Seine net

“ Yet the river itself is cribbed within far narrower bounds than when the first huts of savage fishermen were stuck upon the reed-beds of the marsh; for the town was first set upon islets that have long ago been absorbed into the mainland, and the waters of the Seine once washed the boatmen's landing stages at a spot that now bounds the Parvis of the Cathedral. Even now the Seine varies in breadth at this point from a hundred and thirty-five to two hundred and fifteen metres, with a depth of five metres on the quays at lowest tide. These tides are felt as far as twenty miles above the town. ”

“ A great river always exercises an attraction upon a certain class of people, and when that river is lined by historic towns and flows through beautiful country, it cannot fail to be attractive to everyone. As we have said, the Seine belongs to France rather than Normandy; very French are the views of its olive green flood, with the blue-green fringe of poplars, and the cliff-like scarred banks to be seen so continually in its course ”

“ The Eure also comes to its confluence with the Seine at the same point, and the Risle, which rises near La Perche, after 140 kilometres, finally reaches the sea through the Seine at Quillebeuf.
An Inn by the Seine
The populous and charmingly situated towns of the Seine valley, its wooded banks and forests, and the delightful roads along its banks, with here and there a château half-hidden by trees, to say nothing of the bosom of the stream itself, which forms a greatly travelled highway of another sort, all combine to present a continually changing scene, which is not excelled in all France. ”

“ The Seine brought up goods almost as far as the Moselle, from which they were conveyed to the Rhine. In the fourth year of Nero's reign, the commander of the Roman army in Gaul joined the Saone and the Moselle by a canal; and, though these canals were generally made by the Romans, for purposes connected with the army, yet they were soon applied to commerce. The merchandize of the Saone was brought by land carriage to the Seine, and by it conveyed to the ocean, and thence to Britain. ”

“ Here, indeed, all seemed so serene and fair that his artist eye, even in that imminent hour, rested with pleasure on the scene. It was a comparatively broad space, formed by one of the noble quays. The Seine flowed majestically along, with boats and craft resting on its surface. The sun gilt a thousand spires and domes, and gleamed on the white palaces of a fallen chivalry. Here fatigued and panting, he paused an instant, and a cooler air from the river fanned his brow. ”

“ But if the god of ocean has preserved his passion for the Seine, the Seine still cherishes her antipathy to him. Twice a day he pursues her with awful roar; and each time the Seine flies from him into the green inlands, ascending towards her source, contrary to the natural course of rivers. [54] And ever she [228] separates her green waters from the cerulean billows of ocean.
“Héva died of sorrow for the loss of her mistress. But the Nereids, to reward her for her fidelity, raised to her memory on the shore a tomb of black and white stones, which are visible from a great distance. ”

“ The Seine flashes with light. Upholstered with its long, slim quays, it looks more than ever gilt and gracious. Yes, it is cold. The darting bâteaux-mouche are icicle-fringed, and the guardians of the few book-bins that are open are muffled to the ears. I wear no coat, because, except for my old mackintosh, I do not possess one. I have, however, bought a long muffler which I wind around my throat, and allow to flutter behind. People look oddly at me; because, where the world wears a coat, the coatless man becomes a mark. ”

“ The keep cannot be ascended without difficulty. We ventured to scale it; and we were fully repaid for our labor by the prospect which we gained. The Seine, full of green willowy islands, flows beneath the rock in large lazy windings: the peninsula below is flat, fertile, and well wooded: on the opposite shores, the fantastic chalky cliffs rise boldly, crowned with dark forests.
I have already once had occasion to allude to the memorable strife occasioned by the erection of Château Gaillard, which its royal founder is reported to have so named by way of mockery. ”

“ The Lady Nelson lay abreast of a fine sandy beach suitable for hauling the seine, and the commander's party, which included Mr. Barrallier and the Sydney native, went on shore. A number of blacks immediately surrounded Euranabie and began to converse with him, using many words that seemed to resemble the Sydney dialect, such as 'Bail,' which Grant says signified 'No,' and 'Maun' to take off or carry away. These natives, when the seine was hauled, showed their delight by gathering round and giving their assistance unsolicited. ”

“ In front of the Institute is the Pont des Arts. There the sight is an enchanting one; the Seine—the gayest, most lively of rivers—crowded with passenger-boats, tugs, barges, and barques. The grey or blue sky is reflected in the water, and the river flows majestically between two verdure-clad quays, surmounted by book-sellers' cases, and inhabited by the most picturesque of populations. ”

“ He was a miller, and turned out a shrewd fellow; entering into the matter with great warmth. He advised them to ford the Yonne between Montereau and its junction with the Loing; to keep to the woods for ten miles, and then to turn to the left, and to cross the Seine--at one of the numerous fords there--into the Forest of Fontainebleau; and they would then find themselves between that town and Melun, and could ride boldly into Melun, as if they had come from Fontainebleau.
"I know every foot of the country," he said, "and will guide you, till you are safely across the Seine. ”

“ Seine-et-Marne (356) , a north-midland department of France lying E. of Seine; the Marne crosses the N. and the Seine the S.; has a fertile soil, which grows in abundance cereals, vegetables, and fruits; many fine woods, including Fontainebleau Forest, diversify its undulating surface. Melun (capital) and Fontainebleau are among its important towns.
Seine-et-Oise (628) , a department of NW. France, encloses the department of Seine; grain is grown in well-cultivated plains and the vine on pleasant hill slopes; is intersected by several tributaries of the Seine, and the N. is prettily wooded. ”

“ In spite of all that human skill and labor could accomplish, the Seine pushed its way over parapets and through barricades, flooding rapidly the quais and adjoining quarters. By means of subways and sewers (channels opened to the river by man's hand and that had not existed in the seventeenth-and-eighteenth-century floods) , districts far from the river suffered equally. Auteuil, Grenelle, Charenton, Bercy were submerged. On either side of the Trocadéro the palatial private homes of the quais were in the Seine up to the second story. ”

“ The peasants are seen amongst the tops and chimneys of the houses, cultivating their fields on the sides, and upon the summits, of the hills, which are arrayed in tufts of woodland, hedges, and pasturage; and all the avenues leading to the town are beautifully overshaded with chestnuts and elms. The Seine, too, has its fairy islands and weeping willows on its banks, and winds along through the middle of the town; and now and then a steamboat comes up the valley, with a puffing and fuss that would have made stare even the iron features of old Rollo. ”

“ Seine-Inférieure (839) , a maritime department of North-West France, in Normandy, facing the English Channel; is for the most part a fertile plain, watered by the Seine and smaller streams, and diversified by fine woods and the hills of Caux; is a fruit and cider producing district; has flourishing manufactures. Rouen is the capital, and Havre and Dieppe are important trading centres. ”

“ The itinerary of the Seine occupied the whole of one long, bright summer, and when one adds to this the numerous excursions out of the Seine valley proper into those of its watershed,—up the Eure to Anet, the Ept to Gisors, or the Andelle to Lyons-le-Forêt or beyond,—one rounds off a considerable number of miles or kilometres to one’s credit, besides accomplishing much more than could possibly be achieved were the journey attempted by boat. ”

“ The Seine, no humble stream amid the army of rivers, superb in its channel, throwing its two arms about the head, the heart, the very marrow of the city, forms an island. Two suburbs reach out to right and left, the less excellent, even, of which begets envy in envious cities. ”

“ The Seine itself, though it flows for so long through Normandy, does not belong to it, but to France; the people who live on its banks are more French than Norman, and we have to go farther westward to find more typical scenery. The country lying about Gisors, and between that town and the Seine, was called the Vexin, and formed a debatable ground on which many a contest was fought, and which was held by France and Normandy in turn. ”

“ Making our way back to the highway, we pass through beautiful scenery, and once more reach the banks of the Seine at the town of Duclair which stands below the escarpment of chalk hills. There are wharves by the river-side which give the place a thriving aspect, for a considerable export trade is carried on in dairy produce. ”

“ The Seine had been frozen over from Havre to Paris for the first time since 1709; and, added to the horrors of famine arising from destruction of the last summer's harvest by hail, the icy fields and gleaming river now had a terrible aspect to the shivering poor; and even to him, Canadian though he was, accustomed to think of winter as a time of merriment, for he thought of the misery of the people.
Towards evening he was forced by a hail storm to stop at the inn of Grelot, a hamlet which adjoined the park of Eaux Tranquilles. ”

“ The true nature of such escarpments is nowhere more obvious than in parts of Normandy, where the river Seine and its tributaries flow through deep winding valleys, hollowed out of chalk horizontally stratified. Thus, for example, if we follow the Seine for a distance of about 30 miles from Andelys to Elbœuf, we find the valley flanked on both sides by a deep slope of chalk, with numerous beds of flint, the formation being laid open for a thickness of about 250 and 300 feet. Above the chalk is an overlying mass of sand, gravel, and clay, from 30 to 100 feet thick. ”

“ Forty wholly removable, regulating weirs were constructed in the Seine several years ago. When wholly closed up in summer, they maintain the required depth of water for steamboat navigation. When wholly open in floods, they cause no stoppage in the river surface. A remarkable barrage mobile has been in action for several years at a place called Port à l’Anglais, above Paris, and above the junction of the Seine and the Marne. When all is open there is not a ripple on the river flowing by. ”

“ The keeper lives in the house beyond. The tiny infant stream issues forth under the protection of a recumbent statue of the river divinity. Coach there and back 10 frs., or guide 5 frs. It is not necessary to return to Verrey. Those who please can go back by the Dijon road to St. Seine, on the Cressonne, 5 miles south, pop. 1000. Inns: Mack; Soleil d’Or. With a 14th cent, church. A diligence runs between it and Dijon. The railway station for St. Seine is Blaizy-Bas, 71⁄2 m. distant. ”

“ At every tide there is a “bore” (barre or mascaret) , ran ing usually from 8 to 9 ft., and attaining its maximum from Quillebeuf to Caudebec. Below Quillebeuf (where the Risle is received from the left) the estuary begins, set with extensive sandbanks, between which flows a narrow navigable channel. Tancarville (right) is the starting-point of a canal to enable river boats for Havre to avoid the sea passage. The river enters the English Channel between Honfleur on the left and Havre on the right. The Marne brings to the Seine the waters of the Ornain, the Ourcq, and the Morin ”

“ His having found the North of France so defenceless (to say nothing of his having taken prisoner at Caen the Count of Guisnes, on the border of whose territory Calais lay) , probably suggested the feasibility of capturing Calais on the land side. Hence the immediate attempt to cross the Seine at Rouen; and hence, when this failed, the march up the Seine—not to relieve Guienne, but to effect a passage of the river. The famous fortress fell to Edward as the result of a bold calculation, not as a piece of good luck after a desperate escapade. ”

“ The greater part of Normandy lies, it is true, across the Seine, and is, for the time, beyond our field of vision, but, barring Caen, architectural significance is well concentrated in the triangle, Rouen, Dieppe, le Havre. The same is true of the old Royaume of France; though Chartres and Bourges lie to the south, the beginning, and in some sense the culmination, of Gothic is to be found between Seine and Somme. In the east, to the Rhine, we have practically all that Germany has contributed, except in the later days of the Renaissance. ”

“ By one of these, the British goods being brought to the mouth of the Seine, in Normandy, were sent up that river as far as it was navigable, and then, being carried on horses a short distance overland, were transmitted for the remainder of the way down the Rhone, and afterwards along the coast to Narbonne and Marseilles. ”