re on the sandy ridge between the road and the shore, they have scarcely
anything more to suggest a garden than the thin wiry grass that contrives
to exist in such soil.

Down on the wide sandy beach there is an extensive sweep of the coast to be
seen stretching from beyond Ouistreham to the bold cliffs of Le Havre.
Keeping along the road by the tramway you have been out of sight of the
sea, but in a few minutes the pleasant leafiness of Cabourg has been
reached. Here everything has the full flavour of a seaside resort, for we
find a casino, a long esplanade, hotels, shops and bathing apparatus. It is
a somewhat strong dose of modern life after the slumbering old world towns
and villages we have been exploring, and it is therefore with great
satisfaction that we turn toward the village of Dives lying close at hand.
The place possesses a splendid old market hall, more striking perhaps than
that of Ecouche and a picturesque inn--the Hotel Guillaume le Conquerant.
The building is of stone with tiled roofs, and in the two courtyards there
are galleries and much ancient timber-framing, but unfortunately the
proprietor has not been content to preserve the place in its natural
picturesqueness. He has crowded the exterior, as well as the rooms, with a
thousand additions of a meretricious character which detract very much from
the charm of the fine old inn and defeat the owner's object, that of making
it attractive on account of its age and associations. Madame de Sevigne
wrote many of her letters in one of the rooms, but we know that she saw
none of the sham antique lamps, the well-head, or the excess of flowers
that blaze in the courtyards. On account of its name, the unwary are
trapped into thinking that William the Norman--for he had still to defeat
Harold--could have frequently been seen strolling about this hostelry, when
his forces for invading England were gathering and his fleet of ships were
building. This is, of course, a total misapprehension, for the only
structure that contains anything that dates back to 1066 is the church.
Even this building dates chiefly from the fourteenth century, but there is
to be seen, besides the Norman walls, a carved wooden cross that is
believed to have been found in the sea, and therefore to have some
connection with William's great fleet and its momentous voyage to England.
The names of the leading men who accompanied William are engraved upon two
marble slabs inside the church, and on