It suddenly became known that twice--once alone with the German ambassador, and then, on another day, attended by a large suite--the Empress had driven out from Paris to view the ruins of the Palace of Saint Cloud, believed by the French to have been wantonly destroyed by the Prussians in 1870. The Empress also visited Versailles and the neighbouring battlefields. The news of these excursions aroused very bitter feelings among many otherwise sober and sensible Parisians, to whom the memories of l'Année Terrible, and especially of the Prussian occupation of Versailles, were still painfully vivid. Their indignation was intensified when it became known that some ill-advised Government official had directed that a laurel wreath placed at the foot of the monument to Henri Regnault, the greatest French painter of his generation, who was killed at Buzenval, in the last desperate sortie from Paris, should be removed on the occasion of the visit of the Empress to the Ministry of Fine Arts. This was indeed pouring oil on the fire! It was rumoured that this special act of tactless stupidity would be the subject of an interpellation in the Chamber. The depth of feeling aroused is illustrated by one fact, which did not, however, find its way into the Press. All those painters who had accepted the Empress's invitation to exhibit at Berlin received each morning, till their acceptances were withdrawn, the following _macabre_ visiting-card: "HENRI REGNAULT, "69e battalion de marche, 4e campagnie, "BUZENVAL." Meanwhile, the less responsible section of the Paris Press had also added fuel to the flame by such headings as "Insultes aux Français"--"Visites Impériales à Saint Cloud et à Versailles," &c. The French Government reluctantly informed the German Ambassador that it would be advisable that the Empress, who had already prolonged her visit for several days longer than had at first been arranged, should leave Paris. On February 26 the following note was sent to the Press: "The Empress Frederick will leave Paris to-morrow morning for London at 11:30 _via_ Calais." As a matter of fact, the Imperial party left for London the next day by the ten o'clock express _via_ Boulogne. But the "incident" was by no means over. The French artists who had accepted the invitation to exhibit their works at Berlin all withdrew their acceptances, and as a result the German Press burst forth into most violent and coarse abuse of France and of the French. Indeed, it looked at one moment as if nothing could prevent the two nations from rushing at each other's throats. The Empress was greatly distressed, and it is on record that she wrote to her son a long private letter, pointing out that she had been personally very well received, and indeed most courteously treated, during her stay in Paris.