It Is Surprising To See How Happy The Founders Of
Those Religious Houses Have Been In Their Choice Of Situations,
All The World Over.
In passing through this country, I was very much struck with the
sight of large ripe clusters of grapes, entwined with the briars
and thorns of common hedges on the wayside.
The mountains of
Burgundy are covered with vines from the bottom to the top, and
seem to be raised by nature on purpose to extend the surface, and
to expose it the more advantageously to the rays of the sun. The
vandange was but just begun, and the people were employed in
gathering the grapes; but I saw no signs of festivity among them.
Perhaps their joy was a little damped by the bad prospect of
their harvest; for they complained that the weather had been so
unfavourable as to hinder the grapes from ripening. I thought,
indeed, there was something uncomfortable in seeing the vintage
thus retarded till the beginning of winter: for, in some parts, I
found the weather extremely cold; particularly at a place called
Maison-neuve, where we lay, there was a hard frost, and in the
morning the pools were covered with a thick crust of ice. My
personal adventures on the road were such as will not bear a
recital. They consisted of petty disputes with landladies, post-
masters, and postillions. The highways seem to be perfectly safe.
We did not find that any robberies were ever committed, although
we did not see one of the marechaussee from Paris to Lyons.
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