' If such artists as Brewer, or Burgess, would only come here and
give us drawings of these streets (of one especially, taking in the
cathedral at the end, with its stone walls built over by shops, as at
Pont Audemer), they would be very interesting to Englishmen. Antiquaries
will regret to learn that in the year 1869, the west end of a church is
obliterated, as in the next illustration; that the shop of one 'M.
Guille, peruquier,' reposes against the window, and that two other,
quite modern, buildings lean against its walls. An old Norman arch is
carved immediately above the window we have sketched, and completes the
picture.
[Illustration]
It is, of course, not very easy to sketch undisturbed in the streets of
Falaise; and both in the churches and in the castle the showman is
perpetually treading on the traveller's heels. Everywhere we turn, in
the neighbourhood of the castle, we are reminded of historic deeds of
valour, and of deadly fights in the middle ages; and every day that we
remain in the town, we are reminded (by the crowds of farmers,
horsedealers, and others, who are busy at the great fair held here twice
a year) of our own, by comparison, very trifling business at Falaise. We
are making a drawing of the great rocks near the castle, and of the
valley below, every step of which is made famous by the memory of the
Conqueror; when our studies are disturbed, not by tourists but by
natives of the town; once by a farmer to see his good horses, which
indeed he had, at the stables at the 'hotel of the beautiful Star,'
where there were at least fifty standing for sale; and once, by a small
boy, who carries a tray full of little yellow books called '_La Lanterne
de Falaise_,' with a picture on the cover of the castle tower, and a
huge lantern slung from the battlements! We purchase a copy, to get rid
of the last intruder, and find it to be a '_Revue, satirique et
humouristique_,' treating of divers matters, including '_faits atroces
et chiens perdus_'!
Now without being accused of misanthropy, we may remark that there are
times and places when an Englishman would rather be 'let alone,' and
that the precincts of Falaise are certainly of them.
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