Rambles in Normandy

¿ONE doubles his span of life,¿ says George Moore, ¿by knowing well a country not his
own.¿
is a good friend, indeed, to whom one may turn in time of strife, and none other than
Normandy¿unless it be Brittany¿has proved itself a more safe and pleasant land for
travellers.
When one knows the country well he recognizes many things which it has in common with
England. Its architecture, for one thing, bears a marked resemblance; for the Norman
builders, who erected the magnificent ecclesiastical edifices in the Seine valley during the
middle ages, were in no small way responsible for many similar works in England.
It is possible to carry the likeness still further, but the author is not rash enough to do so. The
above is doubtless sufficient to awaken any spirit of contention which might otherwise be
latent.
Some one has said that the genuine traveller must be a vagabond; and so he must, at least to
the extent of taking things as he finds them. He may have other qualities which will endear
him to the people with whom he comes in contact; he may be an artist, an antiquarian, or a
mere singer of songs;¿even if he be merely inquisitive, the typical Norman peasant makes
no objection.
One comes to know Normandy best through the real gateway of the Seine, though not many
distinguish between Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy. Indeed, not every one knows
where Normandy leaves off and Brittany begins, or realizes even the confines of the ancient
royal domain of the kings of France.