| Description | [Diary Transcription]
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Tarare — and Tarare (as far as we saw it) a better town than Roanne — now as we stand
at the poste a long not good not wide street before us terminated by a pile of house forming the opposite side
of a long narrowish street at right angles to us — we turn right (Old looking not well built
town) and get into shabby grande place and then wider but not good streets — a sort of oldish, chateau like,
Square wall with little culs de lampe (as in church nef of Notre Dame des Doms at Avignon) at the
corners — nor time nor weather to inquire about the remains of old Roman baths at Roanne —
on leaving Roanne the hills some miles off left, and behind us towards the Ardêche indistinct
through the fog — A wide plain now before us — and we shall have mere undulations — an end of
Mountains — at 1 25/.. very good wheat in narrow ridges as before, or even narrower — not more
than a foot wide — a few vines (left) — busy looking over Josephine’s Barèges accounts
not yet paid up in full — the rough large granite boulder pavé all the way to the goodish
little village of St Germain L’espinasse where opposite the poste the street rubbled with granite
rubble — roads wet and bad today — from Tarare to Pain Bouchon good, and our 2nd stage
very fair, but since then the rough bad pavé — at the little town of La Pacaudière at 3 11/..
1 or 2 brick old curious looking buildings — Hardly looked up from Josephine’s accounts
all this stage — At 4 11/.. at the little town of St Martin d’Estréaux, and as we reached the poste
Shut up Josephine’s accounts — tired of them — nice country we have passed through latterly —
roads red and heavy — not quite so much of the rough pavé the last stage, and commence this on rubbled
road — fine extensive view, right — undulating road — corn and grass land all today —
pretty undulating country — red clayey roads and land and now at 4 50/.. almost fair, 1st time since
10 a.m. The sun set some while ago — At 5 5/.. at the little village or hamlet of Droiturier
and A- [Ann] reading Estrangin’s work on Arles Told me the idea of lacrymatories being to hold
tears was ridiculous — Estrangin thinks they were to hold balsamics and aromatics — no! said I, (as
it just occurred to me) more probably to hold oil for the little lamps — the people who would put
an obolos into a tomb to pay Charon for ferrying the Soul over the Styx, would not forget
oil for the lamps — Alight à l’hotel de la Poste à Lapalisse at 6 — poorish
place — Took one double bedded carpetted room for A- [Ann] and myself — a bad dinner (very little
to eat) about 7 to 7 55/.. determined not to try breakfast but be off at 6 1/2 or 6 3/4 a.m. —
A- [Ann] in bed by 9 — I sat up finishing journal and had just written so far at 9 35/.. at which hour
Fahrenheit 49 3/4° in Spite of our Smoking fire — finish morning till 10 from then rainy day till fair
about 4 1/2 p.m. but windy night and probably rainy — then till 9 50/.. writing out accounts of today —
Monday 5
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Fahrenheit 48° at 6 25/.. the bed felt cold last night — not comfortable — something to do to get us off — I went down
paid and waited till the horses came and got off from the hotel de La Poste à Lapalisse at 7 5/.. poor
sort of Inn — poor dinner that should have been 3/. instead of 4/. per tête — fine morning — reddish-
-white, not good sandy soil — foot or at most 18 inches ridges of wheat again — rubble road but
wet and cut up — Picturesque ill-paved little bourg of St Gerand-le-Puy at 8 2/.. drizzling rain
before 8 and likely to continue — undulating road and country and fine extensive view and tolerably clear —
then flat and uninteresting — then fine view (left) behind (of the Ardêche mountains hardly distinguishable
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through the haze — Varenne at 9 10/.. Hotel de l’ancien poste looks very decent, and a little farther small
hotel at the poste — woman came to the carriage door and asked us to breakfast — Coffee, or cutlets quite ready —
the church bells ringing — and the people in their holiday clothes — market day — the Bourbonnais
straw bonnet turned up before and behind, broadly bound with one colour and lined with another (generally
bound with black and lined with pink or blue) very pretty, and made the market gay and picturesque — the men wear
broad brimmed black beaver hats — plenty of turkeys, geese, and fowls in the market — Great many
remarkably tall women — Poor Louis 16! stayed to eat a turkey for dinner — recognized and
taken here in the night of 21 June 1791 — Picturesque little town — fair and tolerably fine on
arriving here and for some while afterwards — a few vines at 9 35/.. and village and road left to St Etienne?
and A- [Ann] and I began our breakfast she hers of bread and dried fruit and I mine of bread and 2 pears, and afterwards a
morsel of our Cette Citron, and at 10 10/.. (in 35 minutes) we had both breakfasted very well
and comfortably and cleaned our trenchers with the soft part of our bread and got to our books again — A- [Ann]
to Estrangin on Arles and I to Frossard volume 1. began him this morning from the beginning — at
10 40/.. largeish scattered village of Bessay — a few vines all the way from here to Moulins at 12 2/..
nice village-like entrance the houses being only 2 stories high — the hotel de la poste that we
should have slept at is really la poste aux chevaux, and an Inn and seems as if a
good one — here again a woman came to the carriage-door to ask if we would take coffee or potage both which — quite
ready — nice village like ville — Yes! a very nice town — see no house more than 3
Stories high — A tall slim square tower belonging to what? Stands built in to common houses like
the tower at Bagnères de Bigorre — From the poste (drive quickish) to the Paris gate (or square
tuscan gate posts) at the other end of the ville in 5 minutes at 12 20/.. — near the gate, the
Collège Royale (left) a large handsomish looking building — Is the mausoleum of poor Montmorenci
here? (i.e. at the Collège Royale) — and also near here (right) the Palais de Justice a large
handsomish looking old brick building — As a country ville 36 perches from Paris,
moulins as good for a residence as any of its compeers? the Allier winds at a little distance
below the principal part of the ville — nice, open liveable country all round about Moulins — a
little rain soon after we left there — at 12 50/.. fine sweep of the broad Allier perhaps a mile off
(left) — Still the narrow corn ridges — no more vines since just after leaving moulins —
Villeneuve Sur Allier a good village — nice open country as before — roads sadly cut up and
very heavy — light land, and still narrow ridges — a few vines — land chiefly corn in narrow ridges and under
plough — At 2 10/.. nice open wooded corn-country — the woods everywhere still in ætumnal
beauty — and the bare poplars and elms by the road sides and in some of the hedge rows are denuded for the leaves
for Sheep-fodder? or being more exposed to the wind or more early deciduous — are therefore bare
before the oaks and willows thin neighbours which are in many instances quite green — windyish today —
Saint Imbert single house — perpetual showers during the day — now at 3 5/.. a heavy shower
and very dark for about ten minutes — At 3 19/.. picturesque little town of St Pierre-Lemoutier — the
poste is also an Inn, — large oldish village-like looking Inn, where probably we should sleep
and eat more comfortably than last night — a few vines just out of the town — wide extended view
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