But for the Castle.  It is situated at the extremity of an open space, terminated by a portion of the boulevards; having, in the foreground, the public library to the left, and a sort of municipal hall to the right:  neither of them objects of much architectural consequence.  Still nearer in the foreground, is a fountain; whither men, women, and children—­but chiefly the second class, in the character of blanchisseuses—­regularly resort for water; as its bason is usually overflowing.  It was in a lucky moment that Mr. Lewis paid a visit to this spot; which his ready pencil transmitted to his sketch-book in a manner too beautiful and faithful not to be followed up by a finished design.  I send you a portion of this prettily grouped picture; premising, that the woman to the right, in the foreground, begged leave purposely to sit—­or rather stand—­for her portrait.  The artist, in a short time, was completely surrounded by spectators of his graphic skill.

[Illustration]

The “Cheval Blanc”—­the name of the hotel at which I reside—­should be rather called the “Cheval Noir;” for a more dark, dingy, and even dirty residence, for a traveller of any nasal or ocular sensibility, can be rarely visited.  My bed room is hung with tapestry; which, for aught I know to the contrary, may represent the daring exploits of MONTGOMERY and MATIGNON:  but which is so begrimed with filth that there is no decyphering the subjects worked upon it.

On leaving the inn—­and making your way to the top of the street—­you turn to the left; but on looking down, again to the left, you observe, below you, the great high road leading to Caen, which has a noble appearance.  Indeed, the manner in which this part of Normandy is intersected with the “routes royales” cannot fail to strike a stranger; especially as these roads run over hill and dale, amidst meadows, and orchards, equally abundant in their respective harvests.  The immediate vicinity of the town is as remarkable for its picturesque objects of scenery as for its high state of cultivation; and a stroll upon the heights, in whatever part visited, will not fail to repay you for the certain disappointment to be experienced within the streets of the town.  Portions of the scenery, from these heights, are not unlike those in Derbyshire, about Matlock.  There is plenty of rock, of shrubs, and of fern; while another Derwent, less turbid and muddy, meanders below.  Thus much for a general, but hasty sketch of the town of Vire.  My next shall give you some detail of the interior of a few of the houses, of which I may be said to have hitherto only contemplated the roofs.

And yet I must not close my despatch without performing my promise about the CASTLE; of which indeed (as you will see by the subjoined miniature view) only a sort of ruinous shell remains.  Its age may be a little towards the end of the thirteenth century.  The stone is of a deep reddish tint:  and although what remains is only a portion of the keep, yet I can never suppose it, even in its state of original integrity, to have been of very capacious dimensions.  Its site is most commanding.