In the length of this bridge are some mills, which are turned by the
stream; and the current is moderated under one of the arches, by a lock
placed on the down-stream side, into which barges pass, and so proceed
with security; The bridge, with its mills, forms a very picturesque
object.
At a short distance from the bridge, to the left, looking towards Paris,
is the _Colline des deux amans_, formerly surmounted by the priory of
the same name. Of the history of the monastery nothing is known with
certainty, nor is even the date of its foundation ascertained, though it
is stated by Millin to be one of the most ancient in Normandy[97]. But
the traditionary tale connected with this convent, forms the subject of
one of the lays of _Mary of France_; and it has been elegantly
translated by the late Mr. Ellis, in the introduction to his _History of
our Ancient Metrical Romances_;--Du Plessis[98] is, however, of opinion,
that the name of the priory is nothing more than a corruption from the
words, _deux monts_, in allusion to the twin hills, on one of which it
stands; or, if _lovers_ must have any thing to do with the appellation,
he piously suggests that divine love may have been intended, and that
the parties were no other than our Savior and the Virgin, whose images
were placed over the door of the conventual church.
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