hen, except for a
chance view from a narrow window, there is nothing to correct the
impression that you are still on the same side of the mount as the
Merveille. At last the perambulation is finished--the dazzling sunshine is
once more all around you as you come out to the steep steps that lead
towards the ramparts.

CHAPTER VIII

Concerning Coutances and Some Parts of the Cotentin

When at last it is necessary to bid farewell to Mont St Michel, one is not
compelled to lose sight of the distant grey silhouette for a long while. It
remains in sight across the buttercup fields and sunny pastures on the road
to Pontaubault. Then again, when climbing the zig-zag hill towards
Avranches the Bay of Mont St Michel is spread out. You may see the mount
again from Avranches itself, and then if you follow the coast-road towards
Granville instead of the rather monotonous road that goes to its
destination with the directness of a gun-shot, there are further views of
the wonderful rock and its humble companion Tombelaine.

Keeping along this pretty road through the little village of Genets, where
you actually touch the ocean, there is much pretty scenery to be enjoyed
all the way to the busy town of Granville. It is a watering-place and a
port, the two aspects of the town being divided from each other by the
great rocky promontory of Lihou. If one climbs up right above the place
this conformation is plainly visible, for down below is the stretch of
sandy beach, with its frailly constructed concert rooms and cafes
sheltering under the gaunt red cliffs, while over the shoulder of the
peninsula appears a glimpse of the piers and the masts of sailing ships.
There is much that is picturesque in the seaport side of the town,
particularly towards evening, when the red and green harbour-lights are
reflected in the sea. There are usually five or six sailing ships loading
or discharging their cargoes by the quays, and you will generally find a
British tramp steamer lying against one of the wharves. The sturdy
crocketed spire of the sombre old church of Notre Dame stands out above the
long line of shuttered houses down by the harbour. It is a wonderful
contrast, this old portion of Granville that surmounts the promontory, to
the ephemeral and gay aspect of the watering-place on the northern side.
But these sort of contrasts are to be found elsewhere than at Granville,
for at Dieppe it is much the same, although the view of that popula