Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Helene de Mink and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net Transcriber's note: Minor spelling inconsistencies, mainly hyphenated words, have been harmonised. Obvious printer errors have been repaired. Accents: In French sentences, most of them italicised, accents have been added when necessary according to the French spelling of the time. In an English context, French words have no accents if there are no accents in the original text. In case of an inconsistent use of accents, the French spelling has been favoured. The advertisement for other books in the series have been removed from page 3 to the end of this e-book. _The Story of Paris_ [Illustration: _Winged Victory of Samothrace._] THE STORY OF PARIS _by Thomas Okey_ _With Illustrations by_ _Katherine Kimball_ _London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd. Aldine House, 10-13 Bedford Street Covent Garden, W.C. * * * New York: E.P. Dutton & Co.--1919_ _First Edition, 1906_ _Reprinted, 1911; July, 1919_ "I will not forget this, that I can never mutinie so much against France but I must needes looke on Paris with a favourable eye: it hath my hart from my infancy; whereof it hath befalne me, as of excellent things, the more other faire and stately cities I have seene since, the more hir beauty hath power and doth still usurpingly gaine upon my affections. I love that citie for hir own sake, and more in hir only subsisting and owne being, than when it is fall fraught and embellished with forraine pompe and borrowed garish ornaments. I love hir so tenderly that hir spottes, her blemishes and hir warts are deare unto me. I am no perfect French man but by this great citie, great in people, great in regard of the felicitie of hir situation, but above all great and incomparable in varietie and diversitie of commodities; the glory of France and one of the noblest and chiefe ornaments of the world. God of his mercy free hir and chase away all our divisions from hir. So long as she shall continue, so long shall I never want a home or a retreat to retire and shrowd myselfe at all times." --MONTAIGNE. "Quand Dieu eslut nonante et dix royaumes Tot le meillor torna en douce France." COURONNEMENT LOYS. PREFACE In recasting _Paris and its Story_ for issue in the "Mediaeval Towns Series," opportunity has been taken of revising the whole and of adding a Second Part, wherein we have essayed the office of cicerone.