I return to my subject. The signal for the commencement of the _fête_ was the departure of a balloon, in which monsieur and madame Garnerin ascended, at half past four o’clock, through a clear sky, which no longer bore any marks of the tempestuous weather of the morning. After the balloon had attained a certain height, a parachute was sent down, and the live animal which it contained reached the ground in safety. I was fortunate enough to dine this day with a family[12] who reside in what was first called “la Garde-meuble,” then “la place de Louis XV,” for some time the seat of so many legal murders, under the appellation of “de la Revolution,” and now styled, in honour of the present government, “_de la Concorde_.” As the principal rejoicings were to take place in this spot, I could not have been better situate. We dined in a back room; and during the short time which we passed at table (for a french dinner seldom exceeds an hour), the lamps had been lighted. Never shall I forget the splendid sight, which appeared to have been almost produced by magic, and which burst on us in returning to the salon (or _drawing room_), the windows of which command an extensive view of the _place de la Concorde_, of the bridge of Louis XVI, of the palace or hospital of _les Invalides_, of the Thuilleries, of the palace of the _Corps Législatif_, formerly called “_de Bourbon_,” of the river, and of several buildings in the _Fauxbourg St. Germain_. All these striking objects were now one blaze of light. My eyes were so dazzled with the scene which presented itself, that it was some time before I could take a distinct view of each particular beauty. The public edifices I have named, all of which are of the finest architecture, covered with innumerable lamps, arranged with the greatest taste, and which being of different heights, seemed to rise the one above the other; and the majestic domes splendidly illuminated, and extending the blaze of light as far as the eye could reach, formed altogether a _coup d’œil_, which may be conceived, but which cannot be described. I had scarcely recovered from the surprise and admiration, which this sight produced, when the pantomime, intended to represent the horrors of war, and the happiness of peace, began under the colonnade where it was my good fortune to be seated.