[Sidenote: Possible Allowance of a comfortable Frenchman.] The following account of what a comfortable Frenchman _may_ consume in the twenty-four hours is founded on actual observation, but is not intended to represent temperate habits in France, which will be dealt with later. This first description may stand for the habits of a drinker who lives in a state of constant stimulation only. [Sidenote: The Morning Drink.] [Sidenote: _Un apéritif._] [Sidenote: Déjeuner.] [Sidenote: Café.] [Sidenote: Absinthe.] [Sidenote: Bitters.] [Sidenote: Dinner.] [Sidenote: Ale.] [Sidenote: _Un Verre d’eau._] On rising in the morning he will probably take either brandy, or sherry, or white French wine. The working men now prefer brandy. In former times white wine was more drunk, especially in the wine districts. If French wine is preferred the moderate quantity will be half a bottle, but it is easy to go beyond, and a lover of wine will finish his bottle without stopping half-way. He will eat a crust of bread with it, and perhaps a morsel of Gruyère cheese. There is no pleasanter early breakfast; it is much pleasanter than the sickening English combination of sweet coffee and fat ham; the wine is exhilarating, and by its help the day opens cheerfully; its pleasures seem attractive and its duties light. Unfortunately, the white wine habit is known to tell on the nervous system in course of time. Before _déjeuner_ the moderate drinker will go to a café and take his _apéritif_, usually a vermouth, and perhaps something else. Vermouth is simply white wine in which aromatic herbs have been infused. At _déjeuner_ he will drink a bottle of red wine. Immediately after he returns to the café and orders coffee, which is invariably accompanied by brandy, and of that he takes a large dram. If inclined to rest some time in the establishment he will order a little glass of _liqueur_, and if he meets with friends they may perhaps treat each other to different kinds of _liqueurs_ for the sake of good-fellowship and variety. At five o’clock he returns to the café for his absinthe. In ordinary times he will be content with one absinthe, when inclined to exceed he will take two, or possibly even three, or a mint in the place of the third. Just before dinner he may think it necessary to “open his appetite” with an _apéritif_, say bitters and curaçao. At dinner he drinks a bottle of common wine, and possibly some good wine at dessert if he dines with friends. After dinner come liqueurs, and then he drinks ale in a café all the evening whilst he smokes. This lasts till eleven o’clock, when he goes to bed. He has never shown the slightest sign of tipsiness all day, and is ready to go through the same course on the morrow. Meanwhile, in case he should feel thirsty, he has a “_verre d’eau_” in his bedroom, which means a very pretty little glass tray with a glass, a small sugar-basin, a decanter of water, and a small decanter of pure cognac.