Mary Browne

“ When we were rested we went to the Petit Trianon. There is nothing at all to see in the rooms; it is like any small private house. The Queen's bed is gold muslin, and the walls of the room are covered with blue silk. The gardens are remarkably pretty; they are made in imitation of English gardens, designed by the unfortunate Marie Antoinette, and have none of the stiffness and formality of the other French gardens. At one part of the garden there is the figure of a Chinese holding an umbrella; it ought all to turn round like a swing. ”

“ We walked up a hill where we saw several butterflies; some with black and yellow striped upper wings, and under wings the colour of a dead leaf. There were rows of apple and pear trees; we picked up a few apples and pears which were not ripe; the apples were like alum and the pears like stone. The country was here much prettier: it was more like England; we even saw a few flocks of sheep, but they did not seem to get much: in one place they were eating the earth. ”

“ The country looks barren, as there are no hedges. The villages in France are also very ugly—there are no gardens before the houses, and instead of the lovely cottages we saw in Hertfordshire we here saw only dirty, untidy-looking houses; it was curious to see the astonishment of the servants, who imagined that they were to travel through bowers of grapes and groves of oranges. I was most disappointed at the weather, as I expected a delightful climate in France. ”

“ As we went away they were beginning to light the lamps. It looked very pretty to see the people under the trees, but the dancing nearly put one to sleep, and the music was like a funeral dirge. They say that the French like dancing better than anything, and we heard it very much admired. ”

“ The provisions at Versailles were fully dearer than in England. One of the best shops in the market was Madame Segan's, although she, as well as the rest, would cheat if she could. The butter was very bad in France. Madame Segan's was the best, but as there was no salt in it, and they only got it once a week, it did not keep good. The butcher's meat (except the pork and veal) is not good: they have a curious custom of blowing it up so as to look very large. The French bread being made of leaven is very sour; we got English bread from a baker at Versailles. ”

“ The staircase in the palace is marble. The only piece of furniture in the whole palace is a small clock. I don't think I ever saw anything so unlike the residence of a king: there appears to be nothing but gold, marble, glass, and paintings. A man shows the rooms, to whom you give something; both times I was there it was full of people.
[Pg 131] We went through the gardens to the Grand Trianon. The rooms are all on one floor. They look very different to the rooms of the other palace, but amusing in their way. ”

“ The inside of the arches is beautifully carved. Over the centre arch was formerly the statue of Napoleon. The gardens are the work of Lenostre; the principal walk extends through the whole length of the garden. The trees are all cut, which gives it a formal look. In the parterres of flowers are statues and basins of water; in one were two swans, and in the others some gold and silver fishes. From the terrace of the garden towards the Seine we had a very fine view of the river; and on the opposite terrace, of the Place Vendôme, the triumphal column, and the Boulevards beyond. ”

“ At Hebecourt we met a kind of covered cart full of children and nurses going to the Hospital des Enfans Trouvés at Paris; there was a soldier to guard it, who sat on his horse like a woman and slapped his horse's face. There seems to be a great want of living creatures in the fields; we never met any except here and there a drove of pigs with very long legs, or a walnut-coloured old woman leading (by a string) a thin, miserable-looking cow. We once met a flock of sheep which followed a man like dogs. Breteuil is a mean, dirty town; we had a very bad breakfast in the Hôtel de ——. ”

“ It had been occupied for a year by an English family who had been abroad for three years; their housekeeper and lady's-maid were English, and disliked being in France so much that they sat in their own rooms and left the management of the house entirely to the foreign servants. There was a courier who bought and managed for the family. The consequence was that we found the house in the greatest confusion. The kitchen was like a pig-sty, and the rooms were very dirty and untidy. ”

“ The whole garden is open to every person till nine o'clock, when a drum beats. At the entrance there is a list of rules: no dogs are to be brought in unless tied with a string; and nobody is to fish in the ponds, or to touch the statues or flowers. Notwithstanding, however, these [Pg 56] prohibitions, I have counted seven or eight dogs at one time running over the flower-borders, and boys climbing on the beautiful vases, or fishing for gold and silver fish, of which there are a great many, particularly in Apollo's Bath. ”

“ There were a great many people in the gardens, and the variety of colours resembled a bed of tulips. Some of the people were very oddly dressed. One woman had on a most extraordinary cap composed of pink satin and very pretty lace; she had a gold chain round her neck, a white gown, and pink cotton apron. (Her cap was not at all common.) The French are very fond of colours, and put them on with very bad taste. We saw some people with perhaps a pink handkerchief, a blue sash, a coarse cotton gown, a yellow bonnet, and green shoes. ”

“ The moon shone beautifully on the sea. The commissaire came after we were on board; he asked William how he liked France. William said, 'Je déteste la France,' and Stewart added, 'Et je déteste la France aussi.' We went to bed in the cabin, which was very nicely furnished; but the beds were small and uncomfortable. Soon after we felt the ship moving out of the harbour, and I thought with pleasure that I should awake far from France. Mamma [Pg 178] and Catherine, who slept in another room, were pretty well; all the rest of us, except Euphemia, were very sick. ”

“ At every village we passed we were followed by men, women and children; if we gave to a few they came in a double quantity up to the carriage-window; in one village we counted about twenty. Begging seemed to be quite a trade: in some places they brought baskets with cakes and flowers in them; if we would not buy the flowers they threw them into the carriage. In one place a little girl ran by the side of the carriage and said in English 'How do you do? Very well thank you. Give me a penny, papa. ”

“ The French make some little things very nicely, and other common things extremely awkwardly. There was a bath in the house, and the room adjoining it was remarkably damp; a great many toad-stools grew in the closet; there was also an ants' nest below the floor. The porter's wife was much younger than the one in our other house; her husband lived at Paris; she had one son of eleven or twelve, a very rude boy. Different people lived above us, latterly a Mr. and Mrs. Spurrier. Mr. Spurrier was determined his French servants should do like English servants ”

“ The principal one is by the arcades of the palace. When one stands in the middle of the terrace one sees the Basin of Latona, the Tapis-vert, Apollo's Bath, and the canal at the right, the parterre of the north, and Neptune's Bath; and at the left the parterre of flowers, the orangery, and the pièce d'eau des Suisses. The whole garden seems almost composed of statues and vases. The vases are, I think, the most beautiful things in the garden; they are mostly of white marble (a few are of bronze) , and covered with the most beautiful carving ”

“ RETURN TO VERSAILLES June 19th.—This was the last day I was to stay in Paris, for which I was very sorry, as I liked being in Paris a great deal better than in Versailles. There are some very amusing things in Paris, though I do not think it is to be compared to London. We expected Miss Wragge and brothers and sisters to see the museum, which we had been long promised. Miss Wragge, Barbara, the two boys, and Caroline came just after we had finished breakfast; but Catherine [Pg 112] and Euphemia were so ill they could not come. ”

“ There was a procession at eight o'clock, which I did not see. At half-past eleven we went to the Avenue de St. Cloud, where we were told the procession would pass. There were a very great number of people, amongst others our porter's wife, who ran to get near the procession that the priests might touch her baby. We stood near Madame Crosnier's school; the girls (except Mademoiselle Rose, who was much as usual) were neatly dressed. There were soldiers along each side of the avenue. We were amused at several women who tried to run quickly across before the procession. ”

“ The French dancing is completely different from the English; they think it beautiful to dance on the flat of the foot and to bend every step, which makes the dancing look very heavy: they do not like jumping, although their steps are full of little hops. Their tunes too are very dull. The French in general do not admire the English dancing; we were told, however, of one English lady who had danced at the balls, quite after the English fashion, and whose dancing had been very much admired. ”

“ They had not the liveliness of children in England; they seemed so fat they could hardly walk,—like what in Scotland they call douce bairns; they had all caps or handkerchiefs on, even the babies. The men wore coloured woollen nightcaps; they were much better-looking than the women. All the [Pg 24] people looked untidy and dirty. We passed through the Forest of Cressy, near which was fought the celebrated battle which bears its name. We reached Abbeville about one o'clock: we breakfasted at the Hôtel d'Angleterre, which is a very good inn, but was rather in confusion when we were there. ”

“ Although one hears so much of French politeness, I do not think that the French are near so polite as the English. The men make better bows, etc., but in other things there is a kind of forwardness in the manners of the people that I cannot admire. ”

“ One of the nicest girls was dressed in a white gown, pink apron, green shoes, and a gold chain; there was one very impudent, disagreeable, vulgar woman, dressed in blue cotton. Some were in white, and some had on red petticoats, high caps, gold chains, etc. There were booths, stalls, whirligigs, roundabouts, etc., like an English fair. We saw an old man and woman of sixty or seventy riding in a roundabout. ”

“ The Tapis-vert is a long piece of grass, at each side of which are numerous vases and statues. In the evening, before sunset, this [Pg 54] is the favourite promenade, and is quite crowded by all ranks of people. It is a favourite game to try and walk down this green blindfold. The canal is at the bottom of the Tapis-vert, below Apollo's Bath. It is very long, but not very pretty, as it does not finish with anything; it is crossed by another canal, which conducts to the Trianon. ”

“ I thought there was a great chance of the girls setting fire to each other as they sat close together. While we were in the church there were two women with a little child beside us, which squalled and fretted the whole time. It first would have one thing, and then another. The women managed it excessively stupidly; they first gave it a cake, then snatched it away from it, then whipped it, then kissed it; and they looked [Pg 115] at each other as much as to say it is impossible to make it be quiet. The French children are little petted, disagreeable, spoiled things ”

“ I thought I would sooner stay all my life in France than cross the sea again. We reached Calais a little after eight; every person got up and groped about: a gentleman said it was like a resurrection. One of Mr. Wilkinson's little girls, about three or four years old, said, 'Papa, must my kisses and cakes go to the custom-house?' When Euphemia [4] was getting up she said, 'I think we all look like wild beasts in our dens' ”

“ SUNDAY July 8th.—The lady above stairs played the whole day without ceasing on the harp; the boys at the priests' school made more noise than usual in their playground; numbers of people were going to a village fête; a great many people passed by on their way to the theatre, among whom was Mademoiselle Croissé; we counted six drunken people; shops were open as usual, and people going about their work as on any other day. On Sunday Madame Crosnier's girls spent the day in working and dancing. ”

“ We bought several single flowers, jessamine, roses, camilla, [38] japonica, etc. From this we all went to the cabinet d'Histoire Naturelle. We remarked the floating baths on the Seine. When we reached the Jardin des Plantes the museum was not open, so we walked in the garden till three o'clock, when the doors are opened. There was quite a crowd of people of all ranks. I think it is wonderful that the things are not hurt, as the people press close to the glasses. We went to the upper gallery first, that we might have more time to examine it. Several rooms open one into the other. ”