Two newspapers are published in Mentone—the _Avenir_ and _Le Mentonnais_; but newspapers from Marseilles, Nice, and other places are brought by train daily, and are procurable at the railway station, shops, and a kiosk, or covered round stall in the middle of the Place Nationale. * * * * * Having given this general description of Mentone, and noted some of the institutions which are of the nature of essentials to the visitor’s comfort, and being now settled down in the place for the winter, the natural wish is to know what is to be seen which will help to make residence agreeable. There are various guide–books[20] which may be bought and consulted for this purpose, and it is no part of my plan in these pages to take their place or to describe after their manner. One of them, titled, _The Splendide Hotel Handbook to Mentone and its Environs_, would be more useful were it less of a puff of the Splendide Hotel, which really does not require any puffing. This book, in tagging and dragging the unhappy hotel into almost every paragraph, reminds one of De Foe’s puff of _Drelincourt on Death_, which he brought or endeavoured to bring into notice by repeated mention of it in his remarkable _Vision of Mrs. Veal_. The author of the guide—(who doubtless laughs in his own sleeve and not that of De Foe)—mentions that there are fifty–nine excursions from Mentone, all of which he describes shortly, and I would refer to the book for its recital. Fifty–nine is a tolerably large number, and will, in any view, afford constant employment to those who are of an exploring disposition. However, people cannot always be on the trot, more especially if they be not in strong, good health. Much less will suffice for ordinary existence, and if all be accomplished in three or four winters, these winters will not have witnessed inactive lives. The number, however, is an odd one; and to make it even, I must add one which the writer fails to describe. It fell to my lot the very first night. * * * * *