J. H. Holdsworth

“ All its proud bulwarks have long since fallen beneath the ruthless hand of time, and its noble and extensive forests been laid prostrate by the active axe of the cultivator, while the march of rural improvement which has entirely renewed the face of the plain, will ere long have swept every ancient vestige away leaving the antiquary to search for the locality of Plessis-les-Tours, alone in the page of History. ”

“ The sparkling champagne speedily thaws the icy formula which too often envelopes and conceals the best, inherent feelings of his nature, and in the exuberance of his zeal for the universal cultivation of the social principle, and his lively sense of national toleration and liberality, he rises to toast, with equal sincerity, the beloved Queen of old England, or the citizen King of France. ”

“ «Strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise»; but pure wine upon a healthy stomach, is grateful and precious as the light of truth and the exercise of discretion, to a sound and well-regulated mind. ”

“ To the commonest observer however the present state of geology presents an astounding exposition of divine power and goodness, and distinctively marks the gigantic footsteps of that creative energy, which out of stupendous confusion and disorder, the rocking earthquake, and the «wreck of worlds,» has caused to spring forth the existing order of things; whose beauty, perfection, utility and harmony, charm our senses, enhance our knowledge, and demand for their Creator, the constant tribute, of our most grateful emanations. ”

“ Many of these heights are clad with a rich garb of foliage, as are also most of their concomitant vales, in some of which a pretty neat village is sequesteredly ensconced, while its neighbouring hills are adorned by a château, or the semblance of some noble ruin, in the bold indentations of a grey rocky precipice peering through dense masses of foliage. ”

“ In our just estimation of any country or locality, much however depends on the spirit and manner in which we scrutinize its resources, to the eye of the vacant and unobservant mind, the most beautiful and soul-stirring facts and scenes possess neither novelty nor charms, while the attentive and intelligent investigator seldom fails to discover and appreciate those extraordinary assemblages of creative perfections, and wonders, with which the all bountiful hand of the Supreme Creator has most amply stored every portion of the material Universe. ”

“ Some tolerable effervescing white wines are produced in the neighbourhood of Tours, the prices of which are a little under the red, but they are for the most part heady and treacherous, and want the perfume and vinosity of Champagne. ”

“ The nearest way from Hâvre to Tours, being a distance of about one hundred and sixty miles, is by Honfleur, Lizieux, Alençon and Le Mans, which diligences regularly perform. But perhaps the most picturesque routes are by way of Rouen. The post road from Hâvre to Rouen, along the northern banks of the Seine, frequently presents the most beautiful and varied prospects; but if possible, the picturesque scenery which successively presents itself in an ascent by steam vessel up the Seine to Rouen is of a more exquisitely charming character. ”

“ It is a remarkable and well ascertained fact, that the alcohol in wine combined in the natural way, when drank in that state, is not productive of those complaints of the liver, and other diseases, which arise from drinking the brandied wines of Portugal, in which the spirit is foreign. The union of the alcohol, being mingled with the other ingredients of the wine by artificial means, is never perfect, and is beyond calculation more pernicious than the strongest natural product. ”

“ The French language is considered to be spoken in its greatest purity in Touraine, a desideratum of much consequence to persons who resort to France for the education of their children, and it may also be proper to remark that there is a classical establishment for young gentlemen in the immediate vicinity of the city. Tours also possesses a library containing some valuable MSS., some of which are of the sixth century, a museum of painting and natural history, a college, a society of agriculture, science, art, and belles-lettres, a theatre, excellent baths, and extensive umbrageous promenades. ”

“ The greater portion indeed of central France, it may justly be said, has as strong and palpable claims to a genial and equable climate, as the province of Touraine, with all its acknowledged local advantages. The winters are of very short duration, and a powerful sun during the greater part of the year dispenses heat and life through a cloudless and lucid atmosphere. ”

“ Throughout a vast area, the surface of the surrounding country is pleasingly diversified by gentle undulations, considerable tracts of which are adorned by dense masses of foliage, occasionally presenting deeply indented vistas, embosoming some modern country house or ancient Château, with its spacious, but somewhat formal pleasure grounds. ”

“ But perhaps no less remarkable in the estimation of the curious are the extraordinary series of excavations ranging nearly opposite Tours. These artificial caverns which are hewn out of the white calcareous sandstone rocks on the banks of the Loire, frequently constitute entire dwellings, and are so free from humidity as to be occupied by the peasantry during summer and winter, while others are formed into extensive storehouses for the wines of the country. ”

“ The mild equable temperature of the Touraine climate is peculiarly adapted to afford essential relief to persons predisposed to phthisis or consumption, and those suffering from laryngeal, bronchial, and catarrhal affections, assimulating that disease. Also to invalids labouring under chronic dyspepsia, gout, and rheumatic affections, a winter's residence particularly, in Tours, has frequently proved highly serviceable, and no inconsiderable benefit is experienced by persons who have contracted local disease from a residence in a tropical or unhealthy climate. ”

“ How astounding the physical revolutions time has here effected!—The identical bed of coral, over which the turbulent waves of the Ocean rolled for centuries, and amid which the finny tribe disported, now, in its pristine position, forms a roof for the permanent dwellings of man! ”

“ The vineyards which occupy so large a portion of this district, contain a great many varieties of the vine, which circumstance, together with the prevailing difference of soil and aspect, naturally produces wines of very various flavour and opposite qualities.
It is affirmed, that the first requisite to make good wine seems to be a peculiar quality in the soil in which the fruit is grown, more than in the species of vine itself; the second requisite to good wine is the species of plant, aided by a judicious mode of training and cultivation. ”

“ An air of high respectability, and elegance, is characteristic of the Anglo-French circle of acquaintance pervading Tours and its environs; the newly arrived man of social habits and fashion, may if he chooses, soon possess the happy consciousness of feeling, that, though distant from friends and native land, he has his customary social comforts, and habitual pleasures and refinements of life, completely at his command. ”

“ When it is considered how much the natural character of the subtle and elastic fluid which surrounds the earth is changed and modified in different localities by the geographical position and physical peculiarities so variously distinguishing the respective regions of the globe, it will, we trust, readily be conceived from what has been stated of such circumstances, respecting Tours and its neighbourhood, that its prevailing climatic qualities cannot fail to be of a highly healthful tendency. ”

“ Persons who wish to economize must resort to the banks of the Loire and Lower Normandy, which are both much frequented by the English, who may here enjoy the comforts of life at a third less than in one of the provincial towns of their own country. A still greater reduction of expense will be found in the retired parts of Brittany, or in the towns of Saumur and Avranches, where living is one-fourth cheaper than at Caen or Tours. ”

“ In all chronic pulmonary affections, the quality of the air which is inspired into the lungs is well known to be a point of the most vital consequence, and therefore invalids affected by inflammatory affections of that organ experience much benefit by repairing to a climate like this, more particularly during the vernal exacerbations of the disease. Indeed experience has proved the climate of Tours to be peculiarly efficacious in bronchial affections, being very beneficial in almost all cases of irritation of the air passages, whether or not accompanied by increased secretion. ”

“ Many of the roads are paved, which sometimes occasions considerable fatigue. For elderly and delicate persons who are liable to be affected by the transitions of temperature, a post-chariot is the best: for others a light travelling britscka, or chaise de poste will best answer the purpose.
It is very advisable for invalids, as well as persons in health, not to sit too long at a time in the carriage, but to get out now and then to walk up the hills, or at the post-stations, as by so doing the fatigue consequent upon the muscles being kept long in the same position will be avoided. ”

“ Old tottering ruins and dismantled Towers may of themselves under many circumstances be justly deemed very picturesque objects, and merit to be valued accordingly, but to preserve and venerate all solely for their historical associations, which at best, are but too frequently the dark and ignominious doings of a clandestine and barbarous age, would seem to argue a morbid sensibility, more befitting the devoted and infatuated antiquarian, than the true and enlightened philosopher who sees "language in stones and God in everything." ”

“ It is indeed worthy of remark that the wines of France, rank before those of other countries for their Purely vinous qualities, and so multitudinous are their diversities, that it is confidently affirmed there is no variety in the world which might not find an approximation to some one or another of her growths, and which invariably are manufactured according to well-fixed scientific principles.
The wines grown near Tours, are divided into three classes, namely, what is called rouge noble, vin du Cher, and rouge commun. ”

“ Tours, we have intimated, is too remote from the Ocean, to be prejudicially affected by its mutable influences, or by the vast stream of aqueous vapours perpetually arising from the great western waters;—it is environed by moderately elevated absorbing formations,—it is situated in a broad and extensive vale, whose fertile soils are based upon a thick alluvial deposit of gravel;—while its walls are bathed by the purifying waters of a wide, rapid and limpid river. ”

“ The clustering vine and the golden waving corn, now deck the place of the arbitrary halls, and the dismal dungeons of the castle, the peaceful hamlet with its neat and assiduously cultivated gardens, covers no inconsiderable portion of the once exclusive and lordly precincts, while its unsophisticated population pursue their daily avocations in fearlessness and in peace. ”

“ A kind of fret work or fantastically wrought sculpture not unfrequently over-arches the entrance, or hangs like an ornamental frieze above entire dwellings, which on a close inspection we discover to be the mystical workings and embellishments of nature herself, being actually constituted of a bed of fossil zoophytes, which in the very spot they now occupy, vegetated at the bottom of the antediluvian Ocean! ”

“ During the month of march the thermometer continues generally to range between forty and fifty degrees; the vegetable world now resumes its wonted vigour and activity with astonishing rapidity, and the whole face of nature begins to wear a smiling and cheerful aspect. ”

“ In England, independent of the valetudinarian, not only the man of wealth and fashion, but the economist of time and means,—in these days of locomotive mania,—deem a visit to the continent almost indispensable; and in the majority of cases, after the resolution to take a trip abroad is formed the resolvent with a perfect indifference as to route or locality, becomes anxious to obtain information concerning such places as may in reality be most calculated to conduce to his health, pleasure, instruction or amusement,—either en route, or as a temporary place of residence. ”

“ But what reasonable and enlightened mind will regret even such a consummation, for, as moral improvement advances towards the climax of perfection, we every day see the face of nature rejoicing in its progress, and her children enjoying the fruits of their industry in the fullness of freedom and of unrestricted liberty. ”

“ The cheering and beneficial influence of travelling through a succession of novel and agreeable scenes, to a mind under the distressing moral influences of grief, anxiety, or disappointment,—so frequently the precursors of disease,—is too apparent to need any expatiatory remarks on the subject; but we would particularly remind the valetudinarian who naturally, may be tempted to a frequent enjoyment of the prevailing sunshine of the winters of Touraine, that more, than an apparently sufficient warmth of clothing is necessary for such occasions ”

“ Geology, may indeed, be truly said to be an inductive science, and while pondering over its natural inferences we find ourselves most marvellously progressing through a long concatenation of pre-existing realities, which at every remove may be said to assume more and more the features of romance! ”

“ Mr Jacquemont's analysis of these waters exhibits the presence of Carbonic Acid, and Muriate of Soda in excess, also the Sulphate of Soda, Carbonate of Lime, Oxide of Iron and Silex.
It is to be regretted that a more minute analysis of the waters has not been effected, for their continual boiling, and the saline efflorescence which forms upon the sides of the pipes, would seem to indicate the prevalence of fixed and volatile principles, the proportions of which it would be important to demonstrate. ”