The New York herald., 1873-09-10
FRENCH SUMMER RESORTS.
n Series Of Norman Watering Place
Letters---NO. 10.
CHEAP AND DEAR PLEASURE.
Classification and Characteristics Of the
Norman Baths and Their Patrons

Norman Baths and Their Patrons
ON BOARD FIsHNG SNACK,
OFF CHERBoURG, July 20, 1881
COST OF WASHING FRRNCHMAN.
The thing may be done cheaply or it may be done
otherwise. To class the sea baths on the Norman
ssast under the head OF expenses 1t may be roughly
Maid that Cherbourg, Dieppe. Deauville, Houlgate,
Havre, Sainte Adresse and Trouvine are places
net to be thought Of calmly without full pockets.
Csbourg, Fecamp. Etretat, Luc tnear Caen), Tre-
port and villers may be visited by people Of mod
crate means with no desire to exceed them. AFRO
manches, COurseulles, Beuzeval, Dives, Honneur,
Lagrune, Lion, Petites Dalles, POrt-en-Bessin.
POurville, Puys, st. Aubin, ST. Valery, Vilervlle
and Yport are within reach OF short purses. There
are also b patriarchal sort of watering places on
ahe French coast which are quite unknown TO
English and American travellers, ana wfich are
only marked upon very accurate maps Among
these are AsReles, Grandcamp, LIE Home, Vara-
VILE, Vierville veules and Veulettes.
1t is quite possible to live, and 20 live WELL after
little practice, at any Of the last sx places named
for five or four or even for three francs day; and
French life ts never so merry and so Characteristic
as when it Is cheap. To find anything ike national
manners and customs one must 60 beyond the star
Ing hotels and gimcrack casinos down to some lit
tie fishing village, where keen-eyed Norman farm
ers still wear the blue blouse over their Sunday
coats and the women are dressed In coarse
wOollen stuff and put on wooden shoes, when they
do not 60 barefooted. as they trudge tomarket
EFFECTS or FASHION.
All the best known sea baths ON the Norman coast
are invaded and preoccupied by f0reigners-by
Americans who throw their moneyabou much too
freely, by BrItons who are nush with
fhn arfo NJ fr11 xrhn
have been rigging the corn market and
by Russians who have lately pocketed the
Indemnity granted to them on the abolition
Of serfdom Then there is very terrible species
OF pleasure seeker now becoming frightfully com.
mon at all the recognized places where anything
which passes for amusement Ia to be bought and
BOld. He is the gambler of the Southern seas. He
halls, perhaps from Mexico or Peru or Brazil, and
he descends on watering place In such blaze Of
splendOr that all lesser lights are put out by him.
1t is not agreeable to be extinguished by an uned
ncated person in red socks, shiny Shoes a skybiue
cravat and nankeen costume, with taste for
duelling, and it is wise to give him wide berth.
Meme OF the fashionable sea baths are
VERY FUNNY PLACES.
The Hotel Royal. at Dieppe, for instance. gives
very mean dinner at very high prices. The table
ph0te is crowded by foreigners, mostly 80 elderly
and unpleasant that it is dincult to look at them
without an unsatisfactory conviction that there
must be some occult connection between their
money and their ugliness. A crowd Of walters
mad been imported for Paris and the German cities
TO attend upon them; but they did not get enough
20 eat and the dishes served to them were not good
DECLINE AND FALL OF THE TABLE D'HoTE.
Dining in the mixed company OF scratch Or
hinary and paying too much for cold thin soup and
tepd wine, served in the heat of the day. does not
uxrsNJ ~, hntsA
sorts Of queer people there but no French, except
such as are on the look out for dupes. These OF
course abound everywhere.
FRENCH COOKERY.
1t must be owned with pain which must be
deeply felt by many middle-aged persons Of COM
Portable means and wish for culinary enjoyments
that French cookery has wofully fallen of in the
present generation. The Anglo mania which ragged
throughout the second Empire spoiled it, and the
modern Frenchman turns with an unhOly fire for
raw meats and crude vegetables. He gets his first
appetite toward noon, takes dozen oysters
when they are in season, or an enormous slice of
melon peppered and salted when they are not,
as whet, and then goes into the serious
business Of his breakfast, which comprises
q mayonnaise OF salmon, an enormous beefsteak,
which he calls a Chateaubriand and trine in the
way Of sold slice inch thick of boar's head and
pistacchio nuts, with quarter of o pound OF
cheese, and o stack OF fruit, or raw artichoke,
soaked in oil and vinegar to lay on the top OF it,
After this impressive ceremony he Is hardly ready
with another appetite till haf-past seven O'Clock
1t Is a harsh Judgment but a true one to say that
the French, who were once sober and tasteful in
their diet have become the largest eaters and
drinkers in the world. They are eating and drink
tng all day long, especially when they are out for
amusement; and the consequent fatness Of French
nbt1A
grievous to witness.
COCOTTEs.
The French have adopted many Of the national
habits Of their c0nquerors. Thus all the travelling
ladies ofuneasy virtue to be met about at the sea
baths this year pass the greater part OF their
watchful and intelligent leisure in knitting. They
may be seen engaged in this improving occupa-
ton at the casinos and cafes and on the hotel
terraces OF an evening. They look like people
playing at work.
THE USE OF HUMPBACK.
noticed that the cocotte at the head OF her pro-
fession in Deppc exhibited herself in the society
OF humpbacked friend whose deformity set of
her own charms to advantage, and who appeared
10 act the part OF short but emphatic advertise
ment. They were engaged in
"srALKING BRITISH NAVAL OFFICER,
on leave OF absence, who had come over to amuse
himself and didn't. Considering the amazing dul-
ness oil the French bathing places altogether and
the desperate straits to which the cocotte must be
reduced when hunting for prey, it is incompre
nensloie that half the denaosetles de na0azin ana
some OF the prettest actresses in Paris are so ex-
uemely ready to sell their souls for fortnight's
visit to them.
Their attractions may be briefly summed up.
CHERBoURG
S good bathing place, with an agreeable sandy
shore. 1t has casino, containing a few newspa-
pers-not many, nor what there are OF the best.
The town has no amusements, but the walks and
rides around 1t are charming. pretty excursion
may be made to the "Fort du Roule,n and all the
scenery at the mouth of the Dvette is pretty
Barneur and the lighthouse at Gattevile are both
worth drive, and the Castles OF Martinvast and
Nacqueville have some interest; so have the Cher.
hnnYQ cahmen In showing them. They are an x.