The
vines extend, on long rows of poles, to the very summit of the cliffs,
especially on the right bank, which has a better exposure to the sun;
they are often connected by strands of wire, on which straw mats are
placed to protect the vines from the cold in winter.
[Sidenote: Allied troops find many obstacles.]
On a lower level, nearer the stream, are magnificent orchards: the
cherry tree joins with the vine to impart to those slopes an aspect of
rustic opulence. Huddled white villages, with tawny-hued pointed roofs,
follow one another in regular succession on the rolling ground. Their
names have lately won a terrible celebrity: Binson, Vandieres,
Vincelles, Treloup. Sandstone quarries burrow into the summit of the
cliffs and furnish shelters for the defenders. Finally, there are strips
of forest along the slopes wherever the exposure is thought poorly
suited for crops. All these features unite to form a cheerful, animated,
lovely landscape; but at the same time a conglomeration of obstacles
which the Allied troops were able to overcome only after fierce
fighting.
[Sidenote: Villages in the hillsides.]
Below the little town of Dormans, the valley narrows temporarily: from
Treloup to Brasles it is frequently less than 500 metres in width. The
cliff, although steep as before, is less cut up, and the patches of
forest are large. At the mouths of the smaller affluent valleys, the
villages rear their church-towers on the hillsides, overlooking the
lowest vineyards and orchards; on this right bank are Jaulgonne,
Charteves, and Mont Saint-Pere, all taken by the Allies late in July,
and Fossoy, where the Americans successfully repulsed the German attack
of July 15.
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