e
chin; the hair is turned up, "en chignon," over the skull-cap. The body of
the dress has a large "piece" of red or yellow, and sleeves to match. The
men wear several very short coats, one over the other, the shortest
trimmed with fringe; sometimes sentences are embroidered with coloured
woollens round the edge. It was market day; the women were sitting, with
distaff and spindle, on each side of the entrance to the Halle. Some of
them have short bead-chains with a ring, attached to the left shoulder, to
stick their distaffs in when not at work. There was abundance of fruit and
vegetables, potatoes, and sardines, which, with bigoudens and other
articles of dress, formed the principal commodities for sale. Pont l'Abbe
and its Port, Loctudy, carry on an extensive trade with Jersey, and large
quantities of potatoes are exported to that island. There were some Jersey
merchants at the table-d'hote.

[Illustration: 50. Peasant Girl. Pont l'Abbe.]

The church of Pont l'Abbe has only one aisle. There is a fine rose window
over the west entrance, of great lightness and richness, with a smaller
one at the left; at the east end is another rose window of larger
dimensions, the mullions forming geometric patterns, but differing in
design from the other. The French architects always took great pains in
the decoration of this part of the church, and these wheel windows really
rival those of Rouen.

[Illustration: 51. Apse of the Church, Loctudy.]

Attached to the church, are the cloisters of the Carmelite convent to
which the church formerly belonged, built in the beginning of the
fifteenth century by Bertram de Rosmadec, who had so much contributed to
the completion of the cathedral at Quimper. The square is surrounded by an
interlaced circular arcade, forming trefoiled pointed arches, all in
excellent preservation. The access to the cloisters is through the
conventual building, now a private house and garden, the proprietor kindly
granting us permission.

We drove to Loctudy, on the mouth of the Pont l'Abbe river opposite the
little island of Tudy, called after an English saint of that name. Fleeing
from the persecutions of the Picts and Scots who desolated his country, he
founded here, at the end of the fifth century, a considerable monastery,
afterwards destroyed by the Normans.

At Loctudy is a curious Romanesque church, one of the best preserved in
Brittany, which dates from the Templars of the twelfth century. It has a
n