ion. No landing was attempted. In the time of the civil
wars, and more particularly in those of the League, Granville, however, had
its share of misery. It is now a quiet, dull, dreary, place; to be visited
only for the sake of the view from thence, looking towards _St. Malo_, and
_Mont St. Michel_; the latter of which I give up--as an hopeless object of
attainment. Granville is in fact built upon rock;[158] and the houses and
the only two churches are entirely constructed of granite. The principal
church (I think it was the principal) is rather pretty within, as to its
construction; but the decidedly gloomy effect given to it by the tint of
the _granite_--the pillars being composed of that substance--renders it
disagreeable to the eye. I saw several confessionals; and in one of them,
the office of confession was being performed by a priest, who attended to
two penitents at the same time; but whose physiognomy was so repulsively
frightful, that I could not help concluding he was listening to a tale
which he was by no means prepared to receive.

An hour's examination of the town thoroughly satisfied me. There was no
public conveyance to _Vire_, whither I intended immediately departing, and
so I hired a voiture to be drawn by one sturdy Norman horse. To a question
about springs, the conducteur replied that I should find every thing "tres
propre." Having paid the reckoning, I set my face towards VIRE. The day,
for the season of the year, turned out to be gloomy and cold beyond
measure: and the wind (to the east) was directly in my face. Nevertheless
the road was one of the finest that I had seen in France, for breadth and
general soundness of condition. It had all the characteristics, in breadth
and straitness, of a Roman route; and as it was greatly undulating, I had
frequently some gratifying glimpses of its bold direction. The surrounding
country was of a quietly picturesque but fruitful aspect; and had my seat
been comfortable, or after the fashion of those in my own country, my
sensations had been more agreeable. But in truth, instead of _springs_, or
any thing approximating to "tres propre," I had to encounter a _hard
plank_, suspended at the extremities, by a piece of leather, to the sides;
and as the road was but too well bottomed, and the conveyance was open in
front to the bitter blast of the east, I can hardly describe (as I shall
never forget) the misery of this conveyance.

Fortunately the first stage was _Vill