Old and New Paris: Its History, Its People, and Its Places, v. 1 — John Shaqi
Old and New Paris: Its History, Its People, and Its Places, v. 1Edwards, H. Sutherland (Henry Sutherland)
History
Old and New Paris: Its History, Its People, and Its Places, v. 1
Edwards, H. Sutherland (Henry Sutherland)
Paris (France) -- Description and travel; Paris (France) -- History
Owing to the varieties of dress already touched upon, a crowd in Paris
presents a less gloomy, less monotonous appearance than the black-coated
mobs of London; and in harmony with the greater relief afforded by the
different colours of the costumes are the animated gestures of the
persons composing the crowd. Observe, indeed, a mere group of persons
conversing on no matter what commonplace subject, or idly chatting as
they sip their coffee together on the boulevards, and they appear to be
engaged in some violent dispute.
To mention yet another point on which Paris differs from London: the
most interesting part of Paris lies on the right bank of the Seine,
whereas all that is interesting in London lies on the left bank of the
Thames.
The left bank of the Seine possesses, however, buildings and streets
of historical interest. Here, too, is the quarter of the schools: the
Quartier Latin, as it is still called, not by reason of its Roman
antiquities, which, except at the Hotel Cluny, would be sought for
in vain, but because, in the mediæval period whence the schools for
the most part date, even to comparatively modern times, Latin was
the language of the student. On the "left bank," moreover, stand the
Institute, the Pantheon or Church of Ste. Geneviève, as, according to
the predominance of religion or irreligion, it is alternately called;
the Ste. Geneviève Library, the Luxemburg Palace, with its magnificent
picture gallery, the School of Medicine, and the School of Fine Arts.
Many of the great painters, too, have their studios--often little
academies in themselves--on the left bank of the river; while among the
famous streets on the "left bank" is that Rue du Bac so often referred
to in the chronicles and memoirs of the eighteenth century. The famous
Café Procope, again, literary headquarters of the encyclopædists, stands
on what is now considered the wrong side of the water. So too does the
Odéon Theatre, once the Théàtre Français, where, in modern as well as
ancient times, so many dramatic masterpieces have been produced.
On the other hand, there is scarcely on the left bank one good hotel:
certainly not one that could put forward the slightest pretension to
being fashionable. Nor, except in the case of professional men connected
with the hospitals or the schools, would anyone mixing in fashionable
society care to give his address anywhere on the left bank.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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