It may be a debatable point as to whether Strasbourg and Metz might not have been included; the writer is inclined to think that they might have been, though their interests and influences have always been more Teutonic than Gallic,—still, they are thoroughly Germanized to-day, and, as we cannot interrupt the march of time, and the present volume will otherwise approach the limits originally set out for it, they must perforce be omitted.
II
NOTRE DAME DE BOULOGNE-SUR-MER
Boulogne-sur-mer is one of those neglected tourist points through which the much travelled person usually rushes en route to some other place. It perhaps hardly warrants further consideration except for the history of its past, and its intimate association with certain events which might seriously have affected the history of England. It is, however, an interesting enough place to-day, if one cares for the bustle and rush of a seaport and fishing town,—not very cleanly, and overrun with tea-shops and various establishments which cater only to the cockney abroad, who gathers here in shoals during the summer months. There is, too, a large colony of resident English, probably attracted by its nearness to London, and possibly for purposes of retrenchment, for there is no question but that the franc, of twenty per cent. less value than the shilling, accomplishes quite as much as a purchasing power. This must be quite a consideration with pater-familias with a limited income derived from Consols or some other traditionally "excellent investment."
Most travellers are familiar with what attractions Boulogne really does offer, but few if any would consider its very modern and ugly cathedral one of them.