splendid articles in precious stone, gold, silver, &c.; shops of _gourmandise_ (if I may be allowed the term)--everything that could stimulate or pamper the appetite. Many were entirely filled with knick-knackery, or articles of _vertu_; others with steel or cutlery; in others, again, were tastefully displayed the finest cashmere or merino shawls and _fichûs_ of the most brilliant colours. In short, I cannot remember the tenth part of the rich display under these arcades. In the esplanade were a few shabby trees, some benches, and piles of chairs. The crowd of loungers, &c. (for I presume most there were so), under the arcades, was very great, principally, I think, military. Prussian and Russian officers in blue or green uniforms, waists drawn in like a wasp’s, breasts sticking out like a pigeon’s; long sashes, with huge tassels of gold or silver, hanging half-way down their legs--pretty red and white boyish faces, with an enormous bush of hair over each ear; lancers in square-topped caps and waving plumes; hussars in various rich uniforms, one more remarkable, sky-blue, curiously laced with a sort of chain-lace, very ugly to my taste; Austrian officers in plain white uniforms, turned up with red--very neat, very soldier-like, very becoming, and the men who wore them more gentlemanly in their appearance than any of the others; English officers in all sorts of dresses, fancy, half-military, and quite so. To say that women abounded amongst these would be almost superfluous--some very handsome, some quite the contrary--all wearing looks of the boldest and most meretricious character. Boys, too, abounded, as in the Pays Bas, following and pestering you with their odious propositions. The cafés and restaurants were principally filled with officers smoking, drinking, playing chess, &c. &c. A few turns in the promenade, and then it was so late that we returned to the Place Louis Quinze, whence a cabriolet in due time brought us to our quiet peaceable village. The next day (13th), although it looked black and threatening, we went to Paris; but the rain set in so heavily that we returned forthwith, most completely drenched, to Colombes, having seen nothing.