A Days Tour

Day's Tour, A

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Title: A Day's Tour A Journey through France and Belgium by Calais,
Tournay, Orchies, Douai, Arras, Béthune, Lille, Comines, Ypres,
Hazebrouck, Berg
Author: Percy Fitzgerald
Release Date: August 12, 2005 [EBook #16518]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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TOUR ***

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[Illustration: PRICE ONE SHILLING.
CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY.]
[Illustration]

A DAY'S TOUR
A Journey through France and Belgium
BY
_CALAIS, TOURNAY, ORCHIES, DOUAI, ARRAS, BETHUNE,
LILLE, COMINES, YPRES, HAZEBROUCK, BERGUES, AND ST.
OMER_
WITH A FEW SKETCHES
BY PERCY FITZGERALD
[Illustration]
London CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY 1887

PREFACE.
This trifle is intended as an illustration of the little story in 'Evenings at
Home' called 'Eyes and No Eyes,' where the prudent boy saw so much
during his walk, and his companion nothing at all. Travelling has
become so serious a business from its labours and accompaniments,
that the result often seems to fall short of what was expected, and the
means seem to overpower the end. On the other hand, a visit to
unpretending places in an unpretending way often produces unexpected
entertainment for the contemplative man. Some such experiment was
the following, where everything was a surprise because little was
expected. The epicurean tourist will be facetious on the loss of sleep
and comfort, money, etc.; but to a person in good health and spirits
these are but trifling inconveniences.
ATHENÆUM CLUB, _August, 1887_.

CONTENTS.

I. IN TOWN
II. DOVER
III. THE PACKET
IV. CALAIS
V. TOURNAY
VI. DOUAI
VII. ARRAS
VIII. LILLE
IX. YPRES
X. BERGUES
XI. ST. OMER
XII. ST. PIERRE LES CALAIS

A DAY'S TOUR.

I.
_IN TOWN._
It is London, of a bright sultry August day, when the flags seem
scorching to the feet, and the sun beats down fiercely. It has yet a
certain inviting attraction. There is a general air of bustle, and the
provincial, trundled along in his cab, his trunks over his head, looks out
with a certain awe and sense of delight, noting, as he skirts the Park,
the gay colours glistening among the dusty trees, the figures flitting

past, the riders, the carriages, all suggesting a foreign capital. The great
city never looks so brilliant or so stately as on one of these 'broiling'
days. One calls up with a sort of wistfulness the great and picturesque
cities abroad, with their grand streets and palaces, ever a delightful
novelty. We long to be away, to be crossing over that night--enjoying a
cool fresh passage, all troubles and monotony left behind.
On one such day this year--a Wednesday--these mixed impressions and
longings presented themselves with unwonted force and iteration. So
wistful and sudden a craving for snapping all ties and hurrying away
was after all spasmodic, perhaps whimsical; but it was quickened by
that sultry, melting air of the parks and the tropical look of the streets.
The pavements seemed to glare fiercely like furnaces; there was an air
of languid Eastern enjoyment. The very dogs 'snoozed' pleasantly in
shady corners, and all seemed happy as if enjoying a holiday.
How delightful and enviable those families--the father, mother, and fair
daughters, now setting off gaily with their huge boxes--who to-morrow
would be beside the ever-delightful Rhine, posting on to Cologne and
Coblentz. What a welcome ring in those names! Stale, hackneyed as it
is, there comes a thrill as we get the first glimpse of the silvery placid
waters and their majestic windings. Even the hotels, the bustle, and the
people, holiday and festive, all seem novel and gay. With some people
this fairy look of things foreign never 'stales,' even with repetition. It is
as with the illusions of the stage, which in some natures will triumph
over the rudest, coarsest shocks.
Well, that sweltering day stole by. The very cabmen on their 'stands'
nodded in blissful dreams. The motley colours in the Park--a stray
cardinal-coloured parasol or two added to the effect--glinted behind the
trees. The image of the happy tourists in the foreign streets grew more
vivid. The restlessness increased every hour, and was not to be 'laid.'
Living within a stone's-throw of Victoria Station, I find a strange and
ever new sensation in seeing the night express and its passengers
starting for foreign lands--some wistful and anxious, others