tle man sign himself 'Dugravel, _glacier_,'
that being the style of his profession, naturally recalling the
contradictory conduct of the Latin noun _lucus_.
The bones of S. Francis of Sales lie in the church of S. Francois in
Annecy, and I made a pilgrimage in search of them through very
unpleasant streets. After a time, the Italian west front of the church
appeared; but the main door led into a demonstrative bakery, and the
door of the north aisle was obscured by oleanders and a striped awning,
and over it appeared the legend, '_Entree de l'Hotel_.' As a man
politely explained, they had built S. Francis another church, and
utilised the old one. The town itself seemed to be of the squalid style
of antiquity--old, no doubt, but very dirty. It is pervaded by streams,
which crop up among the houses, and flow through dark alleys and vaulted
passages, rarely coming into daylight, and suggesting all manner of dark
crimes. The red-legged French kettledrums are, if possible, more
insolent here than in other places, and it is evident that the dogs are
not yet reconciled to the annexation, for the guard swept through the
streets amid a perfect tornado of howls from the negligent scavengers of
the place. For my own part, I was not pleased with the change of rule,
when I found that since Annecy has become French, the _vin d'Asti_ has
become dear, as being now a foreign wine.
The diligence for Bonneville was to leave Annecy at half-past four in
the morning; so I told them to call me at four, intending to breakfast
somewhere on the way. But of course, when four o'clock came, I had to
call myself, and in a quarter of an hour a knock at the door announced
half-past four. I pounced upon the man, and remonstrated with him, but
he assured me it did not matter; and when I reminded him that the
diligence was to leave at half-past four, he observed philosophically
that it was quite true, and I had better make haste, for the poste was
very punctual. At the door of the bureau a loaded diligence stood,
marked _Annecy--Aix_, and I asked had the Bonneville diligence gone? It
did not go till six, the clerk told me; but I reminded him he had said
half-past four when I asked him last night. Half-past four?--true, here
was the carriage standing at the door. But that was for Aix, not
Bonneville, I pointed out to him. Pardon--it was marked Aix, but was in
fact meant for Bonneville.
The diligence reached the end of the by-road leading to Villaz in
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