Fig. 63. .^EGILOPS OVATA. 



THE VALLON DES FLEURS. 



CHAPTEE XXII. 



" Vallon ! j'ai bien souvent laisse dans ta prairie, 

 Comme une eau murmurante, errer ma reverie ; 

 Je n'oublierai jamais ces fugitifs instants ; 

 Ton souvenir sera, dans mon ame attendrie, 

 Comme un son triste et doux qu'on ecoute longtemps ! " 



VICTOR HUGO. 



I TAKE this Valley as a type of those shady glens 

 that lie between the Olive hills, not on account of any 

 special beauty of scenery or abundance of wild flowers ; 

 but because it is so easily accessible from Nice. The 

 tramway terminus at St. Maurice is within a short 

 distance of the entrance. 



It is doubtful whether the name "Vallon des 

 Fleurs " had originally any reference to flowers, or was 

 merely a corruption of some other word. " Vallon " 

 in the patois of this district means not so much the 

 depression between two hills as the actual stony bed 

 of the stream or rivulet. 



While I was walking one day in this Valley, a 

 stranger, guide-book in hand, accosted me, and inquired 



