Only one thing could have made our journey more delightful,--and that unfortunately was not possible,--the possession of a sort of amphibious automobile which, when occasion required, would take to water for a space,--we did take to water on one occasion, but the circumstance is too reminiscent of misery to recount here,--or to go one better, some sort of a machine constructed by the ingenuity of man which should travel by land, by water, or through the air; then bad stretches of _pavé_ would truly be eliminated and all hills levelled. But this would indeed be in the millennium, and this book deals only with facts.
One enters the Seine from the sea at Havre by rounding a veritable graveyard of rocks. When we entered Havre on this occasion--the artist, the automobile, and the author, it was a dull, misty morning in May, and the hour, 5 A. M.
The cross-channel boat progressed slowly through the basin to its dock, swung its length as slowly around, and finally tied up with its deck some eight feet below the level of the wharf pavement.
The process of disembarking an automobile under these conditions was complicated. With true British conservatism of tradition, the captain, his mate, quartermaster, and crew of engineers and stokers declared that the automobile could not be landed "until the tide served,"--and it was still going down.
Meantime the patron of the local garage, having been advised of our coming, was on the wharf thoroughly equipped to receive us. Accompanying this thoughtful individual was a rubicund, genial-looking gentleman who afterward proved to be the representative of the _Département des Mines_, who had come from Rouen sometime during the still hours of the night, to put us through our paces. Clambering the steeply pitched gangplank, the author--who in this case was also the chauffeur--interviewed the before-mentioned gentlemen, thinking meanwhile that it was more or less astonishing that they should have put in an appearance at such an early hour.
It was suggested that a half-dozen stalwart Frenchmen could lift the automobile and all its twelve hundredweight on their shoulders. It seemed incredible, but it was worth trying--otherwise, four hours delay. It was tried, to the contempt of the crew of the steamer, and to their chagrin the feat was accomplished at a cost of three francs, which was immediately expended in _calvados_ at the little _cabaret_ opposite.