Orleans 17 



to please the eye is a river; woods generally in view; the pro- 

 portion of the French territory covered by this production for 

 want of coals must be prodigious, for it has been the same all 

 the way from Calais. At Arpajon, the marechal Duke dejw*? 

 Mouchy has a small house, which has nothing to recommend 

 it. — 20 miles. ■ ~ """ 



29/A. To Estamps is partly through a flat country, the 

 beginning of the famous Pays de Beauce. To Toury, fiat and 

 disagreeable^ only^Jwo or three gentlemen's seats in sight. — 

 31 miles. "~ 



2,0th. One universal flat, unenclosed, uninteresting, and even 

 tedious, though small towns and villages are everywhere in 

 sight; the features that might compound a landscape are not 

 brought together. This Pays de Beauce contains ,_by^reputat ion, 

 the cream of French husbandry; the soil excellent; but the 

 management all fallow. Pass through part of the forest of 

 Orleans belonging to the duke of that name: it is one of the 

 largest in France. 



From the steeple of the cathedral at Orleans the prospect 

 is very fine. The town large, and its suburbs, of single streets, 

 extend near a league. The vast range of country, that spreads 

 on every side, is an unbounded plain, tTirough "which the magni- Co*- 

 ficent Loire bends his stately way, in sight for 14 leagues; the 

 whole scattered with rich meadows, vineyards, gardens, and 

 forests. The population must be very great; for, beside the 

 city, which contains near 40,000 people, the number of smaller 

 towns and villages strewed thickly over the plain is such as to 

 render the whole scene animated. The cathedral, from which 

 we had this noble prospect, is a fine building, the choir raised by 

 Henry IV. The^new church is a pleasing edifice; the bridge 

 a noble structure of stone, and the first experiment of the flat .^ 

 arch made in France, where it is now so fashionable. It con- 

 tains nine, and is 410 yards long, and 45 feet wide. To hear f<5/* 

 some EhglTshmen talk, one would suppose there was not a 

 fine bridge in all France; not the first nor the last error I hope 

 that travellin g will remove. There are many barges and boats 

 at the quay, built upon the river in the Bourbonnois, etc., 

 loaded with wood, brandy, wine, and other goods; on arriving 

 at Nantes, the vessels are broken up and sold with the cargo. 

 Great numbers built with spruce fir. A boat goes from hence to 

 that city, when demanded by six passengers, each paying a louis- 

 d'or: they lie on shore every night, and reach Nantes in four 

 days and a half. The principal street leading to the bridge 



