The Knickerbocker, Vol. 10, No. 3, September 1837Various
History
The Knickerbocker, Vol. 10, No. 3, September 1837
Various
Periodicals
'All the world and his wife' were there. Suddenly, there was a
pressing toward one of the grand avenues. It was to see the King
of Naples, who is now here on a visit to his aunt, the Queen of
the French. The king and the French queen were in an open car,
accompanied by two good-looking youths, about sixteen and eighteen,
(the Dukes of Nemours and Orleans,) and the two princesses, rather
pretty, and dressed with taste and marked simplicity. An elderly
gentleman, next to the King of Naples, was said to be his minister
or guardian, and he looks as if he needed one. He is a mustachioed,
dandyish-looking fellow, and stared through his quizzing glass in
a style quite amusing. The people took off their hats, as the car
passed, but there was not a whisper of applause or enthusiasm.
On our return, just as we stopped at the park of St. Cloud, the
French king's carriage came up, kept as close as a prison; and in
a few minutes, the queen and he of Naples arrived, and stopped in
the park to change horses; so we had a chance to scan them all very
closely. The queen might have been handsome once, but she certainly
is not now. She bowed repeatedly to some one by the carriage; but not
a word was uttered, which appeared very strange.
* * * * *
10TH.--My way to Galignani's reading-room, every morning, is through
the portico of the hall of the celebrated French Institute, over the
Pont des Arts, and through the quadrangles of the Louvre and Palais
Royal. What a world in miniature, (and not on a very small scale
either,) is this Palais Royal! A palace that would _cover two or
three of our squares_, in the heart of the city, was converted by
its proprietor, the late Duke of Orleans, into an immense bazaar;
the entrance from every part being from the interior court, which is
a long promenade of itself, adorned with rows of trees, fountains,
and gardens. The lower floor of the palace is divided into stores,
in the arcade fashion, in which are displayed every article, almost,
which can be imagined or desired, for use or ornament. The jewellers
are the most numerous. There are, I should think, at least three or
four hundred of these shops on the first floor, and they each rent
for four thousand francs per annum. The second floor is occupied by
cafés, reading-rooms and by gambling-establishments, or 'hells,' and
the upper stories by characters of all sorts, male and female. In
short, there is a specimen of every thing, good and bad, in this
Palais Royal; and even the bad is made so alluring and dazzling, that
altogether, it is no very difficult matter for an unwary novice there
to rid himself of his superfluous cash. The imposing _coup d'oeil_
of the palace and gardens you can imagine better from the prints,
than from any description.
Near the Bourse, is the Halle au Blé, an immense circular building,
the dome of which is nearly as large as that of the Pantheon at Rome.
* * * * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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