[298] I made up my mind to go and see Toulx
Ste. Croix, Boussac, and the Druidical stones on Mont Barlot, the
_Pierres Jaunatres_.[299]
I remember looking out Toulx in Cassini's great map[300] at the
Bodleian Library. The railway through the centre of France went in those
days no farther than Vierzon. From Vierzon to Chateauroux one travelled
by an ordinary diligence, from Chateauroux to La Chatre by a humbler
diligence, from La Chatre to Boussac by the humblest diligence of all.
At Boussac diligence ended, and _patache_[301] began. Between
Chateauroux and La Chatre, a mile or two before reaching the latter
place, the road passes by the village of Nohant. The Chateau of Nohant,
in which Madame Sand lived, is a plain house by the road-side, with a
walled garden. Down in the meadows, not far off, flows the Indre,
bordered by trees. I passed Nohant without stopping, at La Chatre I
dined and changed diligence, and went on by night up the valley of the
Indre, the _Vallee Noire_, past Ste. Severe to Boussac.
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