Sketches of Manners Scenery Author:John Scott General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1821 Original Publisher: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown Subjects: France Switzerland Italy French literature History / Europe / France History / Europe / Italy Literary Criticism / European / French Travel / Europe / General Travel / Europe / France... more » Travel / Europe / Great Britain Travel / Europe / Italy Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: 25 CHAP. III. Dinan. The sail up the river Ranee, from St. Ma- loes to Dinan, is remarkably beautiful. Advantage must be generally taken of the rushing up of the tide, for if the wind be not fair, , you must start with the first moment of its turn to reach your destination. The country, in this part of Brittany, is wonderfully romantic. France in general cannot be called picturesque; by far its greatest proportion is tame and uninteresting. The banks of the Loire, of which they boast so much, are very tame to an English eye. But the neighbourhood of Dinan can be rivalled by but few spots in the world. The sides of the Ranee, as we advanced up it became nobly precipitous and rocky. Castellated houses and chateaux were seen on the heights, with old-fashioned gardens, and acountless number of windows. There were numerous ruins also, that attested the popular fury of the Revolution. One of the best of the mansions, distinguished by the beauty of its situation, had been taken by an English nobleman and family, who had here their abode while Buonaparte was last in France. As we were looking at this house, the remark was then made to us, which has been often made since, " Many of you English are fond of Buonaparte." Brittany possessed a numerous and powerful nobility, whose family seats were a...« less