A Little Tour in France, by Henry James
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A Little Tour in France, by Henry James
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I am ashamed to begin with saying that Touraine is the garden of France; that remark has long ago lost its bloom. The town of Tours, however, has some thing sweet and bright, which suggests that it is sur- rounded by a land of fruits. It is a very agreeable little city; few towns of its size are more ripe, more complete, or, I should suppose, in better humor with themselves and less disposed to envy the responsibili- ties of bigger places. It is truly the capital of its smil- ing province; a region of easy abundance, of good living, of genial, comfortable, optimistic, rather indolent opinions. Balzac says in one of his tales that the real Tourangeau will not make an effort, or displace him- self even, to go in search of a pleasure; and it is not difficult to understand the sources of this amiable cynicism. He must have a vague conviction that he can only lose by almost any change. Fortune has been kind to him: he lives in a temperate, reasonable, sociable climate, on the banks, of a river which, it is true, sometimes floods the country around it, but of which the ravages appear to be so easily repaired that its aggressions may perhaps be regarded (in a region where so many good things are certain) merely as an occasion for healthy suspense. He is surrounded by fine old traditions, religious, social, architectural, culi- nary; and he may have the satisfaction of feeling that he is French to the core. No part of his admirable country is more characteristically national. Normandy is Normandy, Burgundy is Burgundy, Provence is Pro- vence; but Touraine is essentially France. It is the land of Rabelais, of Descartes, of Balzac, of good books and good company, as well as good dinners and good houses. George Sand has somewhere a charm- ing passage about the mildness, the convenient quality, of the physical conditions of central France, - "son climat souple et chaud, ses pluies abondantes et courtes." In the autumn of 1882 the rains perhaps were less short than abundant; but when the days were fine it was impossible that anything in the way of weather could be more charming. The vineyards and orchards looked rich in the fresh, gay light; cultivation was everywhere, but everywhere it seemed to be easy.
A Little Tour in France, by Henry James- Published on: 2015-10-20
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.00" h x .53" w x 6.00" l, .70 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 232 pages
About the Author Henry James is one of the greatest American novelists, and spent his last years in England. Among his numerous works are The Ambassadors and The Golden Bowl, his two masterpieces.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Traveling a bit too fast, in the days of yore... By John P. Jones III Henry James was a prolific American (and British, taking the nationality before he died) writer, known for his dense, rich prose, and long, sometimes convoluted descriptive passages. In particular, he preferred to "straddle" the Atlantic, focusing on the respective characteristics of Europeans and Americans which seemed to define and differentiate them. His most famous works are novels, such as Daisy Miller (Dover Thrift Editions), The Bostonians (Penguin Classics), and The Ambassadors (Penguin Classics). James travelogue of France is less well-known than another work which covered portions of France and was written 15 years earlier, Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad (Wordsworth Classics), but is equally worthy of a reader's attention.The "Little Tour" starts in the autumn of 1882, and lasts six weeks. James commences in the Loire Valley, touring most of its chateaux, then heads out to the Atlantic coast at Nantes, south to Bordeaux, east to Provence, covering primarily the portion west of the Rhone River, and then north to Burgundy. It rained a lot, and that, coupled with a rather ambitious itinerary, forcing him to move virtually every day, which seemed to accent James' dyspeptic mood. For sure, it is not all "Chamber of Commerce" gloss.The true strength of the book is James' astonishing erudition. He KNOWS what has occurred historically in the various towns, and "points of interest," perhaps better than the natives themselves. Consider: "Normandy is Normandy, Burgundy is Burgundy, Provence is Provence; but Touraine is essentially France. It is the land of Rabelais, of Descartes, of Balzac, of good books and good company, as well as good dinners and good houses. George Sand has somewhere a charming passage about the mildness, the convenient quality, of physical conditions of central France: `son climat souple et chaud, ses pluies abondantes et courtes.'" James likes the chateau at Blois, as for Chambord, "...a touch of that quality of stupidity." Before departing for the coast, James takes a side trip south, to see the magnificent cathedral at Bourges, one that certainly rivals Notre Dame in Paris. He does not take the opportunity to visit the home of George Sand, who died six years earlier, in nearby Nohant. In Nantes he is impressed with the work of the sculptor, Paul Dubois, who created "...one of the purest and most touching of modern tombs."Bordeaux does not even merit three pages; James finds Toulouse of more interest, in particular Saint-Sernin, "one of the noblest churches in southern France..." James admits spending only a few hours at Carcassonne, and considers "...those hours had rounded felicity." He had a better day than I; at least in its more modern incarnation it reeks "tourist trap." Narbonne is a "dirty little town." In Nimes, he heaps a fair amount of abuse on the "Maison Carree." He also takes in the Fountaine de Vaucluse, famous as the site where Petrarch composed his love sonnets to Laura; as well as Pont du Gard, Arles, and Les Baux. His guide of over a century ago was responsible for me visiting the Aliscamps in Arles, and "seeing" the Elysian Fields that he proposed. Then he turns north, heads to Burgundy, via Macon. He concludes his tour visiting Beaune and Dijon.Like numerous others before and since, James concludes his "Little Tour" by expressing admiration for the planning and use of public space. In particular, it was a "charming public garden" in Dijon, which he enjoyed almost exclusively by himself as autumn deepened... "and as the light fade in the Parc the vision of some of the things I had enjoyed became more distinct."Overall, my own pace would have necessitated the elimination of at least half the places on the tour, not that they were without merit, but simply so as to savor the others the better. "The pleasures of travel do not go to the swift..." Still, if you are going to France, or are fortunate to live there, this book will be more valuable than many a normal tourist guide. 5-stars.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Meh By John the Reader Meh - Abandoned. Invented this new TAG for my cataloguing, and as it is rare for me not to finish a book, I doubt it will get much future use. But regretfully, with this work the game, as they say, was not worth the candle. I am tempted to leave my review at just that quite explicit Meh, but no, this is the great Master himself, James, of The Turn of the Screw author, with over 34,700 LibraryThing members owning his works, who is an author worthy of at least an honest attempt at reading.One reviewer, Author Mary Ann Hoberman of the New York Times writes that she and her husband `recently' - actually 1983 or so - toured France using this work as a guide book. I suppose if you are not already a Francophile, and intend to spend half of your touring vacation in Tours and its immediate region (as half the book does) and LOVE cathedrals and castles; it could be a valid guide.James writes that "Paris is not France" in his introduction, explaining that he feels many Americans think that it is. After his `Little tour of France" he concludes:" Neither is France Paris". Okaay ... neither is a continuously repetitious listing of campaniles, naves, transcripts are other architectural components a view of France. It is not that the author's style is particularly dated; I enjoy RL Stevenson, Sam Clemens and about thirty other authors from the same period. Nor that the tour is conducted at a crawl dictated by the transport of the 1880s - in fact RLS Travels with a Donkey, or say Twain's tours are even more perambulatory. It is just I had higher hopes, always thirsting for good travel narratives now that my favorites - Raban, Theroux, Morris et al- seem to have quasi-retired from the genre.So - just disappointment from a reader's unreasonable expectations then? But this is Henry James, the great master...
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Definite entertaining read By Linda Kosoff Although there were plenty of typos, as it was evident the typist was in a hurry, this book nevertheless inspired me to actually see what areas where James travelled. I wondered during his tour how much the landscape was changed over that more-than-hundred year span through wars, two big ones, as well as many places he mentioned that had not been renovated, but now are. All I had to do was google each place of interest, since obviously in a volunteer-typed kindle book, there are no accompanying photos. I began to collect many pictures which I shared on social media, to much delight of friends. I also was inspired to zoom in with google earth's little man, who carried me to street level to see the streets and monuments where James had walked. This was a tour well worth doing, even if I had to do it virtually. Oh by the way, I picked up on this book after reading David McCullough's Americans in Paris, which I also highly recommend to history buffs. Henry James was one of those Americans McCullough talked about. Anyone familiar with McCullough will know he does extensive research, and this one is no exception.
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