登陆注册
5588900000024

第24章

The consequence of my leaving to the last my little mention of Loches is that space and opportunity fail me;and yet a brief and hurried account of that extraordinary spot would after all be in best agreement with my visit.We snatched a fearful joy,my companion and I,the afternoon we took the train for Loches.

The weather this time had been terribly against us:

again and again a day that promised fair became hopelessly foul after lunch.At last we determined that if we could not make this excursion in the sunshine,we would make it with the aid of our umbrellas.We grasped them firmly and started for the station,where we were detained an unconscionable time by the evolutions,outside,of certain trains laden with liberated (and exhilarated)cons,who,their term of service ended,were about to be restored to civil life.The trains in Touraine are provoking;they serve as little as possible for excursions.If they convey you one way at the right hour,it is on the condition of bringing you back at the wrong;they either allow you far too little time to examine the castle or the ruin,or they leave you planted in front of it for periods that outlast curiosity.They are perverse,capricious,exasperating.It was a question of our having but an hour or two at Loches,and we could ill afford to sacrifice to accidents.One of the accidents,however,was that the rain stopped before we got there,leaving behind it a moist mildness of temperature and a cool and lowering sky,which were in perfect agreement with the gray old city.Loches is certainly one of the greatest impressions of the traveller in central France,the largest cluster of curious things that presents itself to his sight.It rises above the valley of the Indre,the charming stream set in meadows and sedges,which wanders through the province of Berry and through many of the novels of Madame George Sand;lifting from the summit of a hill,which it covers to the base,a confusion of terraces,ramparts,towers,and spires.Having but little time,as I say,we scaled the hill amain,and wandered briskly through this labyrinth of antiquities.The rain had decidedly stopped,and save that we had our train on our minds,we saw Loches to the best advantage.We enjoyed that sensation with which the conscientious tourist is or ought to be well acquainted,and for which,at any rate,he has a formula in his roughandready language.We "experienced,"as they say,(most odious of verbs!)an "agreeable disappointment."We were surprised and delighted;we had not suspected that Loches was so good.

I hardly know what is best there:the strange and impressive little collegial church,with its romanesque atrium or narthex,its doorways covered with primitive sculpture of the richest kind,its treasure of a socalled pagan altar,embossed with fighting warriors,its three pyramidal domes,so unexpected,so sinister,which Ihave not met elsewhere,in church architecture;or the huge square keep,of the eleventh century,the most clifflike tower I remember,whose immeasurable thickness I did not penetrate;or the subterranean mysteries of two other less striking but not less historic dungeons,into which a terribly imperative little cicerone introduced us,with the aid of downward ladders,ropes,torches,warnings,extended hands;and,many,fearful anecdotes,all in impervious darkness.These horrible prisons of Loches,at an incredible distance below the daylight,were a favorite resource of Louis XI.,and were for the most part,I believe,constructed by him.

同类推荐
  • 台游日记

    台游日记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 六十种曲红拂记

    六十种曲红拂记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 诸经圣胎神用诀

    诸经圣胎神用诀

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 积聚门

    积聚门

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 宝庆四明志

    宝庆四明志

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 凡尘俗世一百年

    凡尘俗世一百年

    弱小的蚂蚁一样有像大象那么大的理想。心无止境路无极。
  • 心灵的力量大全集(超值金版)

    心灵的力量大全集(超值金版)

    如果你已经是一位成功者,那么本书将告诉你怎样运用这些心灵的力量保持成功,永不言败;如果你现在是一位失败者,那么本书将帮你跃出失败的泥潭,摆脱过去的阴影,运用这些心灵的力量去成就你的未来;如果你信心不足,还在犹豫不决,踌躇不前,那么本书将帮你打开心结,透析你的强弱,提升你的智能,运用这些心灵的力量去实现你的愿望,取得事业上的成功……
  • 仙风之源

    仙风之源

    上古时代的每一个大能修士都在希望自己能够获得本源之力,本源之力又分金、木、水、火、土五行本源之力,也有冰、雷、风等特殊的本源之力,获得本源之力的修士或者妖魔就能凌驾一切法则之上,能够长生不死。一个上古时代的天才变异灵根却生错了时代,当代风灵根就是一种枷锁,靠着家传的神秘小鼎,林枫走出了一个不凡的人生道路,看他如何打破枷锁,成为世间的顶尖,去追逐那风之本源之力。
  • 手机的APP

    手机的APP

    万能大转盘APP,丑图秀秀APP,仙付宝APP,抖音APP,YY语音APP,丹淘APP,鬼画符APP.....你见过几亿人跳广场舞吗?你见过美女如云吗?没错这个世界都有。审美光价值不一样的世界,以肥为美,主角来颠覆他们的世界观。梦想很简单,只是娶个仙女做老婆,但是却踏上了拯救世界的道路。且看一个街头混混如何在修真界搅动风云。欢迎加入校园你袁哥,VIP群聊号码:607121153,普通群:564589267
  • 婚意绵绵

    婚意绵绵

    萧楠从不知道,她爱的最深的男人,竟是伤的她最深的人。一场大火,让她失去了七年的记忆。一朝醒来,陌生的老公,陌生的环境,还有陌生的第三者……空白的七年,让两人的感情再次回到原点,她不曾爱他,他宠她成瘾。
  • 仙若空岚

    仙若空岚

    第一次见面,这人黑着脸一把推开他,“小和尚,别在这里碍事!”后来,他发现自己其实是她?不过这没什么要紧,跟着他脚步,她慢慢成长。可他却突然面若寒霜,冷冷地吐出扎人心的话,“滚,永远不要出现在我面前,不然我不保证不会杀了你!”就在她放下一切时,这人又突然冒出来,“大师,别来无恙!”
  • 追妻无门:女boss不好惹

    追妻无门:女boss不好惹

    青涩蜕变,如今她是能独当一面的女boss,爱了冷泽聿七年,也同样花了七年时间去忘记他。以为是陌路,他突然向他表白,扬言要娶她,她只当他是脑子抽风,他的殷勤她也全都无视。他帮她查她父母的死因,赶走身边情敌,解释当初拒绝她的告别,和故意对她冷漠都是无奈之举。突然爆出她父母的死居然和冷家有丝毫联系,还莫名跳出个公爵未婚夫,扬言要与她履行婚约。峰回路转,破镜还能重圆吗? PS:我又开新文了,每逢假期必书荒,新文《有你的世界遇到爱》,喜欢我的文的朋友可以来看看,这是重生类现言,对这个题材感兴趣的一定要收藏起来。
  • 冰结终相拥

    冰结终相拥

    “喂!陈润!你要去哪里!”随着陈润的消失,许多超乎想象的事情发生。仙界圣尊,深海沉冰,身份成秘的狐狸美人。超出一切的相像。何时才能与你相拥?苦苦地等待,结果究竟如何?误会何时解?
  • 追妻无门:女boss不好惹

    追妻无门:女boss不好惹

    青涩蜕变,如今她是能独当一面的女boss,爱了冷泽聿七年,也同样花了七年时间去忘记他。以为是陌路,他突然向他表白,扬言要娶她,她只当他是脑子抽风,他的殷勤她也全都无视。他帮她查她父母的死因,赶走身边情敌,解释当初拒绝她的告别,和故意对她冷漠都是无奈之举。突然爆出她父母的死居然和冷家有丝毫联系,还莫名跳出个公爵未婚夫,扬言要与她履行婚约。峰回路转,破镜还能重圆吗? PS:我又开新文了,每逢假期必书荒,新文《有你的世界遇到爱》,喜欢我的文的朋友可以来看看,这是重生类现言,对这个题材感兴趣的一定要收藏起来。
  • 夏日恋爱通告

    夏日恋爱通告

    相遇之前,谁也不知道命运的线会怎样交集…… 她,是拥有显赫背景的个性公主,不过在遇到他的时候,她只是小小的贴身保镖。他,是光芒万丈的当红大明星,不过在遇到她之后,他却是一个挥着翅膀的恶魔雇主……每个人在面具下都拥有另外一张面孔。只不过当两个同样戴着面具的人相遇,在同—个屋檐下的磕磕碰碰,让彼此发生了不一样的变化……一个当红明星的背后到底隐藏了多少秘密?当冤家演变成懵懂恋人,风波不断的娱乐圈风暴又将这场夏日恋爱推向哪里?