East of Paris: Sketches in the Gâtinais, Bourbonnais, and Champagne

A series of travel sketches roams through eastern French regions, moving from small market towns and forested valleys to cathedral cities and border provinces. Chapters offer close descriptions of scenery, architecture, local customs, and artist colonies, interwoven with vivid portraits of rural inhabitants and everyday conversations. Anecdotes and domestic scenes illustrate agricultural habits, social routines, and economic realities, while the author reflects on contrasts between provincial and urban manners. The result is a varied, anecdotal itinerary that combines sightseeing with social observation across the Gâtinais, Bourbonnais, Champagne, Lorraine, and Alsace.