The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-01-22
AK LES BINS ~ WINTER.
An Out OF Season Visit 10 u Famous Water
Ing Eince-Troubie We'll Repaid.

bright. sunny. Snvoyard city and watering
| place. which lives In the memory OF summon
travellers as a town gay with foliage and flow.
| srs. Cayer still with the nutter of elegant and
fashionable toilets. alive with laughter. music,
| and tho hustle OF its 10000 visitors. seeking
| either u cure for their ailments or one for their
| ennui. is in midwinter so dead. 30 deeply
| plunged In a letharglc sleep. that it seems .
| city whence all human life has forever fcd.
1t is easier for the solitary wnndcrer to seek
| shelte and food ut Chambery than to attempt
TO obtain them from the landlords he once
knew 30 hosritable. who are securely bnrri.
| caded behind their barred doors and shutters.
The broad balconied facades OF tho numerous
hotels rise grim with sternly shut windows.
| neither emitting nor admitting array Of liGhti
the streets are deserted. The shops arc no
| longer open. tho horses and carriages are at
| Nice. the walters and trim chambermaids
scattered along the Riviera. tho bands and
orchestras In Paris. The proprietors. who
havo grown fat on the golden summer har.
vest. either spend their earnings elsewhere or
burrow unseen in their prison-like houses.
The most changed and dismal spots OF AK
are incontestably tho square. or place. where
| tho palm trees are swathed In straw. and the
| Eldttisscment Thermal. whose lonely guardian
wandere disconsolntely under the stone por.
| ticos. II this worthy functionary is asked to
show the unexpected visitor over the immense
building he Is stricken with almost supersti-
tious awe. and does SO under protest. He pre-
codes you with a wondering air OF suspicion
and doubt along tho extensive galleries. the
admirably arranged baths. waiting rooms. and
springs. and points out. still protesting. all
the elaborate system OF the cure. Alluring as
the etdblissement is made for invalids. at the
season when they are supposed to como.
with its sedan chairs. carpets. flowers. its
staff OF smiling doctors and empress6
A.. ~ l. L@-@
ception now: gradually 1t gives the
impression OF some Ghostly dream. and even
the water beating family against the marble
tanks seems to sob and moan. Dark. mysterious
passages lead apparently to deeper gloom. and
now aud then from tho perspiring walls Of tho
hot cells a suffocating heat exudes. recalling
that OF some volcanic strata. And yet over these
melancholy survivors OF the departed gay and
fashionable crowds hovers the majesty Of Sc
lence and solitude. and the destinations Of
memories all the sweeter from being more
distant. Few have ever spent q season at AiI
without beginning or closing some romance
which for the short halcyon days was inf>
nitely enhancing and absorbing.
Besides. for those to whom those do not ap-
peal there is O different charm. At the very
threshold OF the watering place nature asserts
itself triumphantly: no longer vulCarized. be-
Titled. and modernized BY the frippery OF So
ciety and rank as it 10 between June and Sep.
TENDER. but restored to it's original simplicity
and grandeur by the severe breath OF Novem-
Der. December. and January. Over the Lao
du Bourget the north wind whirls the hurry
ing snow: it floats long before tumbling into
the blue waters which 1t turns to steel: an
gered at last by the capricious onset. the quiet
mountain lake gets wrathful and lashes itself
into the fury OF a miniature sea- II you have
taken q steam yacht to go and visit a friend on
the opposite shore YOU soon perceive that you
are unpleasantly rocked, although your prog
ress is not impeded: only the snow. aston
ished ut your appears diverted
from Its purpose. and wreathes you round
with its tarryina flakes till all around Is Of the
same moving white veil and you are unaware
OF any change till abruptly the shore and o
hospitable country house rise out Of the cur
tain. Then. quite as suddenly. arrows OF
bright sunshine dispel the snow. revealing
the horizon. the distant peaks OF Maurienne,
and on the lower ridges tho chapels and
chalets. the castles and monasteries. and near
Dent du chat old historic Hautecombe.
From ST. GILES to the latter place the road
by land skirts tho Iomain OF the King Of Italy
in circuitous meanderings: the air is singu-
larly crisp and clear: cold without harshnesa
making walkingn pleasure and motion An on.
joyHent. Even the hackneyed Grotto OF
Raphael assumes some interest. and the as.
cension to Hautecombe begins In good earnest.
Hautecombe 10 the sculpture OF princes: 800
august collins are placed below the floor Of
the church. and the imagination OF genera-
tons OF Italian sculptors and artists has cons
ceived and executed the royal monuments
OF every style that adorn 1t. However.
with its pure white marble walls and
blue domes. the church Is not so im-
posing as tho Grande Chartrcuse. nor has tho
surrounding scenery tho rugged majesty Of
that mountain keep but it HIS "A serene CRAWL
| 49, ali t., .,-,,, ala. M ---t
OF Hau,ecombc. all robcd in white. are cour.
teous. gentle. and hospitable. and they retail
tho quaint legends OF tho locality with the
1uency Of habit and u naive consciousness OF
being interesting. The foot o. the mountain
on which tho metropolis OF Hautecombe
stands bathes In the lake and faces to the
north the Co'ontbier. taking all the rosy hues
OF the pink sunset. and. with II little imagina-
ton. contrasting it with tho sombrs monas-
terry OF tombs. 1t might be compared, floating
as it does In midair. 10 n Savoyard Tenusberg.
The Lac du Bourget. with its belt OF mod
erately high mountains and hills. has essen.
tally the Alpine grace" OF which Victor
Hugo speaks. The effect Is fine. but not for.
bidding; the scenery has it's snow storms.
icicles. drifts. shatowy. serrled zines. and it's
brief Arctic aspects. TIL has also it's frequent.
sudden bursts Of glorious sunshine disners.
ing tho billiards.. me!tin. tho snow. or con.
yerting II into sparkling diamond fields,
bringing out tho obliterated sharp silhou-
cites OF the rocky ridges. and defining the
range almost as rapidly as it had vanished.
Savoy is not, perhaps. the plaza to spend
the whole winter happily. bpt il accident, or
some other cause, has brought you there fora
few short days at the close Of the year. IL is
morr than probable that there will ever after
exist n latent y~earning to revisit II under the
same conditions. And. after all. the civilization.
comforts. and gayeties OF the summer erason
have not migrated beyond reach: ChambPry
Is close at hand. aud beyond II Paris 10 the
MOTH and italy to tho south make the little
halt ohly u now and not unpleasant sensation
N. DE s.