The situation of Vire is one of extreme beauty (reminding us again of
Switzerland), with hills and valleys richly wooded, the trees being
larger than any we have yet seen on our route. If we had approached Vire
from the west, by way of Villedieu and St. Sever, we should have had
even finer views than by way of Mortain; but Villedieu is at present
more deplorable than Mortain in its domestic arrangements, and the inn
is to be avoided by all cleanly people; however, with the completion of
the railway from Vire to Granville, we are promised much better things.
[Illustration: CLOCK TOWER AT VIRE.]
The chief architectural object of interest at Vire is the old
clock-tower of the thirteenth century, over the Rue de Calvados, with
its high gateway, formerly called 'the gate of the Champ de Vire.'
Over this gateway (which we cannot see from the position where we have
sketched the belfry) there is a statue of the Virgin, with the
inscription, '_Marie protege la ville_.' This tower has been altered and
repaired at several periods, and, like two others near it, is too much
built up against and crowded by, what the French call '_maisons
vulgaires_,' to be well seen.
We have not spoken of the castle first, because there is little of it
left besides the keep; and the part that remains seems no longer old.
The bold promontory on which it stood is now neatly kept and 'tidied'
with smooth slopes, straight walks, and double rows of trees, pleasant
to walk upon, but more suggestive of the Bois de Boulogne than the
approach to a ruin.
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