Paris and the Parisians in 1835 (Vol. 1)Trollope, Frances Milton
History
Paris and the Parisians in 1835 (Vol. 1)
Trollope, Frances Milton
Paris (France) -- Description and travel; Paris (France) -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
I am sure you must remember in days of yore,--that is to say, before
the last revolution,--how very agreeable a part of the spectacle at
the Louvre and in the Tuileries Gardens was constituted by the
people,--not the ladies and gentlemen--they look pretty much the same
everywhere; but by the careful coquetry of the pretty costumes, now a
_cauchoise_, and now a _toque_,--the spruce neatness of the men who
attended them,--nay, even by the tight and tidy trimness of the "wee
things" that in long waist, silk apron, snow-white cap, and
faultless _chaussure_, trotted beside them. All these added greatly to
the pleasantness and gaiety of the scene. But now, till the fresh dirt
(not the fresh gloss) of the Three Days' labour be worn off, dingy
jackets, uncomely _casquettes_, ragged _blouses_, and ill-favoured
round-eared caps, that look as if they did duty night and day, must
all be tolerated; and in this toleration appears to consist at present
the principal external proof of the increased liberty of the Parisian
mob.
LETTER VI.
Society.--Morality.--False Impressions and False
Reports.--Observations from a Frenchman on a recent
publication.
Much as I love the sights of Paris,--including as we must under this
term all that is great and enduring, as well as all that is for ever
changing and for ever new,--I am more earnestly bent, as you will
readily believe, upon availing myself of all my opportunities for
listening to the conversation within the houses, than on contemplating
all the marvels that may be seen without.
Joyfully, therefore, have I welcomed the attention and kindness that
have been offered me in various quarters; and I have already the
satisfaction of finding myself on terms of most pleasant and familiar
intercourse with a variety of very delightful people, many of them
highly distinguished, and, happily for me, varying in their opinions
of all things both in heaven and earth, from the loftiest elevation of
the _rococo_, to the lowest profundity of the _décousu_ school.
And here let me pause, to assure you, and any other of my countrymen
and countrywomen whose ears I can reach, that excursions to Paris, be
they undertaken with what spirit of enterprise they may, and though
they may be carried through with all the unrestrained expense that
English wealth can permit, yet without the power by some means or
other of entering into good French society, they are nothing worth.
It is true, that there is something most exceedingly exhilarating to
the spirits in the mere external novelty and cheerfulness of the
objects which surround a stranger on first entering Paris. That
indescribable air of gaiety which makes every sunshiny day look like a
fête; the light hilarity of spirit that seems to pervade all ranks;
the cheerful tone of voice, the sparkling glances of the numberless
bright eyes; the gardens, the flowers, the statues of Paris,--all
together produce an effect very like enchantment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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