic of all kinds will
+increase every year, it has been suggested that new loop roads should
+be constructed round towns on the chief roads, private enterprise
+being enlisted by the expectation of improved land value. This
+certainly would be a move in the right direction.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/milestonepics.png">
+<img src="images/milestonepics-t.png" alt="Milestones" border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<table>
+<tr><td><b>1.</b></td><td><b>Ancient Roman Mile-stone, France</b></td>
+<tr><td><b>2.</b></td><td><b>Privately Erected Signboard, England</b></td>
+<tr><td><b>3.</b></td><td><b>Old Parish Mile-stone, England</b></td>
+</table>
+</center>
+
+<p>Mile-stone reform is another thing which is occupying the serious
+attention of the road user. In Continental Europe this matter is
+pretty well arranged, though there is frequently a discrepancy of
+two, three, or even five kilometres between the national mile-stones
+<i>(bornes kilom&eacute;triques)</i> and the sign-boards of the various local
+authorities and touring clubs.</p>
+
+<p>France has the best system extant of sign-boards and mile-stones. One
+finds the great national, departmental, and communal signs and stones
+everywhere, and at every hundred metres along the road are the
+intermediate little white-numbered stones, from which you may take
+your bearings almost momentarily, with never a fear that you are off
+your track.</p>
+
+<p>In addition to this the sign-boards of the Touring Club de France,
+the Automobile Club de France, and the Association G&eacute;n&eacute;rale
+Automobile satisfy any further demands that may be made by the
+traveller by automobile who wants to read as he runs. No such legible
+signs and warnings are known elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>There is uniformity in all the kilometre and department boundary
+stones in France; but in England "mile-stones" of all shapes, sizes,
+materials, and degrees of legibility are found.</p>
+
+<p>There are some curious relics in the form of ancient mile-stones
+still in use, which may please the antiquarian, but are of no value
+to the automobilist. There is the "eightieth mile-stone on the
+Holyhead Road" in England, which carries one back through two
+centuries of road travel; and there is a heavy old veteran of perhaps
+a thousand years, which at one time marked the "<i>Voie Aurelian,</i>" as it
+crossed Southern Gaul. It is found in Provence, in the
+Bouches-du-Rh&ocirc;ne, near Salon, and is a sight not to be missed by
+those curiously inclined.</p>
+
+<p>The question of dust is one of the chief problems yet to be solved
+for the benefit of automobilists and the general public alike. A good
+deal of the "dust nuisance" is due to badly made and badly kept
+roads, but we must frankly admit that the automobile itself is often
+the cause. "La Ligue Contre la Poussi&egrave;re," in France, has made some
+interesting experiments, with the below enumerated results, as
+related to automobile traffic. Road-builders and manufacturers of
+automobiles alike have something here to make a note of.</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<ol>
+<li>Sharp corners and excessive road cambers lead to slip, and,
+therefore, to dust.</li>
+
+<li>More dust is raised on a rough road than on an equally dusty
+smooth road.</li>
+
+<li>Watering the road moderately diminishes the dust.</li>
+
+<li>The spreading on the road of crude oil, or of oil emulsions in
+water, is an important palliative.</li>
+
+<li>Wood, asphalt, cobblestones, and square pavings are not dusty
+save after use by horse traffic.</li>
+
+<li>Cars with smooth, boat-shaped under surfaces are less dusty than
+others.</li>
+
+<li>Cars with large mud-guards and leather flaps near the road are
+more dusty.</li>
+
+<li>Cars on high wheels well away from the ground are less dusty.</li>
+
+<li>Cars with large tool-boxes at the back reaching low down between
+the back wheels are dusty.</li>
+
+<li>Large car bodies are often dustier than small ones.</li>
+
+<li>Blowing the exhaust near the ground increases the dust.</li>
+
+<li>Cars fitted with engines having an insufficient fly-wheel or a
+non-uniform turning effort from any cause are more dusty.</li>
+
+<li>A car mounted on very easy springs having a large up-and-down
+play will suck up the dust with each rise and fall of the body on
+rough roads.</li>
+
+<li>Front wheels&mdash;or rolling wheels&mdash;raise less dust than back
+wheels or driving wheels.</li>
+
+<li>Smooth pneumatic tires are dusty.</li>
+
+<li>Solid or pneumatic rubber tires are more dusty at higher speeds,
+and with high-powered engines.</li>
+
+<li>Non-skid devices, such as small steel studs, etc., do not
+increase the dust.</li>
+</ol>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>A writer on automobilism and roads cannot leave the latter subject
+without a reference to some of the obstructions and inconveniences to
+which the automobilist has to submit. If the automobilist proved
+himself a "road obstruction" like any of the following he would soon
+be banished and the industry would suffer.</p>
+
+<p>A correspondent in the <i>Auto</i>, the chief Parisian daily devoted to
+automobilism, gave the following list of obstructions encountered in
+a journey of a thousand kilometres:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<ol>
+<li>Drivers having left their horses entirely unattended - 75</li>
+
+<li>Drivers who would not make way to allow one to pass - 86</li>
+
+<li>Drivers asleep - 8</li>
+
+<li>Drivers not holding the reins - 12</li>
+
+<li>Drivers in carriages, or carts, without lights at night - 81</li>
+
+<li>Drivers stopping their horses in the middle of the road or at
+dangerous turnings - 2</li>
+
+<li>Drivers allowing their horses to descend hills unattended while
+they walked behind - 18</li>
+
+<li>Dogs throwing themselves in front of one - 35</li>
+
+<li>Flocks of sheep met without guardians near by - 8</li>
+
+<li>Cattle straying unattended - 10</li>
+
+<li>Geese, hens and children in the middle of the road - 30</li>
+</ol>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>Instead of seven sins, any of which might be deadly, there are
+eleven. Legislation must sooner or later protect the automobilist
+better than it does to-day.</p>
+
+<a name="1-4"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center>
+<h3>Chapter IV</h3>
+<h3>Hotels &amp; Things</h3>
+<br>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Hotels.png">
+<img src="images/Hotels.png" alt=""border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+
+<p>In all the literature of travel, that which is devoted to hotels has
+been conspicuously neglected. Certainly a most interesting work could
+be compiled.</p>
+
+<p>Among the primitive peoples travellers were dependent upon the
+hospitality of those among whom they came. After this arose a species
+of hostelry, which catered for man and beast in a more or less crude
+and uncomfortable manner; but which, nevertheless, was a great deal
+better than depending upon the generosity and hospitality of
+strangers, and vastly more comfortable than sleeping and eating in
+the open.</p>
+
+<p>In the middle ages there appeared in France the <i>cabaret</i>, the <i>gargot</i>,
+the <i>taverne</i>, and then the <i>auberge</i>, many of which, endowed with no
+more majestic name, exist even to-day.</p>
+
+<p>ICI ON LOGE &Agrave; PIED ET &Agrave; CHEVAL</p>
+
+<p>is a sign frequently seen along the roadways of France, and even in
+the villages and small towns. It costs usually ten sous a night for
+man, and five sous for his beast, though frequently there is a
+fluctuating price.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>aubergiste</i> of other days, on the routes most frequented, was an
+enterprising individual, if reports are to be believed. Frequently he
+would stand at his door and cry out his prices to passers-by. "<i>Au
+Cheval Blanc! On dine pour douze sous. Huit sous le cocher. Six
+liards l'&eacute;curie.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>With the era of the diligences there came the H&ocirc;tels de la Poste,
+with vast paved courtyards, great stables, and meals at all hours,
+but the chambers still remained more or less primitive, and in truth
+have until a very recent date.</p>
+
+<p>There is absolutely no question but that automobilism has brought
+about a great change in the hotel system of France. It may have had
+some slight effect elsewhere, but in France its influence has been
+enormous. The guide-books of a former generation did nothing but put
+an asterisk against the names of those hotels which struck the fancy
+of the compiler, and it was left to the great manufacturers of
+"<i>pneumatiques</i>" for automobiles to carry the scheme to a considerably
+more successful issue. Michelin, in preparing his excellent
+route-book, bombarded the hotel-keeper throughout the length and
+breadth of France with a series of questions, which he need not
+answer if he did not choose, but which, if he neglected, was most
+likely taken advantage of by his competitor.</p>
+
+<p>Given a small <i>chef-lieu</i>, a market-town in France, with two competing
+establishments, the one which was marked by the compiler of this
+excellent road-book as having the latest sanitary arrangements, with
+perhaps a dark room for photographers, stood a much better chance of
+the patronage of the automobile traveller than he who had merely a
+blank against the name of his house. The following selection of this
+appalling array of questions, used in the preparation of the
+Guide-Michelin, will explain this to the full:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="noindent">Is your hotel open all the year?</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">What is the price per day which the automobilist <i>en tour</i> may count on
+spending with you? (This is purposely noncommittal so far as an
+ironbound statement is concerned, being more particularly for
+classification, and is anyway a much better system of classification
+than by a detailed price-list of <i>d&eacute;jeuner, dîner</i>, etc.)</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">What is the price of an average room, with service and lights? (Be it
+noted that only in avowed tourist resorts, or in the case of very new
+travellers, are the ridiculous items of "<i>service et bougie</i>"&mdash;service
+and lights&mdash;ever charged in France.)</p>
+
+Is wine included in your regular charges? (And it generally is except
+in the two above-mentioned instances.)<br>
+
+Have you a sign denoting adherence or alliance to the A. G. A.?<br>
+
+Have you a sign denoting adherence or alliance to the A. C. F.?<br>
+
+Have you a sign denoting adherence or alliance to the T. C F.?<br>
+
+Have you an arrangement with the Touring Club de France allowing
+members a discount of ten per cent.? (Some four thousand country
+hotels of France have.)<br>
+
+Have you a bath-room?<br>
+
+Have you modernized hygienic bedrooms?<br>
+
+Have you water-closets with modern plumbing? (Most important this.)<br>
+
+Have you a dark room for photographers?<br>
+
+Have you a covered garage for automobiles? (This must be free of
+charge to travellers, for two days at least, or a mention of the
+hotel does not appear.)<br>
+
+How many automobiles can you care for?<br>
+
+Have you a telephone and what is its number?<br>
+
+What is your telegraphic address?<br>
+
+What are the chief curiosities and sights in your town?<br>
+
+What interesting excursions in the neighbourhood?
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>This information is afterwards compiled and most clearly set forth,
+with additional information as to population, railway facilities,
+etc.</p>
+
+<p>The annual of the Automobile Club de France marks with a little
+silhouetted knife and fork those establishments which deserve mention
+for their <i>cuisine</i>, and even marks good beds in a similar fashion.
+Clearly the makers of old-time guide-books must wake up, or everybody
+will take to automobiling, if only to have the right to demand one of
+these excellent guides. To be sure the same information might to a
+very considerable extent be included in the recognized guide-books;
+indeed Joanne's excellent series has in one or two instances added
+something of the sort in recent editions of their "Normandie" and
+"Provence," but each volume deals only with some special locality,
+whereas the Guide-Michelin deals with the whole of France, and the
+house also issues another covering Belgium, Holland, and the Rhine
+country.</p>
+
+<p>The chief concern of the touring automobilist, after the pleasures of
+the road, is the choice of a hotel. The days when the diligences of
+Europe drew up before an old-time inn, with the sign of a pewter
+plate, an <i>&eacute;cu d'or</i>, a holly branch, or a prancing white horse, have
+long since disappeared. The classic good cheer of other days, a fowl
+and a bottle of Beaune, a baron of beef and porter, or a carp and
+good Rhine wine have gone, too. The automobile traveller requires, if
+not a stronger fare, at least a more varied menu, as he does a more
+ample supply of water for washing.</p>
+
+<p>These quaint old inns of other days, with fine mullioned windows,
+galleried courtyards, and vine-trellised fa&ccedil;ades, still exist here
+and there, but they have been much modernized, else they would not
+exist at all. There is not much romance in the make-up of the modern
+traveller, at least so far as his own comfort is concerned, and the
+tired automobilist who has covered two hundred kilometres of road,
+between lunch and dinner, requires something more heroic in the way
+of a bath than can be had in a tiny porcelain basin, and a more
+comfortable place to sit in than the average bar-parlour, such as he
+finds in most country inns in England.</p>
+
+<p>As Sterne said: "They do things better in France," and the
+accommodation supplied the automobilist is there far ahead of what
+one gets elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>The hotel demanded by the twentieth-century traveller need not
+necessarily be a palace, but it must be something which caters to the
+advancing needs of the time in a more efficient manner than the
+country inn of the eighteenth century, when the only one who
+travelled in comfort was he who thrust himself upon the hospitality
+of friends.</p>
+
+<p>We are living in a hygienic age, and to-day we are particular about
+things that did not in the least concern our forefathers. In England
+there is no public-spirited body which takes upon itself the task of
+pointing out the virtuous path to the country Boniface. The
+Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland has not succeeded very
+well with its task as yet and has not anything like the influence of
+its two sister organizations in France, or the very efficient Touring
+Club Italiano.</p>
+
+<p>Hygiene does not necessarily go so far as to demand a doctor's
+certificate as to the health of the birds and animals which the <i>chef</i>
+presents so artistically in his celebrated <i>plats du jour</i>, and one
+need not take the <i>journaux comiques</i> too seriously, as once did a
+gouty <i>milord</i>, who insisted that his duckling Rouennais should, while
+alive, first be certificated as to the health of its <i>bronches</i> and
+<i>poumons</i>. All the same one likes to know that due regard is given to
+the proprieties and necessities of his bedroom, and to know that the
+kitchen is more or less a public apartment where one can see what is
+going on, which one can almost invariably do in France, in the
+country, at any rate. Therein lies one of the great charms of the
+French hotel.</p>
+
+<p>One of the latest moves of the Automobile Club de France is to call
+attention to the mountainous districts of France, the Pyrenees, and
+the Jura, and to exploit them as rivals to Switzerland. Further, a
+competition among hotel-keepers has been started throughout France,
+and a prize of ten thousand francs is offered yearly to that
+hotel-keeper who has added most to the attractions of his house. The
+club authorities furnish expert advice and recommendations as to
+hotel reforms to any hotel-keeper who applies. In England the newly
+established "Road Club" might promote the interests of British motor
+tourists, and the large numbers of Americans and foreigners, by
+undertaking a similar work.</p>
+
+<p>To a great extent the tourist, by whatever means of travel, must find
+his hotels out for himself. He cannot always follow a guide-book, and
+if he does he may find that the endorsement of an old edition is no
+longer merited.</p>
+
+<p>By far the best hotel-guides for France, Belgium, and Holland, the
+Rhine, Switzerland, and Italy are the excellent <i>annuaires</i> of the
+Automobile Clubs and Touring Clubs, and the before-mentioned
+Guide-Michelin and "Guide-Routiere Continental," issued by the great
+pneumatic tire companies.</p>
+
+<p>Hotel-finding abroad, for the stranger, is a more or less difficult
+process, or he makes it such. The crowded resorts do not give one a
+tithe of the character or local colour to be had from a stay in some
+little market-town inn of France or Germany. In the former, hotels
+are simply bad imitations of Parisian establishments, while the best
+are often off the beaten track in the small towns.</p>
+
+<p>The question of tipping is an ever present one for the European
+traveller. It exists in Britain and Continental Europe to an
+increasing and exasperating extent, and the advent of the automobile
+has done nothing to lessen it.</p>
+
+<p>There is no earthly, sensible logic which should induce a <i>gar&ccedil;on</i> in a
+hotel or restaurant to think that because one arrives in an
+automobile he wishes to dine in a special room off of rare viands and
+drink expensive wines, but this is his common conception of the
+automobile tourist. One fights up or down through the scale of hotel
+servants, and does his best to allay any false ideas they may have,
+including those of the hostler, who has done nothing for you, and
+expects his tip, too. It's an up-hill process, and the idea that
+every automobilist is a millionaire is everywhere dying hard.</p>
+
+<p>The traveller demands not so much elegance as comfort, and, above
+all, fit accommodation for his automobile. Some sort of a light,
+airy, and clean closed garage is his right to demand, and the hotel
+that supplies this, as contrasted with the one that does not, gets
+the business, even if other things be <i>not</i> equal.</p>
+
+<p>The requirements of an automobile <i>en tour</i> are almost as numerous and
+varied as those of its owner. Hence the hotel proprietor must, if he
+values this clientele, provide something a great deal better than a
+mere outhouse, an old untidy stable-yard, or a lean-to.</p>
+
+<p>Small concern is it to mine host of the local inn, who is somewhat
+off the beaten track of motorcars, as to what really constitutes a
+garage. He usually does not even know what the word means. Any
+roofed-over shed or shack, with doors or not, is what one generally
+has to put up with to-day, for housing his resplendent brassy and
+varnishy automobile.</p>
+
+<p>Once the writer remembers being turned into an old stable (in
+England), the floor of which was strewn with the broken bottles of a
+defunct local mineral water industry, and again into another, used as
+a carpenter's shop, the floor strewn with the paraphernalia and tools
+of the trade.</p>
+
+<p>If the English hotel-keeper (again they do things better on the
+Continent) only would discriminate to the extent of believing that
+there is nothing harmful or indecent about an automobile, and let it
+live in the coach-house like a respectable dog-cart or the orthodox
+brougham, all would be well, and we should save our tempers and a
+vast lot of gray matter in attempting to show a conservative landlord
+how far he is behind the times.</p>
+
+<p>One other very important demand the automobilist makes of the hotel,
+and that is the possibility of being supplied with his coffee at any
+time after five in the morning. The automobile tourist, not of the
+butterfly order, is almost invariably an early bird.</p>
+
+<p>Without question the Continental hotel of all ranks is vastly
+superior to similar establishments in Britain. The inferiority of the
+British inns may be due to tardiness and slothfulness on the part of
+the landlords, or long suffering and non-complaining on the part of
+their guests. It is either one or the other, or both, of these
+reasons, but the fact is the hotel-keeper, and his establishment as
+well, are each far inferior to those of Continental Europe.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps the real reason of the conservatism of the British
+hotel-keeper is yet to be fathomed, but it probably starts from the
+fact that he does not travel to learn. The young Swiss serves his
+apprenticeship, and learns French, as a waiter at Nice, just as he
+learns Italian at San Remo. Ten years later you may find him as the
+manager of a big hotel at home. He has learned his business by hard,
+disagreeable work. How many English hotel-keepers have imitated him?
+Another cause of backwardness in England is the "license" system,
+with its artificial augmentation of the value of all premises where
+alcoholic refreshment is provided. This tends to make the landlord
+look upon it as his chief, if not his sole, source of profit. Even if
+he serves meals at a fair price, he looks to the accompanying, or
+casual, drinks to pay him best. This results in indifferent and
+slovenly food-catering. The public bar, with its foul-mouthed
+loafers,&mdash;there seems to be an idea that one can talk in an English
+tavern as one would not in an English street,&mdash;is often within
+ear-shot of the dining-room. This is one of the great defects of the
+English hotel system, in all but the largest towns, and even there it
+is not wholly absent.</p>
+
+<p>This is how the facts strike a foreigner, the Frenchman, the
+Dutchman, the Belgian, and the German, whose hotels and restaurants
+are, first of all, for quiet, ordinary guests, and only secondarily
+as places where liquid refreshment&mdash;alcoholic or otherwise&mdash;is served
+with equal alacrity, but without invidious distinction.</p>
+
+<p>The old-time inns of England, and their very names, have a peculiar
+fascination for the stranger. Some of us who know them intimately,
+and who how what discomfort and inefficient catering may lurk behind
+such a picturesque nomenclature as the "Rose and Crown" or the
+"Hawthorne Inn," have a certain disregard for the romance of it all.
+If one is an automobilist he has all the more reason to take
+cognizance of their deficiencies.</p>
+
+<p>All the same the mere mention of the old-time posting-houses of the
+"Bath Road," the "Great North Road" (particularly that portion
+between London and Cambridge along which Dick Turpin took his famous
+ride) have a glamour for us that even the automobile will not wholly
+extinguish. According to story it was at one of the many inns along
+the "Great North Road" that Turpin procured a bottle of wine, which
+once having passed down the throat of his famous "Black Bess" enabled
+the rascal to escape his pursuers. The automobilist will be fortunate
+if he can find gasoline along here to-day as easily as he can that
+peculiarly vile brand of beer known as "bitter."</p>
+
+<p>Buntingford on the "North Road" has an inn, which, in a way, is
+trying to cope with the new conditions. The landlord of the "George
+and the Dragon" has come to a full realization that the motor-car has
+well-nigh suppressed all other forms of road traffic for pleasure,
+and, more or less incompletely, he is catering for the wants of
+motorists, as did his predecessors for the traveller by
+posting-carriage or stage-coach. This particular landlord, though he
+looks like one of the old school, should be congratulated on a
+perspicuity which few of his confreres in England possess.</p>
+
+<p>There are two other inns which travellers on the "North Road" will
+recognize as they fly past in their automobiles, or stop for tea or a
+bite to eat, for, in spite of their devotion to the traffic in beer,
+these "North Road" inns, within a radius of seventy-five or a hundred
+miles of London, seem more willing to furnish solid or non-alcoholic
+refreshment than most of their brethren elsewhere. The "Bell Inn" and
+the "Red, White, and Blue" (and the George and the Dragon) of the
+North Road in England deserve to linger in the memory of the
+automobilist, almost to the exclusion of any other English inns of
+their class.</p>
+
+<p>With regard to hotel charges for all classes of travellers, as well
+in England as on the Continent, there is an undoubted upward tendency
+which the automobile has done absolutely nothing to allay. One good
+is coming to pass, however, and that is uniformity of price for the
+class of accommodation offered, and (in France and most other
+Continental countries) the absolute abolition of the charge for
+"lights and service," an abominable and outrageous practice which
+still lingers in England&mdash;and for that matter Scotland and Ireland.</p>
+
+<p>The discussion of the subject has been worn threadbare, and it is
+useless to enter further into it here, save to remark that since the
+automobile is bringing about so many reforms and improvements perhaps
+the abolition of this species of swindling on the part of the British
+hotel-keeper will disappear along with antiquated sanitary
+arrangements and uncomfortable closed-in beds.</p>
+
+<p>In France&mdash;thanks again to the indefatigable Touring Club de
+France&mdash;they have eliminated this charge for service and lights
+entirely, and one generally finds hanging behind the door the little
+card advocated by the Touring Club, stating clearly the charge for
+that particular room and the price of the various things offered in
+the way of accommodation. This ought to be demanded, by law, of every
+hotel-keeper. Not every hotel in France has fallen in line, but those
+that have are reaping the benefit. The automobilist is a good
+advertiser of what he finds <i>en route</i> that pleases him, and scores
+pitilessly&mdash;to other automobilists&mdash;everything in the nature of a
+swindle that he meets with, and they are not few, for in many places
+the automobilist is still considered fair game for robbery.</p>
+
+<p>As to the fare offered in English inns, as compared with that of the
+Continental hotel, the least said the better; the subject has been
+gone over again and again, so it shall not be reiterated here, save
+to quote Pierre Loti on what one eats for an English dinner.</p>
+
+<p>"We were assembled round a horrible bill of fare, which would not be
+good enough for one of our humblest cook-shops. But the English are
+extraordinary folk. When I saw the reappearance, for the fourth time,
+of the fatal dish of three compartments, for badly boiled potatoes,
+for peas looking poisonously green, and for cauliflower drenched with
+a glue-like substance, I declined, and sighed for Poledor, who
+nourished my studious youth on a dainty repast at a shilling per
+day."</p>
+
+<p>The modern tourist, and especially the tourist by automobile, has
+done more for the improved conduct of the wayside hotel, and even
+those of the large towns, than whole generations of travellers of a
+former day.</p>
+
+<p>Once the hotel drew its income from the hiring-out of posting-horses,
+and the sale of a little food and much wine. As the old saying goes:
+"Four horses and four bottles of port went together in the account of
+every gentleman." Travellers of those days, if comparatively few,
+were presumably wealthy. To-day no one, save the vulgar few, ever
+cares that the innkeeper, or the servants, should suspect him of
+being wealthy.</p>
+
+<p>It's a failing of the Anglo-Saxon race, however, to want to be taken
+for bigger personages than they really are, and often enough they pay
+for the privilege. This is only natural, seeing that even an
+innkeeper is human. Charges suitable for a <i>milord</i> or a millionaire
+have been inflicted on Browns, Joneses, and Robinsons simply because
+they demanded such treatment&mdash;for fear they would not be taken for
+"gentlemen." Such people are not numerous among real traveling
+automobilists; they are mostly found among that class who spend the
+week-end at Brighton, or dine at Versailles or St. Germain or "make
+the f&ecirc;te" at Trouville. They are known instinctively by all, and are
+only tolerated by the hotel landlord for the money they spend.</p>
+
+<p>The French cook's "<i>batterie de cuisine</i>" is a thing which is fearfully
+and wonderfully displayed in all the splendour of polished steel and
+copper; that is, it is frequently so displayed in the rather limited
+acquaintance which the general public has with the <i>cuisine</i> of a great
+hotel or restaurant, whether it be in Paris, London, or New York.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Frenchhotels.png">
+<img src="images/Frenchhotels.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>In provincial France it is quite another thing. The <i>chef-patron</i> of a
+small hotel in a small town may be possessed of an imposing battery
+of pots and pans, but often, since he buys his <i>pâtisserie</i> and
+sweetmeats of the local pastry-cook, and since his guests may
+frequently not number a dozen at a time, he has no immediate use for
+all of his <i>casseroles</i> and <i>marmites</i> and <i>plats ronds</i> and <i>sauteuses</i> at
+one time, and accordingly, instead of being picturesquely hung about
+the wall in all their polished brilliancy, they are frequently
+covered with a coating of dull wax or, more banal yet, enveloped in
+an ancient newspaper with only their handles protruding. It's a pity
+to spoil the romantically picturesque idea which many have of the
+French <i>batterie de cuisine</i>, but the before-mentioned fact is more
+often the case than not.</p>
+
+<p>Occasionally, on the tourist-track, there is a "show hotel," like the
+H&ocirc;tel du Grand Cerf at Louviers (its catering in this case is none
+the worse for its being a "show-place," it may be mentioned) where
+all the theatrical picturesqueness of the imagination may be seen.
+There is the timbered sixteenth-century house-front, the heavily
+beamed, low ceiling of the <i>cuisine</i>, the great open-fire chimney with
+its <i>broche</i>, and all the brave showing of pots and pans, brilliant
+with many scrubbings of <i>eau de cuivre</i>, to present quite the ideal
+picture of its kind to be seen in France&mdash;without leaving the
+highroads and searching out the "real thing" in the byways.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, in the same bustling town, is the Mouton d'Argent,
+equally as excellent in its catering (perhaps more so), where the
+kitchen is about the most up-to-date thing imaginable, with a modern
+range, mechanical egg-beaters, etc. This last is nothing very
+wonderful to an American, but is remarkable in France, where the
+average cook usually does the work quite as efficiently with a
+two-tined fork, or something which greatly resembles a chop-stick.</p>
+
+<p>In the <i>cuisine</i> electric lights are everywhere, but the up-to-dateness
+here stops abruptly; the <i>salle &agrave; manger</i> is bare and uninviting, and
+the rooms above equally so, and the electric light has not penetrated
+beyond the ground floor. Instead one finds ranged on the mantel,
+above the cook-stove in the kitchen, a regiment of candlesticks, in
+strange contrast to the rest of the furnishings. Electric bells, too,
+are wanting, and there is still found the row of jangling <i>grelots</i>,
+their numbers half-obliterated, hanging above the great doorway
+leading to the courtyard.</p>
+
+<p>The European waiter is never possessed of that familiarity of speech
+with those he serves, which the American negro waiter takes for
+granted is his birthright. It's all very well to have a
+cheerful-countenanced waiter bobbing about behind one's chair, indeed
+it's infinitely more inspiring than such of the old brigade of
+mutton-chopped English waiters as still linger in some of London's
+City eating-houses, but the disposition of the coffee-coloured or
+coal-black negro to talk to you when you do not want to be talked to
+should be suppressed.</p>
+
+<p>The genuine French, German, or Swiss waiter of hotel, restaurant, or
+caf&eacute; is neither too cringingly servile, nor too familiar, though
+always keen and agile, and possessed of a foresight and initiative
+which anticipates your every want, or at any rate meets it promptly,
+even if you ask for it in boarding-school French or German.</p>
+
+<p>There is a keen supervision of food products in France, by
+governmental inspection and control, and one is certain of what he is
+getting when he buys his <i>filet</i> at the butcher's, and if he patronizes
+hotels and restaurants of an approved class he is equally sure that
+he is eating beef in his <i>bouille</i> and mutton in his <i>rago&ucirc;t</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Horse-meat is sold largely, and perhaps certain substitutes for
+rabbit, but you only buy horsemeat at a horse butcher's, so there is
+no deception here. You buy horse-meat as horse-meat, and not as beef,
+in the same way that you buy oleomargarine as oleomargarine, and not
+as butter, and the French law deals hardly with the fraudulent seller
+of either.</p>
+
+<p>The law does not interfere with one's private likes and dislikes, and
+if you choose to make your breakfast off of oysters and Cr&ecirc;me
+Chantilly&mdash;as more than one American has been known to do on the
+Paris boulevards&mdash;there is no law to stop you, as there is in
+Germany, if you want beer and fruit together. Doubtless this is a
+good law; it sounds reasonable; but the individual should have sense
+enough to be able to select a menu from non-antagonistic ingredients.</p>
+
+<p>Foreigners, by which English and Americans mean people of Continental
+Europe, know vastly more of the art of catering to the traveller than
+do Anglo-Saxons. This is the first, last, and intermediate verse of
+the litany of good cheer. We may catch up with our Latin and Teuton
+brothers, or we may not. Time will tell, if we don't expire from the
+over-eating of pie and muffins before that time arrives.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/lowresEurope.png">
+<img src="images/lowresEurope-t.png" alt="Europe" border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+
+<a name="1-5"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center>
+<h3>Chapter V</h3>
+<h3>The Grand Tour</h3>
+<br>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/grandtour.png">
+<img src="images/grandtour.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>The advantages of touring by automobile are many: to see the country,
+to travel agreeably, to be independent of railways, and to be an
+opportunist&mdash;that is to say to be able to fly off at a tangent of
+fifty or a hundred kilometres at a moment's notice, in order to take
+in some f&ecirc;te or fair, or celebration or pilgrimage.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Le tourisme en automobile</i>" is growing all over the world, but after
+all it is generally only in or near the great cities and towns that
+one meets an automobile on the road. They hug the great towns and
+their neighbouring resorts with astonishing persistency. Of the one
+thousand automobiles at Nice in the season it is certain that
+nine-tenths of the number that leave their garages during the day
+will be found sooner or later on the famous "Corniche," going or
+coming from Monte Carlo, instead of discovering new tracks for
+themselves in the charming background of the foot-hills of the
+Maritime Alps.</p>
+
+<p>In England, too, the case is not so very different. There are a
+thousand "week-enders" in automobiles on the way to Brighton,
+Southsea, Bournemouth, Scarborough, or Blackpool to ten genuine
+tourists, and this even though England and Wales and Scotland form a
+snug little touring-grounds with roads nearly, if not always,
+excellent, and with accommodations&mdash;of a sort&mdash;always close at hand.</p>
+
+<p>In Germany there seems to be more genuine touring, in proportion to
+the number of automobiles in use, than elsewhere. This may not prove
+to be wholly the case, as the author judges only from his
+observations made on well-worn roads.</p>
+
+<p>Switzerland is either all touring, or not at all; it is difficult to
+decide which. At any rate most of the strangers within its frontiers
+are tourists, and most of the tourists are strangers, and many of
+them take their automobiles with them in spite of the "feeling"
+lately exhibited there against stranger automobilists.</p>
+
+<p>Belgium and Holland, as touring-grounds for automobilists, do not
+figure to any extent. This is principally from the fact that they are
+usually, so far as foreign automobilists are concerned, included in
+more comprehensive itineraries. They might be known more intimately,
+to the profit of all who pass through them. They are distinctly
+countries for leisurely travel, for their areas are so restricted
+that the automobilist who covers two or three hundred kilometres in
+the day will hardly remember that he has passed through them.</p>
+
+<p>Northern Italy forms very nearly as good a touring-ground as France,
+and the Italian engineers have so refined the automobile of native
+make, and have so fostered automobilism, that accommodations are
+everywhere good, and the tourist to-day will not lack for supplies of
+<i>benzina</i> and <i>olio</i> as he did a few years ago.</p>
+
+<p>The bulk of the automobile traffic between France and Italy enters
+through the gateway of the Riviera, and, taken all in all, this is by
+far the easiest, and perhaps the most picturesque, of routes.
+Alternatives are through Gap and Cuneo, Brian&ccedil;on and Susa, Moutiers
+and Aosta, or by the Swiss passes, the latter perhaps the most
+romantic of routes in spite of their difficulties and other
+objections.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Englishroads.png">
+<img src="images/Englishroads-t.png" alt="" border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>Automobiling in Spain is a thing of the future, and it will be a big
+undertaking to make the highroads, to say nothing of the by-roads,
+suitable for automobile traffic. The present monarchs' enthusiasm for
+the sport may be expected, however, to do wonders. The most that the
+average tourist into Spain by automobile will want to undertake is
+perhaps the run to Madrid, which is easily accomplished, or to
+Barcelona, which is still easier, or to just step over the border to
+Feuntarabia or San Sebastian, if he does not think overrefined
+Biarritz will answer his purpose.</p>
+
+<p>More than one hardy traveller, before the age of automobiles, and
+even before the age of steam, has made "the grand tour," and then
+come home and written a book about it until there seems hardly any
+need that a modern traveller should attempt to set down his
+impressions of the craggy, castled Rhine, the splendid desolation of
+Pompeii, or the romantic reminders still left in old Provence to tell
+the story of the days of the troubadours and the "Courts of Love."</p>
+
+<p>It is conceivable that one can see and enjoy all these classic
+splendours from an automobile, but automobilists from overseas have
+been known to rush across France in an attempt to break the record
+between some Channel port and Monte Carlo, or dash down the Rhine and
+into Switzerland for a few days, and so on to Rome, and ultimately
+Naples, where ship is taken for home in the western world.</p>
+
+<p>This is, at any rate, the itinerary of many a self-made millionaire
+who thinks to enjoy himself between strenuous intervals of
+international business affairs. It is a pity he does not go slower
+and see more.</p>
+
+<p>The real grand tour, or, as the French call it, the "<i>Circuit
+Europ&eacute;en,</i>" may well begin at Paris, and descend through Poitou to
+Biarritz, along the French slope of the Pyrenees, finally skirting
+the Mediterranean coast by Marseilles and Monte Carlo, thence to
+Genoa, in Italy, and north to Milan, finally reaching Vienna. This
+city is generally considered the outpost of comfortable automobile
+touring, and rightly so, for the difficulty of getting gasoline and
+oil, along the route, and such small necessities as an automobile
+requires, continually oppresses one, and dampens his enthusiasm for
+the beauties of nature, the fascination of historic shrines, or the
+worship of art, the three chief things for which the most of us
+travel, unless we be mere vagabonds, and journey about for the sheer
+love of being on the move. From Vienna to Prague, to Breslau, to
+Berlin, Hanover, and Cologne, and finally to Paris via Reims finishes
+the "<i>circuit,</i>" which for variety and excellence of the roads cannot
+elsewhere be equalled.</p>
+
+<p>This, or something very near to it, would be the very best possible
+course for a series of reliability trials, and certainly nothing
+quite so suitable or enjoyable for the participants could otherwise
+be found. It is much better than a mere pegging away round and round
+a two hundred and fifty kilometre circuit, as some trials and races
+have been run. In all the distance is something like five thousand
+kilometres, which easily divides itself into stages of two hundred
+kilometres daily, and gives one an enjoyable twenty-five days or a
+month of travel, which, in all its illuminating variety, is far and
+away ahead of the benefits our forefathers derived from the box seat
+of a diligence or a post-chaise.</p>
+
+<p>On this trip one runs the whole gamut of the European climate, and
+eats the food of Paris, of the Midi, of Italy, Austria, and Germany,
+and wonders why it is that he likes the last one partaken of the
+best. Given a faultlessly running automobile (and there are many
+today which can do the work under these conditions) and no tire
+troubles, and one could hardly improve upon the poetry of motion
+which enables one to eat up the long silent stretches of roadway in
+La Beauce or the Landes, to climb the gentle slopes skirting the
+Pyrenees, or the ruder ones of Northern Italy, until finally he makes
+that bee-line across half of Europe, from Berlin to Paris. One's
+impressions of places when touring <i>en automobile</i> are apt to be hazy;
+like those of the energetic American who, when asked if he had been
+to Rome, replied, "Why, yes; that's where I bought my panama <i>(sic)</i>
+hat!"</p>
+
+<p>Such a "grand tour" as outlined by the "<i>Circuit Europ&eacute;en</i>" presents a
+variety which it is impossible to equal. It is a tour which embraces
+country widely differing in characteristics&mdash;one which takes in both
+the long, broad, ribbon-like roads of Central France, flanked by
+meadows, orchards, and farmsteads, and lofty mountains from the peaks
+of which other peaks capped with glistening snow may be gazed upon,
+sunlit valleys and sparkling lakes. It is a tour which no man could
+possibly make without a good machine, and yet it is a tour which,
+with a good machine, can be considered easy and comparatively
+inexpensive.</p>
+
+<p>One does not require a car with excessive horsepower for the trip,
+though he does need a machine which has been carefully constructed
+and adjusted, and above all he must guard carefully that his motor
+does not overheat, for the hills are stiff for the most part.</p>
+
+<p>When touring on an itinerary as varied as that here indicated one
+should have anti-skidding tires on the rear wheels, take descents
+with care, and, if you be the owner of a powerful machine, do not
+make that an excuse for rushing up the tortuous, twisting, and
+frightfully dangerous roads, banked by a cliff on one hand, and by a
+precipice on the other, which abound in all mountainous regions.</p>
+
+<p>In taking turnings on such roads also always keep to the right, even
+if this necessitates slowing down at the bends. One never knows what
+is descending, and in such parts slow-moving carts drawn by cattle
+are numerous, and generally keep the middle of the road. Most of the
+automobile accidents which take place on mountain roads are due to
+this swishing round bends, heedless of what may be on the other side,
+and in allowing one's machine to gather too much speed on the long
+descents. This is gospel! There is both sport and pleasure to be had
+from such an itinerary as this, but it is a serious affair, for one
+has to have a lookout for many things that are unthought of in a two
+hours' afternoon suburban promenade. The <i>chauffeur</i>, be he
+professional or amateur, who brings his automobile back from the
+<i>Circuit Europ&eacute;en</i> under its own power is entitled to be called expert.</p>
+
+<p>As for the value to automobilism of this great trial one can hardly
+overestimate it. There is no place here for the freak machine or
+scorching <i>chauffeur</i>, such as one has found in many great events of
+the past. A great touring contest over such a course would be bound
+to have important results in many ways. The ordinary class of <i>circuit</i>
+is a very close approach to a racing-track, with gasoline and tire
+stations established at many points of the course. On the European
+Circuit such advantages would be out of the question, everything
+would have to be taken as it exists naturally. In a sense, such a
+competition would be a return to the contests organized in the early
+days of the automobile, the Paris-Bordeaux and Paris-Berlin races,
+when the driver had ever to be on the alert for unforeseen
+difficulties unknown on the racing-circuit as understood in recent
+years.</p>
+
+<p>To follow the <i>Circuit Europ&eacute;en</i> one traverses France, Italy, Austria,
+Germany, and Belgium; and one may readily enough, if time and
+inclination permit, get also a glimpse of Spain, Switzerland, and
+Holland. Generally the automobile tourist has confined his trip to
+France, as properly he might, but, if he would go further afield, the
+European Circuit, as it has become classically known, is an itinerary
+vouched for as to its practicability and interest by the allied
+automobile and touring clubs of many lands.</p>
+
+<p>France is still far in the lead in the accommodation which it offers
+to the automobilist, but Germany has made great strides of late, and
+the other frontier boundary states have naturally followed suit.
+Roads improvement in Germany has gone on at a wonderful rate of late,
+due, it is said, to the interest of the German emperor in the
+automobile industry, both from a sportive and a very practical side.</p>
+
+<p>From Paris to the Italian frontier one finds the roads uniformly
+excellent; but, as one enters Italy, they deteriorate somewhat,
+except along the frontiers, where, curiously enough, nations seem to
+vie with each other in a careful maintenance of the highroads, which
+is, of course, laudable. This is probably due to strategic military
+reasons, but so long as it benefits the automobilist he will not cry
+out for disarmament.</p>
+
+<p>The Austrian roads are fair&mdash;near Vienna and Prague they are quite
+good; but they are dangerous with deep ditches and gullies which the
+French know as <i>canivaux</i>, the Austrians by some unpronounceable name,
+and the Anglo-Saxon as "thank-you-marms." From Prague to Breslau the
+roads are twisting and turning, and large stones jut here and there
+above the actual road level. This is a real danger, a very
+considerable annoyance. From Breslau to Potsdam one gets as dusty a
+bit of road travelling as he will find in all Europe. One side of the
+road only is stone-rolled, the other apparently being merely loose
+sand, or some variety of dust which whirls up in clouds and even
+penetrates one's tightly closed bags and boxes. Hanover, the home of
+Continental tires, is surrounded in every direction with execrable
+cobblestones, or whatever the German equivalent is&mdash;"pflaster," the
+writer thinks. Probably the makers of the excellent tires for
+automobiles have nothing to do with the existence of this awful <i>pav&eacute;</i>,
+and perhaps if you accused them of it they would repair your tires
+without charge! The writer does not know.</p>
+
+<p>From Hanover to Minden the roads improve, and when one actually
+strikes the trail of Napoleon he finds the roads better and better.
+Napoleon nearly broke up Europe, or saved it&mdash;the critics do not
+agree, but he was the greatest road-builder since the Romans.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, crossing the Rhine at Cologne and passing through Belgium,
+one enters France by the valley of the Meuse.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most remarkable tours was that undertaken in 1904 by
+Georges Cormier, in a tiny six horse-power De Dion Populaire. He left
+the Automobile Club de France in mid-October for Sens, his first
+stop, 101 kilometres from Paris. His route thenceforth was by Dijon,
+Les Rousses, and the Col de la Faucille, whence he reached Geneva,
+after crossing the Swiss frontier, in a torrential rain.</p>
+
+<p>From Geneva he reentered France by the Pont de la Caille, then to
+Aiguebelle and St. Jeanne de Maurienne, where the women wear the most
+theatrical picturesque costumes to be seen in France.</p>
+
+<p>After passing Modane and Lanslebourg he followed the ascent of Mont
+Cenis for ten kilometres before he reached the summit of the pass.
+Within three kilometres he struck the snow-line, and the falling snow
+continued to the summit. Here he found two <i>douaniers</i> and two
+<i>gendarmes</i>, who appeared glad enough to have the monotony of their
+lonely vigil relieved by the advent of an automobile, quite unlooked
+for at this season of the year.</p>
+
+<p>The descent to Susa and the great plain of the Po was long and
+dangerous. It is sixty-two kilometres from Modane to Susa, either
+up-hill or down-hill, with the descent by far the longest. It is one
+of the most enjoyable routes between France and Italy. Once on the
+Italian side the whole climatic aspect of things changes. The towns
+are highly interesting whenever met with, and the panoramas superb,
+but there is a marked absence of that active life of the fields, of
+cattle and human labourers that one remarks in France.</p>
+
+<p>From Turin the route of this energetic little car passed Plaisance,
+crossed the Appenines between Bologna and Florence, and so to Venice,
+or rather to Mestre, where the car was put in a garage while the
+conductor paid his respects to the Queen of the Adriatic.</p>
+
+<p>From Mestre the route lay by Udine, Pontebba, Pontafel, Villac
+Judenburg, and Murzzuschlag, through Styria to Vienna, with the
+roadways continually falling off in excellence. Here are M. Cormier's
+own words: "<i>Mais, par exemple, comme routes, Dieu que c'est mauvais!
+Malgr&eacute; cela, j'y retournerai; le pays vaut la peine que l'on affronte
+les cailloux, les orni&egrave;res, les dos d'&acirc;ne at les d&eacute;rapages sur le sol
+mouill&eacute;, comme je l'ai trop trouv&eacute;, h&eacute;las!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>Of the road from Vienna, through Moravia and Bohemia, the tourist
+wrote also feelingly. "May I never see those miserable countries
+again," he said. Things must have improved in the last two or three
+years, but the cause of the little De Dion's troubles was the
+frequent recurrence of culverts or <i>canivaux</i> across the road. Five
+hundred in one day nearly did for the little De Dion, or would have
+done so had not it been carefully driven.</p>
+
+<p>From Prague the German frontier was crossed at Zinnwalo, a tiny
+hamlet well hidden on a mountain-top, beyond which is a descent of
+fifty kilometres to Dresden. From Dresden to Berlin the way lay over
+delightful forest roads, little given to traffic, and most enjoyable
+at any season of the year, unless there be snow upon the ground.</p>
+
+<p>From Berlin the route was by Magdebourg, Hanover, Munster, and Wesel,
+and Holland was entered at Beek, a little village ten kilometres from
+Nymegen. At Nymegen the Waal was crossed by a steam ferry-boat, and
+at Arnhem the Rhine was passed by a bridge of boats, a surviving
+relic in Continental Europe still frequently to be found, as at Wesel
+and Dusseldorf in Germany, and even in Italy, near Ferrara on the Po.</p>
+
+<p>Utrecht came next, then Amsterdam&mdash;"a little tour of Holland," as the
+De Dion's conductor put it. In the suburbs of the large Dutch towns,
+notably Utrecht, one makes his way through miles and miles of garden
+walls, half-hiding coquettish villas. The surface of the roads here
+is formed of a peculiar variety of paving that makes them beloved of
+automobilists, it being of small brick placed edgewise, and very
+agreeable to ride and drive upon.</p>
+
+<p>From Utrecht the route was more or less direct to Antwerp. At the
+Belgian frontier acquaintance was made with that horrible
+granite-block road-bed, for which Belgium is notorious. After
+Antwerp, Brussels, then forty-five kilometres of road even worse&mdash;if
+possible&mdash;than that which had gone before. (The Belgian <i>chauffeurs</i>
+call that portion of the route between Brussels and Gemblout a
+disgrace to Belgium.) The French frontier was gained, through Namur,
+at Rocroi, and Paris reached, via Meaux, thirty-nine days after the
+capital had previously been quitted.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/hownotto.png">
+<img src="images/hownotto.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>This was probably the most remarkable "grand tour" which had been
+made up to that time, and it was done with a little six horse-power
+car, which suffered no accidents save those that one is likely to
+meet with in an afternoon's promenade. The automobile itself weighed,
+with its baggage and accessories, practically six hundred kilos, and
+with its two passengers 760 kilos. The distance covered was 4,496
+kilometres.</p>
+
+<a name="2-1"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center>
+<h3>Part II<br>
+Touring In France
+</h3>
+<br>
+<h3>Chapter I</h3>
+<h3>Down Through Touraine: Paris To Bordeaux</h3>
+<br>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/TouringFrance.png">
+<img src="images/TouringFrance-t.png" alt="" border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>As old residents of Paris we, like other automobilists, had come to
+dread the twenty-five or thirty kilometres which lead from town out
+through Choisy-le-Roi and Villeneuve St. Georges, at which point the
+road begins to improve, and the execrable suburban Paris pavement,
+second to nothing for real vileness, except that of Belgium, is
+practically left behind, all but occasional bits through the towns.</p>
+
+<p>At any rate, since our automobile horse was eating his head off in
+the garage at St. Germain, we decided on one bright May morning to
+conduct him forthwith by as comfortable a road as might be found from
+St. Germain around to Choisy-le-Roi.</p>
+
+<p>Getting across Paris is one of the dreaded things of life. For the
+traveller by train who, fleeing from the fogs of London, as he
+periodically does in droves from November to February of each year,
+desires to make the south-bound connection at the Gare de Lyon, it is
+something of a problem. He may board the "<i>Ceinture</i>" with a distrust
+the whole while that his train may not make it in time, or he may go
+by cab, provided he will run the risk of some of his numerous
+impedimenta being left behind, for&mdash;speak it lightly&mdash;the Englishman
+is still found who travels with his bath-tub, though, if he is at all
+progressive, it may be a collapsible india-rubber affair which you
+blow up like the tires of an automobile.</p>
+
+<p>For the automobilist there is the same dread and fear. To avoid this
+one has simply to make his way carefully from St. Germain, via Port
+Marly, or Marly-Bailly, to St. Cyr (where is the great military
+school), to Versailles, thence to Choisy-le-Roi via the <i>Route
+Nationale</i> which passes to the south of Sceaux. The route is not,
+perhaps, the shortest, and it takes something of the skill of the old
+pathfinders to worry it out, but it absolutely avoids the pavements
+between St. Germain and Versailles and equally avoids the drive
+through Paris with its attendant responsibilities.</p>
+
+<p>The automobilist, once clear of Paris, has only to think of the open
+road. There will be little to bother him now, save care in
+negotiating the oft-times narrow, awkward turnings of an occasional
+small town where, if it is market-day, untold disaster may await him
+if he does not look sharp.</p>
+
+<p>On the occasion of our flight south, nothing on the whole journey
+happened to give us any concern, save at Pithiviers, where a
+market-wagon with a staid old farm-horse&mdash;who did not mean any
+harm&mdash;charged us and lifted off the right mud-guard, necessitating an
+hour's work or more at the blacksmith's to straighten it out again.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Picture2.jpg">
+<img src="images/Picture2.jpg" alt="Midnight at a Wayside Inn in France"
+height=400 border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>Midnight at a Wayside Inn in France</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>At any rate, we had covered a trifle over a hundred kilometres from
+Paris, and that was something. We lunched well at the H&ocirc;tel de la
+Poste, and sent off to city-bound friends in the capital samples of
+the lark patties for which the town is famous.</p>
+
+<p>Nearly every town in France has its specialty; Pithiviers its <i>p&acirc;t&eacute;
+des allouettes;</i> Mont&eacute;limar its <i>nougat</i>; Axat its <i>mousserons</i>; Perigueux
+its <i>truffes</i>, and Tours its <i>rillettes</i>. When one buys them away from
+the land of their birth he often buys dross, hence it is a real
+kindness to send back eatable souvenirs of one's round, much more
+kind than would be the tawdry jugs and plates emblazoned in lurid
+colours, or white wood napkin-rings and card-cases, usually gathered
+in as souvenirs.</p>
+
+<p>It is forty-two kilometres to Orleans, one of the most historic and,
+at the same time, one of the most uninteresting cities in France, a
+place wholly without local dignity and distinction. Its hotels,
+caf&eacute;s, and shops are only second-rate for a place of its rank, and
+the manners and customs of its people but weak imitations of those of
+Paris. You can get anything you may need in the automobile line most
+capably attended to, and you can be housed and fed comfortably enough
+in either of the two leading hotels, but there is nothing inspiring
+or even satisfying about it, as we knew from a half-dozen previous
+occasions.</p>
+
+<p>We slept that night beneath the frowning donjon walls of Beaugency's
+L'Ecu de Bretagne, for something less than six francs apiece for
+dinner, lodging, and morning coffee, and did not regret in the least
+the twenty-five kilometres we had put between us and Orleans.</p>
+
+<p>At one time it was undecided whether we should come on to Beaugency,
+or put in at Meung, the attraction of the latter place being, for the
+sentimentalist, that it is the scene of the opening pages of Dumas's
+"Trois Mousquetaires," and, in an earlier day, the cradle of Jehan de
+Meung, the author of the "Roman de la Rose." No evidences of Dumas's
+"Franc Meunier" remained, and, as there was no inn with as romantic a
+name as that at Beaugency, we kept on another seven kilometres.</p>
+
+<p>We had made it a rule, while on the trip, not to sleep in a large
+town when we could do otherwise, and that is why Orleans and Blois
+and Bordeaux are mere guide-posts in our itinerary.</p>
+
+<p>From Beaugency to Blois is thirty odd kilometres only, along the
+flat, national highway, with glimpses of the broad, shining ribbon of
+the Loire here and there gleaming through the trees.</p>
+
+<p>Blois is the gateway of the ch&acirc;teaux country; a score of them are
+within a day's compass by road or rail; but their delights are worthy
+of a volume, so they are only suggested here.</p>
+
+<p>The ch&acirc;teaux of Blois, Chambord, Cheverny, Amboise, Chaumont,
+Chenonceaux, Loches, Azay le Rideau, Luynes, and Langeais, at any
+rate, must be included in even a hurried itinerary, and so we paid a
+hasty visit to them all in the order named, and renewed our
+acquaintance with their artistic charms and their historical memories
+of the days of Fran&ccedil;ois and the Renaissance. For the tourist the
+ch&acirc;teaux country of the Loire has no beginning and no end. It is a
+sort of circular track encompassing both banks of the Loire, and is,
+moreover, a thing apart from any other topographical division of
+France.</p>
+
+<p>Its luxuriant life, its splendidly picturesque historical monuments,
+and the appealing interest of its sunny landscape, throughout the
+length and breadth of old Touraine, are unique pages from a volume of
+historical and romantic lore which is unequalled elsewhere in all the
+world.</p>
+
+<p>The climate, too, combines most of the gentle influences of the
+southland, with a certain briskness and clearness of atmosphere
+usually found in the north.</p>
+
+<p>By road the Loire valley forms a magnificent promenade; by rail,
+even, one can keep in close and constant touch with its whole length;
+while, if one has not the time or inclination to traverse its entire
+course, there is always the delightful "tour from town," by which one
+can leave the Quai d'Orsay by the Orleans line at a comfortable
+morning hour and, before lunch-time, be in the midst of the splendour
+and plenty of Touraine and its ch&acirc;teaux.</p>
+
+<p>We made our headquarters at Blois, and again at Tours, for three days
+each, and we explored the ch&acirc;teaux country, and some other more
+humble outlying regions, to our hearts' content.</p>
+
+<p>Blois is tourist-ridden; its hotels are partly of the tourist orders,
+and its shopkeepers will sell you "American form" shoes and "best
+English" hats. It is really too bad, for the overpowering splendours
+of the ch&acirc;teau, the quaint old Renaissance house-fronts, the streets
+of stairs, and the exceedingly picturesque and lively congregation of
+countryside peasants on a market-day would make it a delightful
+artists' sketching-ground were one not crowded out by "bounders" in
+bowler hats and others of the genus tripper.</p>
+
+<p>The H&ocirc;tel d'Angleterre et de Chambord is good, well-conducted, and
+well-placed, but it is as unsympathetically disposed an hostelry as
+one is likely to find. Just why this is so is inexplicable, unless it
+be that it is a frankly tourist hotel.</p>
+
+<p>At Tours we did much better. The praises of the H&ocirc;tel de l'Univers
+are many; they have been sung by most latter-day travellers from
+Henry James down; and the Automobile Club de France has bestowed its
+recommendation upon it&mdash;which it deserves. For all this one is not
+wholly at his ease here. We remembered that on one occasion, when we
+had descended before its hospitable doors, travel-worn and weary, we
+had been pained to find a sort of full-dress dinner going on where we
+expected to find an ordinary <i>table d'h&ocirc;te</i>. For this reason alone we
+passed the hotel by, and hunted out the quaintly named Hotel du
+Croissant, in a dimly lighted little back street, indicated by a
+flaring crescent of electric lights over its <i>porte-coch&egrave;re</i>.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/InTouraine.png">
+<img src="images/InTouraine.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>We drove our automobile more or less noisily inside the little
+flagged courtyard, woke up two dozing cats, who were lying
+full-length before us, and disturbed a round dozen of sleek French
+commercial travellers at their evening meal.</p>
+
+<p>They treated us remarkably well at Tours's H&ocirc;tel du Croissant.
+"Follow the <i>commis-voyageur</i> in France and dine well (and cheaply)"
+might readily be the motto of all travellers in France. The bountiful
+fare, the local colour, the hearty greeting, and equally hearty
+farewell of the <i>patronne</i>, and the geniality of the whole personnel
+gave us an exceedingly good impression of the contrast between the
+tourist hotel of Blois and the <i>maison bourgeois</i> of Tours, always to
+the advantage of the latter.</p>
+
+<p>The banks of the Loire immediately below Tours grow the only grape in
+France&mdash;perhaps in all the world&mdash;which is able to produce a
+satisfactory substitute for champagne.</p>
+
+<p>Vineyard after vineyard line the banks for miles on either side and
+give great crops of the celebrated <i>vin mosseaux</i>, the most of which
+finds its way to Paris, to be sold by second-rate dealers as the
+"vrai vin de champagne." There's no reason why it shouldn't be sold
+on its own merits; it is quite good enough; but commerce bows down to
+American millionaires, English dukes, and the German emperor, and the
+king of wines of to-day must be labelled champagne.</p>
+
+<p>From Tours to Niort is 170 kilometres, and we stopped not on the way
+except to admire some particularly entrancing view, to buy gasoline
+for the automobile, and for lunch at Poitiers.</p>
+
+<p>The whole aspect of things was changing; there was a breath of the
+south already in the air; and there was an unspeakable tendency on
+the part of everybody to go to sleep after the midday meal.</p>
+
+<p>We passed Chatellerault and its quaint old turreted and bastioned
+bridge at just the hour of noon, and were tempted to stop, for we had
+just heard of the latest thing in the way of a hotel which was
+brand-new, with steam heat, and hot and cold water, electric lights,
+baths, etc. Nothing was said about the bill of fare, though no doubt
+it was equally excellent. The combination didn't appeal, however; we
+were out after novelty and local colour, and so we rolled on and into
+Poitiers's H&ocirc;tel de l'Europe and lunched well in the most charmingly
+cool garden-environed dining-room that it were possible to conceive.
+We had made a wise choice, though on a hit-or-miss formula, and we
+were content.</p>
+
+<p>Here at least the dim echo of the rustle and bustle of Paris, which
+drifts down the valley of the Loire from Orleans to the sea, was left
+behind; a whole new chromatic scale was being built up. No one
+hurried or rushed about, and one drank a "<i>tilleuil</i>" after <i>d&eacute;jeuner</i>,
+instead of coffee, with the result that he got sleepy forthwith.</p>
+
+<p>There are five magnificent churches at Poitiers, dating from Roman
+and medi&aelig;val times, but we saw not one of them as we passed through
+the town. Again we had decided we were out after local manners and
+customs, and, for the moment, churches were not in the category of
+our demands.</p>
+
+<p>We had only faint glimmerings as to where Niort was, or what it stood
+for, but we were bound thither for the night. We left Poitiers in
+mid-afternoon, gaily enough, but within five kilometres we had
+stopped dead. The sparking of course; nothing else would diagnose the
+case! It took three hours of almost constant cranking of the unruly
+iron monster before the automobile could be made to start again.</p>
+
+<p>Once started, the automobile ran but fitfully the seventy-five
+kilometres to Niort, the whole party, with fear and trembling,
+scarcely daring to turn sidewise to regard the landscape, or take an
+extra breath. There was no assistance to be had this side of Niort,
+and should the sparking arrangements go back on us again, and we were
+not able to start, there was no hope of being towed in at the back of
+a sturdy farm-horse; the distance was too great. Once we thought we
+had nearly lost it again, but before we had actually lost our
+momentum the thing recovered itself, and we ran fearingly down the
+broad avenue into Niort, and asked anxiously as to whether there
+might be a <i>grand maison des automobiles</i> in the town.</p>
+
+<p>Indeed there was, and in the twinkling of an eye we had shunted our
+poor lame duck into the courtyard of a workshop which gave employment
+to something like seventy-five hands, all engaged in the manufacture
+of automobiles which were exported to the ends of the earth.</p>
+
+<p>Here was help surely. Nothing could be too great or too small for an
+establishment like this to undertake, and so we left the machine with
+an easy heart and hunted out the excellent H&ocirc;tel de France&mdash;the best
+hotel of its class between Paris and Bordeaux. We dined sumptuously
+on all the good things of the north and the south, to say nothing of
+fresh sardines from La Rochelle, not far distant, and we gave not a
+thought to the automobile again that night, but strolled on the quay
+by the little river S&ecirc;vre-Niortaise, and watched the moon rise over
+the old ch&acirc;teau donjon, and heard the rooks caw, and saw them circle
+and swing around its battlement in a final night-call before they
+went to rest. It was all very idyllic and peaceful, although Niort
+is, as may be inferred, an important centre for many things.</p>
+
+<p>We had planned to be on the road again by eight the next morning,
+but, on arrival at the garage, or more correctly stated, the <i>usine</i>,
+where we had left the automobile the night before, we found it the
+centre of a curious group who were speculating&mdash;and had been since
+six o'clock that morning&mdash;as to what might be the particular new
+variety of disease that had attacked its vital parts so seriously
+that it still refused to go.</p>
+
+<p>It was twelve o'clock, high noon, before it was discovered&mdash;with the
+aid of the electrician from the electric light works&mdash;that two tiny
+ends of copper wire, inside the coil (which a Frenchman calls a
+<i>bobine</i>), had become unsoldered, and only when by chance they rattled
+into contact would the sparking arrangements work as they ought.</p>
+
+<p>This was something new for all concerned. None of us will be likely
+to be caught that way again. The cost was most moderate. It was not
+the automobile owner who paid for the experience this time, a thing
+which absolutely could not have happened outside of France. Pretty
+much the whole establishment had had a hand in the job, and, if the
+service had been paid for according to the time spent, it might have
+cost anything the establishment might have chosen to charge.</p>
+
+<p>Ten francs paid the bill, and we went on our way rejoicing, after
+having partaken of a lunch, as excellent as the dinner we had eaten
+the night before, at the H&ocirc;tel de France.</p>
+
+<p>La Rochelle, the city of the Huguenots, and later of Richelieu, was
+reached just as the setting sun was slanting its red and gold over
+the picturesque old port and the Tour de Richelieu. If one really
+wants to know what it looked like, let him hunt up Petitjean's "Port
+de la Rochelle" in the Mus&eacute;e de Luxembourg at Paris. Words fail
+utterly to describe the beauty and magnifycence of this hitherto
+unoverworked artists' sketching-ground.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/LaRochelle.png">
+<img src="images/LaRochelle-t.png" alt="La Rochelle" border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>La Rochelle</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>We threaded our way easily enough through the old sentinel gateway
+spanning the main street, lined with quaint old arcaded,
+Spanish-looking houses, and drew up abreast of the somewhat
+humble-looking H&ocirc;tel du Commerce, on the Place d'Armes, opposite the
+ugly little squat cathedral, once wedded to the haughty Richelieu
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>The H&ocirc;tel du Commerce at La Rochelle is the equal of the H&ocirc;tel de
+France at Niort, and has the added attraction of a glass-covered
+courtyard, where you may take your coffee and watch the household
+cats amusing themselves with the goldfish in the pool of the fountain
+which plays coolingly in the centre.</p>
+
+<p>La Rochelle and its H&ocirc;tel du Commerce are too good to be treated
+lightly or abruptly by any writer; but, for fear they may both become
+spoiled, no more shall be said here except to reiterate that they are
+both unapproachable in quaintness, comfort, and charm by anything yet
+found by the writer in four years of almost constant wanderings by
+road and rail up and down France.</p>
+
+<p>Offshore four kilometres is the Ile de R&eacute;, an isle thirty kilometres
+long, where the inhabitants wear the picturesque <i>coiffe</i> and costume
+which have not become contaminated with Paris fashions. The one thing
+to criticize is the backwardness of the lives of the good folk of the
+isle and their enormous <i>pieds plats</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Northward from La Rochelle is a region, almost within sight of the
+Ile de R&eacute;, where the women wear the most highly theatrical costumes
+to be seen anywhere in modern France, not even excepting the peasants
+of Brittany. The chief distinction of the costume is a sort of tiny
+twisted bandanna over the head, a tight-fitting or folded fichu, a
+short ballet sort of a skirt, black stockings, and a gaily bordered
+apron and dainty, high-heeled, tiny shoes&mdash;in strong contrast in size
+and form to the ungainly feet of the women of the Ile de R&eacute;.</p>
+
+<p>We left La Rochelle with real regret, passed the fortified town of
+Rochefort without a stop, and, in something over two hours, reeled
+off some sixty-eight kilometres of sandy, marshy roadway to Saintes.</p>
+
+<p>Saintes is noted for many things: its antiquity, its religious
+history, its Roman remains, and the geniality of its toddling old
+dealer in sewing-machines (of American make, of course), who, as a
+"side" line, sells gasoline and oil at considerably under the
+prevailing rates elsewhere. Truly we were in the ideal touring-ground
+for automobilists.</p>
+
+<p>To Cognac is sixty-seven kilometres. If we had ever known that Cognac
+was the name of a town we had forgotten it, for we had, for the
+moment, at any rate, thought it the name of the region where were
+gathered the grapes from which cognac was made.</p>
+
+<p>Cognac is famous for the subtle spirit which is sold the world over
+under that name, and from the fact that it was the birthplace of the
+art-loving monarch, Fran&ccedil;ois Premier.</p>
+
+<p>For these two reasons, and for the bountiful lunch of the H&ocirc;tel
+d'Orleans, and incidentally for the very bad cognac which we got at a
+caf&eacute; whose name is really and truly forgotten, Cognac is writ large
+in our note-books.</p>
+
+<p>The house where was born Fran&ccedil;ois Premier is easily found, sitting by
+the river's bank. To-day it is the counting-house of one of the great
+brandy shippers whose name is current the world over. Its
+associations have changed considerably, and where once the new art
+instincts were born, in the person of the gallant Fran&ccedil;ois, is now
+the cradle of commercialism.</p>
+
+<p>The question as to what constitutes good brandy has ever been a
+favourite one among possessors of a little knowledge. The same class
+has also been known to state that there is no good brandy nowadays,
+no <i>vrai cognac</i>. This is a mistake, but perhaps a natural one, as the
+cognac district in the Charente was almost wholly devastated in the
+phylloxera ravages of half a century ago.</p>
+
+<p>Things have changed, however, and there is as good cognac to-day as
+there ever was, though there is undoubtedly much more poor stuff
+being sold.</p>
+
+<p>Down through the heart of the cognac region we sped, through Blaye to
+Bordeaux and all the busy traffic of its port.</p>
+
+<p>Bordeaux is attractive to the automobilist in that one enters, from
+any direction, by wide, broad avenues. It is one of the great
+provincial capitals of France, a great gateway through which much of
+the intercourse with the outside world goes on.</p>
+
+<p>It is not so cosmopolitan as Marseilles, nor so historically or
+architecturally interesting as Rouen, but it is the very ideal of an
+opulent and well-conducted city, where one does not need to await the
+arrival of the daily papers from Paris in order to know what has
+happened during the last round of the clock.</p>
+
+<p>Hotels? The town is full of them! You may put up your automobile in
+the garage of the H&ocirc;tel du Chapon-Fin, along with forty others, and
+you yourself will be well cared for, according to city standards, for
+twelve or fifteen francs a day,&mdash;which is not dear. On the other
+hand, Bordeaux possesses second-class hotels where, all found, you
+may sleep and eat for the modest sum of seven francs a day. One of
+these is the H&ocirc;tel Fran&ccedil;ais, a somewhat extensive establishment in a
+tiny back street. It is the cheapest <i>city</i> hotel the writer has found
+in France. There was no garage at the Hotel Fran&ccedil;ais, and we were
+forced to house our machine a block or two away, where, for the
+moderate sum of two francs, you might leave it twenty-four hours, and
+get it back washed and rubbed down, while for another fifty centimes
+they would clean the brass work,&mdash;a nasty job well worth the price.
+Yes! Bordeaux is pleasant for the automobilist!</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Bourdeaux.png">
+<img src="images/Bourdeaux-t.png" alt="Bourdeaux, the Gateway to the Landes"
+height=400 border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>Bourdeaux, the Gateway to the Landes</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>Two things the stranger, who does not want to go too far back into
+antiquity, will remark upon at Bordeaux, the exceeding ampleness,
+up-to-date-ness, and cleanliness of the great open space in front of
+the Opera, and the imposing and beautifully laid out Place des
+Quinconces, with its sentinel pillars and its waterside traffic of
+railway and shipping, blending into a whole which inspired one of the
+world's greatest pictures of the feverish life of modern activity,
+the painting by Eugene Boudin, known as the "Port de Bordeaux," in
+the Luxembourg.</p>
+
+<p>You may find a good low-priced hotel at Bordeaux, but you pay
+inflated prices for your refreshments in the caf&eacute;s; a <i>caf&eacute;-glac&ecirc;</i> cost
+fifteen sous and a <i>glace &agrave; caf&eacute;</i> twenty-five on the terrace of the
+magnificent establishment opposite the Opera.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/lowresPyrenees.png">
+<img src="images/lowresPyrenees-t.png" alt="Pyrenees" border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<a name="2-2"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center>
+<h3>Chapter II</h3>
+<h3>A Little Tour In The Pyrenees</h3>
+<br>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/ThePyrenees.png">
+<img src="images/ThePyrenees.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>We had been touring France <i>en automobile</i> for many months&mdash;for
+business purposes, one might say, and hence had followed no schedule
+or itinerary, but had lingered by the way and made notes, and the
+artist made sketches, and in general we acquired a knowledge of
+France and things French that otherwise might not have been our lot.</p>
+
+<p>The mere name of the Pyrenees had long had a magic sound for us. We
+had seen them at a distance, from Carcassonne and Toulouse and Pau,
+when we had made the conventional tour years ago, and had admired
+them greatly, to the disparagement of the Swiss Alps. This may be
+just, or unjust, but it is recorded here as a fact.</p>
+
+<p>To climb mountains in an automobile appealed to us as a sport not yet
+banal or overdone, and since Switzerland&mdash;so hospitable to most
+classes of tourists&mdash;was treating automobilists badly just at the
+time, we thought we would begin by making the itinerary of the "<i>Coupe
+des Pyr&eacute;n&eacute;es;</i>" then, if we liked it, we could try the French Alps in
+Dauphin&eacute; and Savoie, delightful and little-known French provinces
+which have all the advantages of Switzerland and few of its
+disadvantages, inasmuch as the inhabitants of the valley hamlets and
+mountain towns have not become so <i>commer&ccedil;ant</i> as their Swiss brothers.</p>
+
+<p>In August, 1905, was organized, by <i>La Vie en Grand Air</i> and <i>La D&eacute;p&ecirc;che
+de Toulouse</i>, a great contest for touring automobiles, for an award to
+be known as the "<i>Coupe des Pyr&eacute;n&eacute;es.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>As a work of art the "<i>Coupe des Pyr&eacute;n&eacute;es</i>" is far and away ahead of
+most "cups" of the sort. It was the work of the sculptor, Ducuing,
+and the illustration herewith will show some of its charm. The
+"<i>coupe</i>" itself has disappeared from mortal view, it having been
+stolen from an automobile exposition in London.</p>
+
+<p>The trials was intended to develop that type of vehicle best suited
+to touring, and in every way the event was a great success. The
+itinerary covered the lovely mountain roads from the Mediterranean to
+the Atlantic, and was the immediate inspiration for the author of
+this book to follow along the same trail. It is one of the most
+delightful excursions to be made in all France, which is saying that
+it is one of the most delightful in all the world.</p>
+
+<p>We took our departure from Toulouse, as did the participants in this
+famous trial of the year before. Toulouse, the gay capital of the gay
+province of old Languedoc, has abounding attractions for the tourist
+of all tastes, though it is seldom visited by those who, with the
+first swallows of spring-time, wing their way from the resorts of the
+Riviera to Biarritz.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/CoupePyrenee.png">
+<img src="images/CoupePyrenee.png"
+alt="The 'Coupe de Pyr&eacute;n&eacute;es'" height=400 border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>The "Coupe de Pyr&eacute;n&eacute;es"</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>Toulouse has many historic sights and monuments, and a <i>cuisine</i> which
+is well worth a trip across France. What with truffles and the famous
+<i>cassoulet</i> and the <i>chapons fins de Toulouse</i> one forgets to speak of
+anything else on the menu, though the rest will be sufficiently
+marvellous.</p>
+
+<p>There are three "leading" hotels in Toulouse catering for the
+automobile tourist. According to report they are all equally good. We
+chose the Capoul, on the Square Lafayette, and had no cause to regret
+it. We dined sumptuously, slept in a great ducal sort of an apartment
+with a <i>hygi&eacute;nique</i> bedstead (a thing of brass openwork and iron
+springs) tucked away in one corner, full fifteen paces from the door
+by which one entered&mdash;"<i>Un bon kilom&egrave;tre encore,</i>" said the <i>gar&ccedil;on de
+chambre</i>, facetiously, as he showed us up. It promised airiness, at
+any rate, and if we were awakened at four in the morning by the
+extraordinarily early traffic of the city what did it matter, since
+automobiles invariably take early to the road.</p>
+
+<p>It's worth stating here that the <i>caf&eacute; au lait</i> at six A. M. at the
+H&ocirc;tel Capoul was excellent. Frequently hotel coffee in the morning in
+France (at no matter what hour) is abominable. Usually it is warmed
+over from the night before. No wonder it is bad!</p>
+
+<p>Toulouse delayed us not on this occasion. We had known it of old; so
+we started a little before seven on a brilliant September morning,
+just as the sun was rising over the cathedral towers and
+strengthening the shadows on the tree-lined boulevard which leads
+eastward via Castlemaudry to the walled city of Carcassonne,
+ninety-six kilometres away. The road-books say of this route;</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Pl. Roul. puis Ond Tr. Pitt.</i>" This freely translated means that the
+road is at first flat, then rolling and hilly, but very picturesque
+throughout. Castlemaudry delayed us not a moment, except to extricate
+ourselves from a troop of unbridled, unhaltered little donkeys being
+driven to the market-place, where there was a great sale of these
+gentle little beasts of burden. <i>Pas m&eacute;chant</i>, these little donkeys,
+but stubborn, like their brethren elsewhere, and it was exceedingly
+difficult to force our way through two hundred of them, all of whom
+wiggled their ears at us and stood their ground until their guardians
+actually came and pushed them to one side. "You can often push a
+donkey when you can't pull him," they told us, a fact which was most
+apparent, though unknown to us previously. We arrived at Carcassonne
+in time for lunch, which we had always supposed was called <i>d&eacute;jeuner</i>
+in France, but which we learned was here called <i>d&icirc;ner</i>, the evening
+meal (at the fashionable hour of eight) being known as <i>souper</i>, though
+in reality it is a five-course dinner.</p>
+
+<p>Carcassonne was a disappointment. Imagine a puffed-up little
+metropolis of twenty-five thousand souls with all the dignity that
+half a dozen pretentious hotels and gaudy caf&eacute;s can give it; not very
+clean, nor very well laid out, nor very ancient-looking, nor very
+picturesque. Where was the Carcassonne of the frowning ramparts, of
+the gem of a Gothic church, and of the romance and history of which
+all school-books are filled?</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! You mean <i>la Cit&eacute;,</i>" said the buxom hostess of our hotel. (They
+are always buxom hostesses in books, but this was one in reality.)
+Well, yes, we did mean <i>la Cit&eacute;</i>, if by that name the referred to the
+old walled town of Carcasonne, <i>la ville la plus curieuse de France,
+un monument unique au mond.</i></p>
+
+<p>It is but a short kilometre to reach <i>la Cit&eacute;</i> from the <i>Ville Basse</i>, as
+the modern city of Carcassonne is known. Once within the double row
+of walls, flanked by more than fifty towers, any preconceived ideas
+that one may have had of what it might be like will be dispelled in
+air. It is the most stupendously theatrical thing yet on top of
+earth, unless it be the sad and dismal Pompeii or poor rent Les Baux,
+in Provence.</p>
+
+<p>The history of this wonder-work cannot be compressed into a few
+lines. One can merely emphasize its marvellous attractions, so that
+those who are in the neighbourhood may go and study it all out for
+themselves. It will be worth whole volumes on history and
+architecture for the earnest student to see these things. Among all
+the authorities who have proclaimed the magnificent attractions of
+Carcassonne the words of Viollet-le-Duc are as convincing as any. He
+says: "In no part of Europe is there anything so formidable, nor at
+the same time so complete, as the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth
+century fortifications of Carcassonne."</p>
+
+<p>We stayed a full day at Carcassonne, and reached the frowning
+battlements of the Eglise St. Nazaire, at B&eacute;ziers, at just two by the
+clock. This is the hour when all the <i>commis-voyageurs</i>, who may have
+taken lunch at the H&ocirc;tel du Nord, are dozing over their <i>caf&eacute;</i> and
+<i>petites verres</i>, and the <i>patron</i> and <i>patronne</i> of the hotel are making
+preparations for their early afternoon siesta, an attribute of all
+the Midi of France, as it is of Spain.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing loath, the kitchen staff, spurred on by the <i>patron</i> (all
+thoughts of his siesta having vanished), turned out a most excellent
+lunch, <i>hors d'&oelig;uvres</i>, fresh sardines, omelette, <i>cotelette d'agneau</i>
+with <i>pommes paille</i>, delicious grapes, and all you wish of the red or
+white <i>vin du pays</i>. All for the absurd sum (considering the trouble
+they were put to) of three francs each. No "<i>doing</i>" the automobilist
+here; let other travellers make a note of the name!</p>
+
+<p>B&eacute;ziers is altogether one of the most remarkably disposed large towns
+of the south of France. Its storied past is lurid enough to please
+the most bloodthirsty, as is recalled by the history of its
+fortress-church of St. Nazaire, now the cathedral. For the rest the
+reader must hunt it out in his guide-book. We were doing no lightning
+tour, but we were of a mind to sleep that night at Perpignan,
+approximately a hundred kilometres farther on.</p>
+
+<p>Southward our road turned again, through Narbonne, which, both from
+its history and from its present-day importance, stands out as one of
+the well-remembered spots in one's itinerary of France. It is full of
+local colour; its bridge of houses over its river is the delight of
+the artistic; its H&ocirc;tel de Ville and its cathedral are wonders of
+architectural art; and, altogether, as the ancient capital of an
+ancient province, one wonders that a seventeenth-century traveller
+had the right to call it "<i>cette vilaine ville de Narbonne.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>All the way to Perpignan the roads were terrifically bad, being cut
+up into great dusty ruts by many great carts and drays hauling
+wine-pipes to the railway stations. The traffic is enormous, for it
+is the wines of Roussillon that are shipped all over France for
+blending with and fortifying the weaker vintages, even those of the
+Gironde.</p>
+
+<p>Dusty in dry weather, and chalky mud in wet, are the characteristic
+faults of this hundred kilometres or more of Herault roadway which
+one must cross to gain the shadow of the Pyrenees. There seems to be
+no help for it unless cobblestones were to be put down, which would
+be a cure worse than the disease.</p>
+
+<p>Perpignan is the most entrancing city between Marseilles and
+Barcelona. It has many of the characteristics of both, though of only
+thirty thousand inhabitants. The old fortifications, which once gave
+it an aspect of medi&aelig;valism, are now (by decree of 1903) being torn
+down, and only the quaintly picturesque Castillet remains. The rest
+are&mdash;at the present writing&mdash;a mere mass of crumbled bricks and
+mortar, and a real blemish to an otherwise exceedingly attractive,
+gay little city. The automobile garages are all side by side on a
+new-made street, on the site of one line of the old fortifications,
+and are suitable enough when found, but no directions which were
+given us enabled us to house our machine inside of half an hour's
+time after we had entered the town. Our hotel, unfortunately, was one
+of the few that did not have a garage as an adjunct of the
+establishment. In other respects the H&ocirc;tel de la Poste was a marvel
+of up-to-dateness. The sleeping-rooms were of that distinction known
+in France as <i>hygi&eacute;nique</i>, and the stairways and walls were fire-proof,
+or looked it. One dined in a great first-floor apartment with a
+marble floor, and dined well, and there was ice for those who wanted
+it. (The Americans did, you may be sure.)</p>
+
+<p>Perpignan is possessed of much history, much character, and much
+local colour of the tone which artists love, and above all a certain
+gaiety and brilliancy which one usually associates only with Spain.</p>
+
+<p>There is what might be called a street of caf&eacute;s at Perpignan, not far
+from the Castillet. They are great, splendid establishments, with
+wide, overhung, awninged terraces, and potted plants and electric
+lights and gold and tinsel, and mixed drinks and ices and sorbets,
+and all the epicurean cold things which one may find in the best
+establishment in Paris. These caf&eacute;s are side by side and opposite
+each other, and are as typical of the life of the town as is the
+Rambla typical of Barcelona, or the Cannebi&egrave;re of Marseilles. They
+are dull enough places in the daytime, but with the hour of the
+<i>ap&eacute;ritif</i>, which may be anywhere between five and eight in the
+afternoon, they wake up a bit, then slumber until nine or
+nine-thirty, when gaiety descends with all its forces until any hour
+you like in the morning. They won't think of such a thing as turning
+the lights out on you in the caf&eacute;s of Perpignan.</p>
+
+<p>From Perpignan we turned boldly into the cleft road through the
+valley of the T&ecirc;t, via Prades and Mont Louis to Bourg-Madame, the
+frontier town toward Spain, and the only decent route for entering
+Spain by automobile via the Mediterranean gateway.</p>
+
+<p>Bourg-Madame is marked on most maps, but it is all but unknown of
+itself; no one thinks of going there unless he be touring the
+Pyrenees, or visiting Andorra, one of the unspoiled corners of
+Europe, as quaint and unworldly to-day as it ever was; a tiny
+republic of very, very few square kilometres, whose largest city or
+town, or whatever you choose to call it, has but five hundred
+inhabitants.</p>
+
+<p>If one is swinging round the Pyrenean circle he goes on to Porte,
+where, at the Auberge Michette, he will learn all that is needful for
+penetrating into the unknown darkest spot in Europe. We thought to do
+the journey "<i>en auto,</i>" but on arrival at Porte learned it was not to
+be thought of. A sure-footed little Pyrenean donkey or mule was the
+only pathfinder used to the twistings and turnings and blind paths of
+this little mountain republic, where the people speak Spanish, and
+religion and law are administrated by the French and Spanish
+authorities in turn.</p>
+
+<p>It's a week's travel properly to visit Andorra and view all its wild
+unworldliness, so the trip is here only suggested.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Pyreneepics.png">
+<img src="images/Pyreneepics-t.png" alt="Some Snap-shots in the Pyrenees"
+border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>Some Snap-shots in the Pyrenees</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>We took up our route again, crossing the Col de Puymorans (1,781
+metres), and dropped down on Hospitalet, which also is printed in
+large black letters on the maps, but which contains only 148
+inhabitants, unless there have been some births and no deaths since
+this was written.</p>
+
+<p>From Hospitalet we were going down, down, down all of the time, the
+valley road of the Ari&eacute;ge, dropping with remarkable precipitation.</p>
+
+<p>In eighteen kilometres we were at Aix-les-Thermes. The guide-books
+call it "<i>une jolie petite ville,</i>" and no one will dispute it, though
+it had no charms for us; we were more interested in routes and roads
+than in mere watering-places, and so, beyond a stop for gasoline for
+the motor, not having been able to get any for the last fifty
+kilometres, still following the valley of the Ari&eacute;ge, we arrived at
+Foix for lunch, at the most excellent H&ocirc;tel Benoit, just as the ice
+was being brought on the table and the <i>hors d'&oelig;uvres</i> were being
+portioned out.</p>
+
+<p>Taken all in all, Foix was one of the most delightful towns we found
+in all the Pyrenean itinerary. It is quite the most daintily and
+picturesquely environed town imaginable, its triple-towered ch&acirc;teau
+and its <i>rocher</i> looming high above all, and sounding a dominant note
+which carries one back to the days when Gaston Phoebus was the
+seigneur of Foix.</p>
+
+<p>We planned to spend the night at the H&ocirc;tel de France at St. Girons,
+for it was marked down in the Guide-Michelin as being fitted with
+those modern refinements of travel which most of us appreciate, and
+there was furthermore a garage and a <i>fosse</i>, or inspection pit. We had
+need of the latter, for something was going wrong beneath the body of
+our machine which manifestly require being attended to without delay.</p>
+
+<p>We took the long way around, twenty kilometres more out of our direct
+road, for novelty of driving our automobile through the Grotto of Mas
+D'Azil. We had been through grottoes before, the Grotte de Han in the
+north of France, the caves where they ripen Rochefort cheeses, the
+Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, and some others, but we had never expected
+to drive an automobile through one. The Grotte de Mas-D'Azil is much
+like other dark, damp holes elsewhere, and the only novelty is the
+magnificent road which pierces it. The sensation of travelling over
+this road is most weird, and it was well worth the trouble of making
+the experiment.</p>
+
+<p>From St. Girons to St. Gaudens and Montrejeau is sixty odd
+kilometres. Nothing happened on the way except that the road was
+literally thronged with great slow-moving ox-teams transporting great
+logs down the mountainside to the sawmills in the lower valley.</p>
+
+<p>Montrejeau was a surprise and a disappointment. It was a surprise
+that we should find such a winsome little hill-town, and such a very
+excellent hotel as was the Grand H&ocirc;tel du Parc, which takes its name
+from a tiny hanging garden at the rear; but we were disappointed in
+that for a mortal half-hour we tried to make our usually willing
+automobile climb up on to the plateau upon which the town sits. Three
+separate roads we tried, each three separate times, but climb the
+machine would not. No one knew why, the writer least of all, and he
+had been <i>chauffeur</i> and driver of that automobile for many long
+months, and had never found a hill, great or small, that it would not
+climb. Automobiles are capricious things, like women, and sometimes
+they will and sometimes they will not. At last, after the natives had
+had sufficient amusement, and had told us that they had seen many an
+automobile party go without lunch because they could not get up that
+steep little kilometre, we found a sort of back-door entrance which
+looked easy, and we went up like the proverbial bird. It was not the
+main road into town, and it took some finding. The writer hopes that
+others who pass this way will be as successful. Montrejeau, with its
+three steep streets, its excellent hotel (when you finally got in
+touch with it), its old-world market-house, and its trim little
+caf&eacute;-bordered square, will be long remembered.</p>
+
+<p>We debated long as to whether we should drop down to Luchon, and come
+around by Bagnerres-de-Bigorre or not, but since they were likely to
+be full of "five-o'-clockers" at this season we thought the better of
+it, and left them entirely out of our itinerary. When one wants it he
+can get the same sort of conventionality at Ermenonville, and need
+not go so far afield to find it.</p>
+
+<p>We arrived at Tarbes, at the H&ocirc;tel des Ambassadeurs, late on Sunday
+afternoon. The name of the hotel augured well for good cheer, and on
+the whole we found it satisfactory enough. One of its most appealing
+features is the fact that the kitchens and the garage were once a
+convent. It has undergone a considerable change since then, but it
+lent a sort of glamour to things to know that you were stabling your
+automobile in such a place.</p>
+
+<p>Tarbes is a great busy, overgrown, unlovely big town, which flounders
+under the questionable dignities of being a station of an army corps
+and a pr&eacute;fecture: Bureaucracy and Officialdom are writ large all over
+everything, and a poor mortal without a handle to his name, or a
+ribbon in his buttonhole, is looked upon as a sort of outcast when he
+enters a caf&eacute;, and accordingly he waits a long time to be served.</p>
+
+<p>We got out of Tarbes at a <i>tr&egrave;s bonne heure</i> the next morning without a
+regret, headed for Pau. All of us had always had an affection for
+Pau, because, in a way, we admired old Henri Quatre, even his
+rascality.</p>
+
+<p>We found Pau, too, a great, overgrown, fussy town, a bit more
+delightfully environed than Tarbes, but still not at all what we had
+pictured it. We knew it to be a tourist resort, but we were hardly
+prepared for the tea-shops and the "bars" and the papers&mdash;in English
+and "American," as a local newsdealer told us when we went to him to
+buy the inevitable picture postcards.</p>
+
+<p>We found out, too, that Pau has long held a unique position as the
+leading hunting centre on the Continent. It costs sixty francs a day
+for the hire of a saddle-horse, and from 350 francs to four hundred
+francs for the month&mdash;certainly rather dear. There are, as a rule,
+from thirty to forty hunters available for hire each year, but many
+of them are reserved by old stagers. Of privately owned horses
+following the hunt, the number would usually somewhat exceed two
+hundred. The hounds meet three times a week, and the municipality of
+Pau shows its appreciation of the good that hunting does for the
+Pyrenees resort by voting a subsidy of five thousand francs.</p>
+
+<p>What history and romance there is about Pau is pretty well blotted
+out by twentieth-century snobbism, it would seem.</p>
+
+<p>One learns that Pau was the seat of a ch&acirc;teau of the princes of B&eacute;arn
+as early as the tenth century. Its great splendour and importance
+only came with the establishment here of the residence of Gaston IV.,
+Comte de Foix, the usurper of the throne of Navarre in 1464. In his
+train came a parliament, a university, an academy, and a mint.
+Finally came the birth of Henri Quatre, and one may yet see the great
+turtle-shell used by the afterwards gay monarch for a cradle. These
+were gay times for Pau, and the same gaiety, though of a forced
+nature, exists to-day with the throngs of English and Americans who
+are trying hard to make of it a social resort. May they not succeed.
+One thing they have done is to raise prices for everything to
+everybody. This is bad enough to begin with, and so with this parting
+observation Pau is crossed off the list.</p>
+
+<p>There are eight highroads which cross the frontier passes from France
+into Spain, and two lines of railway, one along the border of the
+Atlantic and Hendaye, and the other following the Mediterranean coast
+to Barcelona.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Il n'y a plus de Pyr&eacute;n&eacute;es,</i>" we were told as we were leaving Pau. It
+seemed that news had just been received that in fourteen hours a
+Spanish aeronaut had covered the 730 kilometres from Pau to Grenada
+"<i>comme les oiseaux.</i>" Truly, after this, there are no more frontiers.</p>
+
+<p>After Pau our route led to Maul&eacute;on (seventy-two kilometres) via
+Oloron, straight across B&eacute;arn, where the peasants are still of that
+picturesque mien which one so seldom sees out of the comic-opera
+chorus. One reads that the B&eacute;arnais are "irascible, jealous, and
+spirituel."</p>
+
+<p>This is some one's opinion of times long passed, but certainly we
+found nothing of the kind; nothing indeed different from all the folk
+of the South who dawdle at their work and spend most of their leisure
+energetically dancing or eating.</p>
+
+<p>Maul&eacute;on, known locally as Maul&eacute;on-Licharre to distinguish it from
+Maul&eacute;on-Barousse, is the <i>douane</i> station for entering France from
+Spain (Pampelune) via St. Jean-Pied-de-Port and St. Beat, neither of
+the routes much used, and not at all by automobiles.</p>
+
+<p>A typical little mountain town, Maul&eacute;on is the <i>chef-lieu</i> of the
+Arrondissement, and the ancient capital of the Vicomt&eacute; de Soule. It
+has an excellent hotel, allied to the Touring Club de France (H&ocirc;tel
+Saubidet), where one dines well off the fare of the country with no
+imitation Parisian dishes. There is a sort of a historical monument
+here, the Ch&acirc;teau de Maul&eacute;on (Malo-Leone&mdash;Mauvais Lion&mdash;Wicked Lion:
+the reader may take his choice) of the fifteenth century, which
+surrounds itself accommodatingly with a legend which the native will
+tell you, if asked.</p>
+
+<p>There is no great accommodation for automobiles at Maul&eacute;on, and one
+can only buy oil and gasoline by going to a man named Etcheberrigary
+for it. His address is not given, but any one will tell you where he
+lives. They may not recognize your pronunciation, but they will
+recognize your dilemma at once and point the way forthwith.</p>
+
+<p>It was forty-one kilometres to St. Jean-Pied-de-Port, over an
+"all-up-and-down-hill" road, if there ever was one&mdash;up out of one
+river valley and down into another all the way until we struck the
+road by the banks of the Nive and approached the town.</p>
+
+<p>St. Jean-Pied-de-Port takes its name from its proximity to one of the
+Franco-Spanish gateways through the Pyrenees.</p>
+
+<p>It is in danger of becoming a resort, since the guide-books already
+announce it as a <i>station climatique</i>. Its Basque name of <i>Donajouana</i>,
+or <i>Don Ilban-Garici</i>, ought, however, to stop any great throng from
+coming.</p>
+
+<p>It lies directly at the foot of the Col de Roncevalles leading into
+Spain (1,057 metres). The pass has ever been celebrated in the annals
+of war, from the days of the Paladin Roland to those of Mar&eacute;chal
+Soult's attack on the English at Pampelune.</p>
+
+<p>Considering that St. Jean-Pied-de-Port boasts of only fourteen
+hundred inhabitants, and is almost hidden in the Pyrenean fastness,
+one does very well within its walls. There is a railway to Bayonne,
+the post, telegraph, a pharmacy, and a Red Cross station, and the
+wants of the automobilist are attended to sufficiently well by the
+local locksmith. The H&ocirc;tel Central, on the Place du March&eacute;, is
+vouched for by the Touring Club. It has a <i>salle des bains</i> and other
+useful accessories often wanting in more pretentious establishments,
+a dark room for camera fiends, a pit for automobiles, and electric
+lights. For all this you pay six franc a day. "<i>Pas cher!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>Bayonne, through the Basque country, is fifty odd kilometres distant,
+a gentle descent all the way, down the valley of the Nive.</p>
+
+<p>The Basques are a picturesque and lovable people, and they have kept
+their characteristics and customs bright and shining through many
+centuries of change round about them.</p>
+
+<p>They love the dance, all kinds of agile games like the <i>jeu de paume</i>
+and <i>pelota</i>, and will dance for three days at a f&ecirc;te with a passion
+which does not tire. Even to-day the Basque thinks more of a local
+f&ecirc;te than he does of anything else, and will journey fifteen or
+twenty kilometres afoot&mdash;if he can't get a ride&mdash;to form a part of
+some religious procession or a <i>tourn&eacute;e de paume</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Cambo, midway between St. Jean-Pied-de-Port and Bayonne, is a tiny
+spring and bath resort trying hard to be fashionable. There are many
+villas near-by of wealthy "Basques-Americains," from the Argentine.</p>
+
+<p>The Basques, at least the Basques-Fran&ccedil;ais, are a disappearing factor
+in the population of Europe. It is said there are more Basques in the
+Argentine Republic than in the Republic of France, and all because of
+the alienation of the Basques by Louis XIV. when he married
+Marie-Th&eacute;r&egrave;se and her 500,000 &eacute;cus of <i>dot</i>. Since 1659 the real
+Basque, he or she of the fine teeth, has been growing beautifully
+less in numbers, both in France and in Spain.</p>
+
+<p>A certain fillip was given to Cambo by the retreat here of Edward
+Rostand, the author of "Cyrano" and "L'Aiglon." In his wake followed
+litterateurs and journalists, and the fame of the hitherto unworldly
+little spot&mdash;sheltered from all the winds that blow&mdash;was bruited
+abroad, and the Touring Club de France erected a pavilion; thus all
+at once Cambo became a "resort," in all that the name implies.</p>
+
+<p>A <i>m&eacute;canicien</i> has not yet come to care for the automobilist in
+trouble, but the locksmith <i>(serrurier)</i> will do what he can and charge
+you little for it. Gasoline is high-priced, fifty sous a <i>bidon</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Bayonne, with its tradition, its present-day prosperity, and its
+altogether charming situation, awaited us twenty odd kilometres away,
+and we descended upon its excellent, but badly named, Grand Hotel
+just at nightfall. There's another more picturesquely named near by,
+and no doubt as excellent, called the Panier-Fleuri. We would much
+rather have stopped at the latter,&mdash;if only on account of its
+name,&mdash;but there was no accommodation for the automobile. M.
+Landlord, brace up!</p>
+
+<p>Bayonne is a fortress of the first class, and commands the western
+gateway into Spain. Its brilliant aspect, its cosmopolitanism, and
+its storied past appealed to us more than did the attractions of its
+more fastidious neighbour, Biarritz. One can see a better bull-fight
+at Bayonne than he can at Biarritz, where his sport must consist
+principally of those varieties of gambling games announced by
+European hotel-keepers as having "all the diversions of Monte Carlo."
+Bull-fighting is forbidden in France, but more or less mysteriously
+it comes off now and then. We did not see anything of the sort at
+Bayonne, but we had many times at Arles, and Nimes, and knew well
+that when the southern Frenchman sets about to provide a gory
+spectacle he can give it quite as rosy a hue as his Spanish brother.</p>
+
+<p>Biarritz called us the next day, and, not wishing to be taken for
+dukes, or millionaires, or <i>chauffeurs</i> and their friends out on a
+holiday, we left the automobile <i>en garage</i>, and covered the seven
+kilometres by the humble tramway. Be wise, and don't take your
+automobile to a resort like Biarritz unless you want to pay.</p>
+
+<p>It's a long way from the Pont Saint-Esprit at Bayonne to the <i>plage</i> at
+Biarritz, in manners and customs, at any rate, and the seeker after
+real local colour will find more of it at Bayonne than he will at its
+seaside neighbour, where all is tinged with Paris, St. Petersburg,
+and London.</p>
+
+<p>The Empress Eug&eacute;nie, or perhaps Napoleon III., "made" Biarritz when
+he built the first villa in the little Basque fishing-village, which
+had hitherto known neither courts nor coronets. There's no doubt
+about it; Biarritz is a fine resort of its class, as are Monte Carlo
+and Ostende. One can study human nature at all three, if that is what
+he is out for; so, too, he can&mdash;the same sort&mdash;on Paris's boulevards.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<table>
+  <tr>
+    <td colspan=2>
+      <a href="images/Pyreneepeasants.png">
+      <img src="images/Pyreneepeasants-t.png" alt="" border="0"></a>
+    </td>
+  <tr>
+    <td width="50%" align="center">
+      <b>Icemen</b>
+    </td>
+    <td width="50%" align="center">
+      <b>Gorges du Pierre Lys</b>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center" colspan=2>
+      <b>On the Road in the Pyrenees</b>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</center>
+
+<p>The month of October is time for the gathering of the fashionables
+and elegants of all capitals at Biarritz. All the world bathes
+together in the warm waters of the Plage des Basques, and the sublime
+contrast of the Pyrenees on one hand, and the open sea and sky on the
+other, give a panorama of grandeur that few of its competitors have.</p>
+
+<p>The visitors to Biarritz daily augment in numbers, and, since it had
+been a sort of neutral trysting-ground for the King and Queen of
+Spain before their marriage, and since the seal of his approval has
+been given to it by Edward VII. of England (to the great disconcern
+of the Riviera hotel-keepers), it bids fair to become even more
+popular.</p>
+
+<p>From Bayonne to the Spanish frontier it is thirty kilometres by the
+road which runs through the Basque country and through St.
+Jean-de-Luz, a delightful little seaside town which has long been a
+"resort" of the mildly homeopathic kind, and which, let us all hope,
+will never degenerate into another Nice, or Cannes, or Menton. The
+great event of its historic past was the marriage here of Louis XIV.
+with the Infanta Marie-Th&eacute;r&egrave;s on the sixth of June, 1660, but to-day
+everything (in the minds of the inhabitants) dates from the arrival
+of the increasing shoals of visitor from "<i>brumeuse Angleterre</i>" in the
+first days of November, with the added hope that this year's visitors
+will exceed in numbers those of the last&mdash;which they probably will.</p>
+
+<p>Those who know not St. Jean-de-Luz and its charms had best hurry up
+before they entirely disappear. The Automobile Club de France
+endorses the H&ocirc;tel d'Angleterre of St. Jean as to its beds and its
+table, and also notes the fact that you may count on spending
+anything you like from thirteen francs a day upward for your
+accommodation. The Touring Club de France swears by the H&ocirc;tel
+Terminus-Plage (equally unfortunately named), and here you will get
+off for ten francs or so per day, and probably be cared for quite as
+well as at the other. In any case they both possess a <i>salle des bains</i>
+and a shelter for your automobile.</p>
+
+<p>We stopped only for lunch, and found it excellent, at the H&ocirc;tel de la
+Poste, with <i>vin compris</i>&mdash;which is not the case at the great hotels.
+<i>En passant</i>, let the writer say that the average "tourist" (not the
+genuine vagabond traveller) will not drink the <i>vin de table</i>, but
+prefers the same thing&mdash;at a supplementary price&mdash;for the pleasure of
+seeing the cork drawn before his eyes. The "<i>grands h&ocirc;tels</i>" of the
+resorts recognize this and cater for the tourist accordingly.</p>
+
+<p>We were bound for Fontarabia that night, just over the Spanish
+border. The Spanish know it as Feuntarabia, and the Basques as
+Ondarriba. For this reason one's pronunciation is likely to be
+understood, because no two persons pronounce it exactly alike, and
+the natives' comprehensions have been trained in a good school.</p>
+
+<p>Fontarabia is gay, is ancient, and is very <i>foreign</i> to anything in
+France, even bordering upon the Spanish frontier. We left the
+automobile at Hendaye, not wishing to put up with the customs duties
+of eighteen francs a hundred kilos for the motor, and a thousand
+francs for the <i>carrosserie</i>, for the privilege of riding twenty
+kilometres out and back over a sandy, dreary road.</p>
+
+<p>We dined and slept that night at a little Spanish hotel half built
+out over the sea, Concha by name, and left the Grand H&ocirc;tel de Palais
+Miramar to those who like grand hotels. We lingered a fortnight at
+Fontarabia, and did much that many tourists did not. One should see
+Fontarabia and find out its delights for oneself. There is a
+quaintness and unworldliness about its old streets and wharves, which
+is indescribable in print; there is a wonderfully impressive expanse
+of sea and sky on the Bay of Bidassoa, a couple of kilometres away,
+and all sorts and conditions of men may find an occupation here for
+any passing mood they may have.</p>
+
+<p>We just missed the great f&ecirc;te of the eighth of September, when
+processions, and bull-fights, and all the movement of the sacred and
+profane rejoicings of the Latins yearly astonish the more phlegmatic
+northerner.</p>
+
+<p>Another great f&ecirc;te is that of Vendredi-Saint (Good Friday). Either
+one or the other should be seen by all who may be in these parts at
+these times.</p>
+
+<p>Near by, in the middle of the swift-flowing current of the Bidassoa,
+is the historically celebrated Ile des Faisans, on which the
+conferences were held between the French minister Mazarin and the
+Spanish Don Louis de Haro, which led to the famous Treaty of the
+Pyrenees, 1659, and the marriage of Louis XIV. with the daughter of
+Philip IV. The representative of each sovereign advanced from his own
+territory, by a temporary bridge, to this bit of neutral ground,
+which then reached nearly up to the present bridge. The piles which
+supported the cardinal's pavilion were visible not many years ago.
+The death of Velasquez, the painter, was caused by his exertions in
+superintending these constructions; duties more fitting to an
+upholsterer than a painter.</p>
+
+<p>We finished our tour of the Pyrenees at Fontarabia, having followed
+along the shadow of these great frontier mountains their entire
+length; not wholly unknown ground, perhaps, but for the most part
+entirely unspoiled, and, as a touring-ground for the automobilist,
+without a peer.</p>
+
+<a name="2-3"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center>
+<h3>Chapter III</h3>
+<h3>In Languedoc And Old Provence</h3>
+<br>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Languedoc.png">
+<img src="images/Languedoc.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>The dim purple curtain of the Pyrenees had been drawn behind, us, and
+we were passing from the patois of Languedoc to the patois of
+Provence, where the peasants say <i>pardie</i> in place of <i>pardou</i> when an
+exclamation of surprise comes from their lips.</p>
+
+<p>Cast your eyes over the map of ancient France, and you will
+distinguish plainly the lines of demarcation between the old
+political divisions which, in truth, the traveller by road may find
+to exist even to-day, in the manners and customs of the people at
+least.</p>
+
+<p>Unconsciously we drew away from the sleepy indolence of Perpignan and
+Roussillon, and before we knew it had passed Narbonne, and on through
+B&eacute;ziers to Agde, where we proposed stopping for the night.</p>
+
+<p>Quite as Spanish-looking as Perpignan, Agde was the very antithesis
+of the gay and frivolous Catalan city. The aspect of its purple-brown
+architecture, the bridge-piers crossing the Herault, and the very
+pavements themselves were a colour-scheme quite unlike anything we
+had seen elsewhere. Brilliant and warm as a painting of Velasquez,
+there was nothing gaudy, and one could only dream of the time when
+the Renaissance house-fronts sheltered lords and ladies of high
+degree instead of itinerant automobilists and travelling salesmen.</p>
+
+<p>The H&ocirc;tel du Cheval Blanc was one of these. It is not a particularly
+up-to-date hostelry, and there is a scant accommodation for
+automobiles, but for all that it is good of its kind, and one dines
+and sleeps well to the accompaniment of the rushing waters of the
+river, at its very dooryard, on its way to the sea.</p>
+
+<p>From Agde to Montpellier is fifty odd kilometres over the worst
+stretch of roadway of the same length to be found in France, save
+perhaps that awful paved road of Navarre across the Landes.</p>
+
+<p>Montpellier is one of the most luxurious and well-kept small cities
+of France. It is the seat of the pr&eacute;fecture, the assizes, and a
+university&mdash;whose college of medicine was famous in the days of
+Rabelais. It has the modern attributes of steam-heated,
+electric-lighted hotels and restaurants, a tramway system that is
+appalling and dangerous to all other traffic by reason of its
+complexity, and an Opera House and a H&ocirc;tel de Ville that would do
+credit to a city ten times its size.</p>
+
+<p>We merely took Montpellier <i>en route</i>, just as we had many other
+places, and were really bound for Aigues-Mortes, where we proposed to
+lunch: one would not willingly sleep in a place with a name like
+that.</p>
+
+<p>Of Aigues-Mortes Ch. Lentherie wrote, a quarter of a century ago:</p>
+
+<p>"The country round about is incomparably melancholy, the sun
+scorches, and the sandy soil gives no nourishment to plants, flowers,
+vines, or grain. Cultivated land does not exist, it is a desert:
+ugly, melancholy, and abandoned. But Aigues-Mortes cannot, nay, must
+not perish, and will always remain the old city of St. Louis, a
+magnificent architectural diadem, with its deserted <i>plage</i> an <i>aureole</i>
+most radiant, a glorious yet touching reminder."</p>
+
+<p>One other imaginative description is the poem of Charles Bigot on <i>La
+Tour de Constance</i>, in which the Huguenot women were many long years
+imprisoned. It is written in the charming Nimois patois, and runs
+thus in its first few lines:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+"Tour de la simple et forte,<br>
+Simbol de glorie et de pi&eacute;t&eacute;,<br>
+Tour de pauvres femmes mortes<br>
+Pour leur Dieu et la libert&eacute;."
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>These few introductory lines will recall to the memory of all who
+know the history of the Crusades and of St. Louis the part played by
+this old walled city of Aigues-Mortes.</p>
+
+<p>More complete, and more frowning and grim, than Carcassonne, it has
+not a tithe of its interest, but, for all that, it is the most
+satisfying example of a walled stronghold of medi&aelig;val times yet
+extant.</p>
+
+<p>With all its gloom, its bareness, and the few hundreds of shaking
+pallid mortals which make up its present-day population, the marsh
+city of Aigues-Mortes is a lively memory to all who have seen it.</p>
+
+<p>One comes by road and drives his automobile in through the
+battlemented gateway over the cobbled main street, or struggles up on
+foot from the station of the puny and important little railway which
+brings people down from Arles in something over an hour's time.
+Ultimately, one and all arrive at the excellent H&ocirc;tel St. Louis, and
+eat bountifully of fresh fish of the Mediterranean, well cooked by
+the <i>patron-chef</i>, and well served by a dainty Arl&eacute;sienne maiden of
+fifteen summers, who looks as though she might be twenty-two.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>C'est un chose &agrave; voir</i>" every one tells you in the Bouches-du-Rh&ocirc;ne
+when you mention Aigues-Mortes; and truly it is. As before suggested,
+you will not want to sleep within its dreary walls, but "it's a thing
+to see" without question, and to get away from as soon as possible,
+before a peculiarly vicious breed of mosquito inoculates you with the
+toxic poison of the marshes.</p>
+
+<p>Now we are approaching the land of the poet Mistral, the most
+romantic region in all modern France, where the inhabitant in his
+repose and his pleasure still lives in medi&aelig;val times and chants and
+dances himself (and herself) into a sort of semi-indifference to the
+march of time.</p>
+
+<p>The Crau and the Camargue, lying south of Arles between Aigues-Mortes
+and the Etang de Berre, is the greatest f&ecirc;te-making <i>pays</i>, one might
+think, in all the world.</p>
+
+<p>How many times, from January to January, the Proven&ccedil;al "makes the
+f&ecirc;te" it would be difficult to state&mdash;on every occasion possible, at
+any rate.</p>
+
+<p>The great f&ecirc;te of Provence is the day of the <i>ferrande</i>, a sort of a
+cattle round-up held on the Camargue plain, something like what goes
+on in "<i>le Far West,</i>" as the French call it, only on not so grand a
+scale.</p>
+
+<p>Mistral describes it of course:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+"On a great branding-day came this throng,<br>
+A help for the mighty herd-mustering,<br>
+Li Santo, Aigo Marto, Albaron,<br>
+And from Faraman, a hundred horses strong<br>
+Came out into the desert."
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>Here we were in the midst of the land of f&ecirc;tes, and if we could not
+see a <i>ferrande</i> in all its savage, unspoiled glory, we would see what
+we could.</p>
+
+<p>We were in luck, as we learned when we put into St. Gilles for the
+night, and comfortably enough housed our auto in the <i>remise</i> of the
+company, or individual, which has the concession for the stage line
+across the Camargue, which links up the two loose ends of a toy
+railway, one of which ends at Aigues-Mortes, and the other at Stes.
+Maries-de-la-Mer.</p>
+
+<p>Our particular piece of luck was the opportunity to be present at the
+pilgrimage to the shrine of the three Marys of Judea, which took
+place on the morrow.</p>
+
+<p>The poet Mistral sets it all out in romantic verse in his epic
+"Mir&egrave;io," and one and all were indeed glad to embrace so fortunate an
+opportunity of participating in one of the most nearly unique
+pilgrimages and festivals in all the world.</p>
+
+<p>We entered the little waterside town the next morning soon after
+sunrise, <i>en auto</i>. Others came by rail, on foot, on horseback, or by
+the slow-going <i>roulotte</i>, or caravan; pilgrims from all corners of the
+earth, the peasant folk of Provence, the Arl&eacute;siens and Arl&eacute;siennes,
+and the dwellers of the great Camargue plain.</p>
+
+<p>The picture is quite as "Mir&egrave;io" saw it in the poem: the vision of
+the lone sentinel church by the sea, which rises above the dunes of
+the Camargue to-day, as it did in the olden time.</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+"'It looms at last in the distance dim,<br>
+She sees it grow on the horizon's rim,<br>
+The Saintes' white tower across the billowy plain,<br>
+Like vessel homeward bound upon the main."
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>On the dunes of the Camargue, between the blue of the sky and the
+blue of the Mediterranean waves, sits the gaunt, grim bourg of
+fisherfolk and herders of the cattle and sheep of the neighbouring
+plain. The lone fortress-church rises tall and severe in its
+outlines, and the whole may be likened to nothing as much as a desert
+mirage that one sees in his imagination.</p>
+
+<p>At the foot of the crenelated, battlemented walls of the church are
+the white, pink, and blue walled houses of the huddling population,
+and the dory-like boats of the fishers.</p>
+
+<p>Officially the town is known as Stes. Maries-de-la-Mer, but the
+<i>reliques</i> of the three Marys, who fled from Judea in company with Sts.
+Lazare, Maxim, and Trophime, and other followers, including their
+servant Sara, have given it the popular name of "Les Saintes."</p>
+
+<p>The exiles, barely escaping death by drowning, came to shore here,
+and, thankful for being saved from death, thereupon celebrated the
+first mass to be said in France, the saints Maxim and Lazare
+officiating.</p>
+
+<p>Maxim, Lazare, Sidoine, Marthe, and Madeleine immediately set out to
+spread the Word throughout Provence in the true missionary spirit,
+but the others, the three Marys, St. Trophime, and Sara, remained
+behind to do what good they might among the fishers.</p>
+
+<p>The pilgrimage to this <i>basilique</i> of "Les Saintes" has ever been one
+of great devotion. In 1347 the Bishops of Paris and of Coutances, in
+Normandy, accorded their communicants many and varied indulgences for
+having made "<i>la feste S. Mari Cl&eacute;oph&eacute;e qui est le XXVe Mai, et la
+feste S. Marie Salom&eacute;, XXIIe Octobre, festeront, O l'histoire d'elles
+prescherent, liront ou escouteront attentilment et devotement.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>In the fourteenth century three thousand or more souls drew a
+livelihood from the industries of "Les Saintes" and the
+neighbourhood, and its civic affairs were administered by three
+consuls, who were assisted in their duties by three classes of
+citizen office-holders&mdash;<i>divities</i>, <i>mediocres</i>, and <i>paupers</i>, the latter
+doubtless the "<i>povres gens</i>" mentioned in the testament of Louis I. of
+Provence, he who bequeathed the guardianship of his soul to "<i>Saintes
+Maries Jacob&eacute; et Salom&eacute;, Catherine, Madeleine et Marthe.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>The first day's celebration was devoted to the further gathering of
+the throng and the "Grand Mess." At the first note of the
+"Magnificat" the <i>reliques</i> were brought forth from the upper chapel
+and the crowd from within and without broke into a thunderous "<i>Vivent
+les Saintes Maries!</i>" Then was sung the "<i>Cantique des Saintes:</i>"</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+"O grandes Saintes Maries<br>
+Si ch&eacute;ries<br>
+De notre divin Sauveur," etc.
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>On the second day a procession formed outside the church for the
+descent to the historic sands, upon which the holy exiles first made
+their landing, the men bearing on their shoulders a representation of
+the barque which brought the saints thither. There were prelates and
+plebeians and tourists and vagabond gipsies in line, and one and all
+they entered into the ceremony with an enthusiasm&mdash;in spite of the
+sweltering sun&mdash;which made up for any apparent lack of devoutness,
+for, alas! most holy pilgrimages are anything but holy when taken in
+their entirety.</p>
+
+<p>The church at "Les Saintes" is a wonder-work. As at Assisi, in Italy,
+there are three superimposed churches, a symbol of the three states
+of religion; the crypt, called the catacombs, and suggestive of
+persecution; the fortified nave, a symbol of the body which prays,
+but is not afraid to fight; and the <i>chapelle sup&eacute;rieure</i>, the holy
+place of the saints of heaven, the Christian counsellors in whose
+care man has been confided. This, at any rate, is the professional
+description of the symbolism, and whether one be churchman or not he
+is bound to see the logic of it all.</p>
+
+<p>Deep down in the darkened crypt are the <i>reliques</i> of the dusky Sara,
+the servant of the holy Marys. She herself has been elevated to
+sainthood as the <i>patronne</i> of the vagabond gipsies of all the world.
+On the occasion of the F&ecirc;te of Les Saintes Maries the nomads,
+Bohemians, and Gitanos from all corners of the globe, who have been
+able to make the pilgrimage thither, pass the night before the shrine
+of their sainted <i>patronne</i>, as a preliminary act to the election of
+their queen for the coming year.</p>
+
+<p>The gipsy of tradition is supposed to be a miserly, wealthy,
+sacrilegious fellow who goes about stealing children and dogs and
+anything else he can lay his hands upon. He may have his faults, but
+to see him kneeling before the shrine of his "<i>patronne reine Sara,</i>"
+ragged and travel-worn and yet burning costly candles and saying his
+<i>Aves</i> as piously and incessantly as a praying-machine of the East, one
+can hardly question but that they have as much devoutness as most
+others.</p>
+
+<p>The hotels of "Les Saintes" offer practically nothing in the way of
+accommodation, and what there is, which costs usually thirty sous a
+night, has, during the f&ecirc;te, an inflated value of thirty or even
+fifty francs, and, if you are an automobilist, driving the most
+decrepit out-of-date old crock that ever was, they will want to
+charge you a hundred. You will, of course, refuse to pay it, for you
+can eat up the roadway at almost any speed you like,&mdash;there is no one
+to say you nay on these lonesome roads,&mdash;and so, after paying fifty
+centimes a pailful for some rather muddy water to refresh the water
+circulation of your automobile, you pull out for some other place&mdash;at
+least we did. One must either do this, or become a real nomad and
+sleep in the open, with the stars for candles, and a bunch of
+beach-grass for a pillow. If you were a <i>Romany cheil</i> you would sleep
+in, or under, your own <i>roulotte</i>, on a mattress, which, in the
+daytime, is neatly folded away in the rear of your wagon, or hung in
+full view, temptingly spread with a lace coverlet. This in the hope
+that some passing pilgrim will take a fancy to the lace spread and
+want to buy it; when will come a trading and bargaining which will
+put horse-selling quite in the shade, for it is here that the woman
+of the establishment comes in, and the gipsy woman on a trade is a
+Tartar.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, on the last day, came the "<i>Grande Entr&eacute;e des Tauraux,</i>"
+which, it would seem, was the chief event which drew the Camargue
+population thither. They came in couples, a man and a woman on the
+back of a single Camargue pony, whole families in a Proven&ccedil;al cart,
+on foot, on bicycles, and in automobiles.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Craupeasants.png">
+<img src="images/Craupeasants.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>Six Spanish-crossed bulls, were brought up in a great closed van and
+loosed in an improvised bull-ring, of which the church wall formed
+one side, and the roof a sort of a tribune. What the cur&eacute; thought of
+all this is not clear, but as the alms-coffers of the church were
+already full to the lids, and the parish depends largely upon the
+contributions of visitors to replenish its funds, any seeming
+sacrilege was winked at.</p>
+
+<p>For three days we had "made the f&ecirc;te" and saw it all, and did most of
+the things that the others did, except that we always slept at St.
+Gilles, far away by the long flat road which winds in and out among
+the marshes, flamingo nests, and rice-fields of the Camargue.</p>
+
+<p>The "bull-fight," so called, was nothing so very bloodthirsty or
+terrifying; merely the worrying by the "amateurs" of a short-legged,
+little black bull, about the size of a well-formed Newfoundland dog,
+or perhaps a little larger&mdash;appearances are often deceptive when one
+receives a disappointment.</p>
+
+<p>Truly, as Mistral says, Provence is a land of joy and, laughter, and
+f&ecirc;tes followed close on one another, it seemed.</p>
+
+<p>We had seen the announcements in the local journals of a "<i>Mis &agrave; Mort</i>"
+at N&icirc;mes, and a "<i>Corrida de Meurte</i>"&mdash;borrowing the phrase from the
+Spanish&mdash;at Arles, each to take place in the great Roman arenas,
+which had not seen bloodshed for centuries; not since the days when
+the Romans matched men against each other in gladiatorial combat, and
+turned tigers loose upon captive slaves.</p>
+
+<p>The "to-the-death" affairs of Arles and N&icirc;mes appealed to us only
+that we might contrast the modern throngs that crowd the benches with
+those which history tells us viewed the combats of old. Doubtless
+there is little resemblance, but all the same there is a certain gory
+tradition hanging about the old walls and arches of those great
+arenas which is utterly lacking in the cricket-field, tawdry plazas
+of some of the Spanish towns. The grim arcades of these great Roman
+arenas are still full of suggestion.</p>
+
+<p>We did not see either the "<i>Mis &agrave; Mort</i>" at Arles, or the "<i>Corrida de
+Meurte</i>" at N&icirc;mes; the automobile got stalled for a day in the midst
+of the stony Crau, with a rear tire which blew itself into pieces,
+and necessitated a journey by train into Arles in order to get
+another to replace it. Owing to the slowness of this apology for a
+railway train, and the awkwardness of the timetable, the great "<i>Mis &agrave;
+Mort</i>" at Arles was long over ere we had set out over the moonlit Crau
+for Martigues on the shores of the Etang de Berre.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<table>
+  <tr>
+    <td colspan=3>
+      <a href="images/LesSaintes.png">
+	  <img src="images/LesSaintes.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+    </td>
+  <tr>
+    <td width="33%" align="center">
+      <b>St. Blaise</b>
+    </td>
+    <td width="34%" align="center">
+      <b>Les Saintes</b>
+    </td>
+    <td width="33%" align="center">
+      <b>St. Mitre</b>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center" colspan=3>
+      <b>At Martigues</b>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</center>
+
+<p>We knew Martigues of old, its <i>bouillabaisse</i>, the <i>P&egrave;re Chabas</i> and all
+the cronies of the Caf&eacute; du Commerce where you kept your own special
+bottle, of whatever <i>ap&eacute;ritif</i> poison you fancied, in order that you
+might be sure of getting it unadulterated.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>La Venise de Provence,</i>" Martigues, is known by artists far and wide.
+Chabas and his rather grimy little hotel, which he calls the Grand
+Hotel something or other, has catered for countless hundreds of
+artist folk who have made the name and fame of Martigues as an
+artist's sketching-ground. After a three weeks' pretty steady
+automobile run the artist of the party craved peace and rest and an
+opportunity of putting Martigues's glorious sunsets on canvas, and so
+we camped out with Chabas, and ate <i>bouillabaisse</i> and the <i>beurre de
+Provence</i> and <i>langouste</i> and Chabas's famous straw potatoes and rum
+omelette for ten days, and were sorry when it was all over.</p>
+
+<a name="2-4"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center>
+<h3>Chapter IV</h3>
+<h3>By Rh&ocirc;ne And Sa&ocirc;ne</h3>
+<br>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Rhone.png">
+<img src="images/Rhone.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>It is the dream of the Marseillais that some day the turgid Rh&ocirc;ne may
+be made to empty itself at the foot of the famous Cannebi&egrave;re, and so
+add to the already great prosperity of the most cosmopolitan and
+picturesque of Mediterranean ports.</p>
+
+<p>The idea has been thought of since Roman times, and Napoleon himself
+nearly undertook the work. In later days radical and vehement
+candidates for senatorships and deputyships have promised their
+Marseilles and Bouches-du-Rh&ocirc;ne constituencies much more, with regard
+to the same thing, than the hand of man is ever likely to be able to
+accomplish.</p>
+
+<p>The Rh&ocirc;ne still pushes its way through the Crau and the Camargue and
+comes to the sea many kilometres west of the Planier light and
+Ch&acirc;teau d'If, which guard the entrance to Marseilles's Old Port.</p>
+
+<p>We had backed and filled many times between Martigues and Marseilles
+during the interval which we so enjoyably spent <i>chez Chabas</i>, and we
+had come to know this unknown little corner of old Provence
+intimately, and to love it.</p>
+
+<p>Marseilles was our great dissipation, its hotels, its caf&eacute;s and
+restaurants, its cosmopolitan life and movement, its gaiety and the
+picturesqueness of its old streets and wharves. Marseilles is a
+neglected tourist point; it should be better known; but it is no
+place for automobilists, unless they are prepared for ten kilometres,
+in any direction, of the most villainous suburban roadway in France.
+The roadways themselves are good enough; it is the abnormal and the
+peculiar nature of the traffic that makes them so disagreeable; great
+hooting tramways, <i>charettes</i> loaded with all the products of the earth
+and the hands of man, and drawn by long tandem lines, three, four,
+five, and even six horses to a single cart. Added to this, the exits
+and entrances are all up and down hill, and, accordingly, the
+roadways of suburban Marseilles are a terror to stranger
+automobilists and an eternal regret to those who live near-by.</p>
+
+<p>We went up the Rh&ocirc;ne in a howling mistral, against it, mark you, for
+it pleases the Ruler of the universe to have that cyclonic breeze of
+the Rh&ocirc;ne valley, one of the three plagues of Provence, blow always
+from the north.</p>
+
+<p>We left Martigues in an extraordinary and unusual fog, reminiscent of
+London, except that it was not black and sooty. It was dense,
+however; dense as if it were enshrouding the Grand Banks, and of the
+same impenetrable, milky consistency. To be sure the morning sun had
+not had an opportunity as yet to burn it off&mdash;automobilists on tour
+are early birds, and the autumn sun rises late.</p>
+
+<p>Up around the eastern shore of the Etang de Berre we went, and,
+crossing the T&ecirc;te Noire, passed Salon just as a pale yellow light
+struggled through the rifts just topping the Maritime Alps off to the
+eastward. We could not see the mountains, but we knew they were
+there, for we still had lingering memories of a long pull we once
+made off in that direction, with an old crock of an automobile of
+primitive make in the early days of the sport, or the art, whichever
+one chooses to call it, though it unquestionably was an art then to
+keep an automobile going at all.</p>
+
+<p>By the time Arles was reached the sun was burning with a midsummer
+glare, as it does here for three hundred or more days in the year.</p>
+
+<p>At Arles one is in the very cauldron of the atmosphere of things
+Proven&ccedil;al, art, letters, history, and romance, all of which are kept
+alive by the <i>F&eacute;libres</i> and their fellows.</p>
+
+<p>Mistral, the poet, is the master-singer of them all, and whether he
+chants of his "Own glad Kingdom of Provence," at Maillane among the
+olive-trees, far inland, or of:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+"The peace which descends upon the troubled ocean<br>
+And he his wrath forgets,<br>
+Flock from Martigues the boats with wing-like motion,<br>
+And fishes fill their nets,"
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>it is all the same; the subtle, penetrating atmosphere and sentiment
+of Provence is over all.</p>
+
+<p>Arles is the head centre. It is a city of monumental and celebrated
+art, and one may spend a day, a week, or a month, wandering in and
+out and about its old Roman arena (still so well preserved that it
+presents its occasional bull-fight for the delectation of the
+bloodthirsty), its antique theatre, its museums, its cathedral and
+its cloister, or among the tombs of the Aliscamps.</p>
+
+<p>We did all these things, indeed we had done them before, but they
+were ever marvellous just the same, and in the museum we were always
+running on Mistral himself, who, in his waning years, finds his
+greatest delight in arranging and rearranging the exhibits of his
+newly founded Mus&eacute;e Arletan.</p>
+
+<p>The hotels of Arles are a disappointment. The H&ocirc;tel du Nord, with a
+portico of the old Forum built into its walls, and the H&ocirc;tel du
+Forum, on the Place du Forum, are well enough in their way,&mdash;they are
+certainly well conducted,&mdash;but they lack "atmosphere," and instead of
+the <i>cuisine du pays</i>, you get ham and eggs and <i>bifteck</i> served to you.
+This is wrong and bad business, if the otherwise capable proprietors
+only knew it.</p>
+
+<p>One does better in the environs. At St. R&eacute;my, at the Grand H&ocirc;tel de
+Provence, you will get quite another sort of fare: <i>hors d'&oelig;uvres</i> of
+a peculiarly pungent variety, not forgetting the dark purple,
+over-ripe olives, a <i>rago&ucirc;t en casserole</i>, a <i>filet d'agneau</i> with a
+<i>sauce Proven&ccedil;ale</i>, and a <i>poulet</i> and a salad which will make one dream
+of the all but lost art of Brillat-Savarin. They are good cooks, the
+<i>chefs</i> of Provence, of the small cities and large towns like St. R&eacute;my,
+Cavaillon, Salon, and Carpentras, but everybody will not like their
+liberal douches of oil any more than they will the penetrating garlic
+flavour in everything.</p>
+
+<p>We took a turn backward on our route from Arles and went to Les Baux,
+the now dismal ruin of a once proud feudal city whose seigneurs held
+sway over some sixty cities of Provence.</p>
+
+<p>To-day it is a Pompeii, except it is a hill town worthy to rank with
+those picturesque peaks of Italy and Dalmatia. Its ch&acirc;teau walls have
+crumbled, but its subterranean galleries, cut three stories down into
+the rock itself, are much as they always were. Everywhere are grim,
+doleful evidences of a glory that is past and a population that is
+dead or moved away. The sixteen thousand souls of medi&aelig;val times have
+shrunk to something like two hundred to-day&mdash;most of them shepherds,
+apparently, and the others picture post-card sellers.</p>
+
+<p>It is a very satisfactory little mountain climb from the surrounding
+plain up to the little plateau just below the peak at Les Baux,
+though the entire distance from Arles is scarcely more than fifteen
+kilometres, and the actual climb hardly more than four. The
+razor-back mountain chain, upon one peak of which Les Baux sits, is
+known as the Alpilles.</p>
+
+<p>All of the immediate neighbourhood (scarce a dozen kilometres from
+where the beaten track passes through Arles) is a veritable museum of
+relics of the glory of the heroic age. Caius Marius entrenched
+himself within these walls of rock and two thousand years ago planted
+the foundations of the Mausoleum and Arc de Triomphe which are the
+pride of the inhabitant of St. R&eacute;my and the marvel of what few
+strangers ever come. They are veritable antiques&mdash;"Les Antiquit&eacute;s,"
+as the people of St. R&eacute;my familiarly call them, and rise to-day as
+monuments of the past, gilded by the Southern sun and framed with all
+the brilliancy of a Proven&ccedil;al landscape.</p>
+
+<p>We slept at St. R&eacute;my, and made the next morning for Tarascon, with
+memories of Dumas and Daudet and Tartarin and the Tarasque pushing us
+on.</p>
+
+<p>Tarascon has a real appeal for the stranger; at every step he will
+picture the <i>locale</i> of Daudet's whimsical tale, and will well
+understand how it was that the prisoners' view from the narrow-barred
+window of the Ch&acirc;teau at Tarascon was so limited.</p>
+
+<p>There is a fine group of Renaissance architectural monuments at
+Tarascon, and a street of arcaded house-fronts which will make the
+artist of the party want to settle down to work.</p>
+
+<p>Across the river is Beaucaire, famous for its great fair of ages
+past, the greatest trading fair of medi&aelig;val times, when merchants and
+their goods came from Persia, India, and Turkey, and all corners of
+the earth. The Ch&acirc;teau of Beaucaire is a fine ruin, but no more; it
+is not worth the climbing of the height to examine it.</p>
+
+<p>A little farther on is Bellegarde, where Dumas placed Caderousse's
+little inn, the unworthy Caderousse and his still more unworthy wife,
+who finished the career of Edmond Dant&egrave;s while he was masquerading as
+the Abb&eacute;. There is no inn here to-day which can be identified as that
+of the romance, but Dumas's description of its sun-burnt
+surroundings, the canal, the scanty herbage, and the white, parched
+roadway, is much the same as what one sees today, and there is a tiny
+<i>auberge</i> beside the canal, which might satisfy the imaginative.</p>
+
+<p>Avignon, the city of the seven French popes, who reigned seventy
+years, was the next stopping-place on our itinerary.</p>
+
+<p>We put up at the H&ocirc;tel Crillon and fared much as one fares in any
+provincial large town. We were served with imitation Parisian
+repasts, and were asked if we would like to read the London <i>Times</i>.
+Why the London <i>Times</i> no one knew: why not the New Orleans <i>Picayune</i>
+and be done with it?</p>
+
+<p>We did not want to do anything of the sort, we merely wanted to "do"
+the town, to see the tomb of Pope Jean XXII. in the cathedral, to
+walk, if possible, upon the part left standing of St. Benezet's old
+Pont d'Avignon, a memory which was burned into our minds since our
+schooldays, when we played and sang the French version of "London
+Bridge is falling down"&mdash;"<i>Sur le pont d'Avignon.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>The greatest monument of all is the magnificent Palais des Papes, its
+crenelated walls and battlements vying with the city walls and
+ramparts as a splendid example of medi&aelig;val architecture. We saw all
+these things and the museum with its excellent collections, and the
+library of thirty thousand volumes and four thousand manuscripts.</p>
+
+<p>One thing we nearly missed was Villeneuve-les-Avignon, a ruined
+wall-circled town on the opposite bank of the Rh&ocirc;ne. Its machicolated
+crests glistened in the brilliant Southern sunlight like an exotic of
+the Saharan country. It is quite the most foreign and African-looking
+jumble of architectural forms to be seen in France. It took us three
+hours to cross the river and stroll about its debris-encumbered
+streets and get back again and start on our way northward, but it was
+worth the time and trouble.</p>
+
+<p>From St. R&eacute;my to Orange, perhaps sixty kilometres, was not a long
+daily run by any means, and we would not have stopped at Orange for
+the night except that it was imperative that we should see the fine
+antique theatre, the most magnificent, the largest, and the best
+preserved of all existing Roman theatres.</p>
+
+<p>We saw it, and seeing it wondered, though, when one tries to project
+the mind back into the past and picture the scenes which once went on
+upon its boards, the task were seemingly impossible.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Avignon.png">
+<img src="images/Avignon.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>The Roman Arc de Triomphe, too, at Orange, which spans the roadway to
+the North&mdash;the same great natural road which all its length froth
+Paris to Antibes is known as the Route d'Italie&mdash;is a monument more
+splendid, as to its preservation, than anything of the kind outside
+Italy itself.</p>
+
+<p>There is ample and excellent accommodation for the automobilist at
+Orange, at the H&ocirc;tel des Princes, which sounds good and is good. They
+have even a writing-room in the hotel, a silly, stuffy little room
+which no one with any sense ever enters. One simply follows a
+well-fed <i>commis-voyageur</i> to the nearest popular caf&eacute; and writes his
+letters there, as a well-habituated traveller should do.</p>
+
+<p>Once on the road again we passed Montelimar&mdash;"<i>le pays du noug&acirc;t et de
+M. l'ex-President Loubet,</i>" we were told by the <i>octroi</i> official who
+held us up at the barrier of this self-sufficient, dead-and-alive,
+pompous little town. We didn't know M. Loubet and we didn't like
+<i>noug&acirc;t</i>, so we did not stop, but pushed on for Tournon. There, at the
+little H&ocirc;tel de la Poste, beneath the donjon tower of the old
+<i>ch&acirc;teau</i>, we ate the most marvellously concocted <i>d&eacute;jeuner</i> we had
+struck for a long time. There's no use describing it; it won't be the
+same the next time; though no doubt it will be as excellent. It cost
+but two francs fifty centimes, including <i>vin du St. Peray</i>, the rich
+red wine of the Rh&ocirc;ne, a rival to the wines of Burgundy.</p>
+
+<p>We might have done a good deal worse had we stopped at progressive,
+up-to-date Valence, where automobile tourists usually do stop, but we
+took the offering of the small town instead of the large one, and
+found it, as usual, very good.</p>
+
+<p>We had passed La Voute-sur-Rh&ocirc;ne, that classic height which has been
+pictured many times in old books of travel. It, and Tournon, and
+Valence, and Viviers, and Pont St. Esprit were once riverside
+stations for the <i>coches d'eau</i> which did a sort of omnibus service
+with passengers on the Rh&ocirc;ne, between Lyons and Avignon. There is a
+steamboat service to-day which also carries passengers, but it is not
+to be recommended if one has the means of getting about by road.</p>
+
+<p>This town, too, and Valence, were directly on the route of the
+<i>malle-poste</i> from Lyons to Marseilles. The different <i>postes</i> or relays
+were marked on the maps of the day by little twisted hunting-horns.
+For the most part an old-time route map of the great trunk lines of
+the <i>malle-poste</i> and the <i>messageries</i> would, serve the automobilist of
+to-day equally as well as a modern road map.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>malle-poste</i>, and the hiring out of post-horses, in France was an
+institution more highly developed than elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>Post-horses were only delivered one in France upon the presentation
+of a passport and payment, in advance, according to the following
+tariff. The price was fixed by law, being the same throughout all
+France.</p>
+
+<table cellpadding="3">
+  <tr><td>1</td><td>Poste (about 15 miles)</td><td>1 franc 50</td><td>centimes</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>1/2</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">75</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>1/4</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">38</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>The postilion usually got one franc fifty per <i>poste</i>, but could only
+demand seventy-five centimes.</p>
+
+<p>Certain carriages (chaises and cabriolets) would carry only
+portmanteaux (<i>vaches</i>), but <i>voitures ferm&eacute;es</i>, <i>cal&egrave;ches</i>, and the like
+might carry also a trunk (<i>malle</i>).</p>
+
+<p>As one goes north, sunburnt Provence, its olive groves and its oil
+and garlic-seasoned viands are left behind, until little by little
+one draws upon the Burgundian opulence of the C&ocirc;te d'Or, a land where
+the native's manner of eating and drinking makes a full life and a
+merry one.</p>
+
+<p>We were not there yet; we had many kilometres yet to go, always by
+the banks of the Rh&ocirc;ne until Lyons was reached.</p>
+
+<p>Near Givors, at eight o'clock at night, within twenty kilometres of
+Lyons, the motor gave a weak asthmatic gasp, and stopped short. Like
+the foolish virgins, we had no oil in our lamps, and dusk had already
+fallen, and no amount of coaxing after the habitual manner would
+induce the thing to move a yard.</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing for it but to get out the tow-ropes and wait&mdash;for a
+<i>remorqueur</i>, as the French call any four-footed beast strong enough to
+tow an automobile at the end of a line. (They also call a tug-boat
+the same thing, but as an automobile is not an amphibious animal it
+was a land <i>remorqueur</i> that we awaited.)</p>
+
+<p>We did not get to Lyons that night. There are always uncalled for
+"possibilities" rising up in automobiling that will upset the best
+thought-out schedule. This was one of them.</p>
+
+<p>What had happened to the machine no one yet really knows, but we had
+to be ignominiously towed, to the great amusement of the natives, at
+the end of a long rope by the power of a diminutive donkey which
+finally came along. The beast did not look as though he could draw a
+perambulator, but he buckled down to it with a will, and brought us
+safely through the half-kilometre or so of crooked streets which led
+to the centre of Givors.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, we, or the car rather, was pushed into an old wash-house,
+once a part of an ancient ch&acirc;teau, the <i>remise</i> of the hotel itself, a
+dependance of the ch&acirc;teau of other days, having been preempted by an
+itinerant magic-lantern exhibittion ("La Cin&eacute;metographe Americaine,"
+it was called on the bills), which proposed to show the good people
+of Givors&mdash;"for one night only, and at ten sous each"&mdash;moving
+pictures of Coney Island, Buffalo Bill's Wild West, Niagara Falls,
+New York's "Flat Iron" building, and other exotics from the New
+World.</p>
+
+<p>We dined and slept well at Givors in spite of our accident, and were
+"up bright and early," as Pepys might have said (Londoners to-day do
+not get up bright and early, however!), to find out, if possible,
+what was the matter with the digestive apparatus of the automobile.
+Nothing was the matter! The human, obstinate thing started off at the
+first trial, and probably would have done the same thing last night
+had we given the starting-crank one more turn. Such is automobiling!</p>
+
+<p>We made our entrance into Lyons <i>en pleine vitesse</i>, stopping not until
+we got to the centre of the city. The <i>octroi</i> regulations had just
+been revised, and the gates were open to passing traffic without the
+obligation of having to declare one's possessions. Progressive Lyons!</p>
+
+<p>Lyons is truly progressive. It is beautifully laid out and kept. It
+is nothing like as filthy as a large city usually is, on the
+outskirts, and its island faubourg, between the Sa&ocirc;ne and the Rh&ocirc;ne,
+is the ideal of a well-organized and planned centre of affairs.</p>
+
+<p>Lyons has, moreover, two up-to-date hotels, the very latest things,
+one might say, in the hotel line: the Terminus Hotel, which well
+serves travelers by rail, and the H&ocirc;tel de l'Univers et de
+l'Automobilisme&mdash;rather a clumsy name, but that of a good,
+well-meaning hotel. Its progressiveness consists in having abolished
+the <i>pourboire</i>. You have ten per cent. added on to your bill, however.
+This looks large when it comes to figures,&mdash;paying something for
+nothing,&mdash;but at least one knows where he stands, and he fears no
+black looks from chambermaid or boots. The thing is announced, by a
+little placard placed in every room, as an "innovation." It remains
+to be seen if it will prove successful.</p>
+
+<p>From Lyons to Dijon, 197 kilometres between breakfast and lunch, was
+not bad. Now, at last, we were in that opulent land of good living
+and good drinking, where the food and wine are alike both rich.</p>
+
+<p>He's a contented, fat, sleek-looking type, the native son of the C&ocirc;te
+d'Or, and he looks with contempt on the cider-nourished Norman and
+Breton, and does not for a moment think that cognac is to be compared
+with the <i>eau de vie de marc</i> of his own vineyards.</p>
+
+<p>The C&ocirc;te d'Or is the richest wine-growing region of all the world.
+Every direction-post and sign-board is like a review of the names on
+a wine card,&mdash;Beaune, Chambertin, St. Georges, Clos Vougeot,&mdash;and of
+these the Clos Vougeot wines are the most renowned.</p>
+
+<p>A line drawn across France, just north of the confines of ancient
+Burgundy, divides the region of the <i>vins ordinaires</i>&mdash;the light wines
+of the <i>tables d'hote</i>&mdash;and that of those vintages which have no price.
+This, at least, is the way the native puts it, and to some extent the
+simile is correct enough.</p>
+
+<p>The C&ocirc;te begins and the plain ends; the hillsides rise and the
+river-bottoms dwindle away in the distance: such is the feeling that
+one experiences as he climbs these vine-clad slopes from either the
+Rh&ocirc;ne, the Loire, or the Seine valleys, and here it is that the
+imaginary line is drawn between the <i>vins ordinaires</i> and the <i>vins sans
+prix</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Since there is no possibility of increasing the quantity of these
+rich, red Burgundian wines, the highly cultured area being of but
+small extent, and because their quality depends upon the peculiar
+nature of the soil of this restricted tract, there is no question but
+that the monopoly of Burgundian wines will remain for ever with the
+gold coast of France, whatever Australian and Californian patriots
+may claim for their own imitations.</p>
+
+<p>The phylloxera here, as elsewhere in France, caused a setback to the
+commerce in wines, as serious in money figures as the losses
+sustained during the Franco-Prussian War, but the time has now passed
+and the famous C&ocirc;te d'Or has once more attained its time-honoured
+opulence and prosperity.</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+"<i>Le vin de Bourgogne<br>
+Met la bonne humeur<br>
+Au c&oelig;ur.</i>"
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>Still northward, across the plateau of Langres, we set a roundabout
+course for Paris. There is one great pleasure about automobiling that
+is considerably curtailed if one sets out to follow precisely a
+preconceived itinerary, and for that reason we were, in a measure,
+going where fancy willed.</p>
+
+<p>We might have turned westward, via Moulins, Nevers, and Montargis,
+from Lyons, and followed the old coaching road into Paris, entering
+by the same gateway through which we set out, but we had heard of the
+charms of the valley of the Marne, and we wanted to see them for
+ourselves.</p>
+
+<p>Our first acquaintance with it was at Bar le Duc, which is not on the
+Marne at all, but on a little confluent some twenty or thirty miles
+from its junction.</p>
+
+<p>For a day we had been riding over corkscrew roads with little peace
+and comfort for the driver, and considerable hard work for the motor.
+The hills were numerous, but the surface was good and the scenery
+delightful, so, since most of us require variety as a component of
+our daily lives, we were getting what we wanted and no one
+complained.</p>
+
+<p>It was easy going by Ch&acirc;teau Thierry and the episcopal city of Meaux,
+retracing almost the itinerary of the fleeing Louis XVI., and, as we
+entered Paris by the Porte de Vincennes,&mdash;always by villainous
+roadways, this getting in and out of Paris,&mdash;we red-inked another
+twelve hundred kilometre stretch of roadway on our record map of
+France.</p>
+
+<a name="2-5"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center>
+<h3>Chapter V</h3>
+<h3>By Seine And Oise&mdash;A Cruise In A Canot-Automobile</h3>
+<br>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Seine.png">
+<img src="images/Seine.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>If automobiling on land in France is a pleasure, a voyage up a
+picturesque and historic French river in a <i>canot-automobile</i> is a
+dream, so at least we thought, four of us&mdash;and a boy to clean the
+engine, run errands, and to climb overboard and push us off when we
+got stuck in the mud.</p>
+
+<p>Our "home port" was Les Andelys on the Seine, and we meet in the
+courtyard of the H&ocirc;tel Bellevue at five o'clock one misty, gray
+September morning for a fortnight's voyage up the Oise, which joins
+the Seine midway between Les Andelys and Paris.</p>
+
+<p>There is nothing mysterious about an automobile boat any more than
+there is about the land automobile. It has its moods and vagaries,
+its good points <i>and some bad ones</i>. It is not as speedy as an
+automobile on shore, but it is more comfortable, a great deal more
+fun to steer, and less dangerous, and there is an utter absence of
+those chief causes of trouble to the automobile, punctures and what
+not happening to your tires. Then again there is, generally speaking,
+no crowd of traffic to run you into danger, and there is an absence
+of dust, to make up for which, when you are lying by waiting to go
+through a lock, you have mosquitoes of a fierce bloodthirsty kind
+which even the smoke from the vile tobacco of French cigarettes will
+not keep at a distance.</p>
+
+<p>Our facile little automobile boat was called the "<i>C&agrave; et L&agrave;.</i>" Rightly
+enough named it was, too. The French give singularly pert and
+appropriate names to their boats. "<i>Va t'on,</i>" "<i>Quand m&ecirc;me,</i>" and "<i>C&agrave; et
+L&agrave;</i>" certainly tell the stories of their missions in their very names.</p>
+
+<p>The boat itself, and its motor, too, was purely a French production,
+and, though of modest force and dimensions, would do its dozen miles
+an hour all day long.</p>
+
+<p>We got away from the landing-stage of the Touring Club de France at
+Les Andelys in good time, our provisions, our gasoline and oil, our
+river charts, our wraps and ourselves all stowed comfortably away in
+the eight metres of length of our little boat. Our siren gave a hoot
+which startled the rooks circling about the donjon walls of Ch&acirc;teau
+Gaillard over our heads, and we passed under the brick arches of the
+bridge for a twelve-mile run to the first lock at Courcelles.</p>
+
+<p>The process of going through a river lock in France is not far
+different from the same process elsewhere, except that the
+all-powerful Touring Club de France has secured precedence for all
+pleasure boats over any other waiting craft. It really costs nothing,
+but you give a franc to the <i>&eacute;clusier</i>, and the way is thereby made the
+easier for the next arrival. The objection to river-locks is their
+frequency in some parts. There is one stretch of thirty or forty
+kilometres on the Marne with thirty-three locks. That costs
+something, truly.</p>
+
+<p>We knew the Seine valley intimately, by road along both its banks, at
+any rate, and we were hopeful of reaching Triel that night, near the
+junction of the Seine and Oise.</p>
+
+<p>We passed our first lock at Courcelles, just before seven o'clock,
+and had a good stretch of straight water ahead of us before Vernon
+was reached.</p>
+
+<p>You cannot miss your way, of course, when travelling by river, but
+you can be at a considerable loss to know how far you have come since
+your last stopping-place, or rather you would be if the French
+government had not placed little white kilometre stones all along the
+banks of the "<i>navigable</i>" and "<i>flottable</i>" rivers, as they have along
+the great national roads on land. Blessed be the paternal French
+government; the traveller in <i>la belle France</i> has much for which to be
+grateful to it: its excellent roadways, its sign-boards, and its
+kilometre stones most of all. The motor-boat is highly developed in
+France from the simple fact that you can tour on it. You can go all
+over France by a magnificent system of inland waterways; from the
+Seine to the Marne; from the Oise to the Sambre&mdash;and so to Antwerp
+and Ghent; from the Loire to the Rh&ocirc;ne; and even from the Marne to
+the Rhine; and from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. France is the
+touring-ground par excellence for the automobile boat.</p>
+
+<p>Here's a new project of travel for those who want to do what others
+have not done to any great extent. Africa and the Antartic continent
+have been explored, and the North Pole bids fair to be discovered by
+means of a flying-machine ere long, so, with no new worlds to
+conquer, one might do worse in the way of pleasurable travel than to
+explore the waterways of France.</p>
+
+<p>Maistre wrote his "Voyage Autour de Ma Chambre" and Karr his "Voyage
+Autour de Mon Jardin," hence any one who really wants to do something
+similar might well make the tour of the Ile de France by water. It
+can be done, and would be a revelation of novelty, if one would do it
+and write it down.</p>
+
+<p>For the moment we were bound up the Oise; we had passed Vernon and
+Giverny, sitting snug on the hillside by the mouth of the Ept, where
+we knew there were countless Americans, artists <i>and others</i>, sitting
+in Gaston's garden or playing tennis on a sunburnt field beside the
+road. Foolish business that, with a river like the Seine so near at
+hand, and because it was the custom at Giverny, a custom grown to be
+a habit, which is worse, we liked not the place, in spite of its
+other undeniable charms.</p>
+
+<p>We put in for lunch at La Roche-Guyon, a trim little town lying close
+beneath the Renaissance ch&acirc;teau of the La Rochefoucauld's. There are
+two waterside hotels at La Roche-Guyon, beside the ugly wire-rope
+bridge, but we knew them of old, and knew they were likely to be full
+of an unspeakable class of Parisian merrymakers. There may be others
+who patronize these delightfully situated riverside inns, but the
+former predominate in the season. Out of season it may be quite
+different.</p>
+
+<p>We hunted out a little caf&eacute; in the town, whose <i>patron</i> we knew, and
+prevailed upon his good wife to give us our lunch <i>en famille</i>, which
+she did and did well.</p>
+
+<p>It was <i>tr&egrave;s bourgeois</i>, but that was what we wanted, and, after a
+couple of hours eating and lolling about and playing with the cats
+and talking to the parrot,&mdash;a Martinique parrot who knew some
+English,&mdash;we took to the river again, and, after passing the locks at
+Bonni&egrave;res, arrived at Mantes at five o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>The nights draw in quickly, even in the early days of September, and
+we were bound to push on, if we were to reach Triel that night. We
+could have reached it, but were delayed at a lock, while it emptied
+itself and half a score of downriver barges, and, spying a gem of a
+riverside restaurant at Meulan, overhanging the very water itself,
+and hung with great golden orange globes of light (so-called Japanese
+lanterns, and nothing more), we were sentimentally enough inclined to
+want to dine with such Claude Melnotte accessories. This we did, and
+hunted up lodgings in the town for the night, vowing to get an extra
+early start in the morning to make up for lost time.</p>
+
+<p>The Seine at Meulan takes on a certain luxuryous aspect so far as
+river-boating goes. There is even a "Cercle &agrave; la Voile," with yachts
+which, in the narrow confines of the river, look like the real thing,
+but which after all are very diminutive members of the family.</p>
+
+<p>From this point the course of the Seine is a complicated winding
+among <i>iles</i> and <i>ilots</i>, which gives it that elongation which makes
+necessary hours of journeying by boat as against a quarter of the
+time by the road&mdash;as the crow flies&mdash;to the lower fortifications of
+Paris.</p>
+
+<p>On either side, however, are <i>chemins vicinales</i>, which continually
+produce unthought-of vistas which automobilists who are making a
+record from Trouville to Paris know nothing of.</p>
+
+<p>Triel possesses an imposing thirteenth-century Gothic church and an
+abominably ugly suspension-bridge of wire rope. It is a good place to
+buy a boat or a cargo of gypsum, which we know as "plaster of Paris;"
+otherwise the town is not remarkable, though charmingly situated.</p>
+
+<p>The Oise is the first really great commercial tributary of the Seine.
+There is a mighty flow of commerce which ascends and descends the
+bosom of the Oise, extending even to the Low Countries and the German
+Ocean, through the Sambre to Antwerp and the Scheldt.</p>
+
+<p>The Oise is classed as <i>flottable</i> from Beautor to Chauny, a distance
+of twenty kilometres, and <i>navigable</i> from Chauny to the Seine. Mostly
+it runs through the great plain of Picardie and forms the natural
+northern boundary to the ancient Ile de France. The <i>navigable</i> portion
+forms two sections. One, of fifty-five kilometres, extends between
+Chauny and Janville, and has been generally abandoned by water-craft
+because of the opening of the Canal Lateral &agrave; la Oise; the other
+section, of one hundred and four kilometres, is canalized in that it
+has been straightened here and there at sharp corners, dredged and
+endowed with seven locks.</p>
+
+<p>The barge traffic of the Oise is mostly towed in convoys of six, but
+there is a <i>chemin de halage</i>, a tow-path, throughout the river's
+length. In general, the boats are of moderate size, the <i>p&eacute;niches</i>
+being perhaps a hundred and twenty feet in length, the <i>bateaux
+picards</i> somewhat longer, and the <i>chalands</i> approximating one hundred
+and sixty to one hundred and seventy-five feet.</p>
+
+<p>While, as stated above, the traction is generally by steam towboat,
+the more picturesque, if slower and more humble, tow-horse is more
+largely in evidence here than elsewhere in France.</p>
+
+<p>The environs of Conflans-fin-d'Oise are of a marvellous charm, but
+the immediate surroundings, great garages of coal boats and barges,
+coal-yards where towboats are filling up, and all the grime of an
+enormous water-borne traffic which here divides, part to go Parisward
+and part down-river, make it unlovely enough.</p>
+
+<p>Three kilometres up-river is a little riverside inn called the
+"Goujon de l'Oise." It is a pleasant place to lunch, but otherwise
+"fishy," as might be supposed.</p>
+
+<p>Back toward Meulan and on the heights above Triel are nestled a
+half-dozen picturesque little red-roofed villages which are not known
+at all to travellers from Paris by road or rail. It is curious how
+many sylvan spots one can find almost within plain sight of Paris.
+There are wheat-fields within sight of Montmartre and haystacks
+almost under the shadow of Mont Valerian.</p>
+
+<p>At Evequemont, just back of Conflans, some eight hundred souls eke
+out an existence on their small farms and live the lives of their
+grandfathers before them, with never so much as a thought as to what
+may be happening at the capital twenty kilometres away.</p>
+
+<p>Boisemont is another tiny village, with an eighteenth-century ch&acirc;teau
+which would form an idyllic retreat from the cares of city ways.
+Courdimanche, a few miles farther on, is unknown and unspoiled. It
+crowns a hilltop, with its diminutive and unusual red-roofed church
+overtopping all and visible from the river, or from the rolling
+country round about, for many miles. Here the Oise makes a long
+parallelogram-like turn from Maurecourt around to Eragny, perhaps two
+miles in a bee-line, but seemingly twenty by the river's course.</p>
+
+<p>The land automobile has a distinct advantage here in speed over the
+<i>canot</i>, but one's point of view is not so lovely. It is only twelve
+kilometres to Pontoise, where one passes the <i>barrage</i> just below the
+town and saunters on shore for a spell, just to get acquainted with
+the place that Parisians know so well by name, and yet so little in
+reality.</p>
+
+<p>Pontoise is the metropolis of the Oise, though it, too, is a
+veritable French country town, such as one would hardly expect to
+find within twenty kilometres of Paris. The islands of the river are
+dotted with trees and <i>petit maisons de campagne</i>, and the right bank
+is bordered with great chalky cliffs, as is the Seine in Normandy.</p>
+
+<p>The general appearance of Pontoise is most pleasing. At first glance
+it looks like a medi&aelig;val Gothic city, and again even Oriental. At any
+rate, it is an exceedingly unworldly sort of a place, with here and
+there remains of its bold ramparts and its zigzag and tortuous
+streets, but with no very great grandeur anywhere to be remarked,
+except in the Eglise St. Maclou.</p>
+
+<p>The history of Pontoise is long and lurid, beginning with the times
+of the Gauls when it was known as <i>Briva Isaroe</i>. It is a long time
+since the ramparts protected the old Ch&acirc;teau of the Counts of
+Vexin&mdash;literally the land dedicated to Vulcan <i>(pagus Vulcanis)</i>&mdash;where
+many French kings often resided. Many religious establishments
+flourished here, too, all more or less under royal patronage,
+including the Abbeys of St. Mellon and St. Martin, and the Couvent
+des Cordeliers, in whose splendid refectory the exiled Parlement held
+its sessions in 1652, 1720, and 1753. Out of this circumstance grew
+the proverb or popular saying, "<i>Avoir l'air de revenir de Pontoise.</i>"
+The domain of Pontoise belonged in turn to many seigneurs, but up to
+the Revolution it was still practically <i>une ville monastique</i>.</p>
+
+<p>As one comes to the lower streets of the town, near the station, and
+between it and the river, the resemblance to a little corner of the
+Pays Bas is remarkable, and therein lies its picturesqueness, if not
+grandeur. Artists would love the narrow Rue des Attanets, with its
+curious flanking houses of wood and stone, and the Rue de Rouen,
+which partakes of much the same characteristics. Along the river are
+great flour-mills, with wash-houses and red-armed, blue-bloused women
+eternally washing and rinsing. All this would furnish studies
+innumerable to those who are able to fabricate mouldy walls and
+tumble-down picturesqueness out of little tubes of colour and gray
+canvas. Here, too, at Pontoise, in its little port, none too cleanly
+because of the refuse and grime of ashes and coal soot, one sees the
+first of the heavy <i>chalands</i> loaded with iron ore from the Ardennes,
+or coal from Belgium, making their way to the wharves of Paris via
+the Canal St. Denis.</p>
+
+<p>More distant, and more pleasing to many, is that variety of landscape
+made famous, and even popular, by Dupr&eacute; and Daubigny. So, on the
+whole, Pontoise, and the country round about, should properly be
+classed among the things to which few have ever given more than a
+passing glance, but which have a vast reserve fund of attractions
+hidden behind them, needing only to be sought out to be admired.</p>
+
+<p>St. Ouen l'Aum&ocirc;ne, a tiny little town of a couple of thousand souls,
+opposite Pontoise, has two remarkable attractions which even a bird
+of passage might well take the time to view. One is the very
+celebrated Abbaye de Maubisson, indeed it might be called notorious,
+if one believed the chronicles relating to the proceedings which took
+place there under Angelique d'Estrees, sister of the none too saintly
+Gabrielle.</p>
+
+<p>It was founded in 1236 by Blanche of Castile, for the former
+<i>religieuses</i> of Citeaux, and was justly celebrated in the middle ages
+for the luxuriousness of its appointments and the excellence of its
+design.</p>
+
+<p>The other feature of St. Ouen l'Aum&ocirc;ne, which got its name, by the
+way, from a former Archbishop of Rouen, is a remarkable example of
+one of those great walled farmyards in which the north of France,
+Normandy in particular, formerly abounded. It is all attached to what
+was known as the Parc de Maubisson, which itself is closed by a high,
+ancient wall with two turrets at the corners. This wall is supposed
+to date from the fourteenth century, and within are the remains of a
+vast storehouse or <i>grange</i> of the same century. The only building at
+all approaching this great storehouse is the Halle au Bl&eacute; at Rouen,
+which it greatly resembles as to size. It is now in the hands of a
+grain merchant who must deal on a large scale, as he claims to have
+one hundred thousand <i>gerbes</i> (sheaves) in storage at one time. The
+interior is divided into three naves by two files of monocylindrical
+columns, though the eastern aisle has practically been demolished.</p>
+
+<p>At Auvers, just above Pontoise, which is bound to M&eacute;ry by an ugly
+iron bridge across the Oise, is a fine church of the best of twelfth
+and thirteenth century Gothic, with a series of Romanesque windows in
+the apse. Here, too, the country immediately environing Auvers and
+M&eacute;ry is of the order made familiar by Daubigny and his school. French
+farmyards, stubble-thatched cottages, and all the rusticity which is
+so charming in nature draws continually group after group of artists
+from Paris to this particular spot at all seasons of the year. The
+homely side of country life has ever had a charm for city dwellers.
+Auvers is somewhat doubtfully stated as being the birthplace of
+Fran&ccedil;ois Villon&mdash;that prince of vagabonds. Usually Paris has been
+given this distinction.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Vernon.png">
+<img src="images/Vernon-t.png" alt="" border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>M&ecirc;ry is an elevated little place of something less than fifteen
+hundred souls. It has a church of the thirteenth, sixteenth, and
+eighteenth centuries, and a ch&acirc;teau which was constructed at the end
+of the fourteenth century by the Seigneur de M&eacute;ry, Pierre d'Orgemont,
+grand chancellor of France. The domain was created a <i>marquisat</i> in
+1665. The famous banker, Samuel Bernard, it seems, became the
+occupant, of the ch&acirc;teau in the reign of Louis XIV., and there
+received king and court.</p>
+
+<p>On a certain occasion, as the season had advanced toward the chill of
+winter, the opulent seigneur made great fires of acacia wood. The
+king, who was present, said courteously to his host: "Know you well,
+Samuel, it is not possible for me to do this in my palace;" from
+which we may infer that it was a luxury which even kings appreciated.</p>
+
+<p>There were no river obstructions to the free passage of our little
+craft between Pontoise and L'Isle-Adam, above Auvers. We were going
+by easy stages now, even the long tows of grain and coal-laden barges
+were gaining on us, for we were straggling disgracefully and stopping
+at almost every kilometre stone.</p>
+
+<p>We tied up at Auvers, "Daubigny's Country," as we called it, and
+stayed for the night at the Hostellerie du Nord, a not very splendid
+establishment, but one with a character all its own. Auvers, and its
+neighbour M&eacute;ry, together form one of the most delightful settlements
+in which to pass a summer, near to Paris, that could be possibly
+imagined, but with this proviso, that on Sunday one could take a day
+in town, for then <i>tout le monde</i>, the proprietor of the Hostellerie du
+Nord tells you, comes out to breathe the artistic atmosphere of
+Daubigny. How much they really care for Daubigny or his artistic
+atmosphere is a question.</p>
+
+<p>At such times the tiny garden and the dining-room of the Hostellerie
+attempt to expand themselves to accommodate a hundred and fifty
+guests, whereas their capacity is perhaps forty. Something very akin
+to pandemonium takes place; it is amusing, no doubt, but it is not
+comfortable. Nothing ever goes particularly awry here, however; M.
+T&mdash;, the <i>patron</i>, is too good a manager for that, and a popular one,
+too, to judge from his <i>Salon d'Exposition</i>, which is hung about with a
+couple of hundred pictures presented by his admiring painter guests
+from time to time. The viands are bountiful and splendidly garnished
+and the <i>consommations au premier choix</i>. Then there are the occupants
+of "<i>les petits m&eacute;nages</i>" to swoop down on your table for
+crumbs,&mdash;pigeons only,&mdash;and in cages a score or more of canary-birds,
+and, as a sort of contrast, dogs and cats and fowls of all varieties
+of breed.</p>
+
+<p>It sounds rather uncomfortable, but we did not find it so at all,
+and, speaking from experience, it is one of the most enticing of the
+various "artists' resorts" known.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/FrenchInn.png">
+<img src="images/FrenchInn.png" alt="At a French Inn" height=400 border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>At a French Inn</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>It is but a short six kilometres to L'Isle-Adam, and it was ten the
+next morning before we embarked. It is a small town mostly given over
+to suburban houses of Paris brokers and merchants. It is an
+attractive enough town as a place of residence, but of works of
+artistic worth it has practically none, if we except the not very
+splendid fifteenth-century church.</p>
+
+<p>The largest of the islands here, just above the lock, was formerly
+occupied by the ch&acirc;teau of the Prince de Conti. It was destroyed at
+the Revolution but its place has been taken by a modern villa whose
+gardens are kept up with remarkable skill and care, albeit it is
+nothing but a villa <i>coquette</i> on a large scale. L'Isle-Adam received
+its name from the Connetable Adam who first built a ch&acirc;teau here in
+1069.</p>
+
+<p>The For&ecirc;t de l'Isle-Adam is one of those noble woods in which the
+north of France abounds. Like the For&ecirc;t de Ermenonville, Compi&egrave;gne,
+and Chantilly it is beautifully kept, with great roads running
+straight and silent through avenues of oaks.</p>
+
+<p>The Ch&acirc;teau de Cassan, but a short distance into the For&ecirc;t, has a
+wonderful formal garden, laid out after the English manner and
+ranking with the parks of the Trianon and Ermenonville.</p>
+
+<p>After L'Isle-Adam we did not stop, except for the lock at Rougemont,
+till the smoke-stacks and factory-belchings of Creil loomed up before
+us thirty kilometres beyond.</p>
+
+<p>Creil is commercial, very commercial, and is a railway junction like
+Clapham Junction or South Chicago,&mdash;no, not quite; nowhere else, on
+top of the green earth, are there quite such atrocious monuments to
+man's lack of artistic taste. It is a pity Creil is so banal on close
+acquaintance, for it is bejewelled with emerald hills and a tiny belt
+of silvery water which, in the savage days of long ago, must have
+given it preeminence among similar spots in the neighbourhood.</p>
+
+<p>Just above is Pont St. Maxence, delightfully named and delightfully
+placed, with a picture church of the best of Renaissance architecture
+and an atmosphere which made one want to linger within the confines
+of the town long after his allotted time. We stayed nearly half a
+day; we ate lunch in a little restaurant in the shadow of the bridge;
+we bought and sent off picture postcards, and we took snap-shots and
+strolled about and gazed at the little gem of a place until all the
+gamins in town were following in our wake.</p>
+
+<p>Compi&egrave;gne was next in our itinerary. We knew Compi&egrave;gne, from the
+shore, as one might say, having passed and repassed it many times,
+and we knew all its charms and attractions, or thought we did, but we
+were not prepared for the effect of the rays of the setting sun on
+the quaintly serrated sky-line of the roof-tops of the city, as we
+saw it from the river.</p>
+
+<p>It was bloody red, and the willows along the river's bank were a dim
+purply m&eacute;lange of all the refuse of an artist's palette. Compi&egrave;gne
+has many sides, but its picturesque sunset side is the most
+theatrical grouping of houses and landscape we had seen for many a
+long day.</p>
+
+<p>Here at Compi&egrave;gne the vigour of the Oise ends. Above it is a weakly,
+purling stream, the greater part of the traffic going by the Canal
+Lateral, while below it broadens out into a workable, industrial sort
+of a waterway which is doing its best to contribute its share to the
+prosperity of France.</p>
+
+<p>We learn here, as elsewhere, where it has been attempted, that the
+hand of man cannot irretrievably make or reclaim the course of a
+river. Deprived of its natural bed and windings, it will always form
+new ones of its own making in conformity to the law of nature. The
+attempt was made to straighten the course of the Oise, but in a very
+short time the latent energies of the stream, more forceful than were
+supposed, made fresh windings and turnings, the ultimate development
+of which was found to very nearly approximate those which had
+previously been done away with, and so the Canal Lateral, which
+commences at Compi&egrave;gne, was built.</p>
+
+<p>Compi&egrave;gne's attractions are many, its generally well-kept and
+prosperous air, its most excellent h&ocirc;tels (two of them, though we
+bestowed our august patronage on the H&ocirc;tel de France), its ch&acirc;teau of
+royal days of Louis XV., and its H&ocirc;tel de Ville.</p>
+
+<p>Stevenson, in his "Inland Voyage," has said that what charmed him
+most at Compi&egrave;gne was the H&ocirc;tel de Ville. Truly this will be so with
+any who have a soul above electric trams and the <i>art nouveau</i>; it is
+the most dainty and lovable of Renaissance H&ocirc;tels de Ville anywhere
+to be seen, with pignons, and gables, and niches with figures in them
+jutting out all over it.</p>
+
+<p>Then there is the novel and energetic little <i>jaquemart</i>, the little
+bronze figures of which strike the hours and even the halves and
+quarters. There is not a detail of this charming building, inside or
+out, which will not be admired by all. It is far and away more
+interesting in its appeal than the ch&acirc;teau itself.</p>
+
+<p>Our next day's journey was to Noyon. We were travelling by boat, to
+be sure, but a good part of the personnel of the h&ocirc;tel, including the
+hostler, and the bus-driver, whose business was at the station, came
+down to see us off. Like a bird in a cage he gazed at us with longing
+eyes, and once let fall the remark that he wished he had nothing else
+to do but sit in the bow of a boat and "twiddle a few things" to make
+it go faster. He overlooked entirely the things that might happen,
+such as having to pull your boat up on shore and pull out the weeds
+and rubbish which were stopping your intake pipe, or climb overboard
+yourself and disentangle water-plants from your propeller, if indeed
+it had not lost a blade and you were forced to be ignominiously towed
+into the next large town.</p>
+
+<p>It looks all very delightful travelling about in a dainty and facile
+little <i>canot-automobile</i>, and for our part we were immensely pleased
+with this, our first, experience of so long a voyage. Nothing had
+happened to disturb the tranquillity of our journey, not a single
+mishap had delayed us, and we had not a quarrel with a bargeman or an
+<i>&eacute;clusier</i>, we had been told we should have. We were in luck, and
+though we only averaged from fifty to sixty kilometres a day, we were
+all day doing it, and it seemed two hundred.</p>
+
+<p>We lunched at Ribecourt and struck the most ponderously named hotel
+we had seen in all our travels, and it was good in spite of its
+weight. "Le Courrier des Pays et des Trois Jambons," or something
+very like it, was its name, and its <i>patronne</i> was glad to see us, and
+killed a fowl especially on our account, culled some fresh lettuce in
+the garden, and made a dream of a rum omelette, which she said was
+the national dish of America. It isn't, as most of us know, but it
+was a mighty good omelette, nevertheless, and the rum was
+sufficiently fiery to give it a zest.</p>
+
+<p>We spent that night at Noyon of blessed memory. Noyon is not down in
+the itineraries of many guide-book tourists, which is a pity for
+them. It is altogether the most unspoiled old-world town between the
+Ile de France and the Channel ports of Boulogne and Calais through
+which so many Anglo-Saxon travellers enter. It is off the beaten
+track, though, and that accounts for it. Blessed be the tourist
+agencies which know nothing beyond their regular routes, and thus
+leave some forgotten and neglected tourist-points yet to be
+developed.</p>
+
+<p>The majesty of Noyon's cathedral of Notre Dame is unequalled in all
+the world. The grim towers rise boldly without ornament or decoration
+of any kind, and are cowled by a peculiarly strange roofing. The
+triple porch is denuded of its decorative statues, and there is a
+rank Renaissance excrescence in the rear which is unseemly, but for
+all that, as a medi&aelig;val religious monument of rank, it appeals to all
+quite as forcibly as the brilliantly florid cathedral at Beauvais, or
+the richly proud Amiens, its nearest neighbours of episcopal rank.</p>
+
+<p>We did not sit in front of the H&ocirc;tel du Nord at Noyon, as did
+Stevenson, and hear the "sweet groaning of the organ" from the
+cathedral doorway, but we experienced all the emotions of which he
+wrote in his "Inland Voyage," and we were glad we came.</p>
+
+<p>The H&ocirc;tel de France and the H&ocirc;tel du Nord share the custom of the
+ever-shifting traffic of <i>voyageurs</i> at Noyon. The latter is the
+"automobile" hotel, and accordingly possesses many little accessories
+which the other establishment lacks. Otherwise they are of about the
+same value, and in either you will, unless you are a very heavy
+sleeper, think that the cathedral-bells were made to wake the dead,
+so reverberant are their tones and so frequent their ringing.</p>
+
+<p>It was Stevenson's wish that, if he ever embraced Catholicism, he
+should be made Bishop of Noyon. Whether it was the simple magnitude
+of its quaint, straight-lined cathedral, or the generally charming
+and <i>riant</i> aspect of the town, one does not know, but the sentiment
+was worthy of both the man and the place.</p>
+
+<p>"Les affaires sont les affaires," as the French say, and business
+called us to Paris; so, after a happy ten days on the Seine and Oise,
+we cut our voyage short with the avowed intention of some day
+continuing it.</p>
+
+<a name="2-6"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center>
+<h3>Chapter VI</h3>
+<h3>The Road To The North</h3>
+<br>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/RoadNorth.png">
+<img src="images/RoadNorth.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>We left Paris by the ghastly route leading out through the plain of
+Gennevilliers, where Paris empties her sewage and grows asparagus,
+passing St. Denis and its royal catacombs of the ancient abbey, and
+so on to Pontoise, all over as vile a stretch of road as one will
+find in the north of France, always excepting the suburbs of St.
+Germain.</p>
+
+<p>Pontoise is all very well in its way, and is by no means a dull,
+uninteresting town, but we had no thoughts for it at the moment;
+indeed, we had no thoughts of anything but to put the horrible
+suburban Paris <i>pav&eacute;</i> as far behind us as we could before we settled
+down to enjoyment.</p>
+
+<p>At Pontoise we suddenly discovered that we were on the wrong road. So
+much for not knowing our way out of town&mdash;twenty-five kilometres of
+axle-breaking cobblestones!</p>
+
+<p>We had some consolation in knowing that it was equally as bad by any
+northern road out of Paris, so we only had the trouble of making a
+twenty-kilometre detour through the valley of the Oise, by our old
+haunts of Auvers and L'Isle-Adam to Chantilly and Senlis.</p>
+
+<p>We got our clue to the itinerary of the road to the north from a view
+of an old poster issued by the "<i>Messageries Royales</i>" just previous to
+the Revolution (a copy of which is given elsewhere in this book).</p>
+
+<p>Many were the times we, and all well-habituated travellers in France,
+had swung from Calais to Paris by train, with little thought indeed
+as to what lay between. True, we had, more than once, "stopped off"
+at Amiens and Abbeville to see their magnificent churches, and we had
+spent a long summer at Etaples and Montreuil-sur-Mer, two "artists'
+haunts" but little known to the general traveller; but we never
+really knew the lay of the land north of Paris, except as we had got
+it from the reading of Dumas, Stevenson's "Inland Voyage," and the
+sentimental journeyings of the always delightful Sterne.</p>
+
+<p>We made Chantilly our stop for lunch, <i>en route</i> to Senlis. We ought
+not to have done this, for what with the loafing horse-jockeys in the
+caf&eacute;s, and the trainers and "cheap sports" hanging about the hotels,
+Chantilly does not impress one as the historical shrine that it
+really is.</p>
+
+<p>Chantilly is sporty, <i>tr&egrave;s sportive</i>, as the French call it, as is
+inevitable of France's most popular race-track, and there is an odour
+of America, Ireland, and England over all. How many jockeys of these
+nationalities one really finds at Chantilly the writer does not know,
+but, judging from the alacrity with which the hotels serve you ham
+and eggs and the caf&eacute; waiters respond to a demand for whiskey
+(Scotch, Irish, or American), it may be assumed that the alien
+population is very large.</p>
+
+<p>We had our lunch at the H&ocirc;tel du Grand Cond&eacute;, which is marked with
+three stars in the automobile route-books. This means that it is
+expensive,&mdash;and so we found it. It was a good enough hotel of its
+kind, but there was nothing of local colour about it. It might have
+been at Paris, Biarritz, or Monte Carlo.</p>
+
+<p>The great attractions of Chantilly are the ch&acirc;teau and park and the
+collections of the Duc d'Aumale, famed alike in the annals of history
+and art. We were properly appreciative, and only barely escaped being
+carried off by our guide to see the stables&mdash;as if we had not
+suffered enough from the horse craze ever since we had struck the
+town.</p>
+
+<p>The most we would do was to admire the park and the ramifications of
+its paths and alleys which dwindled imperceptibly into the great
+For&ecirc;t de Chantilly itself. The forest is one of those vast tracts of
+wildwood which are so plentifully besprinkled all over France. Their
+equals are not known elsewhere, for they are crossed and recrossed in
+all directions by well-kept carriage roads where automobilists will
+be troubled neither by dust nor glaring sunlight. They are the very
+ideals of roads, the forest roads of France, and their length is many
+thousands of kilometres.</p>
+
+<p>Senlis is but eight kilometres from Chantilly. We had no reason for
+going there at all, except to have a look at its little-known, but
+very beautiful, cathedral, and to get on the real road to the north.</p>
+
+<p>We spent the night at Senlis, for we had become fatigued with the
+horrible <i>pav&eacute;</i> of the early morning, the sightseeing of the tourist
+order which we had done at Chantilly, and the eternal dodging of
+race-horses being exercised all through the streets of the town and
+the roads of the forest.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Monsieur descend-il &agrave; l'H&ocirc;tel du Grand Monarque?</i>" asked a butcher's
+boy of us, as we stopped the automobile beneath the cathedral tower
+to get our bearings. He was probably looking for a little commission
+on our hotel-bill for showing us the way; but, after all, this is a
+legitimate enough proposition. We told him frankly no; that we were
+looking for the H&ocirc;tel des Ar&egrave;nes; but that he knew nothing of.
+Another, more enterprising, did, and we drove our automobile into the
+court of a tiny little commercial-looking hotel, and were soon
+strolling about the town free from further care for the day. The
+hotel was ordinary enough, neither good nor bad, <i>comme 'ci, comme &ccedil;a</i>,
+the French would call it,&mdash;but they made no objection to getting up
+at six o'clock the next morning and making us fresh coffee which was
+a dream of excellence. This is a good deal in its favour, for the
+coffee of the ordinary French country hotel&mdash;in the north, in
+particular&mdash;is fearfully and wonderfully made, principally of
+chicory.</p>
+
+<p>Sentiment would be served, and from Senlis we struck across forty
+kilometres to what may be called the Dumas Country, Cr&eacute;py-en-Valois
+and Villers-Cotterets. Here was a little-trodden haunt which all
+lovers of romance and history would naturally fall in love with.</p>
+
+<p>Cr&eacute;py is a snug, conservative little town where life goes on in much
+the same way that it did in the days when Alexandre Dumas was a clerk
+here in a notary's office, before he descended upon the Parisian
+world of letters. His "M&eacute;moires" tell the story of his early
+experiences here in his beloved Valois country. It is a charming
+biographical work, Dumas's "M&eacute;moires," and it is a pity it is not
+better known to English readers. Dumas tells of his journey by road,
+from the town of his birth, Villers-Cotterets, to Cr&eacute;py, with his
+world's belongings done up in a handkerchief on a stick, "in bulk not
+more grand than the luggage of a Savoyard when he leaves his native
+mountain home."</p>
+
+<p>Cr&eacute;py has a delightfully named and equally excellent hotel in the
+"Trois Pigeons," and one may eat of real country fare and be happy
+and forget all about the ham and eggs and bad whiskey of Chantilly in
+the contemplation of omelettes and chickens and fresh, green salads,
+such as only the country innkeeper in France knows how to serve.
+Cr&eacute;py has a ch&acirc;teau, too, a relic of the days when the town was the
+capital of a <i>petit gouvernement</i> belonging to a younger branch of the
+royal family of France in the fourteenth century. The ch&acirc;teau is not
+quite one's ideal of what a great medi&aelig;val ch&acirc;teau should be, but it
+is sufficiently imposing to give a distinction to the landscape and
+is in every way a very representative example of the construction of
+the time.</p>
+
+<p>The great <i>Route Nationale</i> to the north runs through Cr&eacute;py to-day, as
+did the <i>Route Royale</i> of the days of the Valois. It is eighteen
+kilometres from Cr&eacute;py to Villers-Cotterets, Dumas's birthplace. The
+great romancer describes it with much charm and correctness in the
+early pages of "The Taking of the Bastile." He calls it "a little
+city buried in the shade of a vast park planted by Fran&ccedil;ois I. and
+Henri II." It is a place ever associated with romance and history,
+and, to add further to its reputation, it is but a few kilometres
+away from La Ferte-Milon, where Racine was born, and only eight
+leagues from Ch&acirc;teau-Thierry, the birthplace of La Fontaine.</p>
+
+<p>We had made up our minds to breathe as much of the spirit and
+atmosphere of Villers-Cotterets as was possible in a short time, and
+accordingly we settled down for the night at the H&ocirc;tel Alexandre
+Dumas. The name of the hotel is unusual. There may be others similar,
+but the writer does not recall them at this moment. It was not bad,
+and, though entitled to be called a grand establishment, it was not
+given to pomposity or pretence, and we parted with regret, for we had
+been treated most genially by the proprietor and his wife, and served
+by a charming young maid, who, we learned, was the daughter of the
+house. It was all in the family, and because of that everything was
+excellently done.</p>
+
+<p>There are fragments of a royal ch&acirc;teau here, begun by Fran&ccedil;ois I. in
+one of his building manias. His salamanders and the three crescents
+of Diane de Poitiers still decorate its walls, and accordingly it is
+a historical shrine of the first rank, though descended in these
+later days to use as a poorhouse.</p>
+
+<p>The ch&acirc;teau and forest of Villers-Cotterets were settled upon
+Monsieur le Grand by Louis XIV., after they had sheltered many
+previous royal loves, but in the days of the later monarchy, that of
+Philippe Egalit&eacute;, the place was used merely as a hunting rendezvous.</p>
+
+<p>The Dumas birthplace is an ordinary enough and dismal-looking
+building from the street. As usual in France, there is another
+structure in the rear, the real birthplace, no doubt, but one gets
+only a glimpse through the open door or gate. Carrier-Belleus's fine
+statue of Dumas, erected here in 1885, is all that a monument of its
+class should be, and is the pride of the local inhabitant, who, when
+passing, never tires of stopping and gazing at its outlines. This may
+be a little exaggeration, but there is a remarkable amount of
+veneration bestowed upon it by all dwellers in the town.</p>
+
+<p>We went from Villers-Cotterets direct to Soissons, the home of the
+beans of that name. We do not know these medium-sized flat beans as
+<i>soissons</i> in America and England; to us they are merely beans; but to
+<i>soissons</i> they are known all over France, and in the mind and taste of
+the epicure there is no other bean just like them. This may be so or
+not, but there is no possible doubt whatever but that "<i>soissons au
+beurre</i>" is a ravishing dish which one meets with too infrequently,
+even in France, and this in spite of the millions of kilos of them
+which reach the markets through the gateway of the town of Soissons.</p>
+
+<p>Soissons undoubtedly has a good hotel. How could it be otherwise in
+such a food-producing centre? We were directed, however, by a
+<i>commis-voyageur</i> whom we had met at Villers-Cotterets, not to think of
+a hotel at Soissons, if we were only to stop for lunch, but to go to
+the railway restaurant. Of all things this would be the most strange
+for an automobilist, but we took his advice, for he said he knew what
+he was talking about.</p>
+
+<p>The "Buffet" at the railway station at Soissons is not the only
+example of a good railway eating-house in France, but truly it is one
+of the best. It is a marvellously conducted establishment, and you
+eat your meals in a beautifully designed, well-kept apartment, with
+the viands of the country of the best and of great variety. <i>Soissons
+au beurre</i> was the <i>pi&egrave;ce de r&eacute;sistance</i>, and there was <i>poulet au
+casserole</i>, an <i>omelette au rhum</i>, a crisp, cold lettuce salad, and
+fruits and "biscuits" galore to top off, with wine and bread <i>&agrave;
+discr&eacute;tion</i> and good coffee and cognac for ten sous additional, the
+whole totalling three francs fifty centimes. We were probably the
+first automobilists on tour who had taken lunch at the railway
+restaurant at Soissons. Perhaps we may not be the last.</p>
+
+<p>It was but a short detour of a dozen or fifteen kilometres to visit
+the romantic Ch&acirc;teau de Coucy, one of the few relics of medi&aelig;valism
+which still look warlike. It is more or less of a ruin, but it has
+been restored in part, and, taken all in all, is the most formidable
+thing of its kind in existence. It rises above the old walled town of
+Coucy-le-Ch&acirc;teau in quite the fashion that one expects, and, from the
+platform of the donjon, there spreads out a wonderful view over two
+deep and smiling valleys which, as much as the thickness of the
+ch&acirc;teau walls, effectually protected the occupants from a surprise
+attack.</p>
+
+<p>The thirteenth century saw the birth of this, perhaps the finest
+example still remaining of France's feudal ch&acirc;teaux, and, barring the
+effects of an earthquake in 1692, and an attempt by Richelieu to blow
+it up, the symmetrical outlines of its walls and roofs are much as
+they always were.</p>
+
+<p>Its founder was Enguerrand III. de Coucy, who took for his motto
+these boastful words&mdash;which, however, he and his descendants
+justified whenever occasion offered:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<i>"Roi je ne suis,<br>
+Prince, ni Comte aussi,<br>
+Je suis le Sire de Coucy."</i>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>We left Coucy rejoicing, happy and content, expecting to reach Laon
+that night. We had double-starred Laon in our itinerary, because it
+was one of those neglected tourist-points that we always made a point
+of visiting when in the neighbourhood.</p>
+
+<p>Laon possesses one of the most remarkable cathedrals of Northern
+France, but its hotels are bad. We tried two and regretted we ever
+came, except for the opportunity of marvelling at the commanding site
+of the town and its cathedral. The long zigzag road winding up the
+hill offers little inducement to one to run his automobile up to the
+plateau upon which sits the town proper. It were wiser not to attempt
+to negotiate it if there were any way to avoid it. We solved the
+problem by putting up at a little hotel opposite the railway station
+(its name is a blank, being utterly forgotten) where the
+<i>commis-voyageur</i> goes when he wants a meal while waiting for the next
+train. He seems to like it, and you do certainly get a good dinner,
+but, not being <i>commis-voyageurs</i>, merely automobilists, we were
+charged three prices for everything, and accordingly every one is
+advised to risk the dangerous and precipitous road to the upper town
+rather than be blackmailed in this way.</p>
+
+<p>Laon's cathedral, had it ever been carried out according to the
+original plans, would have been the most stupendously imposing
+ecclesiastical monument in Northern France. Possibly the task was too
+great for accomplishment, for its stones and timbers were laboriously
+carried up the same zigzag that one sees to-day, and it never grew
+beyond its present half-finished condition. The year 1200 probably
+saw its commencement, and it is as thoroughly representative of the
+transition from Romanesque to Gothic as any other existing example of
+church building.</p>
+
+<p>On the great massive towers of Laon's cathedral is to be seen a most
+curious and unchurchly symbolism in the shape of great stone effigies
+of oxen, pointing north, east, south, and west. There is no religious
+significance, we are told, but they are a tribute to the faithful
+services of the oxen who drew the heavy loads of building material
+from the plain to the hilltop.</p>
+
+<p>We had taken a roundabout road to the north, via Laon, merely to see
+the oxen of the cathedral and to get swindled for our lunch at that
+unspeakable little hotel. The one was worth the time and trouble, the
+other was not. We left town the same night headed north, in the
+direction of Arras, via St. Quentin, anciently one of the famous
+walled towns of France, but now a queer, if picturesque,
+conglomeration of relics of a historical past and modern business
+affairs.</p>
+
+<p>It was Sunday, and well into the afternoon, when we got away from
+Laon, but the peasant, profiting by the fair harvest days, was
+working in the fields as if he never had or would have a holiday.
+Unquestionably the peasant and labouring class in France is
+hard-working at his daily task and at his play, for when he plays he
+also plays hard. This, the eternal activity of the peasant or
+labourer, whatever his trade, and the worked-over little
+farm-holdings, with their varied crops, all planted in little
+bedquilt patches, are the chief characteristics of the French
+countryside for the observant stranger.</p>
+
+<p>We crossed the Oise at La Fere, La Fere of wicked memory, as readers
+of Stevenson will recall. Nothing went very badly with us, but all
+the same the memory of Stevenson's misadventure at his hotel made us
+glad we were not stopping there.</p>
+
+<p>We passed now innumerable little towns and villages clinging to red,
+brown, and green hillsides, with here and there a thatched cottage of
+other days, for, in the <i>agglom&eacute;rations</i>, as the French government
+knows the hamlets and towns, it is now forbidden to thatch or
+rethatch a roof; you must renew it with tiles or slates when the
+original thatch wears out.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after passing La Fere one sees three hilltop forts, for we are
+now in more or less strategic ground, and militarism is rampant.</p>
+
+<p>St. Quentin has been the very centre of a warlike maelstrom for ages,
+and the memory of blood and fire lies over all its history, though
+to-day, as we entered its encumbered, crooked streets, things looked
+far from warlike.</p>
+
+<p>We had our choice of the H&ocirc;tel du Cygne or the H&ocirc;tel du Commerce at
+St. Quentin, and chose the latter as being nearer the soil, whereas
+the former establishment is blessed with electric lights, a
+<i>calorif&egrave;re</i>, and a "bar"&mdash;importing the word and the institution from
+England or America.</p>
+
+<p>We found nothing remarkable in the catering of the H&ocirc;tel du Commerce.
+It was good enough of its kind, but not distinctive, and we got beer
+served with our dinner, instead of wine or cider. If you want either
+of the latter you must pay extra. We were in the beer region, not the
+cider country or the wine belt. It was the custom, and was not being
+"sprung" on us because we were automobilists. This we were glad to
+know after our experience at Laon.</p>
+
+<p>St. Quentin possesses a famous Gothic church, known to all students
+of Continental architecture, and there is a monument of the siege of
+1557, which is counted another "sight," though strictly a modern
+work.</p>
+
+<p>At St. Quentin one remarks the Canal de St. Quentin, another of those
+inland waterways of France which are the marvel of the stranger and
+the profit of the inhabitant. This particular canal connects France
+with the extraterritorial commerce of the Pays Bas, and runs from the
+Somme to the Scheldt, burrowing through hillsides with tunnels, and
+bridging gaps and valleys with viaducts. One of these canal-tunnels,
+at Riqueval, has a length of nearly four miles.</p>
+
+<p>We worried our way out through the crooked streets of St. Quentin at
+an early hour the next morning, <i>en route</i> for Arras, via Cambrai.
+Forty-two kilometres of "<i>ond. dure.</i>," but otherwise excellent
+roadway, brought us to Cambrai. (For those who do not read readily
+the French route-book directions the above expression is translated
+as "rolling and difficult.")</p>
+
+<p>It matters little whether the roadways of France are marked rolling
+and serpentine, or hilly and winding, the surfaces are almost
+invariably excellent, and there is nothing met with which will annoy
+the modern automobile or its driver in the least, always excepting
+foolish people, dogs, and children. For the last we sometimes feel
+sorry and take extra precautions, but the others are too intolerant
+to command much sympathy.</p>
+
+<p>Cambrai was burned into our memories by the recollection that F&eacute;n&eacute;lon
+was one-time bishop of the episcopal see, and because it was the city
+of the birth and manufacture of cambric, most of which, since its
+discovery, has gone into the making of bargain-store handkerchiefs.</p>
+
+<p>Cambrai possessed twelve churches previous to the Revolution, but
+only two remain at the present day, and they are unlovely enough to
+belong to Liverpool or Sioux City.</p>
+
+<p>We had some difficulty in finding a hotel at Cambrai. Our excellent
+"Guide-Michelin" had for the moment gone astray in the tool-box, and
+there was nothing else we could trust. We left the automobile at the
+shop of a <i>m&eacute;canicien</i> for a trifling repair while we hunted up lunch.
+(Cost fifteen sous, with no charge for housing the machine. Happy,
+happy automobilists of France; how much you have to be thankful for!)</p>
+
+<p>The Mouton Blanc, opposite the railway station at Cambrai, gave us a
+very good lunch, in a strictly <i>bourgeois</i> fashion, including the
+sticky, bitter <i>bi&egrave;re du Nord</i>. We paid two francs fifty centimes for
+our repast and went away with a good opinion of Cambrai, though its
+offerings for the tourist in the way of remarkable sights are few.</p>
+
+<p>Cambrai to Arras was a short thirty kilometres. We covered them in an
+hour and found Arras all that Cambrai was not, though both places are
+printed in the same size type in the railway timetables and
+guide-books.</p>
+
+<p>Arras has a combined H&ocirc;tel de Ville and belfry which puts the
+market-house and belfry of Bruges quite in the shade from an
+impressive architectural point of view. There is not the quiet,
+splendid severity of its more famous compeer at Bruges, but there is
+far more luxuriance in its architectural form, and, at any rate, it
+was a surprise and a pleasure to find that any such splendid monument
+were here.</p>
+
+<p>The Spanish invasion of other days has left its mark all through
+Flanders, and here at Arras the florid Renaissance architecture of
+the H&ocirc;tel de Ville and the vaults and roofs of the market-square are
+manifestly exotics from a land strange to French architectural ways.</p>
+
+<p>Arras, with its quaint old arcaded market-place, is a great
+distributing-point for cereals. A million of francs' worth in value
+changes hands here in a year, and the sale, in small lots, out in the
+open, is a survival of the <i>moyen &acirc;ge</i> when the abb&eacute;s of a neighbouring
+monastery levied toll for the privilege of selling on the
+market-place. Today the toll-gatherer, he who collects the small fee
+from the stall-owners, is still known as the Abb&eacute;.</p>
+
+<p>Arras is quaint and interesting, and withal a lively, progressive
+town, where all manner of merchandizing is conducted along very
+businesslike lines. You can buy sewing-machines and agricultural
+machinery from America at Arras, and felt hats and orange marmalade
+(which the Frenchman calls, mysteriously, simply, "Dundee") from
+Britain.</p>
+
+<p>To Douai, from Cambrai, was another hour's run. Douai has a H&ocirc;tel de
+Ville and belfry, too, which were entirely unlooked for. Quaint,
+remarkable, and the pet and pride of the inhabitant, the bells of the
+belfry of Bible-making Douai ring out rag-time dances and Sousa
+marches. Such is the rage for up-to-dateness!</p>
+
+<p>There is a goodly bit to see at Douai in the way of ecclesiastical
+monuments, but the chief attraction, that which draws strangers to
+the place, is the July "F&ecirc;te de Gayant," at which M. and Mme. Gayant
+(giant), made of wickerwork and dressed more or less <i>&agrave; la mode</i>, are
+promenaded up and down the streets to the tune of the "Air de
+Gayante." All this is in commemoration of an unsuccessful attempt to
+capture the city by Louis XI. in 1479. The f&ecirc;te has been going on
+yearly ever since, and shows no signs of dying out, as does the Guy
+Fawkes celebration in England.</p>
+
+<p>We were now going through France's "black country," the coal-fields
+of the north, and the gaunt scaffolds of the mine-pits dotted the
+landscape here and there, as they do in Pennsylvania or the Midlands
+of England. They did not especially disfigure the landscape, but gave
+a modern note of industry and prosperity which was as marked as that
+of the farmyards of the peasants and high-farmers of Normandy or La
+Beance. France is an exceedingly wealthy, and, what is more, a
+"self-contained" nation; and this fact should not be forgotten by the
+critics of what they like to call <i>effete Europe</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Bethune is in the heart of the coal country, and is not a
+particularly lovely town. It has a dream of an old-world hotel,
+though, and one may go a great deal farther and fare a great deal
+worse than at Bethune's H&ocirc;tel du Nord, a great rambling, stone
+Renaissance building, with heavy decorated window-frames, queer
+rambling staircases, and ponderous, beamed ceilings.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Villiers.png">
+<img src="images/Villiers.png" alt="" width=600 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>It sits on a little <i>Place</i>, opposite an isolated belfry, from whose
+upper window there twinkles, at night, a little star of light, like a
+mariner's beacon. What it is all supposed to represent no ones seems
+to know, but it is an institution which dies hard, and some one pays
+the expense of keeping it alight. A belfry is a very useful adjunct
+to a town. If the writer ever plans a modern city he will plant a
+belfry in the very centre, with four clock-faces on it, a sun-dial, a
+thermometer, and a peal of bells. You find all these things on the
+belfry of Bethune, and altogether it is the most picturesque,
+satisfying, and useful belfry the writer has ever seen.</p>
+
+<p>The food and lodging of the H&ocirc;tel du Nord at Bethune are as
+satisfactory as its location, and we were content indeed to remain
+the following day in the dull little town, because of a torrential
+downpour which kept us house-bound till four in the afternoon. If one
+really wants to step back into the dark ages, just let him linger
+thirty-six hours as we did at Bethune. More would probably drive him
+crazy with ennui, but this is just enough.</p>
+
+<p>The road to the north ended for us at Calais. How many know Calais as
+they really ought? To most travellers Calais is a mere guide-post on
+the route from England or France.</p>
+
+<p>Of less interest to-day, to the London tripper, than Boulogne and its
+debatable pleasures, Calais is a very cradle of history and romance.</p>
+
+<p>It was in October, 1775, that Sterne set out on his immortal
+"sentimental journey." He put up, as the tale goes, at Dessein's
+H&ocirc;tel at Calais (now pulled down), and gave it such a reputation
+among English-speaking people that its proprietor suddenly grew rich
+beyond his wildest hopes. So much for the publicity of literature,
+which, since Sterne's days, has boomed soap, cigars, and automobiles.</p>
+
+<p>Sterne's familiarity with France was born of experience. He had
+fallen ill in London while supervising the publication of some of his
+literary works and was ordered to the south of France by his
+physicians. He obtained a year's absence from his curacy, and
+borrowed twenty pounds from his friend Garrick (which history, or
+rumour, says he never repaid) and left for&mdash;of all places&mdash;Paris,
+where a plunge into the whirl of social dissipation nearly carried
+him off his feet.</p>
+
+<p>Sterne and Stevenson have written more charmingly of France and
+things French than any others in the English tongue, and if any one
+would like to make three little pilgrimages off the beaten track, by
+road or rail, by bicycle or automobile, let him follow the trail of
+Sterne in his "Sentimental Journey," or Stevenson in his "Inland
+Voyage" and his "Travels with a Donkey." They do not follow the
+"personally conducted" tourist routes, but they give a much better
+idea of France to one who wants to see things for himself.</p>
+
+<p>Charles Dibdin, too, "muddled away five months at Calais," to quote
+his own words. He arrived from England after a thirteen-hours'
+passage in a gale of wind, in which he composed his most famous
+sea-song, "Blow High, Blow Low." Travellers across the channel have
+been known to occupy thirteen hours on the passage since Dibdin's
+time, and seemingly, in the experience of the writer, there is not a
+time when the words of the song might not apply.</p>
+
+<p>We had come to Calais for the purpose of crossing the Channel for a
+little tour awheel amid the natural beauties and historic shrines of
+Merry England.</p>
+
+<p>It takes fifty-five minutes, according to the Railway-Steamship
+time-cards, to make the passage from Calais to Dover, but the writer
+has never been able to make one of these lightning passages.</p>
+
+<p>Automobiles are transported by the mail-boats only upon "special
+arrangements," information upon which point is given so vaguely that
+one suspects bribery and craft.</p>
+
+<p>We did not bite, but went over by the night cargo-boat, at least the
+automobile did, at a cost of a hundred francs. This is cheap or dear,
+according to the way you look at it. For the service rendered it is
+dear, for the accommodation to you it is, perhaps, cheap enough. At
+any rate, it is cheap enough when you want to get away <i>from</i> England
+again, its grasping hotel-keepers, and its persecuting police.</p>
+
+<p>Why do so many English automobilists tour abroad, Mr. British
+Hotel-keeper and Mr. Police Sergeant? One wonders if you really
+suspect.</p>
+
+<a name="3-1"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center>
+<h3>Part III<br>
+On Britain's Roads</h3>
+<br>
+<h3>Chapter I</h3>
+<h3>The Bath Road</h3>
+<br>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Bathroad.png">
+<img src="images/Bathroad.png" alt="The Bath Road" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>The Bath Road is in many ways the most famed main road out of London.
+Visions as varied as those of highwaymen on Hounslow Heath, boating
+at Maidenhead, the days of the "dandies" at Bath, and of John Cabot
+at Bristol flashed through our minds whenever we heard the Bath road
+mentioned, so we set out with a good-will on the hundred and eighteen
+mile journey to Bath.</p>
+
+<p>To-day the road's designation is the same as of yore, though Palmer's
+coaches, that in 1784 left London at eight in the morning and arrived
+at Bristol at eleven at night, have given way to automobiles which
+make the trip in three hours. You can be three hours or thirty, as
+you please. We figured it out for thirty-six and lunched, dined,
+slept, and breakfasted <i>en route</i>, and felt the better for it.</p>
+
+<p>The real popularity of the Bath road and its supremacy in coaching
+circles a century and a quarter ago&mdash;a legacy which has been handed
+down to automobilists of to-day&mdash;was due to the initiative of one
+John Palmer, a gentleman of property, who had opened a theatre at
+Bath, and was sorely annoyed at the delays he had to submit to in
+obtaining star actors from London to appear on particular nights.
+Palmer was a man with a grievance, but he was also a man with ability
+and purpose. He travelled about, and made notes and observations, and
+organized a scheme by which coaching might be brought into a complete
+system; he memorialized the government, was opposed by the
+post-office authorities, abused, sneered at, laughed at, but not
+beaten; finally he gained the ear of William Pitt, who saw that there
+was more in the proposed plan than a mere experiment. On the 8th of
+August, 1784, Palmer ran his first mail-coach from London to Bristol,
+and made the journey in fifteen hours. That was the turning-point.
+The old lumbering coaches, the abominable roads, the irresponsible
+drivers, the wretched delay, misery, and uncertainty rapidly gave
+place to lighter, stronger, and more commodious vehicles, better
+horses, more experienced drivers, careful guards, regular stages,
+marked by decent inns and comfortable hostelries, and improved roads.
+The post-office made a contract with the coaching speculator&mdash;a very
+safe contract indeed&mdash;by which he was to have two and one-half per
+cent of the money saved in the conveyance of letters. This would have
+yielded twenty thousand pounds a year; so the government broke its
+agreement, refused to vote the payment, and compromised with Mr.
+Palmer and its own conscience, after the fashion of politicians of
+all time, by a grant of fifty thousand pounds.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Onthebathroad.png">
+<img src="images/Onthebathroad-t.png" alt="" border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>The Bath road traverses a section of England that is hardly as varied
+as would be a longer route from north to south, but, on the whole, it
+is characteristically English throughout, and is as good an itinerary
+as any by which to make one's first acquaintance with English days
+and English ways.</p>
+
+<p>Via Hammersmith, Kew Bridge, Brentford, and Hounslow was our way out
+of town, and a more awful, brain-racking, and discouraging start it
+would have been impossible to make. London streets are ever difficult
+to thread with an automobile, and when the operation is undertaken on
+a misty, moisty morning with what the Londoner knows as <i>grease</i> thick
+under foot and wheel, the process is fraught with the possibility of
+adventure.</p>
+
+<p>Out through Piccadilly and Knightsbridge was bad enough, but, by the
+time Hammersmith Broadway, its trams and tram-lines and its butchers'
+and bakers' and milk carts, was reached and passed, it was as if one
+had been trying to claw off a lee shore in a gale, and driver and
+passengers alike felt exceeding limp and sticky. The Londoner who
+drives an automobile thinks nothing of it, and covers the intervening
+miles with a cool clear-headedness that is marvellous. We were new to
+automobiling in England, but we were fast becoming acclimated.</p>
+
+<p>On through Chiswick there were still the awful tram-lines, but the
+roadway improved and was wider and free from abrupt turns and twists.
+We congratulated ourselves that at last we had got clear of town, but
+we had reckoned beyond our better judgment, for we had forgotten that
+we had been told that Brentford was the most awful death-trap that
+the world has known for automobilists, cyclists, and indeed
+foot-passers as well. We should have kept a little of our nerve by
+us, for we needed it when we got shut in between a brewer's dray, an
+omnibus, and an electric tram-car in Brentford's sixteen-foot "main
+road." It was like an interminable canyon, gloomy, damp, and
+dangerous for all living things which passed its portals, this main
+street of Brentford. For some miles, apparently, this same congestion
+of traffic continued, a tram-car ahead and behind you, drays, trucks,
+and carts all around you, and fool butchers' cart and milk cart
+drivers turning unexpected corners to the likely death of you and
+themselves. Here is an automobile reform which might well attract the
+attention of the authorities in England. The automobile has as much
+right to be a road user as any other form of traffic, and, if the
+automobile is to be regulated as to its speed and progress, it is
+about time that the same regulations were applied also to other
+classes of traffic.</p>
+
+<p>We finally got out of Brentford and came to Low, where suburban
+improvement has gone to widen the roadway and put the two lines of
+tramway in the middle, allowing a free passage on either side. The
+wood pavement, which we had followed almost constantly since leaving
+London, soon disappeared, and, finally, so did the tramway. After
+perhaps fifteen miles we were at last approaching open country; at
+least Suburbia and perambulators had been left behind; and
+truck-gardens and market-wagons, often with sleepy drivers, had
+entered on the scene. Here was a new danger, but not so terrible as
+those we had left behind, and the poor, docile horse usually had
+sense enough to draw aside and let us pass, even if the beer-drowsy
+driver had not.</p>
+
+<p>We soon reached the top of Hounslow Heath, but there was scarcely a
+suggestion of the former romantic aspect which we had always
+connected with it.</p>
+
+<p>We made inquiries and learned that there was one old neighbouring
+inn, the "Green Man," lying between the Bath and Exeter roads, which
+was a true relic of the past, and musty with the traditions of
+turnpike travellers and highwaymen of old. We found the "Green Man"
+readily enough, with a country yokel to point the way, for which he
+expected the price of a beer. In the palmy days of the robbing and
+murdering traffic of Hounslow Heath it was a convenient refuge for
+the Duvals and Turpins, and they made for it with a rush on occasion,
+secreting themselves in a hiding-place which can still be seen.</p>
+
+<p>This is in a little room on the left of the front door, and the
+entrance lies at the back of an old-fashioned fireplace. A hole leads
+to a passage which opens into a cavernous recess beneath, to which
+there is ample room for anybody to descend. The local wiseacres
+declare that there is, or was, a communication between this secret
+chamber and another famous highwayman's inn, the old "Magpie"
+directly on the Bath road, and that those who preyed on travellers
+used to bolt from one house to the other like hunted rabbits. No one
+seemingly has himself ever explored this mysterious subterranean
+passage. Beyond Hounslow, on the Bath road, one passes through
+Slough, leaving Windsor, Runnymede, and Datchet on the left, as
+properly belonging to the routine tours which one makes from London
+and calls simply excursions.</p>
+
+<p>The Thames is reached at Maidenhead, where up-river society plays a
+part which reminds one of the stage melodramas, except that there is
+real water and real boat-races. It is a pretty enough aspect up and
+down the river from the bridge at Maidenhead, but it is stagey and
+artificial.</p>
+
+<p>The hotels and restaurants of Maidenhead make some pretence of
+catering to automobilists, and do it fairly well, after a suburban
+fashion, but there is nothing of the flavour or sentiment of the old
+inn-keeping days, neither are any of the establishments at all what
+the touring automobilist (as distinct from the promenading, or
+half-day excursion variety) expects and demands.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Picture3.jpg">
+<img src="images/Picture3.jpg" alt="The Road By The Thames"
+height=400 border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>The Road By The Thames</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>The Bath road runs straight on through Twyford to Reading, but we
+made a detour via Great Marlow and Henley, merely for the
+satisfaction of lunching at the "Red Lion Inn" at the latter place.
+The great social and sporting attractions of the Thames, the annual
+Henley regatta, had drawn us thither years ago, and we had enjoyed
+ourselves in the conventional manner, shouting ourselves hoarse over
+rival crews, lunching, picnic fashion, from baskets under the trees,
+and making our way back to town by the railway, amid a terrifying
+crush late at night. It was all very enjoyable, but once in a
+lifetime was quite enough. Now we were taking things easier.</p>
+
+<p>The traditions hanging around the old "Red Lion Inn," beside the
+bridge, probably account for its popularity, for certainly its
+present-day accommodations and catering are nothing remarkable, and
+the automobilist is looked upon with disfavour. Why? This is hard to
+state. He is a good spender, the automobilist, and he comes
+frequently. All the same, the "Red Lion Inn" at Henley is one of
+those establishments marked down in the guide-books as "comfortable,"
+and if its luncheon is a bit slow and stodgy, it is wholesome enough,
+and automobilists are generally blessed with good appetites.</p>
+
+<p>The Shenstone legend and the window-pane verses about finding "one's
+warmest welcome at an inn" were originally supposed to apply to this
+inn at Henley. Later authorities say that they referred to an inn at
+Henley-in-Arden. Perhaps an automobilist, even, would find the latter
+more to his liking. The writer does not know.</p>
+
+<p>To Reading from Henley is perhaps a dozen miles, by a pretty river
+road which shows all the characteristic loveliness of the Thames
+valley about which poets have raved. By Shiplake Mill, Sonning, and
+Caversham Bridge one finally enters Reading. Reading is famous for
+the remains of an old abbey and for its biscuits, but neither at the
+time had any attractions for us.</p>
+
+<p>We made another detour from our path and followed the river-road to
+Abingdon. Pangborne (better described as Villadom) was passed, as was
+also Mapledurham, which Dick of William Morris's "Utopia" thought "a
+very pretty place." In fine it is a very pretty place, and the river
+hereabouts is quite at its prettiest.</p>
+
+<p>Since we had actually left towns and trams behind us we found the
+roadways good, but abominably circuitous and narrow, not to say
+dangerous because of it.</p>
+
+<p>Soon Streatley Hill rose up before us. Streatley is one of those
+villages which have been pictured times innumerable. One often sees
+its winding streets, its picturesque cottages, its one shop, its old
+mill, "The Bull Inn," or its notorious bridge over the river to
+Goring.</p>
+
+<p>To cross this bridge costs six pence per wheel, be your conveyance a
+cart, carriage, bicycle, or motor-car, so that if an automobile
+requires any slight attention from the machinist, who quarters
+himself at Goring boat-house, it is appreciably cheaper to bargain
+with him to come to Streatley. Thus one may defeat the object of the
+grasping institution which, the <i>lady</i> toll-taker tells you, is
+responsible for the outrage, and not she herself. You may well
+believe her; she hardly looks as though she approved of the means
+which serve to keep her in her modest position.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Thames.png">
+<img src="images/Thames-t.png" alt="On the Thames at Henley"
+border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>On the Thames at Henley</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>Streatley Hill, or rather the view from it, like the village itself,
+is famed alike by poet and painter. The following quatrain should be
+eulogy enough to warrant one's taking a rather stiff climb in the
+hope of experiencing, to a greater or a lesser degree, the same
+emotions:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+"When you're here, I'm told that you<br>
+Should mount the Hill and see the view;<br>
+And gaze and wonder, if you'd do<br>
+Its merits most completely."
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>The poetry is bad, but the sentiment is sound.</p>
+
+<p>Goring is more of a metropolis than Streatley, but we did not visit
+the former town because of the atrocious toll-bridge charge. We were
+willing enough to make martyrs of ourselves in the good cause of the
+suppression of all such excessive charges to automobilists.</p>
+
+<p>On through Abingdon, and still following the valley of the Thames, we
+kept to Faringdon and Lechlade, where, at the latter place, at the
+subtly named "Trout Inn," we proposed passing the night.</p>
+
+<p>We did pass the night at the "Trout Inn," which has no accommodation
+for automobiles, except a populated hen-house, the general
+sleeping-place of most of the live stock of the landlord, dogs, cats,
+ducks, and geese; to say nothing of the original occupants&mdash;the hens.
+How much better they do things in France!</p>
+
+<p>At any rate there is no pretence about the "Trout Inn" at Lechlade.
+We slept in a stuffy, diamond-paned little room with chintz curtains
+to windows, bed, and mantelpiece. We dined off of trout, beefsteak,
+and cauliflower, and drank bitter beer until midnight in the
+bar-parlour with a half-dozen old residents who told strange tales of
+fish and fishing. Here at least was the real thing, though the
+appointments of the inn were in no sense picturesque, and the
+landlord, instead of being a rotund, red-faced person, was a tall,
+thin reed of a man with a white beard who, in spite of his eighty odd
+years, is about as lively a proposition as one will find in the
+business in England.</p>
+
+<p>Mine host of "The Trout," silvered as the aspen, but straight as the
+pine, bears his eighty-two years lightly, and will tell you that he
+is still able to protect his fishing rights, which he owns in
+absolute fee on four miles of river-bank, against trespassers&mdash;and
+they are many. He sleeps, he says, with one eye open, and his gun by
+his side, and thinks nothing of a sally forth in the dark hours of
+night and exploding a charge in the direction of a marauder. He and
+his cronies of the tap-room, of an evening, before a glowing fire of
+logs, above which is the significant gun-rack (quite in old
+picture-book fashion), will give a deal of copy to an able writer who
+seeks atmosphere and local colour.</p>
+
+<p>Kelmscott, so identified with William Morris, is even less of the
+world of to-day than is its neighbour, Lechlade, and was one of the
+reasons for our coming here at all.</p>
+
+<p>The topographical surveys and books of reference will tell on that it
+is a "chapelry, in the parish of Broadwell, Union of Faringdon,
+hundred of Bampton, county of Oxford;" that it is "two miles east of
+Lechlade and contains 179 inhabitants;" and that "by measurement it
+contains 1,020 acres, of which 876 are arable and 153 meadow and
+pasture." It is unlikely that the population has increased since the
+above description; the best authority claims that it has actually
+decreased, like so many of the small towns and villages of the
+countryside in England.</p>
+
+<p>Kelmscott Manor House was advertised for sale in 1871, a fact which
+Morris discovered quite by accident. Writing to his friend Faulkner
+he says:</p>
+
+<p>&#160;&#160;"I have been looking about for a house... my eye is turned now to
+Kelmscott, a little village two miles above Radcott Bridge&mdash;a Heaven
+on earth."</p>
+
+<p>The house is thirty miles or more from Oxford, by water, approached
+by a lane which leads from Lechlade just over St. John's Bridge, by
+the "Trout Inn." The railway now reaches Lechlade but this was not
+the case when Morris first found this "<i>Heaven.</i>" Most likely he
+reached it by carriage from Faringdon, "by the grand approach over
+the hills of Berkshire."</p>
+
+<p>We regained the Bath road at Marlborough, after our excursion into
+the realms of Utopia, intending to reach Bath for lunch. The best
+laid plans of mice and mere motor-men ofttimes go awry, and we did
+<i>not</i> get to Bath until well on into the night. There was really no
+reason for this except an obstinate <i>bougie</i> (beg pardon, sparking-plug
+in English) which sparked beautyfully in the open air, but which
+refused positively to give a glimmer when put in its proper place. We
+did not know this, or even suspect it at first, but this was what
+delayed us four hours, just before we reached Chippenham, where we
+stopped and lunched, through no choice of our own, for it was a bad
+lunch in every particular, and cost three shillings and sixpence a
+head. To add to the indignity, the local policemen came along and
+said we were making an obstruction, and insisted that we push the
+machine into the stable-yard, as if we were committing a breach of
+the law, when really it was only an opportunity for a "bobby" to show
+his authority. Happy England!</p>
+
+<p>All the morning we had been running over typical English roads and
+running well. There is absolutely no question but that the
+countryside of England is unequalled for that unique variety of
+picturesqueness which is characteristic of the land, but it lacks the
+grandeur that one finds in France, or indeed in most countries of
+Continental Europe.</p>
+
+<p>Crossing England thus, one gets the full force of Rider Haggard's
+remarks about the small farmer; how, because he cannot get a small
+holding, that can be farmed profitably, for his very own, he becomes
+a tenant, or remains always a labourer, never rising in the social
+scale.</p>
+
+<p>The peasant of Continental Europe may be poor and impoverished, may
+eat largely of bread instead of meat, and be forced to drink "thin
+wine" instead of body-building beer,&mdash;as the economists in England
+put it,&mdash;but he has much to be thankful for, nevertheless.</p>
+
+<p>We stopped just before Beckhampton, at a puzzling crossroads, and
+asked a labourer of the fields if we were "right" for Chippenham. He
+stared blankly, doffed his hat with humility, but for a time answered
+never a word. He knew Calne, a town half a dozen miles away, for he
+occasionally, walked in there for a drinking-bout on a heavier brand
+of beer than he could buy locally, but, though he had always heard of
+Chippenham, he did not know whether it lay north, east, south, or
+west. This is deplorable, of course, for it was within a twenty-mile
+radius, but it is astonishing the frequency with which one meets this
+blankness in England when looking for information. There are tens of
+thousands like this poor fellow, and one may well defy Rider Haggard
+to make a "landed proprietor" out of such poor stuff.</p>
+
+<p>You do not always get what you ask for in France, but the peasant at
+least knows enough to tell you, "Oh! that's down in the Eure" or
+"<i>Plus loin, par l&agrave;,</i>" and at any rate, you feel that he is a
+broad-gauge Frenchman through and through, whereas the English
+labourer of the fields is a very "little Englander" indeed.</p>
+
+<p>It is hard to believe on a bright May morning that here, in this
+blossoming, picturesque little village of Chippenham, on one bitterly
+cold morning in the month of <i>April</i>, 1812, when the Bath coach reached
+its posting-house (the same, perhaps, Mr. Up-to-Date Automobilist, at
+which you have slept the night&mdash;worse luck), two of its outside
+passengers were found frozen to death, and a third all but dead. The
+old lithographs which pictured the "Royal Mail" stuck in a
+snow-drift, and the unhappy passengers helping to dig it out, are no
+longer apocryphal in your mind after you have heard this bit of "real
+history," which happened, too, in one of England's southern counties.
+The romance of other days was often stern and uncomfortable reality
+of a most bitter kind.</p>
+
+<p>We left Chippenham, finally, very late in the day, lost our way at
+unsign-boarded and puzzling crossroads, had two punctures in a half a
+dozen miles, and ultimately reached the centre of Bath, over the
+North Parade Bridge&mdash;for which privilege we paid three pence, another
+imposition, which, however, we could have avoided had we known the
+devious turnings of the main road into town.</p>
+
+<p>In two days we had covered something like two hundred and fifty miles
+in and out of highways and byways, had followed the Thames for its
+entire boatable length, and had crossed England,&mdash;not a very great
+undertaking as automobile tours go, but a varied and enjoyable one in
+spite of the restrictions put upon the free passage of automobiles by
+the various governing bodies and the indifferent hotel-keepers.</p>
+
+<p>Bath and its attractions for visitors are quite the best things of
+their kind in all England, in spite of the fact that the attractions,
+the teas, the concerts, and the lectures&mdash;to say nothing of drinking
+and bathing in the waters&mdash;lack individuality.</p>
+
+<p>We stayed the round of the clock at Bath, two rounds and a half, in
+fact, in that we did not leave until the second morning after our
+arrival, and absorbed as much of the spirit and association of the
+place as was possible, including sundry gallons of the bubbling
+spring-water.</p>
+
+<p>Bath has pleased many critical souls, James McNeill Whistler for one,
+who had no patience with other English resorts. It pleased us, too.
+It was so different.</p>
+
+<p>From Bath to Bristol is a dozen miles only, and the topographical
+characteristics change entirely, following the banks of the little
+river Avon. Bristol was a great seaport in days gone by, but today
+only coasters and colliers make use of its wharves. The town is
+charmingly situated, but it is unlovely, and, for the tourist, is
+only a stepping-stone to somewhere else. The Automobile Club of Great
+Britain and Ireland directs one to the suburb of Clifton, or rather
+to Clifton Down, for hotel accommodation, but you can do much better
+than that by stopping at the Half Moon Hotel in the main street, a
+frankly commercial house, but with ample garage accommodation and
+good plain fare, of which roast little pig, boiled mutton,
+cauliflower, and mashed potatoes, with the ever recurring apple tart,
+form the principal items.</p>
+
+<a name="3-2"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center>
+<h3>Chapter II</h3>
+<h3>The South Coast</h3>
+<br>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Southcoast.png">
+<img src="images/Southcoast.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>The south coast of England is ever dear to the Londoner who spends
+his week's end out of town. Here he finds the nearest whiff of
+salt-water breeze that he can call his own. He may go down the Thames
+on a Palace steamer to Southend, and he will have to content himself
+most of the way with a succession of mud-flats and eat winkles with a
+brassy pin when he gets there; he may even go on to Margate and find
+a fresh east wind which will blow the London fog out of his brain;
+but, until he rounds the Foreland, he will find nothing that will
+remind him in the least of his beloved Eastbourne, Brighton, and
+Worthing.</p>
+
+<p>The most popular south coast automobile run from London is to
+Brighton, fifty-two miles, via Croyden, Redhill, and Crawley. Many
+"weekenders" make this trip nearly every Saturday to Monday in the
+year, and get to know every rut and stone in the roadway and every
+degenerate policeman of the rapacious crew who hide in hedges and lie
+in wait for poor unfortunate automobilists who may have slipped down
+a sloping bit of clear roadway at a speed of twenty and one-tenth
+miles per hour (instead of nineteen and nine-tenths), all figured out
+by rule of thumb and with the aid of a thirty-shilling stop-watch.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Ils sont terribles, ces b&eacute;tes des gendarmes on trouve en
+Angleterre,</i>" said a terror-stricken French friend of ours who had
+been held up beyond Crawley for a "technical offence." Nothing was
+said against a drunken drayman who backed his wagon up against our
+friend's mudguard ten miles back, and smashed it beyond repair.
+Justice, thy name is not in the vocabulary of the English policeman
+sent out by his sergeant to keep watch on automobilists!</p>
+
+<p>Our road to the sea was by Rochester, Canterbury, and Dover, in the
+first instance, following much the itinerary of Chaucer's pilgrims.</p>
+
+<p>Southwark's Tabard Inn exists to-day, in name if not in spirit, and
+it was easy enough to take it for our starting-point. Getting out of
+London to the southeast is not as bad as by the northwest, but in all
+conscience it is bad enough, through Deptford and its docks, and
+Greenwich and Woolwich, and over the Plumstead marshes. There are
+variants of this itinerary, we were told, but all are equally smelly
+and sooty, and it was only well after we had passed Gravesend that we
+felt that we had really left town behind, and even then we could see
+the vermilion stacks of great steamships making their way up London's
+river to the left, and the mouse-brown sails of the barges going
+round the coast to Ipswich and Yarmouth.</p>
+
+<p>At last a stretch of green unsmoked and unspoiled country, that via
+Stroud to Rochester, came into view.</p>
+
+<p>Rochester on the Medway, with its memories of Mr. Pickwick and the
+Bull Inn (still remaining), the cathedral and Gad's Hill, Dickens's
+home near by, is a literary shrine of the first importance. We
+stopped <i>en route</i> and did our duty, but were soon on our way again
+through the encumbered main street of Chatham and up the long hill to
+Sittingbourne, itself a dull, respectable market-town with a boiled
+mutton and grilled kipper inn which offers no inducements to a
+gormand to stop for lunch.</p>
+
+<p>We kept on to Canterbury and didn't do much better at a hotel which
+shall be nameless. The hotels are all bad at Canterbury, according to
+Continental standards, and there is little choice between them.</p>
+
+<p>It is said that the oldest inn in England is "The Fountain" at
+Canterbury. "The Fountain" claims to have housed the wife of Earl
+Godwin when she came to meet her husband on his return from Denmark
+in the year 1029, and to have been the temporary residence of
+Archbishop Lanfranc whilst his palace was being rebuilt in 1070.
+There is a legend, too, that the four knights who murdered Thomas &agrave;
+Becket made this house their rendezvous. Moreover, "The Fountain" can
+boast of a testimonial to its excellence as an inn written six
+hundred years ago, for, when the marriage of Edward the First to his
+second queen, Margaret of France, was solemnized at Canterbury
+Cathedral on September 12, 1299, the ambassador of the Emperor of
+Germany, who was among the distinguished guests, wrote thus to his
+master: "The inns in England are the best in Europe, those of
+Canterbury are the best in England, and 'The Fountain,' wherein I am
+now lodged as handsomely as I were in the king's palace, the best in
+Canterbury." Times have changed since the days of Edward I.!</p>
+
+<p>Canterbury is a very dangerous town to drive through. Its streets are
+narrow and badly paved, and there are unexpected turnings which bring
+up a lump in one's throat when he is driving at his most careful gait
+and is suddenly confronted with a governess's cart full of children,
+a perambulator, and a bath-chair, all in the middle of the road,
+where, surely, the two latter have no right to be.</p>
+
+<p>The grand old shrine of Thomas &agrave; Becket, the choir built by
+Lanfranc's monks, and the general <i>ensemble</i> of the cathedral close are
+worth all the risk one goes through to get to them. The cathedral
+impresses one as the most thoroughly French of all the Gothic
+churches of Britain, and because of this its rank is high among the
+ecclesiastical architectural treasures of the world. Its history is
+known to all who know that of England, of the church, and of
+architecture, and the edifice tells the story well.</p>
+
+<p>The distant view from the road, as one approaches the city, is one
+that can only be described as grand. The fabric of the great
+cathedral, the rooftops of the houses, the sloping hills rising from
+the water's edge, and again falling lightly down to the town, form a
+grandly imposing view, the equal of which one seldom sees on the main
+travelled roads of England.</p>
+
+<p>Between Canterbury and Winchester ran one of the oldest roads in
+England, the "Pilgrim's Way." Many parts of it still exist, and it is
+believed by many to be the oldest monument of human work in these
+islands. About two-thirds of the length of the road is known with
+certainty, and to some extent the old itinerary forms the modern
+highway. Its earliest route seems to have been from Stonehenge to
+Canterbury, but later the part from Stonehenge to Alton was abandoned
+in favour of that from Winchester to Alton. Guildford and Dorking
+were places that it touched, though it was impossible to say with
+certainty where it crossed the Medway.</p>
+
+<p>Margate, Ramsgate, and the Isle of Thanet lay to the left of us, but
+we struck boldly across the downs to Dover's Bay, under the shadow of
+the Shakespeare Cliff, made famous in the scenic accessories of <i>The
+Tempest</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Dover, seventy-two miles by road from London, has a good hotel,
+almost reaching the Continental standard, though it is not an
+automobile hotel and you must house your machine elsewhere. It is
+called the Lord Warden Hotel, and is just off the admiralty pier
+head. It suited us very well in spite of the fact that the old-school
+Englishman contemptuously refers to it as a place for brides and for
+seasick Frenchmen waiting the prospect of a fair crossing by the
+Calais packet.</p>
+
+<p>The descent into Dover's lower town from the downs above is fraught
+with considerable danger for the automobilist. It is steep, winding,
+and narrow, and one climbs out of it again the next morning by an
+equally steep, though less narrow, road up over the Shakespeare Cliff
+and down again abruptly into Folkestone.</p>
+
+<p>Dover is not fashionable as a resort, and its one pretentious
+sea-front hotel is not a lovely thing&mdash;most sea-front hotels are not.
+In spite of this there is vastly more of interest going on, with the
+coming and going of the great liners and the cross-channel boats of
+the harbour, than is to be found in a mere watering-place, where band
+concerts, parade-walks, "nigger minstrels," tea fights, and
+excursions in the neighbourhood are the chief attractions which are
+advertised, and are fondly believed by the authorities to be
+sufficient to draw the money-spending crowds.</p>
+
+<p>Dover is a very interesting place; the Shakespeare Cliff dominates
+it on one side and the old castle ruin on the other, to-day as they
+did when the first of the Cinq-Ports held England's destiny in the
+hollow of her hand. Sir Walter Raleigh prayed his patron Elizabeth to
+strengthen her fortifications here and formulate plans for a great
+port. Much was done by her, but a fitting realization of Dover's
+importance as a deep-water port has only just come to pass, and then
+only because of a significant hint from the German emperor.</p>
+
+<p>Shakespeare's, or Lear's, Cliff at Dover is one of the first things
+to which the transatlantic up-channel traveller's attention is
+called. Blind old Gloster has thus described it:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+"There is a cliff whose high and bending head<br>
+Looks fearfully into the confined deep."
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>The English War Department of today, it is rumoured, would erase this
+landmark, because the cliff obstructs the range of heavy guns, thus
+jeopardizing the defence of Dover; but there are those who, knowing
+that chalk is valuable, suggest that commercialism is at the
+foundation of the scheme for destroying the cliff. The Dover
+corporation has accordingly passed a resolution of remonstrance
+against the destruction of what they claim "would rob the English
+port of one of its most thrilling attractions."</p>
+
+<p>Folkestone is more sadly respectable than Dover; more homeopathic,
+one might say. The town is equally difficult for an automobile to
+make its way through, but as one approaches the water's edge things
+somewhat improve. Wampach's Hotel at Folkestone is not bad, but B. B.
+B., as the "Automobile Club's Hand Book" puts it (bed, bath, and
+breakfast), costs eight shillings and sixpence a day. This is too
+much for what you get.</p>
+
+<p>We followed the shore road to Hythe, Dymchurch, New Romney, and Rye,
+perhaps thirteen miles all told, along a pebble-strewn roadway with
+here and there a glimpse of the shining sea and the smoke from a
+passing steamer.</p>
+
+<p>To our right was Romney Marsh, calling up memories of the smuggling
+days of old, when pipes of port and bales of tobacco mysteriously
+found their way inland without paying import duties.</p>
+
+<p>Rye is by no means a resort; it is simply a dull, sleepy, red-roofed
+little seaside town, with, at sunset, a riot of blazing colour
+reflected from the limpid pools left by the retreating waters of the
+Channel, which now lies five miles away across a mud-flat plain,
+although coastwise shipping once came to Rye's very door-step.</p>
+
+<p>The entrance to the town, by an old medi&aelig;val gateway, is easily
+enough made by a careful driver, but an abrupt turn near the top of
+the slight rise cost us a mud-guard, it having been ripped off by an
+unexpected and most dangerous hitching-post. This may be now removed;
+it certainly is if the local policeman did his duty and reported our
+really atrocious language to the authorities. Of all imbecilic and
+unneedful obstructions to traffic, Rye's half-hidden hitching-post is
+one of the most notable seen in an automobile tour comprising seven
+countries and several hundreds, perhaps thousands, of large and small
+towns.</p>
+
+<p>The chief curiosities of Rye are its quaint hilltop church, the town
+walls, and the Ypres tower, all quite foreign in motive and aspect
+from anything else in England.</p>
+
+<p>Those interested in literary shrines may well bow their heads before
+the door of the dignified Georgian house near the church, in which
+resides the enigmatic Henry James. There may be other literary lights
+who shed a glow over Rye, but we did not learn of them, and surely
+none could be more worthy of the attention of literary lion-hunters
+than the American who has become "more English" than the English
+themselves.</p>
+
+<p>We left Rye by a toll-gate road over the marshes, bound for
+Winchelsea, and, passing through the ivy-clad tower which spans the
+roadway, stopped abruptly, like all hero or heroine worshippers,
+before the dainty home of Ellen Terry. The creeper-clung little brick
+cottage is a reminiscence of old-world peace and quiet which must be
+quite refreshing after an active life on the stage.</p>
+
+<p>Hastings saw us for the night. Hastings and St. Leonards, twin
+sea-front towns, are what, for a better description, might be called
+snug and smug. They are simply the most depressing, unlovely resorts
+of sea-front and villas that one will see in a round of all the
+English resorts.</p>
+
+<p>As a pompous, bustling, self-sufficient little city, Hastings, with
+its fisher men and women, its fish-market and the ruined
+castle-crowned height, has some quaintness and character; but as a
+resort where the chief amusements are scrappy, tuneless
+hurdy-gurdies, blatant brass bands, living picture shows, or
+third-rate repetitious of a last year's London theatrical successes,
+it is about the rankest boring proposition which ever drew the unwary
+visitor.</p>
+
+<p>We had our "B. B. B." that night at the Queen's Hotel, a vast
+barracks of a place near the end of the Parade. The best thing about
+it was the view from the windows of our sleeping-rooms, and the fact
+that we could stable our automobile under the same roof.</p>
+
+<p>We made a little run inland from Hastings the next morning to view
+old Battle Abbey. The battlement-crowned gateway is still one of the
+architectural marvels of England. It took us a dozen miles out of our
+way, but always among the rolling downs which dip down to the sea,
+chalk-faced and grass-grown in a manner characteristic only of the
+south coast of England.</p>
+
+<p>We came to Eastbourne through Pevensey, famed for its old ruined
+castle and much history. A low-lying marsh-grown fishing-port of
+olden times, Pevensey was the landing-place of the Conqueror when he
+came to lay the foundation-stones of England's greatness. It is a
+shrine that Britons should bow down before, and reverently.</p>
+
+<p>Eastbourne is a vast improvement, as a resort, over any south coast
+town we had yet seen. It is not gay, it is rather sedate, and
+certainly eminently respectable and dignified. Giant wheels,
+hurdy-gurdies, and quack photographers are banished from its beach
+and esplanade, and one may stroll undisturbed by anything but
+perambulators and bath-chairs. Its sea-front walk of a couple of
+miles or more is as fine as any that can be found from the Foreland
+to the Lizard.</p>
+
+<p>Most energetically we climbed to the top of Beachy Head, gossiped
+with the coast-guard, stole a peep through the telescope by which
+Lloyd's observer at the signal-station picks out passing ships, and
+got down the great hill again in time for lunch at the Burlington
+Hotel. We lunched in more or less stately fashion, well, if not
+luxuriously, in a great dining-room whose sole occupant, besides
+ourselves, was England's laureate.</p>
+
+<p>He is herein endorsed as possessing a good taste in seaside hotels,
+whatever one may think of the qualities of his verse. The Burlington
+seemed to us the best conducted and most satisfactory hotel on all
+the south coast, except perhaps the Lord Warden at Dover.</p>
+
+<p>It was a more or less rugged climb, by a badly made road, up over the
+downs from Eastbourne, only to drop down again as quickly through
+Eastdean to Newhaven, a short ten miles, but a trying one.</p>
+
+<p>Newhaven is a sickly burg sheltered well to the west of Beachy Head.
+Its only excitements are the comings and goings of the Dieppe
+steamers and a few fishing-boats. It is one of the best ports for
+shipping one's automobile to France, and one of the cheapest. In no
+other respect is Newhaven worth a glance of the eye, and English
+travelers themselves have no good word for the abominable tea and
+coffee served to limp, half-famished travellers as they get off the
+Dieppe boat. This well-worn and well-deserved reputation was no
+inducement for us to stop, so we made speed for Brighton via
+Rottingdean.</p>
+
+<p>Rottingdean will be famous in most minds as being the rival of
+Brattleboro, Vt., as the home of Rudyard Kipling. Sightseers came
+from Brighton in droves and stared the author out of countenance, as
+they did at Brattleboro, and he removed to the still less known, <i>and
+a great deal less accessible</i>, village of Burwash in Kent. Thus passed
+the fame of Rottingdean.</p>
+
+<p>Brighton has been called London-on-Sea, and with some truth, but as
+the sun shines here with frequency it differs from London in that
+respect.</p>
+
+<p>Brighton is a brick and iron built town, exceedingly unlovely, but
+habitable. Its two great towering sea-front hotels look American, but
+they are a great deal more substantially built. There are two rivals
+for popular favour, the Grand and the Metropole. They are much alike
+in all their appointments, but there are fewer tea-drinkers and
+after-dinner sleepers (and snorers) at the Metropole. There is also a
+famous old coaching house, the Ship Hotel (most curiously named),
+which caters particularly for automobilists.</p>
+
+<p>Brighton is the typical seaside resort of Britain. It is like nothing
+on the Continent; it is not even as attractive a place as most
+Continental resorts; but it is the best thing in Britain.</p>
+
+<p>Brighton and Hove have a sea-front of perhaps three miles. Houses and
+hotels line the promenade on one side, a pebbly beach and the sea on
+the other.</p>
+
+<p>The attractions of Brighton are conventional and an imitation of
+those in London. In addition one bathes, in summer, in the lapping
+waves, and in winter sits in a glass shelter which breaks the wind,
+and gazes seaward.</p>
+
+<p>There are theatrical attractions and operas in the theatre, and vocal
+and instrumental concerts on the pier, all through the year. There
+are also various sorts of functions which go on in the turnip-topped
+Royal Pavilion of the Georges, which once seen will ever afterward be
+avoided.</p>
+
+<p>It is not always bright and sunny at Brighton. We were storm-bound at
+the Metropole for two days, and the Channel waves dashed up over the
+pier and promenade and drowned out the strollers who sought to take
+their constitutional abroad.</p>
+
+<p>We sat tight in the hotel and listened to Sousa marches, "Hiawatha,"
+and "The Belle of New York" strummed out by a none too competent
+band. A genial fat-faced old lady of uncertain age tried to inveigle
+us into a game of bridge, but that was not what we came for, so we
+strenuously refused.</p>
+
+<p>The flood-tide of holiday trippers at Brighton is in August. This is
+the month when, at certain periods of the day, the mile length of
+roadway from railway station to sea is a closely packed crowd of
+excursionists; when the long expanse of sea-front and sand presents
+its most animated spectacle of holiday-keeping people; when the
+steamers plying along the Sussex coast, or to France, the
+white-sailed yachts, the rowing-boats, and motor-boats are the most
+numerous; and when the hundred and one entertainers and providers of
+all kinds do their busiest trade.</p>
+
+<p>There is a public bathing-station at the eastern end of the
+sea-front. A large marquee is provided, and a worthy lady, the
+incarnation of the British matron, sees to it that the curtains are
+properly drawn and that inquisitive small boys keep their distance.
+But it is rather a long walk from the marquee to the water when the
+tide is low, and one often hears the camera click on the irresistible
+charms of some swan-like creature ambling down to deep water. The
+authorities have promised to put a stop to such liberties. Can they?</p>
+
+<p>We left Brighton with a very good idea indeed of what it was like. It
+has a place to fill and it fills it very well, but the marvel is that
+the Britisher submits to it, when he can spend his weekends, or his
+holiday, at Boulogne or Dieppe for practically the same expenditure
+of time and money, and get real genuine relaxation and a gaiety which
+is not forced. So much for Brighton.</p>
+
+<p>The Brighton police authorities have heeded the words of admonition
+of the tradesmen and hotel-keepers, and the automobilist has an easy
+time of it. It is an example which it is to be hoped will be
+far-reaching in its effects.</p>
+
+<p>The road by the coast runs along by New Shoreham to Worthing, where
+the automobilist is catered for in really satisfactory fashion at
+Warne's Hotel, which possesses what is called a motor d&eacute;p&ocirc;t, a name
+which describes its functions in an obvious manner. It is a good
+place to lunch and a good place to obtain gasoline and oil. What more
+does the touring automobilist want? Not much but good roads and ever
+varying scenery.</p>
+
+<p>Worthing has a population of twenty-five thousand conservative souls,
+and a mild climate. Its popularity is only beginning, but it boasts
+1,748 hours of sunshine, an exceedingly liberal allowance for an
+English resort. It has also a "school of cookery;" this may account
+for the fare being as excellent as it is at "Warne's," though the
+proprietors are silent on this point.</p>
+
+<p>Littlehampton came next in our itinerary. It almost equals Rye as one
+of the picture spots of England's south coast. It may develop some
+day into an artist's sketching ground which will rival the Cornish
+coast. It has a tidal river with old boats and barges lying
+picturesquely about, and it permits "mixed bathing," a rarity in
+England. In spite of this there appears to be no falling off in
+morals, and when other English seaside resorts adopt the same
+procedure they will be falling out of the conservatism which is
+keeping many of them from developing at the rate of Littlehampton.</p>
+
+<p>We left the coast here to visit Arundel and its castle, the seat of
+the Duke of Norfolk. It was a Friday and the keep and park were open
+to the public.</p>
+
+<p>Arundel is an ancient town which sleeps its life away and lives up to
+the traditions of medi&aelig;valism in truly conservative fashion. The
+Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland makes no recommendation
+as to the hotels of Arundel, and presumably the Norfolk Arms cares
+nothing for the automobile traffic. We did not stop at any hotel, but
+left our machine outside the castle gate, enjoyed the conventional
+stroll about inside the walls and in an hour were on the way to
+Chichester.</p>
+
+<p>Sussex is a county which, according to some traditions possesses four
+particular delicacies. Izaak Walton, in 1653, named them as follows:
+a Selsea cockle, a Chichester lobster, an Arundel mullet, and an
+Amberley trout. Another authority, Ray, adds to these three more: a
+Pulborough eel, a Rye herring, and a Bourn wheatear, which, he says,
+"are the best in their kind, understand it, of those that are taken
+in this country."</p>
+
+<p>Chichester is a cathedral town not usually included in the itinerary
+of stranger-tourists. Its proud old cathedral and its detached
+bell-tower are remarkable for many things, but the strangeness of the
+belfry, entirely unconnected with the church fabric itself, will
+strike the natives of the land of skyscrapers most of all.</p>
+
+<p>Chichester is conservative in all things, and social affairs, said a
+public-house habitu&eacute;, are entirely dominated by the cathedral clique.
+He may have been a bad authority, this doddering old septuagenarian,
+mouthing his pint of beer, but he entertained us during the half-hour
+of a passing shower with many plain-spoken opinions about many
+things, including subjects as wide apart as clericalism and
+submarines.</p>
+
+<p>Our route from Chichester was to Portsmouth and Southsea, neither of
+which interested us to any extent. The former is warlike in every
+turn of its crooked streets and the latter is full of retired
+colonels and majors, who keep always to the middle of the footpath
+across Southsea Common, and will not turn the least bit to one side,
+for courtesy or any other reason. Too much curry on their rice or
+port after dinner probably accounts for it.</p>
+
+<p>We stopped at the George at Portsmouth. It offers no accommodation
+for automobiles, but a garage is near by. The halo of sentiment and
+romance hung over the more or less dingy old hotel, dingy but clean,
+and possessed of a parlour filled with a collection of old furniture
+which would make the connoisseur want to carry it all away with him.</p>
+
+<p>This was the terminus of old-time travel from London to Portsmouth.
+The Portsmouth road, in coaching days as in automobile days, ran
+through England's fairest counties down to her emporium of ships. Its
+beginnings go back to the foundations of England's naval power.</p>
+
+<p>Edward IV. made Portsmouth a strong place of defence, but the road
+from town only became well travelled in later centuries.</p>
+
+<p>Along the old Portsmouth road were, and are still, any number of
+nautically named inns. At Liphook is the Anchor&mdash;where Pepys put up
+when on his way to England's chief naval town&mdash;and the Ship; there is
+another Anchor at Ripley; at Petersfield stands the Dolphin, and near
+Guildford is the Jovial Sailor. All these, and other signs of a like
+nature, suffice to tell the observant wayfarer that he is on the road
+which hordes of seamen have trod on their way to and from London, and
+that it was formerly deemed well worth while to hang out invitations
+to them.</p>
+
+<p>In 1703 Prince George of Denmark made nine miles in six hours on this
+road, an indication that the good roads movement had not begun. In
+1751 Doctor Burton suggested that all the animals in Sussex,
+including the women, were long-legged because of "the difficulty of
+pulling their feet out of the mud which covers the roads hereabouts."</p>
+
+<p>A hundred or more years ago Nelson came by post by this road to
+Portsmouth to hoist his flag upon the <i>Victory</i>. He arrived at the
+George, the same which was sheltering our humble selves, at six in
+the morning, as the records tell, having travelled all night. The
+rest is history, but the old <i>Victory</i> still swings at her moorings in
+Portsmouth harbour, a shrine before which all lovers of the sea and
+its tales may worship. Portsmouth is the great storehouse of
+Britain's battleships, and the Solent from Spithead to Stokes Bay is
+a vast pool where float all manner of warlike craft.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<table>
+  <tr>
+    <td colspan=2>
+      <a href="images/Ryde.png">
+      <img src="images/Ryde.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+    </td>
+  <tr>
+    <td width="50%" align="center">
+      <b>Ryde<br>Newhaven<br>Isle of Wight</b>
+    </td>
+    <td width="50%" align="center">
+      <b>Royal Yacht Squadron<br>Folkestone<br>Arundel Castle</b>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</center>
+
+<p>The Isle of Wight was the immediate attraction for us at Portsmouth.
+One makes the passage by boat in thirty minutes, and when one gets
+there he finds leafy lanes and well-kept roads that will put many
+mainland counties to shame. The writer does not know the length of
+the roadways of the Isle of Wight, but there are enough to give one a
+good three days of excursions and promenades.</p>
+
+<p>We made our headquarters at Ryde and sallied out after breakfast and
+after lunch each day, invariably returning for the night.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Wightmap.png">
+<img src="images/Wightmap-t.png" alt="Road Map, Isle of Wight"
+border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>Road Map, Isle of Wight</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>The beauties of the Isle of Wight are many and varied, with all the
+charms of sea and shore. For a literary shrine it has Tennyson's
+Freshwater and the Tennyson Beacon high up on the crest of the downs
+overlooking the Needles, Freshwater Bay, and the busy traffic of the
+English Channel, where the ships make landward to signal the
+observers at St. Catherine's Point.</p>
+
+<p>Cowes and "Cowes week" are preeminent annual events in society's
+periodical swing around the circle.</p>
+
+<p>The real development of Cowes, the home of the Royal Yacht Squadron,
+has been the evolution of week-end yachting in the summer months.
+City men, and jaded legislators, held to town by the Parliamentary
+duties of a long summer session, rush down to Southampton every
+Saturday and each steps off his train or motor-car on to the deck of
+his yacht, and then, after a spin westward to the Needles or eastward
+to the Nab or Warner Lightship, soothed by the lapping of the waters,
+and refreshed by the pure sea air, returns on the Monday to face
+again the terrors of London heat and "fag."</p>
+
+<p>Taken all in all, we found the Isle of Wight the most enjoyable
+region of its area in all England. It is quite worth the trouble of
+crossing from the mainland with one's automobile in order to do it
+thoroughly; for what one wants is green fields and pastures new and a
+breadth of sea and sky.</p>
+
+<a name="3-3"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center>
+<h3>Chapter III</h3>
+<h3>Land's End To John O'Groats</h3>
+<br>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Landsend.png">
+<img src="images/Landsend.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>We had already done a bit of conventional touring in England, and we
+thought we knew quite all of the charms and fascinations of the
+idyllic countryside of most of Britain, not omitting even Ireland.</p>
+
+<p>The cathedral towns had appealed to us in our youthful days, and we
+had rediscovered a good portion of Dickens's England on another
+occasion, had lived for a fortnight on a house-boat on the Thames,
+and had cruised for ten days on the Norfolk Broads, and besides had
+played golf in Scotland, and <i>attempted</i> to shoot grouse on a Scottish
+moor. All this had furnished at least variety, and, when it came to
+automobiling through Britain, it was merely going over well-worn
+ground that we had known in our cycling days, and usually we went
+merely where fancy willed.</p>
+
+<p>Conditions had changed considerably, in fact all things had changed,
+we ourselves no less than certain aspects of the country which we had
+pictured as always being (in England) of that idyllic tenor of which
+the poet sings. This comes of living too much in London, and with too
+frequent week-ends at Brighton, Bournemouth, or Cromer.</p>
+
+<p>For years, ever since we had first set foot in England in the days
+when cycling <i>en tandem</i> (and even touring in the same manner) was in
+vogue, if not the fashion, we had heard of John O'Groat's house, and
+we had seen Land's End many a time coming up Channel. We knew, too,
+that among scorching cyclists "Land's End to John O'Groat's" was a
+classic itinerary for those who would boast of their prowess and
+their grit.</p>
+
+<p>All this passed and then came the automobile. "Land's End to John
+O'Groat's" is nothing for an automobile, though it is the longest
+straightaway bit of road in all Britain, 888 miles, to be exact. If
+you are out for a record on an automobile you do it as a "non-stop"
+run. It's dull, foolhardy business that, and it proves nothing except
+your ability to keep awake for anything between thirty-six and
+forty-eight hours, which you can do just as well sitting up with a
+sick friend.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of the banal sound that the very words had for us, "Land's
+End to John O'Groat's" had a perennial fascination, and so we set out
+with our automobile to cover this much, talked of itinerary, with all
+its varied charms and deficiencies, for, taking it all in all, it is
+probably one of the hilliest roads in Britain, rising as it does over
+eight distinct ranges of what are locally called mountains, and
+mountains they virtually are when it comes to crossing them by road.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Landsendmap.png">
+<img src="images/Landsendmap-t.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>There is nothing very exciting to be had from a tour such as this,
+though it is nearly a nine hundred mile straight-away promenade. For
+the most part one's road lies through populous centres, far more so
+than any American itinerary for a reliability trial for automobiles
+that was ever conceived. Many are the "<i>events</i>" which have been run
+over this "Land's End&mdash;John O'Groat's" course, and the journey has
+proved the worth or worthlessness of many a new idea in automobilism.</p>
+
+<p>The modern automobile is getting complicated, but it is also becoming
+efficient, if not exactly approaching perfection as yet. The early
+days of automobiling were not fraught with so many technicalities as
+to-day, when the last new thing may be a benzine bus or a turbine
+trailer; formerly everything was simple and crude,&mdash;and more or less
+inefficient. To-day many cars are as complicated as a chronometer and
+require the education of an expert who has lived among their
+intricacies for many months in order to control their vagaries and
+doctor their ills, which, if not chronic, are as varied as those of
+an old maid of sixty.</p>
+
+<p>Four of us started on our road to the north as fit as possible, and
+we were courageous enough to think our automobile was likewise, as it
+was a tried and trusty friend with some twenty thousand miles to its
+credit, and with never a breakage so far as its mechanism was
+concerned.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/StMichael.png">
+<img src="images/StMichael-t.png" alt="" border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>Near Land's End&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;St. Michael's Mount</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>We had stayed a few days at Penzance and got to knew something of
+Cornwall and things Cornish. Unquestionably Cornwall is the least
+spoiled section of Southern Britain; its coastline is rocky and
+serrated, and its tors and hills and rills are about as wild and
+unspoiled by the hand of man as can be imagined. There is a vast
+literature on the subject if one cares to read it, and the modern
+fictionists (like the painter-men) have even developed a "Cornish
+school." However, there need be no discussion of its merits or
+demerits here.</p>
+
+<p>In Mount's Bay is the Cornish counterpart of Normandy's St. Michel's
+Mount. It is by no means so great or imposing, or endowed with such a
+wealth of architectural charm as the cross-channel Mont St. Michel,
+but the English St. Michael's Mount, a granite rock rising from the
+sea two hundred and fifty or more feet, was sufficient of an
+attraction to draw us to Penzance for our headquarters and to keep us
+till we had visited its castle of the days of Charles II. There is no
+question of the age of St. Michael's Mount, for Ptolemy charted it in
+Roman days, and the Roman warriors, who battled with the Britons,
+made spear-heads and hatchets of the tin and iron which they dug from
+its rocky defences.</p>
+
+<p>The grim, unlovely little hotel at Land's End sheltered us the night
+before the commencement of our journey north, and the Longships
+Lighthouse flashed its warning in through our open bedroom window all
+the night long and made us dream of wicked and unworldly monster
+automobiles bearing down upon us with a great blazing <i>phare</i> which
+blotted out all else.</p>
+
+<p>The nightmare passed, we got ourselves together at five in the
+morning, drank tepid tea, and ate the inevitable bacon and eggs
+furnished one for breakfast in England, and, before lunch, had passed
+Bodmin, crossed Bodmin moor (a little Exmoor), and skirted Dartmoor,
+just north of Great Links Tor, arriving at Exeter at high noon.</p>
+
+<p>Pople's New London Hotel at Exeter is the headquarters of the
+Automobile Club, is patronized by Royalty (so the advertisements
+say), and is a very satisfactory-looking old-century inn which has
+not wholly succumbed to modern improvement, nor yet is it wholly
+backward. It is "fair to middling" only, so far as the requirements
+of the automobilist go (what Royalty may think of it the writer does
+not know), but its proprietor ought to take a trip abroad and find
+out what his house lacks.</p>
+
+<p>The wonder of Exeter for us was the carved west porch of its
+cathedral, not very good carving, we were told, but undeniably
+effective, peopled as it was with a whole regiment of sculptured
+effigies.</p>
+
+<p>Exeter has a ruined castle, too, called Rougement, a name which
+preserves the identity of its Norman origin. Exeter's High Street is
+a curious stagy affair, with great jutting house gables, pillars, and
+pignons, undeniably effective, but a terror to automobilists because
+of its narrowness and the congestion of its traffic.</p>
+
+<p>The road turns north after leaving Exeter and passes Taunton, "one of
+the nicest towns in the west of England," as we were told by the
+landlord's daughter on leaving Exeter. Not knowing what her standard
+was for judgment, but suspecting it was tea and buns, we delved away
+into the county of Somerset and reached Wells, on the edge of the
+Mendip Hills, before dinner.</p>
+
+<p>Somerset is reputed to be one of the loveliest counties in the west
+of England and one of the most countrified of all Britain. It is a
+region of farming lands, of big and little estates, with the big ones
+predominating, which the land reformers, and all others who give it a
+thought, claim must some day be divided among the people. When that
+millennium comes Somerset will be a paradise for the people. In spite
+of its productiveness and its suitability for farming, the great
+estates of the wealthy are used for the purposes of pleasure and not
+of profit, for the hunting of foxes and for the shooting of
+pheasants.</p>
+
+<p>Wells is an episcopal city with a bishop who presides also over Bath.
+Wells is essentially ecclesiastical; never had it a momentous or
+warlike history; it is bare of romance; it has no manufactures and no
+great families. Wells Cathedral takes high rank for the originality
+of its architecture, its general constructive excellence, and its
+sculptures.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Taunton.png">
+<img src="images/Taunton.png" alt="Taunton, Exeter, and Bristol"
+height=400 border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>Taunton, Exeter, and Bristol</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>There are three picturesquely named hotels, the Swan, the Mitre, and
+the Star. They are all equally dull, respectable, and conservative,
+and they stick to tradition and conventional English fare. You will
+probably arrive on boiled-mutton night; we did, and suspect that it
+recurs about three times a week, but it was good mutton, though it
+would have been a great deal better roasted, instead of boiled.</p>
+
+<p>Via Cheddar, where the cheeses come from, we made our way to Bristol.
+Bristol is one of the most progressive automobile towns in England.
+You may see all sorts and conditions of automobiles at Bristol, even
+American automobiles, which are more or less of a rarity in Europe,
+even in England.</p>
+
+<p>From Bristol to Gloucester, another cathedral town, we passed over
+good roads and pleasant ones, rounding meanwhile the Cotswolds and
+passing direct to Worcester, where we lunched.</p>
+
+<p>It is useless to attempt to describe a complete trip in pages such as
+these, and, beyond commenting on changing conditions and novel
+scenes, it is not attempted. Generally speaking the road surfaces
+were excellent throughout, but the grades of the hills were ofttimes
+abnormal, and the narrowness of main roads, and the hedge-hidden
+byroads which crossed them, made travelling more or less of a danger
+for the stranger, particularly if he was not habituated to England's
+custom of "meeting on the left and passing on the right."</p>
+
+<p>Following the valley of the Severn, by Shrewsbury and Whitechurch, we
+crossed the great Holyhead Road, "the king's highway," from London to
+Holyhead.</p>
+
+<p>From Ogilby's Road Book, an old book-stall find of one of our party
+at Shrewsbury, we learned that in days gone by the coach "Wonder"
+left the Bull and Mouth, at St. Martin's-le-Grand in London, at 6.30
+A. M., and was at Shrewsbury at 10.30 the same night. Good going
+indeed for those days!</p>
+
+<p>At Shrewsbury one is within easy reach of the Welsh border, but, in
+spite of the novelty promised us, we kept on our way north. This was
+not because we feared the "evil character" of the Welsh (as an old
+writer put it), but because we feared their language.</p>
+
+<p>We left Liverpool and its docks, and Manchester and its cotton
+factories, to the left, and, passing through Warrington and Preston,
+arrived at Lancaster for the night. It was the longest day's driving
+we had done in England, something over two hundred miles. All the
+ordinary characteristics of the southern counties had been left far
+behind. The <i>prettiness</i> of conventional English scenery had made way
+for something more of <i>character</i> and severity of outline. For the
+morrow we had to look forward to the climb over Shap Fell, one of
+England's genuine mountain roads, or as near like one as the country
+has.</p>
+
+<p>Lancaster was perhaps not the best place we could have chosen for the
+night, but everything had been running well and we had pushed on
+simply for the joy of the running. The County Hotel at Lancaster was
+like other county hotels in England. <i>Verb. sap.</i> They had the audacity
+to charge two shillings for housing our automobile for the night, and
+pointed out the fact that this was the special rate given members of
+the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland.</p>
+
+<p>Well! It was the most awful "roast" we found in England! They must
+have some grudge against the Club! "B. B. B." cost seven shillings
+and sixpence, and dinner four shillings more, a bottle of Bordeaux
+five shillings, etc. Four of us for the night (including a hot bath
+for each&mdash;which cost the hotel practically nothing) paid something
+like &pound;3 for our <i>accommodation</i>. It wasn't worth it!</p>
+
+<p>We passed the "Lake District" to the left the next morning, where it
+always rains, we are told. Perhaps it always does rain in some parts
+of Westmoreland, but it was bright and sunny when we crossed Shap
+Fell, at a height of something like twelve hundred feet above
+sea-level. The railway station of Shap Summit is itself at an
+elevation of a thousand feet. We had crossed nothing like this
+previously in England, although it is not so very high after all, nor
+is it so very terrifying in the ascent or descent. The Castle of
+Comfort Inn in the Mendip Hills was only seven hundred feet, but here
+we were five hundred feet above it, and the neighbouring Fells,
+Helvellyn and Scafell in particular, raised their regular, rounded
+peaks to something over thirty-two hundred feet in the air.</p>
+
+<p>Carlisle is commonly called the border town between England and
+Scotland; at any rate it was a vantage-ground in days gone by that
+was of a great value to one faction and a thorn in the side to the
+other. The conquering and unconquered Scots are the back-bone of
+Britain, there's no denying that; and Carlisle is near enough to the
+border to be intimately acquainted with their virtues.</p>
+
+<p>We inspected Carlisle's cathedral, its ugly castle, and the County
+Hotel,&mdash;and preferred the two former. One thing in Carlisle struck us
+as more remarkable than all else, and that was that the mean annual
+temperature was stated to be 48&#176; F. It was just that, when we were
+there, though cloudy and unpromising as to weather. In our opinion
+Carlisle is an unlovely, disagreeable place.</p>
+
+<p>Gretna Green, with its famous, or infamous, career as a marriage
+mart, had little to offer a passing tourist beyond some silly, vulgar
+postcards on sale at a newsdealer's.</p>
+
+<p>Across the border topographical characteristics did not greatly
+change, at least not at once, from what had gone immediately before,
+and it was not until Lockerbie was reached that we fully realized
+that we were in Scotland.</p>
+
+<p>It was a long, long pull, and a hard, hard pull of seventy miles from
+Lockerbie to Edinburgh, via Moffat, Biggar, and Penicuik, skirting
+the Fells of Peebleshire and running close beneath the Pentland
+Hills, with memories of Stevenson's tales ever uppermost in our
+minds.</p>
+
+<p>Via Dalkeith the entrance into Edinburgh is delightful, but via
+Rosslyn it is unbeautiful enough until one actually drops down into
+world-famed Princes' Street.</p>
+
+<p>Romantic Edinburgh is known by European travellers as one of the
+sights never omitted from a comprehensive itinerary. It is quaint,
+picturesque, grand, squalid, and luxurious all rolled into one. Its
+castle crowns the height above the town on one side, and Arthur's
+Seat does the same on the other, with gloomy old Holyrood in the gulf
+between, the whole softened and punctuated with many evidences of
+modern life, the smoke and noise of railways, trams, and factories.
+There are many guide-books to Edinburgh, but there are none so
+satisfactory as Stevenson's tales dealing with the town. In
+"Kidnapped," "The Master of Ballantrae," and "Catriona," he pictures
+its old streets and "stairs," its historic spots, its very stones and
+flags, and the charming countryside around in incomparable fashion.</p>
+
+<p>The Carlton Hotel at Edinburgh is <i>the</i> automobile hotel of Britain.
+There is nothing quite so good either in England or Scotland. The
+proof of this is that the <i>Automobile Club de France</i> have given it
+distinctive marks in its "<i>Annuaire de l'Etranger.</i>" There is the tiny
+silhouette of a knife and fork, and four-poster bed, indicating that
+the tables and beds are of an agreeable excellence. This is a great
+deal more satisfying as a recommendation than Baedeker's.</p>
+
+<p>We crossed the Firth of Forth via the Granton Ferry, from Granton to
+Burntisland,&mdash;pronounced Burnt Island&mdash;a fact that none of us knew
+previously.</p>
+
+<p>Via Kinross and Loch Leven we arrived at Perth for lunch. We went to
+the Salutation Hotel, because of its celebrated "Prince Charlie
+Room," and had no reason to regret the lunch that was given us, or
+the price paid for it. Scottish hotels have had a reputation of not
+being as good as those of England and much more costly. We were
+finding things just the reverse. Automobilism is an industry in
+Scotland, not a fad, and the automobilist is catered for accordingly,
+at least so it seemed to us, and, since the leading British
+automobile is a Scotch production, who can deny that the Scot has
+grasped the salient points of the whole scheme of affairs in a far
+better manner than the Sassenach.</p>
+
+<p>From Perth, through the very heart of the Scotch Highlands, we passed
+through Glen Garry and the Valley of the Spey. Cairn Gorm rose
+something over four thousand feet immediately on our right, when,
+turning abruptly northwest, we came into Inverness just at nightfall.
+It had been another long, hard day, and, since Perth, over
+indifferent roads.</p>
+
+<p>The capital of the Highlands, Inverness, treated us very well at the
+Alexandra Hotel. As a summer or autumn resort Inverness has scarcely
+its equal in Britain. It is a lively, interesting, and picturesque
+town, and day lingers far on into the night by reason of its northern
+situation. Its temperature, moreover, for the most part of the year,
+is by no means as low as in many parts farther south.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Highlands.png">
+<img src="images/Highlands.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>From Inverness, via Dingwall, Tain, and Bonar Bridge, the roads
+improved, lying almost at sea-level. Here was a long sweep westward
+and then eastward again, around the Moray Firth, and it was not until
+we stopped at Helmsdale for lunch, 102 miles from Inverness, that we
+left the coastline road, and then only for a short distance.</p>
+
+<p>Again at Berriedal we came to the coast, the surging, battering North
+Sea waves carving grimly every foot of the shore line. Lybster,
+Albster, and Thrumster were not even names that we had heard of
+previously, and we dashed through them at the legal limit, with only
+a glance of the eye at their quaintness and unworldliness.</p>
+
+<p>Caithness is the most northern county of Scotland, and its metropolis
+is Wick, where one gets the nearest approach to the midnight sun that
+can be found with civilized, modern, and up-to-date surroundings.</p>
+
+<p>The Scottish Automobile Club vouched for the accommodation of the
+Station Hotel, at Wick, and we had no occasion to question their
+judgment. (B. B. B., six shillings; which is cheap&mdash;though it costs
+you two shillings to stable your machine at a neighbouring garage.)</p>
+
+<p>From Wick to John O'Groat's is thirty-six miles, out and back. We
+were all day doing it, loafing along over a heather-strewn plain and
+lunching at the Hotel Huna (the significance of which name we forgot
+to ask.)</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Wick.png">
+<img src="images/Wick.png" alt="Wick, Inverness, and John O'Groat's"
+height=400 border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>Wick, Inverness, and John O'Groat's</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>This ended our run to the North, five days in all, not a very
+terrific speed or a very venturesome proceeding, but as good a test
+of one's knowledge of how to keep his machine running as can be got
+anywhere. It was a sort of rapid review of many things of which we
+had hitherto only a scrappy, fragmentary knowledge, and is a trip
+which should not be omitted from any one's grand European itinerary
+if one has the time and means of covering it.</p>
+
+<a name="4-1"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center>
+<h3>Part IV<br>
+In Belgium, Holland, And Germany</h3>
+<br>
+<h3>Chapter I</h3>
+<h3>On The Road In Flanders</h3>
+<br>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Flanders.png">
+<img src="images/Flanders.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>There has been a noticeable falling off in touring in Belgium. There
+is no reason for this except the caprice of fashion, and the
+automobile and its popularizing influence will soon change all this,
+in spite of the abominable stretches of paved highroads, which here
+and there and everywhere, and most unexpectedly, crop up and shake
+one almost to pieces, besides working dire disaster to the mechanical
+parts of one's automobile. The authorities are improving things, but
+it will be some time yet before Belgium is as free from <i>pav&eacute;</i> as is
+France.</p>
+
+<p>The good roads of Belgium are as good as those anywhere to be found,
+and it is only the unlooked for and distressingly frequent stretches
+of paved highway which need give any concern.</p>
+
+<p>The natives speak French&mdash;of a sort&mdash;here and there in Belgium, but
+they also speak Flemish and Walloon.</p>
+
+<p>We left Paris by the Route de Belgique, crossed the frontier at
+Givet, and made our first stop at Rethel, 193 kilometres away, where
+we passed the night, at the H&ocirc;tel de France. For a town of less than
+six thousand people Bethel is quite a metropolis. It has a grand
+establishment known as the Soci&eacute;t&eacute; d'Automobiles Bauchet, which will
+cater for any and every want of the automobilist, and has a
+half-dozen sights of first rank, from the old H&ocirc;tel Dieu to the
+bizarre doubled-up Eglise St. Nicolas and the seventeenth-century,
+wood-roofed market-house.</p>
+
+<p>Sorbon, four kilometres away, is the birthplace of Robert Sorbon, the
+founder of the Sorbonne at Paris, and is a classic excursion which is
+never omitted by true pilgrims who come to Rethel.</p>
+
+<p>Fifty-three kilometres from Rethel is Rocroi, a name which means
+little to most strangers in France. It is near the Belgian frontier
+and saw bloody doings in the Franco-Prussian war.</p>
+
+<p>Rocroi is a pompous little fortified place reached only by one road
+and a narrow-gauge railway&mdash;literally two streaks of iron rust&mdash;which
+penetrate up to the very doors of a pretentious H&ocirc;tel de Ville with a
+Doric fa&ccedil;ade, and not much else that is remarkable.</p>
+
+<p>The town has a population of but two thousand, is surrounded by
+fortifications, contains a Caserne, a Sous-Pr&eacute;fecture, a Prison, and
+a Palais de Justice. All this officialdom weights things down
+considerably, and, what with the prospect of the custom-house
+arrangements at Givet, and the necessity of demonstrating to an
+over-zealous <i>gendarme</i> at Rocroi that we really had a "Certificat de
+Capacit&eacute;," and that the photograph which it bore (which didn't look
+the least like us) was really ours, we were considerably angered and
+delayed on our departure the next morning, particularly as we had
+already been three days <i>en route</i> and the frontier was still thirty
+odd kilometres away.</p>
+
+<p>As one passes Rocroi, Belgium and France blend themselves into an
+indistinguishable unit so far as characteristics go. Manners and
+customs here change but slowly, and the highroad must be followed
+many kilometres backward toward Paris before one gets out of the
+influence of Flemish characteristics.</p>
+
+<p>We finally got across the Belgium frontier at Givet, at least we got
+our <i>passavant</i> here, though the Belgian customs formalities took place
+at Heer-Agimont, formalities which are delightfully simple, though
+evolving the payment of a fee of twelve per cent. of the declared
+value of your automobile. You get your receipt for money paid, which
+you present at the frontier station by which you leave and get it
+back again&mdash;if you have not lost your papers. If you have you might
+as well prepare to live in Belgium the rest of your life, as a friend
+of ours told us he had done, when we met him unexpectedly on a caf&eacute;
+terrace at Ostende a week later.</p>
+
+<p>There be those who are content to grovel in dark alleys, among a
+sordid picturesqueness, surrounded by a throng of garlic-sodden
+natives, rather than while their time away on the open mountainside
+or wide-spread lake or plain. All such are advised to keep away from
+Southern Belgium, the Ardennes, and the valley of the Meuse at Dinant
+and Namur.</p>
+
+<p>We lunched at the H&ocirc;tel des Postes at Dinant on the Meuse, and so
+lovely was the town and its environs, and the twenty-eight kilometres
+of valley road to Namur (no <i>pav&eacute;</i> here), that it took us eight hours
+of a long summer's day to get away from Dinant and get settled down
+again for the night in the H&ocirc;tel d'Harscamp at Namur.</p>
+
+<p>The native declares there is nothing to equal the view from the
+fortress-height of the citadel of Namur, neither in Switzerland nor
+the Pyrenees; but though we climbed the three twisting kilometres to
+the fort, there was nothing more than a ravishing view of the
+charming river valley at our feet. The majesty of it all was in the
+imagination of the inhabitant, but all the same it was of a
+loveliness that few artists can describe in paint, few authors
+picture in words, and no kodakist reproduce satisfactorily in print.
+There is but one thing for the curious to do, and that is to go and
+see it for himself.</p>
+
+<p>The rest of the journey across Belgium to Brussels the writer would
+like to forget. Oh, that terrible next day! Sixty kilometres of one
+of the worst and most destructive roads, for an automobile, in
+Europe, and through a most uninteresting country. Perhaps, if the
+road had been better, the landscape might not have had so oppressive
+an effect. As it was, an automobilist journeys along the road&mdash;which
+is practically across the kingdom&mdash;his eyes glued to it, his heart in
+his mouth, and he bumps and slides over the wearying kilometres until
+he all but forgets the beauties of the Meuse now so far behind.
+Kilometre after kilometre of this vile road is paved with blocks of
+stone as big as one's head, half of which are out of place. And when
+one's automobile sinks into the holes one can but shudder. One hears
+of a road that is paved with good intentions. It does not enjoy a
+good reputation, but it can't be worse than the road from Namur to
+Brussels!</p>
+
+<p>We passed through what, for the want of a better and more distinctive
+name, may be called the Waterloo region; but, for the moment, we
+cared not a jot for battle-fields. Our battle with the ugly roads of
+Belgium was all-sufficient.</p>
+
+<p>Southey's verses are so good, though, that they are here given in
+order that the writer may arrive the quicker at Brussels and take his
+well-earned rest:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+"Southward from Brussels lies the field of blood,<br>
+Some three hours' journey for a well-girt man;<br>
+A horseman who in haste pursued his road<br>
+Would reach it as the second hour began.<br>
+The way is through a forest deep and wide,<br>
+Extending many a mile on either side."<br><br>
+
+"No cheerful woodland this of antique trees,<br>
+With thickets varied and with sunny glade;<br>
+Look where he will, the weary traveller sees<br>
+One gloomy, thick impenetrable shade<br>
+Of tall straight trunks, which move before his sight,<br>
+With interchange of lines of long green light."<br><br>
+
+"Here, where the woods receding from the road<br>
+Have left on either hand an open space<br>
+For fields and gardens, and for man's abode,<br>
+Stands Waterloo; a little lowly place,<br>
+Obscure till now, when it hath risen to fame,<br>
+And given the victory its English name."
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>Finally we reached Brussels, still over cobblestones, the road
+growing worse every minute, and stopped at the Grand Central Hotel,
+in the Place de la Bourse, the correspondent of the Touring Club de
+France, and the only hotel of its class which serves its <i>table d'h&ocirc;te</i>
+"<i>vin compris.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>Brussels has ever been put down in the notebooks of conventional
+travellers as a little Paris; but this is by no means the case. It
+resembles Paris not at all, except that French francs pass current in
+its shops and the French tongue is the language of commerce and
+society.</p>
+
+<p>What has less frequently been remarked is that Brussels has two
+contrasting elements of life, which, lying close, one upon the other,
+strongly exaggerate the French note of it all, and make the hotels,
+caf&eacute;s, restaurants, etc., take on that boulevard aspect which we
+fondly think is Parisian.</p>
+
+<p>French Brussels and Flemish Brussels are as distinct elements in the
+make-up of this doubleheaded city as are the ingredients of oil and
+water, and like the latter they do not mix.</p>
+
+<p>When one descends from the hilltop on which is modern Brussels, past
+the cathedral of Ste. Gudule, he leaves the shops, the caf&eacute;s, and the
+boulevards behind him and enters the past.</p>
+
+<p>The small shopmen, and the men and women of the markets, all look and
+talk Flemish, and the environment is everywhere as distinctly Flemish
+as if one were standing on one of the little bridges which cross the
+waterways of Ghent or Bruges.</p>
+
+<p>The men and women are broad-bodied and coarse-featured,&mdash;quite
+different from the Dutch, one remarks,&mdash;and they move slowly and with
+apparent difficulty in their clumsy <i>sabots</i> and heavy clothing. The
+houses round about are tall and slim, and mostly in that state of
+antiquity and decay which we like to think is artistic.</p>
+
+<p>Such is Flemish Brussels. Even in the Flemish part, the city has none
+of that winsome sympathetic air which usually surrounds a quaint
+medi&aelig;val bourg. Rather it gives one the impression that old
+traditions are all but dead and that it is mere improvidence and
+<i>laisser-aller</i> that allows them to exist.</p>
+
+<p>Flemish Brussels is picturesque enough, but it is squalid, except for
+the magnificent H&ocirc;tel de Ville, which stands to-day in all the glory
+that it did when Charles V. of Spain ruled the destinies of the
+country.</p>
+
+<p>It was in the square in front of the H&ocirc;tel de Ville that Alva gloated
+over the flowing blood of his victims as it ran from the scaffold.</p>
+
+<p>The churches of Brussels, as might be supposed from the historical
+importance of the city in the past, are numerous and celebrated, at
+least they are characteristically Flemish in much of their
+belongings, though the great cathedral of Ste. Gudule itself is
+Gothic of the unmistakable French variety.</p>
+
+<p>Brussels, its cathedrals, its H&ocirc;tel de Ville, its Cloth Hall, and its
+Corporation or Guild Houses, and many more splendid architectural
+sites and scenes are all powerful attractions for sightseers.</p>
+
+<p>We went from Brussels to Ghent, forty-eight kilometres, and still
+over <i>pav&eacute;</i>. The bicyclist is better catered for, he has cinder
+side-paths almost all over Belgium and accordingly he should enjoy
+his touring in occidental and oriental Flanders even more than the
+automobilist.</p>
+
+<p>Ghent was one day a seaport of rank, much greater rank than that of
+to-day, for only a sort of sea-going canal-boat, a <i>chaland</i> or a
+<i>caboteur</i>, ever comes up the canals to the wharves.</p>
+
+<p>Ghent is a great big town, but it does not seem in the least like a
+city in spite of its hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants. Its
+churches, its belfry, its ch&acirc;teau, and its museum are the chief
+sights for tourists&mdash;automobilists and others. We visited them all
+after lunch, which was eaten (and paid for at Paris prices) at the
+H&ocirc;tel de la Poste, and covered another forty-six kilometres of <i>pav&eacute;</i>,
+before we turned in for the night at Bruges' H&ocirc;tel du Sablon. There
+are others, but the H&ocirc;tel du Sablon at Bruges was modest in its
+price, efficient in its service, and excellent in its catering. The
+chief delicacy of the menu here is the <i>mossel</i>. One eats mussels
+<i>(mossels)</i> in Belgium&mdash;if he will&mdash;and it's hard for one to escape
+them. They are <i>moules</i> in France, <i>mossels</i> in Belgium and Holland, and
+mussels in England. They are a sea food which has never tickled the
+American palate; but, after many refusals and much resentment, we ate
+them&mdash;and found them good.</p>
+
+<p>Bruges' sights are similar to those of Ghent, except that its belfry
+is more splendid and more famous and the Memlings of the H&ocirc;pital St.
+Jean draw crowds of art lovers to Bruges who never even stop at
+Ghent.</p>
+
+<p>Our little run around Belgium, a sort of willy-nilly blowing about by
+the North Sea winds, drew us next to Ostende. If there is one place
+more splendidly <i>chic</i> than Ostende it is Monte Carlo. The palm is
+still with Monte Carlo, but, for August at any rate, Ostende, with
+its Digue, its hotels and terrace caf&eacute;s and restaurants, is the very
+glass of fashion and fashionables.</p>
+
+<p>It was only on entering Ostende, over the last few kilometres of the
+road from Bruges, just where it borders the Slykens Canal, that we
+met anything deserving to be called a good road since leaving the
+neighbourhood of Namur. The roads of Belgium served a former
+generation very well, but <i>tempus fugit</i>, and the world advances, and
+really Belgium's highways are a disgrace to the country.</p>
+
+<p>The chief attraction of Ostende&mdash;after the great hotels&mdash;is its
+Digue, or Dyke, a great longdrawn-out breakwater against whose
+cemented walls pound the furies of the North Sea with such a
+virulence and force as to make one seasick even on land. "See our
+Digue and die," say the fisherfolk of Ostende,&mdash;those that have not
+been crowded out by the palace hotels,&mdash;"See our Digue and eat our
+oysters."</p>
+
+<p>Ostende is attractive, save on the August bank holiday, when the
+trippers come from London; then it looks like Margate or Southend so
+far as its crowds are concerned, and accordingly is frightful.</p>
+
+<p>One should not leave Belgium without visiting Ypres, that is if he
+wants to know what a highly respectable and thriving small city of
+Belgium is like.</p>
+
+<p>Ypres is typical of the best, though unfortunately, by whichever road
+you approach, you still make your way over granite blocks, none too
+well laid or cared for. The best and almost only way to avoid them is
+to take to the by-roads and trust to finding your way about. This is
+not difficult with the excellent map of the Automobile Club de
+Belgique, but it requires some ingenuity to understand the native who
+answers your inquiry in bad French and worse Walloon or Flemish.</p>
+
+<p>At Ypres the H&ocirc;tel de la Chatellenie will care for you and your
+automobile very well, though its garage is nothing to boast of. Both
+meals and beds are good, and the rates are cheap, something less than
+nine francs a day for birds of passage. You must pay extra for wine,
+but beer is thrown in, thick, sticky, sugary beer, but it's better
+than England's "bitter," or the lager of Rotterdam.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Flanderspic.png">
+<img src="images/Flanderspic.png"
+alt="Ostende &mdash; Canal at Bruges &mdash; Milk Cart" height=400 border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>Ostende &mdash; Canal at Bruges &mdash; Milk Cart</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>Ypres is full of interesting buildings, but its H&ocirc;tel de Ville and
+its Cloth Hall, with its lacelike fa&ccedil;ade, are easily the best. Ypres
+has a museum which, like most provincial museums, has some good
+things and some bad ones, a stuffed elephant, some few good pictures,
+sea-shells, the instruments which beheaded the Comte d'Egmont, and
+some wooden sculptures; variety enough to suit the most catholic
+tastes.</p>
+
+<p>From Ypres we continued our zigzag through Belgium, following most of
+the time dirt roads which, though not of superlative excellence, were
+an improvement on stone blocks. It took us practically all day to
+reach Antwerp, a hundred and thirty kilometres away.</p>
+
+<p>Belgium is everywhere quaint and curious, a sort of a cross between
+Holland and France, but more like the former than the latter in its
+mode of life, its food and drink and its industries, except perhaps
+in the country between Tournai and Li&egrave;ge.</p>
+
+<p>The country between Antwerp and Brussels affords a good general idea
+of Belgium. Its level surface presents, in rapid succession, rich
+meadows, luxuriant corn-fields, and green hedgerows, with occasional
+patches of woodland. The smallness of the fields tells amongst how
+many hands the land is divided, and prepares one for the knowledge
+that East Flanders is the most thickly peopled corner of Europe. The
+exception to this general character of the scenery is found in the
+valley of the Meuse, where the fruitful serenity of fertile meadows
+and pastoral hamlets is varied by bolder, more irregular, and move
+striking natural features. Hills and rocks, bluff headlands and
+winding valleys, with beautiful stretches of river scenery, give a
+charm to the landscape which Belgium in general does not display.</p>
+
+<p>The geographical description of Antwerp is as follows:</p>
+
+<p>Antwerp, in Flemish <i>Antwerpen</i>, the chief town of the province of that
+name, is situated in a plain 51&#176; 13' 16" north latitude, and 2&#176; 3'
+55" east longitude, twenty leagues from the sea, on the right bank of
+the Scheldt.</p>
+
+<p>The H&ocirc;tel du Grand-Laboureur was marked out for us as the automobile
+hotel of Antwerp. There was no doubt about this, when we saw the A.
+C. F., the A. C. B., and the M. C. B. signs on its fa&ccedil;ade. It is a
+very excellent establishment, but you pay extra for wine, or you
+drink beer instead.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Antwerpst.png">
+<img src="images/Antwerpst.png" alt="A Street in Antwerp"
+height=400 border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>A Street in Antwerp</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>The sights of Antwerp are too numerous to be covered in the short
+time that was at our disposal on this occasion, but we gave some time
+to the works and shrine of the master Rubens, and the wonderful
+cathedral spire, and the H&ocirc;tel de Ville and the Guild Houses and all
+the rest, not forgetting Quentin Matsys's well. We were, however, a
+practical party, and the shipping of the great port, the gay caf&eacute;s,
+and the busy life of Antwerp's marts of trade also appealed to us.</p>
+
+<p>Antwerp is a wonderful storehouse of many things. "It is in the
+streets of Antwerp and Brussels," said Sir Walter Scott, "that the
+eye still rests upon the forms of architecture which appear in
+pictures of the Flemish school."</p>
+
+<p>"This rich intermixture of towers and battlements and projecting
+windows highly sculptured produces an effect as superior to the tame
+uniformity of a modern street as the casque of the warrior exhibits
+over the slouch-brimmed beaver of a Quaker." This was true of Sir
+Walter Scott's time, and it is true to-day.</p>
+
+<a name="4-2"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center>
+<h3>Chapter II</h3>
+<h3>By Dykes And Windmills</h3>
+<br>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Dykes.png">
+<img src="images/Dykes.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>Holland for automobilists is a land of one hill and miles and miles
+of brick-paved roads, so well laid with tiny bricks, and so straight
+and so level that it is almost an automobilist's paradise.</p>
+
+<p>We had come from Belgium to Holland, from Antwerp to Breda, a little
+short of fifty kilometres, to make a round of Dutch towns by
+automobile, as we had done in the old days by the humble bicycle.</p>
+
+<p>Custom-house regulations are not onerous in Holland. The law says you
+must pay five per cent. duty on entering the country, or <i>at the
+discretion of the authorities</i>, bona-fide tourists will be given a
+temporary permit to "circulate" free. There are no speed limits in
+Holland, but you must not drive to the common danger. The first we
+were glad to know, the second we did not propose to do.</p>
+
+<p>As we passed the frontier the <i>douaniers</i> returned to their fishing
+opposite the little <i>cabaret</i> where we had some needed refreshment. It
+is curious what satisfaction middle-class officialdom in Continental
+Europe gets out of fishing. It is their one passion, apparently, if
+their work lies near a well-stocked stream. The <i>chef de bureau</i> goes
+fishing, the <i>commissionnaire</i> goes fishing, and everybody goes
+fishing. A peaceful and innocent exercise for those who like it, but
+one which is inexplicable to an outsider.</p>
+
+<p>Soon we are stopped at a toll-gate. The toll-gate keeper still exists
+in Holland, chiefly on private bridges. He loses a good deal of his
+monetary return, however, as he has a lazy habit of putting out a
+great wooden <i>sabot</i> to collect the fees, he, meanwhile, fishing or
+dozing some distance away.</p>
+
+<p>If you are a bad shot your coin sometimes goes overboard, or being an
+automobilist, and therefore down on all impositions, you simply do
+not put any more coins in the <i>sabots</i> and think to depend on your
+speed to take you out of any brewing trouble. This old relic of the
+middle ages is sure to decrease in Holland with the progress of the
+automobile.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Asfar.png">
+<img src="images/Asfar.png" alt="'As Far As We Go'"
+height=400 border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>"As Far As We Go"</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>Holland is a beautiful country, one of Nature's daintiest creations,
+where the sun and the moon and the sky seem to take the greatest
+delight in revealing their manifold charms, where the green fields
+and the clear-cut trees and the rushing rivers and the sluggish
+canals all seem to have been put in their place to conform to an
+artistic landscape design&mdash;for, truly, Holland is a vast picture. Its
+cattle are picture cattle, its myriad windmills seem to stand as
+alluring models to attract the artist, its sunsets, the haze that
+rests over its fields, its farms, its spick and span houses, its
+costumes&mdash;all seem to belong to the paraphernalia of pictorial art.
+It is a paradise for motorists who behave themselves, and do not
+rouse the ire of the Dutchman. The regulations are exceedingly
+lenient, but the laws against fast speeding must not be disregarded,
+and the loud blowing of horns, on deserted streets in the middle of
+the night, is entirely forbidden.</p>
+
+<p>When tourists have scaled every peak and trodden every pass, let them
+descend once again to the lowlands and see if they cannot find
+pleasurable profit in a land whose very proximity to the borders of
+the sea gives it a character all its own. This is Holland, and this
+is the attitude with which a party of four faced it, at Breda and
+planned the tour outlined in the following pages.</p>
+
+<p>We stopped at Breda to take breath and to reconnoitre a little. Breda
+has a population of twenty thousand, and a good hotel, "Der Kroon,"
+which knows well how to care for automobilists. Breda to Dordrecht is
+perhaps twenty-five kilometres in a straight line, but by the
+highroad, via Gorinchem it is sixty-eight. Since there are no
+amphibious automobiles as yet, and there are no facile means of
+crossing the Hollandsch Diep, the d&eacute;tour must be made.</p>
+
+<p>A stroll round Breda, to brush up our history of the siege, a view of
+the ch&acirc;teau inside and out, including the reminders of Count Henry of
+Nassau and William III. of England, and we were on the road again by
+three in the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>Dordrecht and its H&ocirc;tel Belle-Vue, on the Boomstraat saw us for
+dinner that night. The trip had been without incident, save for the
+eternal crossing of canals by high-peaked donkeytack bridges which
+demanded careful driving till you found out what was on the other
+side of the crest, and the continual dodging from one side of the
+road to the other to avoid running over children at play. Clearly
+Holland, in this respect, was not far different from other countries.</p>
+
+<p>Dordrecht is delightful and is as nearly canal-surrounded as
+Amsterdam or Venice, only it is not so large, and automobilists, must
+look out or they will tumble overboard when taking a sharp corner.</p>
+
+<p>You may eat, if you like, on the balcony of the H&ocirc;tel Belle-Vue, and
+you may watch the throng of passers-by strolling through the
+courtyard of the hotel, from one street to another, as if it were a
+public thoroughfare. The only objection to it is that you fear for
+the safety of the loose things which you left in your automobile, but
+as you pay a franc for housing it the responsibility falls on the
+proprietor. No one ever heard of anything going astray, which argues
+well for the honesty of the people of Dordrecht.</p>
+
+<p>The distant view of Dordrecht, with a few spotted cattle in the
+foreground, might well pass for a tableau of Cuyps, but as all Dutch
+landscapes look more or less alike, at least they all look Dutch,
+this description of Dordrecht perhaps does not define it very
+precisely.</p>
+
+<p>Of course Dordrecht itself is typically Dutch; one would not expect
+anything else of a place with a name like that. The tree-covered
+wharves and the typical Dutch crowds, the dog-drawn little carts and
+the "morning waker," are all there. Above all, almost in Venetian
+splendour, looms the great lone tower of the church of St. Mary, the
+Groote Kerk of the town. For six hundred years it has been a faithful
+guardian of the spiritual welfare of the people, and the ruggedness
+of its fabric has well stood the test of time, built of brick though
+it is.</p>
+
+<p>Dordrecht is vulgarly and colloquially known as Dordt, or Dort, and,
+as such, is referred to in history and literature in a manner, which
+often puzzles the stranger. It is one of the most ancient cities of
+Holland, and, in the middle ages, the most busy in its intercourse
+with the outside world.</p>
+
+<p>We left Dordrecht in the early morning, expecting to cover quickly
+the twenty-seven kilometres to Rotterdam. Ever and ever the thin
+wisps of black smoke streaked into the sky from the flat directly
+ahead, but not until we had almost plumped down on the Boompjes
+itself did things take material shapes and forms.</p>
+
+<p>There are many things to do and see at Rotterdam, but the great,
+ceaseless commerce of the great world-port is one of the marvels
+which is often sniffed at and ignored; yet nowhere in any port in
+Europe or America, unless it be at Antwerp, is there to be seen such
+a ship-filled river as at Rotterdam on the Maas.</p>
+
+<p>The Hotel Weimar on the Spanishkade, and the Maas Hotel on the
+Boompjes, cater for the automobilist at rather high prices, but in an
+intelligent fashion, except that they charge a franc for garaging
+your machine overnight. We found the same thing at Dordrecht; and in
+general this is the custom all over Holland.</p>
+
+<p>We left the automobile to rest a day at Rotterdam while we took a
+little trip by water, to Gouda, famed for its cheeses. It is an
+unworldly sleepy place, though its commerce in cheeses is enormous.
+Its population, when it does travel, goes mostly by boat on the Maas.
+You pay an astonishingly small sum, and you ride nearly half a day,
+from Rotterdam to Gouda, amid a mixed freight of lovable fat little
+Dutch women with gold spiral trinkets in their ears, little calves
+and cows, pigs, ducks, hens, and what not, and on the return trip
+amid a boat-load of pungent cheeses.</p>
+
+<p>We got back to Rotterdam for the night, having spent a tranquil,
+enjoyable day on one of the chief waterways of Holland, a foretaste
+of a projected tour yet to come, to be made by automobile boat when
+the opportunity comes.</p>
+
+<p>No one, not even the most na&iuml;ve unsophisticated and gushing of
+travellers, has ever had the temerity to signalize Rotterdam as a
+city of celebrated art. But it is a fondly interesting place
+nevertheless, far more so indeed than many a less lively mart of
+trade.</p>
+
+<p>As we slowly drifted our way into the city at dusk of a long June
+evening, on board that little slow-going canal and river-craft from
+Gouda&mdash;known by so few casual travellers, but which are practically
+water stage-coaches to the native&mdash;it was very beautiful.</p>
+
+<p>The brilliant crimson sun-streaks latticed the western sky, the
+masts, spars, and sails of the quay-side shipping silhouetted
+themselves stereoscopically against this gleaming background, and the
+roar and grime of the city's wheels of trade blended themselves into
+a m&eacute;lange which was as intoxicating to the artist and rhapsodist as
+would have been more hallowed ground.</p>
+
+<p>We left Rotterdam at eight-thirty on a misty morning which augured
+that we should be deluged with rain forthwith; but all signs fail in
+Holland with regard to weather, for we hardly passed the Delftsche
+Poort, the great Renaissance gateway through which one passes to
+Delft, Schiedam, The Hague, and all the well-worn place names of
+Dutch history, before a rift of sunlight streaked through the clouds
+and framed a typical Holland landscape in as golden and yellow a
+light as one might see in Venice. It was remarkable, in every sense
+of the word, and we had good weather throughout a week of days when
+storm was all around and about us.</p>
+
+<p>Schiedam, with its windmills, is well within sight of Rotterdam. We
+had all of us seen windmills before, but we never felt quite so
+intimately acquainted with any as with these. Don Quixote's was but a
+thing of the imagination, and Daudet's, in Provence, was but a
+dismantled, unlovely, and unromantic ruin. These windmills of
+Schiedam were very sturdy and practical things, broad of base and
+long of arm, and would work even in a fog, an ancient mariner-looking
+Dutchman with <i>sabots</i> and peg-top trousers told us.</p>
+
+<p>The windmills of Holland pump water, grind corn, make cheese and
+butter, and have recently been adopted in some instances to the
+making of electricity. It has been found that with a four-winged
+mill, and the wind at a velocity of from twelve to thirty feet a
+second, four to five horsepower can be obtained with the loss of only
+fourteen per cent., caused by friction.</p>
+
+<p>A plant has been constructed in Holland which lights 450 lamps,
+earning about twelve per cent. interest on the capital invested. Of
+course it is necessary to keep an oil-motor to provide for windless
+days or nights and also to keep a reserve of electrical power on
+hand, but this is but another evidence of the practicality and the
+extreme cleverness of the Dutch. The cows that browse around the
+windmills of Schiedam are of the same spotted black and white variety
+that one sees on the canvasses of the Dutch painters. If you are not
+fortunate enough to see Paul Potter's great Dutch bull in the gallery
+at The Hague, you may see the same sort of thing hereabouts at any
+glance of the eye&mdash;the real living thing.</p>
+
+<p>From Rotterdam to Delft, all the way by the canal, allowing for the
+d&eacute;tour via Schiedam, is less than twenty kilometres, and the journey
+is short for any sort of an automobile that will go beyond a snail's
+pace.</p>
+
+<p>Visions of blue and white delftware passed through our minds as we
+entered the old town, which hardly looks as though worldly
+automobilists would be well received. Delftware there is, in
+abundance, for the delectation of the tourist and the profit of the
+curio merchant, who will sell it unblushingly as a rare old piece,
+when it was made but a year ago. If you know delftware you will know
+from the delicate colouring of the blues and whites which is old and
+which is not.</p>
+
+<p>Delft and Delftshaven, near Schiedam, in South Holland, have a
+sentimental interest for all descendants of the Puritans who fled to
+America in 1620. Delftshaven is an unattractive place enough to-day,
+but Delft itself is more dignified, and, in a way, takes on many of
+the attributes of a metropolis. Nearly destroyed by a fire in 1526,
+the present city has almost entirely been built up since the
+sixteenth century.</p>
+
+<p>The old Gothic church of the fifteenth century, one of the few
+remains of so early a date, shelters the tomb of the redoubtable Van
+Tromp, the vanquisher of the English.</p>
+
+<p>It was easy going along the road out of Delft and we reached The
+Hague in time for lunch at the H&ocirc;tel des Indes, where, although it is
+the leading hotel of the Dutch capital, everything is as French as it
+would be in Lyons, or at any rate in Brussels. You pay the
+astonishingly outrageous sum of five francs for housing your machine
+over night, but nothing for the time you are eating lunch. We got
+away from the gay little capital, one of the daintiest of all the
+courts of Europe, as soon as we had made a round of the stock sights
+of which the guide-books tell, not omitting, of course, the paintings
+of the Hague Gallery, the Rubens, the Van Dycks and the Holbeins.</p>
+
+<p>The Binnenhof drew the romanticist of our party to it by reason of
+the memories of the brothers De Witt. It is an irregular collection
+of buildings of all ages, most of them remodeled, but once the
+conglomerate residence of the Counts of Holland and the Stadtholders.</p>
+
+<p>The Binnenhof will interest all readers of Dumas. It was here that
+there took place the culminating scenes in the lives of the brothers
+De Witt, Cornelius and John. Dumas unquestionably manufactured much
+of his historical detail, but in the "Black Tulip" there was no
+exaggeration of the bloody incidents of the murder of these two noble
+men, who really had the welfare of Holland so much at heart.</p>
+
+<p>We headed down the road to the sea, by the Huis-ten-Bosch (the House
+in the Wood), the summer palace of Dutch royalty, for the Monte Carlo
+of Holland, Scheveningen. It has all the conventional marks of a
+Continental watering-place, a <i>plage</i>, a kursaale, bath houses,
+terraces, esplanades, chic hotels and restaurants, and a whole
+regiment of mushroom chairs and windshields dotting its wide expanse
+of North Sea sand.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Polders.png">
+<img src="images/Polders.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>In the season the inhabitants live off of the visitors, and out of
+season live on their fat like the ground-hog, and do a <i>little</i> fishing
+for profitable amusement. It is a thing to see, Scheveningen, but it
+is no place for a prolonged stay unless you are a gambler or a blas&eacute;
+boulevardier who needs bracing up with sea air.</p>
+
+<p>There are good hotels, if you want to linger and can stand the
+prices, the best of which is called the Palace Hotel, but we had
+another little black coffee on the gayest-looking terrace caf&eacute; we
+could find, and made wheel-tracks for Leyden, twenty kilometres
+distant.</p>
+
+<p>The distances in Holland are mere bagatelles, but there is so much
+that is strange to see, and the towns of historical interest are so
+near together, that the automobilist who covers his hundred
+kilometres a day must be a scorcher indeed.</p>
+
+<p>We passed the night at the Gouden-Leuw, which a Frenchman would call
+the Lion d'Or, and an Anglo-Saxon the Golden Lion. It was a most
+excellent hotel in the Breestraat, and it possessed what was called a
+garage, in reality a cubby-hole which, on a pinch, might accommodate
+two automobiles, if they were small ones.</p>
+
+<p>Leyden is a city of something like fifty-five thousand people. It has
+grown since the days when they chained down Bibles in its churches,
+and books in the library of its university. The chief facts that
+stand out in Leyden's history, for the visitor, are those referring
+to the exile of the Puritans here, fleeing from persecution in
+England, and before they descended upon the New World.</p>
+
+<p>The famous university was founded by the government as a reward for
+the splendid defence made by the city against the Spaniards in 1574.
+It was a question as to whether the city should be exempted from
+future taxation or should be endowed with a university. The citizens
+themselves chose the latter dignity.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving Leyden and following the flat roadway by the glimmering
+canals, which chop the <i>polders</i>, and tulip gardens off into
+checker-board squares, one reaches Haarlem, less than thirty
+kilometres away.</p>
+
+<p>The country was becoming more and more like what one imagines Holland
+ought to be; the whole country practically a vast, sandy, sea-girt
+land of dykes and canals, and dunes and sunken gardens.</p>
+
+<p>Holland has an area of about twenty thousand square miles, and
+something over five million inhabitants, with the greatest density of
+population on the coast between Amsterdam, in the north, and
+Rotterdam, in the south, and the fewest in numbers in the region
+immediately to the northward of the Zuyder-Zee.</p>
+
+<p>Wherever in Holland one strikes the brick roads, made from little red
+bricks standing on end, he is happy. There is no dust and there are
+no depressions in the surface which will upset the carburation and
+jar the bolts off your machine. It is an expensive way of
+road-building, one thinks, but it is highly satisfactory. Near
+Haarlem these brick roadways extend for miles into the open country
+in every direction.</p>
+
+<p>Haarlem is the centre of the bulb country, the gardens where are
+grown the best varieties of tulips and hyacinths known over all the
+world as "Dutch bulbs." The tulip beds of the <i>polders</i> and sunken
+gardens of the neighbourhood of Haarlem are one of the great sights
+of Holland.</p>
+
+<p>Besides bulbs, Haarlem is noted for its shiphung church, and the
+pictures by Franz Hals in the local gallery. There are other good
+Hals elsewhere, but the portraits of rotund, jolly men and women of
+his day, in the Haarlem Town Hall, are unapproached by those of any
+of his contemporaries. Fat, laughing burghers, roystering,
+knickerbockered Dutchmen and <i>vrous</i> gossiping, smoking, laughing, or
+drinking, are human documents of the time more graphic than whole
+volumes of fine writing or mere repetitions of historical fact. All
+these attributes has Haarlem's collection of paintings by Franz Hals.</p>
+
+<p>There are all sorts of ways of getting from Haarlem to Amsterdam, by
+train, by boat, by electric tram, or by automobile over an idyllic
+road, tree-shaded, canal-bordered, and dustless. It is sixteen
+kilometres only, and it is like running over a causeway laid out
+between villas and gardens. Nothing quite like it exists elsewhere,
+in Holland or out of it. An automobile can be very high-geared, for
+there are no hills except the donkey-back bridges over the canals.</p>
+
+<p>Amsterdam may properly enough be called the Venice of the North, and
+the automobilist will speedily find that an automobile boat will do
+him much better service in town than anything that runs on land.</p>
+
+<p>There are half a million souls in Amsterdam, and hotels of all ranks
+and prices. The Bible Hotel is as good as any, but they have no
+garage, nor indeed have any of the others. There are half a dozen
+"Grands Garages" in the city (with their signs written in French&mdash;the
+universal language of automobilism), and the hotel porter will jump
+up on the seat beside you and pilot you on your way, around sharp
+corners, over bridges, and through arcades until finally you plump
+down in as up-to-date and conveniently arranged an establishment for
+housing your machine as you will find in any land.</p>
+
+<p>Amsterdam's sights will occupy the visitor for a couple of days, and
+its art gallery for a day longer. We were taking only a bird's-eye
+view, or review, and stayed only over one night, not making even the
+classic excursion to those artists' haunts of Volendam, Monnikendam,
+and Marken, of which no book on Holland should fail to make mention.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Amsterdampic.png">
+<img src="images/Amsterdampic.png"
+alt="Amsterdam, Delftshaven, and Rotterdam" width=600 border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>Amsterdam, Delftshaven, and Rotterdam</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>These old Dutch towns of the Zuyder-Zee are unique in all the world,
+and Amsterdam is the gateway to them. An automobile is useless for
+reaching them. The best means are those offered by existing boat and
+tram lines.</p>
+
+<p>For Utrecht one leaves Amsterdam via the Amstel Dyke and the
+Utrechtsche Zyde, and after forty kilometres of roadway, mostly
+brick-paved like that between Haarlem and Amsterdam, he reaches
+suburban Utrecht. Utrecht, with but a hundred thousand inhabitants,
+has suburbs, reaching out in every direction, that would do justice
+to a city five times it size. Most of Utrecht's population is
+apparently suburban, and is housed in little brick houses and villas
+with white trimmings and door-steps, a bulb garden, an iron fence,
+and a miniature canal flowing through the back yard. This is the
+formula for laying out a Utrecht suburban villa.</p>
+
+<p>The Het Kasteel van Antwerpen, on the Oude Gracht, is a hotel which
+treats you very well for five or six florins a day, and allows you
+also to put your automobile under roof, charging nothing for the
+service. This is worth making a note of in a country where it usually
+costs from one to five francs a night for your automobile.</p>
+
+<p>The chief sight of Utrecht is its cathedral, with a fine Gothic tower
+over a hundred metres in height. It is the proper thing to mount to
+its highest landing, whence one gets one of the most remarkable
+bird's-eye views imaginable. In a flat country like Holland, the
+wide-spread panoramas, taken from any artificial height, embrace an
+extent of the world's surface not elsewhere to be taken in by a
+glance of the eye. The Zuyder-Zee and the lowlands of the north
+stretch out to infinity on one side; to the east the silver-spreading
+streaks of the Waal and the Oude Rijn (later making the Rhine) lead
+off toward Germany. To the south are the green-grown prairies and
+windmill-outlined horizons of South Holland; and westward are the
+<i>polders</i> and dunes of the region between Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and
+even a glimpse, on a clear day, of the North Sea itself.</p>
+
+<p>Our one long ride in Holland was from Utrecht to Nymegen, seventy-two
+kilometres. We left Utrecht after lunch and slowly made our way along
+the picture landscapes of the Holland countryside, through Hobbema
+avenues, and under the shadow of quaint Dutch church spires.</p>
+
+<p>One does not go to a foreign land to enjoy only the things one sees
+in cities. Hotels, restaurants, and caf&eacute;s are very similar all over
+Europe, and the great shops do not vary greatly in Rotterdam from
+those in Liverpool. It is with the small things of life, the doings
+of the butcher, the baker and the candlestick-maker that the change
+comes in. In Holland the housekeeper buys her milk from a little
+dog-drawn cart and can be waked at three in the morning, without
+fail, by leaving an order the night before with the "morning waker."
+If you do not have a fire going all the time, and want just enough to
+cook your dinner with, you go out and buy a few lumps of blazing
+coals. If it is boiling water you want for your coffee, you go out
+and buy it too. Holland must be a housekeeper's paradise.</p>
+
+<p>Nymegen, on the Waal, cared for us for the night. On the morrow we
+were to cross the frontier and enter Germany and the road by the
+Rhine.</p>
+
+<p>Nymegen and its Hotel Keizer Karel, on the Keizer Karel Plain, was a
+vivid memory of what a stopping-place for the night between two
+objective points should be.</p>
+
+<p>The city was delightful, its tree-grown boulevards, its attractive
+caf&eacute;s, the music playing in the park, and all the rest was an
+agreeable interlude, and the catering&mdash;if an echo of things
+Parisian&mdash;was good and bountiful. There was no fuss and feathers when
+we arrived or when we left, and not all the <i>personnel</i> of the hotel,
+from the boots to the manager, were hanging around for tips. The head
+waiter and the chambermaid were in evidence; that was all. The rest
+were discreetly in the background.</p>
+
+<a name="4-3"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center>
+<h3>Chapter III</h3>
+<h3>On The Road By The Rhine</h3>
+<br>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Rhine.png">
+<img src="images/Rhine.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>We had followed along the lower reaches of the Rhine, through the
+little land of dykes and windmills, when the idea occurred to us: why
+not make the Rhine tour <i>en automobile</i>? This, perhaps, was no new and
+unheard-of thing, but the Rhine tour is classic and should not be
+left out of any one's travelling education, even if it is
+old-fashioned.</p>
+
+<p>At Nymegen we saw the last of Holland and soon crossed the frontier.
+There were no restrictions then in force against the entrance of
+foreign automobiles, though we were threatened with new and stringent
+regulations soon to be put in force. (1906. A full r&eacute;sum&eacute; of these
+new regulations will be found in the appendix.) Legally Germany could
+demand eight marks a hundred kilos for the weight of our machine, but
+in practice all tourists were admitted free, provided one could
+convince the official that he intended to return across the frontier
+within a reasonable time.</p>
+
+<p>As we crossed the railway line we made our obeisance to the German
+customs authorities, saluted the black and white barber's-pole
+stripes of the frontier post, and filled up our tanks with gasoline,
+which had now assumed the name of <i>benzin</i>, instead of <i>benzine</i>, as in
+Holland.</p>
+
+<p>Emmerich, Cleves, Wesel, and Xanten are not tourist points, and in
+spite of the wealth of history and romance which surrounds their very
+names, they had little attraction for us. For once were going to make
+a tour of convention.</p>
+
+<p>It is a fairly long step from Nymegen to D&uuml;sseldorf, one hundred and
+one kilometres, but we did it between breakfast and lunch, in spite
+of the difficulty of finding our way about by roads and regulations
+which were new to us.</p>
+
+<p>The low, flat banks of the Rhine below D&uuml;sseldorf have much the same
+characteristics that they have in Holland, and, if the roadways are
+sometimes bad as to surface&mdash;and they are terrible in the
+neighbourhood of Crefield&mdash;they are at least flat and otherwise
+suited to speed, though legally you are held down to thirty
+kilometres an hour.</p>
+
+<p>You may find anything you like in the way of hotel accommodation at
+D&uuml;sseldorf, from the Park Hotel on the Cornelius Platz, at Waldorf
+prices, to the modest and characteristic little German inn by the
+name of Prince Alexanders Hof, which is as cheap as a French hotel of
+its class, and about as good.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Picture4.jpg">
+<img src="images/Picture4-t.jpg" alt="The Road by the Rhine"
+border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>The Road by the Rhine</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>It is at D&uuml;sseldorf that one comes first into touch with the German
+institutions in all their completeness. Immediately one comes to the
+borders of the Rhine he comes into the sphere of world politics. The
+peace of Europe lies buried at the mouth of the Scheldt where the
+Rhine enters the sea, and not on the Bosphorus. "The Rhine is the
+King of Rivers," said a German politician, "and it is our fault if
+its mouth remains in the hands of foreigners." This is warlike talk,
+if you like, but if a German prince some day rises on the throne of
+Holland, there may be a new-made map of Europe which will upset all
+existing treaties and conventions.</p>
+
+<p>D&uuml;sseldorf is a veritable big town, for, though it shelters two
+hundred and twenty-five thousand inhabitants, it is not "citified."
+It is one of the most lovely of Rhine towns, and is the headquarters
+of the Rhenish Westphalian Automobile Club.</p>
+
+<p>To Cologne is thirty-seven kilometres, with the roads still
+bad,&mdash;shockingly so we found them, though we were assured that this
+is unusual and that even then they were in a state of repair. This
+was evident, and in truth they needed it.</p>
+
+<p>The twin Gothic splendours of Cologne's cathedral rise high in air
+long before one reaches the confines of the city. Cologne is the
+metropolis of the Rhine country, and besides its four hundred
+thousand inhabitants possesses many institutions and industries which
+other Rhine cities lack.</p>
+
+<p>Of hotels for automobilists at Cologne there are five, all of which
+will treat you in the real <i>tourist</i> fashion, and charge you
+accordingly,&mdash;overcharge you in fact. We did not have time to hunt up
+what the sentimentalist of the party always called "a quaint little
+inn," and so we put into one almost under the shadow of the cathedral
+(purposely nameless).</p>
+
+<p>The sights of Cologne are legion. "Numerous churches, all very
+ancient" describes them well enough for an itinerary such as this;
+the guide-books must do the rest. The Kolner Automobile Club will
+supply the touring automobilist graciously and gratuitously with
+information. A good thing to know!</p>
+
+<p>The beer and concert gardens of Cologne's waterside are famous,
+almost as famous as the relics of the "three kings" in the cathedral.</p>
+
+<p>At Cologne the pictured, storied Rhine begins. A skeleton itinerary
+is given at the end of this chapter which allows some digression here
+for observations of a pertinent kind.</p>
+
+<p>Let the traveller not be disappointed with the first glance at the
+river as he sees it at Cologne. He is yet a few miles below the banks
+which have gained for the stream its fame for surpassing beauty, but
+higher up it justifies the rhapsodies of the poet.</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+"A blending of all beauties; streams and dells,<br>
+Fruit, foliage, crag, wood, corn-field, mountain, vine,<br>
+And chiefless castles breathing stern farewells<br>
+From gray but leafy walls, where Ruin greenly dwells.<br><br>
+
+"And there they stand, as stands a lofty mind,<br>
+Worn, but unstooping to the baser crowd,<br>
+All tenantless, save to the crannying wind,<br>
+Or holding dark communion with the cloud.<br>
+There was a day when they were young and proud,<br>
+Banners on high, and battles passed below:<br>
+But they who fought are in a bloody shroud,<br>
+And those which wav'd are shredless dust ere now,<br>
+And the bleak battlements shall bear no future blow.<br><br>
+
+"Beneath battlements, within those walls,<br>
+Power dwelt amidst her passions: in proud state,<br>
+Each robber chief upheld his armed halls,<br>
+Doing his evil will, nor less elate<br>
+Than mightier heroes of a longer date.<br>
+What want these outlaws conquerors should have?<br>
+But History's purchas'd page to call them great?<br>
+A wider space, an ornamented grave?<br>
+Their hopes were not less warm, their souls were full as brave."
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>The scenery, the history and legend, and the wines of the Rhine make
+up the complete list of the charms of the river for the enthusiastic
+voyager on its bosom or on its banks.</p>
+
+<p>It is enjoyable enough when one is on the deck of a Rhine steamboat,
+or would be if one were not so fearfully crowded, but it is doubly so
+when one is travelling along its banks by roadways which, from here
+on, improve greatly.</p>
+
+<p>The history and legend of the Rhine are too big a subject to handle
+here, but some facts about Rhine wine, picked up on the spot, may be
+of interest.</p>
+
+<p>The true German is not only eloquent when speaking of the <i>quality</i> of
+the Rhine wines, but he claims for them also the honours of
+antiquity. One may be content to date their history back merely to
+the days of Probus, but others declare that Bacchus only could be the
+parent of such admirable liquor, and point to Bacharach as the
+resting-place of the deity when he came to taste the Rhine grapes,
+and set an example to all future tipplers. It would not have been out
+of place to call the Rhine the country of Bacchus. The Rhine,
+Moselle, Neckar, and Main are gardens of the vine; but the Germans
+have not been content with cultivating the banks of rivers alone, for
+the higher lands are planted as well. From Bonn to Coblenz, and from
+the latter city to Mayence, the country is covered with vineyards.
+The Johannisberger of "father" Rhine, the Gruenhauser or the
+Brauneberger of the Moselle, and the Hochheimer of the Main, each
+distinguish and hallow their respective rivers in the eyes of the
+connoisseur in wine.</p>
+
+<p>The vineyards of the Rhine are a scene of surpassing beauty; Erbach,
+enthroned among its vines; Johannisberg, seated on a crescent hill of
+red soil, adorned with cheering vegetation; Mittelheim, Geisenheim,
+and R&uuml;desheim with its strong, fine-bodied wine, the grapes from
+which bask on their promontory of rock, in the summer sun, and imbibe
+its generous heat from dawn to setting; then again, on the other
+side, Bingen, delightful, sober, majestic, with its terraces of
+vines, topped by the ch&acirc;teau of Klopp. The river and its riches, the
+corn and fruit which the vicinity produces, all remind the stranger
+of a second Canaan. The Bingerloch, the ruins, and the never-failing
+vines scattered among them, like verdant youth revelling amid age and
+decay, give a picture nowhere else exhibited, uniting to the
+joyousness of wine the sober tinge of meditative feeling. The hills
+back the picture, covered with feudal relics or monastic remains,
+mingled with the purple grape. Landscapes of greater beauty, joined
+to the luxuriance of fruitful vine culture, can nowhere be seen.</p>
+
+<p>The glorious season of fruition&mdash;the <i>Vintage</i>&mdash;is the time for the
+visit of a wine-lover to the Rhine. It does not take place until the
+grapes are perfectly mature; they are then carefully gathered, and
+the bad fruit picked out, and, with the stalks, put aside. The wine
+of the pressing is separated, <i>most vom ersten druck, vom nachdruck</i>.
+The more celebrated of the wines are all fermented in casks; and
+then, after being repeatedly racked, suffered to remain for years in
+large <i>fudders</i> of 250 gallons, to acquire perfection by time. The
+wines mellow best in large vessels; hence the celebrated Heidelberg
+tun, thirty-one feet long by twenty-one high, and holding one hundred
+and fifty <i>fudders</i>, or six hundred hogsheads. T&uuml;bingen, Gr&uuml;ningen, and
+K&ouml;nigstein (the last 3,709 hogsheads) could all boast of their
+enormous tuns, in which the white wines of the country were thought
+to mellow better than in casks of less dimensions. These tuns were
+once kept carefully filled. The Germans always had the reputation of
+being good drinkers, and of taking care of the "liquor they loved."
+Misson says in his "Travels," that he formerly saw at Nuremberg the
+public cellar, two hundred and fifty paces long, and containing
+twenty thousand <i>ahms</i> of wine.</p>
+
+<p>The names and birthplaces of the different German wines are
+interesting. The Liebfrauenmilch is a well-bodied wine, grown at
+Worms, and generally commands a good price. The same may be said of
+the wines of Koesterick, near Mayence; and those from Mount
+Scharlachberg are equally full-bodied and well-flavoured. Nierstein,
+Oppenheim, Laubenheim, and Gaubischeim are considered to yield first
+growths, but that of Deidesheim is held to be the best.</p>
+
+<p>The river Main runs up to Frankfort close to Mayence; and on its
+banks the little town of Hochheim, once the property of General
+Kellerman, stands upon an elevated spot of ground, in the full blaze
+of the sun. From Hochheim is derived the name of Hock, too often
+applied by the unknowing to all German wines. There are no trees to
+obstruct the genial fire from the sky, which the Germans deem so
+needful to render their vintages propitious. The town stands in the
+midst of vineyards.</p>
+
+<p>The vineyard which produces the Hochheimer of the first growth is
+about eight acres in extent, and situated on a spot well sheltered
+from the north winds. The other growths of this wine come from the
+surrounding vineyards. The whole eastern bank of the Rhine to Lorich,
+called the Rheingau, has been remarkable centuries past for its
+wines. It was once the property of the Church. Near this favoured
+spot grows the Schloss-Johannisberger, once the property of the
+Church, and also of the Prince of Orange. Johannisberg is a town,
+with its castle (schloss) on the right bank of the Rhine below Mentz.
+The Johannisberger takes the lead in the wines of the Rhine. The
+vines are grown over the vaults of the castle, and were very near
+being destroyed by General Hoche. The quantity is not large.</p>
+
+<p>R&uuml;desheim produces wines of the first Rhine growths; but the
+Steinberger, belonging to the Duke of Nassau, takes rank after the
+Schloss Johannisberger among these wines. It has the greatest
+strength, and yet is one of the most delicate, and even sweetly
+flavoured. That called the "Cabinet" is the best. The quantity made
+is small, of the first growth. Graefenberg, which was once the
+property of the Church, produces very choice wines which carries a
+price equal to the R&uuml;desheim.</p>
+
+<p>Marcobrunner is an excellent wine, of a fine flavour, especially when
+the vintage has taken place in a warm year. The vineyards of Roth and
+K&ouml;nigsbach grow excellent wines. The wine of Bacharach was formerly
+celebrated, but time produces revolutions in the history of wines, as
+well as in that of empires.</p>
+
+<p>On the whole the wines of Bischeim, Asmannsh&auml;usen, and Laubenheim are
+very pleasant wines; those of the most strength are Marcobrunner,
+R&uuml;desheimer, and Niersteiner, while those of Johannisberg,
+Geisenheim, and Hochheim give the most perfect delicacy and aroma.
+The Germans themselves say, "<i>Rhein-wein, fein wein; Necker-wein,
+lecker wein; Franken-wein tranken wein; Mosel-wein, unnosel wein</i>"
+(Rhine wine is good; Neckar pleasant; Frankfort bad; Moselle
+innocent).</p>
+
+<p>The red wines of the Rhine are not of extraordinary quality. The
+Asmannsh&auml;user is the best, and resembles some of the growths of
+France. Near Lintz, at Neuwied, a good wine, called Blischert, is
+made. Keinigsbach, on the left bank of the Rhine, Altenahr, Rech, and
+Kesseling, yield ordinary red growths.</p>
+
+<p>The Moselle wines are secondary to those of the Rhine and Main. The
+most celebrated is the Brauneberger. The varieties grown near Treves
+are numerous. A Dutch merchant is said to have paid the Abbey of
+Maximinus for a variety called Gruenhauser in 1793, no less than
+eleven hundred and forty-four florins for two hundred and ninety
+English gallons in the vat. This wine was formerly styled the "Nectar
+of the Moselle."</p>
+
+<p>These wines are light, with a good flavour. They will not keep so
+long as the Rhine wines, but they are abundant and wholesome. Near
+Treves are grown the wines of Brauneberg, Wehlen, Graach, Zeitingen,
+and Piesport. The wines of Rinsport and Becherbach are considered of
+secondary rank. The wines of Cusel and Valdrach, near Treves, are
+thought to be possessed of diuretic properties. In about five years
+these wines reach the utmost point of perfection for drinking. They
+will not keep more than ten or twelve in prime condition.</p>
+
+<p>The wines called "wines of the Ahr" resemble those of the Moselle,
+except that they will keep longer.</p>
+
+<p>The "wines of the Neckar" are made from the best French, Hungarian,
+and even Cyprus vines. The most celebrated are those of Bessingheim.
+They are of a light red colour, not deep, and of tolerable flavour
+and bouquet.</p>
+
+<p>Wiesbaden grows some good wines at Schierstein, and Epstein, near
+Frankfort. The best wines of Baden are produced in the seigniory of
+Badenweiler, near Fribourg. At Heidelberg, the great tun used to be
+filled with the wine of that neighbourhood, boasted to be a hundred
+and twenty years old, but it gave the wine no advantage over other
+Neckar growths. Some good wines are produced near Baden. The red
+wines of Wangen are much esteemed in the country of Bavaria, but they
+are very ordinary. W&uuml;rzburg grows the Stein and Liesten wines. The
+first is produced upon a mountain so called, and is called "wine of
+the Holy Spirit" by the Hospital of W&uuml;rzburg, to which it belongs.
+The Liesten wines are produced upon Mount St. Nicholas. Straw wines
+are made in Franconia. A <i>vin de liqueur</i>, called Calmus, like the
+sweet wines of Hungary, is made in the territory of Frankfort, at
+Aschaffenburg. The best vineyards are those of Bischofsheim. Some
+wines are made in Saxony, but they are of little worth. Meissen, near
+Dresden, and Guben, produce the best. Naumberg makes some small
+wines, like the inferior Burgundies.</p>
+
+<p>With these pages as a general guide the touring automobilist must
+make his own itinerary. He will not always want to put up for the
+night in a large town, and will often prefer the quietness and the
+romantic picturesqueness of some little half-mountain-hidden townlet
+and its simple fare to a <i>table d'h&ocirc;te</i> meal, such as he gets at
+Cologne or Coblenz, which is simply a poor imitation of its Parisian
+namesake.</p>
+
+<p>The following skeleton gives the leading points.</p>
+
+<table cellpadding="2">
+  <tr><td>Cologne</td><td>to Bonn</td><td>(Hotel Rheinfeck)</td><td align="right">27</td><td>Kilometres</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Bonn</td><td>to Godesberg</td><td>(Hotel Blinzer)</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Godesberg</td><td>to Andernach</td><td>(Hotel Schafer)</td><td align="right">28</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Andernach</td><td>to Coblenz</td><td>(Hotel Metropole)</td><td align="right">18</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Coblenz</td><td>to St. Goar</td><td>(Hotel Rheinfels)</td><td align="right">46</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>St. Goar</td><td>to Bingen</td><td>(Stakenburger Hof)</td><td align="right">29</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Bingen</td><td>to Mayence</td><td>(Pfalzer Hof)</td><td align="right">27</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Mayence</td><td>to Frankfort</td><td>(Savoy Hotel)</td><td align="right">33</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Frankfort</td><td>to Worms</td><td>(Europaischer Hof)</td><td align="right">52</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Worms</td><td>to Mannheim</td><td>(Pfalzer Hof)</td><td align="right">41</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Mannheim</td><td>to Heidelberg</td><td>(Hotel Schrieder)</td><td align="right">22</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Heidelberg</td><td>to Spire</td><td>(Pfalzer Hof)</td><td align="right">28</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Spire</td><td>to carlsruhe</td><td>(Hotel Erbprinz)</td><td align="right">52</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Carlsruhe</td><td>to Baden</td><td>(Hotel Stephanie)</td><td align="right">26</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Baden</td><td>to Strasburg</td><td>(H&ocirc;tel de l'Europe)</td><td align="right">60</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>Generally speaking, none of the hotels above mentioned include wine
+with meals. The trail of the tourist accounts for this. All have
+accommodation for the automobilist.</p>
+
+<br><br>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Heidelberg.png">
+<img src="images/Heidelberg.png" alt="Heidelberg and Strasburg"
+height=400 border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>Heidelberg and Strasburg</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>From Strasburg one may continue to Bagel, if he is bound Italyward
+through Switzerland, but the chief distinctive features of the Rhine
+tour end at Strasburg.</p>
+
+<p>From Strasburg one may enter France by St. Di&eacute;, in the Vosges, via
+the Col de Saales, the <i>douane</i> (custom-house) station for which is at
+Nouveau Saales.</p>
+
+<p>The following are some of the signs and abbreviations met with in
+German hotels catering for stranger automobilists.</p>
+
+<table cellpadding="2">
+  <tr><td>Ohne Wein</td><td>Wine not included</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>A. C. B.</td><td>Automobile Club de Belgique</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>M. C. B.</td><td>Moto-Club de Belgique</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>T. C. B.</td><td>Touring Club de Belgique</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>T. C. N.</td><td>Touring Club N&eacute;erlandais</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>A. C. F.</td><td>Automobile Club de France</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>T. C. F.</td><td>Touring Club de France</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Bade-Raum</td><td>Bathroom</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Grube</td><td><i>Fosse</i> or Inspection Pit</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>THE END.</p>
+
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<center>
+<h3>Appendices</h3>
+<br>
+</center>
+
+
+<a name="5-1"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>Appendix I</h3>
+
+<center>
+<a href="images/Appendix1.png">
+<img src="images/Appendix1.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<a name="5-2"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<h3>Appendix II</h3>
+
+<h4>A SHORT ACCOUNT OF SOME FAMOUS EUROPEAN ROAD RACES AND TRIALS</h4>
+
+<p>In December, 1893, <i>Le Petit Journal</i> of Paris proposed a trial of
+self-propelled road-vehicles, to end with a run from Paris to Rouen.
+The distance was 133 kilometres and the first car to arrive at Rouen
+was a steam-tractor built by De Dion, Bouton et Cie, to-day perhaps
+the largest manufacturers of the ordinary gasoline-motor. A Peugot
+carriage, fitted with a Daimler engine, followed next, and then a
+Panhard. There were something like a hundred entries for this trial,
+of which one was from England and three from Germany, but most of
+them did not survive the run.</p>
+
+<p>On the 11th of June, 1895, was started the now historic
+Paris-Bordeaux race. Sixteen gasoline and half a dozen steam cars
+started from the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris, for the journey to
+Bordeaux and back. It was a Panhard-Levassor that arrived back in
+Paris first, but the prize was given to a Peugot which carried four
+passengers, whereas the Panhard carried but two.</p>
+
+<p>In the following year the new locomotion was evidently believed to
+have come to stay, for the first journal devoted to the industry and
+sport was founded in Paris, under the name of <i>La Locomotion
+Automobile</i>, soon to be followed by another called <i>La France
+Automobile</i>.</p>
+
+<p>In 1896 was held the Paris-Marseilles race, divided into five stages
+for the outward journey, and five stages for the homeward.
+Twenty-four gasoline-cars started, and three propelled by steam, and
+there were five gasoline-tricycles. Bol&eacute;e's tandem tricycle was the
+sensation during the first stage, averaging twenty miles an hour. The
+itinerary out and back, of something like sixteen hundred kilometres,
+was covered first by a Panhard-Levassor, in sixty-seven hours,
+forty-two minutes, and fifty-eight seconds. The average speed of the
+winner was something like twenty-two kilometres an hour.</p>
+
+<p>In England a motor-car run was organized from London to Brighton in
+1896, including many of the vehicles which had started in the
+Paris-Marseilles race in France. The first vehicles to arrive in
+Brighton were the two Bol&eacute;e tricycles; a Duryea was third, and a
+Panhard fourth.</p>
+
+<p>In 1897 there was a race in France, on a course laid out between
+Marseilles, Nice, and La Turbie. The struggle was principally between
+the Comte Chasseloup-Laubat in a steam-car, and M. Lemaitre in a
+Panhard, with a victory for the former, showing at least that there
+were possibilities in the steam-car which gasoline had not entirely
+surpassed.</p>
+
+<p>Pneumatic tires were used on the Paris-Bordeaux race in 1895, but
+solid tires were used on the winning cars in 1894, 1895, and 1896.</p>
+
+<p>Another affair which came off in 1897 was a race from Paris to
+Dieppe, organized by two Paris newspapers, the <i>Figaro</i> and <i>Les Sports</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The event was won by a three-wheeled Bol&eacute;e, with a De Dion second,
+and a six-horse-power Panhard third.</p>
+
+<p>In 1898 there took place the Paris-Amsterdam race. It was won by a
+Panhard, driven by Charron, and the distance was approximately a
+thousand miles, something like sixteen hundred kilometres.</p>
+
+<p>The "Tour de France" was organized by the <i>Matin</i> in 1898. The distance
+was practically two thousand kilometres. Panhards won the first,
+second, third, and fourth places, though they were severely pressed
+by Mors.</p>
+
+<center>
+<a href="images/Evolracingcar.png">
+<img src="images/Evolracingcar.png"
+alt="The Evolution of the Racing Automobile" height=400 border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>The Evolution of the Racing Automobile</b>
+</center>
+
+<p>The first Gordon-Bennett cup race was held in 1900, between Paris and
+Lyons. The distance was not great, but the trial was in a measure
+under general road conditions, though it took on all the aspects of a
+race. It was won by Charron in a Panhard.</p>
+
+<p>In 1901 the Gordon-Bennett race was run from Paris to Bordeaux,
+perhaps the most ideal course in all the world for such an event. It
+was won by Girardot in a forty-horse Panhard.</p>
+
+<p>The Paris-Berlin race came in the same year, with Fournier as winner,
+in a Mors designed by Brazier.</p>
+
+<p>In 1902 the Gordon-Bennett formed a part of the Paris-Vienna
+itinerary, the finish being at Innsbruck in the Tyrol. De Knyff in a
+Panhard had victory well within his grasp when, by a misfortune in
+the parting of his transmission gear, he was beaten by Edge in the
+English Napier. Luck had something to do with it, of course, but Edge
+was a capable and experienced driver and made the most of each and
+every opportunity.</p>
+
+<p>Through to Vienna the race was won by Farman in a seventy-horse-power
+Panhard, though Marcel Renault in a Renault "<i>Voiture Legere</i>" was
+first to arrive.</p>
+
+<p>It was in 1901 that the famous Merc&eacute;d&egrave;s first met with road
+victories. A thirty-five-horse power Merc&eacute;d&egrave;s won the Nice-Salon-Nice
+event in the south of France, and again in the following year the
+Nice-La Turbie event.</p>
+
+<p>In the Circuit des Ardennes event in 1902, Jarrot, in a seventy-horse
+Panhard, and Gabriel in a Mors, were practically tied until the last
+round, when Jarrot finally won, having made the entire distance
+(approximately 450 kilometres) at an average speed of fifty-four and
+a half miles per hour. There were no <i>controles</i>.</p>
+
+<p>In 1903 the Gordon-Bennett cup race was held in Ireland, over a
+course of 368 miles, twice around a figure-eight track. Germany won
+with a Merc&eacute;d&egrave;s with Jenatzy at the wheel, with De Knyff in a Panhard
+only ten minutes behind.</p>
+
+<p>In 1903 was undertaken the disastrous Paris-Madrid road race. Between
+Versailles and Bordeaux the accidents were so numerous and terrible,
+due principally to reckless driving, that the affair was abandoned at
+Bordeaux. Gabriel in a Mors car made the astonishing average of
+sixty-two and a half miles per hour, hence may be considered the
+winner as far as Bordeaux.</p>
+
+<p>In 1904 the Gordon-Bennett race was run over the Taunus course in
+Germany, with Th&egrave;ry the winner in a Richard-Brazier car.</p>
+
+<p>In 1905 Th&egrave;ry again won on the Circuit d'Auvergne in the same make of
+car, making a sensational victory which&mdash;to the French at least&mdash;has
+apparently assured the automobile supremacy to France for all time.</p>
+
+<p>The 1906 event was the Grand Prix of the Automobile Club de France on
+the Circuit de la Sarthe. The astonishing victories of the Renault
+car driven by Szisz, which made the round of 680 kilometres in two
+days at the average rate of speed of 108 kilometres an hour, has
+elated all connected with the French automobile industry. It was a
+victory for removable rims also, as had Szisz not been able to
+replace his tattered tires almost instanteously with others already
+blown up, he would certainly have been overtaken by one or more of
+the Brazier cars, which suffered greatly from tire troubles.</p>
+
+<p>In 1906 another event was organized in France by the <i>Matin</i>. It was
+hardly in the nature of a race, but a trial of over six thousand
+kilometres, an extended <i>tour de France</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Forty-two automobiles of all ranks left the Place de la Concorde at
+Paris on the 2d of August, and thirty-three arrived at Paris on the
+28th of the same month, twenty of them without penalization of any
+sort. No such reliability trial was ever held previously, and it
+showed that the worth of the comparatively tiny eight and ten horse
+machines for the work was quite as great as that of the forty and
+sixty horse monsters.</p>
+
+<p>The following tables show plainly the value of this great trial.</p>
+
+<p>COUPE DU MATIN</p>
+<p>LIST OF AUTOMOBILES ENGAGED</p>
+
+<p>CLASS "ROUES" (SPRING WHEELS AND ANTI-SKIDS)</p>
+<table>
+<tr><td align="right">1.</td><td align="center">Antid&eacute;rapant</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;N&eacute;ron</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;de Deitrich</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">2.</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Vulcain I.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;de Dion-Bouton</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">3.</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Vulcain II.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Corre</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">33.</td><td align="center">Roues &Eacute;lastiques</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Soleil</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Rochet-Schneider</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">38.</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Garchey I.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;de Dion-Bouton</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">39.</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Garchey II.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Mieusset</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">42.</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;E. L.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Delauney-Belleville</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>CLASS ENDURANCE</p>
+<blockquote>
+<i>1st Category</i><br>
+Motocyclettes, vitesse maxima, 25 kilom&egrave;tres &agrave; l'heure
+</blockquote>
+
+<table>
+<tr><td align="right">35.</td><td align="center">Motocyclette</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Lurquin-Coudert</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">64.</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Albatross (Motor Buchet)</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">67.</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Ren&eacute; Gillet</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<blockquote>
+<i>2d Category</i><br>
+Tri-cars, vitesse maxima, 25 kilom&egrave;tres &agrave; l'heure
+</blockquote>
+<table>
+<tr><td>4.</td><td>Mototri Contal I.</td></tr>
+<tr><td>5.</td><td>Mototri Contal II.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<blockquote>
+<i>3d Category</i><br>
+Voiturette 1 cylindre, al&eacute;sage maximum 110 millim&egrave;tres
+</blockquote>
+<table>
+<tr><td align="right">6.</td><td>Fouillaron</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">8.</td><td>De Dion-Bouton et Cie I.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">9.</td><td>Darracq et Cie</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">12.</td><td>De Dion-Bouton et Cie II.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">18.</td><td>Cottereau I.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">25.</td><td>Voiturette Roy</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">30.</td><td>Voiturette G. R. A. R.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">34.</td><td>Voiturette Darracq II.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">47.</td><td>Voiturette Lacoste &amp; Battmann I.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">48.</td><td>Voiturette Lacoste &amp; Battmann II.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">49.</td><td>Voiturette Lacoste &amp; Battmann III.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">59.</td><td>Voiturette Alcyon</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<blockquote>
+<i>4th Category</i><br>
+Voitures 2 cylindres, al&eacute;sage maximum 130 millim&egrave;tres, ou 4 cylindres, al&eacute;sage maximum 85 millim&egrave;tres
+</blockquote>
+
+<table>
+<tr><td align="right">10.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Darracq II.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">11.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Darracq</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">13.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;De Dion-Bouton et Cie III.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">15.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;D. Thuault</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">19.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Cottereau II.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">20.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Cottereau III.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">21.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Cottereau IV.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">22.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Kallista I.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">23.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Kallista II.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">44.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Panhard et Levassor</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">46.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Corre</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">51.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;X.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<blockquote>
+<i>5th Category</i><br>
+Voitures 4 cylindres, al&eacute;sage maximum 105 millim&egrave;tres
+</blockquote>
+
+<table>
+<tr><td align="right">7.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;C. V. R. I.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">16.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;De Dion-Bouton et Cie IV.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">17.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;De Dion-Bouton et Cie V.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">28.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Renault Fr&egrave;res</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">29.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;C. I. A.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">31.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;C. V. R. II.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">43.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Darracq V.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">50.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Herald</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">57.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Panhard</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">60.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;De Dion-Bouton et Cie VI.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">61.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Bayard Cl&egrave;ment I.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">65.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Corre</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">66.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Berliet</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<blockquote>
+<i>6th Category</i><br>
+Voitures 4 cylindres, al&eacute;sage maximum 126 millim&egrave;tres
+</blockquote>
+
+<table>
+<tr><td align="right">14.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Merc&eacute;d&egrave;s I.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">24.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Scrive</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">26.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Pilain I.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">27.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Pilain II.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">32.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;C. V. R. III.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">45.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Gobron</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">52.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Mors.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">53.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Merc&eacute;d&egrave;s II.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">55.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Cl&eacute;ment</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">58.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Darracq IV.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">62.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Bayard-Cl&eacute;ment II.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">63.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;C. V. R. IV.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">68.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Merc&eacute;d&egrave;s III.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<blockquote>
+<i>7th Category</i><br>
+Voitures 4 cylindres, al&eacute;sage maximum 140 millim&egrave;tres
+</blockquote>
+
+<table>
+<tr><td align="right">36.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Siddely</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">37.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Siddely</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">56.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;Fiat</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<a name="5-3"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>Appendix III</h3>
+
+<center>
+<a href="images/Appendix3.png">
+<img src="images/Appendix3.png"
+alt="Route Maps of Three Great European Events" height=400 border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>Route Maps of Three Great European Events</b>
+</center>
+
+<a name="5-4"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>Appendix IV</h3>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Appendix4.png">
+<img src="images/Appendix4.png"
+alt="Comparative Chart, Increase in the Average Speeds
+Per Hour in the Great Automobile Events
+of the Last Five Years"
+height=400 border="0"></a>
+<br>
+<b>Comparative Chart, Increase in the Average Speeds Per Hour<br>in
+the Great Automobile Events of the Last Five Years</b>
+</center>
+
+<a name="5-5"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>Appendix V</h3>
+
+<h4>SOME FAMOUS HILL CLIMBS ABROAD</h4>
+
+<p>ENGLAND</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+Birdlip Hill.&mdash;Near Gloucester. Length, 2 miles; average gradient, 1
+in 8; steepest gradient, 1 in 7<br>
+
+Dashwood Hill.&mdash;Near High Wycombe. Length, 1,180 yards; average
+gradient, 1 in 16; steepest gradient, 1 in 10.9.<br>
+
+Hindhead.&mdash;Near Guildford. Length, 2 3/4 miles, rise, 520 feet;
+average gradient, 1 in 24.4 ; steepest gradient, 1 in 13.<br>
+
+Porlock Hill.&mdash;North Devon. Length, 3 miles; rise, 1,365 feet;
+gradient, 1 in 6 to 1 in 8.<br>
+
+Shap Fell.&mdash;Near Penrith. Rise, 1,886 feet, gradients, 1 in 11, 1 in
+15, 1 in 16, and 1 in 20.<br>
+
+Snowdon.&mdash;Mountain in Wales. Steepest gradient, 1 in 7.<br>
+
+Westerham.&mdash;Length, 2,940 feet; average gradient, 1 in 9.4.
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>FRANCE</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+Ch&acirc;teau Thierry.&mdash;Near Meaux. Length, 1,098 yards.<br>
+
+C&ocirc;te de Gaillon.&mdash;Near Rouen. The scene of the most famous hill
+climbs in France. Length, 3 kilometres, rise, 10 per cent. for the
+greater part of the distance.<br>
+
+C&ocirc;te de Laffray.&mdash;Near Grenoble. Length, 4.13 miles; gradients, 1 in
+15, 1 in 11, 1 in 10, and 1 in 8; average, 9.3 per cent; many bad
+turns.<br>
+
+La Turbie.&mdash;A rude foot-hill climb in the Maritime Alps just back of
+Monte Carlo.<br>
+
+Mont Ventoux.&mdash;Near Avignon. Length, 20 kilometres; rise 1,600
+metres.<br>
+
+Mont Cenis.&mdash;Near Turin. The "climb" begins at Susa, on the Italian
+side of the mountain, at the 596 metre level, and continues for 22
+kilometres to the 2,087 metre level, a 100 h.p. Fiat climbed this in
+1905 in 19 minutes, 18 3/5 seconds.
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<a name="5-7"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>Appendix VII</h3>
+<h4>THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY IN FRANCE</h4>
+
+<center>
+<table cellpadding="3" border="1">
+  <tr><td>Year</td><td>Number of Cars Built</td><td>Value (Fcs)</td><td>Value Exported (Fcs)</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>1898</td><td align="center">1,850</td><td align="center">8,300,000</td><td align="center">1,749,350</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>1899</td><td align="center">2,200</td><td align="center">11,000,000</td><td align="center">4,259,330</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>1900</td><td align="center">4,100</td><td align="center">23,000,000</td><td align="center">6,617,360</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>1901</td><td align="center">6,300</td><td align="center">39,000,000</td><td align="center">15,782,290</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>1902</td><td align="center">7,800</td><td align="center">47,000,000</td><td align="center">30,219,380</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>1903</td><td align="center">11,500</td><td align="center">81,000,000</td><td align="center">50,837,140</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>1904</td><td align="center">13,400</td><td align="center">106,000,000</td><td align="center">71,035,000</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>1905</td><td align="center">20,500</td><td align="center">140,000,000</td><td align="center">100,265,000</td></tr>
+</table>
+</center>
+
+<a name="5-8"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>Appendix VIII</h3>
+
+<h4>HOURS OF MOONLIGHT</h4>
+<center>
+<table cellpadding="3">
+  <tr><td>Moon</td><td>5</td><td>days old shines till</td><td>11 PM (approx.)</td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="center">"</td><td>6</td><td align="center">"</td><td>12 PM</td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="center">"</td><td>7</td><td align="center">"</td><td>1 AM</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Moon</td><td>15</td><td>days old rises at</td><td>6 PM (approx.)</td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="center">"</td><td>16</td><td align="center">"</td><td>7 PM</td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="center">"</td><td>17</td><td align="center">"</td><td>8 PM</td></tr>
+  <tr><td align="center">"</td><td>18</td><td align="center">"</td><td>9-10 PM</td></tr>
+</table>
+</center>
+
+<a name="5-9"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>Appendix IX</h3>
+<h4>THE LENGTH OF DAYS</h4>
+<center>
+<a href="images/Appendix9.png">
+<img src="images/Appendix9.png" alt="Length of Days" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+<br>
+<blockquote>
+After the method of M. Carlier, Ing&eacute;nieur des Arts et Manufactures.<br>
+Figured for the latitude of Paris, but applicable so far as the automobilist
+is concerned to most of continental Europe.<br>
+The deeply shaded portions represent night.<br>
+The lightly shaded portions twilight.<br>
+The white portions daylight.<br>
+Generally speaking, lamps must be lighted at the hour indicated by deeply shaded
+portions in the respective months.<br>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+
+<a name="5-10"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>Appendix X</h3>
+
+<h4>THE TOURING CLUB DE FRANCE</h4>
+
+<p>The Touring Club de France is the largest and most active national
+association for the promotion of touring. It is under the direct
+patronage of the President of the French Republic, and the interests
+and wants of its members are protected and provided for in a full and
+practical manner by an excellent organization, whose influence is
+felt in every part of France and the adjacent countries.</p>
+
+<p>The membership is over 100,000 and is steadily growing. It includes a
+very considerable body of foreign members, those from the United
+Kingdom and America alone numbering 5,000, a circumstance which may
+be accepted, perhaps, as the best possible proofs of the value of the
+advantages which the club offers to tourists from abroad visiting
+France.</p>
+
+<p>The annual subscription is 6 francs (5s.) for foreign members. There
+is no entrance fee and the election of candidates generally follows
+within a few days after the receipt of the application at the offices
+of the club in Paris.</p>
+
+<p>The club issues a number of publications specially compiled for
+cyclists, comprising: a Yearbook (Annuaire) for France divided in two
+parts (North and South) with a list of over three thousand selected
+club hotels, at which members enjoy a privileged position as to
+charges; an admirable volume of skeleton tours covering the whole of
+France, from each large centre, and by regions, and supplemented by
+some three hundred card itineraries with sketch maps; a specially
+drawn cyclist's map of France, and a monthly club gazette, all
+designed to facilitate the planning and carrying out of interesting
+tours with comfort and economy.</p>
+
+
+
+<p>INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES<br>
+Fill in the application form and enclose
+it with the subscription (6 francs) to M. le Pr&eacute;sident du T. C. F.,
+65, Avenue de la Grande-Arm&eacute;e, Paris. <i>The applications of lady
+candidates should be signed by a male relative</i>&mdash;brother, father,
+husband&mdash;whether a member of the club or not.</p>
+
+<p>Notice of resignation of membership must reach the Paris office of
+the club not later than November 30th, failing which the member is
+liable for the following year's subscription. Those who join after
+October 1st are entitled to the privileges of membership until the
+close of the following year for one subscription.</p>
+
+<p>Post-office money orders should be made payable to M. le Tr&eacute;sorier du
+T. C. F., 65, Avenue de la Grande-Arm&eacute;e, Paris, France.</p>
+
+<p>The addresses of the representatives of the Touring Club de France in
+England and America are as follows; further information concerning
+this admirable institution for <i>all travellers</i> whether by train,
+bicycle, or automobile will be gladly furnished. They can also supply
+forms for application for membership.</p>
+
+<p>DELEGATES</p>
+<table>
+<tr><td>New York City&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp</td><td>Ch. Dien</td><td>38-40 West 33d St.</td>
+<tr><td>Boston</td><td>F. Hesseltine</td><td>10 Tremont St.</td>
+<tr><td>Washington</td><td>H. Lazard</td><td>1453 Massachusetts Ave.</td>
+<tr><td>London</td><td>C. F. Just</td><td>17 Victoria St. S. W.</td>
+<tr><td>Edinburgh</td><td>Dr. D. Turner&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp</td><td>37 George Square.</td>
+<tr><td>Dublin</td><td>G. Fottereil</td><td>46 Fleet St.</td>
+</table>
+
+
+<a name="5-11"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>Appendix XI</h3>
+
+<h4>MOTOR-CAR REGULATIONS AND CUSTOMS DUTIES IN EUROPE</h4>
+
+<h4>GREAT BRITAIN</h4>
+
+<p>Certain regulations are compulsory even for tourists. You may obtain
+a license to drive a motor-car in Britain if you are over seventeen
+years of age (renewable every twelve months) at a cost of five
+shillings.</p>
+
+<p>You must register your motor-car at the County or Borough Council
+offices where you reside, fee &pound;1.0.0. You must pay a yearly "male
+servant" tax of fifteen shillings for your chauffeur. In case of
+accident, en route, you must stop and, if required, give your name
+and address, also name and address of the owner of the car and the
+car number.</p>
+
+<p>Every car must bear two number plates (the number is assigned you on
+registration), one front and one rear. The latter must be lighted at
+night.</p>
+
+<p>Speed limit is twenty miles an hour except where notice is posted to
+the effect that ten miles an hour only is allowed, or that some
+particular road is forbidden to automobiles.</p>
+
+<p>In England one's car can be registered at any port on arrival, or, by
+letter addressed to any licensing authority, before arrival. The
+regulation as to driving licenses is as follows:</p>
+
+<p>"If any person applies to the Council of a county or county borough
+for the grant of a license and the Council are satisfied that he has
+no residence in the United Kingdom, the Council shall, if the
+applicant is otherwise entitled, grant him a license, notwithstanding
+that he is not resident within their county or county borough."</p>
+
+<p>As regards the Inland Revenue Carriage License, however, it may be
+noted that twenty-one days' grace is allowed&mdash;in other words, that
+licenses must be obtained within twenty-one days after first becoming
+liable to the duty.</p>
+
+<p>There are no customs duties on automobiles entering Great Britain.</p>
+
+
+<h4>FRANCE</h4>
+<p>CERTIFICAT DE CAPACIT&Eacute; AND R&Eacute;C&Eacute;PISS&Eacute; DE D&Eacute;CLARATION</p>
+
+<p>Before taking an automobile upon the road in France all drivers must
+procure the Certificat de Capacit&eacute;, commonly known as the "Carte
+Rouge."</p>
+
+<p>The following letter should be addressed to the nearest pr&eacute;fecture,
+or sous-pr&eacute;fecture, written on stamped paper (papier timbr&eacute;, 60
+centimes) and accompanied by two miniature photographs.</p>
+
+<p>"Monsieur:&mdash;J'ai l'honneur de vous demander de me faire convoquer
+pour subir l'examen n&eacute;cessaire &agrave; l'obtention d'un certificat de
+capacit&eacute; pour la conduite d'une voiture... (indiquer la marque) mue
+par un moteur &agrave; petrole.</p>
+
+<p>"Veuillez agr&eacute;er, etc."</p>
+
+<center>
+<a href="images/capacity.png">
+<img src="images/capacity.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>At the same time another letter should be addressed to the same
+authority requesting a R&eacute;c&eacute;piss&eacute; de D&eacute;claration. These applications
+must be quite separate and distinct; each on its own papier timbre,
+which you buy at any bureau de tabac.</p>
+
+<p>"Monsieur Le Pr&eacute;fet:&mdash;Je soussign&eacute; ... (nom, pr&eacute;nom, domicile)
+propri&eacute;taire d'une voiture automobile actionn&eacute;e par un moteur &agrave;
+p&eacute;trole syst&egrave;me (type et num&eacute;ro du type), ai l'honneur de vous
+demander un permis de circulation.</p>
+
+<p>"Vous trouverez sons ce pli le proc&egrave;s-verbal de r&eacute;ception d&eacute;livr&eacute; par
+le constructeur.</p>
+
+<p>"Veuillez agr&eacute;er, etc."</p>
+
+<center>
+<a href="images/recepisse.png">
+<img src="images/recepisse.png" alt="" height=400 border="0"></a>
+</center>
+
+<p>NAMES OF ARRONDISSEMENTS AND DISTINGUISHING LETTERS BORNE BY
+AUTOMOBILES IN FRANCE</p>
+
+<table>
+<tr><td>Alais</td><td align="right">A</td>
+<tr><td>Arras</td><td align="right">R</td>
+<tr><td>Bordeaux</td><td align="right">B</td>
+<tr><td>Chalon-sur-Sa&ocirc;ne</td><td align="right">C</td>
+<tr><td>Chamb&eacute;ry</td><td align="right">H</td>
+<tr><td>Clermont-Ferrand</td><td align="right">F</td>
+<tr><td>Douai</td><td align="right">D</td>
+<tr><td>Le Mans</td><td align="right">L</td>
+<tr><td>Marseille</td><td align="right">M</td>
+<tr><td>Nancy</td><td align="right">N</td>
+<tr><td>Poitiers</td><td align="right">P</td>
+<tr><td>Rouen</td><td align="right">Y ou Z</td>
+<tr><td>Saint-Etienne</td><td align="right">S</td>
+<tr><td>Toulouse</td><td align="right">T</td>
+<tr><td>Paris</td><td align="right">E, G, I, U, X</td>
+</table>
+
+<p>CUSTOMS DUTIES IN FRANCE.</p>
+
+<p>Fifty francs per 100 kilos on all motor vehicles weighing more than
+125 kilos. Automobiles (including motor-cycles) weighing less than
+125 kilos pay a flat rate of 120 francs.</p>
+
+<p>Members of most cycling touring clubs can arrange for the entry of
+motor-cycles free of duty.</p>
+
+<p>All customs duties paid, in France may be reimbursed upon the
+exportation of the automobile. The formalities are very simple.
+Inquire at bur&egrave;au of entry.</p>
+
+
+<h4>BELGIUM</h4>
+
+<p>Customs Dues. 12 1/2 per cent. ad valorem (owners' declaration as to
+value), but the authorities reserve the right to purchase at owners
+valuation if they think it undervalued. This is supposed to prevent
+fraud, and no doubt it does.</p>
+
+<p>A driving certificate is not required of tourists, but a registered
+number must be carried. Plates and a permit are supplied at the
+frontier station by which one enters, or they may be obtained at
+Brussels from the chef de police.</p>
+
+<p>Speed limit: 30 kilometres per hour in the open country and 10
+kilometres per hour in the towns, except, generally speaking, the
+larger cities hold down the speed to that of a trotting horse.</p>
+
+
+<h4>HOLLAND</h4>
+
+<p>Customs Dues are five per cent, ad valorem, but in practice nothing
+is demanded of genuine tourists and a permit is now given (1906) for
+eight days with a right of extension for a similar period.</p>
+
+<p>Foreign number plates, once recorded by the Dutch customs officials,
+will supplant the need of local number plates.</p>
+
+
+<h4>SWITZERLAND</h4>
+
+<p>Customs Dues are 60 francs per 100 kilos. This amount, deposited on
+entering the country, will be refunded upon leaving and complying
+with the formalities.</p>
+
+<p>Legally a driving and "circulation" permit may be demanded, but often
+this is waived.</p>
+
+<p>In the Canton Valais only the main road from St. Maurice to Brigue is
+open for automobile traffic. Many other roads are entirely closed.</p>
+
+<p>N.B. Traffic regulations in many parts are exceedingly onerous and
+often unfair to foreigners.</p>
+
+<p>A recent conference of the different cantons has been held at Berne
+to consider the question of automobile traffic in the country. It was
+decided to fix a blue sign on the roads where motorists must slacken
+speed, and a yellow sign where motoring is not allowed. The
+Department of the Interior was deputed to draw up a uniform code of
+rules for the guidance of police deputed to take charge of the roads.
+No decision was arrived at as regards uniformity in fines for
+infraction of the regulations, but steps are to be taken to put an
+end to the abuses to which it is alleged the police have subjected
+motorists. A resolution was furthermore adopted to the effect that no
+road is to be closed to motor-cars without an agreement between the
+authorities of all the cantons concerned, and that all foreign
+motorists shall be given a copy of the regulations on entering the
+country.</p>
+
+<p>The above information is given here that no one may be unduly
+frightened, but there is no question but that Switzerland has not
+been so hospitable to automobile tourists as to other classes.</p>
+
+<p>The Simplon Pass, under certain restrictions has recently been opened
+to automobiles. Open from June 1st to October 15th, except on
+Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, but no departure can be made from
+either Brigue or Gondo after three P. M. Apply for pass at the
+Gendarmerie. Speed 10 kilometres on the open road, and 3 kilometres
+on curves and in tunnels.</p>
+
+
+<h4>ITALY</h4>
+
+<p>Customs Dues are according to weight.</p>
+<table>
+<tr><td>500 kilos</td><td align="right">200 fcs.</td>
+<tr><td>500-1000 kilos</td><td align="right">400 fcs.</td>
+<tr><td>above 1000 kilos</td><td align="right">&nbsp;600 fcs.</td>
+<tr><td>motor cycles</td><td align="right">42  fcs.</td>
+</table>
+
+<p>A certificate for importation temporaire is given by the customs
+officers on entering, and the same must be given up on leaving the
+country, when the sum deposited will be reimbursed.</p>
+
+<p>Since January 8, 1905, a driving certificate is compulsory, but the
+authorities will issue same readily to tourists against foreign
+certificates or licenses.</p>
+
+<p>Speed during the day must be limited to 40 kilometres an hour in the
+open country and 12 kilometres in the towns.</p>
+
+<p>At night the speed (legally) may not exceed 15 kilometres an hour.
+Lamps white on the right, green on the left. There are special
+regulations for Florence.</p>
+
+
+<h4>LUXEMBOURG</h4>
+
+<p>Customs Dues.&mdash;One hundred and fifty marks per automobile. A pi&egrave;ce
+d'identit&eacute; will be given the applicant on entering, and upon giving
+this up on leaving the duties will be reimbursed.</p>
+
+<p>German, French, and Belgian coins all pass current (except bronze
+money).</p>
+
+
+<h4>GERMANY</h4>
+
+<p>Customs Dues.&mdash;Temporary importation by tourists 150 marks per auto.
+Oil and gasoline in the tanks also pay duty under certain rulings. A
+small matter, this, anyway.</p>
+
+<p>According to recent regulations tourists are permitted to introduce
+motor-vehicles into Germany for a temporary visit, free of customs
+duty, but it has been left to the discretion of the official to give
+motorists the benefit of this arrangement, or to charge the ordinary
+duty, with the result that some have had to make a deposit, and
+others have succeeded in passing their cars into the country free.</p>
+
+<p>Uniform driving or tax regulations are wanting in Germany, but
+something definite is evidently forthcoming from the authorities
+shortly (1906-7), with, the probability that even visitors will have
+to pay a revenue tax.</p>
+
+<p>Rule of the road is keep to the right and pass on the left, as in
+most Continental countries.</p>
+
+<p>Speed limits, during darkness, or in populous districts, vary from 9
+to 15 kilometres per hour, but "driving to the common danger" is the
+only other cause which will prevent one making any speed he likes in
+the open country.</p>
+
+<p>Foreigners should apply to the police authorities immediately on
+having entered the country for information as to new rules and
+regulations.</p>
+
+
+<h4>SPAIN</h4>
+
+<p>Customs Dues vary greatly on automobiles. The motor pays 18 francs,
+50 centimes per hundred kilos., and the carrosserie according to its
+form or design. Ordinary tonneau type four places, 1,000 pesetas. For
+temporary importation receipts are given which will enable one to be
+reimbursed upon exportation of the vehicle. In general the road
+regulations of France apply to Spain.</p>
+
+<p>Speed limit, 28 kilometres per hour in open country down to 12
+kilometres in the towns.</p>
+
+<p>A circulation permit and driving certificate should be obtained.</p>
+
+<p>M. J. Lafitte, 8 Place de la Libert&eacute;, Biarritz, can "put one through"
+(at an appropriate fee), in a manner hardly possible for one to
+accomplish alone.</p>
+
+<p>A special "free-entry" permit is sometimes given for short periods.</p>
+
+
+<a name="5-12"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>Appendix XII</h3>
+
+<h4>Some Notes On Map&mdash;Making</h4>
+
+<p>The most fascinating maps for tried traveller are the wonderful
+Cartes d'Etat Major and of Ministre de l'Int&eacute;rieur in France. The
+Ordnance Survey maps in England are somewhat of an approach thereto,
+but they are in no way as interesting to study.</p>
+
+<p>One must have a good eye for distances and the lay of the land, and a
+familiarity with the conventional signs of map-makers, in order to
+get full value from these excellent French maps, but the close
+contemplation of them will show many features which might well be
+incorporated into the ordinary maps of commerce.</p>
+
+<p>The great national roads are distinctly marked with little dots
+beside the road, representing the tree-bordered "Routes Nationales,"
+but often there is a cut-off of equally good road between two points
+on one's itinerary which of course is not indicated in any special
+manner. For this reason alone these excellent maps are not wholly to
+be recommended to the automobilist who is covering new ground. For
+him it is much better that he should stick to the maps issued by the
+Touring Club de France or the cheaper, more legible, and even more
+useful Cartes Taride.</p>
+
+<p>In England, as an alternative to the Ordnance Survey maps, there are
+Bartholemew's coloured maps, two miles to the inch, and the Half Inch
+Map of England and Wales.</p>
+
+<p>Belgium is well covered by the excellent "Carte de Belgique" of the
+Automobile Club de Belgique, Italy by the maps of the Italian Touring
+Club, and Germany by the ingenious profile map known as
+"Strassenprofilkarten," rather difficult to read by the uninitiated.</p>
+
+<p>One of the great works of the omnific Touring Club de France is the
+preparation of what might be called pictorial inventories of the
+historical monuments and natural curiosities of France made on the
+large-scale maps of the Etat Major. Primarily these are intended to
+be filed away in their wonderful "Biblioth&egrave;que," that all and sundry
+who come may read, but it is also further planned that they shall be
+displayed locally in hotels, automobile clubs, and the like. The mode
+of procedure is astonishingly simple. These detailed maps of the War
+Department are simply cut into strips and mounted consecutively, and
+the "sights" marked on the margin (with appropriate notes) after the
+manner of the example here given.</p>
+
+<p>There seems no reason why one could not make up his own maps
+beforehand in a similar fashion, of any particular region or
+itinerary that he proposed to "do" thoroughly. One misses a great
+deal en route that is not marked clearly on the map before his eyes.</p>
+
+
+<a name="5-13"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>Appendix XIII</h3>
+
+<h4>A List Of European Map And Road Books</h4>
+
+<h4>Great Britain and Ireland</h4>
+
+<p class="noindent">The Contour Road Books</p>
+<blockquote>
+Vol. I. North England, including part of Wales.<br>
+Vol. II. West England<br>
+Vol. III. Southeastern England.
+</blockquote>
+<p class="noindent">Very useful books, including about five hundred maps and plans,
+showing gradients and road profiles.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">Bartholemew's Revised Map of England and Wales.&mdash;Complete in 87
+sheets, 2 miles to the inch.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">Half Inch Map of England, Wales, and Scotland.&mdash;Published by Gall and
+Inglis (Edinburgh). Complete in 47 sheets (England and Wales).</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">"Strip" Maps.&mdash;Published by Gall and Inglis (Edinburgh); 2 miles to
+the inch.</p>
+<blockquote>
+1.  Edinburgh to Inverness.<br>
+2.  Inverness to John O'Groat's.<br>
+3.  "Brighton Road," London to Brighton; "Portsmouth Road," London to Portsmouth.<br>
+4.  "Southampton Road," London to Bournemouth.<br>
+5.  "Exeter Road," London to Exeter.<br>
+6.  "Bath Road," London to Bristol.<br>
+10. "Great North Road," in two parts: London to York, Leeds, or Harrogate; York to Edinburgh.<br>
+15. "Land's End Road," Bristol to Land's End.<br>
+16. "Worcester Road," Bristol to Birmingham, Worcester to Lancashire.<br>
+18.  The North Wales Road: Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham to Holyhead.<br>
+19.  London to Birmingham, Manchester, and Liverpool.<br>
+20. "Great North Road," Edinburgh to York.<br>
+21. "Carlisle Road," Edinburgh to Lancashire.<br>
+28. "Highland Road," Edinburgh to Inverness.<br>
+28. "John O'Groat's Road," Inverness to Caithness. Excellent for tours over a straightaway itinerary.
+</blockquote>
+
+<p class="noindent">The Cyclist's Touring Club Road Books</p>
+<blockquote>Vol. I. deals with the Southern and Southwestern Counties south of
+the main road from London to Bath and Bristol.<br>
+Vol. II. embraces the Eastern and Midland Counties, including the
+whole of Wales.<br>
+Vol. III. covers the remainder of England to the Scottish Border.<br>
+Vol. IV. includes the whole of Scotland.<br>
+Vol. V. Southern Ireland, deals with the country south of the main
+road from Dublin to Galway.<br>
+Vol. VI., Northern Ireland, deals with the country north of the main
+road froth Dublin to Galway.
+</blockquote>
+
+<p class="noindent">Ordnance Survey Map of England and Wales.&mdash;New series, complete in
+354 sheets, 21 x 16 inches. One mile to the inch.<br><br>
+Bartholemew's Map of Scotland.&mdash;Complete in 29 sheets, 2 miles to the
+inch.</p>
+
+<br>
+<h4>IRELAND</h4>
+<p class="noindent">Mecredy's Road Maps</p>
+<blockquote>
+1. Dublin and Wicklow.<br>
+2. Kerry.<br>
+3. Donegal.<br>
+4. Connemara.<br>
+5. Down.<br>
+6. East Central Ireland.
+</blockquote>
+
+<p class="noindent">Mecredy's Road Book<br>
+2 Volumes</p>
+<blockquote>
+Vol.  I. South of Dublin and Galway.<br>
+Vol. II. North of Dublin and Galway.
+</blockquote>
+
+<p class="noindent">The Continental Road Book for Great Britain&mdash;Published by the
+Continental Gutta-Percha Co. Excellent information on British roads,
+distances, hotels, etc., with a general map.<br><br>
+
+The Automobile Hand Book.&mdash;The official year book Automobile Club of
+Great Britain and Ireland. Contains all the "official" information
+concerning automobileism in Britain. Rules and regulations,
+statistics, a few routes and plans of the large towns, and a list of
+"official" hotels, repairers, etc.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Continental Maps and Road Books</h3>
+
+<h4>FRANCE</h4>
+<p class="noindent">Cartes Taride.&mdash;Excellent road maps of all France in 25 sheets can be
+had everywhere, mounted on paper at 1 franc, cloth 2 fcs. 50
+centimes. All good roads marked in red; dangerous hills are marked,
+also railways. Kilometres are also given between towns en route. The
+most useful and readable maps published of any country. A. Taride, 20
+Boulevard St. Denis, Paris, also publishes The Rhine, North and South
+Italy, and Switzerland, each at the same price.<br><br>
+
+Guide Taride (Les Routes de France).&mdash;4,000 itineraries throughout
+France and 150 itineraries from Paris to foreign cities and towns.
+Contains notes as to nature of roads, kilometric distances, etc.<br><br>
+
+L'Annuaire de Route.&mdash;The year book of the Automobile Club de France
+contains hotel, garage, and m&egrave;canicien list, charging-stations for
+electric apparatus and vendors of gasoline.<br><br>
+
+C. T. C. Road Book of France (in English).&mdash;Two volumes of road
+itineraries and notes.<br><br>
+
+Cartes de l'Etat Major.&mdash;Published by the Service G&eacute;ographique de
+l'Arm&eacute;e and sold or furnished by all booksellers. Can best be
+procured through the Touring Club de France, 65 Ave. de la Grande
+Arm&eacute;e, Paris. Scale 1-80,000, 30 centimes per sheet. Another scale
+1-50,000.<br><br>
+
+Carte de la Ministre d'Int&eacute;rieur.&mdash;Scale 1-100,000 and 1-80,000.<br>
+Printed in three colours.<br><br>
+
+Carte de France au 200,000 cq.&mdash;Published by the Service G&eacute;ographiqu&eacute;
+and reproduced from the 1-80,000 carte by photolithography. Useful,
+but not so clear as the original.<br><br>
+
+Cartes du Touring Club de France.&mdash;Scale 1-400,000. Indicating all
+routes with remarks as to their surfaces, hills, culverts, railway
+crossings, etc. Printed in five colours. 15 sheets, 63 x 90 cm. These
+cartes lap over somewhat into Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Spain, and
+are very good.<br><br>
+
+Le Guide-Michelin&mdash;Issued by Michelin et Cie, the tire manufacturers.
+The most handy and useful hotel and m&eacute;canicien list, with kilometric
+distances between French towns and cities. Many miniature plans of
+towns and large map of France.<br><br>
+
+Guide-Routiere Continental.&mdash;Issued by the manufacturers of
+Continental tires. Gives plans of towns and cities, detailed
+itineraries and hotel lists, etc., throughout France. Equally useful
+as the Guide-Michelin, but more bulky.<br><br>
+
+La Carte B&eacute;cherel.&mdash;Reproduced from that of the Etat Major 1-200,000.
+Price 2 fcs., 50c.<br><br>
+
+Cartes de Dion&mdash;Excellent four-colour maps of certain sections
+environing the great cities. Published and sold by De Dion, Bouton et
+Cie.<br><br>
+
+Sur Route (Atlas-Guide de Poche pour Cyclistes et Automobilists).
+&mdash;Published by Hatchette &amp; Cie, 3 fcs., 50c. A most useful condensed
+and abbreviated gazetteer of France, with a series of handy
+four-colour maps showing main roads sufficiently clearly for real use
+as an automobile route-book.<br><br>
+
+Annuaire G&eacute;n&eacute;ral du Touring Club de France&mdash;Hotel list, m&eacute;caniciens,
+etc., and prices of same throughout France.<br><br>
+
+The Touring Club de France also issues an Annuaire pour l'Etranger,
+containing similar information of the neighbouring countries.<br><br>
+
+Guides-Joanne.&mdash;The most perfectly compiled series of guidebooks in
+any language. The late editions of Normandie, Bretagne, etc., have
+miniature profile road maps and much other information of interest
+and value to automobile tourists. Seventeen volumes, covering France,
+Algeria, and Corsica.</p>
+
+<br>
+<h4>ITALY</h4>
+<p class="noindent">The Touring Club Italiano issues a series of five excellent maps
+covering the whole of Italy.</p>
+<blockquote>
+1. Lombardia, Piemonte, and Ligurie.<br>
+2. Veneto.<br>
+3. Central Italy.<br>
+4. Southern Italy.<br>
+5. Calabria and Sicily.
+</blockquote>
+
+<p class="noindent">Strade di Grande-Comunicazione&mdash;Italia&mdash;(Main Roads of Italy). An
+excellent profile road book of all of Italy; miniature plans of all
+cities and large towns, with gradients of roads, population, etc.<br><br>
+
+Carte Taride&mdash;Italie, Section Nord.&mdash;Published by A. Taride, 20 Bvd.
+St. Denis, Paris. Comprises Aoste, Bologne, Come, Florence, Livourne,
+Milan, Nice, Padoua, Parma, Pise, Sienne, Trente, Turin, Venise. 1
+fc. on paper, 2 fcs., 50c. cloth.<br><br>
+
+Carte Taride&mdash;Italie, Section Centrale.&mdash;Uniform with above.</p>
+
+<br>
+<h4>SWITZERLAND</h4>
+<p class="noindent">Carte Routi&egrave;re.&mdash;Published by the Touring Club de Suisse; is issued
+in four sheets.<br><br>
+
+L'Annuaire de Route.&mdash;Published by the Automobile Club de Suisse;
+contains a small-scale road map, hotel list, etc.<br><br>
+
+Cyclist's Touring Club (London) Road Book for South and Central
+Europe includes Switzerland.<br><br>
+
+Carte Taride pour la Suisse.&mdash;A continuation of the excellent series
+of Cartes Tarides (Paris, 30 Bvd. St. Denis) 1 fc., 50c. paper, 3
+fcs. on cloth.</p>
+
+<br>
+<h4>BELGIUM</h4>
+<p class="noindent">The Cartes Tarides (Paris, A. Taride, 20 Boulevard St. Denis) include
+Belgium under the Nos. 1 and 1 Bis.<br><br>
+
+Cyclist's Touring Club (London) Road Book for Northern and Central
+Europe includes Belgium.<br><br>
+
+Carte de Belgique, issued by the Touring Club de Belgique, covers all
+of Belgium in one sheet.<br><br>
+
+Guide-Michelin pour la Belgique, Hollande, et aux Bords du Rhin
+contains Belgian hotel-list, plans of towns, etc.</p>
+
+<br>
+<h4>HOLLAND</h4>
+<p class="noindent">Road Atlas&mdash;Published by the Touring Club of Holland, which also
+issues many detailed road and route books for the Pays Bas.<br><br>
+
+Cyclists Touring Club (London) Road Book for North and Central Europe
+includes Holland.<br><br>
+
+Guide-Michelin pour La Belgique includes Holland, Luxembourg, and the
+Banks of the Rhine, with information after the same manner as in the
+"Guide-Michelin" for France.<br><br>
+
+Afstandskaart van Nederland.&mdash;An admirable road map of all Holland in
+two sheets, showing also all canals and waterway.</p>
+
+<br>
+<h4>GERMANY</h4>
+<p class="noindent">
+Ravenstein's Road Maps of Central Europe. Scale about 4 miles to the
+inch.<br><br>
+
+Taride's Bord du Rhin.&mdash;Excellent maps in three colours, main routes
+in red, with kilometric distances, towns, and picturesque sites
+clearly marked.<br><br>
+
+Ravenstein's Road Book for Germany.&mdash;Two vols., North and South
+Germany.<br><br>
+
+Cyclist's Touring Club (London) Road Book for Germany.
+</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" noshade>
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AUTOMOBILIST ABROAD***</p>
+<p>******* This file should be named 26030-h.txt or 26030-h.zip *******</p>
+<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br>
+<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/6/0/3/26030">http://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/0/3/26030</a></p>
+<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.</p>
+
+<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.</p>
+
+
+
+<pre>
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license">http://www.gutenberg.org/license)</a>.
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's
+eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII,
+compressed (zipped), HTML and others.
+
+Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over
+the old filename and etext number.  The replaced older file is renamed.
+VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving
+new filenames and etext numbers.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org">http://www.gutenberg.org</a>
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000,
+are filed in directories based on their release date.  If you want to
+download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular
+search system you may utilize the following addresses and just
+download by the etext year.
+
+<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/</a>
+
+    (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99,
+     98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90)
+
+EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are
+filed in a different way.  The year of a release date is no longer part
+of the directory path.  The path is based on the etext number (which is
+identical to the filename).  The path to the file is made up of single
+digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename.  For
+example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at:
+
+http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234
+
+or filename 24689 would be found at:
+http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689
+
+An alternative method of locating eBooks:
+<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a>
+
+*** END: FULL LICENSE ***
+</pre>
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Amsterdampic.png b/26030-h/images/Amsterdampic.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8cd7763
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Amsterdampic.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Antwerpst.png b/26030-h/images/Antwerpst.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..85bc13e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Antwerpst.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Appendix1.png b/26030-h/images/Appendix1.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a2e7c6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Appendix1.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Appendix3.png b/26030-h/images/Appendix3.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d6239a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Appendix3.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Appendix4.png b/26030-h/images/Appendix4.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..498c022
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Appendix4.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Appendix9.png b/26030-h/images/Appendix9.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a57cfe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Appendix9.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Appreciation.png b/26030-h/images/Appreciation.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ed96c7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Appreciation.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Asfar.png b/26030-h/images/Asfar.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a6a69b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Asfar.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Avignon.png b/26030-h/images/Avignon.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ec8e7f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Avignon.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Bathroad.png b/26030-h/images/Bathroad.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..092b871
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Bathroad.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Bourdeaux-t.png b/26030-h/images/Bourdeaux-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b587362
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Bourdeaux-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Bourdeaux.png b/26030-h/images/Bourdeaux.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..04c423d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Bourdeaux.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/CoupePyrenee.png b/26030-h/images/CoupePyrenee.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ff341b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/CoupePyrenee.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Craupeasants.png b/26030-h/images/Craupeasants.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cabbd48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Craupeasants.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Dykes.png b/26030-h/images/Dykes.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2def2ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Dykes.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Englishroads-t.png b/26030-h/images/Englishroads-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6ba1d58
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Englishroads-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Englishroads.png b/26030-h/images/Englishroads.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e4fc019
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Englishroads.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Evolracingcar.png b/26030-h/images/Evolracingcar.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5cee202
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Evolracingcar.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Flanders.png b/26030-h/images/Flanders.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e90397a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Flanders.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Flanderspic.png b/26030-h/images/Flanderspic.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..463447b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Flanderspic.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/FrenchInn.png b/26030-h/images/FrenchInn.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f4824db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/FrenchInn.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Frenchhotels.png b/26030-h/images/Frenchhotels.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ed5bfd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Frenchhotels.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Frenchroads-t.png b/26030-h/images/Frenchroads-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b976461
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Frenchroads-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Frenchroads.png b/26030-h/images/Frenchroads.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cdb20c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Frenchroads.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Heidelberg.png b/26030-h/images/Heidelberg.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..54829c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Heidelberg.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Highlands.png b/26030-h/images/Highlands.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d6c06df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Highlands.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Hotels.png b/26030-h/images/Hotels.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b6632ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Hotels.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Idealcar-t.png b/26030-h/images/Idealcar-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f919529
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Idealcar-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Idealcar.png b/26030-h/images/Idealcar.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d975286
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Idealcar.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/InTouraine.png b/26030-h/images/InTouraine.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1968a1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/InTouraine.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/LaRochelle-t.png b/26030-h/images/LaRochelle-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..98dfd1d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/LaRochelle-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/LaRochelle.png b/26030-h/images/LaRochelle.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a882d29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/LaRochelle.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Landsend.png b/26030-h/images/Landsend.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..577d066
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Landsend.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Landsendmap-t.png b/26030-h/images/Landsendmap-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6dd1e88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Landsendmap-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Landsendmap.png b/26030-h/images/Landsendmap.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7674460
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Landsendmap.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Languedoc.png b/26030-h/images/Languedoc.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..87086aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Languedoc.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/LesSaintes.png b/26030-h/images/LesSaintes.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f816956
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/LesSaintes.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/LondonParistraffic-t.png b/26030-h/images/LondonParistraffic-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c4f5188
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/LondonParistraffic-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/LondonParistraffic.png b/26030-h/images/LondonParistraffic.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2cd9c33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/LondonParistraffic.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Onthebathroad-t.png b/26030-h/images/Onthebathroad-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3396c11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Onthebathroad-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Onthebathroad.png b/26030-h/images/Onthebathroad.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..85af1ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Onthebathroad.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Paris.png b/26030-h/images/Paris.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c766372
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Paris.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Picture1.jpg b/26030-h/images/Picture1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b767abe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Picture1.jpg
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Picture2.jpg b/26030-h/images/Picture2.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..35756a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Picture2.jpg
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Picture3.jpg b/26030-h/images/Picture3.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fff18b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Picture3.jpg
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Picture4-t.jpg b/26030-h/images/Picture4-t.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6067019
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Picture4-t.jpg
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Picture4.jpg b/26030-h/images/Picture4.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a4e0633
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Picture4.jpg
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Polders.png b/26030-h/images/Polders.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bb43dd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Polders.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Pyreneepeasants-t.png b/26030-h/images/Pyreneepeasants-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..596a954
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Pyreneepeasants-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Pyreneepeasants.png b/26030-h/images/Pyreneepeasants.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d053cce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Pyreneepeasants.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Pyreneepics-t.png b/26030-h/images/Pyreneepics-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..26adfd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Pyreneepics-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Pyreneepics.png b/26030-h/images/Pyreneepics.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1eb8b5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Pyreneepics.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Rhine.png b/26030-h/images/Rhine.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0a5c2a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Rhine.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Rhone.png b/26030-h/images/Rhone.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e838233
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Rhone.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/RoadNorth.png b/26030-h/images/RoadNorth.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..adf4d4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/RoadNorth.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/RoadsRoutes.png b/26030-h/images/RoadsRoutes.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dbe5c38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/RoadsRoutes.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Ryde.png b/26030-h/images/Ryde.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4da1266
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Ryde.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Seine.png b/26030-h/images/Seine.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7f043ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Seine.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Southcoast.png b/26030-h/images/Southcoast.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e10f259
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Southcoast.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/StMichael-t.png b/26030-h/images/StMichael-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4d3a94e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/StMichael-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/StMichael.png b/26030-h/images/StMichael.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..422c38c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/StMichael.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Taunton.png b/26030-h/images/Taunton.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6961e3f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Taunton.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Thames-t.png b/26030-h/images/Thames-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..929415e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Thames-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Thames.png b/26030-h/images/Thames.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03e750e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Thames.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/ThePyrenees.png b/26030-h/images/ThePyrenees.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b8c3da5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/ThePyrenees.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/TouringFrance-t.png b/26030-h/images/TouringFrance-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b97e957
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/TouringFrance-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/TouringFrance.png b/26030-h/images/TouringFrance.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0d12fd0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/TouringFrance.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Vernon-t.png b/26030-h/images/Vernon-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eecf913
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Vernon-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Vernon.png b/26030-h/images/Vernon.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9ab826a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Vernon.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Villiers.png b/26030-h/images/Villiers.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e0633e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Villiers.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Wick.png b/26030-h/images/Wick.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2eae97f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Wick.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Wightmap-t.png b/26030-h/images/Wightmap-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c11e1b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Wightmap-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/Wightmap.png b/26030-h/images/Wightmap.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..77ddfe9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/Wightmap.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/capacity.png b/26030-h/images/capacity.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bd0dd8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/capacity.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/daysgoneby-t.png b/26030-h/images/daysgoneby-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..26bc78b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/daysgoneby-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/daysgoneby.png b/26030-h/images/daysgoneby.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e752ee9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/daysgoneby.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/grandtour.png b/26030-h/images/grandtour.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..795a6fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/grandtour.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/hownotto.png b/26030-h/images/hownotto.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5f681a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/hownotto.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/logo.png b/26030-h/images/logo.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fe77ff5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/logo.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/low res Europe-t.png b/26030-h/images/low res Europe-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..118abca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/low res Europe-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/low res Europe.png b/26030-h/images/low res Europe.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9b778bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/low res Europe.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/low res Pyrenees-t.png b/26030-h/images/low res Pyrenees-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d6a4e13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/low res Pyrenees-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/low res Pyrenees.png b/26030-h/images/low res Pyrenees.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..53e87fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/low res Pyrenees.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/lowresEurope-t.png b/26030-h/images/lowresEurope-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..118abca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/lowresEurope-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/lowresEurope.png b/26030-h/images/lowresEurope.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9b778bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/lowresEurope.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/lowresPyrenees-t.png b/26030-h/images/lowresPyrenees-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d6a4e13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/lowresPyrenees-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/lowresPyrenees.png b/26030-h/images/lowresPyrenees.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..53e87fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/lowresPyrenees.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/milestonepics-t.png b/26030-h/images/milestonepics-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0d10d56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/milestonepics-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/milestonepics.png b/26030-h/images/milestonepics.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e0d4b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/milestonepics.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/milestones.png b/26030-h/images/milestones.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f14dc95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/milestones.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/recepisse.png b/26030-h/images/recepisse.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4e5ce3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/recepisse.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/speedpainting-t.png b/26030-h/images/speedpainting-t.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5631516
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/speedpainting-t.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/speedpainting.png b/26030-h/images/speedpainting.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..68b8820
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/speedpainting.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/traveltalk.png b/26030-h/images/traveltalk.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..867760b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/traveltalk.png
diff --git a/26030-h/images/typesofcars.png b/26030-h/images/typesofcars.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6e44306
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030-h/images/typesofcars.png
diff --git a/26030.txt b/26030.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ba4f154
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,9104 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Automobilist Abroad, by M. F. (Milburg
+Francisco) Mansfield, Illustrated by Blanche McManus
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Automobilist Abroad
+
+
+Author: M. F. (Milburg Francisco) Mansfield
+
+
+
+Release Date: July 11, 2008  [eBook #26030]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AUTOMOBILIST ABROAD***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Jeff Bennett
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 26030-h.htm or 26030-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/6/0/3/26030/26030-h/26030-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/6/0/3/26030/26030-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+THE AUTOMOBILIST ABROAD
+
+by
+
+FRANCIS MILTOUN
+
+Author of "Rambles in Normandy," "Rambles in Brittany," "Rambles on
+the Riviera," "The Cathedrals of Northern France," "The Cathedrals
+of Southern France," "The Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine," etc.
+
+_With many illustrations from photographs, decorations, maps
+and plans_
+by Blanche McManus
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+L.C. Page & Company
+Boston MDCCCCVII
+
+
+
+
+Preface
+
+_The general plan of this book is not original. It tells of some
+experiences not altogether new, and contains observations and facts
+that have been noted by other writers; but the author hopes that,
+from the viewpoint of an automobilist at least, its novelty will
+serve as a recommendation. As a pastime automobile touring is still
+new and is not yet accomplished without some considerable annoyance
+and friction. The conventional guides are of little assistance; and
+the more descriptive works on travel fail too often to note the
+continually changing conditions which affect the tourist alike by
+road and rail._
+
+[Illustration: Hotel Bellevue les Andelys]
+
+Contents
+
+Part 1     General Information--The Grand Tour
+Chapter 1  An Appreciation Of The Automobile
+Chapter 2  Travel Talk
+Chapter 3  Roads And Routes
+Chapter 4  Hotels And Things
+Chapter 5  The Grand Tour
+
+Part 2     Touring In France
+Chapter 1  Down Through Tourane: Paris To Bourdeaux
+Chapter 2  A Little Tour In The Pyrenees
+Chapter 3  In Languedoc And Old Provence
+Chapter 4  By Rhone And Saone
+Chapter 5  By Seine And Oise--A Cruise In A Canot-Automobile
+Chapter 6  The Road To The North
+
+Part 3     On Britain's Roads
+Chapter 1  The Bath Road
+Chapter 2  The South Coast
+Chapter 3  Land's End To John O'Groats
+
+Part 4     In Belgium, Holland, And Germany
+Chapter 1  On The Road To Flanders
+Chapter 2  By Dykes And Windmills
+Chapter 3  On The Road By The Rhine
+
+Appendices
+Index
+
+
+Part I
+General Information--The Grand Tour
+
+Chapter I
+An Appreciation of the Automobile
+
+[Illustration: An Appreciation of the Automobile]
+
+We have progressed appreciably beyond the days of the old horseless
+carriage, which, it will be remembered, retained even the dashboard.
+
+To-day the modern automobile somewhat resembles, in its outlines,
+across between a decapod locomotive and a steam fire-engine, or at
+least something concerning the artistic appearance of which the
+layman has very grave doubts.
+
+The control of a restive horse, a cranky boat, or even a trolley-car
+on rails is difficult enough for the inexperienced, and there are
+many who would quail before making the attempt; but to the novice in
+charge of an automobile, some serious damage is likely enough to
+occur within an incredibly short space of time, particularly if he
+does not take into account the tremendous force and power which he
+controls merely by the moving of a tiny lever, or by the depressing
+of a pedal.
+
+Any one interested in automobiles should know something of the
+literature of the subject, which, during the last decade, has already
+become formidable.
+
+In English the literature of the automobile begins with Mr. Worby
+Beaumont's Cantor Lectures (1895), and the pamphlet by Mr. R. Jenkins
+on "Power Locomotion on the Highways," published in 1896.
+
+In the library of the Patent Office in London the literature of motor
+road vehicles already fills many shelves. The catalogue is
+interesting as showing the early hopes that inventors had in
+connection with steam as a motive power for light road vehicles, and
+will be of value to all who are interested in the history of the
+movement or the progress made in motor-car design.
+
+In France the Bibliotheque of the Touring Club de France contains a
+hundred entries under the caption "Automobiles," besides complete
+files of eleven leading journals devoted to that industry. With these
+two sources of information at hand, and aided by the records of the
+Automobile Club de France and the Automobile Club of Great Britain
+and Ireland, the present-day historian of the automobile will find
+the subject well within his grasp.
+
+There are those who doubt the utility of the automobile, as there
+have been scoffers at most new things under the sun; and there have
+been critics who have derided it for its "seven deadly sins," as
+there have been others who have praised its "Christian graces." The
+parodist who wrote the following newspaper quatrain was no enemy of
+the automobile in spite of his cynicism.
+
+  "A look of anguish underneath the car,
+  Another start; a squeak, a grunt, a jar!
+  The Aspiration pipe is working loose!
+  The vapour can't get out! And there you are!"
+
+  "Strange is it not, that of the myriads who
+  Have Empty Tanks and know not what to do,
+  Not one will tell of it when he Returns.
+  As for Ourselves, why, we deny it, too."
+
+The one perfectly happy man in an automobile is he who drives,
+steers, or "runs the thing," even though he be merely the hired
+chauffeur. For proof of this one has only to note how readily
+others volunteer to "spell him a bit," as the saying goes.
+Change of scene and the exhilaration of a swift rush through space
+are all very well for friends in the _tonneau_, but for real
+"pleasure" one must be the driver. Not even the manifold
+responsibilities of the post will mar one's enjoyment, and there is
+always a supreme satisfaction in keeping one's engine running
+smoothly.
+
+"Nothing to watch but the road," is the general motto for the
+automobile manufacturer, but the enthusiastic automobilist goes
+farther, and, for his motto, takes "stick to your post," and, in case
+of danger, as one has put it, "pull everything you see, and put your
+foot on everything else."
+
+The vocabulary of the automobile has produced an entirely new
+"jargon," which is Greek to the multitude, but, oh, so expressive and
+full of meaning to the initiated.
+
+An automobile is masculine, or feminine, as one likes to think of it,
+for it has many of the vagaries of both sexes. The French Academy has
+finally come to the fore and declared the word to be masculine, and
+so, taking our clue once more from the French (as we have in most
+things in the automobile world), we must call it _him_, and speak of
+it as _he_, instead of _her_, or _she_.
+
+That other much overworked word in automobilism, _chauffeur_, should
+be placed once for all. The driver of an automobile is not really a
+_chauffeur_, neither is he who minds and cares for the engine; he is
+a _mecanicien_ and nothing else--in France and elsewhere. We needed a
+word for the individual who busies himself with, or drives an
+automobile, and so we have adapted the word _chauffeur_. Purists may
+cavil, but nevertheless the word is better than _driver_, or
+_motor_-_man_ (which is the quintessence of snobbery), or
+_conductor_.
+
+The word, _chauffeur_, the Paris _Figaro_ tells us, was known long
+before the advent of automobiles or locomotives. History tells that
+about the year 1795, men strangely accoutred, their faces covered
+with soot and their eyes carefully disguised, entered, by night,
+farms and lonely habitations and committed all sorts of depredations.
+They garroted their victims, or dragged them before a great fire
+where they burned the soles of their feet, and demanded information
+as to the whereabouts of their money and jewels. Hence they were
+called _chauffeurs_, a name which frightened our grandfathers as much
+as the scorching _chauffeur_ to-day frightens our grandchildren.
+
+A motor-car is a fearsome thing,--when it goes, it goes; and when it
+doesn't, something, or many things, are wrong. A few years ago this
+uncertainty was to be expected, for, though the makers will not
+whisper it in Gath, we are only just getting out of the bone-shaker
+age of automobiles.
+
+Every one remembers what a weirdly ungraceful thing was the first
+safety bicycle, and so was the gaudy painted-up early locomotive--and
+they are so yet on certain English lines where their early Victorian
+engines are like Kipling's ocean tramp, merely "puttied up with
+paint." So with the early automobiles, they jarred and jerked and
+stopped--that is, under all but exceptional conditions. Occasionally
+they did wonderful things,--they always did, in fact, when one took
+the word of their owners; but now they really do acquit themselves
+with credit, and so the public, little by little, is beginning to
+believe in them, even though the millennium has not arrived when
+every home possesses its own runabout.
+
+All this proves that we are "getting there" by degrees, and meantime
+everybody that has to do with motor-cars has learned a great deal,
+generally at somebody else's expense.
+
+To-day every one "motes," or wants to, and likewise a knowledge of
+many things mechanical, which had heretofore been between closed
+covers, is in the daily litany of many who had previously never known
+a clutch from a cam-shaft, or a sparking plug from a fly-wheel.
+
+Most motor enthusiasts read all the important journals devoted to the
+game. The old-stager reads them for their hints and suggestions,--
+though these are bewildering in their multiplicity and their
+contradictions,--and the ladies of the household look at them for the
+sake of their pretty pictures of scenery and ladies and veils and
+furry garments pertaining to the sport.
+
+Catalogues are another bane of the motorist's life. He may have just
+become possessed of the latest thing in a Mercedes (and paid an
+enhanced price for an early delivery), yet upon seeing some new make
+of car advertised, he will immediately send for a catalogue and
+prospectus, and make the most absurd inquiries as to what said car
+will or will not do.
+
+[Illustration: Types of Cars]
+
+Since the pleasures of motoring have found their champions in
+Kipling, Maeterlinck, and the late W. E. Henley, the delectable
+amusement has, besides entering the daily life of most of us,
+generously permeated literature--real literature as distinct from
+recent popular fiction; "The Lighting Conductor" and "The Princess
+Passes," by Mrs. Williamson, and more lately, "The Motor Pirate," by
+Mr. Paternoster. "A Motor Car Divorce" is the suggestive title of
+another work,--presumably fiction,--and one knows not where it may
+end, since "The Happy Motorist," a series of essays, is already
+announced.
+
+A Drury Lane melodrama of a season or two ago gave us a "_thrillin'
+hair-bre'dth 'scape_," wherein an automobile plunged precipitately--
+with an all too-true realism, the first night--down a lath and canvas
+ravine, finally saving the heroine from the double-dyed villain who
+followed so closely in her wake.
+
+The last entry into other spheres was during the autumn just past,
+when Paris's luxurious opera-house was given over to the fantastic
+revels of the ballet in an attempt to typify the _apotheosis of the
+automobile_. This was rather a rash venture in prognostication, for
+it may be easy enough to "apotheosize" the horse, but to what idyllic
+heights the automobile is destined to ultimately reach no one really
+knows.
+
+The average scoffer at things automobilistic is not very sincerely a
+scoffer at heart. It is mostly a case of "sour grapes," and he only
+waits the propitious combination of circumstances which shall permit
+him to become a possessor of a motor-car himself. This is not a very
+difficult procedure. It simply means that he must give up some other
+fad or fancy and take up with this last, which, be it here
+reiterated, is no _fad_.
+
+The great point in favour of the automobile is its sociability. Once
+one was content to potter about with a solitary companion in a buggy,
+with a comfortable old horse who knew his route well by reason of
+many journeys. To-day the automobile has driven thoughts of solitude
+to the winds. Two in the tonneau, and another on the seat beside you
+in front--a well-assorted couple of couples--and one may make the
+most ideal trips imaginable.
+
+Every one looks straight ahead, there is no uncomfortable twisting
+and turning as there is on a boat or a railway train, and each can
+talk to the others, or all can talk at once, which is more often the
+case. It is most enjoyable, plenty to see, exhilarating motion, jolly
+company, absolute independence, and a wide radius of action. What
+mode of travel can combine all these joys unless it be ballooning--of
+which the writer confesses he knows nothing?
+
+On the road one must ever have a regard for what may happen, and
+roadside repairs, however necessary, are seldom more than makeshifts
+which enable one to arrive at his destination.
+
+If you break the bolt which fastens your cardan-shaft or a link of
+your side-chains, you and your friends will have a chance to harden
+your muscles a bit pushing the machine to the next village, unless
+you choose to wait, on perhaps a lonely road, for a passing cart
+whose driver willing, for a price, to detach his tired horse to haul
+your dead weight of a ton and a half over a few miles of hill and
+dale. This is readily enough accomplished in France, where the
+peasant looks upon the procedure as a sort of allied industry to
+farming, but in parts of England, in Holland, and frequently in
+Italy, where the little mountain donkey is the chief means of
+transportation, it is more difficult.
+
+The question of road speed proves nothing with regard to the worth of
+an individual automobile, except that the times do move, and we are
+learning daily more and more of the facility of getting about with a
+motor-car. A locomotive, or a marine engine, moves regularly without
+a stop for far greater periods of time than does an automobile, but
+each and every time they finish a run they receive such an
+overhauling as seldom comes to an automobile.
+
+In England the automobilist has had to suffer a great deal at the
+hands of ignorant and intolerant road builders and guardians. Police
+traps, on straight level stretches miles from any collection of
+dwellings, will not keep down speed so long as dangerous cobblestoned
+alleys, winding through suburban London towns, have no guardian to
+regulate the traffic or give the stranger a hint that he had best go
+slowly.
+
+The milk and butchers' carts go on with their deadly work, but the
+police in England are too busy worrying the motorist to pay any
+attention.
+
+Some county boroughs have applied a ten-mile speed limit, even though
+the great bulk of their area is open country; but twenty miles an
+hour for an automobile is far safer for the public than is most other
+traffic, regardless of the rate at which it moves.
+
+[Illustration: "Speed" painting, Louis de Schryver]
+
+Speed, so far as the bystander is concerned, is a very difficult
+thing to judge, and the automobilist seldom, if ever, gets fair
+treatment if he meets with the slightest accident.
+
+Most people judge the speed of an automobile by the noise that it
+makes. This, up to within a few years, put most automobiles going at
+a slow speed at a great disadvantage, for the slower they went the
+noisier they were; but matters of design and control have changed
+this somewhat, and the public now protests because "a great
+death-dealing monster crept up silently behind--coming at a terrific
+rate." You cannot please every one, and you cannot educate a
+non-participating public all at once.
+
+As for speed on the road, it is a variable thing, and a thing
+difficult to estimate correctly. Electric cars run at a speed of from
+ten to twenty-two miles an hour in England, even in the towns, and no
+one says them nay. Hansoms, on the Thames Embankment in London, do
+their regular fifteen miles an hour, but automobiles are still held
+down to ten.
+
+The official timekeeper of the Automobile Club of Great Britain and
+Ireland took the following times (in 1905) in Piccadilly, one of the
+busiest, if not the most congested thoroughfare in London.
+
+Holloway horse-drawn bus  11.3 miles per hour
+Cyclist                   15.85  "    "   "
+Private trap              13.08  "    "   "
+Private buggy             13.55  "    "   "
+Private brougham          14.80  "    "   "
+
+When one considers how difficult to control, particularly amid
+crowded traffic, a horse-drawn vehicle is, and how very easy it is to
+control an up-to-date automobile, one cannot but feel that a little
+more consideration should be shown the automobilist by those in
+authority.
+
+The road obstructions, slow-going traffic which will not get out of
+one's way, carts left unattended and the like, make most of the real
+and fancied dangers which are laid to the door of the very mobile
+motor-car.
+
+[Illustration: London and Paris traffic]
+
+In Holland and Belgium dogs seem to be the chief road obstructions,
+or at least dangers, not always willingly perhaps, but still
+ever-present. In England it is mostly children.
+
+In France not all the difficulties one meets with _en route_ are
+willful obstructors of one's progress. In La Beauce the geese and
+ducks are prudent, in the Nivernais the oxen are placid, and in
+Provence the donkeys are philosophical; but in Brittany the horses
+and mules and their drivers take fright immediately they suspect the
+coming of an automobile, and in the Vendee the market-wagons, and
+those laden with the product of the vine, career madly at the
+extremities of exceedingly lusty examples of horse flesh to the
+pending disaster of every one who does not get out of the road.
+
+Sheep and hens are everywhere that they ought not to be, and there
+seems no way of escaping them. One can but use all his ingenuity and
+slip through somehow. Dogs are bad enough and ought to be
+exterminated. They are the silliest beasts which one finds
+uncontrolled on the roadways. Children, of course, one defers to, but
+they are outrageously careless and very foolish at times, and in
+short are the greatest responsibility for the driver in the small
+towns of England and France. In France some effort is being made in
+the schools to teach them something about a proper regard for
+automobile traffic, and with good results; but no one has heard of
+anything of the sort being attempted in England.
+
+
+Chapter II
+Travel Talk
+
+[Illustration: Travel Talk]
+
+Touring abroad is nothing new, but, as an amusement for the masses,
+it has reached gigantic proportions. The introduction of the railroad
+gave it its greatest impetus, and then came the bicycle and the
+automobile.
+
+With the railway as the sole means of getting about one was more or
+less confined to the beaten track of travel in Continental Europe,
+but the automobile has changed all this.
+
+To-day, the Cote d'Azur, from St. Raphael to Menton, as well as the
+strip of Norman coast-line around Trouville, in summer, is scarcely
+more than a boulevard where the automobile tourist strolls for an
+hour as he does in the Bois. The country lying back and between these
+two widely separated points is becoming known, and even modern taste
+prefers the idyllic countryside to a round of the same dizzy
+conventions that one gets in season at Paris, London, or New York.
+
+France is the land _par excellence_ for automobile touring, not only
+from its splendid roads, but from the wide diversity of its sights
+and scenes, and manners and customs, and, last but not least, its
+most excellent hotels strung along its highways and byways like
+pearls in a collarette.
+
+This is not saying that travel by automobile is not delightful
+elsewhere; certainly it is equally so in many places along the Rhine,
+in Northern Italy, and in England, where the chief drawback is the
+really incompetent catering of the English country hotel-keeper to
+the demands of the traveller who would dine off of something more
+attractive than a cut from a cold joint of ham, and eggs washed down
+with stodgy, bitter beer.
+
+The bibliography of travel books is long, and includes many famous
+names in literature. Marco Polo, Froissart, Mme. de Sevigne, Taine,
+Bayard Taylor, Willis, Stevenson, and Sterne, all had opportunities
+for observation and made the most of them. If they had lived in the
+days of the automobile they might have sung a song of speed which
+would have been the most melodious chord in the whole gamut.
+
+A modern writer must be more modest, however. He can hardly hope to
+attract attention to himself or his work by describing the usual
+sights and scenes. The most he can do is to set down his method of
+travel, his approach, and his departure, and, for example, to tell
+those who may come after that the great double spires of Notre Dame
+de Chartres are a beacon by land for nearly twenty kilometers in any
+direction, as he approaches them by road across the great plain of La
+Beauce, the granary of France, rather than give a repetition of the
+well-worn guidebook facts concerning them.
+
+[Illustration: Ideal Car]
+
+Chartres is taken as an example because it is one of those "stock"
+sights, before mentioned, which any itinerary coming within the scope
+of the _grand tour_ is bound to include.
+
+Almost the same phenomenon is true of Antwerp's lacelike spire, the
+great Gothic wonder of Cologne and, to a lesser extent, that of
+Canterbury in England; thus the automobilist _en route_ has his
+beacons and landmarks as has the sailor on the seas.
+
+Man is an animal essentially mobile. He moves readily from place to
+place and is not tied down by anything but ways and means and,
+perhaps, confinement at laborious affairs. Even in the latter case he
+occasionally breaks away for a more or less extended period, and
+either goes fishing in Canada, shooting in Scotland, or automobiling
+in France, with perhaps a rush over a Swiss pass or two, and a dash
+around the Italian lakes, and back down the Rhine for a little tour
+in Great Britain.
+
+This is as delightful a holiday as one could imagine, and the foreign
+tour--which has often been made merely as a succession of nights of
+travel in stuffy sleeping-cars or a round of overfeeding orgies at
+Parisian hotels and restaurants--has added charms of which the
+generation before the advent of automobiles knew nought.
+
+The question of comfortable travel is a never-ending one. The
+palanquin, the sedan-chair, the rickshaw, even the humble horse-drawn
+buggy have had their devotees, but the modern touring automobile has
+left them all far behind, whether for long-distance travel or
+promenades at Fontainebleau, in the New Forest or the Ardennes.
+
+There is no question but that, when touring in an automobile, one has
+an affection for his steel-and-iron horse that he never felt for any
+other conveyance. The horse had some endearing qualities, no doubt,
+and we were bound to regard his every want; but he was only a part of
+the show, whereas the automobile, although it is nought but an
+inanimate combination of wheels and things, has to be humoured and
+talked to, and even cursed at times, in order to keep it going. But
+it works faithfully nevertheless, and never balks, at least not with
+the same crankiness as the horse, and always runs better toward night
+(this is curious, but it is a fact), which a horse seldom does. All
+the same an automobile is like David Balfour's Scotch advocate: hard
+at times to ken rightly--most of the time, one may say without undue
+exaggeration. Often an automobile is as fickle as a stage fairy, or
+appears to be, but it may be that only your own blind stupidity
+accounts for the lack of efficiency. Once in awhile an automobile
+gets uproariously full of spirits and runs away with itself, and
+almost runs away with you, too, simply for the reason that the
+carburetion is good and everything is pulling well. Again it is as
+silent and immovable as a sphinx and gives no hint of its present or
+expected ailments. It is most curious, but an automobile invents some
+new real or fancied complaint with each fresh internal upheaval, and
+requires, in each and every instance, an entirely new and original
+diagnosis.
+
+With all its caprices, however, the automobile is the most efficient
+and satisfactory contrivance for getting about from place to place,
+for business or pleasure, that was ever devised.
+
+Comparatively speaking, the railway is not to be thought of for a
+moment. It has all the disadvantages of the automobile (for indeed
+there are a few, such as dust and more or less cramped quarters, and,
+if one chooses, a nerve-racking speed) and none of its advantages,
+and, whether you are a mere man or a millionaire, you are tied down
+to rails and a strict itinerary, whereas you may turn the bonnet of
+your automobile down any by-road that pleases your fancy, and arrive
+ultimately at your destination, having made an enjoyable detour which
+would not otherwise have been possible.
+
+Too great a speed undoubtedly detracts from the joy of travel, but a
+hundred and fifty, two hundred and fifty, or three hundred kilometres
+a day on the fine roads of France, or a hundred or a hundred and
+fifty miles on the leafy lanes of England's southern counties will
+give the stranger more varied impressions and a clearer understanding
+of men and matters than the touring of a country from end to end in
+express-trains which serve your meals _en route_, and whisk you from
+London to Torquay between tea and dinner, or from Paris to the Cote
+d'Azur between breakfast and nightfall.
+
+Just how much pleasure and edification one can absorb during an
+automobile tour depends largely upon the individual--and the mood.
+Once the craving for speed is felt, not all the historic monuments in
+the world would induce one to stop a sweetly running motor; but again
+the other mood comes on, and one lingers a full day among the charms
+of the lower Seine from Caudebec to Rouen, scarce thirty miles.
+
+Les Andelys-sur-Seine, your guide-book tells you, is noted for its
+magnificent ruins of Richard Coeur de Lion's Chateau Gaillard, and
+for the culture of the sugar-beet, and so, often, merely on account
+of the banal mention of beet-roots, you ignore the attractions of
+Richard's castle and make the best time you can Parisward by the
+great Route Nationale on the other side of the Seine. This is wrong,
+of course, but the mood was on, and the song of speed was ringing in
+your ears and nothing would drive it out.
+
+Our fathers and grandfathers made the grand tour, in a twelvemonth,
+as a sort of topping-off to their early education, before they
+settled down to a business or professional life.
+
+They checked off in their guide-books Melrose Abbey, the Tower of
+London, the Cathedral of Canterbury, and those of Antwerp, Cologne,
+Rome, Venice, and Paris, as they did the Cheshire Cheese, Mont Blanc,
+and the ruins of Carnac. It was all a part of the general scheme of
+travel, to cover a lot of ground and see all they could, for it was
+likely that they would pass that way but once. Why, then, should one
+blame the automobilist--who really travels very leisurely in that he
+sees a lot of the countryside manners and customs off the beaten
+track--if he rushes over an intermediate stretch of country in order
+to arrive at one more to his liking?
+
+One sees the thing every day on any of the great highroads in France
+leading from the Channel ports. One's destination may be the
+Pyrenees, the Cote d'Azur, Italy, or even Austria, and he does the
+intermediate steps at full speed. The same is true if he goes to
+Switzerland by the Rhine valley, or to Homburg by passing through
+Belgium or Holland. He might be just as well pleased with a fortnight
+in the Ardennes, or even in Holland or in Touraine, but, if his
+destination is Monte Carlo or Biarritz, he is not likely to linger
+longer by the way than the exigencies of food, drink, and lodging,
+and the care of his automobile demand.
+
+When he has no objective point he loiters by the way and no doubt
+enjoys it the more, but it is not fair to put the automobilist down
+as a scorcher simply because he is pushing on. The best guide-books
+are caprice and fantasy, if you are hot pressed for time.
+
+Mile-stones, or rather _bornes kilometriques_, line the roadways of
+Continental military Europe mercilessly, and it's a bad sign when the
+chauffeur begins to count them off. All the same, he knows his
+destination a great deal better than does some plodding tourist by
+rail who scorns him for rushing off again immediately after lunch.
+
+One of the charms of travel, to the tried traveller, is, just as
+in the time of the Abbe Prevost, the ability to exchange remarks
+on one's itinerary with one's fellow travellers. In France it
+does not matter much whether they are automobilists or not. The
+_commis-voyageur_ is a more numerous class here, apparently, than in
+any other country on the globe, and the detailed information which he
+can give one about the towns and hotels and sights and scenes _en
+route_, albeit he is more familiar with travel by rail than by road,
+is marvellous in quantity and valuable as to quality.
+
+The automobile tourist, who may be an Englishman or an American, has
+hitherto been catered to with automobile novels, or love stories, or
+whatever one chooses to call them, or with more or less scrappy,
+incomplete, and badly edited accounts of tours made by some
+millionaire possessor of a motor-car, or the means to hire one. Some
+of the articles in the press, and an occasional book, have the merit
+of having been "good stuff," but often they have gone wrong in the
+making.
+
+The writer of this book does not aspire to be classed with either of
+the above classes of able writers; the most he would like to claim is
+that he should be able to write a really good handbook on the
+subject, wherein such topographical, historical, and economic
+information as was presented should have the stamp of correctness.
+Perhaps four years of pretty constant automobile touring in Europe
+ought to count for something in the way of accumulated pertinent
+information concerning hotels and highways and by-ways.
+
+Not all automobilists are millionaires. The man of moderate means is
+the real giver of impetus to the wheels of automobile progress. The
+manufacturers of motor-cars have not wholly waked up to this fact as
+yet, but the increasing number of tourists in small cars, both in
+England and in France, points to the fact that something besides the
+forty, sixty, or hundred horse-power monsters are being manufactured.
+
+Efficiency and reliability is the great requisite of the touring
+automobile, and, for that matter, should be of any other. Efficiency
+and reliability cover ninety-nine per cent. of the requirements of
+the automobilist. Chance will step in at the most inopportune moments
+and upset all calculations, but, with due regard given to these two
+great and fundamental principles, the rest does not much matter.
+
+It is a curious fact that the great mass of town folk, in France and
+probably elsewhere, still have a fear and dread of the mechanism of
+the automobile. "_C'est beau la mecanique, mais c'est tout de meme un
+peu complique_," they say, as they regard your labours in posing a
+new valve or tightening up a joint here and there.
+
+The development of the automobile has brought about a whole new
+development of kindred things, as did the development of the
+battle-ship. First there was the battle-ship, then the cruiser, and
+then the torpedo-boat, and then another class of boats, the
+destroyers (destined to catch torpedo-boats), and finally the
+submarine. With the automobile the evolution was much the same; first
+it was a sort of horseless carriage, for town use, then something a
+little more powerful that would climb hills, so that one might
+journey afield, and then the "touring-car," and then the racing
+machine, and now we have automobile omnibuses, and even automobile
+ambulances to pick up any frightened persons possessed of less
+agility than a kangaroo or a jack-rabbit might inadvertently have
+been bowled over. These disasters are seldom the automobilist's
+fault, and, happily, they are becoming fewer and fewer; but the
+indecision that overcame the passer-by, in the early days of the
+bicycle, still exists with many whenever an automobile comes in
+sight, and they back, and fill, and worry the automobilist into such
+a bad case of nerves that, in spite of himself, something of the
+nature of an accident, for which he is in no way responsible, really
+does happen.
+
+Once the writer made eleven hundred kilometres straight across
+France, from the Manche to the Mediterranean, and not so much as a
+puncture occurred. On another occasion a little journey of half the
+length resulted in the general smashing up, four times in succession,
+of a little bolt (no great disaster in itself), within the interior
+arrangements of the motor, which necessitated a half a day's work on
+each occasion in taking down the cylinder and setting it up again,
+and each time in a small town far away from any properly equipped
+machine-shop, and with the assistance only of the local locksmith.
+It's astonishing how good a job a locksmith in France can do, even on
+an automobile, the mechanism of which he perhaps has never seen
+before. Officially the locksmith in France is known as a _serrurier_,
+but in the slang of the land he is the _cambrioleur du pays_, a name
+which is expressive, but which means nothing wicked. He can put a
+thread on a bolt or make a new nut to replace one that has
+mysteriously unscrewed itself, which is more than many a mere bicycle
+repairer can do.
+
+The automobilist touring France should make friends with the nearest
+_cambrioleur_ if he is in trouble. In England this is risky, a
+"gas-pipe thread" being the average lay workman's idea of "fixing you
+up."
+
+Away back in Chaucer's day folk were "longen to gon on pilgrimages,"
+and it does not matter in the least what the ways and means may be,
+the motive is ever the same: a change of scene.
+
+This book is no unbounded eulogy of the automobile, although its many
+good qualities are recognized. There are other methods of travel
+that, in their own ways, are certainly enjoyable, but none quite
+equal the automobile for independence of action, convenience, and
+efficiency. It is well for all motor-car users, however, to realize
+that they are not the only road users, and to have a due regard for
+others,--not only their rights, but their persons. This applies even
+more forcibly, if possible, to the automobilist _en tour_.
+
+One must in duty bound regulate his pace and his actions by the
+vagaries of others, however little he may want to, or unfortunate
+consequences will many times follow. Always he must have a sharp look
+ahead and must not neglect a backward glance now and then. He must
+not dash through muddy roads and splash passers-by (a particularly
+heinous offence in England), and in France he must observe the rule
+of the road (always to the right in passing,--no great difficulty for
+an American, but very puzzling to an Englishman), or an accident may
+result which will bring him into court, and perhaps into jail, unless
+he can assuage the poor peasant's feelings for the damaged forelegs
+of his horse or donkey by a cash payment on the spot.
+
+Maeterlinck's "wonderful, unknown beast" is still unknown (and
+feared) by the majority of outsiders, and the propaganda of education
+must go on for a long time yet. Maeterlinck's great tribute to the
+automobile is his regard for it as the conqueror of space. Never
+before has the individual man been able to accomplish what the
+soulless corporations have with railway trains. In steamboat or train
+we are but a part and parcel of the freight carried, but in the
+automobile we are stoker, driver, and passenger in one, and regard
+every road-turning and landmark with a new wonder and appreciation.
+
+We are the aristocrats of tourists, and we are bound therefore to
+have a kindly regard for other road users or a revolution will spring
+up, as it did in feudal times.
+
+Take Maeterlinck's wise sayings for your guide, and be tolerant of
+the rights of others. This will do automobilism more good than can be
+measured, for it has come to stay, and perhaps even advance. The days
+of the horse are numbered.
+
+"In accord with the needs of our insatiable, exacting soul, which
+craves at once for the small and the mighty, the quick and the slow;
+here it is of us at last, it is ours, and offers at every turn
+glimpses of beauty that, in former days, we could only enjoy when the
+tedious journey was ended."
+
+The "tour abroad" has ever been the lodestone which has drawn
+countless thousands of home-loving English and Americans to
+Continental Europe. Pleasure--mere pleasure--has accounted for many
+of these pilgrims, but by far the largest proportion have been those
+who seek education and edification combined.
+
+One likes to be well cared for when he journeys, whether by road or
+rail, and demands accordingly, if not all the comforts of home, at
+least many things that the native knows or cares little of. A
+Frenchman does not desire a sitting-room, a reading-room, or a fire
+in his sleeping-room, and, according to his lights, he is quite
+right. He finds all this at a cafe, and prefers to go there for it.
+The steam-heated hotel, with running water everywhere, is a rarity in
+France, as indeed it is in England.
+
+Outside Paris the writer has found this combination but seldom in
+France; at Lyons, Marseilles, Moulins in the Allier, and at
+Chatellerault in Poitou only. Modernity is making its way in France,
+but only in spots; its progress is steady, but as yet it has not
+penetrated into many outlying districts. Modern _art nouveau_ ideas
+in France, which are banal enough, but which are an improvement over
+the Eastlake and horsehair horrors of the Victorian and
+Louis-Philippe periods, are tending to eliminate old-fashioned ideas
+for the benefit of the traveller who would rather eat his meals in a
+bright, airy apartment than in stuffy, dark hole known in England as
+a coffee-room.
+
+In France, in particular, the contrast of the new and old that one
+occasionally meets with is staggering. It is all very well in its
+way, this blending of antiquity and modernity, and gives one
+something of the thrill of romance, which most of us have in our
+make-up to a greater or lesser extent; but, on the other hand,
+romance gets some hard knocks when one finds a Roman sarcophagus used
+as a watering-trough; or a chapel as an automobile garage, as he
+often will in the Midi.
+
+One thing the American, and the Britisher to a lesser extent, be he
+automobilist or mere tourist, must fully realize, and that is that
+the tourist business is a more highly developed industry in
+Continental Europe than it is anywhere else. In Switzerland one may
+well say that it is a national industry, and in some parts of France
+(always omitting Paris, which is not France) it is practically the
+same thing; Holland and Belgium are not far behind, and neither is
+the Rhine country; so that the tourist in Europe finds that creature
+comforts are always near at hand. The automobilist does not much care
+whether they are near at hand or not. If he doesn't find the
+accommodations he is looking for on the borders of Dartmoor, he can
+keep on to Exmoor, and if Nevers won't suit his purpose for the night
+he can get to Moulins in an hour.
+
+A hotel that is full and overflowing is no more a fear or a
+dread; the automobilist simply takes the road again and drops
+in on some market-town twenty, thirty, or fifty miles away and
+finds accommodations that are equally satisfactory, with the
+possibility--if he looks in at some little visited spot like Meung
+or Beaugency in Touraine, Ecloo in Holland, or Reichenberg on the
+Rhine--that he will be more pleased with his surroundings than he
+would be in the large towns which are marked in heavy-faced type in
+the railway guides, and whose hotels are starred by Baedeker.
+
+In most countries the passport is no longer a necessary document in
+the traveller's pocketbook, though the Britisher still fondly arms
+himself with this "protection," and the American will, if it occurs
+to him, be only too glad to contribute his dollars to the fees of his
+consulate or embassy in order to possess himself of a gaudy thing in
+parchment and gold which he can wave in front of any one whom he
+thinks transgresses his rights as an American citizen: "from the land
+of liberty, and don't you forget it."
+
+This is all very well and is no doubt the very essence of a proper
+patriotism, but the best _piece d'identite_ for the foreigner who
+takes up his residence in France for more than three months is a
+simple document which can be obtained from the commissaire de police.
+It will pass him anywhere in France that a passport will, is more
+readily understood and accepted by the banker or post-office clerk as
+a personal identification, and will save the automobile _chauffeur_
+many an annoyance, if he has erred through lack of familiarity with
+many little unwritten laws of the land.
+
+The automobilist _en tour_ always has the identification papers of
+his automobile; in England his "License," and in France his
+"Certificat de Capacite" and "Recepisse de Declaration," which will
+accomplish pretty much all the passport of other days would do if one
+flourished it to-day before a stubborn octroi official or the
+caretaker of a historical monument.
+
+The membership card of the Italian, Swiss, or French touring clubs
+will do much the same thing, and no one should be without them, since
+membership in either one or all is not difficult or costly. (See
+Appendix.)
+
+France is the land _par excellence_ for the tourist, whether by road
+or rail. The art of "_le tourisme_" has been perfected by the French
+to even a higher degree than in Switzerland. There are numerous
+societies, clubs, and associations, from the all-powerful Touring
+Club de France downward, which are attracting not only the French
+themselves to many hitherto little-known corners of "_la belle
+France_," but strangers from over the frontiers and beyond the seas.
+These are not the tourists of the conventional kind, but those who
+seek out the little-worn roads. It is possible to do this if one
+travels intelligently by rail, but it is a great deal more
+satisfactorily done if one goes by road.
+
+Here and there, scattered all over France, in Dauphine, in Savoie,
+and in the Pyrenees, one finds powerful "Syndicats d'Initiative,"
+which not only care for the tourist, but bring pressure to bear on
+the hotel-keeper and local authorities to provide something in the
+way of improvements, where they are needed, to make a roadway safe,
+or to restore a historical site or monument.
+
+In the Pyrenees, and in the Alps of Savoie and Dauphine, one finds
+everywhere the insignia of the "Club-Alpin Francais," which caters
+with information, etc., not only to the mountain-climber, but to the
+automobilist and the general tourist as well.
+
+More powerful and effective than all--more so even than the famous
+Automobile Club de France--is the great Touring Club de France,
+which, with the patronage of the President of the Republic, and the
+influence of more than a hundred thousand members, is something more
+than a mere touring club.
+
+In the fourteen years of its existence not only has the Touring Club
+de France helped the tourist find his way about, but also has taken a
+leading part in the clearing away of the debris in many a moss-grown
+ruin and making of it a historical monument as pleasing to view as
+Jumieges on the Seine, or world-famed Les Baux in Provence.
+
+It has appointed itself the special guardian of roads and roadways,
+so far as the placing of signboards along the many important lines of
+communication is concerned; it has been the means of having dug up
+untold kilometres of Renaissance pavement; has made, almost at its
+own expense, a magnificent forty-kilometre road known as the Corniche
+de l'Esterel; and has given the backward innkeeper such a shock that
+he has at last waked up to the needs of the twentieth-century
+traveller. All this is something for a touring organization to have
+accomplished, and when one can become a part and parcel of this great
+organization, and a sharer in the special advantages which it has to
+offer to its members for the absurdly small sum of five francs per
+annum, the marvel is that it has not half a million members instead
+of a hundred thousand.
+
+
+Chapter III
+Roads & Routes
+
+[Illustration: Roads & Routes]
+
+  "Chacun suit dans ce monde une route incertaine,
+  Selon que son erreur le joue et le promene."--Boileau
+
+The chief concern of the automobilist to-day, after his individual
+automobile, is the road question, the "Good Roads Question," as it
+has become generally known. In a new country, like America, it is to
+be expected that great connecting highways should be mostly in the
+making. It is to be regretted that the development should be so slow,
+but things have been improving in the last decade, and perhaps
+America will "beat the world" in this respect, as she has in many
+others, before many future generations have been born.
+
+In the excellence and maintenance of her roads France stands
+emphatically at the head of all nations, but even here noticeable
+improvement is going on. The terrific "Louis Quatorze pave," which
+one finds around Paris, is yearly growing less and less in quantity.
+The worst road-bed in France is that awful stretch from Bordeaux, via
+Bazas, to Pau in Navarre, originally due to the energy of Henri IV.,
+and still in existence for a space of nearly a hundred kilometres.
+One avoids it by a detour of some twenty odd kilometres, and the
+writer humbly suggests that here is an important unaccomplished work
+for the usually energetic road authorities of France.
+
+After France the "good roads" of Britain come next, though in some
+parts of the country they are woefully inadequate to accommodate the
+fast-growing traffic by road, notably in London suburbs, while some
+of the leafy lanes over which poets rhapsodize are so narrow that the
+local laws prevent any automobile traffic whatever. As one
+unfortunate individual expressed it, "since the local authorities
+forbid automobiles on roadways under sixteen feet in width, I am
+unable to get my motor-car within nine miles of my home!"
+
+In England something has been done by late generations toward roads
+improvement. The first awakening came in 1820, and in 1832 the
+London-Oxford road had been so improved that the former time of the
+stage-coaches had been reduced from eight to six hours. Macadam in
+1830, and Stevenson in 1847, were the real fathers of the "Roads
+Improvement Movement" in England. The great faults of English roads
+are that they are narrow and winding, almost without exception. There
+are 38,600 kilometres of highways (the figures are given on the
+metric scale for better comparison with Continental facts and
+figures) and 160,900 of by-roads. There are sixty-six kilometres of
+roads to the square kilometre _(kilometre carre)_.
+
+In Germany the roads system is very complex. In Baden, the
+Palatinate, and the Grand Duchy of Hesse they cede nothing to the
+best roads anywhere, but in the central and northern provinces they
+are, generally speaking, much poorer. There are fifty-four kilometres
+of roads of all grades to the kilometre _carre_.
+
+In Belgium the roads are greatly inferior to those of France, and
+there are immeasurable stretches of the vilest pavement the world has
+known, not only near the large towns, but great interior stretches as
+well. There are 17,500 kilometres of Chemins Vicinaux and 6,990
+kilometres of Chemins de Grands Communications. They average, taken
+together, eighty-three kilometres to the kilometre _carre_.
+
+In Switzerland the roads are thoroughly good everywhere, but many,
+particularly mountain-roads, are entirely closed to automobile
+traffic, and the regulations in many of the towns are so onerous that
+it is anything but agreeable to make one's way through them. There
+are thirty-two kilometres to the kilometre _carre_. The Simplon Pass
+has only recently (1906) been opened to automobile traffic. No
+departure can be made from Brigue, on the Swiss side, or from Gondo,
+in Italy, after three P.M. Speed _(vitesse)_ must not exceed ten
+kilometres on the stretches, or two kilometres around the corners.
+Fines for infringement of the law run from twenty to five hundred
+francs.
+
+Italy, with a surface area one-half that of France, has but a quarter
+of the extent of the good roads. They are of variable quality, but
+good on the main lines of travel. In the ancient kingdom of Sardinia
+will be found the best, but they are poor and greatly neglected
+around Naples, and, as might be expected, in Sicily.
+
+In Austria the roads are very variable as to surface and maintenance,
+and there are numerous culverts or _canivaux_ across them. There are
+21,112 kilometres of national roads, 66,747 kilometres of provincial
+roads, and 87,859 of local roads. They average fourteen kilometres to
+the kilometre _carre_.
+
+The history of the development of the modern roadway is too big a
+subject to permit of its being treated here; suffice it to recall
+that in England and France, and along the Rhine, the lines of the
+twentieth-century main roads follow the Roman roads of classic times.
+
+In France, Lyons, in the mid-Rhone valley, was a great centre for the
+radiating roadways of Gaul. Strategically it was important then as it
+is important now, and Roman soldiery of the past, as the automobilist
+of to-day, had here four great thoroughfares leading from the city.
+The first traversed the valleys of the Rhine and the Meuse; the
+second passed by Autun, Troyes, Chalons, Reims, Soissons, Noyon, and
+Amiens; the third branched in one direction toward Saintes, and in
+another to Bordeaux; while the fourth dropped down the Rhone valley
+direct to Marseilles.
+
+More than thirty thousand kilometres of roadways were in use
+throughout Gaul during the Roman occupation, of which the four great
+routes _(viae publicae)_ formed perhaps four thousand.
+
+Of the great highways of France, the _Grandes Routes Nationales_, of
+which all travellers by road have the fondest and most vivid
+memories, it is well to recall that they were furthered, if not
+fathered, by none other than Napoleon, who, for all he laid waste,
+set up institutions anew which more than compensated for the
+destructions.
+
+The great roadways of France, such as the Route de Bretagne, running
+due west from the capital, and those leading to Spain, Switzerland,
+Italy, and the Pays Bas, had their origin in the days of
+Philippe-Auguste. His predecessors had let the magnificently traced
+itineraries of the Romans languish and become covered with grass--if
+not actually timber-grown.
+
+The arrangement and classification laid down by Philippe-Auguste have
+never been changed, simply modified and renamed; thus the _Routes
+Royales_--such as followed nearly a straight line from Paris by the
+right bank of the Loire to Amboise and to Nantes--became the _Routes
+Nationales_ of to-day.
+
+Soon wheeled traffic became a thing to be considered, and royal
+corteges moved about the land with much the same freedom and
+stateliness of the state coaches which one sees to-day in pageants,
+as relics of a past monarchical splendour.
+
+Louis XI. created the "_Service des Postes_" in France, which made
+new demands upon the now more numerous routes and roadways, and Louis
+XII., Francois I., Henri II., and Charles IX., all made numerous
+ordinances for the policing and maintenance of them.
+
+Henri IV., and his minister Sully, built many more of these great
+lines of communication, and thus gave the first real and tangible aid
+to the commerce and agriculture of the kingdom. He was something of
+an aesthetic soul too, this Henri of Bearn, for he was the originator
+of the scheme to make the great roadways of France tree-shaded
+boulevards, which in truth is what many of them are to-day. This
+monarch of love, intrigues, religious reversion, and strange oaths
+passed the first (and only, for the present is simply a continuance
+thereof) _ordonnance_ making the planting of trees along the national
+highroads compulsory on the local authorities.
+
+Under Louis XIV., Colbert continued the good work and put up the
+first mile-stone, or whatever its equivalent was in that day,
+measuring from the Parvis de Notre Dame at Paris. Some of these Louis
+XIV. _bornes_, or stones, still exist, though they have, of course,
+been replaced throughout by kilometre stones.
+
+The foregoing tells in brief of the natural development of the
+magnificent roads of France. Their history does not differ greatly
+from the development of the other great European lines of travel,
+across Northern Italy to Switzerland, down the Rhine valley and,
+branching into two forks, through Holland and through Belgium to the
+North Sea.
+
+[Illustration: On French Roads]
+
+In England the main travel routes run north, east, south, and west
+from London as a radiating centre, and each took, in the later
+coaching days, such distinctive names as "The Portsmouth Road," "The
+Dover Road," "The Bath Road," and "The Great North Road." Their
+histories have been written in fascinating manner, so they are only
+referred to here.
+
+It is in France, one may almost say, that automobile touring begins
+and ends, in that it is more practicable and enjoyable there; and so
+_la belle France_ continually projects itself into one's horizon when
+viewing the subject of automobilism.
+
+It may be that there are persons living to-day who regret the passing
+of the good old times when they travelled--most uncomfortably, be it
+remarked--by stage-coach and suffered all the inclemencies of bad
+weather _en route_ without a word of protest but a genial grumble,
+which they sought to antidote by copious libations of anything liquid
+and strong. The automobile has changed all this. The traveller by
+automobile doesn't resort to alcoholic drinks to put, or keep, him in
+a good humour, and, when he sees a lumbering van or family cart
+making its way for many miles from one widely separated region to
+another, he accelerates his own motive power and leaves the good old
+ways of the good old days as far behind as he can, and recalls the
+words of Sidney Smith:
+
+  "The good of other times let others state,
+  I think it lucky I was born so late."
+
+A certain picturesqueness of travel may be wanting when comparing the
+automobile with the whirling coach-and-four of other days, but there
+is vastly more comfort for all concerned, and no one will regret the
+march of progress when he considers that nothing but the means of
+transportation has been changed. The delightful prospects of hill and
+vale are still there, the long stretches of silent road and, in
+France and Germany, great forest routes which are as wild and
+unbroken, except for the magnificent surface of the roads, as they
+were when mediaeval travelers startled the deer and wild boar. You may
+even do this to-day with an automobile in more than one forest tract
+of France, and that not far from the great centres of population
+either.
+
+The invention of carriage-springs--the same which, with but little
+variation, we use on the automobile--by the wife of an apothecary in
+the Quartier de St. Antoine at Paris, in 1600, was the prime cause of
+the increased popularity of travel by road in France.
+
+In 1776, the routes of France were divided into four categories:
+1. Those leading from Paris to the principal interior cities and
+seaports.
+
+2. Those communicating directly between the principal cities.
+
+3. Those communicating directly between the cities and towns of one
+province and those of another.
+
+4. Those serving the smaller towns and bourgs.
+
+Those in the first class were to be 13.35 metres in width, the second
+11.90, the third 10, the fourth 7.90. The road makers and menders of
+England and America could not get better models than these.
+
+The advent of the automobile has brought a new factor into the matter
+of road making and mending, but certainly he would be an ignorant
+person indeed who would claim that the automobile does a tithe of the
+road damage that is done by horse-drawn traffic.
+
+At a high rate of speed, however, the automobile does raise a fine
+sandy dust, and exposes the macadam. A French authority states that
+up to twenty to twenty-five kilometres an hour the automobile does
+little or no harm to the roads, but when they increase to over fifty
+kilometres an hour they do damage the surface somewhat. Just what the
+ultimate outcome of it will be remains to be seen, but France is
+unlikely to do anything which will work against the interests of the
+automobilist.
+
+In consequence of this newer and faster mode of travelling, it is
+being found that on some parts of the roads the convexity of the
+surface is too great, and especially at curves, where fast motors
+frequently skid on the rounded surface. To obviate this a piece of
+road near the Croix d'Augas in the Orleannais has had the outer side
+of the curve raised eight centimetres above the centre of the road,
+in somewhat the same manner as on the curve of a railway. Since this
+innovation has proved highly successful and pleasing to the devotees
+of the new form of travel, it is likely to be further adopted.
+
+In the early period of the construction of French roads the earth
+formation was made horizontal, but Tresaguet, a French engineer,
+introduced the rounded form, or camber, and this is the method now
+almost generally adopted, both in France and England. Only some
+14,000 kilometres of the national routes have a hand-set foundation,
+the others being what are termed broken-stone roads--the stone used
+is broken in pieces and laid on promiscuously, after the system
+introduced by Macadam. Some of the second and third class, roads are
+constructed of gravel, and others, of earth.
+
+From the official report of 1893 it appears that the cost of
+maintenance of roads in France was as follows:
+
+COST OF LABOUR AND MATERIALS
+                        Annual Total      Annual Cost
+                        Cost            per Kilometre
+                                           (AV.)
+Routes Nationales       22,570,300 fcs.     775 fcs.
+Routes Departmentales   14,555,850          600
+Chemins Communication   82,474,450          423
+Chemins Vicinaux        44,211,125          200
+
+
+The above is for materials and labour on the roadways only, and
+something between 33 1/3 per cent, and 50 per cent. is added for the
+maintenance of watercourses and sidewalks, the planting of trees, and
+for general administrative expenses.
+
+[Illustration: Kilometre Stones in France]
+
+Excepting for twenty kilometres or so around Paris, the vehicular
+traffic on the country roads of France does not seem to be in any way
+excessive. The style of vehicles in France that carry into the cities
+farm and garden produce, wood, stone, etc., are large wagons with
+wheels six to seven feet in diameter. These wagons are more easily
+hauled and naturally do less damage to the roads than narrow-tired,
+low-wheeled trucks or drays. The horses in Paris, and in the country,
+are nearly all plain shod, with no heels or toes to act like a pick
+to break up the surface. Sometimes even one sees draught-horses with
+great flat, iron shoes extending out beyond the hoof in all
+directions.
+
+The question of the speed of the automobile on the roads, in France
+and England, as indeed everywhere else, has been the moot point in
+all legislation that has been attempted.
+
+The writer thinks the French custom the best. You may legally go at
+thirty kilometres an hour, and no more. If you exceed this you do it
+at your own risk. If an accident happens it _may_ go hard with you,
+but if not, all is well, and you have the freedom of the road in all
+that the term implies. In the towns you are often held down to ten,
+eight, or even six kilometres an hour, but that is merely a local
+regulation, for your benefit as much as for the safety of the public,
+for many a French town has unthought-of possibilities of danger in
+its crooked streets and unsafe crossings.
+
+Good roads have much to do with the pleasure of automobilism, and
+competent control and care of them will do much more. Where a picked
+bit of roadway has been chosen for automobile trials astonishing
+results have been obtained, as witness the Gordon-Bennett Cup records
+of the last six years, where the average speed per hour consistently
+increased from thirty-eight miles to nearly fifty-five, and this for
+long distances (three hundred and fifty miles or more).
+
+To meet the new traffic conditions the authorities must widen the
+roads here and there, remove obstructions at corners, make encircling
+boulevards through narrowly laid out towns, and erect warning signs,
+like the following, a great deal more numerously than they have as
+yet.
+
+They have very good automobile laws in France in spite of their
+anomalies. You agree to thirty-seven prescribed articles, and go
+through sundry formalities and take to the road with your automobile.
+In the name of the President of the Republic and the "_peuple
+francais,_" you are allowed thirty kilometres an hour in the open
+country, and twenty in the towns. You can do anything you like beyond
+this--at your own risk, and so long as no accident happens nothing
+will be said, but you must pull up when you come to a small town
+where M. le Maire, in the name of his forty-four electors, has
+decreed that his village is dangerously laid out for fast
+traffic,--and truth to tell it often is,--and accordingly you are
+limited to a modest ten or even less. It is annoying, of course, but
+if you are on a strange itinerary you had best go slow until you know
+what trouble lies ahead.
+
+In theory _la vitesse_ is national in France, but in practice it is
+communal, and the barriers rise, in the way of staring warnings
+posted at each village-end, like the barriers across the roads in the
+times of Louis XI.
+
+Except in Holland, where some "private roads" still exist, and in
+certain parts of England, the toll-gate keeper has become almost an
+historical curiosity. It is true, however, that in England one does
+meet with annoying toll-bridges and gates, and in France one has
+equally annoying _octroi_ barriers.
+
+One recognizes the vested proprietary rights, many of which, in
+England, are hereditary, of certain toll-gates and bridges, but it is
+hard in these days, when franchises for the conduct of public
+services are only granted for limited periods, that legislation, born
+of popular clamour, should not confiscate, or, better, purchase at a
+fair valuation, these "rights," and make all roads and bridges free
+to all.
+
+In France there are no toll-gates or bridges, or at least not many
+(the writer recalls but one, a bridge at La Roche-Guyou on the Seine,
+just above Vernon), but there are various state ferries across the
+Seine, the Rhone, the Saone, and the Loire, where a small charge is
+made for crossing. These are particularly useful on the lower Seine,
+in delightful Normandy, as there are no bridges below Rouen.
+
+In France one's chief delays on the road are caused by the _octroi_
+barriers at all large towns, though only at Paris and, for a time, at
+St. Germain do they tax the supplies of _essence_ (gasoline) and oil,
+which the automobilist carries in his tanks.
+
+The _octroi_ taxes are onerous enough in all conscience, but it is a
+pity to annoy automobilists in the way the authorities do at the
+gates of Paris, and it's still worse for a touring automobile to be
+stopped at the barrier of a town like Evreux in Normandy, or Tarare
+in the Beaujolais. Whatever does the humble (and civil, too) guardian
+do it for, except to show his authority, and smile pleasantly, as he
+waves you off after having brought you to a full stop at the bottom
+of a twisting cobble-stoned, hilly street where you need all the
+energy and suppleness of your motor in order to reach the top.
+
+There are not many of these abrupt stops, outside the large towns,
+and nowhere do they tax you on your oil or _essence_ except at
+Paris--where you pay (alas!) nearly as much as the original cost.
+
+At Rouen the guardian comes up, looks in your tonneau to see if you
+have a fish or a partridge hidden away, and sends you on your way
+with a bored look, as though he disliked the business as much as you
+do. At Tours, if you come to the barrier just as the official has
+finished a good lunch, he simply smiles, and doesn't even stop
+you. At Marseilles you get up from your seat and let the official
+poke a bamboo stick down among your _chambres d'air_, and say
+nothing--provided he does not puncture them; if he does, you say a
+good deal, but he replies by saying that he was merely doing his
+duty, and meant no harm.
+
+At Nantes, at Rennes, at Orleans, and Bordeaux, all of them _grandes
+villes_, every one is civil and apologetic, but still the procedure
+goes on just the same.
+
+At Lyons the _octroi_ tax has been abolished. Real progress this!
+
+In the old coaching days road speeds fell far behind what they are
+to-day in a well-constructed and capable automobile, but, as they put
+in long hours on the road, they certainly did get over the ground in
+a fairly satisfactory manner. Private conveyances, with private
+horses, could not hope to accomplish anything like it, simply because
+there is a limit to the working powers and hours of the individual
+horse. With the old mail-coaches, in England, and the _malle-poste_
+and the _poste-chaise_, in France, things were different, for at
+every _poste_, or section, was a new relay; and on the coach went at
+the same pace as before.
+
+[Illustration: Days Gone By]
+
+The London-Birmingham coaches in 1830 covered the 109 miles between
+the two points at an average speed of 15.13 miles per hour, the
+highest speed being eighteen, and the lowest eleven miles.
+
+In France the speeds were a little better. From Lyons the old
+mail-coaches used to make the journey to Paris in four days by way of
+Auxerre, and in five by Moulins, though the distance is the same, one
+hundred and twenty leagues. To-day the automobile, which fears not
+hills, take invariably the Moulins road, and covers the distance
+between breakfast and dinner; that is, if the driver is a "scorcher;"
+and there are such in France.
+
+In 1834 there were thirteen great lines of _malle-postes_ in France
+as follows:
+
+To Calais. By Clermont, Amiens, and Abbeville.
+To Lille. By Senlis, Noyon, St. Quentin, Cambrai, and Douai.
+To Mezieres. By Soissons, Reims, and Rhetel.
+To Strasbourg. By Chalons-sur-Marne, Metz, and Sarrebourg.
+To Besancon. By Troyes and Dijon.
+To Lyon. By Melun, Auxerre, Autun, and Macon.
+To Clermont-Ferrand. By Fontainebleau, Briare, Nevers, and Moulins.
+To Toulouse. By Orleans, Chateauroux, Limoges, and Cahors.
+To Bordeaux. By Orleans, Blois, Tours, Poitiers, and Angouleme.
+To Nantes. By Chartres, Le Mans, La Fleche, and Angers.
+To Brest. By Alencon, Laval, Rennes, and St. Brieuc.
+To Caen. By Bonnieres, Evreux, and Lisieux.
+To Rouen. By Neuilly-sur-Seine, Pontoise, Gisors, Ecouis, and
+Fleury-sur-Andelle.
+
+Besides the _malle-poste_ there was another organization in France
+even more rapid. The following is copied from an old advertisement:
+
+AVIS AU PUBLIC
+"_Messageries Royales--Nouvelles Diligences_
+
+"Le Public est averti:
+
+"Il partira de Paris toutes les semaines, pour Dunkerque, passant par
+Senlis, Compiegne, et Noyon, une diligence le lundi a 6 heures du
+matin. Elle repartira de Dunkerque a Paris, le mercredi a 6 heures du
+matin. Il partira aussi dans chaque sens une voiture pour les gros
+bagages et objets fragiles, le jeudi de chaque semaine.
+
+"Les bureaux de ces diligences sont etablis a Paris, rue St. Denis,
+vis-a-vis les Filles-Dieu."
+
+From Paris to Bordeaux, 157 leagues, the Messageries Royales made the
+going at an easy pace in five days. To-day the express-trains do it
+in six and one-half hours, and the ever-ready automobile has knocked
+a half an hour off that, just for a record. "_Tempus fugit._"
+
+The subject of roads and roadmaking is one that to-day more than ever
+is a matter of deep concern to those responsible for a nation's
+welfare.
+
+It might seem, in these progressive days, that it was in reality a
+matter which might take care of itself, at least so far as originally
+well-planned or well-built roads were concerned. This, however, is
+not the case; the railway has very nearly reached the limit of its
+efficiency (at any rate in thickly settled parts), and the electric
+roads have merely stepped in and completed its functions.
+
+It is certain that an improved system of road administration or
+control is needed. The turnpike or the highroad served its purpose
+well enough in coaching days as the most direct and quickest way
+between important towns. To-day, in many respects, conditions are
+changed. Certain centres of population and commercial activity have
+progressed at the expense of less fortunate communities, and the
+one-time direct highroads now deviate considerably, with the result
+that there is often an unnecessary prolongation of distance and
+expenditure of time.
+
+Examples of this sort are to be found all over Britain, but a great
+deal less frequently in France, where the communication is by a more
+direct line between important centres, often leaving the small and
+unimportant towns out of the itinerary altogether.
+
+In England, centralization or nationalization of the road-building
+authority should remedy all this. Cuts and deviations from existing
+lines, for the general good, would then be made without local
+jealousy or misapplied influence being brought to bear, and the
+general details of width and surface be carried on throughout the
+land, under one supreme power, and not, as often now is the case, by
+various local district and urban councils and county surveyors.
+
+"The Great North Road" and "The Famous Bath Road" vary greatly
+throughout their length as to width and excellence; and yet popular
+opinion in the south of England would seem to indicate that these
+roads, to single them out from among others, are idyllic, both in
+character of surface and skill of engineering, throughout their
+length. This is manifestly not so. The "Bath Road," for example, in
+parts, is as flat and well-formed a surface as one could hope to
+find, even in France itself, but at times it degenerates into a mere
+narrow, guttery alley, especially in its passage through some of the
+Thames-side towns, where the surface is never of that excellence that
+it should be; throughout its entire length of some hundred odd miles
+to Bath there are ever-recurring evidence of bad road-making and
+worse engineering.
+
+One is bound to take into consideration that it is the automobile,
+and the general increase in automobile traffic, that, in all
+countries, is causing the wide-spread demand for improved roads.
+
+To illustrate the growth of the use of the automobile on the public
+highway, and taking France as an example, the following statistics
+are given from the _Journal des Debats:_
+
+In 1900 there were taxed in France 1,399 _voitures-automobiles_ of
+more than two places, and 955 of one or two places. In 1903 the
+figures had risen to 7,228 and 2,694 respectively. These figures may
+seem astonishingly small at first glance, but their percentage of
+growth is certainly abnormally large. These _voitures-automobiles_,
+be it recalled, are all pleasure carriages, and displaced in the same
+time (according to the same authority) 10,000 horse-drawn vehicles.
+At the same period Paris alone claimed 1,845 _voitures-automobiles_
+and 6,539 horse-drawn pleasure carriages.
+
+Road reformers, wherever found, should agitate for two things: the
+efficient maintenance of existing roads and the laying out of new and
+improved thoroughfares where needed.
+
+In England and America the roadways are under the care of so many
+controlling bodies that they have suffered greatly. In England, for
+example, there is one eighteen-mile strip of road which is under the
+control of twelve different highway authorities, while the "Great
+North Road" from London to Edinburgh, is, in England alone, subject
+to seventy-two separate authorities. Local jealousies, rivalry and
+factions, and the quarrels of various road authorities interfere
+everywhere with good roads. The greatest good of the greatest number
+is sacrificed to village squabbles and to the advice of the local
+squire, who "detests motor-cars," as he does most other signs of
+progress. The roads of the future must be under some general control.
+At present, affairs in England are pretty bad; let America take heed
+in her new provisions for road supervision and government.
+
+There is at present an almost Chinese jumble in the distribution of
+authority over roads in England and Wales. There are in London alone
+twenty-nine highway authorities, and 1,855 throughout the rest of the
+country.
+
+In view of the fact that through motor traffic of all kinds will
+increase every year, it has been suggested that new loop roads should
+be constructed round towns on the chief roads, private enterprise
+being enlisted by the expectation of improved land value. This
+certainly would be a move in the right direction.
+
+[Illustration: Milestone pictures]
+
+Mile-stone reform is another thing which is occupying the serious
+attention of the road user. In Continental Europe this matter is
+pretty well arranged, though there is frequently a discrepancy of
+two, three, or even five kilometres between the national mile-stones
+_(bornes kilometriques)_ and the sign-boards of the various local
+authorities and touring clubs.
+
+France has the best system extant of sign-boards and mile-stones. One
+finds the great national, departmental, and communal signs and stones
+everywhere, and at every hundred metres along the road are the
+intermediate little white-numbered stones, from which you may take
+your bearings almost momentarily, with never a fear that you are off
+your track.
+
+In addition to this the sign-boards of the Touring Club de France,
+the Automobile Club de France, and the Association Generale
+Automobile satisfy any further demands that may be made by the
+traveller by automobile who wants to read as he runs. No such legible
+signs and warnings are known elsewhere.
+
+There is uniformity in all the kilometre and department boundary
+stones in France; but in England "mile-stones" of all shapes, sizes,
+materials, and degrees of legibility are found.
+
+There are some curious relics in the form of ancient mile-stones
+still in use, which may please the antiquarian, but are of no value
+to the automobilist. There is the "eightieth mile-stone on the
+Holyhead Road" in England, which carries one back through two
+centuries of road travel; and there is a heavy old veteran of perhaps
+a thousand years, which at one time marked the "_Voie Aurelian,_" as
+it crossed Southern Gaul. It is found in Provence, in the
+Bouches-du-Rhone, near Salon, and is a sight not to be missed by
+those curiously inclined.
+
+The question of dust is one of the chief problems yet to be solved
+for the benefit of automobilists and the general public alike. A good
+deal of the "dust nuisance" is due to badly made and badly kept
+roads, but we must frankly admit that the automobile itself is often
+the cause. "La Ligue Contre la Poussiere," in France, has made some
+interesting experiments, with the below enumerated results, as
+related to automobile traffic. Road-builders and manufacturers of
+automobiles alike have something here to make a note of.
+
+(1) Sharp corners and excessive road cambers lead to slip, and,
+therefore, to dust.
+
+(2) More dust is raised on a rough road than on an equally dusty
+smooth road.
+
+(3) Watering the road moderately diminishes the dust.
+
+(4) The spreading on the road of crude oil, or of oil emulsions in
+water, is an important palliative.
+
+(5) Wood, asphalt, cobblestones, and square pavings are not dusty
+save after use by horse traffic.
+
+(6) Cars with smooth, boat-shaped under surfaces are less dusty than
+others.
+
+(7) Cars with large mud-guards and leather flaps near the road are
+more dusty.
+
+(8) Cars on high wheels well away from the ground are less dusty.
+
+(9) Cars with large tool-boxes at the back reaching low down between
+the back wheels are dusty.
+
+(10) Large car bodies are often dustier than small ones.
+
+(11) Blowing the exhaust near the ground increases the dust.
+
+(12) Cars fitted with engines having an insufficient fly-wheel or a
+non-uniform turning effort from any cause are more dusty.
+
+(13) A car mounted on very easy springs having a large up-and-down
+play will suck up the dust with each rise and fall of the body on
+rough roads.
+
+(14) Front wheels--or rolling wheels--raise less dust than back
+wheels or driving wheels.
+
+(15) Smooth pneumatic tires are dusty.
+
+(16) Solid or pneumatic rubber tires are more dusty at higher speeds,
+and with high-powered engines.
+
+(17) Non-skid devices, such as small steel studs, etc., do not
+increase the dust.
+
+A writer on automobilism and roads cannot leave the latter subject
+without a reference to some of the obstructions and inconveniences to
+which the automobilist has to submit. If the automobilist proved
+himself a "road obstruction" like any of the following he would soon
+be banished and the industry would suffer.
+
+A correspondent in the _Auto_, the chief Parisian daily devoted to
+automobilism, gave the following list of obstructions encountered in
+a journey of a thousand kilometres:
+
+1. Drivers having left their horses entirely unattended - 75
+
+2. Drivers who would not make way to allow one to pass - 86
+
+3. Driver is asleep - 8
+
+4. Drivers not holding the reins - 12
+
+5. Drivers in carriages, or carts, without lights at night - 81
+
+6. Drivers stopping their horses in the middle of the road or at
+dangerous turnings - 2
+
+7. Drivers allowing their horses to descend hills unattended while
+they walked behind - 18
+
+8. Dogs throwing themselves in front of one - 35
+
+9. Flocks of sheep met without guardians near by - 8
+
+10. Cattle straying unattended - 10
+
+11. Geese, hens and children in the middle of the road - 30
+
+Instead of seven sins, any of which might be deadly, there are
+eleven. Legislation must sooner or later protect the automobilist
+better than it does to-day.
+
+
+Chapter IV
+Hotels & Things
+
+[Illustration: Hotels & Things]
+
+In all the literature of travel, that which is devoted to hotels has
+been conspicuously neglected. Certainly a most interesting work could
+be compiled.
+
+Among the primitive peoples travellers were dependent upon the
+hospitality of those among whom they came. After this arose a species
+of hostelry, which catered for man and beast in a more or less crude
+and uncomfortable manner; but which, nevertheless, was a great deal
+better than depending upon the generosity and hospitality of
+strangers, and vastly more comfortable than sleeping and eating in
+the open.
+
+In the middle ages there appeared in France the _cabaret_, the
+_gargot_, the _taverne_, and then the _auberge_, many of which,
+endowed with no more majestic name, exist even to-day.
+
+ICI ON LOGE a PIED ET a CHEVAL
+
+is a sign frequently seen along the roadways of France, and even in
+the villages and small towns. It costs usually ten sous a night for
+man, and five sous for his beast, though frequently there is a
+fluctuating price.
+
+The _aubergiste_ of other days, on the routes most frequented, was an
+enterprising individual, if reports are to be believed. Frequently he
+would stand at his door and cry out his prices to passers-by. "_Au
+Cheval Blanc! On dine pour douze sous. Huit sous le cocher. Six
+liards l'ecurie._"
+
+With the era of the diligences there came the Hotels de la Poste,
+with vast paved courtyards, great stables, and meals at all hours,
+but the chambers still remained more or less primitive, and in truth
+have until a very recent date.
+
+There is absolutely no question but that automobilism has brought
+about a great change in the hotel system of France. It may have had
+some slight effect elsewhere, but in France its influence has been
+enormous. The guide-books of a former generation did nothing but put
+an asterisk against the names of those hotels which struck the fancy
+of the compiler, and it was left to the great manufacturers of
+"_pneumatiques_" for automobiles to carry the scheme to a
+considerably more successful issue. Michelin, in preparing his
+excellent route-book, bombarded the hotel-keeper throughout the
+length and breadth of France with a series of questions, which he
+need not answer if he did not choose, but which, if he neglected, was
+most likely taken advantage of by his competitor.
+
+Given a small _chef-lieu_, a market-town in France, with two
+competing establishments, the one which was marked by the compiler of
+this excellent road-book as having the latest sanitary arrangements,
+with perhaps a dark room for photographers, stood a much better
+chance of the patronage of the automobile traveller than he who had
+merely a blank against the name of his house. The following selection
+of this appalling array of questions, used in the preparation of the
+Guide-Michelin, will explain this to the full:
+
+Is your hotel open all the year?
+
+What is the price per day which the automobilist _en tour_ may count
+on spending with you? (This is purposely noncommittal so far as an
+ironbound statement is concerned, being more particularly for
+classification, and is anyway a much better system of classification
+than by a detailed price-list of _dejeuner, diner_, etc.)
+
+What is the price of an average room, with service and lights? (Be
+it noted that only in avowed tourist resorts, or in the case of
+very new travellers, are the ridiculous items of "_service et
+bougie_"--service and lights--ever charged in France.)
+
+Is wine included in your regular charges? (And it generally is except
+in the two above-mentioned instances.)
+
+Have you a sign denoting adherence or alliance to the A. G. A.?
+
+Have you a sign denoting adherence or alliance to the A. C. F.?
+
+Have you a sign denoting adherence or alliance to the T. C F.?
+
+Have you an arrangement with the Touring Club de France allowing
+members a discount of ten per cent.? (Some four thousand country
+hotels of France have.)
+
+Have you a bath-room?
+
+Have you modernized hygienic bedrooms?
+
+Have you water-closets with modern plumbing? (Most important this.)
+
+Have you a dark room for photographers?
+
+Have you a covered garage for automobiles? (This must be free of
+charge to travellers, for two days at least, or a mention of the
+hotel does not appear.)
+
+How many automobiles can you care for?
+
+Have you a telephone and what is its number?
+
+What is your telegraphic address?
+
+What are the chief curiosities and sights in your town?
+
+What interesting excursions in the neighbourhood?
+
+This information is afterwards compiled and most clearly set forth,
+with additional information as to population, railway facilities,
+etc.
+
+The annual of the Automobile Club de France marks with a little
+silhouetted knife and fork those establishments which deserve mention
+for their _cuisine_, and even marks good beds in a similar fashion.
+Clearly the makers of old-time guide-books must wake up, or everybody
+will take to automobiling, if only to have the right to demand one of
+these excellent guides. To be sure the same information might to a
+very considerable extent be included in the recognized guide-books;
+indeed Joanne's excellent series has in one or two instances added
+something of the sort in recent editions of their "Normandie" and
+"Provence," but each volume deals only with some special locality,
+whereas the Guide-Michelin deals with the whole of France, and the
+house also issues another covering Belgium, Holland, and the Rhine
+country.
+
+The chief concern of the touring automobilist, after the pleasures of
+the road, is the choice of a hotel. The days when the diligences of
+Europe drew up before an old-time inn, with the sign of a pewter
+plate, an _ecu d'or_, a holly branch, or a prancing white horse, have
+long since disappeared. The classic good cheer of other days, a fowl
+and a bottle of Beaune, a baron of beef and porter, or a carp and
+good Rhine wine have gone, too. The automobile traveller requires, if
+not a stronger fare, at least a more varied menu, as he does a more
+ample supply of water for washing.
+
+These quaint old inns of other days, with fine mullioned windows,
+galleried courtyards, and vine-trellised facades, still exist here
+and there, but they have been much modernized, else they would not
+exist at all. There is not much romance in the make-up of the modern
+traveller, at least so far as his own comfort is concerned, and the
+tired automobilist who has covered two hundred kilometres of road,
+between lunch and dinner, requires something more heroic in the way
+of a bath than can be had in a tiny porcelain basin, and a more
+comfortable place to sit in than the average bar-parlour, such as he
+finds in most country inns in England.
+
+As Sterne said: "They do things better in France," and the
+accommodation supplied the automobilist is there far ahead of what
+one gets elsewhere.
+
+The hotel demanded by the twentieth-century traveller need not
+necessarily be a palace, but it must be something which caters to the
+advancing needs of the time in a more efficient manner than the
+country inn of the eighteenth century, when the only one who
+travelled in comfort was he who thrust himself upon the hospitality
+of friends.
+
+We are living in a hygienic age, and to-day we are particular about
+things that did not in the least concern our forefathers. In England
+there is no public-spirited body which takes upon itself the task of
+pointing out the virtuous path to the country Boniface. The
+Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland has not succeeded very
+well with its task as yet and has not anything like the influence of
+its two sister organizations in France, or the very efficient Touring
+Club Italiano.
+
+Hygiene does not necessarily go so far as to demand a doctor's
+certificate as to the health of the birds and animals which the
+_chef_ presents so artistically in his celebrated _plats du jour_,
+and one need not take the _journaux comiques_ too seriously, as once
+did a gouty _milord_, who insisted that his duckling Rouennais
+should, while alive, first be certificated as to the health of its
+_bronches_ and _poumons_. All the same one likes to know that due
+regard is given to the proprieties and necessities of his bedroom,
+and to know that the kitchen is more or less a public apartment where
+one can see what is going on, which one can almost invariably do in
+France, in the country, at any rate. Therein lies one of the great
+charms of the French hotel.
+
+One of the latest moves of the Automobile Club de France is to call
+attention to the mountainous districts of France, the Pyrenees, and
+the Jura, and to exploit them as rivals to Switzerland. Further, a
+competition among hotel-keepers has been started throughout France,
+and a prize of ten thousand francs is offered yearly to that
+hotel-keeper who has added most to the attractions of his house. The
+club authorities furnish expert advice and recommendations as to
+hotel reforms to any hotel-keeper who applies. In England the newly
+established "Road Club" might promote the interests of British motor
+tourists, and the large numbers of Americans and foreigners, by
+undertaking a similar work.
+
+To a great extent the tourist, by whatever means of travel, must find
+his hotels out for himself. He cannot always follow a guide-book, and
+if he does he may find that the endorsement of an old edition is no
+longer merited.
+
+By far the best hotel-guides for France, Belgium, and Holland, the
+Rhine, Switzerland, and Italy are the excellent _annuaires_ of the
+Automobile Clubs and Touring Clubs, and the before-mentioned
+Guide-Michelin and "Guide-Routiere Continental," issued by the great
+pneumatic tire companies.
+
+Hotel-finding abroad, for the stranger, is a more or less difficult
+process, or he makes it such. The crowded resorts do not give one a
+tithe of the character or local colour to be had from a stay in some
+little market-town inn of France or Germany. In the former, hotels
+are simply bad imitations of Parisian establishments, while the best
+are often off the beaten track in the small towns.
+
+The question of tipping is an ever present one for the European
+traveller. It exists in Britain and Continental Europe to an
+increasing and exasperating extent, and the advent of the automobile
+has done nothing to lessen it.
+
+There is no earthly, sensible logic which should induce a _garcon_ in
+a hotel or restaurant to think that because one arrives in an
+automobile he wishes to dine in a special room off of rare viands and
+drink expensive wines, but this is his common conception of the
+automobile tourist. One fights up or down through the scale of hotel
+servants, and does his best to allay any false ideas they may have,
+including those of the hostler, who has done nothing for you, and
+expects his tip, too. It's an up-hill process, and the idea that
+every automobilist is a millionaire is everywhere dying hard.
+
+The traveller demands not so much elegance as comfort, and, above
+all, fit accommodation for his automobile. Some sort of a light,
+airy, and clean closed garage is his right to demand, and the hotel
+that supplies this, as contrasted with the one that does not, gets
+the business, even if other things be _not_ equal.
+
+The requirements of an automobile _en tour_ are almost as numerous
+and varied as those of its owner. Hence the hotel proprietor must, if
+he values this clientele, provide something a great deal better than
+a mere outhouse, an old untidy stable-yard, or a lean-to.
+
+Small concern is it to mine host of the local inn, who is somewhat
+off the beaten track of motorcars, as to what really constitutes a
+garage. He usually does not even know what the word means. Any
+roofed-over shed or shack, with doors or not, is what one generally
+has to put up with to-day, for housing his resplendent brassy and
+varnishy automobile.
+
+Once the writer remembers being turned into an old stable (in
+England), the floor of which was strewn with the broken bottles of a
+defunct local mineral water industry, and again into another, used as
+a carpenter's shop, the floor strewn with the paraphernalia and tools
+of the trade.
+
+If the English hotel-keeper (again they do things better on the
+Continent) only would discriminate to the extent of believing that
+there is nothing harmful or indecent about an automobile, and let it
+live in the coach-house like a respectable dog-cart or the orthodox
+brougham, all would be well, and we should save our tempers and a
+vast lot of gray matter in attempting to show a conservative landlord
+how far he is behind the times.
+
+One other very important demand the automobilist makes of the hotel,
+and that is the possibility of being supplied with his coffee at any
+time after five in the morning. The automobile tourist, not of the
+butterfly order, is almost invariably an early bird.
+
+Without question the Continental hotel of all ranks is vastly
+superior to similar establishments in Britain. The inferiority of the
+British inns may be due to tardiness and slothfulness on the part of
+the landlords, or long suffering and non-complaining on the part of
+their guests. It is either one or the other, or both, of these
+reasons, but the fact is the hotel-keeper, and his establishment as
+well, are each far inferior to those of Continental Europe.
+
+Perhaps the real reason of the conservatism of the British
+hotel-keeper is yet to be fathomed, but it probably starts from the
+fact that he does not travel to learn. The young Swiss serves his
+apprenticeship, and learns French, as a waiter at Nice, just as he
+learns Italian at San Remo. Ten years later you may find him as the
+manager of a big hotel at home. He has learned his business by hard,
+disagreeable work. How many English hotel-keepers have imitated him?
+Another cause of backwardness in England is the "license" system,
+with its artificial augmentation of the value of all premises where
+alcoholic refreshment is provided. This tends to make the landlord
+look upon it as his chief, if not his sole, source of profit. Even if
+he serves meals at a fair price, he looks to the accompanying, or
+casual, drinks to pay him best. This results in indifferent and
+slovenly food-catering. The public bar, with its foul-mouthed
+loafers,--there seems to be an idea that one can talk in an English
+tavern as one would not in an English street,--is often within
+ear-shot of the dining-room. This is one of the great defects of the
+English hotel system, in all but the largest towns, and even there it
+is not wholly absent.
+
+This is how the facts strike a foreigner, the Frenchman, the
+Dutchman, the Belgian, and the German, whose hotels and restaurants
+are, first of all, for quiet, ordinary guests, and only secondarily
+as places where liquid refreshment--alcoholic or otherwise--is served
+with equal alacrity, but without invidious distinction.
+
+The old-time inns of England, and their very names, have a peculiar
+fascination for the stranger. Some of us who know them intimately,
+and who how what discomfort and inefficient catering may lurk behind
+such a picturesque nomenclature as the "Rose and Crown" or the
+"Hawthorne Inn," have a certain disregard for the romance of it all.
+If one is an automobilist he has all the more reason to take
+cognizance of their deficiencies.
+
+All the same the mere mention of the old-time posting-houses of the
+"Bath Road," the "Great North Road" (particularly that portion
+between London and Cambridge along which Dick Turpin took his famous
+ride) have a glamour for us that even the automobile will not wholly
+extinguish. According to story it was at one of the many inns along
+the "Great North Road" that Turpin procured a bottle of wine, which
+once having passed down the throat of his famous "Black Bess" enabled
+the rascal to escape his pursuers. The automobilist will be fortunate
+if he can find gasoline along here to-day as easily as he can that
+peculiarly vile brand of beer known as "bitter."
+
+Buntingford on the "North Road" has an inn, which, in a way, is
+trying to cope with the new conditions. The landlord of the "George
+and the Dragon" has come to a full realization that the motor-car has
+well-nigh suppressed all other forms of road traffic for pleasure,
+and, more or less incompletely, he is catering for the wants of
+motorists, as did his predecessors for the traveller by
+posting-carriage or stage-coach. This particular landlord, though he
+looks like one of the old school, should be congratulated on a
+perspicuity which few of his confreres in England possess.
+
+There are two other inns which travellers on the "North Road" will
+recognize as they fly past in their automobiles, or stop for tea or a
+bite to eat, for, in spite of their devotion to the traffic in beer,
+these "North Road" inns, within a radius of seventy-five or a hundred
+miles of London, seem more willing to furnish solid or non-alcoholic
+refreshment than most of their brethren elsewhere. The "Bell Inn" and
+the "Red, White, and Blue" (and the George and the Dragon) of the
+North Road in England deserve to linger in the memory of the
+automobilist, almost to the exclusion of any other English inns of
+their class.
+
+With regard to hotel charges for all classes of travellers, as well
+in England as on the Continent, there is an undoubted upward tendency
+which the automobile has done absolutely nothing to allay. One good
+is coming to pass, however, and that is uniformity of price for the
+class of accommodation offered, and (in France and most other
+Continental countries) the absolute abolition of the charge for
+"lights and service," an abominable and outrageous practice which
+still lingers in England--and for that matter Scotland and Ireland.
+
+The discussion of the subject has been worn threadbare, and it is
+useless to enter further into it here, save to remark that since the
+automobile is bringing about so many reforms and improvements perhaps
+the abolition of this species of swindling on the part of the British
+hotel-keeper will disappear along with antiquated sanitary
+arrangements and uncomfortable closed-in beds.
+
+In France--thanks again to the indefatigable Touring Club de
+France--they have eliminated this charge for service and lights
+entirely, and one generally finds hanging behind the door the little
+card advocated by the Touring Club, stating clearly the charge for
+that particular room and the price of the various things offered in
+the way of accommodation. This ought to be demanded, by law, of every
+hotel-keeper. Not every hotel in France has fallen in line, but those
+that have are reaping the benefit. The automobilist is a good
+advertiser of what he finds _en route_ that pleases him, and scores
+pitilessly--to other automobilists--everything in the nature of a
+swindle that he meets with, and they are not few, for in many places
+the automobilist is still considered fair game for robbery.
+
+As to the fare offered in English inns, as compared with that of the
+Continental hotel, the least said the better; the subject has been
+gone over again and again, so it shall not be reiterated here, save
+to quote Pierre Loti on what one eats for an English dinner.
+
+"We were assembled round a horrible bill of fare, which would not be
+good enough for one of our humblest cook-shops. But the English are
+extraordinary folk. When I saw the reappearance, for the fourth time,
+of the fatal dish of three compartments, for badly boiled potatoes,
+for peas looking poisonously green, and for cauliflower drenched with
+a glue-like substance, I declined, and sighed for Poledor, who
+nourished my studious youth on a dainty repast at a shilling per
+day."
+
+The modern tourist, and especially the tourist by automobile, has
+done more for the improved conduct of the wayside hotel, and even
+those of the large towns, than whole generations of travellers of a
+former day.
+
+Once the hotel drew its income from the hiring-out of posting-horses,
+and the sale of a little food and much wine. As the old saying goes:
+"Four horses and four bottles of port went together in the account of
+every gentleman." Travellers of those days, if comparatively few,
+were presumably wealthy. To-day no one, save the vulgar few, ever
+cares that the innkeeper, or the servants, should suspect him of
+being wealthy.
+
+It's a failing of the Anglo-Saxon race, however, to want to be taken
+for bigger personages than they really are, and often enough they pay
+for the privilege. This is only natural, seeing that even an
+innkeeper is human. Charges suitable for a _milord_ or a millionaire
+have been inflicted on Browns, Joneses, and Robinsons simply because
+they demanded such treatment--for fear they would not be taken for
+"gentlemen." Such people are not numerous among real traveling
+automobilists; they are mostly found among that class who spend the
+week-end at Brighton, or dine at Versailles or St. Germain or "make
+the fete" at Trouville. They are known instinctively by all, and are
+only tolerated by the hotel landlord for the money they spend.
+
+The French cook's "_batterie de cuisine_" is a thing which is
+fearfully and wonderfully displayed in all the splendour of polished
+steel and copper; that is, it is frequently so displayed in the
+rather limited acquaintance which the general public has with the
+_cuisine_ of a great hotel or restaurant, whether it be in Paris,
+London, or New York.
+
+[Illustration: In French Hotels]
+
+In provincial France it is quite another thing. The _chef-patron_ of
+a small hotel in a small town may be possessed of an imposing battery
+of pots and pans, but often, since he buys his _patisserie_ and
+sweetmeats of the local pastry-cook, and since his guests may
+frequently not number a dozen at a time, he has no immediate use for
+all of his _casseroles_ and _marmites_ and _plats ronds_ and
+_sauteuses_ at one time, and accordingly, instead of being
+picturesquely hung about the wall in all their polished brilliancy,
+they are frequently covered with a coating of dull wax or, more banal
+yet, enveloped in an ancient newspaper with only their handles
+protruding. It's a pity to spoil the romantically picturesque idea
+which many have of the French _batterie de cuisine_, but the
+before-mentioned fact is more often the case than not.
+
+Occasionally, on the tourist-track, there is a "show hotel," like the
+Hotel du Grand Cerf at Louviers (its catering in this case is none
+the worse for its being a "show-place," it may be mentioned) where
+all the theatrical picturesqueness of the imagination may be seen.
+There is the timbered sixteenth-century house-front, the heavily
+beamed, low ceiling of the _cuisine_, the great open-fire chimney
+with its _broche_, and all the brave showing of pots and pans,
+brilliant with many scrubbings of _eau de cuivre_, to present quite
+the ideal picture of its kind to be seen in France--without leaving
+the highroads and searching out the "real thing" in the byways.
+
+On the other hand, in the same bustling town, is the Mouton d'Argent,
+equally as excellent in its catering (perhaps more so), where the
+kitchen is about the most up-to-date thing imaginable, with a modern
+range, mechanical egg-beaters, etc. This last is nothing very
+wonderful to an American, but is remarkable in France, where the
+average cook usually does the work quite as efficiently with a
+two-tined fork, or something which greatly resembles a chop-stick.
+
+In the _cuisine_ electric lights are everywhere, but the
+up-to-dateness here stops abruptly; the _salle a manger_ is bare and
+uninviting, and the rooms above equally so, and the electric light
+has not penetrated beyond the ground floor. Instead one finds ranged
+on the mantel, above the cook-stove in the kitchen, a regiment of
+candlesticks, in strange contrast to the rest of the furnishings.
+Electric bells, too, are wanting, and there is still found the row of
+jangling _grelots_, their numbers half-obliterated, hanging above the
+great doorway leading to the courtyard.
+
+The European waiter is never possessed of that familiarity of speech
+with those he serves, which the American negro waiter takes for
+granted is his birthright. It's all very well to have a
+cheerful-countenanced waiter bobbing about behind one's chair, indeed
+it's infinitely more inspiring than such of the old brigade of
+mutton-chopped English waiters as still linger in some of London's
+City eating-houses, but the disposition of the coffee-coloured or
+coal-black negro to talk to you when you do not want to be talked to
+should be suppressed.
+
+The genuine French, German, or Swiss waiter of hotel, restaurant, or
+cafe is neither too cringingly servile, nor too familiar, though
+always keen and agile, and possessed of a foresight and initiative
+which anticipates your every want, or at any rate meets it promptly,
+even if you ask for it in boarding-school French or German.
+
+There is a keen supervision of food products in France, by
+governmental inspection and control, and one is certain of what he is
+getting when he buys his _filet_ at the butcher's, and if he
+patronizes hotels and restaurants of an approved class he is equally
+sure that he is eating beef in his _bouille_ and mutton in his
+_ragout_.
+
+Horse-meat is sold largely, and perhaps certain substitutes for
+rabbit, but you only buy horsemeat at a horse butcher's, so there is
+no deception here. You buy horse-meat as horse-meat, and not as beef,
+in the same way that you buy oleomargarine as oleomargarine, and not
+as butter, and the French law deals hardly with the fraudulent seller
+of either.
+
+The law does not interfere with one's private likes and dislikes, and
+if you choose to make your breakfast off of oysters and Creme
+Chantilly--as more than one American has been known to do on the
+Paris boulevards--there is no law to stop you, as there is in
+Germany, if you want beer and fruit together. Doubtless this is a
+good law; it sounds reasonable; but the individual should have sense
+enough to be able to select a menu from non-antagonistic ingredients.
+
+Foreigners, by which English and Americans mean people of Continental
+Europe, know vastly more of the art of catering to the traveller than
+do Anglo-Saxons. This is the first, last, and intermediate verse of
+the litany of good cheer. We may catch up with our Latin and Teuton
+brothers, or we may not. Time will tell, if we don't expire from the
+over-eating of pie and muffins before that time arrives.
+
+[Illustration: Road Map of France]
+
+
+Chapter V
+The Grand Tour
+
+[Illustration: Grand Tour]
+
+The advantages of touring by automobile are many: to see the country,
+to travel agreeably, to be independent of railways, and to be an
+opportunist--that is to say to be able to fly off at a tangent of
+fifty or a hundred kilometres at a moment's notice, in order to take
+in some fete or fair, or celebration or pilgrimage.
+
+"_Le tourisme en automobile_" is growing all over the world, but
+after all it is generally only in or near the great cities and towns
+that one meets an automobile on the road. They hug the great towns
+and their neighbouring resorts with astonishing persistency. Of the
+one thousand automobiles at Nice in the season it is certain that
+nine-tenths of the number that leave their garages during the day
+will be found sooner or later on the famous "Corniche," going or
+coming from Monte Carlo, instead of discovering new tracks for
+themselves in the charming background of the foot-hills of the
+Maritime Alps.
+
+In England, too, the case is not so very different. There are a
+thousand "week-enders" in automobiles on the way to Brighton,
+Southsea, Bournemouth, Scarborough, or Blackpool to ten genuine
+tourists, and this even though England and Wales and Scotland form a
+snug little touring-grounds with roads nearly, if not always,
+excellent, and with accommodations--of a sort--always close at hand.
+
+In Germany there seems to be more genuine touring, in proportion to
+the number of automobiles in use, than elsewhere. This may not prove
+to be wholly the case, as the author judges only from his
+observations made on well-worn roads.
+
+Switzerland is either all touring, or not at all; it is difficult to
+decide which. At any rate most of the strangers within its frontiers
+are tourists, and most of the tourists are strangers, and many of
+them take their automobiles with them in spite of the "feeling"
+lately exhibited there against stranger automobilists.
+
+Belgium and Holland, as touring-grounds for automobilists, do not
+figure to any extent. This is principally from the fact that they are
+usually, so far as foreign automobilists are concerned, included in
+more comprehensive itineraries. They might be known more intimately,
+to the profit of all who pass through them. They are distinctly
+countries for leisurely travel, for their areas are so restricted
+that the automobilist who covers two or three hundred kilometres in
+the day will hardly remember that he has passed through them.
+
+Northern Italy forms very nearly as good a touring-ground as France,
+and the Italian engineers have so refined the automobile of native
+make, and have so fostered automobilism, that accommodations are
+everywhere good, and the tourist to-day will not lack for supplies of
+_benzina_ and _olio_ as he did a few years ago.
+
+The bulk of the automobile traffic between France and Italy enters
+through the gateway of the Riviera, and, taken all in all, this is by
+far the easiest, and perhaps the most picturesque, of routes.
+Alternatives are through Gap and Cuneo, Briancon and Susa, Moutiers
+and Aosta, or by the Swiss passes, the latter perhaps the most
+romantic of routes in spite of their difficulties and other
+objections.
+
+[Illustration: On English Roads]
+
+Automobiling in Spain is a thing of the future, and it will be a big
+undertaking to make the highroads, to say nothing of the by-roads,
+suitable for automobile traffic. The present monarchs' enthusiasm for
+the sport may be expected, however, to do wonders. The most that the
+average tourist into Spain by automobile will want to undertake is
+perhaps the run to Madrid, which is easily accomplished, or to
+Barcelona, which is still easier, or to just step over the border to
+Feuntarabia or San Sebastian, if he does not think overrefined
+Biarritz will answer his purpose.
+
+More than one hardy traveller, before the age of automobiles, and
+even before the age of steam, has made "the grand tour," and then
+come home and written a book about it until there seems hardly any
+need that a modern traveller should attempt to set down his
+impressions of the craggy, castled Rhine, the splendid desolation of
+Pompeii, or the romantic reminders still left in old Provence to tell
+the story of the days of the troubadours and the "Courts of Love."
+
+It is conceivable that one can see and enjoy all these classic
+splendours from an automobile, but automobilists from overseas have
+been known to rush across France in an attempt to break the record
+between some Channel port and Monte Carlo, or dash down the Rhine and
+into Switzerland for a few days, and so on to Rome, and ultimately
+Naples, where ship is taken for home in the western world.
+
+This is, at any rate, the itinerary of many a self-made millionaire
+who thinks to enjoy himself between strenuous intervals of
+international business affairs. It is a pity he does not go slower
+and see more.
+
+The real grand tour, or, as the French call it, the "_Circuit
+Europeen,_" may well begin at Paris, and descend through Poitou to
+Biarritz, along the French slope of the Pyrenees, finally skirting
+the Mediterranean coast by Marseilles and Monte Carlo, thence to
+Genoa, in Italy, and north to Milan, finally reaching Vienna. This
+city is generally considered the outpost of comfortable automobile
+touring, and rightly so, for the difficulty of getting gasoline and
+oil, along the route, and such small necessities as an automobile
+requires, continually oppresses one, and dampens his enthusiasm for
+the beauties of nature, the fascination of historic shrines, or the
+worship of art, the three chief things for which the most of us
+travel, unless we be mere vagabonds, and journey about for the sheer
+love of being on the move. From Vienna to Prague, to Breslau, to
+Berlin, Hanover, and Cologne, and finally to Paris via Reims finishes
+the "_circuit,_" which for variety and excellence of the roads cannot
+elsewhere be equalled.
+
+This, or something very near to it, would be the very best possible
+course for a series of reliability trials, and certainly nothing
+quite so suitable or enjoyable for the participants could otherwise
+be found. It is much better than a mere pegging away round and round
+a two hundred and fifty kilometre circuit, as some trials and races
+have been run. In all the distance is something like five thousand
+kilometres, which easily divides itself into stages of two hundred
+kilometres daily, and gives one an enjoyable twenty-five days or a
+month of travel, which, in all its illuminating variety, is far and
+away ahead of the benefits our forefathers derived from the box seat
+of a diligence or a post-chaise.
+
+On this trip one runs the whole gamut of the European climate, and
+eats the food of Paris, of the Midi, of Italy, Austria, and Germany,
+and wonders why it is that he likes the last one partaken of the
+best. Given a faultlessly running automobile (and there are many
+today which can do the work under these conditions) and no tire
+troubles, and one could hardly improve upon the poetry of motion
+which enables one to eat up the long silent stretches of roadway in
+La Beauce or the Landes, to climb the gentle slopes skirting the
+Pyrenees, or the ruder ones of Northern Italy, until finally he makes
+that bee-line across half of Europe, from Berlin to Paris. One's
+impressions of places when touring _en automobile_ are apt to be
+hazy; like those of the energetic American who, when asked if he had
+been to Rome, replied, "Why, yes; that's where I bought my panama
+_(sic)_ hat!"
+
+Such a "grand tour" as outlined by the "_Circuit Europeen_" presents
+a variety which it is impossible to equal. It is a tour which
+embraces country widely differing in characteristics--one which takes
+in both the long, broad, ribbon-like roads of Central France, flanked
+by meadows, orchards, and farmsteads, and lofty mountains from the
+peaks of which other peaks capped with glistening snow may be gazed
+upon, sunlit valleys and sparkling lakes. It is a tour which no man
+could possibly make without a good machine, and yet it is a tour
+which, with a good machine, can be considered easy and comparatively
+inexpensive.
+
+One does not require a car with excessive horsepower for the trip,
+though he does need a machine which has been carefully constructed
+and adjusted, and above all he must guard carefully that his motor
+does not overheat, for the hills are stiff for the most part.
+
+When touring on an itinerary as varied as that here indicated one
+should have anti-skidding tires on the rear wheels, take descents
+with care, and, if you be the owner of a powerful machine, do not
+make that an excuse for rushing up the tortuous, twisting, and
+frightfully dangerous roads, banked by a cliff on one hand, and by a
+precipice on the other, which abound in all mountainous regions.
+
+In taking turnings on such roads also always keep to the right, even
+if this necessitates slowing down at the bends. One never knows what
+is descending, and in such parts slow-moving carts drawn by cattle
+are numerous, and generally keep the middle of the road. Most of the
+automobile accidents which take place on mountain roads are due to
+this swishing round bends, heedless of what may be on the other side,
+and in allowing one's machine to gather too much speed on the long
+descents. This is gospel! There is both sport and pleasure to be had
+from such an itinerary as this, but it is a serious affair, for one
+has to have a lookout for many things that are unthought of in a two
+hours' afternoon suburban promenade. The _chauffeur_, be he
+professional or amateur, who brings his automobile back from the
+_Circuit Europeen_ under its own power is entitled to be called
+expert.
+
+As for the value to automobilism of this great trial one can hardly
+overestimate it. There is no place here for the freak machine or
+scorching _chauffeur_, such as one has found in many great events of
+the past. A great touring contest over such a course would be bound
+to have important results in many ways. The ordinary class of
+_circuit_ is a very close approach to a racing-track, with gasoline
+and tire stations established at many points of the course. On the
+European Circuit such advantages would be out of the question,
+everything would have to be taken as it exists naturally. In a sense,
+such a competition would be a return to the contests organized in the
+early days of the automobile, the Paris-Bordeaux and Paris-Berlin
+races, when the driver had ever to be on the alert for unforeseen
+difficulties unknown on the racing-circuit as understood in recent
+years.
+
+To follow the _Circuit Europeen_ one traverses France, Italy,
+Austria, Germany, and Belgium; and one may readily enough, if time
+and inclination permit, get also a glimpse of Spain, Switzerland, and
+Holland. Generally the automobile tourist has confined his trip to
+France, as properly he might, but, if he would go further afield, the
+European Circuit, as it has become classically known, is an itinerary
+vouched for as to its practicability and interest by the allied
+automobile and touring clubs of many lands.
+
+France is still far in the lead in the accommodation which it offers
+to the automobilist, but Germany has made great strides of late, and
+the other frontier boundary states have naturally followed suit.
+Roads improvement in Germany has gone on at a wonderful rate of late,
+due, it is said, to the interest of the German emperor in the
+automobile industry, both from a sportive and a very practical side.
+
+From Paris to the Italian frontier one finds the roads uniformly
+excellent; but, as one enters Italy, they deteriorate somewhat,
+except along the frontiers, where, curiously enough, nations seem to
+vie with each other in a careful maintenance of the highroads, which
+is, of course, laudable. This is probably due to strategic military
+reasons, but so long as it benefits the automobilist he will not cry
+out for disarmament.
+
+The Austrian roads are fair--near Vienna and Prague they are quite
+good; but they are dangerous with deep ditches and gullies which the
+French know as _canivaux_, the Austrians by some unpronounceable
+name, and the Anglo-Saxon as "thank-you-marms." From Prague to
+Breslau the roads are twisting and turning, and large stones jut here
+and there above the actual road level. This is a real danger, a very
+considerable annoyance. From Breslau to Potsdam one gets as dusty a
+bit of road travelling as he will find in all Europe. One side of the
+road only is stone-rolled, the other apparently being merely loose
+sand, or some variety of dust which whirls up in clouds and even
+penetrates one's tightly closed bags and boxes. Hanover, the home of
+Continental tires, is surrounded in every direction with execrable
+cobblestones, or whatever the German equivalent is--"pflaster," the
+writer thinks. Probably the makers of the excellent tires for
+automobiles have nothing to do with the existence of this awful
+_pave_, and perhaps if you accused them of it they would repair your
+tires without charge! The writer does not know.
+
+From Hanover to Minden the roads improve, and when one actually
+strikes the trail of Napoleon he finds the roads better and better.
+Napoleon nearly broke up Europe, or saved it--the critics do not
+agree, but he was the greatest road-builder since the Romans.
+
+Finally, crossing the Rhine at Cologne and passing through Belgium,
+one enters France by the valley of the Meuse.
+
+One of the most remarkable tours was that undertaken in 1904 by
+Georges Cormier, in a tiny six horse-power De Dion Populaire. He left
+the Automobile Club de France in mid-October for Sens, his first
+stop, 101 kilometres from Paris. His route thenceforth was by Dijon,
+Les Rousses, and the Col de la Faucille, whence he reached Geneva,
+after crossing the Swiss frontier, in a torrential rain.
+
+From Geneva he reentered France by the Pont de la Caille, then to
+Aiguebelle and St. Jeanne de Maurienne, where the women wear the most
+theatrical picturesque costumes to be seen in France.
+
+After passing Modane and Lanslebourg he followed the ascent of Mont
+Cenis for ten kilometres before he reached the summit of the pass.
+Within three kilometres he struck the snow-line, and the falling snow
+continued to the summit. Here he found two _douaniers_ and two
+_gendarmes_, who appeared glad enough to have the monotony of their
+lonely vigil relieved by the advent of an automobile, quite unlooked
+for at this season of the year.
+
+The descent to Susa and the great plain of the Po was long and
+dangerous. It is sixty-two kilometres from Modane to Susa, either
+up-hill or down-hill, with the descent by far the longest. It is one
+of the most enjoyable routes between France and Italy. Once on the
+Italian side the whole climatic aspect of things changes. The towns
+are highly interesting whenever met with, and the panoramas superb,
+but there is a marked absence of that active life of the fields, of
+cattle and human labourers that one remarks in France.
+
+From Turin the route of this energetic little car passed Plaisance,
+crossed the Appenines between Bologna and Florence, and so to Venice,
+or rather to Mestre, where the car was put in a garage while the
+conductor paid his respects to the Queen of the Adriatic.
+
+From Mestre the route lay by Udine, Pontebba, Pontafel, Villac
+Judenburg, and Murzzuschlag, through Styria to Vienna, with the
+roadways continually falling off in excellence. Here are M. Cormier's
+own words: "_Mais, par exemple, comme routes, Dieu que c'est mauvais!
+Malgre cela, j'y retournerai; le pays vaut la peine que l'on affronte
+les cailloux, les ornieres, les dos d'ane at les derapages sur le sol
+mouille, comme je l'ai trop trouve, helas!_"
+
+Of the road from Vienna, through Moravia and Bohemia, the tourist
+wrote also feelingly. "May I never see those miserable countries
+again," he said. Things must have improved in the last two or three
+years, but the cause of the little De Dion's troubles was the
+frequent recurrence of culverts or _canivaux_ across the road. Five
+hundred in one day nearly did for the little De Dion, or would have
+done so had not it been carefully driven.
+
+From Prague the German frontier was crossed at Zinnwalo, a tiny
+hamlet well hidden on a mountain-top, beyond which is a descent of
+fifty kilometres to Dresden. From Dresden to Berlin the way lay over
+delightful forest roads, little given to traffic, and most enjoyable
+at any season of the year, unless there be snow upon the ground.
+
+From Berlin the route was by Magdebourg, Hanover, Munster, and Wesel,
+and Holland was entered at Beek, a little village ten kilometres from
+Nymegen. At Nymegen the Waal was crossed by a steam ferry-boat, and
+at Arnhem the Rhine was passed by a bridge of boats, a surviving
+relic in Continental Europe still frequently to be found, as at Wesel
+and Dusseldorf in Germany, and even in Italy, near Ferrara on the Po.
+
+Utrecht came next, then Amsterdam--"a little tour of Holland," as the
+De Dion's conductor put it. In the suburbs of the large Dutch towns,
+notably Utrecht, one makes his way through miles and miles of garden
+walls, half-hiding coquettish villas. The surface of the roads here
+is formed of a peculiar variety of paving that makes them beloved of
+automobilists, it being of small brick placed edgewise, and very
+agreeable to ride and drive upon.
+
+From Utrecht the route was more or less direct to Antwerp. At the
+Belgian frontier acquaintance was made with that horrible
+granite-block road-bed, for which Belgium is notorious. After
+Antwerp, Brussels, then forty-five kilometres of road even worse--if
+possible--than that which had gone before. (The Belgian _chauffeurs_
+call that portion of the route between Brussels and Gemblout a
+disgrace to Belgium.) The French frontier was gained, through Namur,
+at Rocroi, and Paris reached, via Meaux, thirty-nine days after the
+capital had previously been quitted.
+
+[Illustration: How Not To Travel]
+
+This was probably the most remarkable "grand tour" which had been
+made up to that time, and it was done with a little six horse-power
+car, which suffered no accidents save those that one is likely to
+meet with in an afternoon's promenade. The automobile itself weighed,
+with its baggage and accessories, practically six hundred kilos, and
+with its two passengers 760 kilos. The distance covered was 4,496
+kilometres.
+
+
+Part II
+Touring In France
+
+[Illustration: Touring France]
+
+
+Chapter I
+Down Through Touraine: Paris To Bordeaux
+
+As old residents of Paris we, like other automobilists, had come to
+dread the twenty-five or thirty kilometres which lead from town out
+through Choisy-le-Roi and Villeneuve St. Georges, at which point the
+road begins to improve, and the execrable suburban Paris pavement,
+second to nothing for real vileness, except that of Belgium, is
+practically left behind, all but occasional bits through the towns.
+
+At any rate, since our automobile horse was eating his head off in
+the garage at St. Germain, we decided on one bright May morning to
+conduct him forthwith by as comfortable a road as might be found from
+St. Germain around to Choisy-le-Roi.
+
+Getting across Paris is one of the dreaded things of life. For the
+traveller by train who, fleeing from the fogs of London, as he
+periodically does in droves from November to February of each year,
+desires to make the south-bound connection at the Gare de Lyon, it is
+something of a problem. He may board the "_Ceinture_" with a distrust
+the whole while that his train may not make it in time, or he may go
+by cab, provided he will run the risk of some of his numerous
+impedimenta being left behind, for--speak it lightly--the Englishman
+is still found who travels with his bath-tub, though, if he is at all
+progressive, it may be a collapsible india-rubber affair which you
+blow up like the tires of an automobile.
+
+For the automobilist there is the same dread and fear. To avoid this
+one has simply to make his way carefully from St. Germain, via Port
+Marly, or Marly-Bailly, to St. Cyr (where is the great military
+school), to Versailles, thence to Choisy-le-Roi via the _Route
+Nationale_ which passes to the south of Sceaux. The route is not,
+perhaps, the shortest, and it takes something of the skill of the old
+pathfinders to worry it out, but it absolutely avoids the pavements
+between St. Germain and Versailles and equally avoids the drive
+through Paris with its attendant responsibilities.
+
+The automobilist, once clear of Paris, has only to think of the open
+road. There will be little to bother him now, save care in
+negotiating the oft-times narrow, awkward turnings of an occasional
+small town where, if it is market-day, untold disaster may await him
+if he does not look sharp.
+
+On the occasion of our flight south, nothing on the whole journey
+happened to give us any concern, save at Pithiviers, where a
+market-wagon with a staid old farm-horse--who did not mean any
+harm--charged us and lifted off the right mud-guard, necessitating an
+hour's work or more at the blacksmith's to straighten it out again.
+
+[Illustration: Wayside Inn in France]
+
+At any rate, we had covered a trifle over a hundred kilometres from
+Paris, and that was something. We lunched well at the Hotel de la
+Poste, and sent off to city-bound friends in the capital samples of
+the lark patties for which the town is famous.
+
+Nearly every town in France has its specialty; Pithiviers its _pate
+des allouettes;_ Montelimar its _nougat_; Axat its _mousserons_;
+Perigueux its _truffes_, and Tours its _rillettes_. When one buys
+them away from the land of their birth he often buys dross, hence it
+is a real kindness to send back eatable souvenirs of one's round,
+much more kind than would be the tawdry jugs and plates emblazoned in
+lurid colours, or white wood napkin-rings and card-cases, usually
+gathered in as souvenirs.
+
+It is forty-two kilometres to Orleans, one of the most historic and,
+at the same time, one of the most uninteresting cities in France, a
+place wholly without local dignity and distinction. Its hotels,
+cafes, and shops are only second-rate for a place of its rank, and
+the manners and customs of its people but weak imitations of those of
+Paris. You can get anything you may need in the automobile line most
+capably attended to, and you can be housed and fed comfortably enough
+in either of the two leading hotels, but there is nothing inspiring
+or even satisfying about it, as we knew from a half-dozen previous
+occasions.
+
+We slept that night beneath the frowning donjon walls of Beaugency's
+L'Ecu de Bretagne, for something less than six francs apiece for
+dinner, lodging, and morning coffee, and did not regret in the least
+the twenty-five kilometres we had put between us and Orleans.
+
+At one time it was undecided whether we should come on to Beaugency,
+or put in at Meung, the attraction of the latter place being, for the
+sentimentalist, that it is the scene of the opening pages of Dumas's
+"Trois Mousquetaires," and, in an earlier day, the cradle of Jehan de
+Meung, the author of the "Roman de la Rose." No evidences of Dumas's
+"Franc Meunier" remained, and, as there was no inn with as romantic a
+name as that at Beaugency, we kept on another seven kilometres.
+
+We had made it a rule, while on the trip, not to sleep in a large
+town when we could do otherwise, and that is why Orleans and Blois
+and Bordeaux are mere guide-posts in our itinerary.
+
+From Beaugency to Blois is thirty odd kilometres only, along the
+flat, national highway, with glimpses of the broad, shining ribbon of
+the Loire here and there gleaming through the trees.
+
+Blois is the gateway of the chateaux country; a score of them are
+within a day's compass by road or rail; but their delights are worthy
+of a volume, so they are only suggested here.
+
+The chateaux of Blois, Chambord, Cheverny, Amboise, Chaumont,
+Chenonceaux, Loches, Azay le Rideau, Luynes, and Langeais, at any
+rate, must be included in even a hurried itinerary, and so we paid a
+hasty visit to them all in the order named, and renewed our
+acquaintance with their artistic charms and their historical memories
+of the days of Francois and the Renaissance. For the tourist the
+chateaux country of the Loire has no beginning and no end. It is a
+sort of circular track encompassing both banks of the Loire, and is,
+moreover, a thing apart from any other topographical division of
+France.
+
+Its luxuriant life, its splendidly picturesque historical monuments,
+and the appealing interest of its sunny landscape, throughout the
+length and breadth of old Touraine, are unique pages from a volume of
+historical and romantic lore which is unequalled elsewhere in all the
+world.
+
+The climate, too, combines most of the gentle influences of the
+southland, with a certain briskness and clearness of atmosphere
+usually found in the north.
+
+By road the Loire valley forms a magnificent promenade; by rail,
+even, one can keep in close and constant touch with its whole length;
+while, if one has not the time or inclination to traverse its entire
+course, there is always the delightful "tour from town," by which one
+can leave the Quai d'Orsay by the Orleans line at a comfortable
+morning hour and, before lunch-time, be in the midst of the splendour
+and plenty of Touraine and its chateaux.
+
+We made our headquarters at Blois, and again at Tours, for three days
+each, and we explored the chateaux country, and some other more
+humble outlying regions, to our hearts' content.
+
+Blois is tourist-ridden; its hotels are partly of the tourist orders,
+and its shopkeepers will sell you "American form" shoes and "best
+English" hats. It is really too bad, for the overpowering splendours
+of the chateau, the quaint old Renaissance house-fronts, the streets
+of stairs, and the exceedingly picturesque and lively congregation of
+countryside peasants on a market-day would make it a delightful
+artists' sketching-ground were one not crowded out by "bounders" in
+bowler hats and others of the genus tripper.
+
+The Hotel d'Angleterre et de Chambord is good, well-conducted, and
+well-placed, but it is as unsympathetically disposed an hostelry as
+one is likely to find. Just why this is so is inexplicable, unless it
+be that it is a frankly tourist hotel.
+
+At Tours we did much better. The praises of the Hotel de l'Univers
+are many; they have been sung by most latter-day travellers from
+Henry James down; and the Automobile Club de France has bestowed its
+recommendation upon it--which it deserves. For all this one is not
+wholly at his ease here. We remembered that on one occasion, when we
+had descended before its hospitable doors, travel-worn and weary, we
+had been pained to find a sort of full-dress dinner going on where we
+expected to find an ordinary _table d'hote_. For this reason alone we
+passed the hotel by, and hunted out the quaintly named Hotel du
+Croissant, in a dimly lighted little back street, indicated by a
+flaring crescent of electric lights over its _porte-cochere_.
+
+[Illustration: In Touraine]
+
+We drove our automobile more or less noisily inside the little
+flagged courtyard, woke up two dozing cats, who were lying
+full-length before us, and disturbed a round dozen of sleek French
+commercial travellers at their evening meal.
+
+They treated us remarkably well at Tours's Hotel du Croissant.
+"Follow the _commis-voyageur_ in France and dine well (and cheaply)"
+might readily be the motto of all travellers in France. The bountiful
+fare, the local colour, the hearty greeting, and equally hearty
+farewell of the _patronne_, and the geniality of the whole personnel
+gave us an exceedingly good impression of the contrast between the
+tourist hotel of Blois and the _maison bourgeois_ of Tours, always to
+the advantage of the latter.
+
+The banks of the Loire immediately below Tours grow the only grape in
+France--perhaps in all the world--which is able to produce a
+satisfactory substitute for champagne.
+
+Vineyard after vineyard line the banks for miles on either side and
+give great crops of the celebrated _vin mosseaux_, the most of which
+finds its way to Paris, to be sold by second-rate dealers as the
+"vrai vin de champagne." There's no reason why it shouldn't be sold
+on its own merits; it is quite good enough; but commerce bows down to
+American millionaires, English dukes, and the German emperor, and the
+king of wines of to-day must be labelled champagne.
+
+From Tours to Niort is 170 kilometres, and we stopped not on the way
+except to admire some particularly entrancing view, to buy gasoline
+for the automobile, and for lunch at Poitiers.
+
+The whole aspect of things was changing; there was a breath of the
+south already in the air; and there was an unspeakable tendency on
+the part of everybody to go to sleep after the midday meal.
+
+We passed Chatellerault and its quaint old turreted and bastioned
+bridge at just the hour of noon, and were tempted to stop, for we had
+just heard of the latest thing in the way of a hotel which was
+brand-new, with steam heat, and hot and cold water, electric lights,
+baths, etc. Nothing was said about the bill of fare, though no doubt
+it was equally excellent. The combination didn't appeal, however; we
+were out after novelty and local colour, and so we rolled on and into
+Poitiers's Hotel de l'Europe and lunched well in the most charmingly
+cool garden-environed dining-room that it were possible to conceive.
+We had made a wise choice, though on a hit-or-miss formula, and we
+were content.
+
+Here at least the dim echo of the rustle and bustle of Paris, which
+drifts down the valley of the Loire from Orleans to the sea, was left
+behind; a whole new chromatic scale was being built up. No one
+hurried or rushed about, and one drank a "_tilleuil_" after _dejeuner_,
+instead of coffee, with the result that he got sleepy forthwith.
+
+There are five magnificent churches at Poitiers, dating from Roman
+and mediaeval times, but we saw not one of them as we passed through
+the town. Again we had decided we were out after local manners and
+customs, and, for the moment, churches were not in the category of
+our demands.
+
+We had only faint glimmerings as to where Niort was, or what it stood
+for, but we were bound thither for the night. We left Poitiers in
+mid-afternoon, gaily enough, but within five kilometres we had
+stopped dead. The sparking of course; nothing else would diagnose the
+case! It took three hours of almost constant cranking of the unruly
+iron monster before the automobile could be made to start again.
+
+Once started, the automobile ran but fitfully the seventy-five
+kilometres to Niort, the whole party, with fear and trembling,
+scarcely daring to turn sidewise to regard the landscape, or take an
+extra breath. There was no assistance to be had this side of Niort,
+and should the sparking arrangements go back on us again, and we were
+not able to start, there was no hope of being towed in at the back of
+a sturdy farm-horse; the distance was too great. Once we thought we
+had nearly lost it again, but before we had actually lost our
+momentum the thing recovered itself, and we ran fearingly down the
+broad avenue into Niort, and asked anxiously as to whether there
+might be a _grand maison des automobiles_ in the town.
+
+Indeed there was, and in the twinkling of an eye we had shunted our
+poor lame duck into the courtyard of a workshop which gave employment
+to something like seventy-five hands, all engaged in the manufacture
+of automobiles which were exported to the ends of the earth.
+
+Here was help surely. Nothing could be too great or too small for an
+establishment like this to undertake, and so we left the machine with
+an easy heart and hunted out the excellent Hotel de France--the best
+hotel of its class between Paris and Bordeaux. We dined sumptuously
+on all the good things of the north and the south, to say nothing of
+fresh sardines from La Rochelle, not far distant, and we gave not a
+thought to the automobile again that night, but strolled on the quay
+by the little river Sevre-Niortaise, and watched the moon rise over
+the old chateau donjon, and heard the rooks caw, and saw them circle
+and swing around its battlement in a final night-call before they
+went to rest. It was all very idyllic and peaceful, although Niort
+is, as may be inferred, an important centre for many things.
+
+We had planned to be on the road again by eight the next morning,
+but, on arrival at the garage, or more correctly stated, the _usine_,
+where we had left the automobile the night before, we found it the
+centre of a curious group who were speculating--and had been since
+six o'clock that morning--as to what might be the particular new
+variety of disease that had attacked its vital parts so seriously
+that it still refused to go.
+
+It was twelve o'clock, high noon, before it was discovered--with the
+aid of the electrician from the electric light works--that two tiny
+ends of copper wire, inside the coil (which a Frenchman calls a
+_bobine_), had become unsoldered, and only when by chance they
+rattled into contact would the sparking arrangements work as they
+ought.
+
+This was something new for all concerned. None of us will be likely
+to be caught that way again. The cost was most moderate. It was not
+the automobile owner who paid for the experience this time, a thing
+which absolutely could not have happened outside of France. Pretty
+much the whole establishment had had a hand in the job, and, if the
+service had been paid for according to the time spent, it might have
+cost anything the establishment might have chosen to charge.
+
+Ten francs paid the bill, and we went on our way rejoicing, after
+having partaken of a lunch, as excellent as the dinner we had eaten
+the night before, at the Hotel de France.
+
+La Rochelle, the city of the Huguenots, and later of Richelieu, was
+reached just as the setting sun was slanting its red and gold over
+the picturesque old port and the Tour de Richelieu. If one really
+wants to know what it looked like, let him hunt up Petitjean's "Port
+de la Rochelle" in the Musee de Luxembourg at Paris. Words fail
+utterly to describe the beauty and magnifycence of this hitherto
+unoverworked artists' sketching-ground.
+
+[Illustration: La Rochelle]
+
+We threaded our way easily enough through the old sentinel gateway
+spanning the main street, lined with quaint old arcaded,
+Spanish-looking houses, and drew up abreast of the somewhat
+humble-looking Hotel du Commerce, on the Place d'Armes, opposite the
+ugly little squat cathedral, once wedded to the haughty Richelieu
+himself.
+
+The Hotel du Commerce at La Rochelle is the equal of the Hotel de
+France at Niort, and has the added attraction of a glass-covered
+courtyard, where you may take your coffee and watch the household
+cats amusing themselves with the goldfish in the pool of the fountain
+which plays coolingly in the centre.
+
+La Rochelle and its Hotel du Commerce are too good to be treated
+lightly or abruptly by any writer; but, for fear they may both become
+spoiled, no more shall be said here except to reiterate that they are
+both unapproachable in quaintness, comfort, and charm by anything yet
+found by the writer in four years of almost constant wanderings by
+road and rail up and down France.
+
+Offshore four kilometres is the Ile de Re, an isle thirty kilometres
+long, where the inhabitants wear the picturesque _coiffe_ and costume
+which have not become contaminated with Paris fashions. The one thing
+to criticize is the backwardness of the lives of the good folk of the
+isle and their enormous _pieds plats_.
+
+Northward from La Rochelle is a region, almost within sight of the
+Ile de Re, where the women wear the most highly theatrical costumes
+to be seen anywhere in modern France, not even excepting the peasants
+of Brittany. The chief distinction of the costume is a sort of tiny
+twisted bandanna over the head, a tight-fitting or folded fichu, a
+short ballet sort of a skirt, black stockings, and a gaily bordered
+apron and dainty, high-heeled, tiny shoes--in strong contrast in size
+and form to the ungainly feet of the women of the Ile de Re.
+
+We left La Rochelle with real regret, passed the fortified town of
+Rochefort without a stop, and, in something over two hours, reeled
+off some sixty-eight kilometres of sandy, marshy roadway to Saintes.
+
+Saintes is noted for many things: its antiquity, its religious
+history, its Roman remains, and the geniality of its toddling old
+dealer in sewing-machines (of American make, of course), who, as a
+"side" line, sells gasoline and oil at considerably under the
+prevailing rates elsewhere. Truly we were in the ideal touring-ground
+for automobilists.
+
+To Cognac is sixty-seven kilometres. If we had ever known that Cognac
+was the name of a town we had forgotten it, for we had, for the
+moment, at any rate, thought it the name of the region where were
+gathered the grapes from which cognac was made.
+
+Cognac is famous for the subtle spirit which is sold the world over
+under that name, and from the fact that it was the birthplace of the
+art-loving monarch, Francois Premier.
+
+For these two reasons, and for the bountiful lunch of the Hotel
+d'Orleans, and incidentally for the very bad cognac which we got at a
+cafe whose name is really and truly forgotten, Cognac is writ large
+in our note-books.
+
+The house where was born Francois Premier is easily found, sitting by
+the river's bank. To-day it is the counting-house of one of the great
+brandy shippers whose name is current the world over. Its
+associations have changed considerably, and where once the new art
+instincts were born, in the person of the gallant Francois, is now
+the cradle of commercialism.
+
+The question as to what constitutes good brandy has ever been a
+favourite one among possessors of a little knowledge. The same class
+has also been known to state that there is no good brandy nowadays,
+no _vrai cognac_. This is a mistake, but perhaps a natural one, as
+the cognac district in the Charente was almost wholly devastated in
+the phylloxera ravages of half a century ago.
+
+Things have changed, however, and there is as good cognac to-day as
+there ever was, though there is undoubtedly much more poor stuff
+being sold.
+
+Down through the heart of the cognac region we sped, through Blaye to
+Bordeaux and all the busy traffic of its port.
+
+Bordeaux is attractive to the automobilist in that one enters, from
+any direction, by wide, broad avenues. It is one of the great
+provincial capitals of France, a great gateway through which much of
+the intercourse with the outside world goes on.
+
+It is not so cosmopolitan as Marseilles, nor so historically or
+architecturally interesting as Rouen, but it is the very ideal of an
+opulent and well-conducted city, where one does not need to await the
+arrival of the daily papers from Paris in order to know what has
+happened during the last round of the clock.
+
+Hotels? The town is full of them! You may put up your automobile in
+the garage of the Hotel du Chapon-Fin, along with forty others, and
+you yourself will be well cared for, according to city standards, for
+twelve or fifteen francs a day,--which is not dear. On the other
+hand, Bordeaux possesses second-class hotels where, all found, you
+may sleep and eat for the modest sum of seven francs a day. One of
+these is the Hotel Francais, a somewhat extensive establishment in a
+tiny back street. It is the cheapest _city_ hotel the writer has
+found in France. There was no garage at the Hotel Francais, and we
+were forced to house our machine a block or two away, where, for the
+moderate sum of two francs, you might leave it twenty-four hours, and
+get it back washed and rubbed down, while for another fifty centimes
+they would clean the brass work,--a nasty job well worth the price.
+Yes! Bordeaux is pleasant for the automobilist!
+
+[Illustration: Bourdeaux, the Gateway to the Landes]
+
+Two things the stranger, who does not want to go too far back into
+antiquity, will remark upon at Bordeaux, the exceeding ampleness,
+up-to-date-ness, and cleanliness of the great open space in front of
+the Opera, and the imposing and beautifully laid out Place des
+Quinconces, with its sentinel pillars and its waterside traffic of
+railway and shipping, blending into a whole which inspired one of the
+world's greatest pictures of the feverish life of modern activity,
+the painting by Eugene Boudin, known as the "Port de Bordeaux," in
+the Luxembourg.
+
+You may find a good low-priced hotel at Bordeaux, but you pay
+inflated prices for your refreshments in the cafes; a _cafe-glace_
+cost fifteen sous and a _glace a cafe_ twenty-five on the terrace of
+the magnificent establishment opposite the Opera.
+
+[Illustration: Map of Pyrenees]
+
+
+Chapter II
+A Little Tour In The Pyrenees
+
+[Illustration: The Pyrenees]
+
+We had been touring France _en automobile_ for many months--for
+business purposes, one might say, and hence had followed no schedule
+or itinerary, but had lingered by the way and made notes, and the
+artist made sketches, and in general we acquired a knowledge of
+France and things French that otherwise might not have been our lot.
+
+The mere name of the Pyrenees had long had a magic sound for us. We
+had seen them at a distance, from Carcassonne and Toulouse and Pau,
+when we had made the conventional tour years ago, and had admired
+them greatly, to the disparagement of the Swiss Alps. This may be
+just, or unjust, but it is recorded here as a fact.
+
+To climb mountains in an automobile appealed to us as a sport not yet
+banal or overdone, and since Switzerland--so hospitable to most
+classes of tourists--was treating automobilists badly just at the
+time, we thought we would begin by making the itinerary of the
+"_Coupe des Pyrenees;_" then, if we liked it, we could try the French
+Alps in Dauphine and Savoie, delightful and little-known French
+provinces which have all the advantages of Switzerland and few of its
+disadvantages, inasmuch as the inhabitants of the valley hamlets and
+mountain towns have not become so _commercant_ as their Swiss
+brothers.
+
+In August, 1905, was organized, by _La Vie en Grand Air_ and _La
+Depeche de Toulouse_, a great contest for touring automobiles, for an
+award to be known as the "_Coupe des Pyrenees._"
+
+As a work of art the "_Coupe des Pyrenees_" is far and away ahead of
+most "cups" of the sort. It was the work of the sculptor, Ducuing,
+and the illustration herewith will show some of its charm. The
+"_coupe_" itself has disappeared from mortal view, it having been
+stolen from an automobile exposition in London.
+
+The trials was intended to develop that type of vehicle best suited
+to touring, and in every way the event was a great success. The
+itinerary covered the lovely mountain roads from the Mediterranean to
+the Atlantic, and was the immediate inspiration for the author of
+this book to follow along the same trail. It is one of the most
+delightful excursions to be made in all France, which is saying that
+it is one of the most delightful in all the world.
+
+We took our departure from Toulouse, as did the participants in this
+famous trial of the year before. Toulouse, the gay capital of the gay
+province of old Languedoc, has abounding attractions for the tourist
+of all tastes, though it is seldom visited by those who, with the
+first swallows of spring-time, wing their way from the resorts of the
+Riviera to Biarritz.
+
+[Illustration: Coupe de Pyrenees]
+
+Toulouse has many historic sights and monuments, and a _cuisine_
+which is well worth a trip across France. What with truffles and the
+famous _cassoulet_ and the _chapons fins de Toulouse_ one forgets to
+speak of anything else on the menu, though the rest will be
+sufficiently marvellous.
+
+There are three "leading" hotels in Toulouse catering for the
+automobile tourist. According to report they are all equally good. We
+chose the Capoul, on the Square Lafayette, and had no cause to regret
+it. We dined sumptuously, slept in a great ducal sort of an apartment
+with a _hygienique_ bedstead (a thing of brass openwork and iron
+springs) tucked away in one corner, full fifteen paces from the door
+by which one entered--"_Un bon kilometre encore,_" said the _garcon
+de chambre_, facetiously, as he showed us up. It promised airiness,
+at any rate, and if we were awakened at four in the morning by the
+extraordinarily early traffic of the city what did it matter, since
+automobiles invariably take early to the road.
+
+It's worth stating here that the _cafe au lait_ at six A. M. at the
+Hotel Capoul was excellent. Frequently hotel coffee in the morning in
+France (at no matter what hour) is abominable. Usually it is warmed
+over from the night before. No wonder it is bad!
+
+Toulouse delayed us not on this occasion. We had known it of old; so
+we started a little before seven on a brilliant September morning,
+just as the sun was rising over the cathedral towers and
+strengthening the shadows on the tree-lined boulevard which leads
+eastward via Castlemaudry to the walled city of Carcassonne,
+ninety-six kilometres away. The road-books say of this route;
+
+"_Pl. Roul. puis Ond Tr. Pitt._" This freely translated means that
+the road is at first flat, then rolling and hilly, but very
+picturesque throughout. Castlemaudry delayed us not a moment, except
+to extricate ourselves from a troop of unbridled, unhaltered little
+donkeys being driven to the market-place, where there was a great
+sale of these gentle little beasts of burden. _Pas mechant_, these
+little donkeys, but stubborn, like their brethren elsewhere, and it
+was exceedingly difficult to force our way through two hundred of
+them, all of whom wiggled their ears at us and stood their ground
+until their guardians actually came and pushed them to one side. "You
+can often push a donkey when you can't pull him," they told us, a
+fact which was most apparent, though unknown to us previously. We
+arrived at Carcassonne in time for lunch, which we had always
+supposed was called _dejeuner_ in France, but which we learned was
+here called _diner_, the evening meal (at the fashionable hour of
+eight) being known as _souper_, though in reality it is a five-course
+dinner.
+
+Carcassonne was a disappointment. Imagine a puffed-up little
+metropolis of twenty-five thousand souls with all the dignity that
+half a dozen pretentious hotels and gaudy cafes can give it; not very
+clean, nor very well laid out, nor very ancient-looking, nor very
+picturesque. Where was the Carcassonne of the frowning ramparts, of
+the gem of a Gothic church, and of the romance and history of which
+all school-books are filled?
+
+"Oh! You mean _la Cite,_" said the buxom hostess of our hotel. (They
+are always buxom hostesses in books, but this was one in reality.)
+Well, yes, we did mean _la Cite_, if by that name the referred to the
+old walled town of Carcasonne, _la ville la plus curieuse de France,
+un monument unique au mond._
+
+It is but a short kilometre to reach _la Cite_ from the _Ville
+Basse_, as the modern city of Carcassonne is known. Once within the
+double row of walls, flanked by more than fifty towers, any
+preconceived ideas that one may have had of what it might be like
+will be dispelled in air. It is the most stupendously theatrical
+thing yet on top of earth, unless it be the sad and dismal Pompeii or
+poor rent Les Baux, in Provence.
+
+The history of this wonder-work cannot be compressed into a few
+lines. One can merely emphasize its marvellous attractions, so that
+those who are in the neighbourhood may go and study it all out for
+themselves. It will be worth whole volumes on history and
+architecture for the earnest student to see these things. Among all
+the authorities who have proclaimed the magnificent attractions of
+Carcassonne the words of Viollet-le-Duc are as convincing as any. He
+says: "In no part of Europe is there anything so formidable, nor at
+the same time so complete, as the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth
+century fortifications of Carcassonne."
+
+We stayed a full day at Carcassonne, and reached the frowning
+battlements of the Eglise St. Nazaire, at Beziers, at just two by the
+clock. This is the hour when all the _commis-voyageurs_, who may have
+taken lunch at the Hotel du Nord, are dozing over their _cafe_ and
+_petites verres_, and the _patron_ and _patronne_ of the hotel are
+making preparations for their early afternoon siesta, an attribute of
+all the Midi of France, as it is of Spain.
+
+Nothing loath, the kitchen staff, spurred on by the _patron_ (all
+thoughts of his siesta having vanished), turned out a most excellent
+lunch, _hors d'oeuvres_, fresh sardines, omelette, _cotelette
+d'agneau_ with _pommes paille_, delicious grapes, and all you wish of
+the red or white _vin du pays_. All for the absurd sum (considering
+the trouble they were put to) of three francs each. No "_doing_" the
+automobilist here; let other travellers make a note of the name!
+
+Beziers is altogether one of the most remarkably disposed large towns
+of the south of France. Its storied past is lurid enough to please
+the most bloodthirsty, as is recalled by the history of its
+fortress-church of St. Nazaire, now the cathedral. For the rest the
+reader must hunt it out in his guide-book. We were doing no lightning
+tour, but we were of a mind to sleep that night at Perpignan,
+approximately a hundred kilometres farther on.
+
+Southward our road turned again, through Narbonne, which, both from
+its history and from its present-day importance, stands out as one of
+the well-remembered spots in one's itinerary of France. It is full of
+local colour; its bridge of houses over its river is the delight of
+the artistic; its Hotel de Ville and its cathedral are wonders of
+architectural art; and, altogether, as the ancient capital of an
+ancient province, one wonders that a seventeenth-century traveller
+had the right to call it "_cette vilaine ville de Narbonne._"
+
+All the way to Perpignan the roads were terrifically bad, being cut
+up into great dusty ruts by many great carts and drays hauling
+wine-pipes to the railway stations. The traffic is enormous, for it
+is the wines of Roussillon that are shipped all over France for
+blending with and fortifying the weaker vintages, even those of the
+Gironde.
+
+Dusty in dry weather, and chalky mud in wet, are the characteristic
+faults of this hundred kilometres or more of Herault roadway which
+one must cross to gain the shadow of the Pyrenees. There seems to be
+no help for it unless cobblestones were to be put down, which would
+be a cure worse than the disease.
+
+Perpignan is the most entrancing city between Marseilles and
+Barcelona. It has many of the characteristics of both, though of only
+thirty thousand inhabitants. The old fortifications, which once gave
+it an aspect of mediaevalism, are now (by decree of 1903) being torn
+down, and only the quaintly picturesque Castillet remains. The rest
+are--at the present writing--a mere mass of crumbled bricks and
+mortar, and a real blemish to an otherwise exceedingly attractive,
+gay little city. The automobile garages are all side by side on a
+new-made street, on the site of one line of the old fortifications,
+and are suitable enough when found, but no directions which were
+given us enabled us to house our machine inside of half an hour's
+time after we had entered the town. Our hotel, unfortunately, was one
+of the few that did not have a garage as an adjunct of the
+establishment. In other respects the Hotel de la Poste was a marvel
+of up-to-dateness. The sleeping-rooms were of that distinction known
+in France as _hygienique_, and the stairways and walls were
+fire-proof, or looked it. One dined in a great first-floor apartment
+with a marble floor, and dined well, and there was ice for those who
+wanted it. (The Americans did, you may be sure.)
+
+Perpignan is possessed of much history, much character, and much
+local colour of the tone which artists love, and above all a certain
+gaiety and brilliancy which one usually associates only with Spain.
+
+There is what might be called a street of cafes at Perpignan, not far
+from the Castillet. They are great, splendid establishments, with
+wide, overhung, awninged terraces, and potted plants and electric
+lights and gold and tinsel, and mixed drinks and ices and sorbets,
+and all the epicurean cold things which one may find in the best
+establishment in Paris. These cafes are side by side and opposite
+each other, and are as typical of the life of the town as is the
+Rambla typical of Barcelona, or the Cannebiere of Marseilles. They
+are dull enough places in the daytime, but with the hour of the
+_aperitif_, which may be anywhere between five and eight in the
+afternoon, they wake up a bit, then slumber until nine or
+nine-thirty, when gaiety descends with all its forces until any hour
+you like in the morning. They won't think of such a thing as turning
+the lights out on you in the cafes of Perpignan.
+
+From Perpignan we turned boldly into the cleft road through the
+valley of the Tet, via Prades and Mont Louis to Bourg-Madame, the
+frontier town toward Spain, and the only decent route for entering
+Spain by automobile via the Mediterranean gateway.
+
+Bourg-Madame is marked on most maps, but it is all but unknown of
+itself; no one thinks of going there unless he be touring the
+Pyrenees, or visiting Andorra, one of the unspoiled corners of
+Europe, as quaint and unworldly to-day as it ever was; a tiny
+republic of very, very few square kilometres, whose largest city or
+town, or whatever you choose to call it, has but five hundred
+inhabitants.
+
+If one is swinging round the Pyrenean circle he goes on to Porte,
+where, at the Auberge Michette, he will learn all that is needful for
+penetrating into the unknown darkest spot in Europe. We thought to do
+the journey "_en auto,_" but on arrival at Porte learned it was not
+to be thought of. A sure-footed little Pyrenean donkey or mule was
+the only pathfinder used to the twistings and turnings and blind
+paths of this little mountain republic, where the people speak
+Spanish, and religion and law are administrated by the French and
+Spanish authorities in turn.
+
+It's a week's travel properly to visit Andorra and view all its wild
+unworldliness, so the trip is here only suggested.
+
+[Illustration: Some Snap-shots in the Pyrenees]
+
+We took up our route again, crossing the Col de Puymorans (1,781
+metres), and dropped down on Hospitalet, which also is printed in
+large black letters on the maps, but which contains only 148
+inhabitants, unless there have been some births and no deaths since
+this was written.
+
+From Hospitalet we were going down, down, down all of the time, the
+valley road of the Ariege, dropping with remarkable precipitation.
+
+In eighteen kilometres we were at Aix-les-Thermes. The guide-books
+call it "_une jolie petite ville,_" and no one will dispute it,
+though it had no charms for us; we were more interested in routes and
+roads than in mere watering-places, and so, beyond a stop for
+gasoline for the motor, not having been able to get any for the last
+fifty kilometres, still following the valley of the Ariege, we
+arrived at Foix for lunch, at the most excellent Hotel Benoit, just
+as the ice was being brought on the table and the _hors d'oeuvres_
+were being portioned out.
+
+Taken all in all, Foix was one of the most delightful towns we found
+in all the Pyrenean itinerary. It is quite the most daintily and
+picturesquely environed town imaginable, its triple-towered chateau
+and its _rocher_ looming high above all, and sounding a dominant note
+which carries one back to the days when Gaston Phoebus was the
+seigneur of Foix.
+
+We planned to spend the night at the Hotel de France at St. Girons,
+for it was marked down in the Guide-Michelin as being fitted with
+those modern refinements of travel which most of us appreciate, and
+there was furthermore a garage and a _fosse_, or inspection pit. We
+had need of the latter, for something was going wrong beneath the
+body of our machine which manifestly require being attended to
+without delay.
+
+We took the long way around, twenty kilometres more out of our direct
+road, for novelty of driving our automobile through the Grotto of Mas
+D'Azil. We had been through grottoes before, the Grotte de Han in the
+north of France, the caves where they ripen Rochefort cheeses, the
+Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, and some others, but we had never expected
+to drive an automobile through one. The Grotte de Mas-D'Azil is much
+like other dark, damp holes elsewhere, and the only novelty is the
+magnificent road which pierces it. The sensation of travelling over
+this road is most weird, and it was well worth the trouble of making
+the experiment.
+
+From St. Girons to St. Gaudens and Montrejeau is sixty odd
+kilometres. Nothing happened on the way except that the road was
+literally thronged with great slow-moving ox-teams transporting great
+logs down the mountainside to the sawmills in the lower valley.
+
+Montrejeau was a surprise and a disappointment. It was a surprise
+that we should find such a winsome little hill-town, and such a very
+excellent hotel as was the Grand Hotel du Parc, which takes its name
+from a tiny hanging garden at the rear; but we were disappointed in
+that for a mortal half-hour we tried to make our usually willing
+automobile climb up on to the plateau upon which the town sits. Three
+separate roads we tried, each three separate times, but climb the
+machine would not. No one knew why, the writer least of all, and he
+had been _chauffeur_ and driver of that automobile for many long
+months, and had never found a hill, great or small, that it would not
+climb. Automobiles are capricious things, like women, and sometimes
+they will and sometimes they will not. At last, after the natives had
+had sufficient amusement, and had told us that they had seen many an
+automobile party go without lunch because they could not get up that
+steep little kilometre, we found a sort of back-door entrance which
+looked easy, and we went up like the proverbial bird. It was not the
+main road into town, and it took some finding. The writer hopes that
+others who pass this way will be as successful. Montrejeau, with its
+three steep streets, its excellent hotel (when you finally got in
+touch with it), its old-world market-house, and its trim little
+cafe-bordered square, will be long remembered.
+
+We debated long as to whether we should drop down to Luchon, and come
+around by Bagnerres-de-Bigorre or not, but since they were likely to
+be full of "five-o'-clockers" at this season we thought the better of
+it, and left them entirely out of our itinerary. When one wants it he
+can get the same sort of conventionality at Ermenonville, and need
+not go so far afield to find it.
+
+We arrived at Tarbes, at the Hotel des Ambassadeurs, late on Sunday
+afternoon. The name of the hotel augured well for good cheer, and on
+the whole we found it satisfactory enough. One of its most appealing
+features is the fact that the kitchens and the garage were once a
+convent. It has undergone a considerable change since then, but it
+lent a sort of glamour to things to know that you were stabling your
+automobile in such a place.
+
+Tarbes is a great busy, overgrown, unlovely big town, which flounders
+under the questionable dignities of being a station of an army corps
+and a prefecture: Bureaucracy and Officialdom are writ large all over
+everything, and a poor mortal without a handle to his name, or a
+ribbon in his buttonhole, is looked upon as a sort of outcast when he
+enters a cafe, and accordingly he waits a long time to be served.
+
+We got out of Tarbes at a _tres bonne heure_ the next morning without
+a regret, headed for Pau. All of us had always had an affection for
+Pau, because, in a way, we admired old Henri Quatre, even his
+rascality.
+
+We found Pau, too, a great, overgrown, fussy town, a bit more
+delightfully environed than Tarbes, but still not at all what we had
+pictured it. We knew it to be a tourist resort, but we were hardly
+prepared for the tea-shops and the "bars" and the papers--in English
+and "American," as a local newsdealer told us when we went to him to
+buy the inevitable picture postcards.
+
+We found out, too, that Pau has long held a unique position as the
+leading hunting centre on the Continent. It costs sixty francs a day
+for the hire of a saddle-horse, and from 350 francs to four hundred
+francs for the month--certainly rather dear. There are, as a rule,
+from thirty to forty hunters available for hire each year, but many
+of them are reserved by old stagers. Of privately owned horses
+following the hunt, the number would usually somewhat exceed two
+hundred. The hounds meet three times a week, and the municipality of
+Pau shows its appreciation of the good that hunting does for the
+Pyrenees resort by voting a subsidy of five thousand francs.
+
+What history and romance there is about Pau is pretty well blotted
+out by twentieth-century snobbism, it would seem.
+
+One learns that Pau was the seat of a chateau of the princes of Bearn
+as early as the tenth century. Its great splendour and importance
+only came with the establishment here of the residence of Gaston IV.,
+Comte de Foix, the usurper of the throne of Navarre in 1464. In his
+train came a parliament, a university, an academy, and a mint.
+Finally came the birth of Henri Quatre, and one may yet see the great
+turtle-shell used by the afterwards gay monarch for a cradle. These
+were gay times for Pau, and the same gaiety, though of a forced
+nature, exists to-day with the throngs of English and Americans who
+are trying hard to make of it a social resort. May they not succeed.
+One thing they have done is to raise prices for everything to
+everybody. This is bad enough to begin with, and so with this parting
+observation Pau is crossed off the list.
+
+There are eight highroads which cross the frontier passes from France
+into Spain, and two lines of railway, one along the border of the
+Atlantic and Hendaye, and the other following the Mediterranean coast
+to Barcelona.
+
+"_Il n'y a plus de Pyrenees,_" we were told as we were leaving Pau.
+It seemed that news had just been received that in fourteen hours a
+Spanish aeronaut had covered the 730 kilometres from Pau to Grenada
+"_comme les oiseaux._" Truly, after this, there are no more
+frontiers.
+
+After Pau our route led to Mauleon (seventy-two kilometres) via
+Oloron, straight across Bearn, where the peasants are still of that
+picturesque mien which one so seldom sees out of the comic-opera
+chorus. One reads that the Bearnais are "irascible, jealous, and
+spirituel."
+
+This is some one's opinion of times long passed, but certainly we
+found nothing of the kind; nothing indeed different from all the folk
+of the South who dawdle at their work and spend most of their leisure
+energetically dancing or eating.
+
+Mauleon, known locally as Mauleon-Licharre to distinguish it from
+Mauleon-Barousse, is the _douane_ station for entering France from
+Spain (Pampelune) via St. Jean-Pied-de-Port and St. Beat, neither of
+the routes much used, and not at all by automobiles.
+
+A typical little mountain town, Mauleon is the _chef-lieu_ of the
+Arrondissement, and the ancient capital of the Vicomte de Soule. It
+has an excellent hotel, allied to the Touring Club de France (Hotel
+Saubidet), where one dines well off the fare of the country with no
+imitation Parisian dishes. There is a sort of a historical monument
+here, the Chateau de Mauleon (Malo-Leone--Mauvais Lion--Wicked Lion:
+the reader may take his choice) of the fifteenth century, which
+surrounds itself accommodatingly with a legend which the native will
+tell you, if asked.
+
+There is no great accommodation for automobiles at Mauleon, and one
+can only buy oil and gasoline by going to a man named Etcheberrigary
+for it. His address is not given, but any one will tell you where he
+lives. They may not recognize your pronunciation, but they will
+recognize your dilemma at once and point the way forthwith.
+
+It was forty-one kilometres to St. Jean-Pied-de-Port, over an
+"all-up-and-down-hill" road, if there ever was one--up out of one
+river valley and down into another all the way until we struck the
+road by the banks of the Nive and approached the town.
+
+St. Jean-Pied-de-Port takes its name from its proximity to one of the
+Franco-Spanish gateways through the Pyrenees.
+
+It is in danger of becoming a resort, since the guide-books already
+announce it as a _station climatique_. Its Basque name of
+_Donajouana_, or _Don Ilban-Garici_, ought, however, to stop any
+great throng from coming.
+
+It lies directly at the foot of the Col de Roncevalles leading into
+Spain (1,057 metres). The pass has ever been celebrated in the annals
+of war, from the days of the Paladin Roland to those of Marechal
+Soult's attack on the English at Pampelune.
+
+Considering that St. Jean-Pied-de-Port boasts of only fourteen
+hundred inhabitants, and is almost hidden in the Pyrenean fastness,
+one does very well within its walls. There is a railway to Bayonne,
+the post, telegraph, a pharmacy, and a Red Cross station, and the
+wants of the automobilist are attended to sufficiently well by the
+local locksmith. The Hotel Central, on the Place du Marche, is
+vouched for by the Touring Club. It has a _salle des bains_ and other
+useful accessories often wanting in more pretentious establishments,
+a dark room for camera fiends, a pit for automobiles, and electric
+lights. For all this you pay six franc a day. "_Pas cher!_"
+
+Bayonne, through the Basque country, is fifty odd kilometres distant,
+a gentle descent all the way, down the valley of the Nive.
+
+The Basques are a picturesque and lovable people, and they have kept
+their characteristics and customs bright and shining through many
+centuries of change round about them.
+
+They love the dance, all kinds of agile games like the _jeu de paume_
+and _pelota_, and will dance for three days at a fete with a passion
+which does not tire. Even to-day the Basque thinks more of a local
+fete than he does of anything else, and will journey fifteen or
+twenty kilometres afoot--if he can't get a ride--to form a part of
+some religious procession or a _tournee de paume_.
+
+Cambo, midway between St. Jean-Pied-de-Port and Bayonne, is a tiny
+spring and bath resort trying hard to be fashionable. There are many
+villas near-by of wealthy "Basques-Americains," from the Argentine.
+
+The Basques, at least the Basques-Francais, are a disappearing factor
+in the population of Europe. It is said there are more Basques in the
+Argentine Republic than in the Republic of France, and all because of
+the alienation of the Basques by Louis XIV. when he married
+Marie-Therese and her 500,000 ecus of _dot_. Since 1659 the real
+Basque, he or she of the fine teeth, has been growing beautifully
+less in numbers, both in France and in Spain.
+
+A certain fillip was given to Cambo by the retreat here of Edward
+Rostand, the author of "Cyrano" and "L'Aiglon." In his wake followed
+litterateurs and journalists, and the fame of the hitherto unworldly
+little spot--sheltered from all the winds that blow--was bruited
+abroad, and the Touring Club de France erected a pavilion; thus all
+at once Cambo became a "resort," in all that the name implies.
+
+A _mecanicien_ has not yet come to care for the automobilist in
+trouble, but the locksmith _(serrurier)_ will do what he can and
+charge you little for it. Gasoline is high-priced, fifty sous a
+_bidon_.
+
+Bayonne, with its tradition, its present-day prosperity, and its
+altogether charming situation, awaited us twenty odd kilometres away,
+and we descended upon its excellent, but badly named, Grand Hotel
+just at nightfall. There's another more picturesquely named near by,
+and no doubt as excellent, called the Panier-Fleuri. We would much
+rather have stopped at the latter,--if only on account of its
+name,--but there was no accommodation for the automobile. M.
+Landlord, brace up!
+
+Bayonne is a fortress of the first class, and commands the western
+gateway into Spain. Its brilliant aspect, its cosmopolitanism, and
+its storied past appealed to us more than did the attractions of its
+more fastidious neighbour, Biarritz. One can see a better bull-fight
+at Bayonne than he can at Biarritz, where his sport must consist
+principally of those varieties of gambling games announced by
+European hotel-keepers as having "all the diversions of Monte Carlo."
+Bull-fighting is forbidden in France, but more or less mysteriously
+it comes off now and then. We did not see anything of the sort at
+Bayonne, but we had many times at Arles, and Nimes, and knew well
+that when the southern Frenchman sets about to provide a gory
+spectacle he can give it quite as rosy a hue as his Spanish brother.
+
+Biarritz called us the next day, and, not wishing to be taken for
+dukes, or millionaires, or _chauffeurs_ and their friends out on a
+holiday, we left the automobile _en garage_, and covered the seven
+kilometres by the humble tramway. Be wise, and don't take your
+automobile to a resort like Biarritz unless you want to pay.
+
+It's a long way from the Pont Saint-Esprit at Bayonne to the _plage_
+at Biarritz, in manners and customs, at any rate, and the seeker
+after real local colour will find more of it at Bayonne than he will
+at its seaside neighbour, where all is tinged with Paris, St.
+Petersburg, and London.
+
+The Empress Eugenie, or perhaps Napoleon III., "made" Biarritz when
+he built the first villa in the little Basque fishing-village, which
+had hitherto known neither courts nor coronets. There's no doubt
+about it; Biarritz is a fine resort of its class, as are Monte Carlo
+and Ostende. One can study human nature at all three, if that is what
+he is out for; so, too, he can--the same sort--on Paris's boulevards.
+
+[Illustration: On the Road in the Pyrenees]
+
+The month of October is time for the gathering of the fashionables
+and elegants of all capitals at Biarritz. All the world bathes
+together in the warm waters of the Plage des Basques, and the sublime
+contrast of the Pyrenees on one hand, and the open sea and sky on the
+other, give a panorama of grandeur that few of its competitors have.
+
+The visitors to Biarritz daily augment in numbers, and, since it had
+been a sort of neutral trysting-ground for the King and Queen of
+Spain before their marriage, and since the seal of his approval has
+been given to it by Edward VII. of England (to the great disconcern
+of the Riviera hotel-keepers), it bids fair to become even more
+popular.
+
+From Bayonne to the Spanish frontier it is thirty kilometres by the
+road which runs through the Basque country and through St.
+Jean-de-Luz, a delightful little seaside town which has long been a
+"resort" of the mildly homeopathic kind, and which, let us all hope,
+will never degenerate into another Nice, or Cannes, or Menton. The
+great event of its historic past was the marriage here of Louis XIV.
+with the Infanta Marie-Theres on the sixth of June, 1660, but to-day
+everything (in the minds of the inhabitants) dates from the arrival
+of the increasing shoals of visitor from "_brumeuse Angleterre_" in
+the first days of November, with the added hope that this year's
+visitors will exceed in numbers those of the last--which they
+probably will.
+
+Those who know not St. Jean-de-Luz and its charms had best hurry up
+before they entirely disappear. The Automobile Club de France
+endorses the Hotel d'Angleterre of St. Jean as to its beds and its
+table, and also notes the fact that you may count on spending
+anything you like from thirteen francs a day upward for your
+accommodation. The Touring Club de France swears by the Hotel
+Terminus-Plage (equally unfortunately named), and here you will get
+off for ten francs or so per day, and probably be cared for quite as
+well as at the other. In any case they both possess a _salle des
+bains_ and a shelter for your automobile.
+
+We stopped only for lunch, and found it excellent, at the Hotel de la
+Poste, with _vin compris_--which is not the case at the great hotels.
+_En passant_, let the writer say that the average "tourist" (not the
+genuine vagabond traveller) will not drink the _vin de table_, but
+prefers the same thing--at a supplementary price--for the pleasure of
+seeing the cork drawn before his eyes. The "_grands hotels_" of the
+resorts recognize this and cater for the tourist accordingly.
+
+We were bound for Fontarabia that night, just over the Spanish
+border. The Spanish know it as Feuntarabia, and the Basques as
+Ondarriba. For this reason one's pronunciation is likely to be
+understood, because no two persons pronounce it exactly alike, and
+the natives' comprehensions have been trained in a good school.
+
+Fontarabia is gay, is ancient, and is very _foreign_ to anything in
+France, even bordering upon the Spanish frontier. We left the
+automobile at Hendaye, not wishing to put up with the customs duties
+of eighteen francs a hundred kilos for the motor, and a thousand
+francs for the _carrosserie_, for the privilege of riding twenty
+kilometres out and back over a sandy, dreary road.
+
+We dined and slept that night at a little Spanish hotel half built
+out over the sea, Concha by name, and left the Grand Hotel de Palais
+Miramar to those who like grand hotels. We lingered a fortnight at
+Fontarabia, and did much that many tourists did not. One should see
+Fontarabia and find out its delights for oneself. There is a
+quaintness and unworldliness about its old streets and wharves, which
+is indescribable in print; there is a wonderfully impressive expanse
+of sea and sky on the Bay of Bidassoa, a couple of kilometres away,
+and all sorts and conditions of men may find an occupation here for
+any passing mood they may have.
+
+We just missed the great fete of the eighth of September, when
+processions, and bull-fights, and all the movement of the sacred and
+profane rejoicings of the Latins yearly astonish the more phlegmatic
+northerner.
+
+Another great fete is that of Vendredi-Saint (Good Friday). Either
+one or the other should be seen by all who may be in these parts at
+these times.
+
+Near by, in the middle of the swift-flowing current of the Bidassoa,
+is the historically celebrated Ile des Faisans, on which the
+conferences were held between the French minister Mazarin and the
+Spanish Don Louis de Haro, which led to the famous Treaty of the
+Pyrenees, 1659, and the marriage of Louis XIV. with the daughter of
+Philip IV. The representative of each sovereign advanced from his own
+territory, by a temporary bridge, to this bit of neutral ground,
+which then reached nearly up to the present bridge. The piles which
+supported the cardinal's pavilion were visible not many years ago.
+The death of Velasquez, the painter, was caused by his exertions in
+superintending these constructions; duties more fitting to an
+upholsterer than a painter.
+
+We finished our tour of the Pyrenees at Fontarabia, having followed
+along the shadow of these great frontier mountains their entire
+length; not wholly unknown ground, perhaps, but for the most part
+entirely unspoiled, and, as a touring-ground for the automobilist,
+without a peer.
+
+
+Chapter III
+In Languedoc And Old Provence
+
+[Illustration: Languedoc & Provence]
+
+The dim purple curtain of the Pyrenees had been drawn behind, us, and
+we were passing from the patois of Languedoc to the patois of
+Provence, where the peasants say _pardie_ in place of _pardou_ when
+an exclamation of surprise comes from their lips.
+
+Cast your eyes over the map of ancient France, and you will
+distinguish plainly the lines of demarcation between the old
+political divisions which, in truth, the traveller by road may find
+to exist even to-day, in the manners and customs of the people at
+least.
+
+Unconsciously we drew away from the sleepy indolence of Perpignan and
+Roussillon, and before we knew it had passed Narbonne, and on through
+Beziers to Agde, where we proposed stopping for the night.
+
+Quite as Spanish-looking as Perpignan, Agde was the very antithesis
+of the gay and frivolous Catalan city. The aspect of its purple-brown
+architecture, the bridge-piers crossing the Herault, and the very
+pavements themselves were a colour-scheme quite unlike anything we
+had seen elsewhere. Brilliant and warm as a painting of Velasquez,
+there was nothing gaudy, and one could only dream of the time when
+the Renaissance house-fronts sheltered lords and ladies of high
+degree instead of itinerant automobilists and travelling salesmen.
+
+The Hotel du Cheval Blanc was one of these. It is not a particularly
+up-to-date hostelry, and there is a scant accommodation for
+automobiles, but for all that it is good of its kind, and one dines
+and sleeps well to the accompaniment of the rushing waters of the
+river, at its very dooryard, on its way to the sea.
+
+From Agde to Montpellier is fifty odd kilometres over the worst
+stretch of roadway of the same length to be found in France, save
+perhaps that awful paved road of Navarre across the Landes.
+
+Montpellier is one of the most luxurious and well-kept small cities
+of France. It is the seat of the prefecture, the assizes, and a
+university--whose college of medicine was famous in the days of
+Rabelais. It has the modern attributes of steam-heated,
+electric-lighted hotels and restaurants, a tramway system that is
+appalling and dangerous to all other traffic by reason of its
+complexity, and an Opera House and a Hotel de Ville that would do
+credit to a city ten times its size.
+
+We merely took Montpellier _en route_, just as we had many other
+places, and were really bound for Aigues-Mortes, where we proposed to
+lunch: one would not willingly sleep in a place with a name like
+that.
+
+Of Aigues-Mortes Ch. Lentherie wrote, a quarter of a century ago:
+
+"The country round about is incomparably melancholy, the sun
+scorches, and the sandy soil gives no nourishment to plants, flowers,
+vines, or grain. Cultivated land does not exist, it is a desert:
+ugly, melancholy, and abandoned. But Aigues-Mortes cannot, nay, must
+not perish, and will always remain the old city of St. Louis, a
+magnificent architectural diadem, with its deserted _plage_ an _aureole_
+most radiant, a glorious yet touching reminder."
+
+One other imaginative description is the poem of Charles Bigot on _La
+Tour de Constance_, in which the Huguenot women were many long years
+imprisoned. It is written in the charming Nimois patois, and runs
+thus in its first few lines:
+
+  "Tour de la simple et forte,
+  Simbol de glorie et de piete,
+  Tour de pauvres femmes mortes
+  Pour leur Dieu et la liberte."
+
+These few introductory lines will recall to the memory of all who
+know the history of the Crusades and of St. Louis the part played by
+this old walled city of Aigues-Mortes.
+
+More complete, and more frowning and grim, than Carcassonne, it has
+not a tithe of its interest, but, for all that, it is the most
+satisfying example of a walled stronghold of mediaeval times yet
+extant.
+
+With all its gloom, its bareness, and the few hundreds of shaking
+pallid mortals which make up its present-day population, the marsh
+city of Aigues-Mortes is a lively memory to all who have seen it.
+
+One comes by road and drives his automobile in through the
+battlemented gateway over the cobbled main street, or struggles up on
+foot from the station of the puny and important little railway which
+brings people down from Arles in something over an hour's time.
+Ultimately, one and all arrive at the excellent Hotel St. Louis, and
+eat bountifully of fresh fish of the Mediterranean, well cooked by
+the _patron-chef_, and well served by a dainty Arlesienne maiden of
+fifteen summers, who looks as though she might be twenty-two.
+
+"_C'est un chose a voir_" every one tells you in the Bouches-du-Rhone
+when you mention Aigues-Mortes; and truly it is. As before suggested,
+you will not want to sleep within its dreary walls, but "it's a thing
+to see" without question, and to get away from as soon as possible,
+before a peculiarly vicious breed of mosquito inoculates you with the
+toxic poison of the marshes.
+
+Now we are approaching the land of the poet Mistral, the most
+romantic region in all modern France, where the inhabitant in his
+repose and his pleasure still lives in mediaeval times and chants and
+dances himself (and herself) into a sort of semi-indifference to the
+march of time.
+
+The Crau and the Camargue, lying south of Arles between Aigues-Mortes
+and the Etang de Berre, is the greatest fete-making _pays_, one might
+think, in all the world.
+
+How many times, from January to January, the Provencal "makes the
+fete" it would be difficult to state--on every occasion possible, at
+any rate.
+
+The great fete of Provence is the day of the _ferrande_, a sort of a
+cattle round-up held on the Camargue plain, something like what goes
+on in "_le Far West,_" as the French call it, only on not so grand a
+scale.
+
+Mistral describes it of course:
+
+  "On a great branding-day came this throng,
+  A help for the mighty herd-mustering,
+  Li Santo, Aigo Marto, Albaron,
+  And from Faraman, a hundred horses strong
+  Came out into the desert."
+
+Here we were in the midst of the land of fetes, and if we could not
+see a _ferrande_ in all its savage, unspoiled glory, we would see
+what we could.
+
+We were in luck, as we learned when we put into St. Gilles for the
+night, and comfortably enough housed our auto in the _remise_ of the
+company, or individual, which has the concession for the stage line
+across the Camargue, which links up the two loose ends of a toy
+railway, one of which ends at Aigues-Mortes, and the other at Stes.
+Maries-de-la-Mer.
+
+Our particular piece of luck was the opportunity to be present at the
+pilgrimage to the shrine of the three Marys of Judea, which took
+place on the morrow.
+
+The poet Mistral sets it all out in romantic verse in his epic
+"Mireio," and one and all were indeed glad to embrace so fortunate an
+opportunity of participating in one of the most nearly unique
+pilgrimages and festivals in all the world.
+
+We entered the little waterside town the next morning soon after
+sunrise, _en auto_. Others came by rail, on foot, on horseback, or by
+the slow-going _roulotte_, or caravan; pilgrims from all corners of
+the earth, the peasant folk of Provence, the Arlesiens and
+Arlesiennes, and the dwellers of the great Camargue plain.
+
+The picture is quite as "Mireio" saw it in the poem: the vision of
+the lone sentinel church by the sea, which rises above the dunes of
+the Camargue to-day, as it did in the olden time.
+
+"'It looms at last in the distance dim,
+She sees it grow on the horizon's rim,
+The Saintes' white tower across the billowy plain,
+Like vessel homeward bound upon the main."
+
+On the dunes of the Camargue, between the blue of the sky and the
+blue of the Mediterranean waves, sits the gaunt, grim bourg of
+fisherfolk and herders of the cattle and sheep of the neighbouring
+plain. The lone fortress-church rises tall and severe in its
+outlines, and the whole may be likened to nothing as much as a desert
+mirage that one sees in his imagination.
+
+At the foot of the crenelated, battlemented walls of the church are
+the white, pink, and blue walled houses of the huddling population,
+and the dory-like boats of the fishers.
+
+Officially the town is known as Stes. Maries-de-la-Mer, but the
+_reliques_ of the three Marys, who fled from Judea in company with
+Sts. Lazare, Maxim, and Trophime, and other followers, including
+their servant Sara, have given it the popular name of "Les Saintes."
+
+The exiles, barely escaping death by drowning, came to shore here,
+and, thankful for being saved from death, thereupon celebrated the
+first mass to be said in France, the saints Maxim and Lazare
+officiating.
+
+Maxim, Lazare, Sidoine, Marthe, and Madeleine immediately set out to
+spread the Word throughout Provence in the true missionary spirit,
+but the others, the three Marys, St. Trophime, and Sara, remained
+behind to do what good they might among the fishers.
+
+The pilgrimage to this _basilique_ of "Les Saintes" has ever been one
+of great devotion. In 1347 the Bishops of Paris and of Coutances, in
+Normandy, accorded their communicants many and varied indulgences for
+having made "_la feste S. Mari Cleophee qui est le XXVe Mai, et la
+feste S. Marie Salome, XXIIe Octobre, festeront, O l'histoire d'elles
+prescherent, liront ou escouteront attentilment et devotement._"
+
+In the fourteenth century three thousand or more souls drew a
+livelihood from the industries of "Les Saintes" and the
+neighbourhood, and its civic affairs were administered by three
+consuls, who were assisted in their duties by three classes of
+citizen office-holders--_divities_, _mediocres_, and _paupers_, the
+latter doubtless the "_povres gens_" mentioned in the testament of
+Louis I. of Provence, he who bequeathed the guardianship of his soul
+to "_Saintes Maries Jacobe et Salome, Catherine, Madeleine et
+Marthe._"
+
+The first day's celebration was devoted to the further gathering of
+the throng and the "Grand Mess." At the first note of the
+"Magnificat" the _reliques_ were brought forth from the upper chapel
+and the crowd from within and without broke into a thunderous
+"_Vivent les Saintes Maries!_" Then was sung the "_Cantique des
+Saintes:_"
+
+  "O grandes Saintes Maries
+  Si cheries
+  De notre divin Sauveur," etc.
+
+On the second day a procession formed outside the church for the
+descent to the historic sands, upon which the holy exiles first made
+their landing, the men bearing on their shoulders a representation of
+the barque which brought the saints thither. There were prelates and
+plebeians and tourists and vagabond gipsies in line, and one and all
+they entered into the ceremony with an enthusiasm--in spite of the
+sweltering sun--which made up for any apparent lack of devoutness,
+for, alas! most holy pilgrimages are anything but holy when taken in
+their entirety.
+
+The church at "Les Saintes" is a wonder-work. As at Assisi, in Italy,
+there are three superimposed churches, a symbol of the three states
+of religion; the crypt, called the catacombs, and suggestive of
+persecution; the fortified nave, a symbol of the body which prays,
+but is not afraid to fight; and the _chapelle superieure_, the holy
+place of the saints of heaven, the Christian counsellors in whose
+care man has been confided. This, at any rate, is the professional
+description of the symbolism, and whether one be churchman or not he
+is bound to see the logic of it all.
+
+Deep down in the darkened crypt are the _reliques_ of the dusky Sara,
+the servant of the holy Marys. She herself has been elevated to
+sainthood as the _patronne_ of the vagabond gipsies of all the world.
+On the occasion of the Fete of Les Saintes Maries the nomads,
+Bohemians, and Gitanos from all corners of the globe, who have been
+able to make the pilgrimage thither, pass the night before the shrine
+of their sainted _patronne_, as a preliminary act to the election of
+their queen for the coming year.
+
+The gipsy of tradition is supposed to be a miserly, wealthy,
+sacrilegious fellow who goes about stealing children and dogs and
+anything else he can lay his hands upon. He may have his faults, but
+to see him kneeling before the shrine of his "_patronne reine Sara,_"
+ragged and travel-worn and yet burning costly candles and saying his
+_Aves_ as piously and incessantly as a praying-machine of the East,
+one can hardly question but that they have as much devoutness as most
+others.
+
+The hotels of "Les Saintes" offer practically nothing in the way of
+accommodation, and what there is, which costs usually thirty sous a
+night, has, during the fete, an inflated value of thirty or even
+fifty francs, and, if you are an automobilist, driving the most
+decrepit out-of-date old crock that ever was, they will want to
+charge you a hundred. You will, of course, refuse to pay it, for you
+can eat up the roadway at almost any speed you like,--there is no one
+to say you nay on these lonesome roads,--and so, after paying fifty
+centimes a pailful for some rather muddy water to refresh the water
+circulation of your automobile, you pull out for some other place--at
+least we did. One must either do this, or become a real nomad and
+sleep in the open, with the stars for candles, and a bunch of
+beach-grass for a pillow. If you were a _Romany cheil_ you would
+sleep in, or under, your own _roulotte_, on a mattress, which, in the
+daytime, is neatly folded away in the rear of your wagon, or hung in
+full view, temptingly spread with a lace coverlet. This in the hope
+that some passing pilgrim will take a fancy to the lace spread and
+want to buy it; when will come a trading and bargaining which will
+put horse-selling quite in the shade, for it is here that the woman
+of the establishment comes in, and the gipsy woman on a trade is a
+Tartar.
+
+Finally, on the last day, came the "_Grande Entree des Tauraux,_"
+which, it would seem, was the chief event which drew the Camargue
+population thither. They came in couples, a man and a woman on the
+back of a single Camargue pony, whole families in a Provencal cart,
+on foot, on bicycles, and in automobiles.
+
+[Illustration: Peasants of the Crau]
+
+Six Spanish-crossed bulls, were brought up in a great closed van and
+loosed in an improvised bull-ring, of which the church wall formed
+one side, and the roof a sort of a tribune. What the cure thought of
+all this is not clear, but as the alms-coffers of the church were
+already full to the lids, and the parish depends largely upon the
+contributions of visitors to replenish its funds, any seeming
+sacrilege was winked at.
+
+For three days we had "made the fete" and saw it all, and did most of
+the things that the others did, except that we always slept at St.
+Gilles, far away by the long flat road which winds in and out among
+the marshes, flamingo nests, and rice-fields of the Camargue.
+
+The "bull-fight," so called, was nothing so very bloodthirsty or
+terrifying; merely the worrying by the "amateurs" of a short-legged,
+little black bull, about the size of a well-formed Newfoundland dog,
+or perhaps a little larger--appearances are often deceptive when one
+receives a disappointment.
+
+Truly, as Mistral says, Provence is a land of joy and, laughter, and
+fetes followed close on one another, it seemed.
+
+We had seen the announcements in the local journals of a "_Mis a
+Mort_" at Nimes, and a "_Corrida de Meurte_"--borrowing the phrase
+from the Spanish--at Arles, each to take place in the great Roman
+arenas, which had not seen bloodshed for centuries; not since the
+days when the Romans matched men against each other in gladiatorial
+combat, and turned tigers loose upon captive slaves.
+
+The "to-the-death" affairs of Arles and Nimes appealed to us only
+that we might contrast the modern throngs that crowd the benches with
+those which history tells us viewed the combats of old. Doubtless
+there is little resemblance, but all the same there is a certain gory
+tradition hanging about the old walls and arches of those great
+arenas which is utterly lacking in the cricket-field, tawdry plazas
+of some of the Spanish towns. The grim arcades of these great Roman
+arenas are still full of suggestion.
+
+We did not see either the "_Mis a Mort_" at Arles, or the "_Corrida
+de Meurte_" at Nimes; the automobile got stalled for a day in the
+midst of the stony Crau, with a rear tire which blew itself into
+pieces, and necessitated a journey by train into Arles in order to
+get another to replace it. Owing to the slowness of this apology for
+a railway train, and the awkwardness of the timetable, the great
+"_Mis a Mort_" at Arles was long over ere we had set out over the
+moonlit Crau for Martigues on the shores of the Etang de Berre.
+
+[Illustration: Les Saintes]
+
+We knew Martigues of old, its _bouillabaisse_, the _Pere Chabas_ and
+all the cronies of the Cafe du Commerce where you kept your own
+special bottle, of whatever _aperitif_ poison you fancied, in order
+that you might be sure of getting it unadulterated.
+
+"_La Venise de Provence,_" Martigues, is known by artists far and
+wide. Chabas and his rather grimy little hotel, which he calls the
+Grand Hotel something or other, has catered for countless hundreds of
+artist folk who have made the name and fame of Martigues as an
+artist's sketching-ground. After a three weeks' pretty steady
+automobile run the artist of the party craved peace and rest and an
+opportunity of putting Martigues's glorious sunsets on canvas, and so
+we camped out with Chabas, and ate _bouillabaisse_ and the _beurre de
+Provence_ and _langouste_ and Chabas's famous straw potatoes and rum
+omelette for ten days, and were sorry when it was all over.
+
+
+Chapter IV
+By Rhone And Saone
+
+[Illustration: Rhone & Saone]
+
+It is the dream of the Marseillais that some day the turgid Rhone may
+be made to empty itself at the foot of the famous Cannebiere, and so
+add to the already great prosperity of the most cosmopolitan and
+picturesque of Mediterranean ports.
+
+The idea has been thought of since Roman times, and Napoleon himself
+nearly undertook the work. In later days radical and vehement
+candidates for senatorships and deputyships have promised their
+Marseilles and Bouches-du-Rhone constituencies much more, with regard
+to the same thing, than the hand of man is ever likely to be able to
+accomplish.
+
+The Rhone still pushes its way through the Crau and the Camargue and
+comes to the sea many kilometres west of the Planier light and
+Chateau d'If, which guard the entrance to Marseilles's Old Port.
+
+We had backed and filled many times between Martigues and Marseilles
+during the interval which we so enjoyably spent _chez Chabas_, and we
+had come to know this unknown little corner of old Provence
+intimately, and to love it.
+
+Marseilles was our great dissipation, its hotels, its cafes and
+restaurants, its cosmopolitan life and movement, its gaiety and the
+picturesqueness of its old streets and wharves. Marseilles is a
+neglected tourist point; it should be better known; but it is no
+place for automobilists, unless they are prepared for ten kilometres,
+in any direction, of the most villainous suburban roadway in France.
+The roadways themselves are good enough; it is the abnormal and the
+peculiar nature of the traffic that makes them so disagreeable; great
+hooting tramways, _charettes_ loaded with all the products of the
+earth and the hands of man, and drawn by long tandem lines, three,
+four, five, and even six horses to a single cart. Added to this, the
+exits and entrances are all up and down hill, and, accordingly, the
+roadways of suburban Marseilles are a terror to stranger
+automobilists and an eternal regret to those who live near-by.
+
+We went up the Rhone in a howling mistral, against it, mark you, for
+it pleases the Ruler of the universe to have that cyclonic breeze of
+the Rhone valley, one of the three plagues of Provence, blow always
+from the north.
+
+We left Martigues in an extraordinary and unusual fog, reminiscent of
+London, except that it was not black and sooty. It was dense,
+however; dense as if it were enshrouding the Grand Banks, and of the
+same impenetrable, milky consistency. To be sure the morning sun had
+not had an opportunity as yet to burn it off--automobilists on tour
+are early birds, and the autumn sun rises late.
+
+Up around the eastern shore of the Etang de Berre we went, and,
+crossing the Tete Noire, passed Salon just as a pale yellow light
+struggled through the rifts just topping the Maritime Alps off to the
+eastward. We could not see the mountains, but we knew they were
+there, for we still had lingering memories of a long pull we once
+made off in that direction, with an old crock of an automobile of
+primitive make in the early days of the sport, or the art, whichever
+one chooses to call it, though it unquestionably was an art then to
+keep an automobile going at all.
+
+By the time Arles was reached the sun was burning with a midsummer
+glare, as it does here for three hundred or more days in the year.
+
+At Arles one is in the very cauldron of the atmosphere of things
+Provencal, art, letters, history, and romance, all of which are kept
+alive by the _Felibres_ and their fellows.
+
+Mistral, the poet, is the master-singer of them all, and whether he
+chants of his "Own glad Kingdom of Provence," at Maillane among the
+olive-trees, far inland, or of:
+
+  "The peace which descends upon the troubled ocean
+  And he his wrath forgets,
+  Flock from Martigues the boats with wing-like motion,
+  And fishes fill their nets,"
+
+it is all the same; the subtle, penetrating atmosphere and sentiment
+of Provence is over all.
+
+Arles is the head centre. It is a city of monumental and celebrated
+art, and one may spend a day, a week, or a month, wandering in and
+out and about its old Roman arena (still so well preserved that it
+presents its occasional bull-fight for the delectation of the
+bloodthirsty), its antique theatre, its museums, its cathedral and
+its cloister, or among the tombs of the Aliscamps.
+
+We did all these things, indeed we had done them before, but they
+were ever marvellous just the same, and in the museum we were always
+running on Mistral himself, who, in his waning years, finds his
+greatest delight in arranging and rearranging the exhibits of his
+newly founded Musee Arletan.
+
+The hotels of Arles are a disappointment. The Hotel du Nord, with a
+portico of the old Forum built into its walls, and the Hotel du
+Forum, on the Place du Forum, are well enough in their way,--they are
+certainly well conducted,--but they lack "atmosphere," and instead of
+the _cuisine du pays_, you get ham and eggs and _bifteck_ served to
+you. This is wrong and bad business, if the otherwise capable
+proprietors only knew it.
+
+One does better in the environs. At St. Remy, at the Grand Hotel de
+Provence, you will get quite another sort of fare: _hors d'oeuvres_
+of a peculiarly pungent variety, not forgetting the dark purple,
+over-ripe olives, a _ragout en casserole_, a _filet d'agneau_ with a
+_sauce Provencale_, and a _poulet_ and a salad which will make one
+dream of the all but lost art of Brillat-Savarin. They are good
+cooks, the _chefs_ of Provence, of the small cities and large towns
+like St. Remy, Cavaillon, Salon, and Carpentras, but everybody will
+not like their liberal douches of oil any more than they will the
+penetrating garlic flavour in everything.
+
+We took a turn backward on our route from Arles and went to Les Baux,
+the now dismal ruin of a once proud feudal city whose seigneurs held
+sway over some sixty cities of Provence.
+
+To-day it is a Pompeii, except it is a hill town worthy to rank with
+those picturesque peaks of Italy and Dalmatia. Its chateau walls have
+crumbled, but its subterranean galleries, cut three stories down into
+the rock itself, are much as they always were. Everywhere are grim,
+doleful evidences of a glory that is past and a population that is
+dead or moved away. The sixteen thousand souls of mediaeval times have
+shrunk to something like two hundred to-day--most of them shepherds,
+apparently, and the others picture post-card sellers.
+
+It is a very satisfactory little mountain climb from the surrounding
+plain up to the little plateau just below the peak at Les Baux,
+though the entire distance from Arles is scarcely more than fifteen
+kilometres, and the actual climb hardly more than four. The
+razor-back mountain chain, upon one peak of which Les Baux sits, is
+known as the Alpilles.
+
+All of the immediate neighbourhood (scarce a dozen kilometres from
+where the beaten track passes through Arles) is a veritable museum of
+relics of the glory of the heroic age. Caius Marius entrenched
+himself within these walls of rock and two thousand years ago planted
+the foundations of the Mausoleum and Arc de Triomphe which are the
+pride of the inhabitant of St. Remy and the marvel of what few
+strangers ever come. They are veritable antiques--"Les Antiquites,"
+as the people of St. Remy familiarly call them, and rise to-day as
+monuments of the past, gilded by the Southern sun and framed with all
+the brilliancy of a Provencal landscape.
+
+We slept at St. Remy, and made the next morning for Tarascon, with
+memories of Dumas and Daudet and Tartarin and the Tarasque pushing us
+on.
+
+Tarascon has a real appeal for the stranger; at every step he will
+picture the _locale_ of Daudet's whimsical tale, and will well
+understand how it was that the prisoners' view from the narrow-barred
+window of the Chateau at Tarascon was so limited.
+
+There is a fine group of Renaissance architectural monuments at
+Tarascon, and a street of arcaded house-fronts which will make the
+artist of the party want to settle down to work.
+
+Across the river is Beaucaire, famous for its great fair of ages
+past, the greatest trading fair of mediaeval times, when merchants and
+their goods came from Persia, India, and Turkey, and all corners of
+the earth. The Chateau of Beaucaire is a fine ruin, but no more; it
+is not worth the climbing of the height to examine it.
+
+A little farther on is Bellegarde, where Dumas placed Caderousse's
+little inn, the unworthy Caderousse and his still more unworthy wife,
+who finished the career of Edmond Dantes while he was masquerading as
+the Abbe. There is no inn here to-day which can be identified as that
+of the romance, but Dumas's description of its sun-burnt
+surroundings, the canal, the scanty herbage, and the white, parched
+roadway, is much the same as what one sees today, and there is a tiny
+_auberge_ beside the canal, which might satisfy the imaginative.
+
+Avignon, the city of the seven French popes, who reigned seventy
+years, was the next stopping-place on our itinerary.
+
+We put up at the Hotel Crillon and fared much as one fares in any
+provincial large town. We were served with imitation Parisian
+repasts, and were asked if we would like to read the London _Times_.
+Why the London _Times_ no one knew: why not the New Orleans
+_Picayune_ and be done with it?
+
+We did not want to do anything of the sort, we merely wanted to "do"
+the town, to see the tomb of Pope Jean XXII. in the cathedral, to
+walk, if possible, upon the part left standing of St. Benezet's old
+Pont d'Avignon, a memory which was burned into our minds since our
+schooldays, when we played and sang the French version of "London
+Bridge is falling down"--"_Sur le pont d'Avignon._"
+
+The greatest monument of all is the magnificent Palais des Papes, its
+crenelated walls and battlements vying with the city walls and
+ramparts as a splendid example of mediaeval architecture. We saw all
+these things and the museum with its excellent collections, and the
+library of thirty thousand volumes and four thousand manuscripts.
+
+One thing we nearly missed was Villeneuve-les-Avignon, a ruined
+wall-circled town on the opposite bank of the Rhone. Its machicolated
+crests glistened in the brilliant Southern sunlight like an exotic of
+the Saharan country. It is quite the most foreign and African-looking
+jumble of architectural forms to be seen in France. It took us three
+hours to cross the river and stroll about its debris-encumbered
+streets and get back again and start on our way northward, but it was
+worth the time and trouble.
+
+From St. Remy to Orange, perhaps sixty kilometres, was not a long
+daily run by any means, and we would not have stopped at Orange for
+the night except that it was imperative that we should see the fine
+antique theatre, the most magnificent, the largest, and the best
+preserved of all existing Roman theatres.
+
+We saw it, and seeing it wondered, though, when one tries to project
+the mind back into the past and picture the scenes which once went on
+upon its boards, the task were seemingly impossible.
+
+[Illustration: Avignon and Tournon]
+
+The Roman Arc de Triomphe, too, at Orange, which spans the roadway to
+the North--the same great natural road which all its length froth
+Paris to Antibes is known as the Route d'Italie--is a monument more
+splendid, as to its preservation, than anything of the kind outside
+Italy itself.
+
+There is ample and excellent accommodation for the automobilist at
+Orange, at the Hotel des Princes, which sounds good and is good. They
+have even a writing-room in the hotel, a silly, stuffy little room
+which no one with any sense ever enters. One simply follows a
+well-fed _commis-voyageur_ to the nearest popular cafe and writes his
+letters there, as a well-habituated traveller should do.
+
+Once on the road again we passed Montelimar--"_le pays du nougat
+et de M. l'ex-President Loubet,_" we were told by the _octroi_
+official who held us up at the barrier of this self-sufficient,
+dead-and-alive, pompous little town. We didn't know M. Loubet and we
+didn't like _nougat_, so we did not stop, but pushed on for Tournon.
+There, at the little Hotel de la Poste, beneath the donjon tower of
+the old _chateau_, we ate the most marvellously concocted _dejeuner_
+we had struck for a long time. There's no use describing it; it won't
+be the same the next time; though no doubt it will be as excellent.
+It cost but two francs fifty centimes, including _vin du St. Peray_,
+the rich red wine of the Rhone, a rival to the wines of Burgundy.
+
+We might have done a good deal worse had we stopped at progressive,
+up-to-date Valence, where automobile tourists usually do stop, but we
+took the offering of the small town instead of the large one, and
+found it, as usual, very good.
+
+We had passed La Voute-sur-Rhone, that classic height which has been
+pictured many times in old books of travel. It, and Tournon, and
+Valence, and Viviers, and Pont St. Esprit were once riverside
+stations for the _coches d'eau_ which did a sort of omnibus service
+with passengers on the Rhone, between Lyons and Avignon. There is a
+steamboat service to-day which also carries passengers, but it is not
+to be recommended if one has the means of getting about by road.
+
+This town, too, and Valence, were directly on the route of the
+_malle-poste_ from Lyons to Marseilles. The different _postes_ or
+relays were marked on the maps of the day by little twisted
+hunting-horns. For the most part an old-time route map of the great
+trunk lines of the _malle-poste_ and the _messageries_ would, serve
+the automobilist of to-day equally as well as a modern road map.
+
+The _malle-poste_, and the hiring out of post-horses, in France was
+an institution more highly developed than elsewhere.
+
+Post-horses were only delivered one in France upon the presentation
+of a passport and payment, in advance, according to the following
+tariff. The price was fixed by law, being the same throughout all
+France.
+
+1   Poste (about 15 miles)        1 franc 50 centimes
+1/2   "                                   75    "
+1/4   "                                   38    "
+
+The postilion usually got one franc fifty per _poste_, but could only
+demand seventy-five centimes.
+
+Certain carriages (chaises and cabriolets) would carry only
+portmanteaux (_vaches_), but _voitures fermees_, _caleches_, and the
+like might carry also a trunk (_malle_).
+
+As one goes north, sunburnt Provence, its olive groves and its oil
+and garlic-seasoned viands are left behind, until little by little
+one draws upon the Burgundian opulence of the Cote d'Or, a land where
+the native's manner of eating and drinking makes a full life and a
+merry one.
+
+We were not there yet; we had many kilometres yet to go, always by
+the banks of the Rhone until Lyons was reached.
+
+Near Givors, at eight o'clock at night, within twenty kilometres of
+Lyons, the motor gave a weak asthmatic gasp, and stopped short. Like
+the foolish virgins, we had no oil in our lamps, and dusk had already
+fallen, and no amount of coaxing after the habitual manner would
+induce the thing to move a yard.
+
+There was nothing for it but to get out the tow-ropes and wait--for a
+_remorqueur_, as the French call any four-footed beast strong enough
+to tow an automobile at the end of a line. (They also call a tug-boat
+the same thing, but as an automobile is not an amphibious animal it
+was a land _remorqueur_ that we awaited.)
+
+We did not get to Lyons that night. There are always uncalled for
+"possibilities" rising up in automobiling that will upset the best
+thought-out schedule. This was one of them.
+
+What had happened to the machine no one yet really knows, but we had
+to be ignominiously towed, to the great amusement of the natives, at
+the end of a long rope by the power of a diminutive donkey which
+finally came along. The beast did not look as though he could draw a
+perambulator, but he buckled down to it with a will, and brought us
+safely through the half-kilometre or so of crooked streets which led
+to the centre of Givors.
+
+Finally, we, or the car rather, was pushed into an old wash-house,
+once a part of an ancient chateau, the _remise_ of the hotel itself,
+a dependance of the chateau of other days, having been preempted by
+an itinerant magic-lantern exhibittion ("La Cinemetographe
+Americaine," it was called on the bills), which proposed to show the
+good people of Givors--"for one night only, and at ten sous
+each"--moving pictures of Coney Island, Buffalo Bill's Wild West,
+Niagara Falls, New York's "Flat Iron" building, and other exotics
+from the New World.
+
+We dined and slept well at Givors in spite of our accident, and were
+"up bright and early," as Pepys might have said (Londoners to-day do
+not get up bright and early, however!), to find out, if possible,
+what was the matter with the digestive apparatus of the automobile.
+Nothing was the matter! The human, obstinate thing started off at the
+first trial, and probably would have done the same thing last night
+had we given the starting-crank one more turn. Such is automobiling!
+
+We made our entrance into Lyons _en pleine vitesse_, stopping not
+until we got to the centre of the city. The _octroi_ regulations had
+just been revised, and the gates were open to passing traffic without
+the obligation of having to declare one's possessions. Progressive
+Lyons!
+
+Lyons is truly progressive. It is beautifully laid out and kept. It
+is nothing like as filthy as a large city usually is, on the
+outskirts, and its island faubourg, between the Saone and the Rhone,
+is the ideal of a well-organized and planned centre of affairs.
+
+Lyons has, moreover, two up-to-date hotels, the very latest things,
+one might say, in the hotel line: the Terminus Hotel, which well
+serves travelers by rail, and the Hotel de l'Univers et de
+l'Automobilisme--rather a clumsy name, but that of a good,
+well-meaning hotel. Its progressiveness consists in having abolished
+the _pourboire_. You have ten per cent. added on to your bill,
+however. This looks large when it comes to figures,--paying something
+for nothing,--but at least one knows where he stands, and he fears no
+black looks from chambermaid or boots. The thing is announced, by a
+little placard placed in every room, as an "innovation." It remains
+to be seen if it will prove successful.
+
+From Lyons to Dijon, 197 kilometres between breakfast and lunch, was
+not bad. Now, at last, we were in that opulent land of good living
+and good drinking, where the food and wine are alike both rich.
+
+He's a contented, fat, sleek-looking type, the native son of the Cote
+d'Or, and he looks with contempt on the cider-nourished Norman and
+Breton, and does not for a moment think that cognac is to be compared
+with the _eau de vie de marc_ of his own vineyards.
+
+The Cote d'Or is the richest wine-growing region of all the world.
+Every direction-post and sign-board is like a review of the names on
+a wine card,--Beaune, Chambertin, St. Georges, Clos Vougeot,--and of
+these the Clos Vougeot wines are the most renowned.
+
+A line drawn across France, just north of the confines of ancient
+Burgundy, divides the region of the _vins ordinaires_--the light
+wines of the _tables d'hote_--and that of those vintages which have
+no price. This, at least, is the way the native puts it, and to some
+extent the simile is correct enough.
+
+The Cote begins and the plain ends; the hillsides rise and the
+river-bottoms dwindle away in the distance: such is the feeling that
+one experiences as he climbs these vine-clad slopes from either the
+Rhone, the Loire, or the Seine valleys, and here it is that the
+imaginary line is drawn between the _vins ordinaires_ and the _vins
+sans prix_.
+
+Since there is no possibility of increasing the quantity of these
+rich, red Burgundian wines, the highly cultured area being of but
+small extent, and because their quality depends upon the peculiar
+nature of the soil of this restricted tract, there is no question but
+that the monopoly of Burgundian wines will remain for ever with the
+gold coast of France, whatever Australian and Californian patriots
+may claim for their own imitations.
+
+The phylloxera here, as elsewhere in France, caused a setback to the
+commerce in wines, as serious in money figures as the losses
+sustained during the Franco-Prussian War, but the time has now passed
+and the famous Cote d'Or has once more attained its time-honoured
+opulence and prosperity.
+
+  "_Le vin de Bourgogne
+  Met la bonne humeur
+  Au coeur._"
+
+Still northward, across the plateau of Langres, we set a roundabout
+course for Paris. There is one great pleasure about automobiling that
+is considerably curtailed if one sets out to follow precisely a
+preconceived itinerary, and for that reason we were, in a measure,
+going where fancy willed.
+
+We might have turned westward, via Moulins, Nevers, and Montargis,
+from Lyons, and followed the old coaching road into Paris, entering
+by the same gateway through which we set out, but we had heard of the
+charms of the valley of the Marne, and we wanted to see them for
+ourselves.
+
+Our first acquaintance with it was at Bar le Duc, which is not on the
+Marne at all, but on a little confluent some twenty or thirty miles
+from its junction.
+
+For a day we had been riding over corkscrew roads with little peace
+and comfort for the driver, and considerable hard work for the motor.
+The hills were numerous, but the surface was good and the scenery
+delightful, so, since most of us require variety as a component of
+our daily lives, we were getting what we wanted and no one
+complained.
+
+It was easy going by Chateau Thierry and the episcopal city of Meaux,
+retracing almost the itinerary of the fleeing Louis XVI., and, as we
+entered Paris by the Porte de Vincennes,--always by villainous
+roadways, this getting in and out of Paris,--we red-inked another
+twelve hundred kilometre stretch of roadway on our record map of
+France.
+
+
+Chapter V
+By Seine And Oise--A Cruise In A Canot-Automobile
+
+[Illustration: By Seine and Oise]
+
+If automobiling on land in France is a pleasure, a voyage up a
+picturesque and historic French river in a _canot-automobile_ is a
+dream, so at least we thought, four of us--and a boy to clean the
+engine, run errands, and to climb overboard and push us off when we
+got stuck in the mud.
+
+Our "home port" was Les Andelys on the Seine, and we meet in the
+courtyard of the Hotel Bellevue at five o'clock one misty, gray
+September morning for a fortnight's voyage up the Oise, which joins
+the Seine midway between Les Andelys and Paris.
+
+There is nothing mysterious about an automobile boat any more than
+there is about the land automobile. It has its moods and vagaries,
+its good points _and some bad ones_. It is not as speedy as an
+automobile on shore, but it is more comfortable, a great deal more
+fun to steer, and less dangerous, and there is an utter absence of
+those chief causes of trouble to the automobile, punctures and what
+not happening to your tires. Then again there is, generally speaking,
+no crowd of traffic to run you into danger, and there is an absence
+of dust, to make up for which, when you are lying by waiting to go
+through a lock, you have mosquitoes of a fierce bloodthirsty kind
+which even the smoke from the vile tobacco of French cigarettes will
+not keep at a distance.
+
+Our facile little automobile boat was called the "_Ca et La._"
+Rightly enough named it was, too. The French give singularly pert and
+appropriate names to their boats. "_Va t'on,_" "_Quand meme,_" and
+"_Ca et La_" certainly tell the stories of their missions in their
+very names.
+
+The boat itself, and its motor, too, was purely a French production,
+and, though of modest force and dimensions, would do its dozen miles
+an hour all day long.
+
+We got away from the landing-stage of the Touring Club de France at
+Les Andelys in good time, our provisions, our gasoline and oil, our
+river charts, our wraps and ourselves all stowed comfortably away in
+the eight metres of length of our little boat. Our siren gave a hoot
+which startled the rooks circling about the donjon walls of Chateau
+Gaillard over our heads, and we passed under the brick arches of the
+bridge for a twelve-mile run to the first lock at Courcelles.
+
+The process of going through a river lock in France is not far
+different from the same process elsewhere, except that the
+all-powerful Touring Club de France has secured precedence for all
+pleasure boats over any other waiting craft. It really costs nothing,
+but you give a franc to the _eclusier_, and the way is thereby made
+the easier for the next arrival. The objection to river-locks is
+their frequency in some parts. There is one stretch of thirty or
+forty kilometres on the Marne with thirty-three locks. That costs
+something, truly.
+
+We knew the Seine valley intimately, by road along both its banks, at
+any rate, and we were hopeful of reaching Triel that night, near the
+junction of the Seine and Oise.
+
+We passed our first lock at Courcelles, just before seven o'clock,
+and had a good stretch of straight water ahead of us before Vernon
+was reached.
+
+You cannot miss your way, of course, when travelling by river, but
+you can be at a considerable loss to know how far you have come since
+your last stopping-place, or rather you would be if the French
+government had not placed little white kilometre stones all along the
+banks of the "_navigable_" and "_flottable_" rivers, as they have
+along the great national roads on land. Blessed be the paternal
+French government; the traveller in _la belle France_ has much for
+which to be grateful to it: its excellent roadways, its sign-boards,
+and its kilometre stones most of all. The motor-boat is highly
+developed in France from the simple fact that you can tour on it. You
+can go all over France by a magnificent system of inland waterways;
+from the Seine to the Marne; from the Oise to the Sambre--and so to
+Antwerp and Ghent; from the Loire to the Rhone; and even from the
+Marne to the Rhine; and from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic.
+France is the touring-ground par excellence for the automobile boat.
+
+Here's a new project of travel for those who want to do what others
+have not done to any great extent. Africa and the Antartic continent
+have been explored, and the North Pole bids fair to be discovered by
+means of a flying-machine ere long, so, with no new worlds to
+conquer, one might do worse in the way of pleasurable travel than to
+explore the waterways of France.
+
+Maistre wrote his "Voyage Autour de Ma Chambre" and Karr his "Voyage
+Autour de Mon Jardin," hence any one who really wants to do something
+similar might well make the tour of the Ile de France by water. It
+can be done, and would be a revelation of novelty, if one would do it
+and write it down.
+
+For the moment we were bound up the Oise; we had passed Vernon and
+Giverny, sitting snug on the hillside by the mouth of the Ept, where
+we knew there were countless Americans, artists _and others_, sitting
+in Gaston's garden or playing tennis on a sunburnt field beside the
+road. Foolish business that, with a river like the Seine so near at
+hand, and because it was the custom at Giverny, a custom grown to be
+a habit, which is worse, we liked not the place, in spite of its
+other undeniable charms.
+
+We put in for lunch at La Roche-Guyon, a trim little town lying close
+beneath the Renaissance chateau of the La Rochefoucauld's. There are
+two waterside hotels at La Roche-Guyon, beside the ugly wire-rope
+bridge, but we knew them of old, and knew they were likely to be full
+of an unspeakable class of Parisian merrymakers. There may be others
+who patronize these delightfully situated riverside inns, but the
+former predominate in the season. Out of season it may be quite
+different.
+
+We hunted out a little cafe in the town, whose _patron_ we knew, and
+prevailed upon his good wife to give us our lunch _en famille_, which
+she did and did well.
+
+It was _tres bourgeois_, but that was what we wanted, and, after a
+couple of hours eating and lolling about and playing with the cats
+and talking to the parrot,--a Martinique parrot who knew some
+English,--we took to the river again, and, after passing the locks at
+Bonnieres, arrived at Mantes at five o'clock.
+
+The nights draw in quickly, even in the early days of September, and
+we were bound to push on, if we were to reach Triel that night. We
+could have reached it, but were delayed at a lock, while it emptied
+itself and half a score of downriver barges, and, spying a gem of a
+riverside restaurant at Meulan, overhanging the very water itself,
+and hung with great golden orange globes of light (so-called Japanese
+lanterns, and nothing more), we were sentimentally enough inclined to
+want to dine with such Claude Melnotte accessories. This we did, and
+hunted up lodgings in the town for the night, vowing to get an extra
+early start in the morning to make up for lost time.
+
+The Seine at Meulan takes on a certain luxuryous aspect so far as
+river-boating goes. There is even a "Cercle a la Voile," with yachts
+which, in the narrow confines of the river, look like the real thing,
+but which after all are very diminutive members of the family.
+
+From this point the course of the Seine is a complicated winding
+among _iles_ and _ilots_, which gives it that elongation which makes
+necessary hours of journeying by boat as against a quarter of the
+time by the road--as the crow flies--to the lower fortifications of
+Paris.
+
+On either side, however, are _chemins vicinales_, which continually
+produce unthought-of vistas which automobilists who are making a
+record from Trouville to Paris know nothing of.
+
+Triel possesses an imposing thirteenth-century Gothic church and an
+abominably ugly suspension-bridge of wire rope. It is a good place to
+buy a boat or a cargo of gypsum, which we know as "plaster of Paris;"
+otherwise the town is not remarkable, though charmingly situated.
+
+The Oise is the first really great commercial tributary of the Seine.
+There is a mighty flow of commerce which ascends and descends the
+bosom of the Oise, extending even to the Low Countries and the German
+Ocean, through the Sambre to Antwerp and the Scheldt.
+
+The Oise is classed as _flottable_ from Beautor to Chauny, a distance
+of twenty kilometres, and _navigable_ from Chauny to the Seine.
+Mostly it runs through the great plain of Picardie and forms the
+natural northern boundary to the ancient Ile de France. The
+_navigable_ portion forms two sections. One, of fifty-five
+kilometres, extends between Chauny and Janville, and has been
+generally abandoned by water-craft because of the opening of the
+Canal Lateral a la Oise; the other section, of one hundred and four
+kilometres, is canalized in that it has been straightened here and
+there at sharp corners, dredged and endowed with seven locks.
+
+The barge traffic of the Oise is mostly towed in convoys of six, but
+there is a _chemin de halage_, a tow-path, throughout the river's
+length. In general, the boats are of moderate size, the _peniches_
+being perhaps a hundred and twenty feet in length, the _bateaux
+picards_ somewhat longer, and the _chalands_ approximating one
+hundred and sixty to one hundred and seventy-five feet.
+
+While, as stated above, the traction is generally by steam towboat,
+the more picturesque, if slower and more humble, tow-horse is more
+largely in evidence here than elsewhere in France.
+
+The environs of Conflans-fin-d'Oise are of a marvellous charm, but
+the immediate surroundings, great garages of coal boats and barges,
+coal-yards where towboats are filling up, and all the grime of an
+enormous water-borne traffic which here divides, part to go Parisward
+and part down-river, make it unlovely enough.
+
+Three kilometres up-river is a little riverside inn called the
+"Goujon de l'Oise." It is a pleasant place to lunch, but otherwise
+"fishy," as might be supposed.
+
+Back toward Meulan and on the heights above Triel are nestled a
+half-dozen picturesque little red-roofed villages which are not known
+at all to travellers from Paris by road or rail. It is curious how
+many sylvan spots one can find almost within plain sight of Paris.
+There are wheat-fields within sight of Montmartre and haystacks
+almost under the shadow of Mont Valerian.
+
+At Evequemont, just back of Conflans, some eight hundred souls eke
+out an existence on their small farms and live the lives of their
+grandfathers before them, with never so much as a thought as to what
+may be happening at the capital twenty kilometres away.
+
+Boisemont is another tiny village, with an eighteenth-century chateau
+which would form an idyllic retreat from the cares of city ways.
+Courdimanche, a few miles farther on, is unknown and unspoiled. It
+crowns a hilltop, with its diminutive and unusual red-roofed church
+overtopping all and visible from the river, or from the rolling
+country round about, for many miles. Here the Oise makes a long
+parallelogram-like turn from Maurecourt around to Eragny, perhaps two
+miles in a bee-line, but seemingly twenty by the river's course.
+
+The land automobile has a distinct advantage here in speed over the
+_canot_, but one's point of view is not so lovely. It is only twelve
+kilometres to Pontoise, where one passes the _barrage_ just below the
+town and saunters on shore for a spell, just to get acquainted with
+the place that Parisians know so well by name, and yet so little in
+reality.
+
+Pontoise is the metropolis of the Oise, though it, too, is a
+veritable French country town, such as one would hardly expect to
+find within twenty kilometres of Paris. The islands of the river are
+dotted with trees and _petit maisons de campagne_, and the right bank
+is bordered with great chalky cliffs, as is the Seine in Normandy.
+
+The general appearance of Pontoise is most pleasing. At first glance
+it looks like a mediaeval Gothic city, and again even Oriental. At any
+rate, it is an exceedingly unworldly sort of a place, with here and
+there remains of its bold ramparts and its zigzag and tortuous
+streets, but with no very great grandeur anywhere to be remarked,
+except in the Eglise St. Maclou.
+
+The history of Pontoise is long and lurid, beginning with the times
+of the Gauls when it was known as _Briva Isaroe_. It is a long time
+since the ramparts protected the old Chateau of the Counts of
+Vexin--literally the land dedicated to Vulcan _(pagus Vulcanis)_
+--where many French kings often resided. Many religious
+establishments flourished here, too, all more or less under royal
+patronage, including the Abbeys of St. Mellon and St. Martin, and the
+Couvent des Cordeliers, in whose splendid refectory the exiled
+Parlement held its sessions in 1652, 1720, and 1753. Out of this
+circumstance grew the proverb or popular saying, "_Avoir l'air de
+revenir de Pontoise._" The domain of Pontoise belonged in turn to
+many seigneurs, but up to the Revolution it was still practically
+_une ville monastique_.
+
+As one comes to the lower streets of the town, near the station, and
+between it and the river, the resemblance to a little corner of the
+Pays Bas is remarkable, and therein lies its picturesqueness, if not
+grandeur. Artists would love the narrow Rue des Attanets, with its
+curious flanking houses of wood and stone, and the Rue de Rouen,
+which partakes of much the same characteristics. Along the river are
+great flour-mills, with wash-houses and red-armed, blue-bloused women
+eternally washing and rinsing. All this would furnish studies
+innumerable to those who are able to fabricate mouldy walls and
+tumble-down picturesqueness out of little tubes of colour and gray
+canvas. Here, too, at Pontoise, in its little port, none too cleanly
+because of the refuse and grime of ashes and coal soot, one sees the
+first of the heavy _chalands_ loaded with iron ore from the Ardennes,
+or coal from Belgium, making their way to the wharves of Paris via
+the Canal St. Denis.
+
+More distant, and more pleasing to many, is that variety of landscape
+made famous, and even popular, by Dupre and Daubigny. So, on the
+whole, Pontoise, and the country round about, should properly be
+classed among the things to which few have ever given more than a
+passing glance, but which have a vast reserve fund of attractions
+hidden behind them, needing only to be sought out to be admired.
+
+St. Ouen l'Aumone, a tiny little town of a couple of thousand souls,
+opposite Pontoise, has two remarkable attractions which even a bird
+of passage might well take the time to view. One is the very
+celebrated Abbaye de Maubisson, indeed it might be called notorious,
+if one believed the chronicles relating to the proceedings which took
+place there under Angelique d'Estrees, sister of the none too saintly
+Gabrielle.
+
+It was founded in 1236 by Blanche of Castile, for the former
+_religieuses_ of Citeaux, and was justly celebrated in the middle
+ages for the luxuriousness of its appointments and the excellence of
+its design.
+
+The other feature of St. Ouen l'Aumone, which got its name, by the
+way, from a former Archbishop of Rouen, is a remarkable example of
+one of those great walled farmyards in which the north of France,
+Normandy in particular, formerly abounded. It is all attached to what
+was known as the Parc de Maubisson, which itself is closed by a high,
+ancient wall with two turrets at the corners. This wall is supposed
+to date from the fourteenth century, and within are the remains of a
+vast storehouse or _grange_ of the same century. The only building at
+all approaching this great storehouse is the Halle au Ble at Rouen,
+which it greatly resembles as to size. It is now in the hands of a
+grain merchant who must deal on a large scale, as he claims to have
+one hundred thousand _gerbes_ (sheaves) in storage at one time. The
+interior is divided into three naves by two files of monocylindrical
+columns, though the eastern aisle has practically been demolished.
+
+At Auvers, just above Pontoise, which is bound to Mery by an ugly
+iron bridge across the Oise, is a fine church of the best of twelfth
+and thirteenth century Gothic, with a series of Romanesque windows in
+the apse. Here, too, the country immediately environing Auvers and
+Mery is of the order made familiar by Daubigny and his school. French
+farmyards, stubble-thatched cottages, and all the rusticity which is
+so charming in nature draws continually group after group of artists
+from Paris to this particular spot at all seasons of the year. The
+homely side of country life has ever had a charm for city dwellers.
+Auvers is somewhat doubtfully stated as being the birthplace of
+Francois Villon--that prince of vagabonds. Usually Paris has been
+given this distinction.
+
+[Illustration: Vernon]
+
+Mery is an elevated little place of something less than fifteen
+hundred souls. It has a church of the thirteenth, sixteenth, and
+eighteenth centuries, and a chateau which was constructed at the end
+of the fourteenth century by the Seigneur de Mery, Pierre d'Orgemont,
+grand chancellor of France. The domain was created a _marquisat_ in
+1665. The famous banker, Samuel Bernard, it seems, became the
+occupant, of the chateau in the reign of Louis XIV., and there
+received king and court.
+
+On a certain occasion, as the season had advanced toward the chill of
+winter, the opulent seigneur made great fires of acacia wood. The
+king, who was present, said courteously to his host: "Know you well,
+Samuel, it is not possible for me to do this in my palace;" from
+which we may infer that it was a luxury which even kings appreciated.
+
+There were no river obstructions to the free passage of our little
+craft between Pontoise and L'Isle-Adam, above Auvers. We were going
+by easy stages now, even the long tows of grain and coal-laden barges
+were gaining on us, for we were straggling disgracefully and stopping
+at almost every kilometre stone.
+
+We tied up at Auvers, "Daubigny's Country," as we called it, and
+stayed for the night at the Hostellerie du Nord, a not very splendid
+establishment, but one with a character all its own. Auvers, and its
+neighbour Mery, together form one of the most delightful settlements
+in which to pass a summer, near to Paris, that could be possibly
+imagined, but with this proviso, that on Sunday one could take a day
+in town, for then _tout le monde_, the proprietor of the Hostellerie
+du Nord tells you, comes out to breathe the artistic atmosphere of
+Daubigny. How much they really care for Daubigny or his artistic
+atmosphere is a question.
+
+At such times the tiny garden and the dining-room of the Hostellerie
+attempt to expand themselves to accommodate a hundred and fifty
+guests, whereas their capacity is perhaps forty. Something very akin
+to pandemonium takes place; it is amusing, no doubt, but it is not
+comfortable. Nothing ever goes particularly awry here, however; M.
+T--, the _patron_, is too good a manager for that, and a popular one,
+too, to judge from his _Salon d'Exposition_, which is hung about with
+a couple of hundred pictures presented by his admiring painter guests
+from time to time. The viands are bountiful and splendidly garnished
+and the _consommations au premier choix_. Then there are the
+occupants of "_les petits menages_" to swoop down on your table for
+crumbs,--pigeons only,--and in cages a score or more of canary-birds,
+and, as a sort of contrast, dogs and cats and fowls of all varieties
+of breed.
+
+It sounds rather uncomfortable, but we did not find it so at all,
+and, speaking from experience, it is one of the most enticing of the
+various "artists' resorts" known.
+
+[Illustration: At a French Inn]
+
+It is but a short six kilometres to L'Isle-Adam, and it was ten the
+next morning before we embarked. It is a small town mostly given over
+to suburban houses of Paris brokers and merchants. It is an
+attractive enough town as a place of residence, but of works of
+artistic worth it has practically none, if we except the not very
+splendid fifteenth-century church.
+
+The largest of the islands here, just above the lock, was formerly
+occupied by the chateau of the Prince de Conti. It was destroyed at
+the Revolution but its place has been taken by a modern villa whose
+gardens are kept up with remarkable skill and care, albeit it is
+nothing but a villa _coquette_ on a large scale. L'Isle-Adam received
+its name from the Connetable Adam who first built a chateau here in
+1069.
+
+The Foret de l'Isle-Adam is one of those noble woods in which the
+north of France abounds. Like the Foret de Ermenonville, Compiegne,
+and Chantilly it is beautifully kept, with great roads running
+straight and silent through avenues of oaks.
+
+The Chateau de Cassan, but a short distance into the Foret, has a
+wonderful formal garden, laid out after the English manner and
+ranking with the parks of the Trianon and Ermenonville.
+
+After L'Isle-Adam we did not stop, except for the lock at Rougemont,
+till the smoke-stacks and factory-belchings of Creil loomed up before
+us thirty kilometres beyond.
+
+Creil is commercial, very commercial, and is a railway junction like
+Clapham Junction or South Chicago,--no, not quite; nowhere else, on
+top of the green earth, are there quite such atrocious monuments to
+man's lack of artistic taste. It is a pity Creil is so banal on close
+acquaintance, for it is bejewelled with emerald hills and a tiny belt
+of silvery water which, in the savage days of long ago, must have
+given it preeminence among similar spots in the neighbourhood.
+
+Just above is Pont St. Maxence, delightfully named and delightfully
+placed, with a picture church of the best of Renaissance architecture
+and an atmosphere which made one want to linger within the confines
+of the town long after his allotted time. We stayed nearly half a
+day; we ate lunch in a little restaurant in the shadow of the bridge;
+we bought and sent off picture postcards, and we took snap-shots and
+strolled about and gazed at the little gem of a place until all the
+gamins in town were following in our wake.
+
+Compiegne was next in our itinerary. We knew Compiegne, from the
+shore, as one might say, having passed and repassed it many times,
+and we knew all its charms and attractions, or thought we did, but we
+were not prepared for the effect of the rays of the setting sun on
+the quaintly serrated sky-line of the roof-tops of the city, as we
+saw it from the river.
+
+It was bloody red, and the willows along the river's bank were a dim
+purply melange of all the refuse of an artist's palette. Compiegne
+has many sides, but its picturesque sunset side is the most
+theatrical grouping of houses and landscape we had seen for many a
+long day.
+
+Here at Compiegne the vigour of the Oise ends. Above it is a weakly,
+purling stream, the greater part of the traffic going by the Canal
+Lateral, while below it broadens out into a workable, industrial sort
+of a waterway which is doing its best to contribute its share to the
+prosperity of France.
+
+We learn here, as elsewhere, where it has been attempted, that the
+hand of man cannot irretrievably make or reclaim the course of a
+river. Deprived of its natural bed and windings, it will always form
+new ones of its own making in conformity to the law of nature. The
+attempt was made to straighten the course of the Oise, but in a very
+short time the latent energies of the stream, more forceful than were
+supposed, made fresh windings and turnings, the ultimate development
+of which was found to very nearly approximate those which had
+previously been done away with, and so the Canal Lateral, which
+commences at Compiegne, was built.
+
+Compiegne's attractions are many, its generally well-kept and
+prosperous air, its most excellent hotels (two of them, though we
+bestowed our august patronage on the Hotel de France), its chateau of
+royal days of Louis XV., and its Hotel de Ville.
+
+Stevenson, in his "Inland Voyage," has said that what charmed him
+most at Compiegne was the Hotel de Ville. Truly this will be so with
+any who have a soul above electric trams and the _art nouveau_; it is
+the most dainty and lovable of Renaissance Hotels de Ville anywhere
+to be seen, with pignons, and gables, and niches with figures in them
+jutting out all over it.
+
+Then there is the novel and energetic little _jaquemart_, the little
+bronze figures of which strike the hours and even the halves and
+quarters. There is not a detail of this charming building, inside or
+out, which will not be admired by all. It is far and away more
+interesting in its appeal than the chateau itself.
+
+Our next day's journey was to Noyon. We were travelling by boat, to
+be sure, but a good part of the personnel of the hotel, including the
+hostler, and the bus-driver, whose business was at the station, came
+down to see us off. Like a bird in a cage he gazed at us with longing
+eyes, and once let fall the remark that he wished he had nothing else
+to do but sit in the bow of a boat and "twiddle a few things" to make
+it go faster. He overlooked entirely the things that might happen,
+such as having to pull your boat up on shore and pull out the weeds
+and rubbish which were stopping your intake pipe, or climb overboard
+yourself and disentangle water-plants from your propeller, if indeed
+it had not lost a blade and you were forced to be ignominiously towed
+into the next large town.
+
+It looks all very delightful travelling about in a dainty and facile
+little _canot-automobile_, and for our part we were immensely pleased
+with this, our first, experience of so long a voyage. Nothing had
+happened to disturb the tranquillity of our journey, not a single
+mishap had delayed us, and we had not a quarrel with a bargeman or an
+_eclusier_, we had been told we should have. We were in luck, and
+though we only averaged from fifty to sixty kilometres a day, we were
+all day doing it, and it seemed two hundred.
+
+We lunched at Ribecourt and struck the most ponderously named hotel
+we had seen in all our travels, and it was good in spite of its
+weight. "Le Courrier des Pays et des Trois Jambons," or something
+very like it, was its name, and its _patronne_ was glad to see us,
+and killed a fowl especially on our account, culled some fresh
+lettuce in the garden, and made a dream of a rum omelette, which she
+said was the national dish of America. It isn't, as most of us know,
+but it was a mighty good omelette, nevertheless, and the rum was
+sufficiently fiery to give it a zest.
+
+We spent that night at Noyon of blessed memory. Noyon is not down in
+the itineraries of many guide-book tourists, which is a pity for
+them. It is altogether the most unspoiled old-world town between the
+Ile de France and the Channel ports of Boulogne and Calais through
+which so many Anglo-Saxon travellers enter. It is off the beaten
+track, though, and that accounts for it. Blessed be the tourist
+agencies which know nothing beyond their regular routes, and thus
+leave some forgotten and neglected tourist-points yet to be
+developed.
+
+The majesty of Noyon's cathedral of Notre Dame is unequalled in all
+the world. The grim towers rise boldly without ornament or decoration
+of any kind, and are cowled by a peculiarly strange roofing. The
+triple porch is denuded of its decorative statues, and there is a
+rank Renaissance excrescence in the rear which is unseemly, but for
+all that, as a mediaeval religious monument of rank, it appeals to all
+quite as forcibly as the brilliantly florid cathedral at Beauvais, or
+the richly proud Amiens, its nearest neighbours of episcopal rank.
+
+We did not sit in front of the Hotel du Nord at Noyon, as did
+Stevenson, and hear the "sweet groaning of the organ" from the
+cathedral doorway, but we experienced all the emotions of which he
+wrote in his "Inland Voyage," and we were glad we came.
+
+The Hotel de France and the Hotel du Nord share the custom of the
+ever-shifting traffic of _voyageurs_ at Noyon. The latter is the
+"automobile" hotel, and accordingly possesses many little accessories
+which the other establishment lacks. Otherwise they are of about the
+same value, and in either you will, unless you are a very heavy
+sleeper, think that the cathedral-bells were made to wake the dead,
+so reverberant are their tones and so frequent their ringing.
+
+It was Stevenson's wish that, if he ever embraced Catholicism, he
+should be made Bishop of Noyon. Whether it was the simple magnitude
+of its quaint, straight-lined cathedral, or the generally charming
+and _riant_ aspect of the town, one does not know, but the sentiment
+was worthy of both the man and the place.
+
+"Les affaires sont les affaires," as the French say, and business
+called us to Paris; so, after a happy ten days on the Seine and Oise,
+we cut our voyage short with the avowed intention of some day
+continuing it.
+
+
+Chapter VI
+The Road To The North
+
+[Illustration: The Road North]
+
+We left Paris by the ghastly route leading out through the plain of
+Gennevilliers, where Paris empties her sewage and grows asparagus,
+passing St. Denis and its royal catacombs of the ancient abbey, and
+so on to Pontoise, all over as vile a stretch of road as one will
+find in the north of France, always excepting the suburbs of St.
+Germain.
+
+Pontoise is all very well in its way, and is by no means a dull,
+uninteresting town, but we had no thoughts for it at the moment;
+indeed, we had no thoughts of anything but to put the horrible
+suburban Paris _pave_ as far behind us as we could before we settled
+down to enjoyment.
+
+At Pontoise we suddenly discovered that we were on the wrong road. So
+much for not knowing our way out of town--twenty-five kilometres of
+axle-breaking cobblestones!
+
+We had some consolation in knowing that it was equally as bad by any
+northern road out of Paris, so we only had the trouble of making a
+twenty-kilometre detour through the valley of the Oise, by our old
+haunts of Auvers and L'Isle-Adam to Chantilly and Senlis.
+
+We got our clue to the itinerary of the road to the north from a view
+of an old poster issued by the "_Messageries Royales_" just previous
+to the Revolution (a copy of which is given elsewhere in this book).
+
+Many were the times we, and all well-habituated travellers in France,
+had swung from Calais to Paris by train, with little thought indeed
+as to what lay between. True, we had, more than once, "stopped off"
+at Amiens and Abbeville to see their magnificent churches, and we had
+spent a long summer at Etaples and Montreuil-sur-Mer, two "artists'
+haunts" but little known to the general traveller; but we never
+really knew the lay of the land north of Paris, except as we had got
+it from the reading of Dumas, Stevenson's "Inland Voyage," and the
+sentimental journeyings of the always delightful Sterne.
+
+We made Chantilly our stop for lunch, _en route_ to Senlis. We ought
+not to have done this, for what with the loafing horse-jockeys in the
+cafes, and the trainers and "cheap sports" hanging about the hotels,
+Chantilly does not impress one as the historical shrine that it
+really is.
+
+Chantilly is sporty, _tres sportive_, as the French call it, as is
+inevitable of France's most popular race-track, and there is an odour
+of America, Ireland, and England over all. How many jockeys of these
+nationalities one really finds at Chantilly the writer does not know,
+but, judging from the alacrity with which the hotels serve you ham
+and eggs and the cafe waiters respond to a demand for whiskey
+(Scotch, Irish, or American), it may be assumed that the alien
+population is very large.
+
+We had our lunch at the Hotel du Grand Conde, which is marked with
+three stars in the automobile route-books. This means that it is
+expensive,--and so we found it. It was a good enough hotel of its
+kind, but there was nothing of local colour about it. It might have
+been at Paris, Biarritz, or Monte Carlo.
+
+The great attractions of Chantilly are the chateau and park and the
+collections of the Duc d'Aumale, famed alike in the annals of history
+and art. We were properly appreciative, and only barely escaped being
+carried off by our guide to see the stables--as if we had not
+suffered enough from the horse craze ever since we had struck the
+town.
+
+The most we would do was to admire the park and the ramifications of
+its paths and alleys which dwindled imperceptibly into the great
+Foret de Chantilly itself. The forest is one of those vast tracts of
+wildwood which are so plentifully besprinkled all over France. Their
+equals are not known elsewhere, for they are crossed and recrossed in
+all directions by well-kept carriage roads where automobilists will
+be troubled neither by dust nor glaring sunlight. They are the very
+ideals of roads, the forest roads of France, and their length is many
+thousands of kilometres.
+
+Senlis is but eight kilometres from Chantilly. We had no reason for
+going there at all, except to have a look at its little-known, but
+very beautiful, cathedral, and to get on the real road to the north.
+
+We spent the night at Senlis, for we had become fatigued with the
+horrible _pave_ of the early morning, the sightseeing of the tourist
+order which we had done at Chantilly, and the eternal dodging of
+race-horses being exercised all through the streets of the town and
+the roads of the forest.
+
+"_Monsieur descend-il a l'Hotel du Grand Monarque?_" asked a butcher's
+boy of us, as we stopped the automobile beneath the cathedral tower
+to get our bearings. He was probably looking for a little commission
+on our hotel-bill for showing us the way; but, after all, this is a
+legitimate enough proposition. We told him frankly no; that we were
+looking for the Hotel des Arenes; but that he knew nothing of.
+Another, more enterprising, did, and we drove our automobile into the
+court of a tiny little commercial-looking hotel, and were soon
+strolling about the town free from further care for the day. The
+hotel was ordinary enough, neither good nor bad, _comme 'ci, comme
+ca_, the French would call it,--but they made no objection to getting
+up at six o'clock the next morning and making us fresh coffee which
+was a dream of excellence. This is a good deal in its favour, for the
+coffee of the ordinary French country hotel--in the north, in
+particular--is fearfully and wonderfully made, principally of
+chicory.
+
+Sentiment would be served, and from Senlis we struck across forty
+kilometres to what may be called the Dumas Country, Crepy-en-Valois
+and Villers-Cotterets. Here was a little-trodden haunt which all
+lovers of romance and history would naturally fall in love with.
+
+Crepy is a snug, conservative little town where life goes on in much
+the same way that it did in the days when Alexandre Dumas was a clerk
+here in a notary's office, before he descended upon the Parisian
+world of letters. His "Memoires" tell the story of his early
+experiences here in his beloved Valois country. It is a charming
+biographical work, Dumas's "Memoires," and it is a pity it is not
+better known to English readers. Dumas tells of his journey by road,
+from the town of his birth, Villers-Cotterets, to Crepy, with his
+world's belongings done up in a handkerchief on a stick, "in bulk not
+more grand than the luggage of a Savoyard when he leaves his native
+mountain home."
+
+Crepy has a delightfully named and equally excellent hotel in the
+"Trois Pigeons," and one may eat of real country fare and be happy
+and forget all about the ham and eggs and bad whiskey of Chantilly in
+the contemplation of omelettes and chickens and fresh, green salads,
+such as only the country innkeeper in France knows how to serve.
+Crepy has a chateau, too, a relic of the days when the town was the
+capital of a _petit gouvernement_ belonging to a younger branch of
+the royal family of France in the fourteenth century. The chateau is
+not quite one's ideal of what a great mediaeval chateau should be, but
+it is sufficiently imposing to give a distinction to the landscape
+and is in every way a very representative example of the construction
+of the time.
+
+The great _Route Nationale_ to the north runs through Crepy to-day,
+as did the _Route Royale_ of the days of the Valois. It is eighteen
+kilometres from Crepy to Villers-Cotterets, Dumas's birthplace. The
+great romancer describes it with much charm and correctness in the
+early pages of "The Taking of the Bastile." He calls it "a little
+city buried in the shade of a vast park planted by Francois I. and
+Henri II." It is a place ever associated with romance and history,
+and, to add further to its reputation, it is but a few kilometres
+away from La Ferte-Milon, where Racine was born, and only eight
+leagues from Chateau-Thierry, the birthplace of La Fontaine.
+
+We had made up our minds to breathe as much of the spirit and
+atmosphere of Villers-Cotterets as was possible in a short time, and
+accordingly we settled down for the night at the Hotel Alexandre
+Dumas. The name of the hotel is unusual. There may be others similar,
+but the writer does not recall them at this moment. It was not bad,
+and, though entitled to be called a grand establishment, it was not
+given to pomposity or pretence, and we parted with regret, for we had
+been treated most genially by the proprietor and his wife, and served
+by a charming young maid, who, we learned, was the daughter of the
+house. It was all in the family, and because of that everything was
+excellently done.
+
+There are fragments of a royal chateau here, begun by Francois I. in
+one of his building manias. His salamanders and the three crescents
+of Diane de Poitiers still decorate its walls, and accordingly it is
+a historical shrine of the first rank, though descended in these
+later days to use as a poorhouse.
+
+The chateau and forest of Villers-Cotterets were settled upon
+Monsieur le Grand by Louis XIV., after they had sheltered many
+previous royal loves, but in the days of the later monarchy, that of
+Philippe Egalite, the place was used merely as a hunting rendezvous.
+
+The Dumas birthplace is an ordinary enough and dismal-looking
+building from the street. As usual in France, there is another
+structure in the rear, the real birthplace, no doubt, but one gets
+only a glimpse through the open door or gate. Carrier-Belleus's fine
+statue of Dumas, erected here in 1885, is all that a monument of its
+class should be, and is the pride of the local inhabitant, who, when
+passing, never tires of stopping and gazing at its outlines. This may
+be a little exaggeration, but there is a remarkable amount of
+veneration bestowed upon it by all dwellers in the town.
+
+We went from Villers-Cotterets direct to Soissons, the home of the
+beans of that name. We do not know these medium-sized flat beans as
+_soissons_ in America and England; to us they are merely beans; but
+to _soissons_ they are known all over France, and in the mind and
+taste of the epicure there is no other bean just like them. This may
+be so or not, but there is no possible doubt whatever but that
+"_soissons au beurre_" is a ravishing dish which one meets with too
+infrequently, even in France, and this in spite of the millions of
+kilos of them which reach the markets through the gateway of the town
+of Soissons.
+
+Soissons undoubtedly has a good hotel. How could it be otherwise in
+such a food-producing centre? We were directed, however, by a
+_commis-voyageur_ whom we had met at Villers-Cotterets, not to think
+of a hotel at Soissons, if we were only to stop for lunch, but to go
+to the railway restaurant. Of all things this would be the most
+strange for an automobilist, but we took his advice, for he said he
+knew what he was talking about.
+
+The "Buffet" at the railway station at Soissons is not the only
+example of a good railway eating-house in France, but truly it is one
+of the best. It is a marvellously conducted establishment, and you
+eat your meals in a beautifully designed, well-kept apartment, with
+the viands of the country of the best and of great variety. _Soissons
+au beurre_ was the _piece de resistance_, and there was _poulet au
+casserole_, an _omelette au rhum_, a crisp, cold lettuce salad, and
+fruits and "biscuits" galore to top off, with wine and bread _a
+discretion_ and good coffee and cognac for ten sous additional, the
+whole totalling three francs fifty centimes. We were probably the
+first automobilists on tour who had taken lunch at the railway
+restaurant at Soissons. Perhaps we may not be the last.
+
+It was but a short detour of a dozen or fifteen kilometres to visit
+the romantic Chateau de Coucy, one of the few relics of mediaevalism
+which still look warlike. It is more or less of a ruin, but it has
+been restored in part, and, taken all in all, is the most formidable
+thing of its kind in existence. It rises above the old walled town of
+Coucy-le-Chateau in quite the fashion that one expects, and, from the
+platform of the donjon, there spreads out a wonderful view over two
+deep and smiling valleys which, as much as the thickness of the
+chateau walls, effectually protected the occupants from a surprise
+attack.
+
+The thirteenth century saw the birth of this, perhaps the finest
+example still remaining of France's feudal chateaux, and, barring the
+effects of an earthquake in 1692, and an attempt by Richelieu to blow
+it up, the symmetrical outlines of its walls and roofs are much as
+they always were.
+
+Its founder was Enguerrand III. de Coucy, who took for his motto
+these boastful words--which, however, he and his descendants
+justified whenever occasion offered:
+
+  _"Roi je ne suis,
+  Prince, ni Comte aussi,
+  Je suis le Sire de Coucy."_
+
+We left Coucy rejoicing, happy and content, expecting to reach Laon
+that night. We had double-starred Laon in our itinerary, because it
+was one of those neglected tourist-points that we always made a point
+of visiting when in the neighbourhood.
+
+Laon possesses one of the most remarkable cathedrals of Northern
+France, but its hotels are bad. We tried two and regretted we ever
+came, except for the opportunity of marvelling at the commanding site
+of the town and its cathedral. The long zigzag road winding up the
+hill offers little inducement to one to run his automobile up to the
+plateau upon which sits the town proper. It were wiser not to attempt
+to negotiate it if there were any way to avoid it. We solved the
+problem by putting up at a little hotel opposite the railway station
+(its name is a blank, being utterly forgotten) where the
+_commis-voyageur_ goes when he wants a meal while waiting for the
+next train. He seems to like it, and you do certainly get a good
+dinner, but, not being _commis-voyageurs_, merely automobilists, we
+were charged three prices for everything, and accordingly every one
+is advised to risk the dangerous and precipitous road to the upper
+town rather than be blackmailed in this way.
+
+Laon's cathedral, had it ever been carried out according to the
+original plans, would have been the most stupendously imposing
+ecclesiastical monument in Northern France. Possibly the task was too
+great for accomplishment, for its stones and timbers were laboriously
+carried up the same zigzag that one sees to-day, and it never grew
+beyond its present half-finished condition. The year 1200 probably
+saw its commencement, and it is as thoroughly representative of the
+transition from Romanesque to Gothic as any other existing example of
+church building.
+
+On the great massive towers of Laon's cathedral is to be seen a most
+curious and unchurchly symbolism in the shape of great stone effigies
+of oxen, pointing north, east, south, and west. There is no religious
+significance, we are told, but they are a tribute to the faithful
+services of the oxen who drew the heavy loads of building material
+from the plain to the hilltop.
+
+We had taken a roundabout road to the north, via Laon, merely to see
+the oxen of the cathedral and to get swindled for our lunch at that
+unspeakable little hotel. The one was worth the time and trouble, the
+other was not. We left town the same night headed north, in the
+direction of Arras, via St. Quentin, anciently one of the famous
+walled towns of France, but now a queer, if picturesque,
+conglomeration of relics of a historical past and modern business
+affairs.
+
+It was Sunday, and well into the afternoon, when we got away from
+Laon, but the peasant, profiting by the fair harvest days, was
+working in the fields as if he never had or would have a holiday.
+Unquestionably the peasant and labouring class in France is
+hard-working at his daily task and at his play, for when he plays he
+also plays hard. This, the eternal activity of the peasant or
+labourer, whatever his trade, and the worked-over little
+farm-holdings, with their varied crops, all planted in little
+bedquilt patches, are the chief characteristics of the French
+countryside for the observant stranger.
+
+We crossed the Oise at La Fere, La Fere of wicked memory, as readers
+of Stevenson will recall. Nothing went very badly with us, but all
+the same the memory of Stevenson's misadventure at his hotel made us
+glad we were not stopping there.
+
+We passed now innumerable little towns and villages clinging to red,
+brown, and green hillsides, with here and there a thatched cottage of
+other days, for, in the _agglomerations_, as the French government
+knows the hamlets and towns, it is now forbidden to thatch or
+rethatch a roof; you must renew it with tiles or slates when the
+original thatch wears out.
+
+Soon after passing La Fere one sees three hilltop forts, for we are
+now in more or less strategic ground, and militarism is rampant.
+
+St. Quentin has been the very centre of a warlike maelstrom for ages,
+and the memory of blood and fire lies over all its history, though
+to-day, as we entered its encumbered, crooked streets, things looked
+far from warlike.
+
+We had our choice of the Hotel du Cygne or the Hotel du Commerce at
+St. Quentin, and chose the latter as being nearer the soil, whereas
+the former establishment is blessed with electric lights, a
+_calorifere_, and a "bar"--importing the word and the institution
+from England or America.
+
+We found nothing remarkable in the catering of the Hotel du Commerce.
+It was good enough of its kind, but not distinctive, and we got beer
+served with our dinner, instead of wine or cider. If you want either
+of the latter you must pay extra. We were in the beer region, not the
+cider country or the wine belt. It was the custom, and was not being
+"sprung" on us because we were automobilists. This we were glad to
+know after our experience at Laon.
+
+St. Quentin possesses a famous Gothic church, known to all students
+of Continental architecture, and there is a monument of the siege of
+1557, which is counted another "sight," though strictly a modern
+work.
+
+At St. Quentin one remarks the Canal de St. Quentin, another of those
+inland waterways of France which are the marvel of the stranger and
+the profit of the inhabitant. This particular canal connects France
+with the extraterritorial commerce of the Pays Bas, and runs from the
+Somme to the Scheldt, burrowing through hillsides with tunnels, and
+bridging gaps and valleys with viaducts. One of these canal-tunnels,
+at Riqueval, has a length of nearly four miles.
+
+We worried our way out through the crooked streets of St. Quentin at
+an early hour the next morning, _en route_ for Arras, via Cambrai.
+Forty-two kilometres of "_ond. dure._," but otherwise excellent
+roadway, brought us to Cambrai. (For those who do not read readily
+the French route-book directions the above expression is translated
+as "rolling and difficult.")
+
+It matters little whether the roadways of France are marked rolling
+and serpentine, or hilly and winding, the surfaces are almost
+invariably excellent, and there is nothing met with which will annoy
+the modern automobile or its driver in the least, always excepting
+foolish people, dogs, and children. For the last we sometimes feel
+sorry and take extra precautions, but the others are too intolerant
+to command much sympathy.
+
+Cambrai was burned into our memories by the recollection that Fenelon
+was one-time bishop of the episcopal see, and because it was the city
+of the birth and manufacture of cambric, most of which, since its
+discovery, has gone into the making of bargain-store handkerchiefs.
+
+Cambrai possessed twelve churches previous to the Revolution, but
+only two remain at the present day, and they are unlovely enough to
+belong to Liverpool or Sioux City.
+
+We had some difficulty in finding a hotel at Cambrai. Our excellent
+"Guide-Michelin" had for the moment gone astray in the tool-box, and
+there was nothing else we could trust. We left the automobile at the
+shop of a _mecanicien_ for a trifling repair while we hunted up
+lunch. (Cost fifteen sous, with no charge for housing the machine.
+Happy, happy automobilists of France; how much you have to be
+thankful for!)
+
+The Mouton Blanc, opposite the railway station at Cambrai, gave us a
+very good lunch, in a strictly _bourgeois_ fashion, including the
+sticky, bitter _biere du Nord_. We paid two francs fifty centimes for
+our repast and went away with a good opinion of Cambrai, though its
+offerings for the tourist in the way of remarkable sights are few.
+
+Cambrai to Arras was a short thirty kilometres. We covered them in an
+hour and found Arras all that Cambrai was not, though both places are
+printed in the same size type in the railway timetables and
+guide-books.
+
+Arras has a combined Hotel de Ville and belfry which puts the
+market-house and belfry of Bruges quite in the shade from an
+impressive architectural point of view. There is not the quiet,
+splendid severity of its more famous compeer at Bruges, but there is
+far more luxuriance in its architectural form, and, at any rate, it
+was a surprise and a pleasure to find that any such splendid monument
+were here.
+
+The Spanish invasion of other days has left its mark all through
+Flanders, and here at Arras the florid Renaissance architecture of
+the Hotel de Ville and the vaults and roofs of the market-square are
+manifestly exotics from a land strange to French architectural ways.
+
+Arras, with its quaint old arcaded market-place, is a great
+distributing-point for cereals. A million of francs' worth in value
+changes hands here in a year, and the sale, in small lots, out in the
+open, is a survival of the _moyen age_ when the abbes of a
+neighbouring monastery levied toll for the privilege of selling on
+the market-place. Today the toll-gatherer, he who collects the small
+fee from the stall-owners, is still known as the Abbe.
+
+Arras is quaint and interesting, and withal a lively, progressive
+town, where all manner of merchandizing is conducted along very
+businesslike lines. You can buy sewing-machines and agricultural
+machinery from America at Arras, and felt hats and orange marmalade
+(which the Frenchman calls, mysteriously, simply, "Dundee") from
+Britain.
+
+To Douai, from Cambrai, was another hour's run. Douai has a Hotel de
+Ville and belfry, too, which were entirely unlooked for. Quaint,
+remarkable, and the pet and pride of the inhabitant, the bells of the
+belfry of Bible-making Douai ring out rag-time dances and Sousa
+marches. Such is the rage for up-to-dateness!
+
+There is a goodly bit to see at Douai in the way of ecclesiastical
+monuments, but the chief attraction, that which draws strangers to
+the place, is the July "Fete de Gayant," at which M. and Mme. Gayant
+(giant), made of wickerwork and dressed more or less _a la mode_, are
+promenaded up and down the streets to the tune of the "Air de
+Gayante." All this is in commemoration of an unsuccessful attempt to
+capture the city by Louis XI. in 1479. The fete has been going on
+yearly ever since, and shows no signs of dying out, as does the Guy
+Fawkes celebration in England.
+
+We were now going through France's "black country," the coal-fields
+of the north, and the gaunt scaffolds of the mine-pits dotted the
+landscape here and there, as they do in Pennsylvania or the Midlands
+of England. They did not especially disfigure the landscape, but gave
+a modern note of industry and prosperity which was as marked as that
+of the farmyards of the peasants and high-farmers of Normandy or La
+Beance. France is an exceedingly wealthy, and, what is more, a
+"self-contained" nation; and this fact should not be forgotten by the
+critics of what they like to call _effete Europe_.
+
+Bethune is in the heart of the coal country, and is not a
+particularly lovely town. It has a dream of an old-world hotel,
+though, and one may go a great deal farther and fare a great deal
+worse than at Bethune's Hotel du Nord, a great rambling, stone
+Renaissance building, with heavy decorated window-frames, queer
+rambling staircases, and ponderous, beamed ceilings.
+
+[Illustration: Villiers-Cotterets]
+
+It sits on a little _Place_, opposite an isolated belfry, from whose
+upper window there twinkles, at night, a little star of light, like a
+mariner's beacon. What it is all supposed to represent no ones seems
+to know, but it is an institution which dies hard, and some one pays
+the expense of keeping it alight. A belfry is a very useful adjunct
+to a town. If the writer ever plans a modern city he will plant a
+belfry in the very centre, with four clock-faces on it, a sun-dial, a
+thermometer, and a peal of bells. You find all these things on the
+belfry of Bethune, and altogether it is the most picturesque,
+satisfying, and useful belfry the writer has ever seen.
+
+The food and lodging of the Hotel du Nord at Bethune are as
+satisfactory as its location, and we were content indeed to remain
+the following day in the dull little town, because of a torrential
+downpour which kept us house-bound till four in the afternoon. If one
+really wants to step back into the dark ages, just let him linger
+thirty-six hours as we did at Bethune. More would probably drive him
+crazy with ennui, but this is just enough.
+
+The road to the north ended for us at Calais. How many know Calais as
+they really ought? To most travellers Calais is a mere guide-post on
+the route from England or France.
+
+Of less interest to-day, to the London tripper, than Boulogne and its
+debatable pleasures, Calais is a very cradle of history and romance.
+
+It was in October, 1775, that Sterne set out on his immortal
+"sentimental journey." He put up, as the tale goes, at Dessein's
+Hotel at Calais (now pulled down), and gave it such a reputation
+among English-speaking people that its proprietor suddenly grew rich
+beyond his wildest hopes. So much for the publicity of literature,
+which, since Sterne's days, has boomed soap, cigars, and automobiles.
+
+Sterne's familiarity with France was born of experience. He had
+fallen ill in London while supervising the publication of some of his
+literary works and was ordered to the south of France by his
+physicians. He obtained a year's absence from his curacy, and
+borrowed twenty pounds from his friend Garrick (which history, or
+rumour, says he never repaid) and left for--of all places--Paris,
+where a plunge into the whirl of social dissipation nearly carried
+him off his feet.
+
+Sterne and Stevenson have written more charmingly of France and
+things French than any others in the English tongue, and if any one
+would like to make three little pilgrimages off the beaten track, by
+road or rail, by bicycle or automobile, let him follow the trail of
+Sterne in his "Sentimental Journey," or Stevenson in his "Inland
+Voyage" and his "Travels with a Donkey." They do not follow the
+"personally conducted" tourist routes, but they give a much better
+idea of France to one who wants to see things for himself.
+
+Charles Dibdin, too, "muddled away five months at Calais," to quote
+his own words. He arrived from England after a thirteen-hours'
+passage in a gale of wind, in which he composed his most famous
+sea-song, "Blow High, Blow Low." Travellers across the channel have
+been known to occupy thirteen hours on the passage since Dibdin's
+time, and seemingly, in the experience of the writer, there is not a
+time when the words of the song might not apply.
+
+We had come to Calais for the purpose of crossing the Channel for a
+little tour awheel amid the natural beauties and historic shrines of
+Merry England.
+
+It takes fifty-five minutes, according to the Railway-Steamship
+time-cards, to make the passage from Calais to Dover, but the writer
+has never been able to make one of these lightning passages.
+
+Automobiles are transported by the mail-boats only upon "special
+arrangements," information upon which point is given so vaguely that
+one suspects bribery and craft.
+
+We did not bite, but went over by the night cargo-boat, at least the
+automobile did, at a cost of a hundred francs. This is cheap or dear,
+according to the way you look at it. For the service rendered it is
+dear, for the accommodation to you it is, perhaps, cheap enough. At
+any rate, it is cheap enough when you want to get away _from_ England
+again, its grasping hotel-keepers, and its persecuting police.
+
+Why do so many English automobilists tour abroad, Mr. British
+Hotel-keeper and Mr. Police Sergeant? One wonders if you really
+suspect.
+
+
+Part III
+On Britain's Roads
+
+Chapter I
+The Bath Road
+
+[Illustration: The Bath Road]
+
+The Bath Road is in many ways the most famed main road out of London.
+Visions as varied as those of highwaymen on Hounslow Heath, boating
+at Maidenhead, the days of the "dandies" at Bath, and of John Cabot
+at Bristol flashed through our minds whenever we heard the Bath road
+mentioned, so we set out with a good-will on the hundred and eighteen
+mile journey to Bath.
+
+To-day the road's designation is the same as of yore, though Palmer's
+coaches, that in 1784 left London at eight in the morning and arrived
+at Bristol at eleven at night, have given way to automobiles which
+make the trip in three hours. You can be three hours or thirty, as
+you please. We figured it out for thirty-six and lunched, dined,
+slept, and breakfasted _en route_, and felt the better for it.
+
+The real popularity of the Bath road and its supremacy in coaching
+circles a century and a quarter ago--a legacy which has been handed
+down to automobilists of to-day--was due to the initiative of one
+John Palmer, a gentleman of property, who had opened a theatre at
+Bath, and was sorely annoyed at the delays he had to submit to in
+obtaining star actors from London to appear on particular nights.
+Palmer was a man with a grievance, but he was also a man with ability
+and purpose. He travelled about, and made notes and observations, and
+organized a scheme by which coaching might be brought into a complete
+system; he memorialized the government, was opposed by the
+post-office authorities, abused, sneered at, laughed at, but not
+beaten; finally he gained the ear of William Pitt, who saw that there
+was more in the proposed plan than a mere experiment. On the 8th of
+August, 1784, Palmer ran his first mail-coach from London to Bristol,
+and made the journey in fifteen hours. That was the turning-point.
+The old lumbering coaches, the abominable roads, the irresponsible
+drivers, the wretched delay, misery, and uncertainty rapidly gave
+place to lighter, stronger, and more commodious vehicles, better
+horses, more experienced drivers, careful guards, regular stages,
+marked by decent inns and comfortable hostelries, and improved roads.
+The post-office made a contract with the coaching speculator--a very
+safe contract indeed--by which he was to have two and one-half per
+cent of the money saved in the conveyance of letters. This would have
+yielded twenty thousand pounds a year; so the government broke its
+agreement, refused to vote the payment, and compromised with Mr.
+Palmer and its own conscience, after the fashion of politicians of
+all time, by a grant of fifty thousand pounds.
+
+[Illustration: On The Bath Road]
+
+The Bath road traverses a section of England that is hardly as varied
+as would be a longer route from north to south, but, on the whole, it
+is characteristically English throughout, and is as good an itinerary
+as any by which to make one's first acquaintance with English days
+and English ways.
+
+Via Hammersmith, Kew Bridge, Brentford, and Hounslow was our way out
+of town, and a more awful, brain-racking, and discouraging start it
+would have been impossible to make. London streets are ever difficult
+to thread with an automobile, and when the operation is undertaken on
+a misty, moisty morning with what the Londoner knows as _grease_
+thick under foot and wheel, the process is fraught with the
+possibility of adventure.
+
+Out through Piccadilly and Knightsbridge was bad enough, but, by the
+time Hammersmith Broadway, its trams and tram-lines and its butchers'
+and bakers' and milk carts, was reached and passed, it was as if one
+had been trying to claw off a lee shore in a gale, and driver and
+passengers alike felt exceeding limp and sticky. The Londoner who
+drives an automobile thinks nothing of it, and covers the intervening
+miles with a cool clear-headedness that is marvellous. We were new to
+automobiling in England, but we were fast becoming acclimated.
+
+On through Chiswick there were still the awful tram-lines, but the
+roadway improved and was wider and free from abrupt turns and twists.
+We congratulated ourselves that at last we had got clear of town, but
+we had reckoned beyond our better judgment, for we had forgotten that
+we had been told that Brentford was the most awful death-trap that
+the world has known for automobilists, cyclists, and indeed
+foot-passers as well. We should have kept a little of our nerve by
+us, for we needed it when we got shut in between a brewer's dray, an
+omnibus, and an electric tram-car in Brentford's sixteen-foot "main
+road." It was like an interminable canyon, gloomy, damp, and
+dangerous for all living things which passed its portals, this main
+street of Brentford. For some miles, apparently, this same congestion
+of traffic continued, a tram-car ahead and behind you, drays, trucks,
+and carts all around you, and fool butchers' cart and milk cart
+drivers turning unexpected corners to the likely death of you and
+themselves. Here is an automobile reform which might well attract the
+attention of the authorities in England. The automobile has as much
+right to be a road user as any other form of traffic, and, if the
+automobile is to be regulated as to its speed and progress, it is
+about time that the same regulations were applied also to other
+classes of traffic.
+
+We finally got out of Brentford and came to Low, where suburban
+improvement has gone to widen the roadway and put the two lines of
+tramway in the middle, allowing a free passage on either side. The
+wood pavement, which we had followed almost constantly since leaving
+London, soon disappeared, and, finally, so did the tramway. After
+perhaps fifteen miles we were at last approaching open country; at
+least Suburbia and perambulators had been left behind; and
+truck-gardens and market-wagons, often with sleepy drivers, had
+entered on the scene. Here was a new danger, but not so terrible as
+those we had left behind, and the poor, docile horse usually had
+sense enough to draw aside and let us pass, even if the beer-drowsy
+driver had not.
+
+We soon reached the top of Hounslow Heath, but there was scarcely a
+suggestion of the former romantic aspect which we had always
+connected with it.
+
+We made inquiries and learned that there was one old neighbouring
+inn, the "Green Man," lying between the Bath and Exeter roads, which
+was a true relic of the past, and musty with the traditions of
+turnpike travellers and highwaymen of old. We found the "Green Man"
+readily enough, with a country yokel to point the way, for which he
+expected the price of a beer. In the palmy days of the robbing and
+murdering traffic of Hounslow Heath it was a convenient refuge for
+the Duvals and Turpins, and they made for it with a rush on occasion,
+secreting themselves in a hiding-place which can still be seen.
+
+This is in a little room on the left of the front door, and the
+entrance lies at the back of an old-fashioned fireplace. A hole leads
+to a passage which opens into a cavernous recess beneath, to which
+there is ample room for anybody to descend. The local wiseacres
+declare that there is, or was, a communication between this secret
+chamber and another famous highwayman's inn, the old "Magpie"
+directly on the Bath road, and that those who preyed on travellers
+used to bolt from one house to the other like hunted rabbits. No one
+seemingly has himself ever explored this mysterious subterranean
+passage. Beyond Hounslow, on the Bath road, one passes through
+Slough, leaving Windsor, Runnymede, and Datchet on the left, as
+properly belonging to the routine tours which one makes from London
+and calls simply excursions.
+
+The Thames is reached at Maidenhead, where up-river society plays a
+part which reminds one of the stage melodramas, except that there is
+real water and real boat-races. It is a pretty enough aspect up and
+down the river from the bridge at Maidenhead, but it is stagey and
+artificial.
+
+The hotels and restaurants of Maidenhead make some pretence of
+catering to automobilists, and do it fairly well, after a suburban
+fashion, but there is nothing of the flavour or sentiment of the old
+inn-keeping days, neither are any of the establishments at all what
+the touring automobilist (as distinct from the promenading, or
+half-day excursion variety) expects and demands.
+
+[Illustration: The Road By The Thames]
+
+The Bath road runs straight on through Twyford to Reading, but we
+made a detour via Great Marlow and Henley, merely for the
+satisfaction of lunching at the "Red Lion Inn" at the latter place.
+The great social and sporting attractions of the Thames, the annual
+Henley regatta, had drawn us thither years ago, and we had enjoyed
+ourselves in the conventional manner, shouting ourselves hoarse over
+rival crews, lunching, picnic fashion, from baskets under the trees,
+and making our way back to town by the railway, amid a terrifying
+crush late at night. It was all very enjoyable, but once in a
+lifetime was quite enough. Now we were taking things easier.
+
+The traditions hanging around the old "Red Lion Inn," beside the
+bridge, probably account for its popularity, for certainly its
+present-day accommodations and catering are nothing remarkable, and
+the automobilist is looked upon with disfavour. Why? This is hard to
+state. He is a good spender, the automobilist, and he comes
+frequently. All the same, the "Red Lion Inn" at Henley is one of
+those establishments marked down in the guide-books as "comfortable,"
+and if its luncheon is a bit slow and stodgy, it is wholesome enough,
+and automobilists are generally blessed with good appetites.
+
+The Shenstone legend and the window-pane verses about finding "one's
+warmest welcome at an inn" were originally supposed to apply to this
+inn at Henley. Later authorities say that they referred to an inn at
+Henley-in-Arden. Perhaps an automobilist, even, would find the latter
+more to his liking. The writer does not know.
+
+To Reading from Henley is perhaps a dozen miles, by a pretty river
+road which shows all the characteristic loveliness of the Thames
+valley about which poets have raved. By Shiplake Mill, Sonning, and
+Caversham Bridge one finally enters Reading. Reading is famous for
+the remains of an old abbey and for its biscuits, but neither at the
+time had any attractions for us.
+
+We made another detour from our path and followed the river-road to
+Abingdon. Pangborne (better described as Villadom) was passed, as was
+also Mapledurham, which Dick of William Morris's "Utopia" thought "a
+very pretty place." In fine it is a very pretty place, and the river
+hereabouts is quite at its prettiest.
+
+Since we had actually left towns and trams behind us we found the
+roadways good, but abominably circuitous and narrow, not to say
+dangerous because of it.
+
+Soon Streatley Hill rose up before us. Streatley is one of those
+villages which have been pictured times innumerable. One often sees
+its winding streets, its picturesque cottages, its one shop, its old
+mill, "The Bull Inn," or its notorious bridge over the river to
+Goring.
+
+To cross this bridge costs six pence per wheel, be your conveyance a
+cart, carriage, bicycle, or motor-car, so that if an automobile
+requires any slight attention from the machinist, who quarters
+himself at Goring boat-house, it is appreciably cheaper to bargain
+with him to come to Streatley. Thus one may defeat the object of the
+grasping institution which, the _lady_ toll-taker tells you, is
+responsible for the outrage, and not she herself. You may well
+believe her; she hardly looks as though she approved of the means
+which serve to keep her in her modest position.
+
+[Illustration: On The Thames At Henley]
+
+Streatley Hill, or rather the view from it, like the village itself,
+is famed alike by poet and painter. The following quatrain should be
+eulogy enough to warrant one's taking a rather stiff climb in the
+hope of experiencing, to a greater or a lesser degree, the same
+emotions:
+
+  "When you're here, I'm told that you
+  Should mount the Hill and see the view;
+  And gaze and wonder, if you'd do
+  Its merits most completely."
+
+The poetry is bad, but the sentiment is sound.
+
+Goring is more of a metropolis than Streatley, but we did not visit
+the former town because of the atrocious toll-bridge charge. We were
+willing enough to make martyrs of ourselves in the good cause of the
+suppression of all such excessive charges to automobilists.
+
+On through Abingdon, and still following the valley of the Thames, we
+kept to Faringdon and Lechlade, where, at the latter place, at the
+subtly named "Trout Inn," we proposed passing the night.
+
+We did pass the night at the "Trout Inn," which has no accommodation
+for automobiles, except a populated hen-house, the general
+sleeping-place of most of the live stock of the landlord, dogs, cats,
+ducks, and geese; to say nothing of the original occupants--the hens.
+How much better they do things in France!
+
+At any rate there is no pretence about the "Trout Inn" at Lechlade.
+We slept in a stuffy, diamond-paned little room with chintz curtains
+to windows, bed, and mantelpiece. We dined off of trout, beefsteak,
+and cauliflower, and drank bitter beer until midnight in the
+bar-parlour with a half-dozen old residents who told strange tales of
+fish and fishing. Here at least was the real thing, though the
+appointments of the inn were in no sense picturesque, and the
+landlord, instead of being a rotund, red-faced person, was a tall,
+thin reed of a man with a white beard who, in spite of his eighty odd
+years, is about as lively a proposition as one will find in the
+business in England.
+
+Mine host of "The Trout," silvered as the aspen, but straight as the
+pine, bears his eighty-two years lightly, and will tell you that he
+is still able to protect his fishing rights, which he owns in
+absolute fee on four miles of river-bank, against trespassers--and
+they are many. He sleeps, he says, with one eye open, and his gun by
+his side, and thinks nothing of a sally forth in the dark hours of
+night and exploding a charge in the direction of a marauder. He and
+his cronies of the tap-room, of an evening, before a glowing fire of
+logs, above which is the significant gun-rack (quite in old
+picture-book fashion), will give a deal of copy to an able writer who
+seeks atmosphere and local colour.
+
+Kelmscott, so identified with William Morris, is even less of the
+world of to-day than is its neighbour, Lechlade, and was one of the
+reasons for our coming here at all.
+
+The topographical surveys and books of reference will tell on that it
+is a "chapelry, in the parish of Broadwell, Union of Faringdon,
+hundred of Bampton, county of Oxford;" that it is "two miles east of
+Lechlade and contains 179 inhabitants;" and that "by measurement it
+contains 1,020 acres, of which 876 are arable and 153 meadow and
+pasture." It is unlikely that the population has increased since the
+above description; the best authority claims that it has actually
+decreased, like so many of the small towns and villages of the
+countryside in England.
+
+Kelmscott Manor House was advertised for sale in 1871, a fact which
+Morris discovered quite by accident. Writing to his friend Faulkner
+he says:
+
+  "I have been looking about for a house...
+  my eye is turned now to Kelmscott, a little village
+  two miles above Radcott Bridge--a Heaven on
+  earth."
+
+The house is thirty miles or more from Oxford, by water, approached
+by a lane which leads from Lechlade just over St. John's Bridge, by
+the "Trout Inn." The railway now reaches Lechlade but this was not
+the case when Morris first found this "_Heaven._" Most likely he
+reached it by carriage from Faringdon, "by the grand approach over
+the hills of Berkshire."
+
+We regained the Bath road at Marlborough, after our excursion into
+the realms of Utopia, intending to reach Bath for lunch. The best
+laid plans of mice and mere motor-men ofttimes go awry, and we did
+_not_ get to Bath until well on into the night. There was really no
+reason for this except an obstinate _bougie_ (beg pardon,
+sparking-plug in English) which sparked beautyfully in the open air,
+but which refused positively to give a glimmer when put in its proper
+place. We did not know this, or even suspect it at first, but this
+was what delayed us four hours, just before we reached Chippenham,
+where we stopped and lunched, through no choice of our own, for it
+was a bad lunch in every particular, and cost three shillings and
+sixpence a head. To add to the indignity, the local policemen came
+along and said we were making an obstruction, and insisted that we
+push the machine into the stable-yard, as if we were committing a
+breach of the law, when really it was only an opportunity for a
+"bobby" to show his authority. Happy England!
+
+All the morning we had been running over typical English roads and
+running well. There is absolutely no question but that the
+countryside of England is unequalled for that unique variety of
+picturesqueness which is characteristic of the land, but it lacks the
+grandeur that one finds in France, or indeed in most countries of
+Continental Europe.
+
+Crossing England thus, one gets the full force of Rider Haggard's
+remarks about the small farmer; how, because he cannot get a small
+holding, that can be farmed profitably, for his very own, he becomes
+a tenant, or remains always a labourer, never rising in the social
+scale.
+
+The peasant of Continental Europe may be poor and impoverished, may
+eat largely of bread instead of meat, and be forced to drink "thin
+wine" instead of body-building beer,--as the economists in England
+put it,--but he has much to be thankful for, nevertheless.
+
+We stopped just before Beckhampton, at a puzzling crossroads, and
+asked a labourer of the fields if we were "right" for Chippenham. He
+stared blankly, doffed his hat with humility, but for a time answered
+never a word. He knew Calne, a town half a dozen miles away, for he
+occasionally, walked in there for a drinking-bout on a heavier brand
+of beer than he could buy locally, but, though he had always heard of
+Chippenham, he did not know whether it lay north, east, south, or
+west. This is deplorable, of course, for it was within a twenty-mile
+radius, but it is astonishing the frequency with which one meets this
+blankness in England when looking for information. There are tens of
+thousands like this poor fellow, and one may well defy Rider Haggard
+to make a "landed proprietor" out of such poor stuff.
+
+You do not always get what you ask for in France, but the peasant at
+least knows enough to tell you, "Oh! that's down in the Eure" or
+"_Plus loin, par la,_" and at any rate, you feel that he is a
+broad-gauge Frenchman through and through, whereas the English
+labourer of the fields is a very "little Englander" indeed.
+
+It is hard to believe on a bright May morning that here, in this
+blossoming, picturesque little village of Chippenham, on one bitterly
+cold morning in the month of _April_, 1812, when the Bath coach
+reached its posting-house (the same, perhaps, Mr. Up-to-Date
+Automobilist, at which you have slept the night--worse luck), two of
+its outside passengers were found frozen to death, and a third all
+but dead. The old lithographs which pictured the "Royal Mail" stuck
+in a snow-drift, and the unhappy passengers helping to dig it out,
+are no longer apocryphal in your mind after you have heard this bit
+of "real history," which happened, too, in one of England's southern
+counties. The romance of other days was often stern and uncomfortable
+reality of a most bitter kind.
+
+We left Chippenham, finally, very late in the day, lost our way at
+unsign-boarded and puzzling crossroads, had two punctures in a half a
+dozen miles, and ultimately reached the centre of Bath, over the
+North Parade Bridge--for which privilege we paid three pence, another
+imposition, which, however, we could have avoided had we known the
+devious turnings of the main road into town.
+
+In two days we had covered something like two hundred and fifty miles
+in and out of highways and byways, had followed the Thames for its
+entire boatable length, and had crossed England,--not a very great
+undertaking as automobile tours go, but a varied and enjoyable one in
+spite of the restrictions put upon the free passage of automobiles by
+the various governing bodies and the indifferent hotel-keepers.
+
+Bath and its attractions for visitors are quite the best things of
+their kind in all England, in spite of the fact that the attractions,
+the teas, the concerts, and the lectures--to say nothing of drinking
+and bathing in the waters--lack individuality.
+
+We stayed the round of the clock at Bath, two rounds and a half, in
+fact, in that we did not leave until the second morning after our
+arrival, and absorbed as much of the spirit and association of the
+place as was possible, including sundry gallons of the bubbling
+spring-water.
+
+Bath has pleased many critical souls, James McNeill Whistler for one,
+who had no patience with other English resorts. It pleased us, too.
+It was so different.
+
+From Bath to Bristol is a dozen miles only, and the topographical
+characteristics change entirely, following the banks of the little
+river Avon. Bristol was a great seaport in days gone by, but today
+only coasters and colliers make use of its wharves. The town is
+charmingly situated, but it is unlovely, and, for the tourist, is
+only a stepping-stone to somewhere else. The Automobile Club of Great
+Britain and Ireland directs one to the suburb of Clifton, or rather
+to Clifton Down, for hotel accommodation, but you can do much better
+than that by stopping at the Half Moon Hotel in the main street, a
+frankly commercial house, but with ample garage accommodation and
+good plain fare, of which roast little pig, boiled mutton,
+cauliflower, and mashed potatoes, with the ever recurring apple tart,
+form the principal items.
+
+
+Chapter II
+The South Coast
+
+[Illustration: The South Coast]
+
+The south coast of England is ever dear to the Londoner who spends
+his week's end out of town. Here he finds the nearest whiff of
+salt-water breeze that he can call his own. He may go down the Thames
+on a Palace steamer to Southend, and he will have to content himself
+most of the way with a succession of mud-flats and eat winkles with a
+brassy pin when he gets there; he may even go on to Margate and find
+a fresh east wind which will blow the London fog out of his brain;
+but, until he rounds the Foreland, he will find nothing that will
+remind him in the least of his beloved Eastbourne, Brighton, and
+Worthing.
+
+The most popular south coast automobile run from London is to
+Brighton, fifty-two miles, via Croyden, Redhill, and Crawley. Many
+"weekenders" make this trip nearly every Saturday to Monday in the
+year, and get to know every rut and stone in the roadway and every
+degenerate policeman of the rapacious crew who hide in hedges and lie
+in wait for poor unfortunate automobilists who may have slipped down
+a sloping bit of clear roadway at a speed of twenty and one-tenth
+miles per hour (instead of nineteen and nine-tenths), all figured out
+by rule of thumb and with the aid of a thirty-shilling stop-watch.
+
+"_Ils sont terribles, ces betes des gendarmes on trouve en
+Angleterre,_" said a terror-stricken French friend of ours who had
+been held up beyond Crawley for a "technical offence." Nothing was
+said against a drunken drayman who backed his wagon up against our
+friend's mudguard ten miles back, and smashed it beyond repair.
+Justice, thy name is not in the vocabulary of the English policeman
+sent out by his sergeant to keep watch on automobilists!
+
+Our road to the sea was by Rochester, Canterbury, and Dover, in the
+first instance, following much the itinerary of Chaucer's pilgrims.
+
+Southwark's Tabard Inn exists to-day, in name if not in spirit, and
+it was easy enough to take it for our starting-point. Getting out of
+London to the southeast is not as bad as by the northwest, but in all
+conscience it is bad enough, through Deptford and its docks, and
+Greenwich and Woolwich, and over the Plumstead marshes. There are
+variants of this itinerary, we were told, but all are equally smelly
+and sooty, and it was only well after we had passed Gravesend that we
+felt that we had really left town behind, and even then we could see
+the vermilion stacks of great steamships making their way up London's
+river to the left, and the mouse-brown sails of the barges going
+round the coast to Ipswich and Yarmouth.
+
+At last a stretch of green unsmoked and unspoiled country, that via
+Stroud to Rochester, came into view.
+
+Rochester on the Medway, with its memories of Mr. Pickwick and the
+Bull Inn (still remaining), the cathedral and Gad's Hill, Dickens's
+home near by, is a literary shrine of the first importance. We
+stopped _en route_ and did our duty, but were soon on our way again
+through the encumbered main street of Chatham and up the long hill to
+Sittingbourne, itself a dull, respectable market-town with a boiled
+mutton and grilled kipper inn which offers no inducements to a
+gormand to stop for lunch.
+
+We kept on to Canterbury and didn't do much better at a hotel which
+shall be nameless. The hotels are all bad at Canterbury, according to
+Continental standards, and there is little choice between them.
+
+It is said that the oldest inn in England is "The Fountain" at
+Canterbury. "The Fountain" claims to have housed the wife of Earl
+Godwin when she came to meet her husband on his return from Denmark
+in the year 1029, and to have been the temporary residence of
+Archbishop Lanfranc whilst his palace was being rebuilt in 1070.
+There is a legend, too, that the four knights who murdered Thomas a
+Becket made this house their rendezvous. Moreover, "The Fountain" can
+boast of a testimonial to its excellence as an inn written six
+hundred years ago, for, when the marriage of Edward the First to his
+second queen, Margaret of France, was solemnized at Canterbury
+Cathedral on September 12, 1299, the ambassador of the Emperor of
+Germany, who was among the distinguished guests, wrote thus to his
+master: "The inns in England are the best in Europe, those of
+Canterbury are the best in England, and 'The Fountain,' wherein I am
+now lodged as handsomely as I were in the king's palace, the best in
+Canterbury." Times have changed since the days of Edward I.!
+
+Canterbury is a very dangerous town to drive through. Its streets are
+narrow and badly paved, and there are unexpected turnings which bring
+up a lump in one's throat when he is driving at his most careful gait
+and is suddenly confronted with a governess's cart full of children,
+a perambulator, and a bath-chair, all in the middle of the road,
+where, surely, the two latter have no right to be.
+
+The grand old shrine of Thomas a Becket, the choir built by
+Lanfranc's monks, and the general _ensemble_ of the cathedral close
+are worth all the risk one goes through to get to them. The cathedral
+impresses one as the most thoroughly French of all the Gothic
+churches of Britain, and because of this its rank is high among the
+ecclesiastical architectural treasures of the world. Its history is
+known to all who know that of England, of the church, and of
+architecture, and the edifice tells the story well.
+
+The distant view from the road, as one approaches the city, is one
+that can only be described as grand. The fabric of the great
+cathedral, the rooftops of the houses, the sloping hills rising from
+the water's edge, and again falling lightly down to the town, form a
+grandly imposing view, the equal of which one seldom sees on the main
+travelled roads of England.
+
+Between Canterbury and Winchester ran one of the oldest roads in
+England, the "Pilgrim's Way." Many parts of it still exist, and it is
+believed by many to be the oldest monument of human work in these
+islands. About two-thirds of the length of the road is known with
+certainty, and to some extent the old itinerary forms the modern
+highway. Its earliest route seems to have been from Stonehenge to
+Canterbury, but later the part from Stonehenge to Alton was abandoned
+in favour of that from Winchester to Alton. Guildford and Dorking
+were places that it touched, though it was impossible to say with
+certainty where it crossed the Medway.
+
+Margate, Ramsgate, and the Isle of Thanet lay to the left of us, but
+we struck boldly across the downs to Dover's Bay, under the shadow of
+the Shakespeare Cliff, made famous in the scenic accessories of _The
+Tempest_.
+
+Dover, seventy-two miles by road from London, has a good hotel,
+almost reaching the Continental standard, though it is not an
+automobile hotel and you must house your machine elsewhere. It is
+called the Lord Warden Hotel, and is just off the admiralty pier
+head. It suited us very well in spite of the fact that the old-school
+Englishman contemptuously refers to it as a place for brides and for
+seasick Frenchmen waiting the prospect of a fair crossing by the
+Calais packet.
+
+The descent into Dover's lower town from the downs above is fraught
+with considerable danger for the automobilist. It is steep, winding,
+and narrow, and one climbs out of it again the next morning by an
+equally steep, though less narrow, road up over the Shakespeare Cliff
+and down again abruptly into Folkestone.
+
+Dover is not fashionable as a resort, and its one pretentious
+sea-front hotel is not a lovely thing--most sea-front hotels are not.
+In spite of this there is vastly more of interest going on, with the
+coming and going of the great liners and the cross-channel boats of
+the harbour, than is to be found in a mere watering-place, where band
+concerts, parade-walks, "nigger minstrels," tea fights, and
+excursions in the neighbourhood are the chief attractions which are
+advertised, and are fondly believed by the authorities to be
+sufficient to draw the money-spending crowds.
+
+Dover is a very interesting place; the Shakespeare Cliff dominates
+it on one side and the old castle ruin on the other, to-day as they
+did when the first of the Cinq-Ports held England's destiny in the
+hollow of her hand. Sir Walter Raleigh prayed his patron Elizabeth to
+strengthen her fortifications here and formulate plans for a great
+port. Much was done by her, but a fitting realization of Dover's
+importance as a deep-water port has only just come to pass, and then
+only because of a significant hint from the German emperor.
+
+Shakespeare's, or Lear's, Cliff at Dover is one of the first things
+to which the transatlantic up-channel traveller's attention is
+called. Blind old Gloster has thus described it:
+
+  "There is a cliff whose high and bending head
+  Looks fearfully into the confined deep."
+
+The English War Department of today, it is rumoured, would erase this
+landmark, because the cliff obstructs the range of heavy guns, thus
+jeopardizing the defence of Dover; but there are those who, knowing
+that chalk is valuable, suggest that commercialism is at the
+foundation of the scheme for destroying the cliff. The Dover
+corporation has accordingly passed a resolution of remonstrance
+against the destruction of what they claim "would rob the English
+port of one of its most thrilling attractions."
+
+Folkestone is more sadly respectable than Dover; more homeopathic,
+one might say. The town is equally difficult for an automobile to
+make its way through, but as one approaches the water's edge things
+somewhat improve. Wampach's Hotel at Folkestone is not bad, but B. B.
+B., as the "Automobile Club's Hand Book" puts it (bed, bath, and
+breakfast), costs eight shillings and sixpence a day. This is too
+much for what you get.
+
+We followed the shore road to Hythe, Dymchurch, New Romney, and Rye,
+perhaps thirteen miles all told, along a pebble-strewn roadway with
+here and there a glimpse of the shining sea and the smoke from a
+passing steamer.
+
+To our right was Romney Marsh, calling up memories of the smuggling
+days of old, when pipes of port and bales of tobacco mysteriously
+found their way inland without paying import duties.
+
+Rye is by no means a resort; it is simply a dull, sleepy, red-roofed
+little seaside town, with, at sunset, a riot of blazing colour
+reflected from the limpid pools left by the retreating waters of the
+Channel, which now lies five miles away across a mud-flat plain,
+although coastwise shipping once came to Rye's very door-step.
+
+The entrance to the town, by an old mediaeval gateway, is easily
+enough made by a careful driver, but an abrupt turn near the top of
+the slight rise cost us a mud-guard, it having been ripped off by an
+unexpected and most dangerous hitching-post. This may be now removed;
+it certainly is if the local policeman did his duty and reported our
+really atrocious language to the authorities. Of all imbecilic and
+unneedful obstructions to traffic, Rye's half-hidden hitching-post is
+one of the most notable seen in an automobile tour comprising seven
+countries and several hundreds, perhaps thousands, of large and small
+towns.
+
+The chief curiosities of Rye are its quaint hilltop church, the town
+walls, and the Ypres tower, all quite foreign in motive and aspect
+from anything else in England.
+
+Those interested in literary shrines may well bow their heads before
+the door of the dignified Georgian house near the church, in which
+resides the enigmatic Henry James. There may be other literary lights
+who shed a glow over Rye, but we did not learn of them, and surely
+none could be more worthy of the attention of literary lion-hunters
+than the American who has become "more English" than the English
+themselves.
+
+We left Rye by a toll-gate road over the marshes, bound for
+Winchelsea, and, passing through the ivy-clad tower which spans the
+roadway, stopped abruptly, like all hero or heroine worshippers,
+before the dainty home of Ellen Terry. The creeper-clung little brick
+cottage is a reminiscence of old-world peace and quiet which must be
+quite refreshing after an active life on the stage.
+
+Hastings saw us for the night. Hastings and St. Leonards, twin
+sea-front towns, are what, for a better description, might be called
+snug and smug. They are simply the most depressing, unlovely resorts
+of sea-front and villas that one will see in a round of all the
+English resorts.
+
+As a pompous, bustling, self-sufficient little city, Hastings, with
+its fisher men and women, its fish-market and the ruined
+castle-crowned height, has some quaintness and character; but as a
+resort where the chief amusements are scrappy, tuneless
+hurdy-gurdies, blatant brass bands, living picture shows, or
+third-rate repetitious of a last year's London theatrical successes,
+it is about the rankest boring proposition which ever drew the unwary
+visitor.
+
+We had our "B. B. B." that night at the Queen's Hotel, a vast
+barracks of a place near the end of the Parade. The best thing about
+it was the view from the windows of our sleeping-rooms, and the fact
+that we could stable our automobile under the same roof.
+
+We made a little run inland from Hastings the next morning to view
+old Battle Abbey. The battlement-crowned gateway is still one of the
+architectural marvels of England. It took us a dozen miles out of our
+way, but always among the rolling downs which dip down to the sea,
+chalk-faced and grass-grown in a manner characteristic only of the
+south coast of England.
+
+We came to Eastbourne through Pevensey, famed for its old ruined
+castle and much history. A low-lying marsh-grown fishing-port of
+olden times, Pevensey was the landing-place of the Conqueror when he
+came to lay the foundation-stones of England's greatness. It is a
+shrine that Britons should bow down before, and reverently.
+
+Eastbourne is a vast improvement, as a resort, over any south coast
+town we had yet seen. It is not gay, it is rather sedate, and
+certainly eminently respectable and dignified. Giant wheels,
+hurdy-gurdies, and quack photographers are banished from its beach
+and esplanade, and one may stroll undisturbed by anything but
+perambulators and bath-chairs. Its sea-front walk of a couple of
+miles or more is as fine as any that can be found from the Foreland
+to the Lizard.
+
+Most energetically we climbed to the top of Beachy Head, gossiped
+with the coast-guard, stole a peep through the telescope by which
+Lloyd's observer at the signal-station picks out passing ships, and
+got down the great hill again in time for lunch at the Burlington
+Hotel. We lunched in more or less stately fashion, well, if not
+luxuriously, in a great dining-room whose sole occupant, besides
+ourselves, was England's laureate.
+
+He is herein endorsed as possessing a good taste in seaside hotels,
+whatever one may think of the qualities of his verse. The Burlington
+seemed to us the best conducted and most satisfactory hotel on all
+the south coast, except perhaps the Lord Warden at Dover.
+
+It was a more or less rugged climb, by a badly made road, up over the
+downs from Eastbourne, only to drop down again as quickly through
+Eastdean to Newhaven, a short ten miles, but a trying one.
+
+Newhaven is a sickly burg sheltered well to the west of Beachy Head.
+Its only excitements are the comings and goings of the Dieppe
+steamers and a few fishing-boats. It is one of the best ports for
+shipping one's automobile to France, and one of the cheapest. In no
+other respect is Newhaven worth a glance of the eye, and English
+travelers themselves have no good word for the abominable tea and
+coffee served to limp, half-famished travellers as they get off the
+Dieppe boat. This well-worn and well-deserved reputation was no
+inducement for us to stop, so we made speed for Brighton via
+Rottingdean.
+
+Rottingdean will be famous in most minds as being the rival of
+Brattleboro, Vt., as the home of Rudyard Kipling. Sightseers came
+from Brighton in droves and stared the author out of countenance, as
+they did at Brattleboro, and he removed to the still less known, _and
+a great deal less accessible_, village of Burwash in Kent. Thus
+passed the fame of Rottingdean.
+
+Brighton has been called London-on-Sea, and with some truth, but as
+the sun shines here with frequency it differs from London in that
+respect.
+
+Brighton is a brick and iron built town, exceedingly unlovely, but
+habitable. Its two great towering sea-front hotels look American, but
+they are a great deal more substantially built. There are two rivals
+for popular favour, the Grand and the Metropole. They are much alike
+in all their appointments, but there are fewer tea-drinkers and
+after-dinner sleepers (and snorers) at the Metropole. There is also a
+famous old coaching house, the Ship Hotel (most curiously named),
+which caters particularly for automobilists.
+
+Brighton is the typical seaside resort of Britain. It is like nothing
+on the Continent; it is not even as attractive a place as most
+Continental resorts; but it is the best thing in Britain.
+
+Brighton and Hove have a sea-front of perhaps three miles. Houses and
+hotels line the promenade on one side, a pebbly beach and the sea on
+the other.
+
+The attractions of Brighton are conventional and an imitation of
+those in London. In addition one bathes, in summer, in the lapping
+waves, and in winter sits in a glass shelter which breaks the wind,
+and gazes seaward.
+
+There are theatrical attractions and operas in the theatre, and vocal
+and instrumental concerts on the pier, all through the year. There
+are also various sorts of functions which go on in the turnip-topped
+Royal Pavilion of the Georges, which once seen will ever afterward be
+avoided.
+
+It is not always bright and sunny at Brighton. We were storm-bound at
+the Metropole for two days, and the Channel waves dashed up over the
+pier and promenade and drowned out the strollers who sought to take
+their constitutional abroad.
+
+We sat tight in the hotel and listened to Sousa marches, "Hiawatha,"
+and "The Belle of New York" strummed out by a none too competent
+band. A genial fat-faced old lady of uncertain age tried to inveigle
+us into a game of bridge, but that was not what we came for, so we
+strenuously refused.
+
+The flood-tide of holiday trippers at Brighton is in August. This is
+the month when, at certain periods of the day, the mile length of
+roadway from railway station to sea is a closely packed crowd of
+excursionists; when the long expanse of sea-front and sand presents
+its most animated spectacle of holiday-keeping people; when the
+steamers plying along the Sussex coast, or to France, the
+white-sailed yachts, the rowing-boats, and motor-boats are the most
+numerous; and when the hundred and one entertainers and providers of
+all kinds do their busiest trade.
+
+There is a public bathing-station at the eastern end of the
+sea-front. A large marquee is provided, and a worthy lady, the
+incarnation of the British matron, sees to it that the curtains are
+properly drawn and that inquisitive small boys keep their distance.
+But it is rather a long walk from the marquee to the water when the
+tide is low, and one often hears the camera click on the irresistible
+charms of some swan-like creature ambling down to deep water. The
+authorities have promised to put a stop to such liberties. Can they?
+
+We left Brighton with a very good idea indeed of what it was like. It
+has a place to fill and it fills it very well, but the marvel is that
+the Britisher submits to it, when he can spend his weekends, or his
+holiday, at Boulogne or Dieppe for practically the same expenditure
+of time and money, and get real genuine relaxation and a gaiety which
+is not forced. So much for Brighton.
+
+The Brighton police authorities have heeded the words of admonition
+of the tradesmen and hotel-keepers, and the automobilist has an easy
+time of it. It is an example which it is to be hoped will be
+far-reaching in its effects.
+
+The road by the coast runs along by New Shoreham to Worthing, where
+the automobilist is catered for in really satisfactory fashion at
+Warne's Hotel, which possesses what is called a motor depot, a name
+which describes its functions in an obvious manner. It is a good
+place to lunch and a good place to obtain gasoline and oil. What more
+does the touring automobilist want? Not much but good roads and ever
+varying scenery.
+
+Worthing has a population of twenty-five thousand conservative souls,
+and a mild climate. Its popularity is only beginning, but it boasts
+1,748 hours of sunshine, an exceedingly liberal allowance for an
+English resort. It has also a "school of cookery;" this may account
+for the fare being as excellent as it is at "Warne's," though the
+proprietors are silent on this point.
+
+Littlehampton came next in our itinerary. It almost equals Rye as one
+of the picture spots of England's south coast. It may develop some
+day into an artist's sketching ground which will rival the Cornish
+coast. It has a tidal river with old boats and barges lying
+picturesquely about, and it permits "mixed bathing," a rarity in
+England. In spite of this there appears to be no falling off in
+morals, and when other English seaside resorts adopt the same
+procedure they will be falling out of the conservatism which is
+keeping many of them from developing at the rate of Littlehampton.
+
+We left the coast here to visit Arundel and its castle, the seat of
+the Duke of Norfolk. It was a Friday and the keep and park were open
+to the public.
+
+Arundel is an ancient town which sleeps its life away and lives up to
+the traditions of mediaevalism in truly conservative fashion. The
+Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland makes no recommendation
+as to the hotels of Arundel, and presumably the Norfolk Arms cares
+nothing for the automobile traffic. We did not stop at any hotel, but
+left our machine outside the castle gate, enjoyed the conventional
+stroll about inside the walls and in an hour were on the way to
+Chichester.
+
+Sussex is a county which, according to some traditions possesses four
+particular delicacies. Izaak Walton, in 1653, named them as follows:
+a Selsea cockle, a Chichester lobster, an Arundel mullet, and an
+Amberley trout. Another authority, Ray, adds to these three more: a
+Pulborough eel, a Rye herring, and a Bourn wheatear, which, he says,
+"are the best in their kind, understand it, of those that are taken
+in this country."
+
+Chichester is a cathedral town not usually included in the itinerary
+of stranger-tourists. Its proud old cathedral and its detached
+bell-tower are remarkable for many things, but the strangeness of the
+belfry, entirely unconnected with the church fabric itself, will
+strike the natives of the land of skyscrapers most of all.
+
+Chichester is conservative in all things, and social affairs, said a
+public-house habitue, are entirely dominated by the cathedral clique.
+He may have been a bad authority, this doddering old septuagenarian,
+mouthing his pint of beer, but he entertained us during the half-hour
+of a passing shower with many plain-spoken opinions about many
+things, including subjects as wide apart as clericalism and
+submarines.
+
+Our route from Chichester was to Portsmouth and Southsea, neither of
+which interested us to any extent. The former is warlike in every
+turn of its crooked streets and the latter is full of retired
+colonels and majors, who keep always to the middle of the footpath
+across Southsea Common, and will not turn the least bit to one side,
+for courtesy or any other reason. Too much curry on their rice or
+port after dinner probably accounts for it.
+
+We stopped at the George at Portsmouth. It offers no accommodation
+for automobiles, but a garage is near by. The halo of sentiment and
+romance hung over the more or less dingy old hotel, dingy but clean,
+and possessed of a parlour filled with a collection of old furniture
+which would make the connoisseur want to carry it all away with him.
+
+This was the terminus of old-time travel from London to Portsmouth.
+The Portsmouth road, in coaching days as in automobile days, ran
+through England's fairest counties down to her emporium of ships. Its
+beginnings go back to the foundations of England's naval power.
+
+Edward IV. made Portsmouth a strong place of defence, but the road
+from town only became well travelled in later centuries.
+
+Along the old Portsmouth road were, and are still, any number of
+nautically named inns. At Liphook is the Anchor--where Pepys put up
+when on his way to England's chief naval town--and the Ship; there is
+another Anchor at Ripley; at Petersfield stands the Dolphin, and near
+Guildford is the Jovial Sailor. All these, and other signs of a like
+nature, suffice to tell the observant wayfarer that he is on the road
+which hordes of seamen have trod on their way to and from London, and
+that it was formerly deemed well worth while to hang out invitations
+to them.
+
+In 1703 Prince George of Denmark made nine miles in six hours on this
+road, an indication that the good roads movement had not begun. In
+1751 Doctor Burton suggested that all the animals in Sussex,
+including the women, were long-legged because of "the difficulty of
+pulling their feet out of the mud which covers the roads hereabouts."
+
+A hundred or more years ago Nelson came by post by this road to
+Portsmouth to hoist his flag upon the _Victory_. He arrived at the
+George, the same which was sheltering our humble selves, at six in
+the morning, as the records tell, having travelled all night. The
+rest is history, but the old _Victory_ still swings at her moorings
+in Portsmouth harbour, a shrine before which all lovers of the sea
+and its tales may worship. Portsmouth is the great storehouse of
+Britain's battleships, and the Solent from Spithead to Stokes Bay is
+a vast pool where float all manner of warlike craft.
+
+[Illustration: Ryde]
+
+The Isle of Wight was the immediate attraction for us at Portsmouth.
+One makes the passage by boat in thirty minutes, and when one gets
+there he finds leafy lanes and well-kept roads that will put many
+mainland counties to shame. The writer does not know the length of
+the roadways of the Isle of Wight, but there are enough to give one a
+good three days of excursions and promenades.
+
+We made our headquarters at Ryde and sallied out after breakfast and
+after lunch each day, invariably returning for the night.
+
+[Illustration: Road Map of Wight]
+
+The beauties of the Isle of Wight are many and varied, with all the
+charms of sea and shore. For a literary shrine it has Tennyson's
+Freshwater and the Tennyson Beacon high up on the crest of the downs
+overlooking the Needles, Freshwater Bay, and the busy traffic of the
+English Channel, where the ships make landward to signal the
+observers at St. Catherine's Point.
+
+Cowes and "Cowes week" are preeminent annual events in society's
+periodical swing around the circle.
+
+The real development of Cowes, the home of the Royal Yacht Squadron,
+has been the evolution of week-end yachting in the summer months.
+City men, and jaded legislators, held to town by the Parliamentary
+duties of a long summer session, rush down to Southampton every
+Saturday and each steps off his train or motor-car on to the deck of
+his yacht, and then, after a spin westward to the Needles or eastward
+to the Nab or Warner Lightship, soothed by the lapping of the waters,
+and refreshed by the pure sea air, returns on the Monday to face
+again the terrors of London heat and "fag."
+
+Taken all in all, we found the Isle of Wight the most enjoyable
+region of its area in all England. It is quite worth the trouble of
+crossing from the mainland with one's automobile in order to do it
+thoroughly; for what one wants is green fields and pastures new and a
+breadth of sea and sky.
+
+
+Chapter III
+Land's End To John O'Groats
+
+[Illustration: Land's End]
+
+We had already done a bit of conventional touring in England, and we
+thought we knew quite all of the charms and fascinations of the
+idyllic countryside of most of Britain, not omitting even Ireland.
+
+The cathedral towns had appealed to us in our youthful days, and we
+had rediscovered a good portion of Dickens's England on another
+occasion, had lived for a fortnight on a house-boat on the Thames,
+and had cruised for ten days on the Norfolk Broads, and besides had
+played golf in Scotland, and _attempted_ to shoot grouse on a
+Scottish moor. All this had furnished at least variety, and, when it
+came to automobiling through Britain, it was merely going over
+well-worn ground that we had known in our cycling days, and usually
+we went merely where fancy willed.
+
+Conditions had changed considerably, in fact all things had changed,
+we ourselves no less than certain aspects of the country which we had
+pictured as always being (in England) of that idyllic tenor of which
+the poet sings. This comes of living too much in London, and with too
+frequent week-ends at Brighton, Bournemouth, or Cromer.
+
+For years, ever since we had first set foot in England in the days
+when cycling _en tandem_ (and even touring in the same manner) was in
+vogue, if not the fashion, we had heard of John O'Groat's house, and
+we had seen Land's End many a time coming up Channel. We knew, too,
+that among scorching cyclists "Land's End to John O'Groat's" was a
+classic itinerary for those who would boast of their prowess and
+their grit.
+
+All this passed and then came the automobile. "Land's End to John
+O'Groat's" is nothing for an automobile, though it is the longest
+straightaway bit of road in all Britain, 888 miles, to be exact. If
+you are out for a record on an automobile you do it as a "non-stop"
+run. It's dull, foolhardy business that, and it proves nothing except
+your ability to keep awake for anything between thirty-six and
+forty-eight hours, which you can do just as well sitting up with a
+sick friend.
+
+In spite of the banal sound that the very words had for us, "Land's
+End to John O'Groat's" had a perennial fascination, and so we set out
+with our automobile to cover this much, talked of itinerary, with all
+its varied charms and deficiencies, for, taking it all in all, it is
+probably one of the hilliest roads in Britain, rising as it does over
+eight distinct ranges of what are locally called mountains, and
+mountains they virtually are when it comes to crossing them by road.
+
+[Illustration: Map of Land's End to John O'Groats]
+
+There is nothing very exciting to be had from a tour such as this,
+though it is nearly a nine hundred mile straight-away promenade. For
+the most part one's road lies through populous centres, far more so
+than any American itinerary for a reliability trial for automobiles
+that was ever conceived. Many are the "_events_" which have been run
+over this "Land's End--John O'Groat's" course, and the journey has
+proved the worth or worthlessness of many a new idea in automobilism.
+
+The modern automobile is getting complicated, but it is also becoming
+efficient, if not exactly approaching perfection as yet. The early
+days of automobiling were not fraught with so many technicalities as
+to-day, when the last new thing may be a benzine bus or a turbine
+trailer; formerly everything was simple and crude,--and more or less
+inefficient. To-day many cars are as complicated as a chronometer and
+require the education of an expert who has lived among their
+intricacies for many months in order to control their vagaries and
+doctor their ills, which, if not chronic, are as varied as those of
+an old maid of sixty.
+
+Four of us started on our road to the north as fit as possible, and
+we were courageous enough to think our automobile was likewise, as it
+was a tried and trusty friend with some twenty thousand miles to its
+credit, and with never a breakage so far as its mechanism was
+concerned.
+
+[Illustration: St. Michael's Mount]
+
+We had stayed a few days at Penzance and got to knew something of
+Cornwall and things Cornish. Unquestionably Cornwall is the least
+spoiled section of Southern Britain; its coastline is rocky and
+serrated, and its tors and hills and rills are about as wild and
+unspoiled by the hand of man as can be imagined. There is a vast
+literature on the subject if one cares to read it, and the modern
+fictionists (like the painter-men) have even developed a "Cornish
+school." However, there need be no discussion of its merits or
+demerits here.
+
+In Mount's Bay is the Cornish counterpart of Normandy's St. Michel's
+Mount. It is by no means so great or imposing, or endowed with such a
+wealth of architectural charm as the cross-channel Mont St. Michel,
+but the English St. Michael's Mount, a granite rock rising from the
+sea two hundred and fifty or more feet, was sufficient of an
+attraction to draw us to Penzance for our headquarters and to keep us
+till we had visited its castle of the days of Charles II. There is no
+question of the age of St. Michael's Mount, for Ptolemy charted it in
+Roman days, and the Roman warriors, who battled with the Britons,
+made spear-heads and hatchets of the tin and iron which they dug from
+its rocky defences.
+
+The grim, unlovely little hotel at Land's End sheltered us the night
+before the commencement of our journey north, and the Longships
+Lighthouse flashed its warning in through our open bedroom window all
+the night long and made us dream of wicked and unworldly monster
+automobiles bearing down upon us with a great blazing _phare_ which
+blotted out all else.
+
+The nightmare passed, we got ourselves together at five in the
+morning, drank tepid tea, and ate the inevitable bacon and eggs
+furnished one for breakfast in England, and, before lunch, had passed
+Bodmin, crossed Bodmin moor (a little Exmoor), and skirted Dartmoor,
+just north of Great Links Tor, arriving at Exeter at high noon.
+
+Pople's New London Hotel at Exeter is the headquarters of the
+Automobile Club, is patronized by Royalty (so the advertisements
+say), and is a very satisfactory-looking old-century inn which has
+not wholly succumbed to modern improvement, nor yet is it wholly
+backward. It is "fair to middling" only, so far as the requirements
+of the automobilist go (what Royalty may think of it the writer does
+not know), but its proprietor ought to take a trip abroad and find
+out what his house lacks.
+
+The wonder of Exeter for us was the carved west porch of its
+cathedral, not very good carving, we were told, but undeniably
+effective, peopled as it was with a whole regiment of sculptured
+effigies.
+
+Exeter has a ruined castle, too, called Rougement, a name which
+preserves the identity of its Norman origin. Exeter's High Street is
+a curious stagy affair, with great jutting house gables, pillars, and
+pignons, undeniably effective, but a terror to automobilists because
+of its narrowness and the congestion of its traffic.
+
+The road turns north after leaving Exeter and passes Taunton, "one of
+the nicest towns in the west of England," as we were told by the
+landlord's daughter on leaving Exeter. Not knowing what her standard
+was for judgment, but suspecting it was tea and buns, we delved away
+into the county of Somerset and reached Wells, on the edge of the
+Mendip Hills, before dinner.
+
+Somerset is reputed to be one of the loveliest counties in the west
+of England and one of the most countrified of all Britain. It is a
+region of farming lands, of big and little estates, with the big ones
+predominating, which the land reformers, and all others who give it a
+thought, claim must some day be divided among the people. When that
+millennium comes Somerset will be a paradise for the people. In spite
+of its productiveness and its suitability for farming, the great
+estates of the wealthy are used for the purposes of pleasure and not
+of profit, for the hunting of foxes and for the shooting of
+pheasants.
+
+Wells is an episcopal city with a bishop who presides also over Bath.
+Wells is essentially ecclesiastical; never had it a momentous or
+warlike history; it is bare of romance; it has no manufactures and no
+great families. Wells Cathedral takes high rank for the originality
+of its architecture, its general constructive excellence, and its
+sculptures.
+
+[Illustration: Taunton]
+
+There are three picturesquely named hotels, the Swan, the Mitre, and
+the Star. They are all equally dull, respectable, and conservative,
+and they stick to tradition and conventional English fare. You will
+probably arrive on boiled-mutton night; we did, and suspect that it
+recurs about three times a week, but it was good mutton, though it
+would have been a great deal better roasted, instead of boiled.
+
+Via Cheddar, where the cheeses come from, we made our way to Bristol.
+Bristol is one of the most progressive automobile towns in England.
+You may see all sorts and conditions of automobiles at Bristol, even
+American automobiles, which are more or less of a rarity in Europe,
+even in England.
+
+From Bristol to Gloucester, another cathedral town, we passed over
+good roads and pleasant ones, rounding meanwhile the Cotswolds and
+passing direct to Worcester, where we lunched.
+
+It is useless to attempt to describe a complete trip in pages such as
+these, and, beyond commenting on changing conditions and novel
+scenes, it is not attempted. Generally speaking the road surfaces
+were excellent throughout, but the grades of the hills were ofttimes
+abnormal, and the narrowness of main roads, and the hedge-hidden
+byroads which crossed them, made travelling more or less of a danger
+for the stranger, particularly if he was not habituated to England's
+custom of "meeting on the left and passing on the right."
+
+Following the valley of the Severn, by Shrewsbury and Whitechurch, we
+crossed the great Holyhead Road, "the king's highway," from London to
+Holyhead.
+
+From Ogilby's Road Book, an old book-stall find of one of our party
+at Shrewsbury, we learned that in days gone by the coach "Wonder"
+left the Bull and Mouth, at St. Martin's-le-Grand in London, at 6.30
+A. M., and was at Shrewsbury at 10.30 the same night. Good going
+indeed for those days!
+
+At Shrewsbury one is within easy reach of the Welsh border, but, in
+spite of the novelty promised us, we kept on our way north. This was
+not because we feared the "evil character" of the Welsh (as an old
+writer put it), but because we feared their language.
+
+We left Liverpool and its docks, and Manchester and its cotton
+factories, to the left, and, passing through Warrington and Preston,
+arrived at Lancaster for the night. It was the longest day's driving
+we had done in England, something over two hundred miles. All the
+ordinary characteristics of the southern counties had been left far
+behind. The _prettiness_ of conventional English scenery had made way
+for something more of _character_ and severity of outline. For the
+morrow we had to look forward to the climb over Shap Fell, one of
+England's genuine mountain roads, or as near like one as the country
+has.
+
+Lancaster was perhaps not the best place we could have chosen for the
+night, but everything had been running well and we had pushed on
+simply for the joy of the running. The County Hotel at Lancaster was
+like other county hotels in England. _Verb. sap._ They had the
+audacity to charge two shillings for housing our automobile for the
+night, and pointed out the fact that this was the special rate given
+members of the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland.
+
+Well! It was the most awful "roast" we found in England! They must
+have some grudge against the Club! "B. B. B." cost seven shillings
+and sixpence, and dinner four shillings more, a bottle of Bordeaux
+five shillings, etc. Four of us for the night (including a hot bath
+for each--which cost the hotel practically nothing) paid something
+like L3 for our _accommodation_. It wasn't worth it!
+
+We passed the "Lake District" to the left the next morning, where it
+always rains, we are told. Perhaps it always does rain in some parts
+of Westmoreland, but it was bright and sunny when we crossed Shap
+Fell, at a height of something like twelve hundred feet above
+sea-level. The railway station of Shap Summit is itself at an
+elevation of a thousand feet. We had crossed nothing like this
+previously in England, although it is not so very high after all, nor
+is it so very terrifying in the ascent or descent. The Castle of
+Comfort Inn in the Mendip Hills was only seven hundred feet, but here
+we were five hundred feet above it, and the neighbouring Fells,
+Helvellyn and Scafell in particular, raised their regular, rounded
+peaks to something over thirty-two hundred feet in the air.
+
+Carlisle is commonly called the border town between England and
+Scotland; at any rate it was a vantage-ground in days gone by that
+was of a great value to one faction and a thorn in the side to the
+other. The conquering and unconquered Scots are the back-bone of
+Britain, there's no denying that; and Carlisle is near enough to the
+border to be intimately acquainted with their virtues.
+
+We inspected Carlisle's cathedral, its ugly castle, and the County
+Hotel,--and preferred the two former. One thing in Carlisle struck us
+as more remarkable than all else, and that was that the mean annual
+temperature was stated to be 48 deg. F. It was just that, when we were
+there, though cloudy and unpromising as to weather. In our opinion
+Carlisle is an unlovely, disagreeable place.
+
+Gretna Green, with its famous, or infamous, career as a marriage
+mart, had little to offer a passing tourist beyond some silly, vulgar
+postcards on sale at a newsdealer's.
+
+Across the border topographical characteristics did not greatly
+change, at least not at once, from what had gone immediately before,
+and it was not until Lockerbie was reached that we fully realized
+that we were in Scotland.
+
+It was a long, long pull, and a hard, hard pull of seventy miles from
+Lockerbie to Edinburgh, via Moffat, Biggar, and Penicuik, skirting
+the Fells of Peebleshire and running close beneath the Pentland
+Hills, with memories of Stevenson's tales ever uppermost in our
+minds.
+
+Via Dalkeith the entrance into Edinburgh is delightful, but via
+Rosslyn it is unbeautiful enough until one actually drops down into
+world-famed Princes' Street.
+
+Romantic Edinburgh is known by European travellers as one of the
+sights never omitted from a comprehensive itinerary. It is quaint,
+picturesque, grand, squalid, and luxurious all rolled into one. Its
+castle crowns the height above the town on one side, and Arthur's
+Seat does the same on the other, with gloomy old Holyrood in the gulf
+between, the whole softened and punctuated with many evidences of
+modern life, the smoke and noise of railways, trams, and factories.
+There are many guide-books to Edinburgh, but there are none so
+satisfactory as Stevenson's tales dealing with the town. In
+"Kidnapped," "The Master of Ballantrae," and "Catriona," he pictures
+its old streets and "stairs," its historic spots, its very stones and
+flags, and the charming countryside around in incomparable fashion.
+
+The Carlton Hotel at Edinburgh is _the_ automobile hotel of Britain.
+There is nothing quite so good either in England or Scotland. The
+proof of this is that the _Automobile Club de France_ have given it
+distinctive marks in its "_Annuaire de l'Etranger._" There is the
+tiny silhouette of a knife and fork, and four-poster bed, indicating
+that the tables and beds are of an agreeable excellence. This is a
+great deal more satisfying as a recommendation than Baedeker's.
+
+We crossed the Firth of Forth via the Granton Ferry, from Granton to
+Burntisland,--pronounced Burnt Island--a fact that none of us knew
+previously.
+
+Via Kinross and Loch Leven we arrived at Perth for lunch. We went to
+the Salutation Hotel, because of its celebrated "Prince Charlie
+Room," and had no reason to regret the lunch that was given us, or
+the price paid for it. Scottish hotels have had a reputation of not
+being as good as those of England and much more costly. We were
+finding things just the reverse. Automobilism is an industry in
+Scotland, not a fad, and the automobilist is catered for accordingly,
+at least so it seemed to us, and, since the leading British
+automobile is a Scotch production, who can deny that the Scot has
+grasped the salient points of the whole scheme of affairs in a far
+better manner than the Sassenach.
+
+From Perth, through the very heart of the Scotch Highlands, we passed
+through Glen Garry and the Valley of the Spey. Cairn Gorm rose
+something over four thousand feet immediately on our right, when,
+turning abruptly northwest, we came into Inverness just at nightfall.
+It had been another long, hard day, and, since Perth, over
+indifferent roads.
+
+The capital of the Highlands, Inverness, treated us very well at the
+Alexandra Hotel. As a summer or autumn resort Inverness has scarcely
+its equal in Britain. It is a lively, interesting, and picturesque
+town, and day lingers far on into the night by reason of its northern
+situation. Its temperature, moreover, for the most part of the year,
+is by no means as low as in many parts farther south.
+
+[Illustration: The Highlands]
+
+From Inverness, via Dingwall, Tain, and Bonar Bridge, the roads
+improved, lying almost at sea-level. Here was a long sweep westward
+and then eastward again, around the Moray Firth, and it was not until
+we stopped at Helmsdale for lunch, 102 miles from Inverness, that we
+left the coastline road, and then only for a short distance.
+
+Again at Berriedal we came to the coast, the surging, battering North
+Sea waves carving grimly every foot of the shore line. Lybster,
+Albster, and Thrumster were not even names that we had heard of
+previously, and we dashed through them at the legal limit, with only
+a glance of the eye at their quaintness and unworldliness.
+
+Caithness is the most northern county of Scotland, and its metropolis
+is Wick, where one gets the nearest approach to the midnight sun that
+can be found with civilized, modern, and up-to-date surroundings.
+
+The Scottish Automobile Club vouched for the accommodation of the
+Station Hotel, at Wick, and we had no occasion to question their
+judgment. (B. B. B., six shillings; which is cheap--though it costs
+you two shillings to stable your machine at a neighbouring garage.)
+
+From Wick to John O'Groat's is thirty-six miles, out and back. We
+were all day doing it, loafing along over a heather-strewn plain and
+lunching at the Hotel Huna (the significance of which name we forgot
+to ask.)
+
+[Illustration: Wick, Inverness and John O'Groats]
+
+This ended our run to the North, five days in all, not a very
+terrific speed or a very venturesome proceeding, but as good a test
+of one's knowledge of how to keep his machine running as can be got
+anywhere. It was a sort of rapid review of many things of which we
+had hitherto only a scrappy, fragmentary knowledge, and is a trip
+which should not be omitted from any one's grand European itinerary
+if one has the time and means of covering it.
+
+
+Part IV
+In Belgium, Holland, And Germany
+
+Chapter I
+On The Road In Flanders
+
+[Illustration: Flanders]
+
+There has been a noticeable falling off in touring in Belgium. There
+is no reason for this except the caprice of fashion, and the
+automobile and its popularizing influence will soon change all this,
+in spite of the abominable stretches of paved highroads, which here
+and there and everywhere, and most unexpectedly, crop up and shake
+one almost to pieces, besides working dire disaster to the mechanical
+parts of one's automobile. The authorities are improving things, but
+it will be some time yet before Belgium is as free from _pave_ as is
+France.
+
+The good roads of Belgium are as good as those anywhere to be found,
+and it is only the unlooked for and distressingly frequent stretches
+of paved highway which need give any concern.
+
+The natives speak French--of a sort--here and there in Belgium, but
+they also speak Flemish and Walloon.
+
+We left Paris by the Route de Belgique, crossed the frontier at
+Givet, and made our first stop at Rethel, 193 kilometres away, where
+we passed the night, at the Hotel de France. For a town of less than
+six thousand people Bethel is quite a metropolis. It has a grand
+establishment known as the Societe d'Automobiles Bauchet, which will
+cater for any and every want of the automobilist, and has a
+half-dozen sights of first rank, from the old Hotel Dieu to the
+bizarre doubled-up Eglise St. Nicolas and the seventeenth-century,
+wood-roofed market-house.
+
+Sorbon, four kilometres away, is the birthplace of Robert Sorbon, the
+founder of the Sorbonne at Paris, and is a classic excursion which is
+never omitted by true pilgrims who come to Rethel.
+
+Fifty-three kilometres from Rethel is Rocroi, a name which means
+little to most strangers in France. It is near the Belgian frontier
+and saw bloody doings in the Franco-Prussian war.
+
+Rocroi is a pompous little fortified place reached only by one road
+and a narrow-gauge railway--literally two streaks of iron rust--which
+penetrate up to the very doors of a pretentious Hotel de Ville with a
+Doric facade, and not much else that is remarkable.
+
+The town has a population of but two thousand, is surrounded by
+fortifications, contains a Caserne, a Sous-Prefecture, a Prison, and
+a Palais de Justice. All this officialdom weights things down
+considerably, and, what with the prospect of the custom-house
+arrangements at Givet, and the necessity of demonstrating to an
+over-zealous _gendarme_ at Rocroi that we really had a "Certificat de
+Capacite," and that the photograph which it bore (which didn't look
+the least like us) was really ours, we were considerably angered and
+delayed on our departure the next morning, particularly as we had
+already been three days _en route_ and the frontier was still thirty
+odd kilometres away.
+
+As one passes Rocroi, Belgium and France blend themselves into an
+indistinguishable unit so far as characteristics go. Manners and
+customs here change but slowly, and the highroad must be followed
+many kilometres backward toward Paris before one gets out of the
+influence of Flemish characteristics.
+
+We finally got across the Belgium frontier at Givet, at least we got
+our _passavant_ here, though the Belgian customs formalities took place
+at Heer-Agimont, formalities which are delightfully simple, though
+evolving the payment of a fee of twelve per cent. of the declared
+value of your automobile. You get your receipt for money paid, which
+you present at the frontier station by which you leave and get it
+back again--if you have not lost your papers. If you have you might
+as well prepare to live in Belgium the rest of your life, as a friend
+of ours told us he had done, when we met him unexpectedly on a cafe
+terrace at Ostende a week later.
+
+There be those who are content to grovel in dark alleys, among a
+sordid picturesqueness, surrounded by a throng of garlic-sodden
+natives, rather than while their time away on the open mountainside
+or wide-spread lake or plain. All such are advised to keep away from
+Southern Belgium, the Ardennes, and the valley of the Meuse at Dinant
+and Namur.
+
+We lunched at the Hotel des Postes at Dinant on the Meuse, and so
+lovely was the town and its environs, and the twenty-eight kilometres
+of valley road to Namur (no _pave_ here), that it took us eight hours
+of a long summer's day to get away from Dinant and get settled down
+again for the night in the Hotel d'Harscamp at Namur.
+
+The native declares there is nothing to equal the view from the
+fortress-height of the citadel of Namur, neither in Switzerland nor
+the Pyrenees; but though we climbed the three twisting kilometres to
+the fort, there was nothing more than a ravishing view of the
+charming river valley at our feet. The majesty of it all was in the
+imagination of the inhabitant, but all the same it was of a
+loveliness that few artists can describe in paint, few authors
+picture in words, and no kodakist reproduce satisfactorily in print.
+There is but one thing for the curious to do, and that is to go and
+see it for himself.
+
+The rest of the journey across Belgium to Brussels the writer would
+like to forget. Oh, that terrible next day! Sixty kilometres of one
+of the worst and most destructive roads, for an automobile, in
+Europe, and through a most uninteresting country. Perhaps, if the
+road had been better, the landscape might not have had so oppressive
+an effect. As it was, an automobilist journeys along the road--which
+is practically across the kingdom--his eyes glued to it, his heart in
+his mouth, and he bumps and slides over the wearying kilometres until
+he all but forgets the beauties of the Meuse now so far behind.
+Kilometre after kilometre of this vile road is paved with blocks of
+stone as big as one's head, half of which are out of place. And when
+one's automobile sinks into the holes one can but shudder. One hears
+of a road that is paved with good intentions. It does not enjoy a
+good reputation, but it can't be worse than the road from Namur to
+Brussels!
+
+We passed through what, for the want of a better and more distinctive
+name, may be called the Waterloo region; but, for the moment, we
+cared not a jot for battle-fields. Our battle with the ugly roads of
+Belgium was all-sufficient.
+
+Southey's verses are so good, though, that they are here given in
+order that the writer may arrive the quicker at Brussels and take his
+well-earned rest:
+
+  "Southward from Brussels lies the field of blood,
+  Some three hours' journey for a well-girt man;
+  A horseman who in haste pursued his road
+  Would reach it as the second hour began.
+  The way is through a forest deep and wide,
+  Extending many a mile on either side."
+
+  "No cheerful woodland this of antique trees,
+  With thickets varied and with sunny glade;
+  Look where he will, the weary traveller sees
+  One gloomy, thick impenetrable shade
+  Of tall straight trunks, which move before his sight,
+  With interchange of lines of long green light."
+
+  "Here, where the woods receding from the road
+  Have left on either hand an open space
+  For fields and gardens, and for man's abode,
+  Stands Waterloo; a little lowly place,
+  Obscure till now, when it hath risen to fame,
+  And given the victory its English name."
+
+Finally we reached Brussels, still over cobblestones, the road
+growing worse every minute, and stopped at the Grand Central Hotel,
+in the Place de la Bourse, the correspondent of the Touring Club de
+France, and the only hotel of its class which serves its _table
+d'hote_ "_vin compris._"
+
+Brussels has ever been put down in the notebooks of conventional
+travellers as a little Paris; but this is by no means the case. It
+resembles Paris not at all, except that French francs pass current in
+its shops and the French tongue is the language of commerce and
+society.
+
+What has less frequently been remarked is that Brussels has two
+contrasting elements of life, which, lying close, one upon the other,
+strongly exaggerate the French note of it all, and make the hotels,
+cafes, restaurants, etc., take on that boulevard aspect which we
+fondly think is Parisian.
+
+French Brussels and Flemish Brussels are as distinct elements in the
+make-up of this doubleheaded city as are the ingredients of oil and
+water, and like the latter they do not mix.
+
+When one descends from the hilltop on which is modern Brussels, past
+the cathedral of Ste. Gudule, he leaves the shops, the cafes, and the
+boulevards behind him and enters the past.
+
+The small shopmen, and the men and women of the markets, all look and
+talk Flemish, and the environment is everywhere as distinctly Flemish
+as if one were standing on one of the little bridges which cross the
+waterways of Ghent or Bruges.
+
+The men and women are broad-bodied and coarse-featured,--quite
+different from the Dutch, one remarks,--and they move slowly and with
+apparent difficulty in their clumsy _sabots_ and heavy clothing. The
+houses round about are tall and slim, and mostly in that state of
+antiquity and decay which we like to think is artistic.
+
+Such is Flemish Brussels. Even in the Flemish part, the city has none
+of that winsome sympathetic air which usually surrounds a quaint
+mediaeval bourg. Rather it gives one the impression that old
+traditions are all but dead and that it is mere improvidence and
+_laisser-aller_ that allows them to exist.
+
+Flemish Brussels is picturesque enough, but it is squalid, except for
+the magnificent Hotel de Ville, which stands to-day in all the glory
+that it did when Charles V. of Spain ruled the destinies of the
+country.
+
+It was in the square in front of the Hotel de Ville that Alva gloated
+over the flowing blood of his victims as it ran from the scaffold.
+
+The churches of Brussels, as might be supposed from the historical
+importance of the city in the past, are numerous and celebrated, at
+least they are characteristically Flemish in much of their
+belongings, though the great cathedral of Ste. Gudule itself is
+Gothic of the unmistakable French variety.
+
+Brussels, its cathedrals, its Hotel de Ville, its Cloth Hall, and its
+Corporation or Guild Houses, and many more splendid architectural
+sites and scenes are all powerful attractions for sightseers.
+
+We went from Brussels to Ghent, forty-eight kilometres, and still
+over _pave_. The bicyclist is better catered for, he has cinder
+side-paths almost all over Belgium and accordingly he should enjoy
+his touring in occidental and oriental Flanders even more than the
+automobilist.
+
+Ghent was one day a seaport of rank, much greater rank than that of
+to-day, for only a sort of sea-going canal-boat, a _chaland_ or a
+_caboteur_, ever comes up the canals to the wharves.
+
+Ghent is a great big town, but it does not seem in the least like a
+city in spite of its hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants. Its
+churches, its belfry, its chateau, and its museum are the chief
+sights for tourists--automobilists and others. We visited them all
+after lunch, which was eaten (and paid for at Paris prices) at the
+Hotel de la Poste, and covered another forty-six kilometres of
+_pave_, before we turned in for the night at Bruges' Hotel du Sablon.
+There are others, but the Hotel du Sablon at Bruges was modest in its
+price, efficient in its service, and excellent in its catering. The
+chief delicacy of the menu here is the _mossel_. One eats mussels
+_(mossels)_ in Belgium--if he will--and it's hard for one to escape
+them. They are _moules_ in France, _mossels_ in Belgium and Holland,
+and mussels in England. They are a sea food which has never tickled
+the American palate; but, after many refusals and much resentment, we
+ate them--and found them good.
+
+Bruges' sights are similar to those of Ghent, except that its belfry
+is more splendid and more famous and the Memlings of the Hopital St.
+Jean draw crowds of art lovers to Bruges who never even stop at
+Ghent.
+
+Our little run around Belgium, a sort of willy-nilly blowing about by
+the North Sea winds, drew us next to Ostende. If there is one place
+more splendidly _chic_ than Ostende it is Monte Carlo. The palm is
+still with Monte Carlo, but, for August at any rate, Ostende, with
+its Digue, its hotels and terrace cafes and restaurants, is the very
+glass of fashion and fashionables.
+
+It was only on entering Ostende, over the last few kilometres of the
+road from Bruges, just where it borders the Slykens Canal, that we
+met anything deserving to be called a good road since leaving the
+neighbourhood of Namur. The roads of Belgium served a former
+generation very well, but _tempus fugit_, and the world advances, and
+really Belgium's highways are a disgrace to the country.
+
+The chief attraction of Ostende--after the great hotels--is its
+Digue, or Dyke, a great longdrawn-out breakwater against whose
+cemented walls pound the furies of the North Sea with such a
+virulence and force as to make one seasick even on land. "See our
+Digue and die," say the fisherfolk of Ostende,--those that have not
+been crowded out by the palace hotels,--"See our Digue and eat our
+oysters."
+
+Ostende is attractive, save on the August bank holiday, when the
+trippers come from London; then it looks like Margate or Southend so
+far as its crowds are concerned, and accordingly is frightful.
+
+One should not leave Belgium without visiting Ypres, that is if he
+wants to know what a highly respectable and thriving small city of
+Belgium is like.
+
+Ypres is typical of the best, though unfortunately, by whichever road
+you approach, you still make your way over granite blocks, none too
+well laid or cared for. The best and almost only way to avoid them is
+to take to the by-roads and trust to finding your way about. This is
+not difficult with the excellent map of the Automobile Club de
+Belgique, but it requires some ingenuity to understand the native who
+answers your inquiry in bad French and worse Walloon or Flemish.
+
+At Ypres the Hotel de la Chatellenie will care for you and your
+automobile very well, though its garage is nothing to boast of. Both
+meals and beds are good, and the rates are cheap, something less than
+nine francs a day for birds of passage. You must pay extra for wine,
+but beer is thrown in, thick, sticky, sugary beer, but it's better
+than England's "bitter," or the lager of Rotterdam.
+
+[Illustration: Things Seen in Flanders]
+
+Ypres is full of interesting buildings, but its Hotel de Ville and
+its Cloth Hall, with its lacelike facade, are easily the best. Ypres
+has a museum which, like most provincial museums, has some good
+things and some bad ones, a stuffed elephant, some few good pictures,
+sea-shells, the instruments which beheaded the Comte d'Egmont, and
+some wooden sculptures; variety enough to suit the most catholic
+tastes.
+
+From Ypres we continued our zigzag through Belgium, following most of
+the time dirt roads which, though not of superlative excellence, were
+an improvement on stone blocks. It took us practically all day to
+reach Antwerp, a hundred and thirty kilometres away.
+
+Belgium is everywhere quaint and curious, a sort of a cross between
+Holland and France, but more like the former than the latter in its
+mode of life, its food and drink and its industries, except perhaps
+in the country between Tournai and Liege.
+
+The country between Antwerp and Brussels affords a good general idea
+of Belgium. Its level surface presents, in rapid succession, rich
+meadows, luxuriant corn-fields, and green hedgerows, with occasional
+patches of woodland. The smallness of the fields tells amongst how
+many hands the land is divided, and prepares one for the knowledge
+that East Flanders is the most thickly peopled corner of Europe. The
+exception to this general character of the scenery is found in the
+valley of the Meuse, where the fruitful serenity of fertile meadows
+and pastoral hamlets is varied by bolder, more irregular, and move
+striking natural features. Hills and rocks, bluff headlands and
+winding valleys, with beautiful stretches of river scenery, give a
+charm to the landscape which Belgium in general does not display.
+
+The geographical description of Antwerp is as follows:
+
+Antwerp, in Flemish _Antwerpen_, the chief town of the province of
+that name, is situated in a plain 51 deg. 13' 16" north latitude, and 2 deg.
+3' 55" east longitude, twenty leagues from the sea, on the right bank
+of the Scheldt.
+
+The Hotel du Grand-Laboureur was marked out for us as the automobile
+hotel of Antwerp. There was no doubt about this, when we saw the A.
+C. F., the A. C. B., and the M. C. B. signs on its facade. It is a
+very excellent establishment, but you pay extra for wine, or you
+drink beer instead.
+
+[Illustration: Antwerp Street]
+
+The sights of Antwerp are too numerous to be covered in the short
+time that was at our disposal on this occasion, but we gave some time
+to the works and shrine of the master Rubens, and the wonderful
+cathedral spire, and the Hotel de Ville and the Guild Houses and all
+the rest, not forgetting Quentin Matsys's well. We were, however, a
+practical party, and the shipping of the great port, the gay cafes,
+and the busy life of Antwerp's marts of trade also appealed to us.
+
+Antwerp is a wonderful storehouse of many things. "It is in the
+streets of Antwerp and Brussels," said Sir Walter Scott, "that the
+eye still rests upon the forms of architecture which appear in
+pictures of the Flemish school."
+
+"This rich intermixture of towers and battlements and projecting
+windows highly sculptured produces an effect as superior to the tame
+uniformity of a modern street as the casque of the warrior exhibits
+over the slouch-brimmed beaver of a Quaker." This was true of Sir
+Walter Scott's time, and it is true to-day.
+
+
+Chapter II
+By Dykes And Windmills
+
+[Illustration: Dykes and Windmills]
+
+Holland for automobilists is a land of one hill and miles and miles
+of brick-paved roads, so well laid with tiny bricks, and so straight
+and so level that it is almost an automobilist's paradise.
+
+We had come from Belgium to Holland, from Antwerp to Breda, a little
+short of fifty kilometres, to make a round of Dutch towns by
+automobile, as we had done in the old days by the humble bicycle.
+
+Custom-house regulations are not onerous in Holland. The law says you
+must pay five per cent. duty on entering the country, or _at the
+discretion of the authorities_, bona-fide tourists will be given a
+temporary permit to "circulate" free. There are no speed limits in
+Holland, but you must not drive to the common danger. The first we
+were glad to know, the second we did not propose to do.
+
+As we passed the frontier the _douaniers_ returned to their fishing
+opposite the little _cabaret_ where we had some needed refreshment.
+It is curious what satisfaction middle-class officialdom in
+Continental Europe gets out of fishing. It is their one passion,
+apparently, if their work lies near a well-stocked stream. The _chef
+de bureau_ goes fishing, the _commissionnaire_ goes fishing, and
+everybody goes fishing. A peaceful and innocent exercise for those
+who like it, but one which is inexplicable to an outsider.
+
+Soon we are stopped at a toll-gate. The toll-gate keeper still exists
+in Holland, chiefly on private bridges. He loses a good deal of his
+monetary return, however, as he has a lazy habit of putting out a
+great wooden _sabot_ to collect the fees, he, meanwhile, fishing or
+dozing some distance away.
+
+If you are a bad shot your coin sometimes goes overboard, or being an
+automobilist, and therefore down on all impositions, you simply do
+not put any more coins in the _sabots_ and think to depend on your
+speed to take you out of any brewing trouble. This old relic of the
+middle ages is sure to decrease in Holland with the progress of the
+automobile.
+
+[Illustration: "As Far As We Go"]
+
+Holland is a beautiful country, one of Nature's daintiest creations,
+where the sun and the moon and the sky seem to take the greatest
+delight in revealing their manifold charms, where the green fields
+and the clear-cut trees and the rushing rivers and the sluggish
+canals all seem to have been put in their place to conform to an
+artistic landscape design--for, truly, Holland is a vast picture. Its
+cattle are picture cattle, its myriad windmills seem to stand as
+alluring models to attract the artist, its sunsets, the haze that
+rests over its fields, its farms, its spick and span houses, its
+costumes--all seem to belong to the paraphernalia of pictorial art.
+It is a paradise for motorists who behave themselves, and do not
+rouse the ire of the Dutchman. The regulations are exceedingly
+lenient, but the laws against fast speeding must not be disregarded,
+and the loud blowing of horns, on deserted streets in the middle of
+the night, is entirely forbidden.
+
+When tourists have scaled every peak and trodden every pass, let them
+descend once again to the lowlands and see if they cannot find
+pleasurable profit in a land whose very proximity to the borders of
+the sea gives it a character all its own. This is Holland, and this
+is the attitude with which a party of four faced it, at Breda and
+planned the tour outlined in the following pages.
+
+We stopped at Breda to take breath and to reconnoitre a little. Breda
+has a population of twenty thousand, and a good hotel, "Der Kroon,"
+which knows well how to care for automobilists. Breda to Dordrecht is
+perhaps twenty-five kilometres in a straight line, but by the
+highroad, via Gorinchem it is sixty-eight. Since there are no
+amphibious automobiles as yet, and there are no facile means of
+crossing the Hollandsch Diep, the detour must be made.
+
+A stroll round Breda, to brush up our history of the siege, a view of
+the chateau inside and out, including the reminders of Count Henry of
+Nassau and William III. of England, and we were on the road again by
+three in the afternoon.
+
+Dordrecht and its Hotel Belle-Vue, on the Boomstraat saw us for
+dinner that night. The trip had been without incident, save for the
+eternal crossing of canals by high-peaked donkeytack bridges which
+demanded careful driving till you found out what was on the other
+side of the crest, and the continual dodging from one side of the
+road to the other to avoid running over children at play. Clearly
+Holland, in this respect, was not far different from other countries.
+
+Dordrecht is delightful and is as nearly canal-surrounded as
+Amsterdam or Venice, only it is not so large, and automobilists, must
+look out or they will tumble overboard when taking a sharp corner.
+
+You may eat, if you like, on the balcony of the Hotel Belle-Vue, and
+you may watch the throng of passers-by strolling through the
+courtyard of the hotel, from one street to another, as if it were a
+public thoroughfare. The only objection to it is that you fear for
+the safety of the loose things which you left in your automobile, but
+as you pay a franc for housing it the responsibility falls on the
+proprietor. No one ever heard of anything going astray, which argues
+well for the honesty of the people of Dordrecht.
+
+The distant view of Dordrecht, with a few spotted cattle in the
+foreground, might well pass for a tableau of Cuyps, but as all Dutch
+landscapes look more or less alike, at least they all look Dutch,
+this description of Dordrecht perhaps does not define it very
+precisely.
+
+Of course Dordrecht itself is typically Dutch; one would not expect
+anything else of a place with a name like that. The tree-covered
+wharves and the typical Dutch crowds, the dog-drawn little carts and
+the "morning waker," are all there. Above all, almost in Venetian
+splendour, looms the great lone tower of the church of St. Mary, the
+Groote Kerk of the town. For six hundred years it has been a faithful
+guardian of the spiritual welfare of the people, and the ruggedness
+of its fabric has well stood the test of time, built of brick though
+it is.
+
+Dordrecht is vulgarly and colloquially known as Dordt, or Dort, and,
+as such, is referred to in history and literature in a manner, which
+often puzzles the stranger. It is one of the most ancient cities of
+Holland, and, in the middle ages, the most busy in its intercourse
+with the outside world.
+
+We left Dordrecht in the early morning, expecting to cover quickly
+the twenty-seven kilometres to Rotterdam. Ever and ever the thin
+wisps of black smoke streaked into the sky from the flat directly
+ahead, but not until we had almost plumped down on the Boompjes
+itself did things take material shapes and forms.
+
+There are many things to do and see at Rotterdam, but the great,
+ceaseless commerce of the great world-port is one of the marvels
+which is often sniffed at and ignored; yet nowhere in any port in
+Europe or America, unless it be at Antwerp, is there to be seen such
+a ship-filled river as at Rotterdam on the Maas.
+
+The Hotel Weimar on the Spanishkade, and the Maas Hotel on the
+Boompjes, cater for the automobilist at rather high prices, but in an
+intelligent fashion, except that they charge a franc for garaging
+your machine overnight. We found the same thing at Dordrecht; and in
+general this is the custom all over Holland.
+
+We left the automobile to rest a day at Rotterdam while we took a
+little trip by water, to Gouda, famed for its cheeses. It is an
+unworldly sleepy place, though its commerce in cheeses is enormous.
+Its population, when it does travel, goes mostly by boat on the Maas.
+You pay an astonishingly small sum, and you ride nearly half a day,
+from Rotterdam to Gouda, amid a mixed freight of lovable fat little
+Dutch women with gold spiral trinkets in their ears, little calves
+and cows, pigs, ducks, hens, and what not, and on the return trip
+amid a boat-load of pungent cheeses.
+
+We got back to Rotterdam for the night, having spent a tranquil,
+enjoyable day on one of the chief waterways of Holland, a foretaste
+of a projected tour yet to come, to be made by automobile boat when
+the opportunity comes.
+
+No one, not even the most naive unsophisticated and gushing of
+travellers, has ever had the temerity to signalize Rotterdam as a
+city of celebrated art. But it is a fondly interesting place
+nevertheless, far more so indeed than many a less lively mart of
+trade.
+
+As we slowly drifted our way into the city at dusk of a long June
+evening, on board that little slow-going canal and river-craft from
+Gouda--known by so few casual travellers, but which are practically
+water stage-coaches to the native--it was very beautiful.
+
+The brilliant crimson sun-streaks latticed the western sky, the
+masts, spars, and sails of the quay-side shipping silhouetted
+themselves stereoscopically against this gleaming background, and the
+roar and grime of the city's wheels of trade blended themselves into
+a melange which was as intoxicating to the artist and rhapsodist as
+would have been more hallowed ground.
+
+We left Rotterdam at eight-thirty on a misty morning which augured
+that we should be deluged with rain forthwith; but all signs fail in
+Holland with regard to weather, for we hardly passed the Delftsche
+Poort, the great Renaissance gateway through which one passes to
+Delft, Schiedam, The Hague, and all the well-worn place names of
+Dutch history, before a rift of sunlight streaked through the clouds
+and framed a typical Holland landscape in as golden and yellow a
+light as one might see in Venice. It was remarkable, in every sense
+of the word, and we had good weather throughout a week of days when
+storm was all around and about us.
+
+Schiedam, with its windmills, is well within sight of Rotterdam. We
+had all of us seen windmills before, but we never felt quite so
+intimately acquainted with any as with these. Don Quixote's was but a
+thing of the imagination, and Daudet's, in Provence, was but a
+dismantled, unlovely, and unromantic ruin. These windmills of
+Schiedam were very sturdy and practical things, broad of base and
+long of arm, and would work even in a fog, an ancient mariner-looking
+Dutchman with _sabots_ and peg-top trousers told us.
+
+The windmills of Holland pump water, grind corn, make cheese and
+butter, and have recently been adopted in some instances to the
+making of electricity. It has been found that with a four-winged
+mill, and the wind at a velocity of from twelve to thirty feet a
+second, four to five horsepower can be obtained with the loss of only
+fourteen per cent., caused by friction.
+
+A plant has been constructed in Holland which lights 450 lamps,
+earning about twelve per cent. interest on the capital invested. Of
+course it is necessary to keep an oil-motor to provide for windless
+days or nights and also to keep a reserve of electrical power on
+hand, but this is but another evidence of the practicality and the
+extreme cleverness of the Dutch. The cows that browse around the
+windmills of Schiedam are of the same spotted black and white variety
+that one sees on the canvasses of the Dutch painters. If you are not
+fortunate enough to see Paul Potter's great Dutch bull in the gallery
+at The Hague, you may see the same sort of thing hereabouts at any
+glance of the eye--the real living thing.
+
+From Rotterdam to Delft, all the way by the canal, allowing for the
+detour via Schiedam, is less than twenty kilometres, and the journey
+is short for any sort of an automobile that will go beyond a snail's
+pace.
+
+Visions of blue and white delftware passed through our minds as we
+entered the old town, which hardly looks as though worldly
+automobilists would be well received. Delftware there is, in
+abundance, for the delectation of the tourist and the profit of the
+curio merchant, who will sell it unblushingly as a rare old piece,
+when it was made but a year ago. If you know delftware you will know
+from the delicate colouring of the blues and whites which is old and
+which is not.
+
+Delft and Delftshaven, near Schiedam, in South Holland, have a
+sentimental interest for all descendants of the Puritans who fled to
+America in 1620. Delftshaven is an unattractive place enough to-day,
+but Delft itself is more dignified, and, in a way, takes on many of
+the attributes of a metropolis. Nearly destroyed by a fire in 1526,
+the present city has almost entirely been built up since the
+sixteenth century.
+
+The old Gothic church of the fifteenth century, one of the few
+remains of so early a date, shelters the tomb of the redoubtable Van
+Tromp, the vanquisher of the English.
+
+It was easy going along the road out of Delft and we reached The
+Hague in time for lunch at the Hotel des Indes, where, although it is
+the leading hotel of the Dutch capital, everything is as French as it
+would be in Lyons, or at any rate in Brussels. You pay the
+astonishingly outrageous sum of five francs for housing your machine
+over night, but nothing for the time you are eating lunch. We got
+away from the gay little capital, one of the daintiest of all the
+courts of Europe, as soon as we had made a round of the stock sights
+of which the guide-books tell, not omitting, of course, the paintings
+of the Hague Gallery, the Rubens, the Van Dycks and the Holbeins.
+
+The Binnenhof drew the romanticist of our party to it by reason of
+the memories of the brothers De Witt. It is an irregular collection
+of buildings of all ages, most of them remodeled, but once the
+conglomerate residence of the Counts of Holland and the Stadtholders.
+
+The Binnenhof will interest all readers of Dumas. It was here that
+there took place the culminating scenes in the lives of the brothers
+De Witt, Cornelius and John. Dumas unquestionably manufactured much
+of his historical detail, but in the "Black Tulip" there was no
+exaggeration of the bloody incidents of the murder of these two noble
+men, who really had the welfare of Holland so much at heart.
+
+We headed down the road to the sea, by the Huis-ten-Bosch (the House
+in the Wood), the summer palace of Dutch royalty, for the Monte Carlo
+of Holland, Scheveningen. It has all the conventional marks of a
+Continental watering-place, a _plage_, a kursaale, bath houses,
+terraces, esplanades, chic hotels and restaurants, and a whole
+regiment of mushroom chairs and windshields dotting its wide expanse
+of North Sea sand.
+
+[Illustration: The Polders]
+
+In the season the inhabitants live off of the visitors, and out of
+season live on their fat like the ground-hog, and do a _little_
+fishing for profitable amusement. It is a thing to see, Scheveningen,
+but it is no place for a prolonged stay unless you are a gambler or a
+blase boulevardier who needs bracing up with sea air.
+
+There are good hotels, if you want to linger and can stand the
+prices, the best of which is called the Palace Hotel, but we had
+another little black coffee on the gayest-looking terrace cafe we
+could find, and made wheel-tracks for Leyden, twenty kilometres
+distant.
+
+The distances in Holland are mere bagatelles, but there is so much
+that is strange to see, and the towns of historical interest are so
+near together, that the automobilist who covers his hundred
+kilometres a day must be a scorcher indeed.
+
+We passed the night at the Gouden-Leuw, which a Frenchman would call
+the Lion d'Or, and an Anglo-Saxon the Golden Lion. It was a most
+excellent hotel in the Breestraat, and it possessed what was called a
+garage, in reality a cubby-hole which, on a pinch, might accommodate
+two automobiles, if they were small ones.
+
+Leyden is a city of something like fifty-five thousand people. It has
+grown since the days when they chained down Bibles in its churches,
+and books in the library of its university. The chief facts that
+stand out in Leyden's history, for the visitor, are those referring
+to the exile of the Puritans here, fleeing from persecution in
+England, and before they descended upon the New World.
+
+The famous university was founded by the government as a reward for
+the splendid defence made by the city against the Spaniards in 1574.
+It was a question as to whether the city should be exempted from
+future taxation or should be endowed with a university. The citizens
+themselves chose the latter dignity.
+
+Leaving Leyden and following the flat roadway by the glimmering
+canals, which chop the _polders_, and tulip gardens off into
+checker-board squares, one reaches Haarlem, less than thirty
+kilometres away.
+
+The country was becoming more and more like what one imagines Holland
+ought to be; the whole country practically a vast, sandy, sea-girt
+land of dykes and canals, and dunes and sunken gardens.
+
+Holland has an area of about twenty thousand square miles, and
+something over five million inhabitants, with the greatest density of
+population on the coast between Amsterdam, in the north, and
+Rotterdam, in the south, and the fewest in numbers in the region
+immediately to the northward of the Zuyder-Zee.
+
+Wherever in Holland one strikes the brick roads, made from little red
+bricks standing on end, he is happy. There is no dust and there are
+no depressions in the surface which will upset the carburation and
+jar the bolts off your machine. It is an expensive way of
+road-building, one thinks, but it is highly satisfactory. Near
+Haarlem these brick roadways extend for miles into the open country
+in every direction.
+
+Haarlem is the centre of the bulb country, the gardens where are
+grown the best varieties of tulips and hyacinths known over all the
+world as "Dutch bulbs." The tulip beds of the _polders_ and sunken
+gardens of the neighbourhood of Haarlem are one of the great sights
+of Holland.
+
+Besides bulbs, Haarlem is noted for its shiphung church, and the
+pictures by Franz Hals in the local gallery. There are other good
+Hals elsewhere, but the portraits of rotund, jolly men and women of
+his day, in the Haarlem Town Hall, are unapproached by those of any
+of his contemporaries. Fat, laughing burghers, roystering,
+knickerbockered Dutchmen and _vrous_ gossiping, smoking, laughing, or
+drinking, are human documents of the time more graphic than whole
+volumes of fine writing or mere repetitions of historical fact. All
+these attributes has Haarlem's collection of paintings by Franz Hals.
+
+There are all sorts of ways of getting from Haarlem to Amsterdam, by
+train, by boat, by electric tram, or by automobile over an idyllic
+road, tree-shaded, canal-bordered, and dustless. It is sixteen
+kilometres only, and it is like running over a causeway laid out
+between villas and gardens. Nothing quite like it exists elsewhere,
+in Holland or out of it. An automobile can be very high-geared, for
+there are no hills except the donkey-back bridges over the canals.
+
+Amsterdam may properly enough be called the Venice of the North, and
+the automobilist will speedily find that an automobile boat will do
+him much better service in town than anything that runs on land.
+
+There are half a million souls in Amsterdam, and hotels of all ranks
+and prices. The Bible Hotel is as good as any, but they have no
+garage, nor indeed have any of the others. There are half a dozen
+"Grands Garages" in the city (with their signs written in French--the
+universal language of automobilism), and the hotel porter will jump
+up on the seat beside you and pilot you on your way, around sharp
+corners, over bridges, and through arcades until finally you plump
+down in as up-to-date and conveniently arranged an establishment for
+housing your machine as you will find in any land.
+
+Amsterdam's sights will occupy the visitor for a couple of days, and
+its art gallery for a day longer. We were taking only a bird's-eye
+view, or review, and stayed only over one night, not making even the
+classic excursion to those artists' haunts of Volendam, Monnikendam,
+and Marken, of which no book on Holland should fail to make mention.
+
+[Illustration: Pictures of Amsterdam]
+
+These old Dutch towns of the Zuyder-Zee are unique in all the world,
+and Amsterdam is the gateway to them. An automobile is useless for
+reaching them. The best means are those offered by existing boat and
+tram lines.
+
+For Utrecht one leaves Amsterdam via the Amstel Dyke and the
+Utrechtsche Zyde, and after forty kilometres of roadway, mostly
+brick-paved like that between Haarlem and Amsterdam, he reaches
+suburban Utrecht. Utrecht, with but a hundred thousand inhabitants,
+has suburbs, reaching out in every direction, that would do justice
+to a city five times it size. Most of Utrecht's population is
+apparently suburban, and is housed in little brick houses and villas
+with white trimmings and door-steps, a bulb garden, an iron fence,
+and a miniature canal flowing through the back yard. This is the
+formula for laying out a Utrecht suburban villa.
+
+The Het Kasteel van Antwerpen, on the Oude Gracht, is a hotel which
+treats you very well for five or six florins a day, and allows you
+also to put your automobile under roof, charging nothing for the
+service. This is worth making a note of in a country where it usually
+costs from one to five francs a night for your automobile.
+
+The chief sight of Utrecht is its cathedral, with a fine Gothic tower
+over a hundred metres in height. It is the proper thing to mount to
+its highest landing, whence one gets one of the most remarkable
+bird's-eye views imaginable. In a flat country like Holland, the
+wide-spread panoramas, taken from any artificial height, embrace an
+extent of the world's surface not elsewhere to be taken in by a
+glance of the eye. The Zuyder-Zee and the lowlands of the north
+stretch out to infinity on one side; to the east the silver-spreading
+streaks of the Waal and the Oude Rijn (later making the Rhine) lead
+off toward Germany. To the south are the green-grown prairies and
+windmill-outlined horizons of South Holland; and westward are the
+_polders_ and dunes of the region between Amsterdam and Rotterdam,
+and even a glimpse, on a clear day, of the North Sea itself.
+
+Our one long ride in Holland was from Utrecht to Nymegen, seventy-two
+kilometres. We left Utrecht after lunch and slowly made our way along
+the picture landscapes of the Holland countryside, through Hobbema
+avenues, and under the shadow of quaint Dutch church spires.
+
+One does not go to a foreign land to enjoy only the things one sees
+in cities. Hotels, restaurants, and cafes are very similar all over
+Europe, and the great shops do not vary greatly in Rotterdam from
+those in Liverpool. It is with the small things of life, the doings
+of the butcher, the baker and the candlestick-maker that the change
+comes in. In Holland the housekeeper buys her milk from a little
+dog-drawn cart and can be waked at three in the morning, without
+fail, by leaving an order the night before with the "morning waker."
+If you do not have a fire going all the time, and want just enough to
+cook your dinner with, you go out and buy a few lumps of blazing
+coals. If it is boiling water you want for your coffee, you go out
+and buy it too. Holland must be a housekeeper's paradise.
+
+Nymegen, on the Waal, cared for us for the night. On the morrow we
+were to cross the frontier and enter Germany and the road by the
+Rhine.
+
+Nymegen and its Hotel Keizer Karel, on the Keizer Karel Plain, was a
+vivid memory of what a stopping-place for the night between two
+objective points should be.
+
+The city was delightful, its tree-grown boulevards, its attractive
+cafes, the music playing in the park, and all the rest was an
+agreeable interlude, and the catering--if an echo of things
+Parisian--was good and bountiful. There was no fuss and feathers when
+we arrived or when we left, and not all the _personnel_ of the hotel,
+from the boots to the manager, were hanging around for tips. The head
+waiter and the chambermaid were in evidence; that was all. The rest
+were discreetly in the background.
+
+
+Chapter III
+On The Road By The Rhine
+
+[Illustration: Rhine]
+
+We had followed along the lower reaches of the Rhine, through the
+little land of dykes and windmills, when the idea occurred to us: why
+not make the Rhine tour _en automobile_? This, perhaps, was no new and
+unheard-of thing, but the Rhine tour is classic and should not be
+left out of any one's travelling education, even if it is
+old-fashioned.
+
+At Nymegen we saw the last of Holland and soon crossed the frontier.
+There were no restrictions then in force against the entrance of
+foreign automobiles, though we were threatened with new and stringent
+regulations soon to be put in force. (1906. A full resume of these
+new regulations will be found in the appendix.) Legally Germany could
+demand eight marks a hundred kilos for the weight of our machine, but
+in practice all tourists were admitted free, provided one could
+convince the official that he intended to return across the frontier
+within a reasonable time.
+
+As we crossed the railway line we made our obeisance to the German
+customs authorities, saluted the black and white barber's-pole
+stripes of the frontier post, and filled up our tanks with gasoline,
+which had now assumed the name of _benzin_, instead of _benzine_, as
+in Holland.
+
+Emmerich, Cleves, Wesel, and Xanten are not tourist points, and in
+spite of the wealth of history and romance which surrounds their very
+names, they had little attraction for us. For once were going to make
+a tour of convention.
+
+It is a fairly long step from Nymegen to Duesseldorf, one hundred and
+one kilometres, but we did it between breakfast and lunch, in spite
+of the difficulty of finding our way about by roads and regulations
+which were new to us.
+
+The low, flat banks of the Rhine below Duesseldorf have much the same
+characteristics that they have in Holland, and, if the roadways are
+sometimes bad as to surface--and they are terrible in the
+neighbourhood of Crefield--they are at least flat and otherwise
+suited to speed, though legally you are held down to thirty
+kilometres an hour.
+
+You may find anything you like in the way of hotel accommodation at
+Duesseldorf, from the Park Hotel on the Cornelius Platz, at Waldorf
+prices, to the modest and characteristic little German inn by the
+name of Prince Alexanders Hof, which is as cheap as a French hotel of
+its class, and about as good.
+
+[Illustration: The Road By The Rhine]
+
+It is at Duesseldorf that one comes first into touch with the German
+institutions in all their completeness. Immediately one comes to the
+borders of the Rhine he comes into the sphere of world politics. The
+peace of Europe lies buried at the mouth of the Scheldt where the
+Rhine enters the sea, and not on the Bosphorus. "The Rhine is the
+King of Rivers," said a German politician, "and it is our fault if
+its mouth remains in the hands of foreigners." This is warlike talk,
+if you like, but if a German prince some day rises on the throne of
+Holland, there may be a new-made map of Europe which will upset all
+existing treaties and conventions.
+
+Duesseldorf is a veritable big town, for, though it shelters two
+hundred and twenty-five thousand inhabitants, it is not "citified."
+It is one of the most lovely of Rhine towns, and is the headquarters
+of the Rhenish Westphalian Automobile Club.
+
+To Cologne is thirty-seven kilometres, with the roads still
+bad,--shockingly so we found them, though we were assured that this
+is unusual and that even then they were in a state of repair. This
+was evident, and in truth they needed it.
+
+The twin Gothic splendours of Cologne's cathedral rise high in air
+long before one reaches the confines of the city. Cologne is the
+metropolis of the Rhine country, and besides its four hundred
+thousand inhabitants possesses many institutions and industries which
+other Rhine cities lack.
+
+Of hotels for automobilists at Cologne there are five, all of which
+will treat you in the real _tourist_ fashion, and charge you
+accordingly,--overcharge you in fact. We did not have time to hunt up
+what the sentimentalist of the party always called "a quaint little
+inn," and so we put into one almost under the shadow of the cathedral
+(purposely nameless).
+
+The sights of Cologne are legion. "Numerous churches, all very
+ancient" describes them well enough for an itinerary such as this;
+the guide-books must do the rest. The Kolner Automobile Club will
+supply the touring automobilist graciously and gratuitously with
+information. A good thing to know!
+
+The beer and concert gardens of Cologne's waterside are famous,
+almost as famous as the relics of the "three kings" in the cathedral.
+
+At Cologne the pictured, storied Rhine begins. A skeleton itinerary
+is given at the end of this chapter which allows some digression here
+for observations of a pertinent kind.
+
+Let the traveller not be disappointed with the first glance at the
+river as he sees it at Cologne. He is yet a few miles below the banks
+which have gained for the stream its fame for surpassing beauty, but
+higher up it justifies the rhapsodies of the poet.
+
+  "A blending of all beauties; streams and dells,
+  Fruit, foliage, crag, wood, corn-field, mountain, vine,
+  And chiefless castles breathing stern farewells
+  From gray but leafy walls, where Ruin greenly dwells.
+
+  "And there they stand, as stands a lofty mind,
+  Worn, but unstooping to the baser crowd,
+  All tenantless, save to the crannying wind,
+  Or holding dark communion with the cloud.
+  There was a day when they were young and proud,
+  Banners on high, and battles passed below:
+  But they who fought are in a bloody shroud,
+  And those which wav'd are shredless dust ere now,
+  And the bleak battlements shall bear no future blow.
+
+  "Beneath battlements, within those walls,
+  Power dwelt amidst her passions: in proud state,
+  Each robber chief upheld his armed halls,
+  Doing his evil will, nor less elate
+  Than mightier heroes of a longer date.
+  What want these outlaws conquerors should have?
+  But History's purchas'd page to call them great?
+  A wider space, an ornamented grave?
+  Their hopes were not less warm, their souls were full as brave."
+
+The scenery, the history and legend, and the wines of the Rhine make
+up the complete list of the charms of the river for the enthusiastic
+voyager on its bosom or on its banks.
+
+It is enjoyable enough when one is on the deck of a Rhine steamboat,
+or would be if one were not so fearfully crowded, but it is doubly so
+when one is travelling along its banks by roadways which, from here
+on, improve greatly.
+
+The history and legend of the Rhine are too big a subject to handle
+here, but some facts about Rhine wine, picked up on the spot, may be
+of interest.
+
+The true German is not only eloquent when speaking of the _quality_
+of the Rhine wines, but he claims for them also the honours of
+antiquity. One may be content to date their history back merely to
+the days of Probus, but others declare that Bacchus only could be the
+parent of such admirable liquor, and point to Bacharach as the
+resting-place of the deity when he came to taste the Rhine grapes,
+and set an example to all future tipplers. It would not have been out
+of place to call the Rhine the country of Bacchus. The Rhine,
+Moselle, Neckar, and Main are gardens of the vine; but the Germans
+have not been content with cultivating the banks of rivers alone, for
+the higher lands are planted as well. From Bonn to Coblenz, and from
+the latter city to Mayence, the country is covered with vineyards.
+The Johannisberger of "father" Rhine, the Gruenhauser or the
+Brauneberger of the Moselle, and the Hochheimer of the Main, each
+distinguish and hallow their respective rivers in the eyes of the
+connoisseur in wine.
+
+The vineyards of the Rhine are a scene of surpassing beauty; Erbach,
+enthroned among its vines; Johannisberg, seated on a crescent hill of
+red soil, adorned with cheering vegetation; Mittelheim, Geisenheim,
+and Ruedesheim with its strong, fine-bodied wine, the grapes from
+which bask on their promontory of rock, in the summer sun, and imbibe
+its generous heat from dawn to setting; then again, on the other
+side, Bingen, delightful, sober, majestic, with its terraces of
+vines, topped by the chateau of Klopp. The river and its riches, the
+corn and fruit which the vicinity produces, all remind the stranger
+of a second Canaan. The Bingerloch, the ruins, and the never-failing
+vines scattered among them, like verdant youth revelling amid age and
+decay, give a picture nowhere else exhibited, uniting to the
+joyousness of wine the sober tinge of meditative feeling. The hills
+back the picture, covered with feudal relics or monastic remains,
+mingled with the purple grape. Landscapes of greater beauty, joined
+to the luxuriance of fruitful vine culture, can nowhere be seen.
+
+The glorious season of fruition--the _Vintage_--is the time for the
+visit of a wine-lover to the Rhine. It does not take place until the
+grapes are perfectly mature; they are then carefully gathered, and
+the bad fruit picked out, and, with the stalks, put aside. The wine
+of the pressing is separated, _most vom ersten druck, vom nachdruck_.
+The more celebrated of the wines are all fermented in casks; and
+then, after being repeatedly racked, suffered to remain for years in
+large _fudders_ of 250 gallons, to acquire perfection by time. The
+wines mellow best in large vessels; hence the celebrated Heidelberg
+tun, thirty-one feet long by twenty-one high, and holding one hundred
+and fifty _fudders_, or six hundred hogsheads. Tuebingen, Grueningen,
+and Koenigstein (the last 3,709 hogsheads) could all boast of their
+enormous tuns, in which the white wines of the country were thought
+to mellow better than in casks of less dimensions. These tuns were
+once kept carefully filled. The Germans always had the reputation of
+being good drinkers, and of taking care of the "liquor they loved."
+Misson says in his "Travels," that he formerly saw at Nuremberg the
+public cellar, two hundred and fifty paces long, and containing
+twenty thousand _ahms_ of wine.
+
+The names and birthplaces of the different German wines are
+interesting. The Liebfrauenmilch is a well-bodied wine, grown at
+Worms, and generally commands a good price. The same may be said of
+the wines of Koesterick, near Mayence; and those from Mount
+Scharlachberg are equally full-bodied and well-flavoured. Nierstein,
+Oppenheim, Laubenheim, and Gaubischeim are considered to yield first
+growths, but that of Deidesheim is held to be the best.
+
+The river Main runs up to Frankfort close to Mayence; and on its
+banks the little town of Hochheim, once the property of General
+Kellerman, stands upon an elevated spot of ground, in the full blaze
+of the sun. From Hochheim is derived the name of Hock, too often
+applied by the unknowing to all German wines. There are no trees to
+obstruct the genial fire from the sky, which the Germans deem so
+needful to render their vintages propitious. The town stands in the
+midst of vineyards.
+
+The vineyard which produces the Hochheimer of the first growth is
+about eight acres in extent, and situated on a spot well sheltered
+from the north winds. The other growths of this wine come from the
+surrounding vineyards. The whole eastern bank of the Rhine to Lorich,
+called the Rheingau, has been remarkable centuries past for its
+wines. It was once the property of the Church. Near this favoured
+spot grows the Schloss-Johannisberger, once the property of the
+Church, and also of the Prince of Orange. Johannisberg is a town,
+with its castle (schloss) on the right bank of the Rhine below Mentz.
+The Johannisberger takes the lead in the wines of the Rhine. The
+vines are grown over the vaults of the castle, and were very near
+being destroyed by General Hoche. The quantity is not large.
+
+Ruedesheim produces wines of the first Rhine growths; but the
+Steinberger, belonging to the Duke of Nassau, takes rank after the
+Schloss Johannisberger among these wines. It has the greatest
+strength, and yet is one of the most delicate, and even sweetly
+flavoured. That called the "Cabinet" is the best. The quantity made
+is small, of the first growth. Graefenberg, which was once the
+property of the Church, produces very choice wines which carries a
+price equal to the Ruedesheim.
+
+Marcobrunner is an excellent wine, of a fine flavour, especially when
+the vintage has taken place in a warm year. The vineyards of Roth and
+Koenigsbach grow excellent wines. The wine of Bacharach was formerly
+celebrated, but time produces revolutions in the history of wines, as
+well as in that of empires.
+
+On the whole the wines of Bischeim, Asmannshaeusen, and Laubenheim are
+very pleasant wines; those of the most strength are Marcobrunner,
+Ruedesheimer, and Niersteiner, while those of Johannisberg,
+Geisenheim, and Hochheim give the most perfect delicacy and aroma.
+The Germans themselves say, "_Rhein-wein, fein wein; Necker-wein,
+lecker wein; Franken-wein tranken wein; Mosel-wein, unnosel wein_"
+(Rhine wine is good; Neckar pleasant; Frankfort bad; Moselle
+innocent).
+
+The red wines of the Rhine are not of extraordinary quality. The
+Asmannshaeuser is the best, and resembles some of the growths of
+France. Near Lintz, at Neuwied, a good wine, called Blischert, is
+made. Keinigsbach, on the left bank of the Rhine, Altenahr, Rech, and
+Kesseling, yield ordinary red growths.
+
+The Moselle wines are secondary to those of the Rhine and Main. The
+most celebrated is the Brauneberger. The varieties grown near Treves
+are numerous. A Dutch merchant is said to have paid the Abbey of
+Maximinus for a variety called Gruenhauser in 1793, no less than
+eleven hundred and forty-four florins for two hundred and ninety
+English gallons in the vat. This wine was formerly styled the "Nectar
+of the Moselle."
+
+These wines are light, with a good flavour. They will not keep so
+long as the Rhine wines, but they are abundant and wholesome. Near
+Treves are grown the wines of Brauneberg, Wehlen, Graach, Zeitingen,
+and Piesport. The wines of Rinsport and Becherbach are considered of
+secondary rank. The wines of Cusel and Valdrach, near Treves, are
+thought to be possessed of diuretic properties. In about five years
+these wines reach the utmost point of perfection for drinking. They
+will not keep more than ten or twelve in prime condition.
+
+The wines called "wines of the Ahr" resemble those of the Moselle,
+except that they will keep longer.
+
+The "wines of the Neckar" are made from the best French, Hungarian,
+and even Cyprus vines. The most celebrated are those of Bessingheim.
+They are of a light red colour, not deep, and of tolerable flavour
+and bouquet.
+
+Wiesbaden grows some good wines at Schierstein, and Epstein, near
+Frankfort. The best wines of Baden are produced in the seigniory of
+Badenweiler, near Fribourg. At Heidelberg, the great tun used to be
+filled with the wine of that neighbourhood, boasted to be a hundred
+and twenty years old, but it gave the wine no advantage over other
+Neckar growths. Some good wines are produced near Baden. The red
+wines of Wangen are much esteemed in the country of Bavaria, but they
+are very ordinary. Wuerzburg grows the Stein and Liesten wines. The
+first is produced upon a mountain so called, and is called "wine of
+the Holy Spirit" by the Hospital of Wuerzburg, to which it belongs.
+The Liesten wines are produced upon Mount St. Nicholas. Straw wines
+are made in Franconia. A _vin de liqueur_, called Calmus, like the
+sweet wines of Hungary, is made in the territory of Frankfort, at
+Aschaffenburg. The best vineyards are those of Bischofsheim. Some
+wines are made in Saxony, but they are of little worth. Meissen, near
+Dresden, and Guben, produce the best. Naumberg makes some small
+wines, like the inferior Burgundies.
+
+With these pages as a general guide the touring automobilist must
+make his own itinerary. He will not always want to put up for the
+night in a large town, and will often prefer the quietness and the
+romantic picturesqueness of some little half-mountain-hidden townlet
+and its simple fare to a _table d'hote_ meal, such as he gets at
+Cologne or Coblenz, which is simply a poor imitation of its Parisian
+namesake.
+
+The following skeleton gives the leading points.
+
+Cologne     to Bonn          (Hotel Rheinfeck)     27 Kilometres
+Bonn        to Godesberg     (Hotel Blinzer)        7     "
+Godesberg   to Andernach     (Hotel Schafer)       28     "
+Andernach   to Coblenz       (Hotel Metropole)     18     "
+Coblenz     to St. Goar      (Hotel Rheinfels)     46     "
+St. Goar    to Bingen        (Stakenburger Hof)    29     "
+Bingen      to Mayence       (Pfalzer Hof)         27     "
+Mayence     to Frankfort     (Savoy Hotel)         33     "
+Frankfort   to Worms         (Europaischer Hof)    52     "
+Worms       to Mannheim      (Pfalzer Hof)         41     "
+Mannheim    to Heidelberg    (Hotel Schrieder)     22     "
+Heidelberg  to Spire         (Pfalzer Hof)         28     "
+Spire       to Carlsruhe     (Hotel Erbprinz)      52     "
+Carlsruhe   to Baden         (Hotel Stephanie)     26     "
+Baden       to Strasburg     (Hotel de l'Europe)   60     "
+
+Generally speaking, none of the hotels above mentioned include wine
+with meals. The trail of the tourist accounts for this. All have
+accommodation for the automobilist.
+
+[Illustration: Heidelburg and Strasburg]
+
+From Strasburg one may continue to Bagel, if he is bound Italyward
+through Switzerland, but the chief distinctive features of the Rhine
+tour end at Strasburg.
+
+From Strasburg one may enter France by St. Die, in the Vosges, via
+the Col de Saales, the _douane_ (custom-house) station for which is
+at Nouveau Saales.
+
+The following are some of the signs and abbreviations met with in
+German hotels catering for stranger automobilists.
+
+Ohne Wein    Wine not included
+A. C. B.     Automobile Club de Belgique
+M. C. B.     Moto-Club de Belgique
+T. C. B.     Touring Club de Belgique
+T. C. N.     Touring Club Neerlandais
+A. C. F.     Automobile Club de France
+T. C. F.     Touring Club de France
+Bade-Raum    Bathroom
+Grube        Fosse or Inspection Pit
+
+THE END.
+
+
+Appendices
+
+Appendix I
+
+[Illustration: Road Warning Signs]
+
+Appendix II
+
+A SHORT ACCOUNT OF SOME FAMOUS EUROPEAN ROAD RACES AND TRIALS
+
+In December, 1893, _Le Petit Journal_ of Paris proposed a trial of
+self-propelled road-vehicles, to end with a run from Paris to Rouen.
+The distance was 133 kilometres and the first car to arrive at Rouen
+was a steam-tractor built by De Dion, Bouton et Cie, to-day perhaps
+the largest manufacturers of the ordinary gasoline-motor. A Peugot
+carriage, fitted with a Daimler engine, followed next, and then a
+Panhard. There were something like a hundred entries for this trial,
+of which one was from England and three from Germany, but most of
+them did not survive the run.
+
+On the 11th of June, 1895, was started the now historic
+Paris-Bordeaux race. Sixteen gasoline and half a dozen steam cars
+started from the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris, for the journey to
+Bordeaux and back. It was a Panhard-Levassor that arrived back in
+Paris first, but the prize was given to a Peugot which carried four
+passengers, whereas the Panhard carried but two.
+
+In the following year the new locomotion was evidently believed to
+have come to stay, for the first journal devoted to the industry and
+sport was founded in Paris, under the name of _La Locomotion
+Automobile_, soon to be followed by another called _La France
+Automobile_.
+
+In 1896 was held the Paris-Marseilles race, divided into five stages
+for the outward journey, and five stages for the homeward.
+Twenty-four gasoline-cars started, and three propelled by steam, and
+there were five gasoline-tricycles. Bolee's tandem tricycle was the
+sensation during the first stage, averaging twenty miles an hour. The
+itinerary out and back, of something like sixteen hundred kilometres,
+was covered first by a Panhard-Levassor, in sixty-seven hours,
+forty-two minutes, and fifty-eight seconds. The average speed of the
+winner was something like twenty-two kilometres an hour.
+
+In England a motor-car run was organized from London to Brighton in
+1896, including many of the vehicles which had started in the
+Paris-Marseilles race in France. The first vehicles to arrive in
+Brighton were the two Bolee tricycles; a Duryea was third, and a
+Panhard fourth.
+
+In 1897 there was a race in France, on a course laid out between
+Marseilles, Nice, and La Turbie. The struggle was principally between
+the Comte Chasseloup-Laubat in a steam-car, and M. Lemaitre in a
+Panhard, with a victory for the former, showing at least that there
+were possibilities in the steam-car which gasoline had not entirely
+surpassed.
+
+Pneumatic tires were used on the Paris-Bordeaux race in 1895, but
+solid tires were used on the winning cars in 1894, 1895, and 1896.
+
+Another affair which came off in 1897 was a race from Paris to
+Dieppe, organized by two Paris newspapers, the _Figaro_ and _Les
+Sports_.
+
+The event was won by a three-wheeled Bolee, with a De Dion second,
+and a six-horse-power Panhard third.
+
+In 1898 there took place the Paris-Amsterdam race. It was won by a
+Panhard, driven by Charron, and the distance was approximately a
+thousand miles, something like sixteen hundred kilometres.
+
+The "Tour de France" was organized by the _Matin_ in 1898. The
+distance was practically two thousand kilometres. Panhards won the
+first, second, third, and fourth places, though they were severely
+pressed by Mors.
+
+[Illustration: Evolution of the Racing Car]
+
+The first Gordon-Bennett cup race was held in 1900, between Paris and
+Lyons. The distance was not great, but the trial was in a measure
+under general road conditions, though it took on all the aspects of a
+race. It was won by Charron in a Panhard.
+
+In 1901 the Gordon-Bennett race was run from Paris to Bordeaux,
+perhaps the most ideal course in all the world for such an event. It
+was won by Girardot in a forty-horse Panhard.
+
+The Paris-Berlin race came in the same year, with Fournier as winner,
+in a Mors designed by Brazier.
+
+In 1902 the Gordon-Bennett formed a part of the Paris-Vienna
+itinerary, the finish being at Innsbruck in the Tyrol. De Knyff in a
+Panhard had victory well within his grasp when, by a misfortune in
+the parting of his transmission gear, he was beaten by Edge in the
+English Napier. Luck had something to do with it, of course, but Edge
+was a capable and experienced driver and made the most of each and
+every opportunity.
+
+Through to Vienna the race was won by Farman in a seventy-horse-power
+Panhard, though Marcel Renault in a Renault "_Voiture Legere_" was
+first to arrive.
+
+It was in 1901 that the famous Mercedes first met with road
+victories. A thirty-five-horse power Mercedes won the Nice-Salon-Nice
+event in the south of France, and again in the following year the
+Nice-La Turbie event.
+
+In the Circuit des Ardennes event in 1902, Jarrot, in a seventy-horse
+Panhard, and Gabriel in a Mors, were practically tied until the last
+round, when Jarrot finally won, having made the entire distance
+(approximately 450 kilometres) at an average speed of fifty-four and
+a half miles per hour. There were no _controles_.
+
+In 1903 the Gordon-Bennett cup race was held in Ireland, over a
+course of 368 miles, twice around a figure-eight track. Germany won
+with a Mercedes with Jenatzy at the wheel, with De Knyff in a Panhard
+only ten minutes behind.
+
+In 1903 was undertaken the disastrous Paris-Madrid road race. Between
+Versailles and Bordeaux the accidents were so numerous and terrible,
+due principally to reckless driving, that the affair was abandoned at
+Bordeaux. Gabriel in a Mors car made the astonishing average of
+sixty-two and a half miles per hour, hence may be considered the
+winner as far as Bordeaux.
+
+In 1904 the Gordon-Bennett race was run over the Taunus course in
+Germany, with Thery the winner in a Richard-Brazier car.
+
+In 1905 Thery again won on the Circuit d'Auvergne in the same make of
+car, making a sensational victory which--to the French at least--has
+apparently assured the automobile supremacy to France for all time.
+
+The 1906 event was the Grand Prix of the Automobile Club de France on
+the Circuit de la Sarthe. The astonishing victories of the Renault
+car driven by Szisz, which made the round of 680 kilometres in two
+days at the average rate of speed of 108 kilometres an hour, has
+elated all connected with the French automobile industry. It was a
+victory for removable rims also, as had Szisz not been able to
+replace his tattered tires almost instanteously with others already
+blown up, he would certainly have been overtaken by one or more of
+the Brazier cars, which suffered greatly from tire troubles.
+
+In 1906 another event was organized in France by the _Matin_. It was
+hardly in the nature of a race, but a trial of over six thousand
+kilometres, an extended _tour de France_.
+
+Forty-two automobiles of all ranks left the Place de la Concorde at
+Paris on the 2d of August, and thirty-three arrived at Paris on the
+28th of the same month, twenty of them without penalization of any
+sort. No such reliability trial was ever held previously, and it
+showed that the worth of the comparatively tiny eight and ten horse
+machines for the work was quite as great as that of the forty and
+sixty horse monsters.
+
+The following tables show plainly the value of this great trial.
+
+COUPE DU MATIN
+LIST OF AUTOMOBILES ENGAGED
+
+CLASS "ROUES" (SPRING WHEELS AND ANTI-SKIDS)
+1.  Antiderapant       Neron          de Deitrich
+2.      "              Vulcain I.     de Dion-Bouton
+3.      "              Vulcain II.    Corre
+33. Roues Elastiques   Soleil         Rochet-Schneider
+38.   "       "        Garchey I.     de Dion-Bouton
+39.   "       "        Garchey II.    Mieusset
+42.   "       "        E. L.          Delauney-Belleville
+
+CLASS ENDURANCE
+1st Category
+Motocyclettes, vitesse maxima, 25 kilometres a l'heure
+35. Motocycletto       Lurquin-Coudert
+64.      "             Albatross (Motor Buchet)
+67.      "             Rene Gillet
+
+2d Category
+Tri-cars, vitesse maxima, 25 kilometres a l'heure
+4. Mototri Contal I.             5. Mototri Contal II.
+
+3d Category
+Voiturette 1 cylindre, alesage maximum 110 millimetres
+6.  Fouillaron                  34. Voiturette Darracq II.
+8.  De Dion-Bouton et Cie I.    47. Voiturette Lacoste &
+9.  Darracq et Cie                    Battmann I.
+12. De Dion-Bouton et Cie II.   48. Voiturette Lacoste &
+18. Cottereau I.                      Battmann II.
+25. Voiturette Roy              49. Voiturette Lacoste &
+30. Voiturette G. R. A. R.            Battmanu III.
+                                59. Voiturette Alcyon
+
+4th Category
+Voitures 2 cylindres, alesage maximum 130 millimetres, ou
+4 cylindres, alesage maximum 85 millimetres
+10. Darracq II.                 21. Cottereau IV.
+11. Darracq                     22. Kallista I.
+13. De Dion-Bouton et Cie III.  23. Kallista II.
+15. D. Thuault                  44. Panhard et Levassor
+19. Cottereau II.               46. Corre
+20. Cottereau III.              51. X.
+
+5th Category
+Voitures 4 cylindres, alesage maximum 105 millimetres
+7.  C. V. R. I.                 43. Darracq V.
+16. De Dion-Bouton et Cie IV.   50. Herald
+17. De Dion-Bouton et Cie V.    57. Panhard
+28. Renault Freres              60. De Dion-Bouton et Cie VI.
+29. C. I. A.                    61. Bayard Clement I.
+31. C. V. R. II.                65. Corre
+                                66. Berliet
+
+6th Category
+Voitures 4 cylindres, alesage maximum 126 millimetres
+14. Mercedes I.                 52. Mors.
+24. Scrive                      53. Mercedes II.
+26. Pilain I.                   55. Clement
+27. Pilain II.                  58. Darracq IV.
+32. C. V. R. III.               62. Bayard-Clement II.
+45. Gobron                      63. C. V. R. IV.
+                                68. Mercedes III.
+
+7th Category
+Voitures 4 cylindres, alesage maximum 140 millimetres
+86. Siddely                     37. Siddely
+                                56. Fiat
+
+Appendix III
+
+[Illustration: Route Maps for Famous Races]
+
+Appendix IV
+
+[Illustration: Average Speed of Racing Cars]
+
+Appendix V
+
+SOME FAMOUS HILL CLIMBS ABROAD
+
+ENGLAND
+
+
+Birdlip Hill.--Near Gloucester. Length, 2 miles; average gradient, 1
+in 8; steepest gradient, 1 in 7
+
+Dashwood Hill.--Near High Wycombe. Length, 1,180 yards; average
+gradient, 1 in 16; steepest gradient, 1 in 10.9.
+
+Hindhead.--Near Guildford. Length, 2 3/4 miles, rise, 520 feet;
+average gradient, 1 in 24.4; steepest gradient, 1 in 13.
+
+Porlock Hill.--North Devon. Length, 3 miles; rise, 1,365 feet;
+gradient, 1 in 6 to 1 in 8.
+
+Shap Fell.--Near Penrith. Rise, 1,886 feet, gradients, 1 in 11, 1 in
+15, 1 in 16, and 1 in 20.
+
+Snowdon.--Mountain in Wales. Steepest gradient, 1 in 7.
+
+Westerham.--Length, 2,940 feet; average gradient, 1 in 9.4.
+
+
+
+FRANCE
+
+
+Chateau Thierry.--Near Meaux. Length, 1,098 yards.
+
+Cote de Gaillon.--Near Rouen. The scene of the most famous hill
+climbs in France. Length, 3 kilometres, rise, 10 per cent. for the
+greater part of the distance.
+
+Cote de Laffray.--Near Grenoble. Length, 4.13 miles; gradients, 1 in
+15, 1 in 11, 1 in 10, and 1 in 8; average, 9.3 per cent; many bad
+turns.
+
+La Turbie.--A rude foot-hill climb in the Maritime Alps just back of
+Monte Carlo.
+
+Mont Ventoux.--Near Avignon. Length, 20 kilometres; rise 1,600
+metres.
+
+Mont Cenis.--Near Turin. The "climb" begins at Susa, on the Italian
+side of the mountain, at the 596 metre level, and continues for 22
+kilometres to the 2,087 metre level, a 100 h.p. Fiat climbed this in
+1905 in 19 minutes, 18 3/5 seconds.
+
+Appendix VI
+
+[Illustration: Metric System]
+
+Appendix VII
+
+THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY IN FRANCE
+
+            Number                   Value
+            of Cars     Value        Exported
+Year.       Built.      Fcs.         Fcs.
+1898        1,850      8,300,000     1,749,350
+1899        2,200     11,000,000     4,259,330
+1900        4,100     23,000,000     6,617,360
+1901        6,300     39,000,000    15,782,290
+1902        7,800     47,000,000    30,219,380
+1903       11,500     81,000,000    50,837,140
+1904       13,400    106,000,000    71,035,000
+1905       20,500    140,000,000   100,265,000
+
+
+Appendix VIII
+
+HOURS OF MOONLIGHT
+Moon  5 days old shines till  11 PM (approx.)
+ "    6  "    "    "     "    12 PM
+ "    7  "    "    "     "     1 AM
+Moon 15 days old rises at      6 PM (approx.)
+ "   16  "    "    "   "       7 PM
+ "   17  "    "    "   "       8 PM
+ "   18  "    "    "   "    9-10 PM
+
+Appendix IX
+
+[Illustration: The Length of Days]
+
+Appendix X
+
+THE TOURING CLUB DE FRANCE
+
+The Touring Club de France is the largest and most active national
+association for the promotion of touring. It is under the direct
+patronage of the President of the French Republic, and the interests
+and wants of its members are protected and provided for in a full and
+practical manner by an excellent organization, whose influence is
+felt in every part of France and the adjacent countries.
+
+The membership is over 100,000 and is steadily growing. It includes a
+very considerable body of foreign members, those from the United
+Kingdom and America alone numbering 5,000, a circumstance which may
+be accepted, perhaps, as the best possible proofs of the value of the
+advantages which the club offers to tourists from abroad visiting
+France.
+
+The annual subscription is 6 francs (5s.) for foreign members. There
+is no entrance fee and the election of candidates generally follows
+within a few days after the receipt of the application at the offices
+of the club in Paris.
+
+The club issues a number of publications specially compiled for
+cyclists, comprising: a Yearbook (Annuaire) for France divided in two
+parts (North and South) with a list of over three thousand selected
+club hotels, at which members enjoy a privileged position as to
+charges; an admirable volume of skeleton tours covering the whole of
+France, from each large centre, and by regions, and supplemented by
+some three hundred card itineraries with sketch maps; a specially
+drawn cyclist's map of France, and a monthly club gazette, all
+designed to facilitate the planning and carrying out of interesting
+tours with comfort and economy.
+
+INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES
+Fill in the application form and enclose
+it with the subscription (6 francs) to M. le President du T. C. F.,
+65, Avenue de la Grande-Armee, Paris. _The applications of lady
+candidates should be signed by a male relative_--brother, father,
+husband--whether a member of the club or not.
+
+Notice of resignation of membership must reach the Paris office of
+the club not later than November 30th, failing which the member is
+liable for the following year's subscription. Those who join after
+October 1st are entitled to the privileges of membership until the
+close of the following year for one subscription.
+
+Post-office money orders should be made payable to M. le Tresorier du
+T. C. F., 65, Avenue de la Grande-Armee, Paris, France.
+
+The addresses of the representatives of the Touring Club de France in
+England and America are as follows; further information concerning
+this admirable institution for _all travellers_ whether by train,
+bicycle, or automobile will be gladly furnished. They can also supply
+forms for application for membership.
+
+DELEGATES
+New York City     Ch. Dien       38-40 West 33d St.
+Boston            F. Hesseltine  10 Tremont St.
+Washington        H. Lazard      1453 Massachusetts Ave.
+London            C. F. Just     17 Victoria St. S. W.
+Edinburgh         Dr. D. Turner  37 George Square.
+Dublin            G. Fottereil   46 Fleet St.
+
+Appendix XI
+
+MOTOR-CAR REGULATIONS AND CUSTOMS DUTIES IN EUROPE
+
+GREAT BRITAIN
+
+Certain regulations are compulsory even for tourists. You may obtain
+a license to drive a motor-car in Britain if you are over seventeen
+years of age (renewable every twelve months) at a cost of five
+shillings.
+
+You must register your motor-car at the County or Borough Council
+offices where you reside, fee L1.0.0. You must pay a yearly "male
+servant" tax of fifteen shillings for your chauffeur. In case of
+accident, en route, you must stop and, if required, give your name
+and address, also name and address of the owner of the car and the
+car number.
+
+Every car must bear two number plates (the number is assigned you on
+registration), one front and one rear. The latter must be lighted at
+night.
+
+Speed limit is twenty miles an hour except where notice is posted to
+the effect that ten miles an hour only is allowed, or that some
+particular road is forbidden to automobiles.
+
+In England one's car can be registered at any port on arrival, or, by
+letter addressed to any licensing authority, before arrival. The
+regulation as to driving licenses is as follows:
+
+"If any person applies to the Council of a county or county borough
+for the grant of a license and the Council are satisfied that he has
+no residence in the United Kingdom, the Council shall, if the
+applicant is otherwise entitled, grant him a license, notwithstanding
+that he is not resident within their county or county borough."
+
+As regards the Inland Revenue Carriage License, however, it may be
+noted that twenty-one days' grace is allowed--in other words, that
+licenses must be obtained within twenty-one days after first becoming
+liable to the duty.
+
+There are no customs duties on automobiles entering Great Britain.
+
+
+FRANCE
+CERTIFICAT DE CAPACITe AND ReCePISSe DE DeCLARATION
+
+Before taking an automobile upon the road in France all drivers must
+procure the Certificat de Capacite, commonly known as the "Carte
+Rouge."
+
+The following letter should be addressed to the nearest prefecture,
+or sous-prefecture, written on stamped paper (papier timbre, 60
+centimes) and accompanied by two miniature photographs.
+
+"Monsieur:--J'ai l'honneur de vous demander de me faire convoquer
+pour subir l'examen necessaire a l'obtention d'un certificat de
+capacite pour la conduite d'une voiture... (indiquer la marque) mue
+par un moteur a petrole.
+
+"Veuillez agreer, etc."
+
+[Illustration: Certificat de Capacite]
+
+At the same time another letter should be addressed to the same
+authority requesting a Recepisse de Declaration. These applications
+must be quite separate and distinct; each on its own papier timbre,
+which you buy at any bureau de tabac.
+
+"Monsieur Le Prefet:--Je soussigne ... (nom, prenom, domicile)
+proprietaire d'une voiture automobile actionnee par un moteur a
+petrole systeme (type et numero du type), ai l'honneur de vous
+demander un permis de circulation.
+
+"Vous trouverez sons ce pli le proces-verbal de reception delivre par
+le constructeur.
+
+"Veuillez agreer, etc."
+
+[Illustration: Recepisse de Declaration]
+
+NAMES OF ARRONDISSEMENTS AND DISTINGUISHING LETTERS BORNE BY
+AUTOMOBILES IN FRANCE
+
+Alais,                        A
+Arras,                        R
+Bordeaux,                     B
+Chalon-sur-Saone,             C
+Chambery,                     H
+Clermont-Ferrand,             F
+Douai,                        D
+Le Mans,                      L
+Marseille,                    M
+Nancy,                        N
+Poitiers,                     P
+Rouen,                        Y ou Z
+Saint-Etienne,                S
+Toulouse,                     T
+Paris,                        E, G, I, U, X
+
+CUSTOMS DUTIES IN FRANCE.
+
+Fifty francs per 100 kilos on all motor vehicles weighing more than
+125 kilos. Automobiles (including motor-cycles) weighing less than
+125 kilos pay a flat rate of 120 francs.
+
+Members of most cycling touring clubs can arrange for the entry of
+motor-cycles free of duty.
+
+All customs duties paid, in France may be reimbursed upon the
+exportation of the automobile. The formalities are very simple.
+Inquire at bureau of entry.
+
+
+BELGIUM
+
+Customs Dues. 12 1/2 per cent. ad valorem (owners' declaration as to
+value), but the authorities reserve the right to purchase at owners
+valuation if they think it undervalued. This is supposed to prevent
+fraud, and no doubt it does.
+
+A driving certificate is not required of tourists, but a registered
+number must be carried. Plates and a permit are supplied at the
+frontier station by which one enters, or they may be obtained at
+Brussels from the chef de police.
+
+Speed limit: 30 kilometres per hour in the open country and 10
+kilometres per hour in the towns, except, generally speaking, the
+larger cities hold down the speed to that of a trotting horse.
+
+
+HOLLAND
+
+Customs Dues are five per cent, ad valorem, but in practice nothing
+is demanded of genuine tourists and a permit is now given (1906) for
+eight days with a right of extension for a similar period.
+
+Foreign number plates, once recorded by the Dutch customs officials,
+will supplant the need of local number plates.
+
+
+SWITZERLAND
+
+Customs Dues are 60 francs per 100 kilos. This amount, deposited on
+entering the country, will be refunded upon leaving and complying
+with the formalities.
+
+Legally a driving and "circulation" permit may be demanded, but often
+this is waived.
+
+In the Canton Valais only the main road from St. Maurice to Brigue is
+open for automobile traffic. Many other roads are entirely closed.
+
+N.B. Traffic regulations in many parts are exceedingly onerous and
+often unfair to foreigners.
+
+A recent conference of the different cantons has been held at Berne
+to consider the question of automobile traffic in the country. It was
+decided to fix a blue sign on the roads where motorists must slacken
+speed, and a yellow sign where motoring is not allowed. The
+Department of the Interior was deputed to draw up a uniform code of
+rules for the guidance of police deputed to take charge of the roads.
+No decision was arrived at as regards uniformity in fines for
+infraction of the regulations, but steps are to be taken to put an
+end to the abuses to which it is alleged the police have subjected
+motorists. A resolution was furthermore adopted to the effect that no
+road is to be closed to motor-cars without an agreement between the
+authorities of all the cantons concerned, and that all foreign
+motorists shall be given a copy of the regulations on entering the
+country.
+
+The above information is given here that no one may be unduly
+frightened, but there is no question but that Switzerland has not
+been so hospitable to automobile tourists as to other classes.
+
+The Simplon Pass, under certain restrictions has recently been opened
+to automobiles. Open from June 1st to October 15th, except on
+Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, but no departure can be made from
+either Brigue or Gondo after three P. M. Apply for pass at the
+Gendarmerie. Speed 10 kilometres on the open road, and 3 kilometres
+on curves and in tunnels.
+
+
+ITALY
+
+Customs Dues are according to weight.
+500 kilos           200 fcs.
+500-1000 kilos      400 fcs.
+above 1000 kilos    600 fcs.
+motor cycles        42  fcs.
+
+A certificate for importation temporaire is given by the customs
+officers on entering, and the same must be given up on leaving the
+country, when the sum deposited will be reimbursed.
+
+Since January 8, 1905, a driving certificate is compulsory, but the
+authorities will issue same readily to tourists against foreign
+certificates or licenses.
+
+Speed during the day must be limited to 40 kilometres an hour in the
+open country and 12 kilometres in the towns.
+
+At night the speed (legally) may not exceed 15 kilometres an hour.
+Lamps white on the right, green on the left. There are special
+regulations for Florence.
+
+
+LUXEMBOURG
+
+Customs Dues.--One hundred and fifty marks per automobile. A piece
+d'identite will be given the applicant on entering, and upon giving
+this up on leaving the duties will be reimbursed.
+
+German, French, and Belgian coins all pass current (except bronze
+money).
+
+
+GERMANY
+
+Customs Dues.--Temporary importation by tourists 150 marks per auto.
+Oil and gasoline in the tanks also pay duty under certain rulings. A
+small matter, this, anyway.
+
+According to recent regulations tourists are permitted to introduce
+motor-vehicles into Germany for a temporary visit, free of customs
+duty, but it has been left to the discretion of the official to give
+motorists the benefit of this arrangement, or to charge the ordinary
+duty, with the result that some have had to make a deposit, and
+others have succeeded in passing their cars into the country free.
+
+Uniform driving or tax regulations are wanting in Germany, but
+something definite is evidently forthcoming from the authorities
+shortly (1906-7), with, the probability that even visitors will have
+to pay a revenue tax.
+
+Rule of the road is keep to the right and pass on the left, as in
+most Continental countries.
+
+Speed limits, during darkness, or in populous districts, vary from 9
+to 15 kilometres per hour, but "driving to the common danger" is the
+only other cause which will prevent one making any speed he likes in
+the open country.
+
+Foreigners should apply to the police authorities immediately on
+having entered the country for information as to new rules and
+regulations.
+
+
+SPAIN
+
+Customs Dues vary greatly on automobiles. The motor pays 18 francs,
+50 centimes per hundred kilos., and the carrosserie according to its
+form or design. Ordinary tonneau type four places, 1,000 pesetas. For
+temporary importation receipts are given which will enable one to be
+reimbursed upon exportation of the vehicle. In general the road
+regulations of France apply to Spain.
+
+Speed limit, 28 kilometres per hour in open country down to 12
+kilometres in the towns.
+
+A circulation permit and driving certificate should be obtained.
+
+M. J. Lafitte, 8 Place de la Liberte, Biarritz, can "put one through"
+(at an appropriate fee), in a manner hardly possible for one to
+accomplish alone.
+
+A special "free-entry" permit is sometimes given for short periods.
+
+Appendix XII
+
+Some Notes On Map--Making
+
+The most fascinating maps for tried traveller are the wonderful
+Cartes d'Etat Major and of Ministre de l'Interieur in France. The
+Ordnance Survey maps in England are somewhat of an approach thereto,
+but they are in no way as interesting to study.
+
+One must have a good eye for distances and the lay of the land, and a
+familiarity with the conventional signs of map-makers, in order to
+get full value from these excellent French maps, but the close
+contemplation of them will show many features which might well be
+incorporated into the ordinary maps of commerce.
+
+The great national roads are distinctly marked with little dots
+beside the road, representing the tree-bordered "Routes Nationales,"
+but often there is a cut-off of equally good road between two points
+on one's itinerary which of course is not indicated in any special
+manner. For this reason alone these excellent maps are not wholly to
+be recommended to the automobilist who is covering new ground. For
+him it is much better that he should stick to the maps issued by the
+Touring Club de France or the cheaper, more legible, and even more
+useful Cartes Taride.
+
+In England, as an alternative to the Ordnance Survey maps, there are
+Bartholemew's coloured maps, two miles to the inch, and the Half Inch
+Map of England and Wales.
+
+Belgium is well covered by the excellent "Carte de Belgique" of the
+Automobile Club de Belgique, Italy by the maps of the Italian Touring
+Club, and Germany by the ingenious profile map known as
+"Strassenprofilkarten," rather difficult to read by the uninitiated.
+
+One of the great works of the omnific Touring Club de France is the
+preparation of what might be called pictorial inventories of the
+historical monuments and natural curiosities of France made on the
+large-scale maps of the Etat Major. Primarily these are intended to
+be filed away in their wonderful "Bibliotheque," that all and sundry
+who come may read, but it is also further planned that they shall be
+displayed locally in hotels, automobile clubs, and the like. The mode
+of procedure is astonishingly simple. These detailed maps of the War
+Department are simply cut into strips and mounted consecutively, and
+the "sights" marked on the margin (with appropriate notes) after the
+manner of the example here given.
+
+There seems no reason why one could not make up his own maps
+beforehand in a similar fashion, of any particular region or
+itinerary that he proposed to "do" thoroughly. One misses a great
+deal en route that is not marked clearly on the map before his eyes.
+
+Appendix XIII
+
+A List Of European Map And Road Books
+
+Great Britain and Ireland
+
+The Contour Road Books
+
+Vol. I. North England, including part of Wales.
+Vol. II. West England
+Vol. III. Southeastern England.
+
+Very useful books, including about five hundred maps and plans,
+showing gradients and road profiles.
+
+Bartholemew's Revised Map of England and Wales.--Complete in 87
+sheets, 2 miles to the inch.
+
+Half Inch Map of England, Wales, and Scotland.--Published by Gall and
+Inglis (Edinburgh). Complete in 47 sheets (England and Wales).
+
+"Strip" Maps.--Published by Gall and Inglis (Edinburgh); 2 miles to
+the inch.
+
+1.  Edinburgh to Inverness.
+2.  Inverness to John O'Groat's.
+3.  "Brighton Road," London to Brighton; "Portsmouth Road," London to
+Portsmouth.
+4.  "Southampton Road," London to Bournemouth.
+5.  "Exeter Road," London to Exeter.
+6.  "Bath Road," London to Bristol.
+10. "Great North Road," in two parts: London to York, Leeds, or
+Harrogate; York to Edinburgh.
+15. "Land's End Road," Bristol to Land's End.
+16. "Worcester Road," Bristol to Birmingham, Worcester to Lancashire.
+18.  The North Wales Road: Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham to
+Holyhead.
+19.  London to Birmingham, Manchester, and Liverpool.
+20. "Great North Road," Edinburgh to York.
+21. "Carlisle Road," Edinburgh to Lancashire.
+28. "Highland Road," Edinburgh to Inverness.
+28. "John O'Groat's Road," Inverness to Caithness. Excellent for
+tours over a straightaway itinerary.
+
+
+The Cyclist's Touring Club Road Books
+Vol. I. deals with the Southern and Southwestern Counties south of
+the main road from London to Bath and Bristol.
+Vol. II. embraces the Eastern and Midland Counties, including the
+whole of Wales.
+Vol. III. covers the remainder of England to the Scottish Border.
+Vol. IV. includes the whole of Scotland.
+Vol. V. Southern Ireland, deals with the country south of the main
+road from Dublin to Galway.
+Vol. VI., Northern Ireland, deals with the country north of the main
+road froth Dublin to Galway.
+
+
+Ordnance Survey Map of England and Wales.--New series, complete in
+354 sheets, 21 x 16 inches. One mile to the inch.
+Bartholemew's Map of Scotland.--Complete in 29 sheets, 2 miles to the
+inch.
+
+
+IRELAND
+Mecredy's Road Maps
+
+1. Dublin and Wicklow.
+2. Kerry.
+3. Donegal.
+4. Connemara.
+5. Down.
+6. East Central Ireland.
+
+
+Mecredy's Road Book
+2 Volumes
+
+Vol.  I. South of Dublin and Galway.
+Vol. II. North of Dublin and Galway.
+
+
+The Continental Road Book for Great Britain--Published by the
+Continental Gutta-Percha Co. Excellent information on British roads,
+distances, hotels, etc., with a general map.
+
+The Automobile Hand Book.--The official year book Automobile Club of
+Great Britain and Ireland. Contains all the "official" information
+concerning automobileism in Britain. Rules and regulations,
+statistics, a few routes and plans of the large towns, and a list of
+"official" hotels, repairers, etc.
+
+
+Continental Maps and Road Books
+
+FRANCE
+Cartes Taride.--Excellent road maps of all France in 25 sheets can be
+had everywhere, mounted on paper at 1 franc, cloth 2 fcs. 50
+centimes. All good roads marked in red; dangerous hills are marked,
+also railways. Kilometres are also given between towns en route. The
+most useful and readable maps published of any country. A. Taride, 20
+Boulevard St. Denis, Paris, also publishes The Rhine, North and South
+Italy, and Switzerland, each at the same price.
+
+Guide Taride (Les Routes de France).--4,000 itineraries throughout
+France and 150 itineraries from Paris to foreign cities and towns.
+Contains notes as to nature of roads, kilometric distances, etc.
+
+L'Annuaire de Route.--The year book of the Automobile Club de France
+contains hotel, garage, and mecanicien list, charging-stations for
+electric apparatus and vendors of gasoline.
+
+C. T. C. Road Book of France (in English).--Two volumes of road
+itineraries and notes.
+
+Cartes de l'Etat Major.--Published by the Service Geographique de
+l'Armee and sold or furnished by all booksellers. Can best be
+procured through the Touring Club de France, 65 Ave. de la Grande
+Armee, Paris. Scale 1-80,000, 30 centimes per sheet. Another scale
+1-50,000.
+
+Carte de la Ministre d'Interieur.--Scale 1-100,000 and 1-80,000.
+Printed in three colours.
+
+Carte de France au 200,000 cq.--Published by the Service Geographique
+and reproduced from the 1-80,000 carte by photolithography. Useful,
+but not so clear as the original.
+
+Cartes du Touring Club de France.--Scale 1-400,000. Indicating all
+routes with remarks as to their surfaces, hills, culverts, railway
+crossings, etc. Printed in five colours. 15 sheets, 63 x 90 cm. These
+cartes lap over somewhat into Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Spain, and
+are very good.
+
+Le Guide-Michelin--Issued by Michelin et Cie, the tire manufacturers.
+The most handy and useful hotel and mecanicien list, with kilometric
+distances between French towns and cities. Many miniature plans of
+towns and large map of France.
+
+Guide-Routiere Continental.--Issued by the manufacturers of
+Continental tires. Gives plans of towns and cities, detailed
+itineraries and hotel lists, etc., throughout France. Equally useful
+as the Guide-Michelin, but more bulky.
+
+La Carte Becherel.--Reproduced from that of the Etat Major 1-200,000.
+Price 2 fcs., 50c.
+
+Cartes de Dion--Excellent four-colour maps of certain sections
+environing the great cities. Published and sold by De Dion, Bouton et
+Cie.
+
+Sur Route (Atlas-Guide de Poche pour Cyclistes et Automobilists).
+--Published by Hatchette & Cie, 3 fcs., 50c. A most useful condensed
+and abbreviated gazetteer of France, with a series of handy
+four-colour maps showing main roads sufficiently clearly for real use
+as an automobile route-book.
+
+Annuaire General du Touring Club de France--Hotel list, mecaniciens,
+etc., and prices of same throughout France.
+
+The Touring Club de France also issues an Annuaire pour l'Etranger,
+containing similar information of the neighbouring countries.
+
+Guides-Joanne.--The most perfectly compiled series of guidebooks in
+any language. The late editions of Normandie, Bretagne, etc., have
+miniature profile road maps and much other information of interest
+and value to automobile tourists. Seventeen volumes, covering France,
+Algeria, and Corsica.
+
+
+ITALY
+The Touring Club Italiano issues a series of five excellent maps
+covering the whole of Italy.
+
+1. Lombardia, Piemonte, and Ligurie.
+2. Veneto.
+3. Central Italy.
+4. Southern Italy.
+5. Calabria and Sicily.
+
+
+Strade di Grande-Comunicazione--Italia--(Main Roads of Italy). An
+excellent profile road book of all of Italy; miniature plans of all
+cities and large towns, with gradients of roads, population, etc.
+
+Carte Taride--Italie, Section Nord.--Published by A. Taride, 20 Bvd.
+St. Denis, Paris. Comprises Aoste, Bologne, Come, Florence, Livourne,
+Milan, Nice, Padoua, Parma, Pise, Sienne, Trente, Turin, Venise. 1
+fc. on paper, 2 fcs., 50c. cloth.
+
+Carte Taride--Italie, Section Centrale.--Uniform with above.
+
+
+SWITZERLAND
+Carte Routiere.--Published by the Touring Club de Suisse; is issued
+in four sheets.
+
+L'Annuaire de Route.--Published by the Automobile Club de Suisse;
+contains a small-scale road map, hotel list, etc.
+
+Cyclist's Touring Club (London) Road Book for South and Central
+Europe includes Switzerland.
+
+Carte Taride pour la Suisse.--A continuation of the excellent series
+of Cartes Tarides (Paris, 30 Bvd. St. Denis) 1 fc., 50c. paper, 3
+fcs. on cloth.
+
+
+BELGIUM
+The Cartes Tarides (Paris, A. Taride, 20 Boulevard St. Denis) include
+Belgium under the Nos. 1 and 1 Bis.
+
+Cyclist's Touring Club (London) Road Book for Northern and Central
+Europe includes Belgium.
+
+Carte de Belgique, issued by the Touring Club de Belgique, covers all
+of Belgium in one sheet.
+
+Guide-Michelin pour la Belgique, Hollande, et aux Bords du Rhin
+contains Belgian hotel-list, plans of towns, etc.
+
+
+HOLLAND
+Road Atlas--Published by the Touring Club of Holland, which also
+issues many detailed road and route books for the Pays Bas.
+
+Cyclists Touring Club (London) Road Book for North and Central Europe
+includes Holland.
+
+Guide-Michelin pour La Belgique includes Holland, Luxembourg, and the
+Banks of the Rhine, with information after the same manner as in the
+"Guide-Michelin" for France.
+
+Afstandskaart van Nederland.--An admirable road map of all Holland in
+two sheets, showing also all canals and waterway.
+
+
+GERMANY
+
+Ravenstein's Road Maps of Central Europe. Scale about 4 miles to the
+inch.
+
+Taride's Bord du Rhin.--Excellent maps in three colours, main routes
+in red, with kilometric distances, towns, and picturesque sites
+clearly marked.
+
+Ravenstein's Road Book for Germany.--Two vols., North and South
+Germany.
+
+Cyclist's Touring Club (London) Road Book for Germany.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AUTOMOBILIST ABROAD***
+
+
+******* This file should be named 26030.txt or 26030.zip *******
+
+
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/6/0/3/26030
+
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://www.gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit:
+https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
diff --git a/26030.zip b/26030.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..69a3c02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26030.zip
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c3f51eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #26030 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26030)