St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1878-10-04
The Tourjee European Excursion.

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A PLEASANT JAUNT THROUGH THE OLD
WORLD.
Correspondence of the Caledonian.)
No. 2.
Our division, the "Fourth SWISS"
which was headed by DR.. Tourjee and
his amiable wife and daughter, left
London on the morning of July 18th,
for Paris via of Newhaven and Dieppe.
The distances by this route are as fol-
lows: From London to Newhaven (near
BrightOn) by the London, Brighton &
South Coast Railway, Sc miles; from
Newhaven across the channel by steam
er to Dieppe, 65 miles from Dieppe to
Paris by the Chemin de Fer de pOnest,
127 a total of 248 miles. The channel
Glanced to be very calm so little if any
seasickness was experienced, and we
were so much ahead of time at Dieppe
that we had time for a stroll ON the
PLACE and to look about the streets of
the quaint old town. The day was
warm and dusty but the ride to Paris
was much enjoyed nevertheless, as
much of the way lies through a rich
and fruitful country. After ROuen is
passed the hamlets become populous
villages, and the towns cities, until the
great city of Paris itself is reached. To
pass the customs examination re-
quired little delay, but no appreciable
trouble when the business in hand was
ultimately reached, and we were then
off to the Hotel Bedford which was to
be our headquarters during the period
of our stay.
The succeeding day was passed at
the Exposition, another day was de-
voted to carriage excursion to Sevres,
St. Cloud and Versailles, and two others
to an organized round of sightseeing
within the city, other days, and even
! ings also, being left to such disposition
as individual tastes might dictate.
During our stay, there were English
and French concerts at the TrocaderO
Palace, in the Exposition, and at one
of the latter | chanced to attend, there
was chorus of 1000 male voices and
the instrumental accompaniment of the
) Garde Republicaine Band. This grand
; vocal and instrumental force united in
a tremendously effective rendering OF
the Soldiers Chorus from GOunod's
"Faust," under the baton of the COM
) poser himself. This piece aroused great
enthusiasm, and ten Thousand people ap-
plauded and vociferously both Gounod
and the singers. 1t would be impos-
sible in Il brief space to describe the
Great Exposition, and it is hardly to
be expected that with only a week to
spare, and with many other things to
see, we could possibly make more than
casual examination of it's vast ac-
E emulation of treasures. The musical
members of our party found employ
meht in visiting the Paris Conservatory
of Music, the graves of celebrated mu-
e sicians in Pere Lachaise, the different
churches, in examining musical instru-
ments and attending concerts at the
Exposition, and in listening to operas
= and garden concerts in the evening
d The museums of the Louvre, the Lux
embourg and the Palais d. Industrie
: also claimed attention.
d AT length came the day of leaving
# the gay French capital, and reluctantly
r we turned our heads away from the
Tuilleries Garden and its mammoth
balloon-that is, those of us who man
/ aged to get seats facing in the right
:, e direction-and rode out into the dark
: ness over the Lyons Railway to Geneva
l. 1t is fourteen hours ride from Paris
n to Geneva, and night journey ovel
k a Continental railway line is by nc
II means as comfortable as nocturnal
IS travel can be made in America. Pull
;. man sleeping cars have been introduced
i on a few of the English roads, but they
t are not used on the Continent, and the
limited sleeping accommodations fur
L coaches would not give place to one ou
d of score of the passengers, even wer'
a they desirable.
lie Geneva was reached about the middle
NJ of the next forenoon, and two days
e. tarry gave time for little recuperatiol
II and also for pretty thorough inspec
s, ton of the objects of interest in thi
+, rs beautiful city. Through the liberalit.
a. of DR.. Tourjee, concert was given t.
rs the party, on the great organ at tn
s. Cathedral. This introduced to us TO
q, the first time the famous description o
$ a storm in the mountains which consti
tutes the piece de resistance of all tn
ii Swiss concert organists. Subsequent.
n, we heard similar performances at Frei
is burg, Bern and Lucerne, and becam
ia tolerably familiar with the subject
n The Geneva organ is fine instrument
co e and the Organist, NJ. Haering, is an ac
complished musician. The cathedra
where the concert was given, is an an
cient structure which was original
Ill built in the early part of the elevent
century, but it underwent many altera
Ill tions in later years. A chair once used b
on Calvin is preserved within the church
and there are several interesting mon
uments.
We were sorry not to pay our pei
NJ sOnal respects to Mont Blanc, and pei
for