Var

“ In Les Maures
Solliès-Pont owes its name to the pont, or bridge, by which the “Route Nationale” crosses the Gapeau. It is the centre of the cherry culture in the Var, and at the time of year when the trees are in blossom, the aspect of the surrounding hillsides would put cherry-blossoming Japan to shame. The crop is the first which comes into the market in France. The lovers of early fruits, in Paris restaurants and hotels, know the “cerises du Var” very well indeed. They buy them at the highest market prices, delightfully put up in boxes of poplar-wood and garnished with lace-paper. ”

“ Paradox as it seems, the multitude of dead or ruined or vanished cities that have lined the coast from the Pyrenees to the Var strangely enhances this sense of vitality and persistence of human activities. ”

“ God gives men fresh air, and the law sells it to them. I do not accuse the law, but I bless God. In the Isère, in the Var, in the two Alps, Upper and Lower, the peasants have not even trucks, but carry manure on their backs: they have no candles, and burn resinous logs and pieces of rope steeped in pitch. ”

“ Between Toulon and Hyères, lying back from the coast, in the valley of the Gapeau, is a bit of transplanted Africa, where the brilliant sun shines with all the vigour that it does on the opposite Mediterranean shore. The valley is perhaps the most important topographically west of the Rhône, at least until one reaches the Var at Nice. There is a sprinkling of small towns here and there, and more frequent country residences and vineyards, but there is an air of solitude about it that can but be remarked by all who travel by road. ”

“ The twenty-second we lay in a heather bush on the hillside in Uam Var, within view of a herd of deer, the happiest ten hours of sleep in a fine, breathing sunshine and on bone-dry ground, that I have ever tasted. That night we struck Allan Water, and followed it down; and coming to the edge of the hills saw the whole Carse of Stirling underfoot, as flat as a pancake, with the town and castle on a hill in the midst of it, and the moon shining on the Links of Forth.
"Now," said Alan, "I kenna if ye care, but ye're in your own land again. ”

“ COCCONEIS SCUTELLUM VAR. ORNATA GRUN.
Upper valve with linear axial area, and transverse and radiating punctate lines which end at the border in a double row of finer puncta; lower valve with much finer puncta, a lanceolate axial area and a loculiferous rim.
Atlantic City. Common.
Pl. 16, Figs. 27 and 28.
The forms along the coast vary infinitely both in size and appearance. The var. ornata is very abundant along the entire coast. In any gathering, valves are found with or without the rim which is frequently seen detached. The upper valve is sometimes without the double row of puncta. ”

“ And strong like Vidar is the man who can restrain his tongue.
Two gods, whose qualities on earth are seldom found allied,
Eternally in Odin’s hall are seated side by side:
Resistless is their power combined; all view them with respect;
Loder, the god of beauty reigns; Hænir, of intellect.
The next to Hænir on the bench the serious Var appears,
Stern awe-inspiring goddess, who the rod of conscience bears;
She hears the oaths of all mankind: whoever breaks his vow,
To Nastrond down she hurls the wretch, to endless wail and woe. ”

“ The shops are naught and entertainments indifferent But then—it is an admirable centre for a stay of a few weeks, for one who desires to explore the magnificent scenery of the Loup, the curious country in the great loop made by the River Var, S. Vallier, and the upper waters of the Siagne; Vence also and S. Jeannet under its marvellous crag, full of crevasses and caves.
Grasse must always have been a place where men settled, from the earliest days, as there is a foux, a great outburst of purest water from the rock. ”

“ It lacked the intensely blue atmosphere of the rival vale, and its heavy soils and scents; the new air was clear, bracing, ethereal. The river itself, which nourished the grass and cows of these renowned dairies, flowed not like the streams in Blackmoor. Those were slow, silent, often turbid; flowing over beds of mud into which the incautious wader might sink and vanish unawares. The Var waters were clear as the pure River of Life shown to the Evangelist, rapid as the shadow of a cloud, with pebbly shallows that prattled to the sky all day long. ”

“ AMID the oozing fatness and warm ferments of the Var Vale, at a season when the rush of juices could almost be heard below the hiss of fertilization, it was impossible that the most fanciful love should not grow passionate. ”

“ At the elections of 1885 he advocated a strong Radical programme, and was returned both for his old seat in Paris and for the Var, selecting the latter. Refusing to form a ministry to replace the one he had overthrown, he supported the Right in keeping M. Freycinet in power in 1886, and was responsible for the inclusion of General Boulanger in the Freycinet cabinet as war minister. ”

“ A visitor to Provence will look almost in vain for churches in the Gothic style. A good many were built after Lombard models. There remained too many relics of Roman structures for the Provençals to take kindly to the pointed arch. The sun had not to be invited to pour into the naves, but was excluded as much as might be, consequently the richly traceried windows of northern France find no place here. The only purely Gothic church of any size is that of S. Maximin in Var. ”

“ Leaves ovate, smooth, dark green; leaf-stems hairy at edge. This plant is a native of Europe, and in its tree form furnishes the white wood used for wood-engraving.
Var. subfruticosa (dwarf boxwood) grows only a foot or two high, and is extensively used for edgings in gardens. The tree form is more rare in cultivation, and is of slow growth, but forms a round-topped tree. ”

“ II. As Chief, who hears his warder call, 'To arms! the foemen storm the wall,' The antlered monarch of the waste Sprung from his heathery couch in haste. But ere his fleet career he took, The dew-drops from his flanks he shook; Like crested leader proud and high Tossed his beamed frontlet to the sky; A moment gazed adown the dale, A moment snuffed the tainted gale, A moment listened to the cry, That thickened as the chase drew nigh; Then, as the headmost foes appeared, With one brave bound the copse he cleared, And, stretching forward free and far, Sought the wild heaths of Uam-Var. ”

“ A very long while ago, perhaps as many as two hundred years, the little Provençal village of Sur Varne was all bustle and stir, for it was the week before Christmas; and in all the world, no one has known better how to keep the joyous holiday than have the happy-hearted people of Provence. ”

“ To my mind I have seen nothing in all my travels (and I have been over four continents) to equal the stretch of coast and country p. 180from Marseilles to Mentone. It is beyond all question the loveliest part of the fair land of France. On all sides as the train steams along it is pretty, gay and captivating, as the sunny shores are washed by the rolling sea, and an azure sky is overhead; and beyond, in the background, you can occasionally see lines of lofty hills crowned with eternal snow. As we passed the various stations, as Nice, the scenery becomes richer and more beautiful. ”

“ It is a scattered township lying on the peninsula west of the river Var, which forms the western extremity of the island. The portion known as Freshwater Gate fronts the English Channel from the strip of low-lying coast interposed between the cliffs of the peninsula and those of the main part of the island. The peninsula rises to 397 ft. in Headon Hill, and the cliffs are magnificent. The western promontory is flanked on the north by the picturesque Alum Bay, and the lofty detached rocks known as the Needles lie off it. ”

“ The Salyi were the first people beyond the Alps that felt our arms, in consequence of Marseilles, a most faithful and friendly city, having complained of their inroads. The Allobroges and Arverni were the next, as similar complaints from the Aedui called for our assistance and protection against them. The river Varus is a witness of our victories, as well as the Isara and Vindelicus, and the Rhone, the swiftest of all rivers. The greatest terror to the barbarians were the elephants, which matched the fierceness of those people. ”

“ On this advice I changed my purpose, and the wind becoming more favourable, we made sail for Liasi and Phasis, and arrived at Varsi on the 29th of June, where I disembarked my horses and baggage, and sent them from thence by land to Phasis, which is sixty miles from that place. Varsi is a castle, with a small village in Mingrelia, belonging to a lord named Gorbola , to whom likewise Caltichea [2] , a place of small importance on the coast of the Euxine, is subject. The inhabitants of this country are very miserable, and the only productions are hemp, wax, and silk. ”

“ I took my departure via Orleans, Tours, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Nismes, and Arles; the latter cities, with their vast collection of Roman ruins, are worthy of a visit. At all these places I made a short sojourn, not having touched them in my former travels in France. In my general voyages, I have adopted as a rule varying my route, in order to see the entire country, for which reason instead of going from Marseilles to Genoa by water, as formerly, I took land conveyance to Toulon in order to visit the great French naval station, and the prisons and workshops of the five thousand French culprits. ”

“ Enter from the hall of the château soldiers and
huntsmen with peasants, men and women; some
sullenly submissive, others struggling against their
bonds. They crowd the terrace before the great
doors. The guests of De Vardes to the right and
left upon the terrace, the stairs, and in the garden.
Yvette and Séraphine beside the statue; Lalain
near them; De Vardes with his hand upon the
great chair.
Mme. de Vaucourt
Oh, the brigands! ”

“ The battle of Varus is an enigma, not in a military but in a political point of view—not in its course, but in its consequences. ”

“ Martha. These alone are more than worth the time taken to examine them, and the town itself is picturesque enough to warrant an inspection by the casual passer-by and a more prolonged stay by the lover of out-of-the-way corners.
A wide boulevard, the Avenue de la République (nearly{99}
GATEWAY. TARASCON. every little town in Provence has its “Avenue de la République”) , planted with four rows of great plane trees, leads from the station to the centre of this town of some nine or ten thousand inhabitants. ”

“ The course of the Rhine below Mainz becomes much more picturesque. The river descends rapidly and winds between hills, not high, but steep, and of beautiful forms. We saw many ruined castles standing on the edges of precipices, surrounded by black woods, high and inaccessible. This part of the Rhine, indeed, presents a singularly variegated landscape. In one spot you view rugged hills, ruined castles overlooking tremendous precipices, with the dark Rhine rushing beneath; ”

“ My Paris haunts me just like yours. You—you play your drum among the pines. Me—I write here.... What a right pair of Provencal people we are. Back in Paris, we miss our Alpilles and the smell of wild lavender. Right here and right now, bang in the middle of Provence, we miss our barracks, and everything that reminds us of it is so dear to us!... ”

“ But one records and records, and yet one has not Provence. One has but her mountains and contours, her blue sky, and perhaps her wild wind—but there is always something beyond.
One sees the Rhone and the Durance on their way to 25 the sea—splendid headlong rivers; one sees the melancholy brooding wilderness of the Crau, where Hercules and the quarrelsome Titans flung those huge stones at one another in the dim old days; one sees always the strange, fantastic little limestone chain of the Alpilles which finishes to the south-east the great semicircle begun to the west by the higher ranges. ”

“ The Romans have left behind them in Provence not only a series of unalterable monuments, but the type of their race. Up country, in the little farms, a Celtic strain prevails, but in every town we find the square-built Roman frame and classic features.
We end our afternoon by a long drive through the fertile plain of Orange, all the brighter for the severeness of its setting, for the spires and hedges of cypress, for the gaunt dim blue of the distant mountains. The spring is luxuriant and ample here. ”

“ This day and the next day I walked for miles with the scent of flowers all about me.
[23]
I climbed up to another Châteauneuf; there must be a round dozen of them in Provence alone, and they are all very old. This was another most picturesque hill town, and again I thought I might get a bed there. But I could get no such thing, and after sitting for half an hour on a terrace and enjoying the wide view I set out again as the sun sank behind the hills to walk to Grasse. ”

“ But then one remembered that this was France, and of France it was the Provence and not really a part of the sordid, scrambling world at all.
It is a garden of terraces and of waterways and of dim, lucent pools to which stairways descend, and of cypresses, graying statuary, and marble bridges and fluted balustrades; and the water is green and mysterious, and there is a background of dark, wooded hills, with deep recesses and lost paths. We climbed part way up the hillside and found a place where we could look out on the scene below. In the fading light it seemed a place of enchantment. ”

“ From time to time we shall get up and go to the door and look out at the great moon and say:—"Why, it is nearly as bright as in Provence!" And then we shall come back to the fireside, with just the touch of a sigh because we are not in that Provence where even the saddest stories are gay. Consider the lamentable history of Peire Vidal. Two years ago Florence and I motored from Biarritz to Las Tours, which is in the Black Mountains. In the middle of a tortuous valley there rises up an immense pinnacle and on the pinnacle are four castles—Las Tours, the Towers. ”