Michel de Montaigne

“ On my way back, I went over the same plain, which stretches out to great length and is eight miles wide, to see the place where the people of Viterbo (who are all either workers or traffickers with no gentlemen amongst them) collect the flax and hemp, the working of which is their chief industry, and found none but men employed, the women taking no part in the work. There was a vast quantity of material, and many craftsmen busy around a lake of water, which is boiling hot all the year round, and is said to be fathomless. ”

“ Moreover, until I had this attack I had not suffered from headache for more than ten years; and, fearing lest the douche may have induced this weakness of the head, I did not use it to-day—Thursday—and remained only an hour in the bath.
The cost of living here in a private room comes to a little more than seventy-two gold crowns a month, to call for what you will; and as much again for a servant. Any one without a servant will find ready and convenient service done by the landlord in the way of catering. ”

“ I remarked that the cold at this season was sharper in Italy than in France. The piazza of Siena is the finest of any city in the world. Mass is said therein at an altar in the open space, over which look all the houses and shops, wherefore the craftsmen and all the people can participate without quitting their work. At the elevation a trumpet is sounded to let every one know.
On Sunday the 23rd of September we left Siena after dinner, and travelled over a convenient road, which was a little unlevel in places, as the country is broken up in low fertile hills. ”

“ On Sunday the 2nd of July I quitted Florence after dinner, and, having crossed the Arno by the bridge, we left the river to the right hand, following its course nevertheless. We traversed a fine fertile plain, which produces the finest musk melons in Tuscany, but the best of these are not ripe before the 15th of July. Those grown at Legnara, three miles from Florence, are the best. Our road lay through a country for [Pg 109] the most part level and fertile, everywhere studded with houses large and small, which made it seem one continuous string of villages. ”

“ From here to Milan is twenty miles. This city is the most populous in Italy, its granaries and workshops being full of merchandise and craftsmen. It has a great resemblance to Paris, and in general has the look of a French town. It lacks the palaces of Rome, Naples, Genoa, and Florence, but it surpasses them all in size, and is as busy and crowded as Venice. On Friday, October the 27th, I went to view the outside of the castle and walked all round it, and found it of great size and marvellous strength. It is occupied by seven hundred Spanish soldiers and admirably furnished with artillery ”

“ The colonels are paid, but the captains, who are people of the country, only get pay during war, when they take command of their own companies as occasion may demand. This colonel had for pay sixteen crowns a month, and had no other duty than to be always in readiness.
People live more by rule at these baths than at our own, and abstain rigorously, especially from drinks. At no other bath, [Pg 47] except at Banieres, have I ever been so well lodged, and Banieres equals it in beauty of situation, but is the only bathing-place that does. ”

“ It would be the height of folly to bring good horses into these parts, seeing that no hay is to be got. After dinner we travelled over a long level track which was full of horrible gaping cracks made by the water in very strange fashion; a vile place to traverse in the winter, I can well imagine, but they are now repairing the road. After this we passed, about two miles to our left, the town of Arezzo, which stands in this same plain on a site which seemed somewhat higher than the surrounding country. ”

“ About six miles from Montefiascone, a few paces to the right of the main road, is a bath called Naviso, in the middle of a wide plain. It is three or four miles distant from the nearest hill, and the outflow has formed a little lake, at one end of which is to be seen a strong spring of hot water boiling up briskly. It smells of sulphur, having a scum on the surface and a white sediment. On one side of this spring is a pipe which conveys the water to two baths in a house near by. ”

“ On September 12th, 1581, we set forth early from Bagni della Villa and arrived at Lucca in time for dinner, after riding fourteen miles. They were just beginning to gather the grapes. The feast of Santa Croce is the great one of this city, and during eight days all who may be proscribed on account of debt are suffered to return without hurt to their homes, so as to attend to their devotions. In all Italy I have never found a barber who could shave me or cut my hair properly. ”

“ One convenience of my lodging pleased me greatly, to wit, that I could pass from my bed to the bath by a short and level path of thirty paces. I resented the stripping of the leaves from the mulberry [Pg 83] trees, which looked as other trees look in winter.
Every day people from all parts may be seen bringing hither samples of wine in small bottles, so that any of the strangers here may send, if they will, for some in bulk, but of good wine there is very little. ”

“ There is a musical instrument in every shop, even at the stocking-darner’s at the corner of the street. Fano is famous beyond all the other towns of Italy [Pg 8] for its fair women, but all those we saw were very ugly indeed. I heard from a goodman of the town, of whom I made inquiry on this matter, that the days for the blooming of such beauty were past and gone. On this route the charge for dinner is about ten soldi, each person paying some twenty soldi per diem for everything, and thirty soldi per diem for the hire and maintenance of each horse. ”

“ In many places in Italy they are wont to build the staircases very level, with shallow steps, so that a man on horseback can easily reach the top. Here the stairs are thus built, and laid with tiles set on edge. The place is by report very cold, and the duke as a rule lives here only during the summer; this statement being confirmed by the fact that in two of the ducal chambers are to be seen other apartments contrived in a corner, and closed on all sides save by one window, which lets in light from the chamber aforesaid. ”

“ On Monday I dined with Signor Silvio Piccolomini, a man of well-known worth and especially skilled in the art of fence. Many subjects came up for discussion, as there was a large gathering of other gentlemen. He has a poor opinion of the art of fencing as practised by the Italian masters, such as Veniziana di Bologna, Patinostraro, and others. Indeed, the only one he favoured was a certain pupil of his own, who now lives at Brescia, where he teaches the art to the gentle-folk of the city. ”

“ The Italian pound contains only twelve ounces. Living is very cheap in this place. The best and most delicate veal can be bought for three French sous a pound, and the trout are abundant, though small. Here are made excellent sunshades, which everybody uses. The country round is hilly, and level roads are scarce; nevertheless, many of them are very pleasant, and they are for the most part paved until they become mountain paths. After dinner the country people danced together, and I joined in the sport so as not to seem over ceremonious. ”

“ It is the last of the Duke of Savoy’s dominions. On Tuesday, after dinner, I took horses and went on in two posts to Lyons, where I slept. I was greatly pleased with the town, and on Friday I bought of Joseph de la Sone three strong service horses, with fresh cut tails, for two hundred crowns, having purchased on the previous day of Malesieu a pacing horse for fifty crowns and another curtal nag for thirty-three. On Saturday, Saint Martin’s Day, I had a sharp pain in the stomach and kept my bed till midday. I felt disordered all day and took no dinner and a very light supper. ”

“ After dinner we followed the road by the sea, which is calmer and less turbulent than our western ocean. The [Pg 5] land is cultivated almost to the water’s edge. After travelling twenty miles we arrived at Sinigaglia in time for bed.
This is a pretty little town, situated in a fine level country and hard by the sea, possessed of a good harbour, and washed on one side by a river which comes down from the mountains. The port is excellently fitted, the quays on either side being covered with wooden framework, where the ships lie in safety, and the entrance furnished with chains. ”

“ On Thursday, July 27th, I left Pisa early in the morning, being highly gratified by the courteous and friendly treatment I had received from Signor Vintavinti, Signor Lorenzo Conti, Signor Miniato in whose house lived the Cavaliere Camillo Gatani—who offered to let his brother return with me to France—Signor del Borro, and divers other craftsmen and merchants with whom I had dealings. I am certain that I could have raised money from them, had I needed it, albeit the Pisans have the name for [Pg 129] churlishness and arrogance. But in every case a courteous man wins a return for his courtesy. ”

“ Many gentlemen of the city paid me courteous attentions, sending me wine and fruit, and even offering to accommodate me with money.
I tarried in Lucca the Friday and Saturday [Pg 36] and left it on Sunday after dinner, of which I did not partake, as I was fasting. The hills nearest to the town are thickly set with pleasant houses. Our way for the most part lay along a low-lying road, fairly level, and running between the mountains, which are well wooded and peopled throughout, the river Serchio flowing beside us. ”

“ Three miles farther on we came to Viterbo, and our arrival here was so ill-timed that we were forced to take dinner and supper together. I was hoarse and had a bad cold through having slept in my clothes last night on a table at S. Lorenzo, by reason of the vermin, a misadventure which only befell me at Florence and this place. At Viterbo the people eat a sort of acorn which they call gensole;99 it is found in various other parts of Italy and is pleasant to taste. Starlings are so plentiful that they are to be had for one baiocco each. ”

“ Vast quantities of the water of this spring and of the other one, the Corsena, are despatched every day for sale in various regions of Italy. These people are not the great meat-eaters that we are, and they use nothing but the common sorts of flesh, upon which they set but little store, that is to say, while I was there I bought a choice leveret for six of our sous without any bargaining. ”

“ After dinner the race of the Barbary horses took place, the prize being carried off by the horse belonging to the Cardinal de’ Medicis.65 Its value was two hundred crowns. The spectacle is not one to give pleasure, as those on the road could see nothing but the rush of the horses.
On Sunday I saw the Pitti Palace, where, amongst other things, I remarked the marble statue of a mule, modelled from one still alive, which was executed on account of the long service done by this beast in carrying material for the building of this palace. ”

“ The water may be drunk for seven days, ten pounds per diem, but before it is taken it must be left some time to get cool, as at the baths of Preissac.98 The patients bathe in addition.
This house and the bath belong to a church, and is let for fifty crowns per annum. The bath is likewise of great use to the sick people who come here in the spring of the year, and the man who hires it sells a quantity of the mud taken from the bath, which mud, when dissolved in hot oil, is good for the itch in human beings, and for scabby dogs and cattle, when diluted with water. ”

“ All earthen pots, dishes, and plates, as well as glasses and knives, we had to buy. We were able to get as much meat as we wanted, but were usually obliged to content ourselves with veal or goats flesh. At all the lodging-houses [Pg 40] they offer to provide you with what you may require; and I imagine that by this method it would cost about twenty soldi a head per diem. Any one wishing to adopt this system would find in every house some man or woman capable of acting as cook. The wine is mostly bad, but visitors who may be so minded may get other wine brought from Pescia or Lucca. ”

“ The people of Lucca are greatly given to, a game called Pallone, and they often meet for matches. Men seldom ride on horseback through the streets, and it is the rarest sight to see one in a coach, but ladies go on mule-back with a foot-servant. Strangers coming here have great difficulty in finding houses to let, the city itself being very thickly populated and the travellers visiting [Pg 135] it very few. For an ordinary house with four furnished chambers, a dining-room, and a kitchen I was asked a rent of seventy crowns a month. ”