SUMMIT OF THE MONT VIN'AIGRK. 189 



pcarh- grev hue. To the east the Maritime Alps with 

 tlieir snow-clad peaks ; in the foreground rich, green 

 country \\'ith bright towns and ^■iilages, and then again 

 tire coast which fades awa\' in mist at Bordighera. 

 Quite near is Cannes, and in front of it lie the lies de 

 Lerins. J'roiecting far into the sea is tlie narrow Cap 

 d'Antibes : and iinall^' to the south, stretching away to 

 the horizon, the boundless expanse of the sea. 



Tlie air \\as so still up here toda\ tliat the lonely 

 Cork Oak, ^vhich gro\\ s on tlie top, was able to bask 

 in the sun. E\en this unfortunate tree had been depriv- 

 ed of its protecting cork la\er, and in this stripped 

 condition it is obliged to def\- the Mistral. ^Vmid tire 

 peaceful scenes \\lricli surrounded us, this bare tree was 

 like a false note in the harmon\-. 



The road, which we had leit at Malpa\-, continues 

 in a straight line from tlie fofit of the Mt. A'inaigre and 

 soon joins the main-road from Frejus to Cannes. If yon 

 follow this to tlie east \ou sliorth' reach a group ot 

 Irouses, the Auberge des Adrets and the station of the 

 Gendarmerie. The name of this Inn was once in 

 ever\'one's mouth in I'aris, when the famous actor, 

 Frederic Lemaitre. appeared at the Ambigu theatre in 

 a trageth'. the scene of ^A'hich was laid in an "Auberge 

 des Adrets''. To^^■ards the middle of last century all 

 ^•isitors to Cannes, u'ho ^\•ere in search of sensation, made 

 excursions into tlie Esterel to see the rooms in the 

 Auberge des Adrets in which a certain Monsieur Germeuil 

 was murdered, or rather \'ias not murdered. For apart 

 from the question as to whether the stor\- has any basis 



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