the church until better times
should come.

After luncheon we went over to Soissons in the auto--the most enchanting
drive through the forest of Villers-Cotterets--the poplar trees a line
of gold and all the others taking the most lovely colours of red and
brown. Soissons is a fine old cathedral town with broad squares, planted
with stiff trees like all the provincial towns in France; many large
old-fashioned hotels, entre cour et jardin, and a number of convents and
abbeys, now turned into schools, barracks, government offices of all
kinds, but the fine proportions and beautiful lines are always there.

The city has seen many changes since its first notoriety as the capital
of the France of Clovis, and one feels how much has happened in the
quiet deserted streets of the old town, where almost every corner is
picturesque. The fine ruins of St. Jean des Vignes faced us as we drove
along the broad boulevard. A facade and two beautiful towers with a
cloister is all that remains of a fine old abbey begun in 1076. It is
now an arsenal. One can not always get in, but the porter made no
difficulty for us, and we wandered about in the court-yard and cloister.
The towers looked beautifully grey and soft against the bright blue sky,
and the view over Soissons, with all its churches and old houses, was
charming. It seems that Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, lived
at the Abbey when he was exiled from England and had taken refuge in
France.

We wanted to go to the service in the Cathedral, but thought we would go
first to the patissier (an excellent one, well known in all the
neighbourhood) famous for a very good bonbon made of coffee and called
"Tors de Soissons." The little place was full--every schoolboy in
Soissons was there eating cakes and bonbons. There was a notice up in
the shop, "Lipton Tea," and we immediately asked for some. The woman
made a place for us, with difficulty, on a corner of a table and gave us
very good English tea, toast and cakes. I complimented the patronne on
her tea and she said so many automobiles with foreigners--English
principally--passed through Soissons in the summer--all asking for
tea--that she thought she must try to get some. One of the ladies told
her where to get Lipton Tea and how much to pay for it. She has found it
a very good speculation.

We walked to the Cathedral through a grand old Square planted with fine
trees, that had once been a part of the garden of the Eveche. A