A Spring Fortnight in France

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1907. Excerpt: ... Chapter IX CARCASONNE rJJ0 Carcasonne by Castres, Castellemaury!" called out the baggage porter to the registrar. "On the other track, Mesdames; I will bring the bags." "We are in the land of garlic and rich accent, Cousin Angela." The porter pronounced the name of their destination "Car-ra-ca-sun-a," and the perfume of the odorous vegetable hung thick about him. From the apple blossoms and light spring foliage of Normandy down through the sunny splashes of the genet in Anjou, the blossoming hedges and iris of Central France, Angela Victoria and her cousin had now come where the brilliancy of the poppies, the opening roses and the high-waving fields of grain proclaimed the summer. "Here are more cleft rocks, more enchanting ravines, more well-tilled fields torn from unwilling nature; more villages tucked away in safety beneath a church, and castles, castles, castles!" Still they were in the land of the Crusaders, where wild Brabant mercenaries and jingling knights had passed over the hilltops and through the stony ways in the valley. "I fancy," said Angela, "I can see groups of mediaeval warriors and their squires trudging along on their horses through all these mountain paths!" "Steeds! You must say steeds, Cousin Angela. What I wonder is, whether the Brabant-hired soldier of the olden times was anything like the Belgian of to-day." "He was undoubtedly a very rude, formidable person," said Angela, which little piece of humour amused them very much, as they had once passed a summer in modern Brabant together. The road leads through the romantic country where, during the twelfth century, the jongleur and the knightly troubadour wandered from castle to castle gaining material for their songs and coming finally to the Court of Love, which was held so long ne...