[The Idler in France by Marguerite Gardiner]@TWC D-Link book
The Idler in France

CHAPTER V
4/18

No trouble or expense is spared in their education; and the Duc and Duchesse devote a great portion of their time to them.
All our friends are occupied in looking out for a house for us; and I have this day been over, at least, ten--only one of which seems likely to suit.
I highly approve the mode at Paris of letting unfurnished houses, or apartments, with mirrors and decorations, as well as all fixtures (with us, in England, always charged separately) free of any extra expense.
The good taste evinced in the ornaments is in general remarkable, and far superior to what is to be met with in England; where, if one engages a new house lately papered or painted, one is compelled to recolour the rooms before they can be occupied, owing to the gaudy and ill-assorted patterns originally selected.
The house of the Marechal Lobau, forming the corner of the Rue de Bourbon, is the one I prefer of all those I have yet seen, although it has many _desagremens_ for so large an establishment as ours.

But I am called to go to the review in the Champ-de-Mars, so _allons_ for a _spectacle militaire_, which, I am told, is to be very fine.
The review was well worth seeing; and the troops performed their evolutions with great precision.

The crowd of spectators was immense; so much so, that those only who formed part of the royal _cortege_ could reach the Champ-de-Mars in time to see its commencement.

No carriages, save those of the court, were allowed to enter the file.
The dust was insupportable; and the pretty dresses of the ladies suffered from it nearly as much as did the smart uniforms of the officers.
The _coup d'oeil_ from the pavilion (where we had, thanks to our _chaperon_, the Duchesse de Guiche, front seats) was very fine.

The various and splendid uniforms, floating standards, waving plumes, glittering arms, and prancing steeds, gave to the vast plain over which the troops were moving a most animated aspect, while the sounds of martial music exhilarated the spirits.
Nor was the view presented by the interior of the pavilion without its charms.


<<Back  Index  Next>>

D-Link book Top

TWC mobile books