"We have certainly done a lot of traveling and have
seen lots of country. Our transportation facilities, at times,
have been
numerous. Wish you could have seen us. However, one sure
method is marching and we certainly have had a good deal of it.
France is a beautiful country. The parts we have seen so far
don't look very much different from southern Wisconsin, excepting
buildings, means of transportation, etc. There is lots of farm-land
and most of it is cultivated intensively. They are harvesting
hay now. Of course, they haven't the modern improved methods,
which we have in the U.S. As one passes on through the country
he does not see an occasional farm-house along the road as in
America. All farm houses are situated in little groups from four
to eight miles apart, thus forming numerous small villages. Men
and women go out to their respective lands, work during the day
and return to the town in the evening. These villages all look
alike. Each village has an old dilapidated church surrounded
by an old graveyard. The streets are narrow and all the houses
are built up closely together. They all look as though they had
been built about 200 years ago. There are no modern conveniences
such as electric lights and water systems. Some of the prosperous
towns have public washing tanks built of stone, they look like
a swimming tank only are smaller. The women collect around the
edge of these, resting on their knees, and do their family washing
all using the same water. Lots of the fellows have been doing
their washing in these places also, but it does not look very
good to me. Cattle and sheep can be seen passing through the
streets every morning. Last evening a few cows were driven up
to the drinking fountain and after they got through drinking
one of the cows gobbled up a shirt, which one of the fellows
had washed, and started to chew it up. They had quite a time
rescuing it.
"As a whole I like the French people better than the
English, although we have had an awful time trying to converse
with
them owing to our ignorance of French. Saw a peculiar thing
yesterday - a little old woman came down the street carrying
a heavy bundle of hay on her back. She was terribly stooped and
looked to be ninety years old, yet she walked along rapidly,
taking about thirty-inch steps. The weather is great, just about
like southern Wisconsin, fair and warm most of the time with
an occasional shower.
"The feature, which I notice about this country is the
good road system which they have here. All the country roads
are
perfect boulevards and cars are allowed to travel as fast
as they please. They certainly do some speeding too."