1936 On the Continent

the Abbeye aux Hommes (Men’s Abbey), built by William the Conqueror and Queen Mathilda, each at opposite ends of the town, to expiate the sin they committed in marrying despite their relationship. Both are lovely examples of Romanesque architecture at its very best.
    Caen has plenty of good hotels. You cannot do better, as a matter of fact, than to stay at the Hôtel Terminus opposite the station, or if you prefer something rather less pretentious and cheaper, go to the Hôtel Malsherbes on the Place du Maréchal Foch, where they make a wonderful dish of the famous “Tripes à la mode de Caen.” Even if you have never been able to bear the thought of tripe, once you have eaten it there you’ll change your mind.
    Bayeux, a small provincial town to the west of Caen, has a cathedral which is considered to be a really marvellous example of medieval architecture. The portal is sculptured with figures representing the life of the English saint, Thomas à Becket. In the neighbouring bishop’s palace, a tip to the concierge will give you the unique privilege of seeing the famous tapestry of Queen Mathilda, usually referred to as the Bayeux tapestry, which consists of fifty-two scenes embroidered on a cloth of over 200 feet long, representing the conquest of England by the Normans. If you look very carefully, but don’t do it when you’re with a party of ladies, you’ll see some very amusing little incidents which are practically never shown on the reproductions of the tapestry. You will find the Hôtel du Lion d’Or very comfortable and a first-class place for a meal.
Mont-Saint-Michel and Channel
    On the other side of the Cotentin peninsula, opposite the islands of Jersey and Guernsey, just where Normandy runs into Brittany, stands one of the seven marvels of the Western world: Mont-Saint-Michel.
    You get to it through Avranches, a small town perched on a hill overlooking the whole of the famous Mont-Saint-Michel bay. There is nothing much to see in the town itself, but it is a useful place to stay in for excursions. For instance, you can stop at the Hôtel Bonneau near the station, and after taking a quick look at the town, go on to Pontorsaon and Mont-Saint-Michel. The famous abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel is built on a tiny island near the coast and accessible on foot at low tide. The whole construction points sheer up into the sky, and towers over the coast and countryside around it.
    It is a fortified monastery, protected by immensely thick walls with only one entrance. In the whole of history,never once did anyone succeed in capturing it. Inside its walls is a small village of about 300 inhabitants with excellent hotels where they make a speciality of all kinds of wonderful omelets. The Abbey, properly so called, consists of three stories, a perfect warren of stairways, corridors, vaulted halls and chapels, which will take you several hours to see. One of the most remarkable things in it is the church with its “Dentelle” (lace) stairway, named after the light and gracefully carved stonework of the balustrade. There is the cloister too, famous throughout the whole world, decorated with 227 small columns of red granite, and the immense Salle des Chevaliers, with its four naves, monster pillars and monumental fireplaces.
    From Avranches you should also visit Granville, a picturesque town enclosed by an old wall and perched on a rocky promontory. From the top of the church of Notre Dame there is a fine view out to sea, which is particularly worth seeing in rough weather. There is a certain amount of gay life there too in the hotels and casinos.

BRITTANY
    The Breton Peninsula has been compared frequently to a monk’s head. The centre, which represents the tonsure, is almost uncultivated, consisting of waste lands where furze and other wild plants grow, while the jagged and fertile coasts form the luxuriant growth of hair. The sterility of the interior of Brittany, the cutting-up of its coasts into a multitude of cantons, all these factors explain the extreme dispersion of the Breton population which, because of that, has made contact only recently with the rest of the country. This relative isolation explains in turn why this vast region presents an aspect, customs, even a language, absolutely different to those of other French provinces, even of the neighbouring ones. And it is that difference which is the cause of its profound originality and of its attraction. It is almost another country.
    The Bretons are