eing
until a more rational hour. My rooms at the hotel, however, were not yet
vacated, so that it was impossible to go to my bedroom till eight o'clock.
The hotel courtyard, though picturesque, with its three superimposed
galleries and its cylindrical tower containing the staircase, was not, at
this hour in the morning at least, a place to linger in. It seemed
therefore the wisest plan to begin an exploration of some of the adjoining
streets to fill the time. After having seen the exterior of three or four
churches, the interiors of some others; after having explored a dozen
curious courtyards and the upper part of the town, where the Chateau
stands, the clocks began to strike seven, although to me it seemed like
noon. By half-past eight the afternoon seemed well advanced, and when
dejeuner made its appearance at the hotel it seemed as though the day would
never cease. I had by this time seen several more churches and interesting
old buildings, and my whole senses had become so jaded that I would
scarcely have moved a yard to have seen the finest piece of architecture in
the whole of Normandy. The circumstances of this day, were, no doubt,
exceptional, but I mention them as a warning to those who with a pathetic
conscientiousness endeavour to see far more than they can possibly
comprehend in the space of a very few hours. It would be far better to
spend one's whole time in the great church of the Abbaye aux Hommes, and
photograph in one's mind the simplicity of the early Norman structure, than
to have a confused recollection of this, St Pierre, the church of the
Abbaye aux Darnes and half a dozen others.

The galleried hotel I have mentioned was known as the Hotel St Barbe. It is
now converted into a warehouse, but no one need regret this for it was more
pleasant to look at than to actually stay in. I am glad, personally, to
have had this experience; to have seen the country carts, with the blue
sheep-skins over the horse collars, drive into the courtyard, and to have
watched the servants of the hotel eating their meals at a long table in the
open air. There was a Spanish flavour about the place that is not found in
the modern hotels.

There is no town I have ever known more confusing in its plan than Caen,
and, although I have stayed there for nearly a week on one occasion, I am
still a little uncertain in which direction to turn for the castle when I
am at the church of St Jean. The streets, as a rule, are narrow and