Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1873-07-12

ooy, ~ tnust NC scell ny ulRHt W. pe 'uiy OF
preciated. Then the streets seem ablaze with
light. II is the most brilliantly lighted city
in the world. The gas lamps are very near
together, of handsome pattern and ranged
so that they present an unbroken straight line
as you look up and down the streets. Many
of the buildings, especially on the Rue Rivoli.
extend out over the sidewalks, thus forming
a colonnade or covered banqueue with afched
columns, between each of which hangs a gas
light. and these being quite close together,
the view down the street is Il splendid one.
As Won approach the Place de la Concorde.
in the center of which stands an obelisk of
granite covered with lIieroglyphics, brought
from Athens, ard supposed to be over three
thousand years old, the view at night sur
passes pti0n-hundreds, yes, thousands
Of lights shine in every direction. Looking
down the Rue Mvoli, which runs by the Tul-
ierios and the Louvre, You see chain OF
Light extending for mile on either side, while
turning IN the opposite direction you look up
the most celebrated avenue in the world, the
Champs Elysees, which sparklcs with thous-
dnds OF brilliant lights and seems alive with
moving will wisps. the lamps of the
carriages which throng the roadway. This
beautiful thoroughfare resembles somewhat
our own noted Pennsylvania Avenue. in that
1t is of Just about the same width and length,
extending mile and a quarter in a straight
line from the Place de Ia Concorde to the
Arc de Triomphe and is, ike the Washing
ton street. tie great place OF resort in the
evening; hut beyond this there is very little
restmhiance-PennsJlva nia Avenue is no
where compared with its more pretenti0us ii
val which IS vast pleasure garden, or rather
succession Of pleasure gardens flank IT on
either hand.
OF all the brilliant avenues in the world,
b night We think the Champs Elysees eX
Ce.s. II is lined and filled with numerous
places OF amusement combining the garden
with the theatre, and these are bewilderlng,
dazzlingiv brilliant. Hundreds OF lamps sur
round them in chain of fire, the entrances
blaze with illuminated figures and signs, the
stages at one end OF the gardens where the
performances take place seem like enchanted
palaces. The rear and sides Of the interior
are mirrors, which reflect the light of many
chandeliers and multiply them indefinitely,
SO that tue small stage seems to stretch out
into limited space. Here the men and wo-
men go and sit in the open air. drinking wine,
coffee or beer, listening to the music, looking
at the scenes before them and chattering
| gaily. The tavorite musical instrument seems
| to be the French horn, most brazen-sound.
| ing thing alone, but when several are used in
! concert the effect is fine, and to our unaccus-
| toned ears sounds very odd. \ small fee is
charged, and in addition everyone is expected
to take refreshments. \ crowd stands out
side watching and listening as best they can
through the screen of green hedge which sur
rounds the gardens. Numerous restaurants,
all brilliantly lighted, are seen, and the child
| rem enjoy themselves by riding on wooden
| horses and chariots turned around post, and
with shows similar to the Punch and Judy so
commonly seen around London. The people
| seem to live ont doors, and revel in light and
music and dancing. Yet they are the most
decorous men and women ever saw
There is 10 brazen effrontery even among the
dem- monde, and one would hardly know
from appearance, that they were not virtuous
| and respectable women. Vice itself bears a
charmed mask of refinement which makes it
all the more dangerous All these women
| and the houses they inhabit are licensed. In
fact the policy CT the French people seems to
| be to license almos. every species of what we
call dissipation, and to regulate it by the most
perfect police system in the world. The
| French appear to have the utmost abandon in
their amusemcnts, yet broils or rows scarcely
ever occur, and when they DO, are promptly
suppressed
There is so much 10 be seen ia Paris that a
stranger has great difficulty especially if I'M
accustomed to the language in deciding where
to go and when. II least one or two days
must be devoted to walking and driving about
the principal Bouevaras We have not time
nor inclination to weary either you or our
selves with any lengthy descriptions of the
| places we visited. We have seen so many
| fine paintings, uqturc, palaces, ct cetera,
| that we are pretty well satisfied, and suspect
that ere our journey is done we shall be, like
| Mark Twain, very tired of the old masters
Among the places Of greatest interest which
| we visited were the church of Notre Dame
and the Pantheon, another fine church, from
| the dome OF which, after mounting 40 steps.
| we had a magnificent view of Paris. Beneath
| this church, in what is called the cave, we
saw the tombs OF Rosseau, Noltaire and
| statue of that grea. man and other eminent
men, among them that OF the architect of the
| building. This church stands on high hill
in a very commanding position, ard during the
| scige it was a prominent object. The Prus-
slams dropped several shells around it and
upon il.
The principal cemetery OF the city is the
! Pere la Chase. which, though "A fine place
we were disappointed in, We had expected
to have found one ni the best kept and most
| beautiful burying grounds in the world, but
many Of our cemeteries far excel i, in beauty
The appearance of the place is very different
from that OF our large cemeteries. 1t is very
thicky covered with tombs, above almost
every one of which is 4 small stone chapel or
iOou, upcH at tlc emu toward the street, or
merely closed with an iron fence or glass
door, where, upon looking in, you see gener-
ally small altar and cructix, sometimes a
picture or bust of the deceased, and always
quantity of black and white glass bead crosses
and wreaths, immortelles, and often wreaths
of beautiful porcelain flowers. The streets
approaching the cemetery are filled with
shops for the sale of these mourning emblems,
both natural and artificial. Here are buried,
among other eminent persons, Moliere, Rachel
General Foy, and Rossin, and here we saw
the famous tomb of Abelard a I'd Ieloise. On
the way TO and from this place we passed the
spot where the Bastile stood. now an open
square, in the center of which stands tall
shaft, called the cOlumn of July, erected to
commemorate the capture of the Bastile by
the people July II, 1859, and surmounted by
a gilt figure of the Genius of Liberty. Wis
i,ors to Mt Vernon will recollect seeing the
key of the Bastile, presented to Gen. Wash
ngton by Lafayette.
One of the most wonderful sights We ever
saw was a panorama of the seige of Paris,
displayed in Il small round building just off
the Champs Elysees. Paying our fee of one