Mont Oriol; or, A Romance of Auvergne

"Mont Oriol" by Guy de Maupassant is a French romance novel set in Auvergne. The story reveals the social life and customs of the 19th century along with interpersonal relationships. Excerpt: "The first bathers, the early risers, who had already been at the water, were walking slowly, in pairs or alone, under the huge trees along the stream which rushes down the gorges of Enval. Others arrived from the village, and entered the establishment in a hurried fashion. It was a spacious building, the ground floor being reserved for thermal treatment, while the first story served as a casino, café, and billiard-room. Since Doctor Bonnefille had discovered in the heart of Enval the great spring, baptized by him the Bonnefille Spring, some proprietors of the country and the surrounding neighborhood, timid speculators, had decided to erect in the midst of this superb glen of Auvergne… "