Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-10-14
AN ENGLlSMMAN In FRANCE
Comforts Of French Travel.

L. J. Jennings Letter in New York World.
Those who have only seen French hotels of
the better class have no idea of what hotel life
in France generally really is like. In Paris, for
instance, the hotels are good, though extrava-
gantly deal, almost as dear some OF them, az
the cafes. which are becoming little better for
the inexperienced stranger than so many ban
dts caves. The recklessness with which too
many visitors spend their money, and the ease
with which they submit to imposition have de-
moralized the cafe fraternity to that extent
that they are now reluctant to let any Ameri-
can or Englishman go until they have rified
him OF his last Genuine. The most sensibl e
thing visitor can do is never to go inside one
of the grand cafes on or near the boulevards; he
may sit outside and take his cup of coffee If he
likes. but let h i'm once pass over the fatal
threshold and his pockets will be turned in
side out. That's how the cafe keeper lives; on
the custom of his own countrymen he could not
pay the wages Of his servants, to say nothing
of his rent. 1t must be admitted that in all
these places hotels as well as cafes som ething
fit to eat may generally be obtained, although
French cooking as rule has been very much
over praised. What a French dinner (unIess
very judiciously Ordered) means is-a large sup
ply of grease, more or less disguised, rich
sauces, such as not one human being in
thousand could take without injury, an almost
utter absence of good potatoes and a fit of in
digestion the next morning. 1t is not worth
while to pay quite so much for these pleasures
as the restaurant keepers charge In provincial
France the fare is q trif1e less unwholesone but
unfortunately there Is no variety In it.
The same knife and fork have to do duty
throughout the meal; neither is ever changed.
The salt (there Is but one satcelar to a dozen
persons) is fshed out with the end Of your
knife, for such an article as a salt spoon is un-
known. The coffee is three parts chicOry, as it's
smell clearly reveals, and it is given to you in
long tumbler. or in a basin which is barely size
smaller than the wash hand-basn in your bed
room. The whole Of the appliances for the
table are about as bad as they can be; and
yet no American or Englishman must
mention the cuisine of his native land,
at the risk Oh being informed that he is
mere barbarian, and that taste and skill in Gull
nary matters are confined to France. We have
all been told this so often and on such high au-
thOrity, that most of us come to believe at last
that it must be so, and if we do not like the
dish set before us it is because our tastes are
depraved and vulgar. The truth is that on no
subject in the world has so much humbug been
written as upon that of French cookery Peo-
pie profess to admire it, even when it makes
them sick. As for the common form of French
cookery-a few shreds of vegetables thrown
into some hot water, with bread and garlic,
stirred round with tallow candle-it may suit
the French people, but you could not get the
work of America or England done upon that.
DID the reader ever see the garcOn washing
up the plates N a French hotel? have and it
was Neutrality-suspicious. atterward before l
touched anyth ng but bread and butter. will
not describe how the plate-wash'ng was done,
because the reader may happen to think Of it
some day when he Is in France, and it would
poison his peace of mind That water is not
wasted in ordinary French hotels may be inferred
from glance at the size of the wasll-b bowl Jugs;
here at Nevers, the jug will assuredly not hold
more than couple OF quarts at the very out
size. And with this the whole toilet must be
made, for there is no bath of any kind in the
hOnse large or small. Now, Nevers Is largish
town. has about 81 600 inhabitants, and vet
at the :'Hotel de la Paix" the wash hand basin
is no larger than good size slOp BASIN and
there is not bath ID the place. As for slop-
basins, who ever saw one in France, even in
Parish The dregs Of your tea or coffee must be
thrown upon the floor. or into the street.
Then with regard to what we will call the
offices Of q French provincial hotel-no doubt
the travelled reader has seen them. What deli
cacy, what sentiment Of decency even, can there
ence OF such places, and who are unable to see
anything Objectionable in them? Where the
English and Americans go some little regard Is
paid to what Frenchman would perhaps call
Anglo-Saxon eccentricity. like the desire to get
good wash every morning; but beyond the
beaten track OF tourists all the arrangements of
public inns are simply revolving. How it
may be In private houses know not; doubt
less there is.nothing to complain of In them
The traveller, however. Is never likely to be-
come the guest of . Frenchman unless he has
more time to spare than ordinarily falls to the
lot of the summer h0liday-maker. only wish
that could tell you some anecdotes Of my re-
cent observations and experiences In connection
with the question OF what most Of US would call
common decency in France. But I am not
writing for French readers, and therefore there
are limits which one cannot pass, and without
passing them it would be impossible to do JUS
tice to the subject. One can only hope that it is
only the commits voyageur In France who
lives as people are compelled to live in provin-
cial inns.
To these Inconvenience people must some
times submit In travelling through uncivilized
lands. but they ought not to be found in the
present day among the most cultivated and re-
fined people In EurOpe-f0r 80 the French call
themselves. and very. likely they are right. They
ought in consideration ofthe pretensions which
they set up. to get rid Of some Of the peculIari-
ties of their manners and customs. even II their
morals Gas represented In their popular litera-
ture) must remain unchanged. As matters at
present stand. travelling in the rural parts of
France cannot be recommended to ladies' They
had better keep to the great highway. which