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
This _coup-d'oeil_ is so beautiful, that I constantly feel renewed
pleasure when I look upon it. I do indeed confess myself to be one of
those "who in trim gardens take their pleasure." I love the studied
elegance, the carefully-selected grace of every object permitted to
meet the pampered eye in such a spot as this. I love these
fondly-nurtured princely exotics, the old orange-trees, ranged in
their long stately rows; and better still do I love the marble groups,
that stand so nobly, sometimes against the bright blue sky, and
sometimes half concealed in the dark setting of the trees. Everything
seems to speak of taste, luxury, and elegance.
Having indulged in a lingering walk from the palace to the point at
which the sunshine ceases and the shade begins, a new species of
interest and amusement awaits us. Thousands of chairs scattered just
within the shelter of this inviting covert are occupied by an
interminable variety of pretty groups.
I wonder how many months of constant attendance there, it would take
before I should grow weary of studying the whole and every separate
part of this bright picture? It is really matchless in beauty as a
spectacle, and unequalled in interest as a national study. All Paris
may in turn be seen and examined there; and nowhere is it so easy to
distinguish specimens of the various and strongly-marked divisions of
the people.
This morning we took possession of half a dozen chairs under the trees
which front the beautiful group of Pelus and Aria. It was the hour
when all the newspapers are in the greatest requisition; and we had
the satisfaction of watching the studies of three individuals, each of
whom might have sat as a model for an artist who wished to give an
idea of their several peculiarities. We saw, in short, beyond the
possibility of doubt, a royalist, a doctrinaire, and a republican,
during the half-hour we remained there, all soothing their feelings by
indulging in two sous' worth of politics, each in his own line.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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