A tour through some parts of France, Switzerland, Savoy, Germany and Belgium, during the summer and autumn of 1814Bernard, Richard Boyle
History
A tour through some parts of France, Switzerland, Savoy, Germany and Belgium, during the summer and autumn of 1814
Bernard, Richard Boyle
Europe -- Description and travel
Yverdun was our next stage; it is after Lausanne and Vevay the most
considerable town in the canton. It is situated close to the Lake of
Neufchâtel, and is surrounded by water. It consists of three parallel
streets, terminating in a square, in which are the church and townhouse,
both neat structures. The population is about 5000. The castle is
flanked by numerous turrets, and has a venerable appearance. The
promenade presents a sort of _sea view_, as the extremity of the lake
(which is about nine leagues in length, by two in breadth) is hid from
the eye by the convexity of its waters, and the view is terminated by
the sky. At a little distance from the town, is a mineral spring, with
a large building containing baths and a pump-room.
I found the waters were strongly impregnated with sulphur. Here is a
celebrated school, containing about 250 boys; the annual expense for
each boarder is not less than fifty louis.
We proceeded in the diligence to Neufchâtel, through the towns of
Granson, St. Aubin, and Boudri. The banks of the lake present a
continued succession of vineyards, which afford the best red wine in
Switzerland. The conductor of our voiture amused us a good deal by his
eccentricity. He seemed thoroughly happy and contented; and when an old
gentleman of the party wished for a bag of crowns that were put into the
carriage, to be conveyed to Berne, the conductor declared, _he was not
like Napoleon, and wished for nothing he had not_. We found that the
establishment of a game licence had occasioned some discontent in this
country. The quantity of game is said to have greatly diminished. One
gentleman told me, they sometimes hunted wild boars on the mountains
near France. The roads here have been much shortened by a new line of
communication which has been lately opened, and the bridge at Serrier of
a single arch over a deep valley, (which formerly obliged travellers to
make a considerable circuit) has a very handsome as well as useful
effect. The town of Neufchâtel contains between 4 and 5,000 inhabitants;
it is partly built on a hill, where stand the church and castle, and
partly on a plain near the lake, on the borders of which are handsome
public walks and further improvements are carrying on. The elegant
appearance of many of the private houses proves the wealth of their
owners.
Neufchâtel is without fortifications, but is in general well built; it
is said to present a perspective, resembling, in miniature, the distant
view of Naples. The lake is not deep, but seldom freezes, although it is
thirty-one toises more elevated than that of Geneva.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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