New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-07-19
AMERICANS IN PARIS.
THE FRENCH CAPITAL IN THE SUMMER
SEASON

HOW THE PARTISAN CATERS TO HIS JULY AND
AUGUST pArRoNs-HuMoR OF THE ART GAL
LERIEs-THE MYsTIFIED sTuDENT-N
RESTAURANTS AND SHOPS.
Paris, July 3.
The American colony here has littc heeu 10
feel a home longing In the summer H"ie'
lea comes to It, and Paris in July ana hu-
gust has many points in common WIN Nc" 'o y"
There is "A shopping Broadway the Avenue "o
rOnhra where odds and ends left over from the
season are marked Occasions There ID M Z"
mosphere Of rusticty over the fiace ''po'''
Shirt waists and sailor hats are the charac'er'S'.
toilcttcs There Is Ralto, AT the co'"'' va
the Grand Boulcvards. where soupre''e anu u"
genuc wayIay Ncw-York managers In search "i
novelties and occasionally sign lucrative con-
tracts The kiosks in the neighborhood are co.,
cred with American papers. In certain vi NV
hotels even the humblest bclboy snakes V" '''o
lcthargy of the winter and tries not 10 Sl'"N
French
Al the corner cafes. recommended by the guide
hooks groups Of strangers become bosom friehds
discussing returning steamers ana 'he rres'
dortjaI election Each tries his best TO 90 as thc
Romans do The man who does not In the leas'
like to drink courageously does so, ana thc o'her
man. who Is accustomed to SWALLOWING ms i'
freshments at lightning speed, makes hiihso" VII"
mt Il
book Guides of shabby gentility fit around oller-
ing their services for the Louvre by day. ana
mvsteriously whisper OF Paris by night. watt
ers call out Manhattan cocktails, gin s"ns' io"
Collins punch Americani-anything you can sc'
in New York gentlemen. and 80 II goes on any
thing you may get at home. and this Americah~cu
Paris is supposed to be a change rest and recrea-
ton
During the spring the American colony Is IN
sod by some hundreds of arrivals. but they are
people who regard the spring social season Oh Lon
don or Paris "A natural postscript u ''''' W
Ncw-York They make no ripple save IN the "oii"
where they move The real American tou'is.' do
the Frenchman understands him. arrives ABOUT
the first of July, with an American nag tucked
into the crown of his hat. and plenty of Ameri-
can dollars gold dollars in his pocket whicn ne Is
fevcrshIy bent upon exchanging for experiences.
The young man at the bank becomes target iof
Interrogation points but he has been there 50 ios
and answered the same questions so many "i"eS
that his voice never loses it's serenity, not even
rbap tho Young woman deposltor who has cabied
homo for more money confidcs in him how mean
her father or husband f., or the young fellow
clerk off on his first vacation, CURLY orders nm
to hustle"
The art galleries are by no means neglected.
They are full of tourists generally In groups the
most eager are the cw-Englanders, who TO sat
,sfy n Now-England conscience, must see every
ceIohrated picturc Then their return passage
will be pcacefu, their account OF the "TRIP a'-eih
bracng and within the letter OF truth. Hy iar the
easier way for those who must do the Louvre
in = day IL to buy photographs OF the pictures on
the Rue de Rivoli, and spend the day looking al
them OF course this might be done at nome
and I'm spite of what Baedeker says TO the effect
that IL takes no less than two hours 10 walk
through every room in the Louvre AFTER one 'ho'-
oughly knews the plan Of the building II Is pos
slble TO "do it" after fashion I'm the morning
II time is the chief object. Il good idea often fol-
lowed is for two to do it together, one holding
catalogue in which she marks off the pictures Civ
ING , bref biographical sketch Of the artist, while
the second calls OF the numbers. THIS pan II
recommended as the only that Will remind
one OF what has been seen
The personally conducted parties have great
deal made easy for them for their guide knows all
the short cuts, and never interrupts his mono
loguo for questions or remarks 1t is much easier
looking at pictures II one Is not expected to pass
an opinion them. But there Is an uncomforta-
bic side 10 the personally conducted tour.
The guide walks fast that II one fingers an
extra moment to gaze out of window. look at
his watch give a second glance at a picture or a
first one at some canvas not on the list, he is
.omn.Iled To slide with undignhcd haste over the
polished floors. and is met by rcproachfu silence
from the rest of the party, VINO are waiting ioi
him to catch up Moreover even the eloquence OF
a machine made guide may end ar an important
Luxembourg Gallery one afternoon, when mock
Of tourists with their lecturer entered the small
sale devoted to American painters. The guide =
conversatio powers suddenly collapsed into the
heels of his boots The group. lambke for so
long had nothing do but to gather Oh her side
Of the room and follow the direction of her eyes,
which were idly examining a very ordinary paint
ing high over the door Before she fully realized
the important position she had been pushed into
the crowd had been called off and passed into the
next room without seeing two of the most cele-
brated works in the gallery. Whistlers Portrait
of NV Mother and Sargents "carmencita.
In this gallery the pictures are changed so often
that the catalogue plan suggested sometimes leads
TO trouble as two young women found out, or
perhaps didn't find out. according TO a current
story that has been accepted as true. mo. 1885,"
called out one, stopping before Manets picture
OF the young person with black cat beside her
and black string tied about her throat. ministers
portrait OF his mother responded the other.
who carried the catalogue. well. | never" said
the first What a beast TO paint his mother like
that Perhaps she was the same penetrating
student who paused before frame. in the long
gallery Of the Louvre. from which the painting
by paint. but bearing a few accidental smudges Of
dirt had been substituted for the picture tenn
porarily. The girl looked long at the inscription
on tho frame and at the smudge the canvas