are now being replaced by motor taxis. The use of the meters on the horse-propelled vehicles as well as on the machines has deprived the tourist of one of the daily excitements of his visit--the heated argument with the driver concerning his charge. Another change which has been consummated since 1913 began is the passing of the horse-drawn omnibus with its “imperial” or roof seats, from whose inexpensive vantage many travelers have considered that they secured their best view of the city streets. The two subway systems have many excellent points, not least of which is a method of ventilation which makes a summer’s day trip below ground a relief rather than a seeming excursion on the crust of the infernal regions. The Champs Élysées is thought to offer the finest metropolitan vista in the world, when the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile is seen across the Place de la Concorde from the Tuileries gardens, over two miles away. Such vistas are frequent in Paris, offering a “point of view” in which a handsome building or monument finds its beauty enhanced. The regularity of the skyline adds to this effect. By a municipal regulation no façade may be higher than the width of the street and the consequent uniformity provides a not unpleasing monotony. Paris parks are world famous, not only for the beauty of such great expanses as the Bois de Boulogne, just outside the fortifications, with its forest and lake and stream, its good roads and its alluring restaurants, but for the intelligent utilization of small open spaces in crowded parts of the city. Wherever any readjustment of lines or purposes gives opportunity, there a bit of grass rests the eye and a tree casts its share of shade. If there is space enough a piece of statuary educates the taste or the bust of some hero of history or of art makes familiar the features of great men. The demolition of the old clo’ booths of the Temple gave such a chance, and amid tall tenements and commonplace shops mothers sew and babies doze and one-legged veterans read the newspapers beneath the statue of the people’s poet, Béranger. At one end of this square rises the _Mairie_ of the Third _Arrondissement_ (ward). These _Mairies_, of which there are twenty, are decorated with paintings, often by artists of repute, and always symbolic of the Family, of Labor or of the Fatherland. The Hall of Marriages in which the Mayor of the _arrondissement_ performs the civil ceremony required by law, receives especial attention and usually is a room handsomely appointed and adorned. The French imagination likes to express itself [Illustration: MAIRIE OF THE ARRONDISSEMENT OF THE TEMPLE.] [Illustration: SALLE DES FÊTES OF THE HÔTEL DE VILLE.]