After awhile we turned into a by-road, and presently descending between
high hedges, the object of our excursion suddenly and unexpectedly
opened up before our astonished vision.
It would be difficult to forget the effect of that first view of le
Folgoet. The high hedges on either side had concealed everything. These
fell away, and within a few yards of us, in a barren and dreary plain
uprose the wonderful church.
A few poor houses and cottages comprise the village, and here nearly a
thousand inhabitants manage to stow themselves away. But nothing strikes
you more in these Breton villages than their silent and apparently
deserted condition, even at midday. Nine times out of ten, there is
scarcely a creature to be seen in the streets, the house doors are for
the most part closed, no face peers curiously from the windows, and no
sound breaks upon the stillness of the air.
So was it to-day. The tramp of our horses, the rumbling of wheels alone
startled the silence as we approached the church. The small houses
forming the village in no way took from its grandeur or interfered with
its solitude and solemnity.
There in the desolate plain it rose, "a thing of beauty and a joy for
ever." Its charm fell upon us in the first moment, its wonderful tone
and colouring held us spellbound. Our first wonder was to find a
building so perfect in the midst of this desolate plain, so far away
from the world and civilization.
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