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Title: Paris: With Pen and Pencil

Its People and Literature, Its Life and Business

Author: David W Bartlett

Release Date: October 25, 2005 [EBook

#16943]

Language: English

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Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Sankar Viswanathan, and

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PARIS:

WITH

PEN AND PENCIL

ITS

PEOPLE AND LITERATURE,

ITS

LIFE AND BUSINESS

BY

NEW YORK:

HURST & CO., Publishers,

122 NASSAU STREET.

The contents of this volume are the result

of two visits to Paris The first whenLouis Napoleon was president of theRepublic; and the second when NapoleonIII was emperor of France I havesketched people and places as I saw them

at both periods, and the reader shouldbear this in mind

I have not endeavored to make a book to Paris, but have described thoseplaces and objects which came moreparticularly under my notice I have alsothought it best, instead of devoting mywhole space to the description of places,

hand-or the manners of the people—a subjectwhich has been pretty well exhausted byother writers—to give a few sketches ofthe great men of Paris and of France; andamong them, a few of the representativeliterary men of the past There is not ageneral knowledge of French literatureand authors, either past or present, amongthe mass of readers; and Paris and Francecan only be truly known through Frenchauthors and literature.

My object has been to add somewhat tothe general reader's knowledge of Parisand the Parisians,—of the people and theplaces, whose social laws are the generalguide of the civilized world

CHURCH OF ST SULSPICE.

PAGE

CHAPTER I.London to

Paris, 13History of

Paris, 18CHAPTER II.Restaurants, 22

A Walk and

Gossip, 36The Bourse, 41CHAPTER III

Churches, 69Notre

L'Auxerrois, 72Saint

Chapelle, 76Expiatoire, 78Madeleine, 81St

Ferdinand, 86Vincent de

Paul, &c 89CHAPTER V.Lamartine, 92Vernet, 99Girardin, 106Hugo, 114Janin, 121CHAPTER VI.Places of

Blood, 124Place de la

Concorde, 136CHAPTER VII.The Louvre, 144Public

Gardens, 153The

Luxembourg

Palace and

Gardens, 162The

Gobelins, 170CHAPTER VIII.The People, 174Climate, 184Public

Institutions, 188Hotel de

Invalides, 196Jardin

d'Hiver, 198CHAPTER IX

M Guizot, 199

Dumas,

207Eugene Sue, 215

M Thiers, 223George

Sand, 229CHAPTER X.Pere La

Chase, 238The Prisons, 245Foundling

Hospitals, 249Charitable

Institutions, 253

La Morgue, 258Napoleon

and

Eugenia, 262The Baptism

of the

Prince, 270CHAPTER XI.Men of the

Past, 274The Father

of French

Tragedy, 274The Great

Jester, 280The

Dramatist, 285CHAPTER XII.The

Fabulist, 293

The Infidel, 299The Great

Comic

Writer,

305

WHAT I SAW IN

PARIS.

CHAPTER I.

lesson in the system of passports I firstcalled upon the American minister, and

my passport—made out in Washington—

w as visé for Paris My next step was to

hunt up the French consul, and pay him adollar for affixing his signature to theprecious document At the first sea-portthis passport was taken from me, and aprovisional one put into my keeping AtParis the original one was returned! Andthis is a history of my passport betweenLondon and Paris, a distance traversed in

a few hours If such are the practicesbetween two of the greatest and mostcivilized towns on the face of the earth,how unendurable must they be on the moredespotic continent?

The summer was in its first month, and

Paris was in its glory, and it was at such atime that I visited it We took a steamer atthe London bridge wharf for Boulogne.The day promised well to be a boisterousone, but I had a very faint idea of the galeblowing in the channel If I could haveknown, I should have waited, or gone by

the express route, via Dover, the sea

transit of which occupies only two hours.The fare by steamer from London toBoulogne was three dollars Theaccommodations were meager, but theboat itself was a strong, lusty little fellow,and well fitted for the life it leads I caneasily dispense with the luxuriousappointments which characterize theAmerican steamboats, if safety is assured

to me in severe weather

The voyage down the Thames, was inmany respects very delightful Greenwich,Woolwich, Margate, and Ramsgate liepleasantly upon this route But the windblew so fiercely in our teeth that weexperienced little pleasure in looking atthem When we reached the channel wefound it white with foam, and soon ourlittle boat was tossed upon the waves like

a gull In my experience crossing theAtlantic, I had seen nothing sodisagreeable as this The motion was soquick and so continual, the boat so small,that I very soon found myself growingsick The rain was disagreeable, and thesea was constantly breaking over thebulwarks I could not stay below—theatmosphere was too stifling and hot So Ibribed a sailor to wrap about me his oil-

cloth garments, and lay down near theengines with my face upturned to the blacksky, and the sea-spray washing me fromtime to time Such sea-sickness I neverendured, though before I had sailedthousands of miles at sea, and have donethe same since From sundown till twoo'clock the next morning I lay on the deck

of the sloppy little boat, and when at lastthe Boulogne lights were to be seen, I was

as heartily glad as ever in my life

Thoroughly worn out, as soon as I landedupon the quay I handed my keys to a

commissaire, gave up my passport, and

sought a bed, and was soon in my dreamstossing again upon the channel-waves I

was waked by the commissaire, who

entered my room with the keys He had

passed my baggage, got a provisionalpassport for me, and now very politelyadvised me to get up and take the firsttrain to Paris, for I had told him I wished

to be in Paris as soon as possible Givinghim a good fee for his trouble, and hastilyquitting the apartment and paying for it, Iwas very soon in the railway station Mytrunks were weighed, and I boughtbaggage tickets to Paris—price one sou.The first class fare was twenty-sevenfrancs, or about five dollars, the distanceone hundred and seventy miles This wascheaper than first class railway traveling

in England, though somewhat dearer thanAmerican railway prices

The first class cars were the finest I haveseen in any country—very far superior to

American cars, and in many respectssuperior to the English They were fitted

up for four persons in each compartment,and a door opened into each from the side.The seat and back were beautifullycushioned, and the arms were stuffed inlike manner, so that at night the wearytraveler could sleep in them with greatcomfort

The price of a third class ticket fromBoulogne to Paris was only three dollars,and the cars were much better than thesecond class in America, and I noticedthat many very respectably dressed ladiesand gentlemen were in them—probablyfor short distances It is quite common,both in England and France, in thesummer, for people of wealth to travel by

rail for a short distance by the cheapestclass of cars.

I entered the car an utter stranger—no oneknew me, and I knew no one Thelanguage was unintelligible, for I found

that to read French in America, is not to

talk French in France I could understand

no one, or at least but a word here andthere

But the journey was a very delightful one.The country we passed through wasbeautiful, and the little farms were in anexcellent state of cultivation Flowersbloomed everywhere There was not quitethat degree of cultivation which thetraveler observes in the best parts ofEngland, but the scenery was none the lessbeautiful for that Then, too, I saw

everything with a romantic enthusiasm Itwas the France I had read of, dreamed of,since I was a school-boy.

A gentleman was in the apartment whocould talk English, having resided long inBoulogne, which the English frequent as awatering place, and he pointed out theinteresting places on our journey AtAmiens we changed cars and stopped fiveminutes for refreshments I was hungryenough to draw double rations, but I felt alittle fear that I should get cheated, orcould not make myself understood; but asthe old saw has it, "Necessity is themother of invention," and I satisfied myhunger with a moderate outlay of money

A few miles before we reached Paris, westopped at the little village of Enghein,

and it seemed to me that I never in my lifehad dreamed of so fairy-like a place.Beautiful lakes, rivers, fountains, flowers,and trees were scattered over the villagewith exquisite taste To this place, onSundays and holidays, the people of Parisrepair, and dance in its cheap gardens anddrink cheap wines.

When we reached Paris my trunks wereagain searched and underwent a shortexamination, to see that no wines orprovisions were concealed in them A tax

is laid upon all such articles when theyenter the city, and this is the reason why

on Sunday the people flock out of town to

enjoy their fêtes In the country there are

no taxes on wine and edibles, and as amatter of economy they go outside of the

walls for their pleasure.

When my baggage was examined, I took

an omnibus to the hotel Bedford, Rue del'Arcade, where I proposed to stay but afew days, until I could hunt up permanentapartments My room was a delightful oneand fitted up in elegant style I was in thebest part of Paris Two minutes walk

away were the Champs Elysees—the

Madeleine church, the Tuileries, etc., etc.But I was too tired to go out, and after aFrench dinner and a lounge in the reading-room, I went to sleep, and the nextmorning's sun found me at last entirelyrecovered from my wretched passageacross the channel

My second trip to Paris was in manyrespects different from the first—which I

have just described The route was a newone, and pleasanter than that via

Boulogne Our party took an express trainfrom the London bridge terminus forNewhaven, a small sea-port The carswere fitted up with every comfort, and wemade the passage in quick time At threeP.M we went on board a little steamer forDieppe, where we arrived at nine o'clock.After a delay of an hour we entered arailway carriage fitted up in a verybeautiful and luxurious style At Dieppe

we had no trouble with our passports,keeping the originals, and simply showingthem to the custom-house officials Ourride to Paris was in the night, yet was verycomfortable

In coming back to London, we made the

trip to Dieppe in the daytime, and found it

to be very beautiful From Paris to Rouenthe railway runs a great share of the way

in sight of the river Seine, and often uponits banks Many of the views from the trainwere romantic, and some of them wildlygrand Upon the whole, this route is thepleasantest between Paris and London, as

it is one of the cheapest There is oneobjection, however, and that is the length

of the sea voyage—six hours Those whodislike the water will prefer the Doverroute

HISTORY OF PARIS.

The origin of Paris is not known.According to certain writers, a wanderingtribe built their huts upon the island now

called la Cité This was their home, and

being surrounded by water, it was easilydefended against the approach of hostiletribes The name of the place was Lutetia,and to themselves they gave the name of

Parisii, from the Celtic word par, a

frontier or extremity

This tribe was one of sixty-four whichwere confederated, and when the conquest

of Gaul took place under Julius Caesar,

t h e Parisii occupied the island The

ground now covered by Paris was either amarsh or forest, and two bridgescommunicated from the island to it Theislanders were slow to give up their

Druidical sacrifices, and it is doubtfulwhether the Roman gods ever wereworshiped by them, though fragments of analtar of Jupiter have been found under thechoir of the cathedral of Notre Dame.Nearly four hundred years after Christ, theEmperor Julian remodeled the governmentand laws of Gaul and Lutetia, and changed

its name to Parisii It then, too, became a

city, and had considerable trade For fivehundred years Paris was under Romandomination A palace was erected formunicipal purposes in the city, andanother on the south bank of the Seine, theremains of which can still be seen TheRoman emperors frequently resided in thispalace while waging war with thenorthern barbarians Constantine andConstantius visited it; Julian spent three

winters in it; Valentian and Gratian alsomade it a temporary residence.

The monks have a tradition that the gospelwas first preached in Paris about the year

250, by St Denis, and that he sufferedmartyrdom at Montmartre A chapel wasearly erected on the spot now occupied byNotre Dame In 406 the northernbarbarians made a descent upon theRoman provinces, and in 445 Paris wasstormed by them Before the year 500Paris was independent of the Romandomination Clovis was its master, andmarrying Clotilde, he embracedChristianity and erected a church Theisland was now surrounded by walls andhad gates The famous church of St.German L'Auxerrois was built at this time

For two hundred and fifty years, Parisretrograded rather than advanced incivilization, and the refinementsintroduced by the Romans were nearlyforgotten In 845 the Normans sacked andburnt Paris Still again it was besieged,but such was the valor of its inhabitantsthat the enemy were glad to raise thesiege Hugues Capet was elected king in

987, and the crown became hereditary Inhis reign the Palace of Justice wascommenced Buildings were erected onall sides, and new streets were opened.Under Louis le Gros the Louvre wasrebuilt, it having existed since the time ofDagobert Bishop Sully began thefoundations of Notre Dame in 1163, andabout that time the Knights Templarserected a palace

Under the reign of Philip Augustus many

of the public edifices were embellishedand new churches and towers were built

In 1250 Robert Serbon founded schools—

a hospital and school of surgery were alsoabout this time commenced

Under Charles V the city flourishedfinely, and the Bastille and the Palace deTourvelles were erected The Louvre alsowas repaired Next came the unhappyreign of Charles VI., who was struck withinsanity In 1421 the English occupiedParis, but under Charles VII they weredriven from it and the Greek language wastaught for the first time in the University ofParis It had then twenty-five thousandstudents Under the reign of successivemonarchs Paris was, from famine and