The best-dressed man in Normandy

Having just finished 2 volumes of stories by Isaac Asimov, I thought I should change my reading genre, and so I plucked from my bookcase "Highways & Byways of Normandy" by the Rev. Percy Dearmer (he of church ceremonial fame), published in 1900. Written for the gentleman taking a cycling tour of the region, he give, in his Introduction, some sartorial advice which it would be entertaining to revive.

"If one takes a portmanteau, it is easy to carry a sufficient change of clothes, including some linen shirts and collars, and also that most precious boon, a folding india-rubber bath."

It took me a few moments to realise that he was talking about a small item which would allow you to locate a puncture in your bicycle tyre rather than a full-size receptacle for personal hygiene! He continues:

"It is most important to wear nothing but woollen clothes for cycling, and if one does this I do not think it is worth while carrying a mackintosh. There is no place in Normandy where one cannot wear a knickerbocker suit with an easy conscience."

Now that is something I need to remember on my next foray across the Channel!