The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-08-19
OUR EUROPEAN LETTER.
PARIS.

We have read of it, dreamed of it and
to-day we see it in all OF its glory and
magnifcence, and as ne look down
through the miles of shaded avenues and
boulevards walled up on either side with
architecture as beautiful as wealth and
genius can produce, and behold the
gigantic arches, the statuary that adorn
them and almost every public and private
place, the parks with their endless roads.
and winding pathways, the gardens with
their choicest flowers, the palaces and
galleries with their crowded walls Of pic
lures, the grandeur of the public build.
ings and monuments, the exquisite taste
displayed in dress, then we realize that
Paris is the home Of art, for there is hard.
ly single spot that its fingers have not
touched, and we are not surprised that
travellers like to visit and students love to
study here. The city is beautifully loca
ted upon river Seine, stream 80 peace.
full that We do not wonder that Napoleon
wished chat his body might rest near it,
and as we look down along the shores
rich with the verdure of early summer, it
becomes 80 picturesque that it's gallery
of itself The Masters for ages have
loved to paint here and many gems of
landscape have been taken from the
Seine. In fact everything appears superb
and lovely, except the 2iorals of the
French people, which to lis appear to be
in deplorable condition.
There may not be more sin to the
square inch here than in other great cities,
but one thing is obvious there are, no
screens to go around or peep through,
everything is public, and all can enjoy
and endure it. In England we we're
reminded that the Sabbath was day of
rest, and worship by the cessation Of
business, and the pealing of the church
bells, but here we are assured that its
Gods day from the bands Of music upon
the streets and in the parks and the
thousands of people that tbrong the the.
atres, races and hundreds of other places
of amusement. Yes France has fifty.two
holidays in the year that we know of, and
several others of greater or less impor-
tance I presume are observed. 1t looks
as though they were little skeptical
about the next world, and were trying 10
make complete picnic of this. They
are polite, kind hearted, and they tell me
afectionate in. an extraordinary degree,
in fact there is no limit to woman's
love, and the men are more richly endow.
ed than the ladies. You disconsolate and
broken hearted lovers go to Fsnce where
everybody loves and loves everybody.
But what about French Home? I
don't know as they have any. Most eve.
ry house seems to be hotel or cafe, and
the people seem to live mostly in the
parks and on the streets. That song 60
dear to an Euglishmau or an American,
"Home Sweet Home," / don't believe
ever got across the channel. Give me
the custom and the love that will make
house thatched with straw or covered
with sods, home where the children can
play unnoticed, and virtue walk uuguard-
ed. We have visited most of the places
of interest such as the Survre, Garden of
the Tuileries; Hotel des Invalides, Tomb
Of Napoleon, Palace of Luxembourg and
Gallery, Hotel de Cluny, Bois de Bou.
logne, Cathedral of Notre Dame, The
Morgue, Arc dc Triumphe, Opera House,
.Vendome Column Pantheon, Champs.
Flys'ees, and many places we will not
take the time to mention, and to give
detailed description would be like writing
history of France, 80 we write in
general way cnlarging now and then upon
things that particularly interest US. In
the galleries We saw the largest display
of paintings we have ever seen. The
Gallery of the SQUIRE is an immense
affair containing paintings of the dead
Masters, nearly all being represented.
The celebrated picture, The Assumption,
and number of others by Murillo are
there. The name Of Rubens appears at
the bottom of one. Hundreds were copy.
ing from the different paintings, the pic
lures of the different masters having
many admirers. In some we confess we
could see but little beauty, but after
witnessing the enraptured multitude, we
concluded that it was lack of education
in us. At the Luxembourg Gallery we
admired many paintings by living mas.
ters, in fact they were 10 US more attrac.
tive than the display at the London.
We have used our wheels quite exten.
sively in Paris, the streets being wide and
the city spread over SO much ground it
has been much more convenient to get
around with them than in London. We
have not had great deal of trouble with
our conversation, as there are many Eng.
lish and Americans here and many of the
French speak our language. hepolice.
men have pulled US off from our machines
several times for riding on the streets
! where bicycling is forbidden, but We
innocently informed them that we were
strangers, aud knew nothing of their
restrictions and SO we got free. Great
preparations are beings made for the
National Fete, which occurs Wednesday,
July 14th. It is similar to our glorious
Fourth of July, only they celebrate on a
little larger scale. This seems necessary
to distinguish it from the Sunday picnics
I suppose. We have used guide here
to good advantage. There are many
who speak good English and French, and
their services are obtainable at "a reasona-
BILE rate, and persons visiting this city
unacquainted with the language will do
| ,,oll tn opnr1oy nne We feel nndrr son