Letters of a Diplomat's Wife, 1883-1900Waddington, Mary King
History
Letters of a Diplomat's Wife, 1883-1900
Waddington, Mary King
Europe -- Social life and customs
We got off this morning at 9.30 from Hamburg, and had a long, hot, dusty
journey--nothing very pretty to see. We arrived here about 6.30, found
the Consul, Mr. Brandt, waiting at the station with a carriage. He
proposed a drive--going first to the Cathedral, to see it by daylight,
and then to dine with him at the station, where there is a very good
restaurant, so we sent all our small things over to the private room,
and started off to the Cathedral. I was delighted to see it again after
so many years. Do you remember it was the first European Cathedral we
saw after Notre Dame, that first year when we came down the Rhine. How
magnificent it is, outside and inside--the long, stately vaulted aisles,
so high and so still. There was no one in the church at that hour, and
we had a delightful half hour. We walked all around the outside, and
then went back to the station to dine--and a very good dinner it was, in
the same room where we breakfasted when we started for Russia, now
nearly two months ago, when all seemed so vague, and rather a plunge
into the unknown. We shall certainly have souvenirs for all our lives.
As we were finishing dinner the Chef de Gare came to say that a
"lit-salon" was reserved for us, and he would have all the "kleines
gepack" put into the compartment, and tell us at the last moment. The
train starts at 10.30, and we get to Paris at 10 to-morrow morning, so
we thought we would go out again and drive about a little, as we had so
long to wait. We had a nice turn in the moonlight--the Cathedral looked
beautiful, and we crossed the Rhine and drove some little distance on
the other side of the river to have the view of the city. Now one or two
Frenchmen who are here are talking to W. They have brought us tea, and I
am scribbling this to you.
It is delightful, Dear, to think that to-morrow at breakfast I shall be
telling you all this, and Baby sitting up in his high chair, looking at
me hard out of his round, blue eyes. There is _one_ good thing in
getting home, I needn't write any more letters.
_To G. K. S._
#Paris#,
31 #rue Dumont d'Urville#,
July 5th, 1883.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account