78 Rambles with a Fishing-Rod. 



many parts of France, it is in no respect a 

 mountainous country, and any walking that 

 has to be done must be done along roads, and 

 not over mountain turf. If there is one thing 

 more to be avoided than another, it is hot and 

 dusty roads, and hot and dusty roads form a 

 natural part of a fine summer in Normandy. 

 Most travellers, also, are more familiar with the 

 Continent in the summer than the spring, and 

 hence the spring-time adds many charms and 

 novelties to the natural features of the country. 

 The orchards, masses of white and pink flowers 

 the banks, rich with cowslips and wood-anem- 

 ones and the bright silver foliage of the pop- 

 lars which line the streams in the meadows 

 are features partially characteristic indeed of 

 English landscapes, but which derive new 

 charms from the clearness of the atmosphere 

 in which they are set. 



But it must be confessed that the possibili- 

 ties of trout-fishing occupied our minds quite 

 as much as landscapes and flamboyant archi- 

 tecture, when we arrived at Havre, from South- 

 ampton. Crossing by steamer to Honfleur, 

 and thence by train to Lisieux, the first night 

 saw my companion and myself housed in the 



