Egypt -- Description and travel -- Humor; London (England) -- Description and travel -- Humor; Voyages and travels -- Humor
"More Snow.--The further south we go the colder the weather and the
deeper the snow. Getting my furs ready for Cairo. Ten hours on the
train from Paris to Marseilles, wrapped in a blanket and counting the
warts on a foreign commercial traveller who sat opposite. No two
counts agreed. Had looked forward during a long month to this ride
through sunny France. Had dreamed of green landscapes that lay smiling
in the genial warmth, the stately poplars leading away to purple hills,
and the happy labourers looking up from their toil in the fields to
smile at us and bid us welcome as we flashed by. Not a bit like it.
More on the order of North Dakota. Everybody says it is the coldest
snap that Southern France has known in many years. They saved up all
their cold weather so as to hand it to me when I came along.
"Bouillabaisse (spelling not guaranteed).--There is only one thing to
do in Marseilles, and that is to drive out to an excellent restaurant
built on a rock overlooking the bay and partake of bouillabaisse. Dish
famed in song and story. Mentioned, often in 'Trilby.' Possibly that
is what ailed Svengali. The bouillabaisse and the 'Marseillaise' were
both invented in Marseilles. The mayonnaise comes from elsewhere. The
bouillabaisse is a combination of soup, ragout, chowder, and New
England boiled dinner. There are many ingredients. It is said they
put in whatever they have the most of--sea bass, lobsters, crayfish,
vegetables, sauces--everything except the license. Liked the taste
very much--first when I ate it, and then all during the afternoon and
evening.
"Chateau d'If.--Coming out of the harbour we ran very close to the
Chateau d'If, a stern fortress prison topping a huge rock rising
sharply from the bay. Count of Monte Cristo was imprisoned here. Man
on board said that the character of Edmund Dantes was wholly
fictitious, manufactured by Dumas. Must be a mistake, as I saw the
small rock on which James O'Neill used to stand at the end of the first
act and exclaim, 'The world is mine!' It is exactly as represented on
the stage, except for the calcium light."
NAPLES
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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