--The Seine, broad, winding,
and full of islands, is the principal feature of the landscape. This
river is distinguished by its sinuosity and the number of islets which
it embraces, and it retains this character even to Paris. Its smooth
tranquillity well contrasts with the life that is imparted to the scene,
by the shipping and the bustle of the quays. The city itself, with its
verdant walks, its spacious manufactories, its strange and picturesque
buildings, and the numerous spires and towers of its churches, many of
them in ruins, but not the less interesting on account of their decay,
presents a foreground diversified with endless variety of form and
color. The bridge of boats seems immediately at our feet; the middle
distance is composed of a plain, chiefly consisting of the richest
meadows, interspersed copiously with country seats and villages
embosomed in wood; and the horizon melts into an undulating line of
remote hills.
Footnotes:
[49] _Farin, Histoire de Rouen_, I.
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