Barbour County index., 1910-08-17

Forty Immortals, who then only be-
longed to the Orleans party, and by
| deposed statesmen. The imperial
court had abandoned Dieppe and gone
to Biarritz, but that was too far from
Paris for the lesser officials and the
busy men of the party to follow. And
Trouville offered bathing place with
in six hours of Paris. So it came
about that villas were built and
square foot of sand soon cost as much
as a square foot of building ground
in Paris itself Very soon it was the
favorite resort of the monde and the
| demi-monde
The reali life of Trouville, of course,
is closed to the merely passing visitor,
| just as is the case at Cowes and at
Newport. The passing caller has not
the entree to the salons and the viii
las. But he may see that the people
change their toilets every hour, he
may walk the promenade and the
beach, firm and smooth, which slopes
so slowly into the sea that the bather
must wade far to get into water to
| his neck, even at hign tide, and he
may visit the Casino, so close to the
| sea that the great tide of 1876 almost
swept it away.
Dieppe shows a seascape that is
called 'fnexpressibly grand" The Wis
itor seats himself upon the terrace
! and looks seaward over a glorious
! and far-stretching expanse. Some
times it is as calm as a mirror. But
the tide never creeps in. 1t brings
waves and foam with it. Often it is
turbulent. Sometimes it comes in as
raging plain that lifts itself at last
| mountain high and thunderously
| dashes itself upon the shore and filings
| its salt showers over the spectators.
1t is splendid for the eye and it
! gives vigor to the body.
Napoleon played with Josephine,
pushing her into the water, and hiding
her bathing slippers, to the amuse-
ment of the boatmen and the onlook-
ing staff, in their bathing expeditions
in 1908 from Bayonne to BiarritZ, that
| bright little corner of France, nest
ling at the foot of the Pyrenees, over
looking the Bay of Biscay and ad-
|
There are memories here of the
Empress Eugene also. On the slope
| and overhanging the great rocks at
the head of the bay are the ruins of
the bathing villa, where she and
Louis Napoleon spent many happy
hours. 1t was sold. then enlarged and
burned in 1908. There are many his
torfcal memories here. Gladstone
spent weeks here each year. Many
battles were fought in the vicinity in
the Wellington campaigns and the
Spanish provinces adjacent are full of
"reminiscences of Loyola and Xavier
Ostend-to the initiated that means
the most beautiful strand to be con-
ceived, as smooth as a billiard table
and stretching away many a league.
1t means also in the summer months
a most diverting spectacle, where
dandies mince and f1irt even with the
waves, where bathing, dancing, ga
ming and music occupy the fashion
able world, and where the vast
throngs present a gay and cheerful
miscellany of faces and costumes.
This most important seaside town
on the continent of Europe has it's
palatial villas, including the summer
residence of the king; its sports, polo,
golf, tennis, racing, it's great annual
"bataille de fleurs," its promenades,
and around all its beach, a paradise
for children, and its bath houses, so
great a novelty for Americans. Above
all, 1t has its kursaI1, the center of
all the gaieties of the season, which
gives the visitor who sees it for the
first time most confused impression
of marbles and mosaics, brass, copper
and gliding, rich hangings, palms and
mirrors. The dixie or ''digue" which is
built along the beach is a three-mile
promenade, and at night the spectacle
seen upon it justifies the saying that
Ostend is ''the maddest, merriest" city
in Europe
Every country has it's seashore re-
sorts, some of then, as famous as
Biarritz and Brighton. Bray, in
County Wicklow, is the Brighton of