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[Page 35]
for scores of miles and on each side of the river are countless vineyards and fruit trees. I think I saw more fruit trees there in one half hours journey than I had ever seen before, there never seemed to be an end of them for hours on hours we passed vineyards and orchards without a stop and all the time you could see the river shimmering through the trees with a high background of hills behind. The hills beyond the river were all cultivated with vineyards just the same even the highest of them were cultivated wherever it was possible to grow a vine. This went on until we reached Lyons a town situated on the Rhone a good way up in France. After leaving Lyons we left the river and started to wind up the mountains following all the time a small stream winding in and out of the mountain. Here the scenery was even grander than before and here again the vineyards again shone out. That of grape growing is practically the only occupation of these hilly districts the hills make no difference to the vine growing they are each just the same as the level ground as long as it does not become too rocky to work them. The scenery crossing these hills was magnificent. All vegetation is so profuse, thicker than anything I have ever seen on the coast of NSW. What struck me so much was the greenness of the whole country. I never saw one single yard of soil that didn't have a covering of grass on the whole journey.
Once we topped the hilly country we turned westward and made in the direction of Paris. We were not lucky enough to go through Paris we only just touched the outskirts coming through Versailles on the other side. Once we left Paris behind we came into the wheat growing country it is just harvest time in France