The memory of those sounds is a precious one, and on the next morning, when the car carries one away, it remains among the many things in the mind that are not left behind. [Illustration: TOWN PLAN NO. 5--ROUEN. _Walker & Boutall sc._] Keeping to the north bank of the Seine, and going to the right at the fork which almost immediately presents itself, one shakes off the cobble-stones in a mile or so, and, after the modern river-side village of Amfreville, the open country is freed from the suburban growth of Rouen. Across the level green fields appear the cotton and cloth mills which are the chief industry of the neighbourhood, and in the distance on the right across the river’s windings can be seen the manufacturing town of Elbeuf. The freedom from smoke of this and the average French industrial town is most striking to the Englishman. Two kilometres beyond the hamlet of St. Crespin one turns sharply to the left, and, climbing an easy gradient among low woods, comes to the village of Igoville, where one turns to the left again; and, a kilometre farther on, goes to the right, crossing the railway and a long modern bridge over the Seine, which brings one to the old town of PONT DE L’ARCHE It is picturesquely situated above the river, which is studded with islands in this portion of its course, and the remains of the ramparts are visible on the river-side, with the towerless Church of Notre Dame des Arts rising above old roofs. There are some old timber-fronted houses, and one of them has a thirteenth-century wooden-pillared porch. Charles the Bald (died 877), a grandson of Charlemagne, had a palace at Pont de l’Arche, and the little town was one of the first to open its gates to Henry of Navarre when he became Henri IV. in 1589, after the murder of the Duke of Guise. Being one of the gates of Normandy, it suffered several sieges; the old bridge, however, survived up to 1850. The church was chiefly built in the fifteenth century, and, though unfinished, justifies its unique dedication in the wealth of beautiful carving that adorns the exterior. The chapels ranged along the sides of the nave have curious little conical roofs, which, in the absence of any tower, form the main outline of the building. The interior is very light, in spite of the fifteenth and sixteenth century glass that fills several of the windows. One of them in the north aisle is noticeable for the curious little portraits inserted at a later date. Henri IV., it is said, gave the church its organ, and Jean Gougon is associated with the carving of the font. The choir-stalls come from the neighbouring abbey of Bon-port. At a fork on leaving the town the road to Louviers goes to the left, and rises straight uphill through the forest of Pont de l’Arche. Succeeding this comes a curious stretch of switchback road, with a blue horizon beyond, and soon afterwards one is bumping on the cobble-stones of LOUVIERS