"--We found nothing to repay the
trouble of the walk.
Bernay contains upwards of six thousand inhabitants, the greater part of
whom are engaged in manufacturing coarse woollen and cotton cloths; and
the manufactures flourish, the goods made being principally for home
consumption. It is the chief place of the _arrondissement_, and the
residence of a sub-prefect.--Most of the houses are like those at Rouen,
merely wooden frames filled with mortar, which, in several instances, is
faced with small bricks and flints, disposed in fanciful patterns: here
and there the beams are carved with a variety of grotesque figures. The
lower story of all those in the high street retires, leaving room for a
wooden colonnade, which shelters the passenger, though it is entirely
destitute of all architectural beauty. The head-dress of the females at
Bernay is peculiar, and so very archaic, that our chamber-maid at the
inn appeared to deserve a sketch, full as much as any monumental effigy.
[Illustration: Head-dress of females of Bernay]
On our road between Bernay and Orbec, we stopped at the village of
Chambrais, more commonly called Broglie. Before the revolution, it
belonged to the noble family of that name, and it thence derived its
familiar appellation.
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