The Path To Rome

Flos Carmeli points out here that Belloc's The Path To Rome is available on-line in its entirety. Almost. The drawings are not included. Which is a great pity because he refers to them continually and they give a glimpse of a Europe that is almost gone. The book is Belloc's memoir and sketchbook of his walking pilgrimage from Toul in Lorraine to Rome. There is nothing like it in English. Or probably in any other language.

Coffee in the village left me two francs and two pennies. I still thought the thing could be done, so invigorating and deceiving are the early hours, and coming farther down the road to an old and beautiful courtyard on the left, I drew it, [I can't reproduce the drawings either. But if I could, you'd see a half page pencil sketch of a medieval courtyard right here.] and hearing a bell at hand I saw a tumble-down church with trees before it, and went in to Mass; and though it was a little low village Mass, yet the priest had three acolytes to serve it, and (true and gracious mark of a Catholic country!) these boys were restless and distracted at their office.

You may think it trivial, but it was certainly a portent. One of the acolytes had half his head clean shaved! A most extraordinary sight! I could not take my eyes from it, and I heartily wished I had an Omen-book with me to tell what it might mean.