The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1878-05-17
From our Regular Correspondent


Peep at GrenOuilliers, and back to
Paris by the Seine.
From our Regular Correspondent
HOTEL DU LOUVRE, PARIS, April 25,'7S.
Knowing as l do, from experience,
how irksome it is to read about things or
events that are going to be, after they
have actually occurred, 1 shall, in this
letter, refrain from any description of
the Exhibition, or of the grand prepara-
tons for its opening this day week, be-
cause by the time this reaches you, the
telegraph will have flashed the details of
the opening ceremonies across the At
lantic. But the weather being fine with
a clear blue sky, and refreshing breeze
stirring, suppose that you and | "take
turn" in the suburbs of Paris, not fire.
quented by visitors from abroad as they
ought to be; for there is much to see and
admire there, many sights and scenes as
charming as they are novel to the stran-
ger, and, withal, the trip is inexpensive,
which is more than can be said of "turns"
within the city of Paris itself
The best way to see the suburbs of
Paris is-to take cabriold and start from
the Place de la Concorde early in the
morning. If, however, you are in a
hurry, you can go by the st Lazare
railroad, which runs on the right bank
of the river; but YOU will miss many
pretty sights by following that route,
which takes you through the northern
and rather unattractive part of Paris.
Having plenty of time, let us go by way
of Place de la COncorde and the Champs
Hysees, stopping moment to look at
the obelisk of Luxor in the middle of the
Place, which covers the exact spot where
stood the guillotine ut which perished
Louis the Sixteenth, Marie AntOinette,
Philippe, Egalite, Danton, Robespierre,
and host of other victims during the
terrible days of the Revolution. This
obelisk is 73 feet high, and covered from
base TO top with hieroglyphics. Follow
ing the straight avenue, bordered by
magnificent trees, we pass the Pdlais de
7 Indudrie and the circular building in
which panorama of the siege of Paris
is exhibited considerably larger and
finer than the one that was exhibited at
Philadelphia, cross the elegant Avenues
Montague and Alma, and reach the Tri-
umphal Arc de l. Et0iie, which marks
the point, at the end of the Champs
Elysies, where the road branches off to
the Bois de Boulogne. Here We leave
the greater part of the innumerable
carriages and riders on horseback, who
turn to the left, while we pursue the
straight course on the other side of the
arc, along the Boulevard Neuilly, until
we reach the Porte MaillOt, which was so
terribly battered by the Prussians in the
war of 1871. This famous gate is about
half way between the Arc J. EtOile and
the Bridge of Neuilly, where the Seine
makes its great bend to the northeast,
and in the immediate vicinity of the
bridge, and are now fairly in the open
country, outside of Paris, with Mont
Valerien, the most famous stronghold in
the vicinity of Paris, looming up on our
left, and Courbevoie short distance on
the road to the right.
We shall not stop here, however, but
will continue our drive to Asnieres, five
miles from the city limits, on the left
bank of the Seine. 1t was at Courbevoie
where the famous statue of Napoleon l.,
which represents him in gray over
coat, cooked hat, and his right hand
thrust into the bosom of his vest, was
placed after it had been thrown down
from the Nendome column by the in
surgents of the 4th Of September, and
fshed up from the bottom of the Seine
into which they tossed it. For the rest,
Courbevoie is quiet, pretty place,
abounding in handsome villas, some of
which yet bear the marks of Prussian
shot. The road to Asnieres is excellent,
lined with poplars on both sides, and
soon we are in sight of the village, which
may be said to be Paris on small scale
Every second house is a restaurant with
public garden attached, bordering ON
the river, but not restaurant" in the
sense in which we Americans generally
accept the term. There are no "bar.
rooms" although wine may be had. and
cheap at that, in all the restaurants and
cafes; and although / have visited AS
nieres number of times, never saw
an intoxicated person there. Many
wealthy Parisians reside here, going to
the city every day by the st Iazare rail
way and returning in the evening; and
nearly all of the leading actors and act
resses ofthe Theatre Francaise and other
theatres, own villas here. Three Partisan
boating clubs have their clubhouse
here, and the river is alive with shells
and barges of all kinds and sizes, while
the small steamers from Paris land every
few minutes cargo of gaily dressed
humanity. To go to Paris without visit
ing Asnieres, is like going to Maple:
without ascending Vesuvius.
A few miles farther out, and we reach
the pretty village of Nanterre-famou'
for its annual ceremony, on Whit Sun
day, Of crowning the rosiere. The rosiere,
here, as elsewhere in France where this
ceremony is observed, are young village
girls, distinguished for their purity o
life and brave struggles to earn an hon
est livelihood. Nanterre is also famous
for supplying the Partisan flower marke
with roses, and huge wagons, loaded t.
the brim with Towering roses in pot
and baskets screened from the witherins
influence of the sun by canvas canopies
may be seen ON the road from Nanterrs
to Paris any day. Next to the town o