Queen Matilda (we are soon to be told) _never worked the Bayeux
Tapestry_, and Joan of Arc _was not burnt at Rouen_! The old world
banners are being torn down one by one--facts which were landmarks in
history are proved to be fiction by the Master of the Rolls; we close
the page almost in despair, and with the words coming to our lips,
'there is _nothing true_ under the sun.'
CHAPTER XII.
_THE WATERING PLACES OF NORMANDY._
'Trouville est une double extrait de Paris--la vie est une fete, et
le costume une mascarade.'--_Conty._
The watering-places of Normandy are so well known to English people that
there is little that is new to be said respecting them; at the same time
any description of this country would not be considered complete without
some mention of the sea-coast.
The principal bathing places on the north coast are the following,
commencing from the east:--DIEPPE, FECAMP, ETRETAT, TROUVILLE
and DEAUVILLE, VILLERS-SUR-MER, HOULGATE, CABOURG, and CHERBOURG.
We will say a few words about Trouville and Etretat (as representative
places) and conclude with some statistics, in an APPENDIX, which may
be useful to travellers.
Life at Trouville is the gayest of the gay: it is not so much to bathe
that we come here, as because on this fine sandy shore near the mouth of
the Seine, the world of fashion and delight has made its summer home;
because here we can combine the refinements, pleasures, and
'distractions' of Paris with northern breezes, and indulge without
restraint in those rampant follies that only a Frenchman, or a
Frenchwoman, understands.
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