Produced by Distributed ProofreadersHOLIDAYSInEASTERN FRANCEByM BETHAMEDWARDSIllustration CHÂTEAU OF MONTBÉLIARDIllustration ORNANSVALLEY OF THE LOUE The Country of the PainterCourbetPREFACETravelling in France without hotels or guidebooks might with verylittle exaggeration be chosen as a title to this volume which isindeed the record of one visit after another among charming Frenchpeople and in delightful places out of the ordinary track of thetourist Alike in the valley of the Marneamongst French Protestants atMontbéliardat Besançon amid the beautiful scenery of the DoubsatLonsleSaunier from whence so many interesting excursions were madeinto the Jurain the very heart of the Jura highlandsat ChampagnoleMorez and St Claude it was my good fortune to see everything underunique and most favourable auspices to be no tourist indeed but aguest welcomed at every stage and pioneered from place to place byeducated ladies and gentlemen delighted to do the honours of theirnative place Thus it came about that I saw not only places butpeople and not only one class but all peasant and proprietorProtestant and Catholic the _bourgeoisie_ of the towns themountaineers of the highlands the schoolmaster the pastor the curéWherever I went moreover I felt that I was breaking new ground themost interesting country I visited being wholly unfamiliar to thegeneral run of tourists for instance the charming pastoral scenery ofSeine and Marne the picturesque valleys of the Doubs and the Loue andthe environs of Montbéliard and Besançon the grand mountain fastnessescloseshut valleys or _combes_ the solitary lakes cascades andtorrent rivers of the JuraMany of the most striking spots described in these pages are not evenmentioned in Murray whilst the difficulty of communication renders themcomparatively unknown to the French themselves only a few artistshaving as yet found them out OrnansCourbets birth and favouriteabiding place in the valley of the Loueis one of these StHippolyte near Montbéliard is another and a dozen more might be namedequally beautiful and as yet equally unknown New lines of railwayhowever are to be opened within the next few years in severaldirections and thus the delightful scenery of FrancheComté will erelong be rendered accessible to all For the benefit of those travellerswho are undaunted by difficulties and prefer to go off the beaten trackeven at the risk of encountering discomforts I have reprinted withmany additions the following notes of visits and travel in the mostinteresting part of Eastern France which in part originally appearedin Frazers Magazine 1878In a former work Western France I treated of a part of France whichwas ultraCatholic in this one I was chiefly among the more Protestantdistricts of the whole country and it may be interesting to many tocompare the twoCONTENTSCHAPTER I The Valley of the MarneCHAPTER II Noisiel the City of ChocolateCHAPTER III Provins and TroyesCHAPTER IV Among French Protestants at MontbéliardCHAPTER V St Hippolyte Morteau and the Swiss BorderlandCHAPTER VI Besançon and its EnvironsCHAPTER VII Ornans Courbets Country and the Valley of the LoueCHAPTER VIII Salins Arbois and the Wine Country of the JuraCHAPTER IX LonsleSaunierCHAPTER X Champagnole and MorezCHAPTER XI St Claude the Bishopric in the MountainsCHAPTER XII Nantua and the Church of BrouAPPENDIXItinerariesOutlines of FrancComtois History Notes on the Geology ofthe JuraIndexHOLIDAYS IN EASTERN FRANCECHAPTER ITHE VALLEY OF THE MARNEHow delicious to escape from the fever heat and turmoil of Paris duringthe Exhibition to the green banks and sheltered ways of the gentlyundulating Marne With what delight we wake up in the morning to thenoise if noise it can be called of the mowers scythe the rustle ofacacia leaves and the notes of the stockdove looking back as upon anightmare to the horn of the tramway conductor and the perpetual grindof the stonemasons saw Yes to quit Paris at a time of tropic heatand nestle down in some country resort is indeed like exchangingDantes lower circle for Paradise The heat has followed us here butwith a screen of luxuriant foliage ever between us and the burning bluesky and with a breeze rippling the leaves always no one need complainWith the cocks and the hens and the birds and the bees we are all upand stirring betimes there are dozens of cool nooks and corners if welike to spend the morning out of doors and do not feel enterprisingenough to set out on an exploring expedition by diligence or rail Afterthe midday meal everyone takes a siesta as a matter of course wakingup between four and five oclock for a ramble wherever we go we findlovely prospects Quiet little rivers and canals winding in betweenlofty lines of poplars undulating pastures and amber cornfieldspicturesque villages crowned by a church spire here and there widesweeps of highly cultivated land interspersed with rich woodsvineyards orchards and gardensall these make up the sceneryfamiliarized to us by some of the most characteristic of FrenchpaintersJust such tranquil rural pictures have been portrayed over and overagain by Millet Corot Daubigny and in this very simplicity often liestheir charm No costume or grandiose outline is here as in Brittany nopicturesque poverty no poetic archaisms all is rustic and pastoralbut with the rusticity and pastoralness of every dayWe are in the midst of one of the wealthiest and best cultivated regionsof France moreover and when we penetrate below the surface we findthat in manner and customs as well as dress and outward appearance thepeasant and agricultural population generally differ no little fromtheir remote countrypeople the Bretons In this famous cheesemakingcountry the Fromage de Brie being the speciality of these rich dairyfarms there is no superstition hardly a trace of poverty and littlethat can be called poetic The people are wealthy laborious andprogressive The farmers wives however hard they may work at homewear the smartest of Parisian bonnets and gowns when paying visits Iwas going to say when at church but nobody does go hereIt is a significant fact that in the fairly well to do educateddistrict where newspapers are read by the poorest where wellbeing isthe rule poverty the exception the church is empty on Sunday and thepriests authority is _nil_ The priests may preach against abstinencefrom church in the pulpits and may lecture their congregation inprivate no effect is