After the dejeuner, and a protracted journey to the Boulogne Camp, my friend and myself took the last train and arrived early in the morning at Paris. My first visit was to the military hospital of the Val de Grace, the Invalides, the Hôtel Dieu, &c. I was politely shown over each establishment by the authorities on duty, and took notes of all the ingredients used for the preparation of the daily diets of both officers and soldiers. We started the same evening for Lyons, stayed a few hours there, and visited the military hospital at that place, and took the steamer to Avignon. On board we found the Smyrna ladies, about thirty in number, under the orders of Mrs. M. Cooke; there were also many doctors. I had seen them the day previous at the Hôtel des Princes, Rue Richelieu, but had not the slightest knowledge of who or what they were. As the ladies were all dressed in grey, I took them for Quakeresses upon a pilgrimage. CHAPTER V. COMFORT ON SHORE AND PENANCE AT SEA. Tour of inspection at Marseilles--The booking office--Sleeping upon deck--Places transferred--The bouillabaisse--The Olio--Marseilles dishes--A harrowing spectacle--The _Simois_--A pleasant prospect--Good ballast--The Bay of Ajaccio--_Compagnons de voyage_--Birthplace of the first Napoleon--La Signora Grossetti--Twenty minutes in the kitchen of the house of the Emperor Napoleon the First--Memorials of the Emperor’s childhood--A charming evening--Once more afloat--An enraged _restaurateur_--Struggle for a leg of mutton--Messina--The Piræus--Athens. On arriving at Marseilles, I made inquiries at the Station as to what provisions could be obtained for the army, if required. I bade my friends adieu, in hopes of having the pleasure of seeing them on board the next day, and in particular Mr. and Mrs. Cooke, who really took their duty to heart, and had a most difficult task to perform. After viewing all the magazines of Marseilles and its warehouses, I perceived that my countrymen, in the way of national business, were very little boys, who could hardly walk, when compared with English commercial men and the houses of Crosse and Blackwell, Fortnum and Mason, Hogarth, Gamble, &c. Having done my duty, so far as the victualling department was concerned, I found that with such a stock of provisions any Government might keep its army in a state of perfect _starvation_--should the French Government depend upon them--though at the same time the quantity and quality might have served very well for a dainty pic-nic of a couple of thousand epicures, the price also being so high.