Wednesday, June 27, 1838

1838

June

Wednesday 27

6 3/4

12 55/..

Fine morning; Fahrenheit 67 3/4° at 7 a.m.

Ann up before 6 – Went to sketch the church till after 9 –

Breakfast about 9 1/4 downstairs in the nice salle à manger – quite alone – Our 2 rooms open into each other here au premier – Very comfortable – but would rather farther out of Ann’s

hearing, but she is in her best way this morning –

Ann off again to sketch the church at 10 1/2 and from 10 35/.. to 1, I wrote out the latter 1/2 of Monday, the whole of yesterday, and so far of today – Had just inked over a little of accounts when Ann returned – Had made a very nice little sketch of the church – best she has done so far –

Off from Ruffec at 1 1/2 – Our postillon à la basque, with his blue berret and crimson sash and shirt sleeves – (1st time) – Rather hilly – Charming drive to Nègres, single house – Horses standing ready at the door – Off in 2 minutes – 1st time of being so quick since our landing this time on the continent –

Charming, wooded country – Hedges here and there – Ann thinks it like England all the way from Tours –

At 2 40/.., descent upon Mansle – Extensive and belle vue – Corn and vines – At 2 3/4, la poste, and drive into the cour at one poste cochère and out at another, (2nd postillon à la basque, but crimson instead of blue berret).  Then immediately cross 2 little stone bridges over little brooks or something, and then high raised old narrow stone bridge over grassy-bottomed, shallow, winding, islandy, picturesque Charente into the pretty little old town of Mansle –

Pass through one long, narrow, ill-paved, ill- or old-built street – Charming extensive plane, and excellent road and mount the hill – The air bland and delightful – Walnut and Spanish chestnut trees and vines, – Bled, and bled de Turquie and potatoes – We had felt at Ruffec that we were journeying southwards – The building stone of Mansle seems vraiment a calcaire compacte – Charming air and day and country – The light sandy soil not more than 4 or 5 inches thick – rows of wheat between rows of vines.  On the high ground till forest of oak-copse – Hilly or undulating road, charming drive –

Sabot and descend upon the small good hameau of Churet – Everywhere, Ruffec and everywhere – housing hay (as much lucerne as hay grass) –

George thinks (at Churet) the wheels very hot – Wanted water – (no! not required).  Thought the wheels hot on the sun-side –

From Churet, particularly left, haies vives (quick hedges) of thorn, maple, hornbeam, etc. Country beautifully boisé – vines, and corn, and, supposing the vines young hops, really like Kent – Undulating, beautiful country –

At 4 3/4 from top of hill (Ann had had a peep before), fine view of Angoulême, built on the slope and ridge, and to the end of the ridge of the amphitheatric line of hills – apparently 9 churches, 1 pointed-topped, tall, small square tower of cathedral far above all the rest –

At 4 50/.., stone bridge over pretty winding wooded river Touvre, and good hamlet of Pont-Touvre – Ascent – Angoulême very imposingly situated and fine looking town from the top of the ascent out of Pont-Touvre – Yellow rye, ripest I have seen – (much finer looking the other way – to one coming from Bordeaux) – Oxen began to be common here – Hay very sweet and green and well got –

At 5, good faubourg de l’Houmeau –

At 5 5/.. turn left to wind up into la ville – Very picturesque old walls and castle – Pass tomb (right) under weeping willows – Then gateway, but still steepish ascent into the town, and alight at La table Royale or Hotel Perigord (at the top of the hill and town) at 5 12/.. – Had passed through narrow, ill paved, steep streets to the very porte cochère of the hotel.  Upstairs for a few minutes – Good, large, double bedded room – Seems a good house –

Off at 5 20/.. with garçon to shew us the way to the cathedral – When in sight of it (on the boulevard), gave him ./75 and sent him back – Turned towards the prefecture – Colonade on the top of wall something like Gray’s at Cliff hill, – but divided into 3 by a wire trellis – Arch in the middle left open, the rest filled up with roses and creepers, leaving the white columns bare – Very pretty – It struck me as a good hint for Cliff hill, but Ann did not think so –

Very fine view – but no river seen from this side – Here too, workmen – making new road down from the boulevard to the faubourg below – and in another place nearer the Cathedral, repairing the old walls and pushing out a little to get a little square bit of room at the top – Workmen everywhere – Louis Philippe (like Napoleon) keeps the people employed –

Cathedral very interesting – West front in the style of Civray and Ruffec, but larger than the former – Very handsome and interesting and Roman like –

Ann stood sketching the exterior old western front, while I examined the interior – The most interesting I have ever seen ?  One nave – no aisles – short transepts, and not much nave (perhaps 1/3 of the whole) beyond them, finished in an apse – Nave roofed in domes, one over each large arcade – Beautiful lantern (domed) tower – the great high, tall, small old square a clocher quite apart from the nave – Evidently an old Roman façade, and I should say in great part an old Roman interior –

Went into bookseller’s shop near – The woman said the Cathedral was built by the English – No views of the cathedral published yet – but son would have some published in a week or 10 days – Bought 2 plans = 1/50 of la ville as it was 40 years  ago – The woman said she herself could well remember it 40 years ago – (she did not look 60), and a little Angoulême guide 1/60 –

Back at the Inn through better streets and grand Place, and past new handsome Palace de Justice (in the place) at 6 40/.. – The postillon would not take 1 3/4 p. = 14/. that I had left with George – Merely shewed the man the regulation in the livre de poste – He apologized – Took the money, said he was ancien postillon et qu’il s’était trompé – Did not wait a moment – The maitresse d’hotel asked 1/. for one 3 or 4 minutes use of her room and I paid with a compliment on her house –

Off (from Angoulême) at 6 3/4 – Passed all round by the Cathedral (where we had walked) and wound down the hill – Beautiful descent leaving the beautifully shaded terrace walk round the town on our right, and got down into the faubourg (very fine look back upon Angoulême – much finer this way than the other) and by a fine excellent road to le Roullet at 7 40/.. – Old, ill (rough) paved little town, but picturesquely situated with façade of church as if it had been originally a little  in the style of Angoulême, but very plain, merely affecting the form –

Fine country – culture as before and well wooded and nice undulating road to Pétignac, single house – Red sandy thin soil –

On reaching Barbezieux, too dark to see to read my card of the hotel – Uncertain if hotel de France (yes!) or boule d’or – Alighted and went into the kitchen of the 1st house and read the card – The house was an Inn – The woman wanted me to look at her rooms, but I thanked her and drove off to the hotel de France – Auberge-like, but the Inn recommended at Ruffec and printed on my Carte routière de meurice –

Arrived at 10 5/.., and sat down to write at 10 20/.. and till dinner at 11 5/.. (Ann tired and sick of waiting so long), wrote out nearly 1/3 of today  –

To amuse, began at supper about Orleans cathedral and she got into a  pet! and went off to bed. What a temper, but really I don’t mind it so much as I did at first

Sat at dinner (rather supper) 20 minutes after Ann left me, and came upstairs at 11 40/.. –

Very fine day – Fahrenheit 69 1/2° now at 12 10/.. tonight and at 12 1/2 heavy rain and thunder and lightning –

WYAS Finding Numbers SH:7/ML/E/21/0131 and SH:7/ML/E/21/0132